Senior secondary, starting with Form 4, is optional, though very few students drop out of school at this stage. This is the point where students select a specific educational track; choices include the Arts, Commercial, or Science.

Within each of these tracks, Mathematics, Physical Education, Chinese, and English remain mandatory. The main focus of study for these two years is to prepare for the HKCEE, which is taken in the final quarter of Form 5 and will determine Form 6 placement.

Form 6 and 7 prepare students for the Hong Kong Advanced Level examinations, which are taken in the middle of the Form 7 school year. Students must excel in both Chinese and English testing in order to meet the requirements for being admitted to local or overseas universities.

The HKCEE and Advanced Level examinations generally do not apply to international students as international schools follow either the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum or testing formats from their own country – such as the SAT or IELTS.

About 11 percent of people polled in an online survey released by market research firm Nielsen during the weekend picked overseas travel destinations over domestic ones for the coming vacation, with the top three places for short-haul trips being Hong Kong (60 percent), Taiwan (29 percent) and Macao (23 percent).

“In these challenging economic times, travelers on the mainland are looking for ways to save, including organizing trips themselves and planning short- to medium- haul trips,” said Grace Pan, head of travel and leisure research at Nielsen’s China operations.

“All the 400 seats in our Taiwan tour groups were booked 20 days before the deadline and we have at least one group leaving for the island every day of the holiday period,” said Zhang Qingzhu, a marketing manager with China Comfort Travel Ltd.

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There are some (short) musical shows that are worth watching in Disneyland. We went to The Golden Mickeys and Festival of the Lion King; both were great.

Golden Mickeys was a show mimicking the Oscar awards, which featured various cartoon characters and stories, e.g. The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, Lilo and Stitch, and also the iconic Mickey, Minnie, Donald etc.; while Festival of the Lion King was based on 1994 animated movie, The Lion King.

Figures published by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) reveal the special administrative region saw a fall in unemployment rates from 3.9 per cent the previous quarter to 3.6 per cent.

Those seeking accounting jobs in Hong Kong may be interested to note employment rates grew to over 3.51 million during the three months to February 28th, with an estimated 7,900 new jobs created.

Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, Hong Kong’s secretary for labor and welfare, explained improving economic conditions helped to push up the number of people in employment.

He stated there is evidence “the labor market is continuing to revive and that many employers are in a stronger recruiting mood”.

According to the Dow Jones Newswires, the fall in unemployment outstripped the median prediction made by analysts it surveyed and the jobless total is likely to decline further as the economy recovers.ADNFCR-1275-ID-19689271-ADNFCR

The 4,956-square-metre plot fetched 17 per cent more than the reserve price.

The winning bid was made by Henderson Land Development Company vice-chairman Martin Lee.

The price was above market expectations and a record high for a Hong Kong auction of luxury residential land, according to auctioneers Jones Lang LaSalle.

“The super-luxury market isn’t affected by sentiment in the mass segment.” Jones Lang’s Tsang told reporters after the auction.

“At the least it shows that for true luxury locations people are willing to pay a premium price, particularly for areas where supply is limited,: he said.

The Peak is considered one of the most prestigious addresses in Hong Kong. It lies in the centre of Hong Kong island, commanding views of Victoria Harbour while being just a short car ride to the Central and financial districts.

The streets were so crowded with people that I could hardly squeeze in. After struggling for some time, I finally decided to leave. You know, a kitty could easily be hurt in such a crowded environment. According to the local press report, there had been 240,000 people visits for two days and the sales volume was about USD$22 million. Amazing record !

A quick analysis of Hong Kong’s rankings in the 11 pillars indicates that the economy’s strengths lie in its trade freedom, taxes, investor protection and monetary freedom. It also scored high on technology and lack of corruption.

While Hong Kong climbed up the ranks from its previously held ninth position to the second spot, the US was displaced from its secure second rank to the ninth spot. In contrast to Hong Kong, the US scored low on trade freedom, tax burden, market performance, and monetary freedom.

It is evident that it no longer makes sense for businesses to expand in the West, given that the western economies are imposing higher taxes, tightening their credit standards and enforcing stricter regulations for doing business. On the other hand, Asia has proved to be more resilient to the crisis and is roaring ahead on the path to economic recovery. Asia’s stronger than expected economic recovery fueled by a resurgence in its exports and a large domestic consumer market has ramped up its GDP. For instance, Hong Kong’s GDP alone grew by 7.2% in the first half of 2010 over a year earlier. Furthermore, business confidence has been rising since the beginning of this year. As a result, an increasing number of foreign businesses, entrepreneurs and investors are now turning to Asia, more specifically Hong Kong to invest, establish, and expand their business.

The so-called “fourth generation” system is being rolled out by Hong Kong mobile network operator CSL in partnership with telecoms equipment maker ZTE Corporation.
“The first launch of an LTE network any place in Asia is truly historic,” Joseph O’Konek, CSL’s chief executive, told AFP.
“For a lot of people, this will be their first experience of the Internet. They are at a huge advantage to previous Internet generations because they are leapfrogging all those fixed line technologies. “It is truly going to unleash the power of human networks as this kind of system rolls out more and more across the world.”
LTE enables faster data downloads and uploads on mobile devices compared with a third-generation network.
The system will give speeds of up to 100 megabits per second (Mbps) and should make the high quality viewing of full length movies or realtime live sporting events possible anywhere in the city.
LTE networks are already operating in Europe, Scandinavia and North America. Japan will have an LTE system before the end of the year and huge growth in LTE connections is expected over the next five years, especially in China.
Meanwhile CSL’s owner, the Australian telecoms giant Telstra, said it is looking to make acquisitions to strengthen its position in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was established on July 1, 1997. Under the principle of “One Country, Two Systems”, Hong Kong’s previous capitalist system and way of life shall remain unchanged for 50 years and the HKSAR will be run by Hong Kong people. The HKSAR enjoys a high degree of autonomy except for the foreign and defence affairs.

The Chief Executive (CE) is the head of the HKSAR. According to the Basic Law, the CE shall be selected by election or through consultations held in Hong Kong, and be appointed by the Central People’s Government. At present, the Election Committee which is responsible for selecting the CE is composed of 800 members. Most members of the Election Committee are returned by election.

The success of Hong Kong as a leading trade, finance and business centre stems from a policy of free enterprise and trade, industrious workforce, well-developed infrastructure and excellent telecommunications. Over the past 20 years, the Hong Kong’s GDP has grown by an average annual rate of 3.8 per cent per annum in real terms. In 2009, GDP at current
market prices amounted to $1,633.5 billion, while per capita GDP has reached $233,239.