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East meets West: Study in Hongkong

Written by lisa on May 2, 2012 · Leave a Comment

Studying in Hong Kong can offer something for every student: for Westerners, the idea of experiencing one of the most accessible Asian cultures, where many speak English. For Asian students, studying in Hong Kong can offer a stepping stone to acclimatising to a heavily globalised world.

Traditional Chinese architecture alongside skyscrapers to rival New York, all-night clubbing followed by tai chi on the waterfront, bustling markets surrounded by flagship designer stores: Hong Kong truly has something for everyone.

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Asian recruiters on the prowl for IT managers

Written by lisa on April 7, 2012 · Leave a Comment

The technology jobs market in China, Hong Kong and Singapore is picking up in 2012 despite continued uncertainty for firms exporting to the US and Europe, with growing opportunities for technology jobs market according to recruiters.

Michael Page International’s Employment Index report for Q2 shows things are beginning to get back on track after economic instability abroad coupled with the Christmas break and early Chinese New Year caused many firms to put their recruitment plans on hold.

Michael Page’s managing director for north and east China, Andy Bentote, told The Reg that while things are still a tad restrained for companies heavily reliant on exporting to Europe, confidence is strong with those firms focusing mainly on domestic markets.

“In terms of new roles clients are passing us, the numbers are strong but they are giving a little more thought into who they choose – now they have to be 90-95 per cent certain to give you the role,” he said.

“Anecdotally though, increasing numbers of ex-pats are coming into China, and they’re coming in mainly at IT manager or senior managerial level.”

Sectors experiencing particularly strong growth in China include retail, e-commerce, gaming and business services, he explained.

Given that Hong Kong and Singapore are more heavily reliant on financial services, the IT jobs market there is currently experiencing less dynamic growth, said Bentote.

However, around a third of recruiters are looking to hire across the board in these regions and the majority expect a stable business environment going forward, the report found.

Phil Muncaster

5 Apr 2012

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/04/05/michael_page_q2/

Categories: IT Jobs - Tags: , , ,

Microsoft: Cloud to create 9.62 million jobs in APac

Written by lisa on April 5, 2012 · Leave a Comment

Cloud computing will create 9.62 million jobs in Asia Pacific by 2015, said Microsoft that published a commissioned research conducted by IDC recently.

Globally, cloud computing will create 14 million new jobs by the same year, according to the research. “Cloud computing will significantly stimulate IT innovation and revenues for enterprises, and estimated revenues from cloud innovation could reach US $1.1 trillion by 2015,” said IDC that analyzed the trend of cloud investment in more than 40 countries across the world for this research project.

IDC added that cloud computing will create more job positions for the emerging markets, particularly in China and India. In China alone, there will be 4 million new jobs related to the cloud by 2015, up 84% in 2012, according to the research firm.

There will be 2.75 million new jobs in India by 2015 as a result of the adoption of cloud computing,” said John F Gantz, chief research officer and senior vice president at IDC. “Both China and India are adopting public cloud computing at unprecedented speed, which accounts for 12% of the global public cloud services.”

“We tend to think of China and India as emerging markets, but they are actually early adopters of the cloud. As the two countries have minimal legacy systems, there is less holding them back in cloud adoption–China and India will contribute nearly half of the new job growth worldwide [related to cloud-based services],” Gantz added.

According to IDC, the new jobs categorized by industry in Asia by 2015 include:

* Communications and media — to be the fastest-growing sectors in Asia–will have 1.8 million new jobs related to cloud computing, up 113% from 2012;

* 567,000 cloud-related jobs in the education sector will be created, an increase of 98% compared to 2012;

* the government sector will create about 315,000 jobs related to cloud computing, an increase of 75% compared to 2012; and

Cloud-related jobs offered by SMEs (under 500 employees) in Asia will achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28%, 2.2% higher than large enterprises (above 500 employees) with a 25.8% growth rate.

4 Apr 2012

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/internet/3349051/microsoft-cloud-create-962-million-jobs-in-apac/

Categories: IT Jobs - Tags: , , ,

Hong Kong court overturns maid residency ruling

Written by lisa on March 29, 2012 · Leave a Comment

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s court of appeal on Wednesday overturned a landmark ruling that opened the door for thousands of foreign maids to claim residency in the southern Chinese city.

“It must be up to the sovereign authority to decide the extent to which the status of permanent resident should be conceded to foreign nationals,” Judge Andrew Cheung wrote in a 66-page judgement accepting the government’s appeal.

The High Court ruled on September 30 last year that Philippine domestic worker Evangeline Banao Vallejos had the right to request permanent residency status, something that had been denied to foreign maids until then.

But the government argued that the authorities had discretionary power to decide who was eligible for residency, rejecting arguments that restrictions on maids were unconstitutional and discriminatory.

The three-judge panel on the court of appeal unanimously accepted that argument, saying the High Court could not override the government’s authority to decide who can live in the city and who cannot.

The decision will come as a major blow to tens of thousands of maids who could have been eligible for residency status if the Vallejos case had been established in law.

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Hong Kong’s flavoursome taste

Written by lisa on March 26, 2012 · Leave a Comment

WITH food this good and plentiful, it’s fortunate Asia’s world city has top places to take a walk, writes Brad Crouch.

Locals buy fresh vegies at an open air fruit and vegie market in the Central market.

Visiting Hong Kong during the Food and Wine Festival was always going to challenge the waistline, but I kept in trim thanks to the Dragon’s Back.

The Dragon’s Back dispels some myths about Hong Kong Island for new visitors the forests of towering apartment blocks, the gleaming skyscrapers and teeming masses of the city’s population of more than seven million may conjure the notion that Hong Kong Island is covered in concrete.

Far from it. Hong Kong’s 1104sq km, including Kowloon, the New Territories and islands, is 70 per cent rural, and even Hong Kong Island has places of bush serenity.

The Dragon’s Back is one. About a 20-minute bus ride from the downtown district’s skyward sprawl, the soaring mountains of the island’s interior have resisted various attempts to build. Trails over these mountains, known in part as the Dragon’s Back, offer the chance to catch your breath from Hong Kong’s dynamic urban crush.

Take the No.9 bus and get off at Cape Collinson Rd for the Shek O trail, about a three-hour hike steep in parts as you climb to a series of peaks but with enough flat sections to make it enjoyable. It winds through thickly forested sections, with sudden views through the bush giving sensational vistas of the coast, such as Big Wave Bay, the millionaires’ beachfront homes and the manicured golf course of the Shek O Country Club.

Take water and a hat for the hike and, if worn out afterwards, perhaps head for the nearby outpost of Stanley, with its resort feel, for a swim or a relaxing waterfront lunch at a chic restaurant like Saigon before browsing the markets.

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Categories: Hong Kong Culture - Tags: , ,

Hong Kong workforce most productive in Asia – report

Written by lisa on March 22, 2012 · Leave a Comment

It has been said that from those to whom much is given, much is expected. And while Hong Kong workers may be among the highest paid in the region, they are also among most productive.

A report (PDF) compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit for Citigroup ranked 120 cities in terms of their economic strength, financial maturity and global appeal. Hong Kong’s workforce is ranked best in Asia. But because of its poor ranking in environmental and natural hazards – falling outside of the global top 50 – it conceded the top spot to Singapore.

Nonetheless the ranking is still high; only Dublin is better than Hong Kong with respect to human capital which includes the quality of education and health care as well as the ease of hiring – and firing – of foreign workers.

I have worked with locals and I can attest on the professionalism, dedication and quality of work. No wonder many of them have carved out a well-rounded career. The downside, I reckon, is that many of them may have been too fixated on work and have little left for rest and recreation. Maybe a short trip to Phuket or Bali would be enough to them recharge.

Hong Kong would have been a perfect destination for businesses if only the environment issue, which continues to haunt the city, was addressed.

Elmer W. Cagape

20 Mar 2012

http://asiancorrespondent.com/78477/hong-kong-work-force-is-most-productive-in-asia/

Categories: Work in Hong Kong - Tags: , , ,

Immigration Will Determine Hong Kong’s Identity

Written by lisa on March 22, 2012 · Leave a Comment

The Hong Kong chief executive race is being driven by fears about the city’s identity. Henry Tang is mistrusted because as the favorite of the tycoons he may lead the city down the road of crony capitalism. C.Y. Leung is mistrusted because he is a Communist Party man who may compromise the city’s autonomy.

Donald Tsang, the current Chief Executive of Hong Kong

But the biggest threat to Hong Kong’s identity is more prosaic. Whoever becomes chief executive after Sunday will have major decisions to make on immigration to address a demographic crisis on the horizon.

Without immigration, in a few decades Hong Kong will become, after Japan, Italy and Germany, the world’s fourth-oldest community. The median age, already 41.8, is forecast to reach 50 in 20 years. For a society synonymous with enterprise and innovation, this prospect is unsettling.

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Categories: Hong Kong Issues - Tags: , , ,

HK in need of more talents

Written by lisa on March 15, 2012 · Leave a Comment

Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, a Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress, pointed out that Hong Kong is in need of more talents, particularly, well educated, highly intelligent and innovative “brain power” to support the development of the economy and to ease its aging problem.

Fan thinks the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government can proactively attract “brain power” from the mainland, as part of its population policy.

Fan is the only Hong Kong member on the NPC Standing Committee, and was the president of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1997 to 2008.

“Hong Kong should also be a city for the middle class, for young talents from all over the world, a civilized society where people feel their potential can be fully developed,” Fan said on Monday.

Major reasons for young professional mainlanders to stay in Hong Kong for only a few years include crowded accommodation and high living costs.

Local young professionals face the same problems. There are voices in Hong Kong community calling for rent subsidy and more tax benefits for home purchase. Fan believes such suggestions deserve further consideration.

As for claims that babies born to non-Hong-Kong-permanent-residents, who are entitled to right of abode in Hong Kong, may help to offset Hong Kong need for talents in the decades to come, Fan doubts the logic of this argument.

Mainland women gave birth to 47 per cent of the babies born in Hong Kong in 2010, according to the SAR government.

“Hong Kong is in need of talents in certain fields. We cannot satisfy specific manpower needs just by adding or subtracting. We are not simply playing with figures,” said Fan.

In fact, the Hong Kong government had been taking measures to reduce the number of babies born to mainlanders in Hong Kong, including raising the charge for mainland mothers-to-be to give birth in Hong Kong and, in cooperation with neighboring Guangdong province, cracking down on illegal agencies arranging their visits.

Fan suggested the SAR government take the initiative to find ways to remove the right of abode of Hong Kong for babies with mainland parents, which she consider to be the crux of the problem.

The SAR government introduced the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates in 2001 to attract mainland students who graduated in Hong Kong.

By 2007, 1,078 qualified mainland graduates were living and working in Hong Kong under the policy.

Mainland professionals and people with special skills who were not educated in Hong Kong can apply for a long-stay visa under the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals.

By 2007, some 6,663 mainlanders and overseas Chinese were allowed to come to work or reside in Hong Kong under the ASMTP.

Michelle Fei

14 Mar 2012

http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20120314-333336.html

Categories: Hong Kong Economy - Tags: , ,

“Dragon baby boom” expected to boost businesses in Hong Kong

Written by lisa on February 29, 2012 · Leave a Comment

The reason is simple: Chinese across the world believe children born during the Year of the Dragon — the symbol of ancient emperors — will possess courage, wisdom and good fortune, and Hong Kong is of no exception. Those lucky babies are expected to give a handsome boost to related industries here.

In the previous dragon year in 2000, a total of 54,134 births were logged in Hong Kong, official data showed. The city’s Hospital Authority said in an earlier estimate that Hong Kong is set to welcome upwards of 80,000 newborns this year under the stimulation, marking a 5-10 percent rise from last year.

Nanny services are one of the sectors most feeling the heat. At a job fair held in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in January, the maternity nannies are among the best paid jobs, with salaries in a range of 8,000-14,000 Hong Kong dollars.

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Hong Kong fights landmark maids residency ruling

Written by lisa on February 22, 2012 · Leave a Comment

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s government on Tuesday launched an appeal against a landmark court ruling which grants thousands of foreign maids the right to seek permanent residency in the southern banking hub.

Government counsel David Pannick told the Court of Appeal the original ruling restricted the authorities’ ability to determine who could permanently reside in Hong Kong, and should be reversed.

The High Court ruling on September 30 gave Philippine domestic worker Evangeline Banao Vallejos the right to request permanent residency status, something that had been denied to foreign maids until then.

“It is our respectful submission that (this) decision was wrong as a matter of law,” Pannick said at the outset of the hearing.

He said the city authorities should be given some discretionary power to decide who was eligible for residency, rejecting arguments that restrictions on maids were unconstitutional and discriminatory.

“There is no undermining of the rule of law if the legislature enjoys a certain margin of discretion,” he told the court.

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Categories: Hong Kong Permanent Residency - Tags: , ,

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