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| FOCUS |
LAST year was a contradictory year as far as credit cards were concerned in two Asian countries.
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| Focus |
- Crisis on the cards?
LAST year was a contradictory year as far as credit cards were concerned in two Asian countries.
- Searching for cyber security
THE launching of a new kind of insurance for consumers is being discussed between the Shanghai Electronic Business Association (SEBA) and the Shanghai Insurance Association (SIA) to protect consumers' rights during online business transactions. The lack of a secure credit system has become a serious bottleneck hampering the booming Internet business.
- Integrating the Delta
ONE of the pictures taken by the Shenzhou V Spacecraft showed how China looked at night from outer space. Over the vast territory of 96 million square kilometres, spots of light were scattered in China's eastern and central regions but in the west, it was totally dark.
- Cleaning up their act
TWO decades ago when the Shanghai J.W. Cleaning Management Co Ltd was set up to provide services cleaning the exteriors of highrises, the price charges per square metre was between 3 to 5 yuan. These days, despite the increase in the number of high-rise buildings, the price has fallen to less than 1 yuan.
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| News |
- Escalating anxieties
WASHINGTON - The US criticism of Israel for killing a prominent Palestinian extremist reflects growing concern for the already troubled US peace effort in the Middle East and apparently also a perception of limitless US support for Israel.
- Arafat concerned he might be next after Yassin
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat fears he's next on Israel's hit list after the assassination of Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin, aides said. Israeli security officials say their focus is on Hamas - for now.
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| Voice of people |
- Some thoughts on begging as a job
Tagging along behind me was a shabbily dressed boy in his early teens with an empty tin cup in his hand and he kept nudging me to give him a few coins.
- Car sick - to buy or not to buy
Every time I am sick of being crammed in a bus or on the subway, I dream of owning a car; every time I cannot get a taxi in the rain, I think of owning a car; every time I fight to buy a train ticket to my parents' in nearby Changzhou at double the normal price, I am desperate to own a car. But to buy a car or not to buy? That is the question, which pains me and those like me in Shanghai.
- Unseen dangers in the dental chair
Few, if any of us, look forward to the comfort of the reclining dental chair. The mere thought of a dental surgeon poking around with sharp and abrasive instruments is enough to provoke pains, real or imagined in most.
- Cell phone etiquette - a good idea
It seems impossible to go anywhere these days without being irritated by some telephone conversationalist who simply cannot wait until later to talk. What drives me to distraction is the reverence attributed to this small electronic gadget that has the inordinate habit of "sounding off" whenever I am halfway through a conversation myself.
- Honesty is always the best policy
The virtue of honesty is really an old topic. For some, it seems too antiquated to be mentioned. But it sparked big controversy in my family recently.
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| Profile |
- Stylish necessities
A SEDAN chair for traditional weddings, a 1,000-year-old carriage with wheels of metal and wood, an old manger from a stable. They are wares of great interest to modern urban dwellers but what can you do with them in a 21st century home?
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| Culture |
- Craft still in full flour
ZHAO Yanlin, a noted female dough figurine maker in China, never imagined that a tiny sculpture made from ordinary wheat flour would one day turn up in the US and bring back memories of her father.
- Out and about was for the birds
WHEN American traveller Archie Bell arrived in Shanghai in the early years of the 20th century, a pleasing street scene attracted him. A group of Chinese men were walking in the streets holding birdcages in their hands.
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