The Correspondent, February 1976

..1 -

I

I

Beirut 1976:

' Iorre;ppudent

Published monthly as arr organ of the Foreign Correspondents'Club of Hong Kong.

Offices at l5th Floor, Sutherland House, 3 Chater Road,

President

Keith KaY Fírst Vice President

Hong Kong. Tel: 5-237134

and 5-233003.

É')*r+üâ¿ärå's+p

Bert OkuleY

Cables:

CORCLUB HONG KONG. Address all correspondence to: Editor, Foreign Corres-

Second Vice President P. Viswa Nathan

Our Cover:

Treasurer

An unidentified airlnan checks

Gail Johnson

out a report of the loss of an important part of the craft's anatomy. The rumour Proved untrue. The missing part had merely been temporarily misplaced in the haste of routine operations. After clarifYing the

Secretary Edward K. Wu

Editor Harold EllithorPe

matter, the airman commented,

PhotograPher

"I didn't really believe the

Hugh Van Es

report. After all, this is the most sapient aircraft I've ever. . .et. . .

Advertisíng

ah. .

.l've got to go

now."

Nida Cranbourne

pondents' Club of Hong Kong, l5th Floor, Sutherland House, 3 Chater Road, Hong Kong.

Advertising: Nida Cran-

bourne, First Floor, 30

Ice

House St., Hong Kong.

TeI:5-248482.

al ¡f

Designed and produced by ltvtptttNt, lol Dannies House, 20 Luard Road,

Hong Kong. Tel: 5-282026.

Printed by Kadett Printing Company, Hong Kong.

Which Jfie¡emasazine¡

inA¡iado

teadthemo¡t?

An¡wcr: NEUI¡WEEK,TIIilE and READER'¡ DIGESI

Buf notinthaf The actual figures, according to the latest surveys, are:

sources Readers orgesl-Erdos

I

Morgan Survev

Surprised

oldcr

Don't be surprised.

We're saving the best till last

For narc

Reader's

Time

tnÍatnêilon vnile ot rclephone

in her hands

detracted

a bit from her charms -

particularly since she kept pointing it at my slomach' "What'i a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?" I asked.

Admittedly, this wasn't a very original gambit' I've been known to do better. But, considering the direction of her gun and that a savage fire-fìght was taking place a blocf away in the Beirut suburb of Sein El Fil, it was the best I could think of at the moment' Fifteen minutes later, whatever romantic notions I had been entertaining were shattered in the explosìon of a B-40 rocket less than 20 feet frotn my prone' quaking body. The question suddenly became: "What this?" titre tietiis a nice guy ùke me doing in a place like It was a minute or two before I realized that both my legs had been peppered with small shrapnel frag-

to peek over a small retaining wall was lying right into the barrel of a Russian-made rifle. The rightist soldier holding the gun didn't look as if he were going to ask any questions before blowing me away. My only thought was, "Christ, if the Palestinians don't get me with their bloody

mántsl

I

managed

beside which

i

rockets, the Falangists will."

Needless to say, neither the Christian rightists nor

Moslem leftists

nor the Palestinians

Some

of the mo¡e organized factions

US

$7.930

-

such as the

succeeded in

eliminating me from this mortal coil. Nevertheless, the abovelncident drove home the point that covering the Lebanese wa¡ could be a more dangerous and deadly pursuit than covering the jungle warfare of Vietnam and Cambodia.

Street fighting always has been nasty for newsmen - but in Beirut there was the added element of never knowing who was who, where or why. Day after day, my camera crew from Hong Kong, Y'B' Tang and T'H' Ir., *.t. threatened with death if they took film' Being the veterans they are, they always managed - but

always under

the guns of excitable, trigger-happy

by Jim Bennett ABC News

Earl buying - and leaders

heme

ied in in the

the only shots of the air attack by any news agency' In

the midst of shooting the panic, one Palestinian irregular

- with another Russian-made

gun

-

came

witñin a breath of blowing Y.B''s head off' T'H' Lee had to discontinue using his "shot-gun" mike because it looked too much like a weapon - and we wanted to appear as the non-combatants we were' at all costs'

The complexities of the cÍazy wat was another reason for the high risk factor to lournalists' It was an utter impossibility to keep up with what faction was

fighting who, or whether they were just street gangsters using the war to kill and Pillage.

Thc Corrcspondent, FebruarY 1976

of

Paid for various hem out ose in

The day the læbanese Air Force straffed a Palestinian refugee camp in another Beirut suburb, Y'B' got'

Digest. ....USS6.595

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She was pert, bosomy and attractive, with those great luminous eyes most Lebanese girls seem to iorr.tt. Even the green fatigues of a 'Falangist soldier ài¿n't tlid. her curves. However, the sub-machine gun

killers.

Look at the 4-color page rates:

?

She Had EverYthing -- Including a Gun

ss cre-

dentials, and for the same reasons.

Passports we carried at all times' Unfortunately, it was twô weeks into our tour before I remembered that mine had two Israeli chops from previous wars I had covered in that countrY. "I'm telling you, man, if you're caught with that by either side, they won't only slit your throat, they'll slit it slowly...." fn¡ was the reassurance I got from a colleague who advised I get a new passport.'

Orãinarily

I don't have much truck with

U'S'

3

Embassy types around

the world; hrst, it's

my

experience they rarely come up with any useful infor-

mation on stories, and secondly, because they

are

rarely helpful. The Embassy in Beirut proved no excep-

tion.

could end up with a slit larynx

if

caught with an

Israeli stamp in my passport. Since my throat is my stock-in-trade, I asked if he would issue me a limited passport for Iæbanon only, which I would surrender before leaving. Nope. Americans cannot hold two passports at the same time. Not even if I left my original passport at the Embassy? Nope. It couldn,t.be done.

I went on to explain that I had my precious Hong Kong residency visa in my original passport, which could be invalidated if I surrendered it for a new one.

He suggested I go to the British Embassy to see if they would transfer my HK visa to a new passport. The British Consul informed me he had no authority to transfer Hong Kong visas - to which the American consular officer said too bad and good luck.

For three more weeks, I left my passport in my

Foreign Devil Does It Again

It's a double win again for His Grace, Dick Hughes. He presided over a well-wined autograph party Feb. 5 for his two latest works: a revised edition of his now-famous Hong Kong

I . Èfl*xr*

- with a smashing colour photo _ to talk my way into and out of tight placei. ßable & Wireless issues these cards to workàrs in the New

$dll':Êrh¡;'çr'

in l,lanchai as an additional security precaution within the building: not for such extraneous Mercury House

When I explained my particular problem to the Consular officer,he agreed with my friend that, yes, indeed,

I

hotel and used my identifìcation card from the New

Mercury House

-

Borrowed

Bonowed Time, and

a

Place,

new printing

Ed.) wasn't until we got to Rome for a few days of pasta among the ruins that I discovered that foi five weeks I had been carrying my old Israeli press card in my wallet. It states in Hebrew, English and French that I was not only a welcome observe¡ in Israeli once, but twice! But, what the hell, they can only slit your throat usage.

It

once!

l

T

I've purposely made light of what

it

was like to cover the war in Lebanon-probably because I prefer to reflect on its dangers through the prism of humour.

Otherwise, the old war horse may not come out of the gate when the gong goes off. Yet it was a damn diffi-

cult and dangerous assignment. Which again leads

me

to ask.

"What the hell was a nice guy like me doing in place like that ????"

of Foreign Devil.

Originally written shortly after the riot-torn days of 1967, Hughes' Hong Kong work is now updated to

reveal the bumptiousness of the early 1970's and the colony's more

confìdent assertiveness.

L

He

laboured much of last summer on the updating. The result, however,

fully justifies the work

s

'li ¡

a

strain.

Dick will be 70 on March 5. To mark the occasion his friends are organizing a grand dinner at the Hilton - black tie .- and cham-

)u+tÀ M

pagne. The Governor, Sir Murray Macl¡hose, will attend. It will be a night of tribute to Hong Kong's senior author.

l'þ

The art of Hong l(ong has been in the communication businees for over a hundred years. The art of precise comrnunication is a Chinese tradition.

Tirday, the calligrapher in his market stall r¡orks along.side modern business that communicates with the rest of the r,vorld through Cable and Wircless.

Multi'national companies use telephone, telegraph, telex,leased circuits and television to keep in contact with their international offices.

The most distant office is now only a telephone number away.

Efficient communication has made Hong Kong one of the world's largest business centres and nucleus of the East, The Cable and Wirdless Group of Companies know efficient communication means efficient business, that's what Cable and Wireless is all about.

lrcqparedint4lad NEW MERCURY HOUSE. 22 FENWICK STREET.HONGKONG TEL:5283111.TELEX:73240

CLAIIIDCC I-IOUSC Su¡t¡tlicrs oJ

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Fu rtt ish itrgs

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Home Of fice Club Schools Restaurants

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BAR CHATTER

PROFESSIONAT AFFAIRS

a new horse called the Nick

One can detect the beginnings of a session by such statements ringing

IQuinnælla'.¡Ehat's when you always

out in clarion clarity such as, "You

We've discovered

.rggillþgl. It's ffir"a

rt"tner out nor rne Thanks to our observant'ace.

First Vice President and cohorts, the Club is now living up to its advertised promise. When the menu said "steamcd potatoes" on January 19, eagle-eyed Bert Okuley noted only one potato was served. He objected to this false advertising. Now you get two potatoes even with your mundane sauerkraut and franks special.

The Club Table on the 14th Floor tums into a kind of Hyde Park late in the evening. Members find it useful to exhort each other to greater wisdom by releasing the

I2C SINCERE INSURANCE BUILDING,

inner tensions of the day. This is a great safeti valve for the more

4.6, HENNESSY ROAD. HONG KONG.

repressed members

TEL: 5-278121-4 CABLE: CLIIRIDGE

of our

who otherwise would run risks of going bonkers in silence.

V

society

stupid dumb s---, there you go again!" or, "You people just don't understand what's really been going

on." The

resulting

discussions, invariably accompanied by a surge

Up the Library!

Having wrung its hands for months over the sad state of our library's reference works, the P¡ofessional Committee finally decided

to

tape specials shown. ABC's coverage of President Ford's trip to Peking (with former Hong Kong hands Steve Bell and Ted Koppel doing much of the reporting) was a good example. BBC showed its

two-hour documentary on detente

of bar

plunge fearlessly ahead with a first step.

A new complete edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica has been

chief Briag.&r{Q{r.

ment.

Non-participants are well advised to keep innocent children, nice girls and sober companions well out of ear-shot. In sympathy, it should be rcalized that this is merely a kind of

ordered along with a two-volume Oxford Dictionary and a Britannica Atlas. These, along with a dictionary presented to the Club last autumn by the Reader's Digest, will modernize the basic "databank" available.

Colin (Heath,.¡f Canadian Broadcasting's lxn-i/Ion g Kong, invited fellow Canadians to see the year-

sales, usually end in whimpers of permanent disagree-

castor oil for tortured journalistic souls and, like a bed-pan session, not meant for others to witness.

Over the past yeaÍ,

three

members of the staff have developed

seve¡e ulcers. Now aren't you all ashamed of yourselves for causing such agony. The illnesses were incidental to Happy Valley ¡esults.

ENCYCmPAEDIA BRIÏANNICA

8

with reports from around

the

world, thanks to Far East bureau

ffi,:'î: get the

#i'i'fi,:J#i$

videotape system going.

With receipt of the new Advent projection system, the Club can now enjoy these shows on wide screen. The projector and screen

have arrived and are being checked out by Dave Thomas of CBS, our resident electronics genius. A Sony tape unit which ties to this projection system is expected to arrive soon from Japan.

Further acquisitions will be in the near future. The Club some time ago set aside a small

made

monthly sum for library acquisition.

We have been the recipients of

several

gft

collections, notably

from Pat Patterson and a selection from the Korean

wide Con-

on South Korean topics.

As new acquisitions are made, older volumes will be discarded or stored so as to make the limited space available of maximum utility

sulate

to our members.

The Little Things There has been a welcome inin the number of smaller professional meetings and functions under the program launched last summer to deepen the usefulness of crease

The all new Britannica 3 is a completely re-desigr,ed encyclopaedia. lt is written in clear, readable language. .. the language of today . . . so that even the most complex subjects become much easier for your children to u nderstand.

The revolutionary new Britannica 3 is more than just an encyclopaedia. lt's an incredible new Home Learning Centre for the whole family. Perfect for children's homework - for parents who need to "look it up" for anyone who needs to know more about almost anythi ng.

6

TERMS OF PAYMENT Net Price HK$3074.00 18 months instalment 3574.00 Down payment 262.30 Monthly 184.00 Cheques should be made payable to: Far East Publications Ltd. Rm. 606, Kowloon Centre, Ashley Road. Tsimshatsui, Kowloon.

Or

telephone Mrs. Lina Ross

SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.

at

K-689277 f or

the Club to its corresponent and journalist members.

Over the past two months special briefings have been held on China's foreign policies, American immigration and consular issues in Hong Kong, the outlook in Southeast Asia, and an up-date on World Bank activities.

The China Shop, handled by Frank Ching, continues to provide

in-depth, free-swinging with top China watchers.

sessions Frank is

hopeful that the sessions will

be

broadened by the inclusion of more top speakers who work this intriguing field of study in Hong Kong.

In addition to the meetings, there have been a number ofvideoThe Correspondent, February 1976

uJ

c

o

€o

rf

Charles Diggs

The Word from Africa Charles C. Diggs, an American congressman from Michigan, told a luncheon meeting of the Club Feb. 5 that the mood of African nations

was behind the MPLA forces in Angola despite a split within the Organization of African Unity.

Diggs heads the House Subcommittee on Africa and had spent several weeks studying the current situa-

Angolan crisis. The mood of Congress, he warned, would not tolerate further involvements in revolutionary situations which were

clearly peripheral to the major national interests of the United States.

During his talk, he discussed at length the conflict over foreign policy resulting from Congress attempting to achieve

larger say in at the executive branch. a

American policies abroad

of the

tion in the continent.

expense

He told the F.C.C. audience that he felt the United States should not

He predicted this would continue to be a major issue within the U.S.

get more deeply involved in

the

for some time.

CTUBS AFFAIRS

Gott in Hymnal: A Book Review ,,

,r*

an

apartment complex).

Older members, recalling the troubles of the Club in the early 1960's when it had to undergo re-

L I

À

l' u¡

c !

Ê

o J

special committee of Board of Gove¡nors is in the process of screening potential candidates fo¡ the position of Club

hanager, "the cost of which will not exceed an initial HK$75,000 a year over present

Manager as a result of approval of a

salary costs."

by an extraordinary of the membership on

proposal

January 20.

The decision to employ an over-

all

professional manager

for

the

Club represents a further step in moving the F.C.C. from member "bootstrap" operation into a modern, sophisticated organization.

The process began with the move

from the Hilton Hotel to

the present premises when an outside

caterer, Dairy Farm, was utilized.

In 1972, the Club took over its own management with managerial

duties falling largely to the President, the chairman of the House Committee and the Secretary for

the decision-making from day to day. While the Club grew in both business volume and complexity under the system, the past two Boards of Governors have felt that it was now time to move ahead.

At the extraordinary meeting held on the 15th Floor, the

members overwhelmingly agreed.

The vote was 2J in favour, one against and one absention on the crucial motion proposed by Art Miller.

I

The Board at its next regular meeting discussed the qualifications such a manager should possess and agreed to consult outside "head

hunters" and other sources for guidance. At its February 9 meeting, the Board appointed a special com-

mittee to undertake advertising of the position throughout Asia and to initially screen applicants.

due to

financial

collapse, have been justifìably leery

of spending additional funds for

a

manager. However, there appears to be broad agreement that the Club's success over the past eight years

now makes it mandatory

that

further sophistication be attempted.

It's just too big and busy

I

limit

an

(or woman, for we don't want to get a breast in the woman's lib wringer) will not only provide

operation now to be run by parttime committee members, regardless of how dedicated. The present staff is fully occupied with existing duties, leaving a vacuum in overall managerial di¡ection which only a

strong daily management of routine affairs but will also be a source of

could provide.

A

meeting

organization

of

Cantonese

would be helpful.

The Board hopes that the man

for making the Club (and its income) better. innovative ideas

The vote this year came as a surprise as many Board members expected a repeat of last year's battle when a similar proposition was turned down by the membership.

full-time, professional

Selection and employment of the winning candidate is expected to be completed by the end of the term of the present 'Board of Governors (in May) and provision

for the new managerial system included in the next fiscal year budget beginning April

Members knowing of potentially qualified candidates for the post are urged to bring their names to the

manager

l.

of

Snatches

and

Lays,

will

the Hilton in 1964, recalls that the Club had two managers during the 1950's. Then the Club had its own quarters on Conduit Road (since

torn down to make way for

"Sølary is not a salary but a

The book

r,""i'"ffi.iT,itr i ï.i 1î

give pleasure

boyscouts and spinsters.

Medically improbable conun-

for days ¿r^-ur, í"ruu.îlrd by the heroic deeds of forwards and full-backs,

and days, And all that is rude, Vile, base and lewd, can be yoursif onlyyou

pays.

while the innocent and the helpless get their "il;r,just desserts in sagas where il; is always the winner.

For those of us old enough, If you number among those but still young enough to recall unblessed whose voices *ri. ,rru* with fondness the Rugger Club raised in unison against the absurdibar, the misfortunes of "Poor ties of society's Jacred cows, then Blind Nell" being raucously bel- this book will provide an untapped lowed from a score of drunken source of belly laughter. you will throats, and the songs that rang marvel at the poetic inventiveness out into the night over an eternally of those unknown but not unsung

disgusted suburbia, this book will writers. to the eyes, lumps to Many are period pieces but just the throat and perhaps, even, vague as fresh in humour and appeal as stirrings in other regions. when those disillusioned Tommies The Snatches and Lays repro- in the trenches fìrst penned their

bring tears

duces faithfully word for word the i¡reverent phrases to the patriotic songs that carved the choral cama- and popular tunes of the day - to raderie of youth, when with the tell it like it was. You can be sure rivalries of the game forgotten arms the man who dreamed up the song

were linked with visiting teams serenade outrageoussexual

No

tiresome asterisks

to "I

exploits. mar the

nostalgia in this edition.

The words, once locked only in beer clogged memories, suddenly bring to life the voices of those

long-gone choristers who

swung

beers and birds to the driving rhythm of ballads that told of the downfall of vicars and virgins and

Don't Want to Join the Army" not referring to the appatling

vr'as

casualty rates among enlisted men when he pointed to the disadvantages of having "one's privates shot away."

But be warned. As the book, cover explains, these are "songs But then M it in her. -

had

attention of President Keith Kay.

The ideal man would have strong managerial experience, a

catering background, sympathy (if with membership club operations, be well equipped with the capacity

not actual work history)

to be able to work

with Asian staff, and be enormously

patient with

correspondents, bankers, public relations and ad agency men, and our other members.

Obviously sirch an ideal man probably doesn't exist, but the

journalists, diplomats,

Board hopes to come as close

as

possible. Strong English capability is a must and a working knowledge

r'l

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c

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"Divide the child!"

"I'll

trdnslate. .

."

The Correspondent, February 1976

"Look ot his teeth-"

"We can't go on . .

."

t o J I

Mephistopheles,

You're a CIA Fink jaded with the obvious, werr prised but not shocked when their previous comrades,

Thoughts" of Chairman Mao, the purity of Singapore, ad nauseum.

Bureau of Investigation What was surprisi Jaffe would have m sion at all. He denied

It

a sense

As correspondents dedicated to

of falsity, we can only pray that the¡e are enough good people who see the value of truth to free us f¡om such tyrannies.

said

has been comm

Hundreds

years that journalists wittingly and unwit

at a

ga

Your typ¡c¿l CIA agent

gathering of

correspondents is probing who

be working for which

country_\

ageîey or special interest.

Correspondents for communist agencies - Tass, Pravda, Hsinhua, etc. - are deemed automatically to have dual functions as intelligence

operatives. Correspondents fo¡

othe¡ state-owned and

operated news services likewise bear the suspicion, often unjustified.

And most journalists understand that various nations will attempt to float through them false or misleading reports. Anyone working in the China-watching field, for example,

has to carefully weigh the source and purposes of stories emanating

from Taiwan or locally in

Hong

Kong.

In the propaganda

game, numer-

ous writers have been employed to

produce pieces which could be suspect. In Vietnam, for example,

the Vietnam Feature Service, a U.S. Information Agency "front," irre-

gularly employed

a

number of

free-lancers.

The C.I.A. admitted two

rently p own people.

years

news media.

others, but not your

Bush said the C.I.A. will continue to consider foreign news

media and especially

free-lancers

and stringers as "legitimate intelligence targets."

Regardless

of what

say, newsmen will never be f¡ee of the suspicion that they a¡e either paid spies or "info¡mation funnels" orjust plain stupid dupes.

What perhaps is needed at this juncture is a clear statement by journalists of what is proper pro-

fessional conduct. There

is

near

total agreement that it is absolutely wrong, ethically and professionally, to be in the pay of any intelligence or suspected intelligence agency.

It is equally clear thatjournalists

agencies

not provide intelligence with

espionage information. Often newsmen will, in the course of routine reporting, exchange inforrration with diplo-

mats, intelligence station chiefs, propaganda officers, and suspect sources.

further cuts to assure that C.I.A.

th,at the newsman

A rule which seems feasible is will

these sources noth

that he is not prepared to wr ín his own public media. Thzr-< he is merely passing malion that is, or soon will be, available to the general reading public of the world.

Many journalists feel that they have an obligation of patriotism to

keep their own

governments

informed of matters which affect their nation's national defence and security. Jaffe felt this obligation, and so have others.

the intelli-

gence agencies around the world

In an order this month, C.I.A. Director Goerge Bush has ordercd

-

not the \is

by Harold Ellithorpe

shoüld

ago that it had more than 40 journalists on its payroll, but claimed it was firing those staffers working for "major" American

I0

of our

comrades

around Asia are daily being forced to the slavery of subservience to

played constantly around Indeed, one of the bits of

gossip

angry rockets

pass on to

During the Vietnam war, some American officials complained that

"foreigners" reporting the U.S. effo¡t for American media lacked a "required" sense of patriotism.

With the growing "internationali-

zation

of the press" (a

phrase

coined by Barry Zorthian, once the' U.S. press czar in Vietnam), this issue of nationalism in the press is

one

It

of the toughest to

''leaks" intended to influence the public and the government. Often

alleged "higher causes." Let us hope that those who still possess their precious independence do not sell it for crass purposes to some spy shop, his own nation's or anyone else's.

In the ultimate sense, the reputation ofajournalist depends on his own standa¡ds of honesty and dili-

gence. Reuters, an agency known

for its

carefulness, was rightly shocked to learn that the C.I.A. had attempted to utilize its news reports as a funnel for false information. In

its reply Reuters reiterated its historical stand of independence and responsibility.

Individual newsmen have long

had to contend with accusations that their publishers, editors, and governments were biased. It is a

rare correspondent who

hasn't cringed at one time o¡ another over what some editor has done to his

copy. Misleading

headlines,

erroneous editing, ham-handed

answer.

if their correspon-

dents' work does not jib with what is coming out of "official" channels.

It takes a stern will to resist such pressures, and most joumalists will admit that their lives are a series of compromises. It is no secret that reporters in Washington and elsewhere are fed a constant series of

some level of honesty in this world

of duty.

great intelligence

the necessity for "The Emergency"

of the journalist.

Few have the open charge to write what they feel and the way they feel it. Even the most prestigious publications are wont to meddle with copy and to fìre off

in India, the wonderous .,Juche" idea of Kim Il Sung, the .,Great

admitted in Washington worked with the Cent gence Agency and t

out of

politicking, orders to do obviously "stacked" stories; all are the woes

this o¡ that concept. ,.the New Society" of the Philippines, .,development journalism" for ASEAN,

Correspondents in Asia, pe

for his help and

being pelted daily by lecturing government politicians to adhere to

1776

such information is helpful in evaluating the various factions in news developments, but must be

{Inexpurgated

1976

Serving the Nation for

200 Years!

used warily.

When such leaks are traceable to

a "dirty tricks" intelligence operation, they smack of the lowest kind'

of duplicity. A reporter's only protection is a very cynical mind and willingness thing.

to

double-check every-

I'HE PORTS OF PTIILADELPTIIA have

Democracies have

a right

to

played

intelligence agencies do not subve¡t the value of

political

demand

that their

a free

press. That value goes far beyond the immediate advantage to be gained from sneaky pete fiddling with events. The concept of an in-

dependent, fearless and honest

of suspicion must develop, and we all concede that such is still a process and not yet a fact.

In this light, the house of journalism should be purged regularly.

Mr. Bush and President Ford (continued, page t4) press free

of

a

&

in

the

economic development

America since the Declaration

And a¡e still doing so, because SERVICE is still our speciality!

Ship through the Ports of

PHILADELPHIA CAMDEN

wILMINGTON DELAWARE RIVER PORT

AUTHORITY

Ilncircurn cized!

!

The Hong Kong Edition

SNATCHES

crucial ¡ole

of Independence.

is no secret that many Asian

newsmen are not only urged, but required to report developments to their embassies. If they refuse, they suddenly find thei¡ passports invalidated. (In return, the diplomats keep their own journalists briefed and provide them with a mantle of

-

of the

&

Famous

LAYS

special protection.)

Unfortunately the world is still divided into nation states, each with its own demands for patriotic adherence of all its citizens,journalists or other. In Asia newsmen a¡e

Telephone 5-236538

74512 Aport HX

The Correspondent, February 1976

I1

ENTERTAINMENT The Great Yantze Match Is Open to Yantze is a dice game peculiar to

the Hong Kong F.C.C., a kind of enlarged, more complicated balut, Members play the game with much cursing, slamming of dice cups and claims of infinite wisdom about the game's intricate odds and strategy.

Therefore it is fitting that the First Annual Yantze Tournament

will be held during Ma¡ch. On

St.

Patrick's Day the final rounds will

decide who is, in fact, the top Yantze dice thrower of the Club.

It is not known who has had the largest single score in the game but

All

eventual For those unfamiliar with this the noble game, the Club sheet score odds ofthrowing hve sixes. is reproduced (at right). This sheet All members are privileged to score will be used in the ofhcial enter, women, too. On-lookers may tournament and each entry will be watch the double-checked bv iudses as to held in full accuracy in@ìãñtìÌó ari-d cor¡ectever, the au ness ofplayY advise, or Anyone throwing fìve naturals in players. a single throw must buy his table (We look for a dark horse to (but not the entire house) a free win.) trcffiüîÐrf drinks. the odds on picking the

winner are worse than fìguring

YANTZE SCORE CARD'

Theim

we know that several have been over 400 with the best probably around 450. However, single games do not count in a true champion as much as consistently high averages.

Therefore, the Tournament will

score on totals over a number of games to eliminate the pure luck factor

as much as one can.

San Miguel has kindly offered to support the tournament with dice, dice cups, a winner's plaque - and lots of San Miguel.

Punters are betting that

eventually become

a

it

will

contest

k,d) ùÈr^ .¿h,

the upstairs Afternoon Aces, the evening Club Table

between

ÊF

ã

tu tß^ltøã

ot ûoE

ú^!r t5

or so

c bil6,1t q?t tÉ" w le ot ¿.r 5 da ro,ñ;rx, 2?ã ¿-¡ ¿K t2o pr) ¿-d

Þ

øo¡r

dt. onr tþ b,tu¡ ¡od LqtÉrt

reoz

$.',.!t úrt fù

Throwers and the late evening Bar Barons. In such a three-way contest,

Official Rules of the Tournament The Club Yangtze Tournament u/ill be held during March 1976. The first and second rounds will be played rrVednesday, lOth March, with the third round and finals on St. Patrick's Day, Wednesday, 17th March. All Club members are eligible to enter.

TOURNAMENT RULES

First Round: All players will play in the first ¡ound in tables of 3 o¡ 4 players, unless otherwise di¡ected by the panel of judges. The round will consist of 6 games. The top 50% of players by highest total scores will go through into the second round. I.e. if there are 80 players, the top 40 by total highest scores will go through.

12

Thi¡d Round: As fo¡ the second round, except that the top 4 players by total scores will go through into the finals.

Finals:

The 4 players in the finals will play for first, second, third and fourth places by descending highest total scores f¡om 6 games. If there is a tie for first place, there will be a sudden

death play-off by single

games.

TIES

As only the players in the top half by

Second Round:

total scores will go through into the next round, the player to go through will be decided by that player having the highest score in his final game of his set of 6, (i.e. his sixth game). If there is still a tie, the highest score in the player's fifth

As for the first round.

game goes through, etc.

RULES OF PLAY

Each player has a total of 3 throws

of the dice for each tu¡n.

How-

ever, he must delegate his target box before his thi¡d th¡ow. The dice must be tlrown on a clear smooth surface, and all 5 dice must be lying flat on the same su¡face

to be a valid throw. Any

dice falling ofl the table, falling out of the cup prior to the cup landing on the table,

or any dice "cocked" against

one

another, is considered to be a "cocked" throw. The particular throw in which the dice were "cocked" must be taken âgarn.

SCORING

As per the issued Club Yangtze sheets, except that the Red Flush scores 25

points, not 15 points as printed on the sheets. Each box will score 5 points for

the player winning the box outright. On the conclusion of each table's six games, score sheets will be submitted to the panel of judges. All scores will be

checked and ratified

by the judges.

JUDGES

Apanelof three judges will be appointed.

The judges will be consulted fo¡ interpretation of the rules in any case of dispute. Thei¡ decision will be final.

You're looking at the very best there is, in the field of 16 mm sound proj ectors It's one of the brilliant new TQll Filmosound series f rom Bell & Howell.

And we admit they're a little more expensive than most other makes.

But when you consider that the new TQll series are built to last longet pro¡ect brighter more efficiently and we feel more economically - thenworth you'll understand they're eyery extra cent you pay.

After more than 50 years research, development 8nd ¡nnovation Bell & Howell ar€ still leading the f ield in motion picture equipment. Any fe-

putable photographic dealer can tell you that the Bell & Howell TQllseries of 16 mm projoctorc are the image of quality.

E BeueHoureuSimply ingenious

.PRIZES Prizes

will be awarded

as

follows:-

A. First place - Club Champion, B. Second place - Runner-up,

C. Third place, D. Fourth place,

E.

Highest single game score,

Lowest single game soore

plne.

-

booby

The Conespondent, February 1976

13

Mephistopheles,

LETTERS

You're a CIA Fink

On the Move

(continued from page 11)

James Clavell with Tai-pan slill a

have sought to withhold the names of C.I.A.-utilized journalists on

stout seller and his new Shogun now on the stands, says his next

grounds

book may again use, in part, Hong

gence operatives should not be exposed to assassination haphazardly, there is adequate time to assure their transfer and their

Kong as a locale.

Known for his dilligent historical accuracy, Clavell does his research in situ. We wonder why he eagerlY joined the F.C.C. on his first visit to the Club? He resides in Canada but

of damage to the individuals. While we agree that intelli-

to make triPs to Hong in the course of writing his

promises

Kong jo.¡.¡níãtis{s on the payroll should be ,

now and i not be

next novel.

Nancy Nash is off again. This time to Khartoum where she will serve as PR gal for the new Khartoum Meridian Hotel. That

d to ònof freedom.

takes grit.

Dear Please excuse this scrappy

ytq

This issue gqes

intelligence agencies but also to a serious questioning of any journalist who is in the pay of an outside interest, be it commercial, political or merely fadist. Perhaps we should clearly label newsmen as either

in the independent that word or 'Épropain the better sense of that word. (Or, if you are finicky, '-public relations practitioner" which is the legitimatized propa"journalists"

sense of gandists)

gandist.)

Whlle the world damns journalists as short-sighted, sensationalist, stupid, and just plain evil, everyone

would like to use them for their own petty and nasty purposes. That

is a compliment to the and

authority

utility of their purpose.

Our strength will lie in continuing

to be sought after by kings

and

pimps, spies and merchants. So long as we still have that homage of cre dibility, we have little to fear from

the truth, even about 14

ourselves.

note but I had to dash off for you my

impiessions of the new Foreign Correspondents' Club in Tokyo. . . It's fanþsticl The landlords, Mitsubishi, wanted the previous premises back office space so they set out to find something "comparable." Well the FCC committee was finally staggered at what they got! Would believe. . . the whole 20th floor of a new high-rise not far from the d club and a few minutes walk.away from the Asahi Building.

The interesting thing is that the move did not cost the correspondents a penny. Mitsubishi paid for everything - and the bill must have run into millions of HK dollars. Apart from reinstalling the library, putting in some dozen work slots (with typewriters) for correspondents and a radio room, they built two bars (one semi-stag), a dining room so large that banquets can be held - and part of which is screened off when not in use; they even recovered the tables and chairs.

Well, I'd like to see a Hong Kong landlord giving anyone that sort of treatment.

The view is of course magnificent. Correspondents can look out from the library across the Imperial Palace and spot Mt Fuji rising over the rooftops on a ltne day. The main bar looks straight up the Ginza. No one yet knows how the building will react during an earthquake but the bar habitues probably won't notice it. They'll just trade martinis for Seven-up for a few minutes. I've been in a few press clubs in my time but never have I seen anything quite so magnificent.

On moving day, three former Presidents of the Club accompanied the present incumbent in a symbolic walk from the old premises to the new carrying the FCC sign. It is now firmly planted in a small patch of garden outside the main elevator hall. One snag for visitors: the club now charges Yen 2000 for "administrative charges" every time a visitor checks in. It's a bit expensive if you are only there for a day or two, as I was. Still, the hospitality of members more than makes up for this

Loren Jenkins of Newsweek in a Rome jail overnight when he refuse<l to allow a nosey

landed

Italian immigration official to open a small parcel. Jenkins transferred to ltaly (where he owns a small farm with its own wine graPes in

Arnold Dibble, "Always, on the rocks!"

December after a long stint in Asia.

Dean Barrett didn't chuclde in his Yum Char fashion last month

he

snapped

a

as

photograph.

He fìlmed a chopping murde¡ in Sung lVong Toi in Kowloon CitY where

he had gone to enjoy a moment in the sun to photograph more Pleasant things. He handed his shocking

slides over to the Police.

As expected, David Ford has

film

moved

up to

become DuputY

Secretary for Information in the Home Affai¡s and Information Branch of Hong Kong Government' The post of director of Information Services will be his old assistant, Richa¡d Lai. We're not just sure what it all means, but the GIS saYs Ford will be in charge of the information and public relations work of the entire

government. But we thought that's what he did before.

WANT ADS LARRY BURRO\ryS' brilliant book of phot os, COMPA SSI ONATE PHOTOGRAPHER, is available at the Club offìce. Published by Life Magazine after his death, the book includes images caught by Burrows' camera from Angkor Wat to the Bengal tidal wave to Vietnam.

little levy.

Cheers,

Russell Spurr

Deputy Editor' Far Eastern Economic Review The Correspondent, February 1976

BOAT FOR SALE

I ton "L" class dinghy moored in Causeway Bay. Part of racing fleet ol 9 boats. ldeal for bay cruising.

Sails, outboard, swimming ladder, anchor included. $4500 o.n.o. Tony Scott (50435 231 offi,ce hours).

T5

--- --t

(

Paris, Amsterdam, London, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Rome and Athens. Now Thai can take you to any of seven fabulous European centres with direct connections from Hong Kong.

Take the beautiful way. With Thai.