Book review: consumption in China: how China’s new consumer ideology is shaping the nation by LiAnne Yu

In this lively and accessible book, LiAnne Yu discusses how consumerism has replaced traditions and given people upward mobility in China. Hang Kei Ho recommends this book to students looking to get an overview of Chinese consumption and identity construction

The Globalization of the Wine Industry in Hong Kong : A Local and Global Perspective

Peer reviewe

The 3, 4, 5 literature : ideopolitical-moral education in Mainland China as a barometer of political and economic change

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Twenty-first Century Wine Consumption Trends in East Asia : History, Luxury and Transformation

Since the early 2000s, East Asia has witnessed a significant increase in the consumption of luxury wines. Both Hong Kong and Singapore have become two of the most valuable wine trading hubs in the world, while surrounding regions such as South Korea and Japan have also experienced increases in the wine trade. In particular, mainland China has become the most important market that many wine makers and traders now focus on. Nevertheless, how East Asia has been transformed into a region of fine and luxury wine consumption remains a fascinating topic to explore further. This exploratory article aims to unpack this phenomenon and construct a sociology of wine in East Asia in four fundamental ways. First, wine itself is an alcoholic drink and has potential public health implications. Second, wine is a luxury good that can be consumed while simultaneously traded as a financial investment product. Third, East Asia as a region has a rich of history of alcohol production and consumption, but its drinking practices may sometimes clash with Western wine etiquette. Fourth, the creation of the wine industry in East Asia largely came from the withdrawal of wine duty in Hong Kong in 2008. The article explores how drinking cultures and the wine industry in various East Asian regions have been transformed by economic development, changing gender norms, and the influence of Western culture.Peer reviewe

Inside the world of middle-class Hong Kong transnational property investors: '5980 miles to my second home'

Academic and popular debates around the movement of financial capital tied to the residential housing market in global cities such as London, tend to focus on the super-rich, wealth management and pension funds. While such debates acknowledge that these large scale capital flows influence socioeconomic structures of the destination cities, relatively little is known about how middle-class money flows across national and city boundaries, and between key intermediaries. This article aims to address these empirical and conceptual lacunae by examining the practices of middle-class Hong Kong investors, many of whom have been investing in properties worldwide since the early 1990s. Using ethnographic research and interviews carried out in Hong Kong and the UK, this article sheds light on the investment activity of two groups of middle-class investors: the wealthy middle-class and the aspiring middle-class. The article shows how a wealthy city-state like Hong Kong, with a laissez-faire economy and established international real estate sector, has enabled the outflow of capital to the global housing market. The article also highlights the ability of ethnographic studies to help us look inside processes of transnational housing investment.Peer reviewe

ASSESSMENT OF THE HEALTH AND ECOLOGICAL RISKS CAUSED BY FUNGICIDES IN CHRYSANTHEMUM CULTIVATION BY ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT QUOTIENT

This study uses the Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) to assess the health and ecological risks caused by fungicides used in chrysanthemum cultivation upstream of Xuan Huong Lake, Da Lat city. Survey results reveal that 134 farmers use 21 fungicides with 18 active ingredients on a total area of 35.2 hectares. In all, 18 fungicides with an EIQ at the level of “unlikely to be hazardous” (EIQ < 25) are used on about 95% of the acreage, and 3 fungicides with an EIQ of “slightly hazardous” (25 < EIQ < 50) are used on the rest of the area. The Field Use EIQ of fungicide was rated very low in only 8.2% of the survey area and moderate in 48%. Areas with high and very high ratings account for 3% and 41%, respectively. Using fungicides according to the instructions can reduce the Field Use EIQ values in cultivated areas by 38% and return areas with high and moderate ratings to a low rating. Therefore, it is necessary to instruct farmers on the safe use of fungicides and to recommend those with low EIQ values for chrysanthemum cultivation

Theoretical and computation modelling of polymer seal life

Elastomer seals are widely used in the petroleum industry. Seal failure can be very expensive, due to losses in production and high maintenance costs. Another aspect of this problem is the difficulty in predicting the working life, of a specific elastomeric seal in a specific application, at the design stage. The objective of the present work is to develop the theoretical and computational seal life model to assist reliable prediction of seal life. Seal life computer software has been developed to model fluid ingress into elastomeric seals and the resulting long term material property changes caused by volume swell and chemical reaction between elastomer and ingressed fluid. The approach used is to model diffusion using a finite element method. This permits application to a wide range of seal geometries. The mathematical model of diffusion is coupled with chemical reaction equations of second order to model chemical ageing processes in the seal. To model the effects of swell, volume of absorbed fluid is coupled with Young's modulus. Physical, as opposed to chemical, stress relaxation is not incorporated since the short time scale of this enable direct measurements to be made. The software has been tested against experimental data for a number of elastomer / operating condition combinations. Satisfactory agreement is obtained for ethylene propylene diene (EPDM) and nitrile rubber aged in air or high pressure water; nitrile and hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR) aged in high temperature, high pressure hydrocarbon liquid. The software has also been found useful for calculating required soak time in planning rig tests for the study of explosive decompression caused by absorbed gas in elastomers. Pending further development of the software, long term prediction of retained sealing force of O-rings in high temperature, high pressure water is calculated from compression set by a semi-empirical approach. Results are compared with experimental data

The effectiveness of comics as an educational tool in learning and teaching of liberal studies

Among various learning and teaching resources used in Liberal Studies (LS), comics is often utilized as an major form of non-textual educational tool in LS classroom to promote students’ generic skills and deepen their understanding towards different issues. This dissertation investigates the effectiveness of using comics of learning and teaching of Liberal Studies. The result of this study has revealed that comics can enhance students’ learning to a certain extent. However, the findings also demonstrate that there are some limitations of the use of comics in LS classroom. Some recommendations on the way of integrating comics in Liberal Studies were discussed in this dissertation.published_or_final_versionEducationBachelorBachelor of Education in Liberal Studie