The Correspondent, November 1998

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Patten returrts to Hong Kong Çuam Island Fiesta

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November 1998

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THD

THINKING

GORRDSPOTUDDNT Novemtrer 1998

INTERNET?

Patten retums to Hong Kong

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2 Loq,er Albert Road, Hong Kong Telephone: 2521 l5tl Fax:2868 4092 Enrail: fcc@fcchk.org

Presldent Diane Stormont Philip Segal Flrst Vlce President Second Vlce President

-

-Jerry

--.l

È

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wall Commlttee Conuenor: Hrbert vàn Es Freedom of the Press c¡mittee Co

t t

ue trc r: F nîcis Moriaíy G€fleral Manager

Rol¡ert Sanders

EDITORIAL

IT PAYS TO

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Saul Lockhrrt, Editor Teleplrone: 2813 5284 Fax: 2813 6394 Erilail: 100426. 12J3@compuserue corn

Publications

2-

Con ue n or: Paul Bayfielcl Terr¡' Drrcklum, Rolrin L¡'nanr. Kees Metselrrar.

Krren Penlington. Huberl van Es

by s,rirers in necessarily those

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Tel: (852) 28381240 Fax: (852) 2838 5325 E-mail: kalunto@mail.com

5-

The Foreign

O Copyrighr Coresþndens

1998 Cltrb of Hong Kong

Reggae Cltrb in

Frorn

Geolge Town, Penang

ttre Ctref

7,7- 7\urards

It's that time of the yeal again A new kincl of bar

of

tinre r year by The Foreign Cores¡nnclenrs Club of Hong Kong 1

a5-, Vzaterirrg-troles

4. Letter:s

'CltrbofHongKong.

The Conwþondenl is prrblished

Fr:oûr ttre President Questions and ansu'ers

Comittee

6- Cor-er StoryPâtten retlrrns to Hong Kong

aao7.2L3-

Plestigious awarcl

for OrienÍ Auia.tiot't

a8-

\X/hy a

Lrurctilines

dollal isn't s,orth

a

buck anymore

Mal'tin Lee

1,9- Pfess conference

Sil Edward Heath Pr-ofessol Robelt

Asia in crisis

L

Stevenson

l\ded.ia fnattefs Sur-vey on press freedorn

in Hong Kong

L6- Sotrcing r,ho saicl what to whor¡ 7-4- EBools rer¡ierv Lootecl: The Philippines after' the bases by Donald Kirk

a9-

Doszfì rrrernofjr'- lafle

2C.- Profêssiona-l 22-

Grrarrr fiesta

24-

Sc¡cial allairs

Jontacts

28- FCC ilrreplaceal>le Peter Berry

Cover plìotoglaph by Hr-rbeft van Es

Novenber' 1998 TIID

C0RRESP0NIIXIIT

-T

Canoil

Questions anid Answers had a terrilic response to \Y/"'"" W tne questionnaire sent out

with the September issue of C orre sp on

the

No alibi-destroying details. \Øe11, he's not the first to have encountered this difficulty and it can be solved. Ask

of

the reception staff to provide you

dent, to the astonishment

the pessimists who said no one ever

fills in these things.

The experts are still crunching their way through the forms so it's too early to draw conclusions, but it does seem at first glance thatmany members are

broadly satisfied with Club facilities.

Many have come up with ingenious

suggestions for tweaking things

for the better and improving

shortcomings. Some volunteeredtheir services and expertise. The brickbats, and there's no shortage of them, also raise valid points and we're looking

a receipt for the total amount on the pinkslip. There's no excuse now,

with Mr.

P!

put in place for the visits of Presidents

Bill Clinton andJiangZemin inJuly you may remember there was -much stamping of journalistic feet over being required to turn up as much as five hours before an event to the arrangers of the Tony safeguards were just as rigorous but there was

Another subject that aroused considerable interest was merchandising. Many people said they would be interested in purchasing all sorts of things carryingthe FCC logo-as long as we could provide better qualiry

-kudos Blair visit. The security

goods than we do at present.

Suggestions ranged from camera

Services, the Hong Kong Police, the

bags and vests to beer tankards,

a

none of the unnecessary waiting around while incarcerated on GIS buses. Our thanks go to the Hong Kong Government Information British Consulate-General and the Downing Street advance team.

range of T-shirts, polo shirts and sweat

shirts, shorts, cagoules and reporter's

sorting out the gripes where

notebooks. Many also wanted more

One heartfelt plea can be dealt

books, newspapers and magazines.

The existing beer and wine glasses, it

I would like to remind those with Internet access that they can sign up to

seems, are akeady popular items.

receive Club notices by e-mail. It's

Our main problem is storage there isn'tmuch space forthatin Lower

faster than fax and the Hong Kong snail mail. Events are also listed on < b tttrt //tuww.fc c h k. org> the Club's web site. Given that we -often receive scant notice that a speaker is in town, we do urge those who have e-mail to use the system. It also saves money!

E-mail the Club at <fcc@fccbk.org> to add your name to the mailing list.

*:i;x

with immediately. Our respondent, who shall remain nameless and will henceforth be referred to as Mr. P,

think of

for

Albert

Road-

entertaining. As he noted, he can lunch a party of four for less than the bili for two at some establishments in

away

aroLrnd that. Perhaps through a

said he'd love to use the FCC more

so we'i1 have to

catalogue? Or via Internet marketing?

Abolishing the chit system in

Central

favour ofcredit cards to boost spending by visiting and reciprocal members,

and the shank of the evening

taking on the now defunct Press Ball and instigating an FCC excellence in journalism awards system complete

andthat applies even if, or should I-saywhen, they then go on to spend the best part of the afternoon socialising at the Club. Unfortunately, because the pink receipt slip records

SounDAy you wAt{T T0

with sponsorship were other faithfully every beverage and cigar interesting suggestions. So too were calls for more non-smokingareas and partaken as well as the time that itwas quarters serwed, he is reluctant to put it in for expenses. There would be too much explaining to do.

So he'd like to get a receipt that Following our complaints about shows nothing but the final amount andthedate.Nogive-waydescriptions. the ludicrous security arrangements

--' o"'.'iï:'i.

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fJ

To the editor From Feng Chi-sun I reacl with interest the cover stoly on Mr'. Albert Cheng by Francis Moriaty

and "Attack on the press" by Diane Stormont (September Con,espondent).

It seerns that all tl-re media people equate Mr. Cheng's attack with a direct

assault on'(journalistic) outspokenness andfi'eeclom of the press'.

My opinion is that this may not be an acclÌrate assessment.

A journalist is fi'ee to

plrrsue

of

speech,

outspokenness, freeclom

and even sensationalism, but he or she shor-rld also have a sense of fair play.

\Øhile "slagging bllrealrcrats and roughing up politicians", it's only fair that a journalist (or media professional) should get the facts straight, and also allow those being slagged ancl lor-rghecl

up

a rebuttal

opportunity.

It is also tr-r-re that a popular meclia professional like Mr. Cheng can have a huge auclience, giving him an unfair aclvantage in disseminating

information over the people

he

criticizes. If the inforrnation is in fact inaccr-rrate, people targetecl by his 'outspokenness' will suffer an unjustly talnished leputation and will

have a tough time undoing the

I

helcl rny bleath for an in-depth

was in force ancl while it sent

because he was afraid to cotne."

Accolcling to the newspapel''s report

Cook on revitalizing tlie intelnational profile ancl corpolate indentiry of Air

Jtrly and August lrom variotts companies enquiring how many

on the incident, it was sholt nolice and

Vietnam.

turkey and puddings I will need for

Yet frorn rny room at the Majestic Hotel, I could hear hea'uy gun fire all night.

By 7975 it emerged that the North hacl won, ancl in 1976 rllere wls union.

One of tl're old Air France 707s freshly printed in oul new livery lernained in Kai Tak rlrnway for months because they couldn't pay the fuel bill.

the festive period. As this will be my second Christmas at the FCC, I have

the Secretary had had a plior engagement. I thought there was a differ-ence between 'couldn't make it' and' clicln't want to ancl afi'aid to come'.

There is no exclrse fol violence ancl I join in with the meclia in condemning the cowards who attacked him. I also wish him a rapicl and complete recovely.

But I think it's fair to say that the attack, if lelated to journalism, is more an attack on his style, rather than on or-rtspokenness and freedotn pfess, per se.

of

the

From Martin Spurrier I

was happy to read Kevin Sinclair's

piece on the Caravelle Hotel. In

Freedom (as in freedom of the press) is doing anything you want without hurting other people.

Vietnam veteran terms, I don't qualily since my first visit was only in March 1973. Ilul how could anyone forget that rooftop bar in Saigon?

Saigon was living through an odd calm following the Paris Agreement

'joulnalistic' style rather offensive

in that the gr,rests of his show were frequently unfailly treated. It was impossible to answer his allegations because they could ne\/er get a w-old in. \Øith his boorning raspy voice, he dorninatecl the whole conversation, leaving lisleners with memories of his opinions, and his alone.

One tille he cornmented: "The eclitorial of that newspaper is lr-rbbish. " THE GORRf,SPONDXNT Noveml¡cr 1998

the \rea1. again

staggeringly beautiful. Tl-re curfew

analysis of the editor''s view, but that never caÍle. He concluded by saying: "That newspaper's editorials ale always nonsense."

Dr-rring another show, he talked about that incident of the Secretary of Edr-rcation and Manpower failing to appear on his TV show a few nights befole. He was telling the whole wodd: "He did not want to come to my show

damage c1one.

On the few occasions I tunecl in to 'Teacup in a Slorm', I found Ml. Cheng's

It's thattime of

businessmen back to their hotels ear'ly, it restricted any guest they rr-right have with them from going home until clawn.

Some felt that year that peace had

arrived and prospelity was about to

begin. Hotel sites were being plospectecl at the coast. I was working with FCC rnembels Yohan Meering, Alan Arnsel, David Mitcfiell and Peter'

Burt

in Saigon the Caravelle was

a

landrnark. I think the GM u'as Eddie Dnchemen (or was he thele eadier?)

who later became the rnanagel of the Hong Kong C1ub. His daughter, Josiane, is the wife of Frank Knight, another Hong Kong veteran.

The nightclub on the top floor coulcl be l'ieard within the lift fi'on'i about the 3rd. You didn't arrive at this bar; it devoured yor-r. Male visitols my age would I'rave believedwe hacl gone to heaven if vr'e coulcl have assemblecl

about Christmas and New Year, the best excuses for PartYing.

Christmas is always a difficulttime of the year, especially when you have to order certain items well in advance.

will note thatthe

FCC's prices

Scandanavian- style party, the details which I will be sorting out with one or two of you over the next week or so. the Then of course the big one FCC's traditional NewYear's Eve bash

arevery

competitive when it comes to entertaining and staff parties. Check

us out.

And if you happen to be having your own Christmas 'do', and do not

that really shakes the rafters in this old

feel like cooking, don't forget the FCC's fine turkeys and hams are just order in advance and availal¡Ie - away. Better yet, let -the take them FCC's home catering do all thewbrk.

As far as the turkeys go, we used 1,150 lb last year and about 70 lb of

building. I amstill undecided onwhich way to þo with the food for this event, so ífyou have any ideas please forward them to me. Or grab me as I v¡alk around the club and I will have a water with you and discuss your ideas.

'Sorry I almost forgot to mention

last year's records to use as a guide for this year's orders, but even so it is still a little hit and miss.

puddings. So book eady and make my ordering a lot easier. Please.

the after NewYear's Eve/Day breakfast for those oJ you who know how to

\X¡hich leads into quite a funny story, not so much in Hong Kong but

Christmas puddings,

For instance, I receive phone calls in

in

England. 'ùØhen you go

for

an

interview and look around the kitchen, it is amazing how many people get it wrong ordering Christmas goodies

- about. You look in the I'm talking stores and there a fle cases of Christrnas puddings in there. Generally

the fewer Christmas items left at the back of the stove the better organised the chef. Therefore the kitchen should be reasonably well set up, at least that's what I have found.

The FCC was not that busy last

hopefully this year àt Christmas yearyou will use us-a little more. You

\Øhile I'm on the subject of

pafty.

thrupennies to put iqside. (Giving my there a little and hopefully age

Remember, if you can't get a booking because we are full to the rafters, come along after your party.

The joint's jumping all night long, As I write this column, there are just two months to go to the festive season, so starting planning for the

sparking

special peopfe in your life.

see if we cangetyou inthe party mood

Yours hopefully,

I have sourced

an excellent raw pudding mix from it is a 'Grandma-style' Australia - tastes wonderful. It is a pudding and

shame

I don't have any silver

^w^ya few fond memories foryou.)

On the lead up to Christmas, we are planning a few little tempters to

early. For example: a Spanish evening; then a speciality meal on the Verandah featuring the ever-popular Swiss Raclette; we will still be serving caled beef from the trolley; and for the

Christmas Eve we

will have a

any sensible tl'ioughts against the flashing lights, the Gauloises smoke,

two months earlier, ancl the

withdlawal of the US troops. The

the gorgeous girls and the pulsating Sonny & Cher. It made the bar in Star'

bor-rlevalds smelt of coffee and drains

NØars

and tl-iere was music ancl the

\ùØan

abandoned \Øillis jeeps hele ancl

approaching that time of \Y/" "t. again yes T'm talking VV y"r, -

where Lr-rke Ski.walkel and ObiKanobi searched for Hans Solo,

look like

a vicarage.

A new kind of bar For one month from October 75 7998 the Main Dining Room and the Verandah will be offering

a

full international salad buffet, extending the regular

menu to include a Í^nge of jetfresh or jetfoil fresh old favourites including Macan Sole, Norwegian Salmon, Australian Lamb and of course our famous

there were bear-rtiful

I feel rather htimble that my

girls in ao cløis riding side sacldle on tl're back of mopecls dlir.en by their

rnemories of Vietnan-r are dorninated

steaks.

by the rooftop at the Caravelle. But once

This additional menu will be available every evening seven days with the Verandah opening for the first time on Sundays.

there. Most of

a1l,

'brothers' offeling the likes of me 'good times'. The girls were

visited, nevel

forgotten.

-" November 1998 TEE

C0RRXSD0I{DENT

a week

r]

The returft of Pattert

abilities and expeliences ancl

hubris, insisted woulcl not happen in Hong Kong.

More recently, there has been high r,rnernployment, business cutbacks,

said. "And I don't think

and confirmation this year of what

Mr Tung shor-rld be expectecl to eschew

rnost ah'eady knew-that Hong Kong is in the midst of its first recession in 15

chalitable in cliscr-rssing the contrasting

styles of hirnself and the man vn4ro replaced l'rirn. "\We all have diffelent strengths,"

Author Cl-rris Pa-tten, q¡l-ro irr a- prerzious irl<:arr:ration qzas tl-re la.st gclvernor of Hong l(orrg, ss/ept t}rrougkr Hong I(ong ir-r a sqzid of book signings a-ncl s1>eeckres. Forrrrer FCC president I{eity'¡ B. l?i<-bZzztrg <>f tll.e \Y.'¿zslcitzgtcttz Post reports on this stra-rl-ge pkrenornenoll

l-re

mention of his business experience."

In fact, Patten said, Tr,rng's experience

and view-point, as a conselative Chinese businessman, u,'as plecisely

enthronecl

stoÐ.'ìLlngly hacks

since he left. Itturned outto be just lhe

appearances, he was back.

For a fleeting instance, it was as if he had never left.

Some 16 months after his tearful and rain-soaked departure on the royal yacht Britanniø, Chris Patten, the last British governor of Her Majesty's last imperial outpost in Asiâ, descended on this territory with all the quips and asides, the self-deprecating humour and the characteristic understatement, that had become so familiar during his five-year tenure at Government Hollse.

beginning of the famtliar blanket coverage of Patten's every move ancl

-colonial governor was bound

signing and speech.

generate intense interest,

J

Ipublic

He may now refer to himself as just a "lobbing author" and a "retired and

Outside bookstores, Hong Kongers lined up by the thousands, sometimes for as long as six hours, for anavtograph, for a snapshot, for even

just a glimpse of the governor who brought to Hong Kong a more open, populist style and a passionate

principles. articulation of democratic By the time he left, his new tome, Eøst

ønd-West-inwhich

he lays out

line r-rp for the nes/est postage stamps an autoglaphed book by the last

and how to ease the pain of 5o/o unemployment. As lratten hirnself

ofu'hich has serveclto undercut

public confidence in the government

why the former govel'nor invited Tung to sit on his

conceded, tl'ie job ofrunning

Kong was no $ Hong 3 'prrshovcr'" u Iren lre u'as

quotation frorn an o1d sea

and not

captain, saying: "'ùØhen yor-r

just for the tsritish nostalgia buffs.

The public enthlrsiasrn that greeted Patten's return was dinrned only by a scheduling snafu in Shatin that left hunclreds of disappointed book-buyers anglily demancling

leave the bddge of the ship, you shor-rldn't spit on the deck and that remains my

refunds after the ex-governor''s signing session was recluceci to a few fleeting minutes so he could be whisked away

for a private meeting with his sLÌccessof, the chief Executive

ð Tung Chee-hwa, who was a ' formel member of Patlen's

occasional hack," but his first public appearance upon his

cabinet, the Excutive Cor-rncil.

return, fittingly at a packed press conference followed by a book signing in the familiar confines of the FCC, showed that retirement hadn't dulled the PR skills that made him Hong Kong's most public and most popular governor. He still knows how to draw

unclerscored that while he may have been vilified by

But his trip

hele

China's Communist leadels as a 'whore of the East,'a'tango-

dancer','

a 'prostitute for

a

thousand genelations' and a 'triple violator'.' His populality here among cofirmon people

lernains deep and gentrine. attention, how to work a room, And pityTung Chee-hwa. how to dtaw a media scrum Book signing: Marty Merz ancl wífe Jane Pctn uitb Pattelx \Øhile Patten hacl only kincl in short, how to make us words iol his sr rccessor, saying -miss him. his premise that economic success at his FCC press conference that he "I'm obviously delighted to be back would be "exceptionalllz le¿¡¡ to say depends on openness and libelal for a brief visit," he beamed to the government had sold more than anyùing about the person doing my - according to his job," his vely presence heLe, and his assembled press from the podium in 40,000 copies, the jam-packedmain dining room. "It's publisherMacmillan. (Toputthefigure ease with the media and the public, the most exciting thing I've done since seemed only to highlight Tung's inperspective, only 50,000 copies urere I left." continuing weaknesses. sold in all of the UK.) The book that \ùØhere Patten cultivates the meclia, And the politician-turned Rupert Murdoch rejected made an governor-turned author also showed Tung remains meclia shy. \üØhere estimated HK$ 5 million for Macrnillan that he still can excite a crowd Patten, a fol'mer Tory MP, is a gladeven dtrring Patten's briel soiourn. though it might not be considered hander, enjoying bantering with the Of course many who bought the 'politically' correct in the new Special book may not agree with his views, ptrblic. Tu ng, a former business tycoon.

Adrninistrative Region to show any and in fact may not even read it. But in appears clearly uncomfortable in his fondness for the old colonial a ciry where Snoopy figurines from public role. oppressor, In fact, there hasn't been a McDonald's became the hottest-selling Patten, himself, in that same press press conference inthe FCCthis packed people item since Red Chips conference, was characteristically

-where

THE CORRESP0NIIXNT November 1998

Declining to cliticize for a

È govelno'';

aÞ

Tr-rng, Patten leached

to

ñî' å'

llturf :T

F

\?Q

l-rq.a.

Patten conveniently

managed to sidestep

r-epeated qlÌestions as to whetlrel the last colonial

government bore any lesponsibility for the

Funny. Pithy. Vintage Chlis

''ùØl'role

it s bccornc even

uroleciillicrrìt lorTungClree-

;'

intention, not to spit."

Patten. Ol-r, please, MlTung, why can't yor.r just once give LÌs some of tl're sar-ne? \Øe'r.e gone fron-r the

cor-rld always co r-rnt

\.enomoLìs retofi . (NIy personal lavorite ü,-zrs'tango dancer'.)

Nor'' the political quallels are aboutways lo plop r-rp the stockmarket

Execlrtir¡e Council. n a four-clay swirl of phoro ops and

Hor-rse

on Xinhua to clelir.el a typically

yeal's.

A1l

in Government

dispensing morsels of dernocraclr, and

"bubble econollly" that has finally burst. "I clon't tl'iink even the New China Nevr's Agency has accused me of being lesponsible for the

I

r¿!

Patten's þress coi't

PacleecJ to the rcr.fterS

of the E¿rst' lo 'Mr

Seven-Eleven'.

and Tung's handling of the economy.

prbbler-r-rs

Since the Handover last year, Tung's populality has been in decline, and for reasons not entirely of his own making. Patten was qlrick to point out that he hacl an easier time with the

Recent polls show conficlence at its

lhe last year," he said in l'esponse to the fit'st qr-_lestion posed to 1-rin at the

"the regional (econornic) economy - was filore benign." $íhat backglound began as a new ela of plomise and opponunity fol a telritory rellnitecl with

lowest level since Beijing's plo-dernocl'acy at Tiananmen Sqr-tare. rnxssxcle

t-.rf

1989

sl Lrdents

Ancl into that gloorrry scenerio colr-res Chris Patten, a remincle.r for rnany of mole affluent times, a tine before recession, befole bildflu, before Chek Lap Kok. Atime whenthe public

the Motl-rerland quite qr-rickly became a per'ìod of gloor-r'i and anxiety, stalting q,ith the collapse of the stock malket last lall.

Thele was the slurnp in toulism, which officials attributed kincl of post-Hancloverfatigue.

There u,'as bild flu, that infected the territory's chicken population, necessitatecl a ffìass cu11, and to

a

dented the civil sen ice's long-

Hong Kong has suffered over'

FCE.

He can count hirlself h-rcky. The arc of histoly dictating he rlust leave n4ren he clid at rnidnight June 30, 7997 before- the devaluation of the Tl-rai baht, befole a regional econonic crisis had becorne a ftrll-blown linancial

r-neltdou.n.

Orzerheard at tlle FCC 5iqning Patter-r: rJÇzhat name?

FCCer: Nor-re! It ruir-rs tl-re resale rzah-re.

\¡aunted repLrtation for competence. Mole ents appearecl in the civil sel'vice c1

Pattén can retlrrn to a folrner' colony left in fairly good economic shape andforu.hich a new Cliinese

administration is non' fully responsible. He can buy egg tarls on \ürellington Street, dine with

old friends ancl staff at tl-re China

go antique slropping on Holl1'woocl Roacl, sell son're books, visit his claughter''s olcl school and leave w-ithout the burden -of having to fìncl solutions to Hong ClLrb.

Kong's cLÌr'rent problen-rs. qr-rarrels here w'ere all overpolitics ancl

He can lear.e q.ith 1-ris'populality

the pace of democrzrtization. About civil llbelties laws, abor-rt abolishing

intact. He can tempt Lrs u'ith a glimpse of w'hat it r-rsed to be like. And he can

opening clays of the new Hong Kong International Airport at Cl-rek Lap Kok

the legislatule, abor-rt'functional

leave the pr-rblic and the pless

lost luggage problems and

troops would come ponring over tl-ìe bordel's oh, those wel'e tlie good old days,- when Patten Þ'as the 'evil

arlror.rl' as various rnishaps hospitals occurred q,'ith a cleplessing regularity.

And then

-colllputer

t1-rere

was the clisastrons

sign glitches that might be

expected of any new airpolt, br-tt which officials here, u'ith unneeded

constitLrencies' and

how rnany

PLA

oppressor', the'triple violator''

hankering jr,rst a little for tl'ie good old days before he left.

In a paraphrase of the old Cor-rntry and \Øestern tttne: Hotu cat't tue ntiss you, if yotL neuer go awa7,? E Noven'rl¡er' 1998 fHE

CORR.ESPOI¡DENT

Pulling no punches Thol- ghr serreral leading politicians y/ere invited to cornrnent on Chrief E><ecr-rtirze lfung Ckree-h.nza's second policy address at an FCC Professi<>r:l.al Ltrrrckreon tlre follovzing day, onl¡z IÃa,rtin. Lee of thre Dernocratic Party accepted tkre inrzitation- ()j,,,ril I)ctrzzl> reports

has so much been said \].".t I .ì about so little'. This is the way

Devoting the larger part of his talk mainly on political issues, Mr Lee said

Hong Kong having the rule of law, freedoms and a level playingground,

Democratic Party leader Manin Lee characterised Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's second PolicyAddress

the one decision made by Mr Tung

he failed to explain why he was afraid of using these factors, which are unknown on the Mainland, to letHong

"Opportunity in Adversity"

delivered to Legco on October 7.

-

to abolish the municipal councils was a "step backwards from

Kong lead the rest of China in the "right way forward' .

"I saw lots of

substance in Mr Tung's policy speech that his vision for Hong Kong is to turn it into just another

opporlunities when Hong Kong's sovereignty reverted back to China. Chinese leaders were themselves going in the right direction with economic reforms. 'Síhat they needed next was the rule of law, Hong Kong

Chinese citysouth of Guangzhou."

was in a good position to show the

Probably bolstered by the

way to the rest of China, That we have not done so is a great failing on our parl.

Speaking at the FCC the day after the address, Mr Lee went straight for the Chief Executive's jugular: "It is clear from the lack of

"thumbs down" reaction that had generally greeted the latest Policy Address, Mr Lee not only attacked the speech itself but said Mr Tung had shown, byhis inabilityto come up with bold, new ìnitiatives, that he lacked the leadership qualities that the Hong Kong people had a rìght to expect of their leader.

"If I were somebody living in

"\Øhy didn't our Chief

Executive brief Chinese leaders better on ihe advantages of our rule of law?'SØhy didn't he invite more of themtovisitHong Kong so that they could see for themselves the Mainland had nothing to fear from the democratic aspirations of

the people of Hong Kong? His

other public housing estate or even in a fl.at in

failure to do that may well mean

Mid-Levels, the question I would

we wili go backwards in developing

would

democracy."

As for Mr Tung's call on Hong Kong citizens to have confidence in themselves in facing Llp to the current

'ùØong Tai Sin or ìn any

be asking myself is whether it

have made any difference to me

if

between the first andthe second policy

democracy" and something which his party strongly opposed. " \Øhether we like it or not, the Urban Council has been with us for many years and before they opened

speeches,

up Legco for elecdons, itwas the cradle

remarks that showed he was leading Hong Kong in such a way that if we were not careful, Hong Kong would

the only body that had

there had been no Policy Address at all.

"Although some people may say there was not that much difference

I think there was a new dangerous direction in Mr Tung's

of democracy in Hong Kong. It was elected members and its own budget. Now,

degenerate from its status as an international financial centre to

even that is going to be abolished."

Focusing on what Mr Tung could have said but didn't, Mr Lee said while

become just another Chinese city."

Mr Tung insisted he was proud of

fHE C0RRXSP0NIIDNT November 1998

economic crisis, Mr Lee had only How canhe ask the people of Hong Kong to have confidence in themselves when he himself has said and done nothing to allay their fears contempt.

"

about the economy? How can he generate confidence in the people when he does not even have their mandate?

Another remark in Mr Tung's speech that drew Mr Lee's scorn was

the Chief Executive's refèrence to the

On economic issues, Mr

Lee

On Mr Tr,rng's plan to postpone a

spilit of China's flood-fighters as an exanple of what Hong Kong citizens

admitted his ou.n party did not have a

firial decision on u.hether or not the

magic formula for Hong Kong's economic l'ecovery, but blasted the Govelnment's intervention in the shares and futures markets lastAugtist.

freeze on land sales will be extended, Mr Lee said his party opposed the o:iiginalfreeze and n as "dead against" an extension. "The land sales fi'eeze

"The Government can't have it

was intended to give a signal to big

should do in these hard times. "Is that the vision he has for his people? Even (Premier) Zhu Rongji was angry with local officials when he found out they had failed to have iron bals put in the concrete blocks used to fightthe floods.

But, Mr Tung does not see that side of it. He sees only the blavery of these poor people who had to defencl their land against the floods, many losing their lives doing so."

Accusing Mr Tung of being "out of touch" with his people, Mr Lee said like the although some of the crises - airpolt bild flu, the led tide and the fiasco cor-rld not be directly blamed on Mr-Tung's lack of leadership, the Chief Executive's handling of the ploblerns left a lot to be desiled.

"Unfofiunately, our leader has the habit of hiding l'iimself whenever a crisis ernerges. He never visited any rnalketuntil allthe millions of chickens had been slaugl-rteled. He nevelvisited a fish faln until all the fish were floating dead on the water. He waited two weeks after the opening of the new airpofi to pay a visit. And, when he did decide to go, how did he travel there?

Byhelicopter'! I askyou, howmore out of totrch can a Ieader gef?"

both ways. \Øhen these people brought money into Hong Kong we called them investol's. lfl.hen they sold, we called them market manipulators ancl we no

longer welcorled them. You know u.fio's chuckling about all this?

Singapore is. Because they're always

watching Hong Kong to see if they can have one up on r,rs. They would love to harre those same foreign speculators bling theil rnoney into their

city instead."

Mr Lee said the intervention q,as w1'ong because it departed from the "free market" rule thatthe Govel'nment had always adheled to. "But, whatwas

even worse," he said, "was the

property developers that

the

government is on their side. As usual, the pelception is that the governn'ient is on the side of wealthy lancl developels and not of the side of endusers."

Asked what he would advocate to people who were out of a job, Mr Lee said he would tell them to be lealistic and to accept lesser-paid employment.

"My party is ¿gainst an unemployment

benefit scheme because it will encolrrage people to stay at home.

Actually, Hong Kong people are extremely hald-working. They don't u.'ant social s,elfare. They only take it as an absolute last resort. And er.en

Govelnment's refusal to say that they will not do it again."

"The government sLlppolted the

then, they are ashamed of doing so."

property market.

Address, NL'Lee rvas asked ifthere had been anything, an)thing at all, he had

currencywhich

is

It

suppolted our

fair enough because

every government should srÌpport its culrency. Now, it has supported shales. How many markets can we afford to support? Thele is only so

After all the ne5¡ative'cotnntents

he hacl to make alrout the Policy found positive in the speech. Aftel a long pause, he adnitted that he could not recall anything worth mentioning.

Par for the course, eh?

I@

much money in the kitty."

November' 1998 THE

C0RRXSPOI{|IENT

is just a basic fact. \Øhat worries me about this present British Government I know one should never criticise -them when abroad,I'm not criticising is that the I'm just stating a fact 'no single said has Prime Minister '!Øhy he Padiament'. this in currency he know because I don't this said has has got the biggest majority we've ever

had since I believe Lord Liverpool..... so if it's a contentious subject why on earth doesn't he get on with it?," he asked, not unreasonablY. Sir Edward went on to sPeculate

Sir Edward Heath

that Blair is unable to bite the bullet because of a secret deal done with Rupert Murdoch who, as he kindlY

reminded us, is "connected

to

the

Tony Blair has received for what seems

Sir Edward deplores the

to the optimisticlike progress towards a solution to "the troubles" in Northern

Conservative Party's present emphasis on organisation as opposed to sound

Ireland. Once again, you will be

to learn, Sir Edward

new policies, and its centralised

was

abstraction from its broad membership. The thought may be unworthy,

"They ovedook the fact thatl made the same arrangement in 7973. The

but I wondered whether this might have anything to do with his own exclusion from the charmed circle.

surprised there first.

plain fact is that it was undermined by Harold \X/ilson when he came into power. \Øe settledallthis. The problem was of course that the Irish repudiated it. I hope this one's going to hold."

Deriding President Clinton's "war on terrorism" and Tony Blair's servile endorsement of it, Sir Edward had a few words of advice for American

He refu sed to be drawn on whether the present system of Legco elections is acceptably democratic, but was hnppy to express the view that the British House of Lords is out of date unlike Baroness Thatcher he declined a

although he still sees

baronetcy

the need for a- second hc¡use.

"New Labour" does not impress

policy makers.

him. "Síhat

astonishes me as an ordinary rather long lived

press".

He argued convincingly that unless

TLre controversia-l forrrrer Britishr Prirne À4inister a,ncl arclent friend of Ckrina spoke to tkre FCC on a q¡ide retnge of sr-rt>jects.

I?o bin L2trzarn fepofts

s I s h

Britain joins the single currencY

been quite so wholehearted on the subject as Sir Edward himself. His speech, and a deftly manipulated question-answer session, left those in attendance in no doubt of which Colossus he believes bestrode postwar British Conservative politics.

appears to have reassessed Mao móre harshly than Sir Edward' He and the Great Helmsman, he gave us to understand, had got along

diplomatic andBritain,

Kong) with Chairman Mao he said

SirEdw friend of China", droPPing in about

History, which will be able to separate his political legacy from his personality more easily than those of

once a year since his fall from office

whom his vacillating premiership of 7970-74 is still on the fringes of current affairs, may judge him kindly.

experience.

us for

It will certainly not lack for

reminders of his greatness from Sir

Edward himself, bur there is a considerable element of pettiness in

for chats with its leaders, and he was

happy to share the fruits of his Although

apparently-

-

unlike Kissinger - he did not shake

unàontrollably in the presence of Mao Zedong, Sir Edward, like Sir PercY Cractdo"ók, seems to have proceeded

wonderfullY.

Having plugged

technical matter that

- I

.-- F Edwardwashappyto

He said 'Vi'11 stop it tonight'' Ancl I said 'The second thing I want is a smooth handover when the time comes', and he said 'Síe will have a smooth handover' and he looked 'You across to Zhou En Lai and said will Heath ancl t won't be here, but Mr be,"' he recalled.

Giving us the benefit of his high

and having made an important

utrá

not todevalue the Yuan, beforetLll'ning

currency.

Sir Edward's

Pro-EuroPean credentials are well known, andhave ù".î ti"." his maiden speecl-r in the so House of Commons in 1950' it' of he is in favour .r.tr.rrptiti.tgly "yo.t cÃnot have a single marl-<9t

,r,t"rr y"u nu"e a single currency "this

is able to

keep

confide that he had

Hollinguortb

personalities out of his pronouncements he begins to sound like a statesman, but he still cannot bring himself to mention Baroness Thatcher without some form of barb, even 24 years afrcr she dislodged him from his parly's leadership. She is, he suggests, to biame for the British lack of understanding of Europe.

"No explanation has been given

to the British people in the last 18 years of government. Now again I'm not being personal inany way

the

- of Prime Minister, for the greater part that time, did what she, I suppose, thor"rght was right. It's not

for me to

criticise her or her policies. I've done quite ènough of that in the last

already

18

years

but this is the difficulry

- now face and which I find which we very depressing indeed."

He is also depressed by the credit

, "The Americ ans realIy have got to as to what they do the modern world, and to realise

rethink their policy

in that some of the problems arise because the Americans are there, and they can't blame other people for that, " and just for a change I found myself

rootíng for him.

The question and answer session was wide ran ging and gave S ir Edward the opportunity to re-emphasise his confidence in the Hong Kong and

Chinese currencies along with a dismissive remark about "Mr Green something or other" in rùØashington.

Somewhat surprisingiy for a pro European, he expressed his regret at extensive foreign ownership of British

industry, and of Rolls-Royce in parficular. Once again I found myself murmuring agreemenL.

not yet read

Chris

Patten's, having been

unable until arriving in Hong Kong

to buy "the cheap paperback

edition". He and the Last Governor are at one on the issue ofthe European single currency- "I said it first but I'm

glad he's followed" although not, of course, on how to-deal with China.

"He knows perfectly well that I disagree

with the policy which

he

followed here in Hong Kong, and my reason, I say, has been proved right because the settlement which he could have had if he'd plafed it along

the accepted lines, which was expected, would have been much better than what he was left with having tried and failed. But that's the past. You got a smooth handover, as Chairman Mao wanted, and you can now press ahead."

@ Novel¡ber'1

Tf,E c0nRDSPOilDEIfT November 1998

his latest book t4LçùL uvL

rrtù

purwiew. \Øhen Sir Edward

his attention back to EuroPe ano ãircr-tsri.tg the issue of the single

started long before Henry thought

simply.

'\c¡hãt do you want?' andl said 'I want the shooting across the borders to stop''

tremble and obeY' "You don't gef an1 influence in Beijing by screaming aloud in public

relations between China and the'West, He does not believe he has received sufficient credit for the latter.

"Henry Kissinger likes to take the credit for it nowadays, but in fact we

grounds that the decision is a highlY

È ,g t.morselessly ñ throughout, Sir

assumption that the best way to deal with the Chinese leadershiP is to

contributionto establishing diplomatic

issue beingsettledbY referendum on the

clearly falls within the government's

his account of his polirical life.

His two most important achievements, as he clearly recognises, are having successfully led his country intowhat is nowthe European Union,

Ministers -h".t"rrer I find Prime or Ministers doing this then I greatly

that time. It doesn't matter what they put into the house it's a mess," he stated

the

"Iü/hen I first discussed this (Hong

level coñtacts, Sir Edward stated categoricallY that the Chinese ;absolutely determined" i.uáåtnip is

from the outset on the dePressing

opposition and they haven'tworked'out a single policy during

furthermore objected

it, anclhavinggot a mention of it from somebodY oveÍ a drink, he promptly did it himself, and we got ireld up ub¡t," h.informed us, adding that while he established full about

hu4 18 years in

mechanismitwilllose all influence over its implementation. He

to the idea of

l\T", even Sir Eclward Hearh's I I mostsincereadmirershaveever

hack is that they've

-

caught the light of this revelation by losing some of its surety.

Sex, drugs and

Here it becomes easier to

summarize the argument. By using

fock 'fr'roll

series

programmes are news or public affars programmes. And as Prof Stevenson pointed out, there are more people using specialised cable networks such as CNN, ESPN and

to get their

strong assertion, drew on a variety of sollrces. Statistically its access has

gone from 4o/o of the population in \995 to 200/o eaily this year and now with 360/o of Ãmerican adults regularly logging on. Regularly being defined as at least once a week,

Overshadowing both these

Somehow

it was the

anecdotal evidence that rnade the point

more. 'ùØhen Hurricane

t

three

Bonnie was about to hit North Carolina during the summer, an Internet site that had been set up using a live satellite

does

Pf

changes starts wìth some disturbing statistics with even him admitting "it is not very

to give us the news," Prof

although the graPh looked like

proi Sìerr.nson's words "if

Ñot thut TV has it

anY

though is the Internet. Putting aside the story that we have already (or' should have) done on the growth of the Intel'net, "the real news (about

the Internet) is the evolution of

gloom. Five of the ten toP US rated

a

new medittm."

The evidence that he gave to back up this statement, which when yor,r mull it over is actually quite a

SPONIIENT November 1998

IIong Kong lfl-re sut>ject kra-s l>een discr-rssed by lraany s1>eakers in tkre FCC. Br-rt kroqz does the p rorre rt> ia"l rrlra"rl-on-tkre - s tre et fe e1 at> out thr e sr.rbject? lfLre Social Science Researckr Centre of tLre lJnirzersity of Hong l(ong tras k>een strrrze;zing tLris \reÍy topic since t>efore thre Ha-ndover Period ofsurveys Response rate

7-8/98 6 47 )2.20o/o

Average marks Awareness level

Are you satisfied

7-8/98 Very satisfied Quìte satisfied

1.50o/ol

6.58 96 30o/o

63

6)..8j0/o)

9-to/98

3go7o

,6.100/o1 6g.19o7o

62.O00/ol

Half-half

19 '70o/o

18 80%

Quite dissatisfied Very dissatisfied Hard to say

'\!lY;l ',,*^ 4.200/o

'oo'"lY;l

I

400/o

''.,*^

Do you think the news media in Hong l(ong are reponsible in their reporting?

9/to/98 , )3.90o/o 97.9 | n.rcv" ß30 l 5r.4U l

7-E/98

0.60

Very responsible Quite responsible

ì

Half-half

32

Qr-rite irresponsible

18.90% I

print journalists. This latter group

mentality of the past is not viable any more. An audience wanting its own slice of the world served when it wants is because of cable and the Internet getting them used to it.

As journalists we might have do the same only more so.

9/70/98

with the existing freedom of the press in Hong Kong?

distributed is changing and

because the old "be there" (we're going to be there to present it to you)

510

rating would you give the tnedia?

Don't know

implications, huge ones for journalism and the noble creatures who practice it. The entire Fourth Estate. "It realiy represents I think a revolution in news, a revolr-rtion in the definition of news, in the way news is organised and presented," said Prof Stevenson.

The trouble is defining exactly what these will be. Even Prof Stevenson has this problem and it was here that his argument, up till now tight and well constructed,

1

553

Please use a scale of 0-10 to rate the credibiliÇ áf th. ,r.*" -.dia in Hong Kong, with 1o representing absolutely credible, 5 half-half, and 0 being atrsolutely not credible.'wl.¿t

Very irresponsible

can chose to distribute electronically which is faster than dead trees -although probably more competitive.

For TV, which Prof Stevenson believesto be "in real danger" simply'

9-7o/98

1

42'5o¡o

television workers than

has

7-8/98

surveys Succesful cases Number of

the future looks less rosy for

it does for

in

Press Freedom

ln short, the way news is being delivered, defined and

profoundly. All this

anvthlng, dailY newsPaqer ciråulation is in free fall" is probablY just as Potent an

certain bits of the news, other times we want to know other parts of the news. '$le want to have the power as

this is a major change coming our way too. \Øhat is surprising is that

(1,000,000) per honr.

2

that sometimes we onlywant to know

Stevenson pointed out.

hour. Yes. One million

p p

each story.

Its more like USA Tod.ay: news as raw dara with a step back from the journalist as analyst. This apparently less of is what the punters want - want us, more facts, but facts as they them.

"What we're seeing now is a new way of presenting the news, breaking it down into various components based on the idea, absolutely legit,

"Somebody out there is paying altention to the world alonnd them. tsut we're not sitting there at 6.30 at night when Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather want

Bonnie took a million hits an

news.''

become just the springboard for much more information of various types. Links give you access to a greatvariety of information of totally different types, if you want it, or the paper option which gives the readers just a one paragraph summary of

readers, as consumers, to determine what it is about that story we want to pick up," said Prof Stevenson.

If there was a hub to his argument this was it. If there was a summary, it was where moments later he said "we decide what it is." News will be more the Daily Me as the consumer orders only what they want, not want they are given.

How we as consumers access all

link showing exactly where

"soodOn the Print front, clailY

imaqe.

Stevenson

showed how the web site of a wellknown American newspaper can

professor Rc¡t>ert L. Sterzensorì, I(enan Professor ofJournalisrn and l\4a.ss Corrrrrrr1nication a,t tl-re lJnirzersity of Nortl-r Car<>lir:ra, Cl-rapel Hill, looks at tkre ftrtr-rre of the rrredia" A4ic'lcctel A4czcke3t repolts

the \Øeather Channel information.

of slides Prof

a

35

80o/o

2.5O0/ol

27,40o/o

77 90o/o

4oo/o

2?'19%I zo.tuv, 3 600/o 5 80o/o

I

Do you think the news medla in Hong Kong have any scruples about crltlclzlng the Chinese Government?

Chinese

7-8/9E 6!.70o/o

Yes

No Hard to

Do you

25.I0o/o 13 3jo/o

say

9-to/98 60

5oo/o

30.600/o

8 900/o

Hong l(ong 9-10/98

7-8/98 29 10o/o 62 40o/o 8.50o/o

25.70o/o 69.3O0/o

5

O0o/o

think the news media ln Hong Kong...

practice

give frrll play to

the

misr¡se or atn¡se

self-censorship? freedomofspeech? freedomofpress?

Yes No Don't

knoil

Hard to

say

7-8/98 9-70/98 7-8/98 9-1o/9E 38 50o/o 50 20o/o 59 40o/o 64 20o/o 36.000/0 33.400/o 25 80o/o 24 50o/o 25

400/o

76

4O0/o 7480o/o ll,30o/o

7-8/98

9-10/98 52.60o/o 59 40o/o 29

50%

29 .000/o

18,00%o I77O0/o

@ November 1998 THE C0RRf,SPOlfIlHlT

Looted: The Philipplnes after the bases

Roots, rock &

o

feggae with atrAsiatr flavor

Olcl Asi-.1-kra-nc1 and life at>sent rner-rrl>er f)c¡tzctlcl I{irk I-ras'slzrittel-ì a h>ook on tl-re Philippines since the Arrre rican y/itht d ravr al. C onsult a.rl.t all.d colurrrnist PliiliP Bozttt4tzg, vzho is also -¿ forrrrer FCC president, revieuzs tl-re book

ooks abor-rt the Philippine

to foreign capital and inject

and balanced ones as scarce as goocl

flovernfirent in Manila. Kirk's work is readable, revealing ancl ciisturbing most of all to those u'ho believed that the restoration of demo cracy and a n-rarket economy could make the

foreign occllpations.

of SanMiguel. the nation's bestknown

corrlÌpt and self-serving elite which has survived for more thana centluy,

collntry a moclel combination of

The end of the bases was the result of nationalist rhetoric sharecl by

freeclom and development.

However, in the process of clescribing

more 01'less unchanged through all kinds of home grown regimes and

slipped frc¡m the grasp of the state by cor-rrtesy of political cleals, grasping jr-rclges or interminable litigation. Even before the Estrada victoly, his lr,rnning mate in 1992 and one of the closest Marcos cronies, Edr-rarclo Cojuangco, legained lepresentation on the board

some dynarnism into business, the nation is still r-rnder the control of the same

s

are rare. Good ones rarer still,

-not and was the popular rnajority connected Filipinos and with the

The weakness of the book is a hectoring style and a failure to adequately admit how many things

followed by the rape of Clark's assets, carried out for the benefit of well

acctuately enough

some of the-society's deep-seated ills, Kirk's at times lectlrling stance takes it across the border ofbalance.

connivance of some Americans.

Subic was luckier but the story of

This is an immorality tale built upon two crucial and interrelated

its transition from militaly to international civilian use has

events of 7991 and their aftermath: the July eruption of Mount Pinatubo and

the against the - Aquino appeals of President Cory not to l'enew leases on the US military bases. Of the two main ones, ClarkAir Base had been devastated by the eluption ancl Subic Bay naval base

demonstrated the endemic natr-rre of cronyism in the Philippines. "Free Port ol Hacienda" is the apt title of lGrk's account of the new Subic.

Until sacked by President Estrada, Subic was the fiefdom of Richard Gorclon, local political boss, and son of the base's culture. Kilk is however

threatened.

no less critical of Gordon's best known

the September decision of Philippines senate

These 1991 evenrs

will likely

go

down in Philippines histor-y as lrrol'e imporlant than the internationally better known e\¡ent five years earlier: the so-called People Power revolution which endecl the corlupt, but only

spasmodically luthless, rule of

Presiclent Ferdinand Marcos. Kirk's thesis is that very little has changed since 1986. Despite the restoration of elected govel'nment, despite the efforts of (then) President Ramos to open LÌp Tf,E CORRXSPOIIDf,NT Noven'rl¡er.

local foe, Shay Cullen, an Irish cleric and self-proclaimed defendel of local children from sexual and othel abuse.

Cr-rllen appears as a publicity-seeking priest adept at providing tear-jerking footage for westeln journalists more concerned with effect than facts.

It is harcl to algue with lGrk's central thesis of endemic rot. Not one of the big names who participated in the looting under Marcos has gone to jail.

Sequestered assets have grad:ually

.1998

On a- quiet street in Penang's eqltally quiet George lfovzn, Peter Betztzett finds a. regga.e T>a.r in full svzir-rg. An¡z other rnerrrl>ers collìe across a special or ur-rique .ç\,'atering-Lrole on ttreir tra-rzels?

it

"rìce bowl" though

has been an importer of rice for

many of the past one hundred years.

The millions oi Filipino

migrant-s (mostly doing well in Califolnia) and contl'act workers overseas are depicted

as an exploited class rathel than indication of innate entrepreneurship.

In sum, anyone with an interest in the Philippines should read this, But a little more sympathy for his subject would have made a useful book into a very good one.

@

Black Uhuru, then Jimmy Cliff, next Shabba Ranks as the customers drift in and out. This has to be the all-time reggae joint outside of the Caribbean.

Right above the open doorway, a lough-painted " One Love" announces the entrance to probablythe onlyRasta cafe in Asia. Ease on in to the cool interior and the steady throb of the reggae beat tells you that you are in Marley Country. Take a seat on the wooden benches ln any of the four or five cramped cubicies and you'dswear you were in Kingston, Jamarca.

All around are posters, quotes and

All that is missing is Red Stripe beer, dreads and the whiff of a spliff.

- take another look. Set low Then down on the floor next to the back

Casual even by Penang standards,

the sounds of the King of Reggae Music,

of

minimal amount

Bob Marley. the Master Himself - on stage with' Classic pictures of him The'ùØailers, laughing famiiy photos,

any kind of a narcotic (known collectively as "dada") is punishable by death.

On the small souvenir counter', where leather belts with Bob Madey buckles can be yor,rrs for only a few

there is a welcome for evelyone.

Don't expect luxury service ol bigcity enteltainment. There's no space for skankin', but plenty of time to totally unwincl, relax undel the cool ceiling fans and take in the sounds of

clollars, signs advise buyers kulit balal,

Jamaica, mon

the - of capital of the Malaysian island state

Penang. The yellow-r'ed-green

sometimes dubious. For instance, he a

drab row of shop houses, fablic wholesalers, haldware stores and trading companies making up this typical Southeast Asian street.

ht

in downtown George Town

of violence. Nor is there much lecognition that Filipinos know they enjoy their social freedoms even if economic p1'ogress or overthrow the crony system has eluded them. Kirk intloduces too many stereotypes for comfort and his economics is also traditionallybeen

in' fo r

Rastafalian colors striped acloss the entrance was in stark contrast to the

t

The soulftrl voice of Bob Madey boomed out from a dalkened shop front as I walked along Chulia Street

have improved since 1986, whether it is the wider distlibution of spoils, the erosion ofmonopolies orthe rednction

suggests that Philippines has

di er - fig

Í

)

gong, tablas and cymbals. It looks like a Sixties hippie hangout but in alub-a-dub style.

Outside onthe sidewalk, pròbably the biggestguyinthe whole of Penang a 250 lb giant dressed in a Rasta -apron and short shorts is slinging hash (of the potato valiety) or any other short order you want (American or Asian style).The music changes to

BÍr¡;";

company. "Danding", as this Cojuangco (a cousin of Cory Aquino) is known, is now flying highel still.

)I

shots of Bob at his favourite sport on

the football (soccer)

field. There is

even a glass cabinet containing Rasta t-shilts, big beanies for your cfu'eadlocks and all manner of Malleymemolabilia,

The walls are hung to the high ceiling withJ amaican tlags, Rastafalian emblems, old guitars and other musical instfl-Ìments, ancient bakelite radio sets,

to Jarnaica. This has not stopped him becoming a self-confessed reggae

freak. Lee is Chinese-Malaysian and just loves the music and the message of Bob Madey: "Let's gettogether and

feel all right.."

His clientele is made up of both internatignal travellers and locals.

Mâínly yolrng in age and.long of hair, the customers sit in the tight cubicles,

drinking beer (probably the coldest available in this tropical town), playing cards and swapping travellers' tales.

On occasions, itinelant mtrsicians jam on the tiny wooden stage, playing for fun and beer'. Paulson Lee is as laid

back as ahyo.te running such an establishrnent can be. He purchases

little Chinese shrine, dedicatecl

the latest reggae CDs from dealers in

to the Kitchen God, with a couple of

Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and occasionally manages to pick up a music video with the latest sounds

door

is a

joss sticks burning. Prominently displayed among all the reggae designs on the wall is a notice "NO DRUGS'a

necessaly warning in Malaysia where

mere possession of

a

signifying that the leather has been

frorn Malaysian merchant seamen back

fiom a trip to the Caribbean.

I@

Reggae Club 4a3 C}rwltta Street

prepaled according to lslamic rites another reminder that you are inlargely Muslim MaIaysia.

Paulson Lee, the owner, was born

GeorgeTownFenang,

Malaysia.

Tel (604) 261 5081

in Kuala Lr-rmpur and has never been November

i998 IHI

CORRDSP0ìlIlEtllT

Sourcing who said whatto whom Sotrrcing inforr-nation f<>r a, stoÐ,r is an integral part jotrrnalistt¡.. Stt ¿¿zrt IYzc lfe n r) cl/e Io oks a"t tl-ris c ontel1tior-rs sut> j e ct. >

being leacl in jor,rlnalisrn school soulcing ant¡way? Columnists take what's out there and pee on it. Features w'riters lnassage an existing situation and upset only a very small circle who clicln't get what they expected, I was

few paras on the subject of 'sourcing'

clock media repetition of the same sanctioned subject. You cannot imagine the difficulry in finding out

after Steve Brill's sermon on the matter

what is happening on the outside.

in his new Brill's Content n-ngazine, but this is and that was a while ago.

In the meantime, that indispensable sonrce of journalism good or

through. The L.A Times might too, but since it has one of those beloved local layouts where you get three pals and

The New York Times sneaks items

evil, the laptop, flickered, invitecl me

then an instr-uction to continue on page

to open a 'Table of Contents' on screen

B4J,yott toppie sideways in the chair

every 20 seconds, then locked the screen, told me I was committing 'illegal actions' (which, had I been in Texas, would have

trying to find out. I can go on the\íeb

been correct) then went blank and refused to 'boot up' even

though I kicked it. This happened twice. \Øorking

alone, I spent more hours on the freeway to repairers with it

slumbering in the passenger writing anything into it. This huge technicality, as much as anything else, has been disinclining me to give seat than I did

much more of

a

toss about this

(if that damn computer ever starts

retrospect

'mawkish

nonsense', as Chris Patten has just described the Lewinsky

scandal, began to reform to the dimensions of Godzilla which, unfortunately, Miss Lewinsky ís beginning to resemble after months of just sitting in the \Øatergate str-rffing

working properly) and look at the

her face. There has been months and

are uttedy sealed by semen.

- are dangerous people who Foreigners gather in ugly crowds and threaten the

months of her and, sure as a Congressman can put a br,rn in an oven, there will be many months more.

The trouble is, there is nothing else but Lewinsky.

- satin and in wig,

If ¡rou'rze ctrorrrped ttrrouglr- - -ttre Starr R.eport (amd) rrrost of (Clinton's four-trour rzideo deposition ---ttre pr.ess seefrrs to tranre l>een positirzel¡r restrained in

foolish occupation.

Then the

very much The Foulth Estate br-rckled shoe.

Admittedly, as an estate, it can be bor-rght very cheaply per acre (or' hectare if you prefer metric), but it does believe it knows better than the commonaiity it reports for. Time and again, honest reportage and sound pollsters in whose findings normally the press rejoice, have stated the American public does not want to hear any more salacity. But the media owners it really must be - end of the day them at the itself

I am beginning to

understand something of what it must have been like living in the'ùØarsaw Pact;yards and yards olprint variations on the same theme and round the THE CORRDSP0I{DXNT November 1998

foreign press or sit in a corner with the blinds closed and tune into shott wave BBC \Øolld Service. TV and radio here

even PBS (Public Broadcasting

-Service)

American way, Best back to Sam Donaldson at The'White House in gabardine talking about a dress. Against a1l this , who the hell cares about delicacies like sources?

It is interesting to note that this news blanket is being laid over bythe media

with hopelessly coarse Congressional Republicans, are ignoling their most at one

lmportant soufce.

To be lair to

the opportunistic media and to give the pious Brill a boot in the goolies, he might have been correct in the pedantry of sourcing as an ethic, but all the operators he castigated in the inaugulal issue of Content did get the story. According to Brill. the press were passing on rLrmours and hearsay and

allegations and presenting them as facts. They were relying on unidentified sources.

But that same press seemed to have been correct in just about every damned and damning detail, They got

it oltt and right with the precision of Einsteinian maths. If you've chomped through, as I have, the Starr Report (minus annexes) andgotup anddown and walked aboutthrough most of the

four-hour video deposition of the President/Commander-in-Chief, the press seems to have been positively lestrained in retrospect.

I cannot see Brill as personal guru

let's say, ghetto. As anEnglishJanguage

only involved in serious reportage rarely and found the pressure from

diarist in Hong Kong, I once inch-rded

abor.e to create the number of sources irresistible . You would either have a

expatriate set of chambels. I said that my source was a balrister. Sadly the enraged head of chambers thought it

purist editor who neeclecl ten testimonials to the traffic signal seqlrence belole he d

plint il or

yorr

editolwho vn'anted a goodyarn and just fi-ont up with what the -handbook said you shoulcl. hacl an

'Ttn. idea was that for this monrh's L nagazine, I should tag on for a

As fol this business of stating the type or quality of your source , I l'rave said before that purists like Brill do not understancl the gelignite nature of r.riting about a small communily or' ,

an jtem on the goings-on in

an

one of his own balristers and in particular the only one who was an FCC member and known to me. The head of chambers was wrong, but it was his junior member who had his

hands round mythl'oat at the Main Bar telling rne about the wife and childlen he had to suppol't and promising to make rne one with the Canton tiles Lrntil I told him which barlistel it was so that he could report that back and

excLÌlpate himself.

Of course, I couldn't tell the poor fellow that and powerfr-rl as he was, I joined the tiles for a while.

Fudge the mrmbers if it heIps, fvzz the identities where its prudent get

of it right and you're probably doing a good job. That's what the better govetnments ntn on an)-!vay.

80o/o

@

Prestigious awatdfor Oríent Auí,øtíon Tl-ris H o ng I{o ng-b a s e d c orralTre r ci'al a:r ia"ti o n rrl.a. ga, zirte, pr-r h>l ishe d b¡z FCC rlreml>ers Barr-y Grindrod and CLrristine À4cGee, 'vvon 'àrr award frorr-r tkre R-o¡zal A.erona-r..tical Society. f\r¡nu!

chief

has been part of our small editorial

L-/.or,'.rpondent. Tom Ba llanryne, received the GE Aircraft Engines sponsored award for the Best Ail

Auiatio¡r

team from the start. His award

Royal Aeronautical Society's 3rd Annual Aerospace Journalist of the Year Awards, held at a gala dinner during the Farnborough Air Show in the UI(.

Ballantyne's winning entry "Talking Tough on the Hill" was an exclusive series of inteffiews with the men in

much forBalry and (joint publisher) Christine as it is for me. Orient Auiation is a young magazine, but in five years it has der.eloped a product that can

s

demonstrates his faith inus has paid off".

Added Ballantyne: "This award is

Transpolt entry in the

the US Department of Transportation who frarned the US Open Skies policy and brokered aviation regttlatory deals with several countries in the AsiaPacific in 1,997.

More than 500 entries from 70 of

as

compete successfully head-to-head with the best in fhe business. One of Tom Ballantyne (lefr) of Orient Auiation receiues tbe 1998 GE Aircr;ft Engines sþonsorecl au,ard rbe recent Royal Aeronautical Socieü)'s Journalist of tbe Year

gala

Aui ation and

palticularly rewarding

as we celebrated our fifth

the secrets of their success is that being

formel newspaper people themselves, they understand the value of quality editorial in a magazine and give their

team of reporters a great deal of and they freedom in their writing pay pfomptly!" ()rient Auiation was launched by Grindrod, a former feature writer with the Soutb China Morning Posl, in

the world's top aviation writers were considered by the judges for the 74

anniversary in October'.

specialist categories. Air transport was

thatwe came

O

one of the major awards. Others covered lhe militaly and space tfansportalion industries. aviation

competition fi'om the aerospace

It became a bimonthly two years later and in Febrr,rary this year increasecl its

maintenance anrl avion

industry's most established magazines Iike Flight Internationølin the UK and 'Week

Auiation

ics.

Explained Grindrod, who is also managing editor as well as publisher:

"It is great recognition lor

"Iù(/hat gives us great satisfaction is oLÌt on top against tough

Orient

and

Air

Trønsþort

'X/orld in the US. "Tom is one of the most respected aviation journalists in the wodd. He

ctober, I99 3, as a quafierly magazine.

frequency to 10 issues

a

year. The BPA

International audited circulation is almost 11,000. It is distributedto L17 countries world-wide.

@ November. 1998 Tf,E CORRXSP0Iì|DEIIT

Why adollat isÍt't worth abuck artymore

By David O'Rear

the GAD!, r'eflecting slower demand in economies rapidly heading in reverse.

pegged to the US dollar, their percent change against oil is indicative of their appreciation against other currencies.

During the GAD!, the US dollar price of a barrel. of oil dropped from US$18.43 in July last year to abour US$13.15 lately. For Indonesia (an

Qin."

the surnmer', rhe world's

L-f exchange rates have been dashing off in one direction and then the other.

Just when you think you've figured

out which way the damn thing is moving, it does an imitation of an Americaq football running back,

cbou d,oufuwould accept

a PPP

dollar

in exchange for work (or goods), it isn't very useful in measuring markets or buying power. \X/hen it comes right down to it, the value of a currency is the same as the value of an¡hing else for sale: whatever

zigging and zagging allover the place.

Try to grab one and you end up with a hand full of air. Or, as Long-Term Capital Management and several other hedge funds discovered, you get flattened by the other side. (Apologies to non-Americans, but it is football

satisfy the questions (a) what is a proper value for a given cr-rrrency?, and (b) why the hell is the damn thing

season!)

moving all over the place?

So, what is the

proper value of

someone is willing to pay for it. The most common measure is the spot

(minute-by-minute) market rate in

London or New York, but that doesn't

of your economic policies or howthey are reflectedinyourmarkets,

itdoesn't matter. Malaysia's Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad took this approach when he fixed the Ringgit at

M$3.S:US$1. The upside is that volatility vanished from sight (it goes underground, to the black market);

purchasing power parity (PPP), which assumes that everything in lwo countries

is identical

the Cbina Døily -equals the Neru York Times, bamboo equals aluminium scaffolding, rice equals bread,

MonthlyAverage

Low

Australian Dollar Chinese Renminbi Hong Kong Dollar Indonesian Rupiah Japanese Yen

1.346 8.279

8.291.

7.731.

7.749

2,510

74,r79

1.1.5.32

144.31.

Korean'ùØon Malaysian Ringgit

897

7,700

2.58 28.04

Philippines Peso Singapore Dollar

r.45

New Taiwan Dollar Thai Baht

27.98 30.72

1..698

4.47 43.87 7.76 34.69 53.00

Source: EIU

equals Tsingtao, etc. On this basis it is supposedly possible to work out what the exchange rate "should" be. This is the source of absurd comments fi'om

able to answer these questions, either,

The market value of a currency

should reflect the economy's primarily economic - and interest rates, growlh, inflation

Japan's" , or "Indonesiahas a GDP per

Volatility is the price that must be paid to know what the market thinks of the country's fundamentals. If you don't care what lhe rest of the wodd thinks

exchange rare level of US$530). Since

TnE CORRXSPOil|¡DNT November 1998

Indonesian economy

in

mid-point between the dollar and oil figures in the charl, we can adjust for not only the drop in Asian currency values but also the decline in wodd oil prices, which moderates the region's devaluations. Under this analysis, the rate for the Japanese Yen against the

US dollar "should" be around Y135.8:US$1

... and for Hong Kong

roughly HK$9.04:US$1!

Digression: \Øhen calculating the appre-

ciation or depreciation of

a

cuffency vis-à-vis the US dollar, divide one (dollar) by the number

of Yen (or whatever) in

the

772o/o (at Rp7,850: US$1) more productive thanitwasinmid-

us$1).

0.0083 G120.Ð. 0.0083 minus

June (at Rp16,650:

else, something universal and necessary (unlike, say, gold): abarrel of oil? The table shows the average

monthly highs and lows of various currencies against the US dollar during the Great Asian Depression (GAD!). It also shows the percent change in currency values fromJuly 1997 to mtdOctober 1998 inboth US dollar terms andvis-a-vis the price of a barrel of oil.

Oil prices have fallen sharply during

Dr Eric Goemaere (second from Ieft), Director-Geheral of Medecins and colleagues sþoke about tbe reality of tuorking in Noñb Korea.

sçtns Frontieres,

Down memory lang rror-.r c.P. Ho Kevin Sinclair's pie ce on the old Caravelle Hotel brings back memories and

exchange rate at the two points in time, and figure out the percent change. Thus, the Yen on October 6th was 0.0077 (one divided by Y1,29.7), and on October 7th was

mid-October was

against something

Unfortunately, in the space of a couple of hundred words I won't be

fundamentals

no one with the sawy of a piece of

that the Baht, when ir hir 8156.1:us$1 in January, reflected a 330/o drop in the efficiency (value) of the Thai economy from where it was a couple of months earlier. Nor, do most people think that the

measuring currencies

otherwise sane people such as "China's economy is bigger than capita of US$3,860" (versus rhe

mentals. No one seriously believes

'What about

Citibank equals

Pudong Development Bank, Bud

during the same period, despite a 28.7o/o decline in world (dollar) oil So, what should be the "proper" value of a given currency? If we take a

US$ vs Oil -17.\o/o +I4.00/o +0.2 +28.8 0.0 +28.7 -73.0 -64.4 -+7.0 +24.3 -34.3 -8.5 -32.2 -5.2 -35.3 -70.3 -11.8 +r9.2 _rj.9 +I5.2 -21.8 +8.9

vs

earned 64.40/o more

in October compared to 16 months ago. However, for the Philippines-an oil importer-the Peso price has increased 70.3o/o prlces.

Change 7/97-lO/98

High

oil exported

Rupiah

There is a general consensus (except among economic theoreticians, a particulady vile breed of parasite) that recent exchange rate levels and market volatility is far beyond what would be expected based on funda-

Currency Movements July a9974ctober 1998 o/o

oil

exporter), this means every barrel of

the downside is that it distorts prices.

a

currency? First, you have to figure outwhat you are measuring it against, which is usually the US dollar butmightbe amythical (br-rt representative) basket of goods and selices. The popular version of the latter is

Press conference

As China's currencies (the Renminbi and Hong Kong dollar) are loosely

0.0077 equals 0.0006; 0.006 divided bythe ending point (0.0083) equals 0.07 L, orf .1%, which is the amount the Yen appreciated against the

by coincidence, a copy of The Times of Vietnam came to light while I was clearing my boxes. The pic shows Mdm Ngo Dinh Nhu, the "Dragon Lady", in her last time in Saigon. After talking to the press at Tan Son Nhut Ailpolt on the night of September 10, 1.963, she flew to Belgrade to attend the 52nd InterParliamentary Union meeting

never to return to Vietnam. Shortly afterwards,

her husband, presidential adviser Ngo Dinh Nhu, and her brother-in-law, President Ngo Ding Diem, were killed. Can anyone shed light on some of the yolÌng, old faces in the pic?

Øbeg:Tg

î[arrr,

AIllTrtIURTRS IUI{T UP FOR2I{[ ROUtlD

dollar on the day it moved the

largest amount money fun?

in 25 years. Isn't

Dauid O'Reør, Regionøl Economist for tbe Economist Intelligence Unit, belieues tbat exchønge ra.les are most uolatile on days tbat end in "Y".

@ Nover¡ber' 1998 fHE

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PR Manager

Manager (Editorial)

2807 6527 2807 6373

FCC Membership No.

Company Name:

Signature:

INFORMATION oto g rap h s-V i d e o s-F eat u re s- L ite rat u re-

Name

Address:

ax: 2807 6595 E-mail:plr@ hkta.org

lnternet: http://www.hkta.org

Ph

Large box w/ spot colour @ $700x6mths / $600x1lmths

B oo

ks

For more information telephone 2573 3548 or fiax2834 3162

on all aspects of tourism industry November 1998 THD

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Birtbclal, celebrants Elait'te scrt.llic¡n(above) ancl Gord.on Mailloux(above left) partied it up island style. \Yhile FCC Cbef Steue tï/awen and tbe HyatrRegency Guam's otun Bernaclefie Augon (above right) took gr.test's taste buds on ót tantalizing islótnd

È

acluenture.

E

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õ a I

Euerybocllt had

fun

including

tbe FCC's børd taorking

clining room sth"ff picturecl bere in tbeirpart)) clotbes

Guam Island Fiesta aÍrother s p e ctacul at

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afi

lfl-re vzonderful folks frorn Gr-ra-rrr sponsored a-notl-rer sr-rccessful Gr-ra.r1.r Tsland Fiesta in the MIa"in Dining Iìoorr-r. For thre thircl yea.r runr-rir-rg, the Gr-tarn Visitor's Br-reau, Continental À4icronesia Airlines and tl-re pacific Island Club Fa-ntas),. Dancers t>rougl-rt alt fun and e><citement of thre i.sland's to the FCC. Gtra-rn's islzlnd cooking is a-luza¡zs a trea-t a-ncl this yea,r the Hyatt-Regenc¡z Guarn's Cl-ref Bernadette Augon took gr-rest's to ney/ lerzels of tanta-lising taste ser-rsa-tions. Tuzo lucky rrrernl>ers v,/on trips for l'q/o to tl-re isla-nd of Guarrr a-nd in trLre isla-nd tra-dition there v,/ere gifts for everyone. rf ¡zou missed it derr'¡ szorп they'll be back rÌe><t yea.rTHE CORRISP0ilDENT November 1998

-4

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...atrd the wínner is

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Isabella Chu was the luckywinner for a trip fortwo flying Continental Micronesia to Guam and staying at the Pacific Isiands Club. Another trip for two to Gr_ram staying at the Hyatt-Regency Gr-ram will be drawn in November following the Guarn Island Food Fiesta in October. Ancl if yor.r don't win Continental Holiday,s is

offeling rnembel''s a special three day package to Guam for just HK$3,500. Ring 2524 6t78 for details.

Novernber

1

T--

FCC

atthe%ela

YistaBall The greatest kíss on earth

Photos by David Thurston Brnce 8 Marie-Noëlle Grill, Many øndJane Merz.

The Red Lips, a congregation of independent FCC

members, had an extraordinary general meeting

to bid farewell to one of its stalwarts.

Farewells Chris Slaugbter and Fin Halligan

ù

Robin lynøm and Karin Mahnström

è

= ñ Susan Field ancl Alene

Freidenrich.

Tbe AFP's Paul'Harrington ( ) beads to Paris on resignment while Euan Barty ancl wife Pat Malone ctre off to Cyþrus after huo d.ecades in Hong Kong.

THE 1999 FCC DIARIES The 1999 FCC range ofexecutive diarjes is now available at "Club" prices. Each has been specially produced with a wealth of impofiant information, in either black imporled bonded leather or Haþþ! snapper Dauicl

calf skin for wallets. All feature

Tburslott caugbt in tbe act.

if requested.

Avoid disappointment and order early as stocks are limited.

Orders will be available for collection in Decembe¡. Allow three

Organiser Ted

Man-

"Mr Bela Vista Ball"

a

discreet club logo and your name,

weeks for personalizing with your name or initials.

informalion.

Karen Penlington

Tecld Marr witb tbe bønc|, Mar Delsfrom San Diego

THX CORRXSPOII|IIENT November 1998

TL¡e

Fabulotts

(Left to right in the tub) Ian Clark, Polly YrL ancl Cbris Dobson witb Paul C)'Connor in tbe back.

10 kg (L) $420 5.5ke(S) $780 6.5kg

$720

HK$240.00

I will pick up my order promptly on:

HK$

Collection date: Members Name: No:

new convenient size of 164 x2l0mm, popular week-to-view diary; international public holidays; general

C. The FCC Pocket Diary. 58 weeks in the popular week-to-view format; international public holidays; general information.

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

E. The FCC Calf Skin Wallet. Ideal for the Pocket Diary.

$150 5009

HK$320.00

week-to-view format; international

Barbara

Chicken Liver Parfait Roast Turkey with chestnut stuffing & gravy

Honey Roast Ham Roast Sirloin Beef with Yorkshire Puddings $820 4 kg Mincemeat Tart with rum butter $140 8 Portions Christmas Pudding with brandy sauce $ 70 2509

A. The Desk Diary. 58 weeks in popular public holidays; world atlas.

B. The FCC Compact Desk Diary. The

TAKEWAY Smoked Salmon (sliced) Norwegian $ 75 2509 1998 CHRISTMAS

80.00

HK$ 90.00 HK$240.00

Order forms available at the front desk or call Lavinia, Sarah, Jennifer, Don or Doris on252ll5ll

Time:

Signature on ordering: Signature on collection:

Ordering date: Please order in person or fax at 2868 4092 and a minimum of 4 days notice is required *No cancellations wil be accepted*

November 1998 rHE

CORRf,SPOI{IIEI{T

T-Paris

Europe

Quiz Night

5 =

ìñ

Tbe Hong Kong Mensa teann celebrates

tbeir uictory(lefr)

ubile on anotber nigbt, Tony Nedderntan collects

tbe

þrize

on bebalf of tbe NF Sorbet team.

Karin Malmsrrom andJeff fleselwood. on board. sbip on lake Lucerne during a. recent trip testing tbe new Mercedes-Benz S-Class throughout Germany and Swûzerland.

Ex-Presid.ent John

Giannini rougbing it

Bridge Night

in Paris.

Vietnam s e N

Phuket ss. a sÈ

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Iust otxe of tbe many actiuities in tbe FCC Høue you signed up?

Robin Iynam, Iynn Grebstød and Mark Grøbam taking a break,.

London

The FCC Trailwalkers' teafit

Feeding time: Dauid Tburston anclfriends

The offspring of a moment of inebriated madness, but a team the FCC can be proud of: Team Leader is the inimitable Louis Thornas ("Alice"), who is renowned for his sense of balance, funny jokes and ability to find hills where none previously existed. Already holderofthe title "oldest competitortofinish theTrailwalker" (7996), he's fondly referred to by Team members as the

On a recent trip to London,the Corcespond.ents editor and wife managed to catch up with a few ex-FCC hands. !â

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"geriatric Olympian".

Team Members are made up of the cream of the 'lawyers

corner'. Kevin Egan ("Ego") will doubtless be even more insufferable after completing the walk. The Brisbane Bruiser Lris 6'2" ,21.9Lb lrame on a maiden voyage of discovery. Ray Pierce ("Mondo") will be using his prodigious memory of his one previous walk (1994, 27 hours) to ensure the way is clear for his inexperienced Chamber colleague, and Peter Pederson ("Twiggy") who's main role in this venture is to carry Kevin.

will be pushing

Dauid Perleins, Peter Gregson, Elaine Perkíns, Gun-Maj Gregson, Alison lockbart and.Jobn Rodcly uho was uisiting Londonfrom bis abode Down Under. Photo right: A nigbt out witb a pa.ir of fo?"mer Club Steward.s: (left to right) ex Reuters cotresþonclent Alasdair Gibson, Léna lockbart, Saul lockhart, Alexi \Yedderburn, Alison Lockban ancl liz Eckersley

Whenyou are on the road and cross paths with former FCCers, take asnap....please.

THE COÎRDSP0NDXIìIT November 1998

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The "Trailwalker" is an annual fundraising walkathon along the 10Okm-Maclehose Trail. Lasf year, over HK$11. million was raised.

Novernber 1998 TUE

CORRXSP0NI¡DNÏ

A montbly portrøít of FCC ùrrepløceøbres

50 years atthe FCC 1999 marks the 50th annÍversary of the FCC

in Hong Kong

During next March there will be:

:þxåï'*ii# Come along and meet old friends or just contemplate your navel over the next 50 years.

*****

Peter Berry Member since: Age: Profession: Nationality: Least iikely to say: Most likely to say:

Before "the move".

Younger than Ted Thomas (and Shakey).

See photo.

Colonial Brit.

Vill you marry me?

Are you married?

Photograpbed by Bob Døais

Sponsorecr

THE CORRf,SPONIIEI{T November 1998

by

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Kodak (Far East) Limited irJìÊ

(iËH)ËljftrÄËl

The comespondenl plans a bumper 50th anniversary issue We plan to look a little at the past, a lot of the present, and a little of the future.

We invite ideas and contributions.

We also want YOUR ADS This is a good way to support your club and your magazine and give your company a high profile in a magazine that will reach the four corners of the globe Place your bookings with the pubrications committee representatives (Paul Bayfield, Terry Duckham and Saul Lockhart)

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Venture t"yottJ Àsia to tL" Pu.ci{i". À -hol" new experiencer a unique awaits you on Grrurn. Tulu" ".,It.rr", ol[["t an action pu"L"J L"liJuy on tLis Paci{ic IrlunJ purrJir". Or toucL Jo-n unJ rir''ply relax e.rjoying t;e

'""';::"î"r1;""ü f"";r""ï"'.y

o{ tk" Hyatt Regency G,'u-, *l'it" ,u'J t"'"l'"r, .rp"rt ,ou "o..rr"s, lreat Ji..ittg, {ithittg ull manner o{ watersports. From Octoter to Novernter 30 Continental Micronesia i. o{{"rirrg "ttJ sp""irl *""L"rJ paclzages {"r FCC rnernters starting at just HK3,500.00.

Guam Visitors Bureau ktbisíon Bisibn Auahan

Continental Micronesia For more information: Tel: 2524 6178 Fax: 2845 0682

õ3:r,YAl] GUAM