Foreign Correepondenta' Club of Hong Kong
Morch'79
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EASÍ AND PAclFlC lNC. G.P.O. Box 5349, Hông Konq
COVER Long-time FCC member Bob Miller partying aboard his yacht Blue Phoenix in Macau over Chinese New Year. Story inside.
The Officers: President: First Vice Presídent: Second Vice President and Treasurer:
Anthony Paul
SecreÞry:
Tim
Derek Davies
FINE CRAFTS Don Sheil Tableware Tim Falkiner Pottery Stone & Silverwork
Tony Scott Rossi
The Staff:
UNUSUAL
Managing
Editor: Edítor: Photographer: Advertising: Designer:
Bruce Maxwell Saul Lockhart Hugh Van Es Nida Cranbourne Besie Lee Pui-ling
¡
ublished monthlv as
J,
otgun
-
GIFTWARE Argyle Glass Ets Bochram Lamps Bamboo Crafts Fur Teddy Bears
EXCLUSIVE
-
DIFFERENT
Get upto 15 extrq m¡les per tqnkful of fuel.
an
of the For;¡gn Cor' respondents' Club of Hong Kong. Offices at 15th Floor, Sutherland House,
3
Chater
Road, Hong Kong. Tel:
5-
237734 and 5-233003.
Cables: CORCLUB HONG KONG. Address all correspondence to: Editor, Foreign Correspondents' Club of
Hong Kong, 1sth Floor, 3 Chater
Sutherland House,
Road, Hong Kong. Adver'
tising: Nida Cranbourne, First Floor, 30 lce House St., Hong Kong. Tel: 5-248482.
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by Yee Tin
Tong
Printing Press, Ltd., Aik
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ELEGANTE! Keyes Beech in Bangkok
of
Keyes Beech, former president the FCCJ and longtime corres-
pondent in Asia for the Chicago Daily News, came out of deep retirement in California this month to become the Southeast Asia correspondent for The Los Angeles Times in Bangkok. Keyes stopped off in Hong Kong January 23 to attend the regular China Watchers Lunch and flew on
to
Bangkok the following day. His Japanese wife and their young child followed him a few weeks later.
Beech succeeds George Arthur, who
Mchas retired to Washing-
ton. Both Beech and McArthur were correspondents during the Korean War as was Bob Gibson, the Los Angeles Times foreign editor who hired Beech out of retirement for his new job.
Film Maker Returns
A well known former resident who appeared briefly and will be returning after a couple of months was Brian Salt, expert documentary film maker and animationist. Brian, who has served with G lS on con-
tract in the past and is now associated with a leading Hong Kong non-fiction film group, was on his way to the Marianas in charge of a f ilm crew to make two documentaries there,
When he returns he wĂll spend
a
little time here before going back to his base in London. With his Captain Kettle beard, blue eyes and
lively conversation, Brian will
be
bound to meet many old friends in the Club when he comes here.
4
to take to
Board Changes Journalists' representative on the Board of Governors, leading South
China Morning Post writer Kevin SĂnclair, has resigned due to other
commitments, and has been
preserve the country and
its idyllic
re-
placed by RTHK's Warren Rooke. Hughes in NZ Remember those recent Reuter
reports about the "Kiwi Emergency" and the various steps the Muldoon government was forced
Pacific island prorec-
torates?
We can now safely inform the world, as well as the New Zealand
intelligence service and police forces, that the temporary disruption to their well-run, harmonious lsles, was caused by the visit of none other than His Emminence, Richard Hughes, who agreed leave his baliwick on the 15th floor long enough to accept Doug Gauntlett's gracious invitation on
to
behalf
of Air New Zealand
to
partake of the Auckland-Rarotonga
inaugural
flight as the
airline's
honoured guest. Ex-FCC'ers resident in Kiwiland
Derek Round, Keith Hooper, Tim Birch -- were quickly notified and promised His Emminence a welcome befit such a distinguished emmisary from this club.
Gauntlett, of course, was holding his breath, as his colleagues in New Zealand tried to guess the results of a Hughes visit on the gentle Cook lslanders
of Rarotonga.
Saul Lockhart accompanied
Dick on the sojourn and has promised a full report for the next issue of The Correspondent.
He was in Hong Kong the month of October organising his entry and all the details of transporting the car (by rail) - and surprised most
people around the world by flying to Peking in early November.
The story of his arrival made what turned out to be the final edition of the London Sunday Times.
Within 48 hours of Mr Perelman's airival in Peking he was hospitalised with acute bronchitis (stayed over a week in the Capital Hospital). While he was in hospital
he received word that the
Times had ceased publishing because of the unsolved strike.
After being
from the hospital, he had a few days to see the city (his first ever visit, although he'd got within 40 miles of Peking during a China visit in 1947), and meet some of China's released
most respected writers, publishers, and artists. FCC member Nancy Nash accompanied Perelman, 75, on the last leg of his remarkable lourney, when these pictures were taken.
Dennis Duncanson's China
It was FCC stalwart Alan Steven-
TakÌng advantage
of the open son who
cold. Alan
son, who accompanied by his wife Elizabeth crossed the frontier this month and will be back at the end of it. Dennis has held several off icial posts hereabouts, including
during a schoolboy production of "Hamlet" (in which Jacobi played the lead). lf so, would he explain
deputy d¡rector
of
Government lnformation Services, Hong Kong, and adviser to the British Embassy in Saigon during the Vietnam war years. He is now Reader in Southeast Asian Studies at Kent University, Canterbury, England.
Pool Tournament The first of the 18th Floor brigade's competitions
-
the
annual pool tournament
second was
-
being held this month. Entries closed on March 8th with the draw the following day. Andy Sloan, the winner
of
last
year's pool tournament and a top player in the FCC's infrequently
China.
stopped Derek Jacobi
door to China is Dennis J. Duncan-
Perelman's Progress
Well-known American author S. J. Perelman and two driving companions left Paris in September last year, with the aim of getting their 1949 MG to Peking. Starting in New York, Perelman's home town, virtually everyone told him he'd never get into
Jacobi Luncheon
Visit
"he
asked the suave actor
if
remembered cutting his wig
why he did it since it cost his parents f2S to replace it." For once, the fast thinking
star
was caught completely off guard. First his mind had to conjure up a long buried memory and then try and discover how, in this far-flung corner of the "Empire", the caper was known. Silence sunk heavy on the Entertainment Luncheon as an
equally stunned and intrigued audience watched Jacobi fish through the recesses of his mind. Moments later, Alan let everyone in on the secret. He had been in ,the production
-' as 2nd Soldier, no less - and had been a witness to Jacobi's efforts to reshape the wig to
fit
his head.
Derek Jacobi joined by Timothy West and Julian Glover were guests at an Entertainment Luncheon on February 9th and held a full-hoüse spellbound with their candid comments about life "under the lights." (lsla Blair, the fourth guest, was suffering from a cold and couldn't attend). Jacobi, West, Glover and
Blair were all in Hong Kong to perform with the Prospect Theatre
Company's two "presentations" which were part of the seventh annual Hong Kong Arts Fiestival.
fielded pool team, is pool convenor.
Erich Schwaabe
The CBS Special Report, "The Boat People," a 60-minute special
says. . .
on the
examinations, prescribe and
and the on-going saga of the Skyluck, with another 2500 luck-
fit contact
less escapees.
lenses and eyeglasses. Erich Schwaabe of Optica
The film was shown twice to packed houses on Monday evening February 12th. FCC regu-
Ltd. is a qualified professional opto-
two
metrist. He graduated from the College West Berlin and has been in practice in HonB Kong since
of Optometry in 1973.
At Optica you
are assu¡ed that
lars, cameraman lan Wilson (since departed to a CBC post in Johannesburg) and soundman Hugh Van Es were part of the production team on location in Malaysia. Our thanks once again to the lnter-
a
- qualified in all aspects of eyecare - is determining your professional
eyesight requ¡remen ts,
Kindly telephone for an appointment Erich Schwaabe (Optica) Ltd. Rm. I106, l¡ne C¡awfo¡d Housc 64-704 Queen's Road Central Hong Kong Tel: 5-256937 s-230234
Vietnamese refugees, was
unfortunately very timely for us in Hong Kong, what with the recent ending of the Huey Fong saga by the admission of the 3300 refugees,
Th€ question you must ask Younelf is: should I trust my eyes to someone who is not qualified? Anyone in Hong Kong - regardless of training or qualificat¡on - can open an optical business, conduct eye
fully
CBS'Boat People
in his 'Comrade' hat and coat, purchased in Peking for his exit from úe hopital, pictured in the Forbidden City.
Perelman,
Luncheon in úe American author's honour at a restaurant ín Peking's Beí Hai Park. Artist Hwang Zhou (left), whoæ work was presented to the Emperor of Japan during Více Chairman Deng Xiaopingb visit last year, and Mr. Yen Wen-jing, Director of People's Literature Publishing House, were among the guests.
national Communications Agency of the US Consulate-General for the loan of the video equipment and to CBS' bureau in Hong Kong for making the film available.
I;a sh ir ¡n s
328 Mody Road (Corner Blenheiñ Ave ) Tsimshatsu¡ 3-615252
l3eggp nùopù Sl roppe
G/F,9 On
Lan Str€et (Corner Wyndham St )
Centat,5.22't433
Macau
with Miller
Colour Cover
Our cover shot this month of long-time FCC member Bob Miller, who recently retired from American lnternational Underwriters, was taken aboard his yacht Blue Phoenrx in Macau over a wet and windy Chinese New Year (the blue backis an awning over the
ground boom).
This is only the second year since the riots of 1967 that the Chinese have permitted Hong Kong yachts to cross the Pearl River
estuary and actually stay a few
days in the Portuguese enclave, and quite a number of FCC members took part in the event.
Among them was Leo Burnett managing director Mike Holbeche who, one damp night, firmly led his party to a relatively new restau-
ranl, Pínochros on Taipa lsland, where the somewhat surprised company partook of foot-long Portuguese sardines, quails, and
a
of roasted lamb. Miller, who went to school at Chefoo on the North China coast, has decided that retirement will potentially be more graceful in the hospitable Philippines, where like Hong Kong he has many friends, so he and wife Evie set sail in Blue Phoenix this month for the warmer side
waters to the south.
Judging
by his experiences
in
past Hong Kong-Manila China Sea Races, we hope he lucks out with a navigator this time.
Yantze Award
As recognition of the growing popularity of this dice game, which has been patiently played by expats and Chinese alike in the Far East for many a decade under various guises - Cameroon, Balut, Yantze
- Hennessy Brandy has decided to award a bottle of their fine brandy each month to the player who records the highest score in a single game.
Aspirants should note that at lunch-time it is sometimes necessary to arrive by 12.30 pm to get a seat at the tables.
I
Readers will doubtless have noted that this issue The Correspondent has moved into a colour cover edition.
We thought it looked a little grey before and needed livening up somehow.
Remember that in future we interested in a supply of potent¡al colour cover shots, so if you come across FCC members
will be
doing something interesting around the region, please let us know. We want more anecdotes from Far East travellers too.
tively scheduled for mid-May, the same week that the FCC's 30th anniversary celebrations are
be
The latter event.
incidentally,
club, and feelers have gone out to see if we can get a few of the original founder members back in town for the occasion. During the anniversary week, an Old China Hands lunch is also to be held.
like being lively. On Friday,'April6, an Australian
$
Ouin's Demise in Tokyo We have received the following communication from Ted Marks, FCCJ, Tokyo:
Nicholas Ouin, who
has
to
just completed a one-week visit Tokyo. During the course of
his stay, Big
Nick bragged incessant-
ly about his alleged
championship
victory at the yantze table in your
wine tasting has been scheduled, which will give members from Down Under a chance to really convince fellow winers and diners that the Aussie grape is indeed producing world standard vintages these days. Mr B.G. Stephens will be present to represent the Austra-
The braggert got his comeuppance yesterday, Fríday, the 16th of February, when the issue was resolved by a sound thrashing of
lian wine board.
Correspondents Club
club.
Big Nick by the undersigned in a marathon balut game at the Foreign
add insult to his injury,
Italian night, sponsored by Alitalia,
undercigned,
Love and White Travel, Gucci, and Vini and Salumi, the wine division of Mauriello Ltd. This evening features a lucky draw prize of two return t¡ckets to
well.
care
Bangkok
decisive defeat
giC
Nick not only continued to lose to
but to said wife
as
Please arrange to have the trophy Big Nick allegedly won at your club sent to the undersigned,
of UPI
accommodation, and a Gucci gift pack will be presented to all mem-
Tokyo. Big Nick's is viewed here as meaning that the Far East Dice Table Championship now belongs
bers and guests attending.
to the FCCJ.
I
in the wine tasting
tradition, Watson's The Wine chants
hotel
Ghess Mate
Mer-
will be hosting a further
Enthusiasts of the game wish to appeal through these columns for
able. Once more, attendance will
set on the
to 100. On the professional committee front, it looks as though Prince Sihanouk will be willing to speak at the FCC on the Cambodian situation, and this has been tentabe limited
If you'd
care to unwind a bit on
Oueen,
which has vanished from the club 1 8th floor. Comments Mike Morrow: 'The game with a salt shaker is just not the same".
yotr
next trþ to Australia, fly our big "bird of paradise' jet on Sunday evening. We'll take you to Port Moresby, or C-airns, or Brisbane, or Sydney, and help you arrange a couple of days off to do battle with the big ones on your \¡ay. See your travel agent. Or Jardine Airways, G/F., Alexandra House, Hong Kong or Peninsula Hotel Arcade, Kowloon. TÞlephone 5 -77 5023
I
sampling of the grape on April 26. This company imports some interesting labels and as with other tastings, order forms will be avail-
the return of the White
We hear more tall stories about the lb black marlin that got away last time but won't this time, about the 40 lb barramundi that fight to get on to the hook, and some of it's even true. It's just that when you fly to the world's two most famous reefs, estrary and big game fshing spots, you seem to carry a surprising numhr of businessmen who intend to, er, "stop over'on their way to or from Sydney or Brisbane or wherever.
\W
of Japan. To
The following night, Saturday April 7, the club has arranged an
Continuing
,l
introduced himself as "Big Níck,"
The first week of April looks
with two nights
{"1Í¡--,
will definitely take place at the
A Mr.
Club Calendar
to
held.
AIBlllUt
THE NATIONALAIRLINE OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA
ß
a
,!c
Seymour-Jones Leaves We bad farewell last month to
For more than iust a new flat, now we offer uptodate ¡nter¡or decoration & custom-made furniture to fit both your taste & Your Pocket, as
well
two
long-time FCC stalwarts
Derek and Cynthia SeymourJones. For more than a decade, Derek's bow-ties have graced the
as
Hong Kong's best flat finding æruice.
Club. No one can remember the
dapper doctor ever
CLARA CHUNG REALTY Tel: 5-225089 5-225080
the FCC's hallowed
enterting premises
without one. What's more. few
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can ever remember the doctor ever wearing the same bow-tie twice. Rumour has it that before Cynthia left to join Derek in
"semi-retirement" in Sri Lanka, she purchased a supply of new safari suits, especially designed for Derek to take a bow-tie. The Correspondenf is anxiously awaiting f irst pictures of the newly attired Derek.
Breakfast at the FCC FCC manager Mike Winslow has the go-ahead by the Board for a trial run serving breakfasts at the club. Apparently a reasonable number
been given
of members have expressed interest, particularly those who have to leave
home early
to miss
rush-hour
traffic. Winslow said he had the staff
available anyway, given
a
little
rescheduling, and all the foodstuffs for breakfast were already to hand, so it was more or less a question of
doing it and seeing what
the
response was like.
Nominations Finally, a reminder that nomina-
tions for the FCC Board
of
Governors for the year 1979-1980
at 6 p.m. on WednesdaY, April 4. At this time a nomination meeting will also be held in the club for the purpose of taking oral close
nominations.
ties. The fishermen say the Viet' namese only fire on them when they venture too close to the mainland or try to come ashore on one of the islands, giving rise to speculation that some islands are
Vietnom Gunboots off Combodion Coost Newsweek's Hong Kong bureau chief, Holger Jenæn, and Bangkok f reelancer
Dave Hatcher recentlY
army from a heavily f ortif ied offshore island called Khemara Phu Min. Thai intelligence sources in
the f irst western corres' pondenls to view the Vietnamese naval blockade along the Cam'
Bangkok claimed that the island was manned by Chinese advisers,
bodian coast. Newsweek chose to
aircraft guns, and the supplies were being ferried to the mainland bY helicopters and small boats' But the fishermen had never heard of the island, they said theY had never
became
run only one paragraph of
Jensen's
whích he called "the most expensive paragraph it's ever pub'
report
-
- so he provided
lished"
the Correspondent with more details of
that trip.
By Holger Jensen
protected
by
bunkers and ant¡-
seen any helicopters and theY doubted that any suPPlies were getting through by boat because of a blockade by the Vietnamese Navy.
We had barely put out to sea when the Thai fishermen started praying. Captain Uaypon KumPee placed an offering of graPes and bananas in the prow of the boat, l¡t joss sticks and hurled firecrackers into the jade-green waters of the Gulf of Siam. They would scare off bad spirits, he said, and wake up the good ones to Protect us on our journey. Most specifically, he prayed for Protection from
the Vietnamese gunboats. Then, seeing as the spirits never came to partake of his offering, everYone on board helped themselves to the grapes and bananas.
We were headed for Cambodian waters with a Thai fishing fleet for a close-up look at the onlY lndo-
to outs¡de eyes. Newsweek stringer Dave Hatcher and I had boarded Uaypon's shrimp trawler in Klong china war front visible
Yai, a village in the extreme Southeast corner of Thailand hard bY the Cambodian border, after hearing reports that Chinese ships
were resupplying the
guerrilla remnants of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge
12
Squat Gunboat Appears Sure enough, we saw our first Vietnamese gunboat at the mouth of the Bang Krasob River, a squat, ugly shape lying still in the water, disdainful of the smaller Thai fishing craft chugging Past in the gathering dusk. lt was the old USS Crestview, an American-built coastal patrol vessel donated to the South Vietnamese NavY in 1970 and taken over by the communists after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Now it was flying the red and gold flag of the "Kampuchean Revolu-
t¡onary Council," the
PuPPet
government created bY Hanoi to
justify its seizure of Phnom Penh. We weren't close enough to see anyone on deck, but UaYPon made us hide in the wheelhouse as we passed the gunboat just in case the Vietnamese had binoculars trained on our trawler. 'TheY don't bother Thai f ishermen," he explained, "but they will shoot if theY see a Farang." More gunboats aPPeared
around us as night fell, signaling
still held by
each other with f lashing lights, churning up the water with their screws and occasionally PlaYing a spotlight on one of the Thai fishing boats. But they did not interfere as we lowered our nets and began
dragging the ocean bottom for those delectable gulf shrimP and
huge tiger prawns that would eventually grace some Bangkok restaurant table.
shelling Ko Yaw. But the Vietnamese seemed to
be primarilY concerned with Pre'
venting supplies from reaching the Cambodians, and Thai craft which were obviouslY too small to carrY large amounts of food and ammunition were allowed to fish unhindered right in the mouth of the
Bang Krasob River, onlY
Cambodian waters because theY are
richer in sea life than their own, and they are haPPY that the Vietnamese gunboats have chased off the Khmer Rouge and reoPened their favorite trawling beds between Ko Kong and Ko Yaw lslands, just off the Cambodian coastline. Be-
fore, when the Khmer were in
of their own country,
Cambodian soldiers used
to
board the
Thai fishing boats, shoot
fishermen and confiscate the vessels. A thousand Thai boats were lost this way in the past three years,
among them UayPon's own boat and five of his relatives. But he continued to go back. "VVe would
fish at night without lights," he recalled. "VVhen the Cambodians came we cut the nets and ran for ¡1."
Three weeks ago, after the fall
of Phnom Penh, a flotilla of about 20 Vietnamese gunboats showed uP on the Cambodian coast near the
Thai border. The Khmer
Rouge
withdrew up the jungled slopes of the Cardamom Mountains, whích reach almost
to the water's
edge
at that point, and the Klong Yai fishing fleet resumed its poaching undisturbed by the nearby hostili-
a
few
hundred yards from shore.
More Food For Thought it
Dear Sir,
Having dithered around in silence while nursing my indigestion
Press
and indignity over the dePressing status quo of the FCC since Mr Winslow's arrival, having silentlY but whole-heartedlY agreed first
with Holger Jensen's letter of complaint and later Don Ronk's, I am finally moved to add mY voice to
Guerrilla Terrain
It is
ideal guerrilla terrain, a twisting maze of baYs, estuaries and mangrove swamps rising sharPly to the triple-conopied jungle of
the adjacent mountain range. The bulk of Pol Pot's armY is said to have taken refuge in the Cardamoms and the ElePhant Mountains, about 225 kilometers Southwest of Phnom Penh, and small bands of Cambodian soldiers are sallying out of these sanctuar¡es to stage effec-
hit-and-run attacks on the Vietnamese invaders. As we fished
tive
the night awaY a mile or two offshore, we heard the distant
of
artillery and saw the of Vietnamese naval guns pounding the Cambodian shoreline. lt sounded as if the gunboats were having a hard time rumble
muzzle flashes
flushing out the guerrillas. The barrage ended at dawn, and
with it our fishing trip. As we passed the Vietnamese gunboats, homeward bound, UaYPon cooked
some f resh-caught Cambodian shrimp for our breakfast. TheY were delicious.
I would like to
make
these
points:
o
The Club was suPPosed to have
been
for working journalist
correspondent members,
and
not for
associates on exPense accounts. o Where once a working journalist hired and there- even the locallY fore underpaid ones - could use the facilities regulârly for quick, nourishing, enjoyable meals, not to mention convivialitY, and not
break his or her wallet, this is no longer the case. lt is irresponsible of the board to fail to take into
account the buYing Power of locally hired journalists who must pay their club bills out of their own pockets.
o
The Club is suPPosed to be
surprising that so manY
of
the
journalists are now meeting at the
theirs.
The fishermen and shrimPers of Klong Yai Prefer to Poach in
charge
Cambodian forces'
Two Thais were wounded while trying to gather coconuts on Ko Kong lsland, and several boats had warning shots fired across their bows when theY tried to approach a grouP of gunboats
a
club and not some PoorlY executed attempt at a quality restaurant' For one thing the food is appalling. lt is over priced and badlY Presented. The portions, to Put it bluntlY, are a rip-off. o lf the Board intends to keeP things as theY are, then theY should
the name of the Club because it no longer rePresents
change
those journalists and correspondents it was founded to accommodate. ls
Club instead?
o lf I
recall correctlY,
I
received
Mr Paul's letter informing me of impending changes. back to some approximation of what it used to be like, quite some time ago. I see no evidence of these changes having
yet been imPlemented. Meanwhile, I am still, I feel, being overcharged for inferior food. ¡ ln some misguided attempt at trendiness
the Board has allowed
the Club to become an embarrassment of chi'chi and twee. lf theY had made
it
racY, elegant, raffish,
clever, anyth ing butthe pretentious hash it is, one could PerhaPs accept the h¡gher prices. As it is, one feels duped. I mean, isitreally necessary to put a false ceiling in the women's room, not to mention blue water in
the loos? Dame Edna Everage
would be in ParoxYms of delight if she knew. All we need now is the sand blasted glass and the ducks
flying up the wall. Meanwhile the light¡ng on the fourteenth floor is st¡llghastly. o The Board has a bit of a cheek to be playing so fast and loose with
the (often perilous) finances of its
journalist and
corresPondent
members while chasing the questionthe associates. able aesthetics
of
After all, if we wanted to blow a fortune on dinner or an evening's drinking there are manY far more
attractive Places around town where we could do it. The Purpose of a club, I have alwaYs thought, is to provide a relaxed, friendlY, inexpensive ambience for its members. lt is not to make it a 13
fn^'rä
poor replica of the Sheraton coffee shop.
o I would
also like to saY that I think this new idea of making the waiters wear name badges sporting westernised first names is demeaning. It has always been a Pleasant tradition of the club to call most of
the waiters Mr
Whatever their
family name was. And as for the poor little sod who goes bY the name of "Busboy" that's downright insulting. He is a person
with a name all his own.
The waiters seem to have been subjected to a lot of unfair Pressures last year and the loyal ones who didn't get fed up and leave should at least
be accorded the dignity of their own names. And is it not a sad thing to corì-
¡
template,
that so manY of
the
Club's heretofore loyal and affect-
ionate members are either eating in Food Street, drinking at the Press Club or thinking of resigning?
I
feel the Board has a lot to answer for - and to the journalists and correspondents the maiority of that Board was elected to represent' Mary Craig.
this Club.
Begarding portions, you are right, we have had quite a lot of complaints, but now the number of complainß about portions has decreased greatly.
In fact, the
volume
receíved has
of cards
of the cards recelvd more lhan half are compliments, belíeve it or not. But the problem of correct protions is still with us dropped, and
occasionally.
lf you do
Dear Mary,
Thank
you for taking
the
a
problem with portions, please call my attention to it and the situation
be corrected immediately. The toilets on both the l4th and 1îth floors are maintaíned by Swire Properties, our 'landlords. We did not request or pay for any work done in these two areas. The blue water is due to an edor-reducing cleaning slution placed in the tank of each to¡let by the landlord. It is supposed to keep the toilets a little more nnitary. Dame Edna would, I am sure you'll agree,
appreciate us accept¡ng our land-
lord's free assistance. She will, of courae, feel ríght at home in our "Ladies Loo". (We will make sure there are some gladiolí on hand too).
The líghting on the
Managers Reply
have
l4th
and
15th floor was done by the Board which was ín power when the redecoration took place some years ago. It would cost nearly $20,000
to change to incondescent lighting. I am still try¡ng to find a suitable dimmer set-up for fluorescent lighting, but have not yet been successful. Hopefully, during the next rdecoration it can be fixed.
You are entitld to your opinion, but nevertheless, neither l, nor the Board, nor any member of the FCC with whom I have spoken,
"like the Sheraton Coffee Shop". For your ínformation it is certainly better and cheaper to eat ín úe FCC than in feels the Club is
the Sheraton Coffee Shop and the prevaling opinion is it seems to be more pleannt.
I
take your point about the
waiters' names. lt is a ænsitive area and has been brought up both in
the House Committee and
rquested the change. We wanted to have their full Chínese names, but the staff stated that 1) they were
tíred of their names being mîspronounced and 2) one "Mr. Wong" was beíng blamd for another "Mr. Wongß" mistake. I take your point also about "busboy". The problem is that we have a high turnover of busboys and trainees. Perhaps we can have temporary inexpensìve name tags with theír names and position. Thanks for the suggestion.
Mike Wînslow
trouble to write regardíng the food. As the Board has stated many times, we ned feedback to operate effectively. To ansnrer you r questions: Prices of menu items have not íncreased more than $1, and in most cases 501, over the past 1% years. With a few dishes on the snack menu, prìces have been raisd
a bit
more,
but New
Zealand,
Australian and US beef prices still
have risen far above the price increases vn have made. Come into the office and æe our price comparisons.
Bar prices were raísed and of 5M a drínk in March,
average
it
was the first increaæ more than a year. It should be
1978, and
ín noted that lhe Board decísîon to increase bar príces in March, 1978 was made prior to my coming to 14
the
Board. But the waiters themselves
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