Canne's prizes revive HK films
HONG KONG - By lifting the Golden Palm for Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival this year, Tony Leung gave Hong Kong's drooping film industry a much needed boost.
Film-selling website to shut down
WASHINGTON - Reel.com, a website aimed at selling to film-goers, will shut down, the owners said on Monday, citing a cash crunch.
Chinese erhu meets Western jazz
IT was a slightly unusual marriage - the Chinese erhu, an ancient Chinese stringed instrument, and a six-piece Japanese jazz band - so it was difficult to know what to expect as we arrived at the crowded Shanghai Centre Theatre for a recital titled "Shanghai Dream."
'Some Like It Hot' - century's best comedy
LOS ANGELES - "Some Like It Hot" and "Tootsie" - films in which some of Hollywood's great male stars dress up as women, were named on Tuesday as the two funniest American films of all time.
The aroma of Spanish wine
MIGUEL Torres, chief executive officer of the leading Spanish Torres Winery, was very enthusiastic introducing his wines in Shanghai two days ago despite the fact that his joint venture in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, is running in the red.
Lucky meeting brings singwes together
THE soft 1970s songs of Filipino band "Infinite" sounded enchanting in the Lobby Bar of the Huating Hotel as drizzle fell on the streets outside.
Striking the right note for kids' future
By Xu Xiaomin
CHILDREN play pianos while their parents wait outside. A common scene in local piano schools. "I let my 5-year-old son learn piano," said a young mother waiting for her daughter, "because I hope my child will be better able to compete in the future which promises to be more and more competitive." A recent survey said 25.7 per cent of parents organize for their children to attend piano, drawing, calligraphy and foreign language classes. Over 20 per cent of parents have hired private tutors at a cost of about 150 yuan ($18) per month. In fact, most Shanghainese place a lot of importance on investing in their children's education, the survey, launched by Shanghai Social-Economic Survey Organization of the Shanghai Statistics Bureau, found. The survey also showed monthly payment for a child's education in the city averages 250 yuan ($30), about 30.2 per cent of the average income. The survey said 39.9 per cent of the money is used for extra-curricular classes, home teaching, reference books and extra schooling after questioning 583 students of different ages. "Paying attention to education is good," said an expert, "But on the other hand, the figure may also show students are shouldering a hefty burden in terms of study." When children go to school, fees rise as children move up grades. About half of Shanghai's pupils and middle school students have extra-curricular lessons. About 17 per cent of them have home teaching outside normal classes. "The education department has been trying to decrease students' workloads, but the figures indicate they have failed," said the expert. The survey also revealed some parents are willing to pay large sums of money to the top schools to persuade them to keep on their not-so-academic children. A total of 6.2 per cent of those surveyed said they had paid an average of 4,527 yuan ($545) to the school where their child studies to encourage the school to let the child stay on. University is still what most families want for their kids despite the high tuition fees required. About 88.8 per cent of those asked said they would be willing to pay yearly fees not above 10,000 yuan ($1,209). About 7.2 per cent of middle-income families with a yearly income below 30,000 yuan ($3,628) said they were willing to pay 10,000 to 50,000 yuan ($6,046) per year for their child to go to university. To facilitate their children's study, 11 per cent of families surveyed said they planned to buy a computer this year while a further 14.1 per cent already own one.
Copyright 2000 by Shanghai Star. All rights reserved.