香港電車

choi

Kurtis Lee, In Hong Kong, trams offer a ride like no others. Los Angeles Times, Dec 18, 2014.
www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg ... 20141218-story.html

Note:
(a) “At Rumsey Street 林士街 and Des Voeux Road 德輔道, two middle-aged women step into the hot-pink double-decker tram”
(i) Des Voeux Road
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Des_Voeux_Road
(named after the 10th Governor of Hong Kong, Sir George William Des Vœux [1834-1909; governor of Hong Kong 1887-1891; of French descent])
(ii) French English dictionary

vœu (noun masculine; plural: vœux; from Old French vuz, from Latin votum): "vow; wish"
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vœu

(b) “the oversized vehicle, adorned with advertisements for the local Wing Wah cake shop,glides east from historic Sheung Wan toward the trendy Wan Chai area, and eventually the Causeway Bay shopping district”
(i) For Wing Wah cake shop, see 香港榮華餅家有限公司
www.wingwah.com/
("香港榮華餅家由1950年元朗一隅的茶樓餅家，發展至今逾五十多間門市")
(ii) Sheung Wan  上環
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheung_Wan
(iii) Wan Chai  灣仔
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wan_Chai
(section 1 Names)
(iv) Causeway Bay  銅鑼灣
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causeway_Bay
(Before "massive land reclamation, Causeway Bay was a heavily silted bay. Its former shape can be found on maps by tracing Tung Lo Wan Road 銅鑼灣道, which goes along the former bay")

(c) "Near Queen's Road 皇后大道 and Jubilee Street 租庇利街, it passes the Center, a 73-floor skyscraper that is among the tallest in this financial hub of 7.2 million people."

The Center  中環中心
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Center
(the fifth tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong; With a height of 346 m (1,135 ft), it comprises 73 stories)
(d) "In North Point 北角 [香港島的最北端], the trams pass through the Chun Yeung Street wet market, where food shoppers try to pick the freshest fish or frogs."

Chun Yeung Street  春秧街
zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/春秧街
(section 1 街道命名: 郭春秧)
(e) "Their [passengers'] rides may be in trams of almost any color, often covered with advertisements for businesses ranging from major international companies to local enterprises such as Ling Chi Medicine [Co, Ltd 香港靈芝藥廠有限公司], which manufactures shiling oil 十靈油 [a generic name]."

choi

(f) "Emmanuel Vivant, managing director 總經理 魏文 of Hong Kong Tramways, which operates independently from other public transportation. The service, which began in 1904 with about two dozen trams imported from Britain * * *  the trams, which run on electricity * * * 'are the greenest, the most affordable and the most convenient transport,' he says. They travel at a leisurely pace, about 6 mph. Trams run east and west on six separate lines. With a base fare of $2.30 (about 30 cents), rides are cheap, which means the trams attract throngs of passengers, roughly 200,000 daily. The 160-plus vehicles in operation serve more than 100 stations, filling the city's streets from about 5:30 a.m. until midnight each day. * * * There's no shouting out of the names of stops by the conductor or automated recording to indicate when it's time to get off.”
(i) Hong Kong Tramways, Ltd  香港電車有限公司
www.hktramways.com/zh/
("自二零一零年四月起由威立雅交通中國有限公司全資擁有 * * * 威立雅交通中國是威立雅交通—巴黎地鐵亞洲的子公司；威立雅交通—巴黎地鐵亞洲由Transdev和巴黎地鐵發展公司共同擁有")
(ii) Later in the LA Times report, it is said: “The tram operation [is] owned by French companies RATP and Transdev.”
(A) RATP Group
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RATP_Group
(a state-owned public transport operator headquartered in Paris; Formed in 1948, the group has its origins as the public transport operator for the city of Paris)
(B) Transdev
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transdev
(was formed by the merger of Veolia Transport and Transdev in 2011; Headquarters  Paris)
(C) Veolia Environnement
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veolia_Environnement

Quote:

"Between 2000 and 2003 the company was known as Vivendi Environnement, having been spun off from the Vivendi conglomerate, most of the rest of which became Vivendi.

"In 2005, the name 'Veolia' was established as an umbrella brand for all of the Group’s divisions (water, environmental services, energy services and transport)

* modus vivendi
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modus_vivendi
(D) Press release: Vivendi Environnement announces its new name: VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT. Apr 8, 2003.
www.finance.veolia.com/press-release-169.html

Quote:

“From a technical standpoint, a decision was taken [by board of directors] to keep the same initials-VE [acronym for Vivendi Environnement]-which have become a widely known and accepted symbol.

"From a semantic standpoint, the new name needed to have some meaning so that it naturally establishes itself.

"The VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT name retains the same initials. VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT is derived from Aeolus, the keeper of the winds in Greek mythology. It evokes the company's fresh impetus and its commitment to the sustainable development of the planet, a key concept for the future, which means abiding by key ethical principles and pursuing a commitment to healthy labour relations. The reference to air is heightened by the first letter of the name, 'V,' which is the first letter of the French word for the wind ('vent'). The wind, which is always on the move, clean, transparent and rapid, is also a force symbolizing all our activities. The softness of the sounds expresses the company's close relationship with its customers, while the consonant patterns of the word VEOLIA evoke fluidity.

* Aeolus
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolus
(the third Aeolus was a son of Hippotes)
* French English dictionary
vent (noun masculine; from from Latin [noun masculine] ventus [wind]; English noun and verb "vent" was borrowed from this French noun): "wind"
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vent


(g) Mimi Chu, 22, “a community college [社區書院 or 專上學院] student and full-time waitress”