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assis104s
Joined: 31 Mar 2003
Posts: 145
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 Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2003 1:37 pm Post subject: Mystery flu crisis in the Far East |
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59 people have been killed worldwide with the mystery flu that has originated in HK.
They're quarantining people in HK... there's more info here: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia_china/story.jsp?story=392564.
My friends parents have just come over from HK and they said that people are really freaking about the whole situation..they are all wearing those masks in the street...Demand for those masks have got so high that they have increased ten fold in price!!! People are even using bra pads as face masks!!!
I doubt that those masks are that effective, let alone the bra pads!
Although i think this flu thing is pretty bad, on a scale of things, it doesn't seem to be that many deaths - it's not an epidemic at the moment...so why so much hype??!! |
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sp
Joined: 27 Feb 2003
Posts: 218
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2003 10:22 pm Post subject: |
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It's very worrying, and the last thing the HK economy needs right now. When are Hong Kong's woes going to end?
I heard a story from a friend, that they were discussing the SARS crisis with a friend in Guangzhou, China, and they had no idea of the scale of the problem or even that there had been any SARS-related deaths. The entire story has been down-played in China, despite the fact the outbreak is thought to have begun there.
Are crises like this going to be more and more common now there is greater flow of people between HK and China? |
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sp
Joined: 27 Feb 2003
Posts: 218
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tenpence
Joined: 24 Feb 2003
Posts: 174
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| Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2003 12:18 pm Post subject: Chinatown hit by Sars rumours |
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Oops, problems at britishbornchinese.org
Chinatown hit by Sars rumours
Friday April 18, 2003
The Guardian
Britain's Chinese restaurants have reported a downturn in trade after customers were frightened by rumours that staff were infected with the Sars virus.
Alarm is so high that one restaurant placed an advert in a Chinese language newspaper denying that some of its staff had the virus.
There have been six suspected British cases of the virus but none has been linked to the Chinese food trade in this country.
A community website, britishbornchinese.org, has become embroiled in a row with police after allegations on its discussion board about Sars at Chinese businesses.
The Metropolitan police's Chinatown unit expressed concern about two discussions, one about London and the other concerning Birmingham. An officer with the unit said: "The [Birmingham] one was completely wrong in every single way." The website's editor, Steve Lau, said the allegations had been taken down but it was impossible to monitor the website constantly. |
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assis104s
Joined: 31 Mar 2003
Posts: 145
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| Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2003 12:23 pm Post subject: |
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According to sources, it appears that
" The Police advised the editor that they were advising businesses to sue
members of the British Born Chinese website who had posted the rumours which had led to the downturn in business."
did anyone see the messages posted on the bbc board? |
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sp
Joined: 27 Feb 2003
Posts: 218
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2003 10:44 am Post subject: |
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I never saw the original articles but if they named actual restaurants, then the site should hold its hands up and admit they may have helped spread the rumours, even if it was unwittingly. The editor of the site actually said on the Radio 4 programme something like he has "the ability to reach 3000 people in 5 mins" so rumours of this nature appearing on the site are going to have an impact on the businesses concerned.
I hope the situation in HK improves soon. They say the bug dies in hot temperatures so maybe as it gets warmer the spread of the virus will slow down? |
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darntart
Joined: 28 Feb 2003
Posts: 65
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| Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2003 11:47 am Post subject: |
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Unfortunately the bbc site is acting as though vicitim of a smear campaign and refusing to take responsibility for what has happened. Of course people that use the board are in support of the statements issued by the admin there.
What worries me is that some of those businesses affected have had a 50% drop in trade. Surely it is better for the BBC admin to hold up their hands and admit responsiblity and work together with those affected, rather that increase the rift between the first and second generations?
I know that several older community leaders are furious - once again, like the foot and mouth smear, there are several buisnesses that have been affected. Even worse this time, the media smear has been created, not by the British media who denied any links between SARs and the Chinese community, but by one of our own self appointed community leaders.
Steve Lau plays a prominent role in Chinese community politics and is a director of the China in Britain forum...god help the second generation! |
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assis104s
Joined: 31 Mar 2003
Posts: 145
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| Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2003 11:51 am Post subject: |
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I agree - its a sorry ass atitude to take. A shame not to work towards building bridges and repairing the damage.
Aparently rumors are rife within the chinese community... |
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sp
Joined: 27 Feb 2003
Posts: 218
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| Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2003 11:13 am Post subject: |
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I've just re-read the email that got sent out to me and the tone of it is quite baffling. It seems to suggest that some great wrong has been done to the website.
The undeniable fact is that these false rumours unfortunately got posted on the site. I would have thought a simple apology by the Editor Steve Lau would be in order (especially since the livelihoods of Chinese people is potentially at risk) but instead we get some quite strong rhetoric criticizing the Met Police Chinatown Unit and accusing it of 'complicit scapegoating'. This is a totally unreasonable accusation in my opinion.
As I understand it, the police have asked for details of the people who posted the false rumours. Surely this is part and parcel of the investigative process, to establish whether the false postings were done with criminal intent or just idle chit-chat? It doesn't neccessarily mean anyone is going to be taken to court or even charged.
Legal disclaimer: the views expressed in this post are those of 'sp' only and are in no way endorsed by Dimsum.co.uk.
;) |
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sp
Joined: 27 Feb 2003
Posts: 218
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Editor
Site Admin
Joined: 21 Feb 2003
Posts: 215
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| Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2003 6:27 pm Post subject: |
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Legal disclaimer? you never know when that might come in handy!
;-)
Ed |
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