The Correspondent, October 1991 by The Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong

COVER STORY î

MANUFACTURERS, EXPORTERS & DESIGNERS FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS'

CLUB

CLARE HOLLINGWORTH AT 80 On October 10 veteran conespondent, Clare Hollingworlh, celebrated her 80th birthday. Donald Wise, a close friend and colleague for many years, looks back on her distinguised career.

North Block, 2 Lower Albert Road, Hong Kong. Telephone: 521 l5l I Fax: 868 4092 President - Peter Seidlitz

First Vice President - Steve Vines Second Vice President - Wendy Hughes

Correspondent Member Governors Jonathan Friedlud, Humphrey Hawksley, Gillim Tucker, Claudia Rosset, Ma¡t in Howell, Bob Davis, Carherine Ong, Hri Bedi, Mary Ellen Fullam Journâl¡st Member Governors David Thurston, Sruart Wolfendale Associate Member Governors Roger Thomas, F. C. H. t'Vadsworth, Peter Humble, Mike Smith

Professional Committee: Convenor: Steve Vines, Members: Peler Seidlitz, Hari Bedi, Stua¡t Wolfendale, Wendy Hughes, Humphrey Hawksley, Catherine Ong, Paul Bayfield

Membership Committee: Ma¡tin Howell, David Thurston F&B Committee: Convenot: Mike Smith Menibers: Stua¡t Wolfendale, Gillim Tucker, F. Wadsworth, Richad Rund, 'Paul Bayfield, Lynn Grebstad, Mike Cakebread Enteraainment Committee:

ìr' Þ

Irene O'Shea V¡deo Comm¡ttee: Mike Smith, Cillian Tucker

POLITICAL REPORTING IN HONG KONG

Political commentator, Anthony Polsky, looks at the state of political reporting in Hong Kong in the wake of last month's first directly Legco elections.

MEMORIAL TO INDOCHINA'S WAR CORRESPONDENTS

Alan Boyd talks to Tim Page who is trying to establish spondents killed covering the war in Indochina.

a memorial to corre-

11.13 PHOTO ESSAY Discovery's Derek A C Davies on how

the magazine's Into Africa special came together \üith photographs by Gerhard Joren.

14 IMPORTING THB ALOHA SPIRIT Derek Davies, the other one, bids fare-

well to the East-West Center.

Publications Committee: Cont ettor : David Thurston, Membet s: F Wadsworth, Hari Bedi, Peter Humble, Bob Davis, Martin Howell, Wendy Hughes, Francine Brevetti

17-18 PEOPLE

Wall Committee:

19 OBITUARY

Bob Davis, David Thurston

THE CORRESPONDENT Editor: Krul Wilson Advertising Manager: Ingrid Gregory EDITORIAL OFFICE: AsiaPacifi c Directories Ltd, 9Æ, Grand View Commercial Centre, 29-3 I Sugar Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Telephone: 577 9331; Fax: 890 7287

Jtgß Qun[ity O C[nrri"u[ D,tsígn O Åuprz[ Q'l/o"li,nrr,r'l]p

jnrot

FCC SOUTH

PEDDLER'S JOURNAL

@ The Conespondent

Opinìons expressed by writers are not necessrily those of the Foreign

REGULARS

Corespondents' Club.

ju"nítuz¿

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FACTORY ADD:

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The Conespondent is published monthly for md on behatf of The Foreign Conespondents' Club by: AsiaPacilic Director¡es Ltd. 9/F, Grand View Commercial Centre, 29-31 Sugar Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Tel: 577 93311 Fax: 890 7287

Publisher: Vonnie Bishop Managing Director: Mike pishara

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT MANAGER'S REPORT

LETTERS NEWMEMBERS

.. . .3

...

...23

Cover photograph by Robin Moyer

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THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER 1991

MANAGER'S REPORT

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

A room with no name n

Friday, September 20,

tion our decision toconvert the veranda into an ltalian restaurant. As have pointed out previously this is one of the most under-used areas of the Club. At nights it is deserted. lt is the Board's and Management's intention to make this part of the Club a revenue earner. We have an excellent chef in Gabriele Di

not familiar with the debate, it was basically a discussion about "a room with no name". While I am all for greater democracy and more glasnost it would have been nice if the prime movers of for the EGM had bothered to turn up. Of the eight correspondents who called the EGM only four were present. Former president Philip Bowring, said the reason he did not attend was to help me out. The 90 minute debate, chaotic at times, was good in that it aired some of the differing opinions held by members of the Club with regard to what the Board has been attempting to do this past year. It was decided that the Board should go back to thearchitects and havethem come up with three proposals regarding the "room with no name". The sketches

Luca who has come up with a series of truly superb menus for

screen will be decided as well.

Vice president Steve Vines made the point that a great part of the renovations was invisible to members as it involved

the creation of more storage space downstairs and improvement of the

replaced.

Former correspondent, now turned restauranteur, Barry (ll Mercato) Kalb made the point that no matter how good the refurbishment of main dining room is, it will be the kitchen that determines its success or failure. This is a point well taken as it has been one of this current Board's objectives to work closely with the management to improve the quality of the food served in the main

dining room and in particular to attract

THE CORRESPONDENTOCTOBER

comes down to you the members giving your support. I know there are some members who do not like the idea of creating another profit centre and some even find the idea downright disgusting claiming that it runs contrary to the spirit of the Foreign Correspondents'Club. I can only presume that these arguments are based on an assumption that foreign correspondents don't know anything about money or economics. Since quite a few foreign correspondents have their retirement homes already established in far flung corners of the globe,this assumption does notappear to be correct! I will admit that correspondents, and I include myself, have limited knowledge Club such as ln the management of ours. Simple matters such as how much and what food to order each day, supplies, staffing, maintenance and the like, require professional skills which most of us as journalists do not have. The point here is that we have many associate members who have connections with the food and beverage, hotels and finance industries. Basically, the

appalling staff facilities. Another issue raised was the loud speaker system in the main bar. lt will be

and the grills are among the best in Hong

restaurant.

of seats booked each night and that

will be circulated to members and avote

it is impossible to please every-

the

Obviously the real test will be the number

taken to decide the design for the lounge area. The position of the CNN

I know

been busy planning events for the coming three months. By the time you receive this issue of The Correspondent the major part of the redecoration of the main dining room should be completed. We are also in the processof changingthecolour and design

posed refurbishing of a corner of the main bar on the ground floor. For those

one in a Club such as ours but I would like to point out that some of our dishes such as the FCC Fish Soup, Macau Sole

who have been on summer vacation. ln the meantime we have

Kong in both value and quality. Obviously there are some who ques-

extraordinary general meeting, was held to discuss the pro-

more customers during the evenings.

warm welcome back to those

what he has built over the years. And

think Heinz will agreethat more suggestions, and more input from professionals makes his job a little easier and helps maintain our Club as the region's leading correspondents' club. It is worth pointing out that in August, traditionally a slow month because of the holidays, the deficit was the lowest ever and attendance was the highest. On healtheir note, I had meeting recently with those members who frequently use the gym and sauna to discuss the plans to upgrade these facilities. These plans were welcomed and suggestions for some better equipment were made. One such innovation will be a masseuse who will start some time in November. Elke Huberm, an Austrian, will start work as soon as the newly reno-

Bookings and bills will be handled through reception. The price has still to be worked out but it will be much lower than the hotels around town. On the professional side, we had a very successful lunch with Japanese and Korean correspondents on Thursday, September 26. The result was six

This is by no means a criticism of Heinz, who lthink has done an excellent job, it is an attempt to try and improve on

Peter Seidlitz

Board needs people with expertise in

look at ways of imoroving the Club's administration and management.

1991

prepared

a series of excellent

menus

featuring pasta d¡shes which will be altered each week to give variety and perhaps one or two surprises. On Friday, October 18, we will hold a Latin American Night which will feature Cirilo and his music from the Andes. I am very pleased to say that Elvira Lara, wife the Columbian consul general, and her friends from the South American Association here in Hong Kong

A special note to all members: Bookings for the popular New Year's Evedinneratthe FCC willopen at 'loam on Wednesday, November2T. So please

mark your diary.

Heinz Grabner

vated massage corner is completed.

new members. This month we are inviting young local English and Chinese journalists meet correspondents. lt is another way of bridging the gap between the FCC and the local press and, who knows, one of these young people could be your editor in a few years time. Finally, I can report that the FCC will have a superb new tie. We entrusted a half-ltalian, Roberto Chard of Rocca Ltd, with this very delicate job. The new tie will make an excellent gift for those visiting foreign editors, editors and publishers, who two Years after Tiananmen, are coming to town again.

these areas. I hope you will consider this at the next Board elections. At the last Board meeting on Friday, September 27, it was decided to hire, for a short period, an outside consultancy tearn, experienced in the F&B industry, to

of the tablecloths and looking at new' designs for the upholstery of the chairs.. These minor cosmetic changes to the decor of the dining room will be implemented in stages. On October 8 the much talked about Italian restaurant was opened on the veranda. As you will have noticed the decor is in true ltalian style which we hope willcreate the feeling of a little piece of Rome in what has been a rather quiet "corner of the Club. The restaurant will be open for lunch and for dinner from 7-10.30 pm. Our very own ltalian chef, Gabriele Di Luca, has

have volunteered their advice and know how to help prepare a sumptuous buffet with specialtiesfrom Columbia, Peru, Brazil and Bolivia. We have also organised an evening of line food and music for Friday, November 1, featuring the Doo Wops. Since their debut at the Hong Kong Fringe Festival back in January, this five voice male A Capella singing group has delighted audiences throughout the territory with their renditions of hit songs from the 50's through to the 90's. On the professional side, our guest luncheon speaker on Tuesday, October 22,will be the lsraeli Finance Minister, Y. Modai, who should give us a good insight into the current state õi Middle East politics.

The top restaurant where only potatoes are required to wear jackets.

0f course, you

æe more than welcome to

wear one shouldyou so deske. We merely wish to make it cleæ that |K's is a relaxed and informal restaurant with a dress code to match.

Smart casual clothes will do nicely, thank you very much.

Not that there is anything relaxed about our service, we hasten to add. You will find our experienced and courteous staff ready to cater CS

AIC

Perched high onVictoria Peak, the restaurant also serves

up the finest panoramic views around.

THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

1991

Political reporting skewed by ideological or co mercial biases diate years beyond. Several knowledgeable observers of

H#:fi3 compl¡cation

to dev

accurate political re stantive changes in structure. One rece has been the occ

uncomorehensive'

or and comffi;Ï,;;iliri'ou"'s" Lesco elections' ffiff; iä recentcritic it"'the il;;J;iräPrãss wasPut described' ;".." ; tiää-'5t -nch and ;iï ;il*;is ia¡re¿ tothedescribe movement' ätä;;å'gs witninottrer'" Üe .tJ'*ñ¡"n *l; -;; ìrt.ãd, 'äi tãt"tl ironies' desPite

d.i,.'"t.åt"

in-potiticat,coverage

and a

Proressional ;#;i'";i or assressive' hallmark or ¡",t'" ;;"*d;;;i ttó-'t¿ like Hons Kons' il;;ï, in a ma¡or ofcitYthe freest presses ìnn iål.¡iãr.t nàs one are i; ;.ì; iii' ;o much else here' Youir venture You *.ìã iî ïPuotisnins almost ;;;t',dilà;Y' lt can Publish to set rich or areÍree äi;ffi ;;; ñ,

go broke.

"äã''tonn O.lr"i"*i,ñ

overwhelming Kong city is

people

ilil;il*t,î

rl,ixiîrlir;'.'1,:'#";YL:'l"i Places li1" ;"Jilä'*ãutnt or city is created, in West which may seem who bother ,toìàioi"îit t"túe Europeans

to notice. '"rniiio'l"tion

the

of the "other" citv' of rubest, is comPosed rich educated chisame found within the sPeak who tnose

"t;;il;; ffi*';ä¿ì;;' ;;#;ä;;vs ñJ;' ätíi and to be conversant Ë;;äïi ;'nãusn with " both cities.

ö"ü*,ãt'- åto

r,l"iã'iË.0.¿

ffiilT;i-J i;:f;j1"üni ;';;";'"i;Ì services.

colonial traditions

harmonious into alargely "two citthe näs enaole¿ K;;s to become a srobal and tradã' manuracturins'

ôtreams uüJiunaterv, the two

4 THECoRRESPoNDENTocToBER

Council elections.

thought which have so contributed to

Hong Kong's prosperity seem always

have adequately prepared

the terri-

tory to evolve a contemporary political

at leäst5'5 million ¡,' o*n rhYthms'..:Y:1"'

H"tårì"]ìÃit chinese rrom the oä it"tt'ätirÃ adaptation uaPricious and

Former New York Times correspondent, ANTHONY POLSKY, Iooks at the state of local political reporling in the wake of Hong Kong's first directly elected Legislative

system to deal with harsh realities. Such modified or new political institutions are essential for maximising Hong Kong's chances of maintaining its unique lifestyle after 1997. Coverage of the Legco elections by the local Chinese and English language media reflected the ¡nevitable deficiences of the same system. A Confucian and colonial environment is not conducive to developing a free, fair, accurate and

persistent press which could play a conslructive role in monitoring the de-

velopment of political institutions required to preserve prosperity not harm it. Local proprietors and international

media

moguls addicted only to the bottom line bear a heavy responsibility, because of their penny-pinching, for failing to develop experienced and well-paid local reporlers and editors who could have a powerful role in protecting Hong Kong's prosperity and unique way of life in the hazardous run-up to 1997 and the imme1991

the local press remark that the average political reporter has only three years journalistic experience and his/her political editor may only have five. Local political figures who speak out in "headlines" are guaranteed coverage. The newly reconstituted Legco already demonstrates that those members who do not have the skills to access the media are just not going to get the more widespread name recognition essential to be influential members. Political reporlage in Hong Kong rarely exhibits the critical, sceptical, digging sometimes confrontational style which is so characteristic of the press in places like the United States, Australia and Britain. On occasions, the American press has been called "The Fourth Branch

in addition to the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial mandated in the Constitution. of Government",

in Hong Kong carry excellent political reporting

between certain British officials and their communist counterparts, supported byso-called business leaders rich enough to insulate themselves and their families from the consequences of "running dogism", can be counted on to do all in its power to prevent the development of a mature, sophisticated political system, even one crafted to Hong Kong's special society, needs and circumstances.

Of course, various newspapers cover Hong Kong according to the commercial and ideological biases of their proprietors. The Ming Pao and the Hong Kong Economic Journal are thoughtful, and independent newspapers. Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Pao are headily influenced, indeed frequently mouthpieces for the communists. And the establishment generally is thought to be represented by The South China Morning Posf and Wah Kiu Yat Pao. Although every day, these and other newspapers

is skewed by

ideo-

logical or commercial biases, or by the stultifying influence of a still strong

in political coverage must be set. These

solid fact.

Hong Kong is going to maximise its opportunities for surviving the already substantial communist

and

meddlings

and manipulations that will lead up to and beyond 1997, it cannot afford to

Conf ucian and colonial tradition. This could

have an ill-trained, underpaid press that

be another irony. Political reports frequently are quite

does not even seem able to set high professional standards consonant with the values of perhaps the most unique Chinese society that ever existed any-

rude to government officials

- Michael to frequently

Suen recently was referred in one Chinese paper as "the boy with the moustache" in a satirical comment on his handling of the Legco elections.

This was different than "the man with the moustache", an appellation Suen got when he judged a beauty contest a few months ago. Rudeness is no substitute for professional expertise in reporting on political affairs, or for an ability to write about political figures and events fairly and in enough depth for readers to understand underlying forces. The Chinese repoders in Hong Kong, most reflecting the Confucian view of an obligation to improve society, tend to be liberal democrats and anti-China. Their reporting reflects genuine conviction, an ideological bias, and opinions of events

and people not necessarily based on

Such a role for the press in Hong Kong would be anathema to deeply embedded colonial traditions of paternalism and non-accountability, and to Conf ucian ideals of system. Moreover, the unholy alliance

articles,

particularly on business and the company, generally speaking much of the

where in the world. Editors must accept responsibility for enforcing a more diligent standard of checking facts from several different sources. These sources must be more closely identified as to authoritativeness, even if the names must be protected. The Hong Kong press does not necessarily have to live on confrontation; but it must survive on accuracy, including multiple sourcing, critical checking of alleged "facts", and a willingness to reach

beyond the speech, even or press release, and do "enterprise" stories developed in the minds of seasoned editors dedicated to through, intelligent coverage of this community. Since perfect objectivity is an unrealistic goal, stricter, more systematic standards of fairness

must be set by editors themselves, but whether they can work in unison in Hong Kong is a dubious prospect. Unfortunately for Hong Kong, the welleducated middle class people who might have supported realistic changes in the local political system and demand better coverage from the press, have fled or are in the process of fleeing to places like Canada and Australia. But in the critical years remaining to 1997, the FCC has much to share, and should share with our local Chinese colleagues who are very much under the gun. As for the foreign correspondents and expatriate journalists who belong to the FCC, I always have felt that too large a gap exists betwee¡.our professional lives and the interests of those of our local colleagues. Part of this gap is the inevitable consequence of wide disparity in salaries, education, professional training, and cultural influences.

(Anthony Polsky is a columnist for the Sunday Standard here in Hong Kong

and heads an international consultancy, Cathay Counsellors).

Lau first woman elected to Legco Lau doubted whether the 18 elected Legco members would change the "rubber stamp" image of the chamber. But in an interview she said: "The fact that we are there should increase the pressure on the Government. Public opinion cannot be ignored."

there is one thing Emily Lau can do well is speak her mind. The former Hong Kong correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review Lau has been a fierce critic of China and Britain on matters involving Hong Kong and its people. Lau has been equally critical of the Hong Kong administration's ineptitude in speaking up for the ordinary men and women of Hong Kong. f

Lau campaigned on human rights, social

issues and environmental protection

Now the 39-year-old former journalist and human rights campaigner is taking her fight to the Legislative Council. When the Legislative Council reconvenes Lau will take her seat, along with 17 others who were elected in Hong Kong's first direct elections to the 60 seat chamber on September 15. For Lau her election victory was also another first - she became the first woman elected in her own right to Legco. Lau, who campaigned as an independent, topped the New Territories East

Emily Lau constituency with 46,51 5 votes - beating six other candidates. The former FCC correspondent member said she was delighted with the result saying that those who had written her off , when she announced her candidacy back in April, had been proven wrong.

an electorate where the majority of people were either in the middle or lower-middle income brackets. For the statistically minded the New Territories East constituency has a populationof 656,100of which 416,143 people were eligible to vote. Of that number only 196,918 registered and 176,916 voted. Lau was elected with just 26.3 per cent of the votes cast. Meanwhile, anotherClub member, John

Miller, was not so lucky in his quest for political office when he was defeated in his bid to represent the legal fraternity in Legco's Legal functional constituency.

THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

1991

Correspondents killed during the Indochina war to get a memorial 7T\ tI

ne inimitable Phan Thanh Hao, ooyenne of the Hanor Foreign Préss Cenrre, has aprety good idea of what war photographer Tim Page is all about. "He's crazy," she said. "How did I end up with him?" Granted, even by the standards of lndochina's most cavalier lensman, there was little that was ei-

planted

the banks

Ben Hai by

Page, have come the seeds

of a

per-

to the 320 journalisted as killed or missing during

manent memorial lists

the fighting in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

ther rational or normal about her excursion with Page into the depths

sented Page with the bo tree, a traditional spiritual gift in lndochina. Former correspondent Don Wise suggested planting the tree in Vietnam, on the 17th Parallel. Not only was it more accessible, he said, but it had a certain symbolic value as the old wartime border between north and south. "We trucked it into Vietnam and by the time we got to the 17th parallel, three leaves had shrivelled up and dropped off. I was really petrified about the vibrations of the project with the tree dying," said Page. Meanwhile, it was decided to expand the single bo into an entire garden of remembrance, with trees from each country that sent journalists to the war. Then came the idea for a fixed memorial bearing the names of all reporters and photographers who died or went missing on both sides of the lndochina conflict - a move that instantly got the Vietnamese into the act.

of Vietnam.

The British-born photographer rolled into Hanoi in August, heading south to find a bo tree he had planted a year earlier on

the

Ben

Hai

river, which flows

across Vietnam on the

17th

Parallel.

Page needed a sturdy car and a good team to guide him. He ended up with a clapped-out Toyota van, a perplexed Hao and her mixed brood of Japanese and Vietnamese godchildren. "Tim ran out of money, so it was thè best we could get - I paid the rest of the way myself. And oh, what a terrible journey ... " sighed

repairs in the dark and liberal amounts of Saigon beer, they got moving again only to run smack into a forest fire. By the time they sputtered into Dong Hoi 525 kilometres later, it was 1 am and the only hostel was booked out.

The idea

was born during Page's trip, when he went looking for the graves of close friends Sean Cambodian

Flynn and Dana Stone, believed killed while filing on the Khmer Rouge. "l'd just come back from Vietnam and I'd seen (Flynn's) spirit in Danang in

the Marble Mountain caves, where we used to go and meditate during the

American pullout.

as we looked after his monkey," said

war," said Page, who has been a Taoist since his Vietnam days. "l got this declassified stuff from the ClA, and I gotwithin 15 kilometres of

lncluded on the Cambodian list are three NBC Television journalists led by correspondent Welles Hangen, last sighted driving down Highway

the grave site. I was feeling very de-

Three in mid-1970, who are the subject

pressed and despondent and went back down the Mekong and had a real clear thought: I decided to build a memorialto them."

us a room,

Hao. "lt was the typical drama of Tim Page's

life."

For Page, it was the second stage journey that actually began last year in neighbouring Cambodia, and has had undreamed-of effects upon

of a

relations between the journalists who covered the two sides of the lndochina war. From the little bo or Buddha tree

that lost people,"

THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER 199I

Coincidentally, the chief monk of Phnom Phen's largest temple had pre-

a current lobbying effort in Washing-

ton.

Their bodies have never been found and NBC has asked for a US military team to organise an excavation in the area where they vanished.

Page

said,

miraculous."

taken over the running of the memorial. "The local people were very moved to

lf enough money is raised, a hostel ln August, Page returned to begin seeTimdothis.Theyknowitisaspiritual journalists who will be built forvisitors, a medical clinic planning the memorial, which will be thing - the spirit of the for local villagers and possibly a jour- built from marble and stone donated by died," said Hao. nalism fellowship or entire educational the Vietnamese and designed by British "To them this is a very precious place institute in the ancient capital of

Hue.

architect Richard Goddard with

inputfrom

Nick Hanoi. Martin Page found the once-struggling bo

Former correspondents, including

Wheeler, Frank Palmos and

,,THE PUBLISHERS' PATCH"

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volved.

as long

"Finally one man took pity on the

totally all the countries

nationalities covered the

fighting from the American side, witha fatality or MIA rate of 10per cent, probably the highest of any modern conflict. An unknown number of Vietnamese correspondents were in-

Of the Western total, 19 were never acounted for and remain on the MIA list. Many disappeared in Cambodia or the border triangle between the three lndochina nations in the last days before the

children and gave

"lt's just clicked into place, it's

ln all, about 3,000 journalists

of all

Hao.

The car, already without a horn or lights, rapidly expired; after makeshift

Vietnam has asked for its six Viet- Stuart-Fox, are organising fund-raising now strong and flourishing. Adding a nam News Agency staffers killed in appeals in the US, Australia, Thailand, small Buddha spirit-house, he discovered it was suddenly no longer just a the war to be included; efforts are now Britain and France. The target is about US$50,000: so far tree, but a spiritual shrine for the 4,000 underway to gather the names of local villagers. journalists from the Soviet Union, there is US$10,000 in the kitty pic"lt glowed and thelocalscameup and "l'm Flynn's pro-North of Vietnadoing a book China and the other offering incense. They really memorial began raise money for the tures to mese states. "The whole project has been given the and we're doing a sort of lndochina believe in it; it's like a sort of guiding light greenlightfrom topdown. The Vietnam- photo requiem, of all the best pictures there," said Page. ese are really behind it," Page said by of living and dead photographers ln apoignantsignof thereconciliation telephone from his home in Kent, Eng- on all sides, which is a big project... thathas alreadybeen achieved, agroup that will end up as a photo show in of Vietnamese war veterans has quietly land.

rhe HKg2,ooo,ooo,ooo

telephone no.

577

-9793.

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YOU CAN then call Ingrid Gregory on 577-933I for further information. THECORRESPONDENTOCTOBER

I99I

COVER STORY

Clare Hollingworth at 80 ying in a London hospital some

years ago, Clare Hollingworth was rung up by the Egyptian

Veteran correspondent, Clare her 80 th birthday in London on October 10. Here colleague andfriend of many years, DONALD WISE, looks back on the career of the w oman whom the late D ick H ughe s often described as " our mother

H o llingw orth,

ambassador to Britain. "Clare," he said, "You MUST come to dinner tonight because I have someone here you MUST meet." "Who is it?" she asked. The ambassador could not say over the phone who the dinner guest was but he assured Clare she would not be disappointed. Clare told the ambassador that it was impossible. "Look," she said, "l'm confined to bed ... I've just had an eye

superior"

c e I ebr

ate d

But the Egyptian ambassador was adamant: "You MUST come, Clare."

said Clare's colleague. "Quite," she replied and continued reading without

Slipping an overcoat over her nightdress the small woman with dark hair dodged the nurses and hailed a taxi to arrive at the Egyptian Embassy in bedroom slippers and a gigantic turban of bandages. "But it was worth the trouble and pain back at the hospital later," she says. The man who came to dinner was Colonel

Hatem,

the top

further comment. Off the battlef ield Clare does not soften

her lifestyle.

editor and closest

of the British-baiting Presi-

dent of Egypt, Colonel Gamal Abdul Nasser, who was offering his memoirs lolhe DailyTelegraph of London. Offer accepted and a fine scoop. Clare Hollingworth is her name and warfare is her game and has been for some 60 years. As a child her father trotted her round the battlefields of Britain and France -- Naseby, Bosworth, Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt. She reported the start of World War ll on September 1, 1939, by telephoning the British Embassy in the Polish capital of Warsaw from a building next to the

"she is our mother superior". Michael Field, a long{ime colleague in Ihe Daily Telegraph organisation

for

the

she still files

Sunday Telegraph

was

The late Dick Hughes used to say

communist Tet (New Year) offensive in 1968 she flew by helicopter into Khe

the German-Polish

border. Robin Hankey, the second secretary at the Embassy, queried her news: "Are your sure, old girl?" he bleated. "Of course I'm sure," she barked,

"Listen to this," and hung the telephone over the windowsill as Hitler's tanks clattered by and convinced the embassy

man that the war was on. That Clare's first great scoop.

Clare in 1932

- describes her as settling questions in the manner of the select lineage of adventurous, eccentric English women of the ruling class. Clare is a snob: her parents loathed the press (excepl The Times ) and abhored her membership. Her supercool behaviour on many different battlefields has been as effective as electric shock treatment. During the

customs post

namese in the surrounding hills. Disgusted the sanitary arrangements of the battlefield, shetold the marinecolonel in charge "There seem to be no latrines here. I could smell your camp even when flying 50 feet above it." ln downtown Cholon, Saigon's Chinese twin city which, during the offensive, was to all intents and purposes in communist hands, she and a male colleague were examining a North Viet-

namese army order to civilians now in their zone of combat. A bullet cracked between their heads and thumped into the noticeboard. "That sniper is after us,"

operation."

colleague

Sanh where thousands of US marines were pinned down by the North Viet-

THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER 199I

The French agent for her studio ilal,20 minutes from Nice airport, was having difficulty in letting it out because Clare, who can sleep like a top in a fakir's bed of nails, was distressed at the thought of having to buy not only a double bed but also pictures for the walls, curtains and a rug at least for the f loor. A Belgian couple was insistent. "l don't need these things - I can sleep on any floor," she boomed typing a story on her lap while she sat on the floor. "Miss Hollingworth is a very frugal person," the agent cleverly translated. "Well, we are not frugal Belgians," said the visitors. "And we will not be frugal at that price." They won their point. Field has described Clare as not being just a camera but rather a human notebook. No laborious descriptions, just

deft brushstroke here and there,

remembered face or remark eloquent of character ... an unabashed frankness in her own reactions and mastery of the telling vignette. ln 1971 , as lndian forces strengthened theirthrottle griparound Dacca, capital

Bangladesh (then known

East

Pakistan), a handful of British correspondents sat in a room of the lntercontinental Hotel trying to decide how the 1,000

With King Farouk in Abdin Palace grounds, 1944. words they could send out in a joint despatch should be allocated: to a description of the air raids and ground fighting? To surrender ovenures from the defending Pakistani army? To a possible RAF airlift of refugees? "l have been given the order of battle of the lndian army," Clare said, "which must go of course." "Hang on, Clare, what about all these women and children spending most of their time in the hotel corridors," said a correspondent. "We have not touched them yet." the women and children," said Clare and they were not mentioned agarn.

another incident, typical of Clare, she told a yam-shaped Australian, who had flattened himself like

razorblade

outside Dacca when lndians riposted to

a Pakistani tank attack, to: "Get

up".

"What are you affraid of," she bellowed "lt's only a little light shelling." "Well, you lead the attack," the man growled, "lt's too bloody heavy for me," and disappeared. Clare was the first correspondent to

reveal how former journalist,

arch-

traitor and infamous drunkard Kim Philby, managed, in 1963, to dodge British counter-espionage men and

have halted.the car, slammed a sandbag on to the roadway, jammed a 3-inch

escape behindthe lron Cufiainfrom Beirut. She missed death by minutes when the Jewish terrorist Stern Gang (among whose

random shells into the teeming Arab casbah below, loaded up their equipment again and disappeared into the traffic. lnside the city, long wailing cries announced yet more deaths mourned by Arabs now incandescent with rage. Correspondents had to ask one of the Arab Responsables (unofficial guerilla police in Arab areas), standing at gates in the barbed wire perimeter fence with

members was today's lsraeli premier Shamir) blew up the British army's Palestine administrative offices in Jerusalem's King David Hotel in 1948. She got the first significant interview

with an up-and-coming Free French general fighting for the allies in World War ll in north Africa and was incredulous to be told that Lord Kemsley, then

mortar barrel into the sand, fired otf six

heavy pistols under their sweaters, for an escort to go inside the city. lt was not

boss of a British newspaper chain, spiked

always given.

the story because his French-born wife disliked the soldier whose name was

group

Charles de Gaulle. ln 1963 Clare was named British journalist of the year equivalent to the US Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the Algerian war.

During 1962 one million

French

settlers left Algeriaforever. Right- wing

the Paris-backed decolonisation exodus, would drive Peugeot 404 saloon cars to the heights above Algiers. Within 40 seconds they would guerillas, opposing

But

if they were allowed to go in a

of reporters would be lined up, each man holding the belt of the man in

front with specific instructions NEVER to let go. "The people want to kill allcolons," the Responsable would say. "lf you lose your place in the line we cannot save you from being torn apart. The peopfĂ¨ will think you are our prisoners." was a nightmare experience with fingers, hands,- fists and feet thudding into you all the way. Clare not only once did those trips she did them every day.

THECORRESPONDENTOCTOBER

1991

PHOTO ESSAY

IntoAfrica by word of mouth called up Peter Younghus-

taining New Journalism piece

band cold in Cape Town. I had never met the man though I knew of his formidable reputation as a Úeteran war correspondent and Old Africa Hand. What really interested Te was the fact that he had fulfilled the

on Los Angeles. LikeYounghusband, he agreed over the phone

dream of many journalists

to do a piece on new black music.

All quite simple when I look back on it. But at the time, confronted with a new country and few contacts, it seemed a reasonably daunting task to get the

buying a vineyard and devoting himself to the trials and tribulations of the grape. When I put down the phone,

right writers and the right balance in a place as sensitive as

Younghusband had agreed to write about making a living by pen and plough in South Africa.

Younghusban$'s task when he

South Africa.

Nothing like as daunting as had

Some weeks later the piece arrived on my desk in Hong Kong. "Farming in South Africa

Clare with her husband Geoffrey, Jerusalem, 1948.

With King Hussein, Amman, 1967.

had plenty of surprises," it began. "But the day my field foreman came to tell me that our tractors had been mating I knew we had a

With that opener, Younghusband began what perhaps is the funniest piece ever published in Discovery during the eleven years that I have been associated with the magazine. Commissioning the'lnto Africa' special issue of Discovery, which marked Cathay Pacific's launching of

10 THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

1991

service

between Hong Kong and Johannesburg in July this year, was mostly a question of word of mouth. Several FCC members told me about Younghusband; and at the bar the night before I left, Time photographer Robin Moyer put me on to a lady whom he described as one of the greatest photographers in theworld, Louise Gubb. We used her pictures for a story on the great South African playwright, Athol Fugard, who at the time was making a film with Oscar-winner Kathy (Misery) Bates. Hong Kong-based photographer and

"Shoes?" "These," she said pointing at the black corduroy flatties with single strap and button which sell by the million wherever there are Chinese. "What did the Queen say," I asked her. "When she saw me she paused," said Clare. "Then she asked: 'Where are you living these days Mrs Hollingworth?' "

a new

FCC member Gerhard Joren was in South Africa on assignment and he intro-

duced me to a local writer Sarah Crowe

Just back from Vietnamr 1966.

cover the Mandela re-

"Shortly before 9pm, I

problem." Between attacks she would walk alone into the casbah to see her contacts. Hit by stones, wet from urine poured over her, stinking from garbage thrown at her. Clare's life today is spent partly in Hong Kong University's Asian Studies Department where she and the students seem to share considerable respect for one another. She was bitterly disappointed not to be asked to cover the recent Gulf War because she confesses to being edgy when too long away from whitfs of grapeshot. Tragically her handsome diplomat-journalist husband Geoffrèy Hoare died as the pair were preparing for retirement in the hills above the Cote d'Azur of France. Of post-Tiananmen Square China, a Chinese woman commented: "Once you've had a washing machine, you can't do without one." Clare answered: "l wouldn't know as l've never by her had one." And in a way that just about sums up her life choice. ln 1982 she went to London to be invested with the Order of the British Empire. "What did you wear," I asked her since she is notably careless about dress except for smart safari suits. "l had an old black dress which does for everything," she said. "Hat?" I queried. "Yes, I found an old black one."

lease story while his house was burning down. Here's his account:

who provided the lead piece for the issue, 'A Rough Guide to Southern Africa'. Gerhard came back with some wonderful images which we used extensively in

- and here, in The Correspondent (see centre spread).

the special

Somebody else introduced me to Anthony Bannister, and his picture agency, who in turn spoke warmly of lhe Sunday Telegraphcorrespondent in Johannesburg, Fred Bridgland, who wrote our political piece. So it went. I had adrinkwith Chris Munnion (known to the FCC) in a Jo'burg bar and he told me how the untrainable African elephant is now being trained in Botswana and used for safaris. Story sold. What I lacked during my short stay in South Africa was any contact with black

writers. Then I saw a book about Soweto written by a lady who works on

lhe Sunday Star, Nomavenda Mathiane. I rang and arranged to see her and the result was an insider's view of life in Soweto. I also made a good find in the unlikely location of South Africa's mini Las Vegas, Sun City, while browsing through a copy of Excellence magazine. The editor, Chris Marais, had written an enter-

Mail

re-

ceived two calls -- one from the Daily Mail foreign editor through the office switchboard, yelling for more copy, the other from Samaai on my direct line, telling me that Kleinbosch was on fire. " 'We want another 500 words on Mândela's speech at the CaPe Town City Hall,' said he Daily Íoreign editor in his customary

tone of urgency. On the other line Samaai was saying: 'The thatch is alight. We've got men on the roof tearing out the burning pieces and throwing them on to the ground, but the whole roof may go at any moment.' " 'Get the men off the thatch,' I said. "'What's that?' queriedlhe Daily Mail editor sharply. I realised I had spoken into the wrong mouthpiece. 'My house is burning down,' I explained. "'Jesus Christ!' said the foreign editor. "'We've got all thefurnitureouton the lawn,' said Samaai. What was I to do? Mandela's release was the story of the and decade. Kleinbosch was my home a national monument. Which was more important? The story or the house? What

farmer or jouinalist?" was I ReadJuly's issue of Discoverylo lind out what Younghusband did. (And what happened to the tractors). Editors have it easy.

Text:DerekACDavies Photographs: Gerhard Joren

THECORRESPONDENTOCTOBER

1991

Twenty-year-old grape picker Ann Marman works the víneyards of Stellenbosch. Opposite, clockwise lrom top left: A miner rides an elevøtor deep into a dianond mine near Pretoria; a cotton picker works

12 THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

1991

THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER 1991

Importing the Aloha spirit 66![r

business

suspects some of the houses, complete with swimming pool and lanai, represent both good investments and retirement homes for Hongkongers; some careers have led to jobs here (such as former Peninsula Hotel manager Urs Aeby who now manages the top-of-the-market Halekulani Hotel on Waikiki beach, together with wide, ex-Radio Hong Kong beauty, Katy Keely). A few, such as scion of the Sir Fung Ping Fan family, Lawrence Fung, have found homes here. But numbers are thin. Honolulu still has a Chinatown (one indication of minority status) but that is becoming rapidly Vietnamised (as are the former Korean bars featuring exotic dancers and striptease). There are Hong Kong students on the campus at the University of Hawaii, but the highfliers (and few Hong Kong students who go overseas for university educations are not highfliers) tend to go to more pres-

here largely

welcome to energetic intruders.

convention centre

All these reasons and several others

are not really convincing. lf Hong Kong

Blood or ink-stained wretch: Derek Davies at the East West Center's Halloween Party (he won

entrepreneurs can brave the anti-Asian prejudices of Melbourne or the bitter cold of Toronto, why have they been so

the costume prize)

multiracial, climatically almost-perlect paradise of Hawaii? lf in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king, in the Land of the Lotus Eaters, the small

easily discouraged from

the

entrepreneur should be able to make a million or three. The Hong Kong FCC's membership

list reflects

Hawaii's curiously weak

attractions for Hong Kong:There are four overseas members resident. Joe Emery, who still travels widely on business, recalls his sessions in the FCC bar with

nostalgia, and would like to set up a Honolulu branch of Alcoholics Synonymous. l've not yet been able to pin down Fred Hausman, who also travels extensively on his jewellery business. John Harada, active in real estate, also writes restaurant reviews for the local press.

Harada believes that Hawaii exerts little magnetism on Hongkongers because it offers simply too much of sea,

(mainland in Hawaii doesn't mean China but the rest of the USA).

clubbing along the Waikiki strip, but few

sun

return as immigrants despite the

Kong's yuppy youth have taken

Young Hong Kong couples can be found snorkelling of Hanauma Bay or night-

creasing urgency of the search for post1997 refuge. Many reasons are given:

and

surf

(although, yes, Hong

the

three S's in a big way) and because it's hard to find good Chinese nosh (al-

it. That made it sound like one of the CIA's more unlikely schemes, so they

call themselves the "lnk-Stained

Reader's Digest Hong Kong team, has preserved his unnatural calm despite

Wretches". It is headed by Dick Halloran (former New York Times , Tokyo) who has protected the programme so far from the "scholarly" assault and will carry on

the excitement of the Baltic

the battle under

The fourth FCC member, Vic Laniauskas, formerly of UPI and the states'

new independence. Vic sticks to his

adoption of a simplified version of his Lithuanian name, Lankas. Until recently Vic was on the staff of University of

journalism and

lraq which were less than enthusiastic about the sanctions imposed on it by the UN and got answers ranging from lsrael to Panama. This was possibly a factor in

not progressed beyond the drawing board).

THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER I99I

years ago

resented Japanese investors have driven

underground railway system have been talked about for decades, and still have

in-

Hawaii, lecturing

such as

Keith Richburg of the Washington Posf.' between Manila and Nairobi.

leading role in the highly-unionised labour force. Monopolistic interests also dominate the Hongkonger's favourite playground, real estate (where deeply prices sky-high). Labour costs are also high and productivity low (it takes two years to widen a street, five years to erect a high-rise building while projects

tigious universities on the mainland

a non-frenetic, Polynesian pace. Apart from the Whites (haolis), Japanese Americans have established a commanding position in the economy and bureaucracy and paradoxically also play a

one

Sydney or Toronto 1 0 or was pretty limited).

Business is anyway conducted

the

Tshirls, "Surf's Up!" The nightly television news, with its unavoidable quotient of murder, rape and violence, ends with a dissolve into shots of kids by the seaside waggling the "Hang Loose" sign (fist with thumb and pinkie finger extended) at the viewer. "Help preserve our special way of life," pleads Mayor Frank Fasi on a TV promo pushing Hawaiian products, which largely consist macademia nuts, barbecue chickens, coffee, sugar, pineapples, papaya and hotel rooms. Life is certainly not a bitch on these enchanted islands. So where is the Hong Kong connection? The pre-1997 diaspora has washed into many cities, from Los Angeles to Toronto, Seattle to Sydney, Vancouver to Melbourne, but only atinytrickle has made its way tothe American Eden of Hawaii. Some of the rich boys (such as the lâte Y.K. Pao's family) have holiday pieds-a{erre here;

ment: the Chinese food available in

maintain monopoly positions and extend

m"lrË,"'ilîîilli

song. "Life's a Beach" proclaim

and banking

though he admits that's a circular argu-

moonlighting on the foreign page of the Honolulu Adveftiser. He once quizzed his pupils on those nat¡ons bordering

his recent move over lo lhe Advertiser full time, where he brings his usual quite professionalism to the job of Wire Editor, while still teaching a couple of classes at the university. The two local daily newspapers are not likely to engage anyone's undivided attention: both profit at the readers' expense from a monopolistic joint-operation agreementwhich makes

them long on advertising and short news and features elsewhere.

but more of that

'Up at the East-West Centre, on the fringe of the university campus, a small journalism group has been established,

despite opposition from the less able academics, who apparently fear any challenge to their narrow fields of experresearch funds and their tenured positions. There's not been much of the Aloha Spirit around the Centre for a year or more. Much the same bunch of academics who resented the advent of the hacks made common cause with local businessmen (whom they also affect to despise) and forced the Centre's former president, Victor Hao Li, to resign last

tise, their

December. Since then they've been

head-hunting for a replacement, and the whole institution has been riven by

and

internecine disputes at a level of small-mindedness to which only academics can descend. The group of journalists was named "Special Projects" because none of the academic departments wanted anything to do with

back-biting

the

new president

whoever they choose. Meanwhile, he's confronted the academics on their own ground by producing a long dissertationtype article on Japanese militarism. Bob Hewitt (ex-AP) who's been researching on Asian coverage of the US and vice versa, is about to retire for the umpteenth time. The quietly avuncular John Schidlovsky (former Baltimore Sun in

Delhi and Peking, married to fellow journalist Lennie Magida) looks after the

Jefferson Fellows programme. Keith Richburg (former Washington Post Southeast Asian correspondent based in

Manila) has been writing a book

Vietnam/Cambodia - a sort of sequel to Nayan Chanda's Brother Enemy -bul is finding the tunnel vision of publishers focussed on the Gulf these days. So he's also muscled into the academic's field, and got an article into the prestigious learned journal, Foreign Affairs . After the delights of Manila, Keith has spent much of the last year frustratedly eyeing the multi-racial attractions strolling around the university campus. He promptly volunteered to give a series of workshops and seminars on everything from peace prospects in lndochina to the US bases in the Philippines, but found to his chargin that the younger Asians are more interested in becoming Americans than in the problems of the countries they have left. Anyway, Keith's

activities were sharply curtailed in his final weeks when snapped an Achilles

tendon during, I regret to report, a tennis match with me. As you read this, he is limping his way out to East Africa to become the Posf's man in Nairobi, acutely conscious of that city's claims to be the AIDS capital of the world.

Even if the more ambitious plans for a journalistic institute at the E-W Centre fails to materialise, Dick Halloran's programme should still be able to offer many a temporary Polynesian perch for journalists who need anything from a couple of months to a year off to think and

The Baltimore Sun's former Peking

correspondent John Schidlovsky.

if they are willing to share their eiperiences at seminars and workshops in the Centre, at the University or with the community at large. The Centre's horizons desperately need broadening, and it should welcome allthe nonacademic input it can get. lf only more of write, particularly

the academics rotated ...

Already Prem Shanka Jha, prolific lndian editor and columnist, ex-London Economist correspondent and information adviser to the former prime minister V.P. Singh is here for three months to write abook-lndian politics of course. Keith Richburg's place is to be taken by Brad Martin of Newsweek's fokyo bureau, while my perch will be occupied by an old mate, Sunanda Datta Ray, editor of Calcutta's Statesman . They and those that remain will surely form asfriendly agroup as I foundwhen I arrived last October for a year of depressurisation from obsessional Hong Kong. Embattled perhaps, but with their own, imported Alohaspirit. Perhapsthat's why the Hongkongers don't come ...

Derek Davies, Honolulu

THECORRESPONDENTOCTOBER 1991

Close Encounters of the Exotic lndian Kind

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The mother of all journalistic feuds PETER Arnett, the Pulitzer Prize winning

Simpson was particularly critical of CNN's

CNN correspondent who broadcast from Baghdad throughout the Gulf War, has found himself fighting the war on a second front. That second front was opened up last month by the BBC's John Simpson in

report rom Tel Aviv during the first Scud missile attack. The CNN reporter had put his gas mask on and, broadcasting live, indicated to the world that the city was about to be attacked with chemical weapons, which it was not.

ally, I don't think he is all that great." ln his book Simpson talks about the fear he saw in other journalists. Arnett said: "One of our technicians said he was coming out of the bathroom one morning, and that Simpson was shaving and he'd cut up his face. He said this man

his book From the House of War. ln his book Simpson accuses CNN of

Arnett said: "We're dealing with real

was in the bathroom and his hands were

time, with real life. People generally

shaking.

panic in a crisis. What was happening in ourbureau was happening all overJerusalem. I think that's going to come through on live TV and I don't think that is terribly bad.

"Okay, maybe the poor guy is frightened, maybe he is cutting up his face.

striking a secret deal

with the

lraqi Government to let it stay in Baghdad after all foreign journalists were expelled and claimed that the bulk of CNN's coverage was grossly misleading. The claims have been vigorouslydenied by Arnett and CNN executives. ln an interviewwiththe UK PressGazette Arnett said: "We persuaded the lraqi authorities on strictly journalistic grounds that it would be a better way to tell the story. The whole idea of the CNN

operation is to tell all sides. I think it became clear to the lraqis that we were willing to let them be hearil." Arnett dismissed Simpson's claims as "pure professional jealously". "Some of our more competitive colleagues started taking it personally, suggesting that we had made a special deal with the lraqis or that somehow our reporting was suspect, which was a lot of

garbage. There was no special deal.

The reporting wasn't

suspect."

Club member Tony Miller, information co-ordinator and key trouble shooter for the chief secretary, Sir David Ford, has been appointed director of Marine. His post at the chief secretary's office has been taken by Mike Hanson.

¡!! With magazines closing alltoo frequently in Hong Kong it is nice to see someene taking the plunge with a new product. Vonnie Bishop and Mike Bishara of AsiaPacific Directories recently launched

can imagine traditional journalists

like Simpson being unhappy with CNN ... we scooped him." Simpson criticised Arnett for going on air and talking about his personal need to make a "contribution" to ending the hostilities. Arnett told the Press Gazette "l saw little in Simpson's reporting style

to recommend

it.

"ln

his book he's so proud of running around Baghdad the night the bombing started that we laughed at this lunatic. "We had a view from the ninth floor, we could see every bomb that landed, and here was this man running around the streets without a guide, endangering his own and his colleague's lives." ln another interview Arnett asked: "Who does John Simpson think he is? Person-

a 92 page monthly for the leather trade called Asia Pacific Leather Times. The launch issue was supported with 35 .paid

for

advertisements. The magazine compliments the company's other industry publications and the highly successful monthly magazine for the local

Filipino comm unily,Ti nig Filipino, and Asia

Pacific Space Report.

n!¡ Associate member Gerry Brown was in Paris recently where he met a south

read the book and I get the impression

that he

was the gnly brave man

that is ludicrous." Simpson also attacks Arnett for not letting a Spanish journalist, Alfonso Rojo, writing for the Guardian and E/ Baghdad and I think

Mundo, use the CNN wire to file his copy. "The criticism came mainly from the British", Arnett said, "which is surprising considering London is one of the most competitive news centres in the world. "l just want to know: do British reporters sit around and call each other and trade information? Whatever happened to a scoop?" Arnett has begun his counter-attack in the form of his own book, whose working title is Arnett At War. He plans to have the last word in this professional conflict. "l don't think I will mention Simpson. Nobody has heard of him outside of Brit-

ain."

Vietnamese political exile, Viet Tran Ngo Quang Chau, who asked if he could help try and locate his sister and her husband. The couple were last heard of in Hong Kong a few years back but since then he has heard northing. The brotherin-law's name is Ho Han Sin (Vietnamese ancient name is Ha Van Tzan) and he was a former Vietnamese stringer for AP between 1954 and 1955. His sister's name is Ngo Thi Hien, and was born in Hanoi in October 1936. lf anyone can help in tracing them could they contact

Gerry (Phone: 982 0610 or Fax: 982 1807)

contact Viet Tran Ngo Quang

THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER 199I

OBITUARY: IIIORMAN BARRYMAINIE 1 900- I99l Chau in Paris. His address is: P.O. Box 526,75825 Paris Cedex 17, France.

the gap between the foreign executive and his Asian counterpart. As Bedi points out: "An appreciation

!!!

cultural differencés

is more impor-

than technical competence for business and managerial success in Asia. Deals are won or lost, careers are made or destroyed and foreign investtant

Congratulations are in order for PR supremo Ted Thomas and his wife Nicola on the birth of their daughter and to Mey Jen and Colin Tillyer on their daughter's arrival.

ments flourish or fail depending on how

one reacts to unaccustomed cultural values.

"lnternational executives and their companies can boost business and

!!! Hari Bedi's views on management, particularly in this parl of the world, should be well known to anyone who has followed his incisive columns in Asiaweek, and more recently in Asian Business, over the years. Now Hari has incorpo-

rated his vast knowledge into

build morale by adapting modern techniques to the Asian setting. But first, they must understand what motivates the Asian manager the real powerhouse behind

the astonishing

economic progress of the world's fastest growing region."

!¡¡

book,Understanding The Asian Manager, which was launched at the Club last month. Published by Allen & Unwin, Bedi says his book is an attempt to bridge

When Jim Forrester, former Reuter boss in Hong Kong and a familiar figure at

the FCC, retired from the newsagency in July last year, the common assumption was that Big Jim had earned himself a little piece and quiet in a leafy villa on the outskirts of Edinburgh. No so, it would appear, according to a bird just back from the Scottish capital. Spotted at the Edinburgh Festival Press Lounge in the Scandic Crown

Hotel on the Royal Mile High Street, Forrester was busy briefing Reuter staff from London on how best to cover lhe Festival in a patch he knows like the back of his hand. Forrester, in short, has been re-engaged by Reuter to set up a bureau in Edinburgh, and it is back to business as usual for the veteran newsman. Forrester will naturally be more than delighted to share a wee dram of Scotland's finest brew with old friends from the FCC, if they ever happen to be up his way. He can be contacted on, Edinburgh

554 9437.

¡!tr

Marxism alive and well in Yietnam MADAME Ngo BaThanh makes no apologies. While the symbols of communism come tumbling down across the Soviet Union she is adamant: "Socialism still has a place". One of Vietnam's most prominent politicians, Madame Thanh said it saddened her to see what was happening to Socialism in the Soviet Union. Speaking at the Club last month she said Vietnam had no intention of deviating from its Socialist path.

"Why should we?," she said. "Our country is built on Socialist principles." Madame Thanh said that despite the US trade embargo, Vietnam had made "tremendous" headway in economic reforms. "l cannot understand why America persists in punishing Vietnam," she said. "Why? We did not starl the war. But for some reason we are being made to suf-

fer." Madame Thanh, however, did indicate this situation may be about to change. "The signs are that the Americans may be ready to lift their embargo," she said. Although she would not elaborate, Madame

18 THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

Thanh said she was optimistic ol improvement in relations between two countries. She said Vietnam had just completed a major overhaul of the country's laws relating to foreign investment and had paved the way to allow foreign banks to operate. "l think people will get a surprise with what they find in Vietnam today," she said. "Although we are a very poor coun-

try, we are a proud people. We are rebuilding our country despite external dif-

friends."

1991

orman Barrymaine, a dapper dandy who in his day brought to ink-stained hacks a dash of Savile Row savvy and the most outrageous flair for name-dropping, died in

t¡l

c *a

Madame Ngo Ba Thanh

firm in London. ln two years, he

familiarity, had allthe makings of the spy who came in from the cold, a true-to-life John Le Carre character, with credentials to match.

a rich and diverse career that

spondent

Barrymaine wrote his despatches while the action from the ship's decks and in the docks in Haiphong. They made instant front-page headlines in Fleet Street and were picked up by the wire services for international consumption.

for

Lord Beaverbrook's Ex-

press group of paperg. During World Waíll, Barrymaine was with the RAF Fighter Command. ln 1949, at the invitation of Ernest Bevin,

in-

cluded, at the age of 69, nineteen months of solitary confinement during the Cultural Revolution in a Shanghai prison for alleged spying, Barrymaine had, by turns, been a squadron leader in the Royal Air Force, a double-agent, diplomatic correspondent for the London Evening Standard, author, presenter of On The Spof the first current affairs programme on HK-TVB, one time editor of the now defunct China Mail, and one of the prime movers behind the setting up of the lndependent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in Hong Kong. All this by someone who had survived three major operations for a brain tumour and the successful removal of 1 0 inches of his colon for cancer testifies to the man's superhuman physical and mental toughness and resilience. Early in the Vietnam War, Barrymaine scooped the world's press by becoming

had

mastered the ar1 of negotiating shipping insurance claims and was moved to the Philippines, where he acquired a taste for journalism as a boxing reporter on a paper in Manila. By 1924, Barrymaine had graduated to full-fledged newspaper work in Shanghai, a three-year stint that was to be his ticket to provincial newspapers in Britain and, eventually, the post of lobby corre-

the Duke of Windsor with first-name

watching

vintage hack

Helston, Cornwall, on July 18. The irrepressible Fleet Street veteran, who reeled off names like Lord Beaverbrook, General Charles de Gaulle and

the first western journalist to provide an eye-witness account of the American bombing of Hanoi. The way he did it, Barrymaine said, was to talk his way into securing a berth on an East European freighter that was ferrying war supplies from Vladivostock to the North Vietnamese capital that was then the target of intensive American bombing raids.

ficulties, with the help of many of our Asked about those Vietnamese who had left Vietnam since the end of the war, Madame Thanh said:"Vietnamese with foreign passports will be treated like any other foreigner who visits our country. We make no distinctions. We are not out to punish those who left Vietnam. As long as they obey our laws when in our country, they have nothing to be afraid of. "Obviously we would like to see many of these people return to Vietnam and help rebuild the country but we can not force them to do so if they have adopted another country."

Stormin' Norman

the then Foreign Secretary, Barrymaine joined the Foreign Office. A "contact man" for the Soviet embassy treated Barrymaine to free lunches

Norman Barrymaine

in expensive restaurants and then asked

On January 25, 1968, Barrymaine was visiting

a friend in Singapore when he

heard on the BBC news of the seizure of the US spyship Pueblo by the North Korean Navy in the Sea of Japan. While his host, lan Ward of the London Daily Telegraph, dashed off immediately to Seoul, Barrymaine decided to chase the same story by way of Pyongyang. A contact in the Polish Ocean lines informed him that the Hanoi, a 10,000-

him if he would act as the political adviser, the euphemism for spy, to the Soviet embassy in London.

Barrymaine accepted the offer and

for the Soviet Secret Service between 1954 and 1956, making several journeys abroad, including one secret visit to Moscow, to contact communist worked

agents. Barrymaine's explanation for

ton freighter, was sailing from Kobe for Chungjin, the port in Nofih Korea near

accepting the job was that it provided him with detailed evidence of the Russian espionage organisation, and firsthand information on Soviet policy and

the Soviet border. Barrymaine had planned

intentions.

to go from there to Pyongyang by train. "lt was," he admitted later, "the beginning of what was to prove an ill-starred voyage. At 3pm on Monday, February 5,

While this may subsequently have helped him to get on an East European

we dropped anchor seven miles off Chungjin. Next afternoon, the captain ordered me not to leave my cabin."

The Hanoinext headed towards Shang-

hai, while Barrymaine merrily

clicked

away at passing Chinese torpedo boats on the Yangtse, the incriminating pictures that were to lead to his arrest, detention and frequent interrogation for

up to 14 hours a day for the next

months. The child of a tea-blender, Barrymaine started working life at 14 as an office boy with Gutherie's, a Far East trading

freighter to Haiphong and lhe Hanoi scoop, Barrymaine little realised that the Soviet connection would boomerang with its own repercussions later: the imprisonment by the Chinese who accused Barrymaine for spying for the Russians - and also the CIA! ln hindsight, there was no denying that Barrymaine enjoyed his notoriety, played the cloak-and-danger role to the hilt and cashed in on it handsomely in the publishing world. Barrymaine is survived by Estella and a daughter, Anne.

Vernon Ram

THECORRESPONDENTOCTOBER

1991

AND FURTHER SOUTH

FCC SOUTH NEWS

Rounding up the usual suspects here is life after lce House Street

or Sutherland House. lt's called

the FCC South, a loose collection of mostly former members now living in Sydney, who occasionally get together to mark events like Kevin Sinclair's annual earbashing, Saul and Alison Lockhart's recent visit, or nostalgic rituals like Chinese New Year. I say'mostly'because some were never FCC members but are old Hong Kong hands, or others (like Dick Hughes jun) are neither, but have enough ties with the place to be tolerated. We have no formal membership, just a common desire to get together and talk old times or to make faces from the past welcome. We started meeting informally around 1980, not long after I came here from Perth and found old mates like Jack Bennett, Neville Kitto, Andy Sloan, Paul Dougherty and lan Stewart around the traps. lt began with a few of us gettlng together to have drinks, and like Topsy, just grew.

These days, Penny Brindisi willingly cops the chore of rounding up the usual suspects, Penelope A. Byrne did it for a shortwhile, and before her, Robyn Dougherty was the bunny. Venues have been as varied as the guests and the occasions: They have ranged from the Royal Motor Yacht Club

in Rose Bay to the Journalists' Club

Surry Hills, from the Grand National Hotel in Paddington to a fish and chip shop in The Rocks, from The Regent to my front lawn on the harbour (ask Penny Byrne).

evening in the Club and a horror trip home via Melbourne (nobody should be forced to go anywhere via Melbourne), the bloody phone rang. It was Nobby Clarke, former UK Gov-

regular (with Derek Seymour-Jones, Franklin Proud, J.H.Randolph Feltus,

Advertising) now has a freelance design studio across the bridge in McMahon's

Neville Chesney and Alphonse Thuring,

Point.

the Hong Kong Club chef) at the back table on the 14th floor. He retired to Melbourne in 1972, eventually saw the

Carl Robinson (CBS and Newsweek) and his family run the Old Saigon Vietnamese restaurant in Oxford Street (he

light and moved to Sydney, but had never

loves a chat, the food is good); Frank

heard of the FCCS until the previous

Shaw (,Asra Magazine ) has retired from the board of News Limited and is writing the company history while waiting for

night when he read The Correspondent. An hour later, the ding wah again. lt

was Robert McDougall, son of John partial cause of my enfeeblement from the previous night - with the same story. So there will be at least two new numbers for Mrs Brindisi to call for the next bash. Until then, and (time permitting) another FCCS page in The Correspondent,

here is a rough rundown of the current 'membership' and what they're at these days: Most of us here would qualify as Journalist members today - a category which didn't exist in our time- but oddly, none of our group is still in daily newspaper journalism, though there is a heavy concen-

tration on PR. Neville Kitto (ex-South China Morning Post, Grant PR and Lufthansa) is in the corporate side with Qantas; Wee Andy Sloan (SCMP and Eric White's) is still with Hill & Knowlton; David Mitchell (Grant PR) and Barry Haselden (fortune Adver-

memorable Boxing Days at the Brindisi pile in Whale Beach, but you have to be a cross between a mountain goat and a homing pigeon to get there. We have around 40 mainly former FCC members on our list, which at the time of writing had grown by two following publication of the June issue of The Corre-

Partners; and Barry Walsh (SCMP ) has his own consultancy in North Sydney. Jack Bennett (China Mail ) is with the Government's Workcover agency; Joe Parkes (Macau Tourist Bureau) is with

the combined effects of a nostalgic reunion lunch with Graham Jenkins, a boozy

THE CORR.ESPONDENT OCTOBER

Philip), and we callthem the White Moun-

tain Pen Men; John Crawley (lntermark

tising) have just formed Asia Pacific

At the crack of dawn the day after arrived home, while still recovering from

"Darby" Munro (lnchcape and Burns

ernment mystery man and an old Yantze

And there have been one or two

spondent.

recently boughtthe Mont Blanc pen agency

for Australia and relocated it here from Melbourne; he has as his minder Don

Austrade; Russell McPhedran (SCMP ) is taking happy snappies for AP; and lan Stewart (New York Times and the only former Club President) is back on the road. Peter Bennett (Boyden) is in the headhunting game in the city; Michael Foote

(The Star, lTT, Brown Williamson etc) 1991

Balut victims; his former colleague at Asia Magazine, Telly Lobson (aka Teny Robson), is in the wholesale wine business; and Paul Dougherly (The Sfar and GIS) is due back in town any day after two years in Los Angeles writing features for the Packer magazines. Peter Turvey, of the legendary 1969 Hong Kong Pie-Eating Championships (the winner ate two), is now office manager for his wife Dollin, who runs Syd-

ney's biggest Chinese legal practice in

the Haymarket; Michael Morton-Evans (Evening Standard ) has a printing brokerage on the north side; Barry Hanger (China Fleet Club) runs a carpet cleaning business and round-eye amah agency; Fred Aw (Standard) is in property development in the city; and Frank McFayden, who gave up the world's best job as relief manager for Qantas to go into the wildlife business in Kenya, is looking after rather big pussy cats at Taronga Zoo. Among the "shielas," La Brindisi cooks the books or something at the newport

Arms Hotel three or four days a week

(when she's not destroying channel markers in Pittwater); Nene King is killing

There is

when last heard of , Shiela Gibbs was publishing a record/cd catalogue somewhere on the Lower North Shore.

reclusive

some of whom we see on occasions, like Kenelm and Janet Creighton, David Arnett and Joe Parkes, and Carolle Boyce. Patrick and Helen Hutcheon bob up from time to time, and Patrick's brother Robin (former SCMP chief) is around town

somewhere, but we seem to have lost touch recently with the

wig king, Richard Wang, harbour swimmer John Ball, Mar-

garet Spackman, Bill Stevenson, Warwick lngall and Keith Forbes. No doubt they'll surface again. There are also quite a few former members living interstate, particularly in Melbourne, where those two grande dames, Marsha Prysuska

(Standard ) and Merril Bennett (Jardine Airways) occasionally preside over the FCC Further South (see story, right). ln Brisbane, Keith Jackson (SCMP ) has a very popular Thai restaurant; Hol-

lywood Geoff Somers (Ihe Star and GIS) is dedicating his remaining years to the suruival of the Australian bookmaking profession; and Alan Hales (Ling-McOann) was recently appointed lecturer in advertising and marketing at Queensland University of Technology. Derek Nurse, former head serang of Marklin, has been living in retirement in Perth since the early '70s, and former Club veep Barry Deegan (SCMP and ITT) is also in retirement in Darwin, where he spends most of his time insisting he is

not dead. "Devious," incidentally, formed a GIStype operation in the Top End for the Northern Territory Government some years ago (the late David March-banks lChina Maillwas one of the first staffers) and he was also foundation President of the Darwin Press Club.

them as editor of Woman's Day; Robyn Dougherty (Far East Trade Press I is fund-raiser at Kincoppal Convent in Rose Bay, where she and Penny were old girls; Marita Blood (Peninsula) runs a very successful PR agency in the city; and

a small

colony in the Blue Mountains,

Mike Throssell lMike

Throssell was managing editor of The Star and PR managerfor ITT in Hong Kong between 1966 and 1972, and is a long standing FCC member.'lle now runs a Sydney publishing outfit called NEWS (National Editing & Writing Seruice).

The recent FCC Further South roll-up at Kooyong Tennis Club, with Marsha Prysuska (left) and Merril Bennett seated in front

Another great idea ike allgreat ideas, the Great Hong Kong Get-Together in Melbourne was born over a drink. ln fact, a

lot of drinks. Merril Bennett and I bumped into each other at a cocktail party some years ago and decided to get a few Hong Kong survivors together for a lunch "sometime soon." lt took us almost a year and quite

a few lunches to plan the lunch, but it finally happened. The venue was the wonderfully restored Lord Raglan Room at the Railway

Hotel in Port Melbourne, and about 14 showed up. Among them were Captain John McPherson of the Salvation Army, who went to Hong Kong back in 1979 to set up the Chaimawan Refugee Camp and stayed until 1985;Sally Bobertson, ex-Swire now with ArthurAnderson and Co; and Marshall Brown, who was with the National Bank in Hong Kong but nows writes very successful books, and his wife Marrell. The Hong Kong nostalgia flowed, so did the wine, and we broke up only when

the hotel people needed the room for dinner. Before we did, Merril and I handed

over the organiser's mantle to Sally Robertson. The next event took place a couple of months later at the Elbow Bar in Bourke

Street, where we had the place to ourselves, and by that time numbers had

grown to 28 with the addition of wellknown FCC regulars like Brian Haig (he is ,ex-Royal Hong Kong Police) and his wife lda, Gerry Patrick, Robert and Margaret Rees, Diana Evans and others. More recently, 38 former Hong Kongers met for dinner at Kooyong Tennis Club, with portraits of the greats looking

down on us. Among those these were Tim Birch, ex-Radio Hong Kong, who is now living in Dromana, some 70km away, Felix Carrady and his wife Zieta, Geoff Wraith, Barbara and lan Reid, Liz and Les McCormack (Liz organised this show), Kerry Jelbart, Mrs Margaret Robertson (Sally's

mother, who first went to Hong Kong in 1 934 and says she "noticed a few changes" when she visited again in 'l 990, and Mary Philips, who still lives in Hong Kong but is currently renovation her father's house in South Yarra.

Marsha Prysuska lMarsha Prysuska was almost a fixture first a the China Mail then the Standard as a columnist between 1966 and 1980, and almost as permanent a fixture at the FCC during that time. She now runs her own PR consultancy in Melbourne.

THECORRESPONDENTOCTOBER

1991 2I

LETTERS

NTEW

Subscription proposal unfair

monthly magazine. lt makes me wonder why I paid so much to keep my membership active. Jones Yang, Seattle, USA.

I was disappointed to find in my mail a letter from the Club's honorary secretary stating that if I wished to continue receiving The Correspondentl would have to pay an annual subscription. Having devoted a considerable amount of time to the affairs of the Club as president (twice) and as a member of the Board throughout my 15 years in Hong Kong (not to mention contributing to The Correspondent ) I found this proposal ungracious to say the least. lÍ The Correspondent cannot afford to cary a few life members, it hardly deserves to be in print.

Congratulations on the highly informative, up to the minute publication ol The Correspondent. As the world today changes hourly I wait with anticipation for the next issue of the magazine.

lan Stewart, Singapore

C Proctor,

-Dori

!!! Yes

to The Correspondent

- Roy Edmonds, Blackpool, UK !!tr of Mr Viswa Nathan, I have found the

magazine lapsing back into a parochial manner with more interest to those in Hong Kong than us exiles.

would not want to miss a single issue of the quite "grown up" Club magazine. I enjoy reading all the bits of news and reports on the Club's activities, in which - alas - I cannot join. The I

Bangkok FCC, nice as it is, is not as lively and interesting as my "home club" in Hong Kong.

Claus Dehio, Bangkok.

!!¡

producer/director, Global (UK). John Reverand, producer (Asia), Worldwide Television News. Lukas Schwarzacher, East Asia cor-

nomic Review. Tan Shih-ying, chief

correspondents,

Asiaweek. Jeremy

PeterTsang, managing editor, Hong Kong

Hotel Group.

!!! And for someth¡ng completely different It is good to see from the July issue

G. Miller

Associate Denis Allistone, delegate, lnternational Committee of The Red Cross. Clare Baillieu. lan Bloom, research and information manager, Frement Limited

(Lippo Group subsidiary).

James Bryce, general manager for Hong Kong and Far East regional manager, Transatlantic Reinsurance Company. Peter Chan, pafiner, Lee Chan and Co Solicitors. Michael Coad, chief-executive (Asia), Worldwide Entertainment Ltd. Stewart Elliott, executive director, Hopewell Holdings Limited. Christopher Field, director, Brecon

Journalist Murray Cornish, freelance. Emma

Limited. Naoki Fukushima, deputy managing director, Canon Hongkong

Gumm, contributing edilor, Yonger Hall G ro up. Christopher Kaufman, reporter/

Trading Co, Ltd. John Hartley, solicitor, Brecon Limited.

!!!

ASIA

AMERICA

Thailand FCCThailand, 23lF, Dus¡t Thani Hotel,

Honolulu Press Club, PO Box 81 7, Honolulu, Hawaii 96808.

946 Rama lV Road, Bangkok 1 0500, Thailand. Palau CommuniÌy Club,

PO Box 598, Koror, Palau.

Korea Sadan Pubin Seoul Club, 208 Jangchoong-Dong, 2-Ka, Chung-Ku, Seoul, Korea. Seoul Foreign Corr's Club, 18/F, Korea Centre Bldg. 25, 1 -Ka, Taepyong-Ro, Chung-Ku, Seoul, Korea. FCC Tokyo,

All good things must come to an end.

1 -Chome, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo.

National Press Club, 14th Street N.W., Washington, DC 20045, USA. Tel: (202) 662-7500 Omaha Press Club, 2200 One F¡rst National Centre, Nebraska63l 02, Omaha.

!!! I am sorry to hear about the FCC's new policy of charging HK$300 a year for absent members to continue to receive the

THE CORRESPONDENTOCTOBER

1991

Ltd.

Veronica Reid, manager, Price Waterhouse. Andrew Sheppard, consultant, Robert W. M. Wang. Mon ima Siddiq ue,'salesperson/stockbroker-analyst, Smith New Courl (Far East) Ltd. Makoto Takai, senior managing director, Asahi Super Dry (HK) Ltd. Rosemarie Wallace, circulation director (Asia-Pacific, The Economist Newspaper Ltd.

Sean Warren, attorney, Coudert Brothers. Christopher Williams, solicitor, Richards Butler.

The editor welcomes letters trom readers. All correspondence should be addressed to: The

Tel:211 3161

Edltor, The Correspondent, The Foreígn Corre-

National Press Club of Wellington, PO Box 2327, Wellington.

spondents' Club, North Block, 2 Lower Albert Road, Hong Kong. Fax: (852) 868 4092.

NewZealand

150 W. Market, lndianapolis, lN 46204, USA. Tel: (317) 237 -6222

BRITAIN London Press Club & Scribes, 4 Carmelite St., London EC4, UK.

AUSTRALIA Canberra National Press Club, 16 National Circuit,

Barton,4CT2600. Darwin Press Club, Cavenagh St., Darwin. Sydney Journalist Club, 36/40 Chalmers St., Sydney, NSW2000.

The Foreign Press Asso., 11 Carlton House Terrace, London SWl Y 5AJ. Tel:01 -930-0445 Wig and Pen Club, 2291230Slrand, London WC2R 1BA. Tel:01 -353-6864 EUROPE

Overseas Press Club, 310 Madison Ave., Suite 21 16, New York, NY 1 001 7, USA.

Rugby Club

Denmark

Rugby Union House, Crane Place,

lnt'l Press Centre, 14 Snaregard, DK-1 205, Copenhagen K.

Off 314 Pitt St., Sydney, The Greater Los Angeles Press Club, Equestrian Centre Griffith Park, 480 Riverside Drive, Burbank, cA 91 506, USA.

7-1 Yurakocho,

-VincentJoyce,

Sheraton .Hong Kong Hotel and Towers. Thomas Lee, foreign legal advisor, McKenna and Co. Staffan Lofgren, director, Kamewa AB. Alistair Maxwell, senior crown counsel, Hong Kong Government. Mary Oden, senior counsellor, Hill and Knowlton Asia

RECIPROCAL CLUBS

Japan

North Carolina, USA.

Linda Lee, director of public relations

Daily News.

(This correspondence is now closed - Ed)

I paid life absent membership for which I receive no active benefit except The Correspondent. lt's outrageous that you now propose to charge for this one benefit.

Wagstaff

correspondenl, Reuters.

Joseph Emery, Honolulu.

The exception is ambience. Why is the Club spending money on interior design when the survey clearly shows ambience to be in the least need of change? Rob Grinter, Exeter, UK

¡!!

director (worldwide), Mandarin Oriental

The Correspondentis great value and must be kept healthy.

-RobertElegant

-A.

ters. Michael Nulty,

respondent, Wirtschaftswoche. Gharles

of The Correspondent lhal the Food and Beverage Committee is getting to grips with its terms of reference. Most of the immediate actions taken so far address the results of the survey.

D!!

Presse. Kevin Mcquillan,

correspondenl, Rad¡o New Zealand. Ulli Michel, deputy picture edilor, Reuters. Rajan Moses, senior sub-editor, Feu-

Smith, regional edilor, Far Eastern Eco-

magazines in the world.

Since the depafture

France

Neil Hucksteppe, sales and marketing

anchor, Metro Broadcast. Christopher Slaughter, anchor, Metro Broadcast.

and advertising, The

Michael Lewis, region al edilor, Agence

¡!!

The Correspondent, ol course, is one of the few benefits of Club membership to absent members and I should like to continue to receive it, however, not at an increased fee of HK$600, which would make it one of the dearest monthly

Correspondents

Seishi Fukuda, Hong Kong bureau chief, Asahi Broadcasting Corporation. desk), Peufers.

!!tr

zlne.

The FCC welcomes the following new members Sonya Hepinstall, sub-editor (world-

Long Beach, California.

It is not long ago that, without notice, the subscription for absent members was increased by more than 100% from HK$150 to HK$300 a year. There was no warning of the increase until I was invoiced. Now I have received your brief two-paragraph letter of August 8 saying that you wish to hike up the fee again by 100% to HK$600, in order to cover printing costs of the monthly maga-

MEMBERS

Pittsburgh Press Club, 300 Sixth Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15222, USA. Tel: (412) 471-4644

Singapore

Reno Press & Virginia Club, 221 So. VirginiaSt., Reno, NV 90501, USA,

Singapore Foreign Corr's Assn, 41 Duxton Rd. Singapore 0208.

lndianapolis Press Club,

NSW2000. The Victoria Club, Level 41 , Rialto Soulh Tower, 525 Collins St., Melbourne, Victoria 3000.

Germany Journalisten Club, Berllins E.V., Kurfurstendamm 224, 1000 Berlin 15.

CANADA Ottawa National Press Club, 150 Wellington, Ottawa KIP 544. Winnipeg Press Club, Marlborough Hotel, 331 Smith St., Winnipeg, Manitoba R3b 2G9, Canada.

Presse Club Munchen, 8000 Munchen 2, Marienplalz 22, Germany.

Holland Nieuwspoort nternational, Press Centre, Hofsingel 12, The Hague, The Netherlands. I

THECORRESPONDENTOCTOBER 1991 23

THERE'S A1WAYS A STORY AT IHE HONO KONG TRADE DEVEIOPThENT COUNCI1

A PEDDLER'S JOURNAL

The heaYyweight world of Sumo have often wondered why Sumo

wrestling has always been so popular with the foreign community in Japan. One theory has it that for Americans, at least, it becomes a substitute for football or other sports they avidly followed in the United States but are more difficult to keep up with while in Japan. The unusual size and bulkof the wrestlers also seems to intrigue foreign viewers. ln any case I wouldn't be surprised if a random sampling of middleaged resident foreigners demonstrated a more detailed knowledge of the Sumo -number scene than an equal of randomly selected Japanese. The questions most commonly asked by newcomers to Sumo are, "How do

they get so big?" and "Where do they come from?" Upper ranked wrestlers typically weigh

around 150 kilograms but Konishiki, a Hawaiian of Samoan descent and the only non-Japanese in the top ranks, tips the scales at around 253 kilos. The most common route into the Sumo world is for 14 to 15-year-old boys to be scouted in their home towns or villages and asked to join a training stable. At that age a large frame and heavy bone structure are the prime prerequisites. The weight comes later. With rare ex-

ceptions they come from the lower income and education brackets of society and like boxing the Sumo world offers one of the few avenues available to them

to satisfy a hunger for fame and fortune. Also, like boxing, only a tiny percentage make

it.

It is possible for anyone to visit a stable merely by wandering in to watch the training. I visited several during my years in Japan. All you have to do is get up early enough in the morning and find the place. They don't advertise. With an introduction and appropriate monetary donation one can become a sponsor and take a midday meal with the wrestlers or, depending on the introduction and size of the contribution, be invited to attend other functions.

24 T}IE

Life in the Sumo stable is extremely hard. lt is organised according to a strict feudalistic hierarchy. Junior wrestlers wait on their seniors to the point of scrubbing their backs in the tub and combing and setting their hair into the topknot. They eat least and do the cleanlng up.

For the juniors the day begins around 3.30 in the morning when they are expected to get up to begin the daily work-

out. The more senior wrestlers are allowed to sleep in until 6am. Practice consists of taking turns battling each

other or a wooden post, interspersed with assorted exercises. Since along with weight, strenglh and a low centre of gravity, the suppleness of a ballet dancer is also essential to a good Sumo. Any three hundred-pounder worth his salt can sit flat on the floor and with both legs stretched in opposite directions forming a perfectly straight line, touch his head on the floor. During the practice session it is not uncommon for several of the older wrestlers to select one of the juniors, and taking turns, repeatedly throw him to the floor until he is so exhausted they have to pick him up in order to throw him again. This is supposed to develop toughness and spirit. The first meal of the day is not served until around 11am and by that time the Sumos are ravenous. lt is always the same, a stew called chankonabe containing containing large chunks of fish, chicken, tofu and assorted vegetables,

rice and washed down with beer. Huge quantities are consumed, after which thewrestlers served with many bowls of

sleep. Some calisthenics or weight lifting later in the afternoon is optional,

followed by another heavy meal in early evenrng.

Two huge meals a day, preceded by exercise and followed by sleep, seems to be the key to put 70 or more kilos on a growing boy. After retirement, however, it is highly recommended the process be reversed. lt would logically follow that no exercise, little sleep, and several light

CORRESPONDENTOCTOBER I99I

meals a day would do the trick. But suspect the key to shedding all that excess flesh is not so simple. I

Chiyonof uji has been the reigning super-

star of Sumo for the past ten years. He retired this year atthe age of 35. With 31 tournament victories he fell one short of Taiho's all time record set in the sixties. He was relatively smallfor a grand champion weighing in at only 120 kilograms. Lacking the huge midsection and layers of blubber more typical of Sumo wrestlers, those kilos were all well-defined sculptured muscle. His trademark was the intimidating glare he fixed on his opponents during the preliminary warmups. From that he acquired his nick-

name "The Wolf". He had a wide female following. Some years ago there was an incident of brutality in Chiyonofuji's stable which, I have discovered, very few of my fellow non-Japanese Sumo fans know about. It was reported in some Japanese magazines but to my knowledge received no mention in the English language press. One of the younger wrestlers who had a well-known elderbrother in adifferent stable made a practice of frequenting nightclubs and bars. For his rank that was a no-no and the hierarchy decided he should be taught a lesson. They organised what in Japanese is called a rinchi, a loan word from the English lynch. Early one morning they put the unsuspecting fellow on one side of the ring and he was forced to battle with all the others in turn. He was roughed up so badly with broken bones and the like he spent six months in hospital. He was almost permanently blinded and had to retire from the sport. The stablemaster was called on the carpet and fined but the Sumo powers-that-be were able to

The HKTDC can help you make business headlines every day of the year. As a major force in world trade you'll find we've always got a g0od slory to tell: no padding, no puff and backed by accurate up-to-the-moment figures and statistics. Next time you receive

we H( Hong KongTrade Development Council trade õlE wE cREATE oppoRTUNtTlES

0ne of 0ur press releases, give it a good once-over. You'll sOon see what mean. 0r contact us if you need details on any aspect 0f Hong Ko rg

prevent any repercussions extending beyond their own circle.

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let:(4ì10ì 3B32950

Gelebrating 60 million great cameras.

Canon Hongkong Trad¡ng Co., Ltd. 10/F,

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Tower, 61 lvlody Road, Tsimshatsui East, Kowloon, Hong

Kong.

Tel: 739

0802

Fax: 369

Z/01

Telex: 30046 CHKT HX