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Contents
March/April 2016
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FCC staff
COVER STORY Hong Kong's future Sir David Tang gave an amusing, erudite and at times inspirational speech before a full house at the FCC on what has happened to Hong Kong, where it might go and what needs to be done.
Cover photo: NurPhoto.com /Alamy Stock Photo
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ON THE WALL Fractured State Dominic Nahr has been travelling to South Sudan since 2010 and recorded the despair of a fractured nation. Nahr, as a TIME contract photographer, has worked across the African continent, covering the news stories of the month – “but no place confronted me with such stark contrasts as South Sudan”.
Regulars
2
A message from the President
3
Editorial
4
Membership
5
Club News
26
F & B: Cocktails at the bar
34
Book Review: Frederick Forsyth – foreign correspondent
35
Obituary: Ray Cranbourne 1933-2015
40
Last Word: CP Ho – high flyer
17 24 28
REPORTAGE Dear Sir ... A letter to a newspaper can set in motion a train of events with far reaching consequences, writes Gavin Greenwood. HUMAN RIGHTS PRESS AWARDS 20 years of award-winning photos The Human Rights Press Awards’ 20th anniversary year continues with a retrospective photography exhibit at the Main Bar in March, plus two gala events in May. REPORTAGE Don’t bet on the odds of gaining refugee status in Hong Kong Asylum seekers have a tough time in Hong Kong: only 35 of them have been granted refugee status in the past 24 years. And as of 2015, there was a waiting list of 10,922 individuals.
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SPEAKERS Confucianism in the era of Xi Jinping The comeback of Confucius is potentially one of the most significant trends in Chinese politics and culture.
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MEDIA Copyright law 'open to interpretation' Lawyers caution Internet service providers and users that key parts of Hong Kong’s proposed new copyright law are questionable and open to interpretation.
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AFP
Features
Banker turned corporate watchdog Hong Kong is a global finance centre, and as such employs a good number of financial journalists. David Webb is not one of them. He is an activist, not a reporter. But he seems to break a lot of stories.
From the President
The FCC has always been a dynamic forum for discussion, playing host to guests as diverse as Zhu Rongji, Mia Farrow and Muhammad Ali over the decades. One of the interesting results of the membership survey was that there is demand for a wide range of speakers across a variety of subjects. Economics, politics and media are always popular, as evidenced by sellout talks by Nicola Sturgeon and Alastair Campbell. But members also expressed a strong desire for people to address local issues, with talks on property and the MTR proving a success. But given the post-Occupy political climate, the appetite for events focused on the central and existential issues that Hong Kong faces has shone brightest. Speakers such as former judges Henry Litton and Kemal Bokhary have brought front page headlines, while Sir David Tang’s witty but withering assessment of Hong Kong’s governance went viral on social media. We have also hosted past and present chief executives as well as academics and officials from mainland China.
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THE CORRESPONDENT
The FCC is rightfully a key forum for debate on matters that strike at the heart of the city. Our professional committee have ensured that we continue to be so. It is even more important as fears are heightened over freedom of speech, a cornerstone of our society that is guaranteed by the Basic Law. The detention of five Hong Kong booksellers by mainland Chinese authorities – including one resident who disappeared from the supposed safety of this semiautonomous city – has sent a chill beyond the publishing community. The city’s international-standard rule of law, which includes an independent legal system, is one of the key reasons why global companies from banks to media organisations choose the city as their Asian headquarters. The failure to provide a satisfactory explanation for the detentions has caused more consternation in the business community than the Occupy protests did, provoking condemnation from the UN, the EU, and even the British government. The FCC would be happy to offer
its podium to any authority that can elucidate. ------------------------------------Please look out for the fruits of other hard work by FCC member volunteers coming soon. Our new revamped website, which launches at the end of March, will be much more dynamic in terms of layout, news, accessibility and features. It will be the go-to place for news on all events, and happenings around the Club, as well as the first chance to see some of the great journalism from our members before it appears in the printed edition of The Correspondent. Then, on April 23, the FCC hosts its first journalism conference (details of which can be found on page 7). The initiative is aimed at correspondents and journalists looking to learn new skills or hone existing ones, network with colleagues and advance their careers. It draws on the knowledge of both members and non-members who are influential in the media and deal firsthand with adapting to the needs of the modern news organisation. Wishing you a successful Year of the Monkey.
THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS’ CLUB, HONG KONG
2 Lower Albert Road, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2521 1511 Fax: (852) 2868 4092 Email: fcc@fcchk.org Website: www.fcchk.org
Editorial
The Board of Governors 2015-2016 President Neil David Western First Vice President Tara Joseph Second Vice President Kevin Barry H. Egan Correspondent Governors Keith Bradsher, Florence De Changy, Nan-Hie In, Juliana Liu, Angie Lau, Natasha Khan, Carsten Schael, Nicholas Gentle Journalist Governors Clifford Buddle, James Gould Associate Governors Timothy S. Huxley, Elaine Pickering, Douglas Wong, Simon Pritchard Goodwill Ambassador Clare Hollingworth Club Secretary Simon Pritchard Professional Committee Co-Conveners: Tara Joseph, Keith Bradsher, Nan-Hie In Finance Committee Co-Conveners: Timothy S. Huxley (Treasurer), Florence De Changy Constitutional Committee Co-Conveners: Kevin Egan, Nicholas Gentle, Clifford Buddle Membership Committee Co-Conveners: Nan-Hie In, James Gould, Simon Pritchard House/ Food and Beverage Committee Co-Conveners: Juliana Liu (F&B) Nicholas Gentle (House) Carsten Schael (House) Tim Huxley (House) Press Freedom Committee Co-Conveners: Neil Western, Florence De Changy, Natasha Khan Communications Committee Co-Conveners: Angie Lau, Natasha Khan, Juliana Liu Paul Bayfield (Editor) Wall Committee Co-Conveners: Carsten Schael, James Gould General Manager Gilbert Cheng Produced by: Asiapix Studios Tel: 9769 0294 Email: asiapix@netvigator.com www.terryduckham-asiapix.com Printing Lautus Print Tel: 2555 1178 Email: cs@lautus.com.hk
Hong Kong's Copyright Law – with its amendments that bring it into the digital age – did not have a smooth run during its second reading in Legco. The debate got so bogged down it was eventually withdrawn. Some opponents are calling the amendments the “Article 23 of the Internet”, fearing that copyright transgressions will lead to criminal prosecution. While the FCC's solicitors Boase Cohen & Collins do not take that emotional stance, they do see that the wording of the Bill is questionable and open to interpretation. Copyright issues are close to the heart of many members who produce copyright material every day. Unfortunately for some journalists this can mean their story is sold on by their parent company with little or no recompense. Much of the rest is borrowed or otherwise ripped off in the free-wheeling Internet world in the name of “free access to information”. Good for them, not good for the originators – often poorly paid journalists. There has been a lot of obfuscation by the governments of Hong Kong and China over who started the Mongkok riots. Sir David Tang, in his FCC speech, said the rioters had been “branded as separatists by the Liaison Office”. The Hong Kong government attempted, initially, to blame students, then they focused on Hong Kong Indigenous. However, there are some seriously upset senior police who are saying – off the record – that the majority of protesters were unemployed people expecting a paycheque for the night's work. The police are angry that initially “deliberately” unprotected police had to face the paving-stone-throwing rioters. David Tang also didn't hold back on what he thought of CY Leung's leadership over the Mongkok riots, the Umbrella Movement, the missing booksellers and a divided Legco. The Chief Executive is clearly finding it hard to toe Beijing's line, while maintaining the myth of protecting Hong Kong interests. Letters to the Editor, once a powerful means of getting opinions across to power, have declined with the demise of many newspapers and magazines. However, in the past there have been celebrated letters that have moved governments to take note and sometimes reverse policies. In this issue, Gavin Greenwood explores one such letter that in time saved the lives of hundreds of servicemen in Hong Kong.
Advertising Contact FCC Front Office: Tel: 2521 1511 The Correspondent ©2015 The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong The Correspondent is published six times a year. Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of the club.
Paul Bayfield
THE CORRESPONDENT
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MEMBERSHIP Who’s joined the Club, who’s leaving and who’s turned silver! This is the column to read. Top news this month is the change in the Correspondent/Journalist Special Promotion. Started in 2010, this programme helps relatively low-income media workers whose household income is at the low end of the range earned by the professional sector in Hong Kong by providing a reduced monthly subscription, on a graduating scale, during members’ first three years. Correspondent/Journalist applicants now have the choice to apply for the special programme or pay the regular monthly subscription. Applicants for the programme will be reviewed each quarter at supplementary Membership Committee meetings held in March, June, September and December at which a limited number of places will be allocated. Applicants who do not apply for the reduced fee programme will be reviewed at the committee’s normal monthly meetings. Details about the programme are available on our website. We’re all proud to be FCC members, whether Correspondents, Journalists or Associates. So a Correspondent going to work in public relations or research should change to Associate, a Journalist now working in global or regional media should change to Correspondent, and an Associate who has made a career move into full-time journalism should change to Correspondent or Journalist. Whatever your membership status when you joined, if you have taken a different role, do let us know. It costs you nothing unless you are still on the Correspondent/Journalist special scheme and have to change to Associate. Need advice? Email Marilyn Hood marketing@fcchk.org. Leaving Hong Kong? The question of whether to take out Absent Membership will arise. It’s not expensive at HK$2,000 and it is for life! Absent Members visiting Hong Kong can use the Club three times per year, up to a maximum of 42 days, without paying the monthly sub and reactivate their membership immediately they return to live here. Correspondents and Journalists take note, you may leave Hong Kong working in journalism but return as a non-journalist, in which case it will take you many years to re-join as an Associate...
Welcome to new members
Correspondents: Huw Griffith, Deputy Head of English Desk, Agence France-Presse; Vicky Jenkins, Freelance writer; Lui Mei-chun, Correspondent, Thomson Reuters; Heba Moussa, Production Manager, CNN Journalists: Fung Kai-chun, Editor, South China Morning Post; Wu Ming-yiu, Freelance Music Writer Associates: Matthew Bate, Investment Advisor, Private Capital; Cynthia Chin Shing-hau, PR Consultant & Food Writer; Sharon Fung Siuyuen, PR Manager, Mayer Brown JSM; Fung Wai-man, Director, American Phil Textiles; James Hughes, Managing Director, Pictet & Cie; Mya Kirwan, Executive Officer, Kadoorie Charitable Foundation; Marvin Lai, Managing Principal, Burgeon Group Consulting; Lee Tin-yan, Deputy Secretary, Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong; Nigel Moore, General Manager-Business Development, Wallem Group; Eleni Nassopoulou, Managing Director, Solar Plus (HK); Robert Shum Kai-kee, Group Chief Executive Officer, Cypress Group; Debra Taylor, Director, Taylor Abbott Associates; Zhang Yan, Partner, Newgate Communications; Zhou Bei, Director, UBS Corporate: Brett Cooper, General Manager, Philip Morris Asia Replacements – Corporate: Andreas Meler, Vice-President, BASF East Asia; Yvonne So, Director, HKTDC
On to pastures new
Au revoir to those members leaving Hong Kong who have become Absent Members: Correspondents: Sarah Chakales, Writer, CNN; Stuart Lawrence, Freelancer; Daniel Petrie, Economics Editor, Bloomberg; Michael Standaert, Special Correspondent, Bloomberg Journalists: Mark Hanrahan, Sub-Editor, South China Morning Post; Linda Kennedy, Reporter, TVB Associates: Jeannine Curran, Managing Director, Perfect Technology; Iwan Evans, Managing Director, Questcom International Global Solutions; Simon Galpin, Director General, Invest Hong Kong; Elizabeth Hamerton, Personal Assistant, Secretarial Office Services; Gisela Landsmann, Public Relations Manager, Queens Property Consultant; Nicholas Pilbeam, Managing Director, Motorola Asia Pacific; Maria Ronson, Vice-President, Associated Press; Ron Scholefield, VP Product Development, Li & Fung; James Strang, Lecturer, Hong Kong Baptist University; Andrew Towler, Associate Director, Kirkland + Ellis; Frederick White, Deputy Principal, International College Hong Kong; Gary Wong, Senior Vice-President, Chartis Insurance; Paul Woodward, Principal, Business Strategies Group; Dennis Yau Wai-tak, Chief Financial Officer, Canton Properties Investment
Farewell also to:
Correspondent: Eduard Gismatullin, Correspondent, Bloomberg News; David Pilling, Asia Editor, Financial Times; Meg Teckman-Fullard, Producer Digital Media Asia, Thomson Reuters
Also resigning
Correspondents: Kate Bartlett, Editor, Agence France-Presse; Gareth Brown, Photographer, Blow Up Studios; Chen Yilun, Correspondent, Bloomberg; Yvonne Lee Wai-mei, Reporter, Wall Street Journal Journalists: Chan Ut-leong, Investment Banking Reporter, SCMP Corporate: Richard Mallett, Managing Director Asia Pacific, Thales Transport & Security
Welcome back to
Correspondents: Ho Lay-puay, Correspondent; Sin Chew Jit Poh Associates: Gilbert Collins, Consultant, Boase Cohen & Collins; Antony Keenan
Attaining Silver Membership
Associates: David Dodwell. CEO, Strategic Access; Bill Henderson; Managing Partner, Egon Zehnder Int’l Honorary Widow: Pamela Kavenagh
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THE CORRESPONDENT
CLUB NEWS
When President Neil Western wrote to members last December outlining the changes to the Club’s charitable activities, we could not have imagined the response from members who wanted to lend a hand and get involved. The Club’s diverse membership has always been one of our core strengths and this was reflected in the large number of offers of help and ideas from members with a huge range of experience and talents. Since the start of the year, the process of establishing the FCC’s charitable foundation has been proceeding in earnest. We are very grateful to law firm Howse Williams Bowers for their assistance in ensuring that we have a structure in place that meets our requirements of providing a transparent, accountable and sustainable platform which can exist way beyond the tenure of those involved in these early stages. It’s vital that we get this right and we have received invaluable input from a number of members with broad experience in setting up philanthropic ventures. We should have everything in place within the next few weeks, at which point we can begin to get down to the serious business of formally appointing the trustees, identifying the causes which we wish to support and planning events. The success of this venture will very much depend on the continued input of the membership and we hope that you will continue to provide us with ideas and support. It was good to see that the original team behind the FCC Charity Ball have announced the continuation of the event under the auspicies of the HKRFU. No doubt many FCC members will be reserving the November date in their diaries and we wish the team well in their new ‘home’.
FCC archive
FCC's charitable foundation update
Martha Gellhorn and Ernest Hemingway, wearing his correspondent hat, with KMT General Yu in Chungking in 1941
Hemingway in Hong Kong
No time travel in China
When Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn went to Chungking in 1941 – in days before the Press Hostel morphed into the FCC – they were photographed with two Kuomintang officers. This photograph appeared in the Timeline in the 70th Anniversary issue of The Correspondent (March 2013). At the time we had no idea that they had visited Hong Kong before Chungking. The Post Magazine's story (February 14) about their time in Hong Kong was fascinating. Hemingway spent most of the time drinking with a whole bunch of instant cronies. Gellhorn, meanwhile, worked the story for Collier's. A photo of Hemingway sitting on the balcony of the Repulse Bay Hotel became the symbol of his successful years.
On January 20, Chinese Internet users discovered that one of the country’s most popular homegrown online television shows had disappeared. All 37 episodes of Go Princess Go! – an offbeat series about a playboy who travels 1,000 years back in time, changes sex, and becomes a concubine – were removed from the web. Five other popular programmes disappeared soon after. Each of the shows seemed in some way to violate State Administration of Press, Publication, Film, Radio, and Television (SAPPFRT) regulations, including bans on portrayals of time travel, “superstition”, and police brutality. Feng Jun, an analyst at the consultancy ENT Group, told the Financial Times that regulators had singled out the most popular series as a shortcut for increasing content control across the industry, since they do not have the resources to review all of the many amateur programmes being posted.
Visit Club News online at www.fcchk.org/fcclatest/
THE CORRESPONDENT
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CLUB NEWS
Fractured State Terry Duckham/Asiapix Studios
Wall committee and staff members who make it happen at the opening of Dominic Nahr's Fractured States exhibition in the Main Bar. From Left: Bob Davis, Dominic Nahr, Jamie Cheng, Joanne Chung, Jace He, Robin Moyer and Carsten Schael.
Sir David Tang and Club President Neil Western (Centre), with Board members (left to right) Elaine Pickering, Tara Joseph, Florence De Changy, Simon Pritchard, and past President Douglas Wong. Sir David entertained a full house over lunch with his frank insights on the future of Hong Kong, with the FCC's video post of the lunch going viral on social media with almost 10,000 views on YouTube the following day.
Ray Cranbourne passed away in December last year and it took a while for family and friends to organise their schedules and travel arrangements, but that they did. Ray's daughters Cheryle and Lorretta flew in from the US and wife Nida and daughter Raeanna from the Philippines. Others like Ken Sadler and his wife flew in from the UK and from across Asia to gather in Bert’s on January 29 to remember Ray, his life and work, and most of all his warm friendship. It was a wonderful evening with old friends and colleagues catching up, sharing anecdotes and raising several glasses to Ray over the course of the evening. Ray, of course, was an FCC stalwart and one of the Club's iconic Vietnam photojournalists who made Hong Kong his home after the war and became one of the region's prominent photojournalists. More on Ray, his work and adventures on pages 35-37. 6
THE CORRESPONDENT
Photos by Terry Duckham/Asiapix Studios
Remembering Cuddles
FCC staff
Sir David speaks out
CLUB NEWS
Main Bar proposal Patrick McGee is pictured on his knees in the time-honoured fashion proposing to Eleni Himaras in January. Here's how it happened: Patrick: Ever since one of Eleni's friends looked at me and told her that someone dressed that well couldn't possibly be straight, the FCC has been a special place for us. It's where we first had a real conversation, and where she first ignored my inept advances – both on the night when her leaving drinks from Bloomberg coincided with our FT Asian Correspondents’ Dinner. For two years it was where we took out-of-town guests, watched the World Cup, or did work on a quiet Sunday. So when we organised a going-away party – before moving to Frankfurt, Germany – it was the obvious choice. Only a week before the party and my impending departure, the idea of proposing suddenly hit me. And when it did, I had many, many hours to think it through. Both of us were running the HK100, a two-and-a-half marathon race up and down the Maclehose Trail. I used the time to think about what it would be like to propose in the Main Bar of the FCC, in the midst of all our friends. Eleni hates surprises, so that sealed it: it was a superb idea. Eleni: I was only half paying attention when Patrick stood up to do his farewell toast since I was running around playing host and barmaid to all of our non-member
friends. I didn’t even notice when his first attempt at getting everyone’s attention ended in him smashing a wine glass to bits with a spoon. Had I noticed, it would not have raised the tiniest red flag. As he spoke, I could not figure out why he kept talking about me. I tried to give him subtle looks to encourage him to talk more about Hong Kong, his time here, and his friends and colleagues that had come to see him off. Then somehow, he was on one knee and everything was blurry and I’m pretty sure I mumbled, “of course”, before resuming my deer-in-headlights stance. I’d known for a while that he was my forever person but I had no clue anything would happen that night. I’m not sure if I formed a coherent sentence for the rest of the evening. Given the blur of smiling, hugs and champagne that is my only internal record of the rest of the night – I’m so very glad he had a spy ready and waiting to film the fitting final moment of our Hong Kong chapter in the Club that always made this city feel like home.
Journalism and how to survive it The FCC is hosting a journalism day on Saturday April 23. We have around 30 speakers confirmed who will speak on topics ranging from the future of journalism to workshops on protecting your devices, document diving and longform writing. While the speakers are confirmed, there may be some changes which will be notified before the event. It's going to be a very full day. The opening discussion panel is on “Kickstarting your career”: who they're looking to hire, how to make yourself a good candidate? What do they look for in a reporter/editor? How to get through the door? Also, where are their news organisations heading? Speakers include David Merritt, Bloomberg News Asia Editor; Anne-Marie Roantree, Reuters Hong Kong Bureau Chief and Paul Beckett, Wall Street Journal Asia Editor. There will be a workshop on “Sourcing through social media THE CORRESPONDENT
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CLUB NEWS
– the potential and perils of reporting in the age of Weibo and Twitter”. Speakers will include Iain Martin, Storyful Asia Editor and David Bandurski, China Media Project Editor (EyeWitness Media Hub). There will be another workshop,
“The document dive”, which will look at the importance of building paper trails, following the money and digging through Hong Kong and China company, land and corporate registries. Speakers will include Ben Richardson, former Bloomberg News senior editor;
and Tom Wright, Bloomberg Asia Markets Editor. Another panel will be on “News that clicks in the mobile era”, which will look at how news is moving to the digital age and why journalists should embrace this as a reporter in any medium.
Town Hall: where do we go with subs and fees?
in recent years amid greater competition. Steps taken in recent years include raising associate joining fees from HK$10,000 to HK$25,000, and corporate membership from HK$50,000 to HK$250,000. We’ve let more people in – after research found hundreds of fee-paying members never use the Club – and members took the painful decision last year to alter the terms of silver membership without which we would be facing a rapidly mounting shortfall in revenue. Our overhead count hasn’t risen at anywhere near the pace of our membership numbers. While our reserves are healthy, we need to spend millions in the next year or so on muchneeded repairs and renovations, and upholding our responsibility as custodians of a Grade-1 listed heritage building. In recent history our pricing decisions have been made adhoc – foregoing the semi-annual service-levy in the good times and raising F&B prices in the bad. In future, the Club would be best served by an annual review of subs and F&B prices together when budgets are drawn up, and adjusted up or down accordingly. For now, we are reviewing all expenditure to see how we can trim costs without affecting the high level of service and standard of facilities members expect. And just last month,
the Board decided to limit the number of new correspondent and journalist members who can join under the programme that offers a rising scale of subs system. Despite all that, the treasurer has indicated that we will still face a widening annual deficit that cannot be ignored. Kicking the can down the road is the easy option for governors elected annually, but that can only go on so long. So, what to do about it? Do we simply look at raising monthly subs across the board, which we know will hurt everyone, and some more than others? Or should we be more creative and examine other options, constitutionally difficult as some may be? For example, most clubs set a minimum monthly spend to reward people that use the club. Many charge additional fees for spouses and families. Should admission fees be increased further? Do we combine multiple measures? While the Board of Governors is elected to manage the budget and decide these issues, we want to hear from you as we move forward with discussions. We plan to host a Town Hall meeting on April 6 for members to attend and have a say. You can also email me constructive thoughts and suggestions. We will consider them.
Our Club offers exceptional value, from its popular events, to F&B, gym workroom and other facilities. In fact, our monthly subscription fees are the same as they were at the end of the last century, the Board said in a statement. That’s an incredible achievement and testament to the prudence of our successive treasurers and managers, especially as many other clubs have increased dues by almost half over that time. But in recent years, the FCC has stayed in the black operationally through our own version of quantitive easing: expanding the membership to boost admission fees and revenue from monthly subs. Such policies cannot continue forever, since we want to ensure the comfort of members and the availability of their clubhouse. This year, we have budgeted for an annual loss and operational revenue is down. While we can absorb losses in the short-term, the thorny issue of recurrent revenue needs to be addressed. Costs have risen – our rent increased 10% this year, while wages in the hospitality industry have increased well above inflation
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THE CORRESPONDENT
Neil Western
CLUB NEWS
Also how to win at writing for the web/mobile, present multimedia packages, etc. Speakers will include Austin Ramzy, NYTimes.com correspondent; Anjali Kapoor, head of digital for Bloomberg. com; and Heather Timmons, Asia correspondent for Quartz. All the above is just in the morning. Lunch will be the opportunity for networking. Following the lunch, David Schlesinger, former chairman of Thomson Reuters China, will have a conversation with Juliana Liu, Hong Kong BBC Correspondent, about “challenging authority”. Then there will be four workshops. The first is on “Protecting your data”. The
speakers include Fabian Lischka, an expert on information security and privacy; Leonhard A. Weese, the president of the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong; and Larry Salibra, founder and CEO of Pay4Bugs, a web based service that tests phone apps and websites for bugs. The second workshop will be on “The art of long form – feature writing”. The speakers include SK Witcher, International NYT Deputy Asia Editor and Phred Dvorak, Tokyo Deputy Bureau Chief, WSJ. The third is on “Page One photos with your smartphone”. Speakers include Pedro Ugarte, photo director for AFP Hong Kong; and Palani Mohan, freelance photographer.
The last workshop, “Covering conflict and disaster”, will include tips on what to take, how to protect yourself, ethics of conflict reporting, do you assist people in danger and covering riots/ demos closer to home like Occupy Central, when a lot of reporters were not properly protected. The speakers will be Richard Stokes, CNN Producer; Kevin Sites, HKU Associate Professor of Practice; and Marc Lavine, AFP Asia Editor. The closing panel will look at “The future of journalism”. Speakers will include Jamil Anderlini, FT Asia Editor; Ying Chan, HKU jornalism programme; Philippe Massonnet; AFP AsiaPacific Director and Kristie Lu Stout, CNN anchor.
Harry Harrison
THE CORRESPONDENT
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COVER STORY
Hong Kong's future a full house at the FCC on what has happened to Hong Kong, where it might go and what needs to be done.
Kris Cheung/HKFP
Kris Cheung/HKFP
Gijsbert Heikamp
Sir David Tang gave an amusing, erudite and at times inspirational speech before
avid Tang fired both barrels at the performance of the Chief Executive CY Leung in his latest policy address as well as his overall leadership qualities. After regaling us with a visiting Martian’s view of the address, Tang called it “a silent contortion of the truth”. “Does anyone here really believe that the government, our government, fosters harmony or shares prosperity?” he asked. “Does the government itself believe that it fosters harmony and shares prosperity? I believe these words are patronising and condescending at best, and at worst, meaningless.” In any event, in the policy address he said there was “not a half-scintilla” on the Umbrella Movement,
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THE CORRESPONDENT
Gijsbert Heikamp
D
COVER STORY
“perhaps the single most significant political event in Hong Kong since the riots in 1966”. Nor was there a mention on the defeat within LegCo of the introduction of universal suffrage for the election of the chief executive. In the entire two hours spent delivering his address, Tang said, the Chief Executive “did not give the slightest hint of an amoeba of political or social dissatisfaction, yet a great deal of dissatisfaction is prevalent. It was no surprise, therefore, that even before he began his address, four members of LegCo were removed for protesting against his favourite past-time of sweeping what he regards as rotten political dust under the carpet. “The supreme paradox for me is the opening line of his address: ‘Since taking office, the current term government has focused its efforts on promoting democracy,’ so CY Leung smugly said. “Whoever wrote that for the first sentence for the Chief Executive, if he himself did not write it, must be a comedian; or perhaps a monkey who accidentally typed up those words on a typewriter. What it all means to me is the disingenuousness of our Chief Executive and government, and the contempt with which they hold us, the citizens of Hong Kong.” However, Tang asked, should we have expected anything else? “After all, throughout the Umbrella Movement, our Chief Executive steadfastly refused to meet the protesters. We should remember that even Li Peng, the hardcore, hardline Chinese Premier at the time [Tiananmen in 1989] received [protest leader] Wu’er Kaishi, and what’s more, in full view on national television. “By comparison, our Chief Executive hid behind the azaleas at Government House and pushed out that diminutive figure of Chief Secretary Carrie Lam, who fluffed around with absurd preconditions and insisted on meeting the students behind closed doors. “You understand how parochial we seem, already. “It all further means that our Chief Executive does not have the bottle to confront difficult issues, yet that is precisely the one quality that we should demand in our leader. “We certainly don’t want one who totally ignored the heat of our political and social conditions and instead spent half of his speech pontificating on the woolly symbols of ‘One Belt, One Road’, which was mentioned 48 times. Quite apart from the embarrassing unctuousness towards the Chinese president, what on earth would an ordinary citizen of Hong Kong care or understand about One Belt, One Road? “I even doubt that a single tycoon in Hong Kong could name more than two countries on the original Silk Road that was the inspiration for One Belt, One Road. Is our Chief Executive really trying to push Hong Kong trade, and our financial services, across Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Iraq…
and inexorably into the heart of the terrifying Islamic State? “Borat might have been able to get away with it, with humour – but hardly our sombre Chief Executive with any degree of seriousness.” Wanted: a strong leader Tang said that if he was to hold out any hope for a better Hong Kong, “I would first wish for a much stronger, and much more effective Chief Executive. I know this sounds [like] self-evident truth, but that is
Tang talk goes viral Not surprisingly, given the frankness of some of the views expressed, David Tang’s FCC talk ignited a minor firestorm on social media. A recording of the presentation posted on the FCC’s YouTube channel racked up nearly 10,000 views in the first day after posting, an exceptionally high number, with over 300 ‘likes’ (versus a mere three thumbs-down). On Twitter, as well, Hong Kong watchers and correspondents were quick to pick up and swap highlights of the event, with Tang’s comments on CY Leung’s leadership seeming to gain the most traction. Tang’s talk even made it on to the normally relatively staid LinkedIn professional network, with an executive from Invest Hong Kong calling attention to the “full house” at the Club and Tang’s championing of Hong Kong’s “holy trinity” -- an independent judiciary, lack of corruption and genuine freedoms. The online media reaction was mixed. A Coconuts Hong Kong article on the presentation that contained a link to the full text of Tang’s speech was shared across hundreds of Facebook pages, while a debate raged in the comment section of the South China Morning Post’s story on the event. Tang was alternately hailed as a “wise man” and “one of the few public figures in Hong Kong with any guts”, while others derided him as a “wannabe politician” and a “tabloid celebrity”. Regardless how they view Tang’s at times scathing opinions, few would disagree that the event once again highlighted the FCC as a key venue for dialogue on the city, and a regular host to some of its leading personalities. Link to Coconuts story: http://hongkong. coconuts.co/2016/02/19/shanghai-tangfounder-slams-cy-leung-govt-beijing-speechhong-kongs-future SCMP: http://www.scmp.com/news/hongkong/politics/article/1913976/even-li-pengmet-tiananmen-protesters-says-shanghai-tang
THE CORRESPONDENT
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Reuters
Kris Cheung/HKFP
COVER STORY
what we need to focus on. “By which I mean someone who would at least appear to represent the people of Hong Kong, and not fearful of relaying to the Chinese authority those views which are considered to be discordant music to the ears in the north. “But the most preponderant misreading on the part of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong is to second guess what the Chinese government does not want to hear. These furtive considerations do great damage to the status of the Chief Executive, because even before asking, he has turned himself into a puppet on a string, dancing obsequiously to the tunes and echoes of Zhongnanhai. “I would even wish for a Chief Executive who was cunning enough to persuade the Chinese government to hear openly the grievances of Hong Kong, while knowing full well that they would fall on deaf ears. But at least under these open circumstances, we will obtain an airing of what those grievances are, then sooner or later people will become conscious for the 12
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need of compromise. “And therein lies the secret of civilisation: divergent views being brought closer together openly, through peaceful, intellectual and intelligent negotiations. That, in a nutshell, is what Hong Kong is crying out for. A mediator, or a group of mediators who could bring those pan-democrats and the stiff establishment around the same table and begin the process of some kind of reconciliation. “As a citizen of Hong Kong, born and bred below Lion Rock, I was really sad to see the anger – or should I say Tourette’s – displayed by those well-meaning legislators who were ejected from the chamber in front of an ossified face of our Chief Executive. “These tribal confrontations exemplify deep bitterness and resentment, and precisely represent the fundamental and symptomatic illnesses of our territory. “They are similar to the rifts between the Shiite and the Sunni, the Arabs and the Jews, and the North and South Koreans. But there is so much more hope of a lasting ceasefire in our case because we have, thankfully, at least not shed any real blood. Not yet. “Indeed, the Chinese authority could simply transform our entire livelihood tomorrow by becoming a mediator of the two opposing sides. The two sides must meet, they must sit down opposite each other; they must start talking. They must carry a
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Martin Chan/SCMP
modicum of goodwill on each of their parts. “It is only when the stinging palpitations of our political polarisations are diffused, that we can once again return to a marvellous and civilised legislature that has served Hong Kong well, before its fragmentations and the damaging of the fabric of our society before our own eyes. “If we’re not careful and simply let the sour enemies sit inert, in stalemate across from each other on the chamber floor at LegCo, then we will be throwing away what we have managed to build, totally against the odds, a solid and burnished rock that was once considered merely as barren. “Churchill was supposed to have said “democracy is the worst kind of government, except for those others which have been tried.” I should like to think that Hong Kong is the worst kind of place in which to live, except for those others which have been tried. “My point here is that, given all the problems we have, with a deteriorating administration which half confesses itself to have a legislature that is becoming ungovernable and losing confidence among the majority of the population by the day, with a Chief Executive whose popularity is at a historic low, we must cling on to Hong Kong as our home, but we cannot afford to stand by our status quo. “Our government has been growing apart from the people of Hong Kong and they must anticipate trouble. Already, there are over one million people in Hong Kong who are trapped by poverty, and they cannot be too pleased about the government. It is
simply invidious that in a prosperous community such as Hong Kong, over 15% of our population should be living below the breadline. “It is a shameful state, scandalous if you ask me. Then there was the Umbrella Movement, which clearly demonstrated the resolution of many ordinary people taking real democratic power seriously, and their dissatisfaction can only be increased by the defeat of the universal suffrage motion in LegCo. “Then the disturbing case of Lee Po and his colleagues and those hawkers openly branded as separatists by the Liaison Office. To compound our problems, the dwindling numbers of visitors from the mainland, financial oscillations in the markets, not to mention the growing number of the aged against a falling number of our workforce, the umpteen cases of abduction in the mainland about which we hear very little, the dark appearances of triads at demonstrations, the thorough incompetence of the government in creating a proper cultural anchor in the city… “There are many more things which need fixing, and most of them could not be achieved given the standoff between the pan-democrats representing the majority of ordinary people, and the establishment, so-called, hugging most of our somnambulant tycoons, and that elephantine Communist Party in China. “Thank God, thank God we still have a decent judicial system and a fairly uncorrupted community and genuine freedom in Hong Kong. This holy trinity continued to page 38 THE CORRESPONDENT
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MEDIA
Banker turned corporate watchdog
AFP
Webb in his shareholder activist days runs the gauntlet of the press outside the High Court
Hong Kong is a global finance centre, and as such employs a good number of financial journalists. David Webb is not one of them. He is an activist, not a reporter. But he seems to break a lot of stories. Cathy Holcombe reports.
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hen Webb first burst into the watchdog scene, in the late 1990s, I was working on the business desk at the South China Morning Post, and on some days he was quoted in almost every other story. I have to confess to arguing against this profligacy of Webb quotes – it’s embarrassing, I said, as if we have no investigative skills of our own. Yes, well: In a town where business journalists are often stuck on a merry-go-round of press conferences and corporate announcements, they scarcely have time to produce anything other than spot-news reactions. In contrast, Webb’s close readings of financial statements have uncovered everything from dubious credentials of the management, to unsavoury related-party asset trades, to outright falsehoods in
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the filings. Webb-site.com keeps track of “bubbles” – companies, usually small caps, that trade well above their underlying value. Some investigations can take months, if not years. In the early 2000s, Webb noted that a number of “small, naïve companies” were issuing convertible bonds with a “nasty twist” – a floating convertibleprice feature. Webb discerned that this feature gave the issuing bank, Credit Suisse First Boston, room to make a killing at the company’s expense, but he waited to see how events played out in the market. Meanwhile, Merrill Lynch got in on the game, issuing similar “toxic convertibles”. Eventually Webb published an exposé, based on a study of 15 companies who had issued the products
MEDIA
to raise funds. The bankers made a stunning average profit of 31% on each convertible bond issuance, and the shares of the issuing companies that had subsequently crashed by 30% on average. These are stories that otherwise simply might not have been picked up by this town’s phalanx of financial journalists. Which raises the question, why? The swinging door Financial journalism has long had a tendency towards corporate boosterism, in this town and globally. Part of it is the nature of the readers: perhaps subscribers to magazines such as Forbes enjoy stories that reinforce their pro-business sentiments. Then there is the existential conflict of interest, i.e., the dependency on corporate advertisers, or sales of financial data to corporate clients. In Hong Kong there is the additional issue that many media outlets are now, or traditionally, have been owned by establishment business figures. As the digital era disrupts media, another threat to the Fourth Estate is economics: declining profits means less available money to underwrite quality, investigative journalism. But what if this digital disruption also makes financial journalists themselves more cautious? The business writer Michael Lewis, in a recent interview with the British magazine The Spectator, identified the swinging door between the media and the financial sector as a threat to critical financial journalism, just as the swinging door between business and government is a threat to vigilant regulation. “Journalists are often financially insecure, just as politicians and regulators are often financially insecure – and I’m talking about personally financially insecure,” Lewis said. In his view, this insecurity might explain why major financial media failed to properly investigate the myriad subprime-related shenanigans that led to the 2008 global financial crisis. In Hong Kong, the door has been swinging for decades, dating back to the 1980s when the investment banking industry began to expand rapidly, and regularly recruited journalists into their ranks. “The challenge for investment banks was capacity – there simply were not enough qualified and experienced brokers, analysts or corporate finance professionals to meet demand,” says John Mulcahy, a prominent Hong Kong business journalist in the 1980s who later
held top research and executive positions at several stockbrokers. Today the banking industry is more mature – stock market turnover is 70,000% greater than it was in the early 1980s – but many journalists regularly cross over into the banking sector for jobs. Meanwhile, the role of corporate muckraking is almost single-handedly performed by an ex-banker who moved in the opposite direction. The ex-banker Some years ago I interviewed activist David Webb at his residence on Hong Kong Island. It was certainly a nice home, with high ceilings and ample sunlight pouring in through tall windows. But it was not a mansion, and one imagines Webb could live in a mansion. He had arrived in Hong Kong to work in investment banking in the early 1990s, a time when even knuckle-draggers could make silly money in the business. Smart foreigners, on the other hand, could ascend to heights of insane riches. Instead, Webb stepped off the corporate ladder about 20 years ago. He puts in a few hours a day as a private investor, and donates the rest of his productivity to his role as a watchdog on corporate and economic governance. His output is prolific and ranges from careful examinations of the financials of penny stock companies, to purist – some would say priggish – interpretations of the Basic Law on the Hong Kong government’s taxation policies. “Banking paid me well, but I’ve had far more fun as a private investor and activist,” Webb says, adding that he has been very successful investing in relatively well-governed undervalued small-caps for the last 21 years. “That process is like being an expert mechanic shopping in a second-hand car lot with no warranties, and even worse, with drivers (controlling
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shareholders) attached. All the cars are discounted for the risk of lemons, so if you can avoid the lemons, and pick the cars that have been wellmaintained by careful drivers, then you do well.” Moreover, Webb believes it is his duty to do what he does: “If you have achieved financial security and have expertise in some area, then it seems almost selfish not to apply that expertise to the public good.” One inspiration is George Soros, who in his younger days combined “investing and advocacy in a spectacular way”, for example, helping to bring down the Iron Curtain by funding photocopiers to help distribute information in his native Hungary in the 1980s. If Webb makes enough money in investing, he hopes to establish Webb-site as an independent foundation that can survive him and to expand its role in defending and advancing civil liberties and free markets in Hong Kong and China. Recently, Webb’s activism has been aimed at defending Hong Kong’s traditions of freedom of speech and information. In January he spoke at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club about his failed efforts to appeal against a ruling on privacy issues which requires Webb-site.com to remove from its extensive archives past court cases, such as reports of bankruptcies, litigation or convictions. Webb argued that it was in the public interest to make this information available, but the Administrative Appeals Board ruled against him. Hong Kong’s ruling on privacy issues is in line with the European court’s ruling on Google searches. In other words, it is perhaps another example of a China-related clampdown on transparency and free speech. But this “right to forget” issue is hitting Hong
Kong at time when civil traditions are already under threat from Beijing. “The recent case of the book publishers disappearing from Hong Kong and Thailand without officially ‘leaving’ is very worrying, and the fact that Hong Kong’s government took weeks to obtain the most basic information from mainland counterparts makes it look powerless and highly subordinated to mainland authority,” says Webb. “There is also increasing mainland influence in traditional Hong Kong media, either by outright ownership or by pressure on advertisers (particularly those with mainland operations) not to support Hong Kong media who are critical of the mainland government.” Graduates may face difficult personal choices. “If they work for critical media, then travel to the mainland may be difficult, fearing arrest on charges that their critical stories violated national security laws. They may also have concern for any family members in the mainland, and after the recent publisher disappearances, they may even be looking over their own shoulder while in Hong Kong,” says Webb. In his view, this makes it all the more important that new, independent online media are able to fill the gap, “but they will face the same financial pressures.” Indeed, the journalism profession is increasingly turning to non-profit or subsidised models. And the Fourth Estate may find itself more and more dependent on outsiders and activists, like Webb, to break the stories they can’t. After all, Webb left banking because he could afford to; this is the inverse of the journalism equation, where many leave because they cannot afford to stay.
Keeping public data public On January 12 David Webb at an FCC lunch shared his recent experience with the Privacy Commissioner (PCPD) which had ordered him in 2014 to redact two brief reports linking to public judgments which originally included the names of the relevant parties but which, 10 years after the judgments, had been redacted. In late 2015, the Administrative Appeals Board rejected Webb’s appeal. Webb looked at the implications for Basic Law freedoms of speech, publication and access to information, including media archives. He also asked whether such restrictions were constitutionally necessary given that they did not apply to overseas publications available online? You can catch his full speech on the FCC’s website: http://www.fcchk.org/node/6333
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REPORTAGE
Dear Sir ... A letter to a newspaper can set in motion a train of events with far reaching consequences, writes Gavin Greenwood.
L
etters to the Editor are often viewed by Gazette led with a long front page piece regarding journalists as an intrusion into their domain the health of the Hong Kong garrison. The Gazette – space lost to random ruminations, rants and wrote that “by way of an experiment, and with a recollections that could have been better employed view of reducing military expenditure, the authorities carrying their own urgent dispatches and opinions. at the commencement of the year determined on In an earlier age, however, when platforms for withdrawing the Indian troops, who have hitherto airing grievances were limited, a well-placed missive proved themselves most useful on the station”. from an authoritative source could breach official This had occurred in April 1865, just as the hot complacency and maladministration, and expose weather returned despite the pleas of senior officers willfully damaging policies. in Hong Kong that the seasoned and acclimatised On the May 22 1865 a letter from a correspondent Indian troops remain in the colony, which had gained signing himself “Confucius” appeared in the London a grim reputation as an unhealthy posting. To no Evening Standard newspaper to report that the military avail. The Indian units left, leaving a single European in Hong Kong was “panicked” by rumours that regiment to provide troops for the numerous garrison officers’ pay was to duties required The letters and articles in the press had their around the colony, be reduced due to the ending of “Indian including in what impact on both public opinion, sensitised to allowances” as units the Gazette called from the Indian Army the “pestilential military suffering by Florence Nightingale’s were withdrawn from settlement across the embryonic colony. the water on the work in the Crimea and William Russell’s Indian allowances mainland, viz. were paid to Royal or Kowloon.” reportage of that conflict and the more Queen’s army officers When a second in order to bring British regiment recently concluded American Civil War and – arrived in May 1865 their income closer to their generally they were allocated by degree – the politicians. better paid Indian the barracks vacated army counterparts by the Indian units who were employed in Kowloon, and directly by the British Indian government. the soldiers and their families quickly fell ill with The letter, clearly written by a serving British variety of tropical diseases – notably malaria which army officer, also alluded to the departure of the was then still attributed to “bad air” rather than Indian troops reflecting fiscal rather than operational mosquitoes – and other conditions such as cholera concerns, noting “that it is to be hoped… that the and dysentery related to the unsanitary conditions in paltry savings as would be affected by stinting a the rudimentary camp. few army officers, round whom the unseen foes are A second letter, this time signed ”Telemachus” – a always circling, who work up to the citadel of life in nod to Odysseus’ loyal if violent son – to the Gazette silence and darkness and carry off the strong man published on January 27 1866 produced the first with all the rapidity of a ‘flying sap’ was not a serious publicly available hard data on the impact of the suggestion being contemplated in London.” policy of removing the hardier Indian troops was But it was, and the consequences for the having on the European units and their families. unfortunate troops and many of their wives and Telemachus reported that there were 152 deaths children was catastrophic. among the garrison between June 1 and October 1 Some six months later the writer’s warning proved 1865, including 52 children, nine women and more prescient. On November 4 1865 the Army & Navy than 90 officers and men. A further 335 men, women THE CORRESPONDENT
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and children were defined as “invalided” – which meant their health was broken and had to repatriated – far too late for many of them. On the voyage from Hong Kong to South Africa 40 of the 234 invalids carried aboard a chartered ship died. While Europeans had been prey to disease since the Hong Kong colony was founded in 1841, these high mortality rates represented a serious reversal to a steadily improving trend due to medical advances pioneered in the Crimean War and a greater understanding of countering the effects of tropical climates. This point was made in a parliamentary debate in February 1867 in which Augustus Anson MP pointed out that the original force of 1,300 European troops sent to China in 1850 had been replaced three times due to losses, mostly caused by disease. The letters and articles in the press had their impact on both public opinion, sensitised to military suffering by Florence Nightingale’s work in the Crimea and William Russell’s reportage of that conflict and the more recently concluded American Civil War and – by degree – the politicians. On March 20 1866 John North, an MP and a British Army colonel, called for a parliamentary Select Committee to inquire into “the Mortality in the Troops in China”. North also pointed out, no 18
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doubt for the benefit of the Treasury, that the cost of repatriating a single ship bearing 235 invalided troops was £6,827 (£565,000 in current money), implying over £1 million was spent simply bringing back men who were no longer fit for military service. Anson also raised another issue regarding British troops’ deployment to Hong Kong despite the overwhelming evidence that the casualty rate would be high; the demands of the “China merchants” that they be protected by European rather than “native” soldiers. Further, as another MP noted, “European regiments might be more acceptable on account of the society which they introduced into a colony”. Anson countered this argument by pointing out that Indian troops were far better behaved than European soldiers. A parliamentary enquiry was duly held, and reported its findings at commendable speed by August 1866. One of its most startling findings regarded the fate of the 99th (Lanarkshire) regiment, which was sent to Kowloon in disgrace at three hours’ notice after some of the troops rioted in September 1864, leading to multiple deaths among the soldiers and local and foreign seamen. Before being exiled across the harbour the 683-strong regiment had 31 men in hospital and three listed with “fever”. One month later 128 were in hospital, 81 with fever; two months later 161
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Beyond potholes, immigrants and students
were in hospital, 113 with fever. The regiment was effectively destroyed and was sent to South Africa in early 1865, but its experience was a clear indicator the Kowloon barracks were unsuitable for any troops, but particularly Europeans. Nevertheless, its replacement unit was sent to Kowloon with what should have been predictable consequences. The enquiry findings focused mainly on technical issues regarding the barrack accommodation and responsibilities of the local commander, who was implicitly blamed for the poor health of his troops, while London’s insistence that the cost of maintaining the Hong Kong garrison be reduced was disregarded. However, the committee also concluded that the decision to withdraw the Indian troops in order to make some marginal economic savings relating to their allowances had indeed led directly to a spike in sickness, disability and death among the troops and their dependents as well as incurring far greater expenditure than had they remained. Confucius, whose letter some 15 months earlier had brought the issue to a wider audience, had made precisely this point and – assuming the author had survived the pestilential summer of 1865 – could have been grimly satisfied his warning helped expose a lethal scandal that took the lives and health of hundreds of men, women and children.
Letters to the Editor tend to conjure the stereotypical green-inked rant from a choleric colonel in Tunbridge Wells disgusted with the ways of the world and appalled by the mores and manners of the day. However, they can also occasionally improve lives, reveal truths and rally against oppression. On September 29 1830, an open letter from Richard Oastler, a Yorkshire land steward, was published in the Leeds Mercury newspaper pointing out that while slavery had been banned in Britain in 1807, thousands of children from seven to 14 years of age toiled for more than 12 hours a day in factories, farms and as domestic servants. The popular outrage this caused led parliament to impose mandatory working hours that gradually reduced the working day for children, albeit to a still shattering 10 hours a day, by 1847. On January 12 1898 the Parisian paper L'Aurore ran an open letter by the author Emile Zola on its front page with electrifying header “J'accuse!” Zola’s accusation of systemic antiSemitism among the French establishment of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, an officer in the French army accused of spying for Germany, remains powerful shorthand for outrage against injustice and prejudice. Some letter writers, however, pay a high price for their temerity to challenge the status quo. On January 10 1991 the Giornale di Sicilia published a letter by Libero Grassi, owner of a Palermo lingerie business, in which he declared that he would no longer pay the “pizzo”, or protection money, demanded by the local mafia. His stand attracted widespread media coverage, which clearly disturbed the mafiosi. On August 29 1991 Grassi was shot three times as he walked to his car and died on the spot. His murder triggered a wave a protests and contributed to the campaigns that have since greatly reduced Mafia influence in Italy.
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ON THE WALL
FRACTURED STATE January 2016 marks five years since South Sudan’s much-heralded vote for independence. Briefly celebrated, South Sudan is now under the threat of sanctions and from the inside, joy has given way to despair. Still, on the ground, South Sudan has barely changed. No nation was ever built. Peace never truly arrived. Dominic Nahr has been travelling to South Sudan since 2010 and he has struggled with the dissonance – South Sudan the concept, versus South Sudan the people – ever since. As TIME ’s contract photographer, he worked across the African continent, covering the news stories of the month – but no place confronted him with such stark contrasts as South Sudan.
South Sudan, Lankien, 2015. Peter Gatlek (50) sits on a hospital bed after receiving new bandages at the MSF hospital in Lankien after he was shot in the head while trying to escape a raid by government forces in his village near Leer. Peter finally managed to get medevaced by the ICRC to a MSF hospital in November 2015. When talking about the experience he says: ‘They just came and attacked our village. I just ran away and hid myself in the swamp. Some people who ran with me were wounded, some were dead.’
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ON THE WALL
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BENTIU, SOUTH SUDAN 2015 A young child warms up next to a fire while the mother prepares to cook food for dinner. They join hundreds of new arrivals, many of which have come from Leer looking for security and food, inside the UN Protection of Civilians camp in Bentiu which holds over 110,000 displaced people.
e don’t understand South Sudan; nor, from my viewpoint, do we try. If anything, the terrible war of brutality that followed the nation’s birth demands we accept this truth, and try again. I have worked in a far-flung corner of South Sudan, accessible only by an infrequent chartered aid flight, where villagers never speak of Juba, but of warring neighbours pulled apart, from one nation that never truly existed to two troubled nations. I have shared pickup trucks with South Sudan’s ragtag army, as it rushed to capture disputed oil fields and then watched from remote villages far away from the border as the same army turns its weapons on their own people to try and enforce unity. That which unites it, divides it: Violence, hardship, resilience. South Sudan is migrants, fleeing into swamps and savannahs, hopping from island to island to hide from militias that torch their villages, but still hoping to return home. South Sudan is warriors taking up arms from national politicians to settle old scores, or to protect their communities. By tracing the path of families as they crisscross the country in search of safety, or by spending time with the men inflicting this suffering on their own neighbours we can see how decades of conflict has left South Sudan torn apart, struggling and still at the beginning of a very long road ahead. I think of a grave digger I photographed in November 2015. He had just finished burying three bodies, including one young baby taken straight from the hospital. Each morning, he picks up the dead to be buried in unmarked graves outside of a UN base, which protects him and his family. He wore a dirt-smeared T-shirt that read: “One South Sudan.” Even on the ground, it looks like the idea of South Sudan is fading away. Many of the once booming towns, like Bentiu, Leer or Malakal, now stand in ruins, nature slowly reclaiming the land and swallowing up whatever structures not already dissected by looters and scavengers. But if South Sudan the nation is failing, South Sudan the people are not. Even as violence drives neighbours apart, other neighbours are driven closer together. The strongest social support structures – the family, the clan, the church – are now stronger than ever. And this is the South Sudan that actually exists. Torn apart, united only in struggle, but still on the move. Out of this, they must build a nation. This is what we must understand if we are to help. Lines on a map do not make a nation. People do. THE CORRESPONDENT
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ON THE WALL
South Sudan, Bentiu, 2015. A mother holds her baby inside an abandoned building covered in graffiti. Over a dozen families have found refuge in these rooms in the town of Bentiu after it had been completely destroyed by fighting.
South Sudan, Bentiu, 2015. Nyajava Wech Makuei, the mother of Koy Gotkuoth Riak (40) cries after she watched him die in the MSF hospital inside the Bentiu Protection of Civilians camp. She heard he was sick and had to travel from Leer for three days to reach the hospital. His death was registered Sepsis, due to the presence in tissues of harmful bacteria and their toxins, typically through infection of a wound.
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ominic Nahr is a contract photographer for Time magazine and joined Magnum Photos as nominee in July 2010. He is also represented by O’Born Contemporary in Toronto and currently resides in Nairobi, Kenya.
Dominic was raised in Hong Kong and his parents were members of the FCC. It was the collection of award-winning covers and photos that hung on the Club's wall in those days that first attracted Dominic to photojournalism. That and meeting the prominent photojournalists, including Hugh Van Es and Robin Moyer, who frequented the Club and were friends of his father, and who later helped Dominic get his start as a photographer. "I remember looking at John Stanmeyer's photos (Stanmeyer won the first FCC photographer of the year Awards in 2001) and realised that you didn't have to know everything about a place or have spent a lot of time there to take great photos of it," Dominic said. "I then took it from there." He first worked for the South China Morning Post as a staff photographer and in 2007, while still attending university in Toronto, started working as a freelance photographer for magazines such as Newsweek, GQ and The Fader. Dominic has been honoured with several prestigious awards, including The Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award. He was selected as one of the ‘Top 30 under 30 photographers’ by PDN magazine and has been exhibited at Visa Pour l’Image in Perpignan, France. He was selected to take part in 2010’s Joop Swart Masterclass in Holland and also received grants from the Pulizer Center and the Emergency Fund. His editorial clients include National Geographic, Time, Stern, The Wall Street Journal, Le Monde 2, Internazionale, and GQ. 22
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ON THE WALL
Kok Island, South Sudan 2015 Nyangar Phar (6) sits in a bucket after being washed by his mother in Kok Island, a transit point for Internally Displaced People and a camp for over 2,000 South Sudanese who have fled fighting in their State. Nyangar had his leg amputated a few weeks before after being shot in the foot.
Tonjo, South Sudan, 2015 Tens of thousands of people from all over the nearby region prepare to receive their first distribution in many months in Tonjo, South Sudan. Many residents from Leer fled to Tonjo feeling safer in rebel territory. Currently almost 600,000 people are displaced in Unity State. In April 2015 after a rise in fighting in Unity, thousands of civilians were forced to flee into the bush, swamps or into the UN Protection of Civilians Camp.
South Sudan, Bentiu, 2015. A MSF worker stands in front the shack used as a morgue while holding the body of a baby wrapped up in plastic sheeting after dying from malnutrition inside the MSF hospital in UN Protection of Civilians camp in Bentiu. THE CORRESPONDENT
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PRESS AWARDS
AFP's Philippe Lopez took striking photos of the Occupy Central protests in 2014.
Xyza Bacani, formerly a domestic worker in Hong Kong, is a self-taught photographer who documented the physical abuse of maids in 2014.
20 years of award-winning By Joyce Lau
T
he Human Rights Press Awards’ 20th anniversary year continues with a retrospective photography exhibit at the Main Bar in March, plus two gala events in May. These initiatives have been made possible by increased support from individual FCC private donors, plus sponsors like Cathay Pacific and the Far East Film Festival. Two decades of photos HRPA organisers and the FCC Wall Committee combed through almost two decades of files and prints to come up with a selection of photographs that represent images from the ‘90s to today. They include almost 20 years of protest and police clashes – from the years around Hong Kong’s 1997 handover, to Occupy Central and beyond. HRPA also recognises photojournalism from around the greater Asian region. Highlighted past winners include Philip Blenkinsop, who documented the Hmong people of Laos for TIME; and Greg Constantine, who has dedicated much of his career tracking “citizens of where”, or people with no official nationality or documentation.
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AFP’s Munir Uz Zaman has been honoured by HRPA several times – most notably for his coverage of the Bangladesh factory collapse, and Rohingya refugees. Another featured past winner is Du Bin, who won in 2011 for a striking image of a Chinese petitioner, published both in the Post Magazine and in a book by Ming Pao Publishing. An atypical past winner is Xyza Bacani of the Philippines, who while working as a domestic helper in Hong Kong began recording the physical abuse of maids in stark black and white images. Both the HRPA and FCC Wall committee were early supporters of Bacani, who has now left Hong Kong to pursue an international career in photojournalism. The HRPA retrospective will be exhibited on the Wall until the end of March. Entries and prizes HRPA is continuing three initiatives launched last year: cash prizes, a youth essay contest and student awards – which have recently been expanded to include both local high schools and universities. In the professional categories, HRPA received 274 entries this year from across Asia Pacific: 139 in
PRESS AWARDS
Munir Uz Zaman has been honoured multiple times by the HRPA. This 2012 photo for AFP is of Rohingya refugees.
photos Chinese-language media, 80 in English-language media, and This 2009 image of a Chinese 55 in photojournalism. petitioner, by the photojournalist Du Bin, appeared in Post Magazine. HRPA’s judging panels – which now includes 24 volunteers from the fields of media, law, academia and Anniversary gala human rights – will choose the The HRPA’s 20th anniversary gala will be held on winning entries this spring. Friday, May 6, with two events. Many of our long-standing judges are returning this A prominent correspondent and former HRPA year, including barrister and Senior Counsel Jacqueline winner will fly in from London to be our keynote Leong and former FCC president Douglas Wong. speaker for an FCC Club Luncheon. Later that same The veterans will be joined by some new judges, day, the 2015 Awards’ professional and student including current FCC president Neil Western, Tom winners will be announced at an evening cocktail Mackey from Amnesty International and Icarus reception at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum, a Wong, founder of Civil Rights Observer. venue overlooking Victoria Harbour. The Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, Both the use of the Museum and refreshments from is returning as a supporter of the Youth Essay the caterers were given as gifts to HRPA. Contest, whose winner will be invited to attend the The awards are co-organised by the FCC, Amnesty FEFF’s Campus for aspiring young film critics and International Hong Kong and the Hong Kong filmmakers in April. Journalists' Association. Cathay Pacific became a new supporter this year, Joyce Lau is the HRPA’s director. For more information, and will provide the airfare for the Essay Contest go to HumanRightsPressAwards.org. winner to attend the event in Italy. THE CORRESPONDENT
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F&B
Cocktails at the bar A
rmed with a slew of newly trained cocktail barmen – John Ma, Stanley, Freddy Lee, Joe Law -– the Main Bar will soon rebound with the sounds of cocktail shakers. Pictured are some of the cocktails available, along with a selection of tapas to complement the new exotic drinks.
Top Photo: Chef's Fine Tapas Selection (left to right) - Serrano Ham & Dragon Fruit Wrap, Sakura Prawn with Caviar, Bay Scallop with Truffle Paste, Angus Beef Rolled with Pencil Asparagus Left to Right: White Star Cocktail - Pear Vodka, St. Germain, Lime Juice, Syrup, Egg White, Grated Cinnamon; Pimm's Cup Cocktail – Pimm's, Cucumber, Lime Juice, Sugar Syrup, Mint Leaves, Ginger Beer; Black Forest Cocktail – Brandy, Advokaat, Chambord, Chocolate Sauce, Milk; Winterbery Mojito Cocktail - Lime, Blackberries, Syrup, Mint, Rum, Chambord, Soda. Photos By: CarstenSchael.com
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F&B
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REPORTAGE
Don’t bet on the odds of gaining refugee status in Hong Kong By Ingrid Piper
AFP
Displaced Somalis at a camp in Kenya: not wanted anywhere.
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icture this: you’re a journalist working freelance for international media organisations, your country’s endured years of civil war; laws and human rights no longer exist; but you want the world to see your people’s story. For this, you’re arrested, jailed, tortured and abused. Your family is targeted and torn apart. Your only crime is you are a journalist. People smugglers offer you a chance of life in a Western country, so you take it. But you’re duped. When the plane lands, all the signs you can see are in Chinese. You’re jailed again, only this time it’s in Hong Kong, a jurisdiction with the rule of law, where you discover that in 2016 your chances of gaining refugee status are pretty much zero to none. This is not an imaginary scenario. It is real and happened in Hong Kong recently to two journalists. The FCC has been trying to help where it can, by for example exploring the possibilities for work visas. We cannot mention their country of origin due to the real fear of retribution for their families. In fact, only about 42 asylum seekers have been granted torture claim or refugee status by the Hong Kong government over the past 24 years, according to Robert Tibbo, a Canadian barrister, human rights activist and director of Vision First, an independent Hong Kong-based NGO that provides advocacy and 28
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advice to asylum seekers. Gaining refugee status is an essential step to progress to the next stage, resettlement in another country. Tibbo hit international headlines in 2013 when he secured the rights and safe passage of US whistleblower Edward Snowden, but much of his advocacy involves those who are highly vulnerable, living lives in slums, waiting potentially years for their cases to be heard. He says many asylum seekers have no idea they’ll end up in Hong Kong. “I have a number of clients who thought they’re going to Ireland, for example, and finished up in Hong Kong; or they end up in Mainland China and are then shipped across to Hong Kong. Invariably the new arrivals will be arrested and brought to Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre. Or they are caught in Hong Kong for illegal entry and then they taken to Castle Peak,” he said. “While they are locked up, they have no money, no contacts and no access to a lawyer until they are screened for their asylum claims.” By international law and convention “asylum seekers shouldn’t be held, they have an absolute right to enter any country," he said. While some asylum seekers have spent months in Castle Peak, Tibbo says a recent legal challenge means
REPORTAGE
they can be held for no more than 39 days. While being granted refugee status in Hong Kong is Article 3 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights, Article 39 fairly rare, getting resettled in another country can be of the Basic Law, the UN Convention Against Torture protracted. “Resettlement may be very quick, or it may and Article 33 of the Refugee Convention offer some take a year, or it may take a decade,” he says. grounds for asylum seekers to seek non-refoulement Gaining refugee status can appear a hollow victory. protection including refugee status. A number of Until resettled, a refugee needs to seek approval successful recent Hong Kong court challenges have from the Department of Immigration to be allowed added another layer of complexity, causing thousands to apply for a six-month work visa, which is a of asylum seekers to be re-screened, some up to three bureaucratic disincentive for potential employers. times. In Hong Kong, a refugee lives on approximately However, in January 2016 following his policy HK$2,130 a month, broken down to a housing address, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive C.Y. Leung allowance of HK$1,500; and food vouchers of told media the government would review the asylum around $1,430 plus HK$200 for transport. seeker screening process to speed up the backlog Asylum seekers who work illegally in Hong Kong of claims. He also raised the face a lengthy prison sentence of possibility of withdrawing from up to 22 months. Even working the UN Convention Against as a volunteer could result in a Torture. Although, Tibbo says, it 15-month prison sentence. is the SAR’s piecemeal approach In Hong Kong, there is a to the screening process that’s the dedicated group of lawyers, church root cause of its failure to process leaders, human rights supporters asylum seekers expeditiously. and numerous others who continue “Unfortunately the government to attempt to make a difference to is now trying to blame these the lives of marginalised asylum refugees, saying the situation seekers and their children who are is out of control when many of born here, and who are effectively these refugees have been here stateless until their parents’ cases since 2001," he says. are solved. As of 2015, there were 10,922 But what hope is there for individuals needing screening in journalists seeking relocation and a Hong Kong, 60% of which are chance of a new life in a safe haven? new claims, which have increased You would think that dramatically in the past two years, international media agencies who rising by 331%. Most of these so readily accepted their stories and claims are from Vietnam (21%), video footage from war zones and Robert Tibbo: advocacy for asylum seekers. India (19%), Pakistan (18%), lawless locations where they feared Bangladesh (12%) and Indonesia to send their Western reporters and (10%). production crews, would act responsibly and support The smallest group of asylum seekers is Somali, their very vulnerable freelancers when they are forced consisting of approximately 30-40. Somalia is one to flee for their lives? of the most dangerous countries in the world for Most major organisations these days highlight their journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists says corporate social responsibility credentials, including 59 have been killed there since 1992; nearly half of major media companies. You would think that they those have died in the past five years. have a duty to support, retrain and employ those Tibbo admits the task is Sisyphean. “I’m tired, I’m they assigned stories and from whom they accepted really tired,” he says. “When I left law school, I wanted pitches from places where lives are of little value. to do some grassroots work and when one or two of The uncomfortable question is why we as these cases came up I thought, man this is going to be journalists here in Hong Kong are not doing more really interesting and these people really need help. to care for our fellow journalists who have risked “I guess it’s a Canadian thing. I grew up with a lot their lives to tell the world about human tragedies of refugees in my Canadian classrooms and I never and who have instead become traumatised, stateless, saw them as any different than any other Canadian isolated and voiceless. Particularly as these journalists people, they were my friends.” have followed their profession with a passion, Tibbo said in the Hong Kong situation “even if they selflessly wanting to tell the world about the horrors win their case they’re not allowed to resettle here, their countries are enduring. and in my view diversity is the foundation of a strong What we need to do is more than passing the hat society because diversity connects to tolerance, and around; we need to make sure our fellow journalists Hong Kong is not a tolerant society, it has difficulties are supported and equipped to return to their accepting diversity.” profession. THE CORRESPONDENT
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SPEAKERS
Confucianism in the era of Xi Jinping The comeback of Confucius is potentially one of the most significant trends in Chinese politics and culture. However, is it for real or is it an attempted bulwark against unwanted Western influences?
Michael Schuman, centre: Confucius is back in vogue.
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or much of the past 100 years, Confucius was vilified by reformers and revolutionaries in China who believed the ancient sage was an outdated relic holding the nation back from a new, glorious future. But today, China’s greatest philosopher is experiencing a revival. President Xi Jinping routinely promotes Confucius’s ideas in an attempt to resurrect traditional culture as a bulwark against unwanted, foreign influences. Encouraged, ordinary Chinese are revisiting Confucius’s teachings and travelling to the sage’s hometown of Qufu. The comeback of Confucius is potentially one of the most significant trends in Chinese politics and culture. Author and journalist Michael Schuman in his new book “Confucius and the World He Created”, and at an FCC lunch in January, looked at the questions: Is it for real? Could Confucius once again shape Chinese politics and society, as he had during the country’s imperial age? And what would that mean for China’s future? Confucius is definitely back in vogue in Chinese politics today, according to Schuman. President Xi Jinping quotes from Confucian texts so often he
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can sound more like an imperial mandarin than the modern Marxist he claims to be. In 2013, Xi even made a pilgrimage to Qufu, much like the old emperors once did. However, it is hard to imagine the Communist Party wholeheartedly embracing and abiding by Confucian principles. Despite widespread perception, Confucius was not supportive of authoritarian regimes. Good government, he believed, was based on virtue, not coercion. If a ruler was benevolent, upright in his own behaviour and cared for the wellbeing of the common man, the people would follow him willingly, making force unnecessary. Today’s Communist regime would have to change its entire relationship with the Chinese people to qualify as Confucian. That’s why the Communists’ pro-Confucius campaign is more likely a propaganda effort to try to convince the public that the cadres are benevolent Confucian rulers deserving of reverence, without actually changing state practices based on Confucian teachings. Schuman doesn’t doubt that Xi and many other leaders are quite knowledgeable about Confucius,
SPEAKERS
and they probably see real value in Other speakers in January these ancient teachings. Xi probably covered the future of Hong Kong’s believes a stiff dose of Confucian rail links to China, the future for morality can help in his quest to Hong Kong's property market, and stamp out corruption. Confucius, looked at the case for peaceful after all, believed state officials demonstrations. should govern selflessly, with only the greater good in mind. Hong Kong's rail links with China At the same time, there is reason Lincoln Leong, the CEO of MTR to be cynical about the Communists’ Corp, presented the MTR’s plans for new love for Confucius. For much Hong Kong’s railway network – and of its existence, the party vilified its China connections – over the next Confucius as a feudal oppressor few years at an FCC lunch on January and tried to uproot his influence 27. This included new rail lines, Leong: the future of rail. from Chinese society, often violently. trains and signalling processes. Confucius only became acceptable Leong has been CEO and a MTR to the party when it became desperate for a new board member since March 2015 and a member of ideological foundation for its iron-fisted rule. Amid the Executive Directorate since 2002. the nation’s capitalist quest for wealth, the Marxist http://www.fcchk.org/node/6374 bombast of the Mao days rings especially hollow. But with the economy slowing down, the party requires Politics of controlling organised crime in China something beyond “delivering the goods” to justify its rule. By resurrecting Confucius, the Communist Party can paint itself as the defender of Chinese tradition and its government as rooted in Chinese political history. At the same time, the cadres believe Confucius can help them fend off unwanted democratic ideals from the West. By focusing on Confucian concepts like harmony and filial piety, the party thinks Confucius can build support for its authoritarian reign. Confucius, then, has once again become a critical player in China’s political future. “One of the great failings of Confucian political thought is that although he spent a lot of time talking about what should happen and how kings should Lo: police cooperation needed. behave and what makes a moral government, he didn’t talk about how to get there,” Schuman said. Professor Sonny Lo, of the Department of Social “What happens if your king isn’t benevolent? What Sciences at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, are you supposed to do? discussed insights of his new book, “The Politics of “Confucius in his own life chose basically to Controlling Organization Crime in Greater China”, withdraw once he found he wasn’t making any on how the governments of mainland China, Taiwan, progress in reforming the way the government Hong Kong and Macao have been controlling was run. That’s not very useful in getting your organised crime activities such as triads, terrorism, government to adhere to Confucian principles.” narcotics, prostitution and illegal gambling, at an Schuman said that what it comes down to is that FCC lunch on January 21. under Confucianism “you are supposed to be loyal to Lo said that state capacities of controlling organised the emperor, but the emperor also has to be just and crime vary in these four places and are phenomena benevolent.” reflective of not only state autonomy from the A principle that governments conveniently push influence of crime groups but also state legitimacy aside. in the combat against criminal groups. Most Schuman is a Beijing-based journalist who writes importantly, police cooperation across the different about Asia and the global economy. He has spent legal jurisdictions could enhance state capacities, 19 years living and working in Confucian societies autonomy and legitimacy in organised crime control. in East Asia. He is also the author of the book “The Lo’s previous books include “Hong Kong’s Miracle: The Epic Story of Asia’s Quest for Wealth”. Indigenous Democracy” (2015) and “The Politics of http://www.fcchk.org/node/6372 Earthquake Management in China” (2014). THE CORRESPONDENT
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SPEAKERS
Chan: solid demand for housing in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s property market is okay... for now Hong Kong’s property market is alive and well, according to Ronnie C. Chan, chairman, Hang Lung Properties. In fact, it is in its healthiest state in 20 to 25 years, Chan said at an FCC lunch on January 14. Despite concerns over declining home prices, he said Hong Kong’s property market is likely to remain stable this year amid solid demand. Commenting on the recent correction in home prices, Chan said it is normal for property prices to fluctuate within a range of 15% to 20%. Therefore, there is no need for the government to remove the property curbs it has put in place for now. And it was a wrong decision to have halted regular land sales since 2005, which he blamed for the shortage in housing supply and the surge in home prices. Although home prices declined to a low level in 2003 due to a weak economy and the SARS outbreak, the government should have continued with regular land sales to ensure ample supply. Nonetheless, property prices are still relatively expensive, as demand is boosted by new couples looking for about 40,000 to 50,000 flats each year, new immigrants and homeowners who want to move to new units. Chan’s outlook for the China retail market was less bullish. He said a combination of falling rents, a weakening domestic economy and the slowdown in retail sales, especially for high-end luxury, created a “triple whammy” for Hang Lung’s shopping malls in the mainland. He said that retail outlets in Shanghai and Beijing will weather the storm better than in second and third-tier cities, which “are being hit pretty hard”. Still, Chan said the longer-term prospects for China retail are good. “If anything in the economic world is sure, it’s going to be consumerism in China,” he said. “In the long run we are okay, it’s just in the short run it is very very difficult.” Chan is also co-chair of the Board of the Asia Society and chairman of its Hong Kong Center, 32
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a director of the board of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, National Committee on USChina Relations, and Committee of 100. He is also founding chairman emeritus of the Asia Business Council. He serves or has served on the governing or advisory bodies of several think tanks and universities, including the World Economic Forum, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, University of Southern California, East-West Center, Pacific Council on International Policy, Eisenhower Fellowships, and The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation. http://www.fcchk.org/node/6359 The power of peaceful demonstrations
Harris, right: justified civil disobedience.
Crowds and riots are as old as humanity, but peaceful demonstrations are fairly new in history. Barrister Paul Harris, founder, the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor and one of the world’s leading experts on the history of demonstrations, explained at an FCC lunch on January 7 how the peaceful demonstration idea started independently in China and in England, how it spread round the world, and how eventually the right to hold peaceful demonstrations was recognised as a human right. He also talked about why some demonstration movements succeed while others fail, and about when civil disobedience was justified. Harris is a barrister in England and in Hong Kong, and a Hong Kong Senior Counsel. He has represented clients in many high-profile human rights cases. He was the founder of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales. He has just published “Raising Freedom’s Banner – how peaceful demonstrations had changed the world”. http://www.fcchk.org/node/6323
MEDIA
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ong Kong’s Legislative Council resumed its second reading of the controversial Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 in December... but didn’t get much further. Pan-democrats and others have stalled the debate, with even pro-Beijing parties urging the government to withdraw the Bill to start consultations anew. While other critics claim it is “Article 23 of the Internet”. In fact, these delays since then have caused the Bill to be withdrawn. It’s within this context that Boase Cohen & Collins solicitor Susan Cheung has cautioned Internet service providers and users that key parts of Hong Kong’s proposed new copyright law – designed to keep pace with today’s digital era – are questionable and open to interpretation. The Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 contains exemptions designed to balance the rights of copyright owners and the general public, particularly people who produce derivative works such as pictures, videos and music and share them on the internet. But, Cheung, whose core practice areas include intellectual property, believes the wordings of these exemptions could be further clarified. “For example, some wordings in the amended section of fair dealing for criticism, review, quotation and reporting on current events lack clarity,” she said. “Creators of derivative works are required to provide ‘sufficient acknowledgement’ of the original work, but it is unclear as to what amounts to sufficient acknowledgement. “It also states sufficient acknowledgement is not required ‘if it is not reasonably practicable to do so’. These wordings are all subject to individual interpretation and currently are not clear. She continued: “The bill provides that people who produce derivative works and communicate them online are exempted from criminal and civil liability if the work was created for purposes of parody, satire, caricature, pastiche or commentary on current affairs. “But what constitutes parody, satire, caricature or pastiche has yet to be tested as these are all new wordings in the Copyright Ordinance. Anything which is interpreted as falling outside these categories will be in breach of the law. “The amendments effectively put the onus on the public to self-regulate themselves by creating works which do not fall outside the wording of the exemptions.”
A banner slogan against 'Internet Article 23'.
HKFP
Copyright law 'open to interpretation'
The Copyright Bill is intended to update Hong Kong’s copyright laws to bring them in line with the modern world’s fast-evolving digital and Internet era. Its aim is to encourage and preserve digital creativity and maintain Hong Kong as an international place of business with a sound legal system. The laws in many major countries such as the US, Australia and those in Europe have already been updated to keep up with the digital world. But the Bill has been widely criticised. It is supported by copyright owners but opposed by Internet users and pan-democratic lawmakers who say it will inhibit freedom of expression. Pan-democrats, who form a minority in Legco, have used various filibustering tactics to delay the passage of the bill since December. “While the bill brings about a much needed general update to cover copyright works in the digital era, the exemptions seem to tip the scales in favour of copyright owners,” said Cheung. Internet Article 23. The amendment bill has been dubbed “Internet Article 23” by Netizens, internet freedom advocacy groups and some lawmakers. The bill is intended to extend the protection of copyright owners to the internet, however, it could limit the creation and distribution of derivative works, as it did not include an open-ended exemption for “user generated content”, a “contract override” nor a “fair use” term. When the debate began in December Internet freedom advocacy group Keyboard Frontline organised a rally against the Bill outside Legco. Localist group Hong Kong Indigenous also joined in and urged protesters to wear dark-coloured jackets, face masks and trousers in order to conceal their identities. The opposition from local netizens stem from worries that using copyrighted works – even if just for personal use and not for profit – could lead to a criminal investigation. They have also raised concerns that new amendments could make it an offence to live-stream game-playing and to screencap television programmes or movies. THE CORRESPONDENT
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BOOK REVIEW
Frederick Forsyth – foreign correspondent
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rom an early age Frederick Forsyth craved adventure. And he found it in spades. Passing up a chance to go to university, he became a jet pilot in the RAF. Later, he became one of the best known thriller writers of our time, the research for which put him in harm’s way on multiple occasions. A spot or two of freelancing for MI6 helped to make sure life was rarely dull. He also made – and lost – sums of money that most foreign correspondents can only dream of. And, before he wrote novels, he was a foreign correspondent, first with Reuters in Paris and East Berlin, and subsequently with the BBC, notably in Nigeria during the 1967-70 civil war. In fact his new book, “Frederick Forsyth – The Outsider”, opens with an episode from his time as a journalist. It’s hard to put a book down which starts: “We all make mistakes, but starting World War Three would have been a rather large one.” That near-Armageddon moment came in the early hours of April 24 1964, in the deepest Cold War, when Forsyth was driving to his East Berlin flat “from a visit to a charming young member of the State Opera Chorus”. He found his way repeatedly blocked by convoys of lorries packed with Russian troops along with lines of tanks and artillery, all heading towards West Berlin. What could this mean? Forsyth filed a story to Reuters about what he had seen, “nothing more, nothing less. No embellishment, no suggestion, no speculation. Just the facts.” After an understandably huge amount of agonising by Reuters editors, their nerves shredded by the potentially appalling implications of what Forsyth
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had seen, and after frantic checking with Washington and Moscow, the story never went out to the world. The supposedly ominous troop movements were not the start of World War Three, merely a rehearsal for a May Day parade. Forsyth recounts many other escapades and scrapes which many FCC members can relate to and which helped to slake his thirst of adventure. But this is not a book of bar room braggadocio. He writes at length and with bitterness about the British government’s role in the Nigerian civil war and the famine in Biafra. He describes the British Foreign Secretary at the time, Michael Stewart, as “appalling”. Post his time at the BBC, aged 31 and broke, he rattled off “The Day of the Jackal”, the first of his 17 books, in 35 days flat and, after a struggle, found a publisher. The movie (in my view, among the best) followed. And the rest, as they say, is history? Not quite. “It was on a bright and sunny morning in the spring of 1990 that I learned that financially I had been completely and utterly ruined.” The investment company through which he had invested his life savings and was headed by a friend, had collapsed. He was the victim of a swindle that left him not only penniless but owing one million pounds. He was a minus millionaire. There was only one thing for it. “That was, at the age of fifty, to write a series of more novels and make it all back. Which I did.” In the book’s final chapter, Forsyth recounts movingly how in 2014, following his 76th birthday, he was able to realise a little boy’s dream and fly in a Spitfire, one of several of the World War Two fighters adapted with a second cockpit for a passenger. So has Frederick Forsyth finally had enough adventure in his life? I wouldn’t count on it. Jonathan Sharp Frederick Forsyth – The Outsider Bantam Press ISBN 978 0 593 07541 – 8
OBITUARY
Ray Cranbourne 1933-2015 By Terry Duckham, David Thurston, Ken Sadler and Saul Lockhart
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he FCC lost another of its iconic, Vietnam War era members when Ray “Cuddles” Cranbourne passed away in Manila in early November. Ray and his wife Nida had been living between their apartment in Makati, Manila, and their home in Tong Fuk, Lantau island, since Ray hung up his cameras and took up his golf clubs full time several years back. Ray worked as a photographer for the Herald Sun newspaper in his hometown of Melbourne before setting off on a marathon world tour by Vespa after covering the 1960 Olympics in Rome. He travelled all over Europe and the UK before setting sail with his Vespa to New York where he proceeded to crisscross the US extensively before returning to Melbourne in 1965. In 1966, Ray set sail for Vietnam to cover the war there, working for Black Star, and where he bought another Vespa to get him around the hotspots in and around Saigon, including during the 1968 Tet offensive. As the war wound down Ray moved to Hong Kong along with many other Vietnam War correspondents and it was here that he married his wife Nida, who he had met in Manila while he was covering the 1970 papal visit. Ray and Nida ran a photographic studio in Central and, as well as working and travelling for the major media groups in the region, he numbered several of Hong Kong’s leading business groups and government offices among his clients, including Cathay Pacific Airways, Swire, HSBC, HKTA and HKTDC. As well as major political stories, Ray also covered regional stories of visiting
dignitaries and celebrities for Black Star, including Shirley MacLaine, Jackie Kennedy Onassis and his all-time favourite, Muhammad Ali. Ray was a regular at the Club and a keen supporter of the FCC Golf Society, never missing an overseas tour or the local tournaments. As three of his old colleagues and friends David Thurston, Ken Sadler and Saul Lockhart recount below, he will be remembered fondly and missed by many. David Thurston writes: “Very saddened to have a phone call just now from Kent Hayden Sadler to tell me that our old friend Ray Cranbourne had not survived a massive heart attack in Manila. He was 82. and must have been one of the last of the singlefigure FCC membership-number veterans, after the likes of Vietnam War boys Charlie Smith, Bert Okuley and Hugh Van Es. “What a dear man he was. Always there with a ready wit – “bon mots” he called them, eschewing the French pronunciation in favour of his native “melb’n strine”. Generous with hospitality, he was never more at home than when on his roof at Tong Fuk, Lantau, tending ribs, wings and sausages, tongs in one hand, glass in the other. “He truly loved to laugh and I never ever heard him say a bad word about anyone. “Someone must tell the story of him leaving Oz, buying a Vespa to go and shoot the Rome Olympics in 1960 and travelling around the world on it. Marrying Nida and leaving the wedding with her perched on the back. “We shared a common passion
for photography, but Ray, with typical lack of pretentiousness, never considered himself as anything more than a good craftsman. “Always ready to help the beginner, whether it be taking pictures or starting out at golf, he was, with me, proud co-founder of the Tong Fuk Golf and Paddy Club to which we would repair after lunch on Sundays and try to hit balls into an oil drum 100 yards away on a piece of rough swampy land. “I am lucky to have spent many happy hours in his company.” Ken Sadler writes: “Many tears were shed in our family when we learned of the passing of Ray Cranbourne. We had been friends for 45 years, our children grew up together. He taught us how to barbeque! “He was a dear, loyal friend. In all the years I knew him, I never once heard him say a bad word about anybody. It was a privilege to count him as a friend. “When Ray and Nida were married, Wendy and I were witnesses at the Registrar’s Office, though Ray only asked me to be his best man because he needed to borrow a tie! After the ceremony, he whisked Nida off on the back seat of his beloved Vespa to THE CORRESPONDENT
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OBITUARY
Gardena Court for the inevitable barbeque. Happy days. “Ray was a damn fine photographer, although, because he was so modest, he was sometimes underrated. All the years I was at the HKTA, Ray was our official photographer and he always “got the picture”, without fail. The HKTA photo library was stacked full of his work, much of it brilliant, but none of it accredited to Ray. No wonder Black Star thought so highly of him. “To me he was “Happy Snaps”; to him, I was “Saddle Bags”! We travelled Asia together, sampling the local cuisine, mainly at cooked food stalls, which was his passion, and imbibing copious amounts of the local brew. With his mischievous humour and ready wit, he was a great travelling companion. We got wasted in India, Bali and Papua New Guinea among other places, and more recently in Laos, Bhutan and Thailand, of course. I thought he was indestructible. “Our love goes to Nida and Ray’s three beautiful daughters, whom we hold very dear.” Saul Lockhart writes: “I first met Ray in late 1966 in Saigon where we were both struggling freelancers trying to cover the war in Vietnam. We crossed paths regularly all over the country… out in the field and in Saigon, at press centres and bars and restaurants. And then, like many ex-Vietnam correspondents, we ended up in Hong Kong. Unlike most, we stayed for decades. Over the years, we had many jobs together and spent much time together at the FCC. No matter who I was working for, I could count on Happy Snaps to come through with the pix. His barbecuing skills were legendary. When word reached us in Sydney of his passing, thoughts of bygone repasts on the Cranbourne roof in Lantau and in our front garden in Repulse Bay jumped to the fore. 36
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Photos by Terry Duckham/Asiapix Studios, David Thurston and Ray Cranbourne archive
OBITUARY
A group of us had kids about the same ages so on sunny Sundays, we’d often gather with kids and hoses and paddle pools, eskies of iced beer and wine, and of course the BBQ, which in our house consisted of a pair of tiny, rusted Hibachis piled high with smoking charcoal. The BBQ was at the opposite end of the garden from the gate. When Ray and Nida and the girls would arrive with bags of clobber, Ray would dump everything grab a beer, and work his way gradually across the garden, saying hello and chatting to one and all, but never taking his eyes of the smoking Hibachis. The longest he lasted from arrival to grabbing the tongs was 15 minutes. We used to time it because we knew that he would take over the barbecuing chores, and that was when he was at his happiest, cooking the sausages… bangers and snags were what Ray called them in his Aussie vernacular. He was the ultimate professional, but he coupled prodigious photographic talent with an abundance of humour and goodwill. His birthday gift to Alison and me on the occasion of our wedding in August 1971 was to photograph the occasion. We treasure those pix, many of which are displayed in our gallery on our kitchen wall. Also on display are group pix of parties and dinners “way back in the day” in which Ray and Nida are prominent. Ray was an integral part of our decades in Hong Kong. Nida, Loretta, Raeanna and Cheryle, you have our love and we will miss him and cherish Ray’s memory forever more. We’ll remember Ray as we put into practice the art of barbecuing which he taught us. We’ll hold our beers and tongs high to toast Ray in front of the barbie, hoping we do not embarrass him by burning the snags. Raise your glasses please: “To absent friends.” Alas, another is added to the long roll. THE CORRESPONDENT
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Hong Kong's future continued from page 13 – which is what I call it – remains the pride of Hong Kong people. “You think Shanghai, say, with her mainland judicial system and corruption, and lack of freedom, could overtake Hong Kong as China’s premier city? You would have to be utterly insane, and stupid. “Ergo, we must hang on to this holy trinity of a decent judicial system and uncorrupted community and genuine freedom until the bitter end… or 2047 at least. In my moments of fantasy, I even think Hong Kong could play a vital role in shaping the future of China. “Why else would 50 million mainlanders come flooding through Hong Kong every year? “It’s because of our holy trinity. This would make the seven million of us in Hong Kong the greatest and freest de facto Chinese diaspora, which in turn could change the course of Chinese history in our lifetime.” Other subjects that came up during the Q&A include: Outside influence on student protesters. Maybe there was a tiny amount of support by outsiders, “but if you thought in our city full of bright, loyal young people require a conspiracy outside of Hong Kong to support a movement – that was genuinely moving – I think that is far-fetched in itself. So, in a nutshell, no. I have to tell you there are serious and influential people I know – who don’t live in Hong Kong but own a lot of Hong Kong – who keep telling me, oh, it’s the
CP Ho – high flyer continued from page 40 Reuters news agency at 85 Fleet Street in London and was given a perch as a foreign correspondent based in Hong Kong in 1957. At that time and for many subsequent years, the bureau operated mainly as a listening post, with a cluster of aerials bristling on a hut on the Peak monitoring regional radio stations and news services, especially those in places like North Vietnam where Reuters at that time had no presence. CP’s first worldwide beat with Reuters came in 1959. While he was working the late-night “graveyard” shift, Peking Radio gave what proved to be a momentous announcement: the Dalai Lama had crossed into India after his epic escape from Tibet. The report prompted a bit of head-scratching on CP’s part because the radio, as usual not making a reporter’s life easy, used the Dalai Lama’s unfamiliar Chinese name. However, after checking that it was indeed the Dalai Lama, CP’s story went out. He beat the opposition handily, earning him what is still sometimes known as a “herogram” from his bosses. 38
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Americans or CIA. I think that is absolute balderdash. Should Britain support Hong Kong more. At this time there is no point blaming Britain. In fact when Britain left Hong Kong it left the territory intact and did not take one cent... and it even paid rent for its consulate building. And you couldn’t have a greater champion than the last governor, Chris Patten, in trying to install a system of government or politics that would maximise the possibility of Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong.” The bookseller who eventually emerged in Guangzhou after some weeks. “The fact that he left his passport behind must have meant that somebody fairly high up in authority managed to get him abducted into China. And, of course, this indeed is a very serious matter – not only about the breach of the Joint Declaration, but as a fundamental principle of the one country, two systems. It is essential that we stand fast on this one. It sets an extremely bad example. “I have heard that the Chinese authorities have now told the civil servants who carry out these sorts of things not to come to Hong Kong any more as they are slightly edgy about the recent bad press. “I know one or two friends who were supposed to go to China for questions but decided not to and asked to meet in Hong Kong instead. They have now been told to bring a solicitor or policemen with them to feel safe. In a way the bookseller incident has defused that wind of bad change, which I hope will carry on.”
Flying high – literally After a decade in Reuters, CP moved on to loftier climes in the Hong Kong media arena. Eight years ago he suffered a serious heart attack, but even that has barely slowed him down. He subsequently scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, at 5,895 metres the highest mountain in Africa. (He had already conquered Mount Kinabalu, Southeast Asia’s tallest mountain.) And, speaking of heights, CP’s 77-year-old eyes light up when he recalls how he learned to fly light aircraft. “As a child, I liked to watch birds fly. If they can, so can I. But it was not to be for some time, because of time and work, money, commitment and other constraints. “But the opportunity came in Melbourne in 2014 and I grabbed the chance. I was given a ceiling of 3,500 feet and it was exhilarating. Whether flying straight and level in my Jabiru two-seater prop or banking and circling, I felt as free as a bird. It was another world existence altogether. “And remember, flying is easy. If you can drive a car, you can fly -- provided you pass a few exams, including some on IC (internal combustion) engines!” CP – a high flyer indeed.
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LAST WORD
CP Ho – high flyer By Jonathan Sharp
C
.P. Ho is one of the FCC’s more senior members, as can be judged from his Club number: 25. But far from taking things easy, CP, as he is universally known, is achieving new dreams and scaling new heights -- in more ways than one. CP quite typically has made no fuss about it: the Geneva-based charity International Social Service (ISS) has elected him chairman of its Board of Governors. This is a distinct honour. He is the first Asian to serve in this post at ISS, which was founded more than 90 years ago and has operations in up to 120 countries. And this job is no cosy sinecure, one where he is a mere ceremonial figurehead, turning up in Geneva once a year for a pro forma speech and a photo op. Far from it. Indeed, apart from being richly deserved recognition, what does this appointment mean for him? “It means I will have to work harder to make ISS better,” says CP with crisp understatement. “I will also be travelling more, because where there are problems, I shall go and try to solve them,” he adds. And of course there is no shortage of problems, with the migrant crisis enveloping the Middle East and Europe merely being the most obviously pressing one at the present time. CP says his number one priority now is to raise funds for ISS, which has a broad range of services, but is best known for helping children and families facing complex problems centred on migration and re-establishing family links. Since its founding, ISS has helped several million children and families worldwide. CP cites the ISS branch in Greece as one of several in the organisation in need of financial help. “Our Greek branch has been operating for many years but of late it has fallen on hard financial times. That is understandable in the context of what is happening in Greece and in Europe. And the Greek government, which helps to subsidise the Greek branch, is in difficult economic straits, so has to cut down on its subsidies. This puts the Greek branch on even poorer financial ground.” CP adds: “So on hearing that the branch might have to close down I have been putting all my efforts into raising money to help the Greek branch.” CP’s efforts have borne fruit, raising HK$200,000 for the embattled branch. “More needs to be done. Greece must stand on its own feet.”
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CP Ho: scaling new heights.
He adds an appeal: “If any kindhearted person is willing to donate some money, that will be most welcome.” CP also wonders, now that the FCC Charity Ball is no longer with us, whether the Club’s new charity programme might consider ISS as one of its beneficiaries. CP’s second priority focuses on the expertise available in individual ISS branches. “Some branches are good at helping children, for example our Swiss branch. Other branches are good at helping the elderly, and so on. So it’s a question of how the different branches can best use the people they have. The work of ISS is too varied to be focused on one aspect. It depends on the situation of the branch at the time and the people it works with.” CP’s involvement with ISS began about 15 years ago when he joined the NGO’s Hong Kong branch. “I was interested in the work of ISS because of the influx of Vietnamese boat people into Hong Kong.” He took over as chairman of the branch when BBC and FCC legend Anthony Lawrence, who reported on the boatpeople crisis, retired from that post. ISS Hong Kong distinguishes itself by providing a broader range of services – both here and on the Mainland and elsewhere – than its ISS peers. These operations include facilitating cross-border child adoptions, in which would-be parents from as far away as New Zealand have been helped to adopt orphans in Hong Kong. Several of these intensely moving stories, as recounted by the adopting families, have been published in books produced by ISS Hong Kong. At the other end of the age spectrum, ISS helps to make sure that elderly Hong Kong people who have settled in the Mainland receive their Hong Kong benefits. For details of the full range and depth of ISS Hong Kong’s work, see www.isshk.org/. CP’s first scoop Born in Hong Kong but raised in then Malaya, CP trained as an engineer but knocked on the door of
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