The Correspondent, March - April 2006 by The Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong

CORRESPONDENT MARCH / APRIL 2006

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS’ CLUB, HONG KONG

THE

FASHIONING

CHANGE Whither People Power

THE

CORRESPONDENT

contents

COVER PHOTOGRAPH: CHRIS DAVIES

> Vogue China’s Angelica Cheung

Cover Story Fashionista! Angelica Cheung’s remarkable career. Mark Graham – Style Icon?

Opinion Why the Truth Matters. Journalism in the age of Blogs and Embedding.

Arts Pat Elliott Shircore reviews Arthur Hacker’s Hong Kong: The Swinging 70s.

Books Un-Gung Ho. Jonathan Sharp reviews Chris Ayre’s Reporting for Cowards.

Media Revisiting the People’s Power Revolution.

Media Manning the barricades.

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Photography 30 RAW Furore. The problem with digital data. Then & Now Silvermine Bay

Obituaries 34 Louis Kraar, Frank Beatty Out of Context Matthew Marsh Letters From the President Merchandise Around the FCC Professional Contacts

40 2 3 15 35 38

Club Business

Ballot – FCC Board of Governors, 2006-2007 President (One candidate, one position) 1. Christopher Slaughter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Asia Paciﬁc Vision First Vice President (Two candidates, one position) 1. Ramon Pedrosa-Lopez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Agencia EFE 2. Hugo Restall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Far Eastern Economic Review

THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS’ CLUB, HONG KONG 2 Lower Albert Road, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2521 1511 Fax: (852) 2868 4092 E-mail: <fcc@fcchk.org> Website: <www.fcchk.org> President: Ilaria Maria Sala First Vice President: Jim Laurie Second Vice President: Kevin Egan Correspondent Member Governors Paul Bayfield, Keith Bradsher, Ernst Herb, Keri Ann Geiger, Ramon Pedrosa-Lopez, Chris Slaughter, Nick Stout, Hugo Restall Journalist Member Governor Mark Clifford, Francis Moriarty Associate Member Governors David Garcia, Steve Ushiyama, Andy Chworowsky, Ralph Ybema Hon. Secretary Ramon Pedrosa-Lopez Hon. Treasurer Steve Ushiyama Finance Committee Convener: Steve Ushiyama Professional Committee Conveners: Jim Laurie and Ernst Herb House/Food and Beverage Committee Convener: Dave Garcia Membership Committee Convener: Steve Ushiyama

Second Vice President (Three candidates, one position) 1. Kevin Barry H. Egan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baskerville Chambers 2. Benny K B Kwok . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Funing Property Management Ltd 3. Anthony Nedderman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tony Nedderman & Co Ltd Correspondent Member Governors (10 candidates, eight positions) 1. Paul G. Bayﬁeld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Freelance 2. Keith Bradsher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .The New York Times 3. Kate Pound Dawson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Voice of America 4. Matthew C. Driskill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . International Herald Tribune 5. Keri Ann Geiger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dow Jones Newswires 6. Ernst Herb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Finanz und Wirtschaft 7. Luke Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .AFP 8. Mary Elizabeth Kissel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dow Jones - The Wall Street Journal 9. Jim Laurie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Focus Asia Productions Ltd 10. Ilaria Maria Sala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II Diario / Le Monde Journalist Member Governors (Two candidates, two positions) 1. Daniel James Hilken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Standard 2. Francis Moriarty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RTHK Associate Member Governors (Six candidates, four positions) 1. Peter P.F. Chan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Peter Chan (Accounting Services) Limited 2. Saki A. Chatzichristidis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Olympic Foods Ltd 3. Andrew Chworowsky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fat Angelo’s Italian Restaurants 4. David P. Garcia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Asia Iron Ltd. 5. Rob Stewart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Merrill Lynch 6. Masaharu (Steve) Ushiyama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gotham Financial Ltd. Ballot forms have been posted to members. The voting deadline is 3 pm, Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Constitution Committee Convener: Kevin Egan House/F&B Committee Convener: David Garcia Freedom of the Press Committee Convener: Francis Moriarty Wall Committee Convener: Ilaria Maria Sala General Manager Gilbert Cheng

The Correspondent © The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong The Correspondent is published six times a year. Opinions expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the Club. Publications Committee Convener: Paul Bayfield Editor: Diane Stormont Editorial and Production Hongkongnow.com ltd Tel: 2521 2814 E-mail: fccmag@hongkongnow.com Printer Hop Sze Printing Company Ltd Advertising Enquiries Pronto Communications Tel: 2540 6872 Fax: 2116 0189 Mobile: 9077 7001 E-mail: advertising@fcchk.org

From Kin-ming Liu, Absent Member, Washington, D.C. I’m writing from a computer at the National Press Club where, I’m very excited to report, ﬁnally displays The Correspondent on the library magazine shelf. I hadn’t seen the publication since being relocated to the US capital last May. I must say

I’m pleasantly surprised by the improvements in how the magazine looks now. Well done. I don’t really miss Hong Kong but I do miss the FCC. I look forward to reading new issues here at the NPC soon. – kinmliu@gmail.com

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Club Activities xxxxx

> FROM THE PRESIDENT W

e are at that time of the year when some members start being really nice to others, offering drinks, expressing highly principled and practical attitudes towards all that matters to FCC denizens … freedom of the press, good professional events, listening to our members, transparency, initiative, better crisps and decent coffee! And so on. Why? It’s election time! Yet again, our cosy, wonderful Club displays all its endearing microcosm qualities, which, if you forgive my jesting, is precisely part of what makes it such a lovely place. Other than the great events that we do hold regularly (and again, in the past few months they truly have been many), the good food, the warm atmosphere, the great music at Bert’s, we also have this perennial characteristic of really being something of a mirror image of how the wider world outside functions, all of it selfcontained, in just three snug little floors... A little bickering and politicking. Jockeying for position and self-promotion. Backstabbing, bad mouthing… But also a lot, a lot of devotion, honest dedication, and true enthusiasm. Yes, at the Board of Governors we do take ourselves a little too seriously at times. And the main reason we can get away with it, is that we have a wonderful and highly professional staff, that makes sure that things do run smoothly, events proceed as scheduled, the bar and the restaurants are in tip top shape, and that things go (mostly) according to plan. And also, that we have you, our members, who more often than not, I have realised, do not even seem to be aware of the fact that there indeed is a Board of Governors, a President, and all the trappings that go with it! So, while you pay attention to who exactly is offering you a drink all of a sudden, and why, let me remind you of just some of the things we do. Media: our yearly Freedom of the Press

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Awards, organised by our Press Freedom Committee Convener, Francis Moriarty, are just one of out ambitious annual events. You may notice that they are slightly later than usual, but this delay is for a very good reason indeed: Francis has just married the wonderful Helena Chung, and we all wish them the greatest happiness. Renovations: we are now carrying out some major repairs to our Main Dining Room – since we are replacing the roof. House and F&B Committee Convener, Dave Garcia, has been putting in many hours to get all the housekeeping business under control, and we will have a brandnew roof in less than six weeks. Bear with us. F&B: Having been urged on by Board Member Keri Geiger and myself, we have a new coffee machine that makes the best soya milk cappuccino there is. Try it, you sceptics, it is nice. In term of press freedom: we welcome the positive news that has been filtering out from Beijing concerning the release of Zhao Yan, the New York Times researcher, after 18 months. But we still know nothing about our colleague Ching Cheong, still detained without trial on the mainland. We once again wish to express our concern about his case, and our wish that it can be solved quickly and openly. Ilaria Maria Sala, president@fcchk.org

Cover Story

Fashionis

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She cut her journalistic teeth compiling TV listings on the now-defunct Eastern Express. Today, FCC member Angelica Cheung is one of the hottest properties in the hard-nosed world of international fashion magazines, reports Robin Lynam.

he faded photograph of a five-year-old girl brandishing a little red book is redolent of its era, but hardly the sort of image one would normally expect to find in Vogue. Nevertheless that picture â&#x20AC;&#x201C; along with a more up to date and apposite study of the same subject in a striking red dress â&#x20AC;&#x201C; recently illustrated a diary in the British edition of the magazine. The piece was written by Angelica Cheung, editor of the new Chinese edition of Vogue, and recounts the runup to perhaps the most eagerly awaited magazine launch in China in years.

sta!

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Cover Story

“That was my first brush with fashion,” Angelica recalls of the studio session for the first picture, over a glass of wine at Steamers Bar in Sai Kung where the New Territories chapter of the FCC regularly convenes. “My grandmother on my mother’s side was a quite well-respected tailor in Beijing, so from when I was very small I always wore clothes that she made for me. That particular dress was a copy of one that some other kid’s father who had gone overseas brought back for his daughter, so my grandmother copied it. I think the dress looks very smart but I don’t think I look that smart.” Times have changed. Vogue,

launched in China last August, two weeks ahead of schedule with an initial print run of 300,000, is mostly distributed on the mainland and in Hong Kong, but is also available in some outlets overseas. Wherever you are though, you need to be up early to secure a copy. The first few editions sold out swiftly, and Angelica is now one of the most influential and widely recognized figures in China’s fast evolving fashion and publishing industries. It certainly isn’t a position she could have imagined herself being in 15 years ago. She is the first to admit that her career in journalism was anything but planned. Angelica graduated from Beijing

University with a law degree, but came to Hong Kong as a businesswoman with an import-export company. Young and quickly bored, she hankered after a more interesting way of making a living, and a friend, who knew that she wrote well, suggested that journalism might suit her. An introduction to Jon Marsh, who referred her to Steve Vines, led to a job on the start-up Eastern Express, initially as an editorial assistant looking after TV listings. “People still tease me because I was very proud of my filing system,” she remembers, “but before the launch I was assigned to do a feature on a group of successful young Chinese women in Hong Kong. The bosses

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thought I did it quite well, so as soon as the paper was launched I became a feature writer.” The experience was formative. She was surrounded by seasoned journalists who were free with advice and encouragement, among them Mark Graham, who took a more than

somebody important at Condé Nast was keeping an eye on Elle. The editor was duly poached to head the new publication. At Elle Angelica had already become, ex officio, a woman of some importance in the worlds of both fashion and publishing in China, but

shops in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong, and tell people that you don’t need a lot of money to create a trendy look,” she says. Although Angelica herself has been fashion conscious for many years, she now finds herself under more pressure to maintain an image

“Editing a fashion magazine is like editing any other publication. The basics are to know the market, know where your publication is positioned, and supply what the readers need.” professional interest in the trainee, and remains her partner. Today they both commute between home in Sai Kung and a newly-bought flat in Shanghai. “The first proper fashion story I did was on a mainland Chinese fashion designer who used to be a pop star. I thought that was a great story, and I suggested that he was on his way to becoming the Chinese answer to Giorgio Armani or Jean Paul Gaultier – I forget who exactly. I think he has since disappeared,” she says. A stint at the Hongkong Standard as features editor followed, and then her first magazine editor’s job at B International, concurrently looking after Marie Claire. Her work on those titles got her the attention of Hachette Fillipacchi, which had concluded that the long-established Chinese edition of Elle needed a shot in the arm before Condé Nast came into the market with Vogue. The job involved relocating to Shanghai, and it wasn’t an easy decision to make the move, but in the end the opportunity seemed too good to resist, and she settled into a pattern of shuttling backwards and forwards between the two cities. As it turned out it was to be another couple of years before the launch of Vogue in China, but clearly

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becoming the founding editor of the new Vogue was a big step up. She is now in a position to set trends rather than just chronicle them, and at this point in the country’s development that confers a heavy burden of responsibility. “I’ve talked to a lot of newspapers and international publications, and I’m always embarrassed when they call me something like the ‘Queen of Fashion in China’ - that was a big headline recently in an Italian newspaper. I always feel a little bit awkward about it, because for me editing a fashion magazine is like editing any other publication. The basics are to know the market, know where your publication is positioned, and supply what the readers need.” What the readers need, though, extends far beyond helping the newlyrich know what to look for in the luxury brand goods stores of the big cities. Less well-off young women, for whom a designer handbag might represent a couple of month’s salary, are also reading the magazine and looking to Angelica and her team for guidance. “You have to be responsible to the readers. Obviously some can afford to buy those things. For those who cannot afford them yet, we set a direction in style and trends. We try to balance it out by featuring products from local

– even when off duty in Sai Kung, an area hitherto not known primarily for haute couture. “I’m slightly more conscious of it, but I have no plans to change the way I am,” she observes. “Even when I was on newspapers people said that I dressed quite nicely. I don’t think that I’ve changed that much. It’s been said that I got a new hairstyle to go with the job, which is totally untrue. I’ve had this cut for three years. Of course you are more conscious of trends, and of the change of seasons, but you need to be sensible about things, and this is what we preach with the magazine as well – to know who you are.” Angelica herself is sure enough about that. Although she and Mark spend a good deal of time in Shanghai, she says visits to Hong Kong are always useful to stay grounded. “People there tend to think that Shanghai is the centre of the world, and it is a great city, but every month I spend some time in Hong Kong because I need some new ideas and to know what the outside world is talking about. The FCC is still the best place to mingle with people and I like to keep track of the journalistic world. Somewhere there is still that newspaper journalist in me I can’t get rid of that altogether.”

Cover Story

Mark Graham – Style Icon?

t wasn’t long after Angelica Cheung became editor of China’s Vogue that a change began to come over long-time FCC member Mark Graham. At first we tried to pretend it wasn’t happening, but one evening outside Steamers, where the hard core of FCC NTs – Mark, Chris Davis, Kevin Sinclair and myself - had gathered for the usual sundowner, the transition became impossible to ignore. Mark, who now accompanies Angelica on jaunts to the fashion capitals of the world from which he returns with heavily embroidered tales of hobnobbing with bemused supermodels, speeding from salon to salon in the back of stretch limousines, and other examples of what he now calls ‘bling’, was just back from Milan. Concluding the latest of his catwalk tales he remarked dismissively “Of course it was only Dolce and Gabbana. Not exactly Versace”. A thoughtful silence descended over the group as a disturbing truth sank in. The remark had been made without a hint of irony. He wasn’t joking. Those of us who have seen Mark’s transformations over the years into an overnight expert on multifarious subjects should have seen this coming, but somehow the emergence of Mark Graham, fashion pundit caught us all off guard. This may have something to do with his flat caps. These, even worn as they often are with shorts and

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T-shirt, continue to suggest a pigeon fancier who has mislaid a whippet somewhere. Angelica, who says she keeps buying him nice shirts that he never wears, is nevertheless prepared to risk her professional reputation by defending the indefensible. “Mark has his own style whether people like it or not. He will point out certain pictures in Vogue and say: ‘See, there’s a Burberry cap just like mine!’ or ‘See, there’s a Chanel one as well’. There’s a flat cap in a very old picture of Coco Chanel’s creations, so he can spot a trend,” she says with the hint of a smile. The really disturbing thing is that the fashion world appears unable to spot the fraud. At the launch party for Vogue China, Angelica, ravishing in a Jean Paul Gaultier dress, sashayed down the red carpet with a man many of those present assumed was the designer. It was Mark. “He was wearing a striped T-shirt with a nice jacket, and it seemed to make sense that I’d be going to the party with the designer by my side. He’s still being teased by his friends about that. I think he has an effortless chic style,” states the leading arbiter of fashionable opinion in country with a population of 1.3 billion. The disturbing possibility for many of us is that Mark may be in a position to further subvert the style sense of the world’s most populous nation, through the sort of Machiavellian machinations that managed to insinuate a reference to the northern English football club, Rotherham

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“Mark has his own style whether people like it or not. He will point out certain pictures in Vogue and say: ‘See, there’s a Burberry cap just like mine!’

United – one of his more unbalanced enthusiasms – into Angelica’s diary piece for British Vogue. The loyalty is touching. Rotherham, described recently in print by British journalist Rod Liddle as “Next to bottom in Division One, skint and about as glamorous as a stale steak and kidney pie” are clearly in need of this sort of publicity. Sadly Mark, a keep-fit fanatic currently recovering from a shoulder injury sustained while running into a tree in the hills of Sai Kung, has so far failed to make the growing connection between sport and style. “My only advice to him – which he’s not taking – is to maybe get some more stylish running gear,” says Angelica. Paris, Milan, Xintiandi – you can take the boy out of Rotherham, but you can’t take Rotherham out of the boy.

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Top: Loyalist troops and Marcos supporters at Malacañang hours before the family ﬂed on February 25, 1986. Left: The streets of the red light district were unusually quiet.

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The international hack pack in full flow can be a little intimidating to the independent freelancer but being an outsider doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean missing the story, as photojournalist Kees Metselaar discovered. Fresh out from Holland, he covered the Philippine People Power Revolution of 1986 that deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Here he recounts his experiences and publishes some of the photographs he took â&#x20AC;&#x201C; some of them rarely seen.

Outside the THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

Mob 11

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he three older ladies in flowery dresses and sun hats stepped on the stage and waltzed up to me. They were hard-core supporters of Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda and were carrying a Marcos Pa Rin (Marcos Through and Through) poster. For a moment I worried they were going to attack me with their umbrellas. Foreign photojournalists were on the whole not very popular with the Marcos crowd; mostly seen as pro-Aquino or even pro-communist. I braced myself but they smiled and asked for my autograph. “You are the photographer in the Killing Fields,” one said. This was crazy. I denied it and explained I was a photographer from Holland on his first trip in the Philippines. “Noh, noh, Killing Fields...”, their nasal Taglish gave it a nice twang.

I denied it again but they did not listen and I ended up giving each of them my autograph, silently apologizing to John Malkovich who plays Al Rockoff in the famous movie. They mixed up the movie realm with reality and through the years I have found out that that is often the case in the Philippines. The rest of that day, Tuesday the 25th of February 1986, passed by indeed like a movie. I had arrived one month earlier. President Marcos had announced “snap elections” in late 1985 and I was going to cover them. Not knowing what to expect, I had secured some day-rate freelance photo-work for a Dutch aid organisation in Mindanao in the south of the Philippines. It was my first time in the country. I was staying in the Malate Pensionne, alongside mostly backpackers and a few other freelancers. I had no experience with the international news routine and did not know any foreign correspondents. In the Netherlands I had

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Left: Marcos and Imelda sing to their supporters as son Bong Bong looks on. Hours later, they ﬂed the country. Top: The Pasay City Gay Society pays tribute to Imelda Marcos. just started working with a new photo agency, Hollandse Hoogte, which means Dutch Heights. They were also new to the foreign news business. These first weeks in Manila were great fun and I met all kinds of interesting people. I covered demonstrations and political rallies every day, mostly anti-Marcos, although the Pasay City Gay Society held a memorable event in the Pasay City Hall in honour of Imelda. She was seen as a patroness in the Manila gay world. They were worried that the very Roman Catholic opposition leader Cory Aquino would force them back into the closet. The elections were held and both sides claimed victory. It was clear that the Marcoses were losing their grip and support was trickling away but still, even at the beginning of February, no end was in sight. As long as the army was still supporting the dictator it would be difficult for Cory Aquino to become the new president. I had to think of the bottom line though, and finally flew to Davao in the south to do my work for the aid organisation. I had to produce a slide series on one of their rural development projects in the countryside, a few hours out of town. I hooked up with a Dutch development worker there and started making pictures. He lived with a local family and his only contact with the outside world was through his short-wave radio. On the evening of Sunday, February 23, he tuned into the BBC and found

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out that Marcos’s Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and his Vice Chief of Staff Lt. General Fidel Ramos had joined the opposition. Calling on Marcos to step down, they took refuge in two military camps: Ramos at Camp Crame and Enrile at the Ministry of National Defense in Camp Aguinaldo. Both camps faced each other across EDSA (Epifanio de los Santos Avenue), the main highway in Quezon City. Expecting Marcos to send loyal troops in to flush them out, the Archbishop of Manila Jaime Cardinal Sin called upon the people to support the rebels. Hundreds of thousands converged on EDSA (Epifanio de los Santos Avenue), staring down armed soldiers, tanks and armoured vehicles. People Power had really started. It made me nervous. I wanted to be in Manila. I felt light-years away stuck down in the Mindanao countryside. On Monday I made it to Davao airport. Rumour was that only one more flight would leave for Manila before domestic airspace would be closed. I was number 48 on the waiting list but made it because most of the locals decided to cancel their trip to the capital. They did not want to get stuck there in the mayhem. That evening the streets in Manila were eerily empty. More than a million people were at EDSA and the rest were hunkered down at home. Early the next morning I decided to go to Malacañang, the Presidential Palace. Very few people were on the streets. It felt like everybody was holding their breath. Close to the Palace was a

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Presidential candidate Cory Aquino praying in a Malate Church ahead of the elections. university building. The guard did not mind me going in and leaving through a backdoor into the Palace grounds. There I was swept up in an angry nervous pro-Marcos crowd. They were waiting for the President and Imelda to show up on the Palace Balcony after their official inauguration inside the Palace. It was there that I encountered the three autograph-hunting ladies. We waited for hours and finally Marcos, Imelda and son Bong Bong appeared on the balcony. The crowd went berserk. Marcos gave a speech and they sang some tearjerker. Later that afternoon I left through the main gate and realised that not far from there was the last stand of Marcos’ troops, besieged by tens of thousands of ordinary citizens, mostly dressed in yellow, Cory Aquino’s colours. Not much was happening. I went back to my hotel, had something to eat and nearly went to the movies with a friend. Luckily at the last moment, I decided to go back to the Palace. There was indeed a better movie going on. Marcos’s remaining loyal troops had decided to pack it in. I walked back to the Palace gate and realised that there were still hundreds of hard-core Marcos supporters milling around. The strongman’s last line of defence. The yellow wave of Aquino supporters approached hesitantly. You never knew what was

around the corner. Around 8 pm we heard helicopters. I suggested to a Marcos fan that that was the President on his way out. He started screaming at me: Marcos would never leave. There were some ugly scenes. Some people got stabbed and a priest got killed somewhere at the Palace grounds. Before long, though, the colour yellow was everywhere as the remaining Marcos die-hards melted away. A stretch limo arrived. A reporter type got out and started broadcasting live in front of the gate. I asked another photographer who that was. He looked at me if I was the stupidest kid on the block. “That is Ted Koppel of Nightline...” More and more people and press arrived. People started climbing the gate. It swung open and we all scrambled into the palace. I do not remember much anymore. I got stuck in some room and felt very claustrophobic. So I definitely did not see the Marcos bedroom or Imelda’s shoe collection. Papers were thrown out of the windows and I still have a piece of Palace stationery. The mood in the streets was incredibly festive and we were getting free drinks everywhere. Back in the Pensionne an instant party was in full flow, all the workers dressed in yellow. The trouble with movies of course is that each sequel makes the plot worse. Now living with the results of People Power Three, even the Filipinos are having doubts.

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Travel

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Leeming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $250

Document case . . . . . . . . . . .$110

Kevin Sinclair & Nelson Cheung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $200

Afghanistan: A Companion & Guide Asia’s Finest Marchs On Bars of Steel

FCC Card with greeting. . . . $35

Brandon Royal & Paul Strahan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $68

Captain if Captured

FCC Card blank . . . . . . . . . . . . $35 Disposable lighter . . . . . . . . . . $5 Fleece smock. . . . . . . . . . . . . .$280 Keyholder & ring . . . . . . . . . . . $30

Clare Hollingworth – Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $299

Photographer’s vest: $255

China Illustrated

Arthur Hacker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$395

Custom Maid for New World Disorder

Peter de Krassel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $155

War of New World Disorder

Peter de Krassel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100

Plated keyholder . . . . . . . . . . . $30

Hong Kong Murders

Gold Zippo lighter . . . . . . . .$150

Kate Whitehead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $125

Luggage tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $60

Ted Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $99

I was Misquoted

Impossible Dreams

Name card holder . . . . . . . . . $65

Sandra Burton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $150

FCC pin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75

Medecine-sur tous les Fronts

Reporter’s notebook . . . . . . . $10

Pocket Guide to Golfing Philippines 2005

Polo shirt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$140

Polar Power - Bilingual version

Stonewashed shirt . . . . . . . .$115

The Poles Declaration - Bilingual Version

Raymond Lasserre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $270 Robin Moyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $98 Rebecca Lee – Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $170 Rebecca Lee – Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $170

Stonewashed shorts . . . . . .$110 T-shirt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$110 FCC tie (B&R) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $80

Stretch Your Life

Computer bag: $165

Umbrella (folding) . . . . . . . .$100

Tim Noonan & Chris Watts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $158

The World of Time

Vernon Ram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $99

The Quest of Noel Croucher

Vaudine England – Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $185

Umbrella (golf ) . . . . . . . . . . .$200

The Little Red Writing Book

New Umbrella (regular) . . . $68

Royal Asia Society’s Annual Journal

New Umbrella (golf ) . . . . . .$165

Kyoto Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $60

Wallet – hot stamped . . . . .$125

CDs

New windbreaker . . . . . . . . .$195

Brandon Royal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $168 Peter Halliday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $200

Belt: $110 110

Allen Youngbloodlines

Allen Youngblood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $110

Windbreaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$250

Midnight Odyssey

Pierre Quioc Stole . . . . . . . .$280

Outside the Box

Pierre Quioc Scarf. . . . . . . . . . $95

Art, Design, Cartoons

Allen Youngblood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $120 Allen Youngblood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $120

FCC Video – NTSC. . . . . . . . .$310

ABC of Dogs

Arthur Hacker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $45

FCC Video – PAL . . . . . . . . . .$280

ABC of Hong Kong

Arthur Hacker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $45

FCC lithograph . . . . . . . . . . . .$800

Sketches of Soho

Lorette Roberts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $188

FCC postcard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3 I Love HK postcard . . . . . .$13.50 I Love HK poster . . . . . . . . . .$250 THE THE CORRESPONDENT CORRESPONDENT MAY/JUNE MARCH/APRIL 20052006

Bowtie: $145

One Hand Two Fingers

Gavin Coates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $145

Macau Watercolors

Murray Zanoni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $350

15 15

Media

Manning the

Barricades Bangkok-based Vaudine England compared and contrasts the demonstrations, riots and rallies that she has covered as a correspondent in Asia since the Philippine Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Power uprising two decades ago. 16

PHOTO: KEES METSELAAR

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

t seemed all so simple then. The forces of democracy marched against the dictators and lo, they fell. Baddies fled on helicopters or into hiding, their demise heralding new eras of peace and openness, honesty and good governance, of political respectability on the world stage. Those days are gone, and if further proof were needed, the sweet cheerful rallies in central Bangkok of late provide it. Here were outraged middle classes, denouncing “the dictator”, refusing to budge until a new era is ushered in by the “voice of the people”. But this “dictator” was a freely elected prime minister, no matter how reviled, and the voices amplified by megaphones were not those of the majority – they see premier

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

Thaksin Shinawatra as flawed but better than previous efforts. And these demonstrations carried on even when an election was promised, planned, and held. No wonder a lot of hacks had trouble getting into the Thai story. The usual knee-jerk identification with those doing the demonstrating was not so easy. Well-dressed, educated protesters told us that “rural people are stupid” and “we in Bangkok know better than they do”. It wasn’t quite the simple cry for democracy the last couple of decades in Asia had led us to expect. More importantly, the democracies ushered in by earlier death-defying protests were not quite the exercises in transparency and responsibility that Asia’s democrats had

Media

Previous: Indonesia, 1998. Left-Right: Indonesia, 1998 , Seoul 1994 , Bangkok 2006.

been led to expect. “People Power” only brought ersatz democracy. A continued impoverishment of people, and of ideas, has left the one-person-onevote system a still-distant dream. Yet every demo has its culture and rituals, and covering demonstrations still offers the excitement and drama not achievable on more humdrum stories about stock market movements or Chinese expansion. Colleagues who have covered South Korean demonstrations say no others can match the Korean style for sheer grit and determination. Regimented ranks of armed protesters line up against armed troops, clenched fists all rise as one, shouts and charges achieve trance-like power. These protesters cut their teeth on getting rid of one of the region’s heaviest military dictatorships in 1986-87. The Philippines, so much easier to access and in a warmer clime, attracted the biggest gang-bang of journalists since the Vietnam War. From the shooting of opposition icon Ninoy Aquino at Manila International Airport in 1983, protesters marched on Mendiola Bridge (near Malacañang Palace), culminating in the EDSA sit-ins of millions which put Marcos on a US helicopter to Hawaii, stamina was vital. We had to endure marches from the old central

Post Office, through ugly and dirty Quiapo, along polluted roads, and on to the bridge, to await the regular climax at sundown. Long hot afternoons would peak with violent dispersal, or prolonged exchanges of taunts from demonstrators and implacability from the troops. The savvy were ready with a tube of toothpaste, considered the best deterrent to the sting of tear-gas. Violence would be deplored but PHOTO: KEES METSELAAR

Bangkok 2006

secretly wished for – and feared – terrifying if it happened, disappointing when it didn’t. As protesters fought for their political future, journalists engaged in complex initiation rituals fraught with ego and adrenalin: who got closest to the firing, who got what photo-shot or byline. Philippine ralliers welcomed journalists’ attentions. No other Asian country hands out journalists’ visas for twice the time allowed to tourists. It was a rare Filipino soldier who could not be approached and chatted up. This was in stark contrast to the share certificate riots in Shenzhen in 1992: three unarmed Chinese policemen inflicted more fright on this journalist in five minutes than had scores of rallies on the tank-filled streets of Manila. Jakarta’s demonstrations of recent years were of another order entirely. Here was fire and burning, rioting mobs, the shooting dead of students, flight of the rich to the airports, and quiet lynchings on back streets as three decades of Suharto’s rule collapsed. Those rallying for Indonesian democracy knew the precedents against putting their heads above the parapet: the half million or so alleged leftists purged by military-backed

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

PHOTOS: KEES METSELAAR

mobs in 1965 which brought Suharto to power, mysterious killings of “criminals” whose bodies were left on roadsides, imprisonment for decades of alleged opponents, the brutal sacking of an opposition party headquarters in 1996. So when the economic crisis in 1997 led to hopes of change, students initially gathered within the compounds of their universities. It took elite backing, and provision of food and drink to demonstrators, to get them on to the streets. Then, it was as if a lid on disssent had blown off the pressure cooker. Again there was the ritual of taunting by protesters against implacable troops or police. But it was much harder to judge when the patience would snap. One day in 1999, after Suharto had already gone into seclusion, a colleague and I had to watch just how tautly the tension could be wound. We had met at the Meridien Hotel for a sustaining buffet, planning to watch the demo from air-conditioned comfort. But our comfortable plans were thrown awry when, out on the highway, an advancing phalanx of students were due to meet an advancing phalanx of troops from the otherdirection. We could see the clash coming, even as the protesters could not.

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

Then a few students chose to test the mood, running forward alone, throwing rocks and stones. The troops started shooting back. Within moments, the hotel’s barricades were thrown up, guests rushed into the basement, and fire hoses lined up behind the wooden barriers placed across the lobby doors. On went the stone-throwing, on went the shooting. Lives hung in the balance there not for minutes, but hours. Meanwhile, we had deadlines to meet and had to get out somehow. Sure enough, motorbike taxi men, the best indicators of danger around, were still waiting out back. We made a dash outside, the shooting carried on, we jumped on bikes and fled through back streets to our homes, giggling madly in relief. By this time we realized the shooting was in the air, and that the phalanxes wouldn’t clash, that day. But another journalist, unused to Jakarta’s high-wire style, huddled in the hotel basement till dark, just in case. Bangkok’s rallies in the run up to the April 2 election were of a different ilk, though killings in 1973, 1976 and 1992 hinted that the mood could change in a flash. Most draining is the heat and the noise. Loudspeakers blast speeches and slogans for hours. Most impres-

sive is the service: awnings for comfort, free bottles of iced water, portable toilets in ranks of buses, and ascetic Buddhists offering massage in a bus shelter. Hawkers offered fresh hot food day or night; one entrepreneur recharged protesters’ mobile phones for a fee. When protests moved from the wide boulevards around Government House to Bangkok’s most lavish shopping mall, Siam Paragon, office and shop workers found it easier to join in at a place accessible by skytrain. But complaints about the traffic and concern for the public’s right to shop, meant an early end to such urbanised protest. Hopes of seeing the barefoot Dharma Army test-driving a Ferrari on Paragon’s higher floors were dashed. “By about the fifth rally, and with no visible effects on Thaksin’s standing or power, the protests began getting boring,” noted AFP’s Paris Lord. He liked the vendors offering dried squid, fortune telling, lottery tickets, toy cars or plastic dinosaurs, but got annoyed by the comparisons of Thaksin to Hitler. The packaging aside, every demonstrator, in each place of protest, had chosen to express a conviction, often at personal cost to themselves. Long may they choose to do so.

Opinion

WHY THE

TRUTH

MATTERS Journalist turned academic Alan Knight discusses the role of the journalist in a world of blogs, “embedding” and straightforward cynicism.

ne of my journalism students once said to me, “You know, people tell me there’s no such thing as the truth, but I reckon that there’s either a dead body in the street or there isn’t!” These days that former student is a network correspondent in Baghdad, where there are quite a lot of dead bodies in the street but not a lot of truth to be easily found. Photographs: Agence France Presse

Above: French journalist Florence Aubenas on TV after her release from ﬁve months in captivity in Iraq. Right: The body of Iraqi journalist Atwar Bahjat. Bahjat and two other journalists were kidnapped and killed north of Baghdad.

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

Opinion

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

Toronto Star correspondent Kathleen Kenna is helped from her car after being badly wounded in an attack in Afghanistan. Left: Osama bin Laden.

AFP

Opinion

was said to have threatened the US and its allies while offering a truce to Washington. The speech received global media coverage. Bangkok’s Nation newspaper conceded that some of bin Laden’s claims could not be brushed aside. These claims included: The unequal division of oil riches, Israel’s influence on Washington “Corrupt and brutal” Arab rulers But that did not mean that bin Laden was telling the whole truth. Quite the contrary, in fact. The Nation wrote in an editorial that bin Laden was not a statesman. “He is more image than anything else. He is at one and the same time a devil and a saviour, a bringer of destruction and just retribution, depending on where you live and how you view the world. He is also an eloquent preacher, a teacher of literature and a cunning, well-informed politician. The one thing he is not is a nation-builder. Crucially, he also has nothing to offer his foes. His followers take inspiration from him but little else. He is little more than a symbol of anger and destruction. The Nation was doing what journalists are supposed to; giving its

A poster of US journalist Jill Carroll is displayed in Rome before she was released by her kidnappers in Iraq.

AFP

The simple answer to both those questions is the truth. But the underlying reasons are more complex. Let’s deal with those who might want to kill journalists first. Terrorists, or freedom fighters, depending on your perspective, are engaged in a media war, where truths can be twisted, interpreted, ignored or just plan perverted to suit political ends. Consider the case of Osama bin Laden, arguably the world’s bestknown terrorism personality. Osama bin Laden uses the media as a battleground, pitching his small, dispersed, international organisation against hierarchical, conventionally armed, capital-centred nation states. In this way, al Qaeda’s Twin Towers attack in New York was more effective as a globalised media spectacle, than as a military action with any strategic impact. Hidden from US Special forces, cruise missiles and Hellfire armed pilot-less aircraft, bin Laden seeks to make continuing political strikes by releasing televised speeches. His most recent speech was broadcast by the al Jazeera network on January 19 this year, when he

AFP

In retrospect, he was perhaps confusing facts, counting the number of bodies, with questions about deeper underlying truths; who was dead, who were the killers, why did it happen? Journalists often risk their lives seeking these truths. Iraq, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, was the most dangerous place for reporters in 2005. It also became the deadliest conflict for the media in the Committee’s 24year history. A total of 60 journalists were killed on duty in Iraq from the beginning of the US-led invasion in March 2003 through to the end of 2005. The toll surpasses the 58 journalists killed in the Algerian conflict from 1993 to 1996. Iraq accounted for 22 deaths in 2005, or nearly half of the year’s total. The majority of these journalists, who were almost all Iraqis, were murdered. At least eight journalists were kidnapped and slain in 2005, compared with one fatal abduction the previous year. So what are these kidnappers and murderers afraid of? Why do journalists put their lives at risk?

The Hong Kong Journalists Association protests against the detention of Ching Cheong of the Singapore Straits Times.

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

al reporters’ views irrelevant, as military PRs recognised what every commercial television journalist already knew; pictures were more important than words.

An unidentiﬁed foreign journalist is carried away from Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

AFP

n the Iraq invasion, as in the first Gulf war, television remained the public’s major medium of information. Yet the electronic media’s technology driven desire for action and immediacy remained a key weakness its ability to interrogate international events. Spin controllers were aware that the international news spotlight would linger on the Iraq invasion for only a short time, before it moved on to new crises. If viewers could be distracted by created and controlled events staged during the period of intense global scrutiny, they might just later neglect to read the newspapers opinion pages where truths about the war should eventually unfold. The truth is only effective you see, if it is taken seriously. Which brings us to the question why journalists risk their lives for the truth. Let’s make a confession here. A lot of journalists take risks because its fun to do so.

Writing in Salon.com, Janet Reitman, said in 2001 that one of the first lessons she learned as a journalist was that “danger – even the hint of it – has immense erotic possibilities”. There is the famous quote from a Vietnam-era foreign correspondent. “Why do you take such risks,” he was asked. He grinned and replied, “I like the bang bang”. Was he talking about violence or sex or both? From my own academic research in the field in Cambodia and elsewhere, I can confirm that foreign correspondents certainly know a lot about sex and violence. Thirty years after the Vietnam war ended, foreign correspondents are still using the term, “bang bang” to describe action in a war zone. Some journalists take risks because it’s the right thing to do. The first point of the code of conduct for International Federation of Journalists states “Respect for truth and for the right of the public to truth is the first duty of the journalist.” It’s that code and the training that goes with it, that makes journalists different from bloggers on the internet. Journalists are supposed to tell the truth. Bloggers write whatever they like. Bloggers have freedom of speech

AFP

opinions on the truth so that its readers might make up their own mind about what is going on in the media war on terror. Both sides have taken different degrees of liberties with the truth in the war on terror. Washington took what it learned from the first Gulf War, and Britain’s Falklands War before that, an applied these lessons to create a complex and multi layered system of media manipulation. The US military’s CENTCOM’s Public Affairs Guidance on Embedding Media recognised that media coverage of the war would “shape public perception of the national security environment now and in the years ahead”. As a result, US military news conferences provided a steady diet of sanitised pictures and approved texts, establishing themes around which stories might be structured in sympathetic media. Accredited journalists were fed, housed and transported while independent ones met with varying levels of interference. Some independent journalists died either by accident, or intention. The embedding process, a new technique presented as enhancing open coverage, helped make individu-

Iraqi journalist Jawad Kazem lies in hospital after he was shot and seriously wounded in an attack in Baghdad.

AFP

Opinion

A policeman checks the identiﬁcation of a foreign journalist outside the US embassy in Beijing. without responsibility. Journalists should be responsible and accountable to their editors and publics. It may be that bloggers reported what they really saw when the tsunami swept in on beaches across Southeast Asia in 2004. Or it may be things which they have just decided to make up.

n the aftermath of the tsunami, emotions, opinions and experiences were widely shared on the internet through web postings, discussion groups and “blogs”. It was here on amateur created, maintained and controlled, but internationally distributed sites where thousands met and talked. Web sites globally provided updated information on where people could donate funds, provide support, contact NGOs and even contact missing relatives. Conventional media, staffed by traditional journalists, were hard pressed to equal such efforts Journalists however, are trained to synthesize and present ideas. By publication through recognised channels, the become part of identifiable information brands and can be judged accordingly. Anonymous web postings would, and on reflection, should not be granted similar credibility.

Mainstream media framed this certified news in ways which news consumers could understand, comprehend and integrate. Ultimately that provides the mandate of professional journalists. Good journalism underpins the better governance of efficient modern societies. It entertains, educates and most importantly informs citizens about the health of their society, enabling them to seek corrective action. It’s no coincidence that Hong Kong a wealthy and privileged enclave in greater China, has free speech and an active press. Each year, the Washington-based democracy advocacy group, Freedom House, reports on the degree of democratic freedoms in each country in the world. A key part of its rating is the relative freedom of the press in each country. Hong Kong was ranked by Freedom House as 61st. Hong Kong is behind Australia (30th) but ahead of mainland China (177th). Hong Kong would have rated much higher, were its citizens allowed free elections for a legislature which in turn selected its own executive council and Chief Executive For the record, Finland, Iceland

and Sweden came first and North Korea (194) came last, just a ahead of Turkmenistan. Here’s what Freedom House said about Hong Kong: Hong Kong’s press continues to be outspoken on many issues. There are 15 privately-owned daily newspapers (though four of these are supported and guided editorially by Beijing), hundreds of magazines, four commercial television stations, and two commercial radio stations, and all operate virtually free from government control. No restrictions impede the international media. Although political debate is vigorous and the media represent multiple points of view, many media outlets practice some self-censorship when reporting on Chinese politics, powerful local business interests, and the issues of Tibetan and Taiwanese independence. Internet access and use is unrestricted. Hong Kong’s freedoms have been protected by political activism reported by journalists and discussed on the web. In 2004, half a million Hong Kongers took to the streets demanding the withdrawal of Article 23, which would have introduced sedition laws which could strictly limit what we could say here. Public and private comment on the Article 23 proposals was consistent, coherent and comprehensive. In Hong Kong, critics of the government were extensively reported in the mainstream press, maintained their own websites and were free to be reported in the international media. Letters to the editor were effusive and frequently vehement. Government officials were subjected to biting satire and caricature. Mass demonstrations were repeatedly organised and staged, with minimal police intervention.

n contrast, the mainland Chinese press largely ignored the political crisis developing in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. China Daily, Xinhua and other mainland publications seemed to operate as a selective media release service for senior government officials. Critics

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

were ignored, as if they did not exist. When issues related to Article 23 were reported, stability rather than human rights was the issue. It was clear that China’s “One Country, Two Systems” did indeed allow Hong Kong to discuss free speech issues un-reported in mainland China. In mainland China, press freedoms continue to be strictly limited. Freedom House earlier this year: The government bars the media from criticising senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders or their policies, challenging Party ideology, and discussing “sensitive topics” – in particular, constitutional reform, political reform, and reconsideration of the 1989 Tiananmen movement. Journalists violating these restrictions may be harassed, detained, and/or jailed. The government owns all television and radio stations and most print media outlets, and uses these organs to promote its ideology. According to the U.S. State Department’s 2003 human rights report, released in February 2004, “All media employees were under explicit, public orders to follow CCP directives and ‘guide public opinion’ as directed by political authorities.” Because of this, most journalists practice a high degree of self-censorship. The government also directly censors both the domestic and foreign media. The results of such censorship are reflected in the way some Chinese government officials do their business. Only recently, in March this year, the South China Morning Post quoted the Guandong Governor who blamed “criminals” for a riot in Shanwei.. Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua yesterday blamed “a small group of criminals” for a riot in Shanwei in which at least three villagers were shot dead by police. It was the first time the governor had spoken about the three-month-old incident, which has been widely reported by the international media. Mr Huang also admitted that Guangdong was facing a problem with social unrest which was

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

caused mainly by land requisition disputes and public anger at “a few corrupt grass-roots cadres”. He said the shooting in Shanwei had been “caused by a small group of criminals who incited the innocent public”. “They are the main culprits,” he said. “The police commander also made mistakes and should share some of the responsibility.”

an anyone here imagine such a thing happening in today’s Hong Kong without a hue uproar in the press? Clearly there was more to the truth of the matter than the number of dead “criminals”. Hong Kong journalists were not there to witness the event and so we have to rely on a statement from the Governor. Had there been journalists present, they may have been asking: Who was killed? How were criminals involved and why? Why are Guandong people so angry about land requisition disputes? Who are these “corrupt grass roots cadres” and what is being done to investigate them? Why did the police have to shoot villagers? What is wrong with police training, which allows such fatalities ? Have the shooters responsible been suspended, prior to an inquiry into the incident? Will that inquiry be open to the press and the public? If the police c o m m a n d e r shared responsibility, has he been punished?If the Governor is unable or unwilling to

answer these questions, why hasn’t he resigned? You can see from these questions why people in authority, not to mention people with guns, can be unhappy with journalists seeking the truth. All political players will attempt to make truths work for them. Some dismiss troublesome journalists. Some have them jailed. A few will resort to threats and violence “Bang Bang” has a whole new meaning then. The job of a journalist is to identify and sift through the facts and present transparent, sourced opinions. Not all journalists are on the side of the angels. Some are misinformed, confused, lazy, stupid or just plain corrupt. But a free press allows one to make choices on the information presented. In this way, we might hope to avoid finding more bodies in the street! Extracted from a speech to students at the University of Hong Kong on March 9, 2006.

Books

Master

of the

Languid line Pat Elliot Shircore reviews Arthur Hacker’s February 23March 11 exhibition, Hong Kong: The Swinging 70s

e all know Arthur Hacker – he of “The Voice” – often spotted nursing a cocktail of something unusual at the Main Bar as he pores over a new, suspiciously interesting project. And most of us imagine we know his style quite well. But the recent exhibition, “The Swinging 70s”, an interesting collection of lean black and white pen drawings, published in the 1976 book Hacker’s Hong Kong, was quite an eye-opener. Perhaps the ambience of the Wattis Gallery helped, the work thoughtfully presented, well lit and providing a rather comfortable atmosphere. The book’s original text accompanied each piece, a mine of scurrilous anecdotes and observations, so the wellattended opening night provided an opportunity to examine the work at a leisurely pace. A master of the languid line, Hacker invented his style with this particular set of pieces, the start of a distinctively witty interpretation of the world that Hacker has continued to develop over 30 years. I had wrongly assumed that Arthur’s ﬂuid, linear approach had arrived with him in 1967, the era when Pop Art, Op Art and Psychedelia were all the rage

PAT ELLIOT SHIRCORE

Top: Arthur Hacker: master of the languid line. Right: “Housing Estate”, 1976

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

Less is More Arthur Hacker wears many hats – historian, ephemera collector, and artist, both written and visual – and is best known for his fluid, minimalist line drawings. Pat Elliot Shircore talks to Hacker the Artist.

“I

try to keep it simple”, booms Hacker. He’s in good company. When Picasso was becoming famous for an outlandish abstractionist style never seen before, people said, “Well, it would help if he could draw.” Oops, they should have referred to his superb realistic sketches and paintings executed at the age of 12. It’s the same for any artist who chooses to present their view of the world in terms of reduction. The big secret is that it takes exceptional draughtsmanship to begin with. “Really, simplification is much harder to do,” Hacker says as he sweeps a hand round the room. “Tremendously difficult. I do long, complicated roughs. It may take me weeks to prepare a drawing, refining and simplifying, and then when I come to the final stage, using my fountain pen, one false move and you’ve got to start again. Which is rather tiresome.” “The Curlicues” is how Hacker modestly terms his own linear approach, but this is misleading, not least because the word itself implies something fanciful and frivolous. While the subject of his work may be light-hearted, the work itself achieves a very high level of sophistication. Arthur’s curlicues aren’t added to his subject, the subject itself consists of lines very cleverly manipulated to form fluid lines. The curlicue isn’t the bread, it’s the whole sandwich. The essential artistry that underlies all his artwork – cartoons,

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

caricatures and drawings – is often overlooked. We can all see the strong observational eye, sound sense of proportion and composition and great natural talent for capturing a likeness, but it’s in the very lines, or absence of them, that true art breathes. He has achieved an extraordinary degree of reﬁnement, to the point where one’s mind and imagination take over where the lines leave off. A single line can imply light and infer shade, describe weight, texture, even colour. This spare style developed from his early inﬂuences. “At art college I wasn’t really doing Pop Art or the trendy thing, it was more Modigliani.” Hacker pauses before delivering a self-deprecating belly laugh. “Before that I was terribly

influenced by Munch. I’d seen a show in Paris, and practically went there every week.” Well, well, Amadeo Modigliani, he of the elongated line, a major proponent of the “less is more” school. Edvardo Munch, largely known for “The Scream”, was an engraver obsessed with line. Both artists were greatly influenced by the Art Nouveau illustrator Aubrey Beardsley who, in turn, had discovered the Japanese arts, woodcuts especially, which spawned a breed of painters including Lautrec, Klimt and Klee, all weaving fluid lines and pattern into their work. “Of course, at art college you try all sorts of things, and I just grew out of all that. To do this kind of thing is a challenge,” says Hacker. But it clearly formed the basis for future development. Add to the mix the overwhelming impact of 1960s Pop Culture and 1970s Hong Kong and what emerges is a sensei of reduction and sensibility, a master of good old-fashioned drawing, in which all lines are distilled to essential form, and a man of great refinement.

Books PAT ELLIOT SHIRCORE

Opening night at the Wattis Gallery – busy, colourful art that gloriﬁed fun, but they all have incidental the mundane. Advertising was in humour, like the scratching dog, in its heyday and the division between “Housing Estate”, 1976, which is a art and commerce was considerably joy – that typical doggy expression of blurred. But Hacker corrected me, pained ecstasy distilled by Hacker into “No, this is where it all began, in a few simple lines. Hong Kong with this collection of Mixed into it all, sneakily, are a work.” few portraits of real people – no, not The series certainly shows those 1960s roots, but Hacker took a different path from his Royal College of Art colleagues in perfecting the “less is more” style, and while the drawings teem with life, people, buildings and transport, the vibrancy of 1970s Hong Kong is captured with breathtaking economy and boundless good humour. “Basically what happened,” Hacker explained, “was that we’d been through the Kitchen Sink period and the Gloomy Fifties and there was a big movement to make things happier and brighter. I didn’t do the Kitchen Sink.” Some of the pieces are pointed social comment – a Rolls Royce stopped by a rickshaw in “Sic Transit”, 1976, while “Social Climber 3”, 1974, presents a bamboo scaffold “I didn’t do Kitchen Sink.” worker. Others are just pure

cartoons – that catch you by surprise. A slightly razzled Jack Spackman appears; and could that be the back of Neva Shaw I spotted? A cool urbane chap in ﬂares with long, wild hair under a porkpie hat, waiting for the bus, turns out to be Hacker himself. And it all started with a bargirl. Well of course, this is Hong Kong. Hacker pointed to a piece entitled “Wan Chai 1”, a lady of the night with massive curly hair. “My style was really inspired by the lady over there with the hair-do, that’s how the curlicues got going. I think that inﬂuenced me more than anything else, it came out of the unconscious. In this case, the style created me.” It’s a style remarkable and enduring yet so familiar that we tend to take Hacker’s work for granted, so the exhibition was a welcome chance to appreciate his talent afresh. The fact that more than half of the prints were sold only serves to prove that Arthur Hacker really has it: style, baby, style. Arthur Hacker MBE ARCA studied at the Royal College of Art in the 1950s.

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

Books

Un-Gung Ho Chris Ayres was an unlikely war correspondent. As the reporter for The Times in Los Angeles, he was happily writing quirky stories about Hollywood when, much to his surprise and horror, he found himself catapulted into the sharp end of the last Gulf War. His account of his experiences is, as one reviewer has put it, a rip-roaring tale of adventure and derring-don’t. Jonathan Sharp reports

ar Reporting for Cowards is a funny title for a very funny book. In it, author Chris Ayres does his level best to make himself out to be the very antithesis of the classic, intrepid English war correspondent. A small-town boy and chronic hypochondriac, with a tendency to break out in spots when under stress, he claims he was so ignorant about the Middle East that when he arrived in Kuwait, he didn’t know that the only beer he could get was the ghastly alcohol-free variety. But along with the self-deprecating humour, Ayres tells a highly perceptive tale about, first of all, being a foreign correspondent in time of peace, and then the trials, tribulations and appalling discomfort of being embedded with the U.S. Marines on the road to Baghdad – with only one change of underwear. Hired by The Times in 1997, Ayres’ first overseas posting was as a financial reporter in New York, where a cynical colleague taught him the reporting technique adopted all too often by foreign correspondents. It’s known as “lift and view”, which in New York meant “lift” news from The New York Times and “view” it on CNN. As the colleague tells Ayres,

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

“We lift…and view. If you can get the hang of that, you too can be a foreign correspondent.” Oh so true. But on September 11, 2001, Ayres had to do some real reporting when he found himself a few blocks away from the World Trade Center as it came under attack. He witnessed, and reported in moving terms, the ultimate horror of people throwing themselves to their death from the twin towers

tance Death Dealers and regard his presence in their Humvee as a waste of space that could be better used for ammunition and rations. On the latter topic, Ayres is sampling his first MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) while a Marine chaplain explains that, although MREs are a technological marvel, they have one downside: “They taste like horseshit.” Ayres says his book is not an anti-war book so much as an

Ayres says his book is not an anti-war book so much as an “anti-sending-me-towar book; an I-didn’t-want-to-go book”. in preference to being incinerated. Perhaps as a result of that report, The Times singled Ayres out to leave his cosy perch in Los Angeles and head for Iraq. His account of trying to assemble the mountain of equipment required for this adventure is hilarious. His gear includes such inappropriate items as a strikingly blue flak jacket and a yellow tent “bright enough to cause temporary blindness”, thereby making himself the easiest target in the Iraqi desert. He is embedded with Marines who call themselves the Long Dis-

“anti-sending-me-to-war book; an I-didn’t-want-to-go book”. But for all his protestations of cowardice, during his brief, but very frightening, sojourn at the front lines, Ayres does get a story that is not only on the front page of The Times, it is the front page. He is also instructive on the pros and cons of embedding, and how it is impossible to remain a detached observer of war. Moreover he was nominated as Foreign Correspondent of the Year for his reporting in Iraq. Not bad for a supposedly out-and-out coward.

Photography

Raw furore There’s always a fly in the ointment. Just when the digital camera looked set to make a serious dent in the world of professional imaging, along comes even newer technology dismantling its original foundations, reports Pat Elliot Shircore.

hose of us who actually get around to reading the user manuals may have come across the different file formats used by digital cameras. Usually PICT, JPG, TIFF and RAW. The first three are open, standardised formats in common use. We’ll address JPG and TIFF later in the article. Meanwhile, let’s address RAW. This is he core file format used by camera manufacturers to convert information inside a camera to an image. But now changes are being introduced to RAW

that effectively render images archived on earlier versions inaccessible. You may think this is irrelevant to anyone other than professional photographers and artists but it could have ramiﬁcations for ordinary folk further down the track as well as the pros. In an attempt to halt this trend, photographers and image professionals have put their differences aside long enough to form OpenRAW.org, aimed at convincing digital camera manufacturers to release their RAW

program information to the public and standardise the format. OpenRAW.org, formed in March 2005 by a nucleus of photography forum members, conducted an online survey in January 2006 and by March 16 had collected nearly 20,000 pledged of support, enough to begin a serious battle. A RAW ﬁle is just what it sounds like, an unprocessed record of the exact settings, chosen by the photographer and picked up by the camera’s sensors at the instant the shutter was

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

pressed. It’s not a picture, it’s a raw data file and needs a processor to convert it into an image. The problems all stem from the fact that RAW processing applications are secret to each manufacturer. Each has its own variation, As a result, you can’t open any file without using their copyright-protected proprietary conversion programs. The original RAW information is not available as data, and most of us don’t care tuppence whether we see it or not. But some people do care. RAW data can be manipulated if you can get at it, and therein lies the kernel of exciting creative innovation. If you can’t access it, it’s a bit like doing a watercolour and then not being able to tweak it, draw over it, make whatever changes you fancy. And in purely practical terms, several years down the line, no one wants to be in the position of holding valuable files that cannot be opened. Remember, we’re talking about the pristine original of an artist’s creative output. And yours, for that matter. There’s also the sticky question of ownership of the original file while it’s in a RAW state; the jury’s not out on that one. Even worse, manufacturers are changing the RAW platform right under our feet: for example Canon has altered its conversion software, and withdrawn support for the DC30 camera – brought onto the market in 2000 – and Nikon has changed settings and implemented encryption within its existing programming. Many new developments are not backward compatible and at this rate things can only get worse for the end-user. Adobe Systems, an early developer of RAW, brought out “Adobe Camera RAW”, or ACR, to handle specific Nikon software but Nikon’s own changes affected Adobe’s solution; the knot is drawing tighter and puts a a big, throbbing neon question mark over the life-expectancy of files archived in RAW format. Quite a few photographers prefer RAW for reasons other than preser-

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

A RAW file is just what it sounds like, an unprocessed record of the exact settings, chosen by the photographer and picked up by the camera’s sensors at the instant the shutter was pressed. It’s not a picture, it’s a raw data file and needs a processor to convert it into an image. vation or aestheticism that, if we did but know it, affect us all. Look at the alternative formats for top quality images – a useful exercise anyway for those who transmit pictorial digital information professionally. The quality of a picture that comes from your machine to mine depends entirely on your choice of dispatch settings and file format. Unless you’re sending a quickie to family or friends, forget about PICT and lower resolution JPG. TIFF is reserved for high-end transmission and is a “lossless” format – you lose no information – but file sizes are enormous. While it’s the format of choice for most photographers and designers, files need massive storage space and transmission takes big bandwidth.

There’s a problem with the ubiquitous JPG if you’re talking absolute best quality. It’s “lossy”, which means that every time a ﬁle opens and closes it loses quality. Normally this is unnoticeable but there are times when every pixel counts. A JPG should always be saved once only; if you need to work on it, make a backup of the original and save in whatever native format your editing program carries. Or use “save as” instead. Most people think they are familiar with JPGs, but it’s an untrustworthy format to work in for best results, not because of the JPG format but because you can’t trust people to handle the ﬁle correctly. Compression means losing information. The JPG format does it very cleverly by taking advantage

Photography

Excuse me for suspecting that there can only be one outcome unless companies are forced by pressure groups to adopt a uniﬁed open application platform.

of a weakness in the human eye. We can’t distinguish colour too exactly, so it performs a smart juggling act all the way down the scale to a surprisingly low point. Saving a file at “least” compression still compresses and although the file decompresses when opened, it springs back at exactly the level it was saved at previously. Saving at 100% of the previous version just about maintains whatever degradation has taken place, but subsequent saves at any lower setting will further compress. If you save at 60% of the original file, send it to me and I then save at 60%, my save is 60% of yours. By the time a picture has circumnavigated the editor’s, art director’s, sub-editor’s, layout bod’s and so on’s desk, a sea change may well have been wrought. From the advent of the “lossless” RAW format, popular opinion agreed that it was set to be the format of choice for professionals because, while it’s very slow to open, a file is half the size of an identical TIFF, or only two to four times bigger than a JPEG, ideal for archival and transmission purposes. Indeed, many professionals’ archives consist purely of the original RAW files. While transmitting these files does mean that the receiver must have the exact same software as the sender, the overall quality of the original is impregnable. Fat lot of use that is, though, if you can’t open it. And the way things are headed at the moment, that’s a very real danger. OpenRAW.org intends to change that and has, in a very short space of time, gained major support

from a long list of highly respected software companies but surprise, surprise, none so far from a digital camera manufacturer. A solution might come from Adobe Systems in the form of their openly published DNG (Digital Negative) format designed primarily for RAW archival purposes; they have offered it to the digital camera manufacturers as a prototype for standardisation but so far there are no takers. OpenRAW.org says that the issue

isn’t about good guys and bad guys. Maybe not, but of course the manufacturers are going to protect their interests. Excuse me for suspecting that there can only be one outcome unless companies are forced by pressure groups to adopt a uniﬁed open application platform. The manufacturers will continue to produce their secret software, dropping support for older RAW versions, and the end-user will just have to suck it up. Now where have I heard that before?

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

Photography

The changing face of Mui Wo, Lantau Both these photographs were taken from the same spot at the mouth of the Silver River by Bob Davis. The picture on top dates back to 1972. The lower photo was taken in April 2006.

Then

Now

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

Lives Remembered

Louis Kraar

(1934-2006)

ouis Kraar, an award-winning writer on Asian affairs and long-standing member of the FCC, whose career spanned five decades of tumultuous change in the region, died on March 10 at his home in Manhattan. He was 71 years old. The cause of death was a heart attack, according to his wife of 30 years, Maureen Aung-Thwin. Kraar began his career as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in 1956, and first travelled to Asia in 1961 for that newspaper, accompanying President John F. Kennedy’s advisors General Maxwell Taylor and Walt Rostow on their mission to assess America’s growing involvement in Vietnam. In a 1997 interview in the Singapore Business Times, Kraar recalled that on the plane “the staff people were frantically reading all these books about Indochina because the experts were going out there to decide what to do, and they weren’t very expert.” After visiting Hong Kong and Tokyo for the first time on the same trip, he joined Time magazine later that year as its Pentagon correspondent with a promise that he would soon be assigned to Asia, and was the magazine’s bureau chief in New Delhi, Bangkok, and Singapore from 1963-1973. Kraar joined Fortune magazine in 1973, and was

from 1983-1988 based in Hong Kong as its Asia editor, interpreting for American and regional audiences the region’s dramatic economic and political developments. He was an Edward R. Murrow Fellow at the Council for Foreign Relations in New York in 1967. While based in Hong Kong, his work received citations from the Overseas Press Club in 1987 and 1988. Based in New York City since 1988, Kraar continued to travel to and write on Asian issues for various publications. Kraar was among the first American journalists to write about the rising influence of Asian business on the global economy and its profound impact on the American economy. His work included three books in collaboration with Asia’s most powerful business leaders, and he was completing a book about leading Asian family business networks with a fellowship from the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. Born in Charlotte, North Carolina on July 26, 1934, Kraar graduated from the University of North Carolina, where he was co-editor of the Daily Tarheel, and served later on the university’s Advisory Board for International and Area Studies. He is survived by his wife, Maureen Aung-Thwin, his two children and two grandchildren.

Frank Beatty

(1931-2006)

rank Beatty, FCC Board Member in 1977, died peacefully on March 18, 2006 in Satellite Beach, Florida, He was 74. Born in Atlanta, Georgia on December 5, 1931, Frank joined the US Navy, where he received training that launched his career as a photo-journalist and would stand him in good stead in his 22-year career with United Press International (UPI). His first journalism job was with The Atlanta Journal & Constitution in 1955. A year later he joined UPI, serving as News Pictures Manager for North Carolina (1958), Florida & the Caribbean (1959); Division Manager for Latin America (1961);

Regional Executive for Michigan (1964); Business Manager for Central Division (1967) and Eastern Division in 1972. In 1974, he moved to Asia, as Vice President of the Asia Pacific Division, becoming Vice President of Broadcast Services in 1978. In 1979, he was recruited by Ted Turner to help launch CNN. He served as marketing executive for CNN during its first eight years before moving to Florida in 1989. Prior to his retirement in 1996, he worked for ETS in Melbourne, Florida. Frank is survived by his wife of 43 years, Mary, three children and six grandchildren.

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

Around the FCC

Heard at the Club: Consul General of Saudi Arabia Alaudeen Alaskary ﬂanked by Ernst Herb and Ilaria Maria Sala. Former Legislative Councillor Libby Wong.

Human rights activist John Kamm. Keith Bradsher is seated (right).

FCC Member 0004 Marvin Farkas celebrated his 79th birthday in April by walking UP the Peak. Those who joined him on his “stroll” celebrated at the top with plenty of Champagne.

PHOTOGRAPH: MARTY METZ

Cyberspace experts Andrew Lih (left) and Sin Chung-kai (right).

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

Around the FCC

BLAST FROM THE PAST:

A bottle of wine to the ďŹ rst member who correctly names all those pictured here. Answers to:

editor@hongkongnow.com

Photographs courtesy of Kevin Sinclair

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

Around the FCC

FCC STAFF PARTY

2006

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

Professional Contacts FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHERS BERTRAND VIRGILE SIMON — Editorials and corporate brochures Tel: 2526 4465 E-mail: info@red-desert.com.hk Website: WWW.RED-DESERT.COM.HK RAY CRANBOURNE — Editorial, Corporate and Industrial Tel/Fax: 2525 7553 E-mail: ray_cran bourne@hotmail.com BOB DAVIS — Corporate/Advertising/Editorial Tel: 9460 1718 Website: www.BOBDAVIS-photographer.com HUBERT VAN ES — News, people, travel, commercial and movie stills Tel: 2559 3504 Fax: 2858 1721 E-mail: vanes@netvigator.com ENGLISH TEACHER AND FREELANCE WRITER

Royal Asiatic Society The Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society welcomes new members interested in the culture and history of Hong Kong, China and Asia. We arrange monthly talks, local visits and overseas trips to places of historical interest. An annual Journal and a bi-monthly Newsletter are published. For information: Tel/fax 2813 7500, email membership@royalasiaticsociety.org.hk or go to www.royalasiaticsociety.org.hk

MARK REGAN — English tuition for speaking, writing, educational, business or life skills. Also freelance writing – people, education, places, entertainment. Tel/Fax: 2146 9841 E-mail: mark@markregan.com Website: www.markregan.com

FREELANCE ARTISTS “SAY IT WITH A CARTOON!!!” Political cartoons, children’s books and FREE e-cards by Gavin Coates are available at <http://wwwearthycartoons.com > Tel: 2984 2783 Mobile: 9671 3057 E-mail: gavin@earthycartoons.com FREELANCE EDITOR/WRITER CHARLES WEATHERILL — Writing, editing, speeches, voiceovers and research by long-time resident Mobile: (852) 9023 5121 Tel: (852) 2524 1901 Fax: (852) 2537 2774. E-mail: charlesw@netvigator.com PAUL BAYFIELD — Financial editor and writer and editorial consultant. Tel: 9097 8503 Email: bayfieldhk@hotmail.com STUART WOLFENDALE — Columnist, features and travel writer, public speaker and compere. Tel: (852) 2241 4141 Mobile: (852) 9048 1806 Email: wolfthale@netvigator.com SAUL LOCKHART — All your editorial needs packed neatly into one avuncular body. Projects (reports, brochures, newsletters, magazines et al) conceived and produced. Articles features devised, researched and written. E-mail: saulinoz@hotmail.com MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT SERVICES MARILYN HOOD — Write and edit correspondence, design database and powerpoints, report proofing and layout, sales and marketing, event and business promotions. Tel: (852) 9408 1636 Email: mhood@netfront.net SERVICES MEDIA TRAINING — How to deal professionally with intrusive reporters. Tutors are HKs top professional broadcasters and journalists. English and/or Chinese. Ted Thomas 2527 7077.

THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

Travel

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❖ PROFESSIONAL CONTACTS The Professional Contacts page appears in each issue of The Correspondent and on the FCC website at www.fcchk.org. Let the world know who you are, what you do and how to reach you. There has never been a better time. Listings start at just $100 per issue, with a minimum of a three-issue listing, and are billed painlessly to your FCC account. THE CORRESPONDENT MARCH/APRIL 2006

Mail or fax this form to the FCC advertising team ❒ ❒ ❒ ❒ ❒

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For more information E-mail Sandra Pang and Crystal Tse at advertising@fcchk.org or call 2540 6872 or fax 2116 0189

Out of Context

What members get up to when away from the Club

Racing to deadline Terry Duckham talks to Matthew Marsh about motor racing

ournalist member Matthew Marsh is not only Hong Kong’s only accredited Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) correspondent, he is also a professional FIA racing driver, and aims to lead the first Hong Kong racing team to the Le Mans 24-Hours in June this year. The invitation for the team to race in the gruelling endurance event is not yet finalised but Matthew got the team off to an impressive start last year. He teamed up with rising Hong Kong racing star, Darryl O’Young, to compete in a series of six-hour races in Europe and the three-hour FIA GT race in Zhuhai. The team’s bauhinia-emblazoned Porsche GT3 RSR finished fourth in Zhuhai and eighth in its class at Nürburgring, claiming the SAR’s first ever points score for the prestigious Le Mans Endurance Series. Matthew has risen impressively through the motor racing ranks since he decided to pursue his childhood passion professionally in the late 1990s. In 2000, he was third in class in the Nürburgring 24-Hours and was recognised as a serious contender for his strong performance at the Spa 24-Hours. His team won first place in their class in the inaugural Bathurst 24-Hours in 2002. In 2004, Matthew won the Porsche Infineon Carrera Cup Asia championship, took victory in the Maserati Trofeo race at the British Grand Prix and, partnered with Hong Kong racing star, Charles Kwan, placed fourth in the GT2 class in Zhuhai. In 2005 he was invited to take part in the Porsche Michelin Supercup, the support race to the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix and took third place in the Porsche Carrera Cup at the Macau Grand Prix, breaking the course record as he did so. This year he took another third in

PHOTOGRAPH BY TERRY DUCKHAM/ASIAPIX

a tightly contested Porsche Carrera Cup at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Matthew’s love of motorsport began when he began watching his father race Lotus’s in the UK as a child. This led to him launching his own Benetton Race Team fan magazine, Rabbitt, when he was 18.

“I could see myself at 50 saying ‘what if?’, so I decided to risk everything and go professional.” “The magazine was surprisingly successful,” Mathew said, “it grew quite quickly and we had about 500 subscribers from all around the world. A number of whom were journalists and were happy to contribute, giving the magazine a much more professional read that I was capable of.” He climbed behind the wheel, cour-

tesy of the Benetton junior racing programme to race in the UK in the late 1980s, but turned his back on the sport to come to Hong Kong 15 years ago to pursue what became a successful career in marketing telecoms. But in 1997, he succumbed to the lure of the race track once again. “My work gave me the opportunity to travel back to the UK regularly and I started racing again in the Caterham series,” Mathew explains. “Then Porsche started the Carrera Cup series in Asia in 2003 and I had the opportunity to compete. I could see myself at 50 saying ‘what if?’, so I decided to risk everything and go professional. “It was a major lifestyle change moving out of my big comfortable flat in Pokfulum into a small flat in Sai Ying Pun, and a lot more work to finding sponsorship money, make it go the distance and getting the right media exposure to make sure that there would be more of it. But Le Mans has always been a dream of mine and when I won the Porsche Carrera Cup in 2004 I knew I had a really chance at it. Everything I am doing now is aimed at achieving that dream.” Matthew’s journalism career was a little slower in starting, but quickly accelerated. It began with guest spots on Star TV’s Formula One coverage which led to him co-hosting the programme in 1995. He met British Formula One comentator, Peter Windsor, at this time and they became firm friends. In 1997, the South China Morning Post applied for FIA accreditation for Matthew enabling him to join Peter in covering that year’s Formula One series. That accreditation led to regular work for the paper and other motoring media for which Matthew files regularly.

THE CORRESPONDENT

MARCH/APRIL 2006