China Scene: South

Man's mouse idea has got business potential

Liang Jinsong, nicknamed "the king of catching mice" said he believed the mice-catching business had great potential in Guangzhou of Guangdong Province.

Liang who operates a hardware store in the daytime and catches mice at night wants to set up a special mice-catching company by the end of the year.

Liang catches more than 50 mice a night in the city's rubbish dumps and sewers.

He is also frequently invited by many restaurants, hotels and companies in the Pearl River Delta to help catch the pest.

(Yangcheng Evening News.)

School makes bike safety for students a priority

Students from Panyu Qiaolian High school in Guangzhou are busy practicing their bike-riding skills.

Starting this new school term, all the students who ride their bikes to school will have to pass special riding examinations and obtain a license.

The school is the first in the province to unveil such a scheme.

The headmaster said the move was aimed at promoting road safety awareness and reducing traffic accidents. Accidents involving bikes have become more frequent among students in recent years, as many choose to ride their bikes to school.

(Information Times)

Man in trouble for neglecting long-time pet

A Hong Kong man has pleaded guilty to five animal cruelty charges, for not taking care of a dog he and his ex-wife shared before their divorce.

The 34-year-old clerk, surnamed Sun, lives in a village house in Sai Kung, Hong Kong. Responding to a complaint, workers from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Hong Kong) paid Sun a visit on August 9 and found him keeping a golden retriever on the roof. There was no shelter, dead insects floated in the water container, and the dog suffered from malnutrition as well as eye and ear diseases.

Sun told police that his ex-wife had been the primary carer for the dog, which the couple had kept for 10 years. He had not taken good care of it after she left.

(Ming Pao)

Cop denies stealing cash from suspects

A Hong Kong policeman has been taken to court for allegedly stealing HK$6,000 ($769) from two suspects he searched.

The Kowloon City Magistrates' Court heard on Tuesday that the 33-year-old policeman, surnamed Lam, took the money when searching two men, surnamed Chan and Mak, in a shop on April 22.

Lam denied the charges. The trial has been adjourned to October 4.

(Ming Pao)

Mothers give generously to Red Cross

Many enthusiastic mothers have responded to a call from Hong Kong Red Cross which is seeking to expand its storage facility for umbilical cord blood.

The organization said that the existing facilities could keep 2,800 units of cord blood. More than 4,000 mothers have offered to donate their babies' cord blood since the collection became available in two Hong Kong hospitals since 1998. So far, 2,558 units have been collected. Hong Kong Red Cross planned to increase the banking capacity to 5,000 units within four years.

(Ming Pao)

(China Daily 09/14/2007 page6)