The Correspondent, December 1995 - January 1996

Tbe Official Publication of tbe Foreign Corcesþondents'Club

r{ Hong Kong

t

PRESS

FREEDOM IS UPTO US Patten tells the

Hong Kong media to stand firm z <'"'- -..'.

11

The hack who became an instant

rnillionanre A bold

showing from Thai magnate Sondhi

Limthongkul

** r.À

THD CORRDSPONIIDNT December 1995 -Janvry 1996

THE FOREIGN

I-elfer:s

CORRESPIOI\DENTS'

CLT'B 2

IrwerAlbert

Telephone: 2521

Road, Hong Kong Fu:28ro8 4O92

lSll

Pr6¡dent

Ha¡s Vriens Giannini Ffust vtce 'Wolfe¡dale stuart Second Vlce Presldent -Johtr

5-

P¡esldent

Frorrr ttre Presldent The first step on

a

long march

-

C,omespondent Member Governoñ Pâul Bayfield' Mârcus w. Brauchli, Mark Clifford, Peter Engardio, Cathy flilbom, Robin Lynm,

a-

Jonalhm Miñky, Hubertvm Et Secretary: CLW Hilbom Joumaltst Member Goveíiors

John Corbett, Kevin Egan, Kârln Malmstrom, Dorcttry Rym

No taorríes, says Sondbì

Lrurcfúines Sondhi sketches big future for his paper

Francis Moriarty, Simon Tv,,iston Davies, Nury

vitgtchi Asælat€ Membef Govemors

Co¡zer Stof5'z Its up to us, says Patten

a-4.

Shop ifalk Why so sloppy?

Professloîal Comrlttee Co

nu e nor : Matk Clilford

Ilouse Coññlttee Conuuor: KevinE8ian

-

7,6-

Portfoli<> Peter'Sfai-Chuen Yung

Flnafrce Commlttee Treastrer: Dorothy Ryn

Membershlp Coñmlttee

H\beftvxnFs

Coraueflor:

E[tertafu¡ment Coñmltf ee Coßaenot Kfün Malmstrom F & B C¡mmltt€e Conuertor: Sttwt Wolfendale

Vall Commltte€ HltbeftVnEs

Conueflor:

2()_

That spooþ story is back again

24.

Publlcatlo¡s CÆmmltfæ

Ë

lfopics

Personalities The day the subbing stopped

Peter Yung at large

Conenor SiÍtoà T$iston Davies F¡eedom ofthe Press Conuettor: Fnncß Mortatty Media Comittee

Non-stop to Johannesburg everT/ Saturday, at 2500 hours.

Direct to Johannesburg and Cape Town every Tuesday, at 2250 hours.

-a

People

29-

ifril>ute

Cof,umr lohnGi^ffiini

Ihe Correspondent EDITORIAL OFFICE Peter Cordingley, Editor Nicola Nightingale, Assistant Editor 2 LowerAlbert Road, Hong Kong Telephone: 2521 ISll ß^x:2ú8 40'92

Barry Haselden dies

@ 1995 The Foreign C¡fiespondents'

Club ofHong Kong Opinions express€d bywriters ¡n Tbe Coffesþortderrt âre not necessa¡ily those of Thc Fore¡Bn Corcspondents' Club.

3()-

Peo¡gle FCC new members and more

The Cotrßpof,dent is published monttìly by The Foreigr Correspondmts' Club ofHong Kong.

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Dec.1995

/Ian. L996

THE C0RRESPOI|IIENT

Canon

no supporting greens. MY friend was impressed and asked if we could try the bar dining facilities.

A few evenings later, we duly fronted up and ordeted our meal, which arrived suitably free of vitamin C, chlorophl4l and all that. Excitedly, I started looking around for a Correas

To the

editor

well

as

spondent rnember to perform the rinwriting some of them are

est piece of

now capable of when my friend nudged me. "Tell me," he enquired, "if

Tasteless act

enough to believe that he too would

I cannot think of anything yolt or the eclitor of The Corcesþond.ent cottld do to dissuade me ffom fequesting that you take the following three actions on my behalf:

1) Remove my name from the plaque of past presidents of the FCC; 2) Delete my name from the list of life-time members;

have been reptilsed by such a tasteless use of his medium.

I am pissed and sick, and I truly feel that Mr Cordingley should be down

on his hands and knees before the relatives of Neil, begging for forgiveness of his lulgar, tasteless act.

I(eith Kay

letter in Tlce Comesponclent.

Dismembered

ïre total lack of taste and joumalis tic ethics that were clemonstrated by the editor ofwhen he ranthe photograph of Neil Davis, dead on the stfeet, causes me to believe that the FCC is not the club that my father served, and that I served, and I no longer wish to be associated with it. Furthermore, with all the fine photographs of Neil that are available, it was a waste of space in the magazine.

M1'wife summed it up best when she said, "If that had been you, I would be pissed and sick." I knew Neil well

unprecedentecl in my experience. Historically, all worthwhile clubs in Hong Kong have been more concemed with keeping people out rather than admitting them. However, one must move with the times and as I have afriend who hates vegetables, I thought he would be a suitable candidate for membership.

Accordingly, I invited him to dinner in the main restaurant one evening.

The chef managed to produce inedible (and barely perceptible) potatoes,

J) Publish the contents of this

The current membership drive is

that is commonplace here."

"That" turned out to be a slobbish young man attired in a sleeveless singlet drhking beer without benefit of a glass, "by the neck", as the Irish say.

"Not very often," I assured the would-

be member. "V7hat about that?" he asked, pointing to a none-too-young man licking the ear of a writhing gid who gigglecl coyly as she ground out her cigarette butt on the floor.

At that moment, I espied a genlline Correspondent, a man of statnre and fame. "I'll ask him to sign your application," I said. "No, don't bother

him," my friend said, "somehow I'm off my food." And with great sadness he pushed his plate away.

Doug Roots

SINGAPORE WriterlSenior Writer

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Xìnbua receþtlon: Hans Vrlens and. Frank Cbing witb Mr Hu Genka.ng, Deþ. Ed¡tor in ClrleÍ Xinlrua News Agency.

Clutr president flans \Zriens repor:ts ttrat a geÍ-Í<)g,ether wrzittr Xinhua.wzas a sLrccess- Eh-rt rrrore lrzork has to l>e done if ttre gap l>ets¡een Chinese and lülzesterrì definitions of a, free 12ress is to l>e closed.

he reception for our colleagues at

Xnhua's Asia-Pacific bureau has

finally taken place after at first being postponed. On Monday, December 4, 50 FCC members welcomed the seven English speakers ofXinhua's Sharp Street office not the same as the one on

-

Queen's Road East - oÍr a crowded verandah. The Xnhua delegation of journalists was headed by Hu Genkang, a veteran deputy editor-inchief. The food was good and many kind words were exchanged.

During a tour of the building which didn't include the kitchen we promised to meet again soon to discuss other forms of cooperation.

For example, it is likely that the club will soon also provide the Xinhuawire

Dec. 7995

/

Jan.

7996

THD CORRISP0II|¡DNT

:l service, probably in English and

Chinese, next to the existing news terminals. Judging from the manyreactions, thefirst joint FCC-Xinhua event can be called

a success.

It is, of coufse, no

mofe than

a

one can be punished for being "tnpatriotic" when he writes that Aiax Amsterdam is a better soccer club than the one in Shen-

zhen, even when everybody

Talks have also taken place

with the Queen's RoadEast office

Hong Kong journalists by the

of the ForeignAffairs Department of Xnhua News Agency. Division

Social Sciences Research Centre

chiefHe Cheng Zhang suggested helping to organise working tdps for FCC members to Guangdong,

Anhui and Shanghai. In eady Spring, we hope to start with a tour through Guangdong province. Board member Peter Engardio will as-

of the University of Hong Kong, 85 per cent of the respondents said that after the change ofsov-

ereignty in 1997, freedom of speech would be a thing of the past.

The Liberal Party leader, Allen Lee, urged jour-

sist in putting the trips

nalists to remain brave, saying pessimistic pre-

together. Any input from members is wel-

into self-fulfilling

dictions could turn

prophecies. He has a point.

So it is good news

come.

Itwould not be the first time Xinhua has setup aworkingvisitto the mainland. Four

that the Thai publisher,

Sondhi Limthongkul,

years ago it organised a

has launched Asiø

highly successful visit to our neighbouring

Times. The launchtook place atthe FCC on De-

province. And just this Autumnitwasinvolved

cember 6. During a recent Yisit to New zealand I discovered why Asía Times, despite all

in a trþ for the Overseas Press

Club of New

CORNE,RS OF THE, \ùøORLD

the predictions to the

York to Guangdong, where the American delegationmet most of

contrary, can become a

huge success. Sondhi (Top) Li Huai Iin (Neus Editor) raitlilnernbers EíIeen Briclgetuater and Frank Cbing should distribute his the powerbrokers. (right). l'crng Yang tuitb Stefen Reisner paper in New Zealand.

By the time you Nowhere in the wodd rg¿d this, the "one country, two systems" committee will be up on something, the result is seldom is one more cut off from Asia than in New Zealand.The Neut Zealønd Her"more". and running. Our former president, Peald. mtra;t be fhe worct newspaper on the ter Seidlitz, has kindly accepted our I might add thatZhangltngsheng, planet. No coverage of Asia whatsoever. yice-director of the Hong Kong branch ambassadorship in Beijing. Døíly TelThe FCC is happy to announce egrøplJ correspondent Graham of the New China News Agency, reHutchings will also advise us from the cently called on Hong Kong-Chinese that on February I and2 next year, the club, together with the Freedom journalists to be patriotic. A member Chinese capital. Many others have volForum Asian Center, will organise an unteered their services. More news to of the Preliminary Working Commitfollow. tee, Raymond Wu, added that the ambitious conference called'Journalists under fire : media under siege " . quite hard to make Sometimes it is remarks of Zhang lungsheng on patriThe conference will include a desense of news. During our meeting at otism should not alarm journalists. the club, He Cheng Zhang predicted He said the only constraint on free- bate between William Safire and Lee Kuan Yew. "more" press freedom after 1997 as long dom of speech was "the greater pubUnfornrnately, we will not be able lic interest". as we don't offend the Chinese people to held the conference at the club bewhich, inhisview, theFCC didwhen I may not be a mathematician, but cause by that time we will be in the I am training as alaryer. And a feeling it showed the BCC documentary about middle of an extensive renovation. More concepts in my stomach tell me that the life of Mao Zedong two years ago. He news on the conference will be pubpeo"offending Chinese the such as was still very angry about it.

I am not a rnatlrematician, but ple", "patriotism" and "the greaterput> lished via multifax and on the notice boards.

Iic interest" make no sense from a legal even my son, who is three years old, Vriens point of view. Does it mean that sometells me that whenyou put a lirnitation flf,f,

-llarrs

rf,D GORRESP0NItENT Dec. t995 /Jan.1996

C¡rHny Pncrnc

knows this to be true?

So it should come as no surprise that in a recent poll among

first step.

s*i,"(;,,,,,t,

The Heart of Asia.

newspaper is better informed than he who reads them, inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to the truth than he whose mind is filled

It's up to us,

you can hound individuals mercilessly when you scent blood. And, as Max

well for the West, but that it is not right for Asia. You know how the argument goes. Freedom of expression and freedom of the Press, it is said, undermine the discipline necessary to create economic growth in developing countries. They encourage instability and distract attention from the main task at]n;a;îd.

The argument about free speech is part and parcel of a wider argument about so-called Asian values, which

Lemer once said, "a politician wouldn't

are depicted by their proponents as

dream of being allowed to call a col-

offering an alternative to decadent, free-wheeling Western liberalism. The

with falsehood and errors".

Certainly I disagree with

a great deal of what is said in the Press and in

says Patten

the media; I think you tend, sometimes, to be seduced atrifle too easily by cynicism. I disapprove of the way

If jor-rrnalists rea.lly believe in -rvha.t ttrey are doing,, anl.d cherish Hong l(ong's r.ah-res, ttre). xzill figkrt to I?rotect l2ress freedorrr. So said Gorzernor Ctrris Patten in a-n address in the teffitor]y to ttre Illteflaational Federation of Jor-rrnalists - His cornlTr.elats, reprinted here in furll, rrrake telling reading.

umnist the things a columnist is allowed to call a politician". But I would not for a moment dispute that a free Press is indispensable to a decent and

civilised community.

A free Press is not an end in itself.

It is part of the means - together with the other institutions of freedom, such as a cleanly elected legislature, a de of law and an independent iudiciary - towards a higher objective, that of a free and open society.

And what is your role in that higher project? It is the Press's role and its duty to ask the difficult questions, to hold the high and mighty, the pompous and the secretive to account. The community looks to you to help guard the public conscience and strþ away

ñ

ì 'l

"f!

ltc gouernor at tbe club ea.rlief

tLJis !ect.r.

cant. That is your ¡ole in any free society, and it is the role you play in Hong Kong. It is no accident that this home to the free market is also home to the freest Press in Asia. Is our Govemment weaker as a result? I believe it

Press is all very

stress is on allegedly Confucian values

- hard work, the family, education, home ownership (I say "allegedly" of all those old Victorian hymns, and

because these values are at tlre core

hardly qualify as uniquely Asian). The more liberal traditions. attributed, it is

i Degln

rnrs speecn, rer snare wrtn you a sentence which appeared in one of Hong Kong's newspapers last week: "The Governor of Hong Kong", it said, "had all along carefully mapped out and mastered the Legco motion debate on the Bill of Rights both from behind the scenes and in public."

Well, there you have it. No prizes for guessing which newspaper it was.

It may not come entirely as a surprise to you that (a) this artful piece ofprose was not drafted by the GIS and @) that I do not entirely agree with it.

But I am very proud of it, and

ety like Hong Kong relishes and enjoys

journalists and that matters to us all as in citizens - the future of the media Asia today, and specifically, in Hong Kong.

'What is the role of the media in

and prospers from. Freedom of the

modern Asia?

erore

LID -.

It is ttre Press's role and its duty to ask the difficr-rlt questions, to hold ttre higtr and rrrigtrty, ttre porrpoLrs and the secfetive to accor-rrìt-

would defend it and its ilk as contributions to th€ unfettered hurþ budy of democratic debate that an open soci-

NIIEIfT Dec.

siastically. But it is their freedom to do so that matters to me.

The very fact that this conference is taking place here, and will be freely

reported here, is testimony to that freedom. Just look at the range of people taking part. My speech will be followed by one from the former editor of Wen Wei Po. Lnd You have participants from throughout the Asian region and beyond, here to discuss a subject that matters to you as

t995/Ia¡

1996

I

assume you did not

because we know that they will be anaþed and crawled overbythe Press, ancl that we will have to defend them in the arena of public debate; just as we have to account for our actions in

the tough questioning they deserve

the Legislative Council; and in the

and it makes it harder for us to give you frank answers. You aren't in ourpocket

Courts.

and we aren't in yours.

Together, you underpin the rule of law which protects the vulnerable

Thomas Jefferson once said, in an unguarded moment, that were it

against the powerful, the individual against the state. You are one of the

left to him to decide "whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate for a moment to prefer the latter". I should point out, in the interests of accuracy and balance, tl:'at 20 years later, he went on to write that "the man who never looks into a

essential threads stitching together the fabric called freedom. Pick away at arTy one of these threads - be it the free Press, the legislature, the law or the judiciary - and the whole intricate tapestry of liberty starts to ftay and unravel.

Now, there is a view around in this part of the wodd that freedom of the

democratically elected Government in Manila? By Indian democracy or Chinese authoritarianism? By the lack of

corruption in Singapore or by the prevalence of it in other parts of this region? Are we to credit strong government in Singapore for that country's outstanding economic success;

but what of the Philippines, where democratically-elected President Ramos is wrestling - successfully, I'm pleased to say with the consequences of that country's flirtation with authoritarianism?

Talk of

a

uniform Asian way over-

Laotians from Filipinos, jnst as Italians differ from the Dutch, the Danes from the Greeks.

The debate about Asian values is

draped like a fire blanket to smother serious public debate about the real challenges confronting Asia. This is a profoundly unhealthy development.

There is no substitute for such a debate in Asia, any more than there is in North America or'W'estern Europe about the different challenges facing those different societies.

In Asia, the need for that debate is becoming more ufgent, as Victor

to have prospered rather effectivelywith

Mallet pointed out in an excellent l Times article. Economic liberalism for that is what it is is not just- generating economic growth in Asia. It is generating a. whole series of questions, questions which sooner or later will need answers, about political successions, about increasing income differentials, about population growth, and

both democracy andafree Press for the

about the environmental degradation

past 50 years. Elsewhere in Asia, economic growth and a growing middle class are fuelling demands for more

that threatens to halt progress altogether in the future. The longer the debate is delayed, the more compli cated the questions become and the harder the answers to find.

It is not enough to look at the future in Asia through the prism of

carefully about the decisions we reach

invite me here today to butter you up.

There is rightly a certain tension in the relationship between politicians and the Press. If the relationship gets too cosy, it makes it hafd for you to give politicians and government officials

Slide the arguments about the "Asian'W'ay" under the microscope, ahd do they amount to Yery much?

What is the Asian way? Is it represented by the junta in Burma or by the

looks the enormous diversity that is one ofthis region's greatest strengths.

Thais are different from Vietnamese,

is stronger; we have to think more Press means freedom to write nonsense, and some newspapers avail themselyes of that opportunify enthu-

interest in restricting freedom to help them stay in power.

said, to the West, such as human rights,

freedom of expression, freedom of the Press, universal suffrage, are to be

sacrificed on the altar of economic gfowth, to which, it is argued, they are somehow inimical.

Tell that to the Japanese. or, increas ingly to the South KoreanslJapan seems

participatiye government, and an appetite for information and debate thatcan only be satisfied by a freer Press.

Unfortunately, the arguments people make against a free Press in Asia are really arguments against freedom, put very often by people who have an

Financict

exponentially rising GDP statistics, and

to talk glibly of a coming Asian century. As Morton Abramowitz has

Dec 1995 /Jan.1996 THE CORRXSP0ilDXNT

pointed out, those that aspire to lend their names to centuries must also have political strengths and value systems.

inhibit economic advance? I do not believe so for a moment. How caî aÍry society advance without thinking new thoughts, and how can a society be open to new ideas if it shuts them out? You need the constant ventilation proYided by new ideas, and to be able to test them to destruction in So does a free Press

speech and freedom ofthe Press, and was locked up for his pains. Today he is president of his country. While still a dissident, he wrote eloquentþ about

anywhere else in the world. W.e have 663 periodicals, two commer-

the pernicious effects of censorship

ellite television service, and a government radio-television service with, to coin a Phrase, a high degree of autonomy, plus two commercial

on society. In a letter to then President Husak, which was itself suppressed, he wrote that the suppression of a periodical "is not just an

cial television companies, a subscription television service, a regional sat-

radio stations.

Hong Kong is the Southeast Asian for many newspapers, magazines, news agencies, including AFP,

impoverishment of its particular readers . . . it is simultaneously, and above

base

all, the liquidation of society's selfawareness and, hence, an interfer-

AP, Kyoto, Reuters and UPL

the forum of public debate, if you are ever to sift fact from falsehood, and

ence, hard to describe in exact tefms, in the complex system of circulation,

Neut stu

to discover the truth. To borrow from Thomas Mann, "it is impossible for ideas to compete in the marketplace if no forum for their presentation is provided or available".

That is why censorship is ulti-

exchange and conversioq of nutrients that maintain life in that mafrylayered organism which is society

mately so self-defeating. Fortunately, these days it is getting more and more difficult to carry it out effec-

I do not l>elierze a free pr:ess intribits ecolaorrìic adrzanceHouz ca'rr a socieûy l>e open to lle!\z ideas if it strr-rts ttrerrr olr-rt? You need ttre c olastant rzentilatiorì prorzided by laesz ideas-

for tlre Før Eøstern Economic Reuieu and Asiøuteek. And t}ae Asian Wøll Street tournal and tJae International Herøld Tribune are also printed here.

So, end of story? A booming media industry. Clear-cut guarantees in the Joint Declaration and Basic Law that Press freedom will be sacrosanct beyond 1997. As myAustralian Information Co-ordinator would say, "no

tively. Hannah Arendt used to argue

in the

1950s that technology was

totalitarianism's friend, that it made it easier to bug, to excise, to keep track of what individuals in society were up to. But now technology has switched sides. Satellites, modems, faxes, all are agents for the free flow of information, making borders more porous and putting more and more censors on the dole. Governments have less and less influence on what people see and hear and what they think. Unplug the TV, and in comes a fax. Jam the radio, but what about the E-mail? Bug the telephone, but what about the CD-Rom? It's fingers with more leaks in the dyke stuff

-

than fingers.

Of course, I do not argue for the freedom of the Press on utilitaúan grounds alone. I believe that the moral case for it is as strong. There are ceilain rights which are not the preserve of any one culture or continent but the universal properq' of mankind. Freedom of speech is surely one of them. Societies that limit freedom of expression emasculate the talents of their people and impoverish themselves. No one knows that better than the Poles, the Czechs, the Hungarians andfellow Central and Eastem Europea¡rs whose societies were

chloroformed for

4O yeats.

One of those Europeans 'was Yaclav Havel. Twenty years ago he was a lonely champion for freedom of THD C0RRXSPOilIIDI|T

Dec

1995

today . . . and just as a chronic deficiency of a given vitamin (amounting in quantitative tefms only to a negligible fraction of the human diet) can make a man ill, so, in the long run, the loss of a single periodical can cause the social organism much more damage than would appear at first sight.

And what if the loss involves not iust one periodical, but all?"

Fortunately, periodicals and newspapers closing down is not a

e ek and Tirne magaziîes h.ave

editions printed in Hong Kong. We are the base

worries"?

Not quite. There are worries, and eYeryone in this room knows what they are. Hong Kong today finds itself in the position where its Press is arguably more free than any in Asia; where much of the rest of Asia is

moving in Hong Kong's direction; but where, if you ask journalists or people in the street, they will tell you that they believe that Hong Kong will move backwards after 1997;that our Press and broadcasters will be less free than they are now; that they may - thanks to self-censorship akeady be getting less free, despite the guarantees set out in treaty and in law. 'ìí'e all know why these concerns exist.-!Øe all know that no one worries that I or the Hong Kong Government are about to develop a penchant for heavying the Press. They are fears which relate to what may happen af-

ter 1997, not before.

Second, the recent pronouncements by China on the Bill of Rights, ill-advisedly urged on China by its ill-

forcement agencies to enter

adyised advisers in the PWC, and ill-

We intend to introduce amendments to the Prison Rules and the

advisedly repeated, have shaken con-

fidence throughout Hong Kong, including among the Press.

The Bill of Rights was - is - a measure introduced in the wake of the killings in Tiananmen Square in 1989, to meet understandable anxie-

ties at the time. It reflects in Hong Kong law the provisions of the ICCPR, which China has solemnly pledged to uphold in Hong Kong after L997. It is entirely consistent with the Joint Declaration and Basic Law. It draws afairbalance between

premises to search for and seize journalistic materials.

Telecommunications Ordinance, and have reviewed legislation on official

secfets, treason, sedition, and put proposals to the Chinese which are

wholly consistent with the Bill of Rights Ordinance. And we have introduced an administrative Code on Access to Information, which is helping to make govefnment mofe open and transparent.

I acknowledge that the Journalists'Association is not convinced that we have actedfast enough, or gone far

personal freedoms and the interests

of the community. Far from provoking anarchy in Hong Kong, it has bedded down extremely well, and has been interpreted sensibly by the courts. It provides reassurance. 'W'hy tamper with it? AII China has to do is leave it well alone. I urge them, upon matlue reflection, to do so.

For its paft, tl":.e goY€rnment is committed to doing all it can to uPhold press freedom. We are ready to take, as we are taking, what practical steps we can to reinforce it. In Augvst 1992, the Hong Kong Journal-

ists' Association asked us to review 17 ordinances which you were worried were draconian and out of date, but which could potentially be used to undermine Press freedom. Since then, we have combed through 53 separate provisions in 27 Ordinances.

.W'e

have amended or repealed 31, and left 12, which we consider compatible wirh rhe Bill of Rights and

important to protect individuals' right to pivacy, the public interest or the right to a faft ûial. In particular, we have

1.

:

Abolished old and excessive regulations under the Emergency Regu-

2

lations Ordinance; Removed several provisions re-

3.

stricting the Press's ability to report court proceedings; Scrapped the criminal offence of

They are fears which have been

If ;zou are defeatist, ttren defea"t is inerzital>le. rülze cal11aot afford for JZOu to lose tkris l>attle, l>ecause yoLrr freedorn to do yoLrr job is rzital to the pfeseñ/ation of our otfi-er freedorrrs as an opera and plural society-

Kong. One hundred and eighty-one new periodicals joined the ranks of

First, by the jailing of Hong Kong journalist Xi Yang; Mr Rifkind raised his case again with Mr Qian last month, as Mr Hurd had done in April. They

4.

76 daily newspapers, including one

underlined the concern this case has caused in Hong Kong. Víe will

5.

in Braille.'W'e have more newspapers per head of population than

continue to press the Chinese for information about Xi Yang;

6.

Removed powers to pre-censor TV and radio broadcasts; Restricted the powers of law-en-

plural society.

As Thomas Paine put it in another era, "Those who expect to

news media includes no fewer than

/Jan.1996

Ifyou

reports of compromise. I do not know whether they are true or not.

Only you, the journalists, the editors, the proprietors of Hong Kong know that. I hear of too many journalists quitting, to be sanguine about

the future.

I urge you to stay, to stand up for your rights, to go on displaying that relentless spirit of enquiry and the commitment to your profession for which Hong Kong journalists have always been renowned. I repeat a point which I believe rrery strongly, and which I have made in other contexts. If you, the practitioners, really believe in what you do, if you really believe in the values that make Hong Kong such agreat and decent place, if you really want the flag of freedom to carry on flying over Hong Kong, its Press Corps and its broadcasting industry, and if you dedicate your-

are defeatist, then defeat is inevi-

maliciously publishing defamatory

table.'W.e cannot afford foryou to lose

material;

this battle, because your freedom to

Relaxed police powers regulating public meetings and processions;

do your job is vital to the preservation of our other freedoms as an open and

Press

now mofe than ever; and it will need it after 1997 too. Frankly, I hear too many reports of self-censorship in television and in the Press, too many

ensure that we do the job propedy and in good faith.

But what will be the benefit of our doing that, only to find that journalists and editors and proprietors themselves have thrown in the towel and given up? Freedom, like all rights, brings responsibilities and the Press and broadcasters, as well as the Government, have a responsibility to stand up forfreedom of the Press in Hong Kong.

exacerbated, not allayed in recent years

our flourishing Press last year, as well as eight new newspaPers. Our

it". Hong Kong needs its free

enough. '!íe differ about that. But let me repeat that we are detefmined to

problem we have here in Hong

.

reap the blessings of freedom must . . . undergo the fatigue of supporting

Dec.1995

selves

to that end, then you will

succeed.

Afewyears ago, the distinguished

journalist, Abe Rosenthal, urging his American colleagues to resist

US

growing bureaucratic encroachments, quoted the words of a US judge,Judge Medina, who had chided

journalists for being too quick to compromise and for condoning violations of the First Amendment. Not mincing his words, he told them "to fight like hell every inch of the way . . ." You will, I am sure, face similar situations; maybe you are facing them already. Shall I quash this story, erase

this sentence, drop this question?

Shall I accept that this or that person

or story should always be excised from the news, dropped down the programme, relegated to a distant inside page? Shall I trim, or shall I stand firm?

Not mincing my words, my advice to Hong Kong journalists, now and in the future, if you believe in yourselves, if you believe in your profession, if you believe in Hong Kong, is the same: Fight like hell, every inch

of the way!"

/ Ja¡. 1996 Tf,E GoRRf,SPOilIIENT

E@

T

Sondhi sketches big futnre for his paper

NÍkon rF90x

lloweuer Good You fue, You Can D0 Better ,,,

If tkre confidence of ttre oqzner is a-rr¡z yardstick, ttrerr A.si¿t Tirrzes vzill l>e a resor-rnding success. Ttra.t's probably tkre v;ay rrrerrrl>ers felt after listening to the 11e.wz pa-per's oszrìer a-t a club lunctreonSondhi Limthongkul

because its world view would be

ondhi Limthongkul was in a defiant mood when he addressed a

said also attracted cfiticism in the eady

days. "I never cease to be amazed by

shaped by editors and correspondents

packed FCC to talk about the launch of

the incredible pessimism and often mean spirit with which fellow joumal-

who are much closer in their career and educational background and workaday lives to stretches of water

his much-heralded regional newspaper,Asiø Times, on December 6. The Thaimagnate was upbeat, even philosophical, about his new Bangkok-based yenture, which promises an Asian per-

spective on the wodd. "Victor Hugo once wrote that nothing is as powerful as anidea whose time has come," he said,. "Asia Times is an idea whose time has come."

Others are less convinced a market exists for a new business paper, especially one with a unique Asian perspective, and have greeted the new venture with scepticism - an attitude that Sondhi is cleady weary of .

"If you read some of the things that have been said about me and the Managu Group, even in the pages of this club's own magazine , Tbe Corresþondent, you might begin to wonder

whether we know anything about publishing. Perhaps my staff and I know nothing about publishing, but we can't give it up now because we have been having too much success."

The 48-year-old publisher has invested $20 million in start-up costs for

Asia Tirues and plans to put up another $40 million over the next few years. He doesn't expect to see any return for five to seven years and is philosophical about its future. "I'm not saying that the paper will be definitely successful. I could fail and I could succeed, but before I fail, I'd üke

to put up a fight," he said.

Asia Times joins a stable of publishing interests in Thailand, Hong

ists greet new publications, and by the ordinarylack of knowledge of publish-

ing which so many journalists demonstrate when they report on the undertakings in their own industry".

Sondhi's stable of publishing interests includes the monthly regional business magazine Asia 1nc, which was launched in July 1992 to the same scep ticism that has greeted,4sia Times.He reafÍÌrmed his commitment to Asia Inc, even though it has yet to break eyen.

"Which publisher in his right mind would abandon a magazine that is

much closer to breaking even than possibly any other three-and-a-halfyear-old start-up in regional publishing history?" he asked.

llithout naming them, but in a clear reference to tlre Asian Wall Street

tournal and International Herald

Tribune Asict - the two papers tllatSondhi Tintes is competing with was dismissive of their failure to cater to Asian tastes.

"One of the papers has a layout and writing style that is less than accommodating to readers for whom English is a second language. The other has a more reader-friendly layout but devotes much of its space to European or North American coverage," he said.

He was equally critical of the West-

"I have my own money. It may sound crazy, but, if I believe in one thing, I will put my own money into that thing" he said. "I have been asked why I have to use my own money. A very funny question. So what if you lose it? You lose it. I don't think I'm going to live [to be] over 60. If I want to lose $60 million, so be it. I can't take

itaway."

He denied he was trying to take on the West. "All I'm telling those people in the sþscrapers in Manhattan is 'Listen, this is my turf. I'm going to do something which you guys have been

monopolising for so long'," he said.

"Has it been written in the United Nations Charter than an Asian cannot do broadcasting and print media in this region? I just happen to be the fìrst one to knock on their door," he said.

"It's not logical or eyen healthy for us to depend for ever on newspapers

whose roots are elsewhere. I believe that readers, advertisers, my new Asian

generation,

will quickly understand

efn attitudes imposed by these papers. "It is aview of the wodd formed by an editorial leadership which peers through the mists rising off the Hud-

and support our undertaking. Mao Zedong once said that 10 years is too long seize the year, seize the day

son and Potomac rivers," he said.

men, this is the hour."

Kong and the United States that Sondhi THD CORRDSPOI|IIEI{T Dec. 1995

closer to home, he said.

"I can't deny that those stretches of water are often just as mistyforpeering through. But let's make one thing perfectly clear - at least it is our water and our own bloody mist," he said.

/ Ja¡

Asia Tirnes would be different 1996

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Why so sloppy?

ffialt-r-l

t.úôhd.ùar¡€

r l(an prirtcd

Irr a nexz cohrrrrn, Sand¡r Gilbe¡z.wrill be taking arr occasional look at tkre local papers. He kicks off .wittr a-n a-ssessrnent of the use of Engliskr-

he propensity of copy editors and proofreaders to misunder-

several agencies sometimes get theminto the selves and their readers

stand the copy they are dealing with and to select the wrong word (or perhaps allow the wrong word used by the author to get through) appears to be unlimited.

Tll.c Soutlt Chinq. Morníng Post

recently printed aletter of complaint from awomanwho was upset because the paper had used the word "contribution" instead of "contrition" in printing a letter from her a few days eadier.

One can see the point: it makes quite a difference and in the context the

word "contribution" made no sense at all.

I turned the page and chanced

most awful twist by not really understanding the story they're working on, and leaving an incomprehensible mess

on the page for readers to sort out according to their own whims.

The most surprising lapses occur in the editorials (leader columns, for our Brit friends)

iftre rnost sr-rrprising lapses occLlr in the editorials surprising, l>ecause of all the colurrrns in the paper, one szould e><pect these to be ttre û:lost rrreticulously edited.

and whether or not that contained a

further effor.

Neither of these errors can be excused on the grounds that the words are confusables; they simply should not have been used, and would not have been, had the editor or proofreader been on the ball. But I am afraid

that such posts appear not to be very highly yalued by newspapers in the

region (despite the fact that the papefs' feputations are often in the copy

editors' hands) and, consequently, people of suitably high calibre and competence are not employed.

People pulling together copy from THE CORRESP0lmf,lfT Dec. t995

PaPer

While I have that "as" in my sights, let's look at one of the more common errors in Asia - inûltrating the United States as well, I fear.It is the abuse of the phrase "much as I dislike the situation", which most commonly emerges from the copy editor reading "as much as I dislike the situation." That initial "as" is unnecessary and, indeed, quite

incorrect. I have had trouble finding support for this stance. I suspect that

/Jan

1996

of 2 thc printcd

on

people are confused by the usage in such phrases as "I dislike the situation

as wtucy't as anyone." But they are different and should not be confused.

The Hongkong Standard appears to have even lower standards than its competitors, judging by an op-ed piece by the editor, Terry Cheng: "Washington officials have argued that a Middle Kingdom as sucb (my emphasis) will

act responsibly in the international community and it is in the best inter'What happens if a ests of America."

Middle Kingdom is not such, or chooses not to behave as a Middle Kingdom? What does Cheng mean?

Also, what is in the best interests of America?

ìfhat

is in the best tulterests

bit more clarity.

Lest you think I'm being brutal a couple about a single lapse - well, consider oflapses in one sentence this para from a little ftiither on: .$Øith the view that poverry broods communism, Washington should think that a China adopting reform and opening policies is a guarantee for the country of

tered the copy, not understanding the word. I wonder if the newspaper had to print another apology the next day

-

surprising, because

"Tough enough as it has been to get the govemment . . ." That's no way to express it, surely? Certainly not in an editorial.

upon a medical advice column, the sort of reading that I would normally avoid like the plague, but in this job one has to read of lot of uninterestirig stuff in search of grubs. "I certainly emphasise with your situation," read the answer to a reader's query. The word should have been "empathise", of course. It is difficult to empathise with a copy editor who probably al-

yet

-

of all the coluqrns in the paper, one would expect these to be the most meticulously edited. But look at this example from the Eastern Exqressl

or

rvcekly opunon,

tlae Standørd is a

not going back to radicalism." Confused? So was Cheng. he should do some brooding about writing standards in t}lLe Støndard.

What is the problem? I suspect it's a result of employing people with insufficient experience or breadth of knowledge - not only of the region and the wodd about them, but of English. I suspect that copy editors are employed for their journalistic skills and are expected to do their stint as copy editors, rather than being employed as copy editors with enough competence to be able to tackle a journalistic assignment in an emergency. If this is the policy, we need only inspect the results to see that it isn't producing

high-quality English-language daily newspapefs.

Eæ

Ttre cltrb vzall tras t>een trosting a selection of ttre lrzork of freelance ptroto graptrer and filrn-rnaker Peter Yung- It ilhrstrates ttre great breadth of tris skills-

Møe

llong

Sot"

Ihøìland Ethnic crotod of opíum grouers gøtber

ínlront oÍ oPlumfteld. øfld uatclt tbeù" yeørþ

income of tbe Black

Gold. being d.estroyed. by tbe Tbøì Border Pøtrol Pohíce.

t'

n the wall in December was the work of Peter'WaiChuenYung. Peter was born in Hong Kong. After he received his BFA in photography and film at the Los Angeles College of Design, he studied cinematography under Oscar winnerJames Wong Howe. Since his return to Hong Kong in t972,Peter has worked as a freelance photographer, director and producer, shooting and directing orrer 15 films, mainly documentaries, most of which have been screened on PBS (USA), ÄTV and Cent¡al TV (London), the Bedin Film Festival and Filmex. Peter has worked with Brian Brake in Indonesia and with Adrian Cowell in the series Oþiurn Wøúord. fHD GORRDSP0NIIEI|T Dec. 1995 / Jar'.1996

Doi løng, Ihøíland./Burmøt- BPP border Patrol at strotu Put on

bjr uìllagers.

3: Ilomongr Bu.rma: so-call.ed, retìred, opìum øødord l(bun Sø enjojtíng bímself øt ø prtoøte pørtJ, utitb bís Mong Tøí Arnry (MfA).

4: Kbotø.n, Xtnjìøng CI¡ìna. Abnost eoerlt Uygur mølc uteørs a. rrøt ln Xìnjíøng tbe mørk oJf etlquette. Tbis explains ttre sbott ln Kbotøn bøzaar, ultícb ís entìrel! d.eooted to høts.

Champøsøk, Soutbet'n løos. Fa,tber a.nd. son relaxìng. Tbe peøcefal lQþ øIong the Mekong bas cbønged línlc sínce tbe old d.øys.

Dec. 1995 / Jan. 1996 THE CoRRXSPoNIIENÎ

Nortbern la.o.s, t eør Yunnøn.

Etbnic lìsu ønd llmon aìllagers strollíng peøcefulþ ìn tbe opíum fields Ín tLre Golder Triøngle.

Køsbgør, Xinjiøng, Cl¡ínø- Støtue of Cbøìrmøn Møo ¡n city centre.

8; S.tglrr, Tìbet. Young monk u øíting

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Richard Hugbes: "Aþþroacbed by tlre Souiets."

p I

rrilip Knightley is straight tbr-

ward, almost adamant. FCC veteran Richard Hughes was for "many years"

a Soviet agent. And, what's more, his files with the British secret service are full of complaints about having to

hand over the money that he was getting from his Soviet paymasters.

Knightley, formedy a top investigative reporter in Britain, was speaking to a luncheon meeting at the club.

His comments produced a fair amount

of head-shaking, most visibly from Hugh Van Es. But, almost unforgivably, no one raised the issue of Hughes the Spook in question time. Van Es did challenge the notion priyately and re-

ports that Knightley himself said he had not seen the relevant files. He was,

Van Es reports, repeating apart of a biography of Ian Fleming.

So, was Hughes a spy for the SoviTHt

C0RRXSPONIIENT Dec. 1995

lmrcnl ets?

Kevin Sinclair, who probablyknew

openly about it before? "Dick was a friend," he said. "He swore me to secrecy on his role, as he put it, as a

the "barefoot reporter" as well as aîybody at the club today, was asked to contribute his view for this article. He declined, saying it was a tired old topic, and he was sick of it.

But, apart from Knightley and Fleming, there is a third person who believes the former Times man did

double agent."

Hughes's inyolvement, if that's what it was, was limited. Macswan reports the journalist was on social terms with Soviet elements, and it was through one of them thatanapproaclt

work for Soviet interests. Norman Macswan, who wrote The Møn Wbo

was made.

"He used to go out drinking and

Reød the East Wínd, Hughes's biography, is in no doubt on the topic. He said the correspondent told him about it in 1980. But, Macswan said, it was only a minor business.

"Hughes was a double agent," the

biographer said, speaking from his home in Australia. "He had been approached by the Soviets and he told the Brits. They said 'follow it'." If so, why had Macswan not spoken more

/Jan.7996

whoring with them," the biographer said. "One of them said that he would like to have

a

look

same time

at

Dick's copy

at

the

that he sent it to

London. He went immediately to the British, and they told him to play along with it, but also to r€port back to them what he was asked about. That was the extent ofthe double agent role. It was no big role."

Contúnue on pøge 23

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Contínued.from pøge2o

Macswan went on: "Dick told the British Embassy in Hong Kong and they referred him to someone in Bangkok eventually." Macswan says he knows who that person was, but he declined to reveal his name.

'What Macswan is less clear about is whether or not the Soviets worked

for the KGB. .I don't know if they were KGB, or if theywere correspond-

ents for Izvestia or one of the other Soviet agencies. I can't say they were KGB." Macswan didn't seem to think there was much difference. Others

might disagree.

Asked why Hughes had kept the information to himself until 1980, Macswan said: "He said itwould make him look rather foolish,

as he

expressed

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he reported, "was concerned".

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Knightley told the story of a French

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spy who wanted to defect to the Ameri-

with a phone call to Knightley that led to a meeting in Harry's Bar, in Paris. "Spies love Harry's Bars. If youwant to meet a spy, go to Harry's," was Knightley's advice. A meeting in a gents' toilet with "all the cans. This started

Please

$

attending the funeral, although Hughes,

undercovet contact.

C. The FCC Pocket Diary. 58 weeks in the

popular week-to view format; international public holidays and general information. $

mently." This as Macswan pointed out, was the man who would openly, if sarcastically, offer toasts at the FCC bar to "Communist dogs".

Macswan is faidy certain the Soviets fed Hughes information. "They .Vøhat obviously gave him something. it was, I don't know." On one thing, though, Macswan is absolutely certain. "Dick was a patriotic man who wouldn't do anything to harm British or Australian interests".

Macswan said the spying business started iî1955 andwent through until 1965 - "roughly from the time he came to Hong Kong till when he went to the Soyiet Union for a few days for the second time." On that occasion, said Macswan, Hughes attended the funeral of a British spy. But the biographer couldn't remember if it was Kim

Account No

:

Please telephone:

Signature:

when units are available

to be collected at the Club oïfice. Please allou, at lea,tt tltree weeks

Pbíllíþ Knightley: He says Hugbes coruplained be bad to bønd ouer tbe money be uas giuen.

taps running" followed and led to a phone call by Knightley direct to the

commercial and industrial espionage a development that Knightley sees

local CIA station chief, who answered the phone in person.

Not that Knightley would adyise any foreign correspondent to engage in a little espionage. "Find some reason not to become a spy," he said. This despite the allure of a second career that is sold on any one of several pretexts, including greed and patriotism.

than what has gone before, especially as the KGB, nowno longermotivatedby

"Stick to being a foreign correspondent," he said. "You're safer and the jokes are better."

During question time, this correspondent asked about where the spy industry was going in the post-Cold 'W'ar era. Basically, it's moving into

-

as being "much more sinister"

ideology but by profit, is a major player.

Even some aidines are in on the game, said Knightley. Air France routinely bugs its Business Class seats and passes whatever it learns on to the

relevant authorities.

Stuart Wolfendale asked about a recent suggestion in Britain that former Labour Party leader Michael Foot worked for the Soviets. "They never got couldn't have got from reading

Mail,"

sudKnightley.

$ 200.00

FAX TO: 2868 4092 The Foreign Correspondents' Club, LowerAlbert Road, Hong Kong

a

piece

of information from him that they

Dec. 1995

/

Jan. 1996

THI

CoRRf,SP0IYIIENT

thie

Daily

E¡3ã

the D grades of yesteryear, the academic duffer decides to get eYen, tracking down all the low-marking

The day the subbing stopped

teachers for revenge. Bedford is unwilling to say more, except that the

method of revenge and psychological

-

physical - isboth based on the

methodical precision of a serial killer.

"I had been mulling it over for a while," says Bedford. "I had come across some of my old school reports. They were largely unflattering but not bad enough to go on an orgy

Erzery journalist thinks there's a,f>ig book

inside her or hirrr. Etr-rt it rarely gets out- FCC rrreml>er l\4ark Gratrarrr, vzho's o11 a od¡zsse;. to foreign pa.fts, rnet sorneone v¡ho conver:ted adrearrr into fa,<:t-

of revenge. Later, I tead an article about a serial killer and thought: 'what ifl' "I thought of merging the two together and Acts of Reuísion sprang from that."

The kernel of the plot emerged as Bedford was about to embark on a creative writing course, a year's study at

university designed to turn would-be

writers into possibly-publjshable authors. While writing,4cts of Reuisíon, he was attending various lecture sessions on structure, characterisation and

plot. "It was possible that it was the final piece in the jigsaw for me," says Bedford. "Your work is discussed by a group and one of the things you begin to realise is the effect your writing has on other people. It is all about getting a reaction. "

The reaction of.one publishing agent was overwhelmingly positiYe,

a

here are the hacks who sit at the bar growling and grumbling, wondering why they haye not been wooed by publishers for their Old Asia Hand reminiscences. And then there are journos like Martyn Bedford - once a Hong Kong teacher and now, thanks to going for what he wanted, perhaps on his way to fame al¡.d considerable fortune.

Bedford, until recently a humble sub on a provincial tabloid, has become one of the Britain's best-paid authors before a word of his fiction has been published. The rights for Acts of Reui-

sionwere signed up initialyfor HK$2 million, a figure which is rising daily as more intemational deals are secured.

Bedford, 35, is still rather gobsmacked by all the fuss. Within

a

week,

he went from provincial journeyman sub, working three days a week for the kind of shift money that would barely buy an FCC round, to feted author, showered with advances and invited THE CoRRDSPOilDEI|T Dec. 1995

little tardy. Young

if

agent Johnny

Geller received a call from a ratlrer reiection-weary Bedford asking if the

manuscript cut the mustard or not.

Geller, just 27 and keen to please, adrnitted it had been gathering dust in

s+

õ ñ I Martyn Bed,ford a.t honxe: .frorn.iourneyman L:ack

to

feted autbor uitbín a

¿ueek.

to start work on another big-money

the dull-but-steady wodd of regional

potential bestseller.

"I rniss tlte camaraderie of joumalism," he says, looking for all the wodd like a man who could die in peace without seeing another editorial office. "There is nothing like a newsroom when there is a big story breaking. And I miss an office full of people.

But I don't miss the imposed structure

English journalism, with a break in the mid-Eighties for a trip through Southeast Asia, which included a six-month casheaming spellin HongKong as an English teacher. The experience from that time, teaching colloquial and conversational English to rich summer-school Chinese

that can mean you know what your job will be that day and what time you will have to haye it done by."

Bedfordhas spentmuch ofhis life in

The centfal character is a slightly nutty ex-pupil who comes across his woefully awful school reports in the attic. Instead of having a chuckle at

/Jan

1996

kids, added an extra air of classroom authenticity to Acts of Reuision.

a drawer, but promised to make

amends by giving it a quick once-over.

He did, and was hooked.'Within days he had alerted his boss, drawn

up a contr^ct and tipped off the media about the amounts being paid to new discovery Martyn Bedford.

The agent has been promoted, and the writer has a large chunk of

lrst

will be guaranteed a neatly parcelled

fewweeks were a bit unreal. It's exciting in that it meant I didn't have to do journalism again."

"My last job was as a sub, which I preferred to do. When I was writ-

angle and a suitably quotable line.

Cocktail parties and chat shows are the fun finales to the book-producing pfocess. For the most part it can be a lonely business, sitting in isolation in front of a small computer screen.

in paperback," says Bedford. "The

ing features I found that it would drain my creative energy for writing.

"My colleagues didn't take me seriously until I was published. They smiled and humoured me a bit. I had been writing fiction for about six or seYen years, but had only had one short story published. I wrote tlvo norr-

- I

els which were never published

had about 40 rejection slips from pub-

'I trad al><>ttt 40 rejection slips frorn publistrers- I ttrink the differerìce l>etvrzeen sofiìeoÍte vrztro s/ants to l>e a xzriter a-nd sorraeorae g.ho doesn't persistence. have to j ourrrali srrr

is I don't do a,gairr.'

lishers. I think the difference between someone who wants to be a writer and someone who doesn't is persistence. I think a lot of people give up. You begin to wonder if you are aîy good or not."

The word is that Bedford is very good. Whether the book is a critical

Reuision will ensure its commercial

rights to date topping 5120,000

success.

pounds. Various percentages are sliced but it still leaves Bedford in off that

The author himself is looking forward to the book-circuit tour, with the signings, readings and personal appearanceswhich are so much apart of the modern-day literary scene. Bedford is better equipped than most to every hack exploit the possibilities

-

by the local rag in Bradford.

"You get clobbered for tax - but you get mofe money when it appears

"Some days I

will produce fottr,

five or six pages, which works out at 1,500 words," he says. "It involves five to six hours of writing. On other days, I will only write 400 words. I always end the working day in the

middle of a scene so I know what is

going to happen. The following morning, I just pick up from there .

".When I have an idea for a novel,

it takes about four to five months for me to get the loose structure. Once I have got the framework, I know how the book will work."

Bedford makes it all sound easy.

So

simple, in fact, that

a

steady stream

of would-be writers, many of them ex-colleagues or friends, have been sidling up for advice. A few are serious, others are merely looking for a quick-buck way to riches via

a

knock-

it-off novel.

The most audacious was a hack who took Bedford on one side to seek a bit of professional counselling, thrusting forward a notebook for perusal.

"He had written iust on€ sentence, and wanted to know if it had potential as a novel," recalls Bedford. "I told him that he would need a few more

words

-

about 75,000 more."

motion and marketing of Acts of

-

Dec.1995

a

working schedule which is as rigid as any office, rising early and arriving at his desk around 9am. The rest of the day is a solid wordproducing slog, with only a short break for a simple, booze-free lunch. a

success of not is father academic: the comprehensive and expensive pro-

change sitting in his previously-empty bank account: rights for the UK add up to å100,000 pounds, with overseas

a healthier financial position than the S70 pounds a shi-ft he was being paid

Discipline is all when writing novel. Bedford has

/ Jan.1996

THD CORRESPOilDEIIT

¡E:tã

Au fevoir to Patis man

LET T]S MAKE YoT]R LIFE DT]I,L AxD PREDICTABLE.

t

/ AIP correspondent Bob MacPherson (in black here) bade farewell to Hong Kong and the FCC at a reception at the club. A good crowd, including the

governor's minder, Kery McGlynn (pictured opposite), turned out for the event.

A thumbs-up from Stern Surprises are great, if it is your Birthday. However, if your firm is involved in business ventures with millions at stake, the last thing you want is a surprise, especially if it is a fraud or other unforeseen risk.

That is why hundreds of companies retain Kroll to uncover hard to find facts

about operational problems with employees, suppliers, customers and partners.

Our teams throughout Asia will provide this information ethically, legally and confidentially.

another vote of confidence in Hong Kong's future

as

Asia's leading media centre.

would like to prevent surprises, give us a call on: So if you

L to R(aboae): Jan-Pbiliþ Senäker @ureøu-Cbiefl, Micbael Wolf (Pbotograþber), Hans- Hermann Klare @oreìgn Editor), Barbarø Herrmann (Asia Picture Editor), SteÍan Reisner.

Hong Kong (852) 2884 7788 or alternatiuely,

far

us at:

Hong Kong (852) 2568 8505

Kroll can also provide you with regional and global business intelligence on: Acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances, competitor activities and new markets.

Stern is back in town. The German magazine hosted in the club to say hello again to old friends. The return oflhe respected publication is seen as a cocktail reception

George Yuen (GIS),Jan-Pl¡iliþ Sendker andJobn Giønnini

KROLL ASS0CTATES (ASrA) [rMrTlD 906-91I Mount Parker House, 1111 King's Road -Taikao Shing, Hong Kong.

Barry Kalb,Joltn Giannini and Bill Børker Dec. 1995

/

Jan.

1996 THI CORRXSPOilITENT

t-

Picfirfes of Macau

BazzaHaselden one of the great old-timers

An exhibition of illustrations of Macau by honorary club member Murray Zanotiwas held in t¿n Kwai Fong last month.

The club was well represented, with 2nd vice-president Stuafi 'W'olfendale giving the welcome address. A book of the works has been published by member Bob Dayis's The Stock House.

Longtirne Hong l(ong resident and FCC rrrerrrl>er I}arty Haselden tras died in Australria- I{ere, tris old rrì-ate Peter Carton pays.tril>ute to ttre rraan he descrit>es as of tkre kindest people tkre ch-rb tras knouzn. f .l-

n..tmetBarrv "BazzÃ" Haselden in syoney, when I was invired by my future brother-in-law to the Christmas office party at Coudry Gotham (later to become Y&R in Australia). Bazzal;rad just married

All¿tn Zeman and Bob D¿tuis

his childhood sweetheart, Helen. It was not until I arrived in Hong Kong towards the end of 1966 that I ran into them again. He had just been appointed the general manager of Fortune Advertising, which I joined.

One of the things about Gazzais that I honestþ cannot ever remember his losing his temper or his sense of humour. Sure, he couldgetupset,

but it was over and done with and then forgotten. He was usually to be FCC

found sitting at theFCC bar on the

at large

15th floor in the old Suthedand House prernises, always with a smile on his face . He was unfailingly prepared to give support or advice when needed.

But his smile disappeared one

in Sydney about three years after he left. It was still the same oldBazza, but this time off the grog. Unfortunately, things were not going well in

a-ftemoonwhen, retuming to the ofßce avery affer ar extended lunch - with important client, I might add - he found that his phone was more thana little diffrcult to operate. In fact, everything on his desk was difftcult to operate. Errery item had either been glued down or together. It was the closest I've seen him to losing his block.

Bazza became a client of mine when he left Chase Compton to join

his marriage, and afterwards he broke up with Helen and, about eightyears ago, he moved to Cairns.

Even so, he and Helen remained the best of mates.

Helen told me that, typically, right to the end, when he could hardly speak because of cancer of the jaw atdthroat, he remained his

Bill lØyllie as corporate communications manager at Hutchison in those

cheerful, lucid and loving self.

Bazzahad always threatened to

heady days of the late Seventies. It was

always best to set up meetings first thing in the moming - struth, he was in his office at7.3O every day. Don't ask me how he managed it.

It came as a realshock to me when he said he was returning to Sydney in

the earþ Eighties. He was such a lixture in Honkers that it was difficult to imagine the place without him.

I had lunch with him at the Hilton

'

write the great Honkers novel, with a place for all of us, and I wonder if he ever got around to putting pen to paper. I guess there will be a few who will breathe a Ïttle easier if he didn't. There was many a true tale to

tell. Another piece of Hong Kong history that will be lost for ever. So

@

wasBazza.

Antonío Salauessa da Costa, Macau Secreatry for Tourism, Culture and Conxmunicatíons and. the Rookes

Could tl¡ß be tbe maklng ol tlte FCC's

oun

band.?

(I

to R): Daùld Tbur.ston on

bamboo stool, Jobn Glannlnl on pe.iltut borDl, Døue Garc'la on beer cary Bill

Batker on hørmonlca, Bob Døais on uasbboard and Murray Zønonl on gultar.

U

s Ihe artist.tnd Stuart Wolfendale TSE G0RRDSPOIVDEI|T Dec. L995

/

Jan. 1996

Dec.1995 / Ja¡. 1996 TtrE

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f'-

Peter Seidlitz Member since: Age:

Profession:

Description: Least likely to say: Most likely to say:

He was fired by Der Spiegel.

People with raven hair who walk Afghans along the Promenade des Anglais don't say.

Journalist. But he'll usually say "Hell, I'm in business. Aten't we all?"

An ebullient Pmssian and natual autocrat "I don't want anybody to talk to me." "'Would the rest of the room join me here and I'll spend a fortune."

Plt otogrøpb e d by Terry Lluckb

Sp.ns.red THE CORRf,SPOIÐEI{T

by

Dec 1995 / I.¿,n 1996

Tm Bpsr Pnnr¡,mRsHrps Lnsr A Lpgrn¿s.

øm/Asiapìx

Kt tr$iH'É;;Ëïl#'"'

Hon

ank

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