logo
Hong Kong customs arrest company secretary over medical group's abrupt closure

Hong Kong customs arrest company secretary over medical group's abrupt closure

Hong Kong customs has arrested the company secretary of a medical group, whose abrupt closure last week prompted hundreds of complaints from parents who had prepaid for their children's vaccinations, the Post has learned.
Advertisement
A source close to the investigation said on Wednesday that the company secretary of Alliance Medical Group was detained in connection with the sudden shutdown of all its children's vaccination clinics.
A company director was also being investigated, the insider said.
The medical group had provided services such as prepaid vaccination packages at its two clinics in Tsim Sha Tsui and Sha Tin. However, the group never officially announced its closure, and its Facebook and Instagram accounts were found to have disappeared on April 30.
The closure left at least 2,000 parents in limbo, as they had paid thousands to tens of thousand of Hong Kong dollars in advance for their children's vaccination.
Advertisement
The highest individual claim related to the closure amounted to HK$23,550 (US$3,038), while the average amount involved in each case was HK$5,720, the Consumer Council said.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Dolphin's death another wake-up call to phase out animal captivity
Dolphin's death another wake-up call to phase out animal captivity

South China Morning Post

time4 hours ago

  • South China Morning Post

Dolphin's death another wake-up call to phase out animal captivity

Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at [email protected] or filling in this Google form . Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification Advertisement Rita, a female Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin at Hong Kong's Ocean Park, has died at the age of 24 . In the wild, dolphins of her species can live over 40 years, yet Rita's premature death comes as no surprise. Taison Chang Kai-tai , former Ocean Park employee and current chairman of the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society, has exposed the suffering of dolphins imprisoned in the park: constant noise, limited food and cramped enclosures. Highly intelligent and social, dolphins in captivity often exhibit atypical or meaningless behaviours given the lack of stimulation or autonomy. These conditions contribute to their deteriorating health and shortened lifespans. Despite the evident harm, dolphins remain in captivity because they are highly profitable crowd-pullers. Zoos and marine parks often mask this cruelty with sugar-coated narratives. Ocean Park, for instance, claimed Rita helped 'convey conservation messages' since 'students had learned about and appreciated the natural behaviour' and 'were inspired to contribute to marine conservation'. But as naturalist Jacques Cousteau once said, 'There is about as much educational benefit to be gained from studying dolphins in captivity as there would be from studying mankind by only studying prisoners held in solitary confinement.' Cultural critic John Berger similarly noted that seeing animals in zoos is like viewing 'an image out of focus'. Advertisement More importantly, educating the public about animals through captivity reinforces human superiority by normalising the exploitation of animals for our 'education'. This undermines true environmental education, which should cultivate care and respect for the natural world, not dominance.

7 people injured, HK$400,000 watch stolen after Hong Kong street fight
7 people injured, HK$400,000 watch stolen after Hong Kong street fight

South China Morning Post

time4 hours ago

  • South China Morning Post

7 people injured, HK$400,000 watch stolen after Hong Kong street fight

At least seven people have been injured during a street fight in Hong Kong's Tsim Sha Tsui, with one victim claiming his HK$400,000 (US$51,000) watch has been stolen, according to police. Advertisement The force said it received a call at 3.22am on Monday reporting that four men attacked the seven people near 4 Austin Avenue. The attackers, who used their arms and legs during the assault, fled the scene afterwards. According to preliminary investigations, the attackers, who allegedly stole the 31-year-old victim's watch, had a dispute with the seven men over eye contact. The seven men, aged 19 to 31, suffered various injuries to their noses, mouths, heads, arms and stomachs. They were sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment. The attackers, believed to be between 20 and 30 years old, were all clad in black. Advertisement Yau Tsim district crime squad is following up on the case, which has been classified as wounding and theft. No arrests have been made so far.

Caution urged for critical infrastructure over threats
Caution urged for critical infrastructure over threats

RTHK

time6 hours ago

  • RTHK

Caution urged for critical infrastructure over threats

Caution urged for critical infrastructure over threats Police say they received 440,000 intelligence reports on cyber threats targeting Hong Kong last year. Photo: RTHK Police have called on critical infrastructure operators to bolster their defensive efforts against cyber threats, after a number of firms were deemed to be vulnerable. The force said it inspected 90,000 assets controlled by critical infrastructure firms last year and discovered more than 4,500 loopholes in their systems. Officers identified three types of loopholes which are particularly risky. "First of all it's the employees' log-in credentials, that they are leaked or stolen because they don't have a very good mechanism in ensuring that these kind of credentials are in a high level [of protection]," senior superintendent Carmen Leung said. "And second, some organisations did not properly manage their domain and subdomain, allowing attacker to hijack those unused subdomains and create highly convincing phishing or scam websites. "And for the third part, we noticed some organisations having some misconfigured cloud storage service and unintentionally exposed their internal system in a web-facing environment." She said these organisations took remedial measures after being warned by the force, and no harm was done to their major services. Police said they received 440,000 tip-offs regarding Hong Kong-related cyber threats last year. The top three industries to be targeted were banking and finance, communication, and government departments. Superintendent Baron Chan stressed that a "useful and powerful preventive mechanism" is in place. "Luckily, under our protection mechanism, we collect these intelligence in a very earlier stage and we do analysis and then share [them] among our stakeholders, so that these intelligence can be used by different sectors, even though they are not the targets of these bad actors," he said. Police said they recorded 7,680 technology crime cases from January to March, up 1.1 percent year on year. The cases, most of which involved online shopping, inflicted losses of more than HK$1.43 billion. Officers urged shoppers to make use police's Scameter app to check the validity of recipients before making financial transactions. Police also issued their first ever cybersecurity report, which can be viewed online. It covers SAR and global cybersecurity trends, together with predictions in the coming year.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store