More than 500 employees of the debt-ridden Youth Camp Health Group (
"The businessperson, who is a good friend of Tsai, will lend cash of NT$30 million [nearly US$1 million] to help pay back employee salaries, but he demanded to remain anonymous," Youth Camp acting spokesman Andy Wu (
The company's latest decision came one day after 22 disappointed employees filed a complaint with Taipei City Government's Department of Labor, protesting Youth Camp's disregard for their labor rights.
Some staff have been forced to use high-interest-rate cash-advance cards to pay back credit card payments and make ends meet, employees said on Wednesday.
As the company's debt currently stands at NT$1.3 billion, Wu said Tsai was eager to hold talks with potential buyers to bail out the 29-year-old company, and cooperation schemes are expected to be released in the next two days.
"Youth Camp so far has no plans to announce bankruptcy," he added.
The nation's first fitness center chain, founded in 1977, abruptly suspended business Tuesday at all its outlets except the premium Taipei 101 Oxy Gym, citing a financial crisis.
The company's main rival, Alexander Health Club (亞力山大俱樂部), expressed willingness to conditionally accept Youth Camp's members, but stressed it must first gain Tsai's approval before entering into detailed discussions.
Alexander's chairwoman, Candy Tang (
At a time when Tsai is seeking investors, Youth Camp is offering two options for members who do not want to switch to its Taipei 101 Oxy Gym -- either exchange their unused membership fees for cosmetics, or sign an agreement to postpone their membership for a year.
With Youth Camp insisting it won't offer reimbursements, the Consumers' Foundation (消基會) yesterday said it does not rule out the possibility of lodging a lawsuit to claim over NT$100 million on behalf of the firm's members.
In addition, some members have complained that they have been paying their membership fees through installment payments using credit cards or small-amount bank loans, and although Youth Camp is not offering services any more, they are still being required to pay a monthly fee.
Jason Lee (
He urged the Cabinet-level Financial Supervisory Commission to study the case and require Far Eastern International Bank (遠東商銀), the provider of small loans to Youth Camp members, and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp (HSBC,
HSBC in a press release yesterday said it is currently reviewing its position. The bank said client confidentiality was important to the case and it is working to find address the situation.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
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Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day