Expert

Hong Kong’s Ghost Island comes to life

Lifestyle

  A small island, barely covering one square kilometer, was inhabited by Hakka people who migrated from Northern China in the 19th century. The first denizens of the island constructed salt pans to sustain a source of income. The salt pans were closed due to rising competitions from other countries about 100 years ago, which leads to residents resorting to farming and fishing to make a living. Some families began leaving Yim Tin Sai in the 1960s to seek a better life resulting to the village’s decrease of population until there was no one left to live there. Despite the island’s downfall, a former villager named Colin Chan went back…
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Teacherless university opens in California

  In California, a school called Ecole 42 has opened with no instructors. This university is a branch of an institution in France established by French technology billionaire, Xavier Niel. In the duration of one academic year, one thousand students will undergo training on coding and programming advancement. The students are entrusted to utilize resources accessible on the web, and by collaborating with their colleagues. A student will then be arbitrarily assigned to grade another student’s work. Once a student completes level 21, which takes three to five years, the student can graduate. The alumni of the said institution in France are currently employed at organizations such as IBM, Amazon,…
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Headmistress buys illegal jammer to block students’ internet use

  Julia Polley, a headmistress at Wensleydale School and Sixth Form College in North Yorkshire, was so frustrated at students’ fixation with their smart phones that she told parents she would be blocking 4G internet at the school. She invested in some technology which will block 4G signals on the school site. “I have improved the filters on the wi-fi to further restrict some sites,” Ms. Polley told parents. However, she has been stopped by red tape, after Ofcom warned her that it was a criminal offense. All her plans were scuppered when she was informed by North Yorkshire County Council’s IT support team and Ofcom that it was indeed…
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Pilot gives tips for coping with jet lag

Lifestyle

  Passengers count on their airline pilots and crews to be alert while they are on board, flying across the globe from 35 to 39 thousand feet. Pilots simply don’t have the luxury of sleeping off jet lag-induced exhaustion, so learning how to handle it is an obligation in their lifestyle. Pilots drain their days and nights flying across all kinds of time zones. They have to know how to deal with lethargy, which is why at Southwest they incorporate their training on how to beat jet lag. Managing jet lag is a job stipulation for them. R.J. Deutschendorf, a system chief pilot at Southwest Airlines aforementioned that you have…
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Singer controls drunk man on Korean Air flight

World News - Expert

  An intoxicated South Korean passenger attacked some airline staff on Flight 480 bound to Seoul, South Korea last Tuesday, December 20. The said passenger took four hours to calm down as female flight attendants appeared to have no idea on how to handle him. One of the passengers aboard Flight 480 was Richard Marx, a popular American singer and his wife, TV Host Daisy Fuentes. The intoxicated passenger was said to become belligerent after drinking two and a half glasses of whiskey with his meal. The celebrity couple posted the said incident in their Instagram and Twitter accounts. The popular 80’s singer slams the irresponsibility done by the crew,…
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University entrance examinations across Japan

The National Center for University Entrance Examinations says a dozen examinees were caught cheating during the annual two-day unified college entrance examinations across Japan. The assessment ended at 691 sites last Sunday. Some sites had to hold off the tests because of the dreadful weather. A student who took the exams at the Tokyo Institute of Technology said she is exhilarated that it was finally over, and she will work hard to prepare for the next round of assessment for the university she hopes to get into. Another student said he isn’t good at math and couldn’t answer all the problems, but he still feels reassured. Vocabulary: dreadful – [adjective] causing…
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Onsen adds sake into baths

  A new kind of service is being offered to customers of various ryokan inns located in Niigata Prefecture. Customers can now enjoy taking a bath in an onsen hot spring together with sake in it. The so called furosshu is being offered on the 26th of every month in 10 onsen districts in the said prefecture. Hotel Senkei Corporations’s Vice President, Takeshi Iida, is the person behind this idea. Takeshi Iida says he hopes guests can enjoy the uniqueness of Niigata through the sake-infused onsen. The said service is indeed a big success, gaining more praises and compliments from satisfied customers. The management is also considering to expand their…
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Modernization puts Chinese tea houses under threat

The outdoor tea houses were considered as the “traditional men’s club” during the Qing Dynasty where political issues and business arangements were talked about. The remaining traditional outdoor Chinese tea houses can be found within Buddhist monasteries, Taoist temples, and public parks. Few of these traditional tea houses remain in the western city of Chengdu. Majority of the tea house goers are the older generation. Tea drinking vivifies the day-to-day chess match or catching up on daily news. Presently, China’s traditional tea-houses are under threat from the country’s fast modernization. Since the early 1990s, hundreds of Chinese tea houses were annihilated in the city as renovations took place. The supervisor…
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McDonald’s sells off over 2,000 outlets in China, HK

  Citic group and Carlyle group will take over 80% of McDonald’s enterprise in Asia. The newly-signed deal dictates the firms’ domination over 2,000 McDonald’s outlets across China and Hong Kong. The said undertaking conforms to the US chain store’s plan to establish more international franchises. Under the $2.1 billion deal, China’s state-owned investment group, Citic acquires a 52% stake. The US private equity firm, Carlyle, picks up a 28% holding. The 20% remainder of the share is then kept by McDonald’s. Coincidentally, the owner of KFC and Pizza Hut, Yum brands, realigns business as both competing companies intend to bounce back after the recent food scare reports in Asia….
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Tornadoes kill 18 in southern US

The relentless weather over the weekend brought powerful tornadoes and storms to the states of Georgia and Mississippi. The fast-moving storms caused relentless devastation to many homes. Tornadoes have killed at least 18 people and injured more than 50 others so far in southeastern part of the United States. A resident recalled the ghastly experience of large tree branches hurling in the air and water from a pond splashing everywhere. The Governor of Georgia declared a state of emergency in the affected area on Sunday to ease support for residents and to assess damage. US weather authorities are advising them to stay in a safe place in a sturdy building….
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