The Correspondent, December 1994

THD

GOreSPONIENT

Tbe Official Publication of tbe Foreign Corcespondents'Club of Hong Kong

Asian Press Fonrrrr: A meeting of media minds

Christmas Crackers: Last minute gĂ­ft guide

The FCC freewheels in Macau

THE

GORRXSPONIIDTTT December. 1994

I

,

THE

TESSIVE

v

Letrters to ttre Editor

FOREIGN

Lunctrlines

CORRESFOI\IDENTS'

CLI]B

Just afl old-fashioned girl.

2 Lower Albert Road, Hong Kong

Telephone: 521

lSll Fx:a684O92

l\zfedia. Matltefs

Simon Holberton Presldeflt Hans vriens Flrst Vlce Presldent seco[d Vice P¡esldent - Dorothy Rym

-

C.oûespondent Member

Govmos

Paul Bayfietd,

O]ut of Tenxþo.

5.

Barside

EBanter

Bmuchli, Philippe Ir Cone, Diane Stomont, Hubert Van Es, Nury Vittachi, Michael wesdake

Great wine, shame about the taste!

Journaltst Member GoverooG

.Assessing Asian Values at the Asian Press Forum

Mrcus

rl(,f.

Co¡-edines

Asian Values: Anuar lbrabim in concilíatory mood

Paul Mooney, Francis Moriarty

Assoclate Membef Goveítors Athene Choy, Kevin Egm,

a.

Co¡zedLnes Negative neo-Confucianism.

Ronald Ling, Keith Shakespeare

Sectetar?: Paül Mooîey

Professiofl al comnlttee

ao-

Conuent: Ilaîsvriens B^yfield, M em b e rs : P ^El Marcus IØ- Bmucbli, Philippe Le Fr¿ncis Moriarty

Sondhi Limthoflgkul in profile.

CoÍe,

Flmce Commlttee Tteasrru: DorothyRy,-n Carl Goldstein, Simon Holbenon, Keith Shakespeare

Membersblp Comf,lttee Conuuor: H\betavnEs Members:

Cc¡rzedines

43.

Specia-l Report Circling the Central nightmare

aa-

FCC People Burning rubber and midnight oil

Kqin Wn, Keith Shakespere Michael Westlake

Eûtertalmnt Commltte€ Conumor: Nury Yittachi Membts:Marcts w. Bnuchli, Ronald Ling F & B Commlttee Conue nor : Pttil¡p pe Ic Cone

2a--

FCC People Avery merry time, indeed.

23-

Getasza)r Oompah up the Yangtze.

M e mb e rs : Kevín F4m, Âthene Choy

Wall Commlttæ Hubert vm Es, Bob Davis hrbllcatlons C.omñlttæ C o n u e nor:

P

25.

Members: Fnîcis Moriarty, Hubert Vm Es, Nury Vittachi, Terry Duckhm, Simon Tviston DaYies (Editor)

26-

Frorrr hole to trole On life in the Twilight Zone.

The Corespondent EDITOBIALOTTICE

Back Benctrer The Hitler howler.

avl Bayfreld

Simon Twiston Davies, Editor Marion Bouke, Assistmt Editor 2 Lower Albert Road, Hong Kong Telephone: 2527 lSll Fax:2ffi 4O92

28.

@ t994 Tlle foreign corcspondents'

37--

Social

32-

FCC Faces

Club ofHong Kong Opinions expressed by writers in The Cofiespondeu t are not necesarily those of The Foreign Corespondents' Club.

Tbe Coftespondmt is published monthly by The Foreign Cnnespondents' Clüb ofHong Kong.

Tee lfirrre All action heroes

Affairs

Teeing off in grand style

Ronald Ling

PRODUCTION FST Line Design &

Mercedes-Benz

Printing

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Street,

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Tel: 2521 7993

Fu: 2521 A366

Publlsher-Ian 1

Harling

Ma¡kedrg Dhector Katie Mccregor DTP Artlst Liema Duong

-

Cover photograph: courtesy ofThe Freedom Fomm

December 1994 TÃE coRxlsPoI{DENT

To the

The advertisement did rwo things.

nditor

provided strong ammunition to the

responsibility to protest against action by any section of the media that furthers these ends.

For several months I have had what I considered to be the privilege of seruing as a yoluntarily co-opted member of the Club's Professional

Dear Sir,

I

am shocked and horrified that

the Foreign Correspondents' Club lodged no protest nor took any other action in connection with the ATV

Club should be concerned with, he promised to canvass board members.

He later told me the general feeling of

the governors was that no action

Hitler advertisement.

should be taken.

suggested to President Simon Holberton that the Club should act he replied that though he did not consider this one of the core issues the

be wrong in principle. By doing nothing the FCC indirectly condoned this

When

CANON EOS. I N THE HEART Of

It ftielled the growing fires of neoNazism and neo-Fascism. It also

I

I sincerely believe this.decision to

despicable ad.

A PROTESSIONAT

SYSTEIII

Committee. The Committee Convenor tells me he shares the view expressed by President Holberton.

Because there is such a basic difference of opinion on a matter of principle and faced with what I consider to be a highly unprofessional attitude working against the best interest of the media industry, I have resigned from the Professional Committee.

Rex E. Ellis

I-IJNTCHI-INTES

Just aÍr old-fashioned gid Ctrief secretary, Anson Charr, addressed the Club after a- lunctreota on Octol>er 31st. l\4ictrael l\dacke¡z- rep oats nron Chan's ]uncheon speechto the FCC on October 3lst began innocentþ enough. She smiled and thanked the chairman for his "very nice introduction". Then she quoted singer Eartha Kitt, claiming, "I am iust an old-

I

..,(

\

fashioned girl."

Referring to her recent trip to the United States and Canada, Chan re-

marked how she had been struck by "how generally bullish" people she met had been about Hong Kong's future and how well informed they were on Hong Kong affairs. "Foreign correspondents are doing their jobs," she concluded.

"Long may it continue."

The back patting was short-lived, however. "'W'e are going to have to work hard; very, very hard to make sure that it happens," she said of the

Joint Declaration and Basic Law. The tone in which this was delivered was crisp and emphatic, almost didactic.

THE C0RRf,SP0ilDDNT

To those who have voiced con-

cern that post-1997 Hong Kong might not be the vibrant place it is now, Chan warned that such thinking "may well become a self-fulfill-

help. Tactful and private persuasion often produces results, even it does not pfoduce headlines." my colleagues joined the civil service

to serve the public, the Hong Kong

"Further," she continued, "it almost certainly will be if they do not take a more positive attitude and lend their support to the gre tmajotity of people in Hong Kong."

It must be noted, howeyer, that such undemocratic views possibly reflect the fact that the chief secretary fronts an administration that must be led into a much less democratic system after t997.

In addition, her attitude to the

people,'W.e did not join the civil service to sefve London. Aftet t997 itwill

issue of freedomof expressionis ques-

against the concept of autonomy. The impression one is left with from the teffitory's chief secretary is that boatrockers will not be welcome.

assembled correspondents and journalists, "do not necessarily have to be aired in public. That doesn't always

December 1994

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Out of Tempo

name l^

ifhe FCC's first rzice president, Flans \Zriens, rzisited Indonesia last rrronth to ol>tail1 an update on ttrree publications l>anned by the central go\zerrtrnetat- It rn asn't a-n elerzating e><periel1ce-

he

who is now living in

a sott of journal-

sensation when a Major General said

of-

istic twilight.

In the cases of Temþo, DeTik and Editor, the hated lnlormation Minister Harmoko has made sure there will be

Indonesia's next leader should be a military man and that Messrs. Habibie andHarmoko - both civilians - were " that nothing " without Suharto ' s back-

which

ing. A statement must have infuriated Habibie. Stories like this made DeTik

fice of

Temþo is virtual-

ly empty except for thecomput-

tested the limits of press.freedom in the final years of President Suhafto's

ers and some

authoritarian New Order regime.

existence into a "must". Its circulation shot up to ovef

Harmoko, who is also chairman of the

300,000 copies a week.

boxes which are spread all

ruling Golkar par|y, defended his use

After the closure of DeTik, flm

of aministerial degree of the amended 1982 Press Act, which expressly forbids newspaper closures, by using the Orwellian argument that tlre maga-

producer and editor Eros Djarot, tried

Siruponí and made it into

zines had not been banned.

DeTik.Itlasted one issue

big brown over the rooms.

The movers are finishing their work. The editors, Mohamad Goenawan and FikriJufri are the only ones who are staying behind.

This couple made Ternþo, the oldest surviving weekly in Indonesia, into a highly successfull magazine. The Netustueek lookalike ]¡:ad a circulation of 200,0OO. Tempo andthe other two weeklie s, DeTík and Edìtor which were all closed in June by Information Minister Harmoko the or- oncatered ders of President Suharto primarily to the rising Indonesian middle class. Six months after the unprecedented closure, the three weeklies have all failed to get published again. This has suprised many journalists in Jakarta. The last time a mainstream publication was closed by the presidentwas the aftemoon datly Sinør Harøþønin 1986. The offence: itpublished a list of important business

monopolies. About six months after Sinar Harøþanwas shut, it was back on the streets - sort of. The government issued a new license for a da1ly,

but it ]rad a new name, Suara Pembaruan The editor of Sínar

Harøþan, Aristides Katoppo, had to resign. "The government triedto push me into exile. I refused," he says. Life has never been the same for Katoppo, rHD

CORRf,

SP0lfItEItT

no comeback lor tlre magazines,

Instead, Suharto's loyal protege argued, their business licenses had been revoked. Spot the difference.

"Having your business license revoked is worse than being banned", argues

Fikri Jufri, deputy editor of Ternþo.

"Harmoko has effectively killed us."

And that was exactly the intention of Harmoko, whose best known quality is his loyalty to the president.

The controversial research and

technology minister, B.J. Habibie, who was attacked in the three weeklies for his purchase of the entire former East German navy, initially intended to sue Temþo. Amid the ensuing controyersy, Habibie won Suharto's backing to sue Temþo Tor $ 1 billion, withrheintent, saidHabibie in an interview with tlre Asian Vall Street lournø|, ol "bankrupting" the respectable magazine. In the end, a suitwas too much of a hassle. Suharto

instead decided to close the maga-

with a stroke of his pen.

The excuse for the closure of DeTik was that it did not stick to its zines

mandate to cor¡er coûrmon crime. In-

steadDeTik, under editor Eros Djarot,

specialised

in uncovering

banking scandals (Bapindo) and publishing provocative interviews withhigh ranking military officers. DeTik caused a

December 1 994

in its 17 months'

to outsmart Harmoko. DeTik took over the floundering magazine

Irr recent years, olle sign ttrat the rlrla-Lrl? to Ctrristrnas is on trand ha-s l>een tlae celel>ration of ttre arrival at tkre Club of tkre year's Eleamjolais NTor-nzeau - In L994, trovrzerrer, ttrere s/asrt't a sqrreak of e><citernellt- lFtre FCC let tkre e\zelltpass by- Clut> rrratlratger Jettrro I-ee-l\¡I allone)u e><pla-ins uzkr;z 'W'ine merchants

"R:.iåîi,'J;

were asking the profes-

sion, (restaurateurs, sommeliers and hoteliers), to taste the wine prior to trade purchase .

Attempts were made to interest and inform the consumer in the ways

a second

Fawkes.

More recentþ, entreaties have been made to celebrate another occasion in

just enough

- story on to publish a controyersial

November: the release and launch of

further compounded when Allan Hall,

how the CIA assisted in the ovefthrow of President Sukarno by General

the year's Beaujolais Nouveau.

The Nouveau, or En Primeur, wines were originally only available to the wine trade. Only the trade wanted them. It was only the trade

then Atticus on the Sunday Times,

that could possibty have put any value on a product that was nowhere near

started the Beaujolais Rally.

poníwas banned.

"The official Union of Journalists

Suharto in

1

9

65. Sin

withdrewits support, because too many journalists of the newly independent union joined Símpon|" says Aristides Katoppo. Besides publishing news, being a member of an independent union is also a sin in Indonesia.

One of Suharto's longtime buddies and business cronies, the eth-

nic-Chinese Bob Hassan, saw the perfect business opportunity after the closure of the highly profitable magazines. He secured

a

publication

license over tea with the president and subsequently tried to take over Tempo. He failed. "Most journalists

were not willing to work for

Bob

Hassan," says FikriJufri. This month the first issue of Hassan's new maga-

zine, Gøtra, will hit the streets in lakarta. The expectations are low.

Gatra will not ruffle any polictial feathers. The time of openness in politics in Indonesia keterbøkøan over for the forseable future.

-"Atisthe moment there is less press freedom in Indonesia than we had under the Dutch," says Fikri Jufri.

E

a state of quality that might be of interestto the end-buyer, the drinker, the general public.

New, youngwinesfrom every area have always been produced for profes-

sional buyers who, hoping to steal a march on their competitors, would attempt to assess the possible development andlikely quality of the wine and "bid" accordingly.

Quite simply, it is "buyingfutures".

Those of you who have given effort

to the creation of home-made wines will know of the impatient "tasting" before thewinewas ready - justto see how it was going.

You may recall that it was not always a pleasant experience and that it would have been better to let the passage of time soften the blow.

I suppose itmust have been about

25 years ago t}rat someone noticed

that this product differed from all others.

This elaborate marketing ploywas

took an interest.

Apart from his talents as a joumalist, Hall had a passion for wine and

Through the column he encouraged his readers to

care about who

might bring a bottle of this rough, young wine to the diningtables of Britain before anyone else. It caught the public imagination.

It also caught thç eye of the British con-

3îiï'#,î','1î." :i'"-å'.i"*".îftJå down by a bottle or two. ' Further public interest was created when a British high street wine

about the taste!

fifth of November; Gunpowder, treason and plot." So runs the old English nursery rhyme reminding us of a certain Mr Guido (Guy)

umn inches by risking life and limb

merchant decided to put its budget for Christmas advertising into subsidising the Nouveau and was able to market it

at something like &1.99 (approx }JK$24).

Now, at last, this publicly-promoted trade-sample has met its'W'aterloo. The game is up, the trick has been discovered.

There was too much manipulation, too much hype.

The official date of release was even changed to allow distributors to

get the stocks in local storage so it could be delivered prior to the day it was supposed to be dramatically unvatted in some dark, musty cellar several thousand miles away.

There is afl affogaîce in trying to fool people, even some of the people some of the time, in such a mindless

andblatantway.

Nevertheless,

it

succeeded for

many yeafs.

A dozen years ago, in a small provincial hotel, I sold about 50 cases of Beaujolais Nouveau in thefirstweek of release - itwas trendy and; I'11 admit, financially benefi cial.

It fras offen t>een said ttrat Eteauj olais NTotnzean-r is better sprinkled on ckrips ttìan drurnk vrzittr ttrern-

stabulary and the

Myfinal order forNouveauatthe 'Wig &Pen club in Londonwasfor 10 cases. A couple of years ago at the Royal Common-

wealth Society only five cases were sold.

It seems to me

thatit's abouttime

French gendarmerie through whose manners youthful army subalterns and enterprising selfpublicists were rushing whilst clutching a bottle of little-more-than-vinegar. (It has often been said that Beaujolais Nouveau is better sprinkled on chips than drunk with them, though that, of course, is a matter for personal judgement!).

that the level of commercial competi-

There were a few years when

tioninBeaujolaiswas causing greaterthan-usual quantities of sample bottling, largely for the British market.

the press and television regulady reported on the frolics and lunatic activities of those wishing to gain col-

the

Beaujolais

Nouveau was put back where it started .

Asuffeptitious sip to see howits going, then only for those who really care!

This year, during the middle weeks

of November the FCC held a wine promotion in the main dining room; it was held with the support and cooperation of SOPEXA (Food and Vrine from France) - the promotion was for wines from Bordeaux!

Nobody mentioned Beaujolais Nouveau.

December 1994

@ TÃ0,

coRRxsEolm[ilÎ

Assessing Asi atr Yalues force newspapers to suppress contempofary news fepofts.

According to Suthichai, a well written, in-depth report is seen as "western" an insult to the level of

For the first tirrre since the end of the Col<l \ùÚzar, a heav¡ruzeight gror-rl2 of regional ectitors -.tnd s/riters vzas able to discr-rss the furtlrre of Asi-¿'s rrreclia <fi-rring the inaugr-rral A.sian Press Forutn s¡trich \ /as helcl at the FCC- Andreu¡ I-¡rncll reports that ttre central debate \ /as on the relerzance of "Asian Values".

competence of local journalists.

Meanwhile, Cheong Yip Seng, editor-in-chief of Singapore's Tbe Strøits Titnes, argued that there is no such thing as total freedom of the

\Yfn.r¡er W -.n,

rn the race or governc.rbson thefreedomol

the press, or just in beating the technical difficulties thrown their way, journalists simply want to do their job, and do it better. That theme was reiterated time and again during the Asian Press Forum which took place at the Club in eady December.

Away from the seeminglY conciliatory tone of a keynote sPeech bY the

deputy prime minister of Malaysia,

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!el the rest conform.

on the quality of the inclividual journalist, he said.

It is language that is the greatest

mined by political and commercial considerations. And, he believes, those

Soliven

China by News Corp's Star TV. Cheong added that the suppression of details of the \ùØhitewater scan-

reckoned, citing a group of commllnist rebels who fled to China from the

had been circumvented by the use of

asset

in covering a collntry,

years ago and who, be-

dal by America's mainstream media

electronic mail.

Dissenting voices

Corresþondent), thre exuberant rail-

canse of theircommand

will not be sup-

ing of former Før Eastern Economic Reuietu editor Derek Davies agarnst his old foe Lee Kuan Yew, and a meas-

of Mandarin, now hold senior positions in the

pressed and read-

ured viewfrom Thailand by the chairman of The Manager Group, Sondhi Limthongkul, eight seminars examinecl

Beijing.

ol

served, he said.

Tbe Na-

tion in Bangkok,

Even so, "if you are foftunate enough to have a

said

that Thailand takes a very pragmatic view of Asian

Ii:T.::^,,"ii suspicion in

Thailand that Asian

government that is clear and effective

Kts

Ibrabim

tmhr l.J.

Suthichai

Vittr.g ... 50

enhancing the

suppoft it."

Former Club president Philip

curity-re-

alism.

in

well-being of its citizens, it makes no sense not to

values have been used to mask se-

adequate resources to report on Asia,

decide whe-

ther they are being adequately

Suthichai Yoon, publisher

news organisations fail to provide and apathy, ignorance and racism were blamecl.

However, most damningly, Knight's research found that corresponclents used mostly ìl'estern sollrces, the first port of call being diplomats, followed by the Far Eastern E conomi c Reu ie w and BBC Wodd

ers and viewers

will

American press in

lated issues or a lack of profession-

country's covefage of the region was neither accurate nor balanced: most ATMs oll over the world.

commercial considerations have recently become more pressing, citing the unceremonious dumping of the BBC W.odd Seruice Television feed to

Philippines some 20

the notion of media's role in society".

For many of the delegates at the Forum, the presentation by an Australian academic was as startling and depressing as any of the well turned words of the high-flying Asian regional editors.

Alan Knight, director of the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, had been studying the attitudes of Australian foreign correspondents in Asia who felt that their

ot

self-defeating idea, arguecl Max Soliven, publisher of the Plrili¿þìne Stør in Manila. Everything depencls

will

"Asian values and the

odvonces

press. The degree offreedom is deter-

apper in full in the next isste of Tbe

Anwar Ibrahim, (the text of which

MORE BENEFITS THAN ANY

Service radio. The Thai press was the only Asian source in the top ten.

Talk of Asians covering Asia was a

years in Hollyuoor)

reckoned that before the end of the Cold \ùØar"the communist threat" was rolled out as a justification when

the government instructed newspapers not to run certain stories. Today in Thailand, the concept of Asian values is a stick used by government to

Bowring warned of the dangers of generalising aboutAsia, which, he said, is a European concept. It is all too easy to pillory the 'W'estern press for its coverage of Asia, said Bowring. The condescension, ignorance and sheer inanity of the erstwhile colonialists is obviously

highly irritating.

He added that "journalists - and know in otr heads, non-journalists as well as in our hearts, the cliff-erence between respecting social and religious variety and accepting dictation by the Continued on l)age 9

December 1994 THE CORRf,SPONDENT

Negative

neo-Confucianism fDerels fDanzies, ttre distinguislred forrner Cltrl> president and a forrrrer editor of ttre Far Easterrz Ecctrtc>rrtìc -Reztieztt, addtessed ttre ,A.sia.n Press Forurrr, gilzing one of ttre l>est speectres kreard o\zer ttre lrzeekexld- T'fze Correspc>rtdertt offers a, ta.ste of Dan¡ies' vrzisdorn v¡ittr a.n edited-for-lengttr rzersion of tris insigtrtful corrrrrrents, opening vzittr an outline of tris eafly Jr'ears in ttre region.

C(I I

first came to Asia - ro what was then North Vietnam only three years after the French de-

Asians understandably on the look-out for patItwas the era of the Third World challenging

The Vietnamese bureaucrats took care not to push any Westerner's face

Westemjoumalistswho were accused of judg-

in the mud of that defeat.

On the other hand, the Indian members of the International Control

ing nations by non-Asian

mies clashedwith almost all theirneighbouring states and only softpedalling the democracy spiel during Mrs Gan-

dhi's years of "Emergency" rule.

In the meantime, Tibet hardly inhibited China's anti-colonial propagandists, nordidVietnam's folkmemories of 1,000 years under China's occupa-

Back in the days of the Thai military dictatorship one could shrug off being denounced in the pages of the Bangkok Posf when a senior Foreign Offtce official on secondment to the newspaper dictated its editorials and censored its news pages. But it was sad, when I went to defend our journalists in detention, to be door-stopped

in my hotel room by a reporter and photographerwho had obviouslybeen instructed by their editor to dish the dirt.

More recently it

standards,

sat the editor of the Straits Tímes of

of imposing

course,

an alien set of values in reporting. That has not

changed.

During that period

Dauìes: tbe scourge oÍ Lee

many Asian journalists saw their professional ftrnction as being very di-fferent from the 'W'estern idea ofthe press.

Most were patriotic and rightfully

proud of their countries' hard-won independence. Many accepted the arguments of their national leaders that it was their duty to help with the task

of modernisation, of building the

country up.

It followed that critical, negative articles, or articles which simply failed to exhalt the leader and his achievements, were deemedunhelpful, negative, destructive, non-patriotic and, by

Still, it would have been un-Asian to remark that Asian countries, from ancient Burma to pre-waf lapan and modern China had been known to colonise their neighbours. It is part of Asian folklore that only the'W'est is, or

extension, traitorous.

This was the era of "developmental joumalism" when many Asian journalists embraced the concept of thei¡ trade as an essential contribution to their nations' future.

was, imperialist.

At its best, developmental joumalism did help to cteate a public consciousness of the economic challenge; at its worst, it condemned joumalists, as it had to their colleagues in communist states, to the service of the ruling party.

TEE CORRXSPOI|IIENT

leagues.

waseYenmoredepressing to sit in a Singapore court and glance at the press gallery in which

tion inhibit its plan to complete its hegemony over the rest of Indochina or Suharto's Jakartt from imposing its brutal rule in East Timor.

Asia was still going through its post-colonial phase when I ¡eturned to the region in the earþ 1960s with a very left-wing, highly demagogic, highly democratic Lee Kuan Yew coming to power in Singapore, and all

I have also been often by my journalistic col-

Even so,

depressed

ronising attitudes.

featat Dien Bien Phu and the Geneva agreement to partition the country.

CommissionforVietnam lectured even those of us who supported the cause of Asian independence on the moral superiority of non-alignment and the evils of colonialism.

Of course, they never mentioned Kashmir, hardly pausing as thei¡ ar-

and incompetent leaders the - from Philippines to Thailand, from Pakistan to Indonesia, from China to Korea, betrayed that trust.

December 1994

And all too often, their corrupt

Kuan

Yeu)

a card-carrying

member of the ruling People's Action Party - and a large contingent of his hacks pre-

paring the following day's froht-page version of the trial.

Meanwhile, Western confidence has collapsed. Vith the end of the Cold War, Reaganesque/Thatcherite triumphalism has gone out of the

window.

Westem capitalism, or'W'estem democracy, had made the mistake of defining itself in the Cold tùl¡ar largely in negative tefms.

It was anti-communist, anti-central controls, anti-egalitarianism, antistatism and its only positive belief, in the market mechanism, has proved no

comfort in the ye ars of rece ssion, widespread unemployment and the increasing burden of aging populations.

Shorn of the Cold IØar's unifying extemal threat, plagued with rising crime and motiveless violence, drug addiction, horrific inner cities and the paradox of materialistic societies which can only award material comforts to decreasing proportions of its populations, the SØest has lost its selfcon-fidence and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Meanwhile, East Asia and per-

-

haps increasingly parts of South Asia basks in general agreement that too coming century belongs to it. No the longer does it merely resent.lfestern judgements and more s, it rejects them.

Yes, I am suggesting that Asian successes have created societies as materialistic as those of the tùíest and will, in the course of time, as modernity and prosperity loosen family ties into nuclear fission, prove vulnerable to the same forces as have eroded the

First World.

Nevertheless, the new self-confidence has demanded positive thinking: no longer can negative, anti-Western attitudes define Asia's success stories. And so, on the foundation of the

of the West, has been built the rationale of "neo-Confuregion's rejection

cianism".

One of the inherent weaknesses of the Confucian system is the matter of the transfer of power to a successor.

But one learns from the pages of

tlre Internationøl Herald Tribune (IHT) tl:at if you praise Lee Kuan Yew for putting a Confucian-style dynasty in place, you get stted for libel, and

Continued from page

7

intolerant and the greedy".

In a discussion on "Neighbours: how Asia reports Asia", Lee Wan-lai, executive deputy managing editor of the Central News Agency in Taiwan,

ard., suggested that journalists should adopt a friendlier attitude to the Mainland, a position which earned several rebukes from the floor.

saw no consensLrs on Asian values.

Although transport links haye

Asian values topic when Marites Vitug,

brought Asian countries closer, they are still remote in cultural, religious

gative JoLrrnalism in Manila, outlined the difficulty of ascribing Asian values to a country that had spent "300 years in the convent and 50 years in

and economic terms, said Lee. There is a lack of adventurous spirit among Asian journalists. W'orse still, theAsian media is ethnocentric and often resigns its responsibilities to the west-

Khalid Mohamad, deputy group editor of the Utusan Mølaysia newspa-

Commitment

to basic principles of

free speech is sepa-

rate from cultural

a

chief minister, despite an array of laws limiting the operations of the media, including some intro-

Leticia Jiminez-

Magsanoc, edi-

tor-in-chief of tlre Pbiliþþine Døily Inquirer,

"

During a semi-

described how,

entitled "Eng-

despite the tran-

lish-language press

sition from the Marcos to the

naf

-

in Asia: does it play by different

rules?".

Paisal

Sricharatchanya, managing director of Si øm Post, declared

insult to the millions of Asians who

that the English-language Bangkok

have fought for their fre edoms against

Post

-

Aquino

Samatby: a mouing plea.

the Thai-langvage

knowledge that the authoritarians' day is done: that with education and prosperity and with the communications revolution comes, ineluctably, a basic human refusal to be told what to think, what to say, how to dress, how to vote on the part ofthe people who have worked hard for a share in shaping their societies, and.of imposing an alien set of values in reporting.

Thathas not changed." ¡@

,

ducedafterindependence.

is an abomination.

It is an insult to Confucius. It is an

day caricature as alien and Western.

We can only take comfort in the

press had recently brought down

sensitivity. Interde-

spective.

a

per group, described how his national

pendence shouldbe reflected in the way newspapefs opefate

rü(r'ould

colonialists and against the dictators who too often replaced them: it is an insult to the Asians who have died, suffered torture, known humiliation, escaped into exile in pursuit of the basic respect which their masters to-

coloniallegacy?"

rule of law: is there

ability.

mouths of aging dictatorswho use it as a rationale for preserving their power

Hollywood", under Spanish and American colonists.

In "Press freedom in Asia and the

Paul Kelly, editor-in-chieT of The Austrølian in Sydney, said he believed the region is on the threshold of an era of oppoftunity. However, "practitioners should strive for higher standards.

and Asia should maintain an outward-looking per-

But neo-Confucianism in the

of the Philippines Centre for Investi-

ern media.

that his son, the Brigadier-General, has risen to his present eminence on pure

not Lee be more honest to tell the IHT that the obvious succession is neo-Confucianism in action?

There was another bite at the

- which he edited for five years was perceived as a foreign publica-

tion target-ted at a tiny elite, despite the fact it was mainly Thai owned and Thai managed.

A similar elite is addressed by the English-language press in Indonesia, said Raymond Toruan, general manager of the Jakartø Posf, which has

a dally print run of about 50,000 copies in a country of 190 million

people. Because ofthe nature ofthe English language, the news can be reported differently but is still produced under government constraints, he said.

The sharpest divisions at the Forum emerged during "Hong Kong's press after 1997" , when Terry Cheng, deputy edito r of tlre H ong Kong Stand-

ancl

Ramos regimes, governments have proved no fonder ofpress criticism than before.

The closing seminar examined "Indochina: government media rela-

tions".

of

Pen Samathy, editor-in-chief Rasruei Kamþucbeø in Phnom

Penh, issued a mov-ing plea for help

for the journalists in that benighted country. Many j ournalists were working under the threat of assassination, he said.

Hoang Ngoc Nguyen, editor of the Saigon Neusread,er in Vietnam told how the ban on negative stories in his press had been liíted and investigations

had removed many corrupt officials.

TheAsianPress Forum covered all this and more. It looked at the questions, but inevitably came up with few solid answers. To do that the Forum will have to meet again.

December 1994 TÃE

@ GORruSPONIIENT

T )( S*ire Group

IIis brother's keeper

C¡rHnv Pnclnc

lfhai elltreprelaer-lr Sondhi Lirr:rthongkr-rl, c¡ne of Asia's nes/ breed of rrredia rrroguls, e><plained t<> the -A.sian Press Forr-rrrr ttrat his br-rsilaess is fär rrìore than publishing. Andre'w Lynch rel2orts. ttre otliotrs way that comparifI- nsons are macle it may well be that a few years from now people will be calling Sondhi Limthongkul, chairman and editor.in-chief of The Manager Group, Asia's Rnpert Murdoch.

Currently The Manager Group employs some 2,000 people from 17 countf ies who work on 22 ptrblications in four languages which are distfibuted in 14 countries around the region. Tomorrow, who knows?

Already recruiting has begun for t}re Asia Times, a regional newspa-

per Sondhi hopes to launch at the end of next )-ear, publishing from Bangkok and probably printing in Hong Kong among several satellite

print sites.

At the Saturday lunch of the Asian Press Forum, tlae 47-year-old Sondhi, wlro publishes the monthly ital Asia Inc magazinein Hong Kong, described his own experiences as a journalist

and businessman, publishing in the face of death threats from the Thai military and being lucþ to avoid assassination.

In his speech, "Finding a balance: a view from Thailand", Sondhi tolcl

how Thailancl had avoided the 1'el¡s of colonialism only to become enslaved by a succession of dictatorial army officers. Under them the Thai press ignored political reporting and economics and business in favour of the safer, sex and crime beat. Rich inclividuals owned big media companies overseeing practices that were neither journalistically nor commercially professional.

But the advent of a more liberal economic climate with a massive infusion of capital supplied the funds for

young entfepfeneurs such as Mr Sondhi to go into business. He was "an editor who got lucþ", as he said.

The economic liberalisation cre'tLtecl

a new politically aware

cal stuclents

-

Bangkok's pro-democracy protests in May 1992," Sondhi said.

Applying marketing to the mele e,

he continued: "More than half the demonstrators were 30 or older. More than half e arned monthlf incornes of $400 - twice the national average.

Neeclless to say, these are the people Thailand's newspapers are anxious

to reach. Some of the older papers have hacl their difficulties. But some new papefs have set olrt to selve them." These papers included the Bangkok Post, The Nation and his own Plcu Cbad Karn, a financial and But the kingdom's newspapers continue to labour uncler clraconian laws, inclucling Revolutionaq¡ Colrncil Order No. 42 which states that if you print anything that is untrue you may be sent to jail. And incleed, Sonclhi received a three-month sentence (suspended) when Phu Cbad. Karn sug-

- wrongly as it tLuned olrt that the Crown Prince was going to study for a master's degree in the United States. Moving on to the Fogested

rum's central debate, Sondhi explained

how Asia differed from the

.W'est

in

three ways: in state strlrctures, geography and inlrastructure.

The last he illustrated by describing how two station wagons sponsored by his firm had just completed the first ever Singapore to Beijing run over 10,000km and seyen weeks.

"It is an astonishing measure of Asian apartness that it has taken until this week," he said.

He continued: "Publishers and editors of newspapers and magazines that cross national borders should be sensitive to the fact that each country marches to the speed of its own drummer. BLlt this can't remove us from the

responsibility to say to

a

government:

'He1'! 1'e1rt clrumrner is marching too

slowly; catch up with the wodd'."

Here Sonclhi outlined the respon-

were at the heart of

sibiliq'of the press: "There are obliga-

THf, CoRRf,SPolil)ENI

-

class:

Sott¿l.lti; LrtTder tbi'eat oÍ a ssa ssít'tcttiotl

business daily.

not radi-

"Miclctle-class professionals

CONNECTIONS

December 1994

salz a5 -arah as we can when a govefnment desetwes criticism. In Thailand I believe that a Thai pub-

tions to

lisher is his b¡other's keeper. In Singapore, Inclonesia China and so on, we cannot be so sure."

It was at this point that Sondhi chided'Westem journalists.

"So often their criticism is deliv-

ered in editorials or in conversations reeking with cultural arrogance. "'!Øhen Katharine Graham, owner of theWasbington Post,was asked by Richarcl Nixon back in the Seventies to moclerate her paper's coverage of the 'W'atergate scandal, Mrs Graham politely told the president to go and play by himself. "!Øhen I was asked by the representatives ofone recent Thai government to stop publishing stories detri-

mental to them they accompaniecl this with a death threat. A group of eight assassins were sent to my office early on the morning of May 17 ,1992, planning to kill me. Fortunately I was warnecl by an insider and managed to get out of the countq'.

"At this stage in the history of many Asian coLrntfies, editorial de ci-

sions have

to be taken in circum-

stances very different from those pre-

vailing within the Washington .Westbeltway or in the pubs aronncl minste r.'

re

The Heart of Asia.

BATTERIES NOT INCLI.JDED

Circling the Centtal nightmare llor-r still hanzelr.'t coIll?leted ltour Christrnas shol2ping: yoLr've l>een too bus;2, ).ou hate Christrnas cro\ /ds and Christrr.ra-s rrrr-rza-k. You're sitting at ttre l>ar, <>r: pedral2s in the glzlTl, rrriseral>ly c onterraplatirl g )r'oLrr p artlaer' s furr-y qzhen tre or skre realises ;zor-r l-lanzein't bor-rght a single preserlt for arr1.one. If that's yoLrr pligtrt ttris is the guide for ),'ou-

Pakistan, Afghanistan and China. The

cheapest buy is a colourfrrl, geometrically pattemed Bukhara for $3,000. After that prices rise, depending on quality, source ancl, no doubt, howgoodyou afe at negotiating.

Further along 1fl1'¡6lham Street, youcan'tfail to notice the bright actylic

pictures in the large windows of Touchstone Gallery. All the work here is contemporary and prices range

he ideais to

from $500 to several hundred

whiskyott

around a circuit of

shops within

a five-

minute walk of the Club

and you won't eYen have toface the turrnoil

of Central. Tbe

Corre-

sþondent Gift Circuit will have you back at the bar within 30 minutes, laden and guilt free. So, atm ).ourself with a shopping bag, and head downthe steps ontoWyndham Street.

for one of the treatments on offer.

They include a Swedish Body Massage ($380 forone hour), an Aromatherapy Massage ($450 for one hour) a Pepper-

mint Body Polish ($500 for 45 minFirst stop is The Pottery Workshop right underndath the Club. The Workshop is mn by the Fringe Club and provides a workspace and

n'orlcl's first u'inding rotor mounted on ball bearings pioneered

- get this one you will find the carpet a¡d art centre of Hong Kong.

Any one of these shops will provicle

ftrll range reveals itself to you. Almost anything in the shop would make a gift for someone: lacquerware, wood carwings, silvetware, fabrics, temple

you with a gi-ft. However, if you are a total novice visit Oriental Carpets.

decorations, puppets, bronze and brassware as well as other strange clr-

Rizwan Butt, the proprietor, occasionally gives seminars on carpets so he's

rios. Sets of bronze opiumweights cost an¡hing from $ ¡OO - $ 500 while sump-

at ease explaining the difference between the carpets and rugs for sale, /qq* the terminology and the his-

tuous mirrors with inlaid glass frames cost $ 1,800. Thenoodle cart(suggested use: a cocktail cabinet) is a good example of the more unusual items on sale.

high as $6,OOO. For Christmas 1994tllre

shop is stocking a special range of knick-knacks for under $100. Items

tions and brightly coloured three-legged dogs, complete

mechanism

of such astuteness rt connnues to be imitated

todav.

¡

with idiotic grins.

Across the road from

,,

ETERNtrI ol tinrr' .\hearl

tory. Oriental "4þ I

,,

la

þk^ ,%

qeh

and salon".

If you want to pamper someone yoLr might consider

Moving up the hill

ollt of the way first

I r.

/'

The Pottery Workshop yorr will find Frederique, "The original French beauty school oaa aa

\ùTyndham Street, and you will see an amazingF ar Eastern Aladdin' s cave of Thai and Burmese wares. The shop is on three levels and prodttcts are

goblets. The common factor is that they are all hand-made and, therefore, unique. The average price of the ceramic-work is $400-$500, although some of the sculptures are priced as

inclucle ceramic Christmas tree decoraa

Peer in through the pavement level window of Kinari on upper

ish sculptures to flÌnctional stoneware

salesroom for local artists. The range of is broad, mnnirg from styl-

thev u'ould have lasted since 1948, u'hen the makers of the

Reduction Treatment ($450 for one hour) which involves a bubbling volcanic mud bath and massage. A gift for your worst enemy might be a special massage for cellulite but that goes against the spirit of Christmas.

work sold

Then again, it's doubtful thev vvould be of much use. Nor that

utes). and a Men's Therapeutic Stress

thousand dollars. Browsing is a pleasure, but if you need some quick assistance in locating picnrres in a specific price range, ask for help. A possible gift for someone might be a series of 'frog' paintings by a local artist, Kwok. These cost $1,500 each (framed) and are a continuation of a frog series that the artist painted last year.

a

gift vottcher

oldo

pets

Car-

sells

tribal, village, city and work-

shop carpets and rugs, kil-

ims and runners from Iran,

stacked high so you need to take time to look into every corner before the

Luciana's Silver at

Most of the silverware is imported from Italy and can be founcl for sale in the Landmark and Pacific Place. Visiting the retail shop within their office clrts out Hong Kong Land and other

Since l8í6

Sole Agent and Service Centre: Desco (HK) Ltd Tel: 369 1221

75-77

Wyndham Street is next on our list.

December 7994 TÃE

CORRf,SPONDEIIT

products from christening gifts and

Getyour n€rme in print WANTED. Cop) s,riter br înmìil rcpr)rr llùsr hrvc ilr k:rst thrcc ),(irß c\pcricncc (iilll Michâcl l)crcrs (nl 52r 9000 FREEI-Ar\CE COPYWRTTRR availablc lbr proiccts

pÂrli(rrhrlr rilnuxl r(¡r)rt\ lll rc.trs ( \lìcfi(ne( -¡n business ficld Pctcr ñ'lichâel 9l)0 52 Lo 486 IBM PC fi)r sâlc Onc crrcful i)vncr lncludcs co, lour screen kcyl)orrd bor rnd nlouse 55 (XX) (ìrn, râct Ål Ng 6ltl 9(lOO c\tcnsirJn 22f

The Correspondent Classifïeds start in February, 1995 Contact Katie McGregor 15-B Wellington Street

gentlemen's grooming sets to cutlery, desk accessories ancl pill boxes. Special Christmas stock inclucles silverplated angel candle-holders and silver Father Christmases

rr r/" ztt t/ z r zr//y't a ) / Ir"" /./or, ,Z"/V,zon r

t

e lrnen and accellolel, coa¡ler¡, coc(larl ncp(inl, guerl loue l:, lrnen bol(eli bollleapronr and coarler

Tab

5eleclron ol.u ver lnul, boull, drihel urlh brullel:

ace

ftare anLrque lace p ecer crrca löSC Je I In ir ve r [rame¡ ot penÕanll

lrmrled edilron ol. lTìuircal lorcelarn Doll: [xcluuve ¡e leclron of Chr¡len nO Dre¡:ei 5ma lxmai grfll: lramel, boo(mar(1, pendanl:, b,roochel, (eq rrngi, prll

boxel, hand(erdchrefi, Oee I ng cardl, all urlh lace aeplreue 5houJroom

lóC llo Lee Commercrol burldr¡9,

3ö 44D

ñOurlar

Slreel Cenlrol

Ie:2523Qóöl l27lQóOO4 lax 27lQ ó72O lf]ondou lo lrdotj lOr3O am lo órOO pm or bu appornlmenl

THE GORRESPONIIENT

parenting, taoism and mythology. A range of more light-

in sleighs.

hearted books in-

Remembering that Christmas is a religious festival, it

cludes guides to the

for lMng, secrets

zodiac, provetbs

claily

for women and guides to nume-

is worth mentioning the silver handmade icons ($200$1,800) and other hand-carved religious pieces. Walking sticks with silver handles moulded into the likeness of an eagle, snake or dog head ($550) have been popular and more moulded

rology, reflexology and face reading.

Going back down Lyndhurst Terrace, pop into Sum's whichsellsfumiture and fur-

Vincent

nishing ac-

cessofles

steding silver appears on glass goblets ($350 each¡ and fi-uit bowls. Luciana has also provided a bargain basket with silver pieces for $35 each.

from around

Asia. Some

of the ftir-

A slight detourup Old BaileyStreet

niture is antique

takes you to The NewAge Shop. You

but most is

may not be in sympatlry with alternative philosophies but the shop is worth a visit. No philosophy or ancient remedy appears to have been excluded and some of the accessories and books make unusual gifts.

The most commonly encountetecl

reproduc-

Telz 2521 7993 Fax: 2521 8366

.Vljror r/rt

for dream interpretation, wind chimes and zodiac clocks ($245). Two walls are lined with books covering topics like ancient civilizations, UFOs,

"new age" practice is that of

aromatherapy, when essential oils are

either massagecl or vaporised to cure or ease such problems as stress, acne and lack of energy. The shop stocks a wide choice of oils, vaporisers (around 6275) and candles including a gÍtpackofmixed-purpose candles ($ 125).

Also give some consideration to natural crystals. These give off electromagnetic waves and, as with the essential oils used in aromatherapy, úfferent stones are said to ease or enhance different problems. Rose quartz crystals ($95) increase fertilty and help

clear stored anget and resentment, while turquoise concentrates on love and connectedness. Crystals come

as

amnlets and pendants so there is an alternative if you feel strang€ giving someone a lump of rock.

Other tmusnal accessories include a îange of Tarot cards, rune stones, and astrology-kits for divination, cards

December 1994

tion

Eng-

lish or Colonial style

and made

fiIE 1995 FCC DIARIES

inlndonesia. The products are elegant

and the wood is beautìfuI. Smaller items includes petrifiecl wood eggs ($ 1 ,3ao), wooden bowls, carvings and boxes, brass and glass floating candle-

holders ($24o-fi325), Banka pewter pieces from Indonesia such as a whisþ

hip-flask ($340; and other artefacts.

At 1l Lyndhurst Tefface you will find the Man Fong shop which claims to be the onll' 5¡ot. in Hong Kong selling antique Chinese bonds, andveq' nice presents they make too. These bonds were usually issued to raise moneyfor Chinese railways at the turn of the century and as railway building was a hazardous business, there

is a story behind each bond issue.

They are also very attractive with lots of fine script. The shop is currently selling a numberecl KowloonCanton railway bond in a frame for $4,830. ManFong also sells local maps

and mounted pages fuom t}re lllustrated Lonclort Ne¿¿s including one

The FCC 1995 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 your name, if requested.

Avoid disappointment and order earlv as stocks - FÆ(TO : 868 409.2 are limited. Allow three weeks for person ili"ing i The Foreign Correspondents' Club with your name or initials. l¡werAlbert

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:-

HK$26O.OO

tr O Q E tr E

B.The FCC Compact Desk Diary. New convenient size of 164 x 210mm, Popular week-to-view diary; international public holidays; general information and lift-out

directory

C.The FCC Pocket Diary.

HK$l5O.OO

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

x x

FCc Desk Diary FcCCompactDiary FCCPocketDiary FCC AddfeSS BooK

Fcc calf Skin watlet

-

plus my name/initials

international IDD codes and world time

chart

x x

HKS260.00 HKS

HK$150.00 HK$ HK$55.00 HK$ HK$60.00 HK$

x HK$lso.oo

x

HK$

HK$32.00 HKS (per unit)

58

HK$55.O0

(max 24 letters, including space/s)

D.The FCC Address Book. Handy pocket size with

Tot¿l

HKS

Please bill to my account:

HK$6O.OO M

E.The FCC Calf SkinWallet. Ideal for the Pocket Diary

Road

Hong Kong

HK$r50.OO

Name:

w Account No.:

Signature

when units are available to be collected Please telephone at the Club Office, Please allow at least three weeks.

--..

I

If you are still on the hunt, continue down Wellington Street to Roll-

covering the famous bakery poisoning story from f 857 ($ 1,600). Collectible maps of Asia cost from $3,OOO but you can find non-colle ctible maps (the proprietor describes them as rubbish) for about $800.

ing Stock,

a model train shop. Again,

the best is advertised in the window.

This is the smaller of two shops. Unfortunately the larger one is in Shatin so you would have to be a real collector (as opposed to a gift buyer hurrying round Tlce Corresþonclent Chnstmas Gift

One of two shops dedicated to selling comics is at the junction of Lyndhust Terrace ancl Wellington

Street. Simply look up and you will see a life-sized Batman in the window. Heroes Wodd

Distribution

shop, the Loft. The gift section is on

specialises in

youwill findwatches, jewellery, bags, suitcases and games. This section has a

and games'. Here

table goes for $46,500.

Upstairs in'Brain'Working' you will find a range of trendy desk-top

artwork by Rick Buckler costs $ t,<Oo. At $700 for a page of artwork, Spiderman is cheaper, complete with tippex and blue correction marks. Most work is mounted but not framed. A more collectible piece is a copy entitled DeøtLt of Suþerman is-

Circuit) to make that joumey. However, orders can be placed. A fine gift for a novice model train enthusiast would be

kit

consisting of an engine, several cars and a transformer. The price ranges from $800-$2,000 depending

a stafier

sued in lanuary 1993 (remember the furore?) which has been signed by the creator and as a limited edition, warrants its walnut case ($3,980).

on the model.

The penultimate stop on the Circuit is the trendy, yet pricey, one-stop

for lace with

items made en-

tirely from

classypiggy-banks ($335). Ifyou don't find an¡hing here go upstairs; the first floor has been designated 'Moving neatness, trayel, bags, fashion parts

range of boardgames and jigsaws as well as foulette tables. The full size roulette

American comics and original comic artwork from DC (Batman) andMarvel (Spiderman). Batman

lenge of a million-and-one uses

the ground fl oor, convenientlylocated next to the gift-wrap and card section.

Gift items include some colourful and

lace

such as bon-bon dishes through to porcelain dolls in lace-trimmed period dress ($350-$:Oo).

cupies

a

corner of the same shop. The

Collection is of reproduction preColumbian jewellery crafted in 24K gold-plated brass, copied from museum pieces in Central and South America. The images are of symbolic animals such as frogs which are Íegarded as the gods of rain. Pieces include cufflinks ($3oo),

Antique Belgian

brooches,

bobbin-lace and English Lille lace collars and bibs when framed make el-

bracelets, ear-

egant and collectible gifts ($1,500$I,OOO¡. Arabesque and rose motifs cut from antique wedding veils have

semi-pre-

more'economical' ($300-$500)

cious stones.

"lta

\lirrtlìrclrrcr r¡l I i¡rc.luuellcrr l'lel¡sc e:rìl rrr rrt: lel|t'l¡r'¡re: l.lr'71:',5 , \êc I :r\: i.ll,; l;{)r, ¡} ' (irrrl:rctr Slìirlc\ ljrrrllrr;rr¡i lìirirr lirrtlhrrili

-: '-

.lftì

1/F 55 SØellington Street

Luciana's Silver 4F, Carfield Commerical Building 75-77 Wyttd}ram Street

Man Forg 13 L)'ndhurst Terrace

Rolling Stock 358 UG Floor,\X/ellington Street

The New Age Strop 7 Old Bailey Street

The PotteryWorkshop 'Sflyndham

presents. Ther are also Christmas tree decorations ($ 15 each; and Christmas and NewYear greeting cards. Smaller

Ifyouhaven't

items include keyrings ($35), bookmarks ($40) and some cheating nonlace pewter wine-bottle cotks ancl

got what you want after a trip around the Circuit there's nothing for it but to drop down into Central and to battle

On the home run; the Vhite Lace and the Pre-Columbian Collection can be found in the building next to

tooth-fairy boxes.

with the crowds.

That's it!

Street

The Touchstone Gallery

Otherwise, feel free to retum to the ThePre-ColumbianCollectionoc- Club for a celebratory drink. ffi!

:fHE FCC PI.]BI-IC rIOLIDAY

li. lì. lì lntcnrtliorrrl

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items and general stationery. The third floor 'Art Working' stocks glossy coffee-table graphic clesign and architecture books, art material, kits and prints.

McDonald's at the top of D'Aguilar Street. White Lace has met the chal-

4/F Wilson House 19-27 Wyndham Street

Oriental Carpet Trading House

rings (from $ZOO) and pendants, some with

also been framed making smaller and

Frederique

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December 1994

December 1994 THE GORRf,SPONDINT

¡ ¡--¡ ¡ r ¡ ! t r i¡ t ¡ r ¡ r r r--¡ r r ¡ ¡ r ¡

D3câ

Burning nrbber anid midnight oil number of FCC members were intricately involved in last month's 4lst(or 4lth, as the officials' jackets would have it) Macau Grand Prix. Some out of commercial necessity, others out of curiosity or a love of the roar ofthe engines and the squeal of the wheels.

The Macan Grand Prix always attracts the cream of the wodd's Formula Three drivers, including champion-ship winners from Europe and Japan.

One FCC member who is instruin ensuring it all happens is Stephanie de Kantzow of PR Plus. She organises the publicity, the press office, the essential security passes for journalists, photographers and broadcasters, and much more besides.

AnotherFCC memberwho Plays a key role in the Grand Prix saga, often ignored but essential to the smooth running of the event, is track marshal,

mental

.

PublisherJeff Heselwood produces tlrc Macau Grønd Príx magazine, MotorSport Møcau. In addition, much of the radio and some of the television commentary is supplied by Heselwood.

Prism's Des McGahan was heavily involved this year with clients Motorola Pagtng and Mobil.

Murray Cornish was on hand to look after Tag Heuer, sponsors of the

Terry Duckham is responsible for much of the photography for tlre MotorSþort magazine, while

classic car race and Peter Carton was a track marshal. Tony Nedderman visits for fun and has attended the racing

Other Club members heavily involved in the Grand Prix week inclucled the ICAC's Jerry Richardson, who, together with wife'W'endy, ran the track office, while Mike Burrell

IED CORxxSPOtll¡EI{Î December 1994

>3jÊ

and Van Es

drove in the classic car eYent.

Shorry'Weston of Unisys supplied

stories during the event.

!Itt

Sna.þþing on tl:e círcuít: Kees

'WalterNahr..!íalteris the man seen on TV screens withheadphones and throat mike waving flags on the staft line.

Hubert Van Es and Kees were frequently in eviclence at the weekend's motor racing.

Eastern Exþress photograPher Mark Ralston was also on hand, while t}":re Exþress'Paul Tait provided some of the more interesting background

3l

¡--t

the computer timing screens while

forthe past29years.

The 1994 racing was a great weekend of motor-sport, but also one of almost constant parties. HaYe you ever wondered why the Club is so quiet during the third week in November?

"IeffHeselwood

U

s s To tbe rescue: Peter Carton (standing) tends

to an injured ríder

= I

ñ

@

h

December I99 4 lÃD,

G0RRISPOÎ|DDI{Î

lHrHONG

Avery

KoNGlsË'å

merry time, indeed l\{grrSzen Dinh ifu, ttre Vietnarrrese journa-list and s.riter vrztro acquired reft gee statr-rs and ttn-rs escaped the Hong l(ong carnps through ttre

intenzention of ttre FCC, tras recorzered tris heatth, reports Sanrl Locktrart, uztro recentl¡r sa\\z lFu in \ül.astrington DC.

ur friend Tu had not only recovered his physical well-being, but had recouped his spirit enough to host a reunion banquet for his friends.

My wife Alison and I, with our son Asher, visited VØashington in August and were royally entertained by Tu, the Vietnamese writer/j ournalist the FCC helped spring from a Hong Kong refugee camp in 1989.

Tu shouted a brilliant dinner for us, Jolynne d'Ornano and her husband and kids (ex-Vietnam Press

HACKER,S

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Jolynne, colle ague of Tu's in Saigon during the Seventies, was his initial point of contact and helped organise a

what led to a wodd-wide campaign for his release) and

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lÉ

À

Post's Ann Mariano

(a name from the past that old Hong Kong and Vietnam hands will remember) at a splendid Vietnamese restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia.

If we could only have reached the

Iq è >

3 È

ì Sa.t¡ated.: Nguyen Tu

andfriends

ent will know Tu had a bout of bad health recently, resulting in his being hospitalized. He's also had some substantial dental work done.

Although Tu was noticeably thin-

ner, if you can believe the toothpickwide Tu being thinner than he was in Hong Kong, his appetite was first rate by - as evidenced the amount of

tucker he managed to consume that evening. In true Tu

style, everythingwas washed down with former Baltimore Nguyen Tu in a pensíue mood gallons of plonk Sun Yietnam and soitwas aYerymerry Hong Kong correspondent Skip time indeed. Tu's consumption of Isaacs and wife Kathy, the reunion of the grape is extraordinary, as those the Spring Tu Committee would have who repaired to the FCC bar after his been complete, since it was Skip luncheon speech and assisted him in who co-ordinated the campaign in destroying a bottle of Cognac can the U.S. attest. I know how we felt as we This is the first time Tu and I trekked to DC's airport the next crossed paths since he departed morning, but there was Tu, bright Hong Kong in December 7989, and cheerful, to see us off. Apparthough we've exchanged letters and ently without a hangover, though cards. Readers of Tbe CorresþondI noticed he refused a modest co-

gnac as a mid-morning pick-me-up

in favour of

some strange juice concoction.

For all his infirmities, the wispy, snowwhite beard andfringe still make

him Central Casting's version of the eldedy Asian. In fact, delving into the depths of my soggy memory, I think we discussed briefly his moving to Tinseltown to be closer to the movies and TV. Or perhaps getting aîageît.

But we were so far gone by that time, I think we decided to shoot our owlr flick that evening outside the restaurant. Let me put it this way - it was a true FCC-style evening!

Tu says he's writing for

a

couple of

Vietnamese publications in the U.S., "but not getting paid much, tf at all".

He has also sold articles to USA Todøy and a TV magazine down under in Melbourne.

Jolynne and I cajoled him through a couple of litres worth of vino about writing his memoirs, and again, he promised to do so. Or, at least, begin

them once again. He promised to give The Corresþondent first crack at publishing his collected works, so we await publication.

December 1994 TnE

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VOTED HONG KONG'S

i :

eyes over what appeared to be a strapless cream silk dress (later revealed as being held up by transparent plastic safety braces, FCC member, Kevin Sinclair, attending what he said was his fifth Oktoberfest of 1994 this was only October - asand Znd always had a memorable verdict. "She's olcler than I am," he said in won-der, adding as an afterthought that clear1y gave him pause for thought, "but in much better condition."

Our heroine's first triumph was the transformation of strips of white

all agreed that she had indeed prepared the genuine article. Crowd excite-

ment reached near riot pitch with a trick that we would all like to learn she magicked torn-up

ì

newsprint into real money, and carried around the resulting fan of RMB10 notes (o convince any lingering doubters among her audience of 200 young, old and not-so-old Chongqing residents.

David Dalton of t}re SCMP helped

outwithMissMagic's grandfinale, when he volunteered to inspect the pacllock

with which she joined her hands together. Although he was extremely close to the action, he never did work out how the trick was done when she padlocked her arms around him in a tight clinch.

W N

A SHORT TAXI RIDE FROM THE FCC HAPPY HOURS 5-7 PM, 11-12 MIDNIGHT FOR RESERVATIONS CALL

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THE GODOWN, UPPER BASEMENT, FURAMA HOTEL, ONE CONNAUGHT PLACE. CENTRAL, HONC I(ONG

around the perimeter serving modestlypriced Chongqing and Munich-sryle food - the latterprepared bya German chef on loan from the Holiday Inn Lhasa.

But the pride and joy was the Oompah band, also a local product.

Professional musicians from the local conservatory had been recruited, but

their playing proved much too re-

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roses, allunderayast, blue canvas marquee,

when illuminated after dark. Every.thing

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pockets, with Chongqing beer by the jug, the frst drink free, and food stalls

fined and classical. Tapes and scores were ordered from Germany and the musicians started practising. The re-

day krn site, especially

D

I

It was a stylish affair, with long

-WHERE THINGS REAIIY TAKE OFF-

LUNCH, DINNER & DANCING -PRIVATE ROOM-

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Family entertainment was the primary

The second tumed bright red, then pea green as he struggled to finish his quota. Hewas, however, theundisputed

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glass jugs, and despite all the MC's entreaties, only two contestants made it onto the platform. The first one disqualified himself when he spilled a large quantity down his front and then

raffia string into a bowl of steaming soup noodles; she thenwalked around the marquee poking laden chopsticks

-!/'"""'""-'"""

One of the less edi-ffing eYents of the evening was a beer drinking contest. Perhaps surprisingly, none of the hacks felt up to draining the two-litre

even the magnifìicent beer steins, which had been bought in a chance encounter with a street vendor.

Late nighr supper Frida¡ Saturday and eve's to public holidays'

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sult was, astoundingly, nay over-

lost most of what he had swallowed into the rose bushes.

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After all, their departure doesn't mean the end of clever, original adver-

tising that leaves you feeling good about the product in question. '$ühen did we ever have any of that? No, in this town, sales techniques in aclvertising have always been borrowed from

-

commercial sponsors are akeady queueing up to get into the act lor 1995.In the meantime, the marquee will not be put in mothballs: Bamberg plans to Lrse it for authentic Chongqing hot pot evenings. Now there's a rcal cltallenge - how many Sichuan chillies can you swallow, and in how many seconds?

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f".ñl)+tl

The

wi-nner and managed to accept his congratulatory handshake and red velvet champion's sash, put his pnze (a feathered Bavarian hat) on his head before he, too, lost most of his beer into the shmbbery.

He was glimpsed throughout the rest of the evening, weaving his way around the tables, looking increasingly like a bedraggled robin. His feather was still af a jauflLy angle, althotrgh he was unmistakably whatPríuøte Eye would calT "tired and emotional". Miss Magic was not the only star of the evening. Chongqing's beer king was well ovet six feet tall, fit and tough looking.

"He's no amateur", said Sinclair appraising the form as the champ squared LÌp to the two-litre jug and prepared to break his own previous record of 40 seconds. He did this with the greatest ease and grace, and proceeded to drink more.beer than anyone else throughout the rest of the evening. On enquiry, he did indeed turn out to be a pro

the camera shops on Nathan Road, and the approach is now going to be toughened up and given a distinctly he fuss over the ATV Hitler ad is now behind us, but you can bet yonr last dollar that there will be more

like it. Adolf won't be the subject, of course, because that lesson has been

thoroughly driven home. But watch out for ads built aronnd, say, dimwitted Philippine domestic helpers trying to urderstand a new washing machine or beer-breathed expat bosses being outwitted bynattily dressed Chinese executives.

Yes, whether we like it or not, we're heading into ¡he era of the authentic Hong Kong ad, where Westem sensibilities will count for very little and where more than a few old scores will be settled. The letters page of the Soutlt Cl¡ina Morning Posf will no doubt bubble with indign^tion at it all., and Open Line's phones will cud, but it will be to no avail.

As in so many walks of life, Hong

Kong's adyertising agencies are being speedily localised. On their way out are the expats

with their fat salaries,

long lunches and paid-for accommo-

dation. Tn, or about to come in, are Hong Kong Chinese who would like to have all of the above, but are not allowed to, because it stinks of the bad old ways of privilege.

This will be distressing news for Landau's restaurant where, I'm told, expat advertising types still gather for Friday lunch and spend the best part of the afternoon downing Armagnac and becoming wittier and more perceptive with each glass. But, surely, the rest of us will learn to live with the demise of the pon¡ail set.

more racist /sexist spin.

f t-.t

atest l"iguå,

,noi there are

24,6ooBrits in Hong Kong, which

is about 12 per cent of what could broadly be described as the non-Cantonese-speaking population. Filipinos number 116,400, north Americans of one kind or another add up to 52,000, while there are 18,500 Australians and goodness knows how many assorted others who speak and read English.

The main difference thatwiÌl come with localisation will be ads in which every character apart from Hong Kong Chinese is either genetically stupicl or somehow in awe. It won't be pretty to watch, but it's inevitable . . . and to be expected. Chinese in Hong Kong must have had just about enough of theway they are treated in and by the Englishlanguage media scene, from the newspapers, where theyare often dismissed

'Why, then, does RTHK Radio 3 sound like it is produced in London for an audience made up exclusively of Brits with middle-class Brit interests?

Everyvoice, with the exception of Ray Cordeiro who was born in and still lives in Sixties Land, is straight from what, when I was a lad, was the BBC Home Service. I've no idea what they call it these days, butwe could dowithless of it in Hong Kong, thankyou very much.

ant-like carriers of information, to the advertising industry, where middle-order locals are, with worthy exceptions, been passed oyer in favour of expats. Is it anywonder they feel it's time for a little getting even?

That's not to excuse the Hitler ad (which, anyway, was done by a Westerner), but it did at least serve the

Until very recently, RTHK even had a Brit presenting the Saturday

as

purpose of being a marker in the process in which expats, for all their noisy

lunchtime country andwestern music programme, Countty Tod.ay. At least they have got a couple of Americans doing it now, but it's about the only programme not fronted by Keith Jay or a KeithJay soundalike. (And, as I'm on the subject, isn't neady two hours of country and western a bit too much of a not very good thing?)

pfotestations,

will gradually be spun awayfromthe centres of influence. In

As for the sports coYerage on Radio J's Hong Kong Today, it's a complete

the end, they will just be voices off.

Talking about voices off, did anyone spot that odd comment in the

abdication of editorial responsibiïty to do a quick studio intro and then run a taped BBC report. The Indians and Australians might hear a bit of cricket that interests them, but you can be sure the Americans and Canadians will leam absolutely nothing aboutwhat has been going on in their favourite sports.

If the management of RTHKis serious abolrt its English-language service , it should take a look at its listenership profile, and then shape the programming to matchit. Andit should give the

Sunday Morning Posf from somebody called Ken McKenzie over the Hitler business? "The agency and their client put their head right in the noose

when they decided to use the words 'final solution'. How could anyone be so stupid as to think they would get away with that?" he asked.

Hang on a minute. Is that the same good old Ken McKenzie who publishes

M e dia. magazine, which ran the ad weeks before tl:;e Morning Post and saw no problem with it? Nah, couldn't be.

newsroom boss, Terry Nealon, the money to do the job propedy.

December 7994 THE CORRXSPOIUIENT

@

BL]tr

From hole to hole: Greetings continued!

David

Garcia continr' es tris

s.ag:a-

THERE'S ALWAYS

A STORYAT TH

HONG KONG TRADE DEVELOPMENT CO UNCIL

on life in tkre lfuziligkrt

Z<>rle- lfkris rnontkr: (]arcia arrirzes at l>oot carnp-

ff to boot camp. S#ltholes are not n€cessarily limited to third wodd countries the United States Army positioned its camps around southern towns which last saw prosperity before the Civil ì7ar.

Boot camp was a drag. Basically you got screamed at at every available opportunity except hand grenade drill. Then, and only then, the sergeants were very polite During boot camp, I found a fellow surfer in the form of our company clerk who assisted me in getting out of unnecessary details and exceptionally long nature hikes. You .

see, it was summertime in Fayettville,

North Carolina and it was hot.

One particular day our drill instructor decided to spring a 50-mile full pack hike on us. The clerk said the only way out was to volunteer

King Cobra sunning itself on the

all kinds of good stuff while we sat on our prospective

snake off more. The only way to de al

hills drinking beers watching some useless, uninhabited patch of ground get plastered (rockets at sunset are awesome). Our unit lost after the marines managed to get an aircraTt carrier ard abattleship involved.

However, the captain heard of the action and was anxious for a body count. S#!i! A quick call to a buddy in Grayes & Registrations for help. He managed to find us 30 South Vietnamese cofpses, though it cost us most of our liquor rations and lots of souvenirs from the field.

The deal was cut and our buddy dressed the corpses up in some old VC geâr that was laying around waiting to be burned and choppered them out to us. The capta:itt flew out and got his body count and picture taken.

The bodies were flown back to Graves & Registration and we got a two-daypass with no-one the wiser.

Our commander was a homicidal,/suicidal maniac bythe name of Colonel'Blackjack' Honneycut.

Death on two feet.

After a couple of months with this lunatic I realised I had to transfer out of this portable morgue - we had just done a sweep of the A Shau Valley and lost half of our platoon.

This guy was going to get me killed.

The only way out was to volunteer for LRRP (Long Range Recon Platoon). I had met these guys a couple of times. They were in control of their own destiny. No cavalry charges. Worked in small units. Best of all, no Blackjack Honneycut!

Off to LRRP school, Nha Tnng, Vietnam and bye bye forever Blackjack life you didn't get to - this isorone mess up so I thought. ¡æ

with snakes is with high explosives.

Bang! I tossed a grenade at it and blew it to kingdom come. The guys behind me thought we were under atfackand all hell broke loose. In the end the lieutenant got freaked and called in for air support.

A million bucks wasted on

airborne unless you volunteer.

The sergeant just smiled and showed me the form I signed at the end of the lecture. Busted! Off to Fort Campbell Kentucky and the 101st Airborne. Next stop Vietnam.

Besides the normal shooting, bombing, booby traps, etc. Vietnam's

real terrors came in the shape of

a

snake. Luckily they never figured out what started the action. \Vasting millions was easy. One day your father wouldn't trust you with his'61 Chery, the nextyou were in charge of millions of bucksworth of

One day yor-rr father u.ouldn't trLrst )rou szitkr kris '61 Ckrevy, the ne><t )zog'qzefe in charge of rnillions of bucks s/ortlÌ of equiprnent-

key. At the end of the lecture you signed a form saying that you attended the lecture.

The guys came backfrom the hike

airborne school. I protested. I knew my rights. You don't have to go to

equipment. Add some cloth stripes and you could order up air strikes, artillery barrages, etc.

For example: one daywe got sent into some useless valley in Quang Tri province and up a useless hill to obselve an area t]¡:at had nothing going on.'W'e discovered some marines do-

ing nothing but drinking warm beer and smoking pot.

Time for abet - who can waste the most money in an afternoon with-

bugs, snakes and rodents! The snakes

out getting caught? Both units picked

were the worst. On my first patrol I was on point in front of the squad. A

their spots and started to call in the

THI

CORRDSPoN¡IEI|T

had air strikes, artillery bar-

path jumped up in attack position.

I shot at it. Missed. Pissed the

for the lecture on airborne paratroopers. Whynot? No harm in listening to some gung-ho turkey trying to convince you to become a gung-ho tur-

pissed off that I had missed all the fun.

'Wrong again. Whenthe orders arrived at the end of boot camp I was sent to

'W'e

action reports.

December 1994

rages and

-

dol of the yeor, As The Hong Kong Trode Development Council con help you moke business heodlines every doy

o mojor force in world trode you'll find we've olwoys got o good story to tell: no podding, no puff ond bocked by )leoses, give it o good occurote, upìo+he-moment figures ond stotistics, Next time you receive one of our press releoses, (

K< trode, Hong Kong once-over You'll soon see whot we meon, 0r contqct us if you need detoils on ony ospect of Hong

ìhawki Salìeddine $lìedd Tel: 685-2610, 689-3965 Hong Kong Head Of,ice William Cheung- Local Pres, Nigel Lilburn - lnternational Publicity Tel: 5844333 . Amsterdam George M. Ammerl¡an Tel: 627-7101 . Athens Shawki . Chicago lertolini ïel: i Ïel: 314-2636 James ' Bangkok Norman M. Palasalmi Tel:273-8800. BarcelonaJoaquin Maestre Tel:415-8382 . Beijing Guan LidongTel:500-2255 Ext39l0 , Buenos Aires Luh A. Bertolini LorettaWan Tel: 331Guangz Yuen Tel: 726-45 I 5 . Dalian Kenny Lo Tel:280. I 07ó . Dallas Diana Patteroon Tel: 748-8 I 62 . Dubai Ramri Raad Tel: ó25-255 . FranHurt Elke Brockmann Tel: 586-0)lI I . Guangzhou

An¡ Peter Leung Tel: 622i6 | . Los Angeles City Michael Ong Tel: 824-2058 . lstanbul Yakup Barouh Ïel: 237-0225 ' lakarta Miranty Abidin Tel: 780-0968 . London Martin Evans Tel: 828- I 66 l:3ó2-ó919, Nagoya Otozumi Esak¡ Tel: 3lg4.MexicoCitylYariaVictoriaAcevedoTel:572-4lll,MiamiJohnBragaTel:577-0414.Ì'lilanAngehV.AlhnnoTel:865-401715.1'loscowN.KolesnikovTel:3ó2-ó919'l gTlJ626,NewYorkLouisEpsteinTel:838-8688,Osakal4¡rioTse Tel:344-52ll.PanamaCityAnelE.BelizTel:695-894/óll.ParisDominiqueDuchironTel:474-24150.!

474-241 50 . Santiago Alvaro Echeverria Maria Petersson293-7977 . Stockholm Sl Tel:205-2213 . Seoul Christopher S. Maeng Tel:782-ól l5/7 . Shanghai Wing Sham Tel:326-4196 . Shenzhen Gary Fung Tel:228-01 l2 . Singapore Andy Lim Tel:293-7977. /5 . Toronto Andrew Yui lel: 366-3594 SandowTel:41 1.5690. Sydney Douglas Chan Tel:299-8343 'Taipei DannyTao Tel:516-6085.Tianjin Hou YigangTel:330J855. Toþo Raymond Yip Tel:3502-3251/5'Toronto . . . . Vancouver I J I 55 Jeff Domansky Tel: ó85-0883 Yienna Johannes Neumann Tel: 533-98 I 8 Warsaw Slawomir l'4alman Tel: 496-08 I Zurich Walter G. Pielken Tel: 28 t.3t55 2889 . Ho Chi Minh

Hong Kong Trade Development Council We Creole OpporÌunilies

(852)B2AO2A9 F( Heod Office: 38th Floor, Office Tower, ConvenÌion Plozo, 4 Horbour Rood, Wonchoi; Hong Kong, Tel: (852) 584 4333 Fox:

-TEE TTA/IE

actf,orr €rÕes all action in the recent good weather with two 'internationals' and a local tournament. Pictures here are from he FCC Golf Society has been

October's Richard Hughes Memorial Trophy played at Fanling, the outing to Honichi Golf Club in Shenzen and the Bangkok Open Challenge played in Pattaya. The FCCGS playecl victoriously in all tournaments except in Pattaya where no doubt the intense heat adversely affected play.

s

ë

ò

\

.a

Fanling frolics

l--

ToÞ: LeJt to rigbt, Ross Wcr1,t Q.tst J,,ectr's 'L}inner) Þresetr.ts tbe toþlUt tr¡ Keith St¿ttlJil1T (ru.nn et' uþ), Irrtulk CaseJ)

"I,

(ruinner), Icut. Find.lelt .tt1d I)erek Currie 'I-oþ right; Keitb Statbant, cr. stucþ itr disbelief. Icn' rigbt: Bruce MaxLt'ell ¿tttcI nea.r rigbt: ./ohn Ha.ndlq) ancl Steue Wbite, a study in þl.tid.

Left. the FCC Golt' Societ)) ntenTbers on the green and. therx (bebu), suþþitxg on tbe ntc¡bile 19th bole.

Honichi Golf Club THD GoRRXSPOIIIDDIIT

December 1994

KNEW CARLSBERG WA5 MADE ROYALTY. THEIR MAJESTIES MALT AND BARLEY AND ALLOWED TO MATURE JUST THAT LITTLE CRISP FULL FLAVOUR

Nice work if you catr get

it

Our correspondent at large; Mike Smith, reports that former Club membersJim & Ronney Newman send greetings to their FCC/ HK pals from the Peace & Plenty bar in Georgetown, Bahamas. A "tough day's work" for them now is to go snorkelling for a dinner of fre sh conch and lobster. Following the Bahamas, and a week in Cuba, Mike Smith is now in Costa Rica, and heading south.

Book eafly

Hearry joke

for the fiaditioîal

NewYeafs Eve 3lst 7994 per person. $650 Scottish piper . Discotheque Dinner served from 8pm.

Saturday December

t

Celebration dinner

mefll

Duck liver paté with hot toast 3 Chicken consommé with shark's fin I Won ton ! Fi[et of Norwegian salmon v¡ith potato scales, served on a bed ofcreamed

Putting

'W'e

in Pattaya Toþ: Hong Kong FCC GolÍ Societ!

understood that colum-

ist Stuart Worfendale had been out of town for awhile,

tour

members tee off. R¡gbt: Neu Nicbolson.

Bottom rigbt; Hong Kong FCC GolÍ Society tour rnen bers and tbe Bangkok team

mingle. on tlre green. Bottorn left: Roland Tasker, late oJ Hong Kong.

t t

spinach Homemade lime sherbet Roast fiJlet of prime veal

with mush-

foom sauce.

but we didn't know that he had hit the big time in England declining TV networks.

This picture denotes his fame. It appearcd on the

I t

cover

Dinner will be finished by llpm when the disco will liven-up and help

of the Døily

Tel-

egraþb's TV & Radio programme guide. According to

them it's

Fresh vegetables Novelty "diary" spongecake

3 Endless coffee Petits fours

I

everyone'work off those excess calories. The Piperwill play through the building, and be in the main bar at midnight, where he will play a medley of pipe music until aboutl2.l5am.

The disco, (on tbe Verandab), and the barc, (in tbe dlning room

and møin bar), will be

open throughout the eadyhours until the breakfast buffet (serued ín tbe møin

bar, $ 120 per bead) helps to see in the New Year. The buffet will be available from 3am to 6am.

For members' convenience the Health Cornerwill operate as a cloakroom from 7pm until 6am.

Make your reservations now by contacting our reception staff on 521-1511. No cancellations will be accepted after midday December 29.

mafl called

^ know better.

Coltrane. 'W'e

TWenty-fïve not out a4 F._-

(ú

ó" èúã

Y=Þ

I' å Þ'

Celia and David Garcia threw a25th wedding anniversary party for the Van Es's. Amongst the 50 or so guests were seven suryivors from the originalwedding dayin 1969.Ftom left: Jack Moore, Ray Cranbourne, Alison Lockhart, Elissa Cohen, Irene O'Shea, the Van Es's, Kenneth Cheng and a then much slimmer best man, Saul Lockhart.

December T994 TÃE

GORRESPONIIDNT

Alpin A montbly portrøùt of FCC ùrrepløceøbles

The largest consumer packaged goods company

in the lryorld

...

... and committed to Asia.

Ronald Ling About t963 Gne exact date is hidden by the mists of time.)

6l and counting.

The adman's adman.

Citizen of Hong Kong.

"The very ordinary looking guy on the far side of the bar," says Ronnie-

Member Since: Age:' Occupation: Nationality: Description:

Pltotogrøþbed by Bill Børker

h

ti rê IF I,

Sponsored by

?Ã \T

Kodak (Far East) Limited

fEJi=(iEF)ã'FE,^A

I'

I

l* TED cORRf,SPOtrD[NT

December 1994

Iu N! !ü

{tl,

WUE,N YoU Bulro NEVER FoRcp

j#Àe-@$<n

Established

in

1886, the Wharf Group's main business relies on long term core investment projects

in Hong Kong. However/

as we pursue other investment'opportunities elsewhere, such as China,

Singapore and the United States, we âre committed to developing pïoperty and infrastructure projects similar to the ones we have successfully completed in Hong Kong over the last 100 years. It is this

simple philosophy of always remembering our roots that we tell our investors all around the world.

Contactnumbers: TheWharf (Holdings)

Ltd, 8793388 . Wharf Cable 6116868 . OmniHotelsAsiapaciÍic 7383222