Congratulations to Jessie Kong who has successfully earned herself the recognition of “120 Fast-Started Award”!!

“Work Hard‧Play Hard” is our culture!

The establishment of A Club is to bring balance of life to colleagues and family members by organizing different social and charity activities.

To celebrate the festive season of the Chinese New Year, A Club has given to all colleagues a New Year Lucky Bag. Kung Hei “Fat” Choi!

Affected by the rebound of COVID-19 epidemic in some provinces and Henan flood disaster, the economic activities in China slowed down in August. The official Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index(PMI) fell to 50.1, which was only marginally above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction while the Caxin Manufacturing PMI, which reflects the manufacturing activities of small-to medium companies, has already dropped below the contraction zone, 49.2, which was the lowest in 18 months. In the meantime, the downturn pressure on the service sector was even more severe as both official Non-manufacturing PMI and Caxin service PMI declined to contraction zone, recorded 47.5 and 46.7 respectively.

Due to stringent market regulation and economic slowdown, it seems that investors lose confidence in Chinese stocks and the investment sentiment has turned to bearish. The performance of Hong Kong and China stock markets were almost the worst among the global major markets. Year-to-date, the MSCI China Index plummeted about 15% and was more than 30% below the peak made in February this year.

The Chinese stock market has always been volatile and is easily affected by the shift of government policy and political factors. Looking back over the past 10 years, we have witnessed a few market crashes in China. The MSCI China Index plunged more than 40% from the historical high during the period between 2015 and early 2016 because of the introduction of the RMB exchange rate reform and the Chinese A-share circuit breaker mechanism. In 2018, the fear of economic slowdown and the start of U.S.-China trade war dragged the Chinese stock market tumbled near 30%, making it as one of the worst performing stock markets in that year. However, after market crashes, the Chinese stock ultimately can revive and bound back in 1 to 2-year time.

“Buy low, sell high.”, it is always the subjective desire of investors. However, what is the low point? Will the market drop to an even lower level? Can investors buy in the market slump and sell at the high level? It is believed that most of the investors cannot achieve since “greed and fear” are human nature and investors’ emotions are always easily affected by market noise.

The Chinese stock market has already experienced a significant correction recently. But certain industries such as semiconductors, electric vehicles, new energies may benefit from the new government policy direction and their related stocks may outperform. Although the present Chinese stock market sentiment is bearish, it may also be a good time to start a regular investment plan as investors can accumulate more investment units at the current low level. It is believed that if market still has up-and-down cycle, it may bring a wonderful gain to investors in a few years’ time.

Disclaimer

The information contained is for general information only, without warranty of any kind. The information contained should not be regarded as an offer to sell, to subscription, or to provide any investment recommendation. Investment involves risks, past performance is not indicative of future performance. Reader should consult their professional financial consultant before making any investment decision.

Investment Services Department

According to statistics, one out of ten people in Hong Kong has been suffering from diabetes. Are you one of them?

Diabetic patients generally do not have obvious symptoms. This can be diagnosed by measuring glucose levels during physical examination. Diabetic patients will experience various symptoms or complications as the disease progresses. Symptoms that may emerge include thirst, increasing urine output, increasing appetite, weight loss, body fatigue, prolonged wounds and infections, and severe dehydration and coma when the condition gets worse. Diabetes can also increase the chance of suffering from cerebrovascular disease, heart disease, foot gangrene, retinopathy, kidney and neurological diseases.

Diabetes can generally be divided into three types:

1) Type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is mainly due to congenital genetic problems which cause insufficient insulin secretion. Most of the onset happen at young ages and need to be controlled by insulin injections.

2) Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is the most common type, accounting for 90%-95% of patients. Type 2 diabetic patients are mostly middle-aged or older-aged population, especially those with family history, obesity, unhealthy dining habits or lack of exercise, which will lead to insufficient insulin secretion. While the onset is slower, the symptoms are less obvious. Therefore, most patients are not aware of it at the initial stage. The treatment of type 2 diabetes varies - the mild ones can be stabilized by applying a healthier lifestyle, such as weight control, diet improvement, and regular exercise, while the more serious ones require medication or even insulin injections.

3) Gestational diabetes:
Pregnant women may develop gestational diabetes, a condition which causes glucose levels to rise during pregnancy. The pancreas are unable to produce enough insulin because of the changing hormones as produced by the placenta, genetic factors or living habits. Special attention has to be paid to pregnant women who have rapid weight gain during pregnancy and family history of diabetes. About 5% of pregnant women will develop temporary diabetes and usually will recover after delivery. But it will greatly increase the chance of developing Type 2 diabetes in the future.

Potential complications of diabetes:
- 99% will cause diabetes comorbidities
- 15% of vision loss will lead to blindness
- 10-20% of diabetic patients have kidney failure
- 50% of diabetic patients will die from cardiovascular disease
- Acronecrosis is the main cause of disability and death for middle-aged and elderly people

How to effectively control diabetes

Healthy diet: less oil, less salt, less sugar, high fiber, avoid over-eating, reduce intake of high cholesterol foods (such as animal organs, fatty meat), and control carbohydrates in diet.

Regular exercise: Exercise for more than 3 times a week, at least 30 minutes each time, and reach a state of 130 pulses per minute. You can choose to walk, jog, swim, cycling or do other exercises.
Obesity and unhealthy dining habits are the two major risk factors for diabetes. In fact, many people may have suffered diabetes for a long time. But since the early stage symptoms are not obvious, many people might have simply neglected. If you can control your glucose level earlier, you will definitely be able to improve your condition and even help you stay away from diabetes.

Natural herbs:
Apart from healthy diet or regular exercises, some natural herbs can help control glucose level effectively, as proven by ancient and modern research.
Altruist is thrilled to introduce to you an easy way out – a health supplement “Debtin 6 Plus” as manufactured in Malaysia. Composing of 6 hypoglycemic herbs, Debtin 6 Plus was first manufactured in 2008. Some of our colleagues and clients have their glucose level resumed to normal level after taking the supplement for 3-6 months. Results are satisfactory and encouraging.

User feedback
-"I am a person with three highs in blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol 10 years ago. Although I have been taking western medicine, the relevant indexes are still high. I started to take Debtin 6 Plus a few years ago after being recommended by a friend (while still taking Western medicine). Surprisingly, all indexes (including blood sugar, blood lipids and blood pressure) have dropped to normal levels after 6 months. Then, I stopped taking Debtin 6 Plus, yet the glucose level rose again. So, now I still continue to take Debtin 6 Plus.” (60 years old, Hong Kong)

-"My blood sugar index is in borderline case. I don't need to take any western medicine. After taking Debtin 6 Plus for two months, my blood sugar index has dropped to a normal level, and my blood pressure has also dropped gradually. " (83 years old, Hong Kong)

Source of Information:
1) Centre for Health Protection (Dept of Health, HKSAR)
2) Diabetes Hongkong
3) 台灣早安健康新聞中心 (Taiwan)
4) 台灣 iHealth健康報 (Taiwan)
5) 台灣 HeHo Health and Hope (Taiwan)