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August 13th, 2012:

Confirmation of now TV channel subscription (KMM58869326I23896L0KM)

Aug 13th, 2012
by Editor.
No comments yet

—–Original Message—–
From: now TV Customer Service [mailto:cs@nowtv.now.com]
Sent: 13 August, 2012 12:46
To: James Middleton
Subject: Re: FW: FW: FW: Confirmation of now TV channel subscription (KMM58869326I23896L0KM)

Our Reference:6801129/KMM58869326I23896L0KM

Dear Mr Middleton,

With regards to previous message, please be confirmed that an appointment has been arranged on 15th August, 2012 within 2pm – 4pm for upgrading the now TV to HD service. Please be informed that our technician will contact you, Marianne or Jintana at  2693 0136,  2693 0177 or  9140 5144 before visit.

Should you have any further enquiries, please feel free to email us again or call our now TV Customer Service Hotline 1833 888.

Yours sincerely,

Kevin Lam

now TV Customer Service

Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT) Limited (for and on behalf of PCCW Media Limited)

Hotline – 1833 888

Fax No. – 28880700

Email : cs@nowtv.now.com

Web Site : http://www.now-tv.com

*****************************************************************

We have launched a brand new integrated customer service platform.

Through a single login after free registration, you can manage your NETVIGATOR, now TV, fixed-line/ eye and PCCW mobile services; and also check your bills, appointment details and latest service updates. Check it out: http://cs.pccw.com

Action now & Enjoy the “Easy Life” from our integrated on-line Customer Service platform!

1) Step 1 – Visit http://cs.pccw.com & click “Please click here to register a new login account for this website”

2) Step 2 – Set your Login ID (i.e. valid email address), password and input basic information & then activate your on-line Customer Service account via email reply

3) Step 3 – Use the integrated on-line Customer Service platform to view & manage your services under PCCW

Tips: To ensure the smooth registration, please kindly prepare the account no. of one of your subscribed services, e.g. NETVIGATOR, now TV, PCCW mobile or PCCW fixed-line.

*****************************************************************

This message (and any attachments) may contain information that is confidential, proprietary, privileged or otherwise protected by law. The message is intended solely for the named addressee (or a person responsible for delivering it to the addressee). If you are not the intended recipient of this message, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate this message or any part of it. If you have received this message in error, please destroy the message or delete it from your system immediately and notify the sender.

*****************************************************************

Original Message Follows:

————————

From     : now TV Customer Service <cs@nowtv.now.com>

To          : James Middleton <dynamco@netvigator.com>

Date      : 2012/8/11 15:58:35

Subject : Re: FW: FW: FW: Confirmation of now TV channel subscription

(KMM58719900I23896L0KM)

Our Reference:6801129/KMM58719900I23896L0KM

Dear Mr Middleton,

Thank you for confirmation and please kindly be informed that we are now arranging with relating department and further processing, we get back

to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your kind patience.

If you have any further enquiries, please feel free to email us again or call our now TV Customer Service Hotline 1833 888.

Yours sincerely,

Phoebe Lui

now TV Customer Service

Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT) Limited (for and on behalf of PCCW Media Limited)

Hotline – 1833 888

Fax No. – 28880700

Email : cs@nowtv.now.com

Web Site : http://www.now-tv.com

*****************************************************************

This message (and any attachments) may contain information that is confidential, proprietary, privileged or otherwise protected by law. The message is intended solely for the named addressee (or a person responsible for delivering it to the addressee). If you are not the intended recipient of this message, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate this message or any part of it. If you have received this message in error, please destroy the message or delete it from your system immediately and notify the sender.

*****************************************************************

Original Message Follows:

————————

From     : James Middleton <dynamco@netvigator.com>

To          : now TV Customer Service <cs@nowtv.now.com>

Date      : 2012/8/9 21:00:44

Subject : FW: FW: FW: Confirmation of now TV channel subscription

(KMM58668169I23896L0KM)

—–Original Message—–

From: James Middleton [mailto:dynamco@netvigator.com]

Sent: 09 August, 2012 19:14

To: ‘now TV Customer Service’

Subject: RE: FW: FW: Confirmation of now TV channel subscription

(KMM58668169I23896L0KM)

OK pls proceed

James

– Date (at least 7  days notice )     soonest possible    –there is

always someone here

– Time period (10am – 1pm; 2pm – 4pm; 4pm – 6pm; 6pm- 8pm)     Any

– Contact person  James / Marianne / Jintana

– Contact number 26930136    26930177 91405144

—–Original Message—–

From: now TV Customer Service  [mailto:cs@nowtv.now.com]

Sent: 09 August, 2012 17:50

To: James Middleton

Subject: Re: FW: FW: Confirmation of now TV channel subscription

(KMM58668169I23896L0KM)

Our Reference:6801129/KMM58668169I23896L0KM

Dear Mr Middleton,

Thank you for your precious time in waiting for our response.

Regarding to your concern about upgrading HD now TV service, first of all, we are truly sorry to learn of the situation, please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused to you and thank you for granting us an opportunity to look into the matter.

Please be informed that we can arrange to upgrade the HD now TV service with $28 HD Connection Fee only and you are not required to subscribe extra channel. Besides, below HD channels will be provided.

110 HBO HD

208 Discovery HD

218 NatGeo HD

660 now Sports HD

672 ESPN HD

For your information, as the maximum bandwidth of your installation address is not sufficient to support bundled NETVIGATOR and HD now TV services, therefore, the services will be separated as standalone broadband and HD now TV service. As a result, you will have 2 connections, one for NETVIGATOR (connect by modem) and the other for HD now TV (connect by modem + HD decoder).

Upon the HD now TV service is installed, the commitment of your existing subscription will be renewed 24 months and the monthly service fee will be HK$642 (channel subscriptions $614 + HD connection fee $28). Below please find the subscriptions details for your reference.

<Select channel For Buy 24 months with free 3 month incentive>

-Subscription: $410 per month

-Free months: 3rd, 9th, 11th month of commitment period

HBO Super Pak ( HBO/MAX PAK Premium + HBO On Demand ) $58

111 – HBO Hits

112 – HBO Family

113 – HBO Signature Plus 1

114 – HBO Signature

115 – HBO

116 – Max

5 Star FOX Pack $68

117 – FOX Movies Premium

515 – Fox – Channel

523 – FoxCrime

524 – FX Channel

528 – Star World

122 – MGM $14

Ultimate Discovery Pack $24

209 – Discovery Channel

210 – Animal Planet

211 – Discovery Science

212 – Discovery Turbo

213 – TLC

214 – Discovery Home & Health

National Geographic VOD Mega Pack $38

215 – National Geographic

216 – National Geographic Wild

217 – National Geographic Adventure

AXN Mega 3 $50

512 – AXN

513 – beTv

514 – Sony Entertainment Television

New Premium Mega Sports Pack $158

670 – ESPN

671 – StarSports

663 – ESPN+

664 – StarSports+

630 – now Sports Prime

631 – now Sports 1

632 – now Sports 2

633 – now Sports 3

634 – now Sports 4

635 – now Sports 5

636 – now Sports 6

637 – now Sports 7

638 – Goal TV 1

639 – Goal TV 2

676 – EuroSport

677 – EuroSportNews

<Channel For Buy 24 months without free incentive>

-Subscription: $208 per month

BBC pack $36

220 – BBC Knowledge

221 – BBC Lifestyle

320 – BBC World

529 – BBC Entertainment

674 – STAR Cricket    $168

675 – STAR Cricket+

If you agree with the above arrangement, please kindly reply us with your confirmation and provide us below information, so that we may arrange an appointment for installation accordingly.

– Date (at least 7 days notice)

– Time period (10am – 1pm; 2pm – 4pm; 4pm – 6pm; 6pm- 8pm)

– Contact person

– Contact number

If you have any further enquiries, please feel free to email us again or call our now TV Customer Service Hotline 1833 888.

Yours sincerely,

Phoebe Lui

now TV Customer Service

Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT) Limited (for and on behalf of PCCW Media Limited)

Hotline – 1833 888

Fax No. – 28880700

Email :  cs@nowtv.now.com

Web Site :  http://www.now-tv.com

*****************************************************************

This message (and any attachments) may contain information that is confidential, proprietary, privileged or otherwise protected by law. The message is intended solely for the named addressee (or a person responsible for delivering it to the addressee). If you are not the intended recipient of this message, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate this message or any part of it. If you have received this message in error, please destroy the message or delete it from your system immediately and notify the sender.

*****************************************************************

Original Message Follows:

————————

From       : James Middleton < dynamco@netvigator.com >

To            : now TV Customer Service < cs@nowtv.now.com >

Date          : 2012/8/9 07:36:23

Subject : FW: FW: Confirmation of now TV channel subscription

(KMM58277129I23896L0KM)

—————————–

PLEASE CONSIDER OUR ENVIRONMENT BEFORE PRINTING  Scanned By PCCW Anti-Spam Infrastructure

<br>—————————–<br>

PLEASE CONSIDER OUR ENVIRONMENT BEFORE PRINTING <br> Scanned By PCCW Anti-Spam Infrastructure <br>

HK must fast-track switch to electric buses

Aug 13th, 2012
by Editor.
No comments yet

SCMP

Thomas London says Hong Kong is overlooking a ready-made opportunity to improve air quality – it should catch up with the latest technology in electric buses being developed and produced over the border

Aug 13, 2012

Hong Kong has recently experienced record-breaking smog levels. The Environmental Protection Department said that roadside pollution in 2011 was the worst on record. Clear the Air, a local non-governmental organisation working for improved air quality, reports that the city’s greenhouse-gas emissions have jumped 14 per cent from 1990 to 2005 and that vehicles are the second greatest contributor to air pollution. The Hedley Environmental Index estimates that this past month’s pollution will mean 154 premature deaths in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is unusual among developed-world cities both in the poor quality of its air and the many easy opportunities to cut pollution. Replacing the city’s ageing diesel-powered bus fleet with electric buses would effectively cut vehicular emissions, improve air quality and alleviate subsequent health complications. Hong Kong’s solution for where to source such a vehicle lies just across the border.

Mainland China has prioritised the development of electric and hybrid vehicles in response to its growing dependence on foreign oil. The government announced annual subsidies of up to 2 billion yuan (HK$2.5 billion) for fuel-saving vehicles, including electrics and hybrids, in an attempt to foster growth in the industry and eventually put five million alternative energy vehicles on Chinese streets by 2020. Hong Kong can benefit from this initiative, utilising the funds used to develop the mainland’s electric vehicle industry.

Shenzhen’s BYD, the company famed for being one of the world’s largest rechargeable battery manufacturers and winning financial backing from Warren Buffett, released an all-electric bus this past year. The K9 is fuelled by both solar power and a rechargeable lithium iron phosphate battery – one three-hour charge gives the bus a 250-kilometre range in urban settings.

This vehicle is fully capable of handling the routes and distances covered by the current bus fleet and would immediatelyminimise carbon emissions and noise pollution.

The Hong Kong government has acknowledged the potential of integrating electric vehicles, establishing a benchmark to make 30 per cent of private vehicles either hybrids or fully electric by 2020. The Transport Department is considering deploying electric buses from Kowloon Motor Bus. However, the vehicle’s range is a minuscule 10 kilometres, meaning these buses cannot be used on regular routes.

Money is not an issue. Last financial year, the government amassed a budget surplus of more than HK$73 billion. In fact, initial funding to implement the switch to public electric buses had been previously allocated. Leung Chun-ying’spredecessor, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, prioritised an electric bus fleet, setting aside HK$180 million for the transition during his final policy address as chief executive. Furthermore, the Pilot Green Transport Fund has set aside HK$300 million to promote more sustainable transport solutions.

Many regions already recognise the benefits of operating all-electric public buses. Governments in Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Amsterdam and Ontario are all slated to integrate the K9 into their transport systems. Chinese cities, including Changsha, Shaoguan, Xian and most notably Shenzhen, have effectively put the bus through its paces. The fleets have collectively travelled over five million kilometres without major incident. The K9 is ready for Hong Kong.

Partnering with BYD would strengthen Hong Kong’s ties with mainland Chinese businesses and neighbouring Shenzhen. If successful, the partnership would encourage other mainland companies to invest and develop for the Hong Kong market. It may even boost public sentiment towards the ability of the Chinese private sector to benefit Hong Kong.

The new bus fleet would serve as an example of Chinese innovation and cutting-edge technology, a notion that too many dismiss as non-existent.

The Leung administration could use a political victory. Leung has the opportunity to illustrate his commitment to the city’s health and long-term sustainability while facing what one would assume to be little political opposition. Introducing the new fleet would promote Hong Kong as a modern, forward-thinking city. In short, pursuing this initiative would provide a much-needed easy win for the administration.

Hong Kong has a unique chance to illustrate its commitment to green technology and sustainability. Few cities are as fortunate to have a massive budget surplus, close economic ties with the world’s largest exporter, and new political leadership eager to improve its reputation. Even fewer are presented with a simple way to address one of its most significant problems.

Hong Kong must introduce electric buses to abate roadside pollution and overall emissions. Get smoggy diesel buses off the road now so that Hong Kong’s people can once again smell the scent of Asia’s most fragrant harbour.

Thomas London is a Princeton-in-Asia fellow at the Asia Business Council

Could Loh be Leung’s green redeemer?

Aug 13th, 2012
by Editor.
No comments yet
SCMP

Having been opposed by Beijing in the past, likely new environment undersecretary is a curious choice – but could make a difference to C.Y.’s team
Tony Cheung
Aug 13, 2012

In a report commissioned by the international investment group CLSA on Hong Kong’s new chief executive, Christine LohKung-wai outlined Leung Chun-ying’s most pressing environmental challenges: he should look at how to manage waste, tackle the notorious air pollution and conserve nature, she wrote.

Loh said Leung should combine economic investment and improving air quality “in a way that allows Hong Kong to continue to develop and at the same reduce air pollution, as California has successfully done”.

What she then saw as Leung’s responsibilities, however, will soon be her own: tipped to take up the post of undersecretary for the environment, the 56-year-old former legislator may finally have the opportunity to help Leung – and Hong Kong – catch up in adopting green policies widely practised in the US and beyond.

If she does accept the post, it is a move that will see Loh becoming a doer again, more than a decade after she retired from the Legislative Council. Having been seen as a champion of civil rights and a pan-democrat, her likely acceptance of a post within Leung’s administration has been greeted with as much surprise as her move in 2000 to quit a seemingly fledgling career in frontline politics to conduct environmental and social policy research as chief executive of Civic Exchange, a think tank she co-founded with her then-leading aide Lisa Hopkinson.

Loh has as yet refused to confirm her appointment, and declined to be interviewed last week about the situation because she is “busy with work” – echoing her denials in June that she had applied for the position. Yet a person familiar with the situation confirmed to the South China Morning Post (SEHK: 0583, announcements, news) that she has been offered the job, although it was still uncertain if she will actually take it.

Such hesitation might stem partly from the opposition she once faced and probably would face again from Beijing-loyalist groups. It is understood that when Donald Tsang Yam-kuen won another term as chief executive in 2007, he offered the post of environment minister to Loh. But despite her track record as a green advocate, her candidacy was opposed – and possibly torpedoed – by conservative groups with a direct line to the central government.

Loh was again tipped as a candidate for the post earlier this year, but Leung appointed architect and Green Building Council member Wong Kam-sing instead.

With Leung’s many political appointees landing in hot water, however, Loh’s presence might help reinvigorate public faith in the new government. According to political scientist Ivan Choy Chi-keung of Chinese University, her track record as an advocate of universal suffrage may help boost the image of Leung’s administration.

Loh’s reputation for being a progressive politician began in 1992, when she left her career as a commodities trader to become one of Governor Chris Patten’s appointees to the Legislative Council. Within a year, she steered through a controversial amendment giving women in the New Territories the same rights as men to inherit rural land – a proposal which triggered violent protests outside the council building in Central. Some residents even threatened to rape Loh if she were to venture into the New Territories.

One of the legislators who fought with her was the Democratic Party’s Zachary Wong Wai-yin, who sat next to Loh in the Legco chamber from 1992 to 1997. “Loh was very determined on sexual equality, maybe it was because she received Western education and went to international schools since she was a kid … she was resolute about environmental protection, too,” Wong said.

A victory for Loh’s environmental agenda was the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance, which she presented to Legco and had enacted in 1997. It prevented Victoria Harbour from conducting large-scale reclamation works, which she said might effectively turn the harbour into a river.

Loh beat the veteran lawmaker and urban councillor Peggy Lam Pei Yu-dja when she ran in her first legislative election in 1995, with her political co-ordinates made more evident when she founded the Citizens’ Party shortly before the handover. Forced out of her post when Beijing replaced the body with the appointed Provisional Legislative Council in 1997, she returned to the chamber the following year after a second successful election campaign.

Two years later, Loh announced her surprise decision not to run in the 2000 polls. In her autobiography Being Here: Shaping a Preferred Future, published in 2006, Loh said she bade farewell to Legco because her “assessment of the future Legco for the coming term was bleak. The then-chief executive Tung Chee-hwa was not interested in developing a partnership with legislators even though he said he was … It struck me that it was perhaps time to find a new path to continue my interest in promoting good governance, as well as environmental protection and sustainable development.”

Loh subsequently founded Civic Exchange, which conducted and released Hong Kong’s first in-depth survey of residents’ environmental behaviour in 2001, produced an air management policy in 2006, and also published books on the government’s ministerial system and the functional constituencies in Legco.

Well-regarded among local green groups, Loh’s appointment would certainly be unlike that of the now much-maligned Paul Chan Mo-po, whose suitability as development minister was roundly questioned given his background as an accountant.

Hahn Chu Hon-keung, senior environmental manager of Friends of the Earth, welcomed Loh’s possible appointment. He believes that given her experience, she is a suitable, even overqualified candidate.

However, Chu said that if Loh became undersecretary, the government must be transparent about possible conflicts of interest. The Environment Bureau’s responsibilities include monitoring and negotiating with electricity firms, and Civic Exchange’s financial sponsors include CLP Power (SEHK: 0002). “It is reasonable for Civic Exchange to accept sponsors as a think tank,” Chu said. “[But if appointed,] I think Loh can no longer keep her think tank role.”

Chu also believes pollution, road-side air quality in particular, has worsened in recent years. He said he hoped that if Lohtook the job, she would tackle the problem. “I hope stricter air quality objectives … can be set. We have the capability and resources to do so,” he said.

CHRISTINE LOH KUNG-WAI

AGE 56

NOW Chief executive of Civic Exchange; board member of the Clean Air Network

PREVIOUSLY Legislator 1992-97, 1998-2000; founding chairwoman of Citizens’ Party, 1997-2000; chairwoman of Friends of the Earth, 1990s

EDUCATION A bachelor’s degree in law and a doctor of law degree from the University of Hull, England, and a master’s degree in Chinese and comparative law from City University, Hong Kong

PERSONAL Has a daughter with her partner

tony.cheung@scmp.com

Environmental assessment for third runway inadequate

Aug 13th, 2012
by Editor.
No comments yet
SCMP letter Aug 13, 2012

Without assessing the social costs of the [proposed] third runway project, Hong Kong Airport Authority swiftly submitted a project profile to the Environmental Protection Department in late June so it could embark on an environmental impact assessment.

However, the authority appears, on purpose, to have omitted a health impact assessment and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions assessment from the profile for the department on which it will base the project’s study brief. As a member of the Advisory Council on the Environment, I told the department that the study brief must include the key assessments of carbon dioxide emissions and health impacts. For such a huge project, the environmental and health impacts will not be small, so the authority should diligently examine and disclose any potential impacts. The study brief issued on Saturday includes a health impact assessment but not one for CO2 emissions.

Carbon dioxide is a major greenhouse gas. Additional flights and related land and sea transport will generate additional CO2.

The government issued Hong Kong’s Climate Change Strategy and Action Agenda for consultation in late 2010; it includes the goal of reducing the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 60 per cent by 2020. Without a CO2 assessment, it is impossible to tell if the project is compatible with the government’s policies and goals.

In June, the World Health Organisation announced that the carcinogenic risks of exhaust fumes from diesel engines had been updated from “probable” to “definite”. Although aircraft do not burn diesel, the vehicles and ships that carry goods and passengers to the airport do, and therefore we welcome the requirement of a health impact assessment that covers emissions from flights and associated transport in order to safeguard public health. After all, as well as protecting public health it is equally important that the director of environmental protection ensures the project is in line with the government’s low-carbon and climate-change goals.

It is not acceptable to exclude a CO2 emissions assessment from the study brief. Although the study brief does not require the Airport Authority to use the government’s revised air quality objectives to assess the project’s impact on air quality, it should use the revised objectives, as promised.

The Airport Authority did not include assessments of health impacts or CO2 emissions in its project profile, making me feel it is not committed wholeheartedly to sustainable development.

Edwin Lau Che-feng, director, general affairs, Friends of the Earth (HK)