49-914: Link Real Estate Investment Trust ( Chinese : 領展房地產投資信託基金 , or 領展 ), previously known as The Link Real Estate Investment Trust ( 領匯房地產投資信託基金 , or 領匯 ), is a wholly-owned private real estate investment trust managed by Link Asset Management Limited. It is the first real estate investment trust in Hong Kong and the largest in Asia by market capitalisation. Link REIT's portfolio consists of 126 properties with about 9 million sq ft of retail and office space in Hong Kong, as well as 7 properties with about 6 million sq ft of retail and office space outside Hong Kong. Link REIT has its head office at The Quayside [ zh ] in Kwun Tong . The LINK REIT
98-583: A green convertible bonds, raising US$ 500 million at 2.875% fixed rate due 2026. On 19 August 2015, Link announced the changing of its corporate name to Link REIT. Some have alleged that the purpose of the name change is to disassociate itself from its past activities. The Link was called a "bloodsucker" by public housing estate residents after the company acquired the Housing Authority shopping centres, renovated them, and raised rents. This has led to local shops being pushed out, higher prices, and
147-509: A certain extent in South Korea , remain virtually identical to traditional characters, with variations between the two forms largely stylistic. There has historically been a debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters . Because the simplifications are fairly systematic, it is possible to convert computer-encoded characters between the two sets, with the main issue being ambiguities in simplified representations resulting from
196-551: A near-monopoly on commercial space, the company was criticised by local residents and Legislative Councillors in 2015–16 for planning to convert the Tin Yiu Market into a conventional shopping centre. The market supplies fresh vegetables, meat, and fish to residents of the surrounding public housing estates. The next closest market is 5 to 10 minutes' walk away. Stall operators at Cheung Fat Estate on Tsing Yi have gone on strike, in 2010 and 2016, to protest rent increases. By
245-458: A report that showed big chains made up 76 per cent of the 2,075 shops in 22 shopping centres run by the firm, but the Link's CEO claimed, "We continue to maintain roughly 60 per cent of our shops leased to smaller operators." Anti-Link REIT protests have become increasingly common in recent years. Link REIT headquarters in Kwun Tong has been the site of demonstrations, scuffles, and sit-ins, leading
294-613: A standard set of Chinese character forms used to write Chinese languages . In Taiwan , the set of traditional characters is regulated by the Ministry of Education and standardized in the Standard Form of National Characters . These forms were predominant in written Chinese until the middle of the 20th century, when various countries that use Chinese characters began standardizing simplified sets of characters, often with characters that existed before as well-known variants of
343-1069: A total of $ 1.24 billion. The properties are Hing Tin Commercial Centre (in Lam Tin ), Kwai Hing Shopping Centre ( Kwai Chung ), the Tung Hei Court shopping centre ( Shau Kei Wan ), and Wah Kwai Shopping Centre ( Pokfulam ). In late 2015, they sold five properties, namely: Fung Wah Estate Retail and Car Park, Ka Fuk Shopping Centre, Kwong Tin Shopping Centre, Siu On Court Retail and Car Park, and Tin Wan Shopping Centre. In late 2016, they sold five properties again, namely: Sui Wo Court Commercial Centre, On Yam Shopping Centre, Sun Tin Wai Commercial Centre, Cheung Hong Commercial Centre and Shek Wai Kok Commercial Centre. In July 2016, Link REIT issue
392-581: A total of $ 588.4 million In mid 2014, Link acquired The Lions Rise Mall with parking facilities in Wong Tai Sin , from Kerry Properties , for a total of $ 1.38 billion. In 2015, The Link took its first step in purchasing by government land auction when it partnered with Nan Fung Group to buy land lot NKIL 6512 in Kwun Tong for a total of $ 5.86 billion in January. Then, Link surprised
441-812: Is 産 (also the accepted form in Japan and Korea), while in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan the accepted form is 產 (also the accepted form in Vietnamese chữ Nôm ). The PRC tends to print material intended for people in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese in traditional characters. For example, versions of the People's Daily are printed in traditional characters, and both People's Daily and Xinhua have traditional character versions of their website available, using Big5 encoding. Mainland companies selling products in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan use traditional characters in order to communicate with consumers;
490-407: Is well known as a "bloodsucking landlord" as bipartisan parties has put it over the years for its unyielding fist on its tenants. According to Richard Harris's opinion, Link Reit has been widely considered a "corporate monster" in Hong Kong partly responsible for the city's socioeconomic issues. In Aug 2020, dozens of rats were found crawling over fresh pork laid on the floor outside the vendor during
539-493: The Chinese Commercial News , World News , and United Daily News all use traditional characters, as do some Hong Kong–based magazines such as Yazhou Zhoukan . The Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified characters. DVDs are usually subtitled using traditional characters, influenced by media from Taiwan as well as by the two countries sharing the same DVD region , 3. With most having immigrated to
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#1732793452692588-643: The Kensiu language . Wong Tai Sin Wong Tai Sin or Huang Daxian ( Chinese : 黃大仙 ) is a Chinese Taoist deity popular in Jinhua , Zhejiang , and Hong Kong with the power of healing. The name, meaning the "Great Immortal Wong (Huang)", is the divine form of Huang Chuping or Wong Cho Ping ( 黃初平 ; c. 328 – c. 386), a Taoist hermit from Jinhua during the Eastern Jin dynasty . According to
637-640: The Shanghainese -language character U+20C8E 𠲎 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-20C8E —a composition of 伐 with the ⼝ 'MOUTH' radical—used instead of the Standard Chinese 嗎 ; 吗 . Typefaces often use the initialism TC to signify the use of traditional Chinese characters, as well as SC for simplified Chinese characters . In addition, the Noto, Italy family of typefaces, for example, also provides separate fonts for
686-656: The Argyle Centre Tower II) from the government for a sum of HK$ 5.91 billion. In April 2020, LINK REIT completed its purchase of 100 Market Street in Sydney at approximately AUD683 million from Blackstone Group. It is a building is 10-storeys office tower of 28,385 square metre above the Westfield mall in Sydney's CBD. In mid-2014, Link REIT sold four commercial properties, to four different buyers, for
735-684: The Housing Ordinance to regulate rent increases; constructing more public markets and bazaars to diminish Link REIT's commercial monopoly in many areas, and provide residents with greater shopping choices; creating a dedicated team within the Lands Department to inspect Link REIT properties, and to conduct enforcement against violations of land lease conditions by the company; and buying back Link REIT properties and placing them back under government management. Traditional Chinese characters Traditional Chinese characters are
784-605: The Mei Lam Shopping Centre, owned and managed by the Link, was being illegally discharged into the Shing Mun River . The company was fined $ 15,000 in November 2016 and ordered to rectify the situation immediately. Due to its history as monopoly landlord of community shopping malls, controversial business ethics and unfriendly treatment to neighbourhoods, small business owners and investors. The company
833-555: The People's Republic of China, traditional Chinese characters are standardised according to the Table of Comparison between Standard, Traditional and Variant Chinese Characters . Dictionaries published in mainland China generally show both simplified and their traditional counterparts. There are differences between the accepted traditional forms in mainland China and elsewhere, for example the accepted traditional form of 产 in mainland China
882-587: The United States during the second half of the 19th century, Chinese Americans have long used traditional characters. When not providing both, US public notices and signs in Chinese are generally written in traditional characters, more often than in simplified characters. In the past, traditional Chinese was most often encoded on computers using the Big5 standard, which favored traditional characters. However,
931-437: The city's population, placed US$ 36 billion of orders while institutional investors were ready to commit US$ 40 billion. The IPO's joint global coordinators were Goldman Sachs , HSBC Holdings plc , and UBS AG . JPMorgan Chase & Co. was the financial adviser to the Housing Authority. The proposed flotation of The Link REIT by the Housing Authority was delayed when a public housing tenant, Lo Siu-lan, challenged
980-515: The company "first killed the shops, then makes money from their death" and criticised the company for only allowing chain stores in their properties. In 2006, The Link cut thousands of staff, a move "fiercely criticised by unionists, who said Link Management had dishonoured a pledge to protect the welfare of its frontline workers when it took over the operation from the Housing Authority". The Link replied that "the job cuts were in line with private practice". By mid 2015, NGO Link Watch ( 領匯監察 ) published
1029-638: The company to seek a court order to bar activists from entering the building. In addition to indoor shopping centres, The Link also acquired many local estate markets in 2005. Such markets are covered facilities with small stalls and shops let out to local residents, generally offering fresh meat and vegetables as well as daily necessities and home wares. As with the shopping centres, The Link has raised rents and also renovated some properties, leading to increased food prices and financial hardship on low-income households. In Tin Shui Wai , where The Link exercises
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#17327934526921078-463: The dominance of chain stores within the estates. This trend has reduced entrepreneurship opportunities for lower income people in Hong Kong's public housing estates and new towns, diminishing their chances to achieve social mobility , and has increased the cost of living. A 2012 campaign by The Link to promote "nostalgic restaurants" in its shopping centres was widely derided on social media as hypocritical. Users on Golden Forum and Facebook wrote that
1127-646: The early hours in Link REIT's Sau Mau Ping wet market . Link REIT has been widely condemned by officials on both sides of the political spectrum. Starry Lee , chairperson of the pro-Beijing DAB , reported that former chief executive Leung Chun-ying "strongly criticised" Link REIT in a meeting with the DAB. In an interview with the South China Morning Post , Leung questioned whether the remuneration structure for top management of Link REIT had led to
1176-493: The inverse is equally true as well. In digital media, many cultural phenomena imported from Hong Kong and Taiwan into mainland China, such as music videos, karaoke videos, subtitled movies, and subtitled dramas, use traditional Chinese characters. In Hong Kong and Macau , traditional characters were retained during the colonial period, while the mainland adopted simplified characters. Simplified characters are contemporaneously used to accommodate immigrants and tourists, often from
1225-490: The latter strike it was reported that rents had doubled in ten years. Some local residents stated that they visit a government-run market in Tsuen Wan instead owing to the higher prices at Cheung Fat. The Cheung Fat stall owners also protested the outsourcing of the market's management to Uni-China (Market) Management Limited, which they feared will lead to untenable rent increases. Uni-China (Market) Management also manages
1274-562: The legality of the proposed divestment of the properties. Lo's lawyer submitted that the Housing Authority had "breached its duty under the Housing Ordinance to provide housing to people in need. Instead, it was selling assets to a private company, which could sublet the properties at market rates rather than benefiting the underprivileged". She represented a concern among many residents of public housing that existing amenities would no longer be public and that The Link would raise rents, thereby forcing price rises in shops without due consideration of
1323-725: The mainland. The increasing use of simplified characters has led to concern among residents regarding protecting what they see as their local heritage. Taiwan has never adopted simplified characters. The use of simplified characters in government documents and educational settings is discouraged by the government of Taiwan. Nevertheless, with sufficient context simplified characters are likely to be successfully read by those used to traditional characters, especially given some previous exposure. Many simplified characters were previously variants that had long been in some use, with systematic stroke simplifications used in folk handwriting since antiquity. Traditional characters were recognized as
1372-682: The majority of Chinese text in mainland China are simplified characters , there is no legislation prohibiting the use of traditional Chinese characters, and often traditional Chinese characters remain in use for stylistic and commercial purposes, such as in shopfront displays and advertising. Traditional Chinese characters remain ubiquitous on buildings that predate the promulgation of the current simplification scheme, such as former government buildings, religious buildings, educational institutions, and historical monuments. Traditional Chinese characters continue to be used for ceremonial, cultural, scholarly/academic research, and artistic/decorative purposes. In
1421-467: The market at Leung King Estate in Tuen Mun, which is also owned by The Link. In February 2016 a group of men dressed in dark jackets with "manager" (管理員) printed on the backs acted in an intimidating manner toward hawkers in the area of the shopping centre since 2 February. More than 200 showed up to protest against the men combating hawkers on the night of 8 February. Some minor clashes broke out between
1470-598: The market by successively making its first two purchases in mainland China, when it acquired Beijing EC Mall , for a consideration of ¥2.5 billion; it acquired two commercial buildings in Shanghai for ¥6.6 billion. The company has a target where mainland properties would not exceed 12.5% of its portfolio. On 19 February 2016, a subsidiary of the Link purchased the Trade and Industry Department Tower in Mong Kok (formerly
1519-983: The merging of previously distinct character forms. Many Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between these character sets. Traditional characters are known by different names throughout the Chinese-speaking world. The government of Taiwan officially refers to traditional Chinese characters as 正體字 ; 正体字 ; zhèngtǐzì ; 'orthodox characters'. This term is also used outside Taiwan to distinguish standard characters, including both simplified, and traditional, from other variants and idiomatic characters . Users of traditional characters elsewhere, as well as those using simplified characters, call traditional characters 繁體字 ; 繁体字 ; fántǐzì ; 'complex characters', 老字 ; lǎozì ; 'old characters', or 全體字 ; 全体字 ; quántǐzì ; 'full characters' to distinguish them from simplified characters. Some argue that since traditional characters are often
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1568-677: The official script in Singapore until 1969, when the government officially adopted Simplified characters. Traditional characters still are widely used in contexts such as in baby and corporation names, advertisements, decorations, official documents and in newspapers. The Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative in Southeast Asia regarding simplification. Although major public universities teach in simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications such as
1617-700: The original standard forms, they should not be called 'complex'. Conversely, there is a common objection to the description of traditional characters as 'standard', due to them not being used by a large population of Chinese speakers. Additionally, as the process of Chinese character creation often made many characters more elaborate over time, there is sometimes a hesitation to characterize them as 'traditional'. Some people refer to traditional characters as 'proper characters' ( 正字 ; zhèngzì or 正寫 ; zhèngxiě ) and to simplified characters as 簡筆字 ; 简笔字 ; jiǎnbǐzì ; 'simplified-stroke characters' or 減筆字 ; 减笔字 ; jiǎnbǐzì ; 'reduced-stroke characters', as
1666-833: The predominant forms. Simplified characters as codified by the People's Republic of China are predominantly used in mainland China , Malaysia, and Singapore. "Traditional" as such is a retronym applied to non-simplified character sets in the wake of widespread use of simplified characters. Traditional characters are commonly used in Taiwan , Hong Kong , and Macau , as well as in most overseas Chinese communities outside of Southeast Asia. As for non-Chinese languages written using Chinese characters, Japanese kanji include many simplified characters known as shinjitai standardized after World War II, sometimes distinct from their simplified Chinese counterparts . Korean hanja , still used to
1715-458: The privatised company and greater commercial orientation, although some feared that the scope for increasing rental income and cutting labour costs might be limited due to most of its properties being tied to the public housing sector. IPO of The Link REIT, delayed for a year until 2005 through legal action by housing tenants worried that rents would rise, was eventually 18 times oversubscribed. About 510,000 Hong Kong residents, or seven percent of
1764-550: The problem, including launching a potential legal battle against the company. Similarly, in April 2019, legislator Alice Mak moved a motion in the Legislative Council urging the government to "overcome the 'three big mountains'" that she wrote had plagued the local community, one of which is Link REIT. Various other legislators moved motions to this amendment suggesting means of tackling the problem, including amending
1813-665: The public good. Some NGOs also were concerned that the reduced income of the Housing Authority would eventually lead to rent rises for public tenants. Lo's request for judicial review of the privatisation was rejected at the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal. Since the listing in 2005, Link has engaged in a process of 'asset enhancement works', seeking to raise the value of the properties through upgraded physical structure, replacing low-end utility local shops with higher-paying brands and chains, enhanced 'customer service', and promotional activities. The Link also overhauled many of
1862-426: The self-proclaimed managers and the protesters, and required mediation by the police. Two protesters were arrested and one reporter was injured during the clash. Conflicts between the management and the public reoccurred on the night of 9 February. The men were filmed beating up protesters while police stood by and prevented others from being involved. A reporter was also beaten up by the control team. A 31-year-old man
1911-621: The text Self-Description of Chisongzi ( 赤松子自述 ; "Master Red Pine"), Wong Tai Sin was born Huang Chuping (Wong Cho Ping in Cantonese) in 328 in Lanxi , Jinhua , Zhejiang province. Western sources have him listed at c. 284 to 364 CE. Wong Cho Ping is said to have experienced poverty and hunger, becoming a shepherd when he was eight years old. He began practising Taoism at the age of fifteen after meeting an immortal or saintly person on Red Pine Mountain in his hometown. Legend has it that he
1960-636: The traditional character set used in Taiwan ( TC ) and the set used in Hong Kong ( HK ). Most Chinese-language webpages now use Unicode for their text. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommends the use of the language tag zh-Hant to specify webpage content written with traditional characters. In the Japanese writing system , kyujitai are traditional forms, which were simplified to create shinjitai for standardized Japanese use following World War II. Kyūjitai are mostly congruent with
2009-985: The traditional characters in Chinese, save for minor stylistic variation. Characters that are not included in the jōyō kanji list are generally recommended to be printed in their traditional forms, with a few exceptions. Additionally, there are kokuji , which are kanji wholly created in Japan, rather than originally being borrowed from China. In the Korean writing system , hanja —replaced almost entirely by hangul in South Korea and totally replaced in North Korea —are mostly identical with their traditional counterparts, save minor stylistic variations. As with Japanese, there are autochthonous hanja, known as gukja . Traditional Chinese characters are also used by non-Chinese ethnic groups. The Maniq people living in Thailand and Malaysia use Chinese characters to write
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2058-444: The trust's behaviour. He said that, as the previous owner of the public housing commercial space, the Hong Kong government has a responsibility to public housing tenants "to satisfy their needs and if necessary to provide alternatives to Link REIT properties". He said that a Link REIT monopoly in public estates was not acceptable as elderly tenants could not be expected to carry their heavy shopping to and from other markets. He said there
2107-518: The ubiquitous Unicode standard gives equal weight to simplified and traditional Chinese characters, and has become by far the most popular encoding for Chinese-language text. There are various input method editors (IMEs) available for the input of Chinese characters . Many characters, often dialectical variants, are encoded in Unicode but cannot be inputted using certain IMEs, with one example being
2156-604: The wet markets under its management. The renovations have led to higher rents, higher prices, and the loss of local shops. In moves to diversify its property portfolio and mix, Link acquired the shopping mall portion of Nan Fung Centre with parking facilities in Hang Hau , from Nan Fung Group mid 2010 for a total of $ 1.17 billion. In late 2010, Link acquired the shopping mall portion of Maritime Bay Shopping Mall with parking facilities in Hang Hau, from Sino Group , for
2205-587: The words for simplified and reduced are homophonous in Standard Chinese , both pronounced as jiǎn . The modern shapes of traditional Chinese characters first appeared with the emergence of the clerical script during the Han dynasty c. 200 BCE , with the sets of forms and norms more or less stable since the Southern and Northern dynasties period c. the 5th century . Although
2254-495: Was able to transform stones into sheep forty years later. Wong Tai Sin later became known as the Red Pine Immortal ( 赤松仙子 ), after the mountain where he had his hermitage, and his birthday is celebrated on the 23rd of the eighth lunar month. Today, Sik Sik Yuen is an educational and charitable foundation that, true to Leung's origins as a healer, runs a free clinic and a number of schools and colleges. In Hong Kong,
2303-585: Was arrested for causing disorder in a public place. He allegedly interfered with a worker performing his duties at Leung King Estate. The Link REIT distanced itself from the clashes and denied the hawker control team was part of its staff. In 2016 the Environmental Protection Department initiated prosecution against the Link REIT under the Water Pollution Control Ordinance because wastewater from
2352-713: Was established by the Hong Kong government , which hived off assets from the Hong Kong Housing Authority that included 151 retail facilities – mainly within public housing estates – and 79,000 parking spaces. The date for the listing was 25 November 2005, at a valuation of HK$ 22.02 billion (Valuation = 2,137,454,000 x HK$ 10.30 = HK$ 22.02 Billion) (US$ 2.82 billion). Upon privatisation , Link Reit remains tied to terms in existing tenancy agreements, but will no longer require approval from government to increase rents for new leases. However, financial analysts expected attractive dividend yields – up to 7 per cent – from
2401-444: Was no plan to buy back the Link, but the government could explore providing alternatives if the Link was not serving nearby residents. Carrie Lam , ex-Hong Kong chief executive, was reported in 2016 to have called Link REIT one of the "three mountains" – i.e. one of the major sources of contention in Hong Kong society – that the government sought to conquer. Lam stated that the government should explore different avenues toward tackling
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