The correspondent May/June 2016

Contents

May/June 2016

COVER STORY High-quality investigative reporting scoops prizes at Human Rights Press Awards The 274 entries submitted to the Human Rights Press Awards this year were of the highest quality that the Awards has received in its 20 years of history. All major categories featured original, investigative reporting from across Asia Pacific.

14 Ye Aung Thu–/AFP

18 The whole world in their hands 19 And the winners are...

20 HRPA alive and well after 20 years

Cover photo: Christophe Archambault/AFP

Features

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ON THE WALL CUBA From November, 2013, to February, 2014, Leong Ka Tai travelled with his wife to South America on a container ship, disembarking at Cartegena, Columbia and meandering along the Andes to Chile, Argentina and finally, Cuba.

Regulars

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A message from the President

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Editorial

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Membership

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Club News

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F & B: Wine at a premium

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Book Review: Champion of liberal causes

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Obituary: Marvin Farkas

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Classifieds

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Last Word: Larry Lipsher

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CLUB MATTERS Town Hall meeting debates options to increase revenue There was a big and active turnout for the FCC's Town Hall meeting in early April, which focused on budget forecasts and the operating revenue shortfall through the Club's renovation period and what should be done about it.

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REPORTAGE The question in China: what Panama Papers?

While the release of the Panama Papers rocked governments around the world, it hardly caused a ripple in China, one of the biggest sources of funds for these offshore accounts.

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MEDIA Punching above its (slender) weight Hong Kong Free Press' recent crowdfunding push failed to reach target, which means founder Tom Grundy devotes much of his time to financial issues.

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REPORTAGE Back to school for career-savvy hacks Demarcation between academia and journalism has always been well-defined. But as the media industry continues with an unprecedented digital age shake-out, journalists are increasingly turning to universities for work and a future.

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SPEAKERS What they said‌ It's been another busy period for speakers at FCC lunches, covering topics like the future of the rule of law in Hong Kong, the Vatican and China, US policy in Asia and more women for senior roles.

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MEDIA Government snooping? Get over it By chance, eminent foreign correspondent, editor and military historian Sir Max Hastings spoke at the FCC a day after the deadly Brussels bomb attacks.

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ARCHIVES Where have all the companies gone The assumption about Hong Kong corporate life is that it has always been monopolistic and dominated by a few big names as it is now.This is not so.

From the President

This is my final column as President and it’s been an honour to serve in the role for the past year. I thank you all for your support, generosity, suggestions, gripes and engagement in important Club affairs over that time.

We’ve accomplished a good deal since last May: securing a new lease on our beloved heritage building; changing the Articles of Association; organising our first journalism conference; building a new website; furthering our reputation as a news-making forum for speakers from sport to business and from all parts of the political spectrum; hosting a special 20th anniversary ceremony for the Human Rights Press Awards; and making the hard decision to refocus our charitable and community efforts away from the black box that was the Charity Ball to something that all members can get involved in.

On press freedom, we have become more vigilant and responsive to threats to journalists and free speech in Hong Kong, China and the region. Supporting the vital role of the media in a healthy society must remain our core mission. We have also continued to boost the number of correspondent and journalist members in our

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ranks through our successful policy of gradated subscriptions for new joiners. They are the lifeblood of the Club and essential to its continued prosperity.

Key goals over the past year have included efforts to improve our standards of corporate governance, boosting the Board’s transparency, and to increase consultation with you, the members, through open communication, surveys and the recent Town Hall meeting.

We’ve made some progress, but we have a ways to go. I regret that more immediate and detailed consideration wasn’t given to the feedback received at the Town Hall on the issue of increasing revenue, especially after an unprecedented turnout. I hope that this process of interaction with the membership can be further developed by the incoming Board, and that governors will listen carefully to those who elect them.

We have had an excellent Board and hard-working Board of Governors, supported by many others who serve on Club committees. They have striven to develop many aspects of Club life so that we embrace the future while preserving important traditions. There are many more women on the Board than when

I joined in 2010, which is great to see, and I’m proud to have kicked off the Club’s membership diversity push in recent years.

Pressing challenges lay ahead.

The high regard members have for the Club owes much to the dedicated and knowledgable stewardship of the tireless Gilbert Cheng, along with our management team and many longserving staff. Yet, as the departure of our administration manager Chan Hoi-Lo in January showed, change happens. It is crucial the Club develops succession planning in all areas of its management structure to ensure future stability.

The coming year will also see us undertake essential renovations to the Club that will cause disruption and require your patience and understanding.

After six years on the board, I will take a break. I believe term limits for governors are desirable to ensure against the establishment of entrenched interests. To borrow a politicians’ cliche, I’m now looking forward to spending more time with my family, whom I would like to thank for their tolerance of my many absences and late nights at the computer on FCC duties. I will continue to serve the Club in any way I can.

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

Author, photographer, cameraman, Broadway and film actor, sailor in the US Navy, traveller and news correspondent Marvin Farkas, who died in April aged 89, fortunately put together a memoir – “Eastern Saga”.

It means, of course, that we have Marvin’s stories and photographs.

It also highlights an appeal in the Archives section in this issue of The Correspondent that calls for stories, photos and memorabilia from all members to illustrate their time on the planet and at the FCC. The 20th edition of the Human Rights Press Awards is quite a landmark for the FCC. From quiet but difficult beginnings it has become the landmark event in the FCC’s calendar. Tributes deservedly go to Amnesty’s Robyn Kilpatrick, the FCC’s Francis Moriarty, and the HKJA’s Daisy Li. At about the same time, the Club was reluctantly beginning to issue statements about press freedom concerns. It was a lonely time for Moriarty, who was the prime mover behind confronting many of these issues. The membership in general was looking over their shoulders wondering, “what would Beijing think”? Much like Hong Kong’s governments since 1997. In both cases, it led to fearful silence. The FCC got over it. Hong Kong’s governments never did.

It has been a busy year for general meetings at the FCC. First there was the Silver membership meeting and last month the Town Hall which looked at revenue-raising issues to deal with the projected budget deficit. Both were well attended and a number of members got to have their say. The results: no more Silver memberships and a subscription increase – the first in 19 years.

Paul Bayfield

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 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.

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.

Members’ feedback is always welcome by the Club and almost 100 members turned up to the town hall on April 5 to discuss the FCC finances. Nearly 800 of us also responded to an online survey about dining at the Club and your views on the décor and ambiance of the Dining Room’s refurbishment. All of the views are being actively considered by the Board. Speaking of which, more candidates are standing for this year's elections, so make sure your voice is heard by them too – by casting your votes!

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: Jamil Anderlini, Asia Editor, Financial Times; Nathaniel Baker, Editor, Bloomberg; Pritanka Boghani, Senior Reporter, Asian Private Banker; Ralph Cunningham, Publisher, Euromoney Institutional Investor; Paolo Danese, Senior Reporter, Euromoney Institutional Investor; Phred Dvorak, Asia Business Editor, The Wall Street Journal; Pembroke Jenkins, Writer, Time Magazine; Timothy Lavin, Editor, Bloomberg; Sam Mamudi, Team Leader, Bloomberg; Dawra Preeti, Columnist, Mintasia; Phoebe Sedgman, Team Leader Asia Agriculture, Bloomberg; Colin Simpson, Editor, Bloomberg; Miguel Toran, Freelance Cameraman Journalists: Chloe Street, Features Writer, Hong Kong Tatler Associates: Peter Cashin, Partner, Kennedys; Alan Griffith, Managing Director, Digital, Forbes Media; Timothy Haywood, VP Sales & Business Development, Walton International Group; Peggy Lau Yuk-yu, Retired; Cavior Liu, Director of Human Resources & Administration, Liu Chong Hing Investment; David Simpson, Co-Founder & Director Team Building Asia; Enzio von Pfeil, Investment Strategist, Private Capital; Benson Yau, Managing Director, American Phil Textiles; Joanne Yin Yoong-wah, Director, Wanthorpe; Kevin Zervos, High Court Judge, Judiciary, HKSARG Diplomats: Reto Renggli, Consul General, Consulate General of Switzerland Hong Kong Corporate: Jackson Davis, Director, Gulf Old Marine; Keith Mullin, CEO, Gulf Oil Marine Replacements – Corporate: James Molan, Communications Manager, Telstra International; Sarah Sutherland, Business Development Executive, Zetland Corporate Services; James Tsui Chung-ming, General Manager, Airport Authority Hong Kong

On to pastures new

Au revoir to those members leaving Hong Kong who have become Absent Members: Correspondents: Kenneth Brown, Bureau Chief, The Wall Street Journal; Charles Campbell, Reporter, Time Asia; James DiBiasio, Editor, Asian Investor; Eleni Himaras, Reporter, Bloomberg; Per Lilijas, Freelance Journalist; Sofia McFarland, News Editor, The Wall Street Journal; Michala Sabnani, Associate Producer, Cable News International Journalists: Alexander Lo, Freelance Journalist; Victoria Siersbaek, Freelance Journalist Associates: Dana Blessis, Management Information Manager, MTR Corporation; Keith Brothers, President & CEO, FDS Network Group; Richard Chin, Chief Executive Officer, Code Agriculture Holdings; Glenn Frommer, Manager, MTR; Alastair Hetherington, Partner, RLM Finsbury; Hilary Ohrstrand, Private Tutor; Salvatore Petrancosta, Director, Paladin Group; Tsang Wai-yip, Senior Manager, ILIOS CPA; Gail Turner, Photographer Farewell also to: Correspondents: Aaron Back, Columnist, The Wall Street Journal; Simon Harrison, Supervising Editor, Cable News Network International; Brittany Hite, Mobile Editor, The Wall Street Journal; Philippe Lopez, Picture Editor, Agence France-Presse; Prashant Rao, Editor, Agence France-Presse Journalists: Amy Russell, Sub-Editor, SCMP

Also resigning

Correspondents: Anne-Sophie Briant, Reporter Asia-Pacific, PEI Media; Robert Olsen, Asia Online Editor, Forbes; James Regan, Editor, Bloomberg Associates: Sean Frost, Proprietor, Sean Frost & Co

Welcome back to

Associates: David Tang Kwok-keung, Consultant, K Y Woo & Company Solicitors & Notaries

Attaining Silver Membership Associates: Nanette McClintock

Despatched

We are extremely sad to announce the deaths of: Correspondents: Barry Came; Marvin Farkas; Tom Leander, Editor-in-Chief, Asia, Lloyd's List Associates: John Fortescue Payne Honorary widow: Asuncion Payne

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CLUB NEWS

Monthly membership fees to rise At the meeting of the FCC Board of Governors held April 16, a few days after the Town Hall meeting, the Board resolved to increase the monthly membership subscription fee by HK$150 per month, from HK$950 to HK$1,100. The increase will take effect from July 1.

The Board is also drafting a proposed amendment to Article 7 of the Articles of Association that will allow future Boards to consider whether or not attaching a fee to the spouse membership privilege is appropriate. (Any such amendment would require at least 75% support at a general meeting).

It will also continue to develop and investigate other options available, including a minimum spending requirement, as

Get out and vote in Board elections This year for the annual FCC Board election, the top two positions are uncontested so the President-elect is Tara Joseph (Reuters) and the First Vice President-elect Keith Bradsher (The New York Times).

The rest of the positions are hotly contested.

In the race for Second Vice President, the current Treasurer Tim Huxley (Wah Kwong Maritime Transport) will face off against former Board member Wyng Chow (The Standard).

For the Correspondents election, there are 10 standing for eight positions.

Current Board members who are standing for re-election include: Florence De Changy (Le Monde and French National Radio);

reflected in the opinions of the membership at the Town Hall meeting.

At the Town Hall, President Neil Western had asked the more than 100 members present for a show of hands over the issue of minimum monthly spend. More than 75% of the room were in

favour. He also asked for a show of hands in favour of introducing spouse membership fees and the vote was split 50:50.

Minutes of the Board discussion of the issue will be posted on the Club’s website earlier than usual in recognition of the wide membership interest in the matter.

Nicholas Gentle (Bloomberg News); Nan-Hie In (Freelancer); Juliana Liu (BBC News); and Carsten Schael (Carsten Schael Photography).

Those new to the race include: Ryan Brooks (Thomson Reuters); Stewart Hawkins (Bloomberg News); Paul Mozur (The New York Times); Kate Whitehead (Freelance); Eric Wishart, Agence France-Presse.

Both incumbent Journalist governors are restanding uncontested: Clifford Buddle (SCMP) and James Gould (RTHK).

For the first time in years the competition is on for Associate positions on the Board. The three incumbents are Kevin Egan (Baskerville Chambers); Elaine Pickering (Vision 2047 foundation); and Simon Pritchard (Gavekal Research).

Of the three others contesting, Jonathan Hopfner (New Narrative

Ltd) is a former Board member; Paul Christensen (retired telecom executive); and Nigel Sharman (Clifford Chance).

FCC AGM coming soon The Annual General Meeting of the FCC will be held on Thursday May 26 2016 at 6pm.

You are entitled to appoint a proxy to attend and vote on your behalf at the AGM. Please make sure your proxy attends the AGM with a completed original proxy form, and identification document, and hands it in to the relevant member of staff.

Visit Club News online at www.fcchk.org/fcclatest/ THE CORRESPONDENT

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CLUB NEWS

Malaysia deports Australian TV crew The FCC Press Freedom Committee issued a statement in March that condemned the arrest and subsequent deportation of a television crew from Australia's ABC Four Corners after they tried to question Prime Minister Najib Razak over an alleged corruption scandal.

Reporter Linton Besser and camera operator Louie Eroglu were arrested in Kuching, after approaching Najib on the street.

Although they were deported, there were no charges. They were initially held for "failing to comply with police instructions not to cross the security line," according to a Malaysian police statement cited

by AFP. The programme's executive producer Sally Neighbour denied the crew had committed any offence and said on Twitter that the arrest was related to the crew's reporting of corruption allegations involving Najib.

Farewell Marvin Family and friends gathered in the Main Dining Room to commemorate the life of cameraman and author Marvin Farkas, 89. Marvin's son Mitchell Farkas put together a video of Marvin's work in the Vietnam War and around Asia as well as a clip from a film he appeared in. His daughter Marjorie Nicolaou gave a moving speech about his life. Marvin's obituary is on page 40.

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This is not the first instance of official intimidation of foreign media reporting on the 1MDB scandal, while domestic media outlets who dared to cover bribery allegations against Najib have also been targeted.

At the same time, Malaysian Insider – a leading Malaysian news website that was blocked by the government following critical coverage of Najib – announced it was shutting down.

The FCC urges Malaysian authorities to allow all journalists to carry out their duties in the country without fear of arrest,

threats and abuse. Malaysia is ranked 147th out 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders, lower than Myanmar and Bangladesh, a pitiful reflection of curbs on media freedom in the Southeast Asia democracy.

Only by realising the value of a free and unfettered media will Malaysia's leaders be able to dispel such allegations of corruption and win the confidence of the international community.

We urge the authorities to desist from harassing bona fide foreign correspondents working in the country.

CLUB NEWS

working days. About 87% received their new residence visas within the 10 working days that the PSB had said would be necessary. This 10-day window for visas was a substantial improvement over 2014, when the standard wait time was 15 working days.

While less than 4% of respondents reported problems renewing their press cards or visas, Chinese authorities continued in 2015 to abuse the press card and visa renewal process in a political manner, punishing reporters and media organisations for the content of their coverage if it had displeased the government.

The most glaring example of this was the well publicised case of Ursula Gauthier, a correspondent for L’Obs, who became the first foreign reporter expelled from China since 2012.

Among other incidents, the Reuters

Journalist visa tensions ease in China

The Foreign Correspondents Club of China has compiled the results of this year’s annual survey of visa issues for correspondents. Some 142 responded (including 35 non-FCCC members), up from 127 last year.

In general, most correspondents (72%) seeking to renew their press cards received them from the Foreign Ministry within seven

authorities delayed credentials for one correspondent apparently because of displeasure at his network’s coverage of China in 2015. Another reported being invited for “tea” by a Foreign Ministry official on the first day of press card renewals where he was told to be more positive in his reports.

While fewer correspondents reported trouble renewing their press cards and visas at the end of 2015 than in 2014, police and other authorities throughout the past year have persisted in their attempts to discourage correspondents from reporting on sensitive court cases and protests by suggesting that their presence at such events might result in nonrenewal of their press cards or visas.

Another journalist said he was threatened by police with nonrenewal of his credentials while reporting on the trial of civil rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang in Beijing in December 2015. Another reported being intimidated by a request from the PSB to give a detailed account of his/her whereabouts over the past months.

Photos by FCC staff

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CLUB NEWS

covering conflict and disaster safely; front page photography with your smartphone; and the future of journalism.

For full coverage of this landmark event check out the FCC's website and the next issue of The Correspondent.

The FCC's first Journalism Conference saw a packed house in the Main Dining Room and Verandah talk about the issues confronting journalists in the era of digital disruption. Although Paul Beckett, Asia Editor for The Wall Street Journal, did not see digital disruption, rather that it was the “most creative – and best – era for journalists”.

The first session really got to the meat of it: kickstarting your journalism career. The panel of senior editors, moderated by Tara Joseph, Chief Correspondent Asia for Reuters TV, discussed what they thought were the key qualities for aspiring journalists.

David Merritt, Executive Editor, Asia for Bloomberg News: “Passion for news.”

Anne-Marie Roantree, Hong Kong Bureau Chief for Reuters: “Curiosity and perseverance.”

Beckett: “All journalists should be digital journalists.”

Phil Pan, Asia Editor for the New York Times: “Someone who stands out their reporting and writing.”

The other packed sessions looked at sourcing through social media; following the money – the document dive; news in the digital and mobile era; challenging authority; cybersecurity; the art of the long-form – feature writing; 8

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FCC staff

Photos by Terry Duckham/Asiapix Studios

The FCC's first dynamic Journalism Conference

Correspondents' Choice tasting The next round of Correspondents' Choice wines were selected at one of the regular wine social tasting events organised by the FCC's

Wine Committee in March. These events are very popular and there is a good range of wine to test your tastebuds.

Philip Nourse

CLUB NEWS

FCC staff

Smart car, smart chaps

Take a trip to CUBA Cuba through the lens of Leong Ka Tai graced the walls of the Main

Bar during April. It's not his first showing, but it has been a few years since Leong last exhibited his always astonishing photos.

Board member and photographer Carsten Schael joined Leong at the opening party for the exhibition.

Former member Sam Jackman and Philip Nourse (plus, of course, their new Packard!) were recently spotted at the Napier Art Deco Festival in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.

Harry Harrison

THE CORRESPONDENT

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CLUB MATTERS

Town Hall meeting debates options to boost revenue There was a big and active turnout for the FCC's Town Hall meeting in early April, which focused on budget forecasts and the operating revenue shortfall through the Club's renovation period and what should be done about it.

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resident Neil Western explained that the Board of Governors was elected to run the Club and its finances, “but given that subscription fees had been frozen for 19 years it was considered prudent to talk to the membership about it and get feedback”.

Many emails had been received already from members, Western said. There had been many suggestions to alter some operating procedures and while the Board welcomed them, they would be considered within committees rather than being discussed in detail at the Town Hall meeting.

Treasurer Tim Huxley, in his presentation “Towards a sustainable financial future” for the Club, gave an overview of the financial state of play. The total revenue for 2015/2016 was HK$53,605,241. The forecast for financial year 2015/2016 is a deficit of HK$502,694, while the forecast for financial year 2016/2017 will be a deficit of HK$5,127,398.

Huxley explained the factors that contributed to the growing deficit: the 2016/17 food cover budget was predicted to be down by 3.75% because of lost revenue during planned renovations. The payroll for catering staff was budgeted to increase by HK$1 million or 5%.The total administration expenses would increase by 8.9% covering admin wage increases and increased staff numbers. Rent and rates increased by 10% from January 2016 to HK$577,500 per month. The sale of RMB deposits would reduce interest income by HK$101,000.

The options Through emails, phone calls, suggestions at committee and Board meetings and talk around the Bar, eight options have come forward to address the projected deficit: Option 1: Why not use Club’s reserves to cover the deficit?

Current freely available reserves as at February 2016 are HK$42.3 million, comprising HK$30.5 million in cash and HK$11.8 million in investments, 10

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equivalent to the 2015/16 catering expenses or nine months of the 2016/17 operating budget. Some HK$10 million from reserves has been set aside for the renovations.

Reserves historically have been built up to cover the cost of relocation in the event the lease on current premises not being renewed.

Option 2: Let’s soak the Associates!

Not all Associates are high earners and hence a higher monthly fee for Associates compared to C & J members should be avoided. The FCC should continue to try and maintain a diverse Associate membership.

The idea of doubling the joining fee for Associates would seriously compromise the diversity we are trying to promote from people with media connections, NGOs, and other non-senior banking/ legal etc. applicants.

We have budgeted for only 24 new Associate members in 2016/17, which would yield HK$600,000 in joining fees. If we double the Associate joining fee to HK$50,000 that would bring in HK$1.2 million, still well short of the deficit.

Option 3: Increase revenue from current outlets • The gross profit from all catering outlets from April 2015-March 2016 is HK$25,814,301 on a turnover of HK$39,874,394.56.

• To cover the deficit from existing catering operations would require an increase in turnover of around HK$8 million to HK$48 million. With breakfast having proved to be the only significant area of under-utilisation, this will be impossible to achieve.

• An F&B price increase would not be advisable now as we have recently undertaken one and there was a noticeable drop in revenue in the months immediately following implementation. To cover the budgeted

CLUB MATTERS

deficit from current F&B sales alone, an overall price rise of around 13.5% would be required.

Option 4: Awaken the dormant members – minimum monthly spend • As of January 2016, there were 669 members with zero monthly spending other than subscriptions.

Dormant members comprised 451 Associates, 69 Correspondents, 42 Journalists, 8 Diplomats and 99 Corporate members – 20% of C&J members do not use the FCC. • A minimum monthly spend of HK$200 would raise HK$1.6 million per year from these members, not sufficient to cover the deficit.

Option 5: Club merchandise – leverage the FCC Brand • Revenue from FCC merchandise sold between April 2015 and March 2016 was HK$426,714, with a gross profit of HK$107,326, or under HK$10,000 per month.

• Members have proposed numerous additional items such as cuff links, cloth bags etc, but sales volume and storage space precludes this.

Option 6: Spouse membership – double the money or double the trouble?

• The FCC currently has 1,629 spouse members. A limited number of other clubs such as the Yacht Club and the Hong Kong Club charge spouse membership fees of between HK$335 and HK$390 per month.

• If FCC were to charge a spouse fee of HK$300 per month, it would raise HK$488,700 per month or HK$5,864,400 per year, sufficient to cover the budgeted deficit.

A HK$200 per month spouse fee would generate HK$3,909,600, still a significant contribution to covering the deficit.

Option 7: Reward the regulars?

Proposal from an existing Silver Member: reduce F&B prices by 30%; abolish Silver/Honorary membership; and monthly subscriptions for all members (including existing Silver members) should rise to HK$1,400 per month.

In reply, Huxley said it was not good practice to run F&B at a loss, and it would likely lose membership and face some opposition from some existing Silver members.

Option 8: Monthly subscriptions: a 21st century solution?

Monthly subscriptions for full members have

remained the same since the last century. No other Club has managed to do this while also keeping price increases manageable. The club have achieved this by increasing membership numbers, but we are now at capacity.

• HK$184 extra revenue per member per month is required to cover the budgeted deficit.

• A proposed HK$150 per month rise in monthly subscriptions for members paying HK$950 per month and HK$50 per month for those on the discounted scheme would raise HK$309,650 per month or HK$3,715,800 per year or HK$4,025,450 per year on the basis of 13 months.

Budget forecast and revenue shortfall Erik Floyd asked about the operating deficit, which would be more than HK$5 million in 2017 because of the renovations. He said that since the renovations were a one-off cost, did that mean raising the subscription fees was to solve a one-off problem?

Huxley explained that the deficit included the depreciation on the renovation costs and the rent.

And there would a 3.75% drop in revenue during renovations. Even if you increased subscriptions by HK$150 it would not solve the problem and you will still have a two-month revenue gap during the renovations.

Floyd had seen the operating deficit was a small amount in 2015, but questioned what the other income numbers listed that would generate a rather large surplus for 2015 and 2016.

Huxley said the other income was joining fees and income from Club investments (large cash reserve and a small investment portfolio).

Peter Caldwell had noticed a substantial increase in the depreciation because of spending money to improve the facilities, but as the depreciation would only occur over a very limited period, what would the long-term position be?

Huxley said the renovation costs would come out of reserves rather than the immediate current THE CORRESPONDENT

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FCC staff

CLUB MATTERS

Treasurer Tim Huxley, left, urges a sustainable financial future.

account. It was reasonable to have depreciation over 10 years on equipment such as fridges and as the building was old it needed constant maintenance.

John Batten said the deficit numbers should be further broken down. He gave examples such as wage costs rising 10% in 2015; Bert’s closing until 6pm; and as members were not using the Main Dining Room (MDR) much, he believed there should be a standard rate for meals throughout the Club rather than fine dining in the MDR. He said given the high cost of the renovations, could some of the renovations be rolled over or put on hold?

He suggested the removal of the health club so the space could be used as another facility, such as for committee meetings instead of using the Hughes Room.

On behalf of the House Committee, Nick Gentle said the committee was examining the alterations needed in the kitchen. There had been a fear that removal of the whole floor to deal with the piping was necessary, but the committee had found a way of avoiding that resulting in lower costs.

Donald Mayer asked whether the expenditure contemplated for the MDR was in the budget and what the amount was.

Huxley said that quotes were being obtained and consultants would be evaluating them, but the allocated budget had not been prepared yet.

Neil Western explained that seeking government approval would take time, while Gentle added there were problems with the audio-visual downstairs as well as in the MDR, so it made sense to try to minimise costs by doing both together.

John Hung agreed that the kitchen renovation was necessary, but pointed out that the membership had submitted answers on the survey regarding the MDR’s use as a dining area and he thought the Board should decide on its use first before doing the rest.

Western responded that the Board had been analysing the survey and the Club’s policy states the room should be available to members rather than unavailable.

Tony Dick had observed restaurants and bars were 12

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always full, but questioned why the Club was losing money considering the rent was also quite low. And he also asked whether an outside consultant had been tasked to evaluate the F&B service and see whether the Club was getting real value for money.

Western responded that the Club was not always full and added that the survey had been overwhelmingly positive in terms of food and service.

It was hoped that members who enjoyed the food and service could use the Club more, so a consultant could help to drive more custom.

Callan Anderson did not agree with the figure of 5% as the increase in staff costs as he had analysed his own staffing costs and industry inflation. He had also seen a high turnover of staff in the Club and thought there were high costs associated with taking staff on.

He said that the band costs of HK$92,000 a month were too high and queried whether it was generating money and whether Bert’s Bar was being underutilised.

Western said that the House Committee would be considering the music spend at Bert’s when the contract came up as it was probably the biggest spend outside of staffing costs. The survey had shown a lot of support for Bert’s, but not many were seen actually using it. However, the Club had a long reputation for jazz so it would be an emotive debate.

Regarding the staff costs, Huxley explained that quite a few of the staff were temporary which resulted in more turnover.

Steve Vines believed that the staff estimate of 5% was very modest considering staff-costs inflation in the F&B industry in Hong Kong.

Edith Terry asked if any marketing expenditure had been budgeted and asked whether there could be better marketing of the jazz and professional events.

Western explained that the Club’s website was being relaunched which would help in the marketing.

Having served on three committees at the Club, Susan Liang recommended bringing in a consultant to maximise the revenue from the MDR and Bert’s Bar before embarking on increasing the subscription fees. Regarding investments, she suggested that there should be some transparency, with members advised quarterly of the investment portfolio performance.

She queried whether active members should be penalised through an across-the-board rise in subscription fees or targeting dormant members instead. To deal with the under-utilisation of the Club, policy needed to be formulated before choosing the easy option of increasing subscriptions.

Western said the noticeboard and website displayed a copy of the investment performance each month.

Keith Bradsher advised that raising the monthly subscriptions would mainly affect dormant members.

CLUB MATTERS

For instance, raising F&B costs would mainly affect those using the Club, so a far higher proportion of the money raised would come from dormant members.

However, Philip Bowring thought no more money should be spent on hiring consultants; money should be fed back to the members instead.

Wayne Ma asked whether a F&B price sensitivity analysis had been conducted including how much it would affect member spending. And whether lowering F&B prices would increase the revenue. He also proposed rewarding members who used the Club a great deal by reducing the F&B prices, but raising the subscription fees.

Huxley confirmed price analysis had been carried out and said that when F&B prices had been increased by 5% recently, F&B revenue had dropped by 11% before recovering.

Nigel Sharman referred to Huxley’s opinion regarding not running down the reserves for operating expenditure, asking whether he had considered the right amount of reserves needed by the Club. He suggested mixing and matching some options rather than choosing only one.

Spouse membership fees Francis Moriarty said the Club’s prices were too low compared with other places such as hotels when renting to outside groups. He recommended raising spouse membership fees instead of journalists’ fees as journalists’ salaries were going down rather than up.

Floyd recommended broadening the revenue sources to increase revenue. He suggested instigating a fee for signing rights. Although it would not completely solve the problem, he thought it would bring in some calculable revenue and then perhaps limit the size of the subscription increases as a result.

Vines agreed and believed there were a number of options within the options proposed that did not have to be acted upon in their entirety. He suggested a minimum spend as it worked well in other clubs where members could buy a bottle of wine to fulfil the minimum spend instead of using one of the F&B outlets. It would also discriminate heavily in favour of those people who use the Club regularly and was an option that needed investigating.

Bradsher was concerned that if minimum spend was introduced then there would be a greater influx of people coming into the Club in the last three-four days of the month to fulfil the minimum spend requirement and the Club wouldn’t be able to handle such a surge.

The Club was already packed at lunchtimes.

Kevin Egan agreed with Vines that the Club should consider the issue of minimum expenditure. There were many dormant members and he thought it was ridiculous that the monthly subscriptions had stayed the same for 19 years. He recommended its increase to HK$1,100-$1,200 a month. If the monthly subscription fees were increased and a minimum spend introduced, then some dormant members may

resign and replacement members could be added who would actively use the Club. Regarding spouse membership, he didn’t think it could be changed due to the wording in the Articles of Association.

Mathew Gallagher did not agree with the minimum spend proposal as it could penalise members who were travelling.

Huxley agreed it was a valid point and had already been raised by a few members. He suggested the minimum spend could be cumulative, so that it occurred after three months or so to take into account those away from Hong Kong.

Paul Christensen pointed out that not all Associate members were rich, some were retired and many Associate members had no salary.

Eric Wishart thought Huxley’s presentation had been a build-up to increasing the monthly subscriptions and thought a minimum spend was feasible and a serious proposal. He could see the argument behind the monthly subscription fees due to the upcoming budget problem with the renovation.

However, HK$950 was still a lot of money and the Club should not underestimate some members’ financial situations.

Sharman said that as a former journalist he had no issue with subscription fees increasing or decreasing and thought the continuance of the Club as a place where Journalists and Correspondents could meet and mix with other Corporate members was very important and should be preserved. In terms of the minimum spend, he asked what were the experiences of other comparable clubs in Hong Kong, did they experience an end of month influx and whether they were able to manage it?

Huxley replied that the other clubs usually had a lot more space and reported there was usually a surge of members on the last Wednesday of the month. He also said that not all Correspondents were badly paid and not all Associates were well paid.

Patrick Boehler asked whether there could be space for compromise regarding spouse membership and whether spouses should have a discount membership instead.

Western explained that procedurally, such a decision would need to go before the Companies Registrar, but if accepted an EGM would then be held which requires 75% of the membership to approve it.

Francis Cassidy said as the Club was overly crowded and introducing a minimum spend would result in an influx of members. He recommended reducing the number of guests coming into the Club and levying a charge onto spouses to encourage them to buy drinks.

Western asked for a show of hands in favour of a minimum monthly spend and over 75% of the room were in favour. He also asked for a show of hands in favour of introducing spouse membership fees and the vote was split 50:50.

THE CORRESPONDENT

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High-quality investigative reporting scoops prizes at Human Rights Press Awards

By Joyce Lau

T

he 274 entries submitted to the Human Rights Press Awards this year were of the highest quality that the Awards has received in its 20-year history. All major categories – in English and Chinese, in print, broadcast and photography – featured original, investigative reporting from across Asia Pacific.

While some top prizes went to media giants like Reuters, Associated Press and Al Jazeera, this year also featured new voices from both online media and freelancers.

In Chinese-language reporting, an Internet start-up called Initium beat traditional print newspapers. In photography, a Singaporean freelancer named Sim Chi Yin found a way of financing a years-long investigation into Chinese gold miners. Her work, called “Dying to breathe”, later caught the attention of The New York Times and National Geographic.

The judges also gave special mention to works that would normally fall outside the HRPA’s parameters, most notably local Hong Kong journalists who ventured into Europe to report on the Syrian refugee crisis.

The HRPA are judged by volunteers from the fields of news media, law, academia and

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COVER STORY

rights activism. They give out both grand prizes and merits for noteworthy works.

English prizes The grand prize for English-language news and features went to a series called “Seafood from slaves” by Margie Mason, Robin McDowell, Martha Mendoza and Esther Htusan for Associated Press. While the reporting started in impoverished parts of Thailand, the journalists tied human rights abuses in the Asian seafood industry to the sorts of packaged goods affluent consumers see everyday in Western supermarkets.

“The shame and open secrecy of slavery’s role in all our modern conveniences has been highlighted before by HRPA winners,” said judge Douglas Wong, a former FCC president. “But the depth of this project is reflected in the breadth of its impact: The freeing of thousands of slave fishermen, and important steps to stop the trade of slave-produced goods.”

The grand prize for online reporting went to David Lague, Paul Mooney, Benjamin Kang Lim, Sui-Lee Wee and Stephanie Nebehay, a cohort of China experts working at Reuters. In “The long arm of China”, they used multiple articles to draw a larger picture of how China engages with minorities and the outside world.

“This is very good, wide-ranging reporting,” said barrister Jacqueline Leong, who has been a HRPA judge since its first year in 1996. “The package as a whole drew together common threads between three different issues: the Dalai Lama, the UN Human Rights Committee, and the Uighurs, a Muslim ethnic minority in the nation’s far West.”

“These three are rarely put together,” added judge Armin Kalyanram, a former chairperson of Amnesty International Hong Kong.

The grand prize in English-language broadcasting went to Chan Tau Chou of Al Jazeera English, for a work called “The invisible children of Sabah, Malaysia”.

Chinese prizes In the past year, Hong Kong has seen a proliferation of new, independent media outlets, particularly online.

For the first time, an online startup took the grand prize in Chineselanguage news and features. The judges honoured Zhao Sile of Initium

Opposite page: Feature Photography Grand Prize: “Dying To Breathe”: A series depicting the work related health issues suffered by a Chinese gold miners – By Sim Chi Yin, freelance Above: Feature Photography Special Prize: “Refugees crossing the Aegean Sea for survival” – Nicole Tung – Initium THE CORRESPONDENT

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“The First Blood Shed in the Yuen Long Anti-smuggler Movement” – By Chan Yik-Chiu – Apple Daily

“Disputed Land” – By Sam Tsang – South China Morning Post

“Defendant” – By Ho Kwan-Kin – Sing Tao Daily

“The Lonely Life of the McSleepers” – By Dickson Lee – South China Morning Post

for a wide-ranging work called “The fate of Chinese rights NGOs”.

Zhao also won one of the feature-writing merits for “Kou Yanding: 128 days of hell and 100km of Salvation.”

On the broadcast side, the grand prize went to Choy Yuk Ling of Radio Television Hong Kong for a work called “The myth of universal suffrage”.

Syria coverage The Awards are normally limited to coverage of Asia Pacific – which we define as from Central Asia in the West to Japan in the East, Mongolia in the North to Indonesia in the South.

Rules bar reporting from the Middle East and beyond. This is to prevent the HRPA from being flooded with the voluminous coverage that American 16

THE CORRESPONDENT

or British media giants produce on, say, the Iraq war or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are plenty of other international awards that honour the war correspondents reporting out of New York or London.

The HRPA’s goal has always been to focus on investigations by Asia-based reporters – on subjects that affect Asian people and Asian nations.

However, 2015 proved to be a special year, as judges in more than one category wanted to acknowledge the exceptional work done by local Chinese-language reporters on the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe.

In an era of newsroom budget cuts, few local journalists have the resources to do significant onthe-ground reporting on global issues.

The judges in Chinese broadcasting gave a special

COVER STORY

Southeast Asian Migrant Crisis – By Christophe Archambault – Agence France-Presse

prize to Michelle Chan of Radio Television Hong Kong, who followed the plight of refugees in Greece, Hungary, Croatia and Germany. Chan produced two lengthy Cantonese-language TV reports on the issue.

“This is excellent coverage of an international affair by a Chinese-speaking journalist,” said judge Shirley Yam, vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association.

“The HRPA is the only place where such an effort would be appreciated, given the language barrier… She has picked the right topic, and did it well to benefit local audiences.”

“It’s rare for Hong Kong’s Chinese-language media to

“Stage Performers With Down Syndrome” – By Fu Chun-Wai – East Week

“British Lesbian Faces Discrimination in Hong Kong” –By Yik Yeung-Man– Apple Daily THE CORRESPONDENT

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support its reporters in covering an international issue – with this scale of production,” added judge Eric Poon. “It should be encouraged, especially as it is an excellent work.”

“We Shout ‘Erwiana!’” – By Ko Chung-Ming – Next Magazine

Photography The grand prize in features photography went to Sim Chi Yin, a Singaporean freelancer who began reporting on the dire health problems of Chinese gold miners in 2011 – and pursued the subject until her photographs were finally published in 2015. She followed one family for two years – through illness, disability and death.

Sim took heartbreaking portraits of more than 30 former gold miners suffering from silicosis; several have since died.

It is near impossible for a freelancer to fund a work of this nature – and Sim could only do so thanks to a grant by the US-based Pulitzer Centre on Crisis Reporting.

Sim’s photographs have been published in other major international sources like National Geographic.

Joyce Lau is the HRPA’s director. For more information, go to HumanRightsPressAwards.org.

Myanmar Elections – By Ye Aung Thu– Agence France-Presse

The whole world in their hands The judging of the Human Rights Press Awards was in the capable hands of 19 volunteer judges in the fields of media, law, academia and human rights.

Bettina Wassener is a writer, consultant and a former business correspondent for the Financial Times and the International New York Times.

Jacqueline Leong has been the Human Rights Press Awards’ legal expert since its inception in 1996. She is a Hong Kong Senior Counsel and former director of the Hong Kong Bar Association.

Armin Kalyanram was a High Court counsel in Mumbai before moving to Hong Kong in 2006. She is an active volunteer with NGOs like Helpers for Domestic Helpers and the Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre.

Serenade Woo is a project manager of the International Federation of Journalists Asia Pacific Office. She is also a former member of the executive council of Amnesty International Hong Kong.

Jonathan Hopfner is a managing director at New Narrative. He is a former Reuters News editor.

Douglas Wong is Asia Legal Editor at Bloomberg News. He has also worked for the Financial Times and The Straits Times and is a former FCC president.

Jim Laurie has been a journalist and broadcaster for 40 years and heads Focus Asia Productions, a video and television consultancy. He is also a consultant for CCTV English News.

Liu Kin-ming is a veteran journalist, public affairs

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consultant, founder of the KM & Associates consultancy and former Awards prizewinner. He was former chairman of the HKJA and a member of the FCC Board.

Shirley Yam is the vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association and a columnist at the South China Morning Post.

Chong Yiu-kwong is a solicitor and a senior teaching fellow at the Department of Education Policy and Leadership at the Hong Kong Institute of Education.

Petula Ho Sik-ying is an Associate Professor at the Department of Social Work and Social Administration, University of Hong Kong.

Icarus Wong Ho-yin is the convener of Civil Human Rights Front.

Bruce Lui Ping-kuen is a former principal China reporter for Cable TV and is a Ming Pao columnist and senior lecturer at Hong Kong Baptist University.

Eric Poon Tat-pui is a veteran producer who has made more than 100 documentaries for RTHK since 1993 and is an associate professor at the School of Journalism & Communication at ChineseU. Joseph Tse Chi Fung is a veteran journalist who was the presenter of the TV programme “City Forum”. He is now a freelance journalist.

Angela Lee is a former board member of Amnesty International Hong Kong and has acted as a judge for the Awards since its inception in 1996.

Carsten Schael is an award-winning German photographer and a member of the FCC Board.

Chung Lam Chi is the Hong Kong Press Photographers' Association chairman.

COVER STORY

And the winners are...

ENGLISH-LANGUAGE PRIZES News and Features Grand Prize “Seafood from Slaves” – Margie Mason, Robin McDowell, Martha Mendoza and Esther Htusan, Associated Press News Merits “Four Hong Kong publishers known for books critical of Chinese regime missing” – Ilaria Maria Sala, The Guardian “Something hideous Happened in Elishku, Xinjiang” – Benjamin Haas, Agence France-Presse “Asia’s migrant crisis” – Preethi Jha, Nurdin Hasan and Shafiqul Alam, Agence France-Presse “Asia's Migrant Crisis” – By Preeti Jha, Nurdin Hasan, Shafiqul Alam and Thanaporn Promyamyai – Agence France-Presse Features Merits “Ghost children: in the wake of China’s one-child policy, a generation is lost” – Nathan VanderKlippe, The Globe and Mail Series on “Crackdown on Chinese rights lawyers” – Verna Yu, South China Morning Post “Elderly bused in for district election vote” – Jeffie Lam, South China Morning Post Online Grand Prize Series on “The long arm of China” – David Lague, Paul Mooney, Benjamin Kang Lim, Sui-Lee Wee and Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters Online Merits “Sea slaves: the human misery that feeds pets and livestock” – Ian Urbina, The New York Times “For Rohingya, fear and forced marriages” – Jonah M. Kessel, The New York Times Commentary Merit “Beijing Autumn” – Ilaria Maria Sala, ChinaFile Broadcast Grand Prize “The invisible children of Sabah, Malaysia” – Chan Tau Chou, Al Jazeera English Television Merits “Asia’s meth wars: Myanmar’s state-backed militias are flooding Asia with meth” – Patrick Winn and Mark Oltmanns, GlobalPost “China’s locked-up lawyers” – Carrie Gracie – BBC World Radio Merit “Soccer nuns: the trials of Tibetan women’s football” – Ivan Broadhead – BBC World Chinese-language PRIZES News and Features Grand Prize “The fate of Chinese rights NGOs” – Zhao Sile, Initium Features Merits “Kou Yanding: 128 days of hell and 100 kilometres of Salvation” – Zhao Sile, Initium “Conflict escalates over Christian crosses in Zhejiang” – Zhu Yongxiao, Yazhou Zhoukan / Asiaweek “Never grow old” – Chen Yimin, Ming Pao Weekly News Merits “Vote rigging in District Council election”– Leung Yu Wo, Yuen Pak Yan, Alexander Lam Wai Chung and Lee Nga Man, Apple Daily “A brother asks society to respect the disabled” – Simpson Cheung Wai-Ming, Yammy Tsang Ying-Mui and Gemini Cheng Pui-Shan, Ming Pao “Elderly stripped naked on rooftop, waiting to be showered” – Winky Liu Wing-ki and Edward Choi Chuen-Wai, Ming Pao Online Merits “Investigation of the Shenzhen landslide: why waste was dumped in an ecological zone” – Yannan Jiang, Initium Commentary Merit “A lifetime of suffering for Chinese women” – Zeng Jinyan, Initium

Broadcast Grand Prize “The myth of universal suffrage” – Choy Yuk Ling, Radio Television Hong Kong Broadcast Special Prize "Great escape of Syrian refugees” – Michelle Chan, Radio Television Hong Kong Television Merits “Infallible church”– Amy Wong Nga-Man, Radio Television Hong Kong “Helpless, aged and disabled” – Grace Wong, Radio Television Hong Kong Radio Merits Myanmar elections series – Ivan Luk Yuk-Kwong and Wong Lui, Radio Television Hong Kong “Human rights lawyers” – Chan Miu-Ling, Radio Television Hong Kong Photography Feature Photography Grand Prize “Dying to breathe”: a series about a Chinese coal miner – Sim Chi Yin, The New York Times Feature Photography Special Prize “Refugees crossing the Aegean Sea for survival” – Nicole Tung, Initium Spot News Merits “Defendant” – Ho Kwan-Kin – Sing Tao Daily “Disputed land” – Sam Tsang, South China Morning Post “The lonely life of the McSleepers” – Dickson Lee, South China Morning Post “British Lesbian faces discrimination in Hong Kong” – Yik Yeung-Man, Apple Daily “The first blood shed in the Yuen Long anti-smuggler movement” – Chan Yik-Chiu, Apple Daily Feature Photography Merits Southeast Asian migrant crisis – Christophe Archambault, Agence France-Presse “Stage performers with Down Syndrome” – Fu Chun-Wai, East Week Myanmar elections – Ye Aung Thu, Agence France-Presse “We Shout ‘Erwiana!’” – Ko Chung-Ming, Next Magazine Student Prizes English-language prizes High School Students Prize “Disenfranchised: education for non-Chinese-speaking children in Hong Kong” – Xaviera Artaza of West Island School, Harbour Times University Broadcast Prize “Education for all” – Ho Kar-Hei, Leung Ka-Yu, Tsui Kit-Sze, Xi Qiaosong and Wong Wing-Kwan of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Varsity Magazine University Print Prize “Transparently Unclear” – Tsim Wing-Sze, Lin Yi-Ting and Kwan ChoMing of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Varsity Magazine University Print Merits “Finding a way forward” – Jayce Lai, Man Sze-Wai and Tsang Hoi-Kee of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Varsity Magazine “Sexual harassment at Hong Kong’s universities – rarely reported, but not rare” – Medhavi Arora of the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Free Press Chinese-language prizes University Print Prize “Questionable police testimony and unfair prosecution after Occupy” – Lam Tsz-Ching and Gloria Chan Hoi-Ching of the Hong Kong Baptist University, Sanpoyan University Broadcast Prize Body of work: “The rights of domestic workers” and “Power of the police”– Li Lok Man, Nicolle Liu Ka-Wun, Leung Yat-Nga, Winnie Tang Man-Yan and Yeh Ka-Lun of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Pinpoint website THE CORRESPONDENT

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Human Rights Press Awards alive and well after 20 years In the annals of the struggle for press freedom in Hong Kong, a small chapter deserves to be devoted to the origin and development of the Human Rights Press Awards, writes Francis Moriarty, founding co-chairman of HRPA and founding chairman of the press freedom committee.

T

he HRPA is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with a special event featuring a previous two-time winner Fergal Keane, special correspondent with BBC, as guest speaker, and also – for the first time – an evening prizegiving event held in a venue other than the upstairs dining room at the FCC, where we have gathered annually since the awards’ inception.

The HRPA has become firmly established in Hong Kong and recognised globally and is among the more prestigious awards honouring the work of journalists.

As one of those who helped found the HRPA, its growing success is of course a source of personal satisfaction, mixed with a large dose of humility when I think about how much work has been done by so many others over these past decades.

But to be perfectly candid, I also feel an abiding sense of guilt. So I guess this is about as good a time as any to confess my first reaction when the suggestion of creating the awards came up.

I tried to kill the idea on the spot.

And I had reasons for wanting to. In my view, the atmosphere in the Club at that time – the early 90s – was not as openly supportive of taking public stands on free speech and free press issues as it is today. Of course, there have always been individuals, including past presidents and Board members (Associates among them), who have bravely stood up for these issues at critical moments. But taking such stands in those pre-handover days could at times be a somewhat lonely proposition. China was already casting a long shadow and Hong Kong’s future was uncertain. Without the security blanket of the departing colonial administration, many individuals were weighing their personal and business interests vis à vis the soon-to-be-incoming order.

I recall a Board discussion in my very early days about the renewal – or not – of the lease on our building. At that time, a chapter of Amnesty

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International held monthly meetings in the Albert (now Burton) Room. During the discussion, I asked what sort of things members felt might pose a threat to renewal. Someone – not a journalist – said, “maybe as a journalism-based organisation, we ought not let Amnesty meet here, as someone might question the Club’s neutrality.” In those days, “someone” was shorthand for Beijing.

The Club had already been issuing occasional statements on relevant issues on a sort of ad hoc basis. It was evident that there would be increasing need to monitor press freedom issues, so I raised the idea of creating a press freedom committee with then president Hans Vriens, who immediately agreed and asked if I would chair it (the traditional punishment for proposing something). This by no means put an end to the often heated, sometimes bruising discussions on the Board over issuing statements, but this committee provided a place for discussion outside the Board and affirmed our commitment to defending journalists’ values and rights.

It was within this atmosphere when the idea of the Awards first arose in mid-1994. And it helps explain, in part, why I was in full conflict-avoidance mode when someone called me asking for a meeting. She said she wanted to discuss an idea that – perhaps intuiting my response – she did not want to talk about over the phone.

The “she” was Robyn Kilpatrick, then chairperson of Amnesty International Hong Kong. When we did meet I did not yet know what I would quickly come to realise: Robyn was not just someone with an idea; she is a full-fledged force of nature.

Robyn explained the idea of creating press awards similar to the successful and very prestigious awards being given by Amnesty in Britain. Could we not do the same thing in Hong Kong with the assistance of the FCC?

COVER STORY

I nodded politely while mentally tabulating all the reasons why we should not go near this proposal with a bargepole. Clearly, this idea had to be stopped in its tracks. But how? I was already beginning to sense Robyn’s determination, which was a little scary.

Obviously, I said, such a venture, however worthy, could not possibly succeed without the involvement of local journalists, but would they support something with the words “human rights” up front?

(I was asking myself the same question about the FCC as well.)

Robyn agreed to take it away and I – relieved – thought that was the end of that. However, a week later Robyn was back again saying she had put the idea to Daisy Li, then chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association. To my amazement, Daisy and the HKJA backed the idea. “Well,” asked Robyn, unable to disguise her pleasure, “can we count on you?” Sometimes, you have you know when you’re beaten. The Board backed the idea – also to my surprise, frankly – and a joint organising committee of the FCC, HKJA and Amnesty was formed.

We had nothing to start with, no rules, no regulations, no application forms, no resources – nothing. But with the FCC and HKJA involved, it was quickly agreed that these new awards first and foremost would recognise high-quality journalism in the area of human rights, and they would be open both to local journalists (including Macau) and foreign correspondents based in Asia.

My view from the start was that the awards would themselves serve as a barometer of press freedom in the territory and the region. If they endured and flourished, that would be good news. If they didn’t it would be the proverbial canary in the mineshaft.

And we all saw the awards as a way to empower journalists who would need support when reporting and writing about sensitive issues.

The timing of the start – coupled with the relatively short period left before the handover on June 30, 1997, and the worries about Hong Kong’s future freedoms – spurred the committee to work quickly.

It was decided that the Awards would be open to work that was published or aired between April 1, 1995 and the March 31, 1996, with the first Awards ceremonies scheduled for June 1996.

But given the short time to organise and promote the HRPA, the question worrying the organisers was whether journalists would in fact take part.

And, would their organisations even allow them to take part? To address the latter concern, it was decided at the start that all awards would be given to individuals, not organisations.

What we could not have foreseen were the rapidly changing technological developments that the HRPA has had to face. When we began, photographers were using film, and making prints and slides.

Audio recording tape is now a museum item, with cassette recorders replaced by MDs, mini-discs,

memory sticks, MP3 and now smartphones. VHS tapes became DVDs or posted online. We struggled with traditional categories: Does it make sense in the multi-platform digital age to distinguish between Print and Online? What isn’t online?

Once we managed to have our application form printed, it went out by snail mail and fax to the news media. As the deadline drew closer few forms had been returned and there were signs of worry among some organisers. However, with the deadline almost upon us hundreds of entries poured in. The question of interest was settled. But I still had my own doubts about the deeper goals of the project.

The answers to my doubts came in quick succession. Among the early entries was a Taiwanmade documentary about the Uighurs in Xinjiang that had never been aired, save at a film festival in the US. Not having been shown, it was clearly outside our rules. “Not so quickly,” said the judges.

It had not been shown because it had been censored for political reasons by the station that commissioned it, and that was just the sort of thing they felt the awards ought to spotlight. And promptly decided to give it a special award. When the producer accepted his prize he said to me, “May I say something?” This was not in the rundown, and I didn’t know how to respond. Then I heard a judge, Fred Armentrout, saying in a loud voice: “Of course you can!”

The producer then explained how hard his colleagues had worked and how each time they edited the film they were instructed to cut it further – until at last they realised that it was never going to be aired. As he spoke, his hands began to shake.

“My team and I,” he said, “we felt like we had been… sexually abused”. And he burst into tears.

The audience instantly rose and gave him a lengthy standing ovation.

This was very much in my mind when a young reporter for a Chinese-language paper walked up to me after one ceremony with her winner’s plaque in hand for a story about the political rights of prisoners in China. She held it up in front of her. “Do you know what this means?” she asked. Please tell me, I replied. “I had to fight for this assignment,” she said.

“My editors told me, ‘Don’t waste your time. Nobody gives a shit about the rights of prisoners in China’.

But I did the story anyway. And then I had to fight, very hard, to get it published. Now, you have given me this – and nobody can ever tell me again, ‘don’t do that story because no one gives a shit’.”

Any questions about whether the HRPA accomplishes anything were settled for me early on, and there have been many similar examples since.

One television entry that has stayed firmly in my mind these 20 years was a beautifully filmed story about homeless street children in Mongolia done by Fergal Keane, then BBC bureau chief in Hong Kong. It continued on page 42 THE CORRESPONDENT

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REPORTAGE

The question in China: what Panama Papers?

Officers at the Mossack Fonseca office during the raid in Panama City. (Source: AP)

While the release of the Panama Papers rocked governments around the world, it hardly caused a ripple in China, one of the biggest sources of funds for these offshore accounts. China's clampdown on any news of the leaks has been particularly effective.

W

hile the release of the Panama Papers rocked governments around the world, it hardly caused a ripple in China, one of the biggest sources of funds for these offshore accounts. China’s clampdown on any news of the leaks has been particularly effective.

Search engines, for example, reply to queries with: “Sorry, searches for ‘Panama’ came up with no relevant results.” A censorship notice sent by a Chinese provincial Internet office told editors to delete reports on the leaks, according to China Digital Times. “If material from foreign media attacking China is found on any website, it will be dealt with severely,” the notice said.

Social media in China was also effectively curbed.

However, a well-known Chinese civil rights lawyer, Ge Yongxi, known for defending underground church leaders and political and social activists, was recently taken into police custody after sharing information about the Panama Papers on social media.

The leaks come at a bad time for China which is in the midst of a massive crackdown on corruption that

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has already been criticised as being an internal power play rather than actually tackling graft.

The Panama Papers leak is one of the biggest ever – larger than WikiLeaks in 2010 and Edward Snowden in 2013. There are 11.5m documents and 2.6 terabytes of information drawn from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca’s internal database. The records were obtained from an anonymous source by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The documents show the myriad ways in which the rich can exploit secretive offshore tax regimes.

Twelve national leaders are among 143 politicians, their families and close associates from around the world known to have been using offshore tax havens.

In China the leaks show that relatives or business partners of several current and former members of China’s ruling Politburo were tied to offshore companies that had the effect of obscuring their ownership interests.

REPORTAGE

Probably the most politically sensitive leak was the revelation that Deng Jiagui, the brother-in-law of President Xi Jinping, had set up two British Virgin Islands-registered companies through Mossack Fonseca in 2009, when Xi was vice-president. What the two companies – Best Effect Enterprises and Wealth Ming International – were used for is unclear.

By the time Xi came to power the companies were dormant, it was reported.

Deng, of course, has been in the news before. In 2012, Bloomberg News reported on the vast business empire built by Deng and his wife both inside China and through offshore companies that amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Another politically powerful Chinese couple – also in the news previously – Li Xiaolin, the daughter of the former premier Li Peng, and her husband, Liu Zhiyuan. The Panama Papers leaks showed that Li and Liu were the owners of a foundation based in Liechtenstein that in turn owned a company in the British Virgin Islands, Cofic Investments. A lawyer for Cofic told Mossack Fonseca that the company’s profits came from helping the law firm’s other clients export heavy machinery from Europe to China.

Another relative of a top leader is Jasmine Li Zidan, the granddaughter of Jia Qinglin, a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee. Li’s father, Li Botan, was a central figure in a report last year by The New York Times on the political ties of the Dalian Wanda Group chairman, Wang Jianlin. Companies linked to Li made hundreds of millions of dollars in capital gains from their holdings in Wanda property and entertainment enterprises.

Ideological leaks One of the few mainland news outlets to mention the Panama Papers was Global Times, a newspaper run by the Chinese Communist Party. The newspaper questioned the lack of a named source for the documents, and the Chinese version of the article suggested that Western intelligence agencies could easily slip fake information into such a large trove of records.

The article accused the Western news media of using the leaks for ideological purposes by attacking, for example President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

“The Western media has taken control of the interpretation each time there has been such a document dump, and Washington has demonstrated particular influence in it,” Global Times wrote.

“Information that is negative to the US can always be minimised, while exposure of non-Western leaders, such as Putin, can get extra spin.”

The Mossack Fonseca data relates to more than 200,000 companies for which the firm acted as registered agent. Often used lawfully to anonymously hold property and bank accounts, these companies were registered in a range of tax havens. Rather than dealing directly with company owners, Mossack Fonseca – the world’s fourth biggest provider of

offshore services – mostly acted on instructions from intermediaries, usually accountants, lawyers, banks and trust companies. The biggest centres for this activity are Hong Kong and Switzerland. And China, Hong Kong and Russia top the list of hidden owners.

It should be noted that going offshore is legal.

There are many legitimate reasons for doing so.

Business people in countries such as Russia and Ukraine typically put their assets offshore to defend them from “raids” by criminals, and to get around hard currency restrictions.

However, there are also many not-so-legitimate reasons. In a speech last year in Singapore, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said “the corrupt, criminals and money launderers” take advantage of anonymous company structures. Others use them too: an offshore investment fund run by Cameron’s father avoided paying tax in Britain. The fund has been registered since its inception and has filed detailed tax returns every year.

Mossack Fonseca itself defends its conduct saying it complies with anti-money-laundering laws and carries out thorough due diligence on all its clients.

The firm says it cannot be blamed for failings by intermediaries, who include banks, law firms and accountants.

Hong Kong connection The South China Morning Post tracked down the firm’s man in Hong Kong, Zhang Xiaodong, who is better known by his adopted Cantonese name, Austin Cheung. Zhang has run the operation for more than 20 years.

The firm is accused of helping relatives of past and present Chinese leaders set up offshore companies in an alleged bid to avoid paying taxes. About a third of the Panama firm’s business was conducted on the mainland, with the bulk passing through the Hong Kong office.

Zhang joined the firm initially in its Panama City head office, staying there for a few years. His name first appeared on the Hong Kong branch’s list of directors in 1995, two years after it was set up. He moved to Hong Kong in 1997 and, in 2002, the office was rebranded as the Asia headquarters, of which he was president.

Among the banks, accountants and lawyers in Hong Kong which act as intermediaries is HSBC which has helped rich clients register more than 2,300 shell companies, the leaked reports say.

Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, is a client of Mossack Fonseca. The leaked data showed that Cheung Kong Infrastructure, the Cheung Kong group’s infrastructure arm, used the firm to “organise” a string of related subsidiaries in Panama and the British Virgin Islands.

In reply to an inquiry by the Post, a spokesman for Cheung Kong Infrastructure said the group fully complied with the law of the countries it operated in.

THE CORRESPONDENT

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Punching above its (slender) weight Tom Grundy has filled in his application to join the FCC, but hasn’t sent it in yet. That’s because he is so frenetically busy running his English online news source Hong Kong Free Press, he simply doesn’t have time to make good use of a Club membership.

H

is title at HKFP is editor-inchief, but he has a lot more on his plate than supervising the output of his tiny Cyberportbased team, which comprises three reporters, an intern and himself.

He has to devote much of his time and effort to financial issues – a recent crowdfunding campaign by HKFP failed to reach its target by a large margin – and finding suitable staff – “It’s tough.”

But considerable progress has been made in terms of quantity and quality since HKFP opened for business in late June last year. Positioning itself as a totally independent – and free – alternative news source, in its first six months HKFP attracted over eight Grundy: money and staff recruitment concerns. million page views to its website and published more than 2,300 news and comment pieces. popular photography section called HKFP Lens, and HKFP says its reporters have beaten their main, is aided and abetted by seasoned local columnists and far better resourced, competitor, SCMP.com, to and analysts. “We try to maximise our very limited the punch on a number of landmark developments resources. I think we over-deliver on most days. We both in Hong Kong and greater China. They include end up providing 15-20 pieces a day.” This includes the Hong Kong University pro-vice chancellor items from outside contributors. debacle, the Mong Kok riot and China’s crackdown However Grundy is the first to concede that on lawyers.

HKFP’s progress has been everything but smooth, In original reporting this year alone, HKFP has with money and staff recruitment the two major extensively covered the Hong Kong bookseller concerns. “Often we are taking two steps back before disappearances, interviewed a journalist ejected we take two steps forward.” from China and carried features on the plight of On finances, Grundy says HKFP will continue refugees and sexual harassment. HKFP also nurtures with funding drives but will focus more on attracting a growing community of citizen contributors, has a

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monthly donations from supporters. He says HKFP now has almost 40,000 followers on Facebook, the second largest total for an English news outfit in Hong Kong, after the SCMP. “If just half of our audience contributes monthly, this gives us some security in ways perhaps that crowdfunding every few months doesn’t.”

Grundy says he never considered charging readers, which SCMP.com did until new owners Alibaba dropped the paywall on April 6. “I am not sure how many of our readers are coming to us because we are free,” he says. “I think they come to us because HKFP is an alternative. We have trust and credibility when it comes to certain issues.” He adds: “I think we will survive because we are very nimble in everything we do.”

On the staffing front, he has been humbled to find that many job applicants lack the initiative, proactive attitude and general nose for news required of a reporter. To illustrate how thinly stretched he

is staff-wise, he cites the “bus-factor” management concept, which measures the number of staff who are unexpectedly lost (“hit by a bus” as it were) to cause a project to collapse. “We have a bus factor of one.”

So let us wish Grundy better luck in finding the staff he needs – at least so that he has enough spare time to make it worthwhile for him to send that FCC application in.

Jonathan Sharp

A calculated risk Though crowdfunded media ventures are no longer a rarity even in Hong Kong’s relatively small market, FactWire (www.factwire.org), founded by veteran local journalist Ng Hiu-tung, stands out both in terms of its model and the scope of its ambitions.

Ng raised HK$5 million last year in a Fringebacker campaign – well over the initial HK$3 million target -by pledging to make FactWire a news agency to rival the likes of AFP and Reuters, spurning the “shallow and sloppy” reporting that dominates the “instant information” age and focusing rigorously on long-form investigative journalism. He has been busy assembling a team of eight experienced journalists and FactWire is aiming to publish its first report by early May. While Fringebacker was critical to getting FactWire off the ground, Ng doesn’t see crowdfunding as a viable ongoing revenue source, and has no plans to conduct further large-scale fundraising. Instead FactWire plans to sell its news feeds to existing media organisations, much as traditional wire agencies do. Initially FactWire reports will be made available almost simultaneously to paying customers and the general public, but later a slight time lag will be introduced in favour of subscribers. FactWire will at all times be ad-free and, Ng says, operate as a “non-profit, public service”, relying at least partially on social media users to spread the word. Content will be published in English and Chinese and the organisation will

Ng Hiu-tung has announced that his crowdfunded media venture has raised more than HK$3 million in less than two months.

Photos: RTHK, FringeBacker

concentrate exclusively on Hong Kong news at first, but Ng hopes eventually to hire correspondents in other parts of the world and build a truly global agency.

Ng is investing heavily in the newsroom, paying above market rates for the seasoned talent needed to drive in-depth investigative projects. But that also represents a substantial cost, and he is open about success being far from certain – especially when investigations may delve into sensitive topics.

“It is quite risky; Hong Kong’s news environment is not very straightforward at the moment.” That said, FactWire’s solid Fringebacker performance shows there is substantial public appetite for an organisation of its kind, and should at the very least get the fledgling agency off to a strong start.

Jonathan Hopfner

THE CORRESPONDENT

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ON THE WALL

CUBA Photographs by Leong Ka Tai

F

rom November, 2013, to February, 2014, I travelled with my wife to South America on a container ship, disembarking at Cartegena, Columbia and meandering along the Andes to Chile, Argentina and finally, Cuba.

Cuba at that time reminded me so much of China in the 1980’s, when the population were waking up to the possibility of moving beyond the confines of a planned economy. There were new enterprises – BnB’s, restaurants, shops, designers – admittedly in a small scale, but they were full of energy and optimism.

We met everywhere people intoxicated with their future. Furthermore, just like the good old days in China, there was, and still is, a dual currency system.

But I travelled there not for reportage. The primary interest in my travels has always been to observe different cultures and environments and their effect on people’s lives. I am interested to see how ordinary people live, to see the differences and similarities in their lives compared to ours.

The images on exhibition here capture special moments in everyday life in Cuba.

For those interested, I used one camera with a fixed lens throughout the journey – A Fuji X100S. When I first started work as a photographer, I could afford only one camera and one lens – a beaten up Leica with a 35mm Summicron (I still have them). So for this journey I wanted to go back to basics again, but with a digital camera, since it is impossible to travel with film for extended periods nowadays. I have no regrets. Not having to worry about changing lenses and zooming in and out gave me the opportunity to concentrate on the image and the moment. The rangefinder camera is also compact, light, and attracts little attention. It is by no means perfect. Its battery is too small, which causes power management problems. But it worked, and still works, extremely well for me.”

Leong Ka Tai 26

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ON THE WALL

All four images were taken in Trinidad, Cuba. The images are a part of a more extensive exhibition, Over the Ocean, On the Road: A Multimedia Exhibition

by Leong Ka Tai, held at the Hong Kong Design Institute Gallery from March 18 to May 30, 2016.

THE CORRESPONDENT

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Back to school for careersavvy hacks

By Luke Hunt

D

emarcation between academia and journalism “Entire areas are being left uncovered. Student has always been well-defined. But as the media journalists can step into that void. And that’s one industry continues with an unprecedented shakething I hope to do at JMSC, is to make sure we’re not out brought on by the digital age, journalists are only training the next generation of journalists but increasingly turning to universities for work and a becoming an important news source.” future.

His sentiments were echoed by Ray Leos, Dean It’s an issue across East Asia where academia of Communications and Media Arts at Pannasastra can be fickle. Some countries shun media courses, University of Cambodia (PUC), an English language others deliberately restrict their curriculum to local institution which is a popular source for foreign languages only, respect embassies that for qualifications is not provide scholarships It’s an issue across East Asia where universal and standards for students to study within the lecture hall abroad. academia can be fickle. Some countries can vary dramatically.

As an industry, Former FCC president education is expanding shun media courses, others deliberately rapidly where Keith Richburg has just been appointed director traditional journalism is restrict their curriculum to local of the University of struggling and Leos has Hong Kong’s Journalism seen a substantial rise languages only, respect for qualifications in job inquiries from and Media Studies Centre (JMSC) and says experienced journalists J schools have long been is not universal and standards within the from around the world. staffed by recovering “Many of these folks lecture hall can vary dramatically. correspondents and are now freelancing journalists. and looking for ways to “I think one key difference now is that with all supplement their income. Some have never taught the downsizing going on, you are seeing a lot more before. But I warn many of them, especially those younger journalists, and some at the peak of their who have little or no previous teaching experience careers, making the shift into academia,” he said. that teaching is a completely different profession in a “And as journalism schools become not just number of ways, often requiring very different skill training places but news-producing spaces, J sets,” he said. schools remain a place where you can still practice “Being a good journalist doesn’t necessarily mean journalism outside of a traditional newsroom.” you will make a good teacher. Although currently That has become evident with the number of some of my best lecturers are working journalists, publications being put out by universities which also I’ve also had experiences of excellent journalists not have the resources to pay, produce and distribute being able to cut it in the classroom. across all platforms of media, including television, “It’s particularly true here in Cambodia, where the radio and the Internet. educational system is still developing and students In the US, Harvard and Wharton business schools often don’t have the requisite academic skills.” have been prominent and pay at the higher end of Judith Clarke, an associate professor at Hong Kong market rates.

Baptist University, said there were issues on campus “I think journalism schools can be taking on between traditional academics and journalists with more of that news producing role, particularly as experience in the field who are needed to teach newsrooms shrink and news organisations cut back students skill sets for the job, and help get them on coverage,” Richburg said. employed.

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REPORTAGE

Top: Richburg reporting from Kabul: in J schools you can still practice journalism.

Right: Ray Leos being a good journalist doesn't mean you'll be a good teacher.

“It’s difficult for an experienced journalist to get a tenured academic job, especially with no PhD, but even with one, because they are older than those who took the academic track early on,” she said, adding experience from the field was too often undervalued.

“Having these skills is the key to getting a job on graduation, so you would think the people who teach them would be highly valued, but they rarely get senior academic jobs – there are exceptions, of course – having either to take the “lecturer” track, which has limited promotion opportunities, or work on temporary or part-time contracts,” she said.

As Leos mentioned, lecturing in journalism has emerged as a key plank for freelancers – including this one – who can bolster their income by teaching part time. But there are other benefits.

Academic institutions have a credibility among the public and governments who are often wary of publications that are potentially critical or are deemed unfair.

As such a university can open doors for a reporter in much the same way as a respected masthead does elsewhere. Students also offer a unique insight into societies that journalists are covering and students who succeed reflect well on the lecturers as well as their alma mater.

Teaching works both ways.

Clarke said the digital age and the upheaval in the industry had changed the media landscaped but had also helped settle the role of journalists in academia where “teaching becomes just one of their jobs”.

“However, traditional journalism jobs are few and far between these days, and offer little in the way of career prospects,” she said.

“Two points here. Journalism skills and the eclectic nature of what’s taught on degree programmes – coverage of many areas of society, interviews with

movers and shakers – provide good training for a number of other fields of employment, from the obvious public relations to things like administration, financial analysis, teaching and so on.”

It was George Bernard Shaw who once wrote, perhaps unfairly, in “Man and Superman”: “He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches.”

It’s a never-ending cycle. Undergraduates emerge into an unfriendly job market, retreat back into university for a masters degree and end up staying on as lecturers where they cut their teeth and emerge as career academics.

Now their ranks are being infiltrated by older, experienced hands whose lack of academic history is made-up through surviving and thriving in the real world. But Leos stressed a journalist needs to bring more to the job than just a resume, particularly when dealing with difficult students.

“You need to have patience, understanding, tolerance and an ability to motivate and inspire young people, and even be a bit of a psychologist or guidance counselor. It’s hard and challenging work; not everyone can do it. You have to really love it,” he said.

THE CORRESPONDENT

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F&B

Correspondent Wine candidates

for the FCC's new Correspondent house wine list. Please try them and If you like them let the staff know - they could make the new list.

Among the reds, are: Quinta da Pacheca Colheita Rouge, from Douro, Portugal; Ogier Heritages Côtes du Rhône Rouge, from Rhône, France; Mr Rigg’s The Truant Maclaren Vale Shiraz, from Australia Among the whites, are: Corte Giara Chardonnay delle Venezia, from Italy; No Stone Unturned Semillion and Chardonnay, from Murray Valley, Australia; Pinta Negria Blanco, from Portugal

Photos by CarstenSchael.com

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These wines are some of the candidates

THE CORRESPONDENT

SPEAKERS

What they said...

It's been another busy period for speakers at FCC lunches, covering topics like the future of the rule of law in Hong Kong, the Vatican and China, US policy in Asia, more women for senior roles, infectious diseases threats and Assignment China.

The challenges facing the Hong Kong courts

Bokhary, centre: affordable justice.

One of the two fundamental challenges facing the Hong Kong courts now and in the future is to deliver – and demonstrate that they are delivering – affordable and readily intelligible justice according to law without undue delay, said Justice Kemal Bokhary, Non-Permanent Judge, the Court of Final Appeal at an FCC lunch on April 18.

While this is common to courts everywhere in the world, the other fundamental challenge pertains to our courts in particular. It is to play their part in making the “one country, two systems” principle work. Already – and perhaps far more so in the future – this will have to be done while the quest for democracy continues and in the midst of much social discontent, some of it spilling over into civil disobedience and even violence in the streets.

Justice Bokhary joined the Hong Kong Judiciary as a Judge of the High Court in 1989. He was appointed a Justice of Appeal in 1993. From 1997 to 2012, he served as a Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal. He has published “Recollections”, “The Law is a Crocodile” and “Crocodile-at-Law”, reflecting upon his career in the law. http://www.fcchk.org/node/6580 China and rule of law in Hong Kong Since 2012, the new Chinese administration headed by Xi Jinping has launched many Wang: rule of law initiatives.

rule of law programmes, said Wang Zhenmin, head of the law department, China’s Hong Kong Liaison Office and professor of law, Tsinghua University, at an FCC lunch on April 12.

Wang described the main rule of law initiatives, how China would achieve its ambitious rule of law dream, and what impact it might have on Hong Kong’s future, including the implementation of the “one country, two systems” principle and the Basic Law. Wang has been with the Hong Kong Liaison Office since December 2015. He has a PhD in law from Renmin University of China. His academic fields included constitutional and administrative law, and the Hong Kong Basic Law. This speaker was arranged in coordination with the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in Hong Kong. http://www.fcchk.org/node/6572 China and the Vatican’s new global strategy Is the Vatican’s “foreign policy” changing and is it adopting a more forwardlooking stance? Would the Pope visit China? These were some of the questions addressed by Francesco Sisci: Vatican China policy.

Sisci, Senior Research Associate, China Renmin University, at an FCC lunch on March 31.

Rome is certainly not standing on the sidelines – it is helping with the rapprochement between the US and Cuba, and having Pope Francis meet with Iran’s President Rouhani and the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. Sisci, who recently interviewed the Pope, discussed the Vatican’s policy towards China and its bigger role in international politics.

Sisci is also an Asia Times columnist. He also served as Asia editor for the Italian daily La Stampa and as Beijing correspondent for Il Sole di 24 Ore, THE CORRESPONDENT

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SPEAKERS

in addition to writing for numerous Italian and international publications. He was the first foreigner admitted to the graduate programme of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and is the author of eight books on China and a frequent commentator on CCTV. http://www.fcchk.org/node/6539 More senior roles for women needed Women in Hong Kong have come a long way when it comes to participation in the labour force, said Diana Cesar, CEO for Hong Kong at HSBC, at an FCC lunch on March 29.

However, there was still a significant gender gap when it comes to females Cesar, right: gender gap in senior roles.

With women making up more than 50% of the population, there were huge economic benefits to be gained from ensuring that more women join and stay in the workforce.

Cesar said companies need to be flexible in their HR policies -- or risk seeing female employees leave for more accommodating competitors, or take up more unconventional ways of working. She talked about her experiences on what it took for a woman to climb the ladder to the top of the financial industry.

She also gave an overview of what HSBC was doing to help more women attain leadership positions.

Cesar is also a member of HSBC’s Executive Committee. During her career with HSBC, she has held leadership roles in marketing, cards and loans, mortgages, distribution strategy and consumer propositions in Hong Kong and across Asia Pacific. http://www.fcchk.org/node/6543 Role of Asian American voters Christine Chen, founder of Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote, gave a short talk at a cocktail reception on March 23 on the growing influence of Asian American voters in the US presidential election Chen: Asian American influence. process.

Christine Chen is also executive director of APIAVote, a Washingtonbased nonpartisan organisation that conducted 32

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research and polling of Asian American voters and organised regional training and field programmes to help grassroots partners mobilise Asian American and Pacific Islander voters. She served from 2001 to 2005 as executive director of the Organisation of Chinese Americans. She was also president of Strategic Alliances USA, a consulting firm specialising in coalition building, institutional development, and partnerships among the corporate sector, government agencies, and the nonprofit and public sector. http://www.fcchk.org/node/6515 How crucial is the US rebalance to Asia US Ambassador John D. Negroponte, at an FCC breakfast address on March 22, looked at the questions facing Asia today: Would the 21st century be known to future historians as ‘The Pacific Century’?

Would Asia Pacific grow from strength to Negroponte: US and the Pacific century. strength economically, politically and strategically, extending its influence around the world? And, would the US still play a vital role in the region – serving as a bastion of economic support, of political stability, and of military security?

Negroponte is a career diplomat and national security official and has been ambassador to Honduras, Mexico, the Philippines, the UN, and Iraq. He was the first director of national intelligence under President George W. Bush. His most recent position in government was as Deputy Secretary of State. Since 2013, he has been chairman of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance. http://www.fcchk.org/node/6535 The miraculous history of China’s two Palace Museums Mark O’Neill, an author and former China-based journalist, at an FCC lunch on March 14, presented rare historical images to describe the extraordinary story of the two Palace Museums, in Beijing and Taipei, since O'Neill: 16-year journey.

SPEAKERS

From Ebola to Zika: lessons from infectious disease threats Professor Baron Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, is a clinician and microbiologist by training, co-discovered the Ebola virus in Zaire in 1976, and led research on HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and women’s health, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Piot, at an FCC lunch on March 8, spoke about the global threat posed by emerging infectious diseases, and what this could mean for the region.

Piot is also founding executive director of UNAIDS and was Under Secretary-General of the UN from 1995-2008. He was also an associate director of the global programme on AIDS at WHO. Piot is a past president of the International AIDS Society. He has received numerous awards for his research and service and was named a 2014 TIME Person of the Year (The Ebola Fighters) and has published over 580 scientific articles and 16 books, including his memoir, “No time to lose”. http://www.fcchk.org/node/6459 Assignment China: Tremors In 2008, to mark the hosting of the summer Olympic Games, Beijing pledged to allow a freer atmosphere for the international press, lifting many long-standing restrictions on the movements and activities of foreign correspondents.

However, the year also saw several traumatic events, including riots in Tibet and the massive Sichuan earthquake.

These Chinoy: China story reshaped. dramatically

reshaped the narrative of the China story, and reshaped the experience of the foreign press as well, said Mike Chinoy, senior fellow at the US-China Institute, University of Southern California, and a former CNN Beijing bureau chief, at an evening presentation of his film on March 7.

“Tremors”, which is an account of what it was like to cover the remarkable year of 2008, is part of “Assignment China,” a multi-part documentary series on the history of American correspondents in China.

The film featured interviews with journalists who covered China during this period, including such well-known correspondents as Joseph Kahn, Edward Wong, and David Barboza of The New York Times, Barry Petersen of CBS, Stan Grant of CNN, Tom Brokaw of NBC, Louisa Lim of NPR, Evan Osnos of the New Yorker, Andrew Browne of The Wall Street Journal, and many others. http://www.fcchk.org/node/6458 How to deal with difficult people Ajahn Brahm, Abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery, at an FCC lunch on March 3, claimed that for 2,500 years, Buddhism had kept its cool even among difficult people in dangerous times. He spoke about strategies based on Buddhist principles on

Photos by FCC staff

their foundation in 1925. He looked particularly at the 16-year odyssey of thousands of pieces that left Beijing in 1933 and arrived in Taiwan with the Nationalist government in 1949.

O’Neill moved to Hong Kong in 1978 and has stayed in Asia since, working for Reuters, the South China Morning Post and many other publications.

Since 2006, he has been based in Hong Kong and written six books on Chinese history, with three translated into Chinese. His latest book, “The Miraculous History of China’s Two Palace Museums”, is available in English and Traditional Chinese. http://www.fcchk.org/node/6487

Ajahn Brahm: Buddhism kept its cool.

how to be at peace with challenging individuals and how to avoid being a difficult person oneself.

A Cambridge graduate of theoretical physics, Brahm is the Abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery in Australia and the spiritual advisor to Bodhinyana International Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation in Hong Kong. A Theravada Buddhist monk for over forty years, he is a sought after speaker at global conferences on Buddhism. He has also written numerous international bestsellers including “Opening the Door of your Heart”, “Mindfulness”, “Bliss and Beyond”, “The Art of Disappearing” and “Good? Bad? Who Knows?” http://www.fcchk.org/event/club-lunch-how-dealdifficult-people THE CORRESPONDENT

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Government snooping?

Get over it By chance, eminent foreign correspondent, editor and military historian Sir Max Hastings spoke at the FCC a day after the deadly Brussels bomb attacks. He said such attacks are the new norm for waging war, and fighting it means we should get used to some loss of personal liberties.

Jonathan Sharp reports.

L

ong gone are the days when Britain was defended

by Spitfires and citizen armies. In the front lines against enemies today are the intelligence services, the likes of the UK’s vast Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the largest building constructed for secret intelligence operations outside the US. The main theme of Hastings’ fluent and forthright remarks at a sold-out FCC lunch was that if countering the new way of waging war meant that governments eavesdrop on what we take to be private communications, then so be it.

He also came firmly down against Apple in its spat with the FBI; said whistleblower Edward Snowden had done serious harm to the struggle against terrorism; ridiculed British Prime Minister David Cameron over his analysis of what was happening in the Middle East; and introduced us to a military term that many of us may not have come across before: “Pred porn”.

Hastings, whose latest book, “The Secret War”, is about spies and spying in World War II, said the old distinction between a state of peace and a state of war had vanished, almost certainly for ever. “We, our children and their descendants, will exist in a new world in which they will not face all-out war, but also one in which they will never know absolute security and over which terrorist attacks will cast a continuous shadow.”

Speaking largely from a British perspective on the issue of governments covertly listening in on people, Hastings said: “Personal liberty never has been, and never can be, an absolute.” A balance must be struck between the rights of privacy and

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the need for governments to protect society. “Our tolerance of electronic surveillance, subject to legal and parliamentary oversight, seems a small price to pay for some measure of security against threats that nobody – today of all days – can doubt are real and will persist.”

He added: “I find it almost incredible that civil libertarians wax so wrathful about interception of our communications.” If not by using such means of countering terrorist attacks, how else can British security forces detect terrorists? “It’s almost impossible for agents to penetrate Moslem communities in Britain,” and MI5, the UK’s domestic counter-intelligence and security agency, gets dismayingly little help from them. “It’s unlikely that beat policemen – who no longer exist in Britain – will glance over a garden fence in Birmingham and spot conspirators concocting a bomb.”

Speaking personally, he said he was happy for MI5 to listen in on his telephone conversations as long as it liked. He half-jokingly added that he was more concerned about the information about him acquired

by Amazon or the Tesco supermarket chain.

He said Britain’s security services had been astonishingly successful in frustrating terrorist plots.

“But they themselves emphasise that they cannot expect to continue to be this fortunate indefinitely.”

Nobody sensible will be smug after the recent attacks in Paris and Brussels. “Sooner or later some atrocity will be perpetrated in Britain,” which has already seen a deadly terror attack. Fifty-five people were killed in bomb blasts focused on the London transport system on July 7, 2005, the day after the

city won the right to host the 2012 summer Olympics. Hastings said that of 20-30 major plots detected in Britain since the 2005 attack, an overwhelming number were discovered by electronic surveillance and not one of them by police work or informants in the Moslem community.

On Apple’s fight with the FBI over the iPhone used by the shooter in the San Bernardino killings in December 2015 in which 14 people died, Hastings said he was amazed that Apple, “in a display of awesome hubris”, should resist the FBI request for help in decrypting the phone data of a dead terrorist. “What I find scary about these hi-tech companies is that they Hastings: unsympathetic about whistleblowers. act in so many respects – not least about taxation – as if they were above the law and as if they have no national allegiance.”

Hastings was similarly unsympathetic about whistleblower Edward Snowden, hailed by many for taking a heroic stand for civil liberties but condemned by others as a traitor. Hastings was unequivocal: he said there was no doubt that Snowden’s revelations had made the fight against terrorism trickier because attackers were now much more aware of the need for secrecy in their communications. “There is clear evidence that terrorists both in Europe and the Middle East are using much more a lot of latitude to the British and US governments sophisticated encryption systems which they over their eavesdropping activities, he was much can buy off the shelf from Apple and Google. This is more worried about the use of drones and the making things far more difficult.” targeted killings of people outside of the countries After Hastings spoke, reports from Brussels flying them. “It is a very, very dangerous business spoke of a high level of communications discipline to delegate to governments [the power] to act among the attackers: British former foreign secretary unilaterally without any judicial process to kill William Hague said the mobile phones the attackers whoever they feel like outside their own frontiers.” carried had not been used before and showed no He introduced us to the military term “pred porn”, record of texts, chat or emails. Whatever means of meaning Predator pornography; Predator being the coordination they used, it was sufficiently private name of a drone widely used by the US Air Force. or encrypted that the authorities did not seem to Hastings said it was “terribly seductive” for politicians have been aware of it. He said that since Snowden’s to sit in operations rooms watching live feeds from allegations about Western intelligence-gathering in drones and then give approval to fire missiles to kill 2013, every mastermind of terrorism or organised people. While at present such drone attacks are made crime had been alerted to the need to change or only by the US, Britain and Israel, what happens if disguise their communications.

Hastings was withering about British Prime Minister terrorists acquire the technology? “When terrorists do, we are not going to like it.”

Cameron’s claim last November that 70,000 “Syrian On a more positive note, Hastings said he was moderates” were waiting impatiently to fight alongside the West against both ISIS and Syrian President Bashar confident the West could defeat the threat posed

by Islamic extremism. He said the West’s social, al-Assad. Hastings said he knew of no one in the economic and cultural values were incomparably military or intelligence communities who supported superior to those of the death cults of ISIS and such a view and Cameron was indulging in wishful al-Qaeda, “and for that matter those of successor thinking. “When such a careless, even sometimes movements that will surely arise to trouble us.” But reckless, mindset operates in government, then the we will need to empower our “spooks, geeks and best intelligence in the world is helpless.” bugs” to protect us, at some admitted cost to personal Anyone for “pred porn”? privacy and liberty.

Hastings said that while he was willing to allow THE CORRESPONDENT

FCC staff

MEDIA

35

ARCHIVES

Where have all the companies gone, long time passing...

By Vaudine England

T

he assumption about Hong Kong corporate life is that it has always been as monopolistic and dominated by a few big names as it is now. It is often thought that in the beginning there was Jardines and Swire, and the two conglomerates ran business (and sometimes ran Hong Kong) until the first Chinese tycoons came up in the late 1970s, forcing a degree of power-sharing at the top of the wealth tree.

This is not so. The first inaccuracy is about Swire which, with roots back to 1816, did not arrive in the East under its own name until 1866, in Shanghai. It didn’t open in Hong Kong until 1870.

The real competitor to Jardines in the early days – as immortalised in James Clavell’s novels – was Dent &

36

THE CORRESPONDENT

Co, which collapsed dramatically in 1867.

Yet there were many more important companies in 19th century Hong Kong. Great and important names in financial history must include Gilman & Company, Gibb, Livingston & Co., Dodwell’s, Caldbeck McGregor, and many more.

The majority of young British men (and they were all men, alas) coming to Hong Kong were not coming to join Jardine, Matheson & Co. Instead, they worked for Gilmans or Gibb, or Holliday & Wise, Birley & Co, or Olyphant & Co, Turner & Co or one of the several banks.

The second-largest business group after the British was, as the century wore on, the Germans. They

ARCHIVES

worked for Siemssen or for Blackhead & Co, or Arnhold, Karberg, or Schellhass & Co. Other chaps arriving in Hong Kong would join the large community of Parsi, Armenian or Jewish trading firms, one of which, Abdoolally, Ebrahim & Co, still exists, and many more of which have merged or morphed into different combinations.

Anyone seeking their ancestors in these firms, or wishing to trace just how different firms made their money, faces a serpentine trail in an often frustrating search for old company records.

Parsi firms and people would start with the Zoroastrian Foundation in Causeway Bay; Jews might start with the Jewish Historical Society and the separate Hong Kong Heritage Project set up by the Kadoories. Armenians would need to contact Liz Chater, the voracious researcher and descendant of the vitally important Sir Paul Chater. Jardines and Swire each maintain excellent archives of their own.

But what of all the other British firms. Where have all the old companies gone?

The first step might be to contact the archives of HSBC, on the assumption that the companies or people held accounts there. They keep excellent and comprehensive records, but bear in mind the Bank was only founded in 1865, a full 24 years after business was first being done on the Hong Kong waterfront.

A fuller answer might be found through a busy little park called Spafields, in northern London. This lies about a block south of Exmouth Market, between the headquarters of Amnesty International and the Sadler’s Wells Ballet Company – depending on your points of reference.

A rather dull-looking building by the park is home to the London Metropolitan Archives.

This has long specialised in the close-up detail of London life – the parish registers, and street maps with land lots, the minutiae of London social life, economics, districts, natural history, its fire and gas utilities, transport systems and much, much more.

There is Crockford’s Clerical Directory from past decades, the Middlesex Sessions Books Calendar from the 16th century and the vital Lloyds’s Captains’ Register from the 19th century. A wide range of charities and associations are also recorded, with shelves full simply of the catalogues to those holdings as the holdings themselves are far too extensive to be kept in one place.

In addition, in recent years, the London Metropolitan Archive has become the route through which to access a growing range of business records, due to its links to the Guildhall of the City of London. The City, as many will know, is the specific business district of the wider conurbation called London. Its records, unsurprisingly, are largely about businesses.

Given London’s central point not only of the British empire through which so much of Hong Kong’s early life was formed, and its wider role in the globalising economy of the 19th and 20th centuries, you can imagine that the records from the City of London are a veritable gold mine of informational treasure.

First, one has to work out where a particular company went, and when. The trio of Gilman’s, Gibb Livingston and Dodwells, for example, were taken over by the Inchcape Group through the 1960s. So all you need to do is contact the Inchcape Archives and find the companies, yes? No. Since Inchcape bought all these companies, and many more, it subsequently dropped most of them, and indeed did not hold on to their archives.

Would that be the end of the road then? Never.

Tracking a company’s past involves some lateral thinking and a substantial dollop of luck. One could think of where the early companies might have banked, and please don’t assume they only banked with HSBC. If British, they may, instead or additionally, have banked with the Chartered Bank of India, London and China, or the Chartered Mercantile Bank, or the Oriental Bank Corporation.

None of those names have survived as such but that doesn’t mean a dead end, as several of them merged to help form what we know of as the Standard Chartered Bank.

This would bring you back to that dull-looking building at Spafields, because after some years of work creating the Finding Aids to disentangle many THE CORRESPONDENT

37

ARCHIVES linear miles of papers, the Standard Chartered Bank archive now rests at the London Met. This is an astounding trove. All sorts of other companies, once important and far-reaching but now forgotten, can be found through these papers – such as Wallace Brothers, the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation, and the E.D. Sassoon Banking Co. The records range from banks in Malawi and Sierra Leone to Nigeria, South Africa, India, Australia and, of course, to China and Hong Kong.

The records include anything from maps and photographs of early banking halls, to long series of ledgers and journals, lists of account holders and debts covered, correspondence on particular issues or controversies, deeds of transfer, sale or merger, and Powers of Attorney. One can find notes appointing this or that Comprador to a trading firm in a Treaty Port long forgotten. Or one can find the minutes books of Dodwell’s to check if, as reported, it was

engaged in liquidating German firms at the onset of World War One; as it happens, they weren’t.

Researchers have to have a serious reason and probably an introduction letter to access a lot of this, and sometimes the files need to be ordered 48 hours ahead, to give time for the fleet of vans to bring the records from the Guildhall deposit rooms over to the publicly accessible reading room of the London Metropolitan Archives.

But once there, a researcher can spend days (although never on Friday) plunging into vast leather bound and metal-tipped volumes, some too heavy for one person to carry, tracing names and relationships and money across decades and continents.

Just go to https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/thingsto-do/london-metropolitan-archives. Start an online search with great patience and good coffee, and see where you end up. You might find that all those old companies have not disappeared completely after all.

FCC ARCHIVES BEFORE YOU DIE! People make Bucket Lists They Dream of the Sylvan Idyll, the Beach Sunset, the private jet Parachute Jump, or Assault on Everest, but

BEFORE YOU DIE One thing you MUST do — And as a Journalist, must you be Told!? —

TELL YOUR STORY Do you not seek Immortality? Do you not wish that the Bar remained enthralled by your Tales of Reportage & Derring-Do?

THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE Please Write, and/or Record and/or Make a Video, or Just Jot Notes on Your Life Story, with Particular emphasis on your Work, the

WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, HOW, even the SO WHAT! Do it Now. Send it to archive@fcchk.org

BEFORE YOU DIE !

The FCC Archive committee has begun a campaign to encourage all members with stories and memorabilia of their time at the FCC to contribute to the FCC Archive.

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THE CORRESPONDENT

BOOK REVIEW

Champion of liberal causes

By Steve Irvine

T

he FCC’s most venerable member Clare Hollingworth earns three mentions in a new biography about newspaper editor David Astor. The most interesting is an anecdote about Kim Philby.

Philby had been hired by Astor’s newspaper The Observer to be its stringer in Beirut, and had just filed what would be his last copy (a bizarre story about a fox falling from Philby’s balcony to its death). The ex-MI6 agent then defected to Moscow.

The first reporter to learn of this was Hollingworth, who Astor’s biographer Jeremy Lewis describes as “ the intrepid foreign correspondent”. Based in the Middle East she had also worked for The Observer, but on this occasion sent the copy to her current employer the Manchester Guardian. Sadly its foreign affairs editor spiked it, fearing Philby would sue for libel. When Hollingworth phoned him to insist that the story was true he told her to “act her age”.

So the scoop that Britain’s most famed Soviet mole had fled was broken not by Hollingworth, but by Newsweek instead.

For anyone keen on the world of journalism this book offers a portrait of a period in the fifties and sixties when The Observer seemed to employ more foreign correspondents than the whole of Fleet Street does today. It tracks Astor’s long tenure as editor (as well as proprietor) of the liberal Sunday broadsheet.

Astor himself was a scion of the wealthy Germanic clan that had gotten fabulously wealthy from Manhattan property. His own branch of the family had decamped to England in the late nineteenth century, his grandfather having declared: “America is not a fit place for a gentleman to live.” William Waldorf Astor bought his way into the British establishment through charitable donations, the purchase of a fine stately home (Cliveden), and newspaper ownership.

David Astor was groomed by his father to take over The Observer, which he did shortly after the end of the Second World War. Astor had spent some time in Germany in 1932 – seeing the rise of the Nazis – and this informed his lifelong hatred of fascism. He was equally scathing about Stalin’s Russia, and during the 1950s assembled a highly regarded team of argumentative émigré Central European writers, who

offered military and diplomatic insights that gave The Observer a unique edge in foreign affairs.

His biographer believes that particular decade was Astor’s defining time as editor. By 1957 The Observer actually overtook The Sunday Times in circulation.

The highpoint of its political influence was when Astor wrote a famed editorial calling for Prime Minister Anthony Eden to resign over the Suez Crisis.

But the end of paper rationing saw Astor’s paper lose out to The Sunday Times. Increases in the number of pages played to the latter’s strengths – such as paying big bucks to serialise hot new memoirs – and its colour magazine became very lucrative (The Observer’s attempt to copy the format was not a success). Declining sales would see the Astor family offload The Observer in the 1970s, unable to subsidise it anymore.

The book makes clear that Astor had an outsized impact on post-war British journalism – particularly in championing liberal causes – while noting that his staff weren’t without criticisms (“the editor’s indecision is final”, one hack once quipped of his management style).

Lewis also reveals that Astor has another claim to fame. George Orwell wrote book reviews for The Observer and was one of the contemporary writers most admired by his fellow old Etonian. Indeed, it was thanks to Astor that “Animal Farm” found a publisher and through the loan of Astor’s house on Jura that a sick and impoverished Orwell wrote “1984”.

Steve Irvine is editor of Week in China.

David Astor

By Jeremy Lewis Jonathan Cape THE CORRESPONDENT

39

OBITUARY

Marvin Farkas: author and cameraman T

he FCC’s longest serving member Marvin Farkas (No 004) died in April after a short illness. The 89-year-old American was an author, photographer, cameraman, Broadway and film actor, sailor in the US navy, traveller and news correspondent.

Fortunately for all of us, he liked a good story and told them well and left many of them through his memoir “An Eastern Saga”, published in 2011.

Marvin also wrote many of those stories for The Correspondent in recent years. On the magazine’s celebrated Timeline (on the wall as you go to Bert’s) first produced in 1999 and updated in 2013, Marvin is pictured in 1956 getting arrested for trying to film the infamous “Two Gun” Cohen, then Sun Yatsen’s personal bodyguard and a general in the Chinese army.

On Marvin’s 60th anniversary of his joining the Club, Marty Merz wrote, “Among the hard-drinking, hard-living foreign correspondents who have gravitated to the FCC over the years, Marvin always stood out. More likely to have a ukulele in hand than a beer – he’s a teetotaller – Marvin has been a fixture ever since he moved into one of the rooms in the Club’s erstwhile premises on Conduit Road in April 1954.

“While the hacks at the bar pounded their livers, Marvin, bounded up to the Peak at least three times a week, rain or shine, starting in 1954.”

Marvin first came to Hong Kong in 1946 when he was with the US Navy. ‘I fell in love with Hong Kong then and vowed to come back and stay.”

In 1954, he returned on a cargo ship called the Eastern 40

THE CORRESPONDENT

Saga – which became the title of his memoirs. “We took five days to make the journey from Osaka.

In those days, big ships weren’t permitted to come ashore and we were ferried over in walla-wallas. I marvelled at the houses that hung precariously from the hills over Lei Yue Mun Gap as we entered the harbour. There were junks, great ships and sampans in the harbour.

I remember the mix of colonial buildings, with their arches, and, although they were five or six storeys tall, each one was an individual with its own style. The squatter areas were spread all over every hill.”

Someone in Tokyo had told Marvin that the place to go in Hong Kong was the FCC. “I stayed at the FCC for more than two years; the main reason was I couldn’t settle my account! I ran up a bill of more than US$7,000 and didn’t have the money to pay it. The FCC was a lively place, although the rooms left something to be desired.“ Marvin worked as a foreign correspondent for about 40 years and covered the wars in Vietnam and Cambodia, the Indo-Pak war, an earthquake in Bali, a student uprising in Japan and one in Korea. “It all started because my

father had given me a Rolleiflex camera and a cheque for US$500 and told me to go and ‘get some experience’.”

At Marvin’s first job at the Tiger Standard [the original name for The Standard], the general manager “offered me HK$600 a month and when I asked why they paid such low salaries she answered that it was a Chinese custom. I was hired as a sub-editor and erroneously thought this meant ‘assistant to the editor’.”

After five or six years in the wars, Marvin turned to other stories in Asia. The story he was proudest of was his work with Dayak headhunters in Borneo.

He was shooting for NBC with Ron Nessen. Even though they were without military escort, they managed to shoot the pillaging and burning of a Chinese village, where the Dyaks killed all the inhabitants.

They saw headless bodies beside the road and in every stream.

“One time I was interviewing Zhou Enlai [the first premier of the People’s Republic of China] when

Photos from Marvin Farkas archive

OBITUARY

my camera broke down. He waited patiently for 45 minutes until we got a new camera. I expected him to leave in a huff when I started tinkering around. Instead, he just stayed there and made jokes with the correspondent. He didn’t have any airs about him. He belonged to the family of common man.

Right there I started to think that communism had something to it.”

Power walking Marty Merz continues his story: “I joined Marvin in the early 1990s on his almost daily power walks up to the Peak. I made phone calls while he ran the 3.6km Lugard Road circuit with Jagjit Dhillon, one time Reuters scribe who first met Marvin during the Cultural Revolution madness on Garden Road when the angry mob turned

its violent attention to Jagjit as Marvin filmed the whole scene – including the later notorious policeman Mr Godber.

“Every time I walked with Marvin back down to Central he’d laugh to himself and tell me a story from his colourful past – his brief stint as a teenage radio star working with Burl Ives; then as a Broadway actor; the most seasick sailor in the US Navy (he always felt queasy on the Star Ferry, but took it anyway because pensioners travel for free); his time with the graves commission on the China coast when he first saw and fell in love with Hong Kong. Then there was his circuitous return to the scene of the crime in 1954, working under formidable Sally Aw at the Tiger Standard, then borrowing a movie camera to

capture interviews of escapees from China at Lo Wu. And finally finding himself in Vietnam for 13 years as a war correspondent for the TV networks.

“After 10 years walking with Marvin I realised that he had recounted a new story every time we wended down Old Peak Road.

I was having trouble remembering it all so I pestered him to write them down. After initial reluctance he became an unstoppable memorialist: nine books at a steady trot.”

In the words of Marvin: “The wars were my favourite beat, but I covered many stories all through Asia. At that time there was a certain laissez-faire, letting you get on with your work. In other words, you knew best how to do your job.”

THE CORRESPONDENT

41

Human Rights Press Awards alive and well after 20 years continued from page 21

won a prize in our first competition. Fergal would win two HRPA awards during his time here. He has since gone on to cover stories ranging from the Rwandan massacres to the recent Syrian refugee exodus.

Over the decades the answers to our early worries have again and again revealed themselves. The total number of journalists who have entered the competition stands at more than 2,000; the number of entries in all categories runs at least four-fold that total. The contestants come from all over the world, and their submissions address issues in virtually every country in Asia. HRPA winners proudly note the awards on their book jackets, resumes and online profiles.

Although at the start the HRPA had few resources, what we did have was a terrific resource in our management and staff. The amount of support they have provided is immeasurable. The big smiles on their faces as they stood at the back of the upstairs dining room during our first awards’ presentation, watching happy winners coming forward to receive their prizes, are unforgettable. And there has been

no bigger supporter of the awards than our manager, Gilbert Cheng. The office staff has assisted in countless ways and always worked cooperatively with their colleagues at Amnesty and the HKJA. So, how did the awards finally get a budget? Well, it was becoming obvious that the awards were a success and I wanted to raise the idea of getting some funding but was unsure of the reaction. Finally, as I gingerly broached the topic at a Board meeting, David Garcia – who was the prime mover of the charity ball – cut me off, saying: “Look, Francis, how much do you need? Just tell us.” Flustered, and afraid of asking too much, I replied: “$30,000”. Dave threw up his arm and said, “I move we approve $30,000 for the HRPA.” I was both relieved and moved.

The HRPA had shown its worth and was well on its way to becoming the flagship FCC event that it is today – the oldest and most prestigious journalism awards in Asia. As it enters its third decade, it requires ever more work and resources. Its future depends entirely upon each of you.

The transpacific rock'n tax man continued from page 44 programme in the world. He has appeared frequently on CNN, Wall Street Journal television, Reuters TV and CNBC. Lipsher specialises in tax issues involving nine jurisdictions throughout Asia as well as US tax matters.

Lipsher has lived in the Pearl River Delta capital city of Guangzhou since 1994. He is one of only a very few foreigners ever to have been given a business licence to practice as a certified public accountant in the People’s Republic of China. He is the only nonChinese writer ever to have articles translated and published in China Accountant, the official monthly publication of the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has also been writing monthly articles about international tax matters for TaxIndiaInternational.com.

All in all Lipsher has written more than 300 tax articles since his very first article appeared in the AICPA Journal of Accountancy in 1979.

“Truth be told, I would rather write fiction than non-fiction, but have not yet become passionate enough to spend the time doing this,” he said in the introduction to his book. “Alas, I am nothing more than a weekend jazz chromatic harmonica player because while the interest is there, the passion to practice is still lacking.

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THE CORRESPONDENT

“Yet, the passion is there to masochistically attempt to write a user-friendly overview of what the US expat and green-card holder has to be aware of for the coming year, a year guaranteed to be even more onerous based on actions of the IRS towards those obligated to file who happen to reside outside of the US.” The book is written to provide all the expat US taxpayer really needs to know about how to interface, on an annual basis, with the US government.

“Yet please remember that while this is an overview, you are legally responsible to understand, if for no other reason than saving yourself from ‘willful neglect’ and the penalties – costly, of course – that the IRS will assess for willful negligence (which the courts deem you to display as preposterous as it seems).

“We ask you to do something different, something you have likely never done before when matters of tax are concerned: read this book for fun! No, I am not out of my mind – I have tried to be as funny and cynical as I can possibly be. And, let’s face it since this is going to be my final book, it will be more cynical and funnier than ever.”

Some “reviews” of his last book: IRS celebrates; Say it ain’t so, Larry; We’re all toast; Hey Larry, what a slacker; and What must’ve led Larry astray.

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THE CORRESPONDENT

43

LAST WORD

The transpacific rock'n tax man signs off...maybe L

arry Lipsher, who has been an FCC member since 1992, has had them rolling in aisles in the Main Dining Room for 10 of the past 11 years as he served up the latest dreary but frightening US tax law changes with his off-the-wall humour.

The one year he didn’t speak was the year that there was no new US tax law passed.

Lipsher’s latest book “Larry’s 2016 US tax guide” is the seventh in the series and may well be his last.

“I’m proud of the stuff I’ve written,” Lipsher said.

“I know it is damned good. It is accurate, easy to understand and, in instances, funny. I don’t appear to have any competition writing in this manner, but the challenge is gone – writing in a genre where no one really wants to buy this sort of book (unless, of course, you are an American with his/her back against the wall).”

What’s different this year is that he has included a mini-memoir, ‘Nine essays from a transpacific rock’n tax man’. “I cover various and sundry aspects of my life from the year I was initially paid to do a tax return through the present”.

The book is actually in two parts. Obviously, the primary portion is about US taxes for expats and other US tax filers in as “simple a way as can possibly can be presented”, he said. “After seven editions, this works and it is the only book of its sort out there for the US tax filer who really doesn’t want the book in the first place, but is forced into it because of the idiocy of a far-too complex tax system.” The second part is the mini-memoir.

Lipsher is an American CPA who has been doing US tax returns for the past 49 years. “Imagine, 49 years as a bean counter – how dreadfully boring!” While he proudly states that over the past four-plus decades on the job, he has yet to develop serious brain damage from a life of tax work.

Lipsher has been based in China for the past 25 years. In that time “I have changed from being just a bean counter to, literally and figuratively being a rice counter... CPA in Mandarin, really means rice counter!”

Lipsher, a past president of the American Chamber of Commerce of South China, was, for 12 years writer of the Asian Tax Review for Worldwide Tax Daily of Washingtonbased Tax Analysts. He has been featured on China Central Television World Wide Watch, the most widely viewed evening television news continued on page 42

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