Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/434696
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 17 DECEMBER 2014 17 Events YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt HSBC Water Programme songs set for international debut EMBODYING the message of conservation, HSBC Malta's Water Programme has launched two spe- cial songs that are set to make an international debut wherever HSBC Group's Water Programme is active in global communities. Entitled 'Water Life' and 'Catch the Drop', the songs are a result of HSBC Water Programme Malta campaign, which is part of HSBC Group's US$100 million worldwide Water Programme initiative. A group of nine students who at- tend Our Lady Immaculate School (OLIS) in Hamrun lent their pas- sionate voices to the catchy tunes of the songs, which saw willing artists from the Philippines to the United States extend their help. The col- laboration was led by OLIS' music teacher Maria Cachia Abdilla, who worked with Maestro Sandro Crip- pa from Florence. At the first public preview of the songs, the students brought the songs to life with a stirring per- formance at OLIS, where students also show cased their environment- related artwork. HSBC Malta CEO Mark Watkin- son said: "We take water as granted and ignore the fact that it is a finite resource. The songs by Our Lady Immaculate School's students truly encapsulate the idea behind our Water Programme, as well as dem- onstrate that these young kids have taken our message to heart." OLIS Principal Audrey Galea said: "At Our Lady Immaculate School, we believe that educating students to become more sustainable citizens is engrained in the school's cur- riculum. This is achieved through various educational experiences such as outings, classroom hands- on activities, talks and others. The opportunity given to the school by the HSBC Water Programme, to be entrusted with pioneering the two songs which will be used to pro- mote the Water Programme, is an honour to the whole school com- munity." OLIS proposed the idea of the songs to HSBC during a campaign stopover while being visited by HS- BC Global Corporate Sustainability senior manager of Environmental Programmes Sue Alexander. The team was moved by the proposal and work began in earnest, from writing of lyrics, and auditions to recording. After the final process- ing of the songs, they will be used at all HSBC Malta Water Programme events in the ongoing scholastic year in Malta and Gozo. The HSBC Malta Water Pro- gramme is a national environmen- tal and educational water con- servation campaign, and is one of the largest conservation efforts in Malta to date. Argus Group at The Economist gala dinner FINANCE Minister Professor Edward Scicluna together with the Argus Insurance Agencies Limited (AIAL) senior management team, including; Argus Group Chairper- son Sheila Nicoll (second from right), Group CEO Alison Hill (second from left), AIAL Chief Executive Dr Vanessa Borg (far right) and Group Executive Vice President - Strategic Development, Cindy Campbell (far left), at the recent The Economist Gala Dinner. The Argus Group is a network of- fering market-leading insurance so- lutions. It has specific expertise in helping governments of small island states to develop new pension and health-insurance laws and solutions tailored to meet specific financial and demographic challenges. More information can be found at www.argus.com.mt A simple guide to pensions MSV Life has produced a free guide to retirement planning, called A Simple Guide to Pensions. Stuart Fairbairn, Chief Officer Business Development, explained, "We are aware that there is a lot of confusion regarding pensions and how best to provide for your own retirement. Earlier this year we conducted a nationwide Financial Literacy Survey in conjunction with the University of Malta and results showed that one of the most appar- ent problems is that people do not understand what benefits they are entitled to from the Government and what level their pension will be in the future. Our Simple Guide is designed to be easy to read and to enable everyone to quickly under- stand what their State Pension is likely to be." The Guide explains how the State Pension is capped to a maximum of €275 weekly for persons born after 1962. This will increase in future to around €377 per week in 2017. Your actual entitlement may be less than this, as it will depend on how much you earn throughout your working life. This means that anyone aged under 52 today can expect a maxi- mum pension from the Government of approximately Eur 19,600 each year in 2027 – and even though this may seem like a modest amount, its worth in 2027 will be around the same as today's maximum State Pension. For some people that will be enough, but if you want more than that, then you need to think about where you will get it. Our Simple Guide explains what State Pension you will be entitled to, how much income you might need when you are retired and finally how and where you can save in or- der to make up for any shortfall. The Guide also explains the proposals the Government has made regard- ing tax credits for contributions to qualifying Personal Retirement Schemes. For a free copy of your guide please call us on freephone 80072220 or send an e-mail at retirement@msv- life.com MSV Life p.l.c. is authorised by the Malta Financial Services Author- ity to carry on Long Term Business under the Insurance Business Act, 1998. COM 101214 Enjoy free Wi-Fi in the sky on Emirates A380s OVER 200,000 passengers have used Emirates' free onboard Wi-Fi since October this year, taking advantage of the airline's service to connect with family, friends or colleagues when they fly. On most Emirates A380s passengers can access 10MBs of free data, enough to send emails, blog, tweet, post on Facebook, or browse the Internet. Emirates currently offers Wi-Fi con- nectivity on 86 aircraft – on board all of its 56 Airbus A380s, as well as on 30 of its Boeing 777s. A comprehen- sive retrofit programme is also under- way to install Wi-Fi capability across the rest of its fleet. On 51 of Emirates' A380s, the first 10MB of data is free, and a token $1 charge is levied for the next 500MB. On all other aircraft, getting online costs US$1 due to the current hardware and software in- stalled. Until 01 January 2015, proceeds from these connection charges will be donated to the Emirates Airline Foundation to help improve qual- ity of life for disadvantaged children around the world. "Emirates sees inflight Wi-Fi as an essential value-add service that should be freely available for our customers to connect with friends, family and business. At the moment, software and technical limitations mean that on some of our aircraft we still have to levy a token charge for Wi-Fi. We are working hard to overcome this but until then, it is only $1 to get online. We've been providing free Wi-Fi and $1 Wi-Fi on the fleet since early Oc- tober and up to 35% of passengers are using the service, especially on long flights," said Patrick Brannelly, Emir- ates' VP for Corporate Communica- tions - Product, Publishing, Digital and Events. "Most of our flights are long-haul international routes, and we know that many of our customers want to stay in touch when they travel. That is why Emirates has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in our inflight connectivity systems. We especially see a spike in mobile and Wi-Fi usage during major festive seasons, and we believe that our customers will wel- come the fact that if they have to pay a $1 connection fee, proceeds will go towards supporting a good cause. "We expect to collect and donate about US$40,000 to the Emirates Airline Foundation, but that amount could increase if more users log-on to Wi-Fi between now and the new year," added Brannelly. Emirates introduced onboard Wi-Fi three years ago, and over 600,000 pas- sengers have connected to the service, and usage is rising in tandem with the growing penetration of mobile devic- es and changing lifestyles. The industry leader in onboard connectivity, Emirates was the first airline to install in-seat telephones and onboard faxes back in 1995. To- day, customers onboard Emirates can connect to Wi-Fi, send emails and text messages via their personal ice entertainment system screens, as well as use their personal mobile devices to make calls and send messages Emirates operates a daily scheduled flight between Malta and Dubai via Larnaka, Cyprus. Singing a water song