B"端iog 2008 Sho$rcase or harbinger Donald Tsang on On Tour with
of change
TIII THE
C O htTEl\{' TS
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS'
CLUB 2 Lower Albert Road, Hong Kong Teì: (852) 2521 ISII Fu: (852) 2868 4092
E-mail: <fcc@fcchk.org> Website :
<w.fcchk.
org>
Laurie Kate Pound Dawson Fret Vice Prsident -Jim Ray Rudowski, Second Yice President President
(Hon
Sec.)
Correspondent Member Governors Paul Bayfield, Thomas CramPton, Hubert van Es, Luke Hunt, Akiko lbto, Ma¡k Landler, AnthonyJ Lawence,
e)
4 I c> r) I
Letterc From The President
4
I
"rooactivities 1 Wlne ðc uness
5 6
Sarah McBride
Jownalist Member Governors C P Ho, Francis Moriarry Associate Member Governors Kevin Egan, David Garcia, Martin Merz, Marilyn Hood
Finmce Comittee Conumu: KaÍe Pound Dawson (Treasurer) Professional & Entertaiment
Comittee
Conumor: Thonas Crampton
I I
It Ï4
r
CoNtitutional Committee Conanor: Kevn Egan
Membership Comittee
Htbert
van Es
Home/F&B Comittee Conamu: David Garcia Freedom of the Press Comittee C o na n or : F r an cis Moriar ty Wall Comittee Curcnumor: l{tbert van Es General Mmager Gilbert Cheng
The Foreign Correspondents' Club ofHong Kong
Ta
Publiqtiore Comittee Cnnamor: Luke
Robert Delfs
Editorial Editor: Saul Lockharr Tel:2813 5284 Fu: 2813 6894 Mobile: 9836 1210 E-mail: lockhart@hkstarcom production Asiapix print Services
Tel:2572 9544 Fu: Zb?5 8600 E-mail: æiapix@hk.linkage.net
printer Impres Offset printing Factory Limited Adverfüing Enquiries Steve White Tel/Fax:2981 tt?? Mobile: 9326 5884
29
r
3 I
rruo.l on Tour with
PJ
2 t"*u
32 On the Road With C H Tung 34 But, Yesterday was 17 Years Ago... 36 Where There's a Dubya
3B
Book Review Hong Kong Invaded! A'97 Nightmare
-39
Around The FCC
4\
Professional Contacts
I I
44 FCC Faces -
I
Basil Pao Cover Photographed try Segei Chirikov
/
AFP
Members of Chinese d,elegation celebrate the aictory, 13 July 2001, as Beijing was named the Olymþic games 2008, uinning in second, round,.
Website <www.fcchk.org>
THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST-SEPTEMBER
Life Below the Waves
-
Asia By The Numbers
}f:tnt
Dqury Convmú: Paul Bayfield .Edi¿or Saul Lockharr Production: Terry Duckham
ahouse The Bush Administration 15 William Kristol - Prospects for the Bush Administration - Chen What Price University Education? 17 Professor Edward 19 Donald Tsang Surprise: There's Life Online After 22 L Gordon Crovitz - the Internet Bubble 24 Christpher New Writing the Hong Kong Novel 25 Falun Gong
26 *n roFeat're
r
The Correspondent @
Bar & Quiz
lc
Mrketing Comittee Conuenor: fim Latrie
Conumm:
Health
2OO]
citl of
Entrance Fees to Double The Board of Governors has voted to raise the joining fees for new members w.e.f. October lst. (Please note: there will be no change in monthly subscription fees.) So spread the word good time for you to refer new members at the current low prices.
CurrentJoining
w.e.f. Oct I
Fees:
Associate:
Correspondent: Journalist:
$5,000 $2,ooo $1,000
$10,000 $ 4,000
$
COCOCABA¡IA í.ru
ì4e Tø,t
It has come to the attention of the Board of
Governors that a few Absent Members are abusing their privileges. Absentee status under Articles 6(d) and 27 of the Articles of Association allows members who are not resident in Hong Kong to retain their
Wø¿ru
subscriPtion fees. Absentee status means precisely what it says: i.e' you do not live in, and are normally absent from, the HKSAR, but may wish to use the Club on occasional visits. Absent status is conferred only on those who have been active members in good standing for at least one year and plan to be out of Hong Kong for at least three consecutive months. The Board must approve each application for a change of status. If an Absent
Member returns to Hong Kong for an extended period of time, you must re-activate your account. If ihe Board finds that an Absent Member is abusing this category of membership, a warning letter will be sent. If the abuse continues, cancellation of Club membershiP maY follow
Come to Mo Tat Wan on Lamma Island and discover Hong Kong's newest venue for al fresco dining and great parties.
Located on the beach, CococaÞana 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 boat, Le Junk, is available for hire at a very reasonable price.
Also at Cubana great Cuban sounds like
Candela,
Carrelero, Chan Chan and more. A real taste of Cuba. Music by the Havana Libre Quartet every Thursday and Sunday
night from 8:00 pm, Reservation recommended for tables, Everyday Cuba, everyday Mojito and great Salsa.
For reservotions pleose coll 2328 2138 Produce your FCC membersbip card and. receiue a free Sangria upon arriual.
Rio
2869 9631 fnùiqo2526 BBBq Churrasco Tlse Delicac.y Restøurø.nt Oa Selle êpoque2537 93ô1 Cuhanø 2869 7218 Bra.zilian
FroÍn the Pres,ident
Absent Members
membership without paying the normal monthly
z,ooo
Corporate and Diplomatic: $20,000 unchanged
Al,frewe dfn4tltø.
If you have friends or colleagues who have thought aboutjoining the FCC, but have put it off, act now For more information please contact our Marketing Manager, Andrea Gutwirth, at2526 275? or 2525 1571.
Looking for a souvenir of the Club?
A
few of us
MUY')
We were surprised and pleased by how active, open and engaged "Antony" (as he urged us call him) was in every aspect of the welfare of this city. Beyond his obvious concern for the SAR's economy, the former banker, noting his other previous portfolios, displayed his long and vested interest in education.
Only through long-term educational reform, cautioned Mr. Leung, can Hong Kong continue to be economically prosperous.
We mourned the apparent decline
Postcards
Cigarette boxes
Wine glasses Bermuda shorts Name cardholders Shirts Luggage tags Windbreaker Keyrings Wallets
of
English
language education. Leung, while concurring, thought the key was to abandon education "by rote" and instill an atmosphere of creativity, essential in the era of IT. The economic slowdown was obviously foremost on the minds of all of us at the table.
While we agreed that this was an informal lunch, free from the kind of quotations that would sway financial markets, it became clear that none of us around the table saw a revival in the fortunes of the global economy until well into next year.
The health of the Club, meanwhile, seems to be holding. We are continuing to pack members and their friends in as our Club becomes a more active venue - and celebrities. for speakers When we announced that international financier George Soros would come to the Club, our switchboard lit up and more than 100 reservations were made within an hour. Board member Tom Crampton is pulling out all the stops to organrze an array of events: from Chinese frlm nights to evenings with noted authors and Cambodian opposition politicians. Our biggest challenge, however, in the months ahead will be to negotiate with the Hong Kong government a new lease on this old building which has been our home since the early 1980s. The trick will be to guarantee our future and keep costs down in keeping with our non-profit status as a Correspondent's association.
With the goodwill of all our current and newly reinstated members, we're confident of success.
All of which turned our attention to our
here at home Lighters Ties Umbrellas T:shirts Cufflinks Baseball caPs
again to our ranks. Antony promised to return again to address all the club òn the health of the economy.
lI lunch the ,{ Lro.,g', ,'
at the venerable
health Foreign
Correspondent's Club. In hopes that the winning ways of the Financial Secretary would rub off on us, Gilbert Cheng, our alert and always effrcient General Manager, quickly retrieved
$150-160 $160 $100-200
$110
Mr. Leung's expired FCC membership card. With
$75-80
immediate reinstatement, we weìcomed Antony once
$40 $3 each
FCC PRTVATE ROOMS
$80 $36-7e
The FCC offers members the use of two large inter-connected rooms, the Albert and Hughes Rooms, for private functions, meetings and seminars.
$110 $75 $1 15
The Main Dining Room and the Verandah areas can also be used by members for large parties, business conferences and wedding receptions.
$60
$zro $30 $125
THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST-SEPTEMBER
For booking call tel2521 1511 or fax 2868 4092 or e-mail: fcc@fcchk.org 2OOI
IHE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST:SEPTEMBER
2OOI
HIïril
eeùftt ßuh
otion
In this new column, Mark Sharp, a veteran marathoner and new
ood wine is best enjoyed with good food, so we'll be matching the two in September with .authentic Italian dishes and a special list of Italian wines to accompany them. Chef Alan
first a primo piatto ("first dish") of pasta, rice or soup; then a secondo piatto of meat, fish, seafood, poultry or game. The two are considered co-equal: neither is the "main course". The meal may be finished off with a
Chan (with the cooperation of my restaurant, Il
salad, dessert, coffee, perhaps a liqueur or a grappa. Italian cooking can be robust, but in general it is far lighter than, for example, French. Sauces, especially, are lighte¡ emphasising fresh herbs, wines, fruitjuices,
Mercato) will be offering Italian menus during the frrst two weeks of the month. The wines will be available all month long. The dishes will illustrate the variety and distinctiveness of Italian cooking, and the fact that it encompasses far more than pasta. Italian cuisine has experienced explosive growth in popularity all over
the world in the past 20 years, and many
new
aficionados have been created, but there are still those
who think it all begins and ends with spaghetti bolognaise. The latter are missing out on some marvellous gustatory experiences.
The classic Italian eating experience unfolds according to more or less standard rules. A meal might begin with an antipasto (" before the meal"), which can be as simple as sliced Parma ham or small balls of fresh mozzarella cheese, as elaborate as clams and mussels steamed with tomato, garlic and fresh herbs. Carpaccio is an thin slices of raw beef with varied toppings -Italian creation that has been embraced and elaborated on world-wide, along with such delicious variations as carpaccio of fresh frsh. The next two courses, to an Italian, are sacrosanct:
FCC member whose dayjob is as the Physical Training Instructor at the HK Police Training School, discusses specialised 'training' regimes for FCC members. n
uproar is exactly what we need downstairs and I'm not talking about the usual Bert's explosion of sound. No. I'm referring to the
tomatoes, onions or garlic. Cheeses are a major ingredient, but butter is used sparingly in classic Italian
infrequentþ eggs rarely. Almost any Italian lunch or dinner will include wine. It may be a great wine from a top producer, it may come from the village down the road. As Hong Kong is not blessed with wine-producing villages, we have to make do with the more sophisticated versions. The diffìculty in assembling a list of Italian wines is that there are so many wonderful labels to choose
FCC Health Club
sauces, cream
from. A corollary problem is that with so many varieties and difficult-to-pronounce names, the average person can easily become intimidated or confused. We'll be offering some of the nicest wines, arranged by themes over the course of the month, in the hopes of making it all a bit easier to understand.
featuring strange trinkets
of
programmable
Can't be bothered? Too busy at the Main Bar a few minutes?
to slip downstairs for
Flere's the first positive thought: After your 'workout', you can knock off another four Kcals by just walking back up the stairs to the Main Bar. Forget the usual waffle about physical fitness
... you've heard it all before. This programme will be directed at FCC members using what's available in the FCC Health Club. Anoni'rnity is guaranteed and the modest goals are aimed directly at the membership:
or the
same-sized dress Eve bash;
bkalb@asiaonline.net
a den of
punishment.
. To enable you to get into
Barry Kalb
-
Desert training That speck in the distance is Mark Sharp in training
last year's tuxedo
for the FCC New Year's
r
Ch-ess, C[ub,
Ch
To develop an improved level of cardiovascular fitness so that you can sing karaoke, or shout over the din of karaoke, all night without any ill effects the next morning;
icnsh-ip
o To reduce serious clinical h¡gertension in order to allow you to blow off some healtþ steam;
¡
he 2001 FCC Chess Club championship is nearing its conclusion. A couple of heaq.weight bouts have yet to take place, but
Bob Behull, undefeated after five rounds, is going to be hard to beat. One competitor, Feng Chi-shun, has completed all his games, winning four, losing four and drawing one. "I never expected to win, of course, and entered only in a spirit of sporting camaraderie," the good doctor said. "But nextyear I'll wipe the floor with the lot of you," he Pushing Behull hardest are Graeme Hall, who has lost only one game, and Albert Shu, who has dropped only half a point but still has five games to play.
The tournament table as at early August is 4
P 6 5 7 9 6 4 6 7
W 6 5 5 4 4 3 2 2
D 0 0 0 I 0 1 0 0
L 0 0 2 4 2 0 4 5
Rtg 2109 2799
as
. To improve Main Bar elbow-bending endurance; and
whether that be on the links or at the pool table, for members of the very competitive FCC Golf Society, Chess Clutr, pool tournaments and yes
-
even the FCC quiz nights.
Flumour aside, I'll work with you. I'll devise a programme based on the equipment available in the FCC Health Club and your time and commitment. Contact me on <mark@marksharp.com>. Ed,itor's note: In last month's Coriespond ent, we sta,ted that Mark had to þull out of the 135 mile Bad,water Ultra Marathon i,n Death Vøllq, Cakfornia due to a cancer scare.
Mark's ad,aised that the d,iagnosis ua.s wrong and he's already signed uþ
1958
for
next year's Bad,water run.
1800 1925
2763 1615 1642
The chess club meets every Wednesday evening
added.
follows:
PosPts I 6 GraemeHall 2 5 BobBehull 3 5 ChrisChampion 4 4.b FengChi-shun 5 4 AnthonyMirchellHeggs 3.5 AlbertShu 6 7 2 VcKulkarni 8 2 Sarahl{enderson
To improve the explosive leap from a Main Bar stool to the phone when the spouse or boss calls;
¡ To improve sports conditioning aiming to enhance performance and concentration,
from 6.30pm, usually in the Albert Room. Social players of all levels are always welcome'
Corporate Ladder An exclusive directory of appointments throughtout the region. Take a preview at:
Chris Champion, Convenor champs@neWigator.com
æ@Ê##rtfif,frã-nf,l THE CORRNSPONDENT AUGUST:SEPTEMBER
2OOI
ADVANCTNG
tNFoRMAToN powERtNG
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îli=-lîil/lîy:íR=-
Prisoner at thc BaF reat excitement as the athletes of the FCC bellied up to the bar to discuss what sort of space-age equipment they'd like
to see in the Health Club. Everything was earnestly discussed, but a note of gloom descended quicklywhen the subject of money came up. I fear the fatties' pipe dreams will remain just that. Speaking of pipe dreams, why not an opium den?
Umbrella Snatchers What is the record number of umbrellas lost during the wet season? My score forJune was five. I thought I'd
nabbed the mystery umbrella snatcher when I apprehended the saintly Anthony Lawrence with a distinctly emblazoned Hong Kong Club umbrella tucked under his arm. I advised him that I was, as far as I was aware, the only person with a Hong Kong Club
umbrella in the communal umbrella stand. He
protested that he had been the proud possessor of one and a good thing for centuries. Red faces all around
took the trouble to check before calling out Hong Kong's finest as mine was still safe nestling in the stand. I
The Red Lips Corner
There was scarcely a dry eye in the house as older members raised a trembling glass to mark the passing of the Red Lips Corne¡ that curved end of the bar nearest the entrance.
For younger members, the Red Lips Girls were a daunting bunch. \Ârho now remembers Brigid Snow,
now passed up to that great gin-mill in the sky? Or Cynthia Hydes, last heard of in the USA spreading the word about ye olde Hong Kong? Or Irene O'Shea somewhere in Australia? And more recently the heavenly Dorothy Ryan, also Down Unde¡ who survived several years as treasurer and is still alive to shudder at the memory? "Those were the days," reminisced one survivor, "Haven't seen anybody chuck up into their handbag for years."
Dornino Effect
Another calumny that should be laid to rest is that a certain bean counte¡ having lunched rather too well, wobbled unsteadily on his bar stool and like a giant tree being felled, slowly collapsed into his neighbour on the right, who in turn crashed into his neighbour until the domino effect rippled around the bar in a confusion of flying arms and legs, picking up speed as it shot through Lawyers Corner, racing all the way round to Red Lips Corner where the girls ended up on the floor in a jolly heap of arms and legs, displaying some quite fetching examples of Marks and Sparks' most famous product. If it didn't happen, it should be staged for the next time someone wants a documentary on the FCC. Main Bar aficionado from way back, starts to one of the FCC's most þopular deaoted colu,mn new Ted Thomas, a
a
endeau
ours. Tidbits ro <corpcom@hk.linkage.ne>.
Quiz Night winners
Quizmistress Wendy Richardson, above, with Simon Clannell of HK Mensa, the July
winner
,?rghf,
Winnie Whittaker of Son of Baron,,., second in June,
It's official: Beijing will host the 2008 Olympic Games. The games may not change China, but China will change between now and then. Alkman Granitsa.s looks at some of the likely changes in store and makes up a few too.
Above, Keilh Gilges of EmEntee, Above, Stuart Stoker of EmEntee, second in July. Bight, the booby prize winner in July,
July's winner
Beijing, )O(D( Olympiad; 20 September, 2008
o the hear,y beat of Chinese drums, the clash of cymbals and the inevitable lion dance, the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olpnpics get underway. It's 7 o'clock in the morning and the early sun is just starting to highlight the buildings of Beijing's squat skyline. In the central \{IP stand of the Beijing Olpnpic Stadium, Chinese President HuJintao looks on; behind him and to his right, his predecessor and benefactor, former Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Behind them the other assorted members of the Chinese politburo, the massive press section with some 10,000 foreign journalists from all over the world who have descended on the Chinese capital to cover the most controversial Olympic games in three decades. Although human rights concerns and scattered Falun Gong protests have continued to erupt in the days ahead of the Beijing games, many of the sports journalists are relieved that China seems to have prepared well. This time the games won't be a logistical disaster like the ones in Athens four years earlier. As the opening ceremonies get under way, US President Al Gore switches on the television in the Oval Offrce in Washington, DC, half a world away. It's early evening on the East Coast of the United States, the sun is still two hours above the horizon in the US capital. Gore looks at his watch and calculates the time in
Beijing and notices that it must be very early in the morning in China, unusually so to stage the opening ceremonies, which are normally held in the afternoon. Then he remembers Beijing's commitment to stage all important events in the morning in order to coincide with American prime time television programming. FIe muses that the US network showing the Olympics, NBC, must have cut some deal with the Chinese leadership.
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change between now and then. The Beijing Olympics may well showcase a new China, one that is more liberal, more open and more confident. But also one where wrenching economic and political changes will
mean more conflict, more social dislocation and a widening gap beMeen the haves and the have nots. "The China we have in 2008 will be even more uneven than it is toda¡" says Jean-Pierre Cabestan, director of the French Centre for Research on
Contemporary China. "There will be pockets of modernity in big cities, but there will also be large sections of the countryside that will remain ruled in a very traditional way. And with these inequalities we may see growing political and social unrest, which we already see today."
The vital communlcation link...
Darren Richter of
the Lamma Futtock Knadgers' Society
-@ft##frrããEÊni,i THE CORRISPONDE,NT AUGUST:SEPTEMBER
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ADVA NC
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redicting the future is, at best, a hazardous business. But there are some things we can hazard a guess at. To begin with, we know that between now and then, China's leadership will change. Gone will be PresidentJiang Zemin and many of the old guard who date their membership in the Chinese Communist Party to the Long March in the mid-1930s. In their place will likely be the relatively youthful (age: 65 in 2008) HuJintao as next president and a coterie of politicians who were still children when the Communists rose to power and the Nationalists fled
some 40Vo of China's economy, but many analysts expect that share to shrink to just 25% in a decade's time. To wean them off years of government support, many of the old rust belt factories will be privatised and their shares sold on China's share market in Shanghai. And by the time of the 2008 Olyrnpics, the Shanghai stock exchange may be the third largest in Asia behind Tokyo and Hong Kong. But if you let your imagination roam, even more fantastic changes come to mind. For example, by 2008 China will almost have completed work on the giant
to Taiwan. a o lo
Overseas, a grinding US recession and a gridlocked Congress could well pave the way for a new Democratic administration in the \À/hite House in four years' time (Al Gore?). And with a change in American politics may come a softer foreign policy towards
o
c) Þ o Þ o T T
US$Zf billion Three Gorges Dam. By that time, the dam will create a lake stretching some 400 miles up the Yangtze
River valley
could
- 2008 site of the
it be the Olympic
rowing competition? And by
mid-2007, work will be completed on a US$2.4 billion, 710 mile railroad
Athens Olympics, China's standing in world sport may rise further, and by 2008, in their capital city, Chinese athletes may bring home more medals than any other
China and an end to
connecting the Tibetan capital
country.
controversial and antagonistic
of Lhasa with the
western
'You already have a sports-mad country with some already very impressive athletes," says David Dodwell, author of the Hong Kong Adaantage. "And certainly by
region of Qinghai. The railroad, the highest in the world, will chart a route over perhaps 13,000 feet high in the route used the same
policies like the Bush Administration's national missile defence programme. And what of Taiwan? There
too, things could look very different. By 2008, Taiwan's politics may have gone through its own changes. Could there be a resurgent and reunified KMT
2008 Eco-challenge exhibition
maybe
bian's presidency? Could
New China!)
Let the Games begin.
I
endurance race?
with former renegade politician James Soong as its head anxious to rekindle talks that the cross-strait languished during Chen Shui-
2008, that athletic performance will become even more impressive." So imagine again that cool September morning seven years from now in Beijing: even as the lion
dance and the opening ceremonies continue inside Beijing's Olympic Stadium, an enormous crowd of over a quarter million people gathers on Tiananmen Square. In silence they watch the ceremonies broadcast on giant television screens mounted left and right of Mao Zedong's portrait on Tiananmen Gate. A chant begins at the back of the crowd and starts gathering force as it moves forward like a wave: Xin Zhong guo! Xin Zhong gzo! (New China!
Lighting up in 2000 Who will
reconciliation have reached a stage where the Olympic torch is allowed to pass through Taiwan on its way to
"In seven years, you will see the Three Gorges dam in operation, a lot more highways going to the west and maybe even the railroad to Tibet," says Shiu Sin Por, execuLive director of the One Country, Two S;ntems Research Instihrte. do the honours in 2008? "I'm certain that in seven years the west will look very different, all the way from Sichuan to Xinjiang to Tibet."
Beijing? By the time of the Beljing games, China and Taiwan will both be members of the World Trade Organisation and may even be parúcipating in the next round of global trade talks. In their own way, those expanded trade ties will mean more foreign companies in China from banks to consumer goods companies, to hi-tech companies. Close your eyes for a moment and
picture Beijing's Olympic Stadium festooned with corporate trademarks and logos from Citibank, Carrelour and Kodak.
China's economy will also continue its gradual transformation. The Olyrnpics alone will, by some estimates, add three-tenths of a percentage point to China's economic growth in 2008. But at the same time many of the rusting, industrial state-owned enterprises that dominate China's northeast are in the process of being closed down or sold off. Now they account for
8
0';,,3#Ë*:i
far from the city. Imagine that on exceptionally clear days, it may just be possible to make out the smudged outlines of the Jundu mountains and the Great Wall some 50 miles north of Beijing. Add to that the frenzied greening the city itself will get: thousands and thousands of new trees, perfectþ manicured parks and chemically enhanced lawns and grass fields everywhere.
Trade news ... free email trade alerts ... topical webcasts ... market profiles ... and much more. FAST. For further assistance, please contact Cheryl Le
Butt
And on the field, China will show its stuff. It's only been since 1984 that Chinese athletes have resumed participating in the summer Ol1'rnpics. But in last year's Sydney games they brought home a total of 59 gold, the third highest national silver and bronze medals tally behind only the US and Russia. By the time of the THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST:SEPTEMBER
2OO1
(tel : 2584
4501)
-^74õËH
D4XffiÊ
Hong Kong Trade Development Council
THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST:SEPTEMBER
2OOI
:
Winnie Wong (tel : 2584 4390)
Capture the Changing World, Create the Professíonal Excellence. FCC Photographer of the Year Awards
Nikon F5 The World Awaited Sensation Since lhe launch of Nikon's first F SLR in 1959, followed by the F2, F3 and F4, the F serìes has been recognised as the stalus symbol in the world of photography. The new Nikon F5 is now here to bring you into a ne'¡/ era with ground-shaking innovat¡on in technology and design,
World's First - Cross Ranged 5 Area Autofocus Sensor Dynamic AF mode can lrack any fasl moving objecls, ensuring clear pictures.
World's Fastest - I Frames per Second Fæus Tracking wilh Lock OnrM enables you
Fabulous prizes for the FCC Photographer of the Year Awards 200 I Cathay Pacifìc flights to London and Istanbul, art Apple iBook, Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Fuji digital cameras and helicopter photo tours are just some of the prizes to be won in the Foreign Correspondents' Club inaugural Photographer of the Year Awards.
to capture quick moving sporls and act¡on,
World's Exclusive - 3D Colour Matrix Metering The sensor evaluales nol only each scene's brightness, contrasl and dislance, but also colours, enhancing 3D effect and sharpness in lhe exposure result.
36-exp film rew¡nd in 4 seconds, self-diagnostic double-bladed shutter, 3D multi-sensor balanced lill flash, 1/4000 sec FP High-Speed sync capability, vertical shutter release bulìon, personal compuler link syslem, solid aluminium-alloy die-cast body and titanium viewf¡nder housing.
Comprehensive Camera Control System 4 inlerchangeable viewfinders,
'13
focusing screens,
MF-28 multi-control back, MF-27 data back, SB-27 and SB-28 speedlights, full range 0f Nikkor lenses including the ne\'/ AF.S 300mm, 400mm, 500mm & 600mm supeflelephoto lenses
3-Year Free Wananty *
Nikon F5 catalogue is available, please mail to
Nikon Hong Kong Ltd with your name and address.
f you cast your eye down the accompanying list of prizes you can see that the standard of prizes is
very high," said Awards Committee chairman, Terry Duckham. '1Ve are very pleased to have the support of such major Hong Kong players as Cathay Pacihc and the Hong Kong Tourism Board, as well as the top media and camera suppliers of Hong Kong and the professional photographers' friend, Apple computers. " Entries for the Awards, which seek to promote and showcase contemporary photography in Hong Kong,
are open to all professional photographers and
photojournalists resident in Hong Kong, FCC members and their families, close at the end of October. The submitted photographs should have been taken within the past two years. So dig out those files or get out there with your cameras and catch Hong Kong at it best or worst. ,ï "The prizes are in place, there are categories for all levels of photographers, now all we need are the
HONG KONG TOURISM BOARD
ãiËfftËðåEE THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST:SEPTEMBER
lninOn||
NtKoNHoNcKoNGLTD. Suitet00l,lflrhFtoor,cityptazaone,llllKing'sBoad,TaikooShing,HongKong
Tel:28823936 Fax:25045689
2OO1
photographs," Duckham said. "Being a professional photographer I know just how busy we can get and how we tend to leave personal things like entering photographic competitions to the last minute. I would like to ask entrants in both the Professional and NonProfessional divisions to consider all the work that has to go on behind the scenes before we even get to the judging. Photographers please get those entries in as early as possible!"
Judging for the Awards will be conducted in early November. Entries close October 31, 2001. Winners will be announced in early December followed by an exhibition at the FCC and at the Hong Kong Cultural
Centre. Other exhibitions and venues will
be
announced later.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board has named a number of awards under its "City of Life - Hong Kong
it!" campaign. This award seeks to promote images that capture the unique qualities and character of is
C¡THAYPNcIFIc
_T
'FIong Kong. There will be prizes awarded in both divisions by
Prizes
the Hong Kong Tourism Board and winning entries will be eligible for consideration by the judges for the FCC Photographer of the Year Award.
Hong Kong - lstanbul Package Cathay Pacific economy class return air-ticket plus accommodation package for two, 6 nights/3 days Hong Kong - London Package Cathay Pacific Airways Economy class return air-ticket plus package for two, 6 nights and 3 days Other Prizes lnclude: . Apple iBook o Action Asia Adventure Travel
Asian Destination Package o Helicopter Hong Kong aerial flights o Nikon Coolpix 995 Digital Camera o Canon EOS 3 SLR Camera
.
Canon EOS 30 QD SLR Camera
o Pentax Digital Camera Et-2000 Kir
.
he City of Life: Hong Kong is It" theme provides a very broad structure for photographers, professional and non-professional alike, to explore Hong Kong's most hidden layers," said Hong Kong General Manager, Marketing Communications, Board Tourism "I believe that the FCC Awards will allow Tse. Tony photographers to capture the spirit of Hong Kong and reinforce Hong Kong's unique character". One of the top prizes for the Tourism Board award is a the spin around Hong Kong with Helicopters Hong Kong aerial photographs. to shoot aerial choice professionals' - for the entries in the Young "This prize will also be considered Perspectives of Hong Kong award which is open to FCC family members under 16," Duckham said. "we are all looking forward to some great work in this category and if our expectations are realised we plan to organise a separate exhibition to encourage young people in Hong Kong to get more involved with photography." from the leading camera The number of digital cameras as the Awards is appropriate Kong very in Hong suppliers innovative styles of and both traditional seek to encourage special processing created by images including photography techniques and digitally enhanced or altered images. Special awards will be given for outstanding innovative styles. Aþþle Daily, iMai), FJIIJK and Action Asict are the media sponsors for the Awards and will provide publicity and exposure for the Awards and the winning entries. Colorsix Film Laboratories is offering special discounts to entrants and will sponsor the exhibition prints of the winning entries. Crown Pacific Moving is sponsoring the transportation
l
"We are very pleased with the rapid response and support for the Awards and they would not be possible without all of our sponsor's assistance," Duckham said. "Our
generated sponsors
will be putting their names to various
award
categories and providing judges and publicity for what could well become the premier forum for excellence in photography
in Asia. "The FCC takes a leading role in media affairs in Asia and have just finished hosting the prestigious Fluman Rights Awards and I hope that the Photographer of the Year Awards will take on the same sort of kind of prominence and importance to the region." Entrants in the Professional division may enter in seven categories divided between Hong Kong and Asian subject matter. These are News, Magazine Features, Advertising and Corporate for Hong Kong and News, Magazine Features and Advertising for Asia. FCC members and their families may enter into tlvo categories in the Non-Professional division, The Wonderful World of Travel and Young Perspectives of Hong Kong open to family members under the age of 16. Two special categories, "City of Life - Hong Kong is it!" and the Action Asia Adventure Travel Award is open to both Professional and Non-Professional divisions. ction Asia has put together its own Adventure Travel Award which aims at promoting the best of adventure travel photography in the Asian region. here will be one prize awarded overall with runner-
and storage of the exhibition prints and Corporate
up and merit awards also awarded by Action Asia and winning entries will be eligible for consideration by the judges for FCC Photographer of the Year in their respective divisions. Entry forms and details of the competition are available from the reception at the Foreign Correspondents' Club at No.2 Lower Albert Road and all Colorsix outlets. For more information contact Andrea Gutwirth at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong on 25262757 or e-mail to
Communications will be handling the PR.
andrea@fcchk.org.
Pentax Zoom Compact Camera Espio 145M
I
Hubert van Es Freelance photojournalist, FCC past president and current board member
Bob Davis HKIPP ASMP The Stockhouse Productions Ltd Terry Duckham BA (Syd) Asiapix Creative Services
HKTPP
Leong KaiTai HKIPP Camera 22 and founding chairman and current board member of the Hong Kong lnstitute of Professional Photographers Peter Cook Managing Director PPA Design Limited Mr. Tony Tse
Hong Kong Tourism Board Communications Manager Sin Wai Keung Chairman of the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association
Vincent Yu
Canon
o Fuji Fotomex APS camera
I
I
äþH'#Ëä'ffi
o Polaroid Camera
lnnonl
o Films and other great prizes
CROWN
PENTAX
€¡ ru¡tFItM
Pcture editor, Associated Press
Robert Houston Associate publisher and editor Action Asia magazine
CORPORATE
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HONG KONG
I2
Judges
Iaroid
Kd(FùEællUdd EerÊ*rÉm,¡a
2OO1
THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST:SEPTEMBER
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C¡THAIPACIFIC THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST-SEPTEMBER
COMMUNIATIONS
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13
r
Bush fnom the inside A B Culaahouse, chairman of the law firm O'Melveny & Myers, provides a unique insider's view of the new Republican administration. He was the last White House Counsel in the Reagan presidency. Excerpts: valuating how our (new) President is doing...
has become the favourite hobby of the national press corps, and current and former
government offrcials in Washington. I must confess that as a former \Mhite House ofhcial, I am as interested in the media and the public perception of the President as in my own judgment. In American government and American politics, perception
often becomes reality. The 100-day anniversary of George W Bush's presidency generated an unprecedented
volume of articles...news specials ...and... seminars...
President Clinton, and most
modern history of the
policy missteps and misstatements. Yet the public perception of Bush's performance during the frrst 100 days clearly surpasses that of Clinton. By way of example, Bush's job approval rating beginning at the 100-day anniversary right into today has been in the 5Ú-627o approval rating, Clinton's
¡l
job approval rating during his f,rrst four months in the office never
€-a
early superior polling results indicated he is beginning, and I emphasise, he
exceeded 45%. President Bush's is only beginning to overcome the unhappiness and the dissatisfaction
I
that so many Americans shared about his close election, and the contested
American
government...Since then, the next
Florida recount. During his first few weeks in ofhce, President Bush has displayed a number of strengths...First, he has surrounded himself with a very strong cabinet...His \Arhite Flouse staff...is very disciplined, very able, and very discreet. Unlike
11
succeeding presidents have been measured
...against that very high standard. The second reason, I think, (is that)
Bush...has maintained a very low profile. He is very disciplined and focused. His public appearances were quite modest in number compared to his predecessors, and his public statements are terse and for the most part scripted. Hence, the print and broadcast media in Washington are quite starved for \ÂIhite Flouse news. And frankl¡ evaluating how Bush has performed in his first 100 days cynically became an excuse for generating news regarding the presidency. Third, there is a genuine and pervasive debate in Washington about the extent to which President Bush's lack of a clear election mandate impedes his effectiveness to lead...Consequentþ there have been virtually daily opinion surveys gauging President Bush's approval rating and effectiveness.
How has George W Bush performed...and what does it mean for the US-China bilateral relationship? Again... I (will) focus on perception and clearly the overwhelming domestic LIS perception is that he has had a very good, and perhaps excellent, first 120 days. His performance is particularly striking when you look back eight years and compare Bush's frrst 100 days to that of Bill Clinton's. 14
also
popular vote in a three-way race...Both...were criticised during their hrst 100 days for unevenness,
There are probably three reasons why the 100-day anniversary is such an important milestone in my country. First, as some of you know, the frrst 100 days of Franklin Roosevelt's presidency during the Great Depression in the 1930s was almost certainly the most meaningful and momentous 100 days in
of us forget,
entered the White llouse with a very modest election mandate having, in 1992, received less than 42% of tlne
their predecessors, they do not leak
to the
press and they are exceedingly loyal. President Bush focuses his attention, and that of his secrets
staff the
on his and on his agendas, and not on events of
and he is an active manager
programmes day.
he Bush White House has set realistic, achievable goals. They have not replicated the mistakes of their predecessors, who at the outset announced very aggressive goals,
which subsequently proved unattainable...On the foreign policy front, President Bush has received very high marks in the US...for his handling of the dispute with the People's Republic of China over the EP-3 reconnaissance plane and the return of the crew...That is not to say that Americah people are giving him high marks across the board. Indeed, if you look at environmental policy, energ'y policy by way of example,
his approval ratings are down in the low 40s...There has been significant domestic US criticism of the new continued, on þctge 16
THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST:SEPTEMBER
2OO1
Prospects for the Bush Administration Political analyst and commentator William Kristol is the editor and publisher of The Weekly Standard. He has served in both the Bush (pere) and Reagan administrations and is the Chairman of the project for the New American Century. Excerpts from his talk: think what I can do is to step back from the headlines...(to) give you my sense of American foreign policy since that is of interest to people here. Now at the end of almost 12years, depending on when you date it, after the end of the Cold War. . historians . . .will decide that America has resolved the basic questions about the character of our postCold War foreign policy ...We didn't really know we were resolving these questions, and there was never a great debate, unfortunately, in America about what our role should be in the post-Cold .
War world... The Bush Administration is really
not veering as dramatically as some people say from its predecessor in foreign policy. (It) is, in fact, carrying
out what I think is now
the
mainstream of American consensus about America's role in the world... If you want to date the end of the Cold War to...the break-up of the Soviet Union (and) the collapse of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 (the question) was would the country become isolationist? Lots of people have argued that America is naturally isolationist, has a long isolationist tradition. I don't actually think that is true as some people say. In fact, America has been quite worldly for most of this century. Still we forget now there were great fears in 1989-1991 that America would withdraw in some substantial measure from the world...The presidential campaign inï 1992, based on this premise, got much more support than the people expected. It was a real question. I think we can say now... that that question has been answered.
The internationalists have defeated the isolationists...The fìrst great moment of truth was the Gulf War. Saddam invaded Kuwait on August 1, 1990.
you asked people in Washington...what (the)
If
Bush
Administration's response (would) be, would we have 500,000 troops over there in five months and go to a fairly major war?... No one would have predicted that. THF, CORRESPONDENT AU(}UST:SEPTEMBER
2OO]
Now we take it for granted that Bush did this. But I was there at the time, and let me tell you that it was by
no means an obvious decision. And, indeed,
Bush
barely got congressional authorisation to go to war... Most in the Democratic Parry voted against (it). We did go to war, we won the wa¡ we should have got rid of Saddam Hussein, but we didn't. Even so, we stabilised the situation in the Middle East. We discredited radical Arab regimes, we strengthened modern Arab regimes, we stabilised the geopolitical situation, energy prices stayed low, which was a very good thing for us, for most of the world's economy for the next decade. I think that decision was the first big post-Cold War decision. It was
F¡ 7:j I
followed up by considerable US engagement in the Middle East for the rest of the decade. It was inevitable of course that the US government'nould decide that it had
to be the key participant to the Middle East peace process for the entire next decade. Similarly... (in) ...Europe: We
hesitated going into Bosnia. We hesitated too long in my view. We eventually went in. We went into Kosovo. Now we have withdrawn troops...down from 200,000 ro 100,000, but there is no sentiment particularly to withdraw troops further from Europe. We are fully engaged in Europe, with the EU, with NATO... Trade polic¡ great fears of protectionism early in
the decade, they formed part of presidential campaigns in 1988 (and) 1992. The protectionists
have basically lost, the free traders have won really. Now the economy was good during this past decade. One caveat I would mention is that we don't know
what the prospects for free trade would be if there were serious recession in the US. That's an unanswered question... So on the basic question of would the US withdraw from the world, the answer is unambiguously no. I 15
think that's a good thing' But I would simply remind obvious that vou. we now take it for granted' It was not lot of such a was case"'There the be ínis would
The Bush Administration conlinued, from þage 14
administration's approach to the Anti-Rallistic Missiles Treaty, to the renouncement of the Kyoto Protocol on Global Warming and of the President's misstatements about the United States'willingness to
... (it) ...is even more comm
defend Taiwan...
in America's interest to be engaged' if only because stop you don't know how bad things would be if we it
resident Bush has undertaken...to meet head-on the suggestions in the press and by late-night comedians that he is inarticulate and that he lacks a first-rate intellect' The
iÀ
being engaged."
to be engaged, how is it going to
tíO tn1Ús is going be engaged? Are we going
President has been very effective with selfeffacing humou¡ wheth correspondents' dinner or ceremonies . ..making joke out of turn and (his) academic records. The American public has been
¡utit t¿. {. He is
always on time for meetings, which compares favourably to his predecessors, whose late arrivals were sometimes measured in hours rather than in minutes"'
to pursue a kind of are one among many we where policy multilateral had to play a US the ar' Cold the nations?...In burden' That particular a on take narticular role, among many one become should we änould stop, The distinctive' to be US the for need nations. Nà with some degree to off started òli.r,o., Administration that Point of view' tn esia, my sense is that the key moment when the just US engagement in decision was made about not the moment"' Bill leadership"'(was) Àsia, but US to the Taiwan carriers arrcraft two the Clinton sent that it it for granted take all we Again, Strait in 1996. it certainly do' to thing right very a was it haooened, missiles off *u. i-porrunt after Beijing had lobbed the inevitable"' not it was (But) Taiwan^'s coast. he new Administration, I think, is
Let's talk briefly about those areas where there is substantial room for improvement...First, the Bush
Administration has been historically slow in
also
committed to US leadership. The reason the Bush Administration feels so strongly about
missile defence is not that they have some crazy or ideological view about the love for defensive It is because missiles or for Star War-type contraptions'
contributes to missteps in communications'.. rogue defend your troops and your homeland against degree to some nations all against perhaps nations, and as
i leadership on the respect to and poor
ratrc
n"
'
with and on-going conscious
of ìourse to China, reflect an rethinking of US foreign policy. It seems clear that the US will be less int"ìested in the particular personalities who happen to occupy foreign government ofhce and far more interestecl in the actions of those foreign governments. Our new foreign policy team will be far less inclined to interjèct tn. US into regional differences..'The US will continue to be strongly interested in democratic' humanitarian and economic reforms, and in free markets and free trade, and will view the world through that lens. I
well.
With regard to Asia, I would say the President's recent comments on Taiwan"'that we would do itself" 'was a whatever it takes to help Taiwan defend is' America is Truth policy' American of true statement nation of the democratic of defence the to committed to say of I have Again entity' democratic the Taiwan or of either I believe, president, American no Taiwan, or coerced to be Taiwan allow and by sit oartv. could
ìntl-i¿ut"¿...It (would) be so damaging to American
orestise and to the confrdence in American leadership i., nrå... If people of Japan, South Korea and other nations lose ìonfidence in American leadership' you have seen will create instability way beyond anything we
recent years in Asia"'So I do think, without ever has made quite articulating it to itself, the United States engagement' to worldwide notjust u ¡url. commitment I but leadership at least in key areas of the world'
in
THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST-SEPTEMBER
2OO1
What Ppice Uniuersity EduGation? Do recent budget cuts in education spell a shift in government policy? Professor Edward Chen, President of Lingnan University and a former Exco and Legco member, discusses educational funding. Excerpts: hy is higher education important?
It
seems
it
so
goes without
saying, it must be very important. And yet while everybody recognises the importance of higher education, the government of Hong Kong, unlike any other emerging economy government, is not actually paying attention to it by putting in more resources. Now that is a contradiction... \4rhen I was an Exco or Legco membe¡ I always questioned...the lack of putting in resources in higher education. The government's response was usually: we are spending close to three per cent or now close to four per cent of GDP on higher education, and 20Vo of government expenditure. And therefore it's a lot already. My usual (response) ...at that time was, so what?...Because it is a wrong conception that spending
money on education is at1 expenditure. It's not an expenditure...It's an investment. This is never understood by the government. In any expenditure, any spending on education must be
an investment with a high rate of
return over time, but this forgotten.
.
is
.
Now higher education is extremely important for Hong Kong at least for three reasons. The first reason
is, at the existing level of economic development, higher education will bring in a huge rate of return...But whether a country sho'irld spend money on primar¡ secondary or tertiary education differs at the different stages of economic development...Hong Kong is now one of the highest income economies in the world. What we need is really expenditure on higher education so as to counteract the diminishing returns to capital... The second reason is that Hong Kong has no natural resources...The government, from time to time, tells us that what is important for Hong Kong is the three Ps: place, policy and people... that was said a THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST:SEPTEMBER
2OO]
few years ago by Chris Patten... If you ask us, in the modern age with all the competition, with China's opening up taken into consideration, the three Ps would be...people, people, people. Why only people would be important for Hong Kong? Because I don't see Hong Kong...excel(ling) in hi-tech. Cyberport has been there now for a number of months, but we don't hear very much except some routine reports...It's difficult or impossible for Hong Kong to go into hi-tech, even to go back to traditional manufacturing. And the only hope for Hong Kong would be to excel in trade services as an intermediary. Now the only hope for Hong Kong (is) to be a middleman, like in the old days, reviving Hong Kong as an intermediary in providing trade services, using Hong Kong's brain,
(its) infrastructure...I don't see (that) Hong Kong can have a brighter future except (if) we are going to build up our human capital. So it's people, people, people for the future of the Hong Kong economy. Now my last reason (is) from a much more macro-economic point of view...we are all facing this new
economy. We have a different defìnition o[what a new economy is, but...many of the traditional economics have to be thrown away. When (we) learned economics, we were told there are different factors of production; like land,
labour, capital, technology, entrepreneurship. Now these are no longer actually very important in a new economy...We just want ordinary labour, not even skilled labour because skills change all the time and become outdated...Technology is no longer that important even in a technology age. This is a paradox, but (one) we have to admit. Because technology now is readily available, (it) can be transferred (making) the technological time lag very short...Capital is no problem. If a top company can raise billions of dollars without a cent going out of their hands, meaning with the modern capital market, with modern financial 17
if not all' think that
instruments, capital is not a problem. Land, of course' is not important, because cyberspace is where we do business and not land. \A4rat is left behind, therefore, in this new economy again is brain power. e have created actually a new word..
technopreneurs. Someone who
'
is
very innovative and yet able to master technology. So technopreneurs would
be the kind of brain power we require in this new economy. In this modern world, university education is important because we need people who are not just skitled, but we need people who are smart, who have wisdom and people who can deal with changes and who are creative...who can master techniques and technologies, but who can communrcate...
That brings me to...my own institution. In this new world, what we need is not just universities of science and technology..but. .. a broad-based education and liberal arts education. Now, unfortunatel¡ liberal arts education is not known in this part of the world... despite the old Chinese tradition (that) every scholar, every young person should be able to master different aspects, different arts. But that tradition has gone. I think a broad-based education is extremely important and it's unfortunate that liberal arts education is not only unknown, but sometimes
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funding higher oeoole who are responsible for is-why we are that And ãã,riurio" in Hong Kong' that (at) a think they Because .'^""1" ,rnd,er-fundèd' and pencils two only need you it;;;í arts inrtitution" ' a letter Pad'..
by looking at how Now let me just try to finish
,rr-t¡..rlti..shouldrespondtoallthesefunding all institutions but .-lr,r...1, is not only my institution' times tough some face Hong- Kong have to
i.t .oming- three years,
higher their maintain to (able) be i;t"g instituti'ons must funding funding'''with additional -i*-l-å"Ì. .*ithout and most other cuts...So Lingnan Universit¡ we will keep to come' to trme for some universities,
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our .;" .o,"'"' For Lingnan it's simple' liberal
u-lrit'ion is to become a world renowned arts institution."
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professional lunch and promptly defused some of the most contentious arguments facing the Tung administration. Excerpts from his talk: would like at the outset to thank you and your board for inviting me to speak to you toda¡ so soon after my appointment as Chief Secretary.I take it as a signal that the international media maintains a close interest in Hong Kong issues. To me, that is a good thing, because it is vital that Hong Kong builds on its strengths as an international city Asia's - of our and the presence world ciry as we like to say active corps of foreign correspondents and news agencies is a vital component of that... There were tons of news stories on Hong Kong in the years leading up to July l,7997, and, while the nature of the story may have changed, there is no doubt that Hong Kong is still well worth writing about, and is the ideal location from which to cover the rest of the region. So how has the story changed over these past four years? Well, all those question marks raised about Hong Kong's future after the Handover have been comprehensively answered. The fears for our
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THE CORRNSPONDENT AUGUST:SEPTEMBER
be
unfounded. We remain a free society under the rule of law, and I can think of no greater priority as the head of Hong Kong's civil service than to protect and enhance that status. A free society under the rule of law that's what Hong Kong is all about, and - that our community does not lose sight it's important of that. That's not to say there haven't been changes since the Handover. There have been many. Most of them have been brought about by the fallout from the Asian financial crisis. To my mind, there have been two major consequences for Hong Kong from that rather unpleasant experience. The first is that the recession forced us to take a closer look at the kind of economy we have been running all these years. By and large, it has been a very successful economy. But just as the nature of the global economy has changed,
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misunderstood. Most people' are only taught ii¡..¿ arts education means students that is reallv a Noy philosophv' ii;.;;;;, history and defined by is not education -1..."."p,ørt. iib"'ufutts is education arts liberal A Jnãìir.çr-e or subjects' It's people' young the educate defined by the way we That is usually totally ;;;;;."í. and nát the co itents'teach and edtrcate our to want mlsunderstood' Now we from the different a way. in students and young people not just and thinkers them conventional way, to make That's crucial' workers. "'î"f""""ately, this is not the understanding of the
2OOÌ
THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST:SEPTEMBER
2OOI
the Hong Kong economy has also had to take on a different shape. A dependence on property and asset inflation was never likely to be sustainable, and the Asian financial crisis underlined that in a very painful way.
The problems unearthed by the Asian financial crisis and the restructuring of our economy bring me to my second point the effect it has had on the psychology and confidence of our fellow citizens. While our rebound last year was extremely heartening, there is no doubt that a cloud of uncertainty still hangs over the world economic scene. Hong Kong cannot escape from that, although our China connection makes us less r,'ulnerable than some of our neighbours. Society must have a sense of purpose and direction to succeed (and) the fact is that for all of the discussions and debates which are faithfully recorded in our media, Hong Kong people do have an underlying sense of unity. We are indeed a diverse and argumentative bunch. This is our strength. But at the end of the da¡ we share common goals and aspirations and a shared history of success, very often against the odds. For myself, I think it is time to focus less on some of the things we don't agree about and concentrate on those which we do. This does not mean we should try to bury issues that concern us at home and in the wider world. We are a free society. We couldn't do that even if we wanted to.
n Hong Kong's unique constitutional circumstances, we are always going to be confronted with issues like the Falun Gong or the shape of democratic development. We have to deal with these peculiarly Hong Kong issues in a Hong Kong way. (Hong Kong people) believe in the values that underpin the nature of our economy. I call them the four pillars: the rule of law; the free
19
flow of information and ideas; clean, transparent government; and a level playing field for all. The government has a role to play in all of this. It must provide direction (and) I believe we have done so these past four years.
We have steered our way out of the recession. During that time, we took bold steps to save our currency and, indeed, the economy. We have moved the economy away from an over-dependence on property and shifted the focus to innovation and technology. Our Internet bubble burst the same as everybody else's, but it cannot mask the fact that, like the IJS, we have made great productivity gains through technology. We have the vision and the to some would say the chutzpah confidence brand Hong-Kong as Asia's world city. We are set to achieve our goals by capturing the new global trading patterns. The new technology is the key to everything we do, be it in banking, financial services, insurance, even manufacturing. We need to use all of our creativity and ingenuity to harness change to our in other words to re-invent ourselves, advantage - done so successfully in the past. I can just as we have think of no other community better equipped in terms of know-how, experience, business networks and hard and soft infrastructure to reap the rewards of globalisation. And I feel entirely
confident that we have the wherewithal to withstand the competition from our neighbours in the Mainland and around the region. We have always thrived on competition and we should not shy away from it now. I see as part of my larger mission to foster a greater sense of understanding of One Country,/Two Systems on both sides of the boundary. I believe this is the best way to increase its effectiveness and protect its integrity. But I think we should take care in defining this special relationship. I like to think of our economic relationship as one of interdependence rather than other looser descriptions, including, say, integration, a word that pessimists might see as tantamount to absorption and demise of the Two Systems... I know that in the hne traditions of this club your audience is dying for me to frnish this speech so that they can put me through the wringer. I would like to sign off by paying tribute to the Foreign Correspondents' Club for the role it has played in
promoting the cause of press freedom in Hong Kong. And, of course, for providing a
watering hole for its members and associates and by demonstrating to the many visitors to your club that freedom of speech is alive and well in Hong Kong, and occasionally raucotls, particularly on Friday nights.
I
&A Q: You spoke about dealing with issues in a Hong Kong way and you also mentioned the Falun Gong. Would you care to elaborate on how you would deal with them in a Hong Kong way?
Mr Tsang: We are dealing with the Falun Gong by not dealing with the Falun Gong. That is the Hong Kong wa¡ Falun Gong people are now practising every day in Hong Kong... Nobody bothers them if they are going to continue with their breathing exercises. The Hong Kong way means it is different from the Mainland way. We do it our own way, within our own rule of law and that is what we have been
doing. Q: Your boss has described Falm Gong as an evil cult. Would you like to define evil cult and explain why they fit into this category? A: I think in a free and open society like Hong Kong, it is natural f'or people to have different views on what a cult is and what an evil cult is, and holv to define the evil cult and whether certain organisations fìt that definition You have your own defìnition, Mr Tung has his own definition, the Buddhists have one, the Catholics have another, the Christian have other things. But this is the beautiful thing about Hong Kong. But what is important here is not what you think about evil cult and what I think about evil cult, and whether it is a cult and whether it is evil or not, the most important thing is that the HKSAR
regards religion as totally free. I have certain beliefs, I have Christian beliefs, and what a cult means, I can look up the Catholic catechism... But this is not in the interests of people at large. But what is interesting is, you can use your dehnition, I can use mine, Mr Tung can use his. The rnost important thing is how we deal with religion as an issue. You've got my answer. Q: The local Falun Gong has recently called for a dialogue with the government after Tung Chee-hwa branded them as an evil cult. Can you tell us whether the government is prepared to have an open
dialogue with the local Falm Gong and to talk face to face with them, because they have alleged that the recent remarks try Tung Chee-hwa have been defamatory?
A: As far as talking to the Falun Gong is concerned, it is taking place. I mean olrr colleagues have been talking to them. But the most conducive part is not to have an open dialogue. In your terms, it is like coming here in the FCC, Mr Tung on one side, Falun Gong on the other, with the media glaring in. That is what you cail an open forum. That would not be conducive to dialogue. What is conducive to dialogue is quiet chats about what we are here for, what we do and what we don't do. And I believe that is taking place between my colleagues and some of the Falun Gong
practitioners. What is important here is what we are certainly concerned about, what thel'are concerned about, we can talk about it. This is a free society. But what is cared about is we have to behave as a responsible government and there are things, I think, by dealing with it in a discreet and which may make things better qulet manner.
Q: As long as we are talking about evil cults can we address a question
I
have on Legco please?
A: Oh dear! Those are my Honourable Members.
Q: I beg your pardon, that was really unfair. I have been a little concerned lately at the reaction in Legco, particularly with regard to the economic situation and the proposals that government is putting forward, the reactions have been extremely negative. I have seen very little positive movement in some of the political parties to try and work co-operatively to resolve some of the funding issues.,.Is there another way or a better way, perhaps, that an executive-led government can deal with (the) legislature..?
A: It is a very good question,
but a very diffrcult question to grapple rvith because we are slated under the Basic Law to be two opposing camps The legislature is supposed to do the checks and balances.
20
THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST-SEPTEIVIBER
2OO1
THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST:SEPTEMBER
2OO1
Exacdy what the US Congress is doing to the US Administration. So you shouldn't be surprised. You would be very surprised if Legco suddenly behaves in a very collaborative way with the (HI$AR) administration. That is not theirjob. Their job is to pick holes in what we do, however good a proposal we put forward. But I agree with you, there are things that we could work together on a lot more There could be things we could explain more effectively: As Chief Secretary now, I will certainly make sure that I will do
something about that.
Q: The key negatiye event, if you like, since the Handover, has been the appeal to Beijing by the government over the Court of Final Appeal ruling (concerning right of abode) in January 1999. Do you think the HXSAR has overcome that terrible publicity? Well, One Country/Trvo Systems is a very elegant and a beautiful concept but it does bring up occasional little troubles like this where the way in which the law was written and being interpreted by lawyers steeped in common law jurisprudence. . may (lead to) occasional skirmishes which need to be resolved But I hope these are very fêw and far between. (When) we approached the Centrai government for help, (it) was in relation to an issue which touched the very feeling of Hong I(ong people, and thàt was an unusual event We explained the reasons for it and lvhy it was in the best interests of Hong Kong, and I believe as fär as Hong Kong people are concerned, they believe it was absolutely necessary. But I would not venture to say this was an easy thing to do. This is a very, very unusual step the Hong Kong administration (took) and I would not think it would be likely to come up (again) very easily A:
Q: You have succeeded a very popular Chief Secretary and you come to this job, obviously, desiring to define it in your own way. How would you characterise what you hope to do in difference from the previous Chief Secretary?
A: I haven't got a chance
she's such a charming lady with a and you applaud and I stand dimpled smile. She stands there different here and you grill. But we come from the same block chips, different vintage bul a similar heritage of a professional public service member, knowing our mission ir life is to serve and
our greatest, greatest reward is that we feel that we are able to serve. We do have different styìes and I concentrate on the rvork to do; she in fact would present her case much more elegantly than I do. I Anson (Chan) usually smooths usually take things by the horns things over in he r very elegant way. She has her smile and I have my bow ties. I'm happy.
Q: It has been rumoured that the government introducing an anti-cult law similar to France,
is
considering
as I said earlier on, survives on certain very important convictions which make up, to me, the strongesl underpinnings ofour prosperity, and one ofthese underpinnings is
A: Hong Kong,
freedom. And that is certainly not a thing the freedom of religion You said there was a rumour about we want to negotiate awa1,. legislating and that is exactly what it was. We are not legislating. Mr Tung has said so, Mrs (Regina) Ip (Secretary for Security) has said so, and I will say it to you again. So I think that answers all the questions. I think there is no need for us to speculate on what we are going to do but we are not legislating.
Q: Next year there will be an election for Chief Executive. Is that not an appropriate time to tregin a community-wide discresion on what shape the government will take after 2008? A: Well, I believe that we are always discussing it every day. We are discussing it each and every day', this is what this whole community is all about. We know that the present system, as defined by the Basic
Law,
will have to hold its present shape and will not be subject to until 2007, but we are taking it step by step and this is a
change
matter of much lively debate here.
21
Surprise: Thepe'$ life 0nline Aften the lnteFnet Buhhle L
want...a service either brings value however it's delivered...
Gordon Crovitz, Senior Vice-President of Dow Jones' Electronic
Publishing Group and former editor of the Far Eastern Economic is in a unique position to discuss e-commerce. 'd like to address the question of what's left of the Internet now that the bubble has burst. We're all more than aware of the once high-flying dot-coms that have now crashed and burned. Indeed, sometimes it seems that the only Web sites still attracting traffic are the sites that keep track of the dotcoms as they go out of business.
But I think some perspective is in order. As a longterm believer in the power of the Internet, I'd like to make a contrarian case. The Internet bubble was created because too many people got caught up in a fad, pouring money and energy into businesses that never made sense. But
just as there was unthinking
enthusiasm on the way up, now too many people are dismissing the
Internet on the way down. There are successful business models on the Web and there will be more to come. If I'm right, by the wa¡ this is especially good news to those of you in the room who create content (those of you who in the
the world. Indeed, the electronic telegraph was the original information highway. At the time, the telegraph was, if anything, a development even more radical than the Internet. Queen Victoria's message, which took 16 hours to reach Washington, DC, caused a reaction far beyond more amazing than Netscape anything of our duy Hong Kong going public or people queuing to buy in dot-coms no shares with obvious business model. message arrived, there was \Arhen Queen Victoria's rioting in the streets of New York that almost led to City Hall being burned. People could not believe what the modern era had brought almosl instantaneous communication. There were many who thought this was a threat to modern life, but there were also
doesn't,
in today's down cycle, it's important to keep in mind that there are dotcoms that have built loyal customers and real paths to profitability. The current markets have -fplayers. as nearlv all players, driven down the share values for nearly too many the updraft supported of what we now before know are non-businesses. The markets are just beginning to come to grips with how to value the Web's many new products. As winning businesses emerge, the next market gurus will the ones who can identify and at that point, the valuation methods that work reopen. I markets think that many of the capital will businesses on the Web will be informationwinning businesses such as the ones represented by many based people in this room... of the No one knows which of these efforts and the efforts of other publishers will succeed, but we are clearly entering a period when more and more content Web sites will look for ways to generate subscription fees. This will help ensure that sites can continue to grow and thrive once the even in tough advertising times advertising cycle turns back in a positive direction. Let me sum up with a couple of observations. We have erhaps especially
been through the first growing pains of the Internet. One lesson we've learned is that the Internet does not by itself repeal any laws of economics. For content-focused Web sites, what matters is quality content and services indeed, the same things that make the difference offline. If information is of value and helps people make informed decisions, they will be prepared to pay for it. Indeed, the promise of the Internet is still ahead. High-quality content can be made even more useful to
people through the functionality of this medium through constant updating, through personalisation, through preferred delivery whether Web site or e-mail or on cell phones or PDAs. We will see more and more publishing companies find ways to derive value from the content they have collected. For the journalists in the room, this will be very good news indeed. There will be more outlets for publishing companies to justify the costs of gathering news and information... And so contrary to the early hype, Web sites won't replace newspapers or magazines, any more than radio or television did. But neither will Web sites suddenly disappear despite the current difficult situation for so many on the Internet. We will find instead that while there are plenty of bumps along the information highway that this highway does at least lead somewhere, giving consumers more and more choices and better and better information. This period of "creative destruction" will result in new, stronger businesses, I hope, for all ofus represented here today. I
services to welcome this revolution...
My favorite anecdote about the telegraph era...In the late 1800s, the editor of the New York Herald,wrote as follows: "The telegraph may not affect magazine literature, but the mere newspapers must submit to destin¡ and go out of existence." NoW we all
'Journalists"); news organisations should be among the main
know that newspapers did not go out of
benefìciaries of the next generation on the Web.
I'm going to take a few minutes today to put
Reuiew,
or it
fireworks, parades and church
pre-Internet days were called
the
Internet experience in some perspective because while the Internet is an important medium that offers great opportunities, it's important to know that the Internet changes some things, doesn't change others, and that the most important thing is to know which is which. Let's start by looking back on a very similar information revolution, more than a century ago...to the summer of 1858, when Queen Victoria sent the first transatlantic cable, addressing her message to American President James Buchanan. The electric telegraph had been perfectedjust before, in the 1840s, which made rapid long-distance communication possible for the first time. Messages were spelled out in the dots and dashes of Morse code, sent along wires by human operators. The telegraph like the Internet brought a huge fall in communications increased the costs and flow of information through the economy and around 22
now-bankrupt pets. com, garden. com and furniture.com. Creative destruction means thatwe're now returning to a focus on businesses that provide products or services that customers actually show some sign that they
existence...Instead, newspapers were able to make use of the telegraph to gather the latest news and distribute it to readers...
think it is important at a time like the present to find a balance between the euphoria of the early days on the Web and the utter frustration that we see so often today. Rather than facing a technology depression, we are instead in the whirlwind
For those of you familiar with the delights of Bali, we invite you to experience its majesty at Pavilions in Sanur. lf, however, you have not yet discovered the beauty and diversity of this idyllic island, then please let us welcome you to totally new holiday experience suitable for the whole
of what Austrian economistJoseph Schumpeter called "creative destruction," the self-correcting power of markets to sift through hype. With luck, we've passed through the era when proposed dot-coms could get funding if they merely forecast hockey-stick shaped revenue growth or went public with disclaimers that they were not focused on such old-fashioned and passé measures of success such as profits. We've all now learned that consumers don't look to the Web for every area of commerce, as is shown by the THE, CORRESPONDENT AUGUST-SEPTEMBER
2OOI
family!
Come to Pavilions and experience the Best of Bali. Call Sophia Harilelas on: Tel: (952) 9689 7625 lor a free colour brochure or more details. E-mail: sdias@ netvigator.com
THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST-SEPTEMBER
2OO]
23
Writins the
Falun GonS
s0s Are they a legitimate target or just innocent breathers? An FCC panel discussed the issue, regrettably without ¡rt the participation of anyone from the HKSAR government because Secr etary for Security Regina Ip declined an invitation to atten d. Jonathan Sharþ reports
NoveI Novelist Christopher New, author of the China Coast Tälog¡ which has recently been re-issued, lets us in on the secrets of the muse. Excerpts: ell, it's nice to be here in Hong Kong again and to be in the FCC again where some of my oldest friends are wellestablished. Arriving here...a couple of weeks ago reminded me of my first visit...in 1966 on a Dutch freighter...It took us about six weeks to make the voyage from Rotterdam... (and) there were all sorts of experiences on the way, including deaths, gusts and interventions by the US Naly as we steamed past Vietnarh. But that belongs to another story... We (were) ... about two days away when the radio officer came to me and said: "You better read this," and he shoved the sheaf of papers in front of me. These were the first radio reports of the outbreak
of the Cultural Revolution in China. And that
was the occasion on which the master, who until then had been extremely taciturn and only said hello and goodbye, leaned over the bridge... and said, "By the time we reach Hong Kong, it won't exist anymore." Well, we did reach Hong Kong a couple of days later and it was extremely placid, extremely tranquil, as though the tumult that was going on 40 miles north of the border was something that belonged to another planet and had no concern with the people of Hong Kong...the business of which was, as it still is, as it always has been, business. But all that, of course, changed in a few months...The tumult which ensued lasted for about nine months to a year, involved riots, assassinations, bombings and cross-border incidents... The shock was not just to the Hong Kong government (and)...society, but also to myself as a budding author. Until that time I had taken the view that, when I wrote, I would like to write psychological novels about highly sensitive people doing highly sensitive things generally doing the sort of things - had onlyjust grown up imagine will which people who only happen to them, that other people would be frantically interested in hearing about. 24
I
realised for the first time...that characters in a novel who do not relate to, or (are) not involved with the events of their times, who are not facing crises of their times, and being affected by and enduring with them, are just not as interesting as those that are. And so I set my first novel at the time of the riots in Hong Kong and that novel, The Chinese Box, was published first in London in 1975 and it is the reason for my return this year as it is now being republished by Asia 2000 as part of t}re Chi.na Coast Trilogy, the three novels that I wrote about the colonial experience in China on the China Coast... The sequence of writing the novel is rather different
But
from the thematic sequence of the
novels
themselves...The second novel, Shanghai... spanned the history of Shanghai from 1903 roughly to 1950 or so. The frnal novel (A Change of FkS)...was... published in 1990 just after Tiananmen (and) dealt with Hong Kong at the time of the Sino-British negotiations over the future of Hong Kong, and again featured
characters who aÍe facing public events which penetrate and involve, and to some extent determine, their own private destiny.
n each case, what I take as a protagonist, if not the protagonist, is an expatriate living in a Chinese setting. There is a reason for that, namel¡ I am and was an expatriate living in a Chinese setting and I didn't think that it would be possible for me to take an authentic perspective except a perspective that I understood and had myself experienced, that is of an expatriate in that setting. I
Kong as it is in Mainland China, but the group's top spokesman here told an FCC panel discussion that an "atmosphere o[ social discrimination" had developed in the territory against Falun Gong practitioners since the Beijing crackdown was launched two years ago. Spokesman Kan Hung-cheung also said the group had suffered a 50Vo loss in its local following, from
about 1,000 to 500, although the numbers had stabilised and had even seen an increase in recent months. This is despite an increasing tide of official verbal hostiliry notably from Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa who has echoed Beijing's view by branding the spiritual movement an "evil cult". "In the last few months we have seen a rising trend. People are more and more conscious and know more about us, and they don't believe in all the negative propaganda from the authorities, and that's a good sign." Kan prefaced his remarks by showing harrowing video footage of burning figures in the selÊimmolation incident in Tiananmen Square inJanuary. The footage in slow motion to back the Falun Gong's claim that the episode may have been staged by Beijing authorities to discredit the group. Citing examples of discrimination, Kan said local hotels and malls had refused to allow the group to hold meetings. "We were turned down by more than 30 hotels in one case". In addition, two Falun Gong followers had been frred from theirjobs because of their beliefs, official surveillance of Falun Gong activities had increased and local Falun Gong communications had been tapped "by sources unknown". Such pressures may seem minor by comparison with repeated individual scenes
the wholesale suppression of the Falun':Gong by Beijing,
but fellow panel members echoed concerns by human rights groups about what is seen as an ominous trend of official condemnation of the movement. Rev Father Stephen Chan, Ecclesiastical Adviser to the Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese, told the discussion that the Catholic Church was not taking the side of any group. "But the Catholic Church is reminding the government of (its) primary duty to safeguard all voluntary associations." He said there was no evidence that the Falun Gong had
Chinø Coøst Tiilogy By Christopher New Asia 2000, Hong Kong PB, TSBN 962-8783-07-6 Boxed sefi HK$383 Shanghai - HK$f95 A Chønge Of Flag- HK$f50 The Chinese Bor - HK$138
THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST:SEPTEMBER
he Falun Gong may not be outlawed in Hong
2OO1
THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST:SEPTEMBER
2OOI
disrupted social order in Hong Kong. "If we allow people to practise tai chi openly in public areas, why can't we allow Falun Gong members these peaceful activities, though taking place in public areas?" He added: '1Ve urge the government not to bury the principle of 'One Country/Two Systems' in the graveyard. Already the graveyard has been dug." Jean-Pierre Cabestan, director of the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China in Hong Kong, said the Falun Gong, far from being an evil cult, was a conservative sectarian group, albeit with what he viewed as "somewhatweird" teachings. He cited "apocaþtic and messianic themes" in Falun Gong beliefs plus a trend to exclude and discriminate against homosexuals or people of mixed race. Later when the discussion was thrown open to questions, spokesman Kan denied that the Falun Gong condemned mixing race or homosexuals. Conspicuous by their absence from the event were
representatives of the HKSAR government, with Secretary for Security Regina Ip declining an invitation. Her department did send a fax reiterating the government's commitment to protecting the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people. But the message said the Falun Gong had caused "considerable
suffering and injury to individual followers and their families in Mainland China... and...we certainly do not want to see the same thing happen in Hong Kong." Coincidentally on the same day as the FCC event, an
Asian WalI Street Journal interview with Mrs Ip was published in which she was quoted as saying there was no need for anti-cult legislation or new measures "on the basis of the current situation". At the FCC event, Falun Gong spokesman Kan denied that the group was a religion or had any political agenda and was not against the Chinese government per se, only its "unconstitutional and illegal" suppression of the movement. Asked to comment on the just-announced triumph by Beijing to host the 2008 Summer Olympics in the face of criticism of its human rights record, Kan said: 'As Chinese compatriots, we feel glad that the Chinese can win the Olympic games." But the Falun Gong hoped the Chinese government would live up to its promise to improve its human rights record and not see winning the bid for the games as "a licence to kill". I
25
Pnoro
FnATURE
Pygmy seahorse (Puerto Galera, Philippines)
;^3æ
/è.
re'G
D -' Schooling Chevron barracuda (Sipadan, Malaysia)
Harlequin shrimp (Puerto Galera, Philippines) Fire dartfish (Sipadan, Malaysia)
Life Below the Waves Robert Delfs' exhibition of underwater photogruphy in the Main Bar has been well received. But how did he do it? The answers, or some of them: andy Burton and
I
began taking snorkelling
trips to some of the coral reefs around
Southeast Asia shortly after we came to Hong Kong in the early 1980s. We both started with scuba in the 1990s, and have since dived some of the world's most spectacular reefs in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. I started taking underwater pictures in 1998 with a Sea & Sea MX-10 Sandy gave me as a Christmas present. Last summer I upgraded to a housed system that was
used
to take all the photographs shown here.
system consists of a Subal housing, which holds a
F801S camera, two
The Nikon
Ikelite SS200 strobes and
an these photographs were taken with the 105 mm macro lens. Every exotic reef species we see and photograph represents a moment stolen in time. Many of the reefs we visit today may be gone within the next five or ten
Ultralight strobe arm system. Most of
26
years. The most saddening experience we have had diving has been to visit reefs which were vibrant and alive when we last saw them only a few years ago, but have now been reduced to an expanse of barren dead
Detail of the eye of a cuttlefish (Puerto Galera, Philippines)
coral rubble.
lVe with a marble ray, shot taken by John Bantin,
Southeast Asia has the most extensive reef systems
Diver lVagazine (Gili Banta, Indonesia)
in the world and the highest degree of biodiversity. But these are also the coral reefs that are most at risk today.
The 1997-98 bleaching episode caused by unusually warm seawater temperatures, -possibly the result of global warming 6¿11sscl extensive coral mortality in - and parts of Southeast Asia. Almost the Indian Ocean all reefs in Southeast Asia have been damaged by cyanide and dynamite blast fishing, with many reefs experiencing 50-80% loss of coral cover. Overfishing, sedimentation due to uncontrolled coastal development, and water pollution are also taking a hear,y toll. THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST-SEPTENTBER
2OO]
As of 1998, an estimated 35% of the total reef area
in Southeast Asia had been destroyed, according to the Clobal Coral Reef Monitoring Network's 2000 report. Another 24% 1s likely to be gone within the next two to ten years unless immediate steps are taken
to halt the destruction. The on-going political and economic crises in Indonesia and the Philippines make it unlikely that enough will be done in time to make a difference.
Hong Kong is the centre and still the main market THF:, CORRESPONDENT AU(ìUST:SEPTEMRF]R 2OOI
for the US$l billion per year lir,e fish trade, and so very much implicated in the threat to coral reefs. A significant percentage of the live groupers and snappers you see swimming around in tanks in front of your favourite seafood restaurant were taken with cyanide. Concentrations of cyanide needed to stun a large grouper are sufficient to kill the surrounding corals and smaller fishes and invertebrates in the immediate area. Please keep this in mind the next time you're about to order a live f,rsh for dinner. I
27
Asn Bv Tnn Nuvrsnns !J o
0n TouF With PJ
o
o o
o
It's common knowledge that the Middle East is a mess and that the politicos are desperate for a solution. So the powers-that-be in the Middle East called in the experts: American satirist PJ O'Rourke
a
accompanied by the FCC's own Dave Garcia.
By David O'Rear ast year, Hong Kong's population grew l.\Vo, declines among those born since 1991 (0-9 years old), to 6,865,600. Boring, right? Well, yes and no. which happens to coincide with the run-up to 1997. First, the population growth was far from Call it a political slowdown, and anticipate a resurgence uniform across the different age groups. And in the next fìve years. The next group, from ten to 19 second, the spikes and dips were partly historic years old (born 1981-91) grew 0.9%. Not bad, and and partly economic. timed for when China opened up and the good times just kept on coming. One at a time. It should be pretty obvious that when there is a baby boom the increase among children will Then, a decline among tLre 20-34 year-olds born be larger than that among adults. Hong Kong is not in between 1966 and 1981. Anyone remember the Great the midst of a baby boom, but it is in the midst of a Proletariat Cultural Revolution, and the two Oil Shocks? population boom. Why? Hardly the time to go out and procreate. Finally, the First, the natural increase - births minus deaths remainder (with an exception in the pre-war 60-64 was just 0.37o, a bit low but not far off. Hong Kong is year-olds: 1936-40) all expanded, including a medicallywealthy, and all wealthy countries have lower birth rates driven 6.IVo rise among those over the age of 75. than poor countries. So, regardless of what the popular magazines say about the local libido, we aren't necessarily shooting with a full load of ammo, if you get my drift. So, where did the other 7.2Vo growth come from? Abroad, of course, and mostþ China. Net migration immigrants minus emigrants - totalled 83,100, some four times the natural increase rate and a (convenient) l.2Vo growtb. rate.
Economically speaking Let's look at the age breakdown. First, it is natural that
there is not an even distribution, nor do different age groups increase (decrease) by the same share. The number of children up to age four decreased 3.37o last year, but there were 8.5Vo rnore people aged 50 to 54. lVhy?
One reason is that the older group was born between 1946 and 1950, and comprises two post-war baby booms (post World War II and post-Revolution). Their parents probably resisted having children during uncertain times (and perhaps resisted getting married, despite the number of shotguns around), but cut loose once the troubles appeared to be over. As for the youngsters, births tend to drop off during economically
hard times, and (for those of you living in a cave recently) the last four years have been rough. Demographers like to use five-year age brackets (i.e., 50-54), but if we broaden the strata a bit, we fìnd 28
he call came. "HeyDave, I'm off to Israel during Easter week working on a story, why don't you come along? We can get the wives to meet up
with us somewhere in Europe afterwards." 'Yeah, sure, why not?" Though PJ caught me when I was in the middle of a
nightmare which was occurring at my steel mill in China, I was thinking they're shooting at each other there. Bombs are going off almost daily. I called PJ back and he agreed we may be getting too old for this shit, but it's a "guy thing". With that said, what choice did I have? PJ arrived in Israel a couple of days before me and arranged a tour guide and a car to take us around. He wasn't sure what his story was going to be about, he said, it would just come to him as we went on. I arrived in Israel and received my first interview at immigration. "Are you traveling alone?"
Jobs for the boys One would hope that a rising population, particularly one that surges in the middle i.e. among - by soaring working people would be accompanied unemployment and big, fat employment, record-low pay cheques. Not so. \À4rile the number ofjobs went up l.9Vo, so, too, did unemployment. Hong Kong's biggest employers, by industry, are the trade and tourism services, accounting for 1.02 million of our 2.29 million employees. However, between March-May this year and the same 2000 period, the number ofjobs declined by nearly I0,570, or 7.17o. Refer back to the source of our population growth: migrants. The number ofjobs rose byjust over 42,000, but the number of net migrants was 83,100. Of course, not all of them were working age, but certainly some would have joined the labour force. The long and short
of it is that if our net migration had held steady at 1999's 72,600 pace, there likely would have been a
couple of thousand more jobs available. Now, if we can only get Hong Kong people to take on those dirty, dangerous and unglamorous tasks that migrants are quite happy to do... I
Dauid O'Rear, R¿gional Economist with the Economist Enterþrises, contributed, to the net migration into Hong Kong back in 1984. THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST:SEPTEMBER
2OO1
Travels wilh Tsvi PJ O'Rourke with his lsraeli guide Tsvi (pronounced Tsvi)
Now this could have gone either way. She could have taken offence and I would have ended up in a room doing the strip search whilst two male soldiers with Uzis pointing at me stood by with big grins, or she could have seen the humour and smiled. Luckily it didn't go bad: she smiled. She finally explained the problem, I had a Cuban visa in my passport. Finally I got through, one hour and 15 minutes later. I exited to see PJ's smiling face. He had our tour guide,/driver with him, Tsvi. Twi (pronounced Tsvi) is 70 years old. His family came to Palestine in 1906 and were with the group that started the first kibbutz. I guess he can be classified as Israeli royalty.
He is an ex-Israeli army colonel and fought in until approximately 15 years ago and he cannot walk through a metal detector naked without every war up
setting off alarms.
svi is tired of war, he belie'r'es that his grandchildren need peace. He also has an extreme distaste for the Orthodox Jews. He complains that they don't serve in the Jerusalem's Wailing
Wall
One of the most sacred sites in Judiasm.
these opinions. We met many veterans who share his views.
YCS.
'lMhy?" "Because my wife didn't want to come." 'lMhy?" "She was concerned about her sectirity." "Aren't you? \AIhy are you here?"
"Tourist." 'What kind of tourist?" 'A tourist tourist." This went on for another ten minutes, questioning my job, domicile, spouse's name, nationality etc. Passport stamped. Next interview. Same questions all over again, but it was a young girl asking the questions. Finally after another 15 minutes I ask her if this is the way Israeli girls get to meet guys. THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST.SEPTEMBER
militar¡ don't work, just pray and cause trouble. And he doesn't hold back with his opinions when he encounters them in the streets. He is very quick to engage in verbal discourse with them, often ending with a lot of shouting in Hebrew. He is not alone in
2OOI
We got settled into the Hilton in Tel Aviv and went straight to the bar for some refreshment. Ah, but it was Passover and you could drink only Kosher liquor which consisted of wine, vodka and gin. As Israel has great oranges, we figured we'd use the vodka to smuggle orange juice into our bodies. The next daywe were off to Jerusalem.
PJ fìgured a good spot to start inJerusalem was the old city. If bitching and complaining were an Olympic event, Israel would held a gold medal team hands down. Everyone bitches. The doorman, receptionist, waiter, the guy you met in the lift, Arab, Jew, Christian, men, women, children, dogs, cats, everyone. But then, they do have a lot to bitch about.
29
Tsvi knew everybod¡ Arab, Je*, Armenian,
Christian, Orthodox... everyone, young and old. We stopped by a stall in the Arab quarter and some guy shot out of his store and started a shouting match with him. 'You see that son of a bitchJew over there, he shot
me in the Yom Kippur War!" The Arab then
exact spot where Jesus leaned against the wall? Who decided all these spots were the correct ones? It turns out llelena, Queen of Constantine, arrived in the fourth century with a huge entourage and boxes full of gold. She was determined to locate all the significant religious sites having to do with Christ. Now
imagine this woman arriving in town with a hundred bearers and bags full of gold telling the local clergy that she will pay big bucks to be taken to the exact birthplace of Christ. The clergy probably rounded up a couple of Bedouins and offered them some of the loot to locate the cave. You can see how things may have slipped through the cracks a bit. Anyrvay, we
proceeded to show us his scar in his left shoulder just above his heart. "You're luck¡ I was shooting bad." They then hugged each other and proceeded to drink coffee and eat. The Arab told us, like Tsvi, he is tired of it all. He and his brothers, cousins and
whole family have fought for
years.
Many were lost. Enough was enough. He said a few days earlier he caught his nephew running out to the streets to throw rocks at the Israeli tanks. The Arab asked Tsvi: "What the hell can you do to a tank with a rock, is he crazy? \À4rat does he think will happen?" Tsvi just shook his head. I mentioned to PJ: 'You don't bring a Gate rock to a tank frght." PJ agreed. PJ, being a good Catholic, decided he needed to visit all the Christian holy sites. In the old city there are 14 significant sites. We walked through the winding streets meeting lots of religious zealots praying at each site. PJ began to wonder how do they know this is the
decided that everything that was significant was probably within a
kilometre of where they said it was. Bethlehem was our next stop. Twi couldn't travel in there as it was under the control of the Palestinian Authority, but he had a friend who could take us around. We arrived at the checkpoint and transferred to his Palestinian friend. Salim was a Christian, but had a long Palestinian history. He and other members of his family fought, and some are still frghting the battle. He quit fìghting after being shot a couple of times
COMING
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CENTRAL EQUITY MELBOURNE'S LEADING APARTMENT DEVELOPER Prevlew
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w w w. c e n f r o I e q u i I y. c o m 30
THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST:SEPTEMBER
be a two-hour wait to get into the church which contains the cave of Christ's birth. During Easter, the border crossing wait should be over tlvo hours and the entry to the cave should be over three hours. We crossed the border in frve minutes and walked right into the church and down to the cave with no waiting. The cave was void of any tourists and we were able to sit there for as long as we liked. After the religious tours, PJ asked him to take us to his village, BetJalla, which was nearby on a hill overlooking Israel and two Jewish settlements across a valley. A lot of the buildings in Bet Jalla had big gaping holes in them. Salim explained that Palestinian snipers sneak into the village at night and take pot-shots at the Israeli settlement Har Hama where they have tanks as lawn ornaments.
2OO1
Bethlehem PJ O'Rourke at Chrisl's
birthplace
That's it, nothing else. The whole experience attacked all your senses and left you with a highly emotional feeling. PJ and I walked around inside three times. It wasn't a very large area, maþe 1,000 to 2,000 square feet, but the way it affected your being was quite pulsating. \¡\rhen we left the museum we were both quiet. P| frnally said that this museum was one of the most effective and emotional experiences that he ever had. The next day we left for the airport at 3 a.m. When we got to the airport we were herded into a number of lines, in which during various times you are either interviewed or just vibed out by various forms of security personnel.
No less than seven security checks before we made our way to the lounge and our first of many Bloody Marys. It was off to sunny Spain to hook up with our loving wives, good food and, most importantl¡ whiskey.
couple of minutes for your eyes to adjust to the light. During this time, soft Baroque music is playing in the background with a soft, unemotional voice reading names and ages of children who died during World War II. The names were not limited to Jews. All children known to have lost their lives were on the list. When your eyes finally adjust to the light, you see only candles burning in endless directions reflected by mirrors all around you.
sh/lish oportmenls designed lo moximise Toke odvontoge o[ b,uying quoliry
Christ
supposedly was born. Salim said that on normal weekends, you can wail- up to an hour to get across the border and it would
Every time a sniper fires one off at Har FIama, an Israeli spotter locates the building he shot from and directs a tank to return fire, which results in new bay windows in BetJalla. PJ looked at me and said: 'You don't bring a rifle to a tank fight!" Salim agreed. We decided that it was wise to get back across the border before the sunset bullefest started. (Since this was written, BetJaila has been levelled.) The next daywe visited the Holocaust Museum. The museum itself was quite a moving thing, but the thing that hit us the hardest was the Children's Museum. This is located in a separate building next to the Holocaust Museum. We were totally unprepared as to what we '' were to experience in there. You walk into a darkened round room. It takes a
contempororl7 ond modern, spoce ond light reol estore off the plon Secure on only 107. deposit
Victorio Tower
e took us to the cave where
Guns everywhere Guarding the tunnel which Christ is believed to have passed through on his return
TO\^/ER VICTORIA MELBOURNE ,'.',"'
and decided that being a tour guide was less dangerous, although we later found out that this is not necessarily true.
THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUSTSEPTEMBER
2OO1
I
JUnKJUnK Boat Trips . Parties Water Ski . Wake Boarding . Scuba Diving Deep Water Bay . Hong Kong
Elsie &
Bill.
2741 5258
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1003
You, your family and friends...can all have the fun of a 'junk junk' boat trip. If you want to have a go at wake boarding, scuba diving or water skiing...the choice rs yours. The lunk junk'boats are based in Deep Water Bay/Repulse Bay, and are readily accessible.
From there, choose an itinerary and catering. We'll work it out according to your need to make it a real experience.
All of us on the Junk junk' look forward to helping throw
a
pafty, use a speedboat, host a kid's pafty or just enjoy an end-ofday relaxing event.
31
I
On the Road With C H Tung
with China; 3) amid increasing concern over USbased academics being held on the Mainland and heary US pressure to free them; and 4) Legco's passage of the controversial Chief Executive Election Bill. (The election law was queried by Secretary of State Colin Powell, and almost including President Bush) everyone - also the continuing flap over Tung There's labelling the Falun Gong an 'evil cult' and the healy press on whether the HKSAR will enact laws banning the group. (President Bush raised the Falun Gung question too.) And there's the matter of the visits of a pair of US Naly minesweeper ships to the HKSAR. There's also the question of Mr Bush's planned trip to Shanghai.
RTHK's Francis Moriarty, who started his White House visitations covering then Governor Chris Patten, was in Washington again, this time with Chief Executive C H Tung. It was his second visit with Tung to the White House. orget West Wing. Sure, insiders say that TV's top drama is so close to truth it's hard to spot the difference, but anybody along for the TungBush meeting will tell you, reality can be a whole other deal. Nowhere in the White Flouse re-creation do you see
photographers shepherded on to the Rose Garden porch, divided sheep-from-goats, then led through the Oval Office for the grip-and-grin. You don't see President Martin Sheen appearing in
the US$600-per-night-and-up Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Tung, exiting one meeting with key politicians after another, not speaking to reporters. We could also include a scene of two Falun Gongers waiting in the Rayburn Office Building corridor to hand Tung a letter as he leaves a meeting. But the meeting fails to materialise, supposedly because the congressman has to go vote (the voting bell can be heard). Just as the meeting does not materialise, neither does the Chief Executive he enters the
office, all right, -but is led out an T exit that doesn't lead past the ) a. petitioners nice folks he'd love o to meet.
the gritty, briefing room barely larger than Legco's the where beat reporters sit in- rows of oldfashioned school chairs, their names scrawled under the seats. And what West Wingvíewer ever glimpses the
=.
super-trendy nightspot,
and
attended by Vice President Dick Cheney and wife, along with Federal Reserve Bank chairman Alan Greenspan and his wife. No press allowed. (Reporters learn of it only later in a Washington Post Next question Francis Moriarly tries to outdo "CJ", the West Wing's press boss in the White House briefing room,
windowless, smaller than the FCC ladies' locker room, crammed with yellowing papers and forgotten lunchboxes. Speaking of food, no West Wing episode has ever revealed the press corps' lunchroom, a short dogleg-right about the width of a Wellcome shopping aisle, lined with battered vending machines and a row of cameramen's lockers secured with the kind of ham-sized padlocks the FBI should have used for its guns-and-laptops collection. Our special edition of West Wing re-creating the
Chief Executive's visit could have its moments:
e.g.
Tung, arriving at the airport, not speaking to reporters. Tung, gliding across the designer carpets of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office's spiffy house, barely speaking to reporters before being chauffeured off to
32
special cannot include Tung shown
attending a swank dinner thrown for him by architect Leo Daly at a
eye? (POTUS stands for President of the United States and FLOTUS
reporter's shared office
West Win g
a segment of
pool reports, pinned to the bulletin board, irreverentþ describing the POTUS and FLOTUS movements that rarely make it into the public
for First Lady...) Oh, we might see a crisp-andcool network correspondent doing a stand-up on the sun-dappled lawn, but we're never shown the
Unfortunatel¡ our edition of
column.) Ditto, no coverage of Tung attending a Council on
Foreign Relations black-tie dinner in his honour. But maþe in our show we'd see what really went on during the closeddoor meeting with Senator John Kerry, the only Democrat on the itinerary. Maybe we'd also learn if Tung's friendship with former president George Bush explains the velvet gìove treatment at the hands of his son, George W or Dubya, whose mother Barbara christened one of the Tung family's ships a few years back. This Washington trip certainly differs from prior ones. First, it was hastily arranged, sparking speculation as to its real purpose. It came the same week as 1) the selection of the 2008 Olympic games venue; 2) the sure 'yes vote
in
Congress on normalising trade relations THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST:SEPTE\,IBER
2O()I
Grip 'n grin photo-op Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa and US President
nother difference: There was no photoGeorge W Bush opportunity when Tung visited the But the biggest difference of all is when a senror Clinton White Flouse and we were told this was at Hong Kong's requesl-. By contrast, there was White House official gives reporters a lengthy read-out a photo session when Chris Patten made his of the meetings belween Tung and Bush, as well as with other top off,rcials including General Powell. In the hrst trip to Washington. Ald I recall with amusement real-life Tung-Clinton episode, reporters got a written being reprimanded for inadvertently resting my mike but only after they requested it (and after statement on the head of the seated Al Gore. "Th-th-that's the the Chief Executive's press honcho Stephen Lam told a Vice President's hair! " gasped one of the ever-present National Security Agency official that he did not want Secret Service agents. But this time around, there were pictures, although the White House to make any comment at all. The a read-out in this episode is lengthy and detailed everyone is told "photographers only" are allowed in the Oval Ofhce, and no questions would be permitted, welcome change. I a rule routinely ignored by the resident press corps. As I work for RTHK radio, which is short on pictures even on our Web site, I faced a potential problem. But I ensured my Oval Offìce ticket thanks to a quick trip to Union Station, returning with a an Olympus telephoto sufficiently camera-like so that this radio reporter Boat Trips . Parties wouldn't be mistaken for one of the Texan tourist herd . Water Ski Wake Boarding . Scuba Diving clomping through the \Mhite House with disposable Deep Water Bay . Hong Kong cameras, striking the University of Texas football pose (arms wide, hands making the Cantonese gesture for Elsie & Bill. 2147 5258 . 9733 8303 . 9139 1003 six) and yelling "Hook 'em Hornsl". Thus disguised as a photographe¡ I sailed into the followed closely by Charlie Snyder of the Oval Office Hong Kong iMail and Greg Torode of the South China Morning Post, both camera-less, but emboldened by the shining presence of mine. Another difference: When Tung met Clinton, he was severely grilled on the pace of democracy and emerged from the meeting with hands twitching Boat Bonanza! nervously as he spoke to reporters. In our special West Wing episode, it's a smooth ride. Try the 'Big Banana'ride in Repulse Bay....... Democracy is glossed over by reference to the Basic It's fun for you, your friends and family. Law's gradual formula and Tung emerges relaxed and "I told ready to deliver the ofhcial mantra smiling Or rent a junk for the weekend, do wakethe President how well One Country/-lwo Systems was boarding, enjoy the open spaces of some working." A Chinese reporter asks a probing question. Hong Kong islands. but Tung astutely dodges it by enquiring where she is from and how long she's been living there, then turns Call us to give it a go! and walks away with a wave and nothing more. THE CORRESPONDENT ÀUGUST:SEPTEN{BER
2OO]
33
BUU Yesterday
centre. The cake decoration Royal Palace the Presidential Palace.
t's been nine years now since the putter-boat across
Immigration and Customs building. And
seen across the Mekong, Laos had as well. My God! There were even steps up the bank on the Laos side. Steps in the future? But what lay beyond? Cars and trucks traveled the far bank. We caught glimpses of them through the brush and buildings. But, at a mile or so distant? For the rest, conjecture, built on an amalgamation of fractional information, sensibilities and simply wild speculation. A communist country was over there. The bamboo
curtain, unseen, but there nonetheless. Police
everywhere? Unsmiling soldiers in baggy, rumpled uniforms and floppy hats? As the Pathet Lao soldiers had been in 1974. Silent shadows following every footstep, stop and conversation? Grim decorum? Outspoken anti-Americanism, if not anti-foreignerism? And Vientiane's physical being? The steps up the bank of the Mekong said physical change. And enough of my 1970s hope for a progressive era in socialist development remained with me to expect to see radical change. Wasn't that what making a revolution was all about? The strangeness really began as we exited a most polite Immigration and Customs ofhce in Laos or as "they" would have it, if the rest of the world- would accept The Lao People's Democratic Republic. "I've- seen the taxis before," I recall saying to my companion. In some of the splendour thatJapan and Germany could muster in the mid-1950s, there they were, Toyotas and Mercedes Benzes, not one of them younger than 7957, none with more than three hub caps, none without at least one cracked window not one with its original coat of paint, not one without being lame in at least one spring, not one that, I'm still convinced, hadn't hauled me from Vientiane to Tha
34
now called
he cheap-built slat-work facades thrown up on many of the old buildings don't delude for an instant. In the mind's eye they peel away and there is Maurice Cavalerie's Hotel Constellation behind the terrible façade that is now the Asian Pavilion Hotel; Habeeb's general merchandise store is gone, simply replaced by another Tamil, this one selling gems; the smattering of gold and silver shops remains. The potholes in the street are still there, the blackish overrun from the water drains along the sides still stews pungent in the mid-dayheat, the dustladen air, the incredible lethargy. All of it
Or was it25 years ago? Absent member Don Ronk, now living in Vientiane, reminisces
the Mekong River to Laos from Nong Khai, Thailand. We sat for several days in Nong Khai, watching the putter-boats ply to Laos and back, just exactþ as they had in 7974 when I last puttered toward Nong Khai on my hnal departure to Malaysia and, soon, Hong Kong. By 1992, the Thais had built a much, much nicer
-
"What is it you want to see change?' he asks, and his
tone tells me there's a cynical tone crept into my narration. 'vVhich is not really what I like, jaded old Asia hand or not. Hey, I think I truly do like Laos. and stayed the past At the minimum, I drifted back
-
nine years. I've even made some arrangements for my cremation and being sprinkled in the Mekong. I don't answer. I'm not read¡ because no one has ever asked me that question (which is kind of moot in any event, given that I'm not Lao and not terrific on paternalism, i.e. solving other nationalities' problems.) But, what would I, in my heart of hearts, like to see happen in Laos? That would still make it the Laos I r o I c l
is there.
I swim in a slightly opaque sea of time. Deua, or vice versa, 17 years earlier. Déjà ru? Nor did ours fail to have a flat tire midway
along the 25 kilometres to Vientiane. But we were quickly shuffled into a passing empty, of equal vintage and state of repair. The flatlands. In the northern distance, the beginning of Laos' rather spectacular and certainly eco-pure mountains, with jutting limestone karsts that kind of march on into Yunnan Province of China. Paddy-land. Vegetable fields. The agricultural experiment station, still experimenting with ways to make Laos food-rich. Flat-bellied nippers, bare-assed, swimming in the irrigation catchments and canals. The old brick works with marvellous raw brick chimneys and furnaces. The Pepsi Cola bottling plant, its old owners richly ensconced in Hawaii, its new ones rapidly moving into that state of wealth. Down the road a piece, the Beer Lao brewer¡ perhaps the most functional-appearing set of buildings in Laos. Chinaimo military camp, a kind of entry point and blocking point for real and to Vientiane proper imagined coup instigators coming up from southern Laos. A hundred yards further on, clap-trap Chinese housing that has survived a century or more, still there, not noticeably more canted. t's swimming in now. Or is it that I am swimming in time? I am losing track, losing my grip on today and it's all becoming yesterday but yesterday
I packed Laos in- and headed for Malaysia and then Hong Kong, saying: "The fun of the place has gone out of it." was 17 years ago when
The old Mormon Temple. Chao Souvanna Phouma's old residence along the road. The abandoned bowling alle¡ its windows now sightless like very old folks, but the eyes still there. The shopfronts of the Vietnamese quarter, the
medical college. The trees. Venerable, majestic, massive urban trees. Scores of them forming an umbrella into the olcl centre which remains the
-
THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST-SEPTEMBER
2OO1
weightless, neither here nor
there.
part of southeast Asia was 25 probably and 35 years aso much 80 years ago. Pretty alone, it didn't change. It remains the Asia we
I have
my life.
I
lost 17 years of am right back in
Vientiane, 1974, and I shake my head and know it can't be so, that it is 17 years later.
For two weeks I
in for (my) good reasons. Yes, as the NGO worker implied, Laos is a nifty little anthropological museum. It's a throwback to what this settled down
romanticised those many
decades
swim
of déjà vu. Not quite believing it's here, I'm here nothing has changed. - It doesn't matter that Tum's eyes have gone rheumy now as he calls out to me on the street and we compare notes from the days he was a bartender at
street to consult their Lonely
Planet guides on exactly where they are in this and the miniscule capital drivers don't run them down.
Needing the
absolute
change from the frenetic
the Constellation and I was a struggling freelance correspondent. It matters
Asia
not matter that the
Come visit us.
shade around the fountain is now
ago and
backpackers maybe still envision. It's so laid-back, back-packing tourists often stop in the middle of the
through this molasses sea
"real world"? Want to see the Laotians still support their temples and monks,
trees rather than struggling shrubs laden with the plastic leavings of the town. It is of no
consequence that the cinemas have all closed now for
failure to compete with TV. No matter that
government's information offices, that the central market building has been replaced by almost equal decrepitude. Trifles. Sitting in Vientiane's emporium of not quite superb deep-fried, in the Colonel's tradition, chicken last month. An NGO folk working up-country asked me how I find the country 25 years later, and I've said the things noted above. "Nothing changed in 17 years
-
And it's true, my visceral feelings tell me. And more glimpses into déjà vu. THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST:SEPTEMBER
2OO1
discovered
in
1965?
I'm sitting on
the front porch of the Scandinavian Bakery every afternoon from 3:15 till 6:30. Most days I'll talk to people. We even have a couple of ISPs. <dronh@l.o,onet.net>. I
the
government information offìce is now a travel agenc¡ that few indeed stay at the Lang Xang Hotel, that the old Lao AmericanAssociation build,ing is now the
tll.e 25 years."
I
Don Ronh arriaecl in Asia in late 1965 as a teacher in Vietnam and b1 1967 uas writing and þhotograþhing. In 1969 he moaed to Vientiane and set himself uþ as a freelancer, working for about three years stringing for the Washington Post, ABC radio, the Far Eastern Economic Review a,tnong others. In 1974 he was expelled from Laos for about seaen months. Uþon return to Vientiane, when he worked for theBangkokPost, he decid,edthefun had gone out of Laos and made his uay to Malaysia, from uhere he was hired, in late I974, to uorh in Hong Kong as an editor forAsian Business & Industry. He soon lcft that job to freelance, as a twiter and for ABC radio. He then became editor of the now delunct Asia Magazine. Don joined the FCC in 1975, was a member of the Board of Gouernors and a past editor offhe Correspondent.
35
I
Ø
o
FCC Photographer of the Year Awards
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Dubyas George W Russell's namesake George W Bush
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong (FCC) invites the professional photographers and photojournalists of Hong Kong, FCC members and members of their families to submit their photographic works for consideration in the inaugural FCC Photographer of the Year Awards.
The 43rd President of the United States has the world's most famous middle initial. But he's not the only one attached to the 23rd letter of the alphabet. Bloomberg's man in Hanoi, Absent Member George W
The awards seek to promote and showcase contemporâry photography in Hong Kong. Both traditional and innovative styles and media will be considered, including images created by special processing techniques and digitally enhanced or altered images. Special awards may be given for innovative styles' Awards will be judged in two divisions, Professional and Non-Professional, and two special categories, 'The City of Life - Hong Kong is it!' and Action Asia Àdventure Travel Award, open to entrants in both divisions'
Russell, explains: wasn't always a Dubya. Well, I was, but I wasn't. Most of my Scots ancestors thought a middle name was extravagant a simple George Russell was good enough for dad, and for his dad too. There were two incidents that helped me decide that 13 letters weren't enough for a name, at least in public. One was a telephone call in New York while I was working at Variety, the weekly show business bible, then based in New York in the early 1990s. A somewhat bluff voice pronounced: "This is George Russell. From Time.
I
have your mail."
Now I knew there was a George Russell who was big at ITV in London. I had heard of the Irish writer known as AE. I had even discovered Davy Crockett's sidekick. But I didn't know I actually had a masthead rival. This one had well preceded me, with a distinguished career at Time. A long-time Latin America correspondent, he later became editor of 7-ime Canada and now holds an executrve post. Still, I was an editor whose byJine appeared rarely.
(It appeared rarely enough when I was a reporter, most of my editors said). There was no need to change my name. The next wake-up call was a little more startling. I had recently divorced, fled New York and had hit the West Coast. Seattle had a sparkling nightlife and I threw myself into it with abandon. Sitting in Conor Byrne's pub in the posh Ballard neighbourhood one night a couple of years later, I
36
noticed the bartender was idly thumbing through a True Crime magazine the only time I'd ever - read. As he trundled seen a copy actually being over to serve one of the few customers, he chucked the rag down on the bar. The headline chilled me: "George Russell: The Singles Bar Psychopath." The article described the bloody rampase of a sex fiend in the Seattle areaa so-called "signature" killer who mutilated his female victims. He was also necrophiliac. a New in town, I'd never heard of him. Didn't realise that introducing myself was the equivalent of being Sam's little boy in New York, or telling Londoners I was renting a house at 10 Rillington Place and had decided the under-floor area needed a bit of work. So from then, I used the initial, until I learned the killer's full
Professional Division
Non-Professional Division
Open to att professional photographers and pho[ojoutra]ists resident in Hong Kong, and prcfessional pholographers and
Open to all FCC members (who ate not professionâl photographers and photojournalists) and family members, including children . The Wonderful Wotld of Travel . Young Perspectives of Hong Kong (for family members under tbe age of l6 at the time of lhe competjtion )
photojoumalists who me members or absent members of the FCC . Asia
. Hong Kong
- News
- News - Magazine features
- Magazine features - Advefising
- Advertising
- Corporale
Special Categories Open to both Professional and Non-Professional entrants. . City of Life - Hong Kong is it! . The Action Asia Adventure Tlavel Award
Entries close October 3I,2001 Competilion details, entry forms and rules, sponsor detaiÌs and exhibition schedules, are available from the FCC Front Office. TeI:2521 151 I E-mail: fcc@fcchk.org
I ¿
name was George Walterheld Russell.
Ðlru¿tnuvl
t was back in Asia years later that the dubya found a permanent place. Basically it was an inferiority complex then Asian Wall StreetJournal editorial
page deputy editor Mike Judge had
commissioned me to write a thumb-sucker on wh1, Indonesia won't disintegrate. As a writer who puts my byJine last, if at all, I looked at the two bare names. Howwould it stand with the luppieJournalstaff, with its Phred andJathon and the inimitable I Made Sentana? and thus I've stayed. I Boring! So I added a W
-
THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST-SEPTEMBER
2OO1
¡fi qN
Canon PENTAX
HeliHongKong
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AGFA@
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Z ld\lFilEðr)Ldd ñ EtrÅËrËnaa
HONG KONG TOURISM BOARD
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lni*onl laroid
a¡l CATHAYPNCIFIC
Illustrating Hong Kong Invaded
Hong Kong Invaded! A',97 Nightmare
E :
j
t
ì,
J
It's the other '97 - 1897 - and Dr Gillian Bicktey, arr Associate Professor in Hong Kong Baptist lJniversity's Department of English Language and Literature, tells the tale. Illustrations are by historian, designer and author Arthur Hacker. A '97 Nightmare, but t}:'e way everything fell into place was more like a
have called this book dream.
I found the 1897 text of The Bach Doorby accident while researching my book, The Golden Needle: The Biograþhy ofFred.erick Stewart (1836-18S9). From 1987,
taking a global approach, I read through government documents and publications, series by series, from the earliest date possible after 1841 (when the British first occupied Hong Kong) to about \gf\/7920. As I did so, I bore in mind various keywords, including "defence". So that is how, after sitting, more or less solitary, in the Public Records Office day after day, year aftet year (as it seems now), in its former dark location in the Murray Road Carpark Building, one day I saw the title page, The Back Door, and the opening paragraphs telling of a disaster that had befallen Hong Kong in 1897.
Considerably puzzled (have you heard of this?),
I read on and found that the story was not a history of what had happened, but a warning of what
But I was ignorant of this. What I did know was that this story was unknown. Had I found a winner? And what should I do with it? Every now and then, for several years, I worried lest someone else, equally
diligent or equally fortunate, turned to the
nd the dream continued. Not only did Arthur Hacker create splendid new illustrations, he thoroughly entered into the spirit of the work. Following a hint from him, and working book to book, reference to reference, I eventually found I. F. Clarke's Voices Proþhec¡ing War. And this led to the book's introduction by I. F. Clarke himself, dean of "future war fiction", the genre to which (as I now know) The Bach Door belongs.
Hong Kong Inuaded! A '97 Nightmar¿ presents a historical Hong Kong work of purposive frction. It is
be invaded by expansionist European powers, and the
science
invasion from the south.
I had stumbled on the onlY Hong Kong contribution to date of a type of writing hugely popular in Europe after the appearance in 1871 of a tale about the fictional invasion of England The Battle English readers, don't laughl called -
of Dorhing.
38
-
t.\--Ji
also an international book
fiction, which
in a sub-genre of
at some levels
-
debates the
parameters for continuing human survival.
I
Hong Kong Inaøded.! A'97 Nightmare By Gillian Bickley New illustrations by Arthur flacker. HKU Press, Hong Kong PB, 328 pp. ISBN 962-205-526-7
Ail¡u¡ Hüku
2000
A mounted Sikh policeman gallops from Central to rouse the British at Quarry Bay
@
2OOI
Coprndt
Áillrt
HMkq 2000
Emergency and last meeting of the Hong Kong Legislative Oouncil, 1897
hen Gillian Bickley asked me to illustrate Hong Kong Inuaded, I was delighted. Anyone who is interested in military history will find I was determined to get all the fascinating. book this people, buitdings, uniforms, ships and,,weapons right. For my drawing of the fictitious last meeting of the
Legislative Council in 1897, I managed to fìnd out who, in real life, would be likely to be there. I selected the Governo¡ Sir William Robinson, and three councillors: Paul Chater, Wei Yuk and Ho Kai. I found photographs of them all. I discovered that the Volunteers and the West
Yorkshire Regiment had different uniforms and equipment. The Russians are described as "greencoated hordes". In real life they wore green coats only in winter, so I dressed them in summer uniform.Thanks
HK$190.00 Or from the web: <httpz/ /www.hkupress.org>
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might happen. Hong Kong, the anonymous writer showed, might
British government should look to Hong Kong's defence. Perhaps he knew of the secret negotiations for the New Territories lease (signed in 1898)' creating a buffer zorre to the north. For his story shows a night
() Iz.¿1
same
microfilm frame and also thought "aha". \Àrhat was it that made me finally steel myself for the considerable labour of editing this text, with its dense contemporary allusions, almost 200 names (mainly in code) of real Hong Kong people, and a narrative subject which is not one I prefer? I have forgotten. But bite the bullet I did.
THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST-SEPTEMBER
2OO1
to Phillip Bruce, I was able to find enough pictures of the ships. The author described a Russian torpedo boat as a "little hornet" when she attacked HMS T'ueed. ln so I real life she was twice as big as the British ship sank the torpedo boat. I found my Maxim Gun in an old Vickers, Sons and Maxim Limited weapons catalogue. Unfortunately I did not mention this in the notes. Recentþ I have been confronted by a military expert, who told me that my drawing was wrong. "It's not a Maxim Gun." he said. I told him my source. FIe was not convinced. "It's not a Maxim!" he insisted. "It hasn't got wheels!" I now know why academics frll their books with hundreds of notes. Arthur Hacher
39
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