The Correspondent, January/February 2016

E¡¡'T;I JANUARY/FEBRUARY 201ó

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SPONDENT

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The

Officiql publicotion of tlre Foreign Correspondents'Club. Hong Kong

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Academ¡ c fre under v¡ crous

attack says Ch Asiq's iournqlists under fire qnd in courl ON THE WALL:

Whqt the Club is... qnd whqt it should be

Blazing Shadows A World of Black & Lig ht

Contents

January/February2Ol 6

COVER STORY

Academic freedom under vicious attack says €han ProfessorJohannes Chan, speaking at a Human Rights Press Awards fundraising luncheon on December I 0, addressed the cloud of controversy that has followed him this yearl calling ìnto question the larger issue of academic freedom in Hong Kong.

I5 Asia's journalists under flre and ¡n court

The topsy-turvy relàtionship between journalists, politìcians and the lesi sâvory tharacters operating in SoutheastAsia has often been marked by legal intervention and the use ofthe courts in silencìng free speech,

cover photo byTerry Duckham/Asiapix Studìos

Features

t0

CHARITIES FCC's new charity programme underway The FCC Charity Ball is no longer with us, but the Club is gathering its forces to embark on a vigorous charity programme.

t9 ONTHEWALL Blazing Shadows -AWorld of Black & Light Basil Pao's glowing tribute to chiaroscuro, the area that exists between Darkness and Light, between our own unconscious and the conscience of human beings,the moment we all experience just before the sun rises in

the

77

sl1y

Regulars

7

A message from the President

3

Editorial

4

Membership

5

Club News

78

Speakers:What they said...

36

Obituary: Gopi Gopalan

39

Classifieds

40

LastWord: Farewell Hoi-Lo

74

CLUB SURVEY is... and what it should be The FCC's survey of members, promised at the AGYI in 201 5 when NeìlWelern became president, was well supported with a response rate of 35.8%, which in the world of surveys is a signifìcantly high rate,

What the Club

DOCUMENTARY Reporting China: the 'Go-Go' years Almost all foreign correspondents who have covered China recall their experience as being exciting, not least for the China-based reporters in the early years ofthe 2 I st century - as Mìke Chinoy recounts in the latest installment of his documentary serìes.

EXHIBITION Hunting with Eagles Award-winning Australian photographer Palani Mohan has spent years documentìng the last ofthe ethnic Kazakh eagle hunters in the harsh mountain wilderness of western Mongolia.

33

ARCHIVES Great stories languish untold from Hong Kong's past There is now a new revrtalised and freshìy funded approach to studlng Hong Kong's history lf there was ever a time when the history of Hong Kong should be looked at anew it ìs now

ã

o È NewYear's Eve bash

to 201 5 at the FCC's annual NewYear partyThe new price structure (one price for all) made sure thatthe beginningof 2016 was wet and loud, It was a lìvely end

From the Presídent

I wish you oll o Hoppy New Yeqr. 201ó will be o busy yeor here ot the FCC, with chollenges

ond opporlunities thot we must embroce.

The elub in Jonuory bid o relucfont forewell to our offlce monöger, Chon Hol-Lo, who hos served the Club with tireless

energy ond dedicotion for

l5

yeors. Hoi-Lo hos been o pillor of the Club, especir:lly in her role os Boord secretory for fhe posl eight yeors. ln thol lime. the worklood for lhe FCC's stoff hos increosed greotly. There ore more commiltees, events, ond moving psrts to hondle, increosed governmenl bureoucrocy to deol with, ond membership hos swelled by more thon 30%. Through ¡t oll, Ho¡-Lo's enthusiosm ond commilment never woned.

We will miss her lremendously but wish her well os she emborks on lhe next chopter of her life in Auslrolio, And we hope to see her when she comes bock to town.

She hos been mode on honorory member for her contribution to the Club.

Her deporture meons if is lhe righl time to look ot the Club's stoffing ond orgonisotionol

2

THE CORRESPONDENT

structure so lhot the Club is

odequolely equipped to toke us forword in the coming yeors. The office is olreody overburdened.

Pleose be potient with stoff while we ore short-hqnded ond moke the tronsition.

Hoving secured lhe leose lo our premises for onolher seven yeors, we must now corry out some moior but essenliol moinlenqnce work.

These wlll edt lnto our flnonclol reserves, but one of the reosons for occruing reserves is for copitol expenditure. We will be prudent os we corry out eoch phose, ond

lhe improvements will preserve lhe fobric of lhe listed building while enhoncing focilities used by oll members.

We qre olso forging oheod with plons for the FCC's new choritoble ond community endeovors following the decision to discontinue lhe chority boll os it wos. I would like to Ìhonk members who hove stepped up to volunteer their lime ond expertise to help us build lhe new slructure ond initiotives. More detoils will be distributed shortly.

The Club's cenlrol mission remoins to support iournolists ond iournolism, stonding up to

protect free speech ond the rights of unfeftered reporting by lhe medio in Hong Kong. We hove issued stolements on some

worrying developments in Hong Kong ond Chincr crnd petitioned ïhoilond to drop chorges ogoinst phologropher Anthony Kwon.

We olso need to moke the Club useful ond increosingly relevont to our growing number of correspondent ond iournolist members. With thot in mind, we will soon host the Club's first iournolism conference. The one-doy event is designed to bring together young tolent ond seosoned professlonols for o series of discussion ponels, nelworking ond procticol workshops -- oll ot on offordoble price. Detoils to come soon.

And finoll¡ thonks to months

of hord work by members of

the Communicotions Committee ond controctors, the FCC will soon

unveil on upgroded websitg with regulorly updoted live content from lhe Correspondenf, greot design ond o host of new feotures.

More on lhot shortly loo.

With your involuoble support, we cqn look forword fo on excil¡ng

yeor oheod.

CönTSPONDENT THEoFFIcIALPUBLICATIoNoFTHEFoREtGNcoRRESPoNDENTS,cLUB,HoNGKoNc

The Foreign CorresPondents' Club Albert Road, central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) z5zr 1511 Fax: (852) 2868 4o92 Email: fcc@fcchk'org Webs¡te: www'fcchk'org

2 Lower

EdÍtorial

The Board of Governors 2o15-2016

Presídent Neil David western First Vice President Tara JosePh

The first FCC survey for mony yeors hod o very good response rote which enobles the club to toke effectively the pulse of the membership.

Second v¡ce President Kevin Barry H. Egan

CorresPondent Governors Keith Bradsher, Florence De changY, Nan-Hie ln, Juliana Liu, Angie Lau, Natasha Khan, Carsten Schael, Nicholas Gentle Journalist Governors

You con reod on onolysis of the survey on poges 19'21 , however lhe full survey results will be published on the website. There wos signifìcont feedbock ond comments to the queslions ond these will be onolysed by members of the Boord who will report bock lo the membership in due course,

clifford Buddle, James Gould Assoc¡ate Governors T¡mothY 5. Huxley, Elaine Pickering, Ooug Wong, Simon Pritchard

responses to Three of lhe survey quest¡ons were onticipoted onecdofoll¡ it wos importont to see them in block ond white: Ihe Corr"sponjenl is regulorly reod by o wide moiority of the respondents;

while fhe

Goodwíll Ambassador clare Hollingworth

the FCC's website is only sporingly visited; ond consequently olmosf no one reods the mogozine online.

Club SecretarY

Simon Pr¡tchard Professíonal committee Co-conveners: Tara Joseph, Keith Bradsher, Nan-Hie ln Finance Commíttee Co-Conveners:

Timothy S. HuxleY (Treasurer), Florence De ChangY Constítutional Committee Co-conveners: Kevin Egan, Nicholas Gentle, Clifford Buddle

MembershiP committee Co-Conveners: Nan-Hie ln, James could, Simon Pr¡tchard House/ Food and Beverage committee Co-Conveners:

Juliana Liu (F&B)

Nicholas 6entle (House) Carsten Schael (House) Tim HuxleY (House)

conferences).

to The new website will nol only look good, but it will be much eqsier

novigote'Therewillbefeqturesdesignedtootlroctmemberstovisit.

Press Freedom Committee co-Conveners: Neil Western, Florence De ChangY, Natãsha Khan

communications Committee cô-Conveners:

Anqie Lau, Natasha Khan, Juliana " Paul Bayfield (Editor)

Although the stolistics ond some comments ore grotifying, there's no reoso;to be complocenf. Even though we hove been uplooding stories ond Club news fo The website for obout o yeor, very few reod them on o regulor bosis. However, eorly in 201ó o redesigned website will be lounched which will include o more vibront correspondenf on/ine thol will hove originol stories (club sTories ond stotemenls os well os news news stories thot oddress issues close to the club's heort) os well os club press events, ond (wine ond food evenls, members' porties. celebrotions

L¡u

Wall Committee Co-Conveners: Carsten Schael, James Could General Manager

cilbert cheng Produced bY: AsiaPix Studios fel: 9769 o2g4 Email: asiapix@netvigator.com www.terryduckham-asiaPix.com

One of the most imporlont will be online booking for speokers ond events - o much more effective woy to gel bookings for populor events (porticulorly those thql fìll wirhin minutes of the opening of bookings)' ln i|,. ,..b.r, oreo will be o voluntory online membership directory. 'l

The lost issue of Ihe correspondenf feotured os the cover story lhe 4'h is edirion of the FCC Chority Boll. sodl¡ this wos the lost lime os the boll storfed no longer ossocioted witlt the club. The Boord hos subsequently ro putiogether o choritoble octivities progromme' One lesson from the chority Boll orgonisolion is Thot for these things lo work it tokes the ,nr.riting drive of one or two dedicoted individuols bocked by o hordworking cãmmitee. Committees by themselves con only do so much'

Printing Lautus Print

1el:2555 1178 Email: cs@lautus'com.hk Contäct

FCC

Advertising Front Office: Tel: 2521

Poul Boyfield

1511

The CorresPondent 02015 The Foreign correspondents'club, Hong Kong The Corréspondent is published six times a year Ooinions exoressed häre are not necessarily

those of the club.

THE CORRESPONDENT

3

MEMBERSHIP Who's ioìned the CIub, who,s leavìng and who,s turned sílve¡! Itrís is the column lo rcod.

Iop news lhis monlh ìs Ío¡mer CIub p¡esidenf Douglos Wongt chonge Írom Conespondent to Associote ølter he change-c! iobs froim Asioíegal edìl,or^al Bloombejg News to edÍtor ot Bloomb,-erg intellìgence, worËing wìth lìnoncìal.onalysts, He ìnlo¡med the lúembershìp CotÃmìttee, whìcli decìded ¡hat he should moke the switch and thus Íollows ìn the iootstips

of posf presrdents Tom Crampton and Chrìs Sløvghter.

We're oll-proud lo be FCC mem6ers, whether Correspondents, Journalìsls or Associoles.-So o Correspondenf goìng to work in iublic relatìons or ¡eseorch slrou/d.chonge to Associote, o Journalísl now working ín global or medîa shovld chønge lo Correspondenl, ond on Ásiociole -regíonol who has made ct cdteer move ìn¡o Íull-fim¿ ¡ownolìsm should chonge to Corr espond e nl or J ou r nølìst.

Whalever yovr

lhe Àeovng

slíll on

Ihe

Aåsenf

may leave Hong Kong workìng

ìn iournalism bul relurn os o

Wclcome to new mcmberg Correspondenls: colheríne Adoms, Deputy Editor, ceclor Hong Kong¡ williom Anclergon, srnior Reportor; Thomson Rêutêrs; Jqnìes Chombers, Bureou Chief Hong.Kong, M?T:l.t Lucy croymer, Agricul-rurol Commodities Reporter. The wottstreet Journol; Roberr 'lg"n."

Fenner, Edilor, Bloomhers,' Philip Heord, Ediror, Cedor úong roñs; philippc M;ra";,;;;i À.ì.-roán" n"gËnãi ùir.-.-tJf nron"._ Presse; Philip Pon, Asio Editor, rhe New York rimes; Kristine-ser";d., D-réi;ì Ñ;;; Þ;Jiu..r. Btoomberg; pout silliroe. Monoging Editor, Bloomberg; Robert wolzer, world News Editor, ÎÀe wott Street Jouii"l.in¡"i or-, õ"r.ãlpondenr, chonnel News Asío Associales: sobine Bouer, Smior Director, Fìtch, Simon Dought¡ Group_Monogino Director, wcllem Group¡ victor Joffc, Borristers, Tenrple Lhombers. Lou Ko-kon, vice Presidenl, HSBC; Hoi-Young Loúnei Jong, RetireajLeå wong^-kwong, Monoging Dire6or, Mocquorie Copirol Securities; Deon Show, Chief Pilot, Federol Express; Ton-Yong-sheng,ó¡r".to, åf lnuurto, solrtions, Borcloys Bonks; Moy Won Mee-yee, Derective Senior lnspector of Police, Hong Kong Police ForceiAnnetie Yeung v"n-yoi, Èro¡"o Designer, simon Kwon

& Associotes

Replocemenls

- Diplomotic: Williom Miller. Attoché (Militory Lioison), Consulofe Generol of îhe United Stotes of Americo Replocemenls - Corporole: colherine chon Ko-mon, Executive Director, UBS; Poul Tom Kwong-hong, provost & Deputy vice-choncellor, University of Hong Kong

Chonge in mambcrship cotcgory

From Correspondent lo Associclã: Douglos Wong, Editor, Bloomberq lntclligence

[::i"'ï^îl*'ijr:i::,ï:1"",.n1:

Dovid Mocrorlone, Monosins Ediror, Ásio

Asset Monosemenr;

srephcn Morchol, Exccurive proclucer;

On lo poslures new Au revoir to those members leoving Hong Kong who hove become Absent Members: Correspondenls: Chorles Rile¡ Reporfer, CNN Money

Journclisls: Stephen Thompson, Freelonce Writer, Open Mogozine; Âlcxis Yolun Holl

Tu, Colunrnisl/y,/riIer,Aslo clty prblishing Associoles: Eugene Kwok, Trolnee, woll streei Enierprises; Dovid O'Reor, chief Economist,Hong Kong Generol chomber of commerce; shoron You Shuet-ying, Chief Administrotor, Hong Kong lntårnotionol lnstitute of Educotionol Leodership; Michoel yiqnnokis, wrirer & Commun¡cdt¡ons Adviser. Edelmon

Fqrewell olso lo Correspondenl: Rondoll Jensen. Editor, Bloomberg News Associqles: Morion Hufschmid, Head of Soles, Sontcncler

Also resigning Correspondenls: Kim Yun-hee, News Editor rechnolog¿ Dow Jones Newswires; Zhou Li, Heod of Asio pocifìc & Hong Kong, Chino Doily

Diplomotic: Fiono Níc Dhonnocho, Deputy corrsur Ge'eror, consurote Generor of rrerond

Welcome bqck to Correspondenls: Doisonn McLone, Freelonce Writer & Journolist Associoles: Peter Borrett, Retired, Wolf Berthold. Choirmon,.Sino lnvèstment Monogemenl Services; Eric Chorrington, Monoger, porkview lnlernot¡onol London; víiov Horioni. Director, v_ollons (HK); úoltertlungerbrr'l.i B"iiråJi g.ngr Johonsson, Founder & CEo, New contexr AB; Monique Lee, Retíred; Timothy Stoin, First Offìcer, Coi'hoy pocifìc Airwoys

Altd¡n¡ng Silver Membership Associqles: Jimmy Woo How-sun

Despclched We ore exfremely sod to onnounce the deoths of¡ Correspondenl: Roy Cronbourne

Journclisl: M

P

Gopolon

Associole: Agnes K Y Tsong

Honorory Membership Granted lo Widows: Nído Cronbourne, prosonno Gopolon

4

THE CORRESPONDENT

CLUB NEWS

Richard Hughes: correspondent... and club manager?

The legendory correspondenl ond lunch host Richord Hughes - who

died in 1984 ond whose bronze bust keeps o wotchful eye on the denizens in the FCC's Mqin Bor

-

hod onolher brief ond little-

known coreer os the first generol monoger of the FCC Jopon in 1945. At lhe lime, the FCCJ, which hod 170 members, wos ol lhe

centre of o compoign to estqblish o venue for correspondents thol wos oulside the control of the US Army ond the Occupotion odministrotion ond their overweening censorship rules.

The September/October issue of Ihe Correspondenf feqlured o sTory

by Govin Greenwood obout the droconion US Army censorship lhot correspondents, pholog ro phers ond broqdcosters hod to foce throughout lhe Pocific Wor. The FCCJ's Eiichiro Tokumoto

writes obout the onfi-censorship compoign ond ils role in lhe

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cover Pu's triql.

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Sutherland House premises.

formotion of the FCCJ ond Richord Hughes os lhe first monoger in the following link: htt p f f w w w.fcci,or.ip number-l -shimbun/ z

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item/ó75-originsremembering -o-dif f icultbirrh.html

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Increasing harassment of reporters in China Humon rights lowyer Pu Zhiqiong, who wqs convicled for his online stolements "inciling ethnic hotred ond picking quorrels", wos given o three-yeor suspended sentence by the Second lntermediofe Courf of Beiiing ot the end of December. He hqs declined to oppeol.

Eorlier, the Foreign Correspondents'Club of Chino in o stotement lhol wos posted on the FCC's websile condemned the horossment ond violence ogqinsl foreign medio who were trying to

':

the legendary lunch host, at the FCC's Hughes,

There hove been increosingly overt oltempts by the Chinese qufhorilies to lhwort coveroge of events by foreign correspondenïs ond comeromenf controry to Chino's sloted rules for correspondents lhot expressly permils them fo conducl inlerviews with onybody who consenls to be

inierviewed.

A porticulorly gloring exomple is lhe expulsion ot The end of December of tObs correspondenf Ursulo Gouthier. This follows o month in which she wos ottocked

in the slole-controlled medio, following o story she wrole on fhe

troubles in Xiniiong.

Gouthier hos olso been the lorgel of numerous deoth threots, w¡th her photo ond oddress published ond distributed online.

The oulhorities hod insisted Gquthier moke o public opology thqt stotes "she does nol supporl terrorism" ond to distonce herself from foreign NGOs ond medio who presented her cqse os "on infringement of press freedom in Chino". She declined.

THE CORRESPONDENT

5

CLUB NEWS f; l' I

Out of the shadows

ir

Anyone who visifed the Moin Bor in December would hove

experienced the lotest exhibition from photogropher ond outhor Bosil Poo. Bosil ond Corsten Schoel were on hond when the exhibition - "Blozing Shodows - o world of block ond light" - wos opened on December l.

O O

New book from Dr. Chi Feng Chi-shun belter known os Dr Chi - is pictured with Wcllter Kent of the lounch porty

ot the Moin Bor for his lotest book

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"Kitchen Tiles: o seleclion of solt¡ wel stories from the

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bor-rooms of Hong Kong". The former pothologist, newspoper columnist, chess whiz, pool ployer crnd denizen of Berl's is olso the outhor of two other books: "Hong Kong Noir: Fifteen toles from the dork side of the city", ond "Diomond Hill¡ memories of growing up in o Hong Kong scluoller villoge",

Farewell to Gopi Mony friends ond former colleogues gothered in Bert's in eorly December to celebrote the life of Gopi Gopolon, who possed owoy ín November. Gopi, one of life's greot genllemen, wos remembered by the mony iournolists he hod mentored ond supported over more thon 30 yeors. Former colleogue ond long-lerm friend Steve Knipp hos written o moving tribute lo Gopi's life ond times (see poge 3ó).

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6

THE CORRESPONDENT

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CLUB NEWS

Lively send-off for Hoi-Lo FCC Boord secrefory Hoi-Lo Chon, who is leoving the Club

yeors

ond the territory for the dislont shores of Austrolio, wos bid o

Boord members ond presidents os well os the unmolched supporl f rom Generol

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s

the Club ond

poid lribute lo post

fond forewell in the Moin Dining Room on Jonuory Z. Hoi-Lo hod some greot memories of her I 5

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Monoger Gilberl ù

Cheng. There wos o bevy of former Club presidents. led by the incumbent Neil Western, who roised o gloss or two. Second Vice-President Kevin Egon proposed the toqst os Hoi-Lo cut her ostonishing coke, See losf Word for tributes from lhe presidenfs who served wilh her since she become Eoord secrefory

in 2008.

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7

CLUB NEWS

New Year's Eve bash It wos o lively end to 2015 ot the FCC's onnuol New Yeor's porty.

The new price structure (one price for oll) mode sure thot the beginning of 2O1 6 wos wet ond loud. When it wos time for the piper''s traditionq! walk oround the bor he hod to struggle through the crowd. A DJ in the Moin Bor kept the ploce hopping until the eorly hours.

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THE CORRESPONDENT

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CHARITY FUND

FCC's new chority

progrqmme underwqy The FCC Charity Ball is no longer with us, but the Club is gathering its forces to embark on a vigorous eharitv progr-amme, Pres¡eient Neil Western outlines the issues behind the ball moving on and what the future holds.

fhe FCC has a successful track record ol charitable I and community rnvolvement Ìn Hong Kong that we are immensely proud of," Western said in a letter to members at the end of November. "We are committed as a Club to continuing and enhancing those efforts.

With that in mind, there are some upcoming changes to the FCC charitable programme that I wish to let

you know about.

"The FCC Charity Ball has been the Club's flagship charity event for more than a decade and has heiped laise more than I I1($ I00 million for lo Leung l(uk, one of the city's most well-known and active charities.

These funds have supported a range of programmes

for underprivileged children, ln particular scholarships allowing them to undertal(e higher education. We saiute the effolts of all involved.

"In order to address this, the Board initiated a process to better integrate the FCC Ball into the mainstream life of the Club so that we could better contribute and oversee this flagship event. The aim was to make lhe event more inclusive of, and more accessible to our wider membership, as well as to ensure enhanced transparency in the managemerìt of the ball's operatjon in lìne with our firlucìary

responsibilities as corporate directors.

"Unfortunately, it has proven challenging to find a formula that satisfies both the Board and the ball's original organÌsing group. The two governors who are currently involved in managing the Charity Ball resigned from the Board on November 21. The Board thanks them for their service to the Club, particularly Andy Chworowsky, who has served admlrabiy as a governor for more than a decade, and even longer as an organìser of the Ball.

"Those governors have indicated that they will continue to support the existing programme outside of the auspices of the FCC. The Club wishes them well.

This brings to an end our formal l4-year association with the Po Leung Kuk, although many of our members have been, and wili no doubt continue to be, 10

THE CORRESPONDENT

actively involved on a private and indivrdual basis with the work of the Po Leung Kuk. We are glad that the foundation laid by the FCC Charity Ball will conrinue to be built on.

"I would lÌke to reassure a1l members that the FCC wiil continue to support charitable causes in Hong Kong, including those involved with children, which are panicularly cLose to the hearts ol our membership.

"We aiso remain commj.tted to piayrng a significant roìe in the local community.

"The Doard will appoint å nelv culìnl1il-l-eu Lu review and oversee those efforts to ensure we have a sustainable and productive charitable programme. We will aiso reach out to all the stakeholders ln the FCC Charity Ball so that thcy arc alvarc of our ongoing comniilrnents.

"Looking forward, our aim is to ensure we engage the broadest membership of the Club in our charitable and community endeavours. To this end we invite views, ideas and particì.pation from al1 of you. We would like to hear especially from those members who have experience ln fundraisÌng activity, professÌonal charity management or corporate social responslbility acriviries. The Cluh has a talentecl, cliverse and experienced membershì.p that can help us move forward into an exciting new era."

Chqritqble lrusl lo be formed The FCC's possibÌe future charitable and socially responsible activities were aired at a meeting on December 16 of Board members and other Club members. A statement was issued from that meeting.

"Plapng an active role in the community is an important part of the life of organisations like the FCC," the statement said. "The recent letter from the President, above, outlining the changes in the FCC's charitable programme shows enthusiasm among members for the chance to get more involved in developing our social responsibility activities.

Providing a platform to involve the broader

CHARITY FUND

membership in contributing to the communlty is a key part of the new structure now being put in place to organise and develop the Club's charitable activities.

"To ensure an accountable, transparent stl'l-lcture that maximises the impact of funds raised, the Club is looking lnto the viability of establishing the FCC Charitable Tiust, which would oversee both fundralsing activities and the selection of organisatì.ons we may choose to support.

"The Club intends to start work on a series of exciting events which will not only raise money for worthy causes, but will also add significantly to the social life of the Club. The i.ntention is that the Trust will support carefully chosen, well administered, effective charities which have a real impact and where

FCC

the membershìp can get involved.

"FCC members have a vast pool of talent when it comes to organising events and the generosity of our members in a diverse range of good causes is well known. We hope that the new charitable programme thar is being planned will allow the Club to fully utilise those talents for the benefit of the not so fortunate in Hong Kong.

"To achieve our aims and build a long-term, sustainable programme, the Club needs the involvement of the membership at many different 1eve1s. The more volunteers we have the more we can achieve. lf you feel that you can contribute and would like to be involved, please contact the Club Tieasurer

Tim Huxley at timhuxley@hotmail.com."

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Chority Bqll from 2OO2 ro 2Ol 5

Launched by Club members led by David and Celia Garcia in2002, the FCC Charity Ball has been the Club's leading charity event for the past 13 years. Held in association with Po Leung Kuk (PLK), one of the cityrs oldest and most active charitable institutions, it raised over

HK$100 million for a wide range of programmes for underprivileged

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ffi

The 2015 scholarship recipients with Ball Committee, sponsors and PLK ofÍìcers. children. Foremost of these was the Têrtiary Scholarship programme The Ball was a gala event and an eclectic gathering to support young adults from low-income families coming out of the PLK system to be able to pursue a of Hong Kong's corporate and social elite, mingled higher education. with correspondents, photographers, media and the Known as the PLK/Henrik NielsenÆCC PLK's FCC Scholarship Alumni members, held at the Grand Ballroom of the Hong Kong Convention and Scholarship Fund, the programme has supported 179 scholarship winners and over the course of the Exhibition Centre. last 13 years the progamme grew to include: Its signature attraction was headlining the event with iconic bands and performers from the 60s . The Po Leung Kuk/UBSÆCC Language Tiaining and 70s and S0swith a playlist that read like a roll Program call from America's music Halls of Fame. These . The Po Leung KuVBank of America Merrill LyncU included: Martha Reeves, Mary Wilson, The Temptations FCC Children's Learning Centre . The Po Leung KuVUBSÆCC Children's Review,The Beach Boys, Blondie, Sergio Mendez, Developmenl Program World Classic Rockers, Charlie Daniels, Creedence . The Po Leung KuVHenrik NielsenÆCC Clearwater Revival, Eric Clapton, The Doobie Brothers, INXS, Huey Lewis and the News, The Scholarship Fund . The Po Leung KuVSprouts FoundationÆCC Jacksons and Tèars for Fears. Jimmy Buffet and Eric Education Services Centre Clapton also contributed special performances for . The Po Leung Kuk/Hope FoundationÆCC the Charity Fund.

The Ball will continue independent of the FCC, Scholarship Fund . The Po Leung Kuk/FIKRFU/Macquarie Group/ but Club members will always be welcome and FCC Tackling Life Rugby Program remembered for their suppofi and initiative in . The Po Leung Kuk/Savills/Macquarie Group/ launchrng the Charity Fund and what has become HKRFUÆCC Pitch Perfect Project. one of Hong Kong's most memorable charity events.

THE CORRESPONDENT

11

COVER STORY

Acqdemic freedom under vicious qttqck sqys Chqn

By Joyce Lau

f)rofessor

l-

Johannes

rlhan, speaklng at a Human Rights Press Awards

fundraising luncheon on December 10, addressed the cloud of controversy that has followed him this year, calling into

question the larger issue of academic

freedom in Hong Kong.

The uproar started in the montlrs leading up to the University of Hong Kong council's longdelayed decision ir September to reject the former Law School dean's

appolntment

_

|r"fLr\6r tûh!nnr\ ( h¡o

Johannes Chan with President Neil Western and designer of new Human Rights Press Awards logo

Henry Steiner:

as

vice-chancellor. Tênsjons harl already risen over the summer, as students held protests, distributed petitions and even stormed a meeting over the case.

Chan, a former Human Rights Press Awards winner, is known for his liheral views on clemocrac;e The move to block a critical voice at the city's top educational institution came at a time of increased

concern about broader freedoms in the cit;u Leaked recordings, threatened legal actions against students and a gag order against local media have since been linked to the case. (The FCC Press Freedom Committee released a statement in November about the gag: http ://www. fcchk. orglnode/609 6) "lt rs parnful even to recollect these events," Chan said to a room packed with FCC members, as well as local TV crews and reporters. "This incident is not about myself. lf it were, I would have just withdrawn long ago. But it is about something much more important: it's about our fundamental rights and freedoms, about what a university means to us."

A school ls not only aplace where teachers 12

THE CORRESPONDENT

teach and students memorise, but "a place where

knowledge is created, gathcrcd or discovercd," Chan said. "A university is characterised by its sceprìcism of and readiness to challenge conventional va1ues."

He contrasted Hong Kong's academic culture with that of mainland China, where universities are "state institutions".

"Independence inevitably means that not all views expressed by academics are acceptable to the governing regime," he said. Because of this, "academic freedom is of particular value, not just to the academics, but to the community as a whole."

He warned that his own case was only the latest in a series of threats to academic treedom, which he called a constitutionally protected right "to conducr research, teach, speak, and publish, subject to the norms and standards of scholariy inquir¡ without interference or penalt;2" Chan described his own case, in which the Chinese state-run media launched a personal campaign against hlm in the lead-up to the university decision.

COVER STORY

Chan: it's about our fundamental rights and freedoms, about what a university means to us.

head of the HKU council. He said that body had to be "inclusive and bring people together" - and that Li was "not that type of person". He added that Li and the council did not have the support of the great majority of teachers and students.

Chan said it "does not require

PhD" to figure oul lhat political interierence was at play in blocking him from the position.

He also criticised the law that makes Hong Kong's political leader, Chief Executive CY Leung, the chancellor of all of the city's publicly funded universities.

Leung's chancellorship would normally be seen as a figurehead roie - it's the vice-chancellor who is in charge of the day-to-day operations on campus.

The December 10 fundraisì.ng luncheon marked the official launch of the Human Rights Press Awards' 20th anniversary edition and the opening of the 2015 contest's entries period. It was held to coincide with the UN's Human Rights Day. Chan joked that he was was now part of the HRPAb "distinguished victims speakers list", along with Ching Cheong(a Straits Times journaTist who was jailed in China for almost three years) and Kevin Lau (a MingPao editor who was attacked by knifewielding assailants after publishing critical reports on China). Both Ching and Lau were in the audience that day. lK a

"An overwhelming and sustained attack, \¡/ith over 350 articles over a sustained period of nine months... by the pro-China media, including even the People\ Daiþ, is, to say the least, highly unusual, if not political," he said.

Chan i,s seen as being close to Professor Benny Tai, the leader of the Occupy Central movement who is also on the HKU Law School faculty However, he dismissed criticism that he was somehow personally behind the mass protests last year, as he was not even in Hong Kong. (He was working as a visiting professor at the Unìversity of Pennsylvania's law school).

ln a tongue-in-cheek comment, he referred to himself in the third person: "The recommendation was first leaked and criticised in November 2014 by a pro-China newspaper, apparently on the grounds that the candidate had, during his deanship, failed to prevent his colleague from promoting and eventually conducting a massive movement of civil disobedience, resulting in the occupation of the main thoroughfares of the territory lor 79 days."

Chan's harshest comments came during the Q&A session, when he was asked about Arthur Li, a former education minister who was shown by the leaked recordings to be the progovernment figure who pushed against Chan's appointment. Li cited Chan's lack of a doctorate as proof that he was not academically qualified, even though he was the longest-standing dean of Asia's top law school.

Chan hit back sayrng that Ll himself was unqualified for ajob he is tagged for - as -// One of the HKU students who was one of the many informed and articulate par^ticipants in the Q&As,

Joyce Lau is the dírector of the Human Rights For more inJormation, go to Hum anRigh tsP r e s s Aw ar ds. o rg.

Press Awards.

1t{¡"'

{f".

t

F .9 .x

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THE CORRESPONDENT

13

COVER STORY

ln,

,t

loose against a neon-red Chinese sign - struck him.

At the HRPAb fundraising luncheon, Steiner used a PowerPoint presentation to take the audience through his monthslong creative process. He explained that the curved part of the lock is called the "shackle" - an appropriate term for an

organisation that often awards journalistic works about jailed dissidents and speakers.

The smal1 indent on the edge of the shackle is called the "notch." And when viewed from the

tq.

': 3

m:1:

,

slcie, :t 'siF-

a ü

õ

s ff

Working with Henry Steinel

rl-

iooks irke a persons iace in proftle, with

the notch as the nose. "Reporters are nosy," Steiner said. "They have a nose for news."

It was apt that a media award had a dcsign tliat included a play on words.

Steiner drew locks wherever he could - once, ironically, on a large South ChinqMorningPos¿ photo of Xi Jinping against a red wall at a military evenr. "i'd rather get an idea down quickly than to pur it in a nice book," Steiner said.

This is how Steiner came up with the "unlock", a bold new mark set in black and ochre. (For font geeks out there, he chose the appropriately named

"lmpact", which has a blocky, headline-type look).

He and his team at Steiner 6¡ Co. are ^^ ;^^, ^l.r --1., -^l^^i^"^i.^^, rluL)t¡írrlrr¡3 pd¡lr)l4NilrËr)

It tnrns ont that rvorld-renowned graphic designers are driven by the same motivations as utork-a-da)' journalists: a tight deadline and a hot meal.

I was flattered when Henry Steiner - a globally recognised brandlng expert who has worked with HSBC, IBM and other corporate giants - referrerJ to me as an inspiration behind the new look he created pro bono for the Human Rights Press Awards' 20th anniversar;r "lt's not olten that an al-tractive young woman picks up the bill," he loked about a working iunch we had in the FCC in August, It was then thar I laid down a hard deadline, the way only a news editor can. "The taxi meter was ticking. The flag was down," Steiner added.

The process of creating a new mark for the HRPA began at this lunch, when Steiner spent most of his time doodling on the FCC's yellow paper placemat. He drew quickly while we tossed around the images usually associated with protest and censorship: barbed wire, a chain, a fist, a placard, a bullhorn, a loudspeaker, a microphone. Steiner told me not to show his sketches to anyone yet (the clucking chicken idea was plr:bably not going to make it).

Later, he started taking photographs of padlocks

-

old locks, rusted locks, locks holding doors or

chains holding doors ciosed. One particular image - the black silhouette of an open lock hanging

14

THE CORRESPONDENT

L^ uD D^: * ^t ^-i td'tS) ^1 ^ rrr! r lr\t ro rltdt"ct

from the iook ol our websiie to our entry lorms and business cards. They also created great T-shirrs, a few of which Steiner signed with elegant silver ink at the December 10 fundraiser.

"For a man with a key, everything looks like a ìock," he saìd unLoch T-shirts are ayailable qt the FCC Front Office [or $200. Proceeds go Lo th( HNPA.

REPORTAGE

I qs As I iournqlisls under a

fire qnd in courl

The topsy-turvy relationship between journalists, politicians and the less savory characters operating in Southeast Asia has often been marked by legal

intervention and the use of the courts in silencing free speech/ writes Luke Hunt.

f, ven by past standards l-the latesi antics, at Lhe highest levels, has tested precedents. The military crackdown lollowing the coup in Thailand, the suspension of publications in Malaysia, the jailing of bloggers in Vietnam and proposed Internet laws in Cambodia have further lowered the curtain on honest reporting.

"Indonesia is generally

I

seen as having the lreest

media in Southeast Asia

but the competition is not particularly strong," said Keith Loveard, a risk analyst with Jakarta-based Concord Security

a Alan Ylorison and Chutima Sidasathian after their acquittal for allegedly defaming the RoyalThai

Nuw

Ronkings, like preiudices, ore misleoding AccordĂ&#x152;ng to Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and its latest review of the world's media, Indonesia came in l38th place out of lB0 countries surveyed. Laos and Vietnam - where press freedoms have remained virtually non-existent since the communist takeovers of 1975 - along with Myanmar, Malaysia and Singapore all ranked lower.

So did the Philippines and Cambodla, although both countries are seen by many as on par with Indonesia. A1l three sti1l ranked below Brunei and Thailand, in l2lst and l34th place, respectively.

"The situation across most of the region is pretty dire," Loveard added. "In fact it seems unreasonable that either Brunei, with its insi.stence on Islamic morality, and Thailand with rule by the mllitary are seen as much better."

Newspapers in Brunei do not criticise their

country's all-powerful monarch Hassanal Bolkiah.

This was particularly notable over lhe past two years with the introduction of Sharia law that contradicted the questionable iifestyles of the monarch's children and relatives when abroad.

"It is because of our need that Allah the Almighty in all hĂ&#x152;s generosity, has created laws for us, so that we can utilise them to obtain justice," the Sultan argued.

That type of religious fervor mixed with tailormade regal laws has found a stronghold in Thailand, where interpretations of notorious lese majeste laws - harking back to the long-gone days of the divine right of kings - has led to dramatic silencing of dissent, ever since the military came to power through a coup d'etat.

Junta leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha immediately left no doubt where he stood, famously declaring in March 2015: "We'11 probably execute reporters who do not support the government."

That has not happened, bul since then RSF THE CORRESPONDENT

15

REPORTACE

says

Pra¡lth has deployed a strategy that results

in the "theft of freedoms that are indispensable to democracy" through raids on media outlets, the arrests of journalists and en-masse URL blockrng and surveillance of the lnternei and iis users.

This was hÌghlighted recenrly by Thai printers who refused to print a front page story by the New Yorh Tim¿s focusing on the economy and concerns over royal succession. Then there was the prosecution of journaLists Alân Morison and Chutima Sidasathian of the news website Phuhetwan.

They were eventually acquitted of defamation - amid significant internatlonal pressure - brought against them by the Thai navy based on a 4l-word excerpt from a Reuters news report, published in 2013 by the website.

"To a greater or lesser extent, most governments in Southeast Asia - Indonesia and the Philippines are two partial exceptions - seek to restrict the press, and each does so in a way that reflects its particular charges

political conrexr ," sáid Sebastian Srrangio, analyst and author of "Hun Sen's Cambodia".

Thqi iunto cr¡t¡c honoured Thai reporter Pravit Rojanaphruk, who was nominated as the sole Asia Pacific

candidate by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) for the annual Peter Mackier Award for Courageous and Ethical Journali.sm, has been twice hauled ln by the Thai army since they seized power in the 20L4 coup.

There are few signs of the miiitary heading back to barracks any time soon just as there are few signs Pravit wiil stop reporting the news.

"He is one of Thailand's last journalists, perhaps the only orle, to operriy quesliuu LLe-jurrta! legitimacy, an activity that could lead to criminal charges at any time," the RSF said in its citation.

The prize was awarded to Syrian journalistZaina Erhaim.

Prayitrs first detention just after the coup was "really surreal", spendlng his tìme plapng lootball for the detainee team against military teams.

The second one involved a period of solitary confinement - something he is sanguine about. "It seems to me it was outside Bangkok judging from the sound of the blrds".

Since his detentions, he left his job at the English-langu age The N ation, where he had worked lor 23 years, tojoin the English-language l{haosod website where he keeps up a steady commentary on post-coup Thailand.

Even rhough the military is still holding on fo power amid charges of corruption and unexplained deaths in military custod¡ it's the issues around iese majeste (insulting not only the king, but the queen and heir-apparent) that continue to cripple Thai media.

"It's such a challenge - it's almost hopeless for the

't6

THE CORRESPONDENT

I

Thai media already overly sensldve about anything remotely critical about the monarchy," Pravit said.

The penalties for breaking lese majeste laws usually include lengthy prison sentences.

"We are entering the transitional period between the current and next monarch and so I guess there will be a 1ot more censorship and self-censorship as well as prosecutions under lese majeste laws," he said.

Pravit made these comments - committing lese majeste in the process - the day alter a Bangkok printer refused to print a front page story in the local edition oî the International New Yorh Times because of an almost incidental comment on the issue of the succession.

Ultimately he believes that that censorship in an increasingly connected world will be more difficult, clespite the military's plans for a single gate\May for

internet

access.

Pravit, the son of a former Thai ambassador and therefore connected to the establishment, said his RSF nomination "provides me with additional ìmmunity and makes the military more aware".

Míchael Machey

REPORTAGE

-

E

õ

O

ô

I lYyanmar journalists in silent protest over the jailing of lve journalists in 20 | 4

He noted the trial continues of the Ampatuan clan over the bloody assassinations oî32journalists - among 58 massacred - in Maguindanao in the Southern Philippines six years ago. No convictions have been registered. A further sevenjournalists have been killed in-country this year alone.

Longuoge counls

In some countries, particularly Malaysia, Myanmar and Cambodia, reporters working in a foreign language - predominantly English - usually operate free from interference although many admit that seLfcensorship remains an issue.

"At first glance, the Cambodian press is one of the freest in the region. The country now has three Englishlanguage papers which publish reams of news and information critical of the government," Strangio saìd, adding: "singapore is fastidiously legalì.stic. Vietnam exercises air-tight Leninist

control."

But major issues and threats do arise when news reports cover sensitive topics and are written in natlve languages - particularly Malay, Khmer, Laos, Vietnamese and Thai - by iocals who do not enjoy the protectj"on of big media companies and the influence o[ loreign embassies.

In July, the Malaysian government enlisted lega1 reasoning to block the SarawahReport, a blog that had been systematically publishing reports on corruption in Malaysia ranging from the excesses of illegal logging to the scandal enveloping lMalaysia Development Berhad (IMDB).

It then suspended The Edge Financial Daily and The EdgeWeehþ, which had been reporting extensively on the IMDB issue.

Prime Minister Najib Razak would couch his reasoning in legalese within the context of national inreresrs as if the transfer of US$700 million from IMDB into his personal bank account was not in the the public interest.

A slmilar attitude has prevailed over the 2006 murder of the Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu, who worked with Najib on Malaysia's controversial acquisition of two French submarines where kickbacks were allegedly paid.

They are issues that have been largely ignored by the Malay-language press, unless a positive government spin can be added. Similarly when the Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy arrived home before the 2013 election hundreds of thousands of people turned out, blocking the highway that links the cì.ty and the aì.rport for hours.

It was a major story an)'where but went famously ignored by the Khmerlanguage press, which was Iargely rebuilt in the aftermath of war with Western Iargesse.

Cambodia has also been dogged by proposed new cyber iaws. The majority were simply based on similar laws ìn the EU, but Article 28 is widely regarded as draconian with prison terms of one to three years for publishing material that damages moral and culturai values.

Quite bizarrely this includes the "v/ritings or pixilatlon that are deemed to display inappropriate activities of persons, copulations between humans or animals, or devalue the moral of family values and pixilation to display domestic vlolence".

The experience with the Khmer-language media is

not dissimilar across the region.

According to a report by released by RSF in early TTIECORRESPONDENT

17

REPORTACE

December, nine out of 10 Khmers have never read a newspaper, hence the government's more relaxed attitude to newspapers, especially the foreignlanguage press. But television reaches 96o/o of all Cambodians and radio 35o/o. The Internet is gaining fast witl-r 39olo.

Strangio said nearly all of Cambodia's locallanguage television channels and radio stations are owned by people either directiy employed by the ruling party, or closely aligned with it - a similar tale to Malaysla, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore and

"But the media freedom environment is patchy and subject to reversal and regression, even in erstwhile democratic contexts such as Indonesia, where foreign journalists have been jaìled recently, or in the Philippines, where journalists are stlll being ki1led," Vatlkiotis said. K

More of the sqme in Chino

Rnlnei.

"Aside from thrs, the authonttes control Khmerlanguage ¡ournalists through indirect means: through bribes, threats (generally anonymous), peer pressure, and, on occasion, legal prosecutions on charges of defamation, disinformation, or lncitement," he said.

Even environmenlol reporfers work in horm's woy Southeast Asia was also recentiy singled out by RSF as among the most dangerous places in the world for environmental reporters. Ironrcally it was the region's better perlormers Indonesia, the Philippines and Cambodia who made the top five. Cambodia was worst with íour oí i0 murciers woriciwicie, so far, linked to environmental reporlage.

"The violerrc¿ agairrsL Llrcsc wurrrerr arrcl rrrerL wlrcr investigate in the field, often alone, has reached an unprecedented level in 2015," RSF SecretaryGeneral Chrisrophe DeloÌre sald.

Hc

r,vas

rcfcrring to cnvironmcntal rcportcrs

where larrd-grabbirrg is a lundarrrenLal issue,

particularly among Southeast Asia's rural classes, and is often cloaked in legalese and 'national inierests'. Their plight made headlines ahead of C.OPZI ìn Paris. "ln the COP2f era, we need to realise that the highly sensitive nature of thÌs subject only too often causes grave problems for those trying to shed light on pollrrtìon and other forms of envlronmenial degradation," Deloire said.

There is a brighter side with lnternet publications filling the void created by the mainstream media which ignores the serious and sensitive news like politics. Nor ls there a shortage ol journalists whether foreign correspondents or local teporters -

prepared to step into the breach.

Michael Vatikiotis, Asia regional director for the conflrct resolution organisation Cenlre l-or Humanitarian Dialogue. was more opt imistic, sayìng journalism had made great progress developing a regional voice with the growth of local newspapers, magazines and news web portals.

"There has been an impressive development of EnglishJanguage media to enable cross-border access to news and views," he said.

18

THE CORRESPONDENT

ChÌna uses the full gamut of official and unofficial means to punish journalists: the courts, physical harassment, refusing to rene\M and issue visas and more recently lambasting repor[ers through state-controlled media outlets, Tn Novemher,l 'Ohs' correspondent Llrsula Gauthier \Mas the subject of two inflammarory edÌtorials in the Global Times, attacking her by name. This state-conrolled paper then allowed thousands ofaggressive and personal attacks

on the reporter (including death threars) ro be posted in the comments section of its website.

This was followed by an editorialinthe China

Daily, and an aggressive campaign agairrst Gauthier on several websites liuked to Llie military where her photograph and address were published. She was also summoned to the

Foreign Ministry where officials forcefully, but unsuccessfull¡ sought an admission that hcr alticle had been wlrrng.

Clemency appeals from around the world over the five-year prison sentence onTI-yearo1d journalist Gao Yu appears to have had some impact. Just after the Be¡ing High Corrrt on November 26 upheld a guilty verdlct against Gao for leaking so-called state secrets to foreign media, charges tltal are without foundation, she was released on the grounris of her cleteriorating health.

Gao, who was detained in April 2014, is a journalist who has written about politics, social and economic issues for both domestic and foreign media.

Whlle harassment and beatings by police and official thugs are common, for the past few years, China has used delays in the renewal of visas as a brg strck.

China has used the tactic of delayrng the renewal of visas for journalists and their news organisations on many occasions. Sometimes the issuance of visas is blocked completely and there appears to be no right of appeai.

CLUB SURVEY

Whqt the Club is... qnd whqt ยกr should be Th. FCC's survey ol members, promised at I the AGM in 2015 when Neil Western became president, was well supported with a response rate of 35.8o/o, which in the world of surveys is a significantly high rate. The full survey questions and responses can be seen in the members area of the FCC's website.

"We are very pleased about the high response rate," \Mestern said. "lt will enable us to get a real sense of how the membership is thinking about issues facing the Club, negative areas the Board can address, as well as responding to the many positive suggestions.

"We made every effort to design questions that covered all aspects of Club life."

The results of the survey will inform Club activities and policies for some time [o come. And even though the adage the elections/policies/surveys are dominated by "those who show up" is true, if you didn't join the survey all is not lost; you can stรฌll get your ideas across through the committees or by emailing the Board.

There were 2,L62 total respondents of which 776 gave detailed responses. Of the respondents,62.02o/o were Assoclate members - as you would expect.

Correspondent members ยกMere next at L9.l2o/o and Journalis ts 12 .53o/o . Some 4 .2o/o of Corporate

members responded, while 0.78olo were Diplomatic and 1.29o/o Honorary Each question in the survey had spaces for comments. Members were nol backwards in coming forwards with a signlficanl number of comments with each question. The Board is carefully analysing the comments and will report back to the membership at

alater dare.

Who uses the Club, where It is not surprising that most respondents (about 68o/o) are significant users of the Club each month.

Nearly all of them go to the Main Bar (96%) at some time, while the Dining Room and Bert's are the next most popular. And it is not all drinking and eating, with 20% of respondents using the gym regularlir There are a soh.d core of members who go to the Main Bar dally (4.26'/.). However, the majority of respondents (almost 60o/o) go there regularl;i Partly due to the number of speakers' lunches and dinners as well as Club and private functions, most of the respondents (66.8%) only use the Main Dlning Room sometimes. About I0o/o are regular users.

Bert's, the home of Jazz at the FCC, has a solid core of regular users (about 20%). When there are guest performers the numbers spike, particularly for

THECORRESPONDENT

19

CLUB SURVEY

Q28: Do you read The Gorrespondent print edition?

Answered:774 Sk¡ppêd:0 Commenls:39

Alw¡y8

Regularb/

Sometlmeg

I i

Rârelytlever

0% 10% ?0% 3096 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

special Saturday night shows. On Tiresday nighr the numbers are lean, but up for Thursday and Friday nights, so mosl respondents (53.52'Ð take in the music sometimes. Ho\Ã'eYer, some 260/o never or

rarely go.

Mqin Bor: Now on to the all-important food quality In the Main Bar some 7\o/o find the food good or excellent; 14.34o/o find it satisfactory; and 7.620/" of responclents think the food neecls improrrement.

In terms of drink, the vasr majority (9L71'/.) find Main Bar drinks either good or excellent, while 6 .59o/o [índ them satisfactory and some 2o/o find there is room for improvement.

The overall ambience of the Bar is rated hlghly Some 95.5olo find jt excellent or goorJ, hut 0 78% think there is room for improvement. Again service is also rated highly: Sorne 4Io/o find it excellent; 4lo/o good;11o/o satisfactory; and 6.59% need for

improvement.

Moin Dining Room: Most people seem to enjoy their food in the Dining Room: some 24ok find it excellent; 54o/o good;15.5% satlsfactory; and there's room for improvement lor 6.2o/o.

In ierms of drink - primarily wine - the ratings are generally high: some 30olo find it excellent; 58olo good; llolo satisfactory; and improvement needed for 0.78o/o.

Generally, most people (89%) find the Dining Room ambience to be good or excellent. Some 2o/o - who must have been having abad day - thought there was room for improvement. Service in the Dining Room again has high ratings: some 41% find it excellent; 44o/o good; 10o/o satisfact ory , and 5o/o needs improvement.

20

THE CORRESPONDENT

90%

100%

Berl's: A majority of folk like the overall atmosphere in Bertrs: some 30% find rt excellent; 52ulo good;

i5% satisfactory; and ortly 3.49o/o th'rnk it needs improvement. The entertainment value of Bert's is rated highly: somc 74oÉ think it ls cxccllcnt; 52o/o good;19olo satisfactory; and 4% want to see improvements. Of course, the level of service gets a gold star, with 82.8i% findìng it good or excellent.

Hou¡ever, Bert's is the least hkely area that mcmbcrs wlll go for dining (47'/"), followed by the Dining room (37o/o) and the Main Bar (160/.).

Speokers: Speaker events are usually well attended and are often sell-outs. At most lunch events there are a finite number of seats which limits the nr.rmhers who can attend. Overall, some 52.360/o go sometimes; 13.44o/o regularly; and 33.2o/o rarely or not at all. Most who attend find the speakers of hÌgh quality in general: 23o/o ftnd them excellent, good 54o/o;need to improve +.I3o/o.

There were a wide range of speakers people like to see. In order of preference: authors of books on current events, politicians from elsewhere in Asia, celebrities, economists/financiers, and Hong Kong politicians.

Most respondents prefer to attend speaker events at lunchtime; followed by early evening; almost a tie for clinner and breakfast; and very few for Saturday morning.

The Correspondent: Digital fallout reaches The Correspondent from time [o time as some argue that we don't really need an expensive magazine when we can pui it online. However, the demand for a magazine remains very strong, with some 30.620/0 of respondents always reading it: regularly; 27 .52o/o,

CLUB SURVEY

sometimes 3L.79o/o; and rarely f 0.08%.

Not surprisingly given little promotion, few read the C o r r esp o n dent online.

Website: At the moment, less than 1% go [o the FCC's website daily; about 25o/o look at it monthly; while the majority (64o/o) rarcIy or never go to the website.

That's all about to change. Early in the new year, the redesigned website will be launched. Ir will not

only look better with easier navigation, but it wili offer online booking for Club evenrs - which will be a real boon when popular speakers or events come around.

Sport: Sport on TV screens in the Main Bar - either with or without sound - has vociferous opponents and equally vociferous proponents. Unless, of course, it's World Cup rugby or football when there is hardly room to stand around the Bar. Of the respondents, some 47o/o support sport in the Main Bar, whìle 53% don't.

Chority boll: This question Ìs moot, since the FCC Charity Ball does not exist anymore. Organisers of future charity events take note: in the past,82o/o went rarely or never; 15% went sometimes; and 3o/"

went always.

Humqn Rights Press Awqrds: The annual Human Rights Press Awards - now in its 20th edition - is something most people take notice of. However, some 18% of respondents somehow missed the prize-winning photos on the Wall; numerous Correspondenf stories; posters and notices; the Awards' lunch; headline guest speakers; and stories

in the

press.

Needless to say,82o/o aÍe aware that human rights issues are important to all of us.

On the Woll: One of the long-running features of the Main Bar has been photographic exhibitions by members and a few non-members. The back wall of the Bar is called the Van Es Wall, named after the legendary Vietnam War photographer Hugh Van Es in acknowledgement of his drive to organìse the exhibitions in the first place.

Some 44o/o of respondents rate the exhibitions excellent; 43o/o good; l0% satisfactory; and 3olo think the exhibitions aren't good enough.

Club emqils: Some people like them while some delete them, but if you want to be up to date on what's happening in the Club you should read them.

The kind of informatj.on respondents want to receive by email are, in order of preference: speakers and other events; F&B promotì.ons; Cì.ub statements;

weekly activities round-up; and communications on Club policies.

Slqlislics: Some male members periodically come up with ideas to increase the number of female members. Unfortunately, nearly all are unprintable.

The reality j.s some 70.54o/o of members are male and, obviously, the rest are femaie. And the membership is ageing: the 45-54 group is the biggest (33.59"/o) , followed l:y 55-65 (25.06'/.);35-44 (16.80/0); over 65 (16.67'/.), and under 35 (7.88o/.).

Most respondents have been members of the Club for l-5 years (35.79o/o); 5-10 years (2L37o/o), 10-20 years (27 .l3o/o); and 20-30 years 5 .07 o/o . lß

Q30: How often do you visit the FCC website?

Answêred:774 Skipped;0 D¡¡ly

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THE CORRESPONDENT

21

DOCUM ENTARY

Reporting Chinq: I the'Go-G o Yeqrs

By Jonathan Sharp

I

lmost all loreign correspondenLs who have as being exciting, maybe life changing. This certainly seemed to be the case for China-based reporters in the early years of the 21st century, as Mike Chinoy recounts in the latest of his magisterial clocrtmentary serìes on how the American press has covered China.

It was a hlgh-energy time to be a reporter in Chi.na as it entered the new millennium. Whether as a correspondent focusing on polì.tical, economic, environmental or human rights issues or * as many foreign correspondents were tasked to do attempting to do everything at the same time, there was a sometimes overwhelming array of stories on offer. As one of the stellar cast of Amertcan correspondents interviewed by Mike Chinoy for his new documentary says, on one day you could be doing a story about a dissident complaining about repression, and the next be attending a ribboncutting ceremony at the world's biggest airport.

The documentar¡ the ninth ln the l2-part series "Assignment China" and presented by Chinoy

la,covered China recali their experience

22

THE CORRESPONDENT

at the FCC on November 9, covers the first six or seven years of the 2lst centuп At that time, China's economy was explocling in size, Be¡ìng joined the World Tiade Organisation and also won the right to host the Olympics. At the same time, China experienced a measure of social reform as the lnternet emerged. However there was a growing gap between winners and losers both on the economic and social fronts, giving rise to heightened tenslons.

It was a time of baffling change as much for ChÍnese as for the foreign press corps. Importantly for the latter, however, many of the restrictions imposed in the wake of the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989 had been eased.

"In many ways it was a kincl of an exciLing gt-r-gu period, particularly when you compare it to today," said Chino¡ who was CNN's man in Beijing from l9B7-L995 and has produced his series for the US-China Institute at the University of Southern Cali.fornia.

Those he interviewed include names familiar to FCC members Ìncluding reporlers for the New Yorh

DOCU M ENTARY

Times, the Washington Post and rhe Wall Street lournal.

But they also include names that are maybe less well

known here, including the New Yorher's Peter Hessler, whose articles - and books - about the reality of grassroots life in China are a riveting revelation, especially to those of us based in an earlier China when a great wall was erected to prevent us from seeing what was really going on.

At his FCC presentation, Chinoy said the best way ro describe China was as aparadox within a paradox. "It's a system where people probably have more personal freedom in the past 10 years, certainly since the Communlst revolution. It's also a system where the Chinese Nobel Peace Prize winner is languishing in jail. It's also a system where a significant number of people's lives are better than they have ever been."

He said reporting in China could be a nightmare, as correspondents were forced to compress complex topics into a few hundred words. lt was "trying to explain to your employer something that has got layers and layers of complexity".

In some ways China has become more transparent because it is more integrated into the ìnternational econom)¿ It can't cover things up as it used to. But there are countervailing pressures, he said. For example, this past summer a prominent Chinese journalist was arrested for writing material that contributed to negative sentiment on the Chinese stock markets. "The trend now is towards much tighter control in a lot of areas than we've seen in recent years. But it's very hard to generalÌse."

Reflecting the problems that reporters face in many parts of the world, Chinoy added dryly: "l'm kind of glad I am not a journalist any more trying to make sense of

it on

a daily basis

in a two-minute TV spot."

Hocks' low cunning China may have become more open and outgoing in the early years of the 21st century, but there was one important episode - the SARS crisis ol 2002-03 where Beijing tried, and failed, to keep the tried-andtrusted lld of secrecy on. In Chi.noy's documentary, China-based correspondent Hannah Beech (daughter of renowned foreign correspondent Keyes Beech, whom FCC members of a certain age will remember) recounted how she managed to penetrate the veil of secrecy by entering a hospital treatìng SARS patlents by representing herself as a member of a visiting World Health Organisation group.

Responding to a questioner about the ethics of journalists mis-representing themselves in order to get a story, Chinoy replied: "It's a tough call because you don't want to be dishonest if you can avoid ir.

But there's a certain kind of low cunning in getting the story that is part of the traditional toolkit of jou rnalists. "

Recalling his own "mis-representation" episode, Chinoy said that while trying to cover a coup rn Bangladesh in the mÌd-1970s, he managed to enter the country by attaching himseif to a group of Christian missionaries who were travelling there, pretending he was an acolyte. The missionaries played along with the ruse and whenever Chinoy's presence was questloned by officials, they said: "He's one of us."

On the wider subject, Chinoy commented: "If there is a huge story unfolding around you, your responsibility to your readers is to find ways to get it." If there is a war on and you need to get to where the fighting is, and you can't go by saying yolr aÍe a journalist, then go by sapng you are a backpacker.

'Just get the story" "I do think in Chi.na it does raise risks when the authorities - and increasingly so now - are lìkely to retaliate if people do misrepresent themselves," he added. But he said one of the enduring themes of his series is the endless battle that correspondents wage with Chinese authorities to get around the system.

"Otherwise you sit in your hotel room, look out the window, and rewrite what's j.n rhe People's Daiþ. It\ a very unsatisfactory way to cover China."

Tribute lo lhe reol heroes In the docum enÍaty, former N ew Yorh Times Beljrng bureau chiefJoseph Kahn recounted the ordeal of Times'researcher ZhaoYan,jailed for three years in 2004 for allegedly revealing state secrets. As Chinoy said, the episode raises the vexed issue of the dangers faced by Chinese citizens who work for foreign reporters.

"I think the news assistants are the unsung heroes of the news bureaux, because they do a 1ot of the really critical legwork, figuring out what is going on, steering you in the right direction, often conducting interviews, particularly for those journalists and correspondents whose Chinese is not that great.

And they take tremendous risks. They come under tremendous pressure from the authorities."

But he didn't think any news organisation could put in place anything that could protect a Chinese citizen from what the state wanted to do. AIL one can do is not to pressure people into doing anything without them being made aware of the risks. But many of the assistants are idealistic people, sharing the values of their Western employers. "Their idea of journalism is the New Yorh Times, and not the People\ Daily."

The first nine episodes of "Assignment China" are available on the Internei. Further instalments include "Fo11ow the Money", how the American media famously covered stories abou[ the wealth acquired by the families of the Chinese leadership. We look forward to Mike Chinoy's early return to the FCC. K THE CORRESPONDENT

23

MEDIA

Hunting with Eqgles Award-winning Australian

has ,u* spent years documenting the last i' photographer Palani Mohan

"

of the ethnic Kazakh eagle hunters in the harsh mountain wilderness

of western Mongolia. His book, Hunting with Eagles: In the Real

of the Mongolian Kazakhs, is

a

b;;-

stunning compilatiott of powerful images that capture these proud men, their magnificent eagles and the harshness of the beautiful, barren landscape they call home

f

mages from the book were exhibited on the wall the Main Bar in November and attracted a lot

.]of

of attention and admiration for Mohan's skill and dedication in documenting this unique culture that is now under threat of extinctlon. Mohan says only 60 eagle hunters remain, and he fears that the ancien[ tradition could disappear within the next 20 years.

The Altai Kazakhs are unique in their tradition

of using golden eagles to hunt on horseback. The special bond between a hunter, known inKazakh as a burtkitshis, and his eagle begins when the hunter takes an eagle pup from its nest high upon a towering rock face. A golden eagle can live to 30 years of age and the pups are usually about four years o1d when captured. The hunters take only female pups from the nest, as the females are larger and more aggressive than the males. An adult female golden eagle can have a wingspan of up to 24

THECORRESPONDENT

MEDIA

q

nine feet, and weigh over 15 pounds.

The pup is given pride of place in the family home and is regarded as part of the family then as trust develops so does training. Whlle all the men in the home handle the eagle only the hunter that took her from the nest hunts with her.

Hunting takes place in the long cold winters, in temperatures that can drop to minus 40 degrees Celsius. The hunters and eagles ride deep into the mountains to hunt foxes, an ancient tradition that began over 1,000 years ago. These hunting trips last

many days, strengthening the bond between hunter and eagle. This bond typically lasts six to eight years, untii the eagle is released back into the wild to breed. This ensures the survival of the species and the eagle lives out the rest of its long life free to soar and reĂŹgn over its high mountain home.

The lifestyle of the burtkitshis is now changing rapidly as younger generations move away from thelr family homes and harsh mountains to live and work the city In this book, which comprises an introductory THECORRESPONDENT 2'

MEDIA

essay and 90 dramatic duotone images, Mohan explains how the burkitshis are slowing dying

out. Rather than endure the brutal winters, their children choose to move to the capital, Ulan Bator, for a better way of life. 'l'here are also fewer golden eagles in the Altai Mountains.

Although the 'Golden Eagle Festival' takes place every October to showcase the ancient art of hunting with eagles, attracting tourists from across the world, there are fewer and fewer'true'hunters

left each year. Mohan's book is record of these proud men and eagles in a remote, unforgiving Palani Mohan's booh "Hunting with Eagles: In the Realm oJ the Mongolian Kazahhs" is avaĂ­lable now Jrom Merrell Publishers. You can also see more of Mohan's worh onhĂ­s website.

26

THECORRESPONDENT

F&B

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õ

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LText

lime you feel the urge to try something andãecide to flick"througn ù. h.g.îr,d unwieldy FCC wine menu, you may notice major wine producing nations are well represented. But one country only makes a guest appearance, in one style -

l\ r,"*

German riesling.

This narrow view of that nation's centuriesold wine making tradition could well change in 2016, thanks to the united elforts of the FCC wine committee, FCC members and German government marketing, if Cammy Yiu, FCC wine committee chairwoman, can bring about that change.

Earlier this year, Wines of Germany invited Yiu to visit two of their wine regions. Apart from being tremendously impressed by the quality of its wine, she was stunned by another discovery - finding out the nation is number three in the world for pinot noir production. "l was so shocked, I didn't even know Germans made red wine," Yiu says.

"I said this is a revelation to me. Maybe it's called something else rn Germany? They told me it's called 'spatburgunder', and I said - no wonder no-one's ever heard of it - you can't even pronounce spatburgunder!

Everyone knows how to pronounce riesling!"

"I[ was exactly the same reaction when I told the wine committee we were going to have an introductlon [o ihe wines of Germany and they said'Oh there's only so much riesling I can drink Cammy!' I had to persuade them!" says Yiu, who sees the committee's role as one of educating around 2,500 members, covering all bases from quaffable to prestige wines and of course, making sure wine sales contribute to the Club's bottom line.

Taking advantage of the annual

Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Fair

in early November, 2015, Yiu invited project manager for the national Deutsches Weininstitut Manuela Liebchen together with Hong Kong-based winemaker and consultant Tersina Shieh to share their knowledge and expertise with the wine committee. The seminar viewed a cross-section of Germany's current production from sparkling, or sekt as it's known in Germany, to 14 red and white wines from five regions: Nahe, Pfalz, Rheinhessen, Mosel and RheÌngau.

For Yiu, growing the wine committee's knowledge ultimately means members gettj.ng a more diverse and enjoyable selection of wines.

"In the past few years we have formed commÌttee sub-groups that focus on beer and spirits and we have a sub-group that looks intensively at what we would call premium wines, things that would seil in the Club for over $HK800 a bottle. Then we have the generai committee who look at our iop selling wrnes - the Correspondents' Choice and Publishers' Choice - which are the Club favourites.

"It's our duty to make sure we have a good red and a white, at a good price, which is very drinkable, so you can come in and say, 'l'11 have a Correspondents' Choice' and know you're getting value for money Contínued on page jB

THE CORRESPONDENT

)1

SPEAKERS

Whqt they sq¡d... _..-

Eì Sun

Oh with Keith Bradsher:

Chollenges in 5outh Chino Seo China's island building activity in the South China Sea in 2015 has launched a deep debate, sometimes li-;^i-.^ ^-.^- --,L^ ^^-r-^l^-^ U1 ^f 'L^ LLIL -,,^-l,l'VVUIIUJ tr-,,-i^-r UUJTLJL UVç1 VVlIU LUIILIVlÞ VLIL UIVISIVC.

shipping lanes, according to Ei Sun L)h, Senior Fel1ou., S. Ra¡aratnam School of International Stuciies, Nanyang Têchnological University, Singapore, at an FCC breakfast on December 15.

While the US and China have sparred publicl¡ Sontheast Asjan natìons are also eqrrally djvided over who should control the seas on their doorstep. Can a block of disparate Southeast Asian natÌons take a

ancl ChirLa, were iockecl irr cliscussiorr 32 years ago over the future of Hong Kong,

said Henry Litton, former permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal, at an FCC lunch on December 2. This eventually resulted in the Sino-British jornt Deciaration, which guaranteeci the continuation of the common law system for 50 years as from-[u1y I 1997.

Thìs had undcrpinncd Hong Kong's prosperity since that time. Yet, 32 years from now would see us pastJune 30 2047,so discussions had to start again, fairly soon, over the future of Hong Kong.

This time Hong Kong would be on its own, without Britain arguing for the continuation of its system and lifestyle.

Litton wantecl to know whether the judiciary is sleepwalkingtowards 2047 LÌtton was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1970 and co-founded the HongKongLaw Journal, serving as its .

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tlar from It) lL-ß) l/. He was elevatecl [o the (-or.rrt of Appcal irL 1992, thc lirsl sr-tch a¡'pointnìi]rìt irì Horìg Kong. Litton became vice-president of the Court of Appeal in 1995 and a Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal in L997 when China resumecl its sovereìgnfy over Hong Kong. tt

unÌtcd stand?

Ei Sun was previously administrative officer at the International Têlecommunication Union, as well as sclentific and legal consultant to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aflairs.

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The speaker was arranged by the Hong Kong

Democratic Foundation (www. hkdl.org).

Fulure of Hong Kong's iudiciol sysiem Two sovereign

nations, Brltain

Litton: future of Hong Kong's ludicial system.

28

THE CORRESPONDENT

Zheng, centre: Maritime Silk Road.

Guongdong's pilot free-lrcde zone China's "One Belt and One Road Initiative" had emerged as one of the country's top trade and diplomatic initiatives, and Guangdong province was parl of it, said ZhengJtanrong, director general, General Affairs Office of China (Guangdong) Pilot

¡,

SPEAKERS

Free Tiade Zone, aL an FCC lunch on December 1.

He said the management of the Guangdong Pilot Free

Tiade Zone was building an important hub for the

2lst Century MarÌtime Silk Road,while cultivating an investment and trade environment that was in line with international standards. He also said he was looking for businesses from China and abroad that wanted to participate in the project.

Zheng previously worked in the Department of Finance of Jiangxi Province, and in the Department of Foreign Tiade and Economic Cooperation of Guangdong province, in charge of finance and foreign trade affairs. He was the leader of the group responsible for the application, planning and establÌshment of the free-ïrade zone.

delivered to China, so a sudden halt in construction had geopol itical ramifications.

The film placed the Myitsone Dam Ìn the contexl of the Kachin insurgency, which had continued for more than five decades as all sides had struggled to control the region's rich resources. Over the course of four years, a team of local journalists lived with villagers displaced by the dam project, followed dam protesters, and interviewed key players: local politlcians, lnsurgent leaders, independent observers, and those behind the delayed Myitsone Dam pro¡ect.

All of this takes place at a time of significant political and societal change in Myanmar that saw Aung San Suu Kyi triumph in the general election in mid-November. Could a ceasefire transition into a more permanent peace deal, and would the Myitsone Dam project be restarted following the election?

What was the future for Kachin State and Myanmar?

The film's producer Andy Limond discussed these questions after the screening.

Revolutionising design with 3D prinling Jeremy Cheng, managing director at 3D Forge, provided a g1ìmpse into the current state of 3D printlng, the problems it solves and also the challenges and limj.tations of this new technology at an evening talk on November 3. He talked about how this technology is revolutionising the entÌre design industry A live demonstration was staged at

end of the presentat-ion.

3D Forge is a Hong Kong based international digital fabrication consultancy and 3D printer distributor. Cheng has over 1B years in entrepreneurship, client services, lT operations, talent acquisition, and project management in both the US and China. Before 3D Forge, he founded a few technology and startup accelerator companies in the US with a successful track record. K Lhe

Doms, drugs ond democrocy The film "Dams, Drugs 6r Democracy: The Struggle for Resources in Kachin State, Myanmar", which was screened at the FCC on November 18, foliowed a plan to dam the lrrawaddy River at its source in Myitsone, in Kachj.n State, northern Myanmar, and all its ensuing consequences. Local viilagers had been forcibly relocated, disrupting their traditional way of life.

The impact on downstream areas ìn the rest of the country was potentially enormous, prompting

€ O O

popular protest. Most of the electricity from this gigantic hydropower project was supposed to be

Cheng, right:new challenges

TLECORRESPONDENT 29

ON TH E WALL

Blqzing Shqdows - A World of Blqck & Light Photogrophs by Bosil Pqo Poo's Blozing Shodows - AWorld of Blqck & Lighl, is o glowing lribute to chioroscuro, lhe oreo lhol Dorkness ønd Lighl, between our own unconscious ond lhe conscience of humon beings, the moment we oll experience iust before lhe sun rises in the sky.

'Shodow, in the sense of dorkness, is the beginning of everything. lt hos o mysterious noture thol hos olwoys symbolised our most profound Self in vorious forms of figurotive expression, Shqdow hos olwoys been used lo visuolise the dromos ond enigmos of Mon, representing the porls of our noture thot we ore reluclonl to

Ăžosil

Dexists between

ocknowledge.

Lighf, first ond foremosl, due to its seporofion from dorkness since lhe down of creotion, is otlrocted by the lotfer in seorch of on equilibrium between two very distinct forces. Light is o conscious sensotion ond is one of the fundomentol experiences of life. lts symbolism extending long before lhe coming of monkind."

Vittorio Slororo, New York, September 2Ol Villorio Slororo ond Bosi/ Poo worked logelher on lhe Bernordo Bertolucci films The Lost Emperor ond Little Buddho.

lo

THECORRESPONDENT

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ON THE WALL

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31

BOOK REVIEW

NDED

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PROPtRI\ NhLt) Wl-ltN illlYlf¡(ì NrìWlFtXìt Y¡)lr

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Home sweet home? lessons learned

-

in

noise and inconvenience of the

carrying out a HK$l miiiion renovatÍon of his Pokfulam flat, a conversion of a derelict steam laundry he bought in Wong Chuk Hang, and the

purchase and sale of an office in Sai Ying Pun, Photographs and detailed

breakdowns of costs included

T\o you have a frass problem lJ ir'r'your. I long l(ong homeJ Frass is

-

since you ask

-

termite

excrement, indubitable evidence of the presence of the notoriorrsly destructive pest (shed wings are another giveaway).

Termite infestation in fact may be among the less troublesome of the myriad issues assocìated

with buying, owning, investing in and renovating property in Hong Kong. However, al1 such aspects of the market are amply and highly readably covered in FCC member Chris Dillon's new book "Landed Hong Kong." It is the latest in his comprehensive "Landed" series covering property investment

locall¡ regionally and globally Chris published a first edition of "Landed Hong Kong" in 2008, but the new book is much more lhan amere update. It is nearly three times longer than its predecessor, incorporates a wealth of new material including fasclnating, and sometimes scar¡ insights into the

murky real estate business in the New Territories.

Equally fascinating and informative are the book's three case studies i.n which Chris describes his personal experience - and sometimes expensive 32

THECORRESPONDENT

are helpful in illuminating what went well in

in the studies

these undertakings, and what went less so. There is also an invaluahle chapter spelling orit an extensive checklist for property

buyers.

For would-be entrants into the often fraught exercise of flat

car."

Equaily, while not bei.ng a scaremonger, Chris is certainly not on the other side of the market, namely the developers, their sidekicks, and many others busily promoting sales, sometimes in a

dodgy fashion. "Hong Kong has many persuasive real esrafe agenfs, so I have omitted the sales pitch."

Instead, he devotes a secLion to

the amenities, transport facilities, advantages and drawbacks

renovation, (-.hris inchldes a piece of advice that I can warmly endorse from personal experience: "Move out."

While the plethora of inlormation Chris supplies on how to navigate and, hopefull¡ profit from, a complex, perplexing and often shady market may seem daunting, he stresses he is not trying to deter people from buying propert)¿ Far from it.

That said, the book contains some cautionary tales about, for example, venturing into the New Territories for one's dream home.

He says violence and threats are not uncommon in locai land disputes. He also cites a couple

renovation. Work stopped until the neighbours were paid, the couple also paid a villager several hundred doilars a month ro park their car on government-owned land. "Car owners who refuse to pay have acid poured on their

-

preferring to remain anonymous because they leared repercussions - who bought and renovated a house in the New Terrilories.

The couple were "asked" to pay neighbours tens of thousands of dollars to compensate for the

of

the varions poprrìar residential areas of Hong Kong. Included are

asking prices for properties in the areas, as ol August 201 5.

Speaking of prices, Chris's book appears to have appeared at an ideal time. As interest rates rise, and stupendously high property prices soften, more people could be tempted to consider buying

or trading up from their existing accommodation. However, no matter how much prices fall, such a step represents a major commitment. ln which case, a Ïar smaller commitment - buyrng Chris's book - will stand investors in good stead. And if you do take the piunge, watch out for that frass.JonathanSharp ß l-anclerl Hong l(ong

(.hristophcr l)illon

l)illon (.orn¡nunit:ations I lcl lSlìN : t)71ì-7 I 47-t)-+

ARCHIVES

Greql slories lqnguish untold I from Hong Kong s posl

By Vaudine England

I de-q friend and L \colleague irom a

e..e ANNOTATED BISLIOGMPHY

-

past journaiistic life

-

educated, erudite and well-informed -

Hong Kong History Project

delighted in say'rng: "I hate history!" Why bother with stories of days gone by when so much is happening, rìght now? she asked.

She would only allow tales from the past if they carried direct relevance to the here and now; ì.t was not a bad discipline after all.

So when the idea for a new, revitalised and

Welcome to the websÌte ofthe Hong Kong Hlstory Prcject, The proiect,

hostedatthe University of Bristol, andfunded bythe

Hatton Trust, aims to encourage and facllitate the studyofthe history ofHongKong inthe UK, andto bulld collaborationsw¡th partners ln Hong Kong,specificallyintermsof collaboration between the

Universityof Br¡stol and the Un¡versity of Hong Kong, aswell

as

other

¡nterested HEI and commun¡ty/NGO partners.

i a,ti{'l

freshly funded approach to studyrng Hong Kong's

history came up, it seemed worthwhÌle. Because if there was ever a time when the history of Hong Kong should be looked aL anew, it is now Thanks to funding from the Hatton Tiust, the Hong Kong History Project was established in January 2015. it is based at Bristoi University under Professor Robert Bickers, with a link to HKU's hisrory department, and aims to stimulate new research into many aspects of Hong Kong's under-covered past.

It funds young Hong Kong students' PhDs, and has begun a series of international seminars of experts on Hong Kong to see where the gaps are and where fresh work should be focused.

It also has a website: hkhistorynet, which carries a bibliography on Hong Kong studies, and regular ruminations on aspects ol Hong Kong's past. This is only the beginning. With more funding hoped for, and a growing critical mass of scholars and writers turning their attention to post-Occupy Hong Kong, the project has legs and will run.

Dr Ron Zímrnern of the Hatton Trust said: "Hong Kong is what it is today as a consequence of its history The 100 years since 1850 was a formative period, where many j.ndividuais and families contributed to its success, and one where much

This

initlat¡vewill support @ttingedge research lntothe hlstoryof

Hong Kong, by tunding re*arch studentships, vlsitlng fellowshlpt conferences and workshops, explor¡ng newand under-researched areas in Hong Konghistory-

remains to be researched and discovered."

But why bother with history here, and why now?

Because it is "contested", as academics love to say.

Amid the current battle for hearts and minds, rve are being bombarded with new versions of Hong Kong's hlstory dì.rectly linked to notions of what might or might not be our future.

From the north comes the mantra that Hong Kong "has always been a Chinese city", or is'Just a Chinese city". The tale is of humiliation by rapacious Westerners and the resurgence of Chinese pride through the Communist victory of 1949, culminating in the joyous return of Hong Kong to the motherland. The old-fashioned British narrative wasn't much better. It would have defended the British empire in all its wonders to behold, its allegedly beneficent pursuit of free trade, its brilliant

contributions of justice, faith and charity The problem for post-1945, and particularly for post-1949 Hong Kongers is that there have been few versions of history in the popular imagination that steer a path between these two dead ends.

There is a Hong Kong history, about, by and for Hong Kongers, but it struggles to be heard as old lmperìalisms joust over past humiliations and conquests. It lies in the details of Hong Kong's THECORRESPONDENT 3]

ARCHIVES

the Freemasons lodge. actual lived pasts, its peoples Now it was sanctified by and families, the conflicts and government. Dyr.asties comprom ises of com mun it ies. were beginning to emergc, Cari Smith made a start on this as were divisions, within when he set to work collating the Chinese and Eurasian index cards on every person of communities and, the China coast, not only the perhaps least understood, foreigners but al1 the varied Hong Kong people who made this place within the worid seen : Ì \rtì l1 -l -l -l - rl Lrre ouLsruc a5 LilCil ilUilrC. VVilU aClUalry W(lC UrC 'British'. people of Hong Kong, why and The more one attempts how did they get there, how did they get aheaci, horv circi they ii1's to cieiìne that rvorci, the harder i.t becomes. Sir together? After Carl Smith came Dr Elízaberh Sinn, stil1 the doyen of Paul Chater was simply Hong Kong history and scholars the biggest man around town from the late l9th such as Christopher Munn, Jungfang lsar,John Carroll, lak-wrng and rnto the twentreth Ngo and more. centuп He devised Great sfories langrrish untolrl the Praya Reclamation from our past, and special scheme which created the Central Business District individuals, such as Daniel and then did the same for Caldwell the British interpreter Wanchai (Praya East). Hc w'ho actually marricd his Chincsc love. insteacl ol jursL keeping a co-founclecl Hongkong l"1ody: made the University of Hong kiong a realit¡ Larrcl, the Hongkt-rng concubine; clr Sir Hormusjee Mody, the Parsee milhonaire who and Kowloon Wharf made the University of Hong and Godown Company, Hongkong Electric, theJockey Club, and more. He Kong a reality; or Ng Akew, the "protected" woman who became a property-o\Mning buslnesswoman, was chalrman of the Hong Kong Club and knighted or Emanuel Belilios, the Jewish eccentric who by the Queen. Yet in the 1920s, when Governor Cecil commuted by camel and founded schools for girls.

Clementi was lunching with him, the governor's ADC The list of incredible Hong Kong characters could go Charles Drage (later working for British intelligence) referred to Chater in his diary as "that coloured on and on.

Lots of ordinary people built daily lives of magnate".

The so-called British hong, or trading company, compromise ln neighbourhoods such as Taipingshan Hongkong Land had, for the first full half century of or Shek Tong Tsui that were home to South Asian its existence, no Englishman on its board of directors. seamen and Chinese pìg-traders, to Muslim Malay There was always one Scotsman fromJardines, but traders, Irish policemen and Australian ship pilots.

This was a rich worÌd far more interesting and every other figure - for 50 years - was Parsee, Jewish, Armenian or Eurasian. dj.verse than simple ideas ol a British colony, or a In 1940, the Hong Kong government suddeniy Chinese clty Hong Kong was also a haven for the Philippine independence government in exile under ordered all "British" women and children onto ships Aguinaldo in the 1890s, an inspiration and source of to be evacuated via Manila to Australia. But what funds for republican revolutionary Sun Yat-sen, and about the wives of Portuguese, Eurasian or Chinese would soon save the life of Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh volunteers Ìn the Hong Kong Reglment? Many had British passports, but were somehow not British when France wanted his head in the 1940s. It has iong been the channel between Southeast Asia and enough. Assumptions about colour are not enough China, for people and s'ealth in both directions. to explain this; it u'as about identity in the broadest Leading Eurasian figures and some Chinese had sense, suddenly squeezed into a bureaucratic joined the motley mix of Baghdadi Jews, Scots, straitjacket. This, incidentally, is the subject chosen Bombay Parsees, English and Irish and Calcuttan by the first Hong Kong History Project beneficiary in traders in the highesi councils of government as Bristol, Vivian Kong.

When Hong Kong faced the Japanese invasion in well as tradeby the early 20th century After Ng Choy came names such as Robert Kotewall, Lo World War fwo, Eurasian, Chinese, and Portuguese Man-wai and Shouson Chow. The mixing had volunteers fought heroically for Hong Kong. They been there from the start in trade, in sport and at saw their own communities divided between those

34

THECORRESPONDENT

ARCHIVES

who fled to Free China in Chungking as resistance fighters, and those who stayed in Hong Kong to later face charges of collaboration for leading Chinese community relatj.ons with the occupying Japanese

power. Names such as Kotewall and Chow were later exonerated by the British, who stressed they had asked their local colleagues to deal with the Japanese for the benefit of occupied Hong Kong. British colony though it was, people of many races and nationalities chose to fight and died for ir. Brirain for all its faults did leave behind a more open society; arguably,

to China and beyond. World trade linked those adventurers to Chinese intermediaries, in Canton and other coastal centres. A couple of decades later, more respectable Chinese come to Hong Kong to get a life in this polyglol town. They came to escape unrest and distress on the mainland. They still do.

Then, the Free Port, and the lreedom to live relatively untrammelled lives in more secure surroundings was ke;r They came because Hong , Kong was not China.

Fast forward to the 1980s-90s, which the writer/ investigator Stacy Mosher called that "golden period lrom recent evenLs, this is more when Hong Kong was no revolutlonary, its impacts only longer a colony and no[ yet an beginning to mature.

SAR - when it was a 'territory' So was the colonial era all in which the native-born had Surely the completely bad? recently become the ma.lority, verdict is mixed. (Its postal and had come to think of boxes are rather cute too.) ls themselves first and foremost Hong Kong just a Chinese city? Paul Chaten centre, at HappyValley racecourse. as 'Hong Kong people'."

Not exactly that either.

That's when a 1ot of Hong So here's another version Kong parents were getting together to start having of our history: this place became a city because loreigners came, along the trading routes linking some of the children who are now winning district Europe, Eurasia, east Africa, the Malabar coast, council seats under a yellow umbrella.

Now say history doesn't matter. lK through the spaghetti junction of Southeast Asia,

Fqrewell Hoi

Lo

continued from page 40

piles of applications, it was she who tirelessly sorted them out. Always supportive, she was a tower of strength, especially during the last days of my dear friend and former President Diane Stormont's life and afterward. She always knew what to say and do and instinctively took care of everything, usually without being asked. She will be a hard act to follow.

Doug Wong (2012-2013). My job, Bernard Woolley told Jim Hacker when asked whose side he was on when the chips are down, is'to see the chips stay up'. One of the privileges and pleasures of being on the Board was to work with and get to know Hoi-Lo, who always kept the FCC chlps up. Her kind advice was always very much apprecìated, and will be very much missed.

Toro Joseph (2O13-2Ol4l, From the moment I met Hoi-Lo j.t was clear that she was calm, capable and entirely professional. Serving as president of the Club can throw up all types of challenges, many of them

new and unusual to a working journalist. Working through onerous staff and legal issues was always a breeze working with Hoi-Lo. I have long admired her tenaclty and ability to keep calm under pressure. I wlll miss her very much.

Neil Western (2015-t ó). I was aghast when Hoi-Lo broke the news to me lhat she was leaving. She is a pillar of strength in the office on whom we have come to rely. She is as adroit at dealing with new faces on the ever-changing Board as she is at handling the fine print of our amended Articles of AssocÌation.

A stickler for process that every CIub needs, she has served as an indispensable guide and ensured the smooth-running ol the office.

This year, she helped us hold a successful EGM as we dealt hurriedly with new company rules on the process - inciuding printing and then reprinting forms just hours before the event to make sure we complied with best practice. I thank her for her loyal and dedicated service. Hoi-Lo, you will be missed. IK THECORRESPONDENT J5

OBITUARY

Gopi Gopqlqn r esleemed iournqlist, greot mqlê, kind soul

By Steven Knipp

expect this prolile to be f)on't l-a'àn unulascu SKeLcn aDout the esteemed editor and beloved

journalist Gopi Gopalan, who passed away on November 12, age 80.

It's just not possible for me to pose as a dispassionate reporter when writÌng about Gopi, as he was one of my best frÌends for so many years that I literally can't remember exactiy when we first met, But to girre you an idea of how long ago this was, Gopi was wearing a safari suit.

Like police officers, most j ournalists, especially highly seasoned ones, tend to be a cprical lot. It's the nature of our

work.

BuL whaL rrrade Gopi virLually

unique was that there was not a single cprical bone in his body. ln all the time I knew him, during countless Club lunches, and dinners, and editorial meetings, and late night sessions at the Main

llluslrious cqreer The old saying "an illusLrious career" sounds a cliché; but in Gopi's case it was merely the simple truth.

In the late 1Ç50s, Gopi u'orked in New Delhi as a telephone operator in the Czechoslovakian Embassy, while studying for a diploma in journalism. He later joined the New Delhi-based lndia Press Agency

Then ìn 1960, his life would change furever, afLer a cousin Lold him there were job opportunities

in Hong Kong. So Gopi left for the then-British colony, where he was soon recruited by Dick Wilson, editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review

-

beginning as a

Bar, I never heard him utter a bad word about anyone. Ever.

Yes, he had the instinctive

production editor, and eventually moving up to be one of Review\

ire about global injustices, and

In L964 Gopi left the Review for AsiaMagazine, a vivid weekly colour magazine which circulated with the Honghong Standard and other leading dailies ail across Asia. His colleagues, who became lifeiong friends, included notecl Filìpìno journalìst Juan Gatbonton, Sri Lankan Gerald Delilkhan, and the Filipino couple Bert and Blanche Gallardo. As Viswa Nathan noted, "making friends was Gopi's shining

life's unfairness which comes naturally to all good journalists.

But he never let that impact his personaliqz He was genuinely a kind heart and gentle sou1. Or, as his fellow editor Bill Cranfield recently saìcì, Gopi was truly "one of Nature's gentlemen".

Born in a small village called Pulluvazhy ("grass path") near Kochi, in India's Kerala state - Gopi's father was an affluent Iandowner. Despite this, his older brother and brother-inlaw were com miLLed Communist 36

Party politicians, active ìn Kerala poiiiics. Âncì ihey weren'L paperonly commies either; they actually gave alot of the family land away.

Which, obviously, did not go over at all well with Gopi's father.

THECoRRESPoNDENT

assistant editors.

quality".

Gopi then moved to The Asian, a newly launched weekend

broadsheet edited by the noted Sri Lankan,journalist Tarzi Vittachi, and funded by Filìpino media baron Eugenio M. López, Jr. But u'hen President l\4arcos brought marlial law to the Philippines in 197'2, he 1alled Lopez along with others, and shut down opposition newspapers, including The Asían.

From there Gopi moved to the Manila-based Press Foundation of Asia, where he worked from 1973 until reLurning Lo Hong Kong in 1979 to work forAsíaweeh,which had been founded by the Keralan

journalist ÎJ.S. George.

Three years later Gopi left Asiqweeh, teamìng up with Viswa Nathan, to launch a new monthly j ournal, Hong Kong Business, published by CommunicaLion Management, publishers oî Hong KongTatler.

Gopi began al, HKB as associate editor, and eventually became editor, a post he proudly held for two decades. Most recently he was editor of a lively trade publication called F ruít €"' Veg World.

Getting back to when i first met Gopi. My earliest memory was when he had become managing editor of HongKongBusiness. He was decked out in a dapper safari suit and so had thì.s Hindu-esque Wi[[iam Holden aura going on.

Having just become Tatler editor myself, I went over to his office

OBITUARY

to introduce myself. This being the pre-lnternet days, Gopi had immense piles of newspaper clippings ever)'where.

We quickly became fast friends and I found him to be the hardest working editor I'd ever met. I also came [o know his lovely wife Prasanna, and their three beautiful little girls - Dir,ya, Nisha, and Priya, who have since grown up to be lovely ladies, two of whom are now noted journalists.

Gopi's warmth, his kindness, his unfailing jolly sense of humour, and his deep knowledge of both Asian politics and publishing, gained him countless journalist

lriends, which no doubt accounted for the fact that he was always able to convince some of Hong Kong's best freelancers, including Mark Graham, Robin Lynam and Stuart WoLfendale, to

regularly contribute to HKB; this despìte editorial fees that were, shall we say, Dickensianly frugal.

Perhaps Gopi's only flaw was

that, as mentioned, he always worked too damn hard, often toiling behind his cluttered desk long after everyone else had left for home. In those bad old days, the term "life/work" balance was

not even a concept.

Tö try and help with the social side of the balance, I and fellow editor Nigel Armstrong insisted that Gopi get out from under his desk and sample what was then a thriving 7pm cocktail hour, hosted by the city's best hotels, as

well

as

upcoming companies keen

to meet the local media. All the pretty public relations girls came to love Gopi, for the same reasons that everyone else did. And soon enough he had more press inrnLes than both Nigel and I ever got, at the Tatler. Legend has it that during the whole of the 1990s Gopi never needed to buy a single neck-tie, because he'd been given so many lreebies - his favourite being a silken beauty from friends at Lufthansa.

It was about this time, due

to the obvious fondness and genuine respect Lhat Copi got from everyone, that I began to call him, "Don Gopalan," a title

which made hì.m laugh every time i used it, with a raspy Marlon Brando inflection.

It was on these cocktail party occasions that Gopi and I sometimes used each other as a get-out-of-j ail-free-card

from our wives. If we were at some press dinner, and were keen to carry on longer at the Club, we'd each call our wives, to let them know that we'd be home late. I'd call my wife and say: "Oh, no worries - I'm with Gopil" And she'd be relieved, knowing that I'd be okay with the "King of Kerala".

Meanwhile, Gopi would mention to Prasanna that he was with me, and she would come to the same misguided conclusion that when together we couldn't get into too much mayhem And so we [wo would carry on longer, two happy hounds being allowed off the leash for an extra few hours. As Charles Dickens (being edited by Gopi)

might have said: "lt was

the best of times, it was the best of times!"

Alas, nothì.ng fine lasts forever, and I surely know norv - as I already knew then, that Gopi was a

remarkable man. A gifted editor, and a great mate, for sure. But also a loving husband of 47 years, an immensely proud father, and a delighted grandfather of Sarita I I, Anoushka, 8, and Anya,4.

Where ever he went, and whomever he met, Gopi never failed to make people smile. How many people do you know whom you can say that about?

He made the world a better place, just by being in it. K

.e

ç

ù

Ray Cranbourne, another FCC stalwart, also passed away recently. His obítuary will appear in the March/April issue Jollowing the gathenng oJ his Jamily andfnends in the Club on

January 29.

THE CORRESPONDENT

37

Germqn \ /ine...

While showcasing wines through special events

continuedfrom page 27

it's always a good choice," Yiu says.

Liebchen says the perceptlon that Germany only

produces riesling actually results from a successful government marketing campaign that focused on that grape, to the exclusion of all others, simply because, at that time it dominated an industry small boutique wineries and passionate winemakers.

Llnlike most major wine prodncing nations, local prorlrrcrtion is relat ivcly snrall, "Only 20o/o of our annual production is exported.

Around a decade ago, the government decided to begin marketing overseas, concentrating on rieslìng.

"Riesling is iike slow food - everything takes time.

It starts its llowering in April and you don't harvest it tiil September," is how Liebchen iikes to describe the

iconic whiLe. Now Liebchen's role is to showcase that nation's other wines. This year, she says 22 German exhibitors showcased their wares at the Hong Kong lnternatronal Wrne and Sprnt Farr.

Around B0o/o of production ls cor-isumed domestically, with most sales through supermarket chains or privûtc salcs dircctly from ccllar doors.

Growers typically harvest between 40-150 hectares of vines. With such small-scale production, the nation's wi nemakers now target connoisseurs.

The challenge now facing Yiu and the wine committee is to decide how best to introducc FCC members to a wider range of German wine.

"Maybe we will have a special month with say German wines and German food - we could do that - because the FCC memberships are really responsive to promotions, for example, the recent Argentinian

promotj.on," she says.

"Our members are definitely open to new suggestions, especially if we follow it up with something special like a German wine dinner.

They're definitely willing to try new thlngs, especially the older members."

shortli"st of about 20 wines that we think could go very well for Correspondents Choice and then through the wine socials, we let FCC members short lrst rÃ/hat they really llke T h-e n-w?-usu aily ieTlhe saiës of the top six wines compete against each other for a month and the top sellers would actually win.

"So basically at a ccrtain point, thc winc committcc helps shorten hundreds of wine brands into 20, then the members themselves shorten it to 6 and then it's shortened to two," she says.

"In the past two years, this method has proven to be very successful because the sales of the Correspondents Choice are very good - and that's not giving away any trade secrets," Yiu says.

For Yiu, journeying through German wine districts was also a lesson in culture, history and religion spanning centuries of cultivation and winemaking.

"It! such a lorrg histury, we wenL irr[o cellars LhaL were deep and dark with wìne barrels that were 500 years olcl. Coming from a place like Hong Kong where u,e Ìrave a hisLor¡, of 150-200 )/ears, iL r,rras uritrcl blowing to me that you had a society when Hong Kong was basically a rock. These guys were making fantastic wines in barrels the size of a room. That helperì marry rhe story of wine with arts and culture.

"What I realh leamed at that time was Germans really loved their wines and they love their arts and culture and they marry the two together. InJune, when I visited, there were many wine, art and music festivals.

"The history of German wine making is as oid as Christianity - because the spread of Christianity was the spread of winemakrng all through Europe," Yiu says.

"Basically ever)'where you have a monasteÐ1 you had vineyards - and for me it was - Ah! An epiphany - a1l along the countryside, everywhere, you saw a church with a cross on it and - Voila! There was a vineyard. How wonderful is that! God's gift!" ß

www

PFJTJK M EETI \]GS',.

raises awareness, any new wine making its way onto the menu has to get member's approval.

"For the past two years we've been letting the members decide what those choices are going to be through a process of wine socials - we take our

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THECORRESPONDENT 39

LAST WORD

Fqrewell Hoi-Lo Hoi-Lo Chan, after 15 years at the FCC, is about to leave us, We asked past presidents from the time she took over as Board Secretary in 2008 to say a few words.

Chris Sloughtet (2OO7-2OO8). Frankly, when Rosalia left and Hoi-Lo was named her successor, I was a blt sceptical. Sure, I'd known Hoj.-Lo since she was lïrst

hired, sure she was super-efficient and cheerful, sure she was incredibly charmì.ng, intelligent, and funny Btrt, you know, Iike most of rts, I sort of resist change.

What an idiot I was. Hoi.-Lo turned out to be nothing short of awesome. She simply blew the doors off oI Lhe frorrt olfice. (l.luL liLerally, u[ cuurse... rnust of the damage done to the Club has beerL by l-ruartls and presiclents.) She anticipatecl, she rtnclerstoocl, she ei,aluaLecl ancl assessecl; she ada¡rer1,

inrploviserl,

and overcame. Tö the extent that the FCC is a family, she turned out to be everyone's big sister - someone to look up to, maybe sometimes a litrle bossy, but always rearly to help, and full of nothing but love for all the various siblings, no matter how strange they

might be.

We had babies together. Not in the way that sounds, but our kids were born around the same time, and we got to share the wonderful experience of being new parents. So in addition to watching her grow into an indispensable role at the FCC, I've also been priveleged to watch her become a dedicated mother.

Hoi-Lo has made huge impact on us here at the

FCC, and I am quite sure Australia has no idea what an amazíngperson is about to turn up. I think we can all expect the Land Down Under to become much more elÍicient, pleasant and well-ordered once she gets things in hand!

Ernsl Herb (2008-2009). I don't understate if I say that my presidency was overshadowed with the lease issuc. IJot only dìd the contract rtln out, but rve wcrc notificd that wc had to leave the Club premises

by Lhe errcl ol the year. Panic leigned. llowever, calm was fast restored nol least thanks to our great management team. Ho-Lo and our GM were a great help in sorting things out. I commend Hoi-Lo for her professionaiistt't uttd -ish her and her family all the best in the new land.

Tom Mitchell (2009-2Ol O). Please say it ain't so Hoi-Lo! I'm very sorry to hear that you are leaving the FCC. When I was president, I always enjoyed slipping into the office to have a quiet moment to laugh with Hoi-Lo about whatever nonsense had come up at aBoard meeting or in the Main Bar. She almost always had a wise course of action that helped resolve whatever the problem. I will always remember her take on one particularly tempestuous exchange of e-mails between Board members: "I wish they would just stop and think before they sent thelr e-mails."

Anno Heoly-Fenton (2Ol 02012). When things were grim, cluring my

as thelr often r¡rere õ õ

somewhat turbulent presidency, Hoi-Lo was the quiet voice of ca1m. When unravelling the fasttracki ng membershi p situation required going back through

.x

6 E

o à

Continued on page 35

È

40

THECORRESPONDENT

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Steve Vickers & Associates ("SVA") is a specialist risk mitigation, corporate intelligence and security consulting company. The company serves financial institutions, private equity funds, corporations, high net-worth individuals and insurance companies and underwriters around the world.

SVA exists to assist clients in mitigating risk and, where necessary to respond swiftly and effectively to incidents or crisis situations.

. lnvestigative Due Diligence

. Litigation Support Services

. Political Risk Consulting

. Anti-Corruption lnvestigations

. Corporate lnvestigations

. Corporate Security and Technical Services

. Financial lnvestigations

. Risk Assessment & Crisis Consulting

. Fraud and Asset Searching

. Kidnap and Ransom Consulting

Unit 1501, Bonk of Eost Asio Horbour View Centre. 5ó Gloucester Rood. Wonchoi, Hong Kong Phone: l+852) 2528 1230 Fox: (+852) 2528 l23l moil@stevevickersossociotes.com

www. stevev

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