The Correspondent, April 1996

THE ONIIENT Tbe Official Publication of tbe Foreign CorresĂžondents'Club of Hong Kong

HO\vTHE RENOVATIONS

WILL\VORI( A guide to what will be open afJld what will be closed Strait talking ovef China's

waf games Club yachtie grabs victory

in Vietnam fa:ce

THD GORRXSPOTUTDNT Aplil 1996

)

T}IE

Letter:s Anthorì)' Polslq'; lìacl nìa11age1.ìlcnt TfibLlte

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS' CLUB

Loscr Ålbert Roacl Hong Kong TelcPhorre: 2521 t5l1 lrx: 2868 j092

4-

2

pr(sidetrt _ I lrilr, \,rit.n: First vice President lohu (ìilLrtnìrti -S¡nlon Tviston DIL\ ics Secorrd !'ice President

It's all happening!

5-7

Lunctrlines Straight talking on tllc Strait crisis; Rotten fronl

-

begilìing

Correspondent Ilenrber Goverrrors llrr lìeltl. llxrcus u' llmuclìli Ilrrk Cliflbrtl. l)etcr Erìgrrdio Cìth\ llilbofll. Robirì l-\'nînl. .lonarhr¡r -\lirskr Ihrbcrt \hll Es t?crctat.)' (irth| Ilill)or n Jouüralist Menìber Governors Frllnc¡s trlor¡rrn.

Sirìrorì T$-istorì Dr\ ics Nun' \¡ittrchi Associate Member Crcvernors

Fr:<>arì the President

to

end

l)rLrrl

.loltrr

l{onll(l

a-

Club NTes.s V hât thc rcno\ratioìls mean

Kitchen cab¿net fìr1.

merlbers;

9-

A l\Iex' Elook on ttìe Chrl>

10-

Nuledia lvfatter:s

tìrrltrt. K(\irì Egrlt

Respectecl, trelÌchant ancl absent

L¡trg, Krr¡rr }lxlnrstronl

Dororh\ R\xn

7-2-

Professioilal Colmìittee Colr¿'r,,?rr: )lark Cl ¡tl'()r(l

House Comrnittee ConLctnr. Kc\irì Egíln Finance Cornmittee

'frctßule

I I)oroth\

Strop Talk It cloesn't

L4-

lì\xD

acl r-rp

N4enrl>ers at La'rg<.

Stc\ c nle cts some claugerous wouìetì

Membership Committee aotr|ctu)r. Hubert Yarì Es EntertaiD ment Cornmittee CotL tettor. Kîrir Ilîlnìstronl F & B Corntnittee C¡¡ttt ett¡tr. Sturft \('oltendtle

16-

Portf-olio Lee Ka-Sing on the rvall

'wâll Comittee (,i,tren¡tr. Hul)ert \;rtì Es Publicatio0s Conìmittec

1a-

N4enrlrers

îtt Large

Tough tuontert

Snrfing clorrn to Vietnanl

(-olr¿'(,r?o/: Sinìolì T$ ¡ston L)r\ ics a

Freedom of the Press rc t r ( t r. F¡iJìcis,![oriart\ Nfedia Cornmittee

20-

() t t

I

Personal

Finance

Nr¡\\- is the time to mxke your capital

u'o|k

trttl (ru)r'. Jrrhrr t,iltrlrrirri

The Correspondent EDITORI,{L OFFICE Pctcr Cordingle\. [(litor Nicoll Niglrtirgrtc. Assistinl E(ljtor 2 l-o\\'er All)e¡t Rord, llong Kong TclcPhonc: 2521

e t99;

l5l I

Fax: 2tì68 iO92

)t

High-energl, fareq'ell tbr Sinon

24-

Ol)¡n¡ons cx¡rrcsscd l)\ $,r¡tcrs

¡D

2a-3a-

PRODT]CTI()N

I

Lirìe Dcsigrì & l,rirìr¡ng F-orrnh Floor.

to Do

People Nerv membc|s; Itish night; Cìolf; Rabies;

Tl.tc Cot t espoildc,,/ ¡s l)Ublished nlontlll\ br Thc Forc¡fIl (i)trcsl)orìdcnts (ìlul> r>f Hong KOng

|S'f

Tfring

At thc FCC and a|ouncl tonn

he l:oreign Corrcsl)on(lents Clrrb of Hong Kong

I

nte a:ouesþ()Ddcr¡l¡ trc n()t ncccssitril\ tlìosc of -I lìe Ì:orcig,tì Cor rcsPonde nts (llul)

Fareszell

L<x'clou-n on Les; Drìtcll Iuck; l]alls,

32-

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more

FCC Faces Russell Cas'tholne

iB \\'cllingt()n strcet

Siuton's Ja.retuell

Cerìtml Horì8, Kong Tcl: 2521 -99-ì F'¡rx: 2521 tìl(¡6 DTP Artist I-¡enrl Duoug

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ADVERTISING SALES Sales ùfarìage¡ Sc(lntrrì -,-\ndrc\\' Tcl: 2521 l99J F¡\: 2521 8.166

Cover photograph by Stephen Shaver

April 1996

THD C0RRESP0NDENT

?#4

To the

editor 'Incompetent rniaflagement' I wish to express mY outrage at the blase attempt by the FCC board to write off an aYerage montlrly swing of $ 1.5 millionforthe previous 12 months against "unexPected" factors.

To say that "we have no choice" about increasing prices and monthly subscriptions is a blatant andlazy misuse of the truth.

The board is saying that it is easier to shove up prices than to exercise the gfey matter ifi an attempt to reduce costs. Members have not been asked for suggestions as to how costs could be reduced.

Okay, rents and rates, not much we

can do about those, except ask the "landlord" for suffrcient notice and to informthe "owners" - ie, the members

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of its impending implementation.

Given the f^ct tlrat we are oYerstaffed, a wage/hiting fueeze would bring staffing back to manageable levels. The cost of food and beverages could possibly be cut by better menu management.

It all, however, amounts to aPPalland unwarranted mismanagement ing araogance by the incumbent board in its disregardfor members' sensibilities.

'W.hy

were the members not informed of the impending "disaster" either via The Corresþondent orby fax?

I repeat mY comments in mY letter to the President: Perhaps it is time for

a thorough management audit bY a firm such as Deloittes. W-hen the audit is complete, an extraordinary general

meeting should be held to decide on the recommendations.

The choice is simPle. Either we keep paying needlessly through the nose for gross inefficiencies in the club's PolicY management orwe really get professional' This letter should not be taken in any other way than an attempt at con-

Anthony continued with us until the day before he left for Singapore. I lost touch with him until a few months ago, when we met in the FCC. He was evasive (as usual) about what he was doing but I assumed he was heading a

CATNERA ÍECHNOTOOY

IN PER.FECTTON

highlevel think-tankwithpossible'Washington affiliations. Based on my experience of his r¿dio work, I assumedhewas very good at it and very successf,rl. zs something wrong with the club's operations. It needs to be addressed and repaired.

structiye criticism. There

Nick Demuth Ma¡i7a

Chris Baker

Award-

Mr Bøker's comments baue been noted by tLte boørd.'We are doíng all we Ø.nto optfunise tbe club's resources

winning

in a time of infløtíon, sbortfølls ín

editor dies

þayments by members and uital, extensíue renouations. Iftbe urìter con'

siders tbe board incomþetent or u)orse, democratic þrocedures øre to ltand, sínce tbere is to be øn election

tbe 1996-97 Board of Gouernors SimonTwiston

for

-f)avies, second vice-President

One of Pakistan's most courageous joumalists, Razia Bhatti, as

She was 52.

Bhattiwas editor of Neusline, monthly magazite that she and others started in 1989. She began

Remembered: Arrthony Polsþ the broadcaster

a

As an addition to the tributes to the late Anthony Polsky published in the February issue, I would like to mention another almost-unrecognised talent possessed by this remarkable man.

During the Sixties, when I was the English programme director at CommercialRadio, Iwas contactedbyTony' who was looking for a part-time job. I think he was with tb,e Far Eøstern Economíc Reuieu at the time.

'W'e met and he started doing a series of five-minute news analyses three times a week after the main evening news bulletins. TheY were brilliant and of a kind seldom heard outside America at that time' The writing was concise and Pulled suPPlYing background punches, no and analysis of current US news. As well as being an excellent political journalist, he knew how to write for radio and hrad an authoritative voice and delivery. The Programmes were

came editor.

recorded in our Hong Kong-side news-

room and were hand-carried to our temporary studios in Yau Yat Chuen, where we saw out the "disturbance s".

who

apanellistduringtheAsian MediaForum at the FCC on February 2, diedinKarachi on Marchl2. spoke

her career withtlae WeeklY Illustrøted of Pakistanbefore joining

the independent monthlY magazine, Herald, of which she be-

At the FCC conference, cosponsored with The Freedom Forum, she was honoured as one of the winners of the International

'W'omen's Media Foundation an-

nual awards to joumalists. This was for her efforts to fight for press freedom in Pakistan. For years, she and her staff endured lawsuits, threats and, in L994, a police raid on her house. The government later had to aPologise for this.

In his coverage of the Media Forum for Tbe Correspondent, Steven Knipp noted that Pressure from religious fanatics and the military had caused Bhatti to develop insomnia and high btood pressure. She died of a cerbral haemorrhage.

Canon EOS cameras take autofocusing and electronic control to their limits. The EOS system offers a wide range of accessories to expand the capabilities of your camera. For experienced and professional photographers, the range of controllable features gives complete freedom of expression. Automatic functions and easy handling mean that you can shoot successful photographs with your every film, and even without film.

Canoil CANON EOS CAN'IERA TECHNOTOOY

Bhatti is survived bY her husband, Gul Hameed Bhatti, also a journalist, who can be reached at 4101 Clifton Gardens, Block 3, Kohkashan Clifton, Karachi'

Enquiry Hotline :2590 9090

JOS Consumer Electronics

-

fHE PER,FECÌION. Canon Hongkong Co., Ltd.

70/F., Mirror Tower, 61 Mody Road Tsimshatsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong Telephone :2739 0802 Facimile :2369 7707

Straight talking on the Strait crisis

It's allhlagpening!

As ctrina stepped up its pfe-election pfesslrfe orì lFailrzan, ttrree e>(pefts addressed a club luncheon o11 tkre strort and long-teffn irnplications of Beijing's a<:ti<>rr-- ifodd Crouzell reports'

A rrevr FCC directory' .f.tfr'" historY' astards a isslres <>f lrrnlrrran rigtrts are iust sorne of ttre tkrings ttre l>oard illtrese Net. t*rä'OL-vzorking ort-, as tkre ailing president' repol]ts' f'¡al1t'¡s Vriens,

The Board is very enthusiastic about this ProPosal, ParticularlY given Stefan's track record in producing beautiful and excellent books on, among others subjects, contemporary Chinese art. For fuller details,

xx of this issue.

The Club's attempts to go online

see page

and communicate with the outside wodd through our Home Page on

the Internet are making Progress

since the convenor of the Multimedia Committee and first vice-president, John Giannini, returned from a two-month stint in India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, plus several hospi-

Macau to the Overseas ä..ss Club in New York' To .f.¡.lita should be added the irlventurers Club in Chi-

Xinhua will also shortly find it way into the main bar, next to DowJones, AFP, Reuter and Bloomberg.

The renovation has started. The work is long overdue ' According to

làrtniP

addresses' e ate also going to Pub-

lîtetîet 'W

ditioning and electrical system are at the end of their life. The ageing elec-

trical system is substandard.

The plumbing and drainage systems need an overhaul, par-

ÀÁost likel¡2, a Xinhr-ra terrrti'¡]a'l

vzill strortl¡z find it vrza;'into ttre rrtaitt l>ar, rte><t to DoszJolres, -\FP, Reuter and Etloorrrl>erg-

ticulady since the PiPes in the kitchen were clad with asbestos, which must be removed. Under new government regulations, the FCC must also install a sPrinkler system. Like other clubs in Hong Kong, we have to com-

ply with the new rules

bY

Marclr1997.

The FCC has joined forces tals along the way. Our Internet provider, Asia Online, has Presented a well attended seminar for members

least in view

rnr

of

1997 '

COnR¡SPOMDNT Á'Pril 1996

interested in accessing the Internet at the club. More news will follow' Digital EquiPment have been kind enough to donate a computer terminal to allow FCC members to access Asia Online. It will be positioned next to the wire service terminals in the main bar. Most likelY,

ò'

F è The pa.nel and board men+bers

Vigers, our consultants, ouf air con-

in

iuno. N.", Year there will atõ Ue room in the memdirectorY for

B Õ

with the Hong Kong Journalists

As-

sociation and Amnesty International to create annual Human Rights Press Awards for Hong Kong' Submissions

are now being invited' Eligible entries may involve any topic that falls

under the Universal Declaration of Rights. For more details, see the March issue of The CorresPond'ent or call the office'

@

T. *^, about to break out bcrwccn lcni.r^ and Taiwan over President Lee Teng-hui's moves for greaterinter-

national recognition for the island?

That was the question Tai Mingcheung, a Chlna military sPecialist, asked at a club luncheon early in March, at the height of Beijing's war games in

the Taiwan Strait. No, he said, but the

long-term prospects give pause for concern. "'W'e are still in the political realm," said Tai. "There is little prospect for war for now."

Tai, a consultant with Kim Eng Securities in Hong Kong, was one of three China specialists who debated war and peace at the luncheon. The People's Liberation ArmY had just lobbed four M-9 intemediate-range missiles into waters near the port cities of Keelung and Kaoshiung in Taiwan. The next daywould bring news of more combined military exercises off China's coast, extending Past Taiwan's Presidential election on March23.

Tai ticked off four reasons to be

woried: 1. The leaders of China's

armed forces seem to have gained the upperhand over the civilians because they are united and the civilians are divided. Z.Beljtnghas shifted the goal posts on what would cause it to interYene on Taiwan. No longer is just an outright declaration of independence reason for war. Seriously procrastinating on reunification could lead to conflict too. 3. The leadershiP is convinced that Lee is a "closet separatist".

Even if he makes oYertures toward reconciliation after the election, Beijing won't trust him. 4. Sentiment in the US Congress is increasingly antiChina.

rùíhat Beijing Perceives as Lee's moYement toward formal separation isn't the only reason for its increasingly strong-arm diPlomacY, said Michel Bonnin, chief editor of Cbinø Perspectiues at the French Centre on Contemporary China in Hong Kong.

On May 2O,Taiwanwill install a fullY

elected president for the first time in China's history, and that sets a bad example for communists. "TheY are womied that electing a president in a

fully democratic contest gives

[Tai-

wanl legitimacy on the international scene," Bonnin said.

He agreed with Tai that the crisis serves the interests of the Chinese armed forces, even if it does not necessarily prove th atthey arc inthe saddle '

"Tensions are good for the PLA" because they give them more Power in the political sphere, Bonnin said. Add to that the new emþhasis on socialist correctness on the mainland. "Even Qiao Shi is showing a hard-line," said Bonnin referring to the National Peoples Congress chainnan, who is seen as a liberal because of his efforts to turnthe rubber-stamp bodyinto amore

independent force.

A Taiwan perceptive was Provided

by Byron'W'eng, a professor of political science at the Chinese University.

He frankly called China a bully that

April I

was trying to set the

des

before any

negotiations on future reunification even began. "Why should we play that game?" he asked. Beijing seems to

gains (even though probably aided by domestic issues).

President Lee may be ready to drop

a

few bombshells himself. There

tional relations. In that respect,

says

W'eng, "Lee's hands are tied."

Tai said the PLA, operating on a scale unseen since the ill-fated invasion of Vietnam in 1979, has demon-

interpret everything Taiwan holds

is speculation that he will announce

important, such as clemocracy, as a step closer to pefmanent separation.

"If Taipei accepts this logic, its hands will be tied," he said.

during his inauguration speech on May 20 tlre li-fting of restrictions on direct air and sea contacts that have been in place since the Nationalists first fled to the island in 1949, predicted Tai. The Taiwan president has also stated that he would like to meet with China's President Jiang Zemin after the election to see if there is common ground

strated a growing ability to project power beyond its shores. Tme, they

for reconciliation.

But thefe are limits to what Lee can do,'W'eng cautioned. So long as

said.

Is there a way out of this impasse?

The best scenario outlined atthelunch-

eon was for Lee to win the election, butbyless than alandslide. Thatwould allow China's leaders to feel that they had somehow slowed him clown.

Bonnin, said that a big win would be a "slap at China", whjle something less than 50 per cent (against three other candidates) would allow Beijing some face. In the legislative polls last December, Beijing had claimed success when the moderate New Parry made

Taiwan's people are maltreated abroad because of the island's uncertain status and lack of formal relations, people will continLre to put pressure on

didn'thave armed opposition, but livefire exercises involving land, sea, air and rocket forces are always prone to accidents. That there have been no major snafus such as shooting down one of their own aîcraft - at least none reported is impressive, he

-

Many leaders in Asia have expressed anxieties about what to expect when China's military capablities'finally catch up with its economic growth. The future, it seems, is getting a

lot closer.

E@

the government to expand interna-

cued, excerpts from his diary apin tlee D a i ly M ai 1. " They laav e

p earcd

decided not to play, 'too weak' being the stock reply," Foster wrote of his Chinese subordinates. "Robert and I have been carrying them like passengers almost from Day One. A tremendous liability. Acting almost like children, having to be told/asked to do and even then with everything

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little enthusiasm."

Those words, which Connaughton yiewed as an affront to the British officer corps, spurred him to investigate the case for himself. "You don't write this sort of thing about your subordinates

in aîatioîalpaperi'he

his group. One of the NCOs present advised awaiting the findings of the board of inquiry before making hasty judgments.

In September, for the first time er.er, some of the details of the find-

insists ttrat

copter carrying his video camera and had eadier written a copyright decla-

resporasibiliûy for

ration in his diary, advising that copyright would pass to his wife on his

ttre disaster t>ega-n

death.

Jonathan Mirsky, who covered the

Connaughton conducted rein Sabah in November 1994

1994 expedition to Low's Gully on the flank of Mt. Kinabalu in the

tl¡e Doomed -Gully.

member of a British Army training

Malaysian state of Sabah.

The expedition's five Britishnon-

As a former British Army officer, Connaughton had been struck by news reports in March 1994 that described how five fit young British

qays or betng rescueci starvlng to oeatn rn an unmapped gully in Borneo, a senior exercise had auctioned off videotapes

of the group's ordeal and sold his

- in which he lambasted the conduct of his Chinese subordinates to theLondonDaily expedition diary

Møil.

-

Major Ron Foster and the expedi-

tion's leader, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neill chastised - both lateralso seized by an official inquiry upon their momentary celebrity to market a book about the botched

commissioned officers (NCOs), who had successfully battled their own way out of the gully and alerted authorities that five others were probably still trapped, earned nothing.

"Those who failed reaped dividends, while those who succeeded got nothing, " military historian Richard Connaughton told an FCC luncheon on MarchL2,marking the launch of his own book account of the Gully Heights exercise, Descent into Cl¡øos

Expedition to

LoLU's

NCOs had emerged barely alive from the inhospitable gully in two separate

parties. About two weeks later, after a dangerous and costly search operation, the other five members of the

expedition - Neill, Foster and three novice Hong Kong Chinese soldiers were aidifted from a cave deep in

-

the five-mile-long gullY. Nine days after Foster was res-

Foster certainly seemed to be anticipating the commercial value of his

Connaugkrton

szith th.e Britistr officers. Ttre three Chinese soldiers szere l>larrreless, kre sa¡zs.

and, with theArmy's permission, later

talked to all the majormembers of the

ordeal: he stepped off the rescue heli-

story for The Tim.es of London, pointed out that the flaws in the exercise had been irnmediately obvious to reporters and wondered why those responsible for approving the expedition hadn't been able to spot them, too.

Connaughton said the Gully Heights expedition was a "one off", and "so rotten" it really stands on its

own. "I have studied this story in

search

\Y/t,"t" W ,ro*

the officer corps destroyed. One of the Chinese, injured during an avalanche in the car¡e, now lives on a ineager disability pension.

Connaughton proposes t}¡rat a court martial might have been the best way to determine whether military crimes such as negligence or conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline were committed during the expedition.

He also questions the morality of the officers reaping financial gain from their experience when so much was spent on their rescue and so many

an Army press conference, where he blamed the British NCOs for deserting

ment and leadership had been flawed.

Pood;. 121anned, bungled and then fqzisted to ttte profit of tkre principal crrlprits - -fll.at, sa)zs Rickrard Conna-r-rghton, just abor-rt slrfirs r-rp ttre 1994 Etritistr Arrnlz e><pedition to Louz's Gully in lVlala5zsia. Janet R.ae [Brooks reports on ttre rnilitary historian's address to an FCC hrncheon-

has left the Army, his confidence in

rescue rs risked their lives to find them.

said.

Neill compounded th.e damage at

ings of an Army internal board of inquirywere made public. The board exonerated the NCOs, with two of them and one Chinese soldier subsequently receiving commendations for thei¡ actions during the exercise. It also concluded that, during part of the expedition, the officers' judge-

Rotten from beginning to end

Connaughton concludes that re-

sponsibility for the disaster began with Neill and Foster. The three Chinese soldiers were blameless. "I would like to go on record here as saying those three Chinese did remarkably well," he said. In addition, if the NCOs had not forced their way out, raised the alarm and provided vital information to rescuers, probably all 10 members of the expedition would have died, he added.

His book chronicles the officers' over-ambitious thinking, inept planning and poor decision-making,

some depth, and I don't always agree

which eventually placed every member of the expedition in mortal dan-

expedition except Foster, who declined to be interviewed. But when gef.

Connaughton sought a publisher, he The team, for example, met for found editors reluctant to publish a the first time on their flight from second-hand account of the expedi- ' Hong Kong to Brunei. None of the tion with Neill and Foster's book due party had any jungle-training. They out. "I put my notes away and went carried no radios and no flares. The off to Burundi to do anotherproject," Hong Kong soldiers had never abConnaughton told the FCC audience. seiled, the main skill required for But after publication of the two such an expedition. When the Chiofficers' book which made no atnese realised they were in over their tempt to rehabilitate the Chinese or heads, Neill refused to alter plans. absolve the NCOs of blame Advice from seasoned mountaineers Connaughton thought it more imporin the area, who foresaw disaster, tant than ever that a balanced ac- was brushed off. count be published. Connaughton Neill and Foster concluded in doesn't expect his "thin, neat book," their book that no member of the published by Brassey's (UK) Ltd., to expedition suffered any lasting harm. be a bestseller, but it fulfills its objecOne British NCO was off work for a tive of establishing the facts available , yeat and suffers recuffent malaria. drawing in participants who hadn't Arìother who Connaughton says is been heard, he said. arguably the hero of the operation

with the Army, but I really cannot fault the Army in view of the circumstances withwhich theywere faced, " he said.

Francis Moriarty, noting that both Neill and Foster had served in Hong Kong, wondered why the two officers weren't more aware of the extraordinaryloss of face to which they subjected their Chinese subordinates by publishing derogatory comments

about them.

Connaughton, who served as adjutant to a combined Gurkha and Chinese regiment, agreed that the two

officers' treatment of their Chinese subordinates was unforgivable and had been his primary motivation for writing the book.

Said Connaughton: "You've really got to ask yourself: how the hell did they get away with it?"

@ April

19

\Vhat the renovations meaÍr for members

main bar are being renovated. The pool room will become the main bar during this period. The sauna will be closed for the duration; it's needed as a staff changing room. (Reminder:

It laad to hapl2en- Ttre reraovations are uzittr r-rs.

Etut general rrranage1r Bob Sa-nders sa)r's tl]iart, at ttre end of it all, qze srill hanze a- l>etter clubifodd Crouzell sets out qztrat and uzill not t>e asraTlal>le over the ne><t feuz rrronths getteral tnana¡4er Bob Sdtlders ¿uitlj Allan Cban goitr.g ouer kitchen retïouûtiotr plcuts

FCC

cbef

p t.ryone has noticed by now I-l everyone. that is, whose hori-

if

you haven't removed your things from the locker, please do so now.) Few if any business lunches or private functions will be feasible during this time.

The club had hoped to put on some special entertainment, but our contractor told us "Do you want entertainme nt or do you want to get it over

with?" Probably everyone wants to get it over with.

So, in brief, here is the drill: Phase One. From April 1 through mid-May: Kitchen and dining room, including the upstairs verandah and private function rooms closed. Floors are stripped, wiring removed and replaced. Limited food service will be avalable in the main bar and pool room. All otherareas function more or

tried to order your favorite bangers and mash and been asked politely if you wouldn't rather have a salad and sandwich. The club is inthe middle of the most extensive makeover since we moved from Suthedand House in 1982. T}re bad news: it's going to go on until mid-summer. The good news: when it is over the members will have brighter, more efficient and safer Ïa-

ment inspected the place and found a Iot they didn't like - things such as wiring dating backto ThomasA. Edison

the kitchen is down, food service will be severely crrtailed, but Bob promises that there will never be a time, from 11am to 1lpm when a member can't get a meal. He plans to put a microwave and some other cooking equipment in the small pantry off the main bar floor (now used to bring food

if

up from the kitchen below). It's not

people tried to rnsh out in a hurry. "'W'e have one year from now to bring

big enough by itself even for this modest effort, so a small cofnef of the bar areawill be used and partitioned. "Anything we try to cook under these circumstances will present a problem, so it will be very basic," says the man-

he earþ days were in Chungking, at the end of the Burma Road, squashe d between the disoriented Kuomintang troops and un-

cilities.

One thing should be made clear up front. Nobody is planning to monkey around with the club you've come to know and love. Most of the improvements will be to things you hardly think about - such as new wiring and a fire-suppressing sprinkler system.

place in a part of the building almost nobody has ever seen, myself included until I was given a tour in the course of researching this article and nearþ fell on my butt because the floorwas so slippery. It's the kitchen, where necessity is being turned into a virtue. Old gas burners and stoves,

agef.

and on, after the war, to Hong Kong,

Sanders calls his "renovation menu" will probably include sal-

last outpost of Britain and capitalist

The front doorwill have to be reset to permit the doors to swing outside in-

ice-making equipment, Chinese steamers, salamanders (whatever they are) that have been used for 30 years will be pulled out and new ones put in place. A new drainage system needs to be installed on the floor so it stays dryer. Asbestos has to be pulled out of the ceiling be-

zons extend beyond the environs of the main bar that renovations are

-

underway at the club. Perhaps you've

of inward without knocking down pedestrians in the street. The biggest part of the project is the complete remodeling of our antiquated kitchen. Equipment thatwas old when we moved in 15 years ago is being replaced with new stoves, grills and stead

wash basins.

All these changes, which are costing us $10.7 million, are mandated by

government inspectors (who said Hong Kong was free of regulation?).

El-rú

coRREsPoflDDIrr Aprit 1996

members know, the old Dairy Farm premises we occupy are one of

As many

the few Heritage Buildings in Hong Kong, and must be kept in tip-top conclition. Last year the fire depart-

and front doors that would jam shut

the building up to acceptable government standards," says general manager Bob Sanders.

The biggest changes will take

cause the particles might cause cancer. The new equipment is on order

and should arrive this month.

It goes without saying that these improvements will cause some major inconveniences. Fot six weeks while

'What

ads, sandwiches, one soup-of-the-day

and at least one hot meal. The lamb/ chicken kebab will be available daily rather than irregulady. Unfortunately, no Sunday brunches while the kitchen is down. Some thought has been given to bringing in food, posslbly pizza, catered from the outside. If a member has any strong preferences or suggestions pass them to Bob. "We hope mèmbers understand thatwe have no kitchen, and we're doing the best we can during this six-week period," he says. Look for a new memr when food seryice fesumes.

Some other things

to keep in

mincl: The pool tables will have to be

stored during the latter two stages of renovation while the pool room and

Phase Two. From mid-May to eady

June: Kitchen and dining room reopen, and normal restaurant food service is restored. The pool room, exercise room and journalists' work area are closed to allow for renovations at that level (no substitute work stations provided during this period).

Phase Three. From June to about the

frst part ofJuly: Main bar

closes

SILIEIEIP

IEASY

]F-]IOIIIEIL IDIEA]LS

IFOIRIFCC

for

restoration. 'W'ork area and exercise rooms reopen. The pool room is converted irito a temporary main bar, re-

M\IEN/\IEIEIRS

quiring thatthe pooltables remain stored

until the project is over. "The only way we can eam revenue is through sales of food and beverage," says Bob. The manager emphasises that there will be no redesign or radical changes made to the mainbar, poolroom, work stations, dining rooms or teadlngatea.

"Hopefully, when

it is over, the club

will look a little cleaner and brighter.

And, certainly, it will be a lot safer."

@

less normally.

Macau: llotel Grandeur Deluxe Room Rates 'Weekend (Sun Thru Fri) $450.

'Weekend (S"0 $S00 includes 10% serwice charge and 5% tourism cax.

Offer not available on some public holidays.

Rua de Pequim no. 799 Macau. Tel. (853) 781 233

Fax: (853) 781 211

The FCC Book informed Âllied intelligence; then in roaring Shanghai befo¡e the fall; centre of the wodd. There was always the Foreign Correspondents' Club.

Cameramen and broadcasters, China-watchers and astrologers, Asia freaks andnovelists - theyall stood at China's closed doors and saw them

open; they witnessed Asia's little dragons gfow stfongef, counted Imelda's shoes, left for everand came

back.

Times change and so does iour-

spondents? I/hat will the wodd forget about Hong Kong?

The FCC is to publish a book that will tell it all. $l/e want to remember the past, debate the present and look into the future. And the club needs your help. Ifyou have got photosyou

thinkwillbe interesting, please let us have them. Likewise for clippings. If

you want to take photographs or write something, then let us know.

This is going to be a lavish production, a coffee table book. It will need lots of goodwill.

Heading the editorial team

will be Paul Bayfield, Simon Twiston Davies and Hugh Van Es. Work is underway, so please hurry. Your copyright will be protected and all originals will be retumed. There will

Macau: Pousada de Mong-fla Room Rates: Single room $320

Twin room $400 Suite $560.

Rates inluded breakfast Address: Colína de Mong-Ha, Macau

Tel: (853) 561 252

Fax: (853) 556 925.

Bangkok: Tarntawan Place flotel Room Rates: Deluxe single room Baht 1,400 Deiuxe double/twin Baht 1,550 Suites single occupancy Baht 2,100 Suite Double occupancy Baht 2,300 Rates include American breakfast, serwice charge and 1

V.A.T

19 / 5 -10 Suraruong

nalism. The ye ar L997 wtllbring challenges not only to the people of Hong Kong, but to their press, to foreign reporters and to the Foreign Core-

be some payment.

The deadline is May 1. The book will be out by the end of the year.

Bangkol<

Please address you contributions to

Fax: 66-2-238-3228

spondents'Club. One country, two systems how will that work out?

the editorial team or to me, the publisher.

Stefan Reisner

*

'What will be the future role of cor¡e-

1

05

Roail,

00, Thailand

Tel: 66-2-238 2620 Subject to roonr availabrliry

-

Aptil 7996 TIE

CORRXSPONIIDI{T

1972, just after Nixon, and

Respected, trenchant and absent

I

went I

there continuously until 1991, when

accompanied Prime Minister John Major on the trip to Beijing, where he humiliatinglyhad to put his name on a Memorandum of Understanding about Hong Kong's new airport andthen in Hong Kong sank the icepick into Sir David Wilson.

After all those years of going to China, and entering Tibet six times, and interviewing dissidents, and writing about human rights, I had begun to

me on with my coat. Eyer since, no admission. Not even when I asked if I could visit, for one day, a dying, eldedy friend in a Beijing hospital and swore I wouldn't write a word.

Last year I trie d buying a three-day package tour of Hangzhou, hotel, meals, boat-trip on the lake, and back to Hong Kong. No dice. Those computers at Xinhua never close.

So here I am. First, the difficulties.

I am losing my feel for China, which I'd begun developing in 7955, when I

think that while Beijing occasionally

began Chinese in university, deepened

expelled reporters, they had decided Ididn'tknow toignore me.

with four years

-why,

-

as a

student in Taiwan,

and deepened further startng

n

197 2.

Butwhentheygotthe listfromNumber Ten of who would be flying in with Mr Major, they said "not Mirsþ". Number Ten replied that I was invited and if the authoritie s wished to prevent me from stepping off the plane in Beijing, they could do so. I went, stayed two days and left with Mr Major. And that was that.

No more long enjoyable bus and

train trips around China and Tibet, usuallywith no minder, no more fascinating late-night chats with Beijing friends, certainly no more temifying Tiananmens when the next one occurs (and it will, ir will, although probably not in Beijing ).

Latet came a conversation-interrogation in the Chinese embassy in London where a first secretary (already immortalised in Fox Butterfield's Cl¡ina: Aliue in tbe Bitter Seø assured me he wanted to

üc

s I

l*.nan

Mirsklt

-

relorting Chinafrom Hong Kong

Jetttaútan N¿firsls5r, East Asia. editor <>f Tr'te Z-inze.s <>f London , tras not l>een a-llolrzed to set foot in China- for t.'early fisre years. So trosz does fre rrra-nage to do his job?

It's not ideaI, kre sa¡rs, but tkrere are plenty of lrza¡rs to sta)z irl tor-rctr-

venture d? Ah, yes, he murmured, why had I gone without a proper pass and uslng a false name? But I hadn't, I said;

You notice I refer to the lle u York Times mart as "respected" and "trench-

indeed, I had with me a copy of my last chopped trayel document, which bore my correct name and occupation. I would leave it with him. He raised his hands as if I were offering

N[ ;:*"¿ tr;' :^!å;;"fn!"x about Chinese ñ. à.*,

revelations

-

carneo role in the

to find sorneone

ant", because those are the terms he used to describe me, in accordance, I suppose, withthe (British) taboo that "dog does not eat dog in Fleet Street" that is, we joumalists do not sayage

"¿

iiå;, tin.. I had been

barred from

Chi¡a.

SPoilDllll A.pril 1996

each other in public, especially by name, although over a glass of beer there is nothing we enjoy more, as long as the savagee is not present.

Now it is true that I am barred from China, although for not

as

long as

theNeu York Tirnes says not since 1989 (when I was still writing my "trenchant" dispatches in my "respected" v/ay ), but since 1991.

Buthow, respected and trenchant though I am, can I fulfil my duties, objective or not, as East Asia editor of The Tirytes of London, itself a trenchant and respected paper of record, for

which I regularþ write pieces about the country in which I have not set foot for five years?

I first visited China in the spring of

help me get apress visa, but "there are

problems". Would I like to speculate

about what they might be? Tibet, I

him

a squashed rat. He

didn't look at rather

it, either. The conversation dwindled after that.

But he did suggest that I agree to show him what I wrote for my paper before I put it over to the office so "any mistakes can be corrected". I toldhim that such an act, if discoyered by my editors, would really be a squashed rat in terms of my job. So he sighed deeply, as if Iwere a difftcult child, and helped

So where do I get off writing about the orphanages, leadership struggles,

the economy and everything else China feporters write about, when I haven't been there since 1991?Just the point,

indeed, that Chinese diplomats make to The Tímes when they shriek at my editors about me: "He doesn't know anything." Qühen my editors suggest giving me a visa, the subject slides away.)

Aside from the sounds, smells and feels, I can still read and talk. There are Chinese papers. There are'W'estern ones, wire services, trayellers, diplomats, businessmen, radio, and

television, books, and seminars. You'd be surprised how easy it is to talk on

\üúztren tkrey got ttre list

frorrr NTurrrl>er lfen of qztro urould be flying in xzith À4r lMajor, ttre¡r said "not lMirsky"NTurnl>er ifen replied that I uzas irrrzited and if tfre a-utkrorities xzished to prerzerrt rrì-e frorrr steplling off the plane in Bei¡'ing, the)z could do so

the pþone with Dissident X or his or her family.

Reporters in China spend most of

theìr time hanging about in Beijing, waiting for The Senior Leader to become clinically dead or someone to make The Speech. Or with luck, another Tiananmen. They read the papers. They attend press conferences.

They gossip with each other and with

diplomats, businessmen and so on.

Not so different from me, unless they write an occasional tfenchant and respected piece from outside Beijing.

Access, whateyer that means, is pfetty meagre in China these days. In the late Seventie s and Eighties - now the G'oldenAge, Irealise one could

-

have Chinese friends, stay

in their

flats and travel unaccompanied. I see little evidence with occasional bril-

Ifeel abitlike those creatures in Greek myths who lose their strength if their feet don'ttouchthe ground. No smells, no sounds, no whispered chats in railway hard-class or on a country bus, no

overheard remarks in markets. No press conferences (well, it's not all loss, being barred ). No clear impression of the new cowboy China: the

liant and envy-arousing exceptions of that in my Beijing-posted col-

leagues' pieces since Tiananmen.

But

buildings, Mercs, whores, karaoke bars or relatively open public conversations as long as certailt subjects are not

mentioned.

Okay, it's a bit of fun, almost an honour, to be barredfrom China. A-fter all, ever¡hing I wrote which resulted in the barring was true, and the shafts obyiouslystruck deep. Althoughlmust say, Tibet aside, what I wrote was not very differentfromwhat my colleagues from no, Iwon't name them were

-

I

miss being in China

- re@

spected and trenchant though I am.

-

writing. And they're still allowed in. Àpril

1

'

-T--

It just doesn't adup

Press R.elations

Sand¡r Gilbe¡z contimres tris look at tkre star;.dard of English in tkre rnedira, Í>y e><arrrining the vzork of ttre adlzertising industry.

z prinæd wcekly

f .l-

thas alwavs been a ouzzle to understand jusi why thË advenising in-

dustryis so careless ofits standards of English. It's not as if the punters don't notice. During any evening at the bar, the talk is often of grammatical and other erors in advertisements. Given that advertising types are as thick on the ground as anyone else at the FCC,

youwould

at least

thjnktheywould be

doing their best not to get noticed for their crassness. Apparently not.

This problem concerns not just the small client, whose grasp of English might be somewhat shaky and whose financial resources may not allow the employment of a goodquality agency.

Even the big companies who fill many page in our dailies, or take up 30 or 60 seconds on our TV screens, arc hardly any better. They have the wherewithal

a

to buy the best, but it often looks like cheapjack best.

News International Newspapers, vertised

a

ad-

while ago for a picture librar-

ian. You would think the announcement would be prepared with a good deal of care. Affer atl, l:.brarrans are a key element of any newspaper; getting the right one is important.

Still, this is how the ad ran: "An atttactive salary, together with four weeks holiday and free medical insurance are just some of the benefits working for the country's leading Newspapers." It shor¡ld have read "four weeks'

holiday' (a lamitar apostrophe problem), the bit about the benefits working needed a rewrite and, while theywere

Consider, for instance, afi.rllcolour,

at it, the shor¡ld have knocked the cap

quarter-page adfor a ShaTin hotelwhich, accordingto the openingsentence, "prc vides you a relaxing resort environment

letter off Newspaper. Obviously, the

which makes you feel at home". The sentence is not exactþ a grabber, is it?

'Vfl'orse, it's not even grammatical.

The ad gets worse when it gets to the nitty-gritty of costs. There we have

the line: "Bi-weekly Package

at HK$11,000 up is also available". Now, bi-weekly is one of those horrors that can mean either twice a week or fortniChtly. It is not the sort of thing that should appearin an ad, where sowing confusion in the mind of the punter is the last thing you want.

An American university recently took out an ad in an educational supple-

ment

to

advertise its courses. "This

adyertisement is packed with opportunities," it read, using one of the three

verbs the copywriter was apparentþ allowed. "Neady 100 degree and other courses in a wide range of subjects,

most with modular structure, many with aworkplacement or intemational option. " You'd think that courses such THE CORRXSPOI|ItEIIT

April 1996

paper needs a good proofreader even more than it does a picture librarian.

Many abuses of English are to be found in the advertising columns of our newspapers and magazines: verbless sentences, meaningless phrases, words unsuitably rammed together, appalling punctuation, outbreaks of capitals midword. Some of these come from those special image-makers who occupy that somewhat shady area between advertising and public relations. Problems can arise when the less bright among the advertising practitioners pick up these concepts and use them without frrlly understanding what they are doing.

The result, oÍten, is to sow confusion for readers, or at least to set them puzzles that must be worked out before the message can be understood. It does not need me to point out that any ad that requir€s readers to worry about whether they have understood it or not has probably failed.

This is not to say that readers are generally thick, as some in the adver-

9f

of

oPnon!

as business, law, accountancy and human resource management would require a bettergrasp of English.

Even people who should have all the time they need to get things right still manage to get them wr9ng. One of the wodd's leading media companies,

Pap€r

on

l(u 2

ahe

CanOn

pdntcd

Canon Hongkong Company Limited

10/E, Miror Tower,61 Mody Bd , Kowloon, Hong Kong

Connaught Road, CentraL Hong Kong

Address: 21lF., Cornwall House, Taìkoo Place,979 Kìng's Rd , Quary Bay, Hong Kong

l\rlanager

l\¡lr

lvlanager

Communication

C F.

Kwan

2747 5214

Stoyle

2747 5393

Manager Corporate Communication

Sole Distributor : JOS Consumer Electronics

Ass¡stant Product l\4arketing

I

Manager Corporate

Canon cameras and video camcorders

tising industry seem to believe. The public will respond to a well con-

c.lrnnvPlctrlc

7/E Swire House,

Services/Products:

Senior

l|l

Albert

Chan

2565 2008

Wong

2565 2007

lvls Louise

lnternational

Nadia

Services/P¡oducls: Hong Kong-based international airline

structed and clevedy presented adver-

tisement or campaign in large numbers. The best ad folk know this and try to switch on that reaction.

Much of this sloppiness in ads seriously the worst of it, anyway

r{ tr1tr Hong Kong Trade Development Council

-

38/F., Off¡ce Tower, Convention Plaza, 1 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

anyone to pick up. Certainly editors don't like to. They have enough trouble keeping writers and copy-editors in line to go picking fights with sale s or management. One of the truths of journalism is that editors may come

Kodak House 1, 321, Java Road, North Point, Hong Kong

Manager

Assistant Public Relations Marketing

Communications

Tel: 2584-4333 Fax: 2824-0249 lnternet: http://w\uw,tdc org hk

-

undermines the quality of the publicationinwhich it appears, always assuming the publication aspires to some solt of quality or standard. No doubt this problem couldbe overcome by amore robust approach to sub-standard advertising suppliedbyagencies orindividual adyertisers. No doubtpigs mayfly, too.

This potato is evidentþ too hot for

Kf, i,"å1gHåËT*n"o

For Hong Kong trade statistics, information

KROLL ASSOCIATES (ASIA) LIMITED 901-9I

I Mount Parker House,

Tel: 2BB4

II

l 1 Kingb Road,Taikoo Shing

77BB Fax: 2568 8505

Director Director Marketing Co-ordinator Managing

Associate Managing

Services:

Stephen GVickers Steven J Einsel Yasmin R Shaker

InternationalRiskManagementConsultants International Corporate Invesligators W'ordwide Business

Enquiry : 2564 9333 Direct :2564 9309 :2856 5004

Fax

and analysis. Fast. Call TDC's lnternational

Publicity Section at 2584-4333 Ext 7+89.

Jessica Ghan

X

Mass Transit Raitway Corporation

Chevalier Commercial Centre, 17th Floor,

Mn

MiranûLeung

MisMagqieso Mrs8etty0lmn

I

Wang Hoi Road, Kowloon Bay, Hong

Kong

CorporateRelationsManag€r

r Publhtulationshhnager ExtemalAffairs

Fax 2795 gg91

Ïel:2993

lel:

Tel:2993 2929

MissClaud¡aH0 AsistanÌPublhRelatìonsManager lel:2993 MisDaphneMak AssistantPublhRelationsManager-AirporlRa¡lvräy Tel:2993

Oußi&0ftiæfloun

2175

2993 2166

227ô 2136

Tel: 2993 2599

and go, but advertising managers seem

to survive anlthing.

Sales people are more interested in maintaining their personal figures, normally because they operate on a commission basis. Anyway, in the case

of

English-language publications in Hong Kong, ad sales staff are normally not equipped to argue with clients about the standard of English in copy.

Management isn't much concerned either, because advertising is paid for on a space basis, not on quality of English.

This leaves only the readers. And

f rironl

2/F Hutchison House, Central, Hong Kong

Director Manager

Developing Hong Kong's new airport at Chek Lap Kok

E@

Wan

SIEMENS 1

8 Harbour Road

Hong Kong Marketing Communications Manager Monika

Function:

For direct access to the people who can best answef youf pfess questions, please use the contacts in this section.

Siemens Ltd.

Wanchai

be suffering.

28247700 28247705 28247152

Epson LCD portable TVs

58/F., Central Plaza

they did, papers everywhere would

hours)

Bruce

Hung

Media Enquiries (24

views known? You never hear of anyone cancelling a subscription because

If

Poon

Public Relations Manager Phillip Media Relations Manager Helen

PL. 25245031 Managing Jimmy 2524 5031 Senior Se rv¡ces/Produ cts: Sole agent of Nikon cameras, Hasselblad cameras, Linhof cameras and

how are they going to make their of the standard of English in the ads.

ArnPoRT AUTHoRTTY

Shriro (H.K) Ltd.

Sturm

2583 3307

Entries are free to aclvertisers making series bookings. A paid entry is an economical part of a company's press relation planning. Please contact 25217993 for details.

\'

Steve meets some

'Women train together with men and much of that takes place at the abandoned Keiazma Rest Home in the

dangerous women

Borodino forest. Here, professional secrets can be shared whìle privacy is ensured. Male students train 10 days each month for six months; the women for three months over longer stretches because they often have other duties,

I(idnappings a-nd ottrer rriolence are l>ecorning a- big tlareat to l>usinessrtlen in Flussia-- And frra;ary of ttrern are laosz usirrg bod¡.guards - Fea_dess freelancer Sterzen Knipp T\zent to irrrzestiga:te and got a. surprise_ he winter air is cold and clear in the thickforests of westem Russia.

Normally, the only sounds are lonely bird calls or the wind blowing through the birch trees. But here in the famous Borodino forest, 100km outside Mos cow, neaf the site where tl]re czafs

cavaþ clashed with Napoleon's Grand Armee in 1812, the usual winter silence is repeatedlypierced by the screeching of tyres and the softened poppop-pop of artificially silenced firearms.

I watch as, over and over again, a mysterious black car retums along the same nalrowroad. Screeching suddenly, the car halts in front of an abandoned building just as a clique of men, clad in combatfatigues, heads coveredinblack, are escorting a welldressed business man to his own car. The hooded occupants in the mysterious black car begin

firingweapons.

Each time, the protective clique in combat attire immediatelyencircles their man, using their own bodies as a shield.

They push him down into the safety of his car, while simultaneously retuming fire on their attackers.

Finally, after beating off several attacks, the protectors of the much-as

pull off their black protective head-gear. But saulted-but-still-breathing-target

instead of the square-jawed,

crew{utted

heads of young men, the soft glistening faces of beautiñilyoungwomen emerge,

complete

with long flowing

locks,

rouged lips and just a hint of perfirme

.

I'm at the Inex Security Management Company. The guns used here fired only high-pressured paint darts, causing little more than minor bruising.

But the training is very real indeed.

Deadly real.

r[D

GORRESPOI|ItEilT

April 1996

family responsibilities or jobs.

In additionto leamingthe basics of bodyguard work - how to get your clients safely in and out of different locations; how to spot suspiciouslooking characters and how to disarm them if necessary, the bodyguards study literature, history and current affairs, because mental ability is as important as

Inexisone

of perhaps

physical skills.

On completion of the course, gnduates receive diplomas and their permit to carly a side-arm. They then sign on with Inex for a three-year contact. According to Inex' press officer Tatyana Feniutina herself a former bodyguard who marriedthe boss to the - the cost client is the same whether the bodyguard is male or female, but the end fee depends on the actual role required and the risks involved.

Initially, Inex's clients were ethnic Russian companies, but now more clients are coming from the Com-

a

dozen profes-

sional bodyguard training

schoolswhich

have sprung up rn fecent years in answer to Russia's rising crime. Inex is

not the only Russian body-

guard school whichaccepts women candidates, but pefhaps the best

monwealth of Independent States, such

Georgia and Uzbekistan. Some foreign firms from Israel and South Korea have also used comp any-ft aiîed

In üfor tbe actíon

known and best managed. Inex's head man is a tall, gaunt Russian dressed entirely in black. Formerþ employed by a Soviet "security agency", he seldom smiles and but is willing to answer questions provided they do not interrupt his- work.

'S7.hile

romantic-eyed'W'estemers might see the Inex school as something

out of aJames Bond fiantary, complete

with curvaceous, karate-kicking Bond Girls, the company's flinty-eyed manager sees nothing more than good business sense.

Though salaries paid to male or female bodyguards are the same, many Moscow based-firms are willing to pay the academy more for women. The reason is simple: many corporate executiyes in need of bodyguards would rather not have their nee d known, and Inex's attractive youngwomen are the very antithesis of the stereotyped gorilla-like bodyguard.

Most of the female s who graduate

from Inex training could easily pass for a pretty aidine stewardess or an atúactive cofpofate personal assistant. But these afe anything but Mary Poppins. Recruitment standards are strict. And bythe time theirtraining is complete, they are licensed to caffy side-arms and have enough skills to disable would-be kidnappers.

Everyfemale applicant to the training cenffe mustbe atleast 1.7 meters tall and in excellent health. Age limits for men are fuom 2L to 4O, but female candidates are only accepted below the age o128.

Afterphysical exams are completed, all candidates are given detailed psycho-

logical tests to weed out those who merely seek excitement or danger. Out of 100 gids, only 50 pass rhis test. Because there are more female applicants

thanplaces, Inexaccepts L5 outofevery 100 womenwho apply.

as

bodyguards.

Julia, a striking strawberr¡. blonde, has been training for three months and has just six more weeks to go. She says

shewanted to be a bodyguardbecause she's always enjoyed physical activity.

The 27-yearold Muscovite claims her parents support her unorthodox career choice. Julia's dark-haired colleague, Natasha, 20, also likes thephysical aspect of the work, but adds that it is a also apatla to making avery good

living eventually.

On the possibility of having to drop an attacker with their side- arms, Natasha says, asJulia nods agreement: "Because we have extensive training, we can do what's necessary as well as aîy man. But, ifwe find it necessary to use firearms, it would be very bad for

ouf feputation. "'W'e are trained to be extremely observant, to see any eventuality before it happens. 'W'e are prepared to use our

intellìgence rather than physical force or fire-

Inex's boss readily concedes that his female

bodyguards arc hardly mafüal arts experts, but says they are very well trained inadozenkante moves "which is

-

enough to disarm the danger before anyone is seri-

ousþhurt."

The reaction time of women is also faster than most men, says the academyboss, andwomenare often cooler headed.

What's more, he says their

main role is watching for tfouble, and precisely because they afe women, they are not often picked out

as

bodyguards. "They

Women bod.yguards baue

an aduøntage becøuse they don't look like securíty

must not be obvious in what they are doing. 'And, though they are ttained in shooting abitity, if they have to shoot awotild-be assailant, they have probably akeady fuledat their job.

As they should have been able to spot a possible trouble-maker and act accordingl¡ using their hand-tohand combat skills only to disarm an attacker until

police arrive."

Salaries for bodyguards, both the male and female variety, start at about US$200 permonth. But as experience is gained, incomes can rapidly rise to as muchasUS$2,000permonth, wellabove the $3OO eamed by a good executiye secretary in Moscow, and equal to a

seniorRussianbank executive. But, then, neither bank executives nor secretaries are often put in a position of having to stop a bullet with their bodies.

By late aft emoon, the weak Russian winter sun begins to sink behind the pines. Theirlong dark shadows mean an endtotoday's session. As I offerawarm dasvee dahn-ya to ttre lovely ladies, I note that they are literally coyered with red paint splashes each one the mark

of

-

wotrld-be assassin's bullet.

"Yes," says the Inex's boss, "but if you notice, the client doesn't have a single mark on him. That is what their job is all about."

E!f! a

Äpril I

Busy man

atwork

CC member Lee Ka-Sing's pictures are exhibited on this month's "Photo Vall". They are excellent examples of his editorial and commercial work for different Hong Kong clients, such as Di s cou ery M agazine, HK Telecom and Cathay Pacific.

Ka-Sing has been a professional photographe¡ since 1978, when he andhiswife Hollysetup theirfirst studio. He ispresident ofthe Hong Kong Institute ofProfessional Photographers (IfKIPP) and has held and organised several exhibitions. Despite his busy schedule satisSzing his many customers, he finds time to publish a monthly publication on contemporary photography in Hong Kong.

E

Cl¡ent:

Client: Díscouery Ma.gazíne

HK Uniuersíty of Science and Tecbnologlt

Client: HK Uniuersity of Scìence and Tecbnologlt

Client: Sing Tao

Client: Discoaery Magazíne Client: Hong Kong Telecom Clíent; Cathay Pacific Ainuays TEE G0RRDSPOilIIEI{T

Client: Hong Kong Telecom

April 1996

April

Surfing down to Vietnam

giying us a kick every so often as we

lrantically tried to control the beast. ìùf'e alternated the helm every hour and then every half-hour throughout the night and the following day. It was becoming rrery tiring.

'We burned through two spinnaker sheets that first night as we triecl, mostþ in vain, to keep the beast on her feet. The initial raclio reports

sterze Ellis of Ernph-a-sis pul>lica-tions took tkre krandicap tronor-rrs in the first n-rn of the \zietlaa-rra R-a-ce- For Ste.rze, the cre'./ a_nd sterze,s tlrorouSEtrbred lll:arìcer, \lizard. it uza_s ttre e><perience of a- lifetirrreAnd he sa¡rs they os/e a big debt to Elob- \üt tro,s rlob? Rea_d o'.

showed we wer€ where

he inaugural Vietnam Race took place over Chinese Newyear. It

Nha Trang Bay. The Wizard won in fine style. you can't get any better than first place in both CHS and IMS handicap divisions, although a line-honours yictory would

with celebrations well under way, I knew I needed only another 90 minutes for ayacht not to apper on the horizon. And then Wizard did. It was enough to make a sailor cry into his 333.

saþ

tears

The key to the Wizard,s victory was the preparation of the yacht and the campaign. We strþped !Øizard of all excess weight, which included four of our usual 12 crew, one life-raft ancl

400kg of lead that woulcl normally reside in the bilge. The idea was to make the yacht "surf' the waves and

stay on them longer. 'lf'e also expanded tlre sail inventory to include a heavy-

cltrty l.5oz spinnaker

with narrow

shoulclers fo¡ use in strong reaching and nrnning conditions.

All of this worked, but our biggest gain came from employing the services of Bob Rice, ourninth c¡ewmember. Bob is a weather fo¡ecaster who lives somewhere in middle America.

He makes his living believe it or not

-

rHD C0RRESPOITDEilT Aprit 1996

Showers, money and drains.

But fate works in wondrous ways. !Øe hadn't heard any fatlady singing.

Maybe she was on holiday. Bob had said that on the Monday morning, we would find ourselyes as the western_

The Wizard was in lighr displace_ ment mode and she screamed down the face of the waves. Spraywas flying and our heafts were pumping furi_ ously with, first, fear and anxiety and then excitement as we burst through one wave on to another and then an_ other.

The sheet trimmer and grinder worked together, fuantically trying to keep the bow out ofthe water. Speeds of 16 knots

were common. The driver would see a hole

heading for the nor-thern tip of Hainan island.

But something was amiss. The breeze was not swinging in the predicted direction. It had,

Island and finished, for us at least, in twilight on the following Monday in

gesting he was simplytoo fast and had sailed out of the weather pattern. But he was not amused. Not would I have been if, 12 hotrs after tinishing and

disappeared as fast as the boats

ahead of us. 'We were not happy chappies.

we wanted to be to - by leeward of the fleet first 20, then 30, mi,les,

started in pretty cold, dismal condi_ tions on Friday, Febmary 16, off Lamma

have made us overbearing. But Sam Chan put paid to that when he impor-ted a near-new 65ft ULDB (UltraLight Displacement Boat) for rhe race.

Sam won line honours and, for a good while, looked a good bet for handicap honours as well until our good fortune and his fate- intervened.

Later, we tried to console him for his loss of handicap honours by sug-

we got properly trnd,er way again.

Thoughts of winning the race hacl

in fact, clocked to

ahead and aim the $Øizard into it. The speed wouldincreaseto 17and I8

would appear on

110

us further to the west than plannecl. s-

ç)

è Ellis Qeft) and his creu.t aboarcl Wizard, aÍter tbe! had Vielnam race.

Steue

- from advising window-cleaning companies

when to clean windows.

He also dabbles regularþ and very successftilly at advising yachties of weather conditions and what direction to point their yachts in to make the most of those conditions.

Bob's advice was one of the many contributing factors behind New Zealand's win in the last America's Cup. He's a good man to have ,,on board',.

Bob gave us daily weather information leading up to the race and a threeday prediction for the race in itself, from start day. His prediction took a while to kick in, but it was to prove invaluable.

The conditions for the race were not difficult. The Royal Observatory was predicting winds of force 3 to 4 to start from the east to north-east,

building to force 8 down the track.

Bob, on the other hand, thought the

winds would be from the east at force 4 to

for the first 24 hours and then gradually lifting to the northeast and building to force g. Not much in it.

5

u.tc¡n the

first Hong Rong to

The course was to take us over the

top and down the back of the Lemas, passing a light on'Wan Wei Chou to starboard, down to North reef off the Paracels to port and then on to Nha Trang. A distance of 690 miles as the crow flies and downhjll all the way.

A total of 19 yachts started on that cold Friday afternoon.'Wizard got away to a very ordinary staft, eating bad air all the way to the weather mark. We

had to tack out to pass the tip of the Lemas,

whichwas alsonotin the game

plan. But things improved as we hoisted our spinnaker and ran off below the other yachts down the back of the islands. Bob says "Go \ùØest,,' and we did. The breeze was from the east, as predicted, at force 5. Our strategy was to head west so that when the breeze liftedto the north-east, we could maintain our apparent wind angle and

lift with it at optimum boat speed.

'We experienced a wonderful night's sailing. It was as black as pitch and the spinnaker was propelling us along '¿t mighty speeds. Tlne Wizard, was behaying true to her pedigree,

We decided it was too soonto cutBob loose.

It would have been foolish to ditch th e game plan at such an early stage in the race. There was no

oLrr star-

board quarter and the driver would turn thc Wizard to run with it.

Now it was 19.74 knots.

And we kept this up for nine terrific hours.

east south-east, pushing

ò' È

knots. But the ride was

not over. Another wavc

As hundrecls

of vìetna'mese uatch from tLre beacb of NLta Trang, steue Eilìs and his creut sail Wizard across tl:e.fínislt line.

gain in coming up to the

rhumb line as we would onl1. lose ground to weather. Our best chance back. Spinnaker pole to the forestay, we attempted to parallel the rhumb line and not sag off any further.

This proved moderately successfuI, but the V7izard doesn,r like being harnessed this way. If we broached

of this torment.

With a loud bang and a scream of "All hands!" (yes, we do saythat sort of

thing), I was aroused from my slumber to learn that the steering chain had

pated companywith the quadrant. A force 5 wind and three-metre seas added to the interest level. As quick as you can say "Oh dear, we have lost the race. How unfoltunate" (or something like that), we had the emergency tiller on. The wheel was quickly separated

from the pedestal with the use of a power drill (every yacht should have one), and we set about fixing the chain with a shackle, a bit of spectra line and a great deal of sweat. It didn,t take all that long, but it was two hours before

ing. He was 140 miles ahead of us. On handicap, we had to average

over 12 knots to win. He later said he thought it was impossible, and so did we af the time . No wonder he was in earþ celebration mode. But over the horizon we came, sailing boat for boat with Neil Pryde on Hi-Flyer, our orher principal riyal on CHS handicap. \We entered Nha Trang

was to pray that the wind would swing

once, we broached 50 times. Damage was done, butwe didn'tknowaboutit until the Sunday evening, when the 'Wizard decided she had had enough

Sam, inhisULDB, finished at five that morn-

bay to-

gether, gybing back and forrh on

Wizard

Orion Exþress ba.ttting it out off the coast of Nlra Trang. ¿¿n¡l

most yacht, approximately 100 miles off the coast of Vietnam. He also said that, should we feel a tickle of wind from the north-west, we should waste no time gybing into ir. And ifwe should have a lightweight spinnaker up at the time, we should change it pronto to a heavy one, for the wind would likely build very fast to about 35 knots. \ù7hat transpired oyer the next nine hours was the most thrilling and exhilarating time of my sailing career.

The wind howled and the wayes roamed the seas, looking for unsus-

pecting victims. The watch system was cancelled, not by decree but by common consensus to get everybody as far aft. as possible. We

took off.

a

dying breeze. 'SØe could sense that victory was oufs and we knew it was when Mike Sinfield, the visionary behind this wonderful race, gave us the thumbs-up. And then we heard the melody. The fat lady had bursr inro song.

Bob is welcome on board the rù/iz-

arl at any time . I have this image of him sitting in front of a bank of computers, plotting the weather, talking to yachts thousands of miles away as they seared through the treacheries of the southern ocean . . . savouring theirvictories, sympathising with their defeats. But always a member of the team.

E@

The wiza¡<t is 4lÍt ove.ail. Sñèìa¡rièiãäìreo spreader masthead. She was designecl by Iain Murray afldAssociates and was built byBashforcl Howison Boats, both of Australia.

Àprit I

Now is the time to accumulate capital

been placed consistently highly in

the Fund Management Awards.

Templetons ar€ particularly experienced in Emerging Markets Funds and the natural volatility of such a fund lends itself well to the concept of Unit Cost Averaging.

3. CapitalAccumulation Plan

Probably novzhere in the xrodd provides the oppor:tunities t-fl:at Hong l(ong does to rrrake rrrone¡r. But rna-king it is one ttring; rrraking it xzork is another. Here's sorre adrzice frorrr a specia.list, Grarrt l\zfason of lfovrr5r Lanrz IrìtefiÌationa"l.

This investment is particulaily appropriate for the inyestor who is looking for medium to longer-term growth, but with a short-term funding period. It can be used as a secondary "pension", or to meet other commitments such as school fees.

.

.

Wn::îî::iîîåÍ'Jïî?åî::î to build up capital in the short,

me-

.

dium and long term. It is important to full advantage of the high savings capacityyou have while you are working abroad, and once you have identi-

Free telegraphic transfer. Most companies will cover TT charges when you move money around.

Thefunds are secure as the cash

take

is spread among a numbe¡ of reputable banks and flnancial institutions of international

fied the amount of money that you can regulady saye then you should consider the following areas:

standing.

L.

2. Unit Trust Savings

Plans This investment is ideal for those looking for a short/medium-term inyestment in equities, the main advantages of which are:

or the currency equivalent, and there is

Cash

no time limit set on the deposit. As

would normally advise you build up cash deposits in the

mum monthly transfer of

guide, the early February 1996 rates on theJardine Fleming MoneyFunds were as follows: IJS6 5.41%, GBP 6.O4%,Yen O.O4%, C$ 5,35%, Aus$. 7.O2%

to

relevant currency of the country that you eventually intend to relocate to, although it is of course possible to benefit from currency fluctuations, been graphically demonstrated recently by the Yen vs US$ exchange as has

rate.

As an alternative to keeping money on bank deposit, you could utilise the Money Market funds that are provided by a number of fund

.

Another option, particulady for Steding investors, is to use a suitable offshore building society account in

the Channel Islands. or the Isle of Man. These building societies normally offer a higher rate oT return than the banks, but interest rates frequently vary. Typically, you will achieve a greatet return on amounts

banks.

a

Rates of intefest thatare usually

maximum deposit of GBP15,000.

It

Free entry and exit, as there is no

is therefore prudent planning to

charge for buying into, or selling

spread your cash deposits among number of different institutions.

a

out of, the funds.

THD CORRXSPOI|IIII{T

April 1996

.

a

higher than those offered by

offer a numbet of advantages. Among them:

.

The usual minimum is US$1,000

of 25,000 and over in an offshore building society account. The return is currently in the region of 6.5 per cent. one point to note is tlJ.at, as a cash fund, your capital is only covered under the relevant compensation scheme for up to75 per cent on

management groups such as Fidelity, Rothschilds andJardine Fleming. They

4.

Surnmary Formulating a savings strategy is

pension fund should

an issue that needs to be approached

be considered. This would offer the

the longer term,

on an individual basis and reviewed

.

a

following advantages:. Total flexibility as contributions may be increased, decreased or

.

.

invested rolls up tax

regulady to ensure the strategy stays on track, and takes into account your changing circumstances and market

suspended.

conditions.

investments with avariety of fund managers.

Tax advantages back in the UK.

Depending on the time limit that you wish to save for, you could consider growth over 5 years and growth

Waiyer of premium (during period of illness).

over 1O-20 years.

. Broad choice of

Contributions can be limited to any time period up to 5 years without penalty.

free in the Isle of Man. The maturity value canbe paid out free of personal tax in the UK after 10 years.

Free switching between the undedying funds.

Offshore Pension Account For investors looking to save over

a

Additional taxtadlvaîtages can often be achieyed through setting up

a

pension plan in the spouse's name.

will depend upon the individual's tax position, but it is often possible to This

benefit from tax-free growth, and

a

tax-free income.

. The elimination of the difficulr decision of how to time investinents in the equity markets.

The regular savings plan can normally be started with a mini-

'We

The Sun Alliance Flexisaver accounts offer (aside from the obvious taxadvantages of keeping money offshore) an excellent choice ofSteding, US Dollar, Mark andYen-denominated funds.

The advantages are:

. The capital .

As far as the investment vehicle is concerned. we would recommend the plan offered byRoyalLife Intemational, which has awide choice of risk graded funds frommany of the top-rated fund management groups.

US $ 1 00,

or currency equivalent.

. The plan is easy to

start and maintain, with payment being made by direct debitfrom a suit-

.

able offshore bank account.

Byinvestingafixedamountregularly, you may over tlrlr.e pay a lower average price on the units within the scheme. This is because a fixed contribution buys a

greater number of units when

the price is low, and fewerwhen the price is high. This effect is

called "Unit Cost Averaging" and as long as the undedying

trend

of the unitprice is upwards, the greater unit allocation will be reflected in the final proceeds. lù7'e

would currently recommend

the monthly savings plan by

Perpetual or Templetons. Perpetual have

THE ANTIQUE EXPRESS LTD. \Ve

offer avariety of

Retail & whole sale Very competitive prices Local delivery & overseas shipments

beautifrrl Clrinese antiques, such as: Cabínets, tables,

For more detøíls

chaÍrs, desks

aîd marry interesting decorative objects, such as: lewellery boxes, bamboo baskets,

pl.eøse conta.ct:

Nina van Toulon: tel 2544 6407 €, 2813 9537 føx 2541 7458 €' 2813 6745 of Katy le Blanc: tel 2856 972O

føx

'Warehouse:

Ieather hat boxes and small book cases.

56 Køí Yuen Street, Nortb Poùnt, Ifong Kong

established an enviable r€putation

for their equity funds and

259O 7785

haye April

High-energy show for Simon's farewell n.r.

was a VIP tuffiout without peer for the farewell to Hong Kong of former club president Simon Holberton. And it produced the rare sight (for the FCC, at least) of pro-Beijing actiyist Tsang Yok-sing chatting amiably with the governor and with Democrat Martin Lee. Simon, who stepped in as president at the end of 1994 after the departure mid-term of Cad Goldstein, is returning to London to head the energy desk on t}re Financiøl

fI

@

Times.

TnD c0RRlSP0illÂĄ[I{T

April 1996

Aptn 1-996 Tf,D

GORRf,SPoilItDNT

At the FCC Play golf The FCC Golf Society is a registered golf societyin Hong Kong. The principal purpose of the society is to play golf and the society aims to have a game every month. They admit that like most objectives in life, they fall a bit short of the target but in the period Ocrober 1995 to April 1996, still had five games. Games are always midweek and typically played at different courses each time. This gives members the opportunity to visit some of the many new courses within striking distance of Hong Kong. It is also sometimes a wise decision not to revisit some places too soon. Recent games were played at Discovery Bay, Macau, Chung Shan, Mission Hills and Clearwater Bay. In addition to regular society games, membe¡s are entitled to dis-

counted rates at certain courses on presentation of their member card.

New members are most welcome.

To maintain some level of membership there is no minimum standard.

The joining fee is currently $400 plus an annual subscription of $400.

information of to t€glster, contact Juüan Valsh, tlre FCC Golf SocieQ/s secretaryby

Professional Lunches Professional lunches give members the

opportunity to catch up on the opinions and pronouncements of today's business leaders, activists, politicians, gurus and China explorers - allwhfe enjoying a full club lunch.

Lunches are often arranged at short notice so to keep yourself abreast of the lunch developments, register for the club's Facts by Fax service .

Lunches are charged at $125 for members and $ 175 for guests.

At the Fringe Music: Susie Vilkins Live-MSF Fundraising concert

I(eep Fit! Before amply rewarding yourself at the bar, work out at the club's boutique gymnasium and relax in the sauna. The gymnasium is open from 7:00am until 21 :00pm. Close d on Sundays. No excuses or bookings necessary the club even hires work-out

-

T-shirts and shorts at $6 a piece.

Members free. Guests $60

ARacy Evening The club has a sixteen-seat 'loge' at the Shatin-Race Course. So if you want to

entertain yourself andlor your friends on a'W'ednesday evening or Saturday

aftemoon during the season, contact themembership secretary, Sarah Chan, and make a booking. rùlith the price at only $80 (which includes Jockey Club guest badge and a seat in the loge) you

can afford to have a little flutter or two.

TEE GORRDSPoI|IIDNT Aprìl 1996

Music: Sirocco 25-26 Apr, 7:30-8:30 þrn $60 (850) Global in nature, Australian atheart' Sirocco (a hot desert wind) will blow you way. Their music borrows from

many cultures to capture the spirit of ancient and contemporary Austr^liafl didgeridu, Irish flute, Greek bouzouki, Lebanese drums, electric guitar and the Di (Chinese bamboo flute). Special guest Chai Chang Ning will perform with the group and in solo. Presented by Sirocco, with the assistance from the Australian Consulate General of Hong Kong.

6 Mar, 8:30-9:30 61OO (#80)

Singer/songwriter Susie'Wilkins is well known to Fringe Club regulars

Exhibition : Gweilo in China Carlos A. DeAvila

for her trademark blend of soul/R&Binfluenced originals and covers. This

11-J0 Aþr.

Comedy: Act Like Nothing' s Vrong 19-20 Apr, 9:OO-10:3O þm $75 (60) Reuben M. has been called a Hong Kong institution, but never a lending one. His lighting is direct, his logic is circular, his participles dangle impressively, and his septums never deviate.

He seeks to undermine the overdressed, overstay his welcome, and regruntle the disaffected. Since his unfortunate roller disco accident, he has been unable to speak offstage without the aid of a handpuppet.

Reuben presents a comedy show on 104 FM Select and performs Zany standup comedy. Presented by Reuben M.

Music: 20th Century Chamber Music 2J Aþr,8:OO-9:OOþm $1OO (80) I Fiatti Dolci ('Swe et tù(/inds') presents a programme of exciting and elegant 20th century chamber music for flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon, by com-

posers from South America, the formet Czechosloyakia and France.

Two former members of the Hong Kong Philharmonic formed the group

{> {> {> {>

{>

The Village (Indian) Restaurant

For Curry Lovers

57 Wyndham Street, Basement, Hong Kong.

Tel: 2525 741O, 2525 4ll7 Eax: 2445 4794 Come and try our BEST authentic Indiøn cuisine

DINNflP óPECI¡,], OFFEP

{> ..(> {> {>

MINIMUM 15

[tMEßCATCI Special Offer to FCC Members During the club's kitchen renovation, Ist April through mid-May:

pEB pIBôON

2

LIKS

Business Hour: 11:30 AM

-

PEOPLI

(óUN TO TfIUBóD^Y) 11:00 PM 3:00 PM, 6:00 PM

Approx 15% discount* on our superb Italian cuisine for any member arriving for lunch from 2p.m. onward (*5% offlisted price plus waiver

-

CENTRAL 57-59 Wyndham Street, G/F, Central, Hong Kong.

-|el 25249623

T

Ristorante

As much you can eat & drink within two hours

THE UEI GROUP AN RESTAUT|II IAN EIVIPEROR -'ASHOKA' CUISINE -'ASHOKA' SUPERB SERVICE -'ASHOKA'

wANcHAr

¿ä

of lÙYo service charge) Just show your FCC cørd when you aruive

!flJ;

Only one card required per table

RESTAUTANT rowN 'i:ü'#tiì:J;î,'ÅiffÍ you MYANMAR

PROBABLY THE OLDEST INDIAN

wELcoMES

tional relief group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)-Hong Kong Mission; the.Well Baby Service, and Vietnamese Boat Children. An eyening not to be missed. Presented by Susie .Wilkins and friends.

-(>

DAguilor Street (Lon Kwoi Fong) 28ó8-30ó8

rN

one-hour fund-raising concert by Susie and her band is in aid of the interna-

For more

fax¿2521A978.

it:' 1994, and its members have included some of Hong Kong's finest musicians. Presented byI Fiatti Dolci.

ro ExpERTENcE

Im Gnzrbo

J*(8?]ì"rll%

h,

Pt5TRUPRllT'È¿qËí 'While on assignment, freelance photographer Cados DeAvila, based in Long Beach, California, stepped into the timeless wodd of rural villages in the remote provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi in China. His gelatin-silver, black-and-white photograhs capture

an eerie and tranquil "Shangri-La".

These compelling and lyrical images invite us to share his experiences as both a stranger and a friend inafar awayland.

Exhibition: About One Year 18-27 Aþr.

Steve Black Steve Black has had his

CHINESE RESTAURANT

The Gazebo Restarìrant (first floor) features bfeakfast, lunch and dinne¡ buffet ,A. la carte menu is âlso avâilable daily 'tel:2833 5566, ext 4

-Delicious Cantonese Food that leaves your tastebuds dancing -Daily Dim Sum Breakfast

@

THE

CHÆUHOUSD

and lunch -A choice of 16 different kinds of premium Chinese teas to accompany your meal

Reach hungry FCC mernbers

by advertising here.

Contact Andrew Sedman on 2521 7gg3

¿lll lísltas rirt'

À..lSG

fl

3/F The Wharney r{otel 57-73 Lockhart Road,

HorA Kong.

Wânchâi, HonB Kong Tet: 2a61 1OO0 ext. 663

hand in the art wodd-everything from

photograher, Xerox artist, performer/ visual designer and video producer/ director in both the US and Asia. In ' about One Year', Black focuses on the past year of his life in major cities around the wodd, New York, Toþo and Hong Kong. His non-stylized images combine autobiographical experiences with observations of urban

life. Presented with the assistance of East Asia Photography and Art by Xerox.

/rcr'

Valet parking service available

FREE LUNCHI WHO SAID TIIERE WAS NO SU4I TIIING? The Correspondent needs writers to help cover the growing number of luncheon speeches at the FCC. The club will cover the cost of your meal. Not only that, the editor of The Cowespondent will pay you for your words. And he promises not to threaten your sense of self-esteem by making you rich.

Please drop a note at the offïces, addressed to Peter Cordingley, Editor, The Correspondent.

New membefs Correspondent Margaret Anderson

New membefs

lMernl>ers

Carmen Calvo

Associate lvlernl>ers Russel

Tim

Green

Healy

Richard

Timothy

Airth

Cobb

Æl Pilar Pereyra

Margaret Lee

Jeffrey Zuckerberg

John

Findlay

David HowlandJr.

Dr. Henri Leimer

May

Law

i Theodore

J<>urn:rlist lVleml>ers

McFarland

Yvonne

Benjamin

Edward

Chan

Moss

Stokes

John

McLanachan

Yuk Tong Wong

Lisa 'Weaver

1

iå

f)ipl<>nrarti<: IMe r-rrl>c-rs

(

i'i t1

Chuk Fai Kwan

d*H Tf,D cORRf,SPOlfIlEIfT Februarv 1996

Colour

>r:rte' Mc'rrrl>crs ì<>11><

Ç

pr

¡

nts by

PETER CHO'S color workshop Flot G, 2nd Fl., No. I Luord Rood, Southorn Monsion, Wonchoi Tel:25724813 / 25274781 Fox: 28ó54370 Poger: I ló8233 #ó33 February

1996 lHE

CORRXSPoIì|DXNT

The lowdown orr Les Leston Longtime club member Les Lestonwas the subject

of a four-page profile in the February issue of the BritishmagazineClassic and Sportscar. Les was inthe car-racing business in Europe for a quarter of a century, mainly in Forrnula 3, but also occasionally Formula 1, as well as competing in the IÆ Mans 24 Hour andthe Monte Cado Rally. He came outtoHongKong in the Seventies, apparently to play Yangtze in the basement of the FCC, with a little bit of business on the side.

Classlc and Sportscar chronicles his career in de tail - winner of 170 race s, including the Grand Prix de Luxembourg, ahead of future wodd champion Stirling Moss - with lots of pictures, plus some of the escapades FCC members would more readily associ-

The Dutch get aÍr ausprclous

Members right on the ball

start

When's there's action on the wodd scene, you can count on the FCC being right there. As the UN Security Council was meeting in NewYork to consider what action to take against Fidel Castro after Cuban planes shot down two priyate .American planes, FCC members flew into Havana. It's true that they were there to attend t}:re 1996 China Coast Ball and the only action theywere involved in was making sure their cocktails were cofrectly mixed.

Pictured in the former presidential palace of dictator

The Dutch Business Associatiôn, which holds all its formal functions at the FCC, held a cocktailparq.to launch the new edition of its directory. To ensure good luck for the Year of the Rat, the Dutch brought a Lion Dance to the ceremony - thought to be the first time one has been held at the club.

Fulgencio Batista are (left to right) David Thurston, Mary Justice Thomasson, Jay Olsen, David(with crown) and Alene Freidenrich, Ted Marr (crown has slipped, wearer probably drunk)

with the rogue. .Among the stories: the day ks was sacked as a r.ace coflimentator for London Weekend Television after giving his own explanation of why a driver had been in a crash. "I saw him sliding down the roof of the beer tent before the accident," he told ate

several lengths every morning of his indoor swiflrming

pool (it's only a bit longer thart a pool table), and generally occupies himself getting in the way of his long-suffering child bride, Kit. Oddly, Classic and Sþortscar flaîIs to re-tell any of Les's vast catalogue of grotesque jokes. For example: This fellow goes to see his doctor. "Doctor, I've got

this thumb growing out of my . . .

A baby

for Steve & LorÍra

A pigeon in from the UK brings an update on Steve Proctor and Lorna'W'orkman, who left Hong Kong and the FCC lastyear. And the big news is that they are to have ababy. The date: July 30.

Steve and Lorna have settled near

the city fell to the communists in April that year.

For the past four years, Jim has been based in London for ABC. From there he covered Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He reported exten-

ñ h

Dutcb Busíness Associatíon lion Dance

A little \Vay Congratulations to ageless club members Ross and Teresa Vay (nee

Gibbs) on the birth at the end of Jarnary of ababy son, Stuart Ross.

Powet reading from club veteratr RoyRowan, aformermember of the FCC anda candidate for presidency in L97 4,hasbecome the author of what he calls "the book I've always wanted to write".

Published in April, his book From Møo to Nou.t, A Reþorter's Ftfry-Year Pursult of Pouterful People (NewYork, Carrol & Graf), covers some of the leaders Roy came to know during his years as a correspondent and editor fo r Tlme

tion in the old Suthedand House His connection toAsia goes back

I

The

,

Liþ

and Fortune.

Included are Mao Zedong, Chiang Kai-shek, U Nu, Josip Broz Tito, Douglas MacArthur, John F. Kennedy, Imelda Marcos and Ross Perot. Pou.terful Peoþle is Roy's fourth book.

sively on the war in Croatia and Bosnia, fuom t99l to 1993, a¡d in 7994 covercd the rise to power in South Africa of Nelson Mandela.

Drawn to Macau Afler

a

successful exhibition atthe

Clube Militar in Macau, Murray Zanoni presented Lt. Col. Manuel Geraldes and Ms. Anna Margarita Peres with a drawing of their club. Bob Davis went along for the ride.

Sudbury, Suffolk, where they have bought a 35o-yearold thatched cottage called (yes) The Thatch - described as having "a dodgy gable end, ramparlt woodworm and a straw haircut". (That's the house, not Steve.)

Lorna has been offered casual

work

with the BBC SØodd Service on East Asia Todøy and with the local Beeb station at îeatby lpswich. Steye continues to cybersub lorAsiø, Inc. anddoes shifts at tl:.e Sunday Telegrapb alongside former regular at the FCC bar, Sid

IGlled in Hanoi Nguyen Hai Son, known to all resident

- not only as the deputy director of the Hanoi Foreign Press centre but as a friend - was found dead in Hanoi on March 15. It is believed he was the victim of a hit-and-run accident. Hai Son is survived by his wife, Ha, their child and a child from a previous mariage. and visiting Vietnam correspondents

Richardson.

Tf,E cORRf,SPOltDDNT April 1996

as

to Saigon, wherehewasfrom 1970to 197 3. He rcturned to the VieÍì.am€se capital in 1975 and was one of a few American journalists to be therewhen

è =

Ès now lives in a converted barn the size of the FCC in the Kent countryside. In his 7Os, he does

Jim Laurie is back in town

senior correspondent for China and Southeast Asia for ABC News. Jim, who will head an expanded bureau ready for the handover of Hong Kong next year, has been a club member since I 970. He held a wedding receppremises in August thatyear.

and Fin Halligan.

viewers.

Jirn heads up ABC bureau

Aprn1996

TEE

GORRESPONITEIIT

Plenty of good shots

without adriver

out of the question. Steve Society årr.rrt", but I doubt he'll be Kahn had specifically asked for alater winning any more with the handicap tee{fftime so that he could relax and he'll be carryrngfrom now on.

Second place went to Steve Kahn lent, although slightly rushed day of limber up as long as possible before it was probably the croissant that golf at Mission Hills on March 20. For beginning. The cup of coffee a¡rd half a those Golf Societyfolkwho missed the croissant as he was putting on his shoes did it - with 39. Steve also took one of the nearest-the-pin prizes. The first excitement, it should be pointed out probably came as abit of a shock. that the bus scheduled to pick us up at However, after the trauma of the nearest the pin went to your humble 7am falled to show up. Had we had joumey and the first couple of flüffed scribe. Tïrere was a technical objecinexhaustible patience, we cotild have shots were over, everyone had agreat tion on the grounds that I had teed off watched it pull tn at 7 the next day day. The conditions were almost per- from the wrong tee box, but I consid(cock-up courtesy of the Mission Hills fect and the¡e were even one or two ered this a technical infringement only. good shots. Over post-match drinks, Plus, as organiser and playing in the Hong Kong office, I hasten to add).

However, the crowd was getting the agreement was that we would go last flight, I deserved it.

The first longest driYe went to restless, and, after hall an hour, we back. It's a marvellous club and the took an alternative route: a fleet of caddies were excellent (I think some Ken Doswell, just a few yards longer taxis to Hung Hom, KCR (first class for phone numbers were exchanged). The than guest Alex Chung. The second some) to Lo TØu, a pleasant and inti- club sta.ff were suiøbly apologetic about longest drive was something of a mysmate hustle and bustle across the land the morning debacle and arranged a tery. I gather Murray Burton reinterborder and then varied local transport Merc and a couple of mini-vans to bring preted the term latrway and stuck his marker somewhere in the wilderness. to Mission Hills. us back to Hong Kong.

The peiformance of the day came No one intheflights behind spottedit, By the time we got there , we were, of course, well past out teeoff times fromJohn Schidlovsky, who hit his all- so it's presumably still there, frightenand the original idea of a leisurely bre ak- time best for 43 stableford points. John ing away birds.

Eæ fast and a bucket of balls on the driving has a habit of winning prizes at Golf

/\

I I

t.t

what cot¡ld politety be de- range

-was

scribed as a lesvthan-perfect start to the day, members enjoyed an excel-

-JulianWalsh

THE C0RRESPOI|IIDNT

.{pril 1996

April 1996 THE C0RRÌSP0I|IIEI|T

A montbly portrøút of FCC írcepløceøbles

Nikon rF90x

Howeuer Good You fue, You Can D0 Better ,,,

Russell Cawthorne Member since: Age:

Professional record: Real job:

Nationality: Least likely to say: Most likely to say:

Unknown. The eady files were destroyed in the great fite of 1840.

At nine in the evening, about 18. At nine in the morning, I37.

Very big at Golden Harvest.

The voice on every TV commercial ever made, apaftfuom Curcerin foot powder. (That's Raþh Pixton.)

Australian in denial.

Bruce Lee? Never heard of him.

Hong Kong movies are underestimated, you know. Take Anita Mui for example...

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April 1996

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CarHnv

==

GExTLE ToUCH

The Heart of Asia.

I

S*ire ctoup