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August 12, 2004

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Hong Kong's legions of savers are rejoicing at the massive windfall now that banks have raised their deposit rates by a factor of 10. That's right, whereas once the oppressed parsimonious citizens of the Big Lychee were earning 0.001% on their earnings, they now make 0.01% instead. When asked how he intended to spend his windfall, Mr. Frank Lam replied "I'm going to buy a balaclava and shotgun. It's the only way you can get money out of banks these days."

While we're talking about self-sacrifice, it looks like I'll be giving up my regular afternoon McDonalds chocolate sundaes for a while.

McDonald's has been fined for selling ice cream with a bacterial count nearly five times the permitted level - reportedly the company's third such recent breach of food safety rules.

During a routine check in May, health officials found that an ice cream sundae from a McDonald's outlet at Victoria Peak, a popular mountaintop tourist spot, had a bacterial count of 240,000 per gram (8,400 per ounce). The permitted limit is 50,000 per gram (1,750 per ounce), she said.

Did we really need to know the acceptable limit is 50,000 bacteria per gram, let alone McDonalds weighing in at 5 times that? It makes a mockery of the constant hygiene fetish amongst many in Hong Kong, like the neighbour today who would only press the lift buttons with his tissue. You can wash your hands, but how do I know where your tissue's been, buddy?

 posted by Simon on 08.12.04 at 09:38 AM in the




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