I
TEDDIE TSEING NOV
iN&A16
10,1915 FEB 6,1989
SPECIAL
MARCH 1989 VOLUME 2 NUMBER 5
THE
REPORT
GORRDSPOilIIDNT COVER
Z
Absent friends
Ddward E.P Tseng, a longtime member of the FCC, was
the Clubrs presiclent in
and, again, during
1968 1984-85
l¿st month, cancer claimed his life. He had been receiv-
ing treatment in Taiwan
in Hong Kong
and
since he was
diagnosed in mid-1988 to have an .incurable and inoperable form of lung cancer.
Another former president of the Club, Mon$r Parrot, also died last rnonth after a long illness in retirement in New Zealand. Cover illustratiot¡.t Gaain Coates
MEET THE PRESS
An evening at Mujra street
18
The mujra dance which originated in Persia and was brought to India by Mogul invaders is looked down upon by upper-class Indians though it is now almost an essential part of most Indian movies. Club member læighton Willgerodt on a business trip to India was taken by his Indian hosts to witness a mujra dance on a back street of Bombay unknown to foreigners. He rccounls the experience.
BOOKS 19
The abuse of power
Fred Armentrout reviews htformation, Freedom and Censorshiþ: The Article 19 Worltl Reþort and says that this book should be required reacling for journalists, editors, publishers and, most importantly, government information ministries.
The dangerbehindthe
Goråachevphenomenon 8 l¡rd Chalfont, a former British intel-
ForAuld [-ang Syne,
or
20
ligence officer and former secretary of state for foreign affairs, was guest
speaker
at the Club in
January. Speaking on East-West relations and
I -worldf peace, he said the West was reacting in an
'rextremely irrational ald very uncoordinated wayrr to the Gorbachev phenomenon. And he feels that the Western world as a whole is entering rra dangerous periodrl Ihe Swiæ Gmp
P*4
With our newcitycheck-inryou can even arrive at the airport in better shape. ft's
that age old problem. You want to avoid the hassles of queuing to get rid of your luggager so you check in as early as possible at the airport
a
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It's
Bangkokrs Nation Group of publications has sparked some speculations which its founder editor-publisher, Suthichai Yoon, thinks are monstrously unfair. The Nation has, meanwhile, lured away to its side the editor-in-chief of the rival pape¡ Banghok Post.
ll Viswa Nathan Editorial Supervision Publicalions Sub Cornmift ee: Paul Bayfiekl (Chairm¿n) Kcn Ball James Foil eslcr
as simple as that.
luggage checked and x-rayed.
ot
i',;,,r
or just relax. LOWER CROUND
FLMR.
SHOP 28 CHINA HONC KONG
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;,rl,,fì¡l
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t7 22
Crossword
Editorial Of6ce 502 DastTown ßuilding 41 Lockhtt Road
Ol' GO\¡ERNORS: Pres¡dcnt l)erek
First Vice-President - Si¡an lisek. Second V¡ce-President lrene O'She¿ Corrcspondent l![ember Governors l)a(l Bayficld, Jailìes [ot testct B¡iarì Jellies, Craham Lovell, Keilh N4illeI lìobin Movet Peter Seidli?, Richartì Wagner: Journalist lllember Covernors llob Davis, lurl \\'ilson Assoc¡ate Member Governors-Ken llall, \Vcndy BOARD
Written by Club member Bruce Maxwell, who is the editor and publisher of the resp€cted Asian Boating, the repoft will cover all aspects of boating - from simply sailing for pleasure to the China Sea Cup ser¡es. For advertising
details, call
lelephone
t2l15ll
Fil: t8684092
5-286289
COMì\fITTEES: Professionâl Coñmiftee -Derek D¿vies, l)aul llayfield, Wendy Hughes, Pcter Seìdliu, Sinan Fisek Entertainment Committee - Irerìe O'Sheå, Petpr sei(llitz. Paul Baliìel(ì, Richard Wagner, ßob D¿vis Membership Comûittee -Craham l¡vell, flrjan Jefhics Tcchniøl Committcc l,aul ßay'1ìeld, K.ith l\'lill, r. Ker llall. Robin l\4oyer Club Manager: Hei¡z (ìråbnei Club Sfewtrd: Julia Suen The Cor r esDondent is published rnonlhly for irnd on behâlt ot I he
\Vanchai, Hong Kong teleDhone: t286289, t2P6480 F¿ù: t8662439
Opinions expressed by writers ¡re nol necesstrily those ofthe Foreign Corresporrdents' Club
Davies.
Hughes, Briân l-loyd, Dorolhy Ryan
Prind¡ne
Iror
eign Correspondents' Club, by:
tld.
4l l¡ckhål t Roâd, \\¡anchai, Hong Kong Telet)hone: i2862tì9, !28tj480; Fu: 5-8ôtj2439
502 l.l¿st Town Bùildine,
lltæaging D¡rector: P Viswa Nathan, Opcrations Director: Dcbbie Nunall, Advertising illanager: Anthony Markland
3-7673888.
Arrive in better shape
After that, you're free to shop, go to a meeting,
5 5 L4 15
Letters The 7-oo Club News People Stop Press
BOATII\JG IN HONG KONG"
Anthony Markland Editor
When you get to the airport, all you nced to do is go straight to customs and passport cont¡ol. Cathay Pacific's CityCheck, onc more way to eûsure you a¡rive in better shapc. F-or more information on CityCheck, please contact Cathay Pacific
16
Dow Jonesr acquisition of a minority interest in
Just turn up at Citycheck at least three hours before departure for the same day flight. Or betwecn 5pm to 8pm, you can check in for a flight leaving anytime the following day.
STAR I LRRI
DEPARTMENTS
MEDIA Not
effectively
A survey conducted among FCC members res¡dent in Hong Kong found that nearly 30 per cent of them are sailing enthus¡asts most of them own boats either personally or through their compan¡es. With such a strong sailing commun¡ty within the club, the April issue of The Correspondent will publish a spec¡al report on
e L !
Ðd paÊê dp\iÊn q' neraled oil Apt'1. Maciutoslì lJ årì,1 linished ¿il oiltjrt by Linorronii3irtl.Print,.à'inHongKorrgi,yK¡,lettPr;nrirÊCo..t6ll Renr¡xr',nrrc, t huk Hang Road, Hong Kurrg.
T' xt
4z \4bng
ITID
qNn[SPOilDIIUT 502 East Town Building 41 l¡ckhart Road
Wanchai, Hong Kong
THE 7OO
LETTERS
lfil
An open letter
(^
to Ted Thomas
f,
BY ARÍI]UR HACKTR
A TOUC H
WORSE
FCC CLUB
,
OF GOUT
FooT!
?
DearTed,
I
CAN|T believe
it -
but my consolation is that few others will either. Not only new errors, but old errors recycled in your tireless pursuit of the . .
What do you
.
pursue
nowadays, Ted?
Item: Stanley Rich
was never editor, founding or otherwise, of the Hong Kong
(
Standard. When I first in 1951, he
met him
was
a
TU
v.
junior
U
Associated Press cor-
respondent, working for the sainted Fred Hampson. Editor of a
: Item: Frank Robertson
moved
lr leavy. Since you say he is legendary, I assume that he exists. Can you enlighten me? I look forward to the next instalment of
Ted Thomasrs Tremulous Tales of the Supernatural and the Unknown.
to
Contact: Shawki Safieddine Telephone; (301)-7 24-67 23 I 4 I s Telex:219591 GRAD GR
New York Contact: Sarah Monks Louis Epstein Telephone: (1)-21 2-838-8688 Telex: 710 581 6302 HKTDC NyK Facs¡mile; (1 )-21 2-838-8941
Bårcelona Contact: Joaqu¡n ¡,4aestre Telephone: (34)-3-21 7 -62-50 Answerphone night serv¡ce: (34)-3-217-æ-54 Cable: PUBLTmELAT¡ONS
1
Telex: 728335 HONG KONG CGO F acsimile: (1)-31 2-7 26-24 41 Dallas Contact: D¡ana Patlerson Telephone: (1).-21 4-7 48-81 62 Cable: HONGTRADS DALLAS Telex:791719 HKIDC DAL F acsimile: (1121 4-7 42-67 01 Los Angeles Conlact: Daniel C Fernandez Telephone: (1\-21 3-622-31 94 Cable: CONOTRAD LOS ANGELES Telex: 194288 HKrDC LA LSA Facs¡mile: ('l )-213-61 3-1 490
Torcnto Contact: Lee Meisler Telephone: (1 )-41 G366-3594 Câble: CONOIRAD TORONTO Telex: 06218056 HKTDC TOR Facsim¡le: (1)-41 ê366-1 569 Vancouyor
Contact: Pamela Bottomley Telephone:
(1
Facsimile:
(1
)-604-685-OBB3
f604-681 -0093
Australia Sydney Contact: Douglas Chan Telephone: (61)-02-æ8-34316 Cable: HONGKONBEP SYDNEy Telex: AA 12'1313 CONSYD Facsim¡le: (61 )-02-290-1 889
Alhens
Miami Conlact: l/arch Davenporl Telephone: ( )-305-577-041 4 Facsim¡le: (1)-30S-371-9324
Central Amedca Panam Contact: Anel Beliz Telephone: (507)-69-5894
lelex:
(507)-69-s61 1 (507)-69-5109 29B9 HKTDCP pG
From USA:3682989 From other counk¡es: 3792999 Facs¡mile: (507)-69-6183
F
acs¡mile: (gO1)-7 24-Bg2Z
BARCELONA 6 (SPA|N) Telex: 97862 SABP E Facsimile: (34)-3-237-92-26
FranKurl Conlact: Lore Busher Telephone: (49)-069-74-01 -61 Cable: CONOIRAD FRANKFURT
Telex: 414705 COFHA D Facsim¡¡e: (49)-069-7451 24
lstanbul Contact: Yakup Barouh Telephone: (901!51 1-46-24 (901f520-80-50 Facsimile: (901!527-48-65 London Contact: Martin Evam Telephone: (44)-01 -930-795S Cable: CONOTRAD LONDON SWI Telex: 916923 CONLON G Facs¡mile: (44)-01 -930-4742
C¡ntact: Amy
for this.
L¡
Telephone; (39)-02-S65405 (39)-02_86571 5
Telephone: (86)-01 -S0O-3285 feÞx:22927 HKrDC CN
Cable: KONGTRAD MTLAN Telex: 333508 HKTDC I Facsimile; (39)-02-860304
Facsim¡le: (86)-01-500-3295
Par¡s
Contact; Dom¡nique Duchiron Telephone: (æ)-01 -47 -42-41 -SO Te¡ex: 283098 HKTDC F F ac simile : (33) -O1 - 47 - 42-7 7 - 4 4
Slækholm
Viênm Contact: Johannæ Neumann Telephone: (43)-0222-533-98-1 Cable: CONO-rFADREp W¡EN Telex: 1 15079 HKTDC A Facsimile: (43)-0222-53S-31 -56
I
JA
O$ka
Furrer
Telephone: (4j )-Oj -2S1 -01 -85
Cable: CONOTBAD ZURTCH Telex: 817850 CONZ CH Facsimile: (41)-01 -2S1 -OB-1 4
Middle East Dubai.U-4.E.
Contact: Mr Ramzi Raad Telephone: (9714) 665950 (971 4) 660664
Cab¡e: ¡,4AFKETS DUBAT Telex: 46361 II/ARKET EM Facsimile: (9714) 667j 14
Telephone: (81).06-344-521
York Times to work for the Red Cross at least 20 years ago. Item: W'oody Edwards has not returned
to
Nsgoya Contact: ¡/r O Esaki Telephone: 052-971-3626 Facsimile: 052-962-061 3
Contact: Yoshihisa Ueno
Conlact: lngmo Bonner Telephone: (46)-08-1 00677 (46)_08-1 1 5690 Cable: CONOTRAD STOCKHOLT\,4 Telex: 1 1993 TDC S Facsimile: (46)-08-7231 630
Zurich Contact:
Item: Greg MacGregor leff the New
Contacl: Agnes Hsu
1
Cable: CONNOTFADD OSAKA Telex: c/o Tokyo HKIDCT J2691 7 Facsim¡¡e: (8 1 )-06-347-0791
Shanghai Contacl: Agnes Hsu Telephone: (86)-21-264196 (86)_21-265935
Telex: 30175 TDCSH CN Facsim¡le: (86),21-264200
Honolulu since my last lette¡ but
remains at 855 Pine Street (Apt 17), San Francisco, California 94108. please do not hustle him into an early grave, and please do send him a subscription to The Corresþondent, to which as a former president of the FCC he is entitled. Of course, that might just hustle him off, since he is a
stickler for accuracy. Finally, I am sure it is my loss, but I have never heard of the legendary Steve Dun-
Ta¡pe¡
THE following appeal was sent to The Corresþondent through David Davies who last year retired from AFP after 38 years
BUSINESS WRITERS
of service and now lives in tæ Grand Pressigny in the French countryside: ON December 18, in the middle of the night, Murray and Jenny Saylers house
AmCham, the monthly magazine
burnt but not badly. The Sayles lost everything - files, records, photographic equipment, furnihre, clothes, personal possessions. None of
Mr4R:
outside Toþo burnt down. Jenny was in the house with their three children and Murray was in l¡ndon. She managed to get all three to safety. Her hands were
- it is apparently get contents insurance against
Tokyo Contact: David Hui
out.ll
As Murray says, rrwerve been wiped
{K
Real Esrare; Office Automarim; Compureñ; & Copy'right Protectron
Pater¡ts
ÁPÀ: MAY:
Sor¡th China & Macau
Hotelsl Catering & Fæd Processing; Medical
Products
& Seriiæs
,IUN.' Finance& Banking; Telecomrnunications
JUL:
Americans.in Asia¡ US Invesrnents in HK; US
òervrce hdustnes
n Asn
.AUG: Air"Frciehr; Shipping & Pons;
Central, Hong Kong
Tel:5-265293
of
the
American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, wants to expand its network of freelance business w¡iæn. Published word rate: HKg 1.30. Average length: 1500-2000 wds. Most stories æsigned. Contact Fred Armentrout, Editor-in-Chief, at 5-260165. Remaining featu¡e themes 1989:
difficult to
fire in Japan.
SEP;
Business
Textiles
OCT: Dong
1ÆKowloon Centre, 29Ashley Road,
"O*
Tsimshatsui, Kowloon
DEC;
Tel:3-68402i
Northumberland place, London W2 5BS
An appeal for Murray Sayle Disaster Fund
it was insured
1-3 Wyndham Srreet,
Phillip Kniehrly, 4
(Robert Eleg:rnt)
Contacl: Vivia YarE Telephone; (886)-(02)-70S-9333 Telex: 23288 OUANIA Fa6imile: (886¡02-705-9222
Telephone: (81 )-03-502-32S1 /5 Cable: CONNO'IRADD TOKYO Telex: HKTDCT J26917 Facsimile: (Bl )-03-591 -6484
send me, as soon as you carì, a cheque made out to rrMurray Sayle Disaster Funãil.
Bob
Mount Eliza,
Milan
have each contributed f500 to start a fund. ff you would like to contribute, please
As ever, bemused,
ago. You can nis Warner, Contact: George M- Ammerlaan Telephone: (31r-On-277 1 01 Cable: CONOTRAD AMSTERDAM Telex: 15081 HKIDC NL Facsimile: (31)-Oæ-229S29
Two of his closest friends in Britain
Tnvel;
Freighr Forwarders
Consumer Producrs; Apparcl
&
Business In China
y"ì.ttñn t"*ology In Asia; Elecrmics; Executive.Search; M_anagernent Sewices; Law;
rqulpmmr lJasmg; lnsunnce
I propose that friends and colleagues of Murray and Jenny try to help them do this.
THE CORRESPONDENTMARCH 1989 5
OBITUARY
Absent friends
lGthmandu. Capital of the Kingdom of Nepal.
A
name
stewardesses who go outoftheir way
that conjures up visions of mystery and adventure.
to please you. Howeve¡ our service
0f
is not just up in the sky. Our
treks through Himalayan peal6 and snowscapes. 0f
legendary Yeti, the "abominable snowman'i And of a
all-
Boeing fleet is maintained to the most rigid international
quaint, medieval city, where ancient wooden
standards and
buildings jos'tle side by side on narrow stræts.
for
efficiency, we've invested
in
the
HE CLUB has recently lost two of its former presidents to the same dreaded disease. The man listed as the FCCrs second president in 1951, Monty Parrot of Reuters, died after a long illness in retirementin New 7-eala¡d. Just before we received that bad news, we learned of the sad death of Edward E.P Tseng, who was president of the Club overtwo periods, in 1968 and again in 1984-85. Eddie, for many years before his retirement when he becarne a distinguished member of the group of elder statesmen who had brought Taiwan through to its present stage of liberalisation, had run the Central News Agency in Hong Kong. Throughout the Territoryrs political ups and downs he had
$ate-of-the-art SABBE computer reservations
Eddie Tseng Yet the comfoft of modern hotels
system. And we are backed by
a group
of
ANCER claimed Bddie Tseng on February 6, and the Hong Kong journalistic community lost one of its most respected and distinguished colleagues.
Eddiers life, (he was 73 when he passed away) mirrored some of the
In the fierceþ competitive
diræt from Hong Kong thræ
r'
All of which should give you
times a week,
every /
reasons
to fly
ample
Dragonair
:!"
to lGthmandu,
business of agency reporting, Eddie also got the drop on his colleagues by being the first to report Japanrs surrender on board
the USS Missouri in Tbþo Bay in
September 1945. Itwas, Eddie later conceded, a stroke ofluck.
As he recalled the events of that heady surrender day, there were five
reporters allowed Missouri
Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. So
just one more destination in our ongoing plan to blæe new tralls into the most
you can stan and finish your Nepal
interesting places in Asia.
adventure in comfort, cared for by
$7360202 or 5.8108055.
our team of young,
DRAGONAIR HONGKONG
for
reseryations, call your travel agent or Dragonair on
)ËÊEfrnÊ
enthusiastic
Iì
1952, Eddie Tseng was named
assuming responsibility
NewsAgency. Hong Kong's leading ærporations.
ln
Deputy Editor-in-Chief of CNA in Taipei, while he also doubled as the New York Tfunes correspondenl at a
Chiang Kai-shek to Taiwan, the Korean
as a correspondent for Chinars Central
Dragonair can fly you there,
career.
time when the confrontation between Peking and Taiwan'was on the boil. In 1953, he was moved to lnndon,
andVietnamwars. Eddie covered these epochal events Now
Eddiers number came up with the magic 1. Eddiers number was to come up many times in a long and illustrious
most tumultous happenings in the AsiaPacific region - the second world war,
the Maoist revolution, the flight by
is still to be found.
remained a popular and respected member of the local journalistic community, rising above any political differences between the Mainland and the Kuomingtang. He was a reliable friend, a good newsman and an infnite source of good humour. Tragically he died of lung cancer, 27 years after he quit smoking. The Club was represented at Monty Parrotrs funeral byTed Kerr, a Reuter correspondent on temporary assignment to New Zealand, who passed on condo lences from the Club to Mrs Parrot and family. Many of the Clubrs members were present to mark Eddiers last rites and offer condolences to his beautiful wife Betty, who gave him so much support during his life and his lastillness.
to
on board
the
witness Japanrs formal
capitulation. Representatives included
Associated Press, United Press International, Reuters and Central News, all seeking first use of the shiprs only radio. The American information officer on board decided the only way out was to hold a lottery to decide who goes first. Five numbers went into a hat.
for
CNAs
five branches in western Europe.
Eddie returned to Hong Kong in 1966, even as the Cultural Revolution
was building up its head of steam across the border and tensions in the
territory were running high. Named to the Republic of Chinars Legislative
dealing out lovely anecdotes of his days on the reporterrs beal of which he had many. Tb the end, Eddie Tseng lived life to its fullest, despite the pain and punishment of an incurable illness.
Eddie Tseng touched the lives of many people, most particularly his fellow combatants in journalism. For all of them there is the memory of a great and good man.
Monty Parrot
Mfrå
Tauranga, New Zealand at the end
of February. A correspondent in Asia for a New Zealand newspaper at the end of the second world war,
Yuan, Eddie Tseng marvellousþ married the demands of three careers diplomat, politician and working jour-
Monty was one of the few corre spondents to interview Japanrs wartime leader Tbjo, before Tojo
nalist, wielding considerable power
was executed as
and influence but using it with characteristic prudence and understanding. Twice president of the FCC, Eddie
plane hijack and HMS Amethystrs
-
Tseng was always staunchly loyal to his chosen profession - a journalist
first and last. He was a thoughtful
individual and above all a caring man. In his later years, as he increasingly shed the responsibilities of meeting the rush of deadlines, Eddie Tseng amused himself and his close friends throwing dice (his luck continued to hold most times), sharing a drink and
a
war criminal.
He scored several notable scoops in Asia - the worldrs first escape down the Yanglze for exam-
- before moving to I¡ndon. In London, he became Reuter overseas editor, moving out of this hot seat to be chief Reuter correspondent in the Caribbean before retiring to Dmokoroa near Tauranga in the earþ 1970s. Monty is survived by his wife,
ple
Esther, two sons and a daughter.tr
MARCH 1989THE CORRESPONDENT 7
MEET THE PRESS
MEET THE PRESS begun to behave and to react in, what is to my mind, an extremely irrational and very uncoordinated way. It has apparentþ decided to regard all this as a revolution in international relations. It 'is now proposing to go along with the idea of a 50 per cent cut in strategic nuclear weapons, a
The danger behind the Gorbachev phenomenon Two former British politicians, l¡rd Carrington and I¡rd Chalfont, spoke on East-West relations and world peace at two successive professional luncheons at the FCC in January. l¡rd Carrington, a former British foreign secretary who ended his political career last year as secretary-general of Nato, said that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachevrs move to reduce the Soviet military presence in East Europe, to pull out the Russian forces from Æghanistan, to persuade the Vietnamese to withdraw from Kampuchea, and other proposals to reduce world tension are good for the \Mest provided whatrs done is properly verified. He said: rrl am quite certain if werre sensible, if we actually play our hand properly, we can all live in a very much greater level of security, much less expensively and much more sensibly.rr (See The Correspondent, F ebruary r89) . I¡rd Chalfont, a former British intelligence officer and former secretary of state for foreign affairs who later became Britainrs best-known defence correspondent and a prolific author, holds a more hawkish view on the matter. Speaking a week after l¡rd Carrington, he said the Westwas reacting in an rrextremely irrational and very uncoordinated wayrr to the Gorbachev phenomenon and was regarding all this as arrrevolution in international relationsrr. He said: rrl have a feeling the Western world as a whole is entering a dangerous periodrr. Excerpts of t¡rd Chalfontrs speech follow:
proposal which in my mind carries grave dangers for the West. It is
now proposing also that there should be a matching cut in our convention-
al
forces in western Europe to match that
since the 1917 revolution, got a leader who actually realises what it is like to have to run a massive and complicated economy of a country of 250 million people. He discovered when he came into power that the Soviet economy is in a dreadful state, the industrial infrastructure is incompetent, the agricultural industry is a disaster area. He realised immediately that he had to do something about this. And one of the things he discovered very quickly was, that you cannot have industrial or agricultural or economic revolution in the Soviet Union while you are spending somewhere between 15 and 20 per
cent of the gross national product
HE STARTING POINT of
any
talk about international relations
or international strategy at the moment has to be East-West relations. I have a feeling that the Western world as a whole is entering a dangerous period. To live in the political, and especially the political-strategic world in l¡ndon or in western Europe now, is to get the impression that simply because the Soviet Union now has as its leader a man with a certain degree of sophistication and a reasonably good tailor, and because his wife is attractive and also very well dressed, that the whole com-
of international relations has changed. You will hear people with perfectly good sense, normally, and a good experience of international life saying, Ithe cold war is over; we are entering into a new phase of peace and harmony, and plexion
accommodation; we are entering into a phase in which the Soviet Union is going to move from being a totalitarian, central-
ly 8
controlled communist country, to
being a pluralist democracy with many of the same values as our own, with a great regard for human rights and all our fears can now be laid at rest; and the Soviet threat is overrr.
That is the way the argument now tends to go across a very broad spectrum of public and political opinion in western Europe. This is not just a popular concept brought about by the exposure on television of Mr Gorbachev and the new breed of people around him. It seems also to be very much in the minds of political leaders
in western Europe and was, of
course,
until recently very much in the mind of the president of the United Slates. What I would like to do is simply to put to you what I believe is hap
RUSST{'S REASON:
in the Soviet Union and how I believe we, in the Western world, the pening
democratic world, the free world, should be reacting to it. What has happened, I think, is that the Soviet Union has, perhaps for the first time
rHB coRRESPoNDENT MARCH 1989
on defence. So, he decided that he would have proportion of the Soviet reduce resources spent on the military establishment. But he also realised that he could not do this unless he could persuade the West to do the same. He would not have lasted five minutes if he had gone in for a series of uni-
to
a
lateral cuts in his defence budget without persuading the West to do something at least to match it. So we have had
this series of clever and
extremely fleible and sophisticated moves by Mr Gorbachev - the treaty on intermediate nuclear forces, the proposal for a 50 per cent cut in long-range nuclear forces (what is known as the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), an offer to make fundamental cuts in the conventional forces facing Nato in eastern Europe, and more recently, an offer by East Germany to reduce its forces. So, what we are no\M faced with in the West is the need to react in some way to this quite brilliant, diplomatic and public relations initiative by Gorbachev. And the West has
which Mr Gorbachev has recently proposed. Again, in my view, a move which present grave dangers to the security of western Europe.
No one yet seems have asked themselves two ques-
T1V0 VIIAL QIJFSIIONS:
to tions: First, what happens Gorbachev succeeds
in
if
Mr
rejuvenating
and revolutionising the Soviet economy, to make the Soviet Union a strong, prosperous, selJ-confident country, but does nothing to change the nature of its for-
eign policy and the basic aims of Marxism-læninism which are, after all, designed to bring it in constant conflict with the capitalist West? If we have been Írightened of the Soviet Union for the past 30 years, knowing that it was eco-
West has taken the Gorbachev
phenomenon too much at its face value. It has
failed to look into what the long-term effects of all this may be and I believe that it is moving in a very dangerous direction indeecl.
TIm U,S, POIICY: This, of course, coincides with something quite remarkable that is happening in US foreign policy as well.
Itrs a combination of a number of things. First of all, it is a feeling in many thinking bodies of opinion in the US that it has concentrated far too much on Europe
as the centre of its defence, on
from communist infiltration in
that
it
has had
in the past with
a bigger impact on the Western alliance, especially the military part of the Western alliance, Nato, that many people
have
yet
foreseen. I donrt believe that Mr Bush is going to take
Gorbachev
phe-
that he is going to solve
I put these questions simply to under-
defend yourselves because we are no longer as interested as we used to be in you, rverre interested in the world, we will fìnd our allies in the world where we think they are most useful and most imporlant, and where they are prepared to pick up their share of the burden.l This is going to happen at a time when
is already being so by the Gorbachev phenomenon
western Europe seduced
that it is thinking of reducing its defences. Yourve only got to listen to recent speeches
by the German Chancellor to realise that western European countries are thinking of reducing their defences rather than improving and increasing them. And I can tell Mr Bush now in case nobody else tells him, there is absolutely no possibility that any western European country is going to increase its defence budget. That is abso-
lutely out of the question. So when you get faced with that kind of dilemma, as Mr Bush will be faced with very quickly, it will be very interesting to +
I love him in
quite the same optimistic view of the
dent, economically prosperous
line my first point, i.e., I believe that the
the
European-Atlantic area. Secondly, a change of president. This, I think, is going to have
nomenon as Mr Reagan did. But, on the other
and
Central
America, it comes from communist expansion in Southern Africa, it comes from what is happening in the Middle East and in the Far East and in Southeast Asia, and that the US foreign policy should, in future, cease to have the preoccupation,
nomically incompetent, and industrially and agriculturally underdeveloped, how much more should we be frightened of the Soviet Union that is strong, confimorally selJ-confi dent? The second question is, what hap pens, if having achieved all these things in the Soviet Union and having persuaded the West to carry out its own measures of disarmament, Mr Gorbachev disappears? What if they suddenly decide in the Soviet Union that this is not the kind of leader that they want? ilrhat if, after we have carried out all the disarmament measures that he is now pressing upon us, he should be removed and we should go back to the kind of Stalinist leadership in the Soviet Union?
the
European-Atlantic area. America¡r strate gists are now beginning to point out that the threat to the US is no longer really the threat of a Soviet advance on western Europe, it comes from elsewhere. It comes
US saying that we in western Europe donrt pay enough for our defence; we donrt pick up enough of the tab; and we rely constantly on the US to defend us. My guess is that Mr Bush is going to say, rThe partyrs over, you people in Europe have got to start to
RASPBERRY
hand, Mr Bush has an
enormous problem the deficit. He knows
that problem, and
knows, like
he
Mr
Gorbachev knew, that there is only one way he can do it and that is to begin to reduce the enormous US defence budget. He knows that that is going to happen.
When that
process
begins, one of the areas
of the world that is going to be immediately affected is western Europe. Already there are many people in the
MARCH 1989 THE CORRESPONDENT 9
All you wanted to know about
DESKTOP PUBLISHING ¡ . . but
were afraid to ask!
MEET THE PRESS see what the effect is. I would guess that one ofthe effects is going to be the virtual disintegration of Nato. I donrt see that it can continue, or will continue, or, perhaps, even needs to continue in its present form. And one of the things that I think we are looking at now is the fundamental change in the whole way in which the West perceives the threat and seeks to defend itselJ. ASLI mE CENTRE 0F GRAVIIY: My final and third point is to say this:'Whatever
happens to East-West relations in the sense of relationship between the US and the Soviet Union, whatever happens to the defence of western Europe, the simple, real fact of the matter is that that
Do you plan to acquire, or have
you already invested in, Desktop
area is no longer the most important area in the world as it has been for so long. This is the most important area now and likely to become so increasingly throughout the 1990s and into the beginning of the 21st century. For some time, as you all know far better than I,
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the economic centre of gravity has been shifting here to the Asia-Pacific area. Now it seems to me that it is very likely that the strategic centre of gravity will
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I
think,
is
where, in future, the US and to some extent the Soviet Union is going to be looking, rather than towards the classic theatre of confrontation in western Europe. And for this reason, I think that, in the next 10 or 20 years, the countries that will be occupying the minds of strategists far more than the countries of Nato and western Europe will be the Peoplers Republic of China, the Asean
countries
-
which,
I
suspecl will
become much more a securiçy organisa-
annual reports, in-house magazines, marketing and promotional literature, corporate studies and position papers.
The depth of our technical knowledge and publishing experience permits us to offer a truly professional service.
tion than they have been in the past and, of course, Japan. Now I donrt propose to say any more about that at the moment. Each one of those would be worthy of a long and detailed analysis on its own. QIJFSTION: I just want to ask how many Euroþeans share your þoint ofuiew?
CIIALFONTT
The answer has to be not
many. I think itrs fair and true to say that
Gall me,
the general feeling in Western Europe at the moment is that the change which
Penny Day,
is taking place in the Soviet Union is fundamental. It is not only an internal change in the Soviet Union, but it also represents a change of Soviet foreign
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policy. There is a general belief that the cold war is ending. Indeed a very distinguished western politician has said within the past few months, the cold war
has ended. They believe we are moving into a period of detente and possibly into a period of friendship and accommodation. You will hear distinguished European politicians now talking about a Marshall Plan for the Soviet Union. You will hear British politicians of more, or less, distinction talking about the European Common Market and Comecon coming together to form a single economic union. Now; if that kind of thing can happen so soon after the appearance of Mr Gorbachev on the scene, I think itrs a measure of the fact that the kind of view that Irve been putting forward today is a minority view and I guess that those of us who put it forward will, generally speaking, be regarded as very hardline, very, very ultra-conservative, very hawkish and be accused of standing in the way of progress. QIJESIIONT
Isn't it one of the reøsons, þer-
haþs, that Jaþan is so economically large and successful now because it hasn't had to sþend enormous amounts of moneJ on defence? Isn't there a lesson that America and rnost of the Western countries could learn? CHAI"FONT:
I
think it would obviously
be
sense of stability of a number of countries in this region? Itrs a very, very difficult problem that the Americans are faced with. My guess
is that President Bush will bring far more pressure to bear on the Europeans than he
will bring to bear on the Japanese for
rea-
sons that, I think, to those of you who live in this region, are fairly obvious. I donrt know what would, for example, be the view of the Peoplers Republic of China or any of the Asean countries to a Japa¡r that was spending, let us say, six or seven per cent of its
gross national product on military forces. I suspect that there would be a faint feeling of instability. could also ørgue: why not giue a chance? Because one aduantage of the changes in Moscow is that QIJES'IION: One
the Souiet Union
the communist þarties of China and the Souiet Union are not channelling aid anymore to corumunist rebels in Asia li,ke those the Philiþþines. The Indo-China þroblem, meanwhile, seems to be solued. So, what we see in Asia is that there are some benefits already comi.ng out of the chønges. So while noticing your alørm signals, don't you think we should take the chance to see how Mr Gorbacheu i,s doing, because so far there are
in
some adaantages coming out of
it?
-
true to say that part of the reason for Japanrs phenomenal economic success is that it spends a very small pro portion of its gross national product on defence. Indeed, it is constitutionally debar-
with CASSIS
red from having military forces,
it
can only have
a
self-defence force. But itrs not the only reason. There are many other reasons - to do with being industrious a¡rd to do also with having and extraordinary businessability to penetrate markets around the world, which seem to be impervious to the efforts of Americans and west Europeans. To come back to your question, the
he is so cute
\è
obvious inference from it would be that the US should now press the Japanese in exactly the same way as it is pressing and going to press western Europeans, to take up a larger burden of their own defence.
Now, leaving aside for a moment what effect that would have on internal opinions in Japan, I wonder what impact it would have on the
) a
t t
MARCH 1989THE CORRESPONDENT 11
-t
MEET THE PRESS CHAIIOM: Yes .Why I think thatrs a perfectly
fair question.
not, why not
see
what happens. I'm perfectly prepared to do that. It seems to me that if you take what strategists call a best-case scenario, the
best possible outcome will be that Gorbachev not only means what he says, but he will be successful in trying to do what he wants to do, and then that
success will extend both to revolutionising the internal economy of the Soviet Union and changing its foreign policy from a basically expansionist and aggressive one to a peaceful one. Thatrs the best we can hope for.
The worst we can hope for
Irve
already outlined. Either Gorbachev fails or his foreign policy doesnrt change and so the Soviet Union remains expansionist and aggressive, but more effective. All Irm saying is that while werre making up our minds about that, we should
not lower our own guard, and I think werre in danger of doing so. I think that of the arms control agÍeements that have
MEET THE PRESS
be removed from Europe. That is a very dangerous agreement. It takes us towards denuclearisation of western Europe which has been a central aim of Soviet foreign policy for years.
I
go back as far as the days of Adam in Poland. I remember the first
Rapacki
negotiations I went to, Rapacki was proposing a nuclear-free zone for central Europe. We, in the \Mest have resisted it and resisted it and resisted it, because werve always realised that a nuclear-free zone in Europe
would decouple Europe from the US. And yet here we are suddenly, turning our foreign policy on its head and accepting some thing which we have resisted strongly and vigorousþ for 25 years. The next thing we are going to be faced with, I can see, is the 50 per cent cut in strategic missiles. That, in my vieq will be even more dangerous. Everything that is happening is reducing the ability of the US to guarantee Europe against attack by the Soviet Union. So I'm not saying for one moment that
we
shouldnrt give
Mr
Gorbachev
a
been agreed since the Gorbachev era
chance. Irm very happy to do that. But Irm
began, the principal one is the intermediate nuclea¡ force treaty by which all medium-range landbase missiles are to
not happy that we should, while we're waiting to see what the outcome is, reduce our own defences and make our-
selves vulnerable to a possible sudden change back in Soviet thinking. And, I really do have that when I .Westto say rBut, surely, hear people in the say, we must all wish Mr Gorbachev every successr,
I
donrt wish
Mr
policy hasnrt changed, to
I will
tated, as it has been for the past 50 or more
years,
by the
principles
of
Marxismlæninism. I donrt see any evidence of that at the moment. And until I do, Irm not in favour of removing one missile, one tank or one soldier from western Europe.
QIJESIION: To what extent do you uiew the growing economic relationshiþ between western Euroþe and the Soaiet Union as a þositiae deueloþment, giuen your uiews that the Souiet Union's fundamental foreign þolicy
has not changed? CHAIIONT: Well
I regard it, with
ount of misgiving for two basic
a certain am-
reasons.
r>
First, the foreign policy of the Soviet Union has been historically, since the revolution, one ofthe expansion and aggression and the movement of Soviet communism out into the rest of the world. This has not been the case with the Peoplers Republic of China. The Peoplers Republic of China does not have an army or an armed force which is trained to fight outside its own territory nor does it have a tactical doctrine of fighting outside its own
ments and trade arrangements with the Soviet Union which involve credit terms of a very favourable kind, all werre doing is enabling the Soviet Union, if its foreign
Gorbachev every
only be really happy when I can see clear evidence that therers been a fundamental change in Soviet foreign policy and that Soviet foreign policy is not any longer dic-
seems to me that if western
One,
success. I wish him success in liberalising the Soviet Union. Irm very happy when he lets people out ofprisons and out ofpsychiatric wards. I am very happy when he takes
his troops out of Afghanistan. But
it
Europe is going to enter into trade agree-
I fl $
divert resources which you would otherwise need to devote to consumer goods, for increasing the standard of livìng of its people. We are enabling them to continue moving that into their military establishment. So I think werve got to be very careful that whatever we do with the Soviet Union we donrt make it easier for them to keep a large military establishment and at the same time improve the
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a very specific kind. That is, hightechnology. If we are going to enter into an exchange of high-technology with the Soviet Union, of a kind which seems to be in the minds of a number of high-technology companies of a multi-national kind, then I think therers a very considerable danger in it. Because once again, one of the reasons that werve been able to keep abreast: of the Soviet Union in terms of military balance over the years
aggressive content about it. So, to answer your question,
is that our high-technology,
military
theirs.
If we help them to reduce that
gap, then we have an obvious impact on the military balance if their foreign policy hasnrt changed. It always comes back to that. If there was a sign, a clear sign, that the Soviet Union no longer regarded the capitalist West as its mortal enemy, then all kinds of things would become possiincluding liberalised change between western Europe and the Soviet Union. I donrt see evidence of that at the
ble,
moment and until I do, I donrt want to see the kind of trade relations between the West and the Soviet Union which many people in Europe seem to be moving towards at the moment.
QIßSIIONI You are agai,nst the exþort of hi,gh-technologt to the Souiet Union. What are ylur uiews on the ban on the exþort of high-technologt to the Peoþle's Reþublic of China?
Well, I think that the present rules are, let me put it as mildly as I can, somewhat bizarre.I would like to see, in terms of the relationship between the West and the Soviet Union and the West and the Peoplers Republic, a very considerable distinction drawn, for a number of CHAI..FONT:
l?rr¡n coRRESPoNDENT MARCH 1989
study of the PIA that the doctrine of the Peoplers war has always been a defensive
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exceptions, does it have a history offight ing outside its own territory. It is a defensive power, I believe, in every sense of the world. It has always seemed to me from a
standard and quality of life of the people. The second reason is one which is of
technology, has been someway ahead of
CHINA NATIONAT ELECTRONICS IMPORT & Ð(PORT CORPORATION
territory, no¡ with one or two minor
reasons.
doctrine with very little expansionist or
I
would
have entirely different rules for the export of military equipment and hightechnology to the Peoplers Republic of China than I would have for the Soviet Union. QIJESIION: What þroof would you acceþt that the Souiet Uni.on has, in fact, changed
its foreign þolicy? They're þulling out of
cal weapons and so on. The whole of the operation they carry out every autumn, in their training area, is an advance - the
parachute troops landing in front and a quick, sudden blitzkrieg type of attack. People donrt practise that kind of war, if they are looking to defend their country against someone else.
Nators exercises, every year, are also exactþ the same. Every year we start from and retreat to the river Rhine. Because we know werre not going to attack the Soviet Union. So,
I would like to see, quite
seriously,
the Berlin Wall come down. That would be a key, symbolic gesture. I would then like to see some real evidence from our intelligence analysis of a change of doctrine in the Soviet armed forces. And I would also like to see - perhaps werre beginning to see it, I donrt want
to paint an entirely black picture
-
the
Soviet forward foreign policy change in Southern Africa. As a military analyst, one of the things that impresses me most is the fact that there has so far been no change in the way that the Soviet army does its training. And quite franldy, you donrt train to attack other people if all yourre meaning to do is to defend tr
yourself.
Afghanistan and they're
telling Vietnam
they'ue
got to get out
of Indochina. ll4tat would
you really want?
PEACH
CIIAIF0NT: A number of things. The first thing Ird like to see is for the
Berlin Wall
is
to
come down. Once that had happened I really would
begin
my own
to think that
somebody
had
some
new ideas.
In a rather more sophisticated way than that, Ird want to see the training and tactics of the Soviet armed forces fundamentally changed. Those of us whose business it is to watch Soviet training exercises will have noticed that
their
exercises
are
aggressive, not defensive. Every autumn, a group of Soviet forces
in
J\
Germany practises
on western Europe with tanks, with paratroops, with chemiassault
MARCH 1989THE CORRESPONDENT 13
CLUB NE\MS
PE O PLE HE FCC Video Clubrs permanent video stock is getting better all the time. Every week new titles are being added. These include the latest releases, cinema classics and television programmes like
Brideshead Revisted and Fawþ Towers. The membership list
also
expanding. So, get in earþ and often.
The library hours have been extended to include SaturdaY from 12p.m. - 2.3O p.m.
-
Farewell to Schokking
HONG KONGTs much talked about brain drain has made its impact on the clubrs Board of Grovernors.
CALLING ALL MEMBERS
Watch the FCC noticeboard for the latest additions to the
Kong since 1978 and the clubrs treasurer for the past two years, has last month relo-
cated himself
in his homeland,
Netherlands. Dorothy Ryan,
the
a member of
the Board of Goverors, has taken over
as
treasurer while Brian R. Lloyd, an associate member, has been appointed to the Board. Schokking came to Hong Kong in 1978 to work with Continental Bank of lllinois. But more recentþ he was working with his long time Dutch friend Bob l¿voo at Swan Finance Ltd.
Schokking (lø?) is seen here at a farewell luncheon hosted by the Board of Governors.
Ri$t
Opening hours Monday to Friday
of access
ACCORDING TO Articles of Association of the FCC, only membersr spouses have the right to use the Clubrs facilities and the right to sign. Dependants (children)
THE Health Corner is f¡ee of charge to active members. Guests and absent members are charged $30 per visit.
-2.30 p.m. and p.m.7.30 p.m. 5 2.30p.m.
Where to find us Just offthe Pool Room bar on the lower ground floor.
<lt>Dah hrlridçs
(Dy¡an)
$intet
Dhkette¡ . r.r"
0AIc]| 14
rHr
tions agency. Barbara works in the editorial
Alison and Sabu Saheed returned to England just in time for a good old-fashioned English winter last year, and both have
section
been freela¡rcing
biggest public rela-
at
Charles
Barker.
There have
THEY NOW
been one or two unconfirmed sight
Among them, Peter Van Velson of 77 and Entertainment Times fame and fortune, and Sarah Monks formerþ mamasan at the South China Morning Post. lilhether therers any truth in the story of their respective sightings remains to be seen.
MEDICAL EDITORì/ WRITER Experienced Scientific/ Medical Editor/VVriter required to work on a wide range of
sponsored publications newsletters, monographs, proceedings, etc). English mother tongue, science or medical academic background, and professional publishing experience essen-
IllI Ì,itARC¡I SP[CIA[$ ! 1989
t
RêloilOull€15
KowlÕo^ lel 3 ó8m3 LG2ð Sosemenl PenrÕsuloCenÙe¡Ts'msholsurÉol No ó3 2 f Adm rolv ShopÞrnoArcode Admrollv Ceôke Honç Kcng lel 5 270890 No l3l ì tPenrnsuloCenLe ßrmsholsurtosl Kowloon Tel ló89ó37 2 Ê wrngOnoeÞodmenlsrore
¡¡:t@
coRRESPoNDENTMARcH
I
2ll ÐervoeurRood she!ñgwon HoneKo¡g lel
excellent service to old Asia hands. [.et me add to your February 1989 report.
"Gregg McGregor retired lrom The New York Times several years ago and
Publications. Contact number 01-634 1398
Caroline Birch from Discouery is also in l¡ndon and is now assistant editor with Executiue Traueller based near Victoria Station. Shers already wangled a press trip back to the Far Easl so no doubt sherll be back again in the near future. Contact
number0l-821 1155.
make it back to British shores is Felicity Bates who many moons ago worked for Eue, W and Entertainmenl Times and the HKTDC. Felicity reached l¡ndon by a rather circuitous route via Australia where she spent several years
became the public relations officer for the New York Blood Center. I last heard from Greg in 1986 when he was on the job at the Blood Center and living on Staten Island. Telephone (7IÐ {e9241. His office num-
berwas (2I2) 57U3009. 'Woody Edwards, retired from the Af; was living at 855 Pine Street, San Francisco, California 94108, when I last heard from him a year ago. Surgery performed in 1986 prevented Woody from attending that yearrs reunion of Vietnam correspondents arranged by the Overseas Press Club and held in NewYork City."
with provincial papers and mags. Shers now freelancing and looking for a fulltime job. Contact number 087-387-670.
(
tial. Stimulating work envi ronment, opportu nity to travel to meetings within Asia. Salary commensurate with qualifications and experience, health insurance, etc,, will be offered to the right candidate.
Regional Director, Excerpta Medica Asia Ltd.,
TOPPAN MOORE (IIK) LTD. Ht P¡t c Bus['.Jrss À,te¡.1¡,c¡ r.lroBvor'o^
University News Service:
rrYour feature, 'TVhere They Are Now," is an
graþh! She is now working temporarily (but full-time) for Charles Barker
Another former Hong Kong hack to
I
A LE"fTER from former president of the FCC, Al Kaff who is now the brains and international editor of the Cornell
for
recent assignment was a story on Champagne - the area and the bubbly - for the Daily Tele-
by Ted Thomas
ings of Club faithfuls.
Paris, France"
regional and national press. Alisonrs most
also
samples to:
Get a year planner or a Chinese Pa¡nt¡ng calendar lree for orders more than S200, or a desktop calendar for orders more than S300. rydoøÞoe<qrqæntuê@ud
museum.
probably, is Europers
cu
ó9
It was ATV who indicated that Annie didn't have much of a future in TV. She is now a mega-star and her effigy is the main exhibit in I¡ndonrs world famous Madame Tussauds Waxwork
Barker City, which,
Apply in writing with full CV rrent/expected salary, work
toooffllï
.5.25"
xå'"TlFi.{"åi Charles
:
are considered guests.
Health corner
ence at
ATV eat your heart out!
12 p.m.
L2p.m.-
I
BELCH in t¡n-
T
Former Hong Kong TV star Anneka Rice just got married and caused tremendous excitement in the media over here.
library.
Fred Schokking, a resident of Hong
looked Jack up on a visit to Paris recently and found him the usual saþ Belden but weak and often in pain from a spreading lung infection. Jack's book China Shaþes the World was probably the best eyewitnesser written of activities in the communist areas of China. A second great book Still Time to Die took in his European experiences. He was wounded severely in the fighting in North Africa. Jack started his war correspondenting in China for the United Press but was eventually taken on Iry Life and became one of Life's muor wnlers from Europe. Belden's address: I Rue CharcoÇ 75013
Hong Kong faces on the London scene
FCC VIDEO CLUB
8lF,67 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong Tel:5-243118.
I RECEIVED
a letter from
Till Durdin of fond memory, and am pleased to reproduce it verbatim. (Old friends wishing to get in touch with Till can find him at 5357 La' Jolla Boulevard #29, I-a Jolla,
Þ-l lS7
vt>
(n (n
I want all of them
Ca92037.)
'There may be those in Hong Kong who still remember me (one-time New York Times l:ureau chief there covering China and Southeast
Asia) and the individual who prompts this letter.
Jack Belden, one of the great war correspondents of the China civil war and World War II in its European phase, is very ill with cancer in Paris where he has lived for many
years.
I
believe
he
CARTRON sparkling wine
"v ./Z )
would
appreciate being remembered by old friends if there are any
of these who are readers of The Corresþond¿zú. The illness
prognosis
Raspberry', Cassis Peach
is not good. I
EUTE GETAS UMITED Tel:5-236667
5 {47795
MARCH 1989THE CORRESPONDENT 15
MEDIA
tn
bv E.J. Dunfee
o
DOGflEAT,g BOSS
THE NATION-DOW TONES DEAL
P
P
FI
s S
E
¡EART,,¡ORRIED, I FIND A SI]ARP TAP
HÁJ
ASSIGNED HI¡,I TO ¿O\/ER
THÉ PROBLEN PAGE.
I\ot a sell-out, not a compromise
nimble-wit who runs Bangkokts The Nation newspaper, has a wide circle of ú:iends, admirers and confdants complete ly au faitvnth his mercurial disposition. He is perceived as a fair and dedicated man, excitable when it suits him, and, perhaps most of all, relentless. Opponents, too, tend to laud, at the very least, his scruples. All agree that a hot-under-the-co11ar Suthichai Yoon is not a pretty sight. And right now, Suthichai is not a pretf sight. lll am not anli-farang (foreigner) at allr, he thunders, rrl am anti-ignorancerr. It is a brief tirade, yet sudden and forceful. It is not off the cuff; this is a prepared point. Suthichai is objecting to the
IN
rrl
plans. This makes me very proud.rl It is quite true to say, he admits, rrthat we were very nationalistic when we started, and very much against foreign influence in newspapers in Thailand. This is also quite
true today. Nothing has changed. And,
accuse us of having been totally against
anything foreign, which is just bullshit. We were not against foreigners at all; we were against Thomsonrs (The Thomson Press of UIg 99 per cent ownership of the Post and the foreign domination of the paperrs management.rl
Suthichai, who
turns 43 this June, makes no attempt to conceal his great satisfaction with the Dow Jones deal. He is almost smug. DowJones,
he points out, has become
rra
minority
now, we can proudly say that one of the worldrs greatest publishing groups has
joined us as a minorigr shareholder. We,as Thais, can stand on our own feet and let them become our partner, instead of the
other way round. (Dow Jones will be
allowed to increase its shareholding by a point each year for the next five years.)
MEDIA editor of the Pasl who too had left the paper, were left to ponder the alternaIn
a
matter of weeks they had assem-
bled an idealistic group of investors,
In the space of 60 days, from the moment Suthichai and a band of sym-
tion of two million bhat
quite riveting, really, given the circumstances of the paperrs founding in
1971.
pathisers concluded that the Posf intended to go ahead with its proposed purchase of the then morning daily, The Banghok World, thus
creating an English-language monopoly, The Nation was conceived, planned anC remarkably - produced.
Suthichai, then the Posúrs
with the death of Russian cosmonauts. 'rWe would have preferred a local lead,r' says Suthichai, who tapped the banks for his one per cent of the start-up capital. rrBut space was the top story of the day, and we had to prove our worth.rl
tives,
TI{E BEGINNING: Al1
some 200 strong, and with a capitalisa-
(then
us$100,000), The Nation came to be - at least in principle. On July 1, 1971, with
TTIE KEY PERSONT
Suthichai took on the role
of managing editor, which in effect gave
Indian expat Sam Krishniah -- who worked with the Pos/ during his early years in Bangkok and later movecl to Ihe World as its editor - just back from a brief stint in Singapore, at the helm as executive editor, the new daily hit the
him the responsibility of finding the stories. rrSam was really the man who founded The Nation,ttsays Suthichai without apparent mirth. "We had a very good start-up staff - about 45 in all with 20 editorial staffers - but Sam was critical to the operation. All my experience to that time had been as a news ga-
streets. That first issuers lead story dealt
city editor with
therer and
responsibilities for the
news writer. Ird hate
strously unfair.
bosses to abandon the takeover, recommending instead that a syn-
what might
allr', he shouts, wav-
dicate of Thais be allowed to buy it to both foster competi-
investors. He finds the proposition mon-
rrThis has not come full circle at
ing a copy of the Hong Kong-based
tion and lessen the for-
eign
advertising and mar-
which has editorialised the thought
Thamnoon Mahapur-
that the recent acquisition by Dow Jones
iya, Suthichairs predecessor as city editor who had that year left
Publishing Co of New York of three per cent
the Pasf to go into
of the group's shares constituted a funda-
mental departure
original operating
influence.
Instead, ledgers prevailed, and Suthichai and friends - notably
keting weekly, Media,
philosophy, which
EYES ON TIIE FUTURE: The Nation Group chairman, Thanachai TheerapatvongQen and editor-publisher, Suthichai Yoon (right) with Theh Chongkhadikij in celebration of his new position as executive publisher of The Nation Group.
16rnB coRRESPoNDENT
MARCH 1989
....
asked themrr, he adds, rrwhy they want-
Sunday edition as well, had urged his
from the newspaperrs
NÔ ?IME
ed to join into a partnership with us and they said because the Iuture is here, looking at our expansion, our potential and our
rrTheir conclusions are stupid. They
suggestion that the Nation Group, which owns The Nation and other publications, is bowing to the demands of foreign
EACKTO Tf{E GAR.MN
yearsrr.
was to provide a Thai-owned and -managed alternative to the then foreignowned and -dominaled Banghok Post.
NOTHING HAS CHANGEDT
WILL SEÑò THE LITTLÍ BUGGE&S S¿YRRYING
up their voting rights for the next five
Bangkokrs Nation Group of publications, founded by a group of proud Thais, which opposed foreign domination of local newspapers, opened itself recently to foreign investors. But that doesnrt mean that the founders of the group are abandoning their original operating philosoph¡r, says Suthichai Yoon, who helped found the group. UTHICHAI YOON, the forthright
ÔN
TIìE HEAD IJtfI{A HA}IMER
.
I'HCOINGfO REGrcT THIS. tKN0fJ tAt1..
shareholder on the condition that they give
ñuÂ,v
business for himself, and Sunida Punyarathabandhu, a relative of the royal family
to
ur
have hap-
pened without
cholce ol lolesl models
Aw& ^w¡d€ choce rsolwoyseoiloble hom Conlirenlol Co.Renlol s Lontu neel ol mde lhon 800 low mileoge coß. êsloles oM m nibuses
Conlineniol cul no corers when il cores lo seMce Bulourvery com ænveunlimiledmileoqeroles holf pÍrce lorlourweeksormore ensure lhol our cors spend Less lre rdle Ju5l like reducedotrfores hl pLone seols No h¡dden exlros Lrke mosl renlol comænes we
seourrolesexclusiveof
lot
o&r
15% VAT
lwotlllao:.
rrrc: o¡
wnH uiluHtt¡D
I WEEK x 2
:
fully compreÞnsNe rnsurorce rs ophorcl tul,unlike some here ore nooddilbml hrdæn e*os olonvkrnd MhenychdgeWnW colleci orLewe yørcorolhe oiFi
ond ol
¡oulw:trc
rH¡
FOREXAMPLE,
Unkloblevolue
I
think
whrch
4 WEEKS' Pick up your cor
ol H€olhrow or
Gotw¡ck roRD SIERRATSTATE
çró cMaARrioñ7ùÎo-Çts3 B/VIVV 3 rS/GOLFcla r¡O/ MERCEDES rroÈAUto Ló3
l%¿ eó14
'Jú 55 V A r ñ¿Ld¿r b.r. ¡r ion.¿ cn¿ roo¿ d. o;t"ôc. r' ,.o"!'ehêil 'è Euo(. o o,obe
Itsoll ncllded
ihe s€Nce Connnenlol oßo hove bronches rn Loñon Monche$el bvel Bruseß Fronkfudond Luxem&uAond o ioiolof more lhon 3 mvehicles rn
WHY NOT CAII TTI,IX OR SEND FÔR OUP BNOCHTJRE NOW.
qnß¡4av¡no¡ 5TONt Crost
{¡Ylca 7
,ffi'Nffi
PHONT
l0l) 9ó33333
3l!
him."
The lng community advertis-
warmed to the idea of an alterna-
tive
English-
language daily, but it
took full
six
years
before Suthichai and his par-tners
- Thamnoon had died in 1973 - were able to develop any sort of sense of securi['. The paper hrrned its first profit in 1978, and operations have been in the black since. I¿st year, the group - which now includes, in addition to The Nationas 40,000 circulation, a Thailan-
guage business daily, a pair of fortnightly magazines covering business (in English) and fashion (in Thai), a monthly tourism glossy and an Englishlanguage tabloid daily run as a sort of afternoon edition of the morning paper - expected to turn a profit of about 30 rnillion baht (uss1.2 million)on ad revenues of about 300 million baht.(usg12 million). TIIE PR00F 0F SUCCES: Early next year the
group will move from its present cramped premises in the residential Phrakanong section of Bangkok - bought five years ago in the hope that it would function as headquarters for 15 more years - to a facility with seven or eight times the space on the outskirts of Bangkok on the road to Pafraya. And, in perhaps the most remarkable editorial development in The Nationts 18 years, the doyen of Thailandrs press corps and long-serving editor of the Posf, 69year-old Theh Chongkhadikij, joined the group in February as exbcutive publisher. Suthichai and Theh, former colleagues on the Pasf and protagonists in the occasionally bitter battles between the two papers these past 18 years, sit once again on the same
side.
E.J. Dunfee is the AsiaMagazine corresþondent based
tr in
Ilangkoh
and a former social
MARCH I')89 THE CORRESPONDENT 17
TRAVEL
TRAVEL
BOOKS
LEIGHTON \MILLGERODT
An evening at Mujra street FRIEND OF MINE, who used to once described Bombay as the biggest
visit India regularly, rrnon cityrr in the world.
I also used
to wonder if Bombay had anything more to offer in the way of entertainment other than a few hotels and restaurants, or the simple pleasure of admiring those old relics from the past - the magnificentþ ornate buildings left over frorn the days of the British Raj. Yes, it is true, Bombay
does not have a Patpong Road. The Indians are just not interested in imports
from the West like flashing lights and scantily clad disco dancers. However,
provided by the moon and stars. People in rags were wandering aimlessly about and there was no shortage ofbeggars. THE STREET 0F FUN:Upon
gingeù on foot, taking care to avoid the mud,
the car we had to make our way
numerous puddles, and various unidenti-
fiable forms of refuse. Our destination was a narrow lane leading off the main road. It was lined on both sides with wooden dwellings, each with a small parlour facing the pedestrian thoroughfare. In each parlour were one or two young ladies dressed in traditional finery and a three or four piece instrumental combo. Groups of carousers were already wan-
Bombay can boast of an entertainment district of its own making. Off the tourist track, it is unknown to all but a few outsiders and, like almost everything else in
India, is deeply rooted in tradition. Tucked away in one of the hidden cor-
alighting from
dering up and down the lane peering into
the parlours and chattering away on the merits of what they could see within. LtIt 0FTIPS: On the corner of the lane sitting at a small table lit by the glow from a candle lantern was a money changer. One
A
ners of Bombay is the Mujra street. rrPlease be keeping yourself free
for tomorrow night because I am having for you a very interesting programmerr was the rather intriguing invitation I received from a business contact on one of mY trips to Bombay. He was not one of the sophisticated westernised Indians I was accustomed to associating with; but a dealer in plastics, a bazaar type, a Bombay wallah in the true sense of the word or, to use a phrase readily understood by my own countrymen, the Indian equivalent of a 'good old boy.' In short, the type that frequents the Mujra street.
IJNtn SIREE'IS AND IANES: He arrived at my hotel that evening with two of his friends jammed in the back seat of one of
those small black Indian-made cars which seem to always come equiPPed with driver. They were able to find room for me to squeeze in and we sped off on a 30 minute ride careering through unlit
streets and lanes, barely avoiding the hordes of pedestrians who seem to spend the better part of their wakeful hours on the streets.. My new friends had brought with them a bottle of scotch and were in a boisterous mood.
When they finally motioned to the driver to pull over and park, it seemed to me that we were in one of the poorer districts of Bombay. The road was no longer paved and the only available light was
18rHB coRRESPoNDENT MARCH 1989
of my companions stopped in front of him, took from his wallet a rather substantial amount of cash, and passed it across the table. In return he received several stacks of neatly bound small denomination notes. Not knowing the purpose of this exercise I asked my friend
what that was for and he told me they needed the money for the tips. One helluva lot of tips I thought.
We entered one of the parlours which
apparently my friend had frequented before and made ourselves comfortable among the pillows strewn about the floor. The girl had not yet arrived but the musicians were there seated on the floor along one of the walls. One held a sitar, another
a harmonium, the third a tabla (a twopiece drum played with both hands) and the fourth a dholak, another small twosided drum. My companion with the bottle pulled it out of the bag and distributed to each of us a paper cup half full of whisky. The band began to play.
tempo began slowly, phrase following upon phrase rvith only the slightest variation, but always returning to the original refrain and repeating itself over and over. The steady drone pounding on my ears caused my mind to wander. Soon, as I watched my companions becoming as one with the music, SIOW BEGINNING:The
their torsos gentþ swaying with the beat and heads wobbling as if they had become detached from their bodies, I too began to
feel myself being carried into a semi-hyp
notic trance. The tempo quickened and
suddenly the tabla player began to sing. My companions immediately perked up, their faces lit with smiles and they began to toss some of the small notes on the floor in front of the band. The words of course meant nothing to me but it was obvious my Indian friends were enjoying the song immensely. At the
end of each verse they would laugh uproariously slapping their thighs in glee
and bombard the band with fistfuls of notes. The fellow with the scotch would periodically reach over and fill our cups. went on for about 20 minutes until a crack appeared in the
TIIE DANCER LXAPS IN:This
door and the owner stuck in his head to announce the arrival of the dancer. The musicians taking their cue, again quickened the
tempo and suddenly the door was thrown wide open a¡rd the mujra dancer in all her glory leapt into the middle of the room. She whirled, twirled, pranced and spun, arms, legs, hands and feet, fingers, toes, head and eyes all moving simultaneously in different directions but always in beat with the music. She was wearing a spectacularþ coloured silk outfit embroidered
with hundreds of tiny mirrors which
sparkled and reflected light like tiny jewels. On her arms and legs were chains of bells which with their continuous jangle added to the clamour. There were beauty marks on her forehead and cheek, and a diamond on one nostril.
My friends were ecstatic. They
clapped, howled and cheered, all the while
tossing money in the air to flutter to the floor like confetti at a wedding. At one stage she slithered along the floor on her stomach, raising her head like a cobra in front of each of us in hrn to receive a five rupee note in her mouth as our offering, and then leapt to her feet once more to continue her violent gyrations. TIIE C[IMÆ(Finalþ it bècame too much and one of my friends rose to his feet to join her in the dance. Soon we were all taking turns, middleaged men with large paunches des-
perately trying to keep up only to sit down
exhausted and push the next up to take his place. It was a couple of hours later when both the money and the scotch ran dry that we decided to call it a night. TIIE [,EGEND: The mujra
tradition originated in Persia and was brought to India by the Mogul invaders. The dancers of that day were highly trained professionals who performed only
at court or at functions for the very wealthy. The language of the accompanying songs, originally Persian, was soon changed to the vernacular Urdhu and has remained in old Urdhu. But more recently it has evolved into the easily understood Hindustani, a mixture of Hindi and Urdu. The songs themselves are melancholy and highly erotic and are also refined and elegant poetry.
Some aficionados of the dance were and still are attracted as much, if not more, by the poetry of the songs as by the dance itself. The dancers were not prostitutes in the accepted sense of the word but many did make their favours available for selected
patrons who could afford to keep them in style. In that sense they were not unlike the geisha entertainers of old Japan. During the British days the Anglicised
Indians scorned the mujra as being
beneath them and it came to be considered a vulgar form of entertainment. It was preserved, however, by the uneducated but wealthy merchant class and it was not unusual for family fortunes to be squandered on the dancers. In recent years the mujra has become commercialised and regained some popularity but it is still looked down upon by the Indian upper class. Almost every Indian movie will have at least one mujra dance sequence, and some of the better- known films stars started as mujra dancers. Today, there are several categories of mujra dancers ranging from the common prostitute to the highly trained entertainer. They can be hired out for weddings or parties and the more popular are in high demand. It is still an expensive proposition, though, to attend a session. The cost of engaging one of the girls for an evening to include a more intimate form of activity can be extremely prohibitive. My friend told me that that evening they had spent the equivalent of several hundreds of US dollars for the two hours we spent in that little parlour. tr @
t€lghton Wjllgerodt
Leighton WilLgerod,l is the sales manager in the AsiaPacific region for the US chemical comþan1, AquaLon. Basetl in Hong Kong, he tralels frequentQ in the region
Summary figures in this section leave
The abuses of power
no doubt that, as the snoops and public
affairs strike force of the globers rrcivilian siderr, journalists in many countries have low life expectancies and good reasons to be holding up the bars of the worldrs correspondentsr clubs when off duty. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, in 1987:
Information, Freedom and Censorship: The Article 19 World Report 1988 Published by lnngman Group UK Ltd., 340pp., f 14.95
EMore than 35 media organs were
Reviewed by
ordered closed by authorities in 14 countries (either temporarily or permanentþ.
Fred Armentrout his book should be required reading for journalists, editors, publshers and, most importantly, government information ministries (a cynic
might say these last would thereby learn a host of new dirty tricks to further choke the flow of bad news and its bearers). This is a report on the right to freedom
of expression in the world and how that right is denied through censorship. It is offered by a new human rights organisation, Article 19, established in 1986 to combat censorship; chaired by William Shawcross (rrThe Quality of Mercyrr) and directed by Kevin Boyle. The group is based in l¡ndon. Practices ofcensorship are reviewed in a sampling of 50 countries, represenlative
of all the worldrs regions and different political and ideological systems. These include nine Asian nations: China, India, Indonesia, North Korea, South Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore and Taiwan. The six global regions are defined as Africa South of the Sahara (eight coun-
tries covered), Americas (12 countries), Asia (nine countries), Europe (13 countries), Middle East and N. Africa (six countries), Oceania (two countries). Besides the 50 case studies of uses and abuses of censorship and the principles that inform its use, there is an excellent sketch, rrCensorship And Its History - A Personal Viewrr, by Michael Scammell, edi-
tor ofthe Index on Censorshiþ from 1971 to 1980 and currently professor of Russian History at Cornell University (uSA).
The best part of the book for people who must work in a censored environment or for activists working in opposition to censors is a section cross-referenced to
countries covered called "Themes and Issues", wherein a review of the state of world censorship is offered by themes: International Standards; Censorship: Reasons; Censorship: Methods; Censorship: Targets; Defending Freedom of Expression: Policies and Programmes.
EBetween 1975 and 1980 in South Africa, 600 to 700 journalists lost their jobs as a result of their demands for greater press freedom. In Poland in the 1980s, over 1,000 journalists lost their jobs and as many were demoted in the aftermath of the introduction of martial law.
DMore than 30 journalists
were
expelled from 10 countries; in addition to
15 foreign journalists expelled en bloc
from Tibet.
norrer a dozen journalists left their countries ofwork under threat.
n200;ournalists were arrested in
38
countries.
EMo." than 60 journalists were assaulted (ie. fired upon, beaten, had their houses house bombed, etc).
nNine journalists in seven countries
suf-
fered the ultimate form of censorship in 1987: They were murdered; appa¡ently ìn connection with what they wrote, broadcast or filmed. This excludes those killed in crossfire or for reasons unrelated to their journalism.
Article
19 takes
its name from a sec-
tion of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights which states, rrEveryone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart informa-
tion and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers.rl According to Shawcross, the group
was founded based upon the recognition that the abuse of power embodied in censorship can lead to all the other abuses of power. As such, it is the litmus test of those who would be kings. rrCensorship is essential to tyranny,rl says Shawcross, rrNot all tyrants torture but all tyrants censor.rr tr
MARCH 1989 THE CORRESPONDENT 19
O
MIKE SMITH
runs rapidly in a clockwise direction on steep Scottish mountain summits. The
Auld Lang Syne, or the l\ight of the Haggis
haggis' left legs are longer than its right ones, so the only way to catch one is to surprise it in such a way that it must escape in a countercloclc¡¡ise direction. Then it is easily overtaken. Our haggises (haggi?) were captured by Bank of Scotland officials, according to the
For
And sent him homewa.rds Tae think again."
TWAS 2.15 a.m. in the Hilton, and 800 local Scots and guests were belting outyet another rousing cho rus of "Flower of Scotland." It was the 15th time Ird heard it that night. Hotel
guests must have been turning in their beds. They say patriotism is proportional to distance from home. With the mileage between Hong Kong and Scotland, that
formula should make Hong
Kongrs
Burns' Night the best outside Edinburgh. And itprobably is. There are in fact several Burnsr cele-
in Hong Kong, all on dates
close to January 25, Robert Burnsrbirthdate in 1759. It is probably possible for a Scot to celebrate Burns over lunch and dinner every day for a week. This is not
to be recommended: Too much haggis gravy is hazardous to health. Burnsr Night at the Hilton was organ-
ised by the Hong Kong St. Andrewrs Society (founded 1881), which made it the rofficial' celebration. This men-only, black-tie affair began Fnday Jar,tary 27,
at 7.30 p.m. with cocktails. Scottish
newspapers (courtesy Cathay Pacific Airways) were stacked for the taking by the door. Scottish clan armorials decorated the ballroom walls, and above the head table, where sat the Hong Kong St' Andrewrs Society Chieftain and his officials, flanked by blue and white cross pennants, hung a large Portrait of Robert Burns, Scotlandrs great poet. TIIE SERIOUS BUSINESS: once seated, the
serious business
of drinking
whisky
singing followed the food: The Queen,
The Immortal Memory, The l¿ssies, The Reply, The Guests, The Reply, and the comedian flown in from Scotland, courtesy of British Airways. The principal speech to the Immortal Memory of Robert Burns was brilliantly given by a local policeman. Witty, academic, poetic
after-taste.
îIIE
CEREM0M 0F
îIIE
IIAGGIS:
and humorous, this was one of the finest after-dinner addresses Ird ever listened to. No Inspector Clouseau this chap.
After the
smoked trout course, bagpipes heralded the start of the 'Ceremony of the Haggis'.
ïIE
All stood respeclfully. Across the ballroom towards the Chieftainrs table
ruNNY BUSINESS: Bill Barclay is Scotlandrs second best-known comic. '"The difference between me and Bilþ Connolly? (pause) About five thousand
marched the 'bearer', haggis held overhead on a ramshead platter. He was led by the 'piper' and followed by the 'barley bree (whisþ) carrier.'The Chieftaìn recited Burns 'Toast to the Haggis', stabbed it
pounds a night" The one about the innocent lassie looking for employment took 10 minutes to relate. She lands a job in a
with his 'scian-doo' (sock knife), and offered a 'quaich' Goblet) of whisþ to
carnival as a ghost-train apparition. As the trains go by, she has to leap out wearing white smock crying "whoo,
a
the bearer and his aids.
The haggis looked like a hamburger gone wrong - black and crumbly. But it was much more tasty - especially with its traditional gravy poured
straight from
a
haggis was served with 'bashed neeps' (parsnips) and
'chappit tatties' þotatoes).
The
main course was 'braw bag orgame' Game pie), and finaþ came Scottish cheeses with oatcakes. It all went down very well. ''T eat is human, to digest divine", as Burns might have said. A UVE HAGGIS: lncidentally, the haggis is to be found in Scotland only at
CATCI{ING
bottle: around five times itrs normal
retail price. Likewise, single malts were offered at HK$1,200 a bottle! Of course, no canny Scot would pay these prices.
They brought their own bottles, and paid HK$55 corkage for the privilege. Single malt whiskies were on every table. The cheapet blended whiskies were rare indeed that night. Cardhu,
coRRESPoNDENT MARCH 1989
o N
bottle of
Scotch. Mine was flavoured liberally with Laphroaig. The
-
ïrn
Toasts, speeches, entertainment and
Talisker, Glenlivet, Bowmore - these and other great malts were to be seen on the tables. However, the greatest Scotch malt of all in my view was in Íront of the neighbour to my left. I planned to get acquainted real quick. laphroaig þronounced /a frog) is a superb island malt whisþ from Islay - full smoþ flavour with a pleasant
began. The hotel had a printed menu of their own Scotch selections. Red label the kind of whisþ Scots boil their vegetables in - was offered at HK$390. a
20
menu.
Glenmorangie, Knockando, Macallan,
"...And stood against him Proud Edward's arrny
brations
FFB EAT
O
FF'BEAT
whooo." The punch line - to her startled parents - "I got a job as a fairground whooer". This brought the house down.
I suppose the whisþ helped. Then there was the one about the onearmed bloke who wrapped his wristh around his stump. 'Tltry donrt you put it on your good arm? (pause) How could I wind it?" Or what about the doctor who tells his patient "Irve got some good news, and some bad news. The bad news? Yourll be dead in 12 months. The good news? See that good looking nurse over there? Irll be bedding her tonight."
(And to think the Hong Kong
St.
Andrews Society turned down the idea of having Billy Connolly because herd be too'lavatory pan-ishr !) HELL:Among the highlights of the evening was to see the expressions on the faces of some
LADIES FROM
of the
Chinese waiters. Clearly, many had never seen such a spectacle before. Hundreds of grown men in their'l¿dies from Hell'cos-
tumes climbing up on chairs and belting out ballads to the immortal memory of a poet! I suppose there's nothing equivalent in Chinese culture to compare.
ulc/< E R¡
PHOTOS:
TOP: Robert Burns'
portrait oversees tÏe
whole affair. ABOVE: The Haggis is stabbed by the chieftain,
Drew Lamont. RIGIIT: A dapper pair of local Scots - Cameron Sloan Iefi) andAndy Neilson. Come to think of it, I canrt recall any culture, other than Scottish which mixes poetry and drink so effectively. Therers no Shakespeare spree, Frosffest, Goldsmith gala, Wordsworth
whoopee
or
Blake
booze-up.
Maybe, in the interests of poetry, there should be.
o
Mike Smith is a business executiae based
in Hong Kong.
MARCH 1989THE CORRESPONDENT 21
A BOTTLE OF
THE GORRISP
CHIVAS REGAL
CROSSV/OR Complied by Brian
1
989
CLUES ACROSS
T
llIll tl IITI It llll llI III -Tl rllII
1. Therers something sinister about this type of drive (4-4) 5. A disc advertising men sometimes have to fish for (4)
8.
L
One vessel that has been partly opened(4) Variable symbol direction, very soft on wrong line - itrs all up in the air! (9)
10. A pink, spotted effect sometimes found in copybooks? (7) 12. A shattered slab gets to the point where it becomes
quite indifferent
(5)
13. Wagner, even when composed, was some thing of a
biter (6) these young ladies! (6) 17. Mix thoroughly, rub in, and you may be able to
15. Quite alarming,
18. Pit rest for the one with the winners (7) 22. Ernest, for example, tends to be the most
guilible (8) 23. Apart of west Yemen is considered an eyesore (4) 24. Peel a strawberry and some of it will keep on going (4)
25 l¡se one of a plate of mince pies, for example (8) CLUES DOWN
1.
RULES 1.
Entries must be sent to:
mythical Greek maiden (5) a fraction, you idiot! (4) The late Col. had the ability to get it all together (7) Wooden seat with thick sections (5) 11. Ape on a swing had only four syllables (5) 12. A military man with his head in the clouds? (5) rrare you allowedrr is said 14. Ungrammatical version of to be quite charming (6) 16. A trial run goes wrong for this knife wielder (7)
Printline I-,¡td, 502 EastTown Building, 41 I-ockhart Road, Wanchai,
4. 6. 7.
Hong Kong 2. Entries must reach the office not later than March 20. 3. Entries must carry the name, address and the club membershiP number of the contestant.
4
The first correct solution drawn from the entries received will be awarded a bottle of Chivas Regal.
5.
The solution and winner's name
The Winner is Mary læe
will be pubiishedinThe Corresþondent the following month.
WERE
YOU
THERE?
(7)
Honest Charlemange (5) Landing place where a Pole took the last letter to a
THE CORRESPONDENT
cRosswoRD,
Festive activitysometimes seen in the House of
l¡rds?
Crossword No. 12 correct solution
Wind open the window
17. Second-rate time gets student roll (5) 19. Confusion letts one become a carpet maker (5) 20. These characters met to symbolise a clan (5) 21. This type of mantle is partly made of garlands (4)
Members who have anecdotes, memor¡es, pictures or other rel¡cs of the Club's early days are urged to send copies to the CIub Manager as soon as poss¡ble to help preparation of a CIub history for its 40th ann¡versary later this year.
braif ontheinside. The Canon EOS system practically bursts with electronic wonders, each of them designed to make it exceptionally easy to take exceptional pictures. Izns-integral EOS autoþats lets you focus with incredible speed and pinpoint accuracy. The focusing motor is actually right inside the lens so you can focus, shoot, and snare "once-in-a-lifetime" moments many times over. Carun¿'s erch.¿siue hse-Stored lrnge Sensor collects whatever illumination is available and amplifies it, for dramatic and natural-looking photos. The EOS Euahmtiae Metering System is another bright idea from Ca¡on. After comparing lighting in six zones a¡d the amount of conkast, it calculates an optimum exposure value. Even subjects in shadow come out with amazing clarity. Program AE picks the right combination of shutter speed and aperhre for your particular shot and the lens you're using. Deþth-of-Fielt.4-Ð* lets you select the focus zone
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Canon
S
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8so
'Standard with EOS 650. 750, 850
22 rIJ.n CORRESPONDENT MARCH
1989
CANON lNC.: p.O. Box 5050, Shin¡uku Dai-ich¡ Seimei Btdg., Tokyo 163, Japan CANON HONG KONG TRADING CO., LTD.: Room 1101-3 & 112'l-2, Peninsula Centre, 67 Mody Road, Tsimshatsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong
j.itrfr'ññfffiËHn^a ñEËÊEH SHANGHAI SILK IMPORT & EXPORT CORPORATION
Scope of business
È
Ë:
1. Export of silk, silk fabrics, silk lñ. fffi.lñffiæF", HE &fÉfthffiffi,í# ready-made articles, other textile fiber raw material and products. Éilg*1fn#ffitt frag*T6
I.
2. &rÊ#htt*tí.*+. +ffi)F+E +_Êâi.îffiffi 2. lmport
of various textile raw material, accessories and production equipments.
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.
3. processing business on imported materials or with materials supplied by customers.
4. Consultation service for foreign
5. E Iä $',åÉ#fã
trade.
5. Domestic sales.
-l,6+üÊ-3å+ù;Ë æ.;Á | 2157ia Ë{S : 33059 CTSSB CN €11i : c¡rsrcoRp l$tr:zglzsr
17 Zhong Slran Dong Y Lu Shanghai, Cir na 21577o TCIEX: 33059 CTSSB CN
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