HONG KONG – More Hong Kong stores are withdrawing their support for a popular brand of milk tea on Wednesday (Aug 24), after it was reported that all 7-Eleven outlets in the city pulled it off their shelves over concerns that the drink contains a food additive banned in Singapore.

A staff at a Circle K convenience store told The Straits Times on Wednesday night that the Chun Cui He milk tea has been removed and is no longer for sale.

The South China Morning Post also reported that the Wellcome supermarket chain has cancelled an order of 400 boxes of the milk tea from Taiwanese maker Bifido.

Chun Cui He, which comes in several flavours such as latte, is commonly sold in Taiwanese convenience stores and is a hit with tourists, including those from Singapore.

Hong Kong’s 7-Eleven chain told The Straits Times on Wednesday it is checking if L-theanine, a forbidden food additive in Singapore found in the Chun Cui He milk tea, is safe for consumption.

The convenience chain store operator has stopped selling the milk tea after consumers questioned if the beverage is still safe for consumption following Singapore’s decision to ban the drink on Tuesday. The company notified its staff on the same day to remove bottles of the beverage.

By Wednesday, all 7-Eleven’s 1000 outlets across the city has stopped selling Chun Cui He milk tea, said a 7-Eleven spokesman.

“We stopped selling Chun Cui He milk tea after the Singapore Government banned it. It is to respond to the concerns expressed by our local customers as there is no clear guideline on the use of L-Theanine in Hong Kong. We are liaising with the supplier and Centre for Food Safety to clarify if such little amount of L-Theanine in the drinks is safe for human consumption,” the spokesman said.

The Singapore Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority’s (AVA) ban on the popular drink has sparked an online debate in Hong Kong with netizens questioning if stores in the city should still be selling it.

Ms Carrie Sui, 27, an accounts clerk said: “Since Singapore has found a problem with the drink, even if the authority here says it’s safe for consumption, I wouldn’t drink it anymore.”

The 7-Eleven spokesman said the company had responded immediately to news of the ban and raised its concerns with the Centre for Food Safety (CFS), Hong Kong’s food safety authority. Its stores are now keeping stocks of the milk tea in freezers, while the company awaits advice from the CFS to decide if it should continue to sell the drink.

The spokesman said the company has not decided if it will destroy all the drinks or return them to Bifido if the authority advises against selling them.

A 7-Eleven outlet staff said the store carries about five types of beverages from Chun Cui He, including coffee, but it is stopping only the sale of the milk tea.

Responding to The Straits Times’ queries, the CFS said on Wednesday that “all food for sale in Hong Kong, locally produced or imported, should be fit for human consumption”.

“Its (L-theanine) use is allowed in many places including USA, Taiwan, Japan and the mainland. Manufacturers should adopt good manufacturing practices during food production when L-theanine is being used,” said the CFS spokesman.

The food additives, imported from Japan, is also legal under Taiwanese law, the milk tea’s Taichung-based manufacturer Bifido said in a statement on Tuesday.

Bifido told The Straits Times that it was notified of the AVA recall only on Tuesday but is working with its Singapore distributor of Chun Cui He, Abana, to get L-theanine approved.

“We will be more than happy to provide any information that the AVA requires to get the product permitted,” said the company.

This article was first published on August 25, 2016.
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Look to Singaporean and Hong Kong for investments that offer quality and income, Lim Say Boon, chief investment officer at DBS Wealth Management, told CNBC’s “Street Signs.”

Lim’s recommendation came amid concerns about monetary policy globally, which has spurred surges in asset prices, leading to negative interest rates in many bonds and over-valuation across many equity markets.

“This is a historical struggle between economic dysfunction and policy intervention. This can go on for years,” Lim said. But for investors, “You have to be earning income. You can not be sitting on cash,” he said.

“You don’t necessarily have to be in stocks. We are recommending to our clients that if you have to be in stocks, be in quality and be in income. So we’re recommending income equities, dividend paying stocks,” he said.

That’s why DBS Wealth Management advised clients to look at Hong Kong and Singapore, Lim said.

“In Singapore, the dividend yield is 4 per cent, in Hong Kong H-shares, it’s 4.2 per cent. The global average is 2.7 per cent, the US is 2.2 per cent,” he said, calling US dividend stocks overvalued.

Lim said he was particularly interested in Singapore and Hong Kong real-estate investment trusts (REITs).

“There are REITS out there with sustainable yields, with long-term leases locked in over a period of time,” he said, noting that Singapore REITs generally paid yields above 4 per cent, while Hong Kong REIT yields could be even higher.

Last week, Singapore-based DBS Bank said in a note that it expected Singapore REITs would remain steady amid market volatility, while yield spreads, which were wider than historical averages, would help to cushion potential downside in the shares.

It estimated Singapore REITs were offering yields around 6.3 per cent, about 30 basis points above their historical mean, excluding the global financial crisis. That compared with the 10-year Singapore government bond yield at around 1.8 per cent, the note said.

PETALING JAYA – AirAsia is giving free flights for life to all ASEAN athletes who won gold medals in the recently-concluded Rio Olympics 2016 “for making us dream and believe”.

Its chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes announced that while gold medallists would be entitled to free flights for life, silver and bronze medallists would also be rewarded but did not specify what they would receive.

How much Olympic athletes get for their gold medals

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Straits Times Graphics

“What an Olympics this was for ASEAN. AirAsia, which has its roots in ASEAN, wants to reward those who gave us so much joy,” said Fernandes on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

“Also, they taught and reminded us never to give up on your dreams and never stop believing you can be the best in the world,” he said.

“Thank you to all the medallists for making us dream and believe,” said Fernandes.

Singaporean swimmer Joseph Schooling, Thai weightlifters Sukanya Srisurat and Sopita Tanasan, Indonesian badminton duo Liliyana Natsir and Tontowi Ahmad and Vietnamese sports shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh are among the ASEAN Olympic gold medal winners.

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The Straits Times, Reuters, AFP

Although Malaysia did not win any golds at the games, our Malaysian athletes brought home four silvers and one bronze medal.

Highlights from Olympics 2016

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AFP, Reuters, The Straits Times