Jonathan Pringle'
Capture the Changing World, Create the Professional Excellence,
THD GORRDSPONIIDNT November 1997
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all that: ù,Iirsky's memoir-
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The Iand of Gengl-rjs Khan
Corzer stor:5¡ The best polìc1r is ¡6 nothing, ùfi'Tung
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Hor]g Kong plices itself or-rt, without n'recìia l'reþ
ttl is publislrecl nronthll- b1' Rxr¡gn C()rslxD(lcnts Clrrb of Hong Kong
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Thonas Cheng;Agencc
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Novernlrer' 791)7 TÅÍ, C0RRXSP0NIIDNT
To the editor From Ted Thomas tü/l-ren Advance Hong Kong was
launcl'red, anyone with a blain bigger than a pea would have expected a bit
of tooth-gnashing from a journalistic dinosar,rr or two, br-rt even I didn't anticipate an appeafance oLÌt of the woodwork by Petel Coldingley with
an outraged r^nt about PR plactitioners. Could I set that little
misundel'standing to rest? Advance Hong Kong is not a PR exercise. It is the reaclion of a number of peopie - not by any means all
blrsinessmen - who became concerned by the hysteria and
l'iyperbole that constitute dalarge part of the reporting on the pre-unification
situation in Hong Kong and tl-ie negative anticipatory wr-iting and broadcasting that had begun to seriously affect certain aspects of business here - especially tourism. Was there ever, in the history of journalisrn a single hack who had the
guts to admit when he got it conpletely wrong? I'm not sure what it is that Peter Cordingiey is fuln'iinating about- clarity was never his strong suit - but if he's saying he hates PR people and their knavish tricks he can join the club. I'm not too fond of them either, it's a rotten job but sornebody has to do it. It's when Peter gets his cr-usading boots on that he's at his most amusing.
Sorry Peter, but there's no sinister political or government body behind
what we're doing. 'üØe're financed entirely by Hong Kong people who feel that Hong Kong deserwes a better press than we've been getting.
Unhappily I cannot provide him with the names of the contributors as theywould, quite understandably, see theil contributions as a personal matter, but there's a way around it. Should Petel becone a donor hinself - a thousand bucks would do nicely thank you - tl'ien he will be entitled to receive a copy of the audited accounts urhen we received drem from Ernst & Young, who kindly donated tl'reir
services to Advance Hong Kong tl-rank you to Brian Stevenson. As for the names of the media people wlio asked to be inclucled in the scheme and those we actually invited, I shal1 leave it up to them to identify themselves should they wish to I'm sure Petel will understand unless of course he would like to
provide us with a list of his own freelance activities witl'r an account of fees paid to him and also a list of people that he's offered his serwices to and who rnay have been pelspicatiorrs enough to decline his offer.
From Steven Knipp Bill Mellor''s highly emotional l'esponse to my article on the decline of the Manager Grottp is perhaps unclerstandable for a marr who spent five rnonths bravely tlying to save a dying magazine, and who now finds himself the owner of its corPse. Unfortunately, it does nothing to alter
the facts. Asict, h'tc. was strictly
a
vanity pr,rblication. Grossly expensive to produce, it was clearly beloved by its own staff, but virtually ignored by readels a nd advertisel's.
I find it telling that Mellor says it
was okay "to go after" Sondhi
-
the
man who unqttestionably paid 1'ris salary for several years -yet he will not accept criticisrn of the editorial staff who actr.rally produced the magazine. Mellor asks the question, "how many journos have to plrt or-rt an edition witl'rout having been paid for three months, and with bailiffs prowling the editorial floor?" which begs the obvious
follow-up question: what kind of jor-rrnalists would have to?
FromJonathan Fenby Editor, S out h C bìn a M orníng I
Po st was deeply touched to learn from
the last issue of The Con"esþondent thatJonathan Mirsky had accorded the
Soufb Cbina Morning Posl the imprirnatur of having become "a real. newspapel'again" on May 20 this year'.
A couple of weeks before this blessed event, Dr Milsky told RTHK listeners that my protestations tl'rat I
was not editing the paper under mainland guidance should not be believed. Put the two statements together, and there is only one conclusion to be drawn
as to
the good
doctor's prescription for real
newspaperdom.
@
ST()LICHNAYA Letters to tbe editor øre aluays win yoatrself ø bottle - for an ori.ginøl or of Stolicbnaya witty lefter- but u.¡e reserue tbe tigbt to editfor clañty orfor reqsons of sPace¿pslçstlx¿
Hong Kong prices itself out, without media help A .. we witnessjng the end of the ,{. \sian econornic milacle? Or', perhaps a better question might be; did tl-ie "miracle" ever really exist in the first place? continlres to settle after October's stockmarketturmoil; andas the SARbegins to adjust itself to a new period of economic uncertainty, falling property prices and possible recession, the time has corne to rethink some old As the dust
assnmptions. And one
of
those
with its r-rnique position as a regional financial centre on China's southern underbelly, was somehow different, inmune frorn the crises that have assumptions was that Hong Kong,
battered the rest of Southeast Asia. A cel'tain arnount of hr-rbris had set in here, particularly after the handover
frorn colony to SAR came and went witl-rout a hitch. Hong Kong was riding high, tl'ie stock market was booming at its highest value ever, real estate
tl're Society of
Conlnunity Organisation
tried to point out. Property prices had become so outrageous that more and
-continued to
w1-ite abont tl-iese
problemswith a passing disinterest. as if they were occuring in Latin America,
more eldedy Hong Kongers living alone on go\/ernment support had taken to sleeping in the pedestrian
or even further away on Mars,
underpasses and on footbridges. The stock market was booming, to be sure,
Taiwan in effect devalued the New
but some of the newly-listed "red chips" were of dubious financial fundamentals - their mainland gu anxi apparently more important than tlieir balance sheets.
There were warning
signs
imn-rediately after the handover that not all was well in paradise. Tourism dropped off dramatically - but the tired old media-bashers attributed that
drop to the nasty foreign journalists writing about PLA troops bulsting into Hong Kong on handover night. Far' easier to blame the foreign press than to do the sirnple maths: a touristwould
Of course many of the
same ploblems landed on our doorstep after Taiwan dollar, leaving the Hong Kong dollar exposed like a sore tliunb. Then
came the chaos at Exchange
Sqr-tare
that saw the stock rnarket at one point
crash through that
oncepyschologically inportant 10,000point barrier - and af the same time smash through all of oul own old assr-r
economic crisis coming? Or were we so swayed by the endless volumes of trade statistics and stock reporls and
Chamber
of Commerce repol'ts on
business confidence constantly flung
million). Back in May andJune, when I would talk to a localbusinessman or
in oul direction (clogging up or-tr fax machines) that we missed the forest for the trees? Many of us - myself included who didn't see all this coming can plead a cerlain amoltnt of ignorance;
banker about fears and concerns
depaltment store
surrounding the hanclover, I would be
Singapore.
house that sold this year for US$95.3
greeted with a dismissive "No problem!" After all, it was said, just look at or-rr stock prices, look at our property market, look at our sound econornic fundamentals. There was, of course, an invisible underside to this boorning econorny, heLe, as in all of the Southeast Asian "tigers", the gap between rich and poor was growing larger, âs groups such as
in Bangkok
or
Hong Kong was sirnply pricing itself out of the regional market. The Thai baht was devaltted in Jr,rly, but local economists and bankers continued to reply smugly that Hong Kong had no fundamental economic ploblems. Economies went on a downhill slide in Malay sia, Indonesia and the Philippines in rapid succession,
but we
-
and I mean all the press here
we're not financial or bttsiness
repol-ters, and we're on fitore familiar
terrain discussing civil libelty law changes and electol'al leforms than figuring out the interplay between short-term interest rates, indebtedness,
institutional funds and currency exchange controls.
Phones last lnonth wele ringing offthe hookinthe offices of investment analysts and securities researchers, with hacks like myself sheepishly
can why it happenecl, and leaving the
predictions to the fortune tellers and astrologers down at the Ten-rple Street night market. But I will offer just this one bit of
crystal ball-gazing, so as not to be caught in the future unaware and
said Club r-r-relnberJim Rohwer, authot'
unprepared: My forecast is the Hong Kong clollar peg to the US dollar will either stay in place, be removed, ol be gradually phased oLrt over time. And on that, yoLl can qlrote me. Now, could someone please explain to me again hou' an overniÉlht
of Asia Rising and a columnist for
interest rate works?
But the fact is, not even the seasoned financial jor-rrnalists called
this one correctly beforehand.
"Absolutely no one predicted this,"
frantic phone calls. Hong Kong's fr-rndarrrentals were sound, he said, but tlie rlalkets were behaving "ilrationally". Or, as one of my trader friends said when I callecl hin on a palticularly bleak day for the matkets: "Everybody's just guessing! " Tl-ie last rnontl-i's market turmoil thus sl'rowed tl-re lìn-ritations of what u,e all do as journalists. No one could have foreseen the market dou'ntttrn and likel), recession anymore than we cotrld have predicted in 1996 that the handorrer would go srnoothly. As
correspondents, y¡e are better off sticking to covering the news as it l-rappens, tlying to analyse as best u'e
impressive when we consider the large nurnbers we've lost; 18 in october, 20 in Septen-rber, and a whopping 42 who résigned inJuly, just after the handover.
majority of those who resigned a 1ot, but the numbers show we are still ahead, which means the membership drive is Tl-re vast
have left town. \Øe'r,e lost
wolking. Now we tl'rink the exodus from Hong Konghas stopped. Butwe must continue to keep the membership drive going. The Board agreed in October that 1,650 should be our target. That's a long way off, but the hard job begins with everyone wl-io is now a member talking up the Club, letting others know
Fot'ttnte n'ngazine, during one of my
mptions and certainties.
here to pay the equivalent of US$20030O-a-night fol a hotel room to go sl'ropping in glitzy overpriced malls to buy cameras and disc players that he could get for half the price on 42nd Street in New York, or at any decent
expensive than Tokyo (including one
the other after a day of watching pingponglike rnarket bor-tnces; "Hey, can \\'e go back to being real l'eporters again soon?"
In hindsight, it seerns fair to ask: did we, the press, miss this big story? Did we fail to see Hong Kong's
have to think twice before corning
at obscenely higli prices that made this place more cl'ranged hands
asking; "Umtnm, could you please explain to me ..?" And then there wele my weary, morning phone calls with Ed Gargan of the Netu Yorla Times, u.here one of us would inrrariably ask
the benefits of rnembelship, and introducing newcomers in town to olrr exceÌlent facilities and professional
One note on Club matters: Our neu'and continuing MEMBERS GET MEMBERS carnpaign has elicited a lot of positive coffttrrent - and, more
progfammes.
Ifjust
10 per cent
ofyou reading
this column signed up one new
importantly, solrle new mernbers, introduced by you. Oul mernbership
mernber, that would give us the stable
rnembership base we need to
drive is showing results, and we have increased our numbers despite the hr-rge losses we are suffering as people continue to l'elocate fron'r Hong Kong following the handover. As of the end of October, we were at I,465 n-iembers - and that's an inclease of 58 ovel wlrere we wele in January. The figures are even more
guarantee our financial stability into
the future. Remember: MEMBERS GET MEMBERS.
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Novenrl¡er 7991 THE
CORRf,SPONIIEII|T
I
The best policy is to do nothing, Mr Tung
have been expected to be sympathetic to this line of argument. But I fear tl'rat
oLlr ne\\'' Chief Executive is a more arnbitious rype, that he will soon tire of taking credit for ail the things l'ie has not done on his watch and want to begin taking credit for things lie fias
from economist types like Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman, the Hong Kong Government
done. I get this impression frorn thlee tl-rings. First, even befor-e Ml Tung
embarrassed
arrived in office he had laised the possibility of revising the UN Cl-rarter
A l-rundred days is nerzer erìor.rghr to pass judgrnent l>ut, a-rglres Bill l\dcGrrrn, tkre Chief E><ecr-rtirze is beginnirìg to sholrz sollle uzorr¡zing signs vzkren it cornes to s.pending
on Hurlan Rights. Now you might tlrink tllat rrrnningthe rnost cornpetitive economy in the region would be
enough to have on your plate in the midst of an Asian
especially
cllrrency clisis - but obviously or-rr Mr Tung thinks on a grander scale.
fitrl \-,/rorrth
the measures by which rhe Estate adjudges the First,
surely there exists none more ridiculous than the "first 100 days" in office.
Even the most clusory glance at lecent history suggests the unreliability of the exercise. Only 10 yeals ago in
the Philippines, the wolld
was celebrating what the newly installed President Colazon Aquino trumpeted as "a l-rundred days of freedom", with then-US Secretary of State Geolge Bush
done anything but learn to smile for the cameras and make trips abroad to tell people what a wonderful place Hong Kong is. And for the most part he has been rewarded in kind by a Hong Kong public grateful for all the things that haven't happened: a PLA
meant as a pejorative. Partly that's
that hasn't marched down Queen's
nothing governfirent receives
Road, a dollar that hasn't fallen and a
because do-nothing governments are so awful a¡ defending thernselves. Only a few years back, duling a debate on a Fair Trade Council for Hong Kong, the then Financial Secretary, Sir Hamish Macleod, was puton the spotwhen he
Next magazine that hasn't stopped putting the mistresses of the rich and infamous on its covers. Nor has Mr Tung been slry about takíng credit for
declaiming that he was "bullisfi" on
the Philippines and chiding businessmen who had their doubts. In Arnelica, meanwhile, President
George Bush bestrode the polls like some new colossus when he hit the 100-daymarkin early 1989, while only four years later his successor, Bill
Clinton, would sc1'ape in with the lowest poll ratings for a president at 100 days in the 40 years since the data
was collected. Yet President Clinton was retLrrned to office handily at re-
election time while Mr Bush was
I\4r lfung's
t>ackgror¡nd has lraore in colrrrrron uzitl-r a l(orean cl-raebol c-hricfta in tl-ran thre t¡zpical Hong l(ong entrepreneLrr
becanse most of us in the press usually
lfill in the blankì governn'ient intend to do aboutthe issue of lfill inthe blank]?" But partly, too, the bad press do-
the 100-day point, vowing to make colruption an issue in South KoLea,
all these things that he has not done,
have
much energy it takes to do nothing. Almost daily we are besieged wíth hundreds of yor-rr well-intended proposals which, if implemented, wor-rld shortly bankrupt us or our children. It requires vast resetves of planning and attention on behalf of this government to see that all these proposals are shot down and we are
understandable reluctance that I attempt to do it for Tung Cheeìwa. Up to now Ml Tung has hardly
rnembers of the journalistic caste knows that any time the wolds "do nothing" is used to modify the word "government", it is almost exclusively
announce thatlaissez-
faile in Hong Kong
not led from the straight and narrow of principled do-nothingisrn. " As a businessman, MrTungnight
q
()
E was ever really aIwe, Êa Alas, this Þ'as not È
address,
Mr
Tung
{
In
October Mt" Tung ntaintained that Hortg Kortg 'bas nc,tw begun to urite oLn'otun bistory'
clrrrency, the drop
begun to wfite our own history", though the particular history he appears to be writing could not be done without what his predecessor once called "the biggest dowry since
rnarket may do more to bling about
Cleopatra". In addition to relieving the
"spiritual opium" and complained that PerfidiousAlbionwas planningtoleave Hong Kong saddled with a \øesteln welfale state when it left. Apparently in the new order, subsidies are not bad if you give them to business. I was not a fan of Mr Patten's welfare proposals,
affordable housing than any of his silly programmes. Again, when Chris Patten burriped up social spending duling his
term in office, the Chinese called it
market of some decisíons that used
to belong to it, Ml Tting also opted to relieve voters of some of the decisions that used to be théirs
by putting more of the load on himself and his appointees. In otherwords, more
appointments and fewer popu-
lar votes. Else-
where there were hints about the
.e
new direclion:
= o t-
{
Ttntg' rtp Luxtil txou), he has bardly clone anythingl btLt leanl for the canteras artd make n"ips abroad
a
strategic committee to decide what businesses Hong
chaebol chieftain than the typical Hong
Kongneeds; a $500 million gfanf to ^n Applied Research Fund to boost high
Kong entrepreneur.
tech; a credit fund for small and
to smile
Finally, there are Mr
Tr-rng's
policies. SØe don't know w}rat they will all be yet, but we had a taste of
in the property
n-raintained that Hong Kong "has rlow
interyentionism". Not exactly the stuff of stinging
Members, you have no idea just how
undoubtedly realised, doing nothing may arguably be his biggest selling point abroad. Certainly it served him well in the currency crisis. Unfortunately for Mr Tung, this is not going to get him very good Press. Anyone who has spent any time with
initiation of a freemarket index to
what he called "positive nonheadlines. \Øhat the Financial Secretary should have said was this: "Honour-able
As those closest to him
MrTung doesn'tmuch like it either, and took the occasion of the
five-page summary of a speech to the Hong Kong Federation of Industries
trounced. Closer to home, President Kim Young Sam was still Mr Clean at
which I suppose one might argue he's done. And inThailand aprirneminister rnight consider hirnself fortunate to baue 700 days in office. The point is that it is a brave man who offers the verdict on a politicians before the effect of that politician's policies might be felt. So it is with
get-togethers this is how
and such. Even with this protection Ml Tung's shipping line had to be saved from bankruptcy by the Chínese governrnent, which lreans thaf as a businessn'ian Mr Tung's background has more in commo-n with a Korean
was asked the difference between "laissez-faire" and "doing nothing". The Financial Secretary stammered around for a bit, as if someone in the College of Cardinals had asked the Pope what I're really thought about ìnfallibility. \Øhen he recovered, Sir Hamish refelred the questioner to a
the
just the usual hot air. In his October policy
in private
The irony is that the do-nothing approach has already ploved superior: 6y resisting the calls to devalue the
word "laissez-faire".
Mr Tr-rng's palticular iine of br-rsiness, contaìner shipping, is not exactly the wodd's most open industry. In fact, it is usually called a cafiel, and or-rt,
d.ready lives in government housing.
been
by
was dead, especially sulplising to those of r-rs s,ho didn't think it
tl-reyrefertoitthernseh,es, talkingabout the dangers ofunrestricted competition
is
has long
Second, there is Mr Tung's backglound. As my publication has pointed
have only one real question for the politicians we meet: "NØhat does the
things to come inthe Chief Executive's maiden policy address in October. As I have noted earlier, despite praise
rnedinm-sized business; and measures to build even firore government flats lor a place where half the population
either. But if you are going to have welfale it might at least be for little old
retired ladies and cage men and handicapped people rather than film companies and computer makers. In the end, 100 days is still too
short a period to judge a chief executive's performance, But lhe outlines of change are cIear. Richard of the Centre for Economic Research once quipped that in Hong Kong the liberals got the politics right and the economics wrong, whereas the conservatives got the politics wrong and the economics right. Mr Tung may be makingthis much easier. Itlooks as though the conservatives have now got the economics wrong as well.
\Øong
Bill McGurn is a senior Lqriter on tbeFar Eastern Economic Review
@ Novenber 1997 TÃÊ
C0RRXSPONDENI
Patten's heart rn or-rlcl blor. up u.'ithin a ferl'rlonths - and tliat if the core of his
1997 arrd allthatz
plan u'as unirrersal suffi'age for Legco,
both Peking ancl its licl-r fliends in the colonl' woulcl wrer'k it. But I said, too, it u,'as tl-re right tl'ring to do. Fol at least 70 years there
Mirsþ's memoir
urele Chinese and even
married, I swam almost every day, and I will leave at t1're end of L997. Also I covered the Patten period, Deng's death andthe handor.er, which
Great Hall of the People. An augury.) 'ùØhen I said to Mr He tl-ris wasn't China, he replied: "Not yet." \Øell, now it is and u'hat about the past five years?
I
lneans, excluding ury previous years covering China, beginning in 7972,1
should mention, perhaps, that I've known Hong Kong since 1958
didn't wholly waste nly time as
when I arrived for R & R frorn Tain'an where I was a slttdent. In those days you could jurnp offyoursailboat, su.'im in the harbour, and live to do it again.
a
newspaperman. Mr Tr-rng has taken me aside twice
to say:
"Jonathan, yoLr're just not
objective. " Malcolm Rifkind told me off in flont of 200 other
reporters, and the Patten
Government House plrt oLrt a statement to every
I'11
just consider the Patten years
and the big question: were the¡'
2
disaster'?'Was Pelcy Cradock rigl'it? I declare an interest: I rnucl'r prefer Govelnor Patten, Christine Lol-r, Enily Lau, Margaret Ng, Gladys Li, Anna \Øu,
Martin Lee, Lee Cheuk-yan, and Liu Kin-ming to David Chu, Paul Cheng, HenryTang, Ronnie Chan, MiriamLau andJames Tien.'W'hen people in Hong
Kong r-rsed to be asked whomtheyadmiredmost
Governor. Such, are the joys of non-objectivity. And I peeped over the border which I have been folbidden to cross $ since September 3, 1991, \
Chn andcompanydidnot
to be Chinese-
baronisrn?.
and Britain ensr-u'ed that sucli raclicals - sucl'i as Elsie Tu and latelAnna \íu and othel' "Obseryers" -were hounded
Amnesty is right, shoot more "criminals" than all the rest of the world combined.
The
l-ropes
hypocriticalll¡toolate. Tothat È I say it s nevel wlong to rct Ä Gooclbye to ctll tÌictt. couerit'tg l-ronourably and tl'rat clinging
either breaking their health, driving them to an early glave, or trlrning them white - I didn't expecr that Mr
meetings, after Peking's man
had reneged on
Deng's deatb, the handouer, ancl Cltina since 1972 meant 'I didn't whoLly uaste nU) linxe 6ts a neu)sQctþennan', says,ùIirsklt
and his briefers Robin Mclaren, Tony
Galsq.orthy, and \X/illiam Ehrman, "forgot" to infom him of the seclet alal'eerìent, the 1991 exchange of letters between Mr Hurd and Foreign Minister Qian, whicl'i rnade at least Blitish accord.
that, r'eally, he had sornething more in n-rind and revealed the essence of the Patten plan. I warned he'd never get away with it, that Peking ate the three governors I had known for breakfast,
back-to-back
would never accomplish anything In one of the
invited a few reporters
which could occupy the gubernatorial rnind for five years. He emifted his mordant Pattenian chuckle, obsenring
gl'ip
whicl'i I,like all of you, knew
one-sixth - 10 seats' worth - of the Patten plan a violation of a Chinese-
being rnayol of Hong Kong, a large busy city with plenty of ploblems
a
from the 17 negotiations
and demands. Some people allege that Mr Patten u'as jttst trying to save British honour $ -tliat liis plan *'nt ancl $
to a bacl policy simply
keep
speeches of Zhu Rongji (Mr Nice Guy) and Li Peng (Mr Definitely Not) to the rùØodd Bank said it all. Three years ago I was given a chance to read some of the transcdpts
turned into mass demands. Tl-ie Gorrernor knew all this and said he wanted to
accorlrnodate those
. . BLrt
on party control and, if
Not long befole he came oLrt hele Mr Patten specialising in China to breakfast in London and asked for advice on being governor I suggested
19th-
r-r-iodest derloclacy (to use Mr Patten's phrase)
nou,'know frorn the Dimbleby book tl'rat Ml Patten's frienà Dor,rglas Huld,
newspaper and every foreign correspondent denouncing one of my interviews with the
TtrE CORRf,SPONDDNI Nover¡ber 1997
not capitalism
century American robber-
Tu,
scolned by the Britislr for' decades, u'hose last two yeaÍs are a bitter coda to an exemplary life. David
whenMrTang,oneofnry $ Peking rninders, told n're Ê Mirsky with Patten and bis spin d.octor Keny McGlyrtn "\Øe no longer welcome you to ouf countfy", Practically nothing seen from my inside whose borders I had worked for 19 years. This message was rammed window now, this expensive window lhaf Tbe Tinxes renls for me, was there home last Novembel by Xnhua's Mr you then, except the Legco Br-rilding, the u,.ith whom of have He, some sparred, who told me it had been old Bank of China, Government House, the old Peninsula, and the decided "atthe highestlevel in I'eking" that I couldn't attend the rneeting of Kowloon railway clock tower. Clare tl'ie Selection Comrnittee, in the Hollingworth and I were singing this Conference Centre before the melancholy do-you-rerlember song handover, whictr would "elect" Mr on Simon Holberton's balcony in the spring of 1993 when he said: "I'll give Tung and the Provisional Legco. (Do you ts/o olcl dears another 30 seconds yor-r remember how they fixed up the of this, OK?" centre for that occasion? Just like the
mind Hong Kong: relax the economy, until it resen'rbles . . what? Certainlv
few
they always listed the "the democl'ats with a small d" as Martin Lee calls them,
^ppear valued.
is the inside-Deng story, isn't it, the iriner-meaning of one colrntry, tlvo systems, as it applies to Cl'iina, never
colonial officials who
becalrse yotr aln'ays hrve is truly disl ionourable. Elsie Tr-r disagrees. So he came out here and did it \X¡e
including Elsie
"political ciry" So he lobbied away, sometimes watering his proposals
this black-handing, bad-mouthing, and in the case of MrPalten, whoring. That
by Special Bla nt'h. Following Tiananmen t1-re ploposals
"Enough past. - Ed." So
Kong l-rigli on his list of priolities. Br,rt q'hat Nlr Patten did was to |eL'ognise tlrat Hong Kong n'as nou tliat rnost hated creature in Peking - a
ploposed
l\,lfirsls5z's last assignrnent Tl-re l-randor.er of Hong l{ong ü/as Jonattran irr a c'¿reer of Cl-rina.-v'zatcl-ring. Here the East -\sia Editor <>f 77ce 7-inces reflects on the past firze years of hopes ra-ised and dasl-red et's see. I got here in 1,993,I go¡
a
s1'rowing that Mr Major didn't put Hong
Nor did Mr Patten know in late is also from Dir-rblebywho
1992-this
must ha'n'e l-iad it from tl-re Governor's leading of Foreign Office cables after he can'ie here - that very senìor Blitish officials, including a foreign secretary,
a governor, and an ambassadol to Peking, had assr-rled t1're Chinese in the lnid- and late 1980s that Blitain would block lnoves towards bload sulfrage. Nor was Mr Iratten to know, as noted in Dirrbleby and as he has confirmed on television, that in 7994 the Prime Minister u.ould invite him to retllrn to
London as foleign secletary and deputy prime lninister, to help the Tories fight the 1997 election - thr-rs
Pa.tterL,
down to win more slrpport and perhaps placate Peking, and in 7995 a big majority of those voting went for the "democrats witha srnall d". Peking's friends and allies were hammered. But
only about a nillion people voted, I hear you cry. Recall that untii 1990 political parties and real voting here were impossible. Within five years hundreds of thousands learned to
rlove fiom inchoate yearnings to the
agreemenl
an
of the pleviotrs
session, he said to Britain's man: "There's sornething you
have to understand: after 1997 we are going to be in control." Can anyhing be more sick-making
than the Chief Executive's mantra: "Enough politics, let's concentrate on domestic issues?" His friends add that
people here are concerned with money, full stop. Butwho here is really
interested
in making money
and
housing?Theveryrich.'ùØho dominates Hong Kong politics now? Ditto. W.hat
ballot box. Theywere the people who before and after 1995 went in their tens of thousands to Victoria Park onJune 4,
are education, housing, and welfare spending but political issues? MrTung says he'11 think about univercal suffi'age
lit their candles and sang As for Legco, those of you who coveled its meetings
a chief executive "a few years down the roacl". Get it? I'll thtnk about it.
will know hon'mature and real those debates were, as the legislators, like tlre voters, lound their voices. This is what Sil Percy - who has never lived hele - can't bear or
Michael Suen says people here need
undelstand. Like sorne Foreign Office people of his generation he regards
Hong Kong people as whiners who
tend to spoil Britain's tidy arrangements - like the 1988 po1l on Legco elections where the HongKong
Governrnent reversed the results.
Naturally, too, Peking hated all
and the genuine election of Legco and
to be "educated" about
electoral
politics; what does he think happened here in
I99I and7995?
I wish Mr Patten - through Dimbleby - had not given the
impression tl:rat apart from his Government House coterie no one supported l'iim. This is to slight, for example, Hugh Davies, Anson Chan, Donald Tsang, Nicholas Ng and K. C.
Kwong. I'm also uneasy about his rubbishing the entire corps of Foreign Noven-rber'
7991 TÃE C0RRDSPOilDENT
Office China expelts sinpll' becanse some of therr clifferecl from hilli. BLrt what NIr Patten acconrplisl'red chir,'r,iecl always b1r ¡1-,. clemocrats with a srlall d - rvas to ensLrre that the nerv sovereign u'or,rlcln't have it easy.
The 1995 r,oting, tl'ie Legco clebates, and tl-re
cl
erlonstrations, togethel uritl-i
the bacl-nouthing abloacl hacl an effect:
the oldinances on speecl-i ancl assembly were waterecl down; demonstrations, although col'rallecl, are pelmittecl; ancl RTHK
continue even have
a
nclthe SCMP
to rlln "bacl-mouthing". (l rly
say errery-JTeclnescla).
a signecì cohrnrn
in the Hottg
Mywife danced with the rtrarr from the l(hmer Rouge
Tung's explanation of this is that "Cl'iinese leaclers don't kiss babies". Meanu,4iile, and tliis is what will cletelmine Honp¡ Kong's futnre, the tin-res they ale a-changing on tl-re mainland . 'ù(/l-rat q'ill u,e see thel'e in 10 years? \(/e are tolcl constantly that up there, too, a1l anyone cares about is lrorleJ/. Leave Tiananûren to history intones Ml Tung (whaterrer that may mean - is Tiananmen clifferent from t1-re Nanjinfl lrassacre and the
Diplorr-rertic life in tl-re Cl-rinese capital has lost sola1e of its sl-rine forJirrr Pringle. Here he reflects on goc>d tirnes F)ast ancl 1>resent
s rttosl splan ling I ernbassies, ancl dtrling tlte 60s ancì 70s, when this East Etu'opean state
diplomatic cornpound provides
Lin Biao and l)eng, r.hen he
r'",¿rs
fi'eed
were nothing if not colourful, ancl colrespondents, besicles cliplomats,
-
ar-nbassador, the leply is: "An-ibzrssadot'
hel foot
speaking."
thr-or-rgl-r
Staff is so redr-rced that the senior' enr.oy dor-tbles as the operator. This is appropf iate in its way; in the old days tl-re ambassaclor''s cL'ir,'er was party
lrsr-rally on l-iand to give
secretary and the
top pefson 1n the erlbassy. ErreLyone r:epoltecl to hirn.
One erlbassy
from a troubled state in tl-ie Hor-n of Afi'ica hasn't heard from horne for yezrrs, and the
- I felt like I
s,ith a su'orcl. Ma Yuzhen, now China's Foleign Ministry comrnissioner in Hong Kong, v'as
Diplomatic life uùen i first came
to China in tlie eady 1970s to re-open the Reutel bureau after the release of Antl-rony Grey seemecl tr-tuch n'iore intense than now. The then Chinese leaclers -Mao, Zhor-r Enlai, Jiang Qing,
THE G0RRXSP0ltDEilf Novcrrber 1997
occzrsional
delphic hint as to what might be golnÉl on.
The present leadership incr-rnbents -Jiang Zet¡tn, Li Peng,
and the lecently
pensioned-off Qiao dr-rll
Sl-ri
in
-
seem
compari-
place
of Azelbaijan
Russian diplomats and jor-tlnalists 1'rere
Tamerlane, as everyone knows hitn,
the Pr-iblic Security Bnreau, and str-rffed
nos¡ are the same people as were hele in Sor¡iet tilles, and tl-iey seem as caÉleJz a.s ever. "I think notl-ring has
won wide admilation by sitting in a classroom at night school l'iele u,'itl'r foleign teenagers for tu¡o years learning English. And now at his splendicl dinnel parties, w'hich he plesides over with l-iis u'ife Farida, l're makes the sort of wise and witty
lvith local floozies. Colrespondents in
Pelhaps not surprisingly, the top
changed and I teel rtery uneasy u.'hen
I
see then-i around," said one European en\/oy recently, indicating
East
some Russian colleagues and
Tamerlane I(alayev
a
their cr,rps have been knou,'n to stagger in there.
Chinese olficials who deal with the foleìgn pless like to be entertained at a Frencl'i restaurant at the Jianguo.
Correspondents pay fol the meal and listen to an accoLtnt of their'
sr-rpposed misdeeds as their
m
' gLrests criticise
between
mouthfuls of expensive food.
San Li Tun, another
,''¿ f S \5
you tl-rat they spend mr,rch of their tire on bilateral matters, entertaining visiting trade delegations frorl horne. "It's become really tediolts," one
diplon'ratic alea, ls now dubbed -Beijing's Harnpstead" because of its art galleries and parrement cafes which at this time of year, Beijing's sunny and rnild autlÌmn, are very busy. Still, calling San Li Tun trendy is stretching it a bit.
But the qtrality ol lile irnploves
slowly: a Lebanese bakery
lr-rn
by "Saleh" has just opened in San Li Tun which offers toothsolre and fattening - baklava.
Central Eulopean envoy said
If it q'ere not for the Nortl'l - tl-re defection of a top official early ¡þ.i5 year was
Indeed, we keep reading in
Kol'eans
the br-rsiness rnagazines about how sophisticated and
r-nomentarily diverting
cosmopolitan Beijing
clipÌornatic life q'ould be even mole boling, as c|-r11 as the v,.eekly lunches of EC envoys ol tl-re business conversation s overheard at the coffee shop of þ= Ê the China \7orld Hotel. b -s Intelest in the 1980s u.as Õ
has
become. Yet it's neither. Behind
a Potemkin Village facade of extremel)/ ugly buildings lining
the main streets
- a folm
of
architectural terrorism has been practised hele since Mao pulled Tbe China shtffie. cliplontcttic clancing in Beiji.rtg down the old ciry walls - is tl'ie sr,rstained by Prince Norodom leal China, ancl it remains poor Sihanouk's parties, at which tl-re would not in the least sophìsticated. Khayyarn and discourses Ornar once and futule king of Cambodia its denizens resemble If an¡hing, have enl'ied. wouldplaythesaxophoneandbleak proles in OrweIl's 1984. Luzmila Zanabria the Geolge Vivacious is tl-re This into ebullient song. olrt They live their lives l'elnote fi'om the Ishikawa, lady ambassador of Peru, only time I clanced a fox-trot with a
invites corresponclents to meet
Sung badge,
visiting artists and classical guitar
leadership, and cliallenge notl'ring. "Keep out of trouble" is their'
tlies to brighten 1'ris Foreign À4inistry bliefings in the pror-rd neu, lliinistry buìlding with as rntrc'lr u il 'as is pelrrritted: plecious little. Tlre coJlapse of cornnrunisnr in
and q,atched a I(hmel'Ror-rge official
playels, ancl ser-ves delicious pisco
watchworcl.
dance u,ith his wife. The king, thougl-r still spending a good palt of the year liere at his
sor.ll's. while the tallest envoy in Beijing, An'ibassador Escallon Villa of Colon-rbia, thoughtftrlly keeps more than a fèl-cliplomats and reporters
correspondents to soldier on and try to reflect this reality. These days, most of the diplon'rats, like the thousands of
the folmer Soviet Union and
Qr-rarter, is
Colombían coffee.
foleign business execlrtives, are too busy on bilatelal dea1s.
feq. envoys left Theygorge themselves on snacks r-tntil the next fr-rnction enables them to eat - and tipple - again.
corresponclents
the
Jia"ng Qing orìce gla"re d ¡>iercingly'.rt rrre v,.l-ren I step¡>ed l>ackqzards on to l-rer foot-IfeltlikeIl'rad [>eer-r rLrn thrc)ugl-l .qzitl-r a sxzord
lely on invitations from sympathetic colleagues to cliplomatic receptions.
hacl been lr-rn
a
for a get-together. It's just across the street from a bar believed to be run by
agents.
History rlay l-rave ended, as Francìs Fr,rkuyama has told us, but old h,abits of suspicion die
hacl access to some of tl-rem. Jiang Qing once glarecl pielcingly atme u,hen I stepped backwarcls on lo
They know it's theil hottest
I@
the advent of a John Bull pub just outsidc tlle Jia nggtrortrenwei
ambassador
was' particularly f¡ist¿ly towards Cl-rina, it q,as a hive of activity Now when you ling r-rp and ask fol t1're
Jingsheng and \Øang Dan behind bals; hence ZI-¡ao Ziyang r-rndel l-iollse arrest.
.
most coloulfr,rl envo1, is Arnbassador
À416
Now most arnbassadols tell
J, r.,n. ol Beiiing
don't leave it to liistory. Hence'ffei
Peking in 1989 that students cared for nothing but mahjong, rnoney and trips abload. Suddenly they were shouting "Li Peng resign", and "Down u,ith Deng Xizioping". Now let's see . .
operatirzes and
harre no permanent premises, though
1-rard.
Diaol.r-rtaí?) Ah . . . but in Peking they
unlesolr.ed issue. Before Tiananmen I recall being assured for months in
fi'om tl're East dlopping pointed hints about the supposed identities of CIA
Yugoslavia are adding a bit of spice to the diplomatic circuit. By far the
whiff of paranoia. "I feel they ale listening in to all my conversations." Tl-iele, there,
in
tor-rred the neu' blidge and the containel terminal cluling the \Øodd Bank meeting - uzithor-rt coming witl'rin 50 y¿¡¿r of an olclinary citizen Mr
that have alisen
exhibiting more than
lØt'tg
Ecotzon'tic Tl¡rzes, u4-iicl-i so far has attl'acted only one snlp - to ar.oid offend ing u.ell-knolrrn t)rcoons. ) Of coulse, all this can be ctu'bed next year wl-ren Legco mbber-starlps Article 23 ancl we discovel what sedition ancl tl'eason n-iean; but I sLtspect the anti-toxin of tl-re five Patten years r,vil1 still be active. Look at the lengtl-rs to udrich Jiang Zentin and Lt Peng isolatecl themseh,es udren they wele l'iele fol the handover and howÀ4r'Li flecl fron'r the "spiritual pollution" of derlocrac). with a sn'rall d u.hen he
forr the urreckage of the Soviet Union ancl the folmet'
- the Aeroflot office cor,tld have plovicled the answers - and those
Enlope has taken
son, murchthor-rgh
North Kolean diplon'rat's wife
S1-ren Gr-rofang
complete with Kirn
r-r'rucl-i
of
t1-re
East
frisson
oLrt of diplornatic life. Once
diplolnatic leceptions r'vel'e hotbeds of intrigue, lvilh 'Westerners specr-rlating vr,ho the KGB rnen urele
11
in
tl-re former Legation now 76,and admits he no longer l'ias the "puff" for the saxophone. Too bad; his palties v",ould have been a uniqr-re facet of "pa1ace"
diplon'ratic life anywl'rere. Butfortnnately, some of the states
suppliecl n'itl'i very clrinkable
Foleign correspondents now har.e a "club", tolelated uneasily by
tlie Foreign Ministry, and hold functions at the Jianguo Hotel, but
It's left to the foreign
Jim Prin,gle ls tbe
Cbina
corresportclent o.f The Tirnes o/ London, ba.sed in Beijing @ November- 1997 THX CORRISPONIIENT
Tung had said that detnoct'acy wor,rld fo1lorl'the pace dictated by the Basic Law, which u.'as finalised in the six rnonths after tl-re Tianantlen Square massacre in 1989 "So you wouldn't
Larnent of the
Democrat
expect
it to be a vefy
den'iocratic
docurnent, would you?" Lee said.
"Hong Kong clicln't want that snail's pace of clemocracy. Hong Kong
people wanted more dernocracy not less. Tl-re Basic Law, ther-efole, is like a bird cage: it confines clemocracy like a little bircl that flies and wants to
À4artin Lee four-rd little to cLreer at>out in lfr-rng Chee-1-rqza's first policy address> reports Andreuz L¡rncll
be free," Lee said. Althor-rgl-r tl're Legislative Council
artin Lee Chu-n-ring knewwl'iat it was like to be shown the
a "Cleopatra's dowry", as Patten
most encoLlraging thing in Chris
called it, was left for Tung.
dool before the Legislative Council was dissolved on Jr-rly 1 He was thrown off the Basic Law Drafting Committee af ter Tiananmen
"There was a huge surplus, so he could spend a lot of money. China, of
Patten's first policy speech," Lee said, "was the commitment to developing
and tlie Chief Executive could be elected by universal sr-rffi'age in 2007, there u,'ele three l-u-rrdles in the way. Thele w'ould have to be a political
democracy in Hong Kong.
review by
"That was his theme: that the Governrnent would be accountable to the people and freedon'is would be protected by a democratic systen'i of
change; after that, two-thirds of the legislature woulcl have to agree to it;
Square.
Now he's hoping it will be third time lucky u,ith the first iegislature elections on May 24 nextyear. tsefore he addressed a Club luncl-r to comment on Chief
course, this time allowed him to do
that so that he could win ovel the hearts and minds of the people of Hong Kong by spending the people's own ûìoney," Lee suggested.
govefnment."
Of conrse, Palten
appointed by the Qr-reen, Lee
Despite the reverses of the
previous six months the Delnoclatjc Party chailnran
more money on welfare there
was this senior Chinese
government official shouting at him: 'Don't! It's like a sports car
going at a hígh speed: the car will crash and people will die.' So in the last yeal under Patten's rule, the Govefnment tried notto spend much money."
A lot of things the
Patten Government sl-rould have done sirnply wel'e not done, Lee said. But TtrE C0RRf,SPONIIXNT Noven-rber' 1997
But, he added, the people's heal'ts
and minds could not be bought, pointing to a newspaper popularity poll after the speech which put Tung
at a little more than 50 per cent, compared witli a similar poII in \992 that put Chlis Patten's rating at just under 80 per cent. It wasn't only about money. "The
Lee,
However, tl-re policy speech offered plenty for the business sector, Lee noted. On property, for instance: "Mr Tung says: 'I've got a plan. The plan is in my pocket. A very effective plan. So don't oveldo it, guys. And if I think there's too rnuch speculation I will introduce the measlrres.' "And they expect the people to
behave and not make so much mone)¡ as before. I cannot unclelstandhoqrhe can be so naive,"
welcomed the incleased spending on education, althor-rgh he believed
said.
Martil't Lee signs the speakers' bctctk u¡ith: "Martin or,Lt of Legco Lmril May 25, 1998
constitution."
clemoclatic eleclion.
Patten appleciated the
a
the key provisions of the US
position because he was, as he said, elected by 400 people and . . . he had to work very hald. He had to go down to many, rnany districts of Hong Kong,
r.alue of democracy and after losing his seat as an MP in Bath he knew its disadvantages too, Lee said. Tung did not lead the newspapers when he knewthe news was going to be bad. Btit lle did not have 1o won'y sincc his position was secnre, Lee
B
suppol't it. Lee had asked Tung before the speech wl'rethel the SAR Governuent q.'ould make a commitrnent in the
our judges to be martyrs, " the leading
tee said.
Territories in ordel to pelsuade the 400 people to elect him."
"He is in a very lucky situation compaled with all or.rr governors, especially the last one, " Lee said of the former shipping tycoon. "Rer-nember when Patten È
and tl-ren the Chief Execlrtive mllst
a1l
barrister said. And they would not be if there s,'as no sLrpport fron-r the Governrlent and the community. The Basic Lan'prohibited the Cor-rlt of Final Appeal fi'om interpreting all the key articles of the Basic Lau.-, he saicl. "It's like the US Supleme Cor-rrt not being allowed to interpret any of
policy leview to commit itself to opening all the seats in Legco to
Kowloon and the New
was upbeat as l-re catalogued his criticisn-r of the Special Administrative Region and its Chief Executive and contrasted the new rr-rler with the old.
Gorrerntnent to sanction
would be under contlol and, inerritably, so would the judges. "You don't expect
lecalled. "Our Chief Executive
certainly was in a better'
Executive Tr,rng Chee-hwa's fir-st policy speech last month, he wrote in the speakers' book: "Martin Lee, out of Legco until May 25,7998."
wanled to spend a little
was
t1're
- u'ould be passecl. The adlninistr-ation and the legislature and sedition
"So what clo we expect from him in his policy speech when it comes to democracy?" Lee asked. "Those
ofyou who
had been listening yesterday couid be forgiven if you didn't hear him say anything at all about democracy because he only said it in the last part of his speech in one little paragraph.
By that time you rnight have fallen asleep. One little palagraph." And that was abont press fi'eedom, Lee added.
"Thele s/as no response from him at all except to say: we mlÌst do it step
by step," Lee said. And even if the Chief Executive could be elected by r-rnirrersal suffi'age, the candidates would be vetted by Beijing. "tü/hen he talks about democlacy it's empty words," Lee said of Tung. Lee feared the linking of Hong Kong to
China could damage the
It was not all bad.
Lee
the small increase in the safety net allowance for tl-ie elderly was insufficient. EvenAllen Lee Pengfei, chairman of the pro-business
Liberal Party, had
been
disappointed by that, he said. Democlacy n-right not have stopped Tr-rng Chee-l'iwa from
SAR's
doing u,'hat he had done.
ar,rtonon-iy if tl'ie penduh-rm of rnainlancl
Howevel, Tung could pay sorne
politics ss..ung too far in the wlong
lip service to the
direction. "\Øe need a Chief Executive who u'ill defend otir systetn," Lee said. However, there q'ere many ways in wl-rich China could benefit fron-r the Hong Kong exarnple ancl expet'ience,
wishes.
Lee believed, snch as the ICAC and t1're
Execntive Council to create
tax systen. Lee tl-ren tr-rfned his attention to next year's polls. "I slrppose some of my meillbers will get in. Some of ns u'ill ۔et in . But dte number of democrats with a small "d" I can tell you will be 14.
coalition government. He
If we get 15, we will be very, r,ety luck1, indeed - ont of a legislatule of 60. So the laws in Hong Kong will continue to be passed to please Beijing," Lee said.
He knew that laws undel Alticle 23 of the Basic Law
-
covet'íng tl'eason
people's
"If he really
respects the elected vote of the people
he shor¡ld be appointing a representative from every rnajor paltl/ to sit on the a
would rule u,ith the suppolt of the people," Lee said.
¡@
McuTitT Lee exþects thótt
dentocrals tuíll ottllt tuit't. 14 se;tts ii7 next year's electiot't
November' 1997 TAE C0RRf,SPOl{IlEl{T
most of the talking. If Sondhi couldn't keep the magazine going, she argued, he shor"rid sell tl'ie title and intellectr¡al property to tlie staff, who were, after all, the majol cleclitors. The staff would be able to get financial backing from investors far-sighted enor-rgh to see the
The re-birth of Asûø, fnc.
potential of an award-winning fiveyear-old magazine circulating to 75, 000 top Asian executives.
Tlre nagazine would
be
additionally attractive once freed of tl-re crippling overheads ,4 siø, Inc had been forced to assume following the clostrre of othel Manager Media International ventures. And the staff, their loyalry and dedication already proven beyond doubt, would have
E'ditor Vrilliarrr l\zlellor e><1>la-ins hou. tl-re staff t>rotrgkrt kris rrraga.zi.ne back frorrr the brink
the incentive of being part-owners.
\f"" I
could set your watch by it. Every Fridayfrom theend ofJuly
to early September-, 5pm sharp, a ^Í. journalist would telephone me to say: "Ihear Asia, Inc 's closing down today. " For me as editor, the frequency of
crisis meeting in our Kinwick Centre offices in eady August, had sworn blind the staff would be paid in fuil by the middle of the month. He had then
flung a box of matches onto the
these calls would have been depressing
conference room table and declared: "If you're not paid by the 15th, you
had there not been the occasional
have my permission to burn the
variation on the theme. For instance, one Friday a reporter from the Post phoned to ask whether it was true unpaid staff had run amok and were
building down."
staggering out of the buiidingweighed down by looted office furniture (August
Fridays in Hong Kong can be slow news days). Of course, you can't blame the rumour mongers for having predicted Asia, Inc.'s demise. Afterall, oursister
publication, Asia Times, had "suspended" publication in June.
Almost simultaneously, our payroll had dried up,
Ominously, the proprietor, Thai
Of
coLrrse,
the Kinwick Centle
To make the situation more difficult, we were in the process of redesigning and refocusing the
had it that the chairrnan, a devout Buddhist, had last been heard of, shaven-headed and saffron-robed, bunkered in a monastery in the
magazine. In short, we were trying to renovate the front of the house while the back was on fire. The distractions were enormolrs.
Yet the staff, eight of them
remotest pafi of the Isarn as his empire
FCC menbers, refused to be clistracted, It is
crumbled around him. Thele had also been the endless broken promises that cheques were
thanks entirely to them and an equally loyal group of advertisers that the magazine exists today.
least
For a while, the publisher, Anne Lim, and I believed the payroil would eventually arcwe. NØe weren't alone.
in the mail. The one I found
amusing had come from Sondhi's then
offsider, Ned Kennan, who, during a TtE
G0RRDSPONIIXNT November 1997
to bed.
By the time you lead this, we should have moved into our new home. \X/e may also have secttred a major backer. As I wlite, we're stil1 negotiating with several large
drop out.
The following morning, the snccessful purchaser
- clearly a
professional in these matters
-
started
selling off our equipment piece by piece.'ùØe began negotiating with him for a list of essentials. After an hour of
publishing groups and some individual businessmen from Asia, America and Europe. The battle to save Asiø, Inc.hasn't
tough bargaining, one of ourmarketing
been easy. And there have been casualties. To reduce our, overheads
guys, Terence Lim, had procured all
we needed for HK$175,000 - well underthe price we hadbeenprepaled
sufficiently for us to break even next year andmake a profit by 1999, we have cut staff numbers by half.
After an hour a sombre Sondhi adjoulned the meeting. He had a fr,rnelal to
I've had to lose
organise. The following
a couple of
morning we met again for breakfast. This time
journalists who, during
good
those terrible months
of working without
to p^y all back salaries, but
also sufficient left over for oper ating capital.
But completion of the deal
was
tagged all the equipment. From then on, the staff were working with security guards scrutinising theil every nrove and knowing their desks, chairs and computers could any daybe auctioned from under them.
not been sighted anywhere near his
buy it back. But u'lien the bidding topped HK$250,000, we decided to
pay, contributed every bit as much as the core group who are staying
professionalism and esprit de coiþs I
in journalism, they proceeded to perform the job in hand even better
'ofnumber 299 Shek O that the October and November issues of the newlook, staff-owned Asia, Inc. were p:ut
upbeat. Yes, he would sell. The deal was done on a handshake. Subsequently, Sondhi
never came. Anne and I decided that waiting for money from Thailand was akin to waiting for Godot. In early September,
hadn't previouslywitnesse d in25 y ears
high-quality m agazine. Onr compnters and desks wele being ar-rctioned in one lot by the landlold. The staff turned up infolce at Lammert Brothers to tryand
Sondl-ri was lrìore
well. And come the 1 5th, he was forced to send out a rather unfunny e-mail to say sorry, but the payroll wasn't coming after aIL And by the way, could he please have his matches back. Given the above, it would not have been surprising had the staff reacted violently. But they responded in a very
different way. In a display of
a
arrived there wouid not only be enough
inexplicably delayecl and the money
as
than they'd been doing it before.
Ban Phra-a-Thit, suitably embellished,
was selling his satellite and mobile phone companies to save his publishing empire. A deal had been struck with another Thai company, Ucom PCL, and when the money
Ned knewvery
wasn't ours to burn,
media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul, had
elegant Bangkok riverside headquarters for weeks. The word from
The media were reporting that Sondhi
of the renovators, in moved the Asia , Inc. editorial and art departments. It was from the cramped confines
Next was the problem of securing
the equipment required to put out
rnent with Golden
Opportunrt].5
lnternational Linrited, Ë
we flew to Bangkok in the hope of
a cornpany Rnne
seeing Sondhi. Hardly hadwe boarded the flight than bailiffs, acting on behalf
I had
of the unpaid landlord, entered our offices with a distress warrant and
Anne and I arrived in Bangkok with no glrarantee Sondhi would see us - especially when we learned his sister had sadly passed away that mofnlng.
BLlt to Sondhi's credit, he agreed to a meeting - not at Ban Phra-a-Thit
but at the place his assistant rather dramatically describes as his "safe house", a villa in a srnall soi off Sukhothai Road, not far from the Chitrlada Palace.
Anne, who had been with the nagazine since its launch in7992, did
on,Ihopewewillbe in a position to pay outall theil back salaries by
signed a folmal agree-
and
f
set up.
there was no iholtage of As expèctecl,
Anne I'int attd l(/illiam Mellor and staff outsid'e their remþoraty o'ffices irt shek o
interested investors. But none
has
willing n'roved fast enough to solve our most Lrrgent problem. Staff, unpaid for so 1ong, had to get casl'i as quickly as possible. And the rnagazine. soon to be liomeless, needed offices. \Øe decided to take on a sh'ategic minolity investor who was prepared
to plÌt
sofire lnoney into the kitty
instantly. The deal was cut at 72.20 pm
on Satnrday, September 27. The
investor, Anne and I (the publisher dressed in high heels and a tight calflength skirt) then embarked on a mad dash through the lunchtime crowds fi'omJardine House to the Hong Kong Bank headqLlalters to cleposit the cheque.'ùØe arrived one ririnute before
rl'rc 12.30 closing time. That day 30 Asia, h'tc. staff wele paid fol the first tine in three months.
are several scenarios, including an IPO. At the time of writing, staff remained by
to pay at auction. Things were indeed looking up. But there was still the small matter
of finding an office. Asia, Inc. and other Manager companies had occupied three floors of the Kinwick Centre at $26 per square foot. At Nam On Street, Shau Kei lùØan, just a few minutes walk from the MTR, we found the Eastern Commercial Centre, where we could rent perfectly good office space for $10 a square foot. However, we weren't able to move
the end of the year. How the deal will finally pan or-rt I can't say at this stage. There
farthe largest shareholders in Golden Opportunity and Anne and I wiil try to ensure they keep a substantial percentage of the company. They deserue it. Facing disaster, the staff seízed an entrepreneurial opportunity and ran with it. As a result, Asia, Inc. not only sulives but thrives. In my admittedly
biased opinion, the edition dated
her a rnonth's free rent on the new
October 15 to November 15 is the best we have put out since I became editor. Lately I've stopped receiving those Friday afternoon calls fi'om journalists asking if it's our last day in business. Perhaps they finally accept that, to paraphrase MarkTwain, repofis of our' death were exaggerated. \X/illiam Mellor is Editor-in-Cb ief
place while she redecorated it. Instead
o/Asia, Inc
in immediately and tl-iere was
an
edition to pr-tt olrt rùøhat to do? Anne came up with a solution. A long-tine resident of Shek O, she was in the p1'ocess of moving from one village hoLrse to another, A
lancllord
1-rad
given
November' 1997 TÅÍ,
@ C0RRf,SP0NI¡DNT
On the wall Photographr by Richard Dobson f \-,,
f"U member and Hong Kong photographer, Richald Dobson, glew up in England and South
Africa. He lealned his profession working as a photographic assistant to top adr.ertising photographers in the early 80s in London. Richard came to Hong Kong in 1989 and established hirnself as an advertising, hotel ancl tlavel photographer throu ghout Southeast Asia. This collection, which is exhibited on thewall in the Main Bar, is a selection of his personal tlavel work. Each irnage is a striking example of Richard's distinctive style and eye. A number of his photographs also appear in the FCC book Eyewitness on Asia. Richard cumently works betçveen Hong Kong and South Africa.
Top. Ott the Yartgtze Riuer, tbe caþtctitt of the Sheena narrow gorges of the riuer nitb tbe aid of þouerful deck lantps; Cerûre right: In Westenl Santoa's Upctlo Islancl, it's Stutclalt ctt Motcta uillage t'Lauignttes tbe
Clc¡t't
gregatírvtal Cbr,u'clt ; Bottotix right: ht Sannaka
I,'illage in Fiii, kids hone rbeir ntgblt skills 6tt tn'r e6trb) 6tge THE CORRf,SP0NIIDNT Novel'rber 1997
T'op: T-be platfornt o.f tbe Olcl
Delbi
Station; Cenh'e left: PIA at Beijit'tg Cenh'al Railw;u) Sróttiol7; Centr"e rigbt: lXtot*it'tg oLt.t at the Tt'inlt I"o Sports Club near Saigott; Ott'Westent Sctntoa's Sauai't Island, fuIottt'ton n'LissiotTalies take tlte fen".y to Sauai'Ì to pr'eacb tbe gospel according to Joseþh Sntitlt (fomtcler of
Mutnon
Chru"cb) November. 1997 TÃf, CORRISPOI{DXI{T
sctrB.a
DrvrNG
SNORKELL¡NG
. wlNrrSLtRFlNG
- P.AR/AS.AILING
.
JET
Sl(!!NG
r
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To the land of Genghis Kharr
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l"trJ in Guam
th" -,
our
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t o esl
f)avid O'[Lear and Doug l\4oeller Lread for the l-rigl-r life of Ulan Bator and foothills of tkre I(hentii rrÌoLtntains in 1\4ongolia
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nameless
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SufìOI
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u=tldCrCl'l3H
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Venture o{{
{".
t"yo.J Àsia to the Paci{ic. À -kol" new experiencef
an action pu"L"J h"hJuy on
a
unique
".rlt.rr",
awaits you on Grrur-'. TuL"
this Paci{ic lrl--rJ puruJir". Ot toucl, Jo*n rt J ri.trply rel.r
"njoying
tLe
.r'. u.J tLe ocean Lt""".r. G.rarn promises to
tring out tLe test in y"rr. Cull tk" G.r.rrr Visitors Bureau on 25221386.
Guam Visitors Bureau Setbision Bisitan O uahan
G1JATVI kl.ttJ
À Pa.i{ic
AJventure
J
for a not
too
as a
lule do not eat fish). A pity, because the 74 inch trout-like
fish we did catch \ /ere delicious. Riding across the steppes on Mongolian horses (don't call them ponies) was an experience not to be missed.
These horses ale small by American standards, about 13 hands l'righ-and tough as nails. Although several of oul group were experienced riders, none had had the opportunity to race across open plains at a full gallop. America just has too
Man, Undisciplined Child (an FCC rnember who will remain
c
our guide, the Russians had netted, bombed, poisoned and eiectlocnted the rivers to feed their appetites
Doc, \Øise Old
.{
cloudless days to below lreezing aÍ night. This is definitely "big sky" country: the mor-rntains. ale old, rounded and notvery high, giving the impression that everything is srnallel than it really is, The liver didn't actually have icebergs, br,rt after a very quick bath the sun sule did feel good. The fishing was only fair because, according to
for fi'esh fish (Mongolians
and personalities ... Cowboy,
tI
"11fS¡lOFl.
For'
emergencies there was a choice of felmented yak yoghurt or iocal vodka. Inleresting.
other names to fit appearances
z
ÐNlOl¡J
night was just about right.
working, skilled and funny bunch of guys. By the end of the week we had given each
E
th", tiìrne'.
in the foothills of the Khentii
instructions, we each blought four bottles of wine and a bottle of spirits; beer and waterwere bought ìn UB and fol a group of seven guys staying out for five nights, five bottles of wine a
The Mongolian l'ierdsmen, cook, guide and general aides d'camp turned outto be a har-d
a
- ÐNIIOOFIS.
living a few rniles away. As per pre-trip
yak catt,
o
.ÄlJ3HCIJV
Kong, butfotrrFCCels, andthree other friends for-rnd camping, fishing and horseback riding on the steppes in the middle of Ar-rgr,rst just what the doctor' ordered. The scene was a 1O-acre meadow
mountains, 200 kilonetles north-east of Ulan Bator. The drive to and from UB was the least attractive part of the trip - serzen hours of bouncing alound in the back of an East Gelman tluck across paths cut into the hills and valleys that would have challenged a slow
0,
it,
SINNAI.
\øhat v/e didn't bring was easily bought from the cor-rple of farnilies
set
c z It
andj-{lat out
week in Mongolia may not seem like the ideal getaway frem ¡ìq¡g
D
/
Doatg Moeller gets
a
ta.tse of steppe
life
many gopher holes (and
extravagant fee), Hits Every Bump (the driver), SilverTooth. \X/e also tlied to guess each others ages, which they wele very good at
-
and we missed by a mile. Once we found the camp site (no easy task - one doesn't stop and ask dilections at the Seven-11), pitched tents, gathered firewood and checked
out the environs, we settled down to the first of many excellent meals. The cookused to wolk at a hotel inUB (not always a gr eat recomrnendation), and had brought along a wide variety of fresh and canned food.
lawyers). So, what might seem
Home consisted of nylon tents pitched at randorn in one colner of the meadow. The local guys also put Ltp a ger (what the Russians would call a yurt) in about 20 minutes - they probably could have done it in half the time but we all chipped in to help. Inside, a pot-bellied stove kept the
morning chill off and allowed us a warm place for bleakfast or a break
to be a tree line (the line where the trees start, rather than whele they end)
two miles or so Lrp a rounded hill ended up being a couple of hours bouncing on Russian or Mongolian (ouch!) saddles. \Øhat appeared to be a herd of goats on the far hill turned olrt to be full-sized cattle. Distance deceived.
fi'om the sun.
By the end of the tlip we were thoroughly unstressed, our lungs
The tempelature varied frorn about 30 degrees C in the middle of
cleaned out and or-rl spilits restoled. The trip back to UB only took about Noverrber 7991 THE
CORRf,SP0¡IIIDIIT
seven holrrs (funny how distances shorten u'hen yor-r know where yoll're going) and the hot showers at the hotel sLrre felt good. Much of the last night was spent discussing tl're next trip ... Doug Moeller writes: None of us really liked Ulan tsatol As in most travel to "exotic" destinations, there is a tendency to set the level of expectation too high. Clearly, we did. The Russians leally did a nr-rmber on not only the architecture of the city,
but on the heads of people living there. Many of the buildings were the imposing neo-Gothic absurd that
one associates with Russia, totally olÌt of place on the steppes of Genghis Khan. The people of Ulan Bator looked, for the most part, like they wished they were somewhere else. My overwhelming irnplession was that they didn't seem happy, and slrriles were ïaÍe. The blackmarket was huge, full of tradels and overflowing with cl,reap Chinese n-rerchandise. Not evelylhing was wolthless, however. In fact, I bought a pail of Russian army officer''s liding boots there, as well as a d,iel
(pronounced dell), which is
a
Mongolian felt greatcoat worn by nearly all of the nomads we saw. I will get a lots of good out of it the next time I'm riding in a blizzard in Mongolia. \ü7e fished most days, not too successfully, but did manage to catch enough fol evening hors d'oeuvres as well as breakfast with eggs. I sold
this üip to 1ny friends as
a
combination fishing and horseback riding experience, so there was no wayto avoidclimbing on those damn Mongolian horses. \ùØe lode but not much, as a lot of the gloup ended up on the glound. Fortunately, I didn't
but did hurt my back simply by galloping my very rough rnare. I must be getting old. Silvertooth tried
to help Top ancl ctboue.
Ir is
ct
hørd life all round, ruhíle leJt, Dauicl O'Rear decides to ttlt
a bottle of ntare's milþ. witlt the belp Peter H¿ut'is at'tcl ,,Doc"
THD CORRXSPOIIIIIEI|T November. 1997
of
back
r-ne
-not
by bending me over his
a good plan
-
and it was a
good tl-ring that our groLrp included my doctor from Seattle, Paul Krynicki, who had oral cortisone and pain killers in his kit. As it was, I spent one very long night.
The highlight of the trip came one afternoon when I asked our
gr,ride, Anki, if he u.or-rld take son'ie of trs to gerto visit a local farnily.
¡FF
^ and I, accompanied by Paul, Petel Anki u,'alked some three kilometres down rir.er Lrntil $/e found a small encalrlpment of two gels sr-rlrourndecl vn-ith a lalge nnmbel of sheep, goats and a feu, cattle. This $/as not a tolrl', these folks did not knou, we were coming. Tl-iey nevertl-ieless made us feel very cornfol'table on small stools
at the lear of the ger, wliile
tl-rey
plepareci foocl and drink for us. And did they give us a drink First a salt tea, then a n'iare's milk vodka, and then on to a Mongolian vodka, which we fotind to be vely smooth and were therefore able to drínk lots of it. There was a large, stinking pot of beef sir¡.mering on the stove, filled on the top with barely iclentifiable pieces. Tl'iey plovided us with vely sharp homernade knives and in'r,ited us to dig right in, q4rich aftel the vodka, we happily did. There were thlee yor-rng boys in
ffi
the ger, sitting with qr-riet reserve, staring very intently at the tl-rree lightskinned strangers. I just couldn't seem to get them to lespond to my chilclish winking and making faces I had the ultimate ice bleaker in my rucksack thor-rgh: wllen I nailed one of the kids between the eyes with the waterpistol, pandemoninm broke
I'll never forget the look of surprise on that kids face or the lar-rghter that that silly waterpistol provided. Aftera couple of houls of drinking a cllp that was passed fi'om sharing host to guest, back to the 1-rost, refilled and back to the next gr,rest, until a1l the bottles were empty - our host loose.
hooked up a closs between a bull and a yak to a two-wheeled cart to carry us l¡ack to ou1-can'ip. 'JØe stopped at anothel ger, drank some more voclka and finally headed back to camp being
pulled by "Babe". I will leave a description of our arival back at or.rr camp to others, but I remember that I was beating poor Babe's back with a stick. And a u'impy job I was doing too compared to olrr host, who beat the hell out of that poor beast while at the same time kicking him in the testicles. Babe did not have a good day.
@
Top le.ft ancl rigbt, the teant, suttdty uebicles anc) neru fr"iencls, ittcluclittg FCC mentbers
Dauicl O'Reat', Jin't. C:ctx, Doug Moeller and Jc,thrt Elnt.ore Aboue ñgbt, Jint Cox and bis uery oun ger Nor.emlrer 1997 THE
CORR.ESPONIIENT
THE FCC BOOK 1997. EYEWITNESS ON ASIA. UP TO 1997 AND BEYOND . 248 PAGES .614 IMAGES . A COLLECTORS' ITEM
From the battlefield to the ballpark
+'ri +þ3fÉ#ç+
rX/hat l-rzr¡>pens szl-ren zr foreigla cc)rres1>ondent 1'oins tl-re l>aseba-ll beat? I(eittr Ftichburg finds c>ut from Joe), Rearzes' voyage of disco\zeÐl
--¡
oey Rear:es' ner¡. book, lVarcøtu to \l/ñgley (Diamond Con'irnunications), opens u.ith an irresistible lead: "Fr-rck Poland." That was the greeting Rea\res, a veteran leporter for the .CHRIS PATTEN BEARWITNESSTOTHE INTEGRITVOF PROMISES FOREWORD.BARRYGRINDROD FROM CHUNGKINGTO HONG KONG A CAPSULE HISTORYOFTHE FOBEIGN CORRESPONDENTS'CLUB.ALBERT RAVENHOLT/ASHLEY FORD REPRESENTING A PROFESSION, NOTA MOB THE LAST SURVIVOR OF THE FCC FOUNDERS RECOUNTS THE CLUB'S EARLY YEARS. KEVIN SINCLAIR EDDIE TSENG: ONE oF THE FTRST TELFGRAtvs FROt\t rHE FFoNT LiNE . DEREK DAVIs MEMoRTES oF Jor-rN le cnRRÉ tHE Fcc AND THE HoNoURABLF SCHOOLBOY . SAUL LOOKHART THE FCC'S FINEST HOUR RESCUING A VIETNAIMESE JOURNALIST FROM HONG KONG'S REFUGEE CAÍVPS. WALTER LOGAN MY EVENING WITH ZHOU ENLAI MAO TAI WITH THE FìEVOLUTIONARIES. AL KAFF PING-PONG DIPLOMACY RICHBUFG WHENCHINAOPENEDITSDOORS.JAÍVIESMILESWHEREWEWEREWRONGCOVEFINGTIANANIV]ENSQUARE.KEITHB EMBRACING FOREIGN BABES CHINAWARYOFCROSS.CULTURALDATING, BUTDELIGHTS INTVSHOW,PETERSEIDLITZNO FUTURE, BI..'T OUITE HAPPY CHINA BEPORTING. KARIN MALIVSTROM FORKED LOGIC, TWISTED TONGUE ESSENTIAL JOURNO-SPEAK FOR GREATEB CHINA HACKS . KARL WILSON JUNK BAY THE KUOMìNTANG WERE HERE . PHILIP BOWRING TIMES OF TRANSITION FACING A RED.CHIP FUTURE . ARTHUR HACKER TAKING POSSESSION OF POSSESSION STBEET THE CHALLENGE TO FIND POLITICALLY CORRECT STREET-NAI\A ES . HANS VRIENS A TALE OF TWO HONGS HONG KONG'S FIRST OPIUN/-TFADERS AHE HOSTAGES TO THË FUTUREAND PRISONERS OFTHE PAST. STEPHEN VINESJOURNALISM IN HONG KONG COLONIAL PRESS FREEDOMSTHOUGH LIIVìTED WILLBE LOST. EM¡LY LAU 1997-AQUESTION OF I-IONOUR HOW BRITAIN IS CHEATING HONG KONG. VAUDINE ENGLAND HONG KONG'S GANG OF FOUR WOMEN IN THE COLONY S POLITJCS.ANDREA KOPPEL HONG KONG JOURNALISTS AFTEB'9T INTERVIEWWITH LU PING, DIFECTOR OF HONG KONG AND I\4ACAU AFFAIRS OFFICE. MARTIN C,M, LEE SELF-CENSOBSHIP IS THE SILENT ENEMY AND ANOTHER WORD FOR FEAR . CLARE HOLLINGWORTH FRONT LINE MY BAPTISM OF FIRE: OUTBREAK OF WORLD WAR ll . ANTHONY LAWRENCE FROM OUR OWN COREBSPONDENT lHE LONELINESS OF A LONG DISTANCE RADIO REPORTER . PETER ARNETT ENROUTE TO ASIA HOW I WALKED INTO JOURNALISM . TIZIANO TERZANI A DEAFENING SILENCE SAIGON'S LAST DAY. JON SWAIN RIVER OF TIME CAIVBODIAN DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES.JONATHAN SHARP DOTS, DASHES ANDTHE DAWN DIP SOME OFTHE MODES AND WOES OF COMMUNICAIIONS IN THE PRE-COMPUTER AGE. SANDRA BURTON WATCHING MABCOS FALL THE GRAVIÏY OF HISTORY. RODNEY TASKER BRINGING DOWN A DICTATORSHIPWATCHING THE GEI\ERALS.TONY CLIFTON TODAY'S YOUNG JOURNALISTAFE SO DAMN SERIOUSTHE LEGACYOFWOODWARDAND BERNSTEIN.PETERCHARLESWORTH INSEARCH OFTHE BIG PICTUREBEWAREOFPHOTO EDITORS WITH VISIONS. ERICH FOLLATH NOW IT IS OUR TURN INTEBVIEW WITH MALAYSIA'S PRIIVlE MINISTER MAHATHIR MOHAMAD . PHILIP BOWRING PFESS FREEDOM PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUB MOUTH IS. RICHARD HOFNIK THE LIMITS OF CONFUCIANISM WHATARE THESE ASIAN VALUES? . STUART WOLFENDALE ASIA'S THRIVING MONARCHICAL BUSINESS WHERE FAITH IS MORE THAN FANTASY. DAVID GABCIA THE FCC ON TOUR MISS TIBET AND ENLIGHTENMENT.THEY CAME, THEY SAW THEY RECOLLECTED A BAO CHI REUNION TWO DECADES ON . VAUDINE ENGLAND CONVERSATIONS BEHIND THE BAR THE SENIOR STAFF OF THE FCC . FCC PHOTOS FFìOM THE FCC ARCHIVES . EDDIE ADAIVIS 'JOSEPH BECK'JACK BIRNS PBESIDENTS . FCC GUESIS . FCC MEMBERS WERNER BISCHOF. LARRY BURROWS. ROBERT CAPA. PETER CHARLESWORTH . RAY CBANBOURNE. BOB DAVIS. GREG DAVIS. RICHAFìD DOBSON .TERRY DUCKHAM. HUGH VAN ES.JOHN GIANNINI. GREG GIRARD. GERHARD JOREN . KEES. STEVEN KNIPP. JAN LAMBERT. LEONG KATAI. ROBIN MOYER. ROBERT NG. BASIL PAO. DANTE PERALTA. ROBERT PICCUS. KYOICHI SAWADA. STEPHEN SHAVER . DAVID THURSTON . C TILLYER . PETËR TURNLEY . MICHAEL WOLF. EDWAND WONG PUBLISHED BY STEFAN REISNEF & KAI RESCHKE . THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS, CLUB, 2 LOWER ALBERT ROAD. HONG KONG, PHONE +852 2521 1511 FAX +852 2868 4092.. EDITED BY PAUL BAYFIELD, VAUDINE ENGLAND, SAUL LOOKHART AND HUBERT VAN ES
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Cbicago Tt4bune, received from
zr
baseball player as he began his neu,'
beat: co\¡ef ing baseball. Another joulnalist had introcü-rced Reaves, fi'es1-r fi'or-r-i tu..o years coveling V/alsaw, to Ron Kalkovice, a Polish-An-ielican catcher fol the \flhite Sox, tliinking tl're
playelmightfind
lol n'olldli
it
interesting.
So
rluch
ba llpJiryels.
Rear.'es,
no\\' an active
FCC
nrenrbe| n lro spent, i ears covcring u,'ars, rer.olutions, cor-rps in Asia,
genlrinely cr-rriolrs (for l-ralf an l'iour',
vr-hen the
anyu,ay) aboutReaves' expeliences in Eastern Europe, he is euphoric: "It v"'as
suddenly appeared in attack formation
the single most enjoyable
and
rew-alding conversation I had n'ith a rnajor' league player." More cornmon
four corlbat helicopters
from behind a band of loq. hills " Fortunately, they sr-rruive and come an ay with what Rear.es desclibes as a
ale players like infieldel Steve Sax: "sirnply anotlier filtliy, cnrde, sexually obsessed rnan in a world populated by filtl-ry, crr-rde, sexually obsessed men" Olveteran catcher Carlton Fisk, seen by many fans as tl-ie epitor-r're of a haldwolking, viltuor-rs ballplayer, but
depicted at the end of his careel as "sniping behind his manager's back,
"memorable father'-son outing". Baseball playels mzry not know much about Poland, br-rt foreign colrespondents may not either'. One of Reaves' best anecdotes is about
another US foreign collespondent asks Reaves abont helupcoming assignrnent in Poland and u,'ants to know: "Can u.e drive to Eulope from Poland?" Str-rnnecl by her apparent
v'ho
t1're Micldle East for UPI Tribune, has rvritten a
grurnbling like the simpering, spoiled soul he hacl becorne after two decades in the self-inclulgent u'orld of baseball ". The eldels of the game don't sound
ignolance of geography, Reaves gives her a seconcl chance to ask the question, nLrich she repeats in the
cleligl-rtful book, fr-rll of insighls about
mr,rch better. Obsen'ing Jim Lefebr.'re.
Reaves refr-rses to be pornpor-rs and recalls his ou,'n sholtcomings: u'hen he rlras first assigned to Eastern Er-rrope for UPI, he hadn't I'reald of Tirana, the
Europe and
and
t1-re
the United States and fllnn)' stories about his unnsual career switch frorn
veteran foreign corlespondent to lookie baseball u..r'iter'. For anyone intel'ested in the galne, t1-re book is a tl'easul'e, but you clon't neecl to be a baseball fan to enjo1. 1-ris tale. Reaves rl''r'ites abor-rt people and places n'ondedr-rlly well, using his four: )'ears on the Chicago l¡aseball beat as
a personal voyage of self-discovery. After y'eals overseas in wl-rich l-re came to feel "more at home inTibet" tl-ran in the US l'ieartland, Reaves, a lifelong fan, sees baseball as a u.¡ay to fincl his way back to the cnltru'e he left behhd. Br,rt q''hat a flawecl farnily lives in that home. Manlr ef ¡hs ballplayels are par nperecl, self-indulgent rnillionaires, u.ith colossal egos and tota111, o51irr'o.,t of the u.or-lcl beyond the ballparks. \X¡hen Reaves fincls one player, \íhite
Sox pitcher Kilk McCaskill,
v'lio
is
tlie petty and insecru'e manager of the miselable Cubs, Reaves can't decide
whicfi dictatol Lefebvl'e
resembles
most - Rorlania's Nicolae Ceausesctr or t1-re Philippines' Ferdinand Marcos. "I finally settlecl on Malcos, mainll'
capital of Albania.
becar-rse, like the strongn'ian of Manila,
Lefebvre hacl a brilliant and beautiful wife n-ho probably u.'ould have been
bettel at his job - if only tl're u,olld was a little different." FCC readers will enjoy rnany of Rear,'es' stories of his caree r as a
foleign
colrespondent, told in a.self-
cleprecating ancl honest u.'ay. One of the best is l'ris account of a tlip n-rade with his s()n, a college stuclent on slrllìlrel' holiday, in w ar-toln Slovenia
in
1991 . \&-anting
to shou' his son a bit
of the glzrrlour of the profession,
Reaves lealises, too late, ti-re dangers to wl'ricli he's sr-rbjecting tl-ien-r: "Tlie first tillie I had second thor-rghts u.'as
same words. Characteristically,
Amidst the many flawed or illprepared chalactels inl"rabiting the worlds of baseball and foreign colresponclence, there are also her-oes. Reaves is full of admiration fol players like hard-q,'orking Samrny Sosa and the legendary Ernie Banks, the veteran broadcaster Harry Caray, ancl t1're baseball executive Lee NIcPI'rail, a lrlan of rare intellectual lrleadtlr In tlle entl, Reaves renlain.q hopeful about the game, his colrntry ancl the craft of jor-unalism. His book
leflects tl're optirnistic nature of baseball, u,.ith its annual springtime lnessage of lenewal and oppoltunity for reclernption that has helped define
the galne as the qr-rintessential Arnerican Novernbcr-
199-
pastime.
THE CORRXSPOilDEI{T
@N
ñ I I
FOUR!
he 1997 Richald Hughes grme n'¿s played on the North course
at Kau Sai Chau on September
2P,
.Wehadactlrall)/ stafted this game thlee rlonths ago on June 16 and got about 150 feet up the first fairway before the explosive rain that day forced r,rs back. \Øe shouldn't have got out ofbed that day, let alone gone all the way to Sai Kung - but golfels are a 7997
It l-ras t>een a t>us;. couple of rrronths for the G olf S o ciet¡2. S o ciet¡z c^pt'àiÍ r Julian V.alsll records the higl-rlighrts
funny lot and have quite illational beliefs in the likelihood of sudden inprovements in the weather. So we postponed the game till the much safer' weathel of late Septernber. Maybe we had offended the lain gods ol sornetlring but once again it poured down all day. It wasn't quite as bad asJune (nothing could n-ratch that
day's lain) but
it was definitely
miselable fol all of us except the Scots wl'ro thougl'rt the conditions were fine. Despite tl'ie difficult conditions 23 of r-rs started and n'iost, but not a1l, finished the round on the challenging North coLrfse.
Plize for the longest throw went to
Ray Clanbolrlne who launched his drivel about 50 yards into the
wilderness beside the 15th fiole - a leplica of his only sliot on June 16. Mark Ashton took a mole conventional approach and managed to hold on to his club and hit the ball fr-rrther than an)/one else that day for the longest drive plize. Mark also got closest to the pin. The wet conditions were a great leveller and our single figure l'randicap players found it difficult to pick up the points in the Stableford competition. Third place went to Mike Smith
and Spencer Robinson. Yours truly managed 2nd place and the 7997
Clocktuise J)'otn Toþ:
Paul
Maniage tees olf it't tLtinningJonn, lap sap Duckbant.\ inxptnuised.
tain wcar: the girls
at þ10-y itt
and Mark Ashton and Spencer Robinson had also donated prizes, being dinnel at the Tellace on the
h[acau - Matia Mu"aishi, Madant Rocba l\eira, tuife oftbe
Peak and son-ie golf balls respectively. Fol some time we have set 30 as the
Gouentor, Stella Ng ancl Rose
higl'iest handicap for tlie pulpose of scoring in FCCGS games. Special lnention must go to David Thurston who snffered fi'om this rr-rle andwould
Ctntlffi: Jttlian Walsb, Robert HarlancJ, Eric'Wisbeart ancl ltis dacl Eric o¡z ¡il:e Newsweek irmk THD C0RRXSPOI{IIDNT Novernber 1997
Ricl-rard Hughes champion was PaLÌl Marliage with34 points. Paul was still in bed àt7.45, missed the bus, arrived late and just managed to join one of the last fìights. Tlre prize was rlvo business class retulns tothePhilippines collfiesy of Robert Atkinson. Derek Currie donated a Carlsbelg golf bag
Clocktuise.fi"orl't toþ: Derek Cu,rtie into the tuild bhte ltottcler; Bob Sanders lencls a
hand; Juliart rilhlsb ptesents Guant's Dattid Sablan uitb tbe Cbina Classíc h'oph1¡ Dauid Sabla.n bearing gifts.for ,Macatt Gouernc¡r General Vctscct Rc¡cbct l'i e i t a : t Lte
r
r
ittttì
t t¿
tI
r r
[[t't's I co
t t
t
har.'e
won had l'iis handicap not been back. Other notable features of the
for anothel night in Macau. Many
cr,rt
tl'ranks to the various people involved
day included Terry Duckham getting more points tlian Mitch Davidson. 1ù(/e leturned to Central by junk thanks to Stella Ng of Netustueek. October 12 saw us joín forces with a tealrl of players fiom Guam to play against the Macau Golf & Country Club Many of the Gr-ram Players were
in coordinatíng this slightly complex event, inclLrding the Macau Golf & Country Club who coordinated
blilliantly, oLltmanoeLÌvling
everything on the day, Doug King and his colleagues at the Guam Visitors
was thatthe American Club tearnpulled out just befole the ganre giving rrs an
Bureau and our vely own Terry Duckham. \Øe I'rope that this game vr.ith Macau will becon-re an annlral fixtule and look forward to taking the trophy off thern next year.
alrtomatic win.
knou,.n to r-rs from our visit thele eallier this year and itwas a great opportunity for ns to repay some of their hospitality.
Fol the first time in ages it was not laining ancl some ofus found it difficult to adapt to the good conditions. The formatwas matcl-rplay and we nalrowly to the Macall teafir. After the game there was a dinnerheldbythe poolside, and attendedbytl're Gor.elnolofMacatr who had also played with us earlier in tl're day. Tl-ie Guam dancers who perfonned 1<¡st
at the dinner were able to
take
aclvantage of the open air location and
give
a lnore expansirre performance than hacl been possible at the FCC a feu, nights earlier u'ith flatle throwing and dancing. It ü''as a late night back fol'those of ns u,ho clecided not to stay
This yeal Alfred Dunhill
has sponsored a new societies league, The
Alfred Dunl'rill Super League. The league is open to any golf society registered with the Hong Kong Golf
often at the top of his back swing. Our
duffers tearn, however, performed the Arnelican Club tearn in every u'ay. One featnre of our stLÌnning victory
Our second lound, in early
November, saw olll' premiel team losing to stiff competition from the China An'ratetu' Golf Association. Our clr-rffers team tholrgh upheld our honour to take thefu second win in the league against
a
Medical Duffers team.
Association and we have entered two tealns. All games are played at Kau Sai
This is definitely an FCC recold as no one seefirs to lemernber onl last societies league win. The next ronnd is in early Norrenlber'. The rr,rles are a
will
bit cornplicated and no one has
be well organised and very popular. The winners u'ill also get to go to St. Andrews next year-. Our first game s,'as on October 20 when our "premief" team was beaten by aJapanese team. There's still plenty of time to go howevet'. It seems that Philippe Ries was close to bending his sand wedge over a caddy's l-read when his mobile phone l'ang once too
managed to wolk thern out but it's based on a rollnd robin system
Chau, and it seems that this league
somewhat similar to the rugby sevens u,'ith a cup, plate andbowl competition. In Noverlberwe go to Thailand for tl'ie annual Bangkok overseas challenge
wliicl'r will take
LÌs
to Kanchanaburi. In
Deceml¡erwe go backto Kau Sai Chau, thistirne the Southcor,rrse, fortheseniors trophy. @ Noven'rber' 7991 TllE G0RRXSPOI{DENT
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997O
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FREELANCE ARTISTS
if you have any photogr:aphic requilenrents
Tel:25747878
T
Fzx:28921727
R R
AC E'
Trooical & Fun
ARTHUR HACKER -Ar1 Cartoons Design Tel.2987904Íì Fax.29879072
GAVIN COATES - Say it with a cartoon! Tel/Fax: 2984 2783
PUBLICATIONS
1
Paul J. Hicks
ACïON ASIA MAGAZINE - The region's premier adventure travel and action
Commu ru cati ons Ser uices
sports publication, welcomes contribLrtions Also require freelance editors, subeditorc and designerc Tel:2521 6377 Fax:28681799 E+nail:aaedit@asiaonline.ne{
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Smart, young consultancy for editorial, supplements and the full range of PR services. Currently specialising in travel and high tech areas - but we can handle anything.
L¿N
Þlçlt¡U ÞTP
€ SJ vl ¿
& Associates Ltd.
Call Paul hicks on 2804 1925 or |ax2804 1915
E-mail: pjha
@
Kosloon (ì'!', Lnit l. trlulLificld Plaza 3'74 t'rat Arenue. TsirlshatsLri Tcl:2lltj| 398t1 UTR E\it - D2
13 Luard Ro¿d
Tcl:1¿8012880 trlTR Exit - (l
22 Robinson Road,
V(lulr2;,t,',,
9vtsl¡E ÞtsPtAY stpg 9vt¡vt
\\anch¿i 2, F. Onc (ìrpital Place
a
0N THE
PEAKtRt*
I
r ever
3,rhe"peakcllîT
'iîiiåäöij¿HonsKons
DAN RYAN'S
The Rickshaw Club
'.i:,.
asiaonline.net
TER RETOVCX'NG
PH
DELANEY'S. .. the best "craic" in town
Caribbean & Western Food 9 Pan-Asian Cuisine & Dim Sum 3 i Bar . Live Music . Indoor & Outdoor Dining ! Open Every Day . Ample Parking AvailablC
Mid Levels
CHICAGO GRILL
ret:1s2s 5s1't Frr*,2s21 3sss
?ea/ 4^ør¿car¿ 7oo¿ ar¿Ðzirú We meet informally, usually on the first
Ë Ë
MVttllrlEÞtA . QÞ n¡ < ¡tTR pgStgRS
Wednesday of each month, at the Foreign Correspondents' Club, 2 LowerAlbert Road, Central, 6-8pm. All women inlerested in the publishing industry welcome -- contact us for fufther details
LIVE MUSIC MOST NIGHTS GREAT PARTY VENUE A GYM AND SWIMMING POOL BY FAR THE BEST PIZZA,IN TOWN SHOW YOUR FCC CARD WHEN ORDERING TO ENJOY A SPECIAL DISCOUNT
Place Queensivay, Hong Kong Phone: 2845 4600 I 14 Pacific 88
200 Ocean Terminal Harbour City, Kowloon Hong Kong Phone: 2735 61 1 1
Women in Publishing Society
CIara Chung Realty Ltd. 2881-1866 / 9043-2807
409 Yu Yuet Lai Bldg 43-55 Vr'yndhau St, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 25260206 Fax: (852) 25260318 E-mail: polJyu @asjaonlinc rret
Tai Hang - Causeway Bay
570 sq.ft., mid - hi / floors, options of 1 bed studio,
tsALT ARTWORI<S
1 bed with study or, 2 beds. Fully/partly furnished or unfurnished. Panorama view. Close to MTR, buses and trams. 6 - 12 months lease. HK$14,000.- to HK$1 9,000.- inclusive
Vír*'írO7orín
Postq Lunch Buffet, incl. ontiposto or soupr desserl ond coffee
$I tg.oo Joan Boivin Photography GOLDPHOTO LTD.
Advertising, Portrait, Corporate, Still-life l7 Old Baitev St.. lÆ. Cen(r'al. Hons Kons Tel: 2530-48 izt zs+t-olo0 Fax: 25\6 42lZ Mobile: 90995056
ífunw 6
fü Nome¿ anù
Ç
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u¿V ü1,ø*, Lø"ú ? L{W R"oøÅl, Slwlt w Tel/.2606 7093 fa¿u.26O1 4+85
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HILL & KNOWLTON Karen Penlington Group Director Travel & Tourism
RICHARD
F.
JONES
Video Cameraman / Edilor News, Documentary, Corporate Fax. 2982 1 758 e-mail: theage@hk.net fHX C0RRXSP0¡IDENT November'
1c)c)7
Hill and Knowlton Asia Ltd I nternational Public Realtions/Public Affairs 35th Floor, Windsor House,311 Gloucester Road, Hong Kong Direct: (852) 2894 6248 Fax: (852) 25763551 Mobile: 9438 9752 E-mail: kpenli@hillandknowlton.com.hk
Authentic ltolion cuisine, Open I I .30 om to 3.00 pm ond ó.30 pm to 12.00 midnight RrsroR-ANTE It¡tt.tRNo
1/F Shun Ho Tower, 24lce House Street, Centrol, Hong Kong fel 2523 8624 Fox 2523 3955
Novenber
l99-
THE CORRXSP0IìIDENT
T-
tr a,ä,
HAIR
FACE
Sallmanns
Residential
Short Term Lease
NAILS
580 sq. ft. 2 Beds, Bath, IGtctren, Fully furnished, Cutlery, Crockery,TV, Phone, Walking dìstance to MTR, FCC and Lalr Kwai Fong, FOOL!! Move in with suitcase! Rental starts from 2 weeks plus.
l0/F, coDA PLAZA, 5l GARDEN ROAD, HONG KONG TELEPHONE:2525 6696 FAX: 2816 2730
Artl'nrr Flaclser, surprised to learn that he uras a Bearzeil>rook Pensioner, q/aitecl xzitl-r bated l>rezltkr for millions to fall irrto l-ris lap
Call Soni 90828097
Mqcqu comes to Hong Kong
A ttcntion all fo-t'rner Beavelbrook fLlack"ys. Did you know thatyou
FREE LUNCH
MACAU INFORMATION BUREAU
The Correspondent requires freelance writers to cover the Club's lunches and
& MACAU TRAVEL TALK
may qualify for a pension frorn the
Beaverbrook Pension Fund. The u'eek aftel'I became of a pensionable
I received a letter fi'om a M. Di'Crosta of lhe pensions departrnent of Express Newspapers plc inforrning age
speakers. Contact Paul Bayfield at 25412540 or fax 2527 9843
Room 307, Yu Yuet Lai Building, 43-44 Wyndham Street, Cenrral Tel: (852) 2869-7862 Fax: (852) 2536-4244
The Lord giveth anidtaketh awry
ne that I was a Beavelbrook Pensioner.
M. Di'Crosta (sex not
stated)
asked me to send a copy of my birth celtificate to the Pensions Controller
lExpless Newspapers plc, Ludgate
House, 245 Blackfriars Road, PROFESSIONAL CONTACTS The Professional Contacts page appears every month in The Correspondent and on the FCC Correspondent web site at >http://www.fcchk.org < . Let the world know who you are, what you do and how to reach you. There has never been a better time. Listings start at just $100 per month, with a minimum of a six month listing, and are billed monthly to your FCC account. copy
n E2ünes@$100
E
n3hnes@$150
l4ünes@$200
small box @ $300x6mths / $250x11 mths
E
n
E
5 ünes @ $250
Large box @ $600x6mths / $550x1lmths
Large box w/ spot colour @ $700x6mths / $600x11mths
FCC Membership No
Name
Company Name: Address: Signature:
For more information telephone 2512 9544 or fax 2575 8600
THE GORR¡SPOil|IENT
Nover¡ber 1997
copy attached
Lonclon, SE1 9UT, UKl. I include this address so that other gentlemen of the press who worked lor the Daily Exþress, the Sunday Express or the Euening Sfandørcl at one tilr-re or'
ladder, and they tend to look down on Lls mere editorial artists and treat us with the scorn normally reserved
bated breath I awaited in anticipation
for process workers, copy boys, tea ladies and photographers.
tore open the enr.elope. Inside was cheque for S,108.92. I was delighted
Consequently Russell was
a
bit miffed
when he discovered that
I
was
a
Beaverbrook Pensioner and he was not; so being a kind soul I gave him the address. Aftel some discussion we decided that the sensible thing would be to have rny pension paid directly into the FCC bar which would cut out those enormotrs sums of lnoney that bankers charge today for doing absolutely nothing \ü/e specr-rlated how much loot I vr'ould get and with
news from London.
The letter eventually arrived. I
until I read the covering note. It appeared that the sum
of
e108.92
was not a weekly paylnent, not even
a monthly payment, or a yearly payment, but a one-off lurnp sum
payment. It seems that my actual pension for almosl 10 years as a faithful Beaverbrook lackey, u,'as S,8.46 per annun-r, which works out at 16 pennies a week, which in leal lnoney is approximately HK$2 per week. Now I know why they call it the Street of Sharre. E
another, and have reached the venelable age of three score years and five. can claim theil pensions I worked fol the Euening Star¿dard as an editorial artist cum designer between 1.958 and 7967, with a couple of years off in the rniddle designing lecord sleeves for Philips Records at tl'ie tine when they turned down the Beatles. I mentioned that I was a Beaverbrook Pensioner to Russell Spurr when l-re was last in town. Russell hacl covered the Korean-S7ar for the Daily Express. It was a tense time and I did my bit by
{
gallantly defending the approaches to Stonel'ienge for Kim 11 Sung's red holdes. Rr-rssell got quite excited about the prospect of the pension. In the hielalchy of Fleet Stleet, foreign correspondents, fol' some reason tl-iat I have nevel been able to comprehend, are near tl-re top of the
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Noverrlrer 7997 TAE
C0RRDSP0I\|IIEIYT
Coming Club
cooking
events 11Nov 97, Tuesclay
Quiz Night
Main Dining Room $9oo for a team of 6
6:30 PM 13 Nov 97, Tl-rulsday
7:30PM 18 Nov 97, Tr-resday
Greek Night
Main Dininj Room
with belly dancer
$250 Per Person
Blidge Night
Vel'anda1'r
$150 Per Pel'son
7:00 PM
reparing food for Christmas is a tirne consurning business. And, in this town, few have that time. So for this Christn-ias wl'iy don'tyon let r-rs do
work. Just about every dish associated witli Chrlstmas can be oldeled through tl-re
the club: tr-rrke1r, baked l-iam, smoked
salmon, mince tarts, chicken-liver parfait and vegetable terrine. All you need to do is put together a few vegetables. For details see lhe enclosed
form. 27 Nov 97, Thursday
American Thanksgivmg
For those u'ho prefer non-
special menr-r 1,
Dec 97, Monday
traditional fare, why not book one of our function rooms for your holiday
Chlistmas ch-rb & takeaway* rnenus begin (*order forms available at the fi'ont desk or in tlris Con'espondent magazine)
2 Dec 97 , Tuesday 7:00 PM
Blidge Night
4 Dec 97, Tliulsday 7:30 PM
NØine
Velandah $150 Per Pelson
& Cheese
evenlng
Velandah Plice - To be confirn'ied
'!Øednesday
Main Dining Roon'r
Time to l¡e confirrned
Jonathan Milsky's Retiren'ient Patty
16 Dec 97,Tuesclay
tsriclge Nigl-rt
\¡elandal'r
10 Dec 97,
$150 Per Person
7:00 PM 31 Dec 9T, Slednesday
New Year's Eve Palty
7:30PM
Entire Ch¡b $950 Main Dining Roorn $950 Velandah $P00 Hughes
&
Albert Roorns $850 Main Lounge $800 Pool Bar
season parties and challenge me
with
your favourite dishes or let me and rny tealn cleate r special nienu to yotrr budget. Either s¡ay it is fun for rne and good tlaining for-the boys. There will be a special Christmas lnenu throlrghout Decernber, but it won't be a separate menr-t. All the dishes -like tomato soup, salacls, roast turkey, baked l-ram, tarts and Christmas pudding - u,ill be dotted througl-i the regr-rlal menlr. So you can pick one or two 01-go the full rnonty.
Yolt ma1' hal'e noticed a different pricing st1'uctllre for New Year's Eve. The sliding scale of pdces are for the venues not the menll. Tl're food ancl wine wiil be same wherever you sit. I never miss Christmas - having worked every Christmas for the past 23years. Tl'ie family didn't like it, but I amused to it and enjoy creating special Christmas dishes.
GuaÍrrlsland Fiesta Gr-rarl's Island Fiesta played to a packed hottse in the Main Dining Room and Verandal'r in October The Pacific Islands Club Fantasy Dancers set the rhylln for an exotic evening complemented by Cl'ief Ronnie Guillermo's island delights presented over sumptlÌous buffet. Bianca Ma (centre) u,as the lucky winner of the trip for two flying Continental Micronesia to Guam and staying at the Pacific Islands Ciub, presented by Gina Kono, Gr-ram Visitor's Bur-eau, anclJackie Victoriano, Pacific Islands CIub. Continental Micronesia ar-e offeling special weekend packages to Gttan'i for FCC merrbers thlough to December 15. Ring Douglas King on 2527 6886 fol details
Photos by Terry Duckham and Hu van Es
Cornpliments of the season.
New Year's Eve's programrne includes dinner, wine r,"'itl'r tl-ie meal, clian-ipagne toast at n-ridnight, party favours, bancl Soul Commotion, piper'. Breakfastwill be served at3:00arn in the Main BarforHK$125 perperson January Date - To be confirmed
New England Seafood Plor-r'lotior-r
THX C0RRXSPONIIENT Novcnrber 1997
Main Dining Room Price - To be confilmecl
Novcnrlrer
199f
TEE C0RRXSP0I|IIEilT
Sketches Photos by Terry Duckham
vaH
ttÞlct^t . irtcta t'016û 0tvtro?run (m{fl, 9¡tNCt9^6. ¿
È
e
s(r¡o
po¡
sÉÞt
'oL
Brothedy love Left to rigbt: Sian Grffiths, Tony Lazu¡ence, Sarah Rose, Linda Rose and Peter Ben y
Allan Davidson (top) conglatulates bfothel Mitch on his seconcl place victoly in the Macau Invitation Cr-rp. Mitcl-r (rigl-rt) is presented with his trophy by Macau Governor General Rocha Vieira
Dauíd and Thea Baird with Pam ttrilliams
Pam Williams, who's
original sketches of
FCC
mernbers were exhibitecl
in the Main Bar during October, held an opening 'after the fact' attended by fi'iends and victims.
Sbannon and../ohn Benn with Hu uatt Es
The Wong family Pam utitb Ted Tltonms ancl Ke¿¡in Sinclaír
The FCC's vely own Peter \X/ong, who returned home to Nerv Zealancl in 1994, was back in town recently to *'ork on a ploject with the company u4rele it all started back in
Back again
Attsh'alia's uer-l oLlnl Sunclountets Bttsþ Band tuere bacl¿ r¡nce ntore.fòr an euetùng oJ' cr,Lltttra.l etxteñainnxent it't the ,Waín Dining Roont RigÌtt: Tl:¡eresa Tuntl'¡ull, Celia Garcia ancl
1979, Stei,e Ellis's Emphasis.Peter''s wife Nikki and the boys, Dary1 and Ryan, who also carne
to visit family and old friends are pictured here with "old" friend Aila Duckham
o a =o t
Ccrtlt-y' Hilborn, tt'hc.¡ u,erc nnrriecl ín Ottlario, Canacla. J'itst
Clti-slttnt Feng artcl rccenIl-¡,
nrc[ in tl:¡e Pr,¡r¡l bctr itt lhe spritry oJ'1994
Bonnie Tsang
Photos by van Es THX G0RRXSP0ilDENT November 199r
November- 1997 THD CORRXSP0NDINT
A montbly
portrøit of FCC irrepløceøbles
Peter Wong Nlembel since:
Discot:er-y mzrgzrzine n-on its fir-st design an'¿rlcls.
Age:
It's too late to gfow Lrp no\\'. Pool plar-er ¿rncl fzrrlous grapl'ric designer'. Kirl,'1 n-itl-r Orient¿Ll conncctions. Jr-rst call *k Vg *
Profession:
Nationalitv: Least likely to sa)': Nlost likeli. to sa):
Sl-rit a
^. is th'.Lt right? blick,
I
t!,
ht
(; t.
Pbotogra.pbed by Leong Kø Tøi
fn
s¡>o.surecì THE C0RR.ESPONDENT
\on:mì¡cr
lc)c)l
ì,¡ H
Kodak (Far East) Limited
fEË(ìËR)Ë-ßRr^El
Now, on permanent exhibition, a collection of Limited Edition lithographic fine art prints by Pat Elliott Shยกrcore Featuring thirty truly unique pieces in which details from the original agreements ceding Hong Kong "in perpetuity" in 1842 and extending the territory under lease in 1898, have been transformed into near--abstract images of stril<ing colours and subtle textures. Signed and Sealed has been exhibited at the FCC, LKFthe Gallerยก the ChinaTee Club and the lMFWorld Banl< Conference. Each piece is issued in a limited edition of ninety seven unframed lithographs, printed on to soft, hand-torn paper with wide borders, and embossed with the printer's imprimatur.
G A L L E RY
oprJS Mon-Sat lOam to 7pm Drop in and see us
before Christmas