Latest news with #Cheung
The Star
17 hours ago
- Health
- The Star
Hong Kong woman opens up about life after moment her heart stopped beating
More than a decade ago, Hongkonger Olivia Cheung Lok-man's heart stopped beating for 63 minutes. She was a 19-year-old student at the time and had suffered a fulminant myocarditis attack, a rare and severe illness that can cause heart failure. Cheung, now a 30-year-old art teacher, has since developed the ability to cope with the uncertainties surrounding her condition, thanks to the special care of the medical team at Queen Mary Hospital's intensive care unit (ICU). 'I have experienced [near death], I don't think there's anything [my family and I] can't deal with,' she said. Cheung and her doctor spoke to the media on Monday as part of the hospital's work with the Shaw Foundation to offer in-person and online activities to educate the public about intensive care treatments and patients' experiences. Last year, lawmakers passed a legislative amendment that allows terminally ill patients to reject certain treatments, such as undergoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), as the end of their life nears. Simon Sin Wai-ching, the critical care unit doctor at Queen Mary Hospital who treated Cheung, said he hoped more of the public, especially young people, would give more thought to what first aid options they were willing to undergo. 'How do patients feel before entering the ICU? How do they feel during intubation? If we can set up a platform for them to share such stories, it's much more effective than having doctors and residents guess what those procedures feel like,' he said. He noted that less than 20 per cent of patients die in ICUs, where hospitals' best resources are available. Speaking about his time treating Cheung, the doctor said her heart had suddenly skipped a few beats when she began suffering the fulminant myocarditis attack. Sin said the hospital where Cheung was initially admitted had lacked an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine (ECMO), which acts as an artificial heart and lung. An ECMO and a team of specialists had to be brought over from Queen Mary Hospital to keep her alive, he added. The doctor recalled that the team was still travelling to the other hospital by taxi when they learned that Cheung's heart had completely stopped. At the time of Cheung's fulminant myocarditis attack, each procedure using an ECMO cost more than HK$1 million. Most patients cannot survive undergoing CPR for more than 20 minutes. 'But the whole team was already in the taxi, and there was no place for a U-turn, so we sped ahead,' Sin said, noting an experienced ICU doctor who was jogging nearby had rushed to the hospital to perform CPR on Cheung. Sixty-three minutes later, the specialist team were prepared for the operation and managed to get Cheung's heart beating again. Sin recounted Cheung's miraculous survival in his book, When Suffering Becomes Life , which shares the post-ICU stories of his former patients. Surviving also marked the start of a life of recovery for Cheung. 'I had to relearn writing and walking, but I picked up those skills again very quickly,' she said. Her father, Cheung Wing-hung, said: 'When I first heard Olivia was saved, I worried about taking care of her. Would she need support to use the toilet [after hospitalisation]?' While Olivia Cheung gradually recovered from her near-death experience, it continued to have an impact on her life eight years later, when she woke up one night having wet the bed and with a bleeding tongue. In a check-up, doctors found she had epilepsy as her brain lacked oxygen when her heart stopped. 'Now I cannot drive a car. The medicine for epilepsy also made me too tired to work during the first two weeks I was on it,' she said. But Cheung said that, in spite of her experiences, she remained positive and felt her problems were 'minor ones' compared with what others had gone through.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Tech C.E.O. Pays $400,000 to Conduct the Toronto Symphony
The musicians of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra took their seats at Roy Thomson Hall on Wednesday for a performance of Mahler's 'Resurrection' Symphony. Then a stage door swung open, and out walked the conductor. He was not a world-renowned maestro or even a trained musician. The man who walked out, wearing a crisp white shirt and taking the podium, was Mandle Cheung, a 78-year-old technology executive who had paid the Toronto Symphony nearly $400,000 to lead it for one night. Cheung, a lifelong fan of classical music who played in a harmonica band in high school and has dabbled in conducting, persuaded the orchestra to allow him to act out his long-held dream of leading a top ensemble. 'I had watched the videos and heard the recordings,' Cheung, the chairman and chief executive of ComputerTalk Technology in Toronto, said in an interview. 'I had seen the magic of the guy standing in front of the orchestra with a stick. So I said, 'Why can't I do it, too?'' He added: 'I can afford to do it, that's the main thing. So when it came across my mind, I said, 'Hey, maybe I should give it a try.'' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
HKFP
2 days ago
- Business
- HKFP
3,800 restaurants, shops to offer July 1 promotions to celebrate Hong Kong handover to China
Around 3,800 restaurants and shops have volunteered to participate in the July 1 promotions to celebrate the 28th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China on Tuesday, a legislator said. The number of participants this year is higher than last year, when around 2,000 restaurants and shops took part in offering the July 1 promotions, Tommy Cheung, a pro-establishment lawmaker representing the catering industry, said at a press conference on Wednesday, as reported by local media. Some restaurant chains like Tai Hing Group will offer a 29 per cent discount on all dine-in meals on Tuesday, which means customers will only pay 71 per cent of their bills, while some others will limit such discounts to certain dishes, according to a list released by the government. This is the third consecutive year that the catering industry will be giving July 1 discounts, Cheung said. Other businesses, such as the Wellcome supermarket and the 7-Eleven convenience store, have agreed to join as well. All restaurants and shops volunteered to take part, Cheung said. While offering discounts may not benefit the participating businesses in terms of revenue, the main purpose of the campaign is to celebrate the handover, he added. 'Hong Kong citizens, it's your loss if you don't spend before or on July 1,' Cheung said in Cantonese. Winston Yeung, chair of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants & Related Trades, told HKFP on Thursday that the group assisted in organising the campaign. 'The main purpose of the campaign is to celebrate July 1, and we also hope [it can help] encourage more people to stay in Hong Kong for consumption amid the business slowdown,' Yeung said in Cantonese. 'The new trend of people heading north has impacted all kinds of restaurants. Some residents save money during weekdays in Hong Kong and then go to mainland China to spend it during the weekends,' Yeung said. the habit of people heading to mainland China for entertainment during holidays and weekends. Restaurant closures are 'really severe… We've seen a series of restaurant chains shutting down over the past few months – a phenomenon we've never seen before,' Yeung said. Bakery chain Taipan closed all its 12 outlets on Tuesday after operating for 41 years. In early June, Hong Kong catering group King Parrot also announced its shutdown.
The Star
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
Superstar Jacky Cheung gets lesson in humility from guard
NOT everyone recognises Hong Kong superstar Jacky Cheung (pic), as the singer recounts being denied entry to his own concert in Macau, reported China Press. A security guard stopped the 63-year-old when he tried to enter the Galaxy Arena venue in Macau last week and demanded Cheung show identification indicating that he was a performer. Stunned, the 'God of Songs' pointed at a poster nearby to show that he was to perform there that evening, but the guard would not relent. 'I sincerely think he was just being very professional at his job,' Cheung said. Apparently, this was not the first time security personnel failed to recognise him. Cheung was previously denied entry at one of his concerts in mainland China. 'Don't think of yourself as a legend. Instead, see yourself as a new performer every day. Only then can you improve. 'This experience taught me to continue practising singing and learning how to do the splits. Do not worry, everyone. Jacky Cheung will not stop and will keep on working and improving,' he said. > A woman in Sibu who just wanted to buy a Nyonya meal worth RM3.50 ended up having RM17,530 from her bank account stolen, the daily also reported. The incident happened in May when the woman saw an advertisement on Facebook for a set meal for Nyonya fried chicken and vegetables for just RM3.50. She called the number on the advertisement and ordered five sets of the meal deal. The caterer later sent her a WhatsApp link to redeem vouchers worth RM30. When she clicked on the link, her phone suddenly switched off. By the time she restarted her phone, RM17,530 had been transferred out of her bank account in five transactions. Friends also alerted her that her WhatsApp account had been used to send messages asking to borrow money from all her contacts. Realising that she had been scammed, the woman then made a police report. The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.
RTHK
4 days ago
- Business
- RTHK
More eateries and shops join in July 1 discounts gala
More eateries and shops join in July 1 discounts gala A record-high 3,800 shops will be offering discounts during July 1. Photo: RTHK More than 3,800 dining and retail outlets will offer discounts of up to 29 percent to celebrate the 28th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the mainland on July 1. This marks the highest number of participants since the annual campaign began two years ago. Shops that have agreed to take part include fast-food chains McDonald's, Café de Coral, Fairwood and Maxim's, supermarkets Wellcome and ParknShop, and convenience stores 7-Eleven and OK. A number of eateries, including 16 restaurant brands of Tai Hing's, will provide across-the-menu discounts for dine-in customers on July 1. Several restaurants will offer week-long discounts. Catering sector lawmaker Tommy Cheung said the campaign is not about boosting business but about showing support for the SAR. He noted that he had received positive feedback on past occasions and expressed confidence that many Hongkongers will remain in town to spend. 'Judging from October last year, I have a lot of good comments from people on the streets telling me that now with 30 percent off, they don't need to go to Shenzhen, Dongguan or other places,' he said. "Which is why this year we're asking more restaurants and hoteliers to join.' A lot of mainland tourists will also be lured here by the campaign as a result, he said. Additionally, some eateries, including Tao Heung, will also offer discounts on meals specially designed for the elderly. Cheung said such a move was to support the government's push for the silver economy.
