The Correspondent, October - November 2000 by The Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong

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Lnrrnns FromJack Keenan #4174

A short (and belated) note to tell you ttrut I think theJune-July issue of The Corresþonden was one of the best I have seen in the past decade I hope this high standard will be maintained. From Mirja Munc¡ Absentee Member #5461 Just fi nished reading the June-July Corresþondent and wanted to let you know that the new bold colourful format looks good. Enjoyed browsing and reading the issue. I like getting the magazine to keep up with Hong Kong issues and activities and particularly liked the

piece on Christine Loh, with whom I've marched for

Atftesc

Come to Mo Tat \ffan on Lamma Island and discover Hong Kong's newest venue for ai fresco dining and great parties. Located on the beach, Cococabana offers a laid

back Mediterranean-style atmosphere. Enjoy our exotic cocktails and balcony dining set against the soft sound of waves on the beach and spectacular views over the South China Sea to Hong Kong. Live Latin music and Salsa parties can also be enjoyed on a

regular basis. Cococabana can be reached by ferry from the Aberdeen Fishmarket or by junk. Our own boaf, Le Junk, is availal>le for hire at very reasonable prices.

For reserwations please caII 232A 2138 Produce your FCC membersbip carcl and receiue a free Søngria upon arriuø|.

Lunch or dine four times in one month at any of our restaurants in SOHO and enioy a free iunk trip to COCOCABANA.

Lisboa

963t Cafe Au Lac 2526 EBB} Cuisine Vietn;tmese Cuisine 93El Cubana 2a69 lzl9 Cuisine Cuban Cuisine

Casa 2869 Pot"tuguese I-a Belle Epoque2537

Frencb

clean air. Also appreciated Michael DeGolyer's report. as used to follow his research when we lived there. Best to all former friends.

From Lorraine Smith Absent Member #3605

You'll no doubt be astonished to hear from me, but keep up to some extent with what's happening at the FCC through The Corresþondent. Keep up the good work; I really enjoy reading it and checking the photographs to see how many of those pictured are people I know. That number seems to be dwindling

issue by issue.

To the point of this letter. London's Groucho Club.

I intended writing after I read Richard

Stokes'

comments in the April-May issue, but that's as far as I got. But when I read Ted Thomas' letter in the JuneJuly issue, I finally decided it was about time to add my few cents worth. A couple of years ago when I was in London, I fronted up to the Groucho Club, having heard all about it from Ted. Well, what a reception. The person on the desk said she had never heard of the Hong Kong

Foreign Correspondents' Club and knew nothing about reciprocal rights for temporary membership. When I insisted she check with the manager, she vanished into an inner office. Some time later another woman came out and told me that if I faxed the FCC and got the manager to write to the Groucho confirming that I was a bona fide, fully paid-up member I would be issued with temporary membership. Considering that the FCC's fax number was not one of the pieces of information I carried with me, and considering I was to be in London only for a short sta¡ I didn't pursue the matter. I forgot to add that I, naturally, presented my FCC membership card to the Groucho's receptionist. By the it I got the impression she felt it was something printed in a back lane somewhere. Incidentally, the Groucho's entrance wasn't nearly as impressive as the FCC's. Shabb¡ worn carpet for a start. Maybe things have improved. Maybe, though, I didn't miss that much. With all good wishes and say hi to Club members

way she looked at

from me. With best regards and lots

Corresþondents.

Editor's note: Thanks Jach, Mirja and, Lorraine for þraise

the

the team þroducing the magazine aþpreciates it.

From Nicholas Rushworth EPNworld llead Bureau Chief, Paris I would like to put it on record that I was extremely impressed by the welcome given to me at the FCC. I was given access to the Work Room on my

arrival and was able to work till beyond midnight communicating via e-mail with EPN's Paris office. Temporary membership also gave me access to the THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NO\,IEMBER

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restaurant facilities, allowing me

to hold

several

meetings calmly and efficiently.

FCC President Karl Wilson was especially welcoming, taking time to hear about the EPN Website correspondent.com, a site of great interest to FCC members. By the end of my week's visit, the FCC had become my permanent base of operations and, as a result, I got much more accomplished than had been expected. Before packing off for the airport, I picked up a few FCC moon cakes for the guys back in the Paris office which they loved. - the FCC offers the facilities it provides is What - decades of effort. It -was clearly the fruit of many striking just how closely the FCC's achievements parallel what correspondent.com is aiming for in cyberspace: to be the indispensable meeting place for not j ust a way correspondents,/stringers,/freelancers of marketing their stories and getting new contacts, but a site that facilitates everything they need to do. I hope to make a return journey to the FCC before

the end of the year with EPN CEO Duncan Barclay. The visit will coincide with the launch of the updated version of the correspondent.com site. If any

My home office is not on Hong Kong Island so I often need a convenient work station in town. Because of this, the Work Room is one of the main reasons I joined the FCC in the first place. I cannot say today I would make the same choice. Therefore, I second Mr Baird in askirig, "So how about some action?"

Karl Wilson in last issue of Th'e Correspondent, the Board is loohing into the matter of the Worh Room. There are two President's note: As the outgoing þresident

resþond,ed,

that of sþace may unfortunateþ be insoluble. More þroblems sþace was needed and taking a slice of the Worh Room was the tnost exþedient, and, inexpensiae comþromise. The second

þroblem of reþlacing the computers (and þrinters) should

easier to solue.

From David Baird Absent Member #6669

A PS to my letter (in the August-September issue): Is there any reason why the club no longer sells phone cards so that members can make international calls

from club phones? Or why there is not a public telephone in the club that will allow such calls with

of your members wish to have further info on that or on any aspect of what they can gain by signing up at <www.correspondent.com), they can simply contact me at <nrushworth@epnworld. com>.

Au gust-S eþ temb er

From Normandy Madden #6982 Asia Editor, Advertising Age International

President's note: Most members use the facilities of the nm.t local þhone companies or local/international þhone cards

coins, credit cards etc? Editor's

note: This þostscriþt arriaed too late for

for doing such a great job with The it's always a pleasure to read. The last edition (August-September) was no exception. I Thanks

Comesponden

enjoyed reading a few words about our new chef, Alan Chan, who seems to be off to a good start.

But I read with particular interest a letter from

David Baird about the FCC's Work Room. His letter does not require elaboration, but I agree so completely I would like to chime in with my own dismay about the status of the Work Room. It was bad enough when the room's space was cut in half by the renovation of Bert's, but, as Mr Baird correctly pointed out, the members' Work Room recently was halved again. \À4ro said it would be okay to take this action without consulting Club members first? I think I read all correspondence from the FCC and I don't recall

hearing about these plans ahead of time. Indeed, the space and the quality of the equipment leave a lot to be desired at this point. Also, I suggest that the Club buy, or find a sponsor fo¡ a new Apple computer as part of upgrading the Work Room facilities. Apple has a small market share, but it is a popular brand among journalists and the Work Room's sole Mac is often in use even though it is a temperamental, creaky old machine that only connects to the Internet on a good day. A new one, or newer second hand-machine, would be appreciated by many members, I'm sure. THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER.NOWMBER

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the

is sue.

Money from home in mi fr 2lL7 9088

es.

Seruices available in the following locations: Admiralty . Causeway Bay . Central . Kwun Tong Mongkok . Sheung Wan . Tsimshatsui

PnnsroENT's CoruuN you dial IDD through local number That's why there is in the club. If there is enough of a demand, for one, the Board may consider alternatiaes.

where

no public credit cørd telzþhone

From David Baird Absent Member #6669

I didn't expect to find democracy in Hong Kong. Even so, even my Orwellian fantasies did not prepare me for the situation within the FCC where some members are 25 times more equal than others. From what one Board member told me at the Main Bar, there are valid reasons for the voting system. Judging by his heavyweight socio-political explanation, any move , ' towards one-man-one-vote could result in loss of liberty, family values, the clubhouse and other consequences beyond the power of my limited imagination. I never realised that someone hidden away in the halls of power in Beijing is watching our every move in upper Ice House Street. Whoever has this onerous task must be perplexed at some of the FCC's policies. Why,

for instance, is there blatant discrimination

against Absentee Members? Journos in this lower caste find that they must pay HK$60 to use the ggn or have a shower, a service that is free to resident members. Worse, when I bought some coupons at the bar I was informed that since July a surcharge of 70% has been added to the cost. So we pay 107o more than other members for all drinks and food. I'm told that there are some unscrupulous types who rip off the Club by pretending to be absent from Hong Kong when they're not. But I don't see why we honest absentees should be penalised for that. To be honest, I did wonder what sort of Club would accept me as a member in the first place. Now I'm finding out.

President's note: At the EGM in May, apþroaal to Iower the aoting ratio between Comesþondent and non-Corresþondent Members wa,s aoted doun. As for the mod,est charge for the g1m and small surcharge on chits, I can und,erstand )our a.nno)a,nce, but we simþly had cut d,own on the "unscruþulous" use of the CIub.

From Kevin Sinclair #1434 Why does it take more than a month for the minutes of FCC board meetings to be posted? Any competent cadet reporter could knock them out in an hour. On August 21, I asked where the minutes were for the meeting of July 21. I was told the minutes would be "approved" at the Board meeting of August 26.

of a meeting be "approved." By whom? Why? I feel

Approved? Why must a (presumably) factual account

members are entitled to know what is being discussed by their Board. Oka¡ there may be legal matters and sensitive staff issues and commercial decisions that

have to be handled with discretion, but I do feel strongly that the Board should hasten its reporting to members. Why can't there be a short synopsis of proceedings posted within three days of a meeting, list4

ing what important subjects were raised and how they were disposed? Can someone please enlighten me.

Frorn the President

President's note: There is no intention of hiding the minutes from the membershiþ, but beþre being þosted the minutes must be aþþrooed by the Board as a, correct record of discussions which tooh place. Mr Sinclair must be aware that this is stand,ard þrocedure in any organisation. Some delay is inettitable as the Board meets monthþ, but we'Il look into the possibility of getting the minutes approved' by

in adaance of the subsequent meeting so earlier þosted, e-ma'il

thq can be

From flans W. Vriens #5516

Thanks

a lot for sending me a copy of

ello ! Allow me to present myself, with

Corresþondenr with the pictures of my farewell party at the FCC. I would like to correct a small point in the text. I am not working for a "new public relations company". And it is definitely not mine. APCO Worldwide (the parent company) and APCO Indonesia specialise in public affairs, also called lobbying or political advice. We advise foreign direct investors and investment banks on issues like the impact of regional autonomy, civil military relations, the future of Islam in Indonesia, the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agenc¡ etc. Doesn't sound like PR to me. All the best with the Correspondenl. Keep up the good work.

Peter Seidtritz As many of you hnow, former FCC þresident Peter Seidlitz sulfered a serious stroke in Australia seusral months ago. His wife, Silaie, send,s periodic notes on his þrogress to their friends, and she has consented to these being posted in the Club for the information of those who

knou Peter

although very Peter is continuing to improve - enjoying the slowly. We spent two weeks in Bali summer. Daily massages and movements in the seawater pool have helped to relax his right hand. He is slowly getting to the point that he can grasp a

drink with it! His walking is getting more stable. IJnfortunatel¡ his inability to speak or write persists, and Peter and Margaux and I share frustration due to that. However, his comprehension is good, and we continue to hope that the day when he can again

communicate easily is not too far off. Now, being back home, he is working hard with the various therapists. The girls do house calls. They keep up his mood. We have a long road ahead of us, and Margaux and I do our utrnost to support Peter in all respects. The thing now is to plan the future-

in particular, the next 18 months or so. The most important thing is the continuation of the professional therapy. My biggest wish is to be able make a decision with Peter's own input. THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NOVEMBER

all due diffrdence, as the new President of the Board of Governors of the FCC. This is certainly a case of arr'arr having greatness thrust upon him, rather than

The

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achieving it through universally acknowledged genius or determined canvassing. I had felt the office of vice-president was quite enough for me to digest. have and Karl Wilson's change of job But fate

decided otherwise. Needless to say I look forward to serving the Club as well as I possibly can. I am only too conscious of a heavy moral debt. Ever since arriving in Hong Kong 40 years

ago to become a member (and even before then on visits from Singapore), I have had so many reasons to be grateful for the FCC's existence. For the newcomer, it afforded a vital introduction to the life of the territor¡ the start of valuable contacts and friendships. It seems only yesterday dnat I was enjoying drinks with the unforgettable Richard Hughes when the Club was still in Conduit Road, then hearing how Ian McCrone of Reuters and Ian Stewart of the Nat Yorh Times were getting us premises on the top floor of the

thanks to the efforts long-departed Hilton Hotel - PR (and still an FCC of Nancy Nash, then the Hilton member) before we moved nearer the harbour in Sutherland- House. We have the late Lord Maclehose, former Hong Kong governor, to thank for our present Ice House Street premises which have a special atmosphere of liveliness (especially in the Main Bar) quite unknown to any other place of its kind in the territory. I can consider myself very fortunate to be taking up my new ofÍice at this time. Problems have been solved, debts reduced, membership is increasing. There are new problems, but nothing we can't handle. Although Karl has resigned from the presidency he is still on the Board and has given me invaluable help already. The Board committees include outstanding members who have promised me their support. This gives me every hope of doins a reasonable job for the Club.

Dear FCC Members, This is to inform the Board and Members of the FCC that I will be standing down as President as of Friday, September 15. As per the Articles of Association, I have to stand down as my status has changed from Correspondent to Journalist member. Anthony Lawrence will take over as president. Tony should be well known to all members as the former BBC correspondent in Asia and now one of Hong Kong's foremost commentators. Jim Laurie will move up from Correspondent Board Member to frll the First Vice Presiclent's slot. I would like to thank the Board and members for their support during my short term as President.

W*\-

Karl Wilson l4 September 2000

Editor's note: Karl, nou the nan Executiue Editor (Business) o/ Hong Kong i-Mail,

fficio

uill

remain on the Board in an ex-

caþacity.

THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NOVEMBER

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Crus AcrrvruEs - Cunss

upT the &nks hen I first joined the FCC in 7972 as a trainee waiter, I had no idea that I would, or even could, end up one day as General Manager the Geee Mmmm, as they say in the hotel trade. I reflect often on my trip through the ranks from Trainee Waiter to Bartender to Captain to Head Waiter to Restaurant Manager to Deputy General Manager and finall¡ a year ago December, to GM. What a wonderful career. I'm so very proud. I'm told I still have a sense of humour you need - from the one to survive in the FCC and I know mirror that I have some hair -left, but what a ride it has been. Bar Manager Sammy Cheung and Head Waiter Michael Tsang have been along for most of it they joined in 7973 as has Chief Barman Stephen- Kwok, who joined slightþ later in 1974. Enough reminiscing. One of the key factors in the success of the FCC has been staff's attention to individual members notjust the expected service at - bar, but the special service that the table or across the certain members, due to age or infirmity, need. I stress to new members of the team, as well as the old hands, that we must be continually alert to the needs of our members, and their guests. We must try to anticipate. The membership survey last year indicated that service was one of the best areas of the Club. That made me proud and I intend to keep it that way.

Tactics is what you do when there is something to do; strategy is what you do when there is nothing to do. - So,uielly Tartakower

Sammy and I were also very proud when we opened

the

February-March edition of The Corresþondent to find our photo with an old member who had departed 20 years ago. You see, Sammy and I recognised the member and his wife, not only knew their names, but their drinks. To us it was second nature. But the visitors, their friends, other members at the bar, were astounded and pleased. Of course, Sammy and I are not the only ones who remember names, and drinks and account numbers rr'an:y of our long-serving staff do. I tell our new staff,- "Try to learn the names. It is something that sets the FCC apart from other places." Let me leave you with rrvo thoughts: By the time you read this, the new menu for the Main Dining Room should be out. Try it and please let me and Chef Alan Chan have your comments. Feedback is important. The second point is a blatant plug we're coming up to - of the FCC for that the year end so why not think company lunch or dinner or party? Or for your owrì personal entertaining? If it is anything like last year, you'll need to book early.

heard to murmur. Which is about what everyone else lasted. Mr Lau was just the latest in a series of new faces at the chess club. Mark Kiernan, another who competed in this year's Hong Kong Open Chess Championship, has visited several times. We now have regular players of

New Marketing Manager The Board is delighted to welcome to the club Ms Andrea Gutwirth, our new Marketing Manager. In line with our new policy to be more proactive, Andrea will be seeking to expand both the Club membership and the activities available for members. She is great believer in two-way communication and has expressed a strong desire to hear from all members on your likes and dislikes, and - the Club for the benefit of us all. particularly suggestions on how we can improve While her office is in rear of the Work Room, you are more likely to see her around the Club working with staff and members to help create a more active and successful Club environment. \¡\rhen your cross paths, please introduce yourseJf.

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all skill levels, but new players are always welcome. Every Wednesday night from 6.30 p.m. in the Albert Room. Food and drinks served while you play. Friendly atmosphere guaranteed. Chris Champion FCCCC Convenor Tel: 9179 0451.

E-mail: champs@netfront.net

r'eetæ"tfrem

Gilber{yCl;'eng General Manager

THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NO\'EMBER

he FCC Chess Club came of age recentþ when, on a sultryWednesday evening with a dozen or so players already bent over their games in the Albert Room, Lau Yung walked in. Mr Lau, as all readers will be aware, is the current Hong Kong Open Chess Champion. He didn't announce himself as such, but we are proud to say that he was recognised. Club regular Sarah Henderson, sporting a deep sun tan accrued on a recent holiday in the UK (or so she claims sesnds as dodgy as her early middle game - was the first to play our illustrious visitor. By strateg/), the time she got up, shakil¡ from the table, the suntan had vanished. "At least I lasted 15 moves," she was

ting at a table overlooking the Aga Khan's marina on the Costa Smeralda. Est! Est! ! Esl! !! is avery old Roman white. The story is that a whenever a certain cardinal travelled outside

i"i

better-known labels. For October, the specials are four wines that few people will have heard of, that anybody who likes wine will appreciate, and which for the most part cost surprisingly little. And they are all available for in the Club for your tasting pleasure.

Two specialities of the island of Sardinia are Vermentino, a white, and Cannonau, a red. The Argiolas winery makes excellent versions of both. Their Cannonau is a special favourite at our Portofino

Il Mercato restaurants especially when the customer learns how little he's paying. With a bit of breathing, it develops a depth and complexity that are far beyond expectations. The Vermentino is crisp and fresh: take a sip, close your eyes, imagine yourself sitand

THE CORRESPONDF,NT OC,TOBER-NO\,IEMBER

2OOO

the city, he would send one of his monks ahead to locate an inn where the wine was good. When he succeeded, the monk was to write Est ("it is") on the inn's wall. One time, the wine was so good, the monk could not contain his enthusiasm, and scrawled the word three times. It may or may not be true, bul the wine by Falesco is light and lovely, and very good good good indeed.

La Grola, the most sophisticated of the group, is produced by the fast-rising Allegrini winery in the Valpolicella district near Verona. A blend of five traditional red grapes, it is typical of the enormously distinctive and pleasurable new wines coming out of Italy today. So put a little adventure in your wine drinking. You won't be sorry. I

Crue Acrrvrrlns - Qvtz

Crun Acrrwrrns - Bnrocn

You'ue got a 50-50 Ghance ByWendy Richardson

GOFFEGT

hould you be playing in 7NT you shouldn't need it, but if you are in that almost favourite bid 3NT the one thing that may come to the aid of the party is "The Finesse". How many times have you as declarer carefully planned, either by using the opponents bidding or in lieu of this their play, just where the missing honour card is seated and failed? Oh! Well, I had a 50-50 chance.

'You gotta know when to hold 'em

By Wendy Richardson

Dealer South, N/S Vulnerable

he r,r,hackier answers from many previous quizzes are always read out, as the teams expect it. In other words, if vou don't know or rude (but the answer at least be funnl' - ). I have left out most of tlrre really rude ones So for this Quiz Column, I decided to let you in on the fun. And to tesl your knowledge. The wrong answer is given. The correct answers are at the end. Have fun!

â Q10e ? Q108 t A9

.Þ K10975

â K8754

Take a look at this for clear thinking.

Dealer East. E/W Vulnerable

ô QJ10B5 t 7543 iA + J64 ? A9 4109852

â K42 ? q862 a

J7 6 + 87 5

ô A3 ? KJ i0

+ 4q103

East Pass Pass Pass

Pass

1â

South

West

1+ 2NT 3NT

Pass Pass Pass

With North bidding a rather dodgy heart suit looking for a possible game in a Major and to get the message across about diamonds, South was happy to bid 3NT. West also reading the bidding led out the 100

effectively removing the main entry into dummy and those rather useful spades. The only possibility would be to set up theJâ but how? Do the unthinkable and lose the finesse

let \A/est have the K, so lead low- from

- up the dummy and put

a K72

+ A83

1. News Name the Republican Congressman who in on a private dinner where the Taiwanese

barged

president was attending? Trent Pushalot

+ qJ64 North

3NT

Pass

3. Military Radio Call Signs - H = ? Harriet

South lNT'r' Pass

West

4. History (Better known as) WilliamJefferson Blythe?

Pass

Caþtain Bligh

Pass

Q. West now leads another diamond (maþe partner has the K) no such luck. Declarer cashes the Aô and leads a low spade to the K. East then pressed on with diamonds the rest as they - run the spades (take KO, cross to Jâ, say is historl and back for last clubs) 10 tricks. Sometimes you don't want to win 'em all.

the clubs. IMest now has 5 cards, K 8 7 ô and K 9 ? and the lead is from dummy a heart finesse would be mortal to the contractso South played the - tricks true, but then qô. West then has 3 spade he to lead the hearts. Making 9 beautifully

CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NOVEMBER

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(if retitled) The First

lVlrs.

DeWinter?

6. History Where did the 1st Fleet land onJanuary 1788? US

7. General Knowledge What is bombazine? Indian

The

7-hree ,l\Iuskateers

17. Fihn (title includes clothing) 1949 film starring John Wayne andJoanne Drt? The Great Hatsby 18. News (names) The X-rated actress in an advertisement with the Philippines speaker of the House? Fehcitl, Shagall 19. Art & Literature Who wrote "laugh and the world laughs r,r,ith you"? Tbmmy Cooper

20. Art & Literature What do professional applauders? Legco

a group of Scrabble

22. Film (quotes) 'You are a little people, a silly people, greedy barbarous and cruel." Gulliaer's'Iiauels

23. Food & Beverage What Nligator Pear? Prichly þear

another name for an

24. Art & Literature Who is 18,

Theotokopoulos better known 25. TV

as?

Domenikos

Don Quixote

Star Trek, what is the illegal beer called?

San Moonguel

þeriodical

26. History French head of state Januar,v

8. Food & Beverage What am I drinking, if the

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ingredients are: vodka, lemon juice, ginger beer, ice cubes and a sprig of mint? Screaming Orgasm

27. News \A4rat is currently the boat in the lead of the Louis Vuitton Cup? Marie Celeste

9, History (Mistresses) Mussolini's? Lucretia Borgia

28. Film Who wrote the book Dead Man Walking? The Fl¡,ing Yqp

10. Food & Beverage Is Ricotta cheese made from buffalo or cow's rnllk? Pull the udder one

ll.

General Knowledge \A4rat is the correct term for someone who creates crosswords? S¿d 12. General Knowledge What is the correct term for the sttrdy of lubrication and friction? Bump and grindology

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West on lead went for the conventionù, "4th highest etc.", dtrYnmy goes up with the 9 and up pops theJ, rather than duck declarer takes the A. By forcing out the Ai and putting East on lead a spade is duly sent back, which West ducks to the 10 (hoping that East can get back in and lead another spade). What to do? Back to hand in clubs and then play the Qt, when \A¡est all too quickly played low South plays the A from dummy and runs

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Is there a decline in the number of foreign correspondents based in Hong Kong? Some would say yes, but DowJones Newswire's Kate Pound Dawsonwrites that the number of financialjournalists is on the increase orget the Cold War. When it comes to international news, it's all about trade wars,

in business needed to know what stocks were hot in Tokyo and where the Hong Kong interbank offered

stock exchange rivalries, currency collapses and

rate was.

telecommunications turf fights. To keep up with the monel' battles, international Êinancial news organisations have been expanding

their forces on the ground in Hong Kong in the past three years, even as some general news operations retrenched once the explosion of handover news faded after 1997. Bloomberg, CNN, Dow Jones, the Financial Times, and Reuters are just some of the companies that have added staff and increased coverage of Hong Kong since 1997. Most also have expanded elsewhere in the region as well. "Hong Kong rvas always a business story," said Barry Wain, senior editor at the Asian Wall Street Journal, whro has been with the paper in Hong Kong and elsewhere for nearly 25 years. "The business of the hando\¡er sorl of distracted from that." The Asian economic crisis, which kicked in immediately after the handover, has helped return the focus to business, Wain said. The demand for Asian financial and business news has grown steadily in the past l5 years dating back to the first years of market liberalisations that still are going on around the world. Back in the mid1980s, the US dollar first sank to Y120, the junk bond dealers were kings and the Nikkei 225 started its trajectory toward 39,000. Suddenl¡ everybody

CNBC

After years of being the hottest in the world, the Asian financial markets fell to their knees during the economic crisis. On one August day in 1998, the world watched Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Donald Tsang force speculators to retreat, and people in the financial industry stood by computer monitors or television screens to see just how close the u'orld had come to a global crisis. Markets are steadier now, and the crisis faded, but the demand for financial nervs grows on. A lot of it is to feed these equity web sites," said one wire hand about growth at his organisation. Not only are the Websites demanding content, but t+tt ++la I t+til+tt+a+t¡¡ faarl *aa + lr+llll¡rt1"¡ ttf!-lltttat attttl+t+tttttlttt+

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in the midst of a rapid expansion in Hong Kong, hiring about 10 people, a senior bureau staffer said. Some of the new positions are for Reuters' new Chinese-language service, which is distributed worldwide, but some are on the English-language side, mostly in covering the Hong Kong equities market. In all, Reuters has expanded by about 20Vo ln tI'¡e past year, more than recovering from a post-

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T handover contraction, when the bureau shrank as staff posted here to cover the change of government left.

Other financial wires have

expanded in the

past few years. Bloomberg News' bureau here has grown to about 25 journalists, from around 10 four years ago, one long-time reporter there said. It also has added about 50 reporters and editors in total in Asia this year as part of a worldwide expansion. Growth at other wires, he insists, means "they're trying to keep up with us." Dow Jones & Co. (which employs this reporter) has added to its outlets in Hong Kong the Asio,n WalI Street.fournal, th.e Far Eastern Economic Reu'iew and

have been added elsewhere in the region. Much of that expansion has been to feed its monthly Technology Journal, said managing editor Peter Stein, but some has been in general news coverage and to meet the needs of the paper's new design. The Internet boom not only demands copy to feed web sites, it also demands growing coverage, Stein said. "The whole paper's expanding. Coverage is expanding a bunch of different areas," Stein said. -lhe Reaiew's revamp earlier this year including adding reporting staff in Hong Kong, said Michael Vatikiotis, a managing editor at the magazine. Since most reporters cover both business and general news, it is hard to break down just how many purely business writers there are, he said.

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Duesseldorf, this year dispatched Oliver Mueller to the city, primarily to cover financial Asian financial and Hong Kong corporate news. Mueller has two roles: In addition to writing his own stories, he also serves as a liaison between Handelsblatt and the Asian Wall Street Journal the two papers - former's joint are indirectly linked because of the

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CNN International has doubled to about 50 news staffers in the past 18 months, and of that expansion, about 12 of the newpeople are covering business and market news in programs tailored for the region, said Bill Baggitt, managing editor CNN Asia Pacific. "\Me're here to cover Asia for Asia," and Asia wants more news of every type, he said.

Don't forget those dotcoms. Part of the growth at CNN has been to feed its popular CNN.com site, Baggitt said. "We expect a growth spurt before the end of the year to accommodate the interactive side," he said. WSJ.com, DowJones' web flagship, has had a correspondent in Hong Kong for nearly two years, and soon will add another, said Mike Elek, the Asia senior editor for WSJ.com. Elek will add a news editor and a copy editor to work with him in Hong Kong. Within the region, there is growing need for news, particularly financial news, and that is "only going to grow," CNN's Baggitt said, as the people of the region grow wealthier and take a greater stake in their countries' markets. I

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spondent in Hong Kong. Mueller says there certainly is interest in the region's financial markets, even from "ordinary mom and pop investors" in Europe. "They're really after first-hand financial news," he said. It isn't unusual for him to get e-mail from wouldbe investors wanting to know about big Chinese initial public offerings or Hong Kong stocks. Tlre Financial Times, too, has beefed up its staff, though more modestly. A year ago, the bureau here replaced a reporter who had worked only part-time for the paper with a full-time correspondent, said bureau chief RahulJacob. That gives the FT fivrc fulltime writers. THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NO\,'EMBER

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When Glenn Schloss wrote an article on that subject in the South China Morning Post, it soon became the controversial topic around the Main Bar. Was

it true? hen the South China Morning Post ran my feature article in June about the

departure of a large chunk of the foreign media corps, the grumblings around the Main Bar were a little more acidic than usual. 'Ihe SCMP might be the leading EnglishJanguage newspaper in East Asia, but a favourite pastime of the FCC barstool critics is taking potshots at it and my article gave them something more to gripe about. For a long time those who stick the boot into the paper (yet turn to it lhe morning after for story leads and material they can lift for their employers overseas) have complained it is not tough enough on the Hong

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a sub-editor splendidly headlined "Flight of the press pack". The piece addressed not only the thinning-out of the ranks of the foreign correspondents' corps since

the July 1997 handover and the phenomenon of fly-in/fly-outjournalists, but also examined the evolving and increasingly-subtle (for "subtle" read boring if you are a foreign editor) news story which is Hong Kong. The story was prompted by the BBC's withdrawal of its regional team to the less-expensive, but more sterile location of Singapore, leaving just one correspondent in the HKSAR, and my observations over the past three years of bureau posts for important British newspapers and American TV networks being left empty. According to figures from the Hong Kong government, 134 foreign media personnel were registered in the middle of the year, down from 773 at the time of the handover, but around the same level as 1995. The FCC says its number of correspondent members remains static at about 210. That might be the case, but any member, including former President Philip Segal, knows that it is becoming harder and 14

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Editor's note: Schloss would, like it to be hnown that for the three years he has been the FCC, he has onþ once þicked uþ a story øt the Main Bar and has neaer been ffired a job thøre, but has suffered many hangouørs.

a member of

The BBC's. Departtrre for Singapor'e T A. Then I started to see press reaction here to the news that the ìltl'BBCwas going to move its SoutheastAsia team to Singapore, V V' I was not surprised because I do know this territory...and I

Kong Government and China. For the record, I disagree. I have worked at the SCMP for five years, occasionally stumbling across a story with the potential to ruffle some feathers on Lower Albert Road or in the Xinhua's office in Huppy Valley, and never once had a story about the mainland or HKSAR buried, spiked or toned down. For all of that, none of my stories have created as much as discussion within the Club as the article which

number of containers passing through the port. But it is hardly heartening for those interested in the political pulse of Hong Kong and its role as a window on China. It's the sort of thing Tung Chee-hwa with his emphasis on "business not politics" likes to see. The emails started coming in. Some diplomats who monitor media developments found the article helpful. They also bemoaned the fact that their diplomatic headquarters had taken the same attitude as foreign media organisations which tuned out on Hong Kong three years ago once it became what is derisively termed 'Just another Chinese city". And there were some polite complaints too. Agence France Presse's regional director for the Asia-Pacific Pierre Lesourd said his organisation was now one of the biggest in town with about 75 staff,35 of whom were full-time correspondents. But Mr Lesourd was not going to press the point. "AFP has decided to keep its regional at least for the time being headquarters (Asia -and Pacihc) in Hong Kong," he said. Perhaps he was thinking of Reuters' 1995 decision to relocate its Asian editorial headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore. Or his company's financial wire service AFX's ill-fated move to Manila, which was plagued by problems including brownouts and telecommunications hitches. In the meantime, at least CNN has expanded its presence in Hong Kong, doubling its staff to 50 in the past 18 months. I

harder to find a Correspondent Member on the premises these days... bul so much easier to meet a lawyer, accountant or public relations executive.

he response to my story was mixed. It's just

not on to have a go atyour own, said one or two journos. Some freelancers with strings to major newspapers who have been fighting a losing battle just to get small pieces into their publications forget about getting their status upgraded to full-time correspondent said it was about time such a piece was writt-en. Government offrcials complained it was too hard on Hong Kong. They did their best to downplay the exodus, but had to admit there was a downturn, blaming it on the smooth transition. You won't frnd those spin doctors complaining about the lack of international interest in the right of abode controversy or the Robert Chung polling affair, incidents which did not portray the HKSAR government in the best light. I was buttonholed in the Main Bar by fìnancial scribes who disagreed, saying their agencies were getting bigger. That's great, but so what? That might reflect the growing emphasis on Hong Kong as a business and fìnancial centre, which is all well and good for those interested in the minutiae of. stock prices, currency movements, loan deals and the THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NOVEMBER

2OOO

know how obsessive it is about its position. So I thought it was really very funny to think that the BBC might ever consider leaving Hong Kong behind, might consider walking away from it as though it didn't count in the world, as though it wasn't important

any longer...as though it was just another region of China and as important as any other region, but no more important than any other. I laughed, I am afraid, when I heard about that, because it is so far from the truth. It is actually.just silly. \Arhat we have done is to move one of our best young correspondents...to.. Hong Kong. We have made sure that he will have precisely the kind of backup in technical and management terms that every BBC correspondent based in Hong Kong from Tony Lawrence's time has always had. The only thing that has changed is that the correspondent in the region is simply not going to simply hang his hat up on a hook in Hong Kong, he is going to hang his the sole difference. hat up on a hook in Singapore I asked, the last time when I-was here, how often (the BBC) reports on events in Hong Kong. (It) doesn't report on ... (them) with great frequency. \4try? Because big news stories doesn't happen all that often in Hong Kong. In that same wa¡ I cannot possibly conceive of cutting our ties with (the HKSAR). I remember reading a headline in one newspaper: "The British are leaving again, the British are leaving again." Of course, that's absolute trash. I tell you, I promise you, the BBC's concerns with this territory are as strong as they always were. This is a region in which we have the most profound interest and it continues with as much strength now and into the future, as long as I am in the job, as it ever had when Tony Lawrence was the BBC correspondent here decades back. John Simpson, Simþson's World, BBC

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Looking down austerely from the walls of the Main Bar is an Asia-Inc cover featuring a colonial governor in full plume. How many members realise that under the colonial regalia is the redoubtable Arthur Hacker? Bangkok-based editor-in-chief

The new Press Council is upon us and the Hong KongJournalists Association has been agonising over its stance. Vice-chair C,ren Manuel

William Mellor reveals all

explains

did not anticipate Chris Patten being available for the photoshoot (in 1996), we decided to use a model wearing dress uniform and ostrich-plumed pith helmet rented from theatrical costumier in London. The uniform hire, as I recall, was US$150, including air s we

freight, for a week. Howeveq a suitablyvice-regal looking stand-in could not be found among of the Hong Kong male models, so with a deadline looming I was forced to call in possibly Hong Kong's worst-dressed man writer, historian and Asia-Inc cartoonist Arthur Hacker to don the gubernatorial garb. - To my reporter's eye, Hacker with his hair and beard freshly trimmed and shabby cardigan discarded, cut a Bordeoux Choblis Longuedoc-Roussillon U

suitably authentic frgure. Alas, a sharp-eyed Asia-Inc reader was not so convinced. "A brief glance at the medals worn by the British colonial administrator on your cover reveals him to be a remarkable man," wrote the reader, tongue frrmly in cheek. "In addition to his gubernatorial duties, he has managed to survive military service, over a period of some 30 years, in six campaigns, as well as finding úme to enlist in the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the StJohn Ambulance Brigade." In the fìnestjournalistic tradition, we published the

letter along with equally light-hearted mea culþas frorn Hacker and myself. Of course, we didn't have to. But it gave us an excuse to reprint on our letters page one of our most handsome covers. I

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HKJA, easily the oldest and biggest organisation representing local journalists, join the Press Council. that the council is a danger to We say No press freedom.

That sounds an easy choice. For years we have been fighting against unethical practices in the local media. The HKJA's ethics committee has considered dozens of complaints from members of the public aggrieved at

We don't have the power to fine, but we have no hesitation about namins the wronsdoers.

Ch. Lo Croix, Pomerol 92 - Bordeoux

spent at the bar by any FCC member. no, agonized The reason: we have debated over our stand towards the newest media watchdog to hit the local media scene. The question: Should the

what has been done in (almost always) newspapers, and has often found their complaints more than justified.

he office of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) is a world away from the main bar of the FCC. We've no drinks, no food, and to be honest, we're a bit short of chairs. But the hours spent in that office by the members of the executive committee recently would rival the hours

2OOO

And there's no shortage of things to find lacking. Sensationalism-invented stories, journalists who lie to get interviews, promotion of illegal pornography ... not a short list. We're worried that if the government gets tough with the media that antics like this will leave us without public support. So the arrival of a Press Council to try and clean things up a little should have had frontline local journalists jumping for joy. Yes? Sadly, no. To see why so many journalists are wary of it, let's have a look at this new and, for Hong Kong, strange beast. When the Privacy Sub-Committee of the Law Reform Commission proposed, more than ayear ago, that Hong Kong should have a statutory Press Council

for the Protection of Privac¡ many people in

the

industry panicked. Despite the best intentions of the sub-committee, its ideas looked like a censorship committee in embryo. (See The Corresþondenl, OctoberNovember 1989.) The sub-committee was right to think that the press often invades privacy (although they had little understanding why this is sometimes vital). But its

Mnorn attempt to solve the problem was throwing not only the baby out with the bathwater, but ejecting mummy and the rubber duck too.

I**

HKJA and, naturally themselves in large numbers, to sit on a body doing much of the same things done by the

own initiative without a complaint in sight. If, hypothetically, the CE one day takes a dislike to newspapers whose names contain t¡pes of fruit, then he (or she) would be able to engineer some crisis and have this

fruit-flavoured newspaper fined into receivership. (Any similarity between this hypothetical example and the real world is purely coincidental).

Strangely, when this body

But the Newspaper Society, the grouping of many of the major publishers, decided to set up a voluntary Press Council, inviting media groups, academics, the

fined newspapers, it

would keep the money instead of giving it to the victims of intrusion. In short, it was a committee better suited to punishing newspapers than helping the victims of media intrusion. So, quite rightly, some sections of the industry decided the best way to avoid this was to clean

up its act. We at the HKJA acted with the News Executives Association, Press Photographers Association

and the (pro-Beijing) Hong Kong Federation of Journalists to produce, for the first time, a broadly agreed code of conduct much more detailed than the HKJA code which we've had for decades. We also lobbied employers to put it into journalists' contract of employment, so if they did something against the code they could be fired.

HKJA considering ethical issues, handling - etc. They even bagged a well-known complaints academic Lingnan College's President, Professor Edward KY Chen, formerly of the Consumer Council and Chris Patten's Exco to be the chair. But, after much thinking, we have turned our backs on this body and recommend others follow suit !\¡hy? Because such a body concedes certain key principles that could make it easier, one day, for the government to set up a statutory body controlling the media. Crucially, such a cross-industry body is an admission

that individual editors cannot do much on their own. Well, this is an admission we don't agree with, Many of the perceived ethical problems in the Hong Kong media could be solved quickly if editors simply thought more deeply about what they do and its long-term impact. Editors on local newspapers usually hold absolute power: they could walk into their office tomorrow morning and simply say "Folks, today we're going to make a great newspaper using decent

methods only". They could also walk into their office and tell their staff to start a proper letters page (many local newspapers do not publish 'Letters to the Editor') giving readers a chance to air their grievances. They could also invest a few dollars in staff training, giving some of their low-grade staff a chance to boost their skills and get great stories in an ethical way.

hev could also build a code of 66n¡l¡6¡

I I I

práferably the one we've just helped write, but

int-o ih.i. o*n code would be OK too - if a journalists employment contracts. So journalist breaks the code, they're fired. And if an

editor asks a journalist to break to code in pursuit of a story the journalistwill have a good reason to refuse. Instead of this, editors are saying that this problem requires an industry-wide approach, it needs some kind of central body. But as their own Press Council has no teeth, and indeed at present seems rather worried about the idea of handling controversial complaints at all, it is only a matter of time before concern groups start labelling it as a failure particularly as the - Daiþ are currently Oriental Press Group and Aþþle not joining. And then when it is seen as a flop, the government can, with ease, simply take the existing Press Council and give it some teeth, some legal protection against lawsuits by aggrieved editors, and force full participation to make it work properly. Oh, and while they're at it, the government will probably want a little bit of say on who sits on the committee. Indeed, the current voluntary council is already pondering whether it needs a helping hand from the 18

THE CORRESPONDF,NT OCTOBER-NO\'EMBER

2OOO

Opting out The Chinese dailies with the largest circulation, Ihe Oriental Daily iVenzs and |he Apple Daily, have opted oul of the industry's own Press Council

government. It is worried that if it criticises some newspaper groups for their behavior then it may get sued. So the Press Council is thinking of asking for a bill giving legal immunity. (The Consumer Council has such powers already.) They say they want a private members' bill so it will have no government but these are effectively extinct these involvement days. All bills are government bills. So even without starting proper operations, they are already going cap in hand to Lower Albert Road asking for a favour. A big legislative time is at a premium these days. one too - start. Not a good This is a the path to government meddling in the media. It also goes against the views of many HKJA members that rvhile there is genuine competition in the print media, there should be as little regulation as possible. Certainly, a government-appointed committee of people from the Home Affairs' Bureau's list of "usual suspects" for committees would be a disaster. If the ordinary working people of Hong Kong are prepared HK$5 a day for a newspaper, which group of semi-retired solicitors and doctors (the usual folks

þicked by the government) should say they shouldn't get it?

An analogy: Everyone knows that if you

buy

vegetables in a wet market there may be some bad ones slipped in. Some days an unscrupulous stall-holder may give you something truly rotten. But this is no excuse for a committee of vegetable experts to patrol the aisles, offering to help anyone with a bad apple in their

bag. By their nature, this type of organisation always wants to grab more powers for itself. If we're not careful we'll be forced to buy pre-packaged frozen vegetables that taste of nothing at all. Just because this is the fare on offer in much of the rest of the region doesn't mean to say we want it here. I The HKJA has been fzghting for þress freedom in Hong Kong for two decades. Though manl of the HKJA's founder members were (and still are) FCC members, those nau to the Hong Kong þress scene mcq not realise that the HKJA welcomes

foreign corresþondents and all

other

journalists in

Hong Kong as members. The annual membership fee ß fiL50. Web address ls <rr.vr.w.h\ja.org.hk>.

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[852) 2572 8228 or Email asia@prnewswine.com

Donald Maclean: The Spy Next Door

1948, that she and Geoffrey Floare first met the Macleans.

Clare Hollingworth, the doyenne of foreign correspondents in Asia, has kept a special reminder of the days when she lived next door to British tpy Donald Maclean and his family. In honour of Clare's B9th birthday on the Tenth of the Tenth (October 10), we reprint this marvelous tale which Clare originally told to form er South China Morning Post

reporter and FCC member Zelda Cawthorn¿ in 1989 I I I I

n fr o "t

ne's throw lingworth, inkjacket. beautiful," said the doyenne of Hong Kong's foreign correspondents, stroking the ravages of 35 years. Clare Hollingworth ... best known for being the f,rrst journalist to witness the outbreak of World War II and getting the scoop on Kim Philby's defection on 1963, remembers wearing the mink "once, maþe twice", but she certainly didn't make a habit of it. It wouldn't have been right; it was given to her for safekeeping by Mrs Dunbar. also a Melinda Melinda's mother - they'll be the 'You look after-these for her. I know things she wants when they comes back,' said Mrs Dunbar, giving me Melinda's coat and bathroom scales I've those in London at my place in Dorset Square -after her daughter went to Russia with the children -to

join Donald. "I don't suppose she knows I've got them." ... Hollingworth, honored by the Queen in 1982, has resisted the temptation to exploit her knowledge of the

Macleans. Her late husband, former London Times'

correspondent Geoffrey Hoare, did that and enough, she

was

says.

After Melinda went to Moscow, Geoffrey wrote a quickie book called he The Mi,ssing Macleans and it enough for us to buy a flat in Paris. made a bundle "I would have- quite liked to write something too, but Geoffrey said no, we shouldn't be known

wrote about traitors."

people who

There was another reason for the unusual delicacy: misplaced some might say, but to the pair who were not only admirable all the same neighbours, but close friends. It was to Geoffrey Hoare that Melinda turned when, Donald Maclean's 38th birthday on May 25,195I her husband fled to Russia with Guy Burgess. And both Floares were on hand to comfort the distressed Mrs Dunbar after her daughter and grandchildren followed suit two years later. Recalls Hollingworth: "Geoffrey and I went to see her and Melinda after they moved to Geneva and all seemed well. Then one night just as we were sitting Mrs down to dinner we were back in Paris then Dunbar phoned -to say that Melinda and the children had gone to stay with some friends over the weekend

a sense of loyalty

and hadn't come back.

"I want Geoffrey right away,' she said. He went immediately to the airport and straight to her, and was with her for days while she coped with the police. hen she had to go to London to be interviewed by the Foreign Office, I drove her there and back. We stayed in the Russell Hotel in Russell Square and I made sure all her calls were put through to me. The press had no idea we were staying there.

"It

was a bad time

for Mrs Dunbar. 'All I want is to

have Melinda back,' she said. She was a nice generous

woman, through rather overdone. Very rich too.j'... It was at a "rather grand" dinner party in London in THF, CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NO\,'EMBER

2OOO

"The party was given for Donald and Melinda by Sir Bernard Burrows (then head of the Foreign Ofhce's Eastern Department) who wanted them to meet people with up-to-date knowledge of Cairo and I found them a nice amusing couple. "He was goodJooking, well turned out, obviously upper-class. She was rather shy. "I would say I fell for them in a big way, but Geoffrey was very taken with Melinda and we all parted on excellent terms. 'Au revoiq see you in Cairo,' we said. "The Macleans were already there when we arrived a few weeks later. Almost immediately we had dinners for each other and it became increasingly intimate relationship."

äi-fr

Consul General's residence, temporarily in the care of the Hoares. "Hazel King (the Consul General) and his wife had gone away for six months ... As a result, I found myself

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living in the luxury to which I was completely

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unaccustomed. "It was a huge, beautiful house, staffed by five or six servants and having the Gezira Club so close was wonderful; an l8-hole golf course as well as a race course and three swimming pools. "I swam at the club everyday and rode there every

jolly hard too. I

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morning. Mind you, I worked correspondent for the Economist znd the Obseruer then." Spare time more often than not, was spent in the company of the Macleans whose garden adjoined the Consul-General's a connecting gate was soon left open for easy access.

was

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Family bridge occupied many an evening, remembers "Geoffrey was bridge champion and Hollingworth Donald seemed to enjoy it. I just played out of duty"

but there was soon trouble brewing... Maclean's rapid disintegration as he took to the bottle in Cairo. Hollingworth who witnessed many a binge, colours in the ugly picture, "It was wine at the table and scotch before and afterwards. And then I had trouble with the servants. " 'Sit (Madam),' said the head servant one da¡ 'You must keep Mr Maclean downstairs, because when he is drunk he chases the boys upstairs and it's not fair for them.' "The trouble of course was that when Donald was drunk, he became homosexual and a communist. Melinda knew about the homosexuality, but closed her eyes to it. "Time passed and Geoffrey and I both went away on a assignment. \A¡hen we came back, Melinda really cried on our shoulders. Donald was very diffrcult, very even going to the offrce drunk, she said. drunken

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" 'I

know he was. I went to his office one day and there he was having a swig of whisky from a bottle in his drawer.' " Hollingworth believes that the main reason Donald Maclean wasn't sent back to London in disgrace at that point was because of his great all¡ the British Ambassador, Sir "he really Ronald Campbell

l o Ø o C f

a'u¡ful.

"I remember Toynbee chortling, 'Oh, goodbye Sir Donald. I'm lucky to be journalist. I don't have to go.

loved Donald; wouldn't hear a

plane that took Donald back to London. I went lo lhe airport to see Geoffrey off and there were Donald and Philip Toynbee, still looking

Hollingworth doesn't

disguise

Toynbee (son of the eminent historian

Toynbee. Or her lingering affection

much sleep you got last night, the question is one that goes to the heart of economics. Since so many of you have said you'd love to rip the

Cairo in April,1950. The famous fur coat Clare shows it off.

lare Hollingworth

remembers more than the series of the drunken orgies

which shocked Cairo. "After Philip Toynbee came to stay with the Macleans, Melinda was pushed out of the matrimonial suite and had to stay with the children. No question about it; Melinda told me.

"The fìnal crises arose over several disgraceful with the reception at Abdin Palace.

brawls starting

King Farouk was still on the throne, and it was extremely grand affair white tie, decorations and long dresses.

"Philip Toynbee and Donald arrived at

the reception wearing the clothes they had on the whole day and in a very drunken state. Then they staggered over the staircase which was lined with ladies-in-waiting beautiful young women in light yellow dresses and - see -relieved themselves in full view of everyone. I didn't it myself, but many others did. Far too many." Finally came the famous rampage

documented,

-well but not as vividly told as by Clare Hollingworth. "In the early hours, after a healy drinking sessions, Toynbee and Donald went to the flat of an American girl and hammered on her door. "\Alhen she saw the two drunkards, she was absolutely

terrifred and fled to some neighbours. Somehow, the men got into the place and smashed it up they even - bed in a then the flopped on the girl's broke the loo drunken stupor. "The American ambassador was informed and stormed over to the British ambassador, demanding that Donald and his friend be remove immediately. "He also threatened to report the incident to the

Egyptian authorities

if Donald wasn't dealt with

immediately. He was no longer fit to be a senior British

diplomat in Cairo and should be sent home without dela¡ said the American ambassador, he was furious. "My husband helped to carry Donald and Toynbee into the Maclean householdwhen theywere driven home. "By coincidence, Geoffrey was booked on the same

re you more productive today than you were yesterday? \Alhile a lot might depend on how

Maclean, wronged in marriage, disappointed in love... The aftermath of Donald Macleans final fling in Cairo, she recalls, was a particular a bitter time for Melinda, who had shed her reserve in Eglpt and enjoyed social

Arnold Toynbee and former correspondent of the Obseraer) in

By David O'Rear

her dislike for the late Philip

to Melinda

word against him."...(One account) chronicles, rather gingerÌy, the disastrous events which followed the arrival of Maclean's friend Philip

fif,f'Ìes; us Mae:intoshe$

When he left her

in the lurch

again, things were far grimmer. "The press treated Melinda very badly after Donald went to Russia," says Hollingworth, who like her husband, disassociated herself from the packs. "Melinda showed Geoffrey all her letters from Donald, and both she and Mrs Dunbar were very keen for him to publish them. He put them in his book landl afterwards he returned them to Mrs Dunbar. "Donald and Melinda never contacted us after she joined him in Russia. Not a word. "I'd tried to track him down after he left. 'I don't mind what it costs. Just find Donald Maclean,' said Lord Layton (of the Economist) after he disappeared. So I drove down to Normand¡ thinking Donald might be sobering up at the home of one of his friends from Cairo, Lady Smart. A wasted journey, of course." welve years later, Clare Hollingworth had the

satisfaction of scooping everyone with her dramatic revelations about Kim Philby's defection ("I led t}l'e Guard,ian lor a week"), though the story she had never written is in many ways more intriguing. Did Melinda Maclean know her husband was spying for the Russians? Hollingworth tends to think she did, though only towards the end. Half a lifetime after Cairo, the garden gate is closed for good, but the final link remains.. just..."I thought of getting Melinda's coat fixed the main reason was to have it looking nice again when I returned it to her ... but an expert told me it was past repair. "For years I had it hanging in a cupboard in London, then I brought it here thinking I might get a chance to see Melinda and finally return it to her... "What would I ask Melinda if we met again? I would just sa¡ 'Why didn't you write?"' I

When the economy grows fastel'than Productivity, something has to adjust The USA: Percent Change year-on-year

heart out of an economist, this subject should be of interest. Typicall¡ the more demand there is for something, the higher the price. The reason productivity is important is that the more you have, the more stuff you can produce, without higher prices (inflation). This is sort of like eating everything you love and never gaining weight. Naturall¡ economists hate it because there ain't no such thing as a free lunch. Growth, in the classic economic sense (art oxymoron?), comprises three things: labour, capital and that elusive whatyamacallit that happens when you put the two together (productivity, technology, synergy). Consider someone picking apples on a farm for $5 an hou¡ and he manages to pick 100 apples an

hour. The inputs are (a) labour and (b) apple trees (which comprise land, seeds, water, etc). Standing next to a tree and picking apples works pretty well as far as his arms will reach, but at some point the low-hanging fruit (technically knows as the "easy pickings") are all gone and he has to start climbing.

Climbing productivity Invest in a ladder and the number of apples that our rrsrng young star can pick will increase. Instead of climbing a tree he climbs the corporate ladder. Not only is this easier on both the tree and the worke¡ but it also allows him to pick 120 apples an hour. If his pay stays the same, the farmer who hired him enjoys a 207o increase in output (apples) for the same input (labour and trees), plus the ladder. If the ladder costs $10, deduct that from ttre 20Vo increase and there's the answer. So far so good. Now, add a computer to the farmer's home office and a software application that lets him save time frling his taxes. The time saved is clearly an increase in productivity, so no problem there. However, add an Internet connection that tells our farmer where he can get the best prices for his apples and things get complicated. Macs and milers But, take a closer look at that Macintosh (the Apple,

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enormously more powerful... and connected

the

web. InAugust 1984 (when your correspondentjoined

the FCC) the hrst PC ATs were sold for HK$52,250. These babies had a massive 256KB of RAM, which works out to HK$204 per thousand bytes. Today, a computer with 250 times as much RAM (64M8) is about HK$7,000, or $0.1 per kilobyte. That works out to a price adjustment of 37.6% a year down for 16 years in a row. If runners - their performance improved at the same rate, someone

who ran a four-minute mile in 1984 would now be doing it in 2.2 seconds. Now that's productivity. Back to computers. Using a computer lets me t¡pe faster, which raised my productivity. It also lets me crunch huge columns of numbers, something that I would have never dreamed of doing without a spreadsheet. This takes time, and so, one could argue, that the

time spent crunching numbers rather than just writing, without the background understanding of the subject is wasted, and reduces productivity. On the (warning: never hire a three-handed other hand economist), the quality of my analysis is much better with spreadsheets than without. How about cars? Is a car with better fuel efficiency more productive? Probabl¡ but cars, like computers, are cheaper today than they used to be. The national accounts system (that's GDP), however, is structured such that falling prices are better than faster computers or less polluting cars. So, ttre next time your boss tells you to "work smarter,

not harder", tell him to blow it out his tailpipe.

not the apple). The price of computers has fallen Reþrinted with þermission from the January 21, 1989 edition of the South China Morning Post. THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NO\'EMBER

2OOO

faster than Tung Chee-hwa's popularity. Not only is it cheaper to buy a computer today, today's model is THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NOVF,MBER

2OOO

Dauid O'Rcar, Rzgzonal Economist at the Economist Entørþrises, sþends more time working than eaer beþre. 23

I r)lìi$L Wil i¡ artrl ir'.olaÍN

have been drawn from business and political circles, with predominantþ conservative political views, and a tendency to support the government. In the first tl,r'o years as a SAR, the Legislative Council has not been able to operate as an effective check on government. The government is also complaining that with more democracy due to be introduced into the Legislatit'e Council administrative effectiveness will be hampered, signaling possible diffìculties in the functioning of a future genuine democracy...

Hong Kong: A

Handouer ol Loslng GoNTß.p

Fneedom?

Threats to freedorn of the press

A free press is an indispensable feature of democracy. In a new book by the Australia of the National lJniversity's Asia Pacific Press, Losing Control, leading.journalists analyse and provide an insight into the state of the Fourth Estate in 17 countries. The South China Morning Post's Associate Editor and Political Editor Chris Yeung wrote the chapter on Hong Kong. The Correspondenl presents excerpts from this import essay ow free is too free? Or, perhaps more accurately, how low is too low? These are the questions that offìcials and consumers as the media dishes up an increasingly sensational, voyeuristic and sometimes f,rctional diet of scandal, gore and intrigue. Did the Aþþle Daily, one of market tabloid leaders, step over the line when it paid a labourer to pose in bed with a prostitute, thus illustrating the infidelity which drove

in Hong Kong are asking

his wife to push her two sons out of their high-rise apartment window and to jump herselP At what point does the government intervene to enforce minimum standards to protect the morals or sensibilities of society, or does the media industry itself need to rein in its own activities?

So serious is the slide into tabloid journalism in Hong Kong that one pressure group has established a 'pollution index' to monitor the media and provide the public with a list of the most 'polluted' publications. The Hong KongJournalists Association itself warns that pressures will grow for the policing of the media if the trend in sensationalism continues, opening up new avenues for government intervention in Hong Kong, a territoryjealously guarding its freedoms as the 'Special Administrative Region' (SAR) following its Handover from Britain to China in 1997. Could media irresponsibility so frustrate the public that the people of Hong Kong would be willing to trade off media freedoms and bring the local press more in line with Beijing?

The Handover and the media It seems ironic that two years after the Handover, which came with all the fears of Communist-style 24

controls, the biggest concern for press freedom in Hong Kong is the media's own irresponsibility. The shift towards sensationalism can be seen in a wider context than the commercial motivation for sleaze. As in other countries of the region where the fear of censorship has been an issue crime, sex and violence have provided juic¡ non-political fare to push up circulation figures, but to avoid political controversy. There is little concrete evidence that Beijing has applied o\/ert pressure to the Hong Kong media since the Handover. However, media analysts contend there is a pervasive feeling of selÊcensorship within an industry which u'as, for so long, a bastion of western liberal press values in a capitalist Chinese enclave. Although it is too early to judge the long-term trends, the Hong Kong government has so far adopted a hands-off approach. Under these conditions, media watchers tend to agree that the threat to Hong Kong's media at the turn of the century is coming from within the industry itself.

he media plavs an important social and political role in Hong Kong. Under the British administration the media was an effective and powerful watchdog against government failure and abuses of poweq and it continues to play this role... Under the political framework outlined in the Basic Law (Hong Kong's post-Handover constitution) the Legislative Council holds the purse-strings, passes the laws and, above all, monitors the daily workings of the

Tung Chee-hwa government and its administration. However, mixed electoral arrangements in the Legislative Council mean the majority of members NOVF,MRF,R

2OOO

Setting out a list of 16 benchmarks of Hong Kong's in his swansong policy address in 1996, former Governor Chris Patten highlighted concern o\/er

success

whether the press would remain free after the Handover. He asked 'Is the Hong Kong press still free, uninhibited coverage of China and of issues on which China has strong views? Are foreign journalists and media organisations in Hong Kong still free to operate without controls?' Locally and internationally, there were fears about whether selÊcensorship would r,r,ith

become the norm rather than the exception. In a speech in late March 1999, Anson Chan said the fìrst 20 months of the SAR showed that freedom of speech had been greatly protected, with journalists continuing to enjoy ample room for independent reporting.

t this point it does seem fair to say that the Hong Kong government has silenced cynics within and outside the SAR with its restraint and tolerance towards the local media over the past llvo years. The Beljing government has also won praise over its hands-off approach in allowing a genuine level of autonomy for the SAR. Top SAR leaders have repeatedly assured local journalists they are not intending to introduce legislative curbs on the media despite vocal complaints against media

some journalists do feel the psychological pressure to

carefully weigh their words. Some journalists admit they feel the problem of self-censorship does exist, but they have trouble gir,.ing concrete examples. But, the Legislative Council's legal constituency representative Margaret Ng Ngoiyee, a practicing barrister and a former newspaper publisher, has observed in a N¿z¿ Yorh Times report, "As a whole, newspapers have become steadily more pro-government since the Handover." The Tung Chee-hwa leadership clearly understands the negative consequences of being seen as attempting to gag the media. For Hong Kong, with its economy largely dependent on foreign investment, freedom of the media remains an important benchmark for investors. Businesses would be likely to become jittery over any blatant curbs on the free flow of information and a reduction in accountability of the government, and the Tung Chee-hwa administration is well aware of the potential economic consequences.

Beijing's long shadow According to a survey conducted by the University of Hong Kong in April 1999, 4l% of respondents felt the media was irresponsible in their reporting. A separate surve)¡ done by the Chinese Uniyersity of Hong Kong shows credibility ratings for the media had dropped across the board. About one-quarter of respondents believe there is selÊcensorship by the media. Conversel¡ though, 36Vo said the media had performed better in criticising the government after

abuse.

Nevertheless, the high-profile remarks made by Tung Chee-hwa and Anson Chan give a clear signal that the government is not happy with the state of the media. It is an open secret that Tung Chee-hwa and his top aides feel frustrated and angry with the sharp criticism in some influential newspapers over its handling of the right of abode crisis. They all spoke out strongly against the government decision to seek reinterpretation from

the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress over key provisions

in the Basic Law.

The unprecedented mo\/e, later approved by

the Standing Committee, has effectively overturned a landmark ruling by the Court of Final Appeal ... Unconvinced by the government's argument, some parts of the media strongly criticised the reinterpretation as a fatal blow to the rule of law, the independent judiciary and

Hong Kong's autonomy. Top officials mounted

vigorous defence and propaganda campaign by writing to newspapers, encouraging their supporters to speak out and send articles to the media.... It is difficult, howeveq to rule out the possibility that THE CORRTSPONDENT OCTOBER-NO\¡EMBER

2OOO

Boox Rnrnnw the Handover. But, the same percentage of people, by contrast, found the Hong

Kong media had failed to continue criticising an¿ monitoring the Mainland government after the Handover. The Chinese Universiry of Hong Kong researchers concluded that local media has become more restrained in criticising China.

hwa and Anson Chan on the need for the media to fulfill its social responsi-

bility and behave

themselves. Conspiracy theorists believe it may be a

curtain-raiser to some form of future controls over the media.... Like other freedoms and rights, the concept of a free press is entrenched in

Hong Kong values. Anyone in the street will speak highly of the imporhina coverage remains the tance of a free press which works most sensiti'r¡e aspect of press without fear and favour. But when self-censorship, reflectine asked by pollsters from the Baptisr the vast differences between The author Chfì! ¡,e ScrùpbÊ University of Hong Kons the most Hong Kong and the Mainland over fun- Associate and Politicat Editor important area for more government damental concepts and values. Not long ago, a effort, protecting freedom of the press ranks fourMainland-born Hong Kong reporrer Xi Yang was jailed teenth. It follows areas such as luring more tourists, for what would usually be considered scooping his reducing pollution, improving people's livelihood and colleagues by revealing plans to sell gold and raise ensuring economic growth. Positively speaking, it could interest rates. Xi, who worked for the Ming pao d,aily, be seen as a vote of 'everything is fine' with press freedom. was convicted of espionage charges in a Chinese court. Yet it might also reflect the prevalent feeling in the He was sentenced to a 12-year jail term in March 1994 community that the problem with the news media now and freed on probation in early 19g7 before the is not a question of whether or not they are free. Rather Handover. He has now emigrated. Xi Yang's case had a it is a question of whether they are excessively free to far reaching impact. Some China-beat Hong Kong publish unwarranted criticism of officials, to indulge in journalists have since resigned, fearing they could trials by media and gross distortions of truth, all of become the next victims. Others have clearly become which, in themselves, pose a threat to other freedoms more cautious in dealing with sensitive Mainland issues. in society. Some media analysts fear the public might Both journalists and members of the public hold a become so frustrated and fed,up that they are ready to strong view that self-censorship in relation to China accept some kind of press controls. If the credibility has become a problem. The problem is that Hong of the media continues to decline, there is a stronger Kong and the Mainland have different political systems and different concepts of freedom of the press.

Who will defend the medìaP The China factor aside, the future of freedom of the press and speech rests with the resolve of SAR leaders and the community at large to uphold it...it is interesting to note the shift in emphasis by Tung Chee-

A funny thirg huppened on the wîy to the polls.oo

likelihood of public support for curbs on rhe media.

Polling and pollsters have dominated the news recently. The Hong Kong Baptist University's Hong Kong Transition Project released the latest of its polls at a FCC press conference in September. The HKTP's director Michael E DeGolyer cornrrrents

n the May 1998, Legco elections in Hong Kong pollsters became an issue after the election. The turnout ofjust over ú3Vo despite rainbursts and downpours which led to a storm of ridicule and accusations levelled at the pollsters who forecast 40% turnout or less. And despite calling many of the results correctl¡ a few remembered accurate forecasts against the harsh light of that one glaring error. This isn't that unusual since pollsters make forecasts whose accuracy becomes

Losing Control: Freedom of the Press in Asia Asia Pacific Press (Australia National University) PB 284 pages ISBNI 0 7315 3626 A$25lus$20lHK$180

readily apparent to everyone on a specific date. When they missed getting the results of UK elecrions in 19g2 correct, pollsters there took a razzing like only the British are capable of administering. And charges that polls influenced voters crop up after every election, especially from those who lost and want to blame someone other than themselves. But in the Legco elections of 2000, pollsters became an issue well before any voter cast a ballot. \Àrhereas usuallyjournalists takejoy at tossing the occasional rock

INDEPENDENT JOURI\dALIST ?

at pollsters and economists who get forecasts wrong, this time the issue wasn't accr;r'acy, at least in polling. This time, as people who pride themselves upon and boast of the professional principle of getting it right, journalists found themselves driven to defend the right of pollsters to get it wrong. There aren't many local journalists who missed the broadcasts of the Robert Chung "pressure on pollsters" saga. As an occasional administrator of slrrveys on public opinion and an academic who has many friends at HKU, including some of the principal figures in the case, my eyes stayed riveted to the screen over the eleven days of broadcast proceedings. As you might expect, I took a number of calls from journalists not only to comment on the issues involved, but also to answer whether I, too, had been pressured

correspondent.com THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NO\T,MBER

2OOO

THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NOVEMBER

2OOO

directly or indirectly. The answer I gave in each

case

was "not really."

I didn't give a clear "no" because, as journalists well know, there are always pressures from many sources on those who engage in public discussion. Academics are no exception. But I think these pressures don't count unless they in some way involve a clear threat on one's health or career. Anyone who allows complaints below this level of threat to affect them is either over sensitive or lacks the spine

required to maintain the personal integrity public debate requires. They don't belong in the public sphere. As an academic, I encourage and enjoy a good open debate over facts and principles and interpretations.

've had many encounters with Hong Korrg government officials, business people, consular staff, other academics, and even journalists who questioned everything from methods to interpretations. But no one Mafia-like "made me an offer I couldn't refuse", nor has anyone tried to quietly pressure Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU)

officials. And unlike my good friend and HKBU colleague (Associate Professor) Tim Hamlett, no legislator has David Chulike launched a campaign to get me fired. (David Chu quickly apologized and retracted the attempt, unlike Andrew Lo, Chief Executive Tung Chi-hwa's senior advisor, who neither attacked openly nor has acknowledged that what he did was wrong.) That attempt didn't seem to intimidate Tim Hamlett's commentaries in the South China Morning Posr, as anyone can see who reads his columns. \44rile HKBU's vice-chancellor Daniel Tse has gotten at least one letter objecting to our surveys several

years back, he handled

it wholly

appropriately,

Pnnss CoNrnnnNcn sending a letter defending academic freedom to the inquisitor and sending the correspondence on to me requesting I write a response on the specific questions being challenged, which I did. Cheung Kong lawyers also got a little upset in April 1999 when the HKTP asked a question about the influence of "big business tycoons like Li Ka-shing" on the Chief Executive and several of the Chinese language papers reported the phrasing incorrectly as asking about Li's influence on Tung. They asked that I send a letter to one of the newspapers they cited clari$ring

LuucnuNES address, the budget address, and on

'"$0" ïlansition hoject

The Hong Kong

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(s@Þm)

the anniversary of the handover, as well as before and after elections. Our research isn't funded by media or business, unlike Robert Chung's unit, and we focus more on policy and in-depth analysis, the sort of approach HKU Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Wong Siulun said he was trying to get Chung to adopt.

^ldWh.¡@r@ry@l¡.Ë M@tuòrbH@hbdùW tÈ¡.dùdLFoC.rbideh@¡wbtu

As to why Andrew Lo didn't drop in on HKBU'sVice-Chancellor

rrget acquainted" visit in which polling just happened to +(eEqúl¡q, tñæ'Ñtuæõ come up like he did at HKU and |llÈl+w b¡BBstilùÉaOS||il[ÊbaúEÞìrhf EEl&.ÈÛûftbûÈñrbE(|eùÈÈ Chinese University, I guess you'll just have to ask him. But you can the question asked; I did, while rest assured that as long as there is also making clear that as part of academic research on Hong Kong's academic freedom and freedom political development my team of the press in Hong Kong, you'll had every right to ask the question. hear soundings on public opinion and read Our research methods are vetted by panels of forecasts of election results from the Hong Kong scholars appointed by the Research Grants Committee Transition Project. Now, despite the fact we did a very good job with which has been the main funder of the project and our from The Corresþondent results published everlwhere our recent Legco predictions, released at the FCC press conference on 7 Septembe¡ as to whether the forecasts and newspapers to business- and academic journals will always be right in every aspect... and on our Website. We follow professional polling Besides his directorshiþ of the Hong Kong Transition methods of neutral, clear phrasing of questions. We Project, Dr DeGolyer writes a weehly column on Hong Kong do not ask about popularity but about performance. We survey three times a yeat following the policy þolitics in theHong Kong I-Mail. I

for a

Klaus Cíchon 1938 - ?000

Has HonS l(ong Fallen flff The Map 0f The lnternational lïlews Agenda? The BBC's World Affairs Editor John Simþson was recently in town to shoot a segment for Simpson's World. The 3O-year veteran is a senior member of the London-based foreign and specialist correspondents. Excerpts from his speech Thirty-fir'e years ago Tony simply knew that his piece had been badly used. He didn't know who

disappear.

I frnd myself in one of the most numinous...places on earth for journalism. What foreign journalist does not know about Foreign Correspondents' CIub in Hong Kong? The thought that I might be standing here, addressing it's members is something which, I think, would have never occurred to me in the distant past. The thought that one of its members, for instance, might be Tony Lawrence for whom I performed the function of the most junior and inefficient producer in his and the BBC's. not to mention my personal,

in this last pholo (left)taken earlier thìs year, Klaus' ashes were scattered off the Ninepìn Group of lslands, one of his favourite scuba-diving spots, by his daughters (l-r) Claudia (in sunglasses) and Eva (centre) helped by their friend Gabrielle O'Donovan, (ln addition to belng a stalwart FCCer .1964 between and 1997, Klaus was also one of the founding members of the Hong Kong Underwater Club ) FCC members on hand to bid an old friend goodbye were Mike Westlake, Nigel de Boinville, Hu van Es and Saul Lockhart

THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NO\IEMBER

histor¡ is quite extraordinary.

medieval village, let's say some time during the

Minø Dynasty, you would hear a drum being struck and everybody would dance to it ... and there would be a very large, very elderly bear with not very much in the way of fur left, being pulled in by a rather aggressive handler. The bear would be brought into the middle of the village and somebody would poke it in the ribs with a piece of bamboo and the bear would very reluctantly and unwillingly do a little dance for everybody and people threw things, preferably money... That's my position now. I'm taken round the globe. My wife, as it turns out, is the bear warden and has this short, but I assure you, extremely sharp piece of bamboo and I dance for a programme that I do call, embarrassingly enough, Simþson's World. ...You might think that is just a corny...title, but I assure there is a Mullah in Cairo who feels that it is worse than that, and that only death is the reasonable punishment for somebody who has said that the world does not in fact belong to Allah... I know because I have got his letter somewhere. I keep meaning to leave it out in case

o you know in a Chinese

2OOO

THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NO\'EN,{BER

2OOO

was responsible

for it. It

has

taken me three and a half decades to have the courage to tell him who it u,as. Another

member here,

Clare

Holingworth, might be one of the great journalists of the 20th century a lady with whom I worked along side, travelled with to some terrible places, whose stories, where I can get away with it, I tell as my own. And where I can't, I give the credit to her. To be the newest member of your organisation is an honour beyond price. I said beyond price, but I don't knon' how much it is. I see I am to tell you about whether Hong Kong has dropped off the news agenda. I think the most interesting thing about it is who wants to be on the news agenda? When I think of the news agenda, I think of Kosovo...of Serbia...of Rwanda... of Indonesia... The thought that Hong Kong might want to be in the daily attention of the news media is something which, though perhaps touching, is not really I think a particularly good idea. You don't get on the news agenda for quiet economic growth. If you did, Japan would be the lead story in every newspaper and Germany would be the ofÊpage lead... he news agenda is made up, for better or worse, of countries where difficult and awkward

things are happening...That's why journalists gather around like blue bottles around a dead animal...You don't want us around except when we are spending the company's money afterwards... I know. I have done it. I have been there. 29

I-_

LuNcnuNES It is typical though of the introspection of Hong that the obsessive nature of its naval gazing - be so concerned with whether it's still- being it should Kong

attended to by the rest of the world. It's important, of course. It's essential that the domestic press of an area like Hong Kong should be obsessed with its position, with the way in which its political masters behave towards it...towards their citizens, and indeed towards the guests of their citizens.

J think it's of great credit that two newspapers ...I I had the time to read toda¡ the South China Morning I- Post and the Hong Kong i-Mail, should both have led... (with a) story of a tourist who was arrested for

having lost her passport. (A) shocking, disgraceful story, but frankly not one which is going to appear \/ery much on Reuters...(or) terribly high up on the BBC or the CNN news bulletins. But (its) absolutely essential for the Hong Kong press to be dealing with (it) because that is what a local press is there to do. A local press is there to keep a very careful day-by-da¡ hour-byhour check on the way in which its executive is running the place. And when the executive does things which are quite frankly outrageous and disgusting, then it's very important that everybody

who lost her passport and has been maltreated as a result of it. But he should know these things, in general terms... He should know the relationship, for instance, between Hong Kong and the government in Beijing... (or) ...what the citizens of Hong Kong think about their Chief Executive. He should be free to know these things, because it's important... I speak with 35 years of experience of being a nuisance, somebody that people need to put up with because they feel that they got to, and they only smile because they think that if you don't smile at (us), then (we) will read something out or read something into it. We are not popular and we shouldn't look to be popular. It's not a popular job. It's not a popular task. It bears about the same relationship to a socieq' ¿s ¡þs people who clean the streets of dog shit bear to the society. It doesn't mean to say that it is not a valuable function because we all knowwhat happens to the pa\/ements and streets that dogs are allowed to use as lavatories. So what we need to do is to keep a very tight awareness in local terms and a very clear general awareness in international

So Hong Kong should not want to be on the front pages of any newspapers. It should want to be on the business pages of every newspaper. It should want to be on the business programmes of

every international television organisation on a regular basis. And if it isn't there, it should wonder why it isn't. But it doesn't

want to be on the front pages because in the front pages it is - riri.l LnlJ l,,l nl l¡.ut /,,,qil,,,

understand the country. It just needs to have a general understanding of the country. The value of the international media is not to report (Its) value ... is a different value the daily going^s on - We don't need to keep tabs on from local journalism. a country in the same way that local journalists absolutely have a duty to. Our duty is to give the right impression. It's to be wide¡ to be less precise but no less accurate, to extend from the particular to a more general picture so that the businessman lying on his bed in a hotel in Dubai and flicking through the will look and finding, I hope, the BBC channels at what's -happening in Hong Kong when it happens and will have an understanding, a generalised understanding, of what's going on. It's no good asking him the name of the particular individual responsible for whatever was happening. It's no good asking him for the precise name, age, details, the unfortunate tourist nationality of the person

1,', t.,, \1., r'

r. ',

rarely good news.

I don't like to tell

you

this...because I know the letters that one tends to get as a result of this, but I am notionally the head of the BBC's foreign reporting around the world. I said notionally because I am trying to ask you not to write letters to me about precise things that people say. I bear the function, I suppose, in the BBC that a hgurehead bears on a ship. That's to sa¡ it's the icon that goes fìrst, but who isn't responsible for anything that the Captain chooses to do. At least the

figurehead claims to be without responsibility for anything. But nevertheless I do have a certain say and certain influence in what the BBC does. I

f,6.99

THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NOVEIVIBER

BBC correspondent, novelist, FCC member, raconteur Humphrey Hawksley talks about his latest book, Dragon Fire

STÊIKE

2OOO

into it somehow" I said, "That might be a bit difficult." He said, 'You can fix it." I thought about it a bit rang some people up, did - map ... and I saw that his some research, looked at the instincts were exactly, right. . . So when I started writing Dragon I-ire...I got a very real sense of things were happening as I was writing it ... I think that in March this year there was a huge geopolitical turning point. Bill Clinton's r..isit to India was as important as President Nixon's visit to China in 1972...India had been left in a way swinging in the wind after the Cold War because it would have been the Soviet quasi ally because it wasn't in the Western camp. That was-all f,rxed in March and India was .

,,, O,N''*,,,

O,O N,,,PING

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T'JAR

his is quite a strange experience for me I have been coming to the FCC for more than 20 years now. My first Hong Kong story is from the old FCC on arainy because

Saturday morning, co-bylined with Kevin Sinclair. And that is how I started here. Dragon Fire, which I have come to talk to you about, really looks at the possibility of conflict between Pakistan, China and India in a journalistic wa¡ but it

turns it into fiction... In India it had sort of mixed accolades and rampant criticism. The Editor of the India Exþress said that Dragon Fire was "Sinophobia of the most paranoid kind... (that)...we did not go nuclear to be treated like some third world banana republic by dimwitjournalists turned to fiction writers." Luckily, the Defence Minister came to my support and said, "I hope nobody dismisses Dragon Fire as one more work of f,rction. The political and historical backdrop against which he writes is real". I find myself in a very strange situation of backing a politician against a journalist. Dragon Fire actually wasn't my idea, I have to admit it. It was two-three years ago, I did a book called Dragon Strike wíth the distinguished former FCC president

Simon Holberton here which sold one or two

copies...the publisher, Michael William Armstrong (of Macmillan) called and said, "I want you to do a book about war between India and Pakistan"...I said, "That's a great idea". And he said, "Have to be a nuclear war, of course ... and one another thing, we have to use Dragon in the title. So I think you better bring China

Strange Pløces, Questionøble Peoþle Pan Books byJohn Simpson PB, 566 pages, ISBN 0-330-35566-X

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should know about it. But it

doesn't need to be known particularly widely outside the territory... There is a difference in scale between an organisation like the one that I work for ... (and) the (local) media here. (It) does not need to know the full details of what is happening in a country to

War Bctw Palristan & Ghina?

THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NO\EMBER

2OOO

embraced as the great democracy... \Arhen I was writing Dragon Strikethree years ago, we were uncertain which way America r'r,ould go...should there be any dispute with China, that puts itself over the parapet or against India, the US would very firmly come do'rvn on the side of India. . .. So that is the sort of basis which I started writing the book.

n March 1999, I flew to Islamabad to check out my scenarios. The f,rrst guy I met was a wonderful obeying former diplomat. I said I am writing a book about nuclear war between India and Pakistan with China. He said, "Oh, that's a good idea. Let's have a talk about that" and soon we were

on the floor with maps...We had the map of India showing where the Indian conventional tank division would be, where the missiles bases would be. And he kept saying to me, 'You know, our last resort will become our f,rrst resort." What he meant was that because India could move in so quickly across the border, they would har¡e to resort to some form of nuclear attack in order to preserve Pakistan's honour as a nation; because the weapon was there, it would have to be used. Then I said, "Could we write a coup into this story?" continuerl on þage

))

LuNcrruNES

Don't Let l{im Sry I Told You So Humphrey Hawksley was derided as a "dimwit" by the Indian press

for his latest book, Dragon Fire, that outlines a nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan, but Luke Hunt explains why you should listen f the more irritating

lessons lashed out rn childhood was never say "I told you so". It's,

well, not polite and would probably be described as politically incorrect by the etiquette nazis. But the temptation to speak after the fact remains particularly when people don't listen, - warning signs and stumble. don't read the

One obvious example was the Asian financial crisis. When it broke on July 2, 1997 and the ramifications set in, the halls of the FCC rang out with "who would have predicted this?" The truth is a lot of people did. No one needed an economics degree to comprehend the mounting debt figures that told the future of Indonesia, South Korea or Thailand. The fact is those in power, editors of financial magazines, spin doctors and Joe Punter didn't want to be told the glory days of making big bucks were numbered.

It wasn't in their interests and it remains distasteful to this day to crow about who was right when Indonesia is pulling itself apart and the indignity of a poorhouse beckons for man¡ many others.

For these reasons, Humphrey Hawksley's recent speech at the FCC was refreshing. Here to promote his latest book, Ilragon Fire, Hawksley delivered a tale which carried a subtle warning best summed-up as "don't make me say I told you so." His subject, controversial and hear.y, was the fictional but cut-to-the-bone account of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan. But his real message began with the adventure of researching and the reaction by some to a thoroughly frightening prospect.

I give you some of it," said Hawksley. "The editor of the India Exþress said Dragon Fire was

But Hawksley's forecasting abilities are not untested. While researching in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, he uncovered his own evidence that Pakistan would shortly escalate the conflict in Kashmir and that a military coup would materialise. Hindsight proved him correct and while Hawksley was reluctant to say "I told you so", he did add: "And I flew to Delhi. And I said, one guy says there is going to be a coup and the other guy says they are going to invade Kashmir and in October there was the coup. So I don't think you have to be particularly a bright intelligence agent to work out all these machinations that are happening." The problem, as always, is who

will listen? The Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan erupted and danced across the front pages of our newspapers and Pakistan always denied any military involvement on India's side of Kashmir. Islamabad, predictabl¡ lied. And like the Asian financial crisis many others saw the third major conflict involving the disputed Himalayan region as predictable, the agony and deaths of thousands, avoidable.

banana republic by dimwit journalists turned to fiction writers." 32

map...this time of Islamabad...." So I went away quite happy and I wrote up a coup scenario. I e-mailed it to him and he made some corrections. Then I wrote the speech of the military leader that

- \A/est kind of power, how it would be acceptable to the and everything. He corrected it, sent it back. Then I forgot about it. Many months later, when I was in \Âiashington talking to the Rand Corporation, an expert there said, "Whom have you been talking to about this?" I mentioned a few names. He said, "Oh my God...he has just been appointed a Minister in the coup government"... ack to Islmabad I was about to - eat and the phone leave...going down to rings. It was my fixer and he said, "He will see you now. He is going to be there at 8." "He" was a retired intelligence officer who lived in one of these houses in Rawalpindi Cantonment Area. He was a truly dreadful man, one of these characters who wears dark glasses at night and had gold dripping everlwhere and primary colours in his house. I said, "\À4rat do you think should be happening in Pakistan?" He said, "We need (a) greening of Pakistan." I said, "\Alhat does that mean?" He said, "We need more (of an) Islamic base to our lives in Pakistan the villagers... (are) crying out for an Ayatollah..." -I said, "Oh my God!" Then I said, "What about Kashmir? Do you actually support what's going in Kashmir?" He said, "We should support Kashmir. In fact, we are going to go in summer. We are going to teach the Indians a lesson. We are going to take the Stingers out of the basement." I didn't know how much of this was new or how wacky he was. I rang my fixer when I got back and asked "is this guy real?" He said, "Oh yes, he has got institutions behind him"....A month later, the Kargil war started and in October there was the coup. So I don't think you have to be particularly a bright intelligence agent to work out all these machinations...

I then wanted to check out Tibet...so I went to I met was a young guy from the Tibetan Youth League. I said, "\Ahat you are going to do in Tibet?" He said, 'You Dharamsala...in March 1999. The first guy

imilarly the ousting of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by Gen Pervez Musharraf was as predictable as Friday prayers in a mosque. Nobody has to listen to Hawksley, but India's defence minister said: "I hope nobody dismisses Dragon Fìre as one more work of fiction. The political and historical backdrop against which he writes is real." If anyone really thinks Hawksley is a dimwit, then be careful there is a real risk you will choke on the words "he told you so".

"And

Sinophobia of the most paranoid kind. He said, we did not go nuclear to be treated like some third world

He said, "Oh yes, that's easy." He said, "We got another

In 1999, Luke Hunt coaered the Kashmir conflictfor AFP and uas in Pakistan shortly after the coup. In Januarl, he placed a HK$500 bet þredicting a nuclear uar betueen Indi.a and Pakistan, arguing "d,iþþing into someone else's wall¿t is a ni,cer uay of saying 'I told you so'."

THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NOVEÌvIßER 2000

know, what we are doing. We are really watching what's happening in Kosovo." And I said, "Why?" He said, "Well you have got ro take it off (to) the Kosovo Liberation Army...For 10 years they had a campaign of non-violence. Then these guys come in with the bomb and bullet, they kill a few policemen. Now they have got

NAIO and air strikes and they are going to get their

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independence and their homeland. We are going to do that soon." And I thought, "Oh my God"... Then I thought I need to go and see somebody

little closer to the Dalai Lama...(and)...I ended up seeing this wonderful old monk -just like one of those pictures on the wall - from the Tibetan Parliament-inexile. I said to him, "Those bomb attacks that had been taking place in Lhasa latel¡ are they you guys or are the THE CORRESPONDENT OCTORER-NOVF,MRI.ì,R

2OOO

S\uit"Gtoup

LuNcrruNES Chinese doing it" trying to make you look in bad light?" And he said, 'You know, it is interesting you should ask that. First of all,we thought it was the Chinese. Then thankfully we realised it was the Tibetans doing it." I said, "Hold on a second. I thousht you were for nonviolence." And he looked at me, teacher to pupil, his wonderful head shaved, saffron robes, a breeze from

the Himalayas wafting through his office... and said, "Do you know, it is permissible to have a non-violent bombing campaign. Isn't it?" I will leave with you with this... massacre(s) in

On beirg

Q. Lurking in the hearts of most journalists is the desire to be a novelist. \A/hat are the things you harre to unlearn to write fìction?.

A. Time is one. I remember when I was doing Dragon Strihe, I kept ringing the publisher and saying "such and such is happening to such and such" and he news

which is sort of ground into us. Characters is another one. Plots. I'm learning (yon must) really get the

characters and relationships right...(something) which we asjournalists do not really deal with. We deal

with victims and occasionally resignations, but

that change overnight the whole geopolitical situation? And then, if it escalated, what would happen between India and China on giving sanctuary to the Dalai Lama and to the Tibetans? How would those two great powers sort that out? It is a problem that I know nobody is talking about at the moment. I

novelist

didn't care - it's got nothing to do with rhe

Kosovo and the reactions: What would happen if some student with a video camera came out of Tibet with pictures of a massacre of Tibetans by Chinese troops that was shown on television around the world? How would

don't deal with all these complexities of human emotions. And deadlines - you work right up against the clock in broadcasting where you get a kick out of it. You're in a panic and then 10 minutes later your you're feeling on top of the world. You write these things (novels) (and) you can't talk to anybody about it. Then it goes to the publisher (and) he usually doesn't read it - he sends it to somebody else. When it comes out (years later) and you have to give a talk on it, you can't remember what you have written in it. It's a crazy... Because it's different, it's hugely rewarding - it's great to be able to do both actually.

AVisit WithMike ne big difference is we check up to 2,000 people out and the same number in all

in the

space

of four hours," explained

Mike Winslow. The former FCC general manager is now the hotel manager on Star Cruises SuperStar Virgo, cwrrently

As FCC manager between 1977-1980, Mike had a Hong Kong staff of around 90 to cater to the whims of 1,600 members. Today he runs an international team from 30 countries 10 times that size to see that the 2,000 passengers in 1,000 cabins are pampered sufficientþ as they expect on a cruise, regardless of

His bailiwick not only includes "housing", but entertainment and food and beverage (16 bars and class.

restaurants). With a mischievous twinkle, Mike added, "There is another difference between managing the FCC and my job on the Virgo I didn't have to wear this" point- whites. ing to his spotless dress

THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NOVEMBER

2OOO

What's it like to run a giant, luxury hotel at sea? A former FCC general manager finds out. Saul Lockharf reports

land-based establishment. Mike started with the cruise lines onJanuary 2,Igg6 on the Aquarius in Singapore. "I remembe¡ it well what a way to start a newjob! I went from the FCC's new year's party direct to Kai Tak on NewYear's Day." Two years later he was on the Virgo's sister ship, Leo, which is based in Hong Kong, and in 1999 brought outtLre Virgo on its maiden voyage from the German shipyard.

to {sp"rtposr 228A. ' ++t*tu

o f o

Winslow based out of Singapore. A former hotel man with experience in the US, Hong Kong and China before and after working at the Club, Mike, whose title on board is Hotel Manager, was commenting on one of the essential differences between his operation and a

A little bit of time can make a big difference. With our fast pick up service, swift overnight delivery, express access over 90 destinations worldwide and more than '1,900 cities in China, we'll put t¡me on your side. Cali us now on 2921

"And he didn't get as many phone calls in the middle of the night," revealed Connie Winslow, Mike's wife who is the Front Office Manager ("On the THE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER-NO\'ENÍBE,R

2OOO

older cruiseships, my job was called Purser," she explained) As if on cue, both their phones went in the middle of our late dinner with the same message from their different staffs: "The last passenger who went ashore has been accounted for and the ship can sail on time." The Front Office Manager reports to the Hotel

Manager, so what happens when there is a disagreement. Connie was quicker off the mark, "We agree to disagree," she said with a laugh as she

tried to frnish her meal before the phone #ent again. (She managed nine minutes before she was called about a "passenger problem".) The Winslows are one of a two sailing couples with both partners working on the ship. ike started his career in the kitchen

a naval rating in a US Marine Corps

commissary in Danang (Vietnam) in 1966. One da¡ two years later, after an altercation with a superior officer, he ended up as a gunner on the destroyer USS De Hauen. "When the captain discovered I could bake, he transferred me to the galley and the crew of the De Haven awoke each morning fresh croissants and danish. " Upon being demobbed, he worked in San Francisco. On holiday in Hong Kong in 1975, he saw an ad for an Assistant F&B manager at the Sheraton Hotel. He got the job and "threw away the return ticket." The Winslows, after a busman's holiday taking a cruise or two out of Honolulu and Los Angeles, will report to Germany later in the year, along other with senior crew, for a six-month stint outfitting of Star Cruises latest giant cruiseliner Libra. I

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M P Gopalan, the editor of Hong Kong Business, or is it vice versa

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CROUP

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KE L

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Managers to launch a leadlng world nutrit¡on company in llong Kong. fhls ls a reuoluÌionary BUSlllESS OPPORfUlllfY ln 0lobal marketlng. In the Around the FCC Section in the August-September issue of

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Contact Richard Castka on Tel,/Fax (852) 2550-9042 Mobile: (852) 91 29-5662 E-mail: rcastka@asiaonline.net

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