HK buyer owns “unluckiest” license plate

A Hong Kong woman splashed out 130,000 US dollars for a car licence plate carrying “4444″, despite the number’s traditional links to death in Chinese culture, a report said Monday.

The bidder paid one million Hong Kong dollars in a government auction of 270 unusual licence plates on Sunday, the Chinese-language Apple Daily said.

The number four is often avoided by Chinese people because its pronunciation is similar to the word for “dead”.

Some skyscrapers do not include floors that end with the number, such as 14th or fourth, as they are less likely to be rented. (story)

IOC to China, open up the Internet for us

Internet censorship is practically synonymous with China these days. The Chinese government is often used as the poster child for restrictive governments that restrict the free flow of information to its residents. That could be why the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is getting antsy, as Beijing is bound by contract as this year’s Olympic host city to allow the press to report as usual during the games. And reporting as usual means unrestricted Internet access.

The IOC “discussed and insisted” with the Chinese government again this morning that the Internet is required to be “open at all times during Games time,” IOC coordination commission vice chairman Kevan Gosper told Reuters. “There was some criticism that the Internet closed down during events relating to Tibet in previous weeks, but this is not Games time.” (story)

Chinese Ambassador calls Dalai Lama a liar

“The Dalai Lama has been telling lies to the world for decades,” Lu Shumin told a group of invited journalists at the Chinese Embassy.

Lu said western media have been hoodwinked by the Dalai Lama. He also claimed that prior to China’s takeover in 1959, Tibet resembled “medieval Europe” and cited a mid-1930s trip to the mountainous enclave by a Nazi official who, Lu said, found much in common with the Tibetan system of governance.

The highly unusual event came as international pressure increases on China to show restraint in dealing with Tibetan demonstrators who are seeking greater freedom from Beijing’s control.

The ambassador showed a lengthy video which he said portrayed violent street demonstrations by Tibetan separatists in the capital of Lhasa that had to be suppressed.

Lu said the violence is a result of the Dalai Lama’s direct influence, adding he didn’t have time to recite all the evidence. (story)

Excessive drinking kills Chinese woman

A Chinese woman had so much to drink at a pub that she died of acute alcohol intoxication, a coroner’s court heard on Tuesday.

Ms Zhu Shaoyun, 31, had been drinking from 5pm till about 9pm at Dong Guang Entertainment Group Pub along North Bridge Road on Nov 12 last year.

In Singapore on a social visit then, she had ordered beer and a bottle of Cordonbleu from waiter Ng Wei Guang, 25.

By about 8pm, she was heavily intoxicated.

At an inquiry into her death, Station Inspector Eugene Lim Kuan Leng from Central Police Division said in his investigation report that out of goodwill, Mr Ng accompanied Ms Zhu back to Lorong 8 Geylang in a cab. She vomited on the way. (link)

Police search for 2 suspects in shopping complex attack

The police are searching for two men who sprayed a male Chinese victim with an unknown substance at the Golden Landmark Shopping Complex at around 4 pm yesterday.

One man is described as wearing a white cap with a dark top and jeans, and has a scar on his right cheek. The other is plump with tattoos on both hands. He was wearing a light-coloured, short-sleeved top with dark pants.

“The male Chinese victim was sprayed with an unknown substance by two unknown persons who subsequently fled the scene,” a police spokesman said.

He was spotted near the entrance outside the building, groggy and behaving aggressively. He was foaming at his mouth with saliva and mucus was dripping from his nose onto his T-shirt.

The victim was sent to Singapore General Hospital, where he received outpatient treatment. (link)

Singapore supports China during Tibet unrest

Singapore on Tuesday voiced support for China’s handling of unrest in Tibet and said there should be no ‘politicisation’ of the Olympic Games hosted by Beijing in August. ‘Singapore supports the declared policy of the Chinese government to protect the lives and property of its citizens from violent demonstrators with minimum use of force,’ a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

‘We are opposed to the politicisation of the Olympics.’

Beijing has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, of masterminding the protests, saying the unrest was a deliberate campaign to sabotage the Beijing Games. (story)

Tibetans takeover town, raise flag

More than 1,000 Tibetans, some on horseback, charged into a remote Chinese town, attacking a government building and hoisting their national flag, Canadian TV reported.CTV carried the dramatic footage of the mounted Tibetans, cheering wildly as they galloped into the unnamed town in Gansu province in China’s northwest, demanding, the report said, an independent Tibet.

One of the Tibetan horsemen seen charging through the town in a cloud of dust kicked up by the horses’ hooves was carrying a large Tibetan flag.

Inside the town a crowd of Tibetans attacked a government building but was repelled by about 100 heavily armed soldiers holed up inside using tear gas, CTV said.

The footage featured loud blasts, apparently the noise of tear gas canisters either being fired or exploding. (story)

Organizers play wrong anthem for gold medal winning Chinese athlete

China’s Liu Xiang received the gold medal for the 60 meter hurdles on two occasions Sunday after a mix-up over the national anthem.

A bemused Liu was the model of stoicism in the initial ceremony as organizers inadvertently played Chile’s national anthem instead of the Chinese.

But he then shook his head as he explained to fellow medalists Allen Johnson and Evgeniy Borisov and organizers what had happened.

An altogether happier Liu took to the podium for a second time 10 minutes later to pick up his gold once again, on this occasion accompanied by the correct anthem. (link)

More bus drivers Chinese

Bus operators are turning to China for drivers as more Singaporeans here shun the job, complaining of irregular hours and low pay. This is the first time SBS Transit and SMRT are looking beyond Singapore and Malaysia in their effort to hire more drivers.

SMRT’s first batch of 34 drivers from China - it has hired about 100 to boost its pool of 1,700, 80 per cent of whom are Singaporeans - arrived in January.

Meanwhile, SBS is bringing in 20 drivers to start work soon on two-year contracts.

SBS Transit spokesman Tammy Tan said that if its first batch of bus captains from China performs well, it might hire more of them and also consider drivers from other countries.

It currently has 5,200 drivers, 75 per cent of whom are Singaporeans or permanent residents. Malaysians make up the rest.

Both companies said they are turning to China as they find it increasingly difficult to hire Singaporeans.

It is a problem that has surfaced in the past. (story)

Australian tourists taken hostage … briefly by Chinese man

Australian tourists briefly held hostage in China by a lone man armed with explosives on Thursday told of their ordeal as Canberra urged holidaymakers to heed travel warnings ahead of the Beijing Olympics.The man attacked a group of 10 Australian travel agents visiting the northwest city of Xi’an, famed as home of the Terracotta Warriors, on Wednesday before he was shot dead by a police sniper.

‘He was pacing up and down the bus, they couldn’t understand what he was saying. Then he turned around, opened up his jacket and he had a bomb strapped to him,’ said Sue Wynne, a friend of hostage Rhiannon Dunkley, after speaking to her.

Nine of the hostages were released by the man, but a 48-year-old woman was held captive for several hours before the gunman was killed.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said there was nothing to suggest the Australians were deliberately targeted and the motive for the attack remained unclear.

‘We’ve asked for a full briefing to try to understand the motivation,’ Mr Smith told journalists in Melbourne.

The travel agents were on an educational tour to Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai, organised by a Sydney-based travel wholesale company, when the attack took place. (story)