• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.9-17
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• 2019

The purpose of this research is to review historical development of Islamic finance in individual East Asian economies, including China, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong, and examine the success factors of the Hong Kong Sukuk issuances in 2014-2017. The research is a qualitative study applying case study method. It is found that the East Asian economies do play efforts to develop their Islamic capital markets although they have very limited size of Muslim population. Their progress on this development generally remains to be slow. The Hong Kong Sukuk is a breakthrough, carrying a total issuance value of US$3 billion. The Sukuk issuances, treated as a kind of asset-backed securities with restrictions on financing purposes, are distributed to international investors by investment banks from Hong Kong, Middle East and Malaysia. Success factors of these issuances include involvement of an issuer with high credit quality, recognition by central bank for using the Sukuk in its discount facility for commercial banks, centralized clearing services for the Sukuk and global banking network for underwriting the Sukuk. The lessons from the Hong Kong Sukuk are good references for other economies to develop their regional Islamic capital markets and to integrate the markets into the global capital market.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.31-46
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to measure the degree of discrepancies in the bilateral trade data between South Korea and its five major trade partners and to identify the key factors causing the discrepancies. By analyzing statistics based on the CIF/FOB ratio estimation and taking into consideration the trade flow via Hong Kong, the study finds that the discrepancies in South Korea's trade data with the US, Vietnam, and Japan are insignificant. In case of Hong Kong, however, the value of South Korea's import from Hong Kong is extensively inconsistent with Hong Kong's export to South Korea(i.e. the mirror data) while the value of South Korea's export to Hong Kong generally corresponds to its mirror data. Such discrepancies are caused by differences in recording re-exports, which are often found in the trade flow via entrepôt economics including Hong Kong. Meanwhile, discrepancies in reported bilateral trade flows between South Korea and People's Republic of China(PRC) remain relatively marginal. The discrepancy of statistics between South Korea as the exporter and PRC as the importer is mainly caused by the trade flow via Hong Kong. On the other hand, the discrepancy of statistics between South Korea as the importer and PRC as the exporter is assumably due to the differences in attribution of trade partners.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2005.09b
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• pp.910-911
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• 2005

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.192-199
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• 2015

Background: Overweight, obesity, and cardiovascular disease risk factors are prevalent among firefighters in some developed countries. It is unclear whether physical activity and cardiopulmonary fitness reduce cardiovascular disease risk and the cardiovascular workload at work in firefighters. The present study investigated the relationship between leisure-time physical activity, cardiopulmonary fitness, cardiovascular disease risk factors, and cardiovascular workload at work in firefighters in Hong Kong. Methods: Male firefighters (n = 387) were randomly selected from serving firefighters in Hong Kong (n = 5,370) for the assessment of cardiovascular disease risk factors (obesity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, smoking, known cardiovascular diseases). One-third (Target Group) were randomly selected for the assessment of off-duty leisure-time physical activity using the short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Maximal oxygen uptake was assessed, as well as cardiovascular workload using heart rate monitoring for each firefighter for four "normal" 24-hour working shifts and during real-situation simulated scenarios. Results: Overall, 33.9% of the firefighters had at least two cardiovascular disease risk factors. In the Target Group, firefighters who had higher leisure-time physical activity had a lower resting heart rate and a lower average working heart rate, and spent a smaller proportion of time working at a moderate-intensity cardiovascular workload. Firefighters who had moderate aerobic fitness and high leisure-time physical activity had a lower peak working heart rate during the mountain rescue scenario compared with firefighters who had low leisure-time physical activities. Conclusion: Leisure-time physical activity conferred significant benefits during job tasks of moderate cardiovascular workload in firefighters in Hong Kong.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.17
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• pp.7713-7720
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• 2015

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers. This study aimed to compare the uptake of CRC testing in the general public and in ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional survey covered 2,327 South Asian and Chinese adults aged over 50, recruited from two separate studies. A structured questionnaires were administered by research staff over the telephone or in faceto-face interviews. Results: The uptake rate of CRC testing among South Asians was significantly lower than that of the general population in Hong Kong. Factors associated with the uptake rate were health professional's recommendation, perception of regular visits to doctor, use of complementary therapy, ethnicity, perceived susceptibility to cancer, presence of chronic illness, and education level. In addition, a significant interaction (p<0.05) between ethnicity and health professionals' recommendations was found, after adjustment for the main independent factors identified. Conclusions: Older people with lower educational attainment, without chronic illness and those have lower perceived susceptibility to cancer may be targeted for CRC testing promotion in the society. In addition, health professionals can play a highly influential role in promoting such testing, particularly among ethnic minorities.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.425-432
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• 2009

The construction industry has been a main pillar and serves as a regulator of the Hong Kong economy. Subsequently, the fluctuations in the level of construction output can induce significant rippling effects to the economy. The Asian Financial Crisis started in 1997 and the SARS outbreak in 2003 both introduced major challenges and impacts to the Hong Kong economy and consequently the construction sector. Such decline in the importance of construction has suggested a possible structural change in the sector. It is worth investigating the driving forces behind the construction demand and see if they have changed after the heavy impacts in the past decade. The above considerations have, therefore, been the motivation of the present study to model the Hong Kong residential construction demand through multiple regression technique which can identify the significant influencing factors to the residential demand. The residential construction is studied as it constitutes a significant portion of the total construction volume. The residential sector has great influence to the general economy of Hong Kong. It is found that the underlying market structure and the driving factors for Hong Kong residential demand before and after the Asian Economic Crisis and SARS outbreak are different, suggesting that the residential construction sector or even the larger construction industry may have undergone a major structural change as Hong Kong's economy approaches maturity. It is also observed that the past literatures on construction demand are mostly focusing on predicting demand under a stable economic environment. Hence, it is worth examining if it is possible to model during economic hardship when the residential sector fluctuate dramatically under different external impacts, such as the recent global financial tsunami.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2024

Background: E-waste workers in Hong Kong are handling an unprecedented amount of e-waste, which contains various neurotoxic chemicals. However, no study has been conducted to evaluate the neurological health status of e-waste workers in Hong Kong. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of neurobehavioral alterations and to identify the vulnerable groups among Hong Kong e-waste workers. Methods: We recruited 109 Hong Kong e-waste workers from June 2021 to September 2022. Participants completed standard questionnaires and wore a GENEActiv accelerometer for seven days. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Questionnaire 16/18 (Q16/18) were used to assess subjective neurobehavioral alterations. The GENEActiv data generated objective sleep and circadian rhythm variables. Workers were grouped based on job designation and entity type according to the presumed hazardous level. Unconditional logistic regression models measured the associations of occupational characteristics with neurobehavioral alterations after adjusting for confounders. Results: While dismantlers/repairers and the workers in entities not funded by the government were more likely to suffer from neurotoxic symptoms in Q18 (adjusted odds ratio: 3.18 [1.18-9.39] and 2.77 [1.10-7.46], respectively), the workers from self-sustained recycling facilities also have poor performances in circadian rhythm. Results also showed that the dismantlers/repairers working in entities not funded by the government had the highest risk of neurotoxic symptoms compared to the lowest-risk group (i.e., workers in government-funded companies with other job designations). Conclusion: This timely and valuable study emphasizes the importance of improving the working conditions for high-risk e-waste workers, especially the dismantlers or repairers working in facilities not funded by the government.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.101-114
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• 2020

Purpose - This paper examines the "Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" (the Arrangement), which became effective on October 1, 2019, calling on courts of mainland China and Hong Kong for reciprocal commitment in support of court-ordered interim measures in aid of arbitral proceedings. Because the Hong Kong courts have granted interim measures in aid of arbitral proceedings seated in and outside of Hong Kong even prior to the Arrangement becoming effective, this paper focuses on the significance of the Arrangement making Hong Kong the first and only seat outside of mainland China from which parties to arbitral proceedings may successfully obtain interim measures to preserve of assets, properties, and/or evidence from Chinese courts to be enforced in China. Design/methodology - The significance of interim measures in international arbitration and the existing circumstances of interim measures in support of international arbitral proceedings in mainland China and Hong Kong are discussed first in this paper. Due to the confidential nature of arbitral proceedings, while the details of applications for interim measures pursuant to the Arrangement cannot be discussed, in examining the implications of the Arrangement, the relevant and necessary information was made available from the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, as it is one of the six qualified arbitral institutions under the Arrangement. Findings - This groundbreaking Arrangement provides a mechanism for parties with China-related matters to more effectively resolve their disputes, the opportunity for Hong Kong to become an unparalleled seat of arbitration, and for mainland China to overcome some of its negative perceptions in international arbitration. Because the Arrangement also allows parties to directly apply for interim measures from mainland Chinese courts, parties with China-related matters should take note of this potential bypassing of the procedural hurdle, which usually requires an arbitral institution to submit such applications in China, and make strategic decisions accordingly as may be appropriate. Originality/value - Because the Arrangement is a recent yet a significant agreement calling on courts of mainland China and Hong Kong for reciprocal commitment in support of court-ordered interim measures in aid of arbitral proceedings, this study will provide useful guidance for parties with China-related matters all over the world, especially in light of China's rapid economic growth and extensive and prominent trade relationships in today's world. Parties who foresee the need for interim measures from mainland Chinese courts should designate Hong Kong as their seat of arbitration and select one of the six qualified arbitral institutions under the Arrangement to administer their arbitral proceedings in order to benefit from the Arrangement.

• International Journal of Quality Innovation
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.70-78
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• 2004

Client-supplier collaboration in new product development (NPD) has been a strategy in response to fierce global competition. Traditionally, Hong Kong suppliers collaborate with worldwide clients through original equipment manufacturing (OEM) arrangement in which suppliers manufacture products according to clients' design. In recent years, a growing number of Hong Kong suppliers have transformed to original design manufacturing (ODM) in which they are assigned a design responsibility other than manufacturing products. The ODM arrangement necessitates a close interaction between clients and suppliers, which brings about intense conflict. Conflict has been recognized as an important factor affecting NPD performance including product quality. This paper studies the conflict handling practices of Hong Kong ODM suppliers based on 87 survey data. The results show that the suppliers frequently adopt effective conflict handling practices by which they can develop products of good quality through better design decisions. The results also suggest that the use of ineffective conflict handling behaviors, particularly avoiding, should be reduced for better product quality.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.111-119
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• 1998

This paper reports a part of research work on earthquake resistance consideration in regions of moderate seismicity, which is being carried out in the Department of Civil Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology. The possible seismic hazard in Hong Kong, which is located in a region of moderate seismicity, is described. A case study is presented to compare the wind and earthquake effects on Hong Kong buildings and to assess whether seismic analysis and desing is necessary for building structure. Potential problems of reinforced concrete buildings under earthquake effects in regions of moderate seismicity are discussed.