The Correspondent, October 1993

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COVER STORY

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Han Dongfang: a sÍmple trade unionist Chinese labour activist and exile Han Dongfang speaks

out for workers' rights.

VE

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Veteran Vietnam correspondents Absent member Peter Finn makes a plea for recognition by governments of the contribution of corlespondents to the Vietnam War.

An open letter to Eric Falt Michael Mackey cuts loose on the UN's press spokesman for the Cambodian election.

FCC Cambodia turns it on Stuart'Wolfendale drops in on the surprisingly well-found FCC in Phnom Penh.

Here's to you Mrs Robinson Marion Burke looks at the performance of kish President Mary Robinson, who addressed the Club last month.

BOOK REVIEWS Nury Vittachi reviews The Fragrant Chinese. The latest edition of Insight Guides' Hong Kong, edited

by Saul Lockhart, is introduced.

Goodbye Heinz. Hello Christoph Club members gathered to formally farewell Heinz Grabner and to welcome new manager Christoph Hoelz.

Fax machine supplement Lany Campbell reviews the latest developments on the fax machine and services front.

COVER STORY - Obituaries Kate Webb and Nick Demuth share some stories former President and Club stalwart Bert Okuley, died last month.

Absent member David Bell writes on the life and times of former This is Hong Kong columnist Marsha Prysuska, who also died last month.

Peddler's Journal Cover photograph by Bob Davis,

Inside photographs supplied by David Thurston, Hubert Van Es

ZUNG FU AJardine

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THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

1993

1

still controls competition. So how can you say you have competition if the

NIEWS AND VIEV/S

tition?"

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Han said he welcomed the government's crackdown on corruption "but it doesn't have the means," he said.

lt I

Han

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Dongfang: a simple

position had got worse.

"As the system changes from one dominated by State enterprises to a free market system many workers are now finding themselves without jobs.

"For the first time people are finding themselves without jobs and, unlike other countries, China does not have a social

omparisons with Poland's Lech Walesa are easy to draw when listening to Han

security net.

"Despite years of low wages, workers

Dongfang, the trade union activist who was expelled from China on August 14.

Walesa, the shipyard worker from Gdansk, took on a brutal, rePressive communist regime and, within 10 years,

are now asking themselves 'what ever happened to allthe money we made for the State?'

"China has

The fight was not easy and even today

Han puts workers rights first. problems the free labour movement

labour movement was split between

faces in communist China.

official or Kuomintang or Communist unoff icial. "ln otherwords, the trade union movements supported the political power base whether it be Kuomintang or Communists,"he said.

"Neither worked for the betterment of workers only the power.

"So based on what history has shown us, the free trade movement has detached itself from any political affiliations. Our primary concern is the welfare of workers - all workers in China."

He said: "China is undergoing strange economic reforms. By strange I mean that it has adopted the whole system of a planned market economy but at the same time adopted the most barbaric parts of that market economy.

"By barbaric I mean the central power

Walesa's stand, however, showed to

"The free labour movement in China,"

the world that a lone voice in the wilderness can cry out and be heard.

Han's voice has cerdainly been heard but the task ahead of him is immense because what Han is advocating - the right of workers to belong to free trade heart of the unions - strikes at the very communist power base in China.

Jailed for two years for organising labour support for the 1989 democracy movement, the 30-year-old railwaY worker has won few friends in Beijing.

This charismatic labour activist is now

he said, "is not a political movement. "ln some ways it's probably closer to the human rights movement because we are concerned about the rights of

China will relent and allow him back into his own country . . . without penalty.

Addressing a Club luncheon last month, Han spoke of the immense

2

THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

a public health system

where people get free medical care but no one goes because the care is not there.

brought the system down.

waiting in Hong Kong to see whether

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had not changed ... if anything their

By Karl Wilson

nrng.

ready to explode at any time."

Han said he was convinced that if the Chinese government recognised the free trade union movement it would help rather than bring the government down. "l am a simple trade unionist," he said, "and no one can stop me."

"The only way you can end corruption is to,have a sound legal system. But that would bring into question the political system and would undermine the self interests of those who'hold power.

"So they kill a bunch of bureaucrats in order to warn others and not upset the status quo."

He said the position of the workers

trade ao unionist

is far from over as the former shipyard worker, now President of Poland, oversees an election which at press time his communist adversaries look like win-

central power still controls that compe-

S

society.

"The problem today is that China has become confused and this is having an impact on the lower classes. Workers are going on strike and there have been riots in the countryside.

"China is facing a time bomb which is

workers."

And he made it very clear, right from the very beginning of his address: "lt is not our intention to supporl anyone or any movement to overthrow the regime, nor do we intend to take power from the regrme.

"But having said that we have

no

intention of supporting a regime which takes away the rights of workers."

Han said that when looking at the labour movement in China it had to be placed firmly in the context of history. ln the Twenties and Thirlies China's 1993

"lf the authorities want to stop China's slide into chaos it has to seek stability at the grass roots. And the way I see that developing is to let the free trade union movement into every strata of society.

"At present the lower classes have no buffer between them and the government. lf you had a free trade union movement problems could be communicated up and down the line.

"So those who want political power can have political power and those who want social change can have social change too. "l can't see how communicating the needs of the workers and lower classes can threaten China's political power.

The free trade union movement is not about political power it is all about social change.

"For example we would like to see a system whereby labour and employees can sort out their problems. Such things will have a positive impact on the

Sayonara Slaughter-san Former Metro Radio journalist and

Journalist member of the Board, Christopher Slaughter, said good-bye

Above: Chris, with Vice President Carl Goldstein, at his farewell in the main bar.

to friends and colleagues last month before taking up a new post in Japan.

His seat on the Board will be taken up by K. K. Chadha well known Hong Kong-based shipping and aviation

Below: Jo Mayfield gives some parting advice to Chris.

journalist.

Þ

È¡ THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER 1993 3

Australian correspondents' lives cut short during the 1968 Tet Offensive.

NEV/S AND VIEV/S

ln these days of hectic reporting out Somalia and Bosnia, the 1968 correspondents are almost forgotten.

But their deaths retain the unbroken link

of

Yietnam: Giving recognition to those who also served

of man finding out about what man

is

doing to man in times of conflict.

It is probably true to say that if a war correspondent wins a Pulitzer Prize, the UK Journalist of the Year, or in the case

of Australia, a Walkley Award, that

is

recognition enough. But is it?

The Vietnam conflict and the recogni-

By Peter Finn

FACT: War correspondents can and do get killed.

FACT: They are classified as noncombatants.

FACT: lf they are killed whatever their fam i I i es g et f i n ancial Iy i s d epe nd e nt u po n their news organisations or the insur-

ance company.

FACT: ln Australia, and I susPect in many other countries, they receive no other recognition.

So we

tion of those who took paft, as far as

same food and we all went to the same latrine, often at the same time. Army food makes you very regular.

It was called, getting down to the same level.

Back in Saigon, however, some correspondents would shed their combat fatigues and sport the tailor-made black

Australia is concerned, has been a long legacy of guilt and shadowy detachment.

Guilt, because of conscriPtion, and detachment because it was the war the public did not want and the servicemen came home unhonoured.

Now the recognition is coming. Serving troops were awarded their campaign medals immediately, of course,

allwore the same clothing. We all wore the same boots. We all ate the

safari suits for the compulsory walk down Tu Do Street. They also looked good walking into the Caravelle Hotel.

For most of us correspondents who spent some time in Vietnam, allwe have now are f ading newspaper cuttings, rusty

memories, an AK-47 round or two, and

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orresPondentsasagroupare not gong haPPY. ln wartime it

Minister for Veterans' Affairs, John

And 26 years later, this Year, some of the 4,500 Australians classif ied as logistic support have just been awarded the Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal.

Some deserve it. The qualification

Faulkner said: "l acknowledge the very fine work done by members of the Australian Press Corp in Vietnam.

"As you were representing media or-

ganisations and not providing direct support to Australian forces in Vietnam, you are not eligible to receive the Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal."

The letter I wrote was to try to obtain some belated recognition for those Australian correspondents killed in Vietnam, parlicularly my friends, Michael Birch and John Cantwell, who had worked with me in Hong Kong years before. ln the same letter, Senator Faulkner said that a new committee had been set up to inquire into Australian awards, including "the possible recognition of service by civilian teams in Vietnam.

"The issue of the recognition of war correspondents which you have raised is avalid one and your suggestion willbe

There is also no doubt that correspondents during wartime have often worn a uniform, albeit of some sorts.

During World War ll, Australian correspondents wore a uniform with WC shoulder patches unt¡l they got tired of cracks ,st Su¡day ln a ì¡iel Conc Âmbùsh i¡ the Salgon suburb o¿ Cholon, tour corr€spondents ryerc Ál{in. Tlìtee sere Ore ol the tlrec, Àl¡chael Birch,24, Iåd workcd Âs a Jorrrnalist ln 11'¡. Thls Iictùre Fls tâkan ãoon nlter.^ust¡¡l¡nns.

They also served

apart from the serving Digger on patrol anyway.

IüIERE ar e Do gurdclill€s covering the q'ar ln ln Vietnam, no Australian officer, to \ lor lnaDr Some coÌ fesrank 'rlsri¡r-stick determi¡rmy knowledge, wore any badge of the conlines provide a target. on patrol. lt would only

THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

Shades of Korea!

tional memorial in Canberra.

medal.

4

Correspondents under frrre in Bosnia; the body of a correspondent is removed in Somalia.

support of Australian forces."

Which brings me to my point. ln reply to a letter I wrote recently, the Australian

"Fruit salad" on the military chest usually means lots of travel, lots of influence, or lots of staYing alive.

Yet there were thousands of cases during the Korean War of military personnel flying from Japan to Korea for one day simply to qualify for a campaign

sets of Australian army fatigues. No insignia, of course, but who could tell me

crew of a ship or aircraft, who was attached to a unit or organisation in

but only recently have they got a na-

isthelastthingontheirminds.

about dunnies. ln my case, in Vietnam, during 196768, the first clothing offered was two

needed? "Anybody who served one day

or more in Vietnam as a member of the

1993

By Pelcr Finn sll, in a ñay, self-appojnted cì trsad€rs of t.be [NLh Sor¡e a¡e f¡eelaDcers nìtrsL produce to eût -o became ¡

Peter Finn's story about the role of \ilar correspondents appeared in tlne West Australian.

passed to the review committee for consideration."

Wherever you are Mike and John, don't hold your breath Peter Finn has been a member of the FCC for 29 years and currently works in

TV and public relations in Perth, Western Australia.

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THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER 1993

5

}{EWS AND VIEWS

NEV/S AND VIEWS

An open letter to the LIN's Eric Falt July issue of The Correspondent we published an article by Australian journalist Alan Knight on how the media covered the recent elections in Cambodia, and in particular how United Nations spokesman Eric Falt handled the press.

Club member Míchael Mackey,

In

the

who covered the election, has his own opinions of Falt and offers this open letter to him.

gance to a nation, I suppose dealing with the press in a similar manner was like a maestro amusing him or herself with a two finger exercise. And boy, oh boy Eric, did you relish two finger exer-

connived in a terrorist act that left two people dead in Auckland Harbour and

cises in the general direction of the

fect.

Which raises the question at the centre of all this, what did you know about news values or handling of the media?

Well, on the latter point the evidence that you and your staff had bad relations with much of the media is overwhelming. The first time I met your deputy he

media.

Well not all of us, let's be fair. Remember how near the front of the crowded press room there was always a coterie of journalists whose questions you always answered and who always called you by your first name? And we must not forget the one who sat in the middle

"professional" and try to ingest it.

Maybe I am being too severe. MaYbe I thought a well-funded UN operation might have served journalists betterthan any national government. Sadly I was wrong. I had forgotten how arrogant international bureaucrats and their staff

can be.

And arrogant you were. Not just You Eric but the entire UNTAC operation.

This stems from your political masters who thought that the words "peace proc-

ess" and "Khmer Rouge" were compatible. All this without reference to the Cambodian people whose role in this was designated passive throughout.

Once you had disPlaYed that arro-

ó

THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

and admitted that UNTAC was not per-

made a serious attempt to make me look small in front of other journalists.

Sadly he picked on somebody with a

Dear Eric, Remember me? ActuallY, I bet You don't. Because in the competing mass of arrogance, rudeness and ego that made up your personalitY, memories of Cambodia, UNTAC and Press briefings have probably been smothered by the real concerns of yourself and the UN;ego, office politics and eating at the right restaurants.

Not that this was ever forgotten when the UN in the form of UNTAC invaded Cambodia. What was eagerly dispensed with were the needs of the press and the people of Cambodia.

May I suggest you find a dictionarY and look up the meaning of the word

say that "Truth is cruel" surely you could have stood up in front of 100 journalists

of the corridor touch{yping your every word into her laptop. Surely you remember her Eric? lf she asked you to stop,

you did.

Eric, the favouritism was outrageous.

We are all journalists with different per-

spectives and needs, not to mention salaries and deadlines. lt was not your job to create your own praetorian guard.

What we all had in common was that

an organisation, of which you were a servant, and not the other way round, had accredited us so that we could inform the global public about what was being done in its name. This was part of a process called accountability. lt's a key part of democracy. Your role was to telluswhatwas happening and to bravely tell us the truth, unpalatable though that might have been on occasion.

Eric, if a French prime minister could go on national television after having

1993

mouth not afraid of self defence.

Other journalists who were there report similar incidents. WhY? What strategic use did it serve?

More worrying still, sometime after this incident I met an American diplomat who in an off-the-record conversation mentioned that he remembered you and your deputY from Your days at the UN's New York headquarters. Even then you had been told repeatedly "to cool it".

Now if necessary I will name this individual and another person who was party to the conversation because what I want to know is why was someone who had been told to "cool it" put in charge of the PR of the UN's biggest and most costly operation to date?

At a time when the UN is both heavilY in debt and looking to extend its peacekeeping operations, why were people

who were openly disdainful of the media, running a high profile campaign that seemed to be without awareness of either news values or journalistic

needs. Even if this was happening by default then it is an indictment of the UN's personnel, management and strat-

egy that calls into question its ability to deliver.

Yours, waiting for some very pertinent answers although this time without the smug jibes please.

@

The FCC Cambodia's first luncheon, righft Stephen Hayward with the Minister of Commerce.

FCC Cambodia turns it on ( ('f ¡ ¡ I I

know what this will add up

Io, r Ìnougnl Io myserl

when they told me about the FCC Cambodia. "lt'll be like a Pattaya corner bar run by desperate Danes.

They will have thrown together a bamboo bar, hand-me-down stools, a brief line of optics and half-warm beers and Bob Dylan will be coming off a borrowed tape deck to remind us of the war."

The President, Leo Dobbs, drove me past it on the way from Phnom Penh airport to my hotel. lt was a door in a pre "lt's open war - any war - shophouse. most of the time," he confesses. "Bet it is," I thought cynically. "Not much

difference between one light bulb switched on or off."

A few minutes later, I "cycloed" back to the club on my own. lt is just around the corner from the Royal Palace on the waterfront along the world's most unlikely Karl Marx Quai. There was a door on the ground floor, but it was not the

By Stuart Wolfendale club proper. That was the reception with the international telephones and the fax machines and asecretarial staff of three.

Down the corridor were three private offices for hire about to be equipped each with a PC, desk, jet printer and typewriter. At the back was a shower for members in need of a freshen up.

The club has, in fact, taken the top three floors of three adjacent properties for the bar itself . A long bar with a forest of optics to the left gives out onto a lounge of deep and wide teak colonial armchairs and weird and wonderful matching tables each with different lev-

els of surface for putting drinks on so that no drunk may be confused as to which is his.

The ceiling has been taken out and

Humbled, I climbed to the first floor where there were further services in-

replaced with beams through to the

cluding Reuters on a screen in glorious technicolour which makes our whackythump kit by the noticeboard look like early Baird.

Thermal instinct took me higher uP the stairs to the bar and lounge. What bliss! lwas waaahinglas repeatedly as aJade TV presenter. There will be Hong Kong members with tears in their eyes

dining room.

at the sight of it

arm classes.

-

a Nirvana for the beer

rafters. The effect is not unlike our main The glory though is the terrace end of

the room, wide and open to the elements, protected only by stout rattan blinds and giving an unhindered riverside view of the very point where the Tongle Sap meets the Mekong. A brilliant light off this unique junction tumbles back into the room. You can stand in it, stroking a glass of the local draught Angkar beer, hypnotised by the sun

THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER 1993

7

haze over the waters, smiling vacantly southwards to an unseen Saigon.

Until the whiff catches you. The river bank below is an ungazetted public toilet for the cyclo drivers of downtown Phnom

Penh. You never have to queue for a ride at the door of this FCC. This exciting, albeit improbable, facility has been open three months. Commercially it has been given a hefty leg up by a group of business members organised by Steve Hayward who is also a member of the Hong Kong Club. Professionally it is run by a committed cadre of resident correspondents, mostly FCC absent members, led this year by Leo Dobbs.

Membership, irrespective of profession, is a flat US$150. This allows members between 10 per cent and 30 per

cent discounts on calls, faxes and all secretarial services. Otherwise, the general public is allowed into the club.

Given the rather constrained circumstances of Phnom Penh societY, this

does not add to a particularly high hill of beans but the club needs the money.

Smallstill in numbers in Phnom Penh's frontier atmosphere, the FCC Cambodia has a comradely feeling to it which is a rare moment of a club's early days.

They are keen on a programme of jour-

nalistic events already underway. ln a week I saw three recent documentaries including a heady mix on Cambodia

of Shawcross and Pilger in one evening

on some very smooth machin-eryshown brought in that day from Hong Kong

on the Dragon Air inaugural flight.

For the regular Wednesday night discussion, a distinguished professional gathering satdutifully but aching through a discussion on press freedom with the deputy information minister and a newspaper publisher who was also Khieu Samphan's brother. You could have learned more from the Phnom Penh phone book, but it is these painstaking events that will gain the FCC Cambodia credibility in the foggy political land-

Tl-l=zoo

scape outside it.

From the FCC, Hong Kong, the Cambodian club wants moral support. We

perhaps do not fully appreciate how much, in circumstances like these, our Club is looked to as the centre. At the August board meeting it was agreed to full reciprocal rights with the FCC Cambodia.

For FCC Hong Kong members, an outgoing fax from the Phnom Penh club to the region should cost around US$4.50 a minute. lncoming is US$1 a page.

Daily rental of one of the equipped offices will be US$35 -- about the same as the rate for a decent hotel room that is not in the overpriced and underwhelming Sofitel Cambodiana.

The idea is abroad that we in Hong

Kong might get up a supportive charabang trip down there, moral or otherwise. Critical information for prospective visitors to FCC Cambodia is that drink prices range from US$1 .50 for a beer to US$3.50 for exotica. Prices are halved at happy hour. The kitchen is

BY AR.THUÞ. HAC.KEÞ.

still a gas stove and a microwave and dishes are in the hearty snack category.

However with three exquisite French

WHAÏ

restaurants and the famed Gecko Bar

DO YOU REGARD GOVERNMENT'S LOCALIZATION POLICY A5 RACìALI5T ?

YOUR PROFESSION 9lR ?

15

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CIVIL 5 ERVANT

within 10 mlnutes pedalling distance, no one fades away from lack of nourishment.

The young barmen and waiters speak better English than I do. ln a country where their fathers could have been

shot for knowing "yes" and "no" and

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,/-,-

æ-

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where Hun Sen wanted them to speak Russian, this is a mystery I will have to go back again to solve.

Stuart Wolfendale is a freelance writer and columnist based in Hong

Kong.

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...PROVIÞEÞ THAT HE ÞOESN,T SCREW UP /v\Y PROMOTION PROSPE CfS/

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A^ATTER IF THE EXPAT IS BLACK ORWIiITE

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THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

1993

4

Members 65 years and over Members who are 65 years and over with 15 years accumulated membership will now have their

THE BEsr PanwEnsHIps

Lnsr A LpEtn¡m,.

monthly subscriptions waived from Sept. 1. lf you fall into that category please notify Karen at the office.

HongkongBank Your Future Is Our Future

COVER STORY

important in life takes place outside the conventional definition of politics. "lt is also possible," she told the FCC audi-

b

ence, "to outgrow [the Troubles]

o

I

working on dimensions of the problem that shouldn't really be a problem."

3 rt-.

Though they are still slaughtering one

Ăž

Âż

another with ferocious abandon in the Nor1h, certain small chinks of light are

words, "a voice without political power" make a difference?

becoming visible.

The lrish government is finally willing to discuss its constitutional claim to jurisdiction over Ulster - an intransigence, Robinson had argued throughout her election campaign, that was ever an impediment to peace. There is increased communication at a grass roots level between both sides of the sectarian divide, something the lrish president has worked conspicuously to help along.

And despite the recent furore of her handshake with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adarns, Robinson's relations with Northern lreland's unionists has been cautiously positive; her supporl of the unionists' right to be part of the Anglolrish Agreement and her marriage to a Protestant earning her brownie points.

But how far does Mary Robinson's presidency represent a change of attitude in lreland? Unfortunately, her startling victory in November 1990 owes less to an increased equality-consciousness amongst the lrish electorate than to forluitous circumstance.

For one thing, had the election favourite Brian Lenihan not been the centre of a rollicking political scandal on the eve of the election, it is highly unlikely the family Robinson would ever have seen the inside of Aras an Uachtarain (the formervice-regal lodge in Dublin's Phoenix Park that is the president's home). ln addition, a last-minute smear campaign on the Robinsons' marital state and a shabby attempt to paint Mrs R as a neglectful mother backfired to create a groundswell of opinion in her favour.

Then, of course, there was the women's vote.

Long the biggest and most conspicuously-ignored group of voters, women reacted to this bright, articulate candidate as the answer to ancient frustrations. Through her they found a new dignity with which to counter the male

Because, she argues, much of what is

hierarchy of church and state that had

One of the avowed aims of the Robinson presidency is to help improve North/South relations, to be a "symbol

of reconciliation ."

Herets to you, Mrs. Robinson Editor and FCC stalwart Marion Bourke, who hails from Dublin, relished the chance to cover the lrish President's luncheon address. She writes:

duce

a

ack in the early Seventies, a young woman appeared on lrish TV proposing to introbill to Dail Eireann (the lrish

Parliament) which would legalise contraception. lt was a bit of a shocker in

of the new Europe, Mrs Robinson was

tries. Our own painful historical experi-

asked about lreland's role in the UN.

ence may have made us better listeners and more receptive to the suffering of

She remarked on the contributions "dis-

interested, small-country voices that don't threaten anyone in a post-Cold War world" can make - witness Norway's brokering of a new Middle East peace agreement between lsrael and the PLO. Her country's particular strength, she reckoned, was "part of the psyche of the lrish people to identify with the right of

holy, Catholic lreland, where contra-

self-development of developing countries and of the need to reach out and be

ception is a difty word and the radical

supportive."

young feminist was denounced from

Historical background, she suggested, was the basis for that psyche. "We have

every pulpit in the land as "a curse upon

the country".

Had you predicted then that this "brazen hussy" would one day become the country's president, they'd have either locked you up or stopped you drinking.

Well, Mary Robinson has become president and lreland's most popular

a folk memory of the potato famine which devastated lreland in the middle of the last century. What subliminal effects do such past experiences have on the perspective and approach of ordinary people in contemporary lreland?

yet to boot. During a 24-hour

"These are difficult questions, and

stopover in Hong Kong last month, sandwiched between state visits to New Zealand and lndia, she addressed a professional luncheon.

After a speech expounding on her country's position within the framework

there is a temptation to simplify. Suffice it to say that lreland has produced a disproporlionate number of voluntary aid workers and that ordinary lrish people contribute disproporlionately to aid agencies working in developing coun-

one

10 THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

1993

by

others."

She's seen that suffering first hand.

Late last year, at the behest of lrish aid workers, Robinson visited Somalia in an effort to publicise the impending famine there. The awfulness of what she found prompted personal negotiations with local warlords to speed up relief distribution and a direct visit to New York to plead with the UN Secretary General on behalf of the Somalians.

But what about the folks back home?

For all their ability to listen to the suffering of others, lrishmen and women appear singularly incapable of listening to each other.

One of the avowed aims of the Robinson presidency is to help improve North/South relations, to be "a symbol

of reconciliation". ln a land where mutual hatreds span centuries, where many have tried to find a solution and failed, where peace groups have risen up hopefully only to melt away helplessly, why

should Mary Robinson

-

-

in her ewn

The HKTDC'S

editor Marion Bourke greets President Robinson (nee Bourke) with the news that

both Bourke

families hail

from County Mayo. Long lost relative?

w! taz

The lrish factor The emerald isle's Joan Howley, publisher of Executive magazine, with President Mary Robinson.

always assumed political and moral dominance. The women of lreland, said

Mary Robinson in her inauguration speech, "instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system." Stirring stuff, but has it had any further affect?

Asked about the present status of women in lreland, Robinson pounced on the question with relish, regretting she only had time for the 'shod' answer.

"There is a very inclusive and dynamic

woman's movement in lreland and cer tainly my election has helped that."

It is, perhaps, Robinson's particular brand of feminism that gives it such wide appeal. "Twenty years ago, what could be characterized as a women's move-

ment in lreland frightened a lot of women." ln fact, the firebrand feminism of the Sixties must have frightened the living daylights out of the average lrish woman

THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER 1993

II

still subjected to a weekly dose of pulpit abuse. The Contraceptive Train, for instance, organised by a group of outspoken feminists like Mary Kenny (yes, she of the right-wing Sunday Telegraph col umns) in 1971 to publicly smuggle condoms into lreland from the Norlh was not something the average mother-of-

three could reasonably partake in.

"They felt excluded from it, they felt left out, they would say, 'that's not for

But the small changes that are laking

place are very telling. Following a rape case last year in which the young victim was left suicidally pregnant, the Supreme Court overturned a previous rul-

ing that had dragged the girl and her parents back from a proposed abortion in London, saying, "The right to life of the mother had to be considered too." A significant dent in the 'copper-fastened'

il N

amendment in the Constitution that forbids abortion. lt is, the hopeful say, the thin end of the wedge.

Mary Robinson is an undoubtedlY powerful, if constrained, force driving that wedge. Whether or not it goes all

,ß

f

the way to split lreland from its problemridden history and allows it to take its full place in the 21st century, remains to be seen.

t-

@

iiir

me, l'm just a housewife'," said Robinson of that era, "There's no women in lreland

What Robinson advocates is self-help, "The lrish women's movement is now a

\ \ ) Þ

AF-L

\

Two shows: 7:30pm-8pm and 9:30pm-1Opm.

Main Dining Room Oct. 18-30: French Promotion

priest preached to his f lock at the beginning of the presidential campaign on the subject of "the Virgin Mary and Ihe other Mary-". And the would-be president had the clergy quivering with indignation when she declared in a pre-election interview that, "the whole patriarchal, male-dominated presence of the Catholic Church is probably the worst aspect of all the establishment forces that have sought to do down women over the years."

Howdeliciously ironic that at the same time the island's clergy were thundering

II

th

Nov. 23: Nochas Latino ($195 per person)

OcL 8-30: à la carte plus English Pie Promotion

very interesting movement because it respects the lives of all women and because the motor force of it is coming out of the lives of those women."

Mind you, not everybodY feels the same way about her. One local parish

IF4

Theme Night in November

Main Bar

r

I

FCC Promotions For Your Diary

that I've met since taking up this office who's saying that."

Verandah Grill

Menu Nov. 29-Jan.2; Normal à la cafie menu with seasonal Christmas dishes in Main & Pool Bars.

OcL 4-30: East meets West Seafood Promotion OcL 29: Australian Gala Night ($295 per person), and a special Australian menu.

Main & Pool Bars Nov. 1-20'. à la carte menu Nov. 22-Dec. 4: llalian Promotion

Dec. S-Jan. l: lnternalional menu with seasonal Christmas dishes in Main Dining Room.

Nov. 29-Jan. /; Main Dining Room menu for lunch, fondue for dinner in the Verandah Grill.

I

fi I

V,

Verandah Grill Nov. 1 -Dec.4 :Tex-Mex Promotion

against Robinson, BishoP Eamonn

Dec. 31 : New Year's Eve Gala.

was - then hugely PoPular having 'unprotected' sex with a young American divorcee.

Casey

Iú

Crusader though she undoubtedly is, Robinson's election campaign displayed a certain degree of cynical calculation, playing down the defender of gay and other minority rights and playing up the Catholic girl from County Mayo image.

For all that Mary Robinson's presi-

dency was

a dramatic about turn

úenlng is u*ot^d úo wiúh pnices úhe Ìresú in

in

able and there continues to be the most

appalling lack of sexual frankness and knowledge. ln fact, except for the legalisation of homosexuality, there have been

few really major legislative changes these areas.

in

12 THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

rne\¡en úoo **oLy úo Ch;nÏu

*lbo*ú ú[oe fesúive se&so]n " 'lfllo" IFCC'* {,^ln* oru.ú oa-

lreland, staunch Catholicism continues

to rule the roost there. Abortion is still illegal, contraceptives not freely avail-

ou

'lf["'^n" "Ï"no*^nnugivi ng nm.ôs [o*ooo

to

ú.nnìln e

'f yo

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BOOK REVIEWS

Catching up with Hong Kong

Keeping up with traditions at foreigners, and includes a great deal of practical advice on matters such as using Cantonese swear words (his recommendation: don't). "Swearing in Cantonese usually refer's to turtles' eggs (a very evil connection for some reason)

he bride wore white, carried a parasol - and was stone dead.

She was a ghost, but her husband did not seem to mind. No, this is not a movie. This is real life, Hong Kong-

style. Marriages of ghosts still occur in the territory, although they are much rarer than a few decades ago.

Weddings involving dead people (either the bride or the groom, or in some

and the status of one's mother,"

Of course, it is commonplace to berate Hong Kong as a city where people

are interested in nothing but money.

Lawrence turns a spotlight on other facets of society, and finds much to

dings in which both parties are stillwarm

and moving around. Guests bring presents, but all are made of paper, so they can be burnt and thus transporrted

etery where her gallant husband waits six feet under the ground.

Why marry a dead person? Because a marriage ties two families together in a way that no other contract can.

This and several hundred other observations on Hong Kong life are contained in The Fragrant Chinese, a study of the people and culture of the territory byformer BBC correspondent and longtime FCC member Anthony Lawrence.

Can a man in a profession known for its 4O-second "soundbites" write a whole 233-page book? Yes, but it wasn't easy. Lawrence writes in his preface: "A radio and TV journalisttrying to write a book is a piteous spectacle, like a man used to the 100 metre dash facing a 10-mile marathon."

But he is being modest. The strain doesn't show at all: he writes smoothly, in a simple style which is a pleasant surprise in a book with a university logo on the back.

When you first flick through it, you think oh, it's filled with stuff I already know. But well-known Hong Kong conventions are brought to life by Anthony Lawrence's cavernous mental store of

14 THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

he

(APA Publications (HK) Ltd, $168)

APA Publications recently published the

seventh edition of its award-winning guide, lnsight Guides: Hong Kong.

writes.

cases both), are curious affairs, but include the many trimmings of wed-

to the other life. ln a wedding where both pafticipants have popped their dogs, friends and relatives escortthe bride, resplendent in her off-the-shoulder coffin, to the cem-

lnsight Guides

Hong Kong

THE FRAGRANT CHINESE

By Anthony Lawrence (Chinese UniversityPress,$ 1 88) Reviewed by

NURY VITTACHI

anecdotes and quotations.

For instance, everyone knows that a host at a party in a restaurant will order a magnificent banquet and then pretend it is nothing. But did you know about an

incident in which a Chinese diplomat hosted a meal in a world{amous Paris restaurant? The food was wonderful but the host rose to his feet and grandly apologised for the factthat it was of such poor quality. The restaurant manager overheard him, however -- and sued him.

Much of the book is colourful reportage, made up of direct quotes from Hong Kong people to whom Lawrence has spoken. He asked a shop proprietor

in North Point about the tradition

of Hong Kong families going back to the mainland to visit their families. "l shan't go next year," spat the shopkeeper.

"They were really ungrateful. A blackand-white TV wasn't enough; they expected a colour set."

The Fragrant Chrnese is clearly aimed 1993

admire. Who can failto be impressed by the way many Hong Kong youngsters grow up to be decent, law-abiding professionals after spending the first 25 years of their lives in tiny overcrowded, claustrophobic rooms in slum-like tenement blocks?

And it is not the physical pressure.

The stress factor has never been so great as in the present years with 1997 fast approaching. "Heaven knows the abuse cases unrecorded, children growing up in a private scene of nightmares and menace," Mr. Lawrence writes.

Some of the Cantonese conventions

Originally published in 1980, the guide

has been updated regularly to reflect the changing life and times of Hong Kong and Macau.

This new, fully updated edition contains 337 pages and over 200 pictures.

The first edition of the book won the Pacific Area Travel Association's best guidebook award in '1982 and in 1984 was listed inlheFinancial Times as one of the 10 best guide books on Hong Kong. The authorJan Morris in her 1988

best seller Hong Kong (Xianggang)

Lockhart: "lnsight Guides: Hong Kongis a perennial best seller in Hong Kong and is one of the most popular editions in the APA stable of 180 guides.

"The new edition of the guide has undergone a major face-|ift, featuring updated text and new photographs which reflect the many changes that have taken place in the colony since the first edition appeared in 1980."

In addition to Lockhart, many current and past FCC members were involved in the book -- Derek Maitland'

Frena Bloomfield, the late

Dick Hughes and Alan Chalkley, and photographers Ray Cranbourne and Bob Davis.

,

when listing her sources, referred to it as the "Best guidebook on Hong Kong."

According to the guide's editor Saul

ITREMIS t*l -F tÌ itEt ¡L Îc lr+r1 -F t tE rB titf lz ** +t - lI ãüt !r* Ël a* *tl EL -. É +t' ft iÉE ¡4¡ !t * *+ !{l¡ t E* ll{t a\ FJ:tU Ë = l¡E tÉ

q

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funeral says: "We are also expected to abstain from washing your hair for a month after the funeral because if this were observer from beyond the grave our dear departed would be forced, in the next world, to drink our shampoowater."

Humour creeps in quite often. Hell, you may be interested to know, has 18 different layers. The lowest is reserved for children who murder their parents and wives who kill their husbands. "lt's

a

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Derek Maitland's chapter on the 1997 issue is a frank and concise review of political and economic forces at play in Hong Kong.

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less serious for a husband to kill his wife; that may be just an unforlunate lapse,"

This review first appeared rn fhe South China Morning Post.

in_R

À.

seem frankly bizarre. A woman at a

writes Lawrence.

ËI

^

Professìonol

/x5

View Comero

ET]F

elinchrorn

Slud¡a Sronds & Top Sysrem

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THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER 1993

15

best served at the table of the Pope in or some such rubbish. the Vatican

PEOPLE

-

A noted critic

-

either the Dutch

Goodbye Heinz.

Minister of Couth & Culture, or "Whispering" Kevin Sinclair - remarked at the time:

Hello Christoph

food?"

I ask a similar question today:

s Hong Kong began bailing out

from Typhoon Becky, which was worlh a #8 signal, many wondered whether the planned Goodbye/Hello Party for Heinz and Christoph would take place.

They need not have feared. Sandwiched in between ferry and bus service

announcements, RTHK announced again and again the happy news that the FCC party was on. Give Hugh Van Es full credit for getting it on the air!

More than hundred members braved typhoon rains and winds to fete departing club manager Heinz Grabner and

found out that, with Heinz in the working chair, our roles sometimes became confused - rather like Margaret Thatcher (when Britain's premier) and the Queen of England.

To stay alive with H on the rampage was no easy matter. He moves fast, sometimes in strange ways. And it was easier to stay alive if I took comfort from some of the imbecilic requests and complaints he had to dealwith. lf he had not dealt firmly with them then I hate to think what might have happened.

But he now leaves a splendid Chinese staff looking after a great club. I look

"What does a Polak know about Wop

"What on earlh does a half-baked Kraut know about cooking for Spics?"

Be that as it may. . . I join the rest of the notables gathered today in wishing Heinz everything of the best at "Heidi's Hacienda",

or whatêver his place is

called.

Like everyone else I regard Heinz's tenure as Club Manager, since we began operations at 2 Lower Albefi Road, as one of the more halcyon periods of the FCC. . . During my various terms as a member of the Board I counted our blessings that we could rely on him to oversee our attempts to keep the Club on course as the finest watering hole in Asia.

THE L994 FCC DIARIES

il

\

officially welcome his replacement Christoph Hoelzl. Past presidents Mike Keats in Amsterdam and Donald Wise in France chimed in from afarwith faxes.

Donald Wise: I look upon Heinz Grabner's grip on FCC affairs as a complete triumph. But then I have to think that, don't l, because I hired him in the first place. lt came at a time when our premises were in jeopardy and I had only just become president, and I soon

16 THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

f--D, upon him as a great friend and wish him all the best of business in his new venture.

Mike Keats: Message from The Netherlands (or "Greater Germany" as the Austrians call it (and they should know) l!)

,

ì,

ti,Â

I hope I get to drink a Margharita in Hong Kong one day (Like Calvados, it doesn't effect me). . . but, meantime, a

heartfelt "thank you" to Heinz and Josephine for some of my happiest My best to them.

The FCC 1994 range of executive diaries is now available at 'club' prices. Each has been specially produced with a wealth of important information, in either black imported bonded leather or calf skin for the wallet. All feature a discreet club logo and )rour name, if requested.

Ask to see the samples at the Club office.

Avoid disappointment and order earþ as stocks The Foreign Correspondents' Club are limited. Allow two weeks for personalizing l¡wer AlbeÍ Road with your name or initials.

Hong Kong A.The FCC Desk Diary.

58 weeks in popular week-to-view format; international public holidays; world atlas and lift-out directory

Yes, I wish to order:-

o tr tr tr tr tr

HKs260.OO

B.The FCC Compact Desk Diary. New convenient size of 164 x 210mm Popular week-to-view diary;

international public holidays; general infoimation and lift-out directory

recall some time ago when the idiot that

is Seidlitz introduced ltalian food to my

favourite Verandah Grill; the publicity blurb said the cuisine was equal to the 1993

58 weeks in the popular week-to-view format; international public holidays and general information

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(max 15 letters, including

D.The FCC Address Book. Handy pocket size with international IDD codes and world time chart

FCC Compact Diary

HK$135.OO

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I

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Please telephone When units are available to be collected at the Club Offtce, Please allo\il at least two \ryeeks.

FAX MACHINES SUPPLEMENT

One in two homes use faxes ith the continuing advan-ces

By Larry Campbell

being made in facsimile technology, fax useage is growing massively around the world, and Hong Kong is certainly doing its part to ensure that manufacturers are kept in

business. Hong Kong remains the world's second highest user of faxes after Japan, with 2'l 7,563 fax lines in the territory at the end of July. Taking into

consideration that a fair number of home users would have their fax machines connected to standard telephone lines,

the actual number of fax machines

in

use in Hong Kong is much higher than that figure.

According to Hongkong Telecom CSL figures, up to 50 percent of new fax

tage of spare capacity on television

mation services is expected to grow

transmission signals to broadcast highspeed fax messages. Television signals are broadcast at 25 frames per second with a "blank" broadcast space between each frame.

This is known in industry jargon as "vertical blanking interval". lt is this a

from the 1991 figure of U5$250 million to US$1 .2 billion by 1995. True to form, Hong Kong is keeping up with these trends, virlually matching step for step some of the best services on offer arou nd the world. So fast is the territory advancing on the fax front that it is attracting interest from overseas investors in the industry.

space that Faxcast Broadcast Corp - a paft of Faxcast Holdings, plans to use to broadcast its faxes. Messages broadcast in this manner can be received with the aid of a "black box" decoder system being developed by this Canadian company. The box sits between the television antenna and receiving fax machine or computer with fax card and software,

a4

and decodes data

//€

the phone lines to accept song requests.

According to industry experts, Asia is following fax trends in North America, wheré expenditure on fax-based infor-

sent during the tel-

installations are now for domestic

evision vertical blank-

use. While the an-

While being able to offer some truly advanced fax services, some way away from

rapidly, the uses to which fax technol-

business would take for granted as they

ogy is being put in the territory is also

do a standard tel-

on the rise.

Unscrupulous

are other services, however, that are

marketing organi-

much closer

to

sations using the

achieving this goal.

Faxes

from Sanyo and Ricoh.

material

Under a joint venture between Hongkong Telecom and GTE Dithe publishers of the Yellow

rectories

of a fax to receive

One international consortium called Faxcast Holdings is looking at the possibility of providing Hong Kong with a

fax machine in the

mation.

On the advancing front of fax useage these days are such schemes as emergency fax services being considered by the police, subsidised communication plans for the disabled, legitimate marketing services offered in conjunction with the Yellow Pages, and even radio stations using fax technology instead of

local link to a vast global fax service that it is hoped will allow subscriber fax services to be sent simultaneously around the world. lnitially targeted at such user groups as travel agents (who receive constant pricing and scheduling updates from airlines) and banks (which, among other things, need to regularly fax directives to branches around the world simultaneously), the service will take advan-

18

THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

/**, ,êácz .{OU

çor

i.rn

ephone line. There

circulate advertising

such information as horse-racing results, airline schedules, stock market data and research infor-

t"

being a technology

local fax system to

is old hat, as is the use

rñ¿-

uo14S

this system is still

based devices continues to grow

as junk faxes

á^.

ing interval.

nual purchase offax systems - be they paper or computer-

- known to hapless recipients of such documents

,7-t '\<

1993

ß

^ nyo Believes Your Family Shou me A Faded Memo More and more people are using facsimile members. Unfortunately, ordinary fax paper yellow and the text fades.

Sanyo has introduced the

- Hong Kong is set to get an interactive service that will enable every Pages

Transceiver.

Never communicate wilh overseas. to write on, and w¡th time,

Natural Thermo Paper high-quality paper stands up to the other important documents.

test of t¡mê

territory to link

access information in the Yellow Pages

directory.

The service is similarto the Dial-a-Fax

system that was launched by the local firm Adsale Directories in June. The difference, according to experts, is that the Yellow Pages'directory database is vastly bigger than anything else like it on offer in Hong Kong. To offer the which falls under Hongkong service

-

sFx-30 'For every purchase of SFX-30 Facsimile Transceiver be ent¡tled to one roll of Natural Thermo Paper. While stock lasts

SANYO Business Systems (H.K.) Ltd.

.

Paper quality ¡asts tO

years

lor

.

More roceplive to pen and pencil writing

.

leave blackened

Erasing will not

paper

Paper ¡s espec¡ally afurable for conven¡ent

slorage

Advanced Features of SFX-30 Facsimile Transceiver . Ant¡{url system . Paper saver funct¡on . Aulomat¡c cutter. Duplex T¡mer send . Copy mode with enlargement & reduct¡on funct¡on of 28 most used numbeß

.

Hong Kong Authorized Dealers: . Eroadway Photo Supply Ltd. Tel: 743 6611 . Fortress Ltd . Jusco Slores (H.K.) Co, Lld . Yaohan Best Electrical (H.K.) Ltd . Expo Co , Ltd. (Causeway Bay) Tel: 890 l/73 . Lea Overseas Trad¡ng Ctr. (Mongkok) Tel: 332 6395 . K L. lnt'l (Prince Edward) Tel; 397 6289 . Wing Cheong Fan Tat Ltd (Sham Shui Po) Teì: 725 16ô9 . Chummy & Co. (Central) Tel: 521 4251 . Ta¡ L¡n Radio Service Ltd Tel: 385 5005 . Tokyo Toys Trading Co. Tel: 384 5484 . Wai S¡ng Photo Supplies Co (Central) Tel: 877 3820 Macau Authorized Dealer: Firma "DAILY" Art¡gos de Escritorio Rua Do Brandao No. 17C R/C Macau Tel: 302192

.

.

r¡ng¡ng

.

Fax/phone sw¡tchover . Auto d¡al¡ng

lGsheet ADF

A ond<or6 Telecom CSL Hot L¡ne: 885 221

1

FAX MACHINES SUPPLEMENT

FAX MACHINES SUPPLEMENT Telecom CSL's Callfax offerings

-

in-

teractive voice technology has been combined with fax-oi-demand technology and the Yellow Pages database of commercial and business contact details.

Data available under Callfax services are available both by telephone and fax machine. After dialling "1783", the Callfax gateway number, a series of

available both in helps the caller result in him will that through the steps he is after. information accessing the simple instructions

English and Chinese

With the service, consumers will be able

to access free of charge, the Yellow Pages' lists of products and services. A more detailed service called the Callfax Box is available, too.

Under this, a company will have to subscribe to the facility, and will be given an exclusive five-digit access code. This code will appear in all its advertising material and will invite interested padies to make use of the Callfax Box to obtain more information about its services and products.

The cost of placing a single Page of information in the fax reservoir that will be available on Callfax is HK$740 a month for existing Yellow Pages customers. New clients will have to pay HK$1,000 a month.

Among the better known comPanies that have subscribed to the service are

Plain paper faxes are good, but still costly Ithough the environmentally conscious fax user would prefer to use a plain paper fax instead of one that uses thermal paper perhaps not use a fax at all if given -theorchoice - the latter type of machine remains the more popular in Hong Kong.

Plain paper fax machines, while producing documents that are both cleaner and longer-lasting, are still costlier than theirthermal paper counterparts. Names such as Konica, Panasonic, Sharp, Xerox, Canon and Sanyo make up the the top end of the list of most popular fax machine brands in the territory.

Among the standard features in fax machines being snapped up by users in Hong Kong are those such as auto redial, duplex-ringing functions, built-in paper cutters, standard copying ability, built-in memory, and built-in telephone

answering machines. Sanyo's SFX range of fax machines remains popular in Hong Kong.

Besides offering the standard features, most of Sanyo's machines offer the ability to restrict reception to selected numbers, which is a boon to the

Cathay Pacific Airways, British Airways, United Airlines, First Pacific Davies and Metro Broadcast. Use of fax services does not stoP there. The RoYal Hongkong Police Force recently announced a plan to set uP a system whereby the public can use the territory's fax network to call for assistance during an emergency.

recipients of junk faxes. The Fax-TSO from Canon comes with a feature that irons out the curls that are the bane of thermal paper fax users, plus one that allows a fax sender to preset a transmission time by up to 12 hours.

Canon also makes a Plain PaPer fax machine called the Fax-8200 which uses its famous bubble-jet printing procedure to produce high quality faxes.

Panasonic remains the most sought

after brand of fax machine in Hong Kong, at least on the personal front.

The company's combination of pricefor-functionality, combined with its reputation as a manufacturer of high-quality hardware, make its UF and KF-X series machine hot-selling items.

The growing use of faxes is even drawing computer vendors into the fold.

Take Taiwanese personal comPuter maker Acer, for example. The company recently came up with a series of fax the series name machines - thatunder connects uP to a PC in AcerFAX addition to offering all the other fax

peed has always been of vital

importance for fax users particularly for those making use of the technology to send information overseas. While international direct dial telephone call costs have continued to drop over the years, hundreds of pages of information fax abroad can still give a company thumping bills. ln this light, fax machine manufacturers have continued to work on increas-

ing the transmission speeds of their

portable

phone to send faxes, as well as to access electronic mail networks such

Neveftheless, in comparison with the transmission speeds of raw data trans-

work in conjunction with

as AT&T Mail.

a

q

systems

mission technologies in use today, even

the most advanced fax systems come

out second best. lt is in this light that a device designed by a small British company called Alpha Systems appears to bear more than a fighting chance of making a mark in the industry. Called Diskfax, Alpha's product enables users to transmit data from a computer floppy diskette to ordinary fax machines via normal telephone and fax lines at speeds considerably greater than those at which most standard fax machines operate.

Since it transfers data at 9,600 bits per second (bps), Diskfax is capable of moving up to 40 standard A4 pages of text and graphics in one minute, according to Alpha Systems. And this even though the system makes use of propri-

DISKEAX, FIRST EVER

*o.sì Ë

High-speed faxes from a floppy diskette

- if one vendor didn't another would and win key market share.

functions that could be expected of it.

The machine comes with built-in

gain access to information ranging from details on charities to figures on the number of disabled persons in the territory. And on a slightly different note, FM

INTHEWORLD, IS NOV/HERE IN HONG KONG.

. .

N.C.C. Approved by HongkongTelecom Data, graphic and softwares transterred via tel. line from floppy diskette to another floppy diskette in similar machine elsewhere. . EASIER to use than a fax machine! o Same volume data transmitted in l/20th of standard lax transmission time.

¡

Select, Metro Broadcast's bilingual music channel, has been using its fax lines to accept song requests from listeners on one of its Programmes, the "Dim Sum Fax Request Hour". q THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

send, receive and manage faxes from a PC, as well as to go through the regular processesof sending and receiving hard copy faxes. For users with a bigger budget than those who might go in for the above machines, there are more powerful machines such as Konica's plain pape¡ fax machine . . . the 825L. This floor-standing machine combines a fax, telephone and photocopier in one unit and has a transmission speed of 10 pages per minute.

Of course, for people who want to fax while on the go, a palmtop device such as the Mercan PX portable fax machine, offered by Marcantile Asian Pacific Network, is a handy alternative to a notebook computer with a built-in fax modem. This little palmtop gadget can

tññ

The Social Welfare DePartment recently launched a special enquiry fax line that enables interested parties to

20

"Faxlink" software that makes it easy to

Plain-paper fax machines from Canon and Panasonic.

Long term saving on t.D.D cost! o No more courier across the ocean for floppy diskette and drawings too big to fit the [ax machines! . C.A.D. designed drawings can now be transmitted from design office inslantly to site anywhere in the world within l.D.D.'s reach Enquiries welcome from both users or interested dealers to COMMERCIAL AGENCIES LTD. Rm 1 304, Takshing House, 20 Des Voeux Road, Cent¡al, llong Kong Tel:522 6613 Fax/Diskfax: 526 9989

1993

FAX MACHINES SUPPLEMENT etary error correction software to ensure a clear transmission.

Thanks to data compression software, Diskfax high-speed operations are billed to be a boon to businesses that need to fax high volumes of data overseas. The Diskfax unit itself is no more space-consuming that an average paper-based fax machine. A stand alone desktop version measures 24 cm in height by 20 cm in width by 30 cm in it to fit into depth - a size that enables even the smallest of offices that need to use fax technology.

While Diskfax is a star at transmitting data, it is also a powerfultool for anyone on the receiving end of a transmission.

The device can simply be plugged into a

However, users of such systems of-

ten encounter difficulties when receiving faxes. The computer used for fax transfers has to be switched on perma-

nently, resulting in obvious problems such as fast component burnout rates and high power bills. There is also the danger that a computer hacker can use the connected fax or telephone lines to gain access to the system and either

ever, taken into account the desires of businesses that might want to connect Diskfax directly to a computer system, and run it from there.

An optional piece of software called Companion Program enables a user to

-----

panaso¡¡i,c

_

hook Diskfax to a PC, making the send-

ing and receiving of data easier and

,/ i,; i,

faster by eliminating the need for physical insertion and removal of a floppy

steal impoftant data or transmit computer viruses that can destroy entire systems. ln the case of fax servers, as a computer dedicated solely to sending and receiving fax messages on a network is

disk with data on

referred to - a virulent virus can not only wipe out the fax system, but the

image copying are built into Diskfax as standard applications. A keypad on top

it.

s

A special version designed with local area networks in mind also enables the device to be shared by multiple users.

¿/i'_.rf 2

Other everyday fax features such as abbreviated dialling, call logging and

- - - f,/to_733

2;.t¿

r,

uo

aF_766

standard telephone and left unattended to receive messages. All incoming data is stored in the system until the user unloads them - either on to a compuler, or on to paper via a printer. The technology to send and receive faxes directly with a computer has existed for years.

With the help of fax-modem technology, a personal computer can transmit and receive data to or from standard fax machines. lf the speed of the fax-modem is high enough (and some of the latest machines certainly capable of very high transmission speeds), even the Diskfax's high transmission rates can be surpassed.

22

THE CORRBSPONDBNT OCTOBER

entire computer network in a matter of seconds.

According to Alpha Systems, Diskfax can help eliminate these risks by being able to receive incoming faxes and raw data messages while remaining physically unconnected to a computer or network. The device contains message management software that automatically and securely handles all incoming faxes.

A computer diskette is then used to

transfer the data from Diskfax to a computer, and this diskette can easily be scanned for computer viruses before

data is moved on to the computer system itself. Alpha Systems has, how1993

I*G¡fiÊ

with a liquid - combinedmake using it crystal display screen as easy as sending a document on an of the machine

ordinary fax machine.

Diskfax is capable of handling diskettes formatted using either the Apple Macintosh or IBM compatible PC systems.

Several other formats are also readable. Diskfax is available in Hong Kong through Commercial Agencies Ltd of Central (telephone 522-6613 or fax 5269989).

theSCMP's Chief sub for Special Reports and co-editor ot the new quarterly Dataphile.

Larry Campbelf

rs

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,HËHÊ

OBITUARIES

ArúntW'

Bert Walker Okuley 1935 r 1993 Kate Webb, now of AFP, worked closely with Bert in the UPI Saigon and Phnom Penh bureaux in the late Sixties and

{

I

Back by popular demand, the Sundowners Bush Band

will perform

at the Club on Friday, October 29.

a

Daydream Salad

>.

q

o¿

Seventies.

Fr

Kangaroo soup with

& Fresh vegetables

Coffee or Tea $295 Per Person

MENU

FRENCH PROMOTION ln the lìtldn Dlnlng R.oom OctoÛer l8-3O.

to name just a

Mons

Bert and Van Es were two of the Western journalists who stayed on in

Sliced smoked goose bre¿st on a bouquet ofsalad, w/ cranberry sauce'

Saigon after it fell on April 30, 1975. And Van Es' account of how Bert told him to look out the window at the "last helicopVan Es'prizeter" - which resultedisinnow part of the winning picture Vietnam lore.

Bert was named after his maternal grandfather, a journalist who interviewed the survivors of the Titanic when they arrived in New York. He followed in his footsteps in 1952 when he joined INS in Detroit as a copy boy.

Recently-retired UPler Leon Daniel first met Bert when he was working the overnight in UPI Atlanta. He remembers him then as "one of the best rewrite men in the business even at that age, but mind you he always looked baby

GRASTRUIII' Ef CUCHAT¡TE InIBOURGEO[S,I, $200 French duck liver terine w/ truffie SATAI¡I, ÀUCI AUX CREVEIIES $59 Prawns w/ apple tullenne tossed with sour c¡eam $59 TARIANf,, DE SAUMON S58 IONE

Salmon tartare HUIIruS (mlnlrnum 6 per order)

$lScach fet-Fesh French oysters

chemy on a couple of frantic phone calls on bad military lines are legion. They

include Sylvanna Foa, now of the UNHCR, Paul Vogel, Ray Wilkenson

-

then a greenhorn reporter right out of the US Marine Corps and later to join

24

A LA BOn¡tEtÀ¡SE, $r19 Sauteed deboned pigeon &slmmered in red wlne & lemon, served w/ sauteed sliced artichoke bottom &potato GrcOf DE FOI¡IÀRIIE A tA PIGI,ONNEAUX

MOUSSE

Bertrat homet.

Newsweek and lhis writer.

David Kennerly, of 'Shooter' infamy, credits Bert with helping launch him on his ego-trips through the corridors of President Ford's White House, and a few other less prestigious places.

Apaft from a memorial service in De-

"TIilE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER 1993

-

TOTIRNI]I'OS ANDÀI.OU $ T 67 Sauteed beef tenderloin on the bed

contemplated in Washington, the phonelines burned for a few days after Bert's death - among others to ex FCC presidents Mike Keats in Amsterdam, Sinan Fisek in Johannesburg and Vicki Wakefield in Washington DC, as

of

eggplant & lrell pepper LNTRf,C('fL AID( CHIWPIGNONS $l/r8 Grilled slrloin stéak topped with sauteed mushroom

B|SQUEDEHOMAnD $45 Rich lobstersoup w/ old cognac s(x¡PE A't'orcNoN $20 Famous onlon soup, .erved W

ctreese cJouton CONSOMME PAR¡SIEN S2O Strong beef & chlcken c¡nsomme gamlshed w/ leek & petlt potato balls

.

Porssous troit, one in Hong Kong and another

stuftd

wlth tarrqgon mousse

Porncrs '

I''ESIRÀ@N S75

Roast boneless chlcken leg

on ice

Bért's Midas-touch with field copy was

legend, and those that credit his al-

[/nrors

D'or,uvRr,s

þorRrNE D'oE ruMI,E 546

faced."

Cheese

"Governmeta,5"1t""' Pudding

Among them were Hugh Van Es, Arlhur Higbee, Leon Daniel, Al Webb, Charlie Smith, Maggie Kilgore, David

-

{*j."

Sidoin Steak Gratineed wlth Pear & Smoked

etroit-born Bert Walker Okuley, past president of the FCC (1976-1977), died in Hong Kong September 4 of a stroke. He was 58.

H is death marked the end of an era for many lndochina writers and photographers, especially those who worked with Bert in Saigon and Phnom Penh for UPI in the late Sixties and Seventies.

Lamb and Paul Vogel few.

Austrolion Bush Bond

DARNE D[, PTRCHE FOCHIX' CRIMX,AI¡X ÍINES HTXIBTS $T42 Poached plke perch ffsh fillet w/ f,ne herb cream sauce SUPruITE DE SAUMON A tA VIN¡UGRËTTE

DEIRUmS$t/la

Light cooked sllced salmon, top w/ a truffe v¡nalgrette RIITS DE SOIE OITN,O SI28 Baked fillet of sole rolls W emmenthal, served w/new potatoes filled wlth shrimps Bq¡¡I.IABÄISE A LA MARSf,I-LÀISE $95 Salmon, snapper, prawn & mussel poached in whlte wlne stock w/ fresh vegetables & herbs, served with garllc bread

$TPnIME DE CÀNTXON À TORÀNGE ST38 Sliced Frcnch duck breast w/orange sarrce BROCHIIIX, Df, TOIE DE VEAU S89 Veal liver skewer on a bed of mushrcom dce

B"nnnuDE rRoMÁcE $49 French cheese platter of bfe, bre*se bleu, C-aprtce Des Dleux & boursin gadlc, served with Frenclr bread

.Æ.¡rnrm¡,rs GAII,AU ÀUX MARRONS S35 Chestnut puddingw/ âprlcot coulis

SOI¡IIIIE DE POITME

A LA

PARI9IT,NNE S3S Parlsian, style apple sbuff e FOIRf,IT MAIITI.EINE ST9

Poached pear in a savarin

ÍRAS S ROMÀNOIT

$/TA

Fresh strawbeddes soaked in orange luice &G¡racao, tossed w/ half whlpped

qeam &ldng sugar

WANT TO DO BUSINESS WITH HONG KONG? wE PRovtDE THE coĂ&#x2018;rlcrs Like good food, business success requires the right ingredients. ln Hong Kong, we've been Putting together good deals for 27 Years.

The Hong Kong Trade DeveloPment Council has more than a few contacts to call upon for starters, 57,000 manufacturing and trading companies

-

in

Hong Kong. A1s0,230,000

companies around the world are registered and constantly updated in our databank.

The HKTDC Promotes trade through

its 36 offices worldwide' lt

can

recommend all the contacts 1lou can

Bert married Susanna Fung

in 1973. well as to many others. Said Vogel who's with UPI in Detroit: "l haven't heard from so many people since I left Vietnam."

But when it came to talking about Bert, everyone remembered his stories, like'The Last Exit'. The golden rewrites' The fact that he was always there' And

his stories about other PeoPle' Said Daniel: "Not manY PeoPle know much about Berl ... he held everything close," even when jamming wilh iazz drummer Elvin Jones (which Bert said was bef ore two of the group OD'ed in the space of a couPle of months.)

Bed called it the Virginia Wolfe paft of his life. But the jazz, though he stopped playing, remained important to him, and as his health deteriorated in the Eighties and the trademark bottle of bourbon

gave way to other lighter drinks, he

meet.

Call us at the office nearest You'

Hong Kong Trade Development council We Create OPPortunities

Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong' 38th Floor, Office Tower, Convention Plaza,l Harbour Tel: 584 4333 Fax:8240249

leaned more and more towards jazz' ln 1990, he resisted the efforts of some UPI friends and family members to persuade him to stay in the United States, left his job on the UPI Washington desk and came back to Hong Kong, where he said he wanted to staY. Unfinished on his desk at the time he died was a story on pianist Larry Allen and other features for Ihe South China Morning Post... and the BBC had to do without Bert's expertise for their piece on gambling in Macau. Out of printthese many years, Bert wrote a book on gam-

bling in

Macau.

A few personal memories members! One Year Bert was in hospital but he persuaded the nuns to let him out for the daY. As we drove back to the hospital about midnight Bert

Nick Demuth ert was loner with an eccentric body clock that caused

him to function out of sYnch with the rest of the club members' He got up atthree in the morning and had put in a full daY's work bY lunchtime when he took uP his usual seat at the bar to enjoy his 'happy hour'. By five he had reached the haPPY state of inebriation which takes the rest of the

world until midnight to achieve!

He had a rePutation as aformidable

jazz pianist which he fiercely denied' Being a iazz man mYself , I got close

enough for him to admit that he 'used

to play a bit' but was never luckY enough to hear him PlaY. However when I mentioned his name to the grealiazzdrummer Elvin Jones, the reaction was more than positive. Another thing Bert and I had in common was a MaY 17 birthdaY' Every Year until I left Hong Kong in 1990, we celebrated a bachanal that started at lunchtime and usually finished in the FCC in totaldisarray' We were of course joined by several FCC

suddenly remarked that all the flower shops were closed and we could not possibly visit somebody in hospital without taking them flowers.

We finallY Persuaded him he was the patient and Poured him through the door into the hands of a waiting nun. We did not staY around to hear his apology for not bringing any flowersl I did not share Bert's obsession with racing and was saddened bY his increasing surliness and self-isola-

tion of the Past few Years' The Passing of Bert is more than just the passing of a friend. lt also marks the end of the FCC as it was when I joined shortly after the opening of the fifteenth floor of Sutherland House, a Project of Bert's when he

was Club president' lt was a wild and wooly place with lots of character and a zest for life.

One wonders whether John

Le

Carre would still find any inspiration from the brokers, bankers and house agents who make uP a large Part of

today's

membershiP! @

@ THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER 1993 27

Chopsticks

-

CorresPondent

OBITUARIES

PLEASE PATRONISE THESE FCC 5t/PPORTERS Bull & Bear Amista.rt;f;Âès

Marsha Prysuska 1933 r 1993

et one of Centr¡l's fevourite Opening Hours: 8 am till Midnight Monday - Saturday, Noon - Midnight Sunday Hearty English Breakfast served till 10:30 am Mon. - Sat. Traditional Pub Grub, Daily Special British, Local and Imported Beers. \-Come and Join us

o

Former Hong Kong columnist and FCC board member Marsha Prysuska lost her battle with cancer and died in Melbourne, Australia on September 4th.

Y

\=)

h

Buen Vino

O = V)

!

Þ

z

PAS BAR 3l VYNDHA,I4

" STREET TEL: 87754a2

Ste

& Home of US LtveMatne l,obsters

arsha arrived in Hong Kong

in 1966 and joined the old China Mail in October of

\--

Happy Hour Everyday 5pm - 7ptn"

Ground Floor, Hutchison House (next tq Furama Hotel) Central, Hong Kong. Tel: 525 7436

G""d[ food r.ttdl a wa]r-n *"I"o-n" awaiú you.

that year. ln April 1967, she began her life as a columnist with ln HongKong.

500 columns later in 1968, she moved to

Hongkong Standard. Marsha's column became This is Hongkong and according to her former managing editor, absent FCCer Ken Ball, now living in Australia, she wrote another "3,000 col-

umns" before leaving for Australia 1980. Passing through Hong Kong

in

G/Í

Marsha's columns were known for their sardonic wit and humour. She delighted in recounting the stories, the various trials and tribulations of living in Hong Kong. Marsha returned to Australia in 1980 and set up a public relations company in Melbourne, and continued working until her hospitalisation for spinal cancer.

Marsha, born in 1933 of Polish-Jewish ancestry, had a powerful personality, honed no doubt by a childhood destroyed by Auschwitz, of which she was the sole surviving member of her family to make it through the war. As a Displaced Person at the age of 12 in postWorld War ll Europe, she was sent to Melbourne to live with her last remaining relative, a cousin.

As Marsha was a stalwart of the old FCC's Oval Bar in Sutherland House, friends gathered round the club's main bar on Thursday night (September 23rd) in a "celebration of her life".

Absent member David Bell, retired honcho of the Swire Group/Cathay Pa-

LOUNGE

South China Building, 1-l Wyndham Street Telz 526-5293 Fax 801-5006

Close Encounters of the Exotic lndian Kind

cific PR department, served on several boards with Marsha and was one of her closest friends. ln this reminiscence, he pays tribute to his departed friend:

I ('f Df I .I-

don't remember the exact occasron or circum-

s1¿¡çss underwhich lfirst met Marsha Prysuska but lfeel certain that it was within weeks, possibly even days, of my arrival in Hong Kong at the end of 1966. My memories of her from those days are the same as my recent memories - she never changed, she was always . . . well, she was always there. lf Marsha was your friend she took it all the way - 'true blue' as we used to say when I was a kid. Many

times have I seen her leap, with considerable passion, to the defence of some person or issue that she believed in.

I give Marsha credit for my only traffic violation in my 26 years in Hong Kong.

Shewas living in Leighton Road in Happy Valley, just at the beginning of all the shoe shops across and down towards the race track from the Lee Theatre.

There were parking meters along

Leighton Road then. lt was a Saturday morning in 1967 and I had dropped her

home from some press conference..

"Come up for a quick pre-lunch drink."

How could i refuse? So two hours on the meter and away I went. When I returned it was already dark - must have been winter and I owed the Hong Kong Government some exorbitant sum. Fifty dollars, I think. We had sat and talked, just the two of us, and, yes we'd also had the odd glass or two or three or twenty of wine, the day had gone. I remember that as being the real beginning of our friendship.

Time passed, Marsha and her daily column became pan of Hong Kong.

Both of us became very serious suPporters of the FCC. I had served on the Board more than once and we encouraged her to run on one election. She was easily elected, but this was not for her and she could not be persuaded to go for it again, although her contribution was valuable albeit peppered with some memorable exchanges. Board meetings in those days started at 6pm with bar service available throughout the meeting. A facility that lead to many

The Ashokâ ''lhc lìt'st.rur¡nt ,\ lù¡rtrl gr¡urrÌtttlclito¡r*¡itsvou, r\,ìtlì V¡let l'.rrkirrgScrricc (;:00 p nì - lo1ltl [i Dr ) frke.lrra¡'s r\ tlelieiorrs lrrtli¡n hrelulgenec lte JL'liver tlrt, lntlLtlgerce, lrr', h('trr,('ùr i:(ltl t'Dì - l(,{)ll P nì \ft'¡re still thcrù,ìt 57-59 \\'\,ncllr,rnr St, (crrt¡¡I, I I K, Tel i2l q623, 525 ¡719 ¡ntl ¡lso ¡t our hr¡rìcl ne\\' pl¡ce ¡t (;/ F Connaughl Comnre'rcial lluiltling, Iti5 \\'¡n.hri Iìo¡tl, I I K, l-cl lJ()l ltelJl, figl 5(ì5.1 ()l'liN r\1.1. D;\l'S()l:-l I ll: \\'l:llK (()1,ùr,ìlfd

1993

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28 THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

q

tonc D'Agullor Slrcet C¡ntr¡l Hong Kong

Marsha contemplating another This is Hong Kong column for the Hong Kong Standardinl9T4,

in

July 1987 aftervisiting Hong Kong friends all over the world, Ken convinced her to write one last column about her travels.

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The name of the world's la prolonged, argumentative discussions for us all - to say the least. Her supporl of the Club as an active member, however, remained constant until her return

me) almost cleared the place. I never did discover if she ever returned to the restaurant which was just a few doors from her apartment. However, eventu-

to Australia in 1980.

Siew and I were married at the end of

ally calm discussion prevailed with wise and encouraging words for both Richard

1968 and to this day we still use, at least

and I from her. 'l regret that I did not see more of Marsha following my return to Australia

once a week, the roast carving platter that she gave us for a wedding present.

Late in 1969 our first child was born, Nicholas, and who was to be his godmother? Marsha of course. She was happy to agree and it was all arranged for him to be christened while we were in Melbourne on holiday and Marsha was jetting in as a guest of the then BOAC on a press junket. The fact that Marsha was Jewish and we were Christian was never a stumbling block for us.

This was between us, our dear friend and God. We believed that God under-

stands. The priest at St. Augustine's Church at Mont Albert had not been briefed by on high however, and, putting it mildly, he carried on a bit. But, after I attended a counselling session during which he and I tasted, for divine encouragement, a bottle of the Hunter Valley's best red, he eventually saw it all as part of the big plan. So, thus it came to pass that Marsha proudly held Nick for the pouring of the holy water. The occasion even rated brief coverage on Melbourne TV news - light news dayl Marsha left Hong Kong and returned to live Melbourne in 1980 and although contact was not as frequent, she was still here. Whenever lwas in Australia or

she was in Hong Kong we would just

at the end of last year

-

we had spoken

on the phone a number of times and Richard, who still lives in Melbourne, was in more or less regular contact. I had, for relatively trivial reasons, twice put off a trip that I had been planning.

MasterCard issuer,

She was always there. I will be making that trip in two weeks time and, somehow, there still is at the back of my mind a nudge to call her to say that I am really coming this time.

When I rang Nick, who now works at the Hilton in Hong Kong, to tell him that Marsha had died, he said nothing for a while and then with just a bit of a crack in his voice he said, "You know dad, Marsha was always the same, she never changed, she was always. . . well, she was always there."

Yes, son, she was but not any

more."

-

q

LETTERS

Either LIncle Willy

Poor Subbing

or plain Ding Dong

The standard of subbing in the recent issues of The Correspondent is appalling. lf we, as journalists, can not get it

refer to the afiicle under the heading "An ABC of Rhyming Slang" in the June

right, then who in Hong Kong can? I urge you to appoint either a different

the following comments/corrections.

sub or, at the very least, complain to the publishers of the low standard currently

employed.

t

When retiring from the committee, David Thurston waxed lyrically about what a wonderful publication Ihe Correspondenf is compared to other club magazines. That may be true of its content, but look at some of the others for accuracy. As journalists we should be ashamed of ourselves.

pick up where we had left off. When Nick and our younger son, Richard, went down to boarding school at Ballarat near Melbourne, Auntie Marsha was very much part of their lives. Later, when Nick was studying in Melbourne for his degree (his first time living on his own), Marsha found him a studio apartment in her block on Exhibition Street. They became mates in a grown up sense. lt certainly gave us comfort in Hong Kong knowing that Marsha was living just a few floors above our "baby".

Marsha was there at a dinner in Melbourne, towards the end of 1991 when numbertwo son, Richard, announced to us his decision not to continue tertiary education. My initial decision and the

people who gĂ­ve up their spare time and weekends to stitch it together. So, if you are offering your services to subthe next and subsequent issues, then lwelcome

argument that followed (unusual for

your contribution.

Jeff Heselwood Editor's Note: Thanks Jeff for having the honesty to Ăžut your thoughts about YOUR magazine in wilting. Yes, lwillbe the first to admit standards of subbing

are not what one would expect from a magazine for journalists. At the same time this magazine is not a full time

occupation for any of the handful of

The name welcomed at more than 9 million outlets worldwide,

The most imporlant name of all.

I

issue of The Correspondent and ofter Whilst I had a bit of a Cow and Calf (laugh) at some of the localised Cockney expressions (which do not appear in any reference book I own), there were a couple which were either a bit Uncle Willy (silly) or plain Ding Dong (wrong).

Pig's Ear: Beer; always reduced to Pig's (early 20th Century., widely used) or No Fear (as in - in a Pig's Ear). (Not a Port Melbourne Pier) Port Melbourne Pier: Ear (Australian Origin)

Richard the Third: Bird; (Thumbs

- to earn the disapproval of an audience. (Not the feathered variety.)

Uncle Ben, Bert, Ned, Fred, Willy,

down)

Dick = Ten, Shirt, Bed, Bread, Silly, Sick It's all a bit of a Bushy Park (lark) and

on that note, maybe I will meet the Bushel O' Coke (bloke) or Charlie

WN'vE PUT THREE BIG NAMES OII ONE SMALL CARD. CITIBAI.{K MASTERCARD

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Pick up an application form today 0r call our 24-hour hotline: 8661123.

Wheeler (sheila) who wrote the article, in the Nearand Far (bar)-sometimefor a Tiddlywink (drink) to discuss the matter further.

Helen Fleming

Not Just Mastercard.

Citibank MasterCard.

30 THECORRESPONDENT OCTOBER 1993

The only laser lax machine with

PEDDLER'S JOURNAL

I

Why No doesn't mean No in Japan arlier this year a diligent re-

was a refusal. He was only trying to be polite about it and let you down quietly

poder picked up a few jottings on a napkin which revealed to the world that US President Bill Clinton had been passing along to his Russian

by allowing you to figure out his meaning

with those vague and indirect state-

counterpart, Boris Yeltsin, the benefit of his experience in dealing with the Japanese. ln short, in a tete-alete over a congenial cup of coffee, Clinton had

cautioned Yeltsin on the pitfalls to be avoided because of the well-known Japanese inability to say no.

When this incident became public,

Japanese officialdom immediately made vigorous denials of this cultural idiosyncrasy, with Shintaro lshihara, the a well-known book on the subject, leading the pack. (The fact that the bookwas written already says something on the subject.)

Those protests were, in fact, merely another example of a Japanese refusal to admit publicly to the outside world what everyone knows is true.

All one has to do is look up the word NO in an English - Japanese dictionary. Having no direct equivalent, the definition uses up a third of a page and doesn't cover a fraction of the ways the Japanese have to express the negative.

Most of them are too subtle and obtuse.

author of

I

know of business negotiations which were unnecessarily protracted for months because the foreign side was unable to recognise, or accept for what they were, the negative signals being directed towards them. While the

Japanese side became increasingly frustrated with the foreigners persistence when it should have already become clear to them that as far as they, the Japanese, were concerned the matter was closed.

What is not so widely recognised is that the Japanese often have the same problem among themselves.

My wife recently brought to my attention a column which appeared in the

Japanese-language Asahi Evening

32

THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER

00,000 built-in papers.

Nerys. The author starts off by explaining that she was asked by her newspaper to call on a Kyoto-based firm to obtain some information. She was given an interview with a key executive, but upon posing her questions, received the

reply, "Umm, well then, maybe if you come back next week."

She resigned herself to another trip and duly returned the following week at the appointed hour. This time he said: "l am afraid I am unable to reply to your inquiry right away, but ... perhaps if you

call later ..."

A few days later she called him on the

phone and again received an evasive reply. This time she lost her temper and blurted: "Are you trying to tell me you are not going to give me any reply?"

"Well, it seems that way," he said. "l'm awfully sorry about this."

Later that evening, still highly irritated, she asked her husband: "Why do you

suppose he didn't tell me earlier he wasn't going to respond to my question?"

Her husband replied: "He did. lt was quite clear from the beginning that his answer was no. You are the one at fault for not realising that."

"But," she said, "He clearly said he needed a week to think about it."

He husband added: "ln any case that 1993

ments. "ln Kyoto anything more direct would have been crude and insulting, a serious breach of etiquette. lf he had wanted to reply to your question he would have done so on the first day."

The point of this anecdote, which was written in Japanese for the Japanese, was to illustrate the problems in communication between different regions of Japan. The Kyoto tendency towards expression in vague nuance is merely an extreme example of a Japanese national characteristic. The author was probably from Tokyo.

But I noticed another interesting twist in this article which serves to illustrate the point. ln the original Japanese dialogue when the husband explained to his wife that the man meant'no', in order to add the necessary emphasis, the word 'no' was written in English. I suspect the irony of this was lost even on the author,

Leighton Willgerodt is an associate member of the FCC and is a sales executive with an American multinational company.

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