天價幻滅 天匯交易爛尾 首批25伙單位八成撻訂

天價幻滅 天匯交易爛尾 首批25伙單位八成撻訂

(明報)2010年6月16日 星期三

【明報專訊】天匯單位的天價成交幻滅。首批發售的25伙單位，最終只有1伙如期成交及4伙延期成交，而有多達20伙撻訂爛尾，佔首批單位八成，當中更包括呎價7.12萬元售出的全球最貴分層單位（68樓A）。發展商恒地主席李兆基 親自回應事件時表示，這20伙重售時不會減價，原價「多數賣得出」。

呎價7萬單位 交易取消

恒地發言人補充，撻訂是買家的選擇，一切依足合約辦事。不過，有立法會 議員表明，擬動用特權法要求政府交出調查天匯交易的資料，然後再決定是否成立專責委員會調查事件。政府發言人表示「政府會了解有關情况，以考慮下一步行動」，並說「有決心為置業人士締造更公平、高資訊透明度的交易環境」。

恒地昨發表聲明說，僅4個單位之成交於最近完成，至於其餘20個單位取消，恒地已接獲買方書面要求取消買賣協議。恒地已根據合約沒收樓價5%的訂金，涉資1.334億元，另有罰息逾千萬元。

恒地殺訂逾1.3億

李兆基昨午親自在總部大堂回應事件，被問及會否擔心影響恒地賣樓的誠信，李兆基說不擔心。對是次「撻訂」事件會否不開心，他說﹕「你口地（傳媒）有份搞到大家不開心！」恒地聲明又說，恒地並無就該4個單位作出減價，亦無就樓價融資向買方提供任何協助。恒地副主席林高演補充說，交易過程中無論是殺訂、罰息，都完全依足合約，而4伙完成交易的買家要向匯豐銀行 做借貸，但不透露承按多少。

議員倡引特權法查交易資料

對於天匯20個單位取消交易，民主黨 議員李永達 質疑之前的交易涉嫌托價誤導市場，他已去信政府，要求公開地政總署 發給恒基的6封信及回覆，若政府不公開資料，他不排除要求動用特權法索取資料。

公民黨 立法會議員湯家驊 認為，發展商需要公開交代，為何不維護上市公司的利益向買家追討差價。若那些買賣合約原來沒有法律效力，則有誤導市場之嫌，政府應調查研究是否涉詐騙。

當局關注天價單位「不存在」

對於天匯有相當多數目的高價成交單位爛尾，政府消息人士表示，地政總署會繼續追查，向恒地了解成交的單位是否正常的成交、撻訂的單位是否正常的取消交易，看是否有需要繼續向恒地索取資料，如果發現有不尋常之處，會研究對策，包括研究日後是否需要立法規管；如果完成和取消的交易都屬於正常的買賣，那便沒有問題。政府關注事項之一是，以7萬元一平方呎成交的史上最高價分層住宅單位有否取消交易，若取消了即意味該交易價並不存在。

消息人士坦言，即使天匯大量單位買賣撻訂，最終無法成交，在現行法例規定下，買家「撻訂」難指發展商要負什麼法律責任，但消息人士說，最重要是逼他們保持單位買賣的透明度。消息人士說，「四叔」昨日的尷尬，某程度都是被步步進逼出來。

政府指售樓透明度十分重要

政府發言人昨表示，政府與公眾同樣關注天匯發展商去年公布的24個單位的買賣情况，「清晰的市場資訊、高透明度的售樓安排以及成交紀錄，對有意置業的人士來說十分重要。」

Hong Kong Properties

Acai Assault: The Acai Berry may Regulate Cholesterol

Acai Assault: The Acai Berry may Regulate Cholesterol
by Frank Mangano


(NaturalNews) The laundry list of acai berry benefits to the body just got a bit longer. According to a recent study published in the journal Nutrition, the awkward-to-pronounce berry is great for cholesterol regulation.

There's no shortage of health claims when it comes to the acai berry (pronounced ah-sigh-EE, not ack-EYE), the berry that's been billed as the "Superfood of superfoods" by doctors and nutritionists alike. From better digestion to improved circulation, the acai berry could very well be the "berry best" in a family that's already bursting with nutritional heavyweights.

The latest study to tout the acai berry's benefits comes out of Brazil, the berry's native land, where the pulp of acai was fed to two groups of rats. One of the groups had a standard rat diet, while the other had a high fat diet. The remaining rats had high fat diets but without the accompanying acai (there were four groupings of rats).

After six weeks of observation, the researchers found distinct differences in the blood work of the rats that supplemented with the acai and those that didn't. Both acai supplementing groups had improvements in their cholesterol profile, but what really took the researchers by surprise was that the high fat rats had the best cholesterol profile (i.e., total cholesterol levels AND non-HDL levels dropped).

The researchers believe the acai berry was the catalyst, but it could also have been due to the fact that those fed the high fat diet consumed less food in terms of quantity (i.e., less food consumed, but more calories consumed).

Granted, this test was performed on rats, but observers of the study have every reason to suspect that the results can be translated to humans. More long-term studies are in the offing.

The acai berry is not something you'll find nestled next to blueberries or strawberries at your local farmer's market. Ninety percent of the berry is the pit, which may explain why you've seen people drinking acai berry juice but not eating the actual berry. But what an acai berry lacks in plumpness, it makes up for in nutrients. The flesh of one acai berry has 10 times the antioxidant content found in a grape, and two times the antioxidant content found in a blueberry.

What is relative humidity and how does it affect how I feel outside?

What is relative humidity and how does it affect how I feel outside?

If the air is at 100-percent relative humidity, sweat will not evaporate into the air. As a result, we feel much hotter than the actual temperature when the relative humidity is high.

Humidity is somethi ng we hear about daily in weather reports. Humidity is to blame for that muggy, steam-room feeling you experience on certain summer days.

Humidity can be measured in several ways, but relative humidity is the most common. In order to understand relative humidity, it is helpful to first understand absolute humidity.

Absolute humidity is the mass of water vapor divided by the mass of dry air in a volume of air at a given temperature. The hotter the air is, the more water it can contain.

Relative humidity is the ratio of the current absolute humidity to the highest possible absolute humidity (which depends on the current air temperature). A reading of 100 percent relative humidity means that the air is totally saturated with water vapor and cannot hold any more, creating the possibility of rain. This doesn't mean that the relative humidity must be 100 percent in order for it to rain -- it must be 100 percent where the clouds are forming, but the relative humidity near the ground could be much less.

Humans are very sensitive to humidity, as the skin relies on the air to get rid of moisture. The process of sweating is your body's attempt to keep cool and maintain its current temperature. If the air is at 100-percent relative humidity, sweat will not evaporate into the air. As a result, we feel much hotter than the actual temperature when the relative humidity is high. If the relative humidity is low, we can feel much cooler than the actual temperature because our sweat evaporates easily, cooling us off. For example, if the air temperature is 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius) and the relative humidity is zero percent, the air temperature feels like 69 degrees Fahrenheit (21 C) to our bodies. If the air temperature is 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 C) and the relative humidity is 100 percent, we feel like it's 80 degrees (27 C) out.

People tend to feel most comfortable at a relative humidity of about 45 percent. Humidifiers and dehumidifiers help to keep indoor humidity at a comfortable level.