China Scene: South

Boy hit by police motorcycle hangs on

A 9-year-old boy hit by a police motorcycle held onto it while he was dragged 20 meters.

The boy, surnamed Chan, was hit after climbing over a barrier and jumping onto a road near his home in Tai Po, Hong Kong, on Sunday morning.

When the boy held onto the motorcycle, the cool-headed policeman gradually slowed down so the motorcycle didn't collapse on the boy. Chan suffered an injured right foot.

(Ming Pao)

Burglars bag designer bags

Designer bags worth more than HK$600,000 ($76,923) were stolen in broad daylight from a shop in a downtown mall in Hong Kong on Sunday.

When Chan arrived at the Mong Kok mall at noon, he found the shop looted. A surveillance camera recorded two burglars forcing open the iron door an hour before.

(Wen Wei Po)

HK parents warned of phony tutorials

Hong Kong parents falling for the hard sell for summer tutorial schools are finding telemarketers may outnumber teachers and the schools may be unregistered.

According to the Consumer Council, complaints against tutorial schools are increasing and educators are stressing that many tutorial programs fail to improve students' academic performance.

Telephone tutorials, which allow students to call tutors with questions, account for 69 percent of the complaints. Salespeople were found to pretend to be teachers when urging parents to sign up their children. When the children call, they are often told no tutors are available.

(Wen Wei Po)

(China Daily 07/25/2007 page6)