A 41-year-old Thai national and a 41-year-old Lao citizen have been confirmed as the 50th and 51st cases of Covid-19 in Laos, just a few days before Lao New Year celebrations begin.
Laos Third Most Corrupt Country in ASEAN
Laos was perceived to be the third most corrupt country in the ASEAN bloc in 2020.
Hong Kong Photo Contest 2020 Winners Announcement
Organized by National Geographic Magazine Chinese Edition, Presented by Wheelock
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 9 April 2021 – A picture speaks a thousand words. National Geographic and Wheelock Properties is co-operating for the fourth time for The Hong Kong Photo Contest.
Managing Director of Wheelock Properties Ricky Wong and renowned Hong Kong photographer Anthony Lau taking group photo with winners.
Themed “Happy*Healthy”. Hong Kong Photo Contest 2020 is divided into five categories: “Landscape”, “Wildlife”, “City”, “People” and “Mobile Photography”. This year, the competition has received over 7000 submissions from both photography enthusiasts and professionals from a total of 13 countries and cities such as Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Mainland China, Canada, USA, United Kingdom and Malaysia.
The judging panel this year comprises National Geographic photographer George Steinmetz; renowned Hong Kong photographer Anthony Lau; and Lee Yungshih, editor-in-chief of National Geographic magazine Chinese edition.
George says, “As long time visitor to Hong Kong, I was impressed by how the city was depicted by those who know it best. I was particular surprised by the winning photo in the “people” category, of a lone woman isolated on her rooftop at dusk, connecting with the world via the glow of her mobile phone. It beautifully captured the spirit of the city during very turbulent year.”
Anthony says, “As a Hong Kong-born photographer, I’m honored to be able to view and analyze the shortlisted works from a judge’s perspective. There are many outstanding works among the entries. Unfortunately, many were disqualified due to various issues associated with their original files. For the winners who made it through the rounds, they’ve earned it. Some photos, while simple in composition, managed to contain an “overload” of information as they evocatively illustrated certain moments in nature and the urban environment.”
Li from Taiwan says, “I am delighted to see that this year’s Hong Kong Photo Contest has grown to a new height. Not only the number of participants and entries has reached the highest since the launch of the contest, but the quality of work in general has greatly improved as well. Among all the winning images, I am most impressed by the winner of the wildlife category. The photographer captured a moment of a legion of ants hunting their prey. It’s an excellent display of all important elements of photography: composition, color, lighting, wildlife behavior, and a great moment. It’s a well-deserved winner.”
Managing Director of Wheelock Properties Ricky Wong says: “We’re honored to have partnered with National Geographic for the fourth year in the ‘Hong Kong Photo Contest 2020’. As a revered industry event in the city, we hope to help talented photographers realize their dreams through this photography competition and to reveal spectacular images and stories to our audiences. The unprecedented global challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic have transformed the world, creating considerable disruptions to our daily activities and causing bodily and mental distress. Particularly at the onset of the COVID-19, many had to stay home and therefore we hope to, by asking contestants to capture the city’s resilience during the pandemic through their lens, inspire imagination and stimulate creativity while spreading positivity through this photo contest with five categories under the theme ‘Happy*Healthy’. We hope this competition can span internationally so people around the world can learn of Hong Kong’s authentic beauty.”
The winning works will be exhibited at the following venues and the exhibitions are free of charge and open to the public.
Venue #1: WLAB
Address: 1/F, Block A-D, Tung Kin Factory Building, 196 Tsat Tsz Mui Road, North Point
Date: 9 April – 20 April 2021, 2pm – 5pm (Closed on Sat, Sun & public holidays)
Venue #2: Gallery by the Harbour
Address: Shop 207, Ocean Centre, Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui
Date: 22 April – 9 May 2021, 11am – 10pm
The Winners include:
City Category
Award |
Name |
Title |
Winner |
Chak Kwong Man |
空間 |
1st Runner-Up |
Law Fong Sui |
晨霧顯香城 |
2nd Runner-Up |
Che Chun Hei |
壓逼中的呼吸 Grasping for Breath |
Wildlife Category
Award |
Name |
Title |
Winner |
Fung Man Hon |
同心協力 A Concerted Effort |
1st Runner-Up |
Chow Ho Sum |
靜待 Patience |
2nd Runner-Up |
Yip Ming Lam Matthew |
共生 Living Together in Peace |
Landscape Category
Award |
Name |
Title |
Winner |
Leung Chi Hang |
崖壁上的晚餐 Meal on Lion Rock |
1st Runner-Up |
Tam Chi Chung |
聖光之路 HOLY ROAD |
2nd Runner-Up |
Tam Nga Shu, Jay |
圓月灣刀 Waxing Crescent |
People Category
Award |
Name |
Title |
Winner |
Choi Wai Ha |
香港精神 Lion Rock Spirit |
1st Runner-Up |
Ng Tang Kwai |
生活的藝術家Pace-Man Artist of Life |
2nd Runner-Up |
Wong Yau Hoi |
不要忘記你的笑容 Smiling Mind |
Mobile Category
Award |
Name |
Title |
Winner |
Leung Yan Kin |
思緒隔離營 Light in the Mind |
1st Runner-Up |
Yu Wing Fai |
扶手看車廂 Train Compartments inside Handrail |
2nd Runner-Up |
MAN KWUN TIN |
打醮(化大士) Bidding Farewell to the Ghost King |
Happy and Healthy Special Awards
Award |
Name |
Title |
Merit |
Leung Chi Hang |
崖壁上的晚餐 Meal on Lion Rock |
Merit |
Chan Kit Bing |
兩面受敵 Water Fight in Delight |
Merit |
Tam Ka Ming |
TEACH AND LEARN |
Merit |
Law Yun Lung Alan |
天真無忌 Innocence |
Merit |
Chan Ka Fai Philip |
逗你笑 Live, Laugh, Love |
For more information about “Hong Kong Photo Contest 2020”, please visit www.hkphotocontest.com
About National Geographic Partners
National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Society, is committed to bringing the world premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global National Geographic television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National Geographic’s media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children’s media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of our world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 132 years, and now we are committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going further for our consumers … and reaching millions of people around the world in 172 countries and 43 languages every month as we do it. NGP returns 27 percent of our proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and education. For more information visit natgeotv.com or nationalgeographic.com, or find us on Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram,
YouTube,
LinkedIn and
Pinterest.
About Boulder Media Inc.
The licensee for National Geographic Magazine Traditional Chinese Edition.
About Wheelock Properties
Wheelock Properties is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wheelock and Company Limited. Its principal activities include the undertaking of property development, sales and marketing, and asset management functions of certain Wheelock and Wharf Group properties. Wheelock Properties is committed to fulfilling its corporate social responsibilities and is keen in various community services, such as education programme (Project WeCan), environment protection, arts & culture as well as community engagement projects.
“Ear Up Incubation” helps 12 local groups to four awards at the “Ear Up Music Festival”
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 9 April 2021 – Now in its fourth year, the “Ear Up Incubation” music mentorship programme reached another milestone for the local music industry when 12 Hong Kong based groups were chosen as finalists in the long-awaited Ear Up Music Festival in March 2021.
Credit: Ear Up Music; Photo: Waiho Ng @ Plate Creations
Credit: Ear Up Music; Photo: Waiho Ng @ Plate Creations
Covering a variety of music genres, the groups took four major awards including the “Ear Up Grand Prize”, the “Ear Up Creativity Award”, the “Ear Up Performance Award” and the “Ear Up Audience Award”.
12 Groups Rocked the Stage
Despite the challenges created by the COVID-19 situation, a year training programme concluded with the 12 finalists displaying their talents at the Festival which was held in the Free Space of the West Kowloon Cultural District.
The 12 Finalists
|
|
The award winners
TAOTAO & flat550 an R&B group with an electronic touch won the “Ear Up Grand Prize”, and the “Ear Up Audience Award” and were the clear favourites of the online live viewers.
Chonotenki and WHIZZ were joint winners of the “Ear Up Performance Award” and demonstrated their passion by enticing the audience to get up on their feet and dance.
wongguyshawn & sumj.chan swept up the “Ear Up Creativity Award” with their innovative progressive instrumental blend of fusion, electro and jazz.
Next Stop: The world!
Mr YUEN Chi-Chung, a veteran music producer and the project director of this year’s Ear Up Incubation programme said, “We were delighted with impressive improvements of the participants which clearly proved their potential to reach the international stage. The programme gave the participants a comprehensive view of local music and led to a clear identification of their own uniqueness and position. With the tremendous response for Festival tickets, we are optimistic about the future of Hong Kong music.”
Fostering new Hong Kong music
Ear Up Music is a music label that was tasked by the Renaissance Foundation Hong Kong to develop a sustainable and diverse music ecology in the city and nurture rising young music stars. Sponsored since 2016 by Create Hong Kong (a Government unit that aims to develop Hong Kong into a regional creative capital), the label created the “Ear Up Incubation” programme to spotlight new music in Hong Kong and in neighbouring regions and beyond.
Apart from dedicated small group mentorship sessions, the programme also includes a series of performance workshops and international forums for young musicians to enhance their live performance skills, understand the latest industry trends and discover potential collaboration opportunities. Live house showcases and school showcases are also arranged for participants to gain performance experience and build up a fanbase. All the participants are selected through an open recruitment and audition process organised by Ear Up Music.
Ear Up Music Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/earupmusic
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/earupmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earupmusic/
About Ear Up Music
Ear Up Music is a music label that spotlights new music of Hong Kong to its neighbouring regions and beyond. The label, established by Renaissance Foundation Hong Kong in 2016, runs numerous projects from talent development to showcase events that connect with global music networks. These projects include Ear Up Incubation, Ear Up Global, Ear Up Tour and Ear Up Gig On.
In 2018, we founded Ear Hub to curate the latest developments in the Hong Kong, Asian and International music, media, production and interactive industry. Ear Hub is an international music conference and festival that offers an audiovisual feast as well as a cordial environment to initiate cross-border collaborations for music lovers and professionals.
AIA Group establishes AIA Variable Capital Company in Singapore
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 9 April 2021 – AIA Group Limited (“AIA” or the “Company”: stock code: 1299) has established AIA VCC, a Variable Capital Company in Singapore as part of its group wide investment programme to facilitate capital deployment globally.
The Investment Manager of AIA VCC is AIA Investment Management Private Limited (“AIAIM”) that was established in 2016 as the Group level asset management company and with reported assets under management of SGD178 billion as at the end of 2020.
AIA is now exploring how the recently introduced VCC framework can support AIA’s investment programme with particular focus on balance sheet exposure to specialist and alternative investment strategies.
About AIA
AIA Group Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively “AIA” or the “Group”) comprise the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group. It has a presence in 18 markets – wholly-owned branches and subsidiaries in Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR(1), Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan (China), Vietnam, Brunei, Macau SAR(2) and New Zealand, and a 49 per cent joint venture in India.
The business that is now AIA was first established in Shanghai more than a century ago in 1919. It is a market leader in Asia (ex-Japan) based on life insurance premiums and holds leading positions across the majority of its markets. It had total assets of US$326 billion as of 31 December 2020.
AIA meets the long-term savings and protection needs of individuals by offering a range of products and services including life insurance, accident and health insurance and savings plans. The Group also provides employee benefits, credit life and pension services to corporate clients. Through an extensive network of agents, partners and employees across Asia, AIA serves the holders of more than 38 million individual policies and over 16 million participating members of group insurance schemes.
AIA Group Limited is listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the stock code “1299” with American Depositary Receipts (Level 1) traded on the over-the-counter market (ticker symbol: “AAGIY”).
VinBus Officially Operates The First Smart Electric Bus In Vietnam
HANOI, VIETNAM – Media OutReach – 9 April 2021 – On April 08th, 2021, VinBus Ecology Transport Services Limited Liability Company officially opened and put into operation the first smart electric bus in Vietnam. The first electric bus lines will operate in Vinhomes Ocean Park (Gia Lam) while waiting for finishing the procedures to connect with the city’s public passenger transport system in the coming time.
VinBus is an electric bus model manufactured and assembled by VinFast at the Automobile Manufacture Complex in Hai Phong, converging many modern technologies with the smartest and safest features according to the developing strategy of current VinFast’s smart electric bus series.
Buses with primary green, friendly design, affirming the orient of investment and development in VinFast’s ecosystem in smart means of transport by using green, environmental friendly energy and community health protecting.
As smart electric buses, VinBus provides passengers with an outstanding comfort and safe experience. Buses are equipped with the automatic system that controls the driver’s behavior and warns unsafe dangers; The automatic lowering mode of the bodywork suitable for the elderly, children, disabled persons, pregnant women …; Electronic board announces the upcoming stop; Free WiFi, USB charging port, entertainment monitor and security camera system and itinerary control, turning back alarm, parking monitoring…
VinBus owns a battery capacity of 281 kWh, capable of moving up to 220 – 260km. Buses can be quickly fully charged after only 2 hours at VinBus’s 150kW fast charging station system with the world’s leading charging technology provided by StarCharge.
All buses of VinBus will be managed and operated intelligently through centralized monitoring, charging, safety inspection, maintenance, repair, and automatic cleaning at Depot stations scientifically arranged according to VinBus’ primary lines. The construction standard of the Depot stations is on a campus of more than 1 hectare, the roof equipped with solar panels, ensuring energy supply for Depot activities, contributing to reducing the pressure load of the power source for the national power system, environmental protection.
“With the motto “Serving from the heart”, we believe that VinBus’ modern, smart, safe electric bus products and VinBus’ dedicated service will make a difference, not only enhance people’s travel experience; but also create a hit to change the community’s commuting habits; thereby reducing air and noise pollution, contributing to green traffic creation in Vietnam” – said by Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Deputy General Director of VinBu.
Firstly, VinBus will operate the internal line at Vinhomes Ocean Park, and with the approval of the state appropriate authority will open more bus lines to connect to the network and connect to the city’s public passenger transport system, serving a large number of people.
About VinBus
VinBus Ecology Transport Services Limited Liability Company is a member of Vingroup, established in 2019, with the charter capital of 1,000 billion Vietnamese dong, engaging in the public passenger transport field under the non-profit model. 100% of the company’s profits will be reinvested to develop its system, expand the operating area and improve service quality, in order to contribute to the construction of a civilized and modern public transport system, reduce air and noise pollution for Vietnam’s major cities.
Local Man Praised as Hero After Saving Eight During Yacht Accident
A 28-year-old man is being hailed as a hero after saving eight people including former president Choummaly Sayasone following a tragic boat accident on Sunday.
Japanese Prime Minister Discusses Myanmar with Prime Minister of Laos
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga expressed deep concern over the situation in Myanmar in phone talks with the new Prime Minister of Laos, Phankham Viphavanh.