The Correspondent February - March 2000 by The Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong

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Ringing in YZK aof All The GinJoints' Bert's First Anniversary

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Constitutional Comittee Conaenor: Sanll Lockhart

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Entertaiment Comittee

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Call Roscnqrrist

Freedom of the Press Committee Conumor : Fran cis Nlotiarty

Wall Colrmittee Hnbert van Es and Bob Davis

Co-aonaenors:

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General Manager Gilbert Cheng a

Contingency Planning Services

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Tlrc Cot t esponderrt is prrblished 6 tìntes a ycar. Opiiions expr essed by nritcrs in magaziné are not uecessari\'those of the Club.

Flilbon Feng li¡lil.or: Satl Lockhart , Prorluction: TerrY Duckh¡m'

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THE CORRESPONDENT FEBRUARY-ì\,TAR(IH

Media 14 The Last Goodbye 16 Phuket Gazette.

the Macau Handover.

FCC Golf Society 18 Bangkok Overseas Challenge. 19 Richãrd Hughes and Charlie Smith Seniors Trophies.

Watering-Hole

Survey

Members

Asia By The Numbers

I I

Drinking in Nairobi.

Our Lady Members. Rediscovering TV.

Cover Story

The Foreign Correspondents' Cltrb of Hong I(ong

Publications Comittee

The Correspondent

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T4 1B

Menbership Comittee Co¿¿a¿or Flubert r'¿n Es

the BBC's piogramme on the FCC.

Grey Skies Over Hong Kong. Js¡1s¡¡ervland. 10 Dr. Michael DeGolyer Cri.sis: A P-ost-Mortem. The Asian 12 Mark Clifford 13 Dr. Nay g¡rtt - Politics of Environment in Asia'

Conu¿nor Mark Landler

I L,rn.hlin". I B Environment Panel -

ì\lcr z, Carl Rosenqrrist

Finmce Comittee Conamot': Bcn Beaumont (Treasure r)

Home Committee (lottucuor: Dare Grr cia

1 Letters & Announcements I 4 ,*orothe President I C Feature I Of All the GinJoints

Associate Member Governors ßcn Beautnont, Davc (ial eia.

Correspondent Member Governors Lisa Barron, Rorvan Callick, Bob Davis, Hubert van Es, Cathy Hilborn Feng, Mark Landler, Sarrl Lockhart, t\'Iishi Sar¿rn

Due Diligence

Business Intelligence Analysis

Philip Scgal President FiretVice President - Christopher Slatrghte r Ray Rudorvski Second Vice President

2 Lorve r AJbert Road, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2521 1511 Fax: (852) 2868 4092 E-mail: <lcc@fcchk,org>

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CORRESPONDENTS'

CLUB

THE FOREIGN

Millennium Parry.

26 27 I 28 I 30 I

Staff Party

Entertaining at the FCC

Bert's First Anniversary Live at Bert's

RTHI(s Cheung Man-yee

Says Goodbye

32 Around the FCC in Pictures

Ic) c> JJ I

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Professional Contacts FCC Faces

Peter Yung

From Ann Jacklin (Brian Jeffries' sister)

The time since we received the copies of

The

Corresp onclent (December 1 999/January 2000) between Chrisimas and the NewYear seems to have flown by and I am ashamed that it has taken me so long to write' We

were very touched that you had includecl so much about Brian and I know that he would have been anttazedby all the lovely letters with many amusing and

kind memories of times spent in his

comPany we received from his many friends around the globe' We were also overwhelmed and more grateful than

television and radio. A total of 1,026 comPleted rate of questionnaires were returned, a resPonse

amazed but very pleased to think that so much had been collected in his name and that it would help benefit future patients and the staff who had looked after him with such consideration kindness and had great respect for his dignitY' " H"artfett thanks must go to Marilyn Hood' Pat Elliott Shircore and Mike Moles for all their help and support throughout the time Brian was here' Also to låui¿ 1ìnrrrrtoi for visiting him whenever possible and

36.2%.

The results show thatjournalists are generally dis-

1. To formulate a media code of ethics to be widell' accepted byjournalists and to promote the code among media ProPrietors.

four associations will actively study whether there is a need to set up a non-governmental monitoring and complaints mechanism' 2. The

we can say for all the very generous donations for Turner Ward and the Cancer Team, who looked after Brian on his arrival home and in the last few weeks before he died. Without doubt, Brian would have been monrtoralternative is the creation of a non-statutory representatives industry ing body comprising

excess of f32,000' Paul and I are hoping to visit Hong Kong later on in the year and maybe we shall be able to say some p"rsãnd thank yous should we meet at the FCC!

d,ining

Øb.\Vo).

Based on the opinions expressed by colleagues in

lnternational tlìloülcn's MBüla Feundation

Nominations are being sought worldwjde for the

Fpafessionûl lunche's March 23

Bolton, Senior Vice President'

- John American Enterprise Institute, one of America's

largest think tanks. (Mr. Bolton is a former Assistant S"c-retary of State under President Bush) ' March 24 - P- J. O'Rourke, Rolling Slone's Foreign Affairs Desk Chief, best-selling author of 9 books and humourist. P..f. wilt also be in Bert's in the evening'

sculpture symbolising three reciPients will b New York and Los Ang Come to Mo Tat \Van on Lamma Island and discover Hong Kong's newest venLle for al fresco clining ancl great parties. Locatecl on the beach, Cococabana offers a laicl back Mecliterranean-style atmosphere Enjoy ortr exotic cocktails and balcony dining set against the solt sound of waves on the beach and spectacr-llat' views over the South China Sea to Hong Kong' Live

Latin music ancl Salsa parties can also be enioyed on a

legular basis. Cococabana can be reacheci by ferry lrorn the Abercleen Fishmalket or by junk. Ottr own boat, Le pl'ices' Junk, is avatlable for hire at vely reasonable

For reservations please ca[l2328 2138 Procluce your FCC membership card and receiue a .free Sangriø u7on

cn riuc¿l'

Lunch or dine four times in one month at any of our restaurants in SOHO and errioy a free junk trip to cococABANA. casa Lisboa 2869 9631 Cafe Au r^ac 2526 8889 Portuguese Cttisine

LaBelle F;poqu.e2537 French Cuisine

938L

vietn.tmese cuisine 2869'tzt8 Cubana Cuban Cuisine

UP to

Eligibility: A.y full or part-time journalists:

reportãrs, writers, editors, photographers or producers' Nominations: Must be submitted in writing and

include a letter of nomination, brief biography highlighting the nominee's work history as it relates to the .irard,-r"sume/CY of the nominee, sample of the nominee's work, and current contact information for the nominee. Materials will not be relurned' Deadline: APril 14, 2000 Contact: A-y Johnson, Program Director; International Women's Media Foundation; 7726 M Street, NW, Suite 1002; Washington, DC 20036, USA' Tel: (202) 496-1992; Fax (202) 496-\977; E-mail: <aiohnson@iumf.org'-

We call on journalists to uphold journalistic professionalism, to be responsible to society and to treasure our hard-won freedoms of press and expression' We also call on the community to join us in the protection

of Hong Kong's press fieedom and freedom of .*p..rrio.t. We hope these freedoms will not be damaged by the adoptloii of an easy option'

Eleetians '

Don't just cúti'cise the Club from the safety of the Main Bar. Stand for the Board and take part in running the FCC.

April 5 Nomination Meeting May 24 Vote Counting lr4ay

2ú

A.G.M.

THE FCC AND CARLSBBRG PROUDLY PRESENT THE FAMED CHICAGO BLUESMAI\ CASH MCCALL February 23 in the Main Dining R

onies in

8:OO pm 9:OO pm

- cocktails with Cash and The Band - Dinner prepared by Chef Singh

Head chef of the Tandoor Restaurant

Dinner includes: Indian specialties prepared by Chef Singh One of the following l, 4 small drafl Carlsberg

2. 4 bolrles of Carlsberg

Price: HK$3OO pef person (dinner and show) HK$r5o'þer þerson (show onlY) Cash For one night only in the Maìn Dining Room, legendary Chicago Bluesman

HfrJA $uFIrG,S In October, the Hong Kong

.fournalists Association, the News Executives' Association, the

Lingnan University. A total of 2,832 questionnaires werä distributed to journalists working in print' THE CORRESPONDENT FERRU,{RY-MARCH

the media, our four associations believe the industry has reached the Following consensus: In response to the hopes and expectations of the community with regard to media self-regulation' the four associations have reached the following consensus:

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whose McCall will þe playing the blues in his own inimitable fashion. Mccall, guitar picking, song writin g and arrangement skills were called uPon þy both Howlin, wolf and Muddy waters, is a bluesman in that same tradition, and a songwriter in direct line of descentfrom his friend and mentor Willie Dixon' This will be a grealnight out for all blues fans and for anybody who enjoys fine musicianship. Head on down for a night of that wonderful windy city êound, brought to you courtesy of Carlsberg and the tCC'

Please make your reservations on 2521 fI IIi COÌìRF,SPONDIiN,I. FEBRUARYM-'\R(]H

l5ll 3

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From the President ood news on several fronts: Tiger is in control, the FCC is now profitable once more, and the food is about to get e\/en better with the hiring of a dedicated

renovations

Indian chef and badly-needed in the kitchen which will expand our

offerings of Chinese food.

said

in my letter of December 10, Gilbert

"Tiger" Cheng has been promoted to General Manager, after 27 years of brilliant service at the FCC. I'm huppy to say that so far, the Club appears to be running even more smoothly than during Tiger's short tenure as Deputy G.M. It's my great hope that he serves in this office for many years to come. Word is catching on that the FCC is the best value for money in town. The new Main Dining Room and Verandah are lar busier than before their renovation,

and I hope that with the imminent hiring of a temporary marketing consultant, we can spread the word around Hong Kong that the FCC is still

welcoming new members. We need another 300 or so to be on really firm frnancial ground. The February 23 Cash McCall blues dinner/concert, sponsored by Carlsberg, will be one way that we can show off the Club, and at the same time give members something they can say is unavailable anywhere else in the city. Yet, even with the current number of members,

it is my pleasure to report that for the first time in many months, the FCC returned to profitability in the month of December. This does not mean that we made an operating profit before deducting a charge for depreciation. This means we took in more than enough cash (even excluding the semi-annual staff bonus payment on your bill) to set aside the $300,000 a month we need to conserve in order to make repairs. For the month, the total surplus was 59% higher than the budget this Board inherited. As has been the case during much of this Board's tenure, food costs are well under control (about 30% below the budgeted figure). Beverage costs are

now lower following the move to a better and less expensive series of house wines. Next in the series of improvements this Board we have approved some badlywishes to institute - in the kitchen. For those of needed renovations you who have never seen it, our underground kitchen is tiny and extremely hot. It is amazing and a tribute to the Chef and his crew that so much fine food can be turned out of there so quickly and consistentþ Now we want to lower the temperature and expand the capacity at the same time. Working with one of our long-time consultants, Tiger has come up with a plan that can do just this. The Board approved the plan inJanuary.

e will be reconfiguring things in the kitchen to achieve better heat distribution, which should lower the temperature on the floor. At the same time, we will move from one wok to two, which should greatly expand our ability to turn out fresh, piping hot Chinese food. In addition, we will install a Tandoor oven. With the hiring of a part-time Indian chef, you should notice the quality and selection of Indian food rising by the time you read this. I would like to thank the Board for the fine work done on these and other measures this year, and also the many non-board members who have come forward with their time to serve on committees, or to offer helpful suggestions. As always, I welcome comments, and promise to continue my practice of answering every letter, e-mail or phone call until the end of tenure in May.

Philip Segal THE CORRESPONDENT FEBRUARY-MARCH

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ln full swing Anthony Lawrence recounting a tale for Marvin Farkas, Clare Hollingworth and Hugh van

Of AII the G

eints

On December 4, the BBC2's Correspondent screened a í-rninute documentary on the FCC as the programme's swan song. This is the story behind the footâSe, written by Club member Mark Erder he FCC project' actually had a fairly

lengthy gestati.on .periocl. rvl/hen I first arrived , hêre in I 982, Marvin Farkas introduced r¡re tó the Club. Listening to his stories'about Vietnam, the riots of 7967 and his experiences aS a Club membeq I was quite taken by the idea of producing either a non-fiction or even fictional account of a group of Hong Kong-based foreign correspondents. (In all versions, I knew that Marvin had to be one of the characters.) In fact, through the 1980s, I made a few attempts at getting such a project off the ground, but unfortunately I was unable to get it going and nothing ever materialised. In those early days, my hope had TFIE CORRESPONDENT FEBRUARY-MARCH

2O(]O

been to do a film on the order of Frontline, a documentary about the life and work of the late Neil Davis, the Visnews cameraman. Much later, in August of 1998, my business partner

Adrian Brown had the idea that our compan¡ Asia Pacific Vision (APV), should make a video celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the FCC' This was to be a documentary for and about the Club. Adrian saw the film as an affectionate look back at the history of Asia through the eyes of journalists and photojournalists who had reported the events that shaped Asian history.

It was to be about a group of colourful, unforgettable characters telling their own stories in their own words. Not to be too saccharine about it, it

Another take Anthony Lawrence and Clare Hollingworth preparing for the shoot

Briefing The BBC's David Akerman explains what he wants to Clare Hollingworth and Anthony Lawrence

to be an ode to a profession that had undergone radical change over the years because of the impact of economics and technolosn. was

making regular contributions to the BBC2 programme Corresþondenr. Bingo! A name correspondent with a ready-made TV outlet wanted to get involved in the documentary.

he original plan was that APV would contribute to the financing of the documentary and raise the rest of the funding from corporate and foundation sources. Given the variety of news stories Adrian has covered, he had a very personal itrterest in making sure that the documentary actlrally made it to air. Adrian was to write and report the piece and I was to produce it. Our services were to be part of APV's contribution. But as the mainsta)' of the News Division of APV Adrian got sidetracked over the next year by a small story that was developing

in Indonesia. The FCC was to participate by lending its name to the fundraising drive and by organising barter arrangements with a variety of vendors. Past Presidents Hugh van Es, Paul Bayfield, Keith Richburg and Diane Stormont were \¡ery generous in their support and encouragemer-rt. But months of fruitless and fairly tedious dealings with various FCC committees made us realise that our plan just couldn't work.

In the meantime, I ran into Fergal Keane at a restaLrrant in Spain. Or,er a few glasses of Spanish red, I described our project to him. As Fersal had formerly

been the BBC's correspondent in Hong Kong, and a Club member, he took instantly to the idea. Anybody who knows Fergal rvould understand the natural match here. He probabll' saw our film as a way of waxing lyrical on the glories and m1's¡ique of the lives of foreign correspondents.

Currently working out of the U.K., Fergal

was

short time, APV worked out

production deal

rvith the BBC and one if its directors, David Akerman, was assigned to oversee the work for

Cutting room floor Scenes about the production of The Correspondent never made it on air

their side. Unfortunately, Fergal had to drop ottt, but this helped move the project from a report witl'r

David Akerman explains to desígner Baby Fernando of Asiapix what he wants

correspondent's signature to a documentar).'. and David was \¡ery dedicated to the notion of documentary as opposed to extended news featur-e. So, many of my initial conversations with hin-t were about films and filmmaking, not about uet'vs and journalism. In our sear-ch for characters, we kept hitting upon the usual suspects...mostly old-timers. By those of focusing on their tales and "tpeiially film in one to Marvin Farkas, we kept coming back is a there me, particular: Broadzual, Danny rRos¿ Trust connection here.

he idea was to have all of our 'stal's' sil around a table and reminisce. TIlcirspontaneous discussion wonld throrv the story to anecdotal vignettes, illustrated by old footage and photos, of tl're covered over the years. The differeuce betr'r'een the Woody Allen film and ours was that lìe was dealing with comedians and we were dealins rvith reportersl Comedians, reporters, they're all p:ricl storv-tellers.

And, with a stretch of the non-fiction imaginzrtiou' the legendary FCC could be seen to be the Asiirtl of Boqa|t equivaient of the original Rick's Place us irlto got bar a fame. So, old-timers telling stories in THI.] CORRF,SPONI)I.]NT FEBRU¡\R\:I'I.\I{(]I I

20(X)

images of Casablanca and As Time Goes -81 became our working title. In a way, the documentary was becoming as much about aging as it was about Asia, the Club and journalism. In the end, given the cut and general tone of the piece, David settled on Of All the Gin Jrints as tlr'e broadcast title. To best keep the flow and spontaneity of our stories going, we decided to shoot the central reminiscence sequence with two cameras and hidden microphones. One of the cameras had to be a mobile steadicam. So, lve brought in APV's Singapore cameraman, Jason Ellson for the assignment. As second camera, we were fortunate to get the help of Club member and BBC shoote¡ Darren Conway. For the liehting-. we went with one of the best gaffers inì tov¡h, Chan Heung Kong, better known as Hong Kdng Boy (or HKB for short). If you've seen any Jackie Chan films or commercials, you've seen HKB's work. In October of last year, .fason and HKB worked for rvell over two weeks on the shoot, hanging out at the Club and at the homes of Tony Lawrence, Clare

Hollingworth and Marvin Farkas'- and with the construction crew of the new Main Dining Room. Tlre rigors of 14- to16-hours days were smoothed by tl-re incredible assistance of Tiger, all his staff and Club Pr-esidenr Phil Segal. ì.FI I.]

CORRESPONDENT FEBRUARYN4AR(]H

2OOO

The melodrama of Phil Segal's battle with some Club members escalated during our scheduled filming. Some would see this as unhappy coincidence ¡lsc¡¡¡sntary filmmakers see it as serendipity

-and unplanned subplot. Our historical look back now had dramatic tension and historyin-the-making to work with. OÍ All the Gin Joints thread tþe mounting confrontation and impeachment vote into the reminiscences and historical footage of our central story. It was in the final cut of the 45-minute BBC2 version, but the shortened BBC World version cut it out completely.

he next showing (of the long version) should be at the Club itself. Maybe it could even make a tour of the Japan FCC and other sister clubs around the region. After that, who knows? Maybe we'll make another docume ntary about h ow n e w Information Technology and its attendant economics are changing the face

of journalism today, and the lives of foreign

correspondents. But, then we will be faced with the old problem of fund-raising, sponsorship and distribution....... I

diversity of Guangdong; r've're acting as an ark for

"She (Christine

preserr''ing that." (Now there's a slogan for the HKIA.)

In energy he added Hong Kong provides a standard of living equivalent with Australia and the U.K. with less than half the energy

Skies

Over

need business, we're going to need Legco to get it there" she said only to follow it up with a concession as to just how ingrained the problem was. "Have you ever heard the Secretary of Health stand up and say, you know we need to get the air cleaned up? Never, never, never a

Loh) is advocating the difficult bit; a

usage of Australia or the U.K.

and one-sixth that of the

Mak¡ng her point Legislative Councillor Christine Loh

It is no secret that the number one topic in Hong Kong is the deterioration of the environment. Three speakers addressed the problem at a Professional Lunch: Christine Loh, Legislative Councilor and chair of the Citizens Party, which has made the environment part of its platform; Kim Salkeld, the HKSAR's Deputy Secretary for Environment, in the Planning, Environment and Lands Bureau, and Tom Masterson, Managing Director of Resources Connection Ltd took part in the panel. Michael Mackey reports ong Kong has two environmental problems. The fìrst is the scale of the physical deterioration around us. The second is the weakness of the debate about the environment. Still the FCC had a lunch that bravely looked at both these points. The three panelists were Christine Loh, who gave the political angle, Kim Salkeld, who represented the government, and the FCC's own Tom Masterson, who in his role as special liaison for the American Chamber of Commerce on the environment, gave the business

high levels of air pollution. Particularly particulates which are coming very largely from vehicles and that's why reduction of emissions from vehicles is at the centre of the environmental agenda at the moment,"

view

century, Hong Kong has much to offer as an example." The examples he gave are interesting and solid. Only 20% of Hong Kong's land area is actually

First up was Salkeld who argued that the

environment matters to Hong Kong not just because of 2,000 premature pollution-related deaths each year, but the price paid beyond that. "\.44rat really matters is the tens of thousands of people who are suffering from asthma and other respiratory infections exacerbated by

order to encourage a change

in mentality was what concerned Tom Masterton. "There are several things

extent government

we can do ... we can encour-

age government to rethink "" sustainability thematicall¡ if you will, across all departments. We can be an adviser for government in capability assessment and in restructuring. I think these things are not too far-fetched," he, probably aware of what was going though most cynics'minds. But give credit where it's due: Masterson had lots of them. "We can participate in the details council- on sustainable development, work with organizations to bring and technology, to the Pear River Delta. We can also encourage joint efforts with Guangzhou business groups to reinforce cross-border environmental efforts. We can build foreign partnerships in technology and productivity with local industry to help clean up the Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong. We can provide ideas leap-frog ideas if you will and proposals for -building a sustainable environment in the region." In short, we can all do something. I

practice so

that change is forced."

"I'm paying for their neglect with my health"

she

explained in what could be this campaign's slogan. (It ought to be.) "In the last two years, I've had more respiratory negative symptoms than I've ever had. My doctor tells me to spend more time out of Hong Kong, but that's not very helpful, but that is the truth. So that's why I am passionate about it." \A4rat she is advocating is the diffìcult bit; a sea change of public opinion and to some extent government practice so that change is forced.

to need the media, we're going to

, . ,.

FCC PRTVATE ROOMS

The FCC offers rr.rembers the use of two large inter-connected rooms, the Albert and Hughes Rooms, for private functions, meetings and seminars.

from living here," he said 'Just how bad in some respects the Hong Kong environment is..'(but)as a beacon for what things might be like in the 21st

The Main Dining Room and the Verandah areas can also be used by members for large parties, business conferences and wedding receptions.

developed as urban land and 40% is protected as ecological areas under the country parks. "With less than lVa of Guangdong's land arear we have within Hong Kong at least 40% of the repl'esentative bio2OOO

The questions that need

to be addressed by the business community in

and to some

her commitment to saving the environment was clear. She's frustrated that officials have not acted sooner.

"We're going

squeak. "

of public opinion

attitudes, institutions and opportunities. Although her approach was practical,

he said. What was suprising was that he was able to hold out some hope for this beloved city of ours, although he did not downplay the problems. "We all know very well

IHE CORRESPONDENT IEBRUARY-]VIARCH

sea change

United States. "This is a city that may be rather dirty at the moment, but it is fun to live in. Getting things working better here so that we can increase that enjovment while reducing the pollution is one of the most exciting challenges for Hong Kong. Because if we get it right we demonstrate to much of the rest of Asia, where urbanization is proceeding as to what it is ^pace, possible to achieve in the century ahead," he concluded. Christine Loh addressed three issues, in terms of

For booking contact Don on tel2521 1511 or or e-mail: fcc@fcchk.org

IHE

CORRESPONDENT FEBRUARI:NIARCII

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fax 2868 4092

economic gale to hit Hong Kong rltt'tt't'tlr oI the rvolst Tung is getting blamecl for clearll' ,.. .r" ,,','r's.'rrlner. 'than the performance of the lll,,;;' ''* 'ìì

fll Feb 96 Jrny96 fi 4 Jrure 9?

Dr Michael DeGolyer, Director of the Hong Kong Baptist IJniversity's Hong Kong Transition Project, presented his latest findings to a packed lunch

Kong

-I

of 800 which has a margin of error of abott 47o. But in the survey conducted in November 1999, the size

53% dissatisfied clearly outweighed tkre 39% s:rtisfìecl. Meanwhile, the Secretary for .]ustice Elsie Leurre led the pack and set the record for the top official sellerating the most dissatisfaction with their pet-for-tlratrce wttl¡ 59Vo dissatisfied with her and only 25Vo s¿ttisfiecl. These rather negatirre results for leacle lship in Hong Kong came despite clear signals of ecotromic improvement and slow return of confidelrce ¿tlìlol-lg those surveyed. \A4tereas worr)/ about Hong I(ons's economic prospects, and personal and fämily lil'illg standards, dominated other areas of worrv for 73% of respondents in June 1998, by November l!199 that proportion was down to 57%. Since Tung had blamed his own slide in satislirction

Eissalisted rñfi Tung

ir Donald Tsang, the Financial

f,lssålisfied t{üt Leung

blamed by many

Elsselsfied tniñ Tsang

woes inJune

Sc:i:r'etar1"

for Hong Kong's

ccotlot.l.tic ssed ex¡rt'e s+% 1998 when "ãty all led his p.ri'or-or,te,

satisfaction with other Hong Kons officials with 70% approval November. If Tsang can reco\/er his satisfactiorl

people (about b5o/o) tvantt'<l the tnainlanders kept out of Hong Kong irr thc Right of Abode dispute which raged rrrost of 1999, they did not want Beijing brorrrlrt irt to settle the issue. Furthermore, they did rì()l sul)l)()r't the tlauner, which inlolved seriotrs weakt'nirrs,l tlrc lule of larv in Hong Kong. \\ lr:rl rrrlry' lte et,en more rvorrisome for Tung is tlr:rt rliss:rtislircLion tended to rise with class and t'rlrrr rrlir¡tt, art<l ch-op u'ith age. That is those over 50 Ir:rrl rr rnrrjolity satisfied with Tung (and those over 70 rr¡r r ,¡ 67(/o satisfied), but younger groups, such irs rlrr¡:t'irr tlle critical 30s and 40s, had onlv 30Vo :urtl :Ì3'i, sltisl'iecl respectively. Age mav grant lisrlorn. Irut tlrose in their 30s and 40s, are the future. ln ;r ruolrilt' highlf internationalised societl' like llorrg liorrq, the allegiance of vounger groups to sl:rr rrrrrl r r¡rrtl'iltute here cannot be taken for granted. Itttlt t'rl. ll%¡ of the sarnple indicated thev rvould st'r'k to lt'l\'(' Hong Kong if changes took place trlrit lr tlrcr Iìrrrucl r-rnsuitable. Since so many have fort'itItt ¡rlrss¡rolts itnd experience (better than one in lirt'). tlrìs is nol ¿rn idle or remote concern. Worse still. rìr:ulÌucrs, admilÌistrators and professionals (lltt' 'rrr's lith the highest abitity to leave quickly if lltt'r tr i:lrt'r[) hacl iire highest degree of dissatisl:tt li,'rr ()lll ()l lrll occrrpatiònaì categor.ies. l;.r ,t lrrrsinessman slrpposedly running Hong Kotrg irr tlrt' Iin,out- of business interests, to lose the l¡t¡sjrtt'rs rrrrrl ¡trofèssional occupations' support could Itt' lr,rrl. \\'olst' 1,et,70To of thoìe u,ho ináicated the1, \\'( r(' ( iril st'r'r'unts expressed clissatisf¿tction with the Pt't li¡t nrrurct.o['the boss. In a Hong Kong, which can llrillr lrt' t llrsst'cl as a bureaucratic dictator:ship of s()r l\. t, lurvt, st.r ìtìarì)/ atnorlg the rulers eYen more ttttltrr¡r¡rr tllLn tlrc .r.,l.cl .arrrròi be goocl. perhaps that is rçlrr ìl'i t'x¡;rcssecl a d,egree of ior.l,abouisocial uilt (,\l ot t ttr.t.ittg.

æ,

r2rtes

llr

I{(ìI I 2OO0 TtsIF, CORRESPONDENT FEBIIU.\RY-T I,\

Ill

( ( )titil \t'( )\l)t, N l. t,l.tt¡RLr,\tì\rit^\RcH 2000

"Í *t

a- _.J

¡L

lcar-l),, rvlrile rnost

rates on the economic downturn and corllìclently expressed the view that when the econom)' ttlrnecl arôund so n,ould assessments of his perforuratrce, the numbers seem to show that more than the ecotrotnl' lies at the root of his success or failure This is e\/en more the case since the Disrrcl'lzrncl probably ^ur-tr-to.rr-t..-ent, widely covered andl'r'hich lèattrrecl Tung Chee-hr,t,a arm in arm with Mickey Mousc, czttrte or-r ,É. third of eight days of sun'eying. If it improvecl his satisfaction rate tp to 39Vo, then that l'ate lììr'lst have been low indeed at the end of October.

tlssRlisîed r¡iür Èlte¡t

t'ttjort'tl irr l9!)6.

time, a large gap between those satisfied and those dissatisfied. There were many more of the latter. In 1998, the 42% dissatisfìed with Tung ranged against 46Vo satisfied, a near tie in our usual sample

-o+ -+

Transition Project in late November 1999, those expressing satisfaction with Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's performance showed, for the first

Dissatisfaction with the top four Hong Kong administrators

'ts

n the latest survey release of the Hong

yo.t .ntrently satisfied or dissatisfied with the performance of the Hong Kong Government in dealing with China? S"tidrr¿ Di¡sf,tbfiÉrl Don't hÍDr¡ -" ñf,Ì 48?9

'l--

¡'

't/

J t

'tü

',:,Bå

Ty,

ÞøEV)qtú, ã rit út tÍt 5þ=383-.F,

D, r)

==q4Ð1ã r

--)

--+-¡-

Satiefied

-+-

Éon't know

úiç¡alieied

o was there au1' good

ner't's

about Hong

I(ong? Of course' Impr-ovement in attitudes to*urd the economv cannot be a small thilg after the \ ¡orst economic dorvnturn in more than a generation. Despite all the knocks ancl shakes in 1999'with the Right of Abode case being referred to the National People's Congress Standing Committee over the heads of the Court of Final Aooeal. and threats of a Press Council restricting the about threats to persoual freedoms rose pi"r., *o.rv'25% to 32Vo. There is still

änly from

a year ago

broad belief that freedom continues strong ilì Hong Kong. Fã, tnoi" hoping for improvements in pollution' r number one vs. only I% in one degree or t stood atgIVo, with 38Vo of the sample verv worried about it' So there as long is good support for actton on the environment e\¡en more and of rvork out aslt does not pr-lt people if it protects oi Produces.;"TI 11

The Asian Gnisi$: A Po$t-llll ortem

nment

Financial journalist, author and FCC stalwart Mark Clifford spoke recentþ about Asia's

r of the UN'Development 400 million in funds. He is also f the United Nations . Michael

economic problems, as highlighted in his new book Meltdown: Asia's Boorn, Bust and Mur*el rePorts

Beyond. Michael Mackq rePorts

it was that it Nrry Htun's sPeech had a fault, Occasionalll' billing. the to uP .jrrst tlicl not live 'tlris misses the or boring is haltPens, a sPeech was just one this but news, of that daY's f

hen Mark Clifford speaks you listen and listen hard. Not because the Business

Regional Editor is difficult to listen to, but because there is a information and analysis in his fastWeek Asian

wealth of

paced delivery.

he called "the challenges" of

openness this brings particularly in places like Singapore and Malal'5i¿. \Àrhere he became more optimistic, going ¿rs far as to say "the signs are good", is in two importaul chirnges

that are taking place in the region. The fìrst

businesses are now

thinkinq in terms of busirless and

just that. The focus nol' is profìt whereas before it had bcen the

There are, he said, 10 major points about what was wrong and what needed to be done to prevent a recurrence. Something he believes is a possibility: "If the party in the U.S. ends, clearly Asia is vulnerable," he said signalling the key theme of the the storm is speech and his book nol yet defìnitely over.-

intoxicating and ultimatell'

c1"¡,,0't.tt

brew of growth, size and market share.

he second chauge rvas t h a r "atttltoli l rr liatr ism won't last fol- ever'" Flence the h\ro greiìt Pressing needs for Asia at the stalt of the century are to open Llp the political debate, but to marr)/ that to strong institutions and the rule of laiv' It was the rule of larv that lecl to the

The first point was "finish financial reform". He added:

"We're probably talking of a 10- to 15-year process." Clifford, who has

ideas aplent¡ offers little of cheer. "The situation warrants it," he points out, with some banks either being complete wrecks or, as he said of Bank Indonesia, "something close to a criminal operation."

Another point was 'Asia needs to rethink the exportJed model." Mexico, he pointed out, was not a platform for production 10 years ago. Neither was Eastern Europe, but now it is. Not surprisingly he added, "this is a big task for China and the Pearl River Delta."

He touched on the need for much more aggressive deregulation and the increased use of technology. He

noted Hong Kong's need to shift out of propertY, Korea's online stock-trading revolution and what 12

more white-collar crime." The groans u'ere Probably Ioud enough to have been lleu'd at ther Main

Bar downstairs.

US$28

2OOO

was the

first question and the wait and see answer that wasn't actually'än answer, but a response that, disconnected with the question, says more about the problem than anything else can.

ck¡nt' urrrl \\ lì:rt rìot done.

\\'hlt tlrt' srnall band sitting on the Vcrarttlrtlr r()t \\'zìs a history, eloquent if dry' rnrx'ittg iu irrt lcmentalll, increas'ng circles of tlrc rt'tt'rrt lristor-1, of development policy. 'fllt' t orrt lrrsion l'as sobering. "l'.rttirr¡nrncnt¿rl go\¡ernance" means tht' t'¡rrironnlent not only has to be Pr()tcct('(l lìrr t'onring generaticrns, but everyolrt. rvillrin rlrt,se gerìeralions;notjust a few. Hotr't'tt'r- tllis rloes in [urn raise the questiott of' rr'lro <lt'r'irles? "If there isn't an acceptable proccrlttt't' rrrrrl lcceptable methodology of risk, horv is tlris ¡tr'ocecllrre to be determined? We can expcct rììorr' :rrlrl ruor-e tensions within society." th¿rt

This is :tll fìrrc ancl daud¡', but in the same timefnunc tltat tltt. ¡l¡¡1¡¡1, of erlvironmental governance q!. _l"g,rl-s,,r rrr <linå phrase) has developed, the

Prentice Hall Press, New York

THli

rrot t'tt'll there' llillt'rl ls the Politics of the Environment irr ,'\sia. it sttrcliously avoid'ed politics and cnvirottrrtt'ltt alld made fe'w serious referclrccs l() ,\si:r. The first coming several minrrtt's irtto ltis slteecll when talking about lht' ¡rol't't ,,t'pt blic opinion - he referred t() a rì()l()r iotts case of mercury polsonlng cast' in .l:tprttr ¿rucl how that had altered tlrr' ¡rrrlrli< ¡rcrception of what should be

Parl ()f lris rrusrvcr is the same of many campaigners: oPctìtì('ss itrrrl tr:r¡s¡tzrr.ency. ,,Don't hide these risks," rvas ltis nr:rxiur. " l-ìlci rnor-el,ou hide them, the worse it l¡cco¡nt.s."

Meltdown: Asia's Boom Bust and Beyond By Mark L. Clifford and Pete Engardio

C]ORRESPONDENT FI]I]RU'\I{\,-i\I''TRC:H

rt'lct'lttlce

pollution has.g¡own worse. Much worse. This

'fltl: (I)RRt:st,()\I)I \I

I ItrRU,\tìpt\,Ir\ROLI 2000

t was also depressing as Hong Kong "used to have

the best controlled solid-waste-disposal system anl.lvhere in the world." (Yes that's here he's talking about.) On top of that he said there was "really f,rrst-rate" air pollution and noise-abatement measures. "Hong Kong," he said with a rare passion, "did an outstanding job. Outstanding." The k.y part is probably the past tense although hope springs eterna in the human heart. As for the present, "I'll have to find out a bit more" he said. I 13

rnassile sign "Greetings for Xrnas and the Ner'r' Nfillennium", aud in front of the N{arldarin F{otel a clock lvas still counting down the time - n()t to the Handover but to the new vear. Peoplc rvcre queuing to pose fbr photos in fi-ont of a snorvman in a grotto' No taker-s fol the Portuguese discolerer stnck on a plinth next door' e adjourned to the basement bar of the Club Militar. rvhere rve encountered

reminder of a oncc colourful and qr-rirky past. Richard N4ason wrote in 1957 in T'he \\btld of Suzie lfbtzg "There was no br-rsiness in Macau...nothing to keep the town

alive except opium ancl gambling and girls." Economically, little has chansed. But today, the sampans that once exoticallr'lerried passengcrs across the Inner Harbour betrveen the i\fiddle IGngdom and a lar flung Portuguese colon1'now merelv transport them between a province ancl a special administrative region of China. Nlacau's futr,rre?

AFP's Lr-rke Hunt,

Ar.rssie journo irlst back from a corrPle oI

i.,,,,, in Kabul, and ltrlmer

FCC president Diane Stormont,

rvho 'were chatting wilh half rt'mairring t., I lhc dozctt the Police Port¡glrese in or-ce'

llickering Past on a TV s(rcerì. A lugubrious, lonc i\,[acauese drinker steadilY srrnk a bottle of Black Label' ,\ tax larwer, brother of one of

rìrc cops, said that bY mid11000, Lhere would onlY be rr couPle of hunclrcrcl l'olLt-tguese left. Including lrin. "There's alwaYs work for

After the flag-lowering Correspondenls gather outside the Government Palace to compare noles

The Last

tlrx lzrr.tl'ers'.." lìe porting I

Rowan Cattick describes the Macau Handover, his swan song foreign correspondent based in Hong Kong in Hong Kong, I I china correspondent for t,'e Austrarian I Handover. II lvtaLau fldlruuvçr. LIlc Macau flnAnCLA[ fieALeU, Preaieut,'u,as \\/AS the Finr.mcio,l Ir seemed an appropriarel;,elegiac end to I l\vo anctent reglmes. At midnight on December 19, I found m1'self in I Largo do Senado, the main square, r,vith Steve Vines I '.å*i*:"'"#?i;"1?i--"i""ffi:

tast major assignment

2l's a

soon engr.rlfecl

whole wrrvrL shorv was essentiallV targeted'

lif.Ct.Sltt.f, lfltslt

to"beingfarerveìledatBert',sfirstilltl.. ,.,,., ,,,r,,,, ,',': I rdrruu\L'l ' ,., 'fli¡rt'i l.', Handover souvenir I i.^ "_:r',.ì Dag .- irr medta ;",, "' third

laughed!) ""iÏiJ;äiä ---....,. irr rtrt. t'ir'I, i*i';;;'o1'the '1"1i:,:ll ;'åi ::ï'.'+';: I ,llll,,ï:.'1ì lïn"'l üå*+'-;"tirtî';.;;; I n""ìi,'.'à-"";;"Jtá-*urcn -"i ''l:.'f,.,,1,ì"ì'',,ìì LtP Portugtl"t" covered up rvorkmen LUvcrcu Flandover lvoìKrlrcrr the llanoo\/er on a glant scrcen tne

siant ceremony taking place two kilometres arvav

r,r,ho watchecl warchecl C-hinese, clhinese, \,\'ho

"";;t* in stone

.',::i',:'ir,,,r,t,"g brrilrlirrg scrrür{tl

"'' ;i;;'î; ^, tîi1."\fil,ï,,1ì'lJliì",|; ";',* 'il':¡':r uLrrrY Lrrcrr being-chisell:o for their ready rur ,r.." """;ì;i;1,,lll'^J;.,:tì,,i1" t¡f'rlt'rr' I rcau)' itl., llt.c ì,'

ï::iüil1iflå"'-ääü^:i';i"':'i"':J.:lå;l I PIA flags, lrrst first as rr,^ red llass, raised reo ancl ratsect Manl,cheered Manl' cheered

Strangell', people

I in the I had been

carYed

.,r-,(.t..r¡lr<rsitt.,

old loyaltiet,]ll^.t]::., tl," ,,",t I t.t-tuto.t retainins l irt llìc t, iìi ur" ,toi.*uctly politicall)¡ cor'r.t sovereign, I lvracau' ._ r:^.r. r. ,,rrrl q'fotltts' I Macau' Tht' citl uas a ctr fnt' to lhe arrival of tlre garrison lhe ttexl da1. waving white- | of Chri sloved I'rands. I and emblems as of thc Handover. A few Portuguese survivors rvaved their own flag, but

caders goose-stepped to the centre of the pavilion, then as thel,raised, for the f'rrst time, the hve-starred Chincse tnroì-lgn continue through cheerins was to contrnue I he cheenng Macau. The flag over Macau.

TFII (]ORRESPOND!]NT

I..IIIìII.I

the

I \R\:\l \R(:l ":r¡¡l

is the safest of all occupations: whatever you rlnay,

predict is bormd to become true

rrrost part, watching TV' Most

¡roolccl places. But no mattet tlr cl'c rvas not a lot of Pressure

one day or

-readcrs through

most of my time in Hong Kong. Will the Handover lead to convulsions? No. Will the yuan be

dcvalued? No. The peg ¡. removed? No. The PLA invade Taiwan? No. Will Taiwan agree to join the People's Republic? No. Will the Chinese Communist Party share power? No.

Most of the last centur)' exhausting con'"-ulsions in Clealcr China. Brrl, irr part for that reason, today the sarry

as with thc myriad ships I have watched fiom mv Sand,v Ba1' flat entering Hong Kong harbour, or with the Formr-rla

another."

One minibus drivers who

Simon Leys/Pierre Ryckmans, The Burning Forest, 1985

lrr¡rrr hcad oflice on what ntially a colour assignment, and Macau's more Irur ou[side official functions. Covering the llorre l(or-rg Handover was, by comparison, a blur

Continuitv has proven the

if least memorable safèst forecast I har,e offered mr'

stalus qlro rules suprerne.Just

Macau

ll nclover meant, for the

of thc cvents rvere ofÊlimits t'xrc:pt for ¿r hanclfrrì ol

in the crou'<l, \t'tl:lÌ.1::i,,]]::"ìl of ,lrì nn*¿ b1 u ,Ëo." T\/ crews from ¡1'1'¡v1vl11'¡'t' thc i..i.,ai.g- Tairva', ftrr. içhitlr ä;;;t"ä;;:

*.."

"China watchittg

EverYone r'vatched,

:;ubdued, the historic cvents

Or Hong

Kong's futurr'lor that matter?

the ir:repressible

have carted me to my office, just when a traumatic change or collision seemed inevitable in this region, people [ended to pull back fiom the brink,

rr rrs csse

curse, and carry on.

l0 and 104 trvo buses, On the route I take recently stopped, holding going in oppositc directions, I an altercatiou up traffic along Caine Road. feared as voices were raised. Then the drivers smiled, one handed over to the other a noodle lunch box, and our

tr,¡tine. lhrL trvo scenes from Hong $one stick in my mind ¡rorrclfìrll1,: the British far-ewell at Tama¡ Patten's tears rr,rslrccl clorvn by the rvaies df rain, which I watched

lrorrr the main bar at the FCC, packed br-rt uniquelv silcrrt, ¿rnd MarLin Lee"s speech fiom thc Legco lr.rìr on1,. Hong Kong has more than its fair share of :tlrlt' uncl articulate leaders Christinc Loh to the

- constitution relegatcs . t t' but its dislocate cl llrt rrr to ('tet.nal opposition. llrrrrg Kong's status as an international fìnancc ( ( lìII(' oltsLtres that it retains a degree of cosrnopolil:trtìsnr. \4ac¿ru ma].' more swiftlv revert to a quaint sttlrtttlr of its rnoie energetic and larger Chinese Ittilltlrotrr', Zhuhai, its architecLure its onlv chief f

III

r r r¡¡¡¡¡;s¡'¡¡NDF,NI.FE|RuÀtì\i"-t^ncH 2000

.journey continued.

he safest prediction is:

cr''mbals, drums and

gongs may sound, especially in this coming Year of the l)ragon. But thel' herald no catacllr5p. But the great cataclvsm for me in returning to Melbourne, one of the worlcl's most livable cities, is the fact that there's no FCC. Ilouc¿n Callich's hooh on þost-Handoaer Hong' Kong, "Comrades & Capitalists" (UniuersiLy of New South

Wales P'ress), i,s ct,bout to be þublished, in Chir¿ese.

I m

Ed Peters looks at the Phuket Island's English-language newspaper, now

being run by Absent Member Alasdair Forbes t hrst glance, chronicling the happenings

of the much-touted resort island of Phuket would seem to be a sunny "It took me about two weeks to realise this was not a quote sinecure. Not so.

tropical paradise unquote,"

says

Alasdair Forbes, who

became editor of the Phuket Gazette in March 1999 after

11 years in Hong Kong where he ended up as publisher of Asian Business magazine. Indeed, with murders, robberies, financial shenanigans, death threats (including at least one directed at tLre Gazetfe), a slew of grisly road accidents, and a general approach to the law that is at best elastic, there's no shortage of hard news in the fortnightly 36-page tabloid.

like these get picked up by the national press, TV and international wire agencies, so we are making some waves here." The Gazette's circulation hits 12,000 in the high season, and although it's aimed squarely at the island's cosmopolitan expatriate community, about one third of the readers are Thai. The paper has to be printed in Bangkok, which takes a week, so picking stories which will remain topical can be tricky. In addition to the paper itself, tlne Gazette lnas launched itself onto the Internet in a big way (<uww.phuhetgûzette.net>), with daily news bulletins, classifieds, auctions and a readers' poll. As well as hard-hitting investigational fare, the Gazette (20 baht/}lK$4) is also crammed with the sort of regular features that make a local

newspaper hum. Voxpops, sage advice from "Momma Duck" and bulletin boards for the likes of the Hash House Harriers and the Phuket

Islgrd Fumilure Wo.ld Wíd¿ ExPorì¿r rd, @a) ¡atø fù' @.) aa3ð .-d'@É4s hE¡//tffirdtñ

Expat Golf Society (PEGS), slot in beside nightlife and gossip columns and an entire page of "Queer News" which carries headlines like "Definite case of suicide, maybe. Or maybe not".

Queer news could well be the alternative title,

rarely does Iife in Thailand's third smallest but richest-per-capita province proceed Gazette's

HowThaitand'svisa laws gotinto amess

normally.

e had an unusual murder recently," says Forbes. 'A hitman went to a local

"There's

managed

Wild West feel about the place, and we've break some really good stories," added

Forbes.

"In the past couple of months ago, we've revealed that the Thai banks were paying a lower rate of interest to foreigners than they were to locals, run a full investigation into the country's incomprehensible more to come and reported the visa laws -there'stactics of the- Immigration Police heavy-handed who were hammering on expats' doors late at night demanding to see papers," Forbes revealed. "Stories 16

guy's restaurant,

shot him dead and ther-r drove away. \Ârhat was unusual was that the killer was a Jit,rang (a foreigner), not a Thai.

Maybe this is a sign that the bad boys, German or Russian gangsters, ar-e moving down here from Patfaya, attracted by the island's prosperity. "The official attitude to all this is fairly ambivalent

they don't want people coming here with large of money breaking the law, but they do want the investment.. So it's a case of trying to persuade people to work within the law."

-amounts

IHII

(]ORRESPONDENT FEBRUARY-MAR(]FI

2OOO

Phuket Gazette Editor Alasdair Forbes (front row, centre)with his team

he dictates of Forbes' job can be similarly fluid, as it is complicated by a variety of highly diverse interests on the island. With tourism as the main cash cow, the outbreak of a mild strain of cholera in the north of the island late in late 1999 had to be handted sensitively. Overly harsh criticism of the local administration might be taken amiss. And on top of all this, local readers are nothing if not vocal if they see something they don't like in the paper, and Forbes can rarely venture out of the office without being button-holed. 'We do what we can; within reason," admitted all Thai Forbes. 'A panel of the great and good

was put together ,to come up with a plan for 'International Phuket'. The fiïat version said, basically, 'We want Phuket to be lnice place.' So we took it upon ourselves to make a few su$'gestions in the paper as to how it might also be made more international decent infrastructure, sensible immigration rules, decent banks. We bang the drum when we can." the brainchild of former Hong \ÀIhile ttre Gazette Kong bankerJohn Magee

is måking money and the notch, local conditions can

office facilities are top present some problems. Trained and experienced

go-gettingjournalists are few and far between, and subs e'r'en fewer and further, so to back up his regular THE CORRESPONDENT FEBRUARY]VIARCH

2(XX)

reporters Forbes has to rely on a gaggle of freelancers and columnists, many with hrm opinions on how to

write. "I do NOT make mistakes," declared

one

contributors. Since then, Forbes has been keeping file of his errors.

Having been largely running the day-to-day editorial operations of the Gazette almost singlehanded for much of 1999, Forbes now has a news editor and a chief reporter to ensure effìcient news gathering. The paper's total permanent staff now numbers around 20, four of whom work full time on editorial, with another four part-time. "I do miss the efficiency of Hong Kong, the banks and the civil service, but there were so many magazines there you could get lost in the noise," noted Forbes. "My wife is Thai so that was a major incentive for moving here. The paper is quirky; it's got a voice of its own, and a sense of humour. We revamped the design last May, and recently upped the pages from 32 to 36. \À4rile there are still a few soft patches it's looking good and is very popular. "After 27 years in journalism I suppose you could in local papers. Despite say I'm back where I started it's the only Englishall the hassles, I do love the job language paper in Phuket and I have a large say in how it.'s run. It's never dull." I

Photos by Bob Davis highly entertaining. Dave Allison demonstrated

possible future career as a pop singer his very special (and frequently repeated) rendition of a song called ßoom Boom Boo¡n Boom.

Richard Seniors

Baìns;¡rok Eu,GFs'eû$ Bhallen$e

he almost-annual Richard Hughes and Charlie Smith seniors games were played at Kau Sai Chau (South Course) on December 17. cold drizzle all day The weather was atrocious long. We were all thoroughly -wet (apart from Mike Geraghty who had some alÌ wëather gear that gave him more than a striking resembl¿nce to the jolly green

Golf news from Jukan Wakh wenty players from the FCC went to Hua Hin rn November for either the 14th or 15th annual

competition (nobody seems to know) against

giant). The Scots'among us should have thrived in these conditions, t.rt lif.'itr the east has obviously softened them up and, they were generally out-

14 members of the Crown Royal Golf Society. This was

our first trip to Hua Hin, and we were blessed with excellent weather and some magnificent golf courses to play on.

We played at Dragon Hills, Royal Hua Hin and Springfields. After two days, the competition was very close with the FCC leading by one point. - combination of the heat, lack of sleep However the and the beer took its toll and the quality of golf deteriorated somewhat by the final duy. The Bangkok-based players were obviously better equipped to deal with this and they came out as the overall winners (again).

1993' on them.

;t:ffi:ilo

performed. Having said that, Scots Derek Currie and Robert Carmichael both recovered from very slow starts with excellent scores on the back 9, but which were not quite enough to catch up with D4ve Allison, who won the Richard Hughes trophy with a commendable 35 Stableford points. Given the conditions that day this was a fine performance. Sharing second place on 33 points were Alistair bus *'as' and rrom the golrbY

The'organisation, handled as in previous years by Neville 'Nifty' Nicholson, was excellent. We hardly ever

got lost (unlike previous years) and the food generally first class (unlike previous years).

was

g an es Leckie, Spencer Robinson and Brian Holgate. Spencer's.performance was excellent, despite being hit at one stage by a marginally wal"ward shot from yours truly (which triggered a heated debate led by Dr Mike Smith

our rules consultant.) Andrew Hart

- good shot on the da¡ which earned managed one him the nearest the pin prize. Robin Moyer hit an astonishingly short drive on the 17th, but it was still longer than anyone else could manage so he took the longest drive prize. The longest put went to Jack Maisano whose put on the 13th sailed past the pin, over the fringe and down the hill and lar away needing an 8 iron to come back again. I think his put was longer than Robin Moyer's drive. Despite this, Jack played a very steady awarded to the round and won the Seniors Trophy lowest score of gross less age. IJ.W. New members of the golf society are uelcome. Please contact.fulio,n Walsh on 2521 0859.

alwaÞ

2000 FFßlìtlr\ll\1¡f ARCH THE CORRESPONDEN'l'

THE CORRESPONDENT FEBRU,\RYr\4A.RCH 2000

with topi-topped and straw\\¡omen with long dresses and men, ltoalcr hatted robes, in flowing and a puffing steam r)¿¡:rs( )ls. servants It is in. like a setting fot Out l'',gi,','.just pulling ol',lftiut Flrurrccl caricatures of fbrmer customers, mainly strrll)' looking British cololialists of the type that once ralt I [1¡trs Kong, decorate the walls. All appear to be rlr.arvrr lty, artist Sr-rnny, whose work dates from the carlir:st ctays of the bar up to the 1920s and 1930s. 'flrt' bal has a club-like aura, and in early days, onc.-slory railr,vay station

t.x¡tatr.iirtr: gì'olrps rvithout permanent premises used

Garry Marchanl, who's now based in Paris, somehow managed to end uP tourins the bars of Nairobi. n some Nairobi bars, statuesque, ebony beauties Êawn over even the most ordinarv middle-aged foreign man. Or so I am told. As a frequenter of more wholesome literary or historical rvatering holes, I patronise the Norfolk Hotel's Lord Delamere Terrace, to sip a quiet afternoon beer or gin-and-tonic, and to view the passing scene of Kenya's capital' The lo'çv-rise, mock-Tudor hotel on the edge of the downtown area is Nairobi's Peninsula or Oriental on a smaller scale, a heritage hotel evocative of earh', adventurotts davs of East Africa. The Norfolk and the old New Stanley are the city's longest-standing inns, but the New Stanley has debased its legendary Long Bar, turning it into the Exchange, a lounge with a stockbroker theme. Enough said. The Norfolk opened on Christmas Da¡ 1904, when Nairobi consisted of the grandly named Government Road, a single cart track lined with a lew duhas (small shops) connecting the railway station to the hotel' In those pioneer days, the Norfolk became a staging post for luxurious safaris, including former American president Theodore Roosevelt's grandiose retirement expedition in 1909. Guests then watched as 500 Porters beàring ever)'thing from collapsible baths to cases of champagne departed from the front of the hotel' In these wild early days, big-game hunters ánd remittance men regularl)' shot whiskey and gin bottles off the bar for sport, at-rd planters sitting on the porch supposedly fired at locals in the street during a riot' Today, the bottles remain intact, in the bar where writers such as Ernest Hemingrvav, Karen Blixen and Robert Ruark once drank and dreamed up their stories' Toda¡ the hotel's Lord Delamere Terrace is an admirable spot for wasting away cool East African afternoons over Tusker beers, trading tales of (now bloodless) game-r,iewing safari adventures, just as the great r'vhite hunters did a few decades ago' The groundlevel terrace facing the street is ideally set for observing African cit!'life, and for watching big20

rlì('ir rtrceting place. The Turf Club, Fire Brigade and Ikrrtirrrlttrt'al Society of Kenva all met there. .\rrrl, lilie any club, it obviously has its regulars. Late

iìs

pop-LoP \¡lìlls or game watchers. Safari vel'ricles Land Rovers emblazoned in zebra str-ipcs, leo¡lalrl pick up trlttlists hcarlcrl spots, elephant-head decals to Nairobi Game Park or to Jomo Keuvall"iì Air'¡lol't

for upcountry safarìs. Bulbous olcl Lorlrlorr-stvlc taxis deliver modern-day adventllr-cls rlcckccl ottt in safari chic - broad-brimmed hats, klraki iackcts and vests of many pockets - back lì'ottr sottvctrit' into the city, laden dorqr u'itlr rtrasks ltn<l expeditions carvrngs.

Later in the da1', when the toulists [li1v¡ Qt)lìt" on the porch can obset'r't: school gills frori nearby Kenya University with tightll' blrritlccl hair' hangers-on

strutting b)', as regal as Nubian princesscrs' The Delamere serves reasonable pulr-stylc lttrlcltt's typical is grilled pork chops glazecl tvi th r:lrcesc' Tlrt'

-bu.'irn't grãat for British beer lot'et's,

llorvevcl tr'itll tlie-ll:rlrl sotlrc none of th1 warm, flat brew fal'ourecl lrl'

expatriate Englishmen' The onl;' clralt <;n tall' 1ìrskcr' thirl f<"g f-ug.. 1aËout HK$20), is a r-eflcslrirrq blol suits the climate' 'l't't'r'itct" rvltcl't' There is little of Africa in lhc alpirttdimpled blackwood posts sLrpPort pccrrliirl littlc ¡trtl srttt llonr shi"lài''tg åblt's

As prcrnised Steae White analyses

\ I II lltit \R\:rl\R(:ll'¡rrr

According to the only fellor'v drinker on a recent afternoon, an Indian businessman living in Nairobi, the Norfolk's bar was busv until a ferv vears ago, when the house upped the prices. Now it is mainll a lunch venue, quiet in the evenings lvhen tired tourists retire earlv to prepare for earll.r¡erning safaris. Evenings, only a few die-hard customers linger over the bar. Those looking for action have gone elservhere, to the Florida 2000 or the Buffalo Bill in the Heron Court. Or so I am told. I

our lady memllfers

of l'he Corræþondsntcarned summaries

house baðk home tvas finally all paid up last year. She

c¡uestionnaires mailed to a randomlyst'lt'r tccl section of the Club's membership.

celebrated this "millstone to milestone" by buying herself a second-hand 1550cc Mazda that Sam is occasionally allowed to borr-ow. . Barbara enjoys giving the occasional dinner party at home, but dining out is a firm and favourite habit at least twice a week, but rarely at the FCC which tends to be a more of a lunch venlre. She adores eood l,vine, but rarely anything stronger (when she does it's gin) and likes to cool off after tennis or the monthlv round of golf rvith a cold Heineken or Carlsberg. . She keeps fit via golf/tennis/aerobics, but only in the role of participant, never spectator the latter being taken up by doses of monthly cinema (programme depending) and less frequent visits to concerts and the theatre. ¡ \A4rilst not particularly 'techno-minded', befi,veen the office and home she's got just about everything that plugs into a wall socket and is currently taking a keen interest in \AAWV development. Her Nokia is never intentionally out of arms reach. . With just the three of them in Conduit Road, her monthly supermarket bill hovers around the HK$6,000 mark as does her expenditure on clothes. The only other big item (apart from the credit-card dining) will be on furniture etc. Quitting Conduit Road and moving to the South Side that's really in the hands of the current landlord! o Finally Barbara likes to be helpful, so as she's just received a questionnaire from the Club she's going to put some time aside to produce a thoughtful and thorough reply something she suspects Sam and do you wouldn't do under-similar circumstances know would be rightl I -Barbara

lrt'

lrrst isstre

ol tl'o

Orrt' s¡>t'r ilìcally helped paint a pen-picture of '(lt'olu(.' member. This was in no - :r rcpresentative tr'¿n of t lurrrr irristic it rnerely acknowledged that the

nrirjoritr' (7{)()l) of rnembers are male. Norr'rltrt, t() l)oplrlar demand we bring you a glimpse t¡l 'lì:rrbrrll' a specially researched piece rer.'iewing lrtrlt rnt.rrrlrcrs.

o llur'l>ru l (she doesn't appreciate being called 'llirlls') lurs lrt'r.rr n¡ Associate Member since 1995 and ltol<ls orrt'<¡tlrcl c.lrrb rnernbership.Just in her early 40s, ll¡tt'llurir is ulrorrt to start the pråcãss of obtainins. her lx'r nìitn(.tìt I I l| I).

rain.

THE (lolalllisP()Nl)l

call at the FCC main bar?

0u¡- lady Members

type tiled, p.ut ,ooi,

5tr men on horseback ollt o11 Lrr(; trì: thc .rkl, in. ott-t". shou's the crorvclecl ¡rlrttfìrlrlt

one afternoon a bellboy glides by bearing a blackboard

with a name chalked on it: "Lush." Is there really a Mr Lush being paged? Is it a description, or some irare wife's joke? \4rhat r'vould be the response to a similar

. 'l'ltc lll],

t.( )RRt.st,(

Iong )\l

)t..\

¿tpartrnent I

Irìr'

is rented, but the

\ t{1,_\t,,\t{(]FI 2000

Rediscovering TV

After a five-year break , Arthur Hacker, the FCC,s f amed

fhe u$ Economy at the End ol America'$ GentuFy

By David O'Rear

read this, in Februar;' 2000, the US ('conom)' has been grolving, cor-rsistentll', lirl longer than ever before. The so-called

cartoonist and historian, tunes in.

lived happily rvithout a television set for fìvc 1,s¿1.t until the girl next door gave me her old one. Unfortunatel), that was all she gar.e me. However, being goggleboxless for so long, I was curious to sec rvhat the great Hong Kong public was watching these days.

Almost the first image that I was confronted with was a goverrment "Announcement of Public Interest" that

I had produced 12 years aso it -age. had not improved with My morale re covered

an)¡way.

There are lots of cookir-rg pl.oelatììlììcs. lr is irritating that Yan, who can cook thousarrrls of.rlislr<:s,

while prepalinq loltstct. i

nated for the "Hong Kong's

n Worst Commercials

Award." News

Readers have been around even longer. It gave me a warm feeling in the tr.tmmy to see the old familiar faces of Ann Quon and Diana Lin recounting the latest catastrophic disasters. \Arhen it comes ro the weather girls, alas our scleens are no longer graced by such beauties as Mandy

ro gralnrnes

fol

rtlo¡rrrts rvilll

the mental asc o['six.

n tbrr otlrcl' llatur c

llittt<1.

)glìu.lìlìì('li l)11

arc no\\'rlcfìrritclv

aclult victvillg. Cuddll'

cre¿ìLLll'('s slattglttc¡' each othel- t'esttl:tth'. It's all sex and I'iolencc. \/it'rvct's llt:tv

Cooke, Anneka Rice or

be fascinatecl to rlisctlvcr tllirt

Christine Higginbottom. Selina Chow, the weather

jell¡fish alt' ltt't'rtlit¡lltt'r> dites and thet'c-:tt'c lcsl>iirll

Mandy Cooke in the sexy Seventies

girl star of the swinging Sixties, is still around, but she seems to have gone into politics. I have recentlv developed a theory that when Chinese politicians clap their hands together afrter making a dynamic speech, they are applaucling those responsible for the simultaneous translation and not themselves, but once again, I could be wrong. American sports baseball, basketball and

from Asia: Trans-Pacil'ic transactions amounted to 25-30Vo of US purchases'fiom abroad in 1993-95, but shot up to 35-40% si4ce thery So, what happéns if the US economy stops gulpir-rg down imports at this silly pace? In a r,r,ord, pain. In Asia, the nrost vuh'refablé are Tai'rvan, Hong I(ong and Macar"r. Their share of exports sent to the US, and

.t0

probablv represented US$80 billion, abort lSVo of their combined GDPs. Fully one-

ll)

USNPORTS

P.rc€Ìt Re¡r chRtrse (YoY)

0l)

15.0

Net Private Savings (as a Percent

of GDP) 100

JO 5.0

Rt'tuil s:rlt's lrave been r-ising, ,\.'ear-on-\/ea[, since 1g84

(*ht.rr, irrtclcstingly enouuh, vor.rr correspondent iu'¡'ivt'cl irr I tong Kong and joined the FCC. (lt¡irtci<k'rrtr':, I think not.). Amcrican companies can't st()l) sl)crì(lirìg-, ciLher. Capital investment expandcd a Itrirr<l-ltouglìrrg- 10% since early 1996, three times the

¡l:tct' ol'u tlrc pr-evior"rs decadel (Note: Economists' llri¡rrls lto¡4-glc easil1,.) Consumer prices have been Irslrì!{, ()rì ;r\ct-tìge, less than 2% since earlr, 1ge7. rkrtrlllc thirr r.rrte ìs norrnul. Oh, and unernplol,mçn¡ i5 lltr.k¡rr.r.sl irr ii()

. Otrt'

r'(,ls()tì

1.ear.s.

fòr this is that American

consltmers

0.0

5.0

1990

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1991 1998 1999

third of Hone Kong's economy is made up of exports and re-exports to the US; in Singapore, the figure is alrnost 25%. Next on the list is Malaysia (nearlv 22% of GDP). The only other countries in the double digits are the Philippines (14.3%) and Tairvan (10.9%). One wa]' to cool off the current-account deficit is to jack up in[erest rates. Money costs mone]' (brilliant economic insiqht #14) and when interest rates are high

it is a lot rnore attractive to

in the .¿\l'izt¡tl¿t l)cs('l't: but hippos humpine and fish having^ st'x itrt' ¿tllt¡ttl as exciting as a drv dream. It is not all bad uervs. I have cliscovclt'rl a Ft'cttclt station, and although I can't claim lo bc :r lirlsr¡ist..(l speak rvorse French than Edr,r,ar-cl Heath), I f irlcl it far

save

than to

spe

nd.

Howeve¡ the real prime rate (nominal minus the GDP the highest in 15 years deflator) is now aror-rnd 7.\Vo and anl'thing more thall that risks not only bursting -the stock-market bubble but also drivir-rg the econorny into recession. Not a good idea during an electiou l'e¿1-. The bottom line is that the US economy is highly vula sharp correction, and Asia is still too ¡veak fi'om The Crisis to slide past widrout a r,r,hole world of pain. I

more fun to rvatch (particularll'late at nig-lrt) tharr tltc air pollution emanating out by our local stltiorrsl

\li\:\l'\l{(:l I :llrI)

nig flangover

the share of exports in each of their economies

lizarcls

Alas, all is not roses. The current-account delìcit is blowing out. Probably US$3a5 billion last year ... which is about the same size as the CDP of Malaysia, the Pl'rilippines and Singapore, rvith about $45 billion left over. Half again as big as 1998's record-setting numbers. Three and-a-half times Bill Gates' net worth. Impor-ts har,'e been setting records everl' quarter f'or the past four years. Nluch of the rise in imports came

enormor.rs. Last ;.ear,

some

THE O()RRLSP()Nl)EN'f l"t'llìllt

Big Party

5¡

J.f)

l:r

Among llr c t'lr ilrllcn's programmes ru'<' still to l>c found Ses¿rme Strt:t't, l)isncr'. America's lirLnnit'st Virlct¡s and soap opclrìs. Ncrv cnlt'¡. tainrnent fol kirls irrclrrrlcs tht' Teletubbies, tlrc Spicc ()ills and a dozen orl r[ qtriz

Real Consum¡rtion

blarney ancl clr i1;s.

of that ilk,

An1,¡o*, some of

l)rivate Savings and Consumer Spending

eggs shoulcl lravc sofì rrrlks and a pholr¡, Ir ish lerr¡tlc, rvlr¡ moan about Lìtc ¡totuto finrirrt'

mine was unlikely to be nomiTe

(ìolclilock Economv r'reithel too hot just just keeps right but cold, [oo nor hasn't fallen belor'r' growth GDP l.ollirrg irlorrg Real half again actnally gr:orving as is atlcl il.i¡lt, in lìrttt i't'at's, Those crazy Americalr 10 1'ears' fìrsr irs in tlrt' ¡rt'evious ('(,nsurìr('r's irrst kcep on spending' Ancl, as my banker kt'c¡ls rcllirrg- nre, if 1's11'cl just stop spencling so much rrrrr'rl lr¡tt' tltol'e to save. Chart I shou's how well .\,rt.','i.,,,,l; lisLt'n Lo their bankcrs.

seems to have onlv one adjective, rvhiclr is ,,ltcur¡tifìrl.', The re is ar llnel isllrv<¡n.rir¡r who believes lhat lr:rrrl ltoilt.<l

slightly when I discovered that it was not the only commercial still showing that was over a decade old, and that thanks to "Miracle Foot Repair" and