The Correspondent, Vol 2 No12 1977

The

VoL 2 No. 12

WM The Officers: President:

nublished monthly as

f

AnthonY Paul

respondents' Club of Hong Kong. Offices at 15th Floor, Sutherland House, 3 Chater

First Vice

President:

Derek Davies

Second Vice

President: Treasurer: Secretary:

Road, Hong Kong. Tel: 5-

William Stubbs TonY Scott William Stubbs

237734 and

Sutherland House,

Printed by Yee Tin Tong Printing Press, Ltd.. Aik San Factory Building, Ground

Raj GuPta Pasteup Artist.' K.W. Chan

Floor, Block A, 14, Westlands

Road, Ouarry Bay. Hong Kong. Tel: 5-622271-7.

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tising: Nida Cranbourne, First Floor,30 lce Hq.¡se St', Hong Kong. Tel: 5-248482'

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Road, Hong Kong' Adver-

Bert OkuleY Editors: Kevin Sinclair Saul Lockhart Photographer.' Hugh Van Es

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5-233OO3.

Cables: CORCLUB HONG KONG. Address all correspondence to: Ed¡tor, Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong, 1 5th Floor'

The Staff:

Advertising: Froduction:

an

organ of the Fore'rgn Cor-

P

It'sontoday Summer Sole Fashions

328 ModY Rord (Corncr Bl¡nheim Ave'l

T¡im¡h¡t¡ui. 3'675.252

=

lþessp Ðoyù Shoppe

G/F,9 On Lan Strcrt

lCorncr Wvndham St.l cenrr.l. 5-221433

At the front gate of what used to be the U.S.

- the same gate several FCC members in Vietnam in 1975 - two Vietnamese

men play a game of Chinese chess. The former embassy is now the state-run oil company headquarters.

UPI National Reporter

Dick Growald left Saígon lO years ago. He returned in August with a delegation of American congressmen and gives two reports on what the old South Vietnamese capital is like today.

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam It sits in the old Chinese quarter like a haunted house, its white plaster walls sprawling back for almost a block with rusting U.S. Army

packing crates standlng in stacks

The event not to be missedEuropean s¡zes at low low Prices.

Embassy in Saigon

entered to board helicopters hours before the communist takeover

out back.

It was once the biggest PX in the world, where American Gls bought their beer, peanut butter and pork'n beans, sunglasses and cigarettes,

electric shavers and phonograph

They've Named ¡t Ho Gh¡ Minh Gity, but it's st¡ll Saigon

By Richard H. Growald

records. Now it is.a junk shop dealing in scrap and spare parts.

Roach, an Air Force officer from San Clemente, Calif., who was

And although many of its goods are American-made, they are not basic

helping eight congressmen on their to inspect the set of dials and screens. "lt's the gear we used to check the cockpit controls in an F-105," he said. He stared for a moment and then walked on. Across the aisle, stacked to the ceiling, were

reminders exception

of home - with the of a dented Whirlpool

washing machine. lnside the front door are parts of Signal Corps and Air Force radio, radar and computer sets. Maj. Doug

visit to Vietnam, sent over

J

olive drab metal

ammunition casinþs. They are on special sale and Vietnamese snap them uP for use as bread boxes, tool chests or filing cabinets. A head-high green board had scores of airplane Parts hanging from hooks. Business was slow in Jolly Green Giant helicopter

parts. But the special of the daY was an ax fashioned from a propellor.

There are other souvenirs of an American decade in this city.

Along Tu Do Street, which once

was crammed with Gls seeking diversion from war, the only decoration in a once-famous bar is

an old, faded American Santa Claus bearing Christmas greetings. ln the street of books, stall after stall of dog-eared volumes include works by William Faulkner, Stephen

Crane and Ralph Waldo Emerso,n along with the new shiny complete works of V.l. Lenin. Business is slow for the old, torn numbers of Life Magazine and Reader's Digest.

Officially,

it is Ho Chi Minh

City,

but for all practical purposes it

boulevards exchanging glances with the young men.

It is a Saigon custom perhaps unsuited to a city named for Ho and

is certainly unknown in

Hanoi

where drab pajamas have been all the rage since the French left in 1

954.

But in Saigon, pr¡vate

beauty

parlors still operate and tight-fitting slacks and Western blouses are still

tailored.

And in Saigon, unlike Hanoi,

a

foreign Ètroller on the street will still

attract a wave and a smile from

a

native.I

One Last

Night in Old Saigon

By Richard H. Growald

The name Saigon appears on public signs and labels. The bus north ¡s not the Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi bus. lt is the Saigon to Hanoi

He did not eat much for a big man. The American congressman

still Saigon.

"lt's proper that the name has

been changed to honor the father of

our country," a local communist government official said. " But Saigon is shorter and Saigon is now what we call it."

some life in the "Paris of South-

and his colleagues had some trouble swallowing hospitality in the communist palace of the city

east Asia" is still unchanged.

that was Saigon.

bus.

And for all its outward trappings,

ln the old sports club in

balls back and forth.

The building is now a worker's club and the bar is closed.

Their smiling hosts, viceroys of the communism that conquered the city three years ago and renamed it Ho Chi Minh City, led them off to an after-dinner treat.

They were given on this, the last night of their delegation visit to Vietnam, a tour of the palace built

by South Vietnam's last president, Nguyen Van Thieu. ln April 1975 a

The women of Saigon, in tight slacks and on the platform heels

North Vietnamese tank smashed through the wrought iron gate and

the

center of town where the colonial French played tennis, swam and sipped pernod behind signs saying "No Vietnamese admitted," former Viet Cong troops in starched white

shorts and polo shirts lob tennis

that were. the

Western fashion

when the city fell to communism three years ago, still stroll the 4

around the long leg of a table.

And then they had left the room

for posterity. Posterity can see signs of the communist joy.

Circles of brown stain, like those left by wine bottles and glasses, are visible and, although the eating was done, the jaw of Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania was working.

Murtha served as a Marine major in the war and here he was

representing the United States and trying to be polite. So he kept silent.

But the leather neck was red.

The communist master of Ho Chi

Minh City led the eight Americans over a dragon carpet into a marble hall and the air conditioning was working but Rep. lke Skelton of Missouri was sweating.

"We paid for this," he said. Not the dollars. The 55,000 Americans tour

continued.

Rep. G.V. "Sonny" MontgomerY

of Mississippi shook his head.

Ahead, behind a doorway half blocked by a pair of elephant tusks stuck in mahogany, was the office Thieu used. Montgomery knew it.

He had been a member of the last congressional delegation to visit the palace before the city fell.

"Thieu asked us for more money," Montgomery said. Congress did not give it.

Behind the desk Thieu's chair stood on a platform, a presidential throne. Rep. Jim Broyhill of North Carolina turned from his smiling hosts.

Broyhill is independent bred. His family voted Republican in North Carolina in Lincoln's daY. OnlY the

day before he had risen at

a

conference and told his Vietnamese hosts he did not aPPreciate being guarded by youngsters dangling AK47 automatic rifles and the guards at the guest house moved behind hedges.

Broyhill walked awaY'

An American stepped behind the

the war was over.

The victors held a

how wonderful the meet¡ng was and pointed out where they sat

killed in the war. The

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam The girls in the slit dresses had taken away the brown baked bird with its eyeless head dangling over the edge of the platter.

Rep. Sam Hall of Texas, a former trial lawyer, had given the bird an innocent plea and skipped that. But he accepted the shellfish and the prickly fruit.

is

merged South Vietnam into North Vietnam. The host-guides explained

formal

meeting in the cabinet room and

desk and sat.

With a crack, the chair

broke.l

Herb Caen is possibty the most widely ræd columnist

Hong Kong is

on the American West Coast.

He recently, afte¡ a visit to

Hong Kong, observed his 40th anniversary with the Sa¿ Francisco Chronicle-

Everything you

With Herb's kind permission,

we're reprinting what he wrote about Our Town for

want it to be

the folks back home.

by Herh Caen

Every city that excites

the

imagination eventually acquires its own tagline. Hong Kong's, judging from the number of times I heard the phrase, is "last bastion of free-

wheeling capitalism"

- and

you

don't have to be here more than a day to see the evidence on all

has become so familiar you have to remind

blink and look twice ro

yourself you are looking at the real thing. lt is all as advertised - those wall-to-wall skyscrapers rising to stories, storm clouds on the peaks,

fog stealing in from the South China Sea, and the constant,

bowls of sugar cane soup, doubtful

treasures

of what may be

jade

strewn on sidewalks, and at the Hong Kong exit from the Star Ferry,

rickshaws drawn by men, as in the

old days I thought had

vanished

forever. I stood there for a moment, wondering whether anyone would have the - well what, insensitivity?

- to ride in one but along he came in his Aloha shirt, cameras strung across his fat belly like bandoliers.

sides, boiling, broiling, roistering, clamoring for attent¡on. A more

furious hustle-bustle of what may

unnerving contrast to the socialistic austerity of Mainland China, only a

on earth. On the island of Hong Kong, the mainland section of Kowloon, and the area known as Dumping'himself into a rickshaw, the New Territories, stretching up he roared to the skinny man, to the Chinese border, live an "Giddap, boy, let's get goin'!"

few miles away, would

be

impossible to imagine.

ln

this age

of

r

nsta nt

communication and fast_flash images, few surprises are left for the traveler. We have seen and read it all so many times that we know almost exactly what to expect, and part of the thrill is inevitably gone.

Thus when our band of traveling journalists sat in the Great Hall of

the People in Peking - meeting w¡th a Vice Premier in the same room where Nixon conferred with Mao and Chou - there was a tinge of deja vu. The wide círcle of Grand

Rapids overstuffed chairs,

the

spittoons, the lace antimacassars, the alert interpreters behind the principals - it was all exactly as we

had seen it on TV and in the papers.

And so it is with Hong Kong, an amazing-looking city whose image

be the most densely populated spot

estimated 4.7 million people. I need not add that the rich, and there are many, live on the heavenly peaks.

The poor, and there are many more, exist on the muddy bottom. ln both

locations, the

smells

A day in the Hong Kong life: Barry Kalb, the CBS man here, takes me out in his motorized junk, named "Gang of Four" because he

are

had three co-owners. The name would have been funnier if we

Hong Kong is everything you want it to be - dazzling, sleazy, glamorous, tacky, idyllic,

of listening to the depredations of

appropriate to the level.

dangerous, utterly fasc¡nat¡ng ¡n a repellent sort of way. Constant cl¡ck of abacus, rattle of mah-jong tiles.

Money money money. More watches than Geneva, more cameras than Tokyo, as many banks as Zurich, wide-open and bigtime dope dealing, beggars, street vendors selling steaming

hadn't just gone through two weeks

China's actual Gang of Four. As we sail into the South China Sea, Barry

tells about his N BC counterpart, Jack Perkins, who also owned a junk. When NBC decided to bring him back to the States, perkins cabled "Will you pay expenses for my furniture and junk?" Of course, said NBC. When an actual junk arrived, Perkins was banished to Los Angeles.

The Foreign

Maybe Hong Kong is too rich for

Correspondents'

Club, on Club St., of course, across the street from the rousingly British

the Westerner's blood. Certainly it is charming and evil, elegantlY

colonial Hong Kong Club,

slimy, multi-faceted and hard as

I

eat

excellent Macao sole in the company of Richard H ughes,

diamond, slithery as a

redoubtable 7 2-year-old monocle-

-

wearing correspondent of

the

Times of London. Fox Butterfield of

the New York Times, slim

and

dapper in his Saigon-tailored safari suit. Charlie Smith of the UPl, old pro, sweetly sour.

Hughes, the inspiration for Craw in John le Carre's "The Honourable Schoolboy," dominates the table,

inveighing loudly against "Commie dogs

!" He is eating, oddly,

a

Reuben sandwich, that indigestible

New York conglomeration

of

sauerkraut, corned beef and cheese,

grilled. When I tell him it was named in honor of Jerry Rubin, he is undone. "l'll never eat another," he vows. Only kidding, I tell him.

The humidity is as intense as hot

rain. I take the Star Ferry back to Kowloon, the ferry you remember from so many Bill Holden movies.

The best and cheapest sevenminute ride anywhere - four cents

a

snake.

"Borrowed Place, Borrowed Time" Richard Hughes' perfect title for

his book about this final outpost of British imperialism, clinging to the huge bottom of the New Chinese Empire that can reclaim it any time after 1Q97, when the British lease expires. Despite this ever-present shadow, new hotels, skyscrapers, apartment blocks continue to rise.

Life goes roaring on, 24 hours a day, in the "last bastion of free-

wheeling capitalism," dead as

a

Peking duck whenever the Chinese

Communists decide to kill it. "We simply don't think about it," a restaurant owner said as he

showed me plans for a six-storY

They say if you sit in the lobby of enough, you will see everybody in the world.

country will be 20 years from

addition. "1997 is 20 years awaY' Do you know where you or Your now?"

Maybe Hong Kong is not for the

weak and sentimental.

lt

takes

Communists and ihe year 1997. ending but it does

p.m. Easier. The poor have no privacy at all: you can peer in at their misery at will. Only the rich,

ANYONE FOR GOLF?

high on their faraway hills, can hide behind walls. lt is a good place to be rich, since the maximum income tax is 1 5 percent. For the poor, 1 5 percent of nothing is still nothing.

Time to leave this unreality for

a

oversized staff (there

San

is

no

manpower shortage in Hong Kong and I imagine wages are low). Max Keller is Swiss. The Swiss are good

at

everything, especially running

hotels, and Max Keller rates in my

there with the legendary Walter Schnyder, who

book right

up ,

runs the Beau Rivage in Lausanne.

The Colossus of the North is already

which you can order anything from a drink to full-course dinner. Page carrying

o

c

scrawny." She chopsticks me

a

helping of minced pigeon wrapped

I walk up the street to the Jade

leaves. "Good lettuce, eh?" she inquires. I nod. "lceberg

Johnny Kan held in high esteem, a

Annie Wu, millionaire graduate of

place where Artist "Hong Kong

Armstrong Business College

Dong" Kingman hangs out. Jimmy

Berkeley.

Garden, a restaurant the late

lettuce from

!"

California

I am packing my beatup clothes

She studied at Armstrong College

What do you think this is?" I take a bite, shake my head. "Fried fresh

At last minute I run down to

Vancouver-San Francisco.

o

They employ 2,2OO PeoPle and sell

8,000 fried chicken legs a daY

in

their Maxim's operation. The legs Marvland' "Your come from

even

for us to know a) who plays golf and ôl what preferences players might have.

Addre¡¡ replies to

Glub

office.

$n*ory Øeurø 4 N

NO(INCES HT,R NEIl' BOUl-IQLIL

the the

bookstore and buy yet another copy of John le Carre's "The Honourable

Schoolboy." ln three tries,

I

have

found it unreadable, but maybe this

time.

(lt put me to

sleep

somewhere above the lnternational

Date Line, thereby saving a precious Valium. Maybe lan Fleming ruined me for such heavy

Peninsula houses the best and most expensive French restaurant in the Colony. That would be Gaddi's,

ln Hong Kong, they own eight Jade Gardens, three Peking Gardens, eight Maxim's fast food outlets.

Hong Kong or Taiwan or

Manila.

First of all, though it's necessary

in

in my beatup bag for the long CP Air flight - Hong Kong -Tokyo-

in Berkeley, so she could take over the business side, and she has done fantastically well. As I nibble on a fried crab claw wrapped in shrimP, I

might be on the cards, possibly in

crows

it.

Wu and his daughter, Annie, run

Palmers and Players?

It's been suggested that either a Golf Day or a Golfing Week-end

in lettuce

much competition either'

o

Nathan Road, Kowloon also known as the "Golden vast selectíon of shoPs.

conveyor belts and get fat. Ours run around on the ground and get

o

É.

fresh

country has better chicken than ours," says Annie. "They sit on

o

o

Ferry back to Hong Kong for a dinner at the Shark Fin of fresh

6

sending teams into Hong Kong, to learn how to run hotels. lt wouldn't surprise me if 10 years from now, the Swiss are running all the hotels in China. All those in favor of the Swiss running thq whole world. . .

hands and minds as le Carre's).

f

commands, and we take the Star

abalone, fresh shrimp,

were invited to Hong Kong to participate in races.

milk," she smiles.

Jimmy Wu and Annie don't have

o c

he

scallops in a black bean sauce. This capitalism, it is not a bad system if you can afford it.I

Window on a dragon boat world. . . spectators at Shaukiwan's Dragon Boat Baces in Hong Kong have a perfect view of thìs exciting, annual festival event. This photograph was taken during the June 1977 Baces, when dragon boat teams from Penang, Malaysia and Nagasaki, Japan

says. "No competition. We are inventing new dishes all the time.

blackboards on which have been chalked the names of people being paged. I expect to see "S. Maugham" or "R. Kipling."

But what I do see is Tommy Toy, of the lmperial ' Palace in San

Francisco. "Come on,"

Where are the FCC's Nicklauses,

say, "The food in China is good enough and plentiful, but nothing like this." Annie nods a capitalistic nod. "No incentive up there," she

boys thread their way through,

ringing bells and

I

to a happy seem unlikely. I

hope they all add up

closes. A drink, a fix, a girl - you can get them as easily at 5 a.m. as at 5

the

class. At those prices, there is only one way to go.

"They" are always saying things like that. The glorious block-long lobby is covered with tables at

the airport, I thought about the hotel and Gaddi's, the Chinese

Manager Max Keller down through

By Herb Caen

the Peninsula Hotel long

grapefruit shell. ln the Peninsula's air-conditioned Rolls, heading for

in my James Bond suite at the updated, Penìnsula, that gadgetfilled version of a British colonial hotel. Everything and everybody works, from General

US second class, six cents first

the

bowl filled with small balls of chocolate-covered ice cream.

Cinnamon creams. And fresh grapefruit sherbet served in a

Francisco. I am being spoiled rotten

Secrets in Hong Kong

the food superb,

musíc (by a muted trio) pleasantly unobtrusive. Gaddi's lagniappes: a

rhythms, to be able to live easily in this simmering mix of riches and poverty, casual sin and uncertain future. The island of Hong Kong and the mainland of Kowloon, stitched together by the ceaseless shuttle of the Star Ferries, are so wide open there are no secrets.

Literally, it is a city that never

the more familiar unreality of

There are No

knockout,

certain strength, an ability to withstand "rock fever," a philosophy attuned to ancient

Along

with

blandishments, the

its

other

named for an early chef

and

manager of the hotel. The service is

almost comic opera in its bowing extravagance, but

the room is

a

J.J.',

(Jennifer Jøne Boutíqu()

GAMI|ION HOUSE lst Í'LOoR Itortg Kong's Designtr Collcctions

rapidly, and we highly sugge6t advanced booking to .ensure yourself a table.

We will be doing

construction

lOth August 1 978.

Our new menu has finally come

Dear Sir,

out and it is hoped to be an improvement over the last one.

As I am a member of the F.C.C., it immediately struck me when I had the chance to broadcast a

We've brought back some old favourites and added some new

major BBC Historical Series on Vietnam and the War, that many members of the Club would be interested in hearing it. We are in fact commencing the series The Victnam War : Many Reasons Why on Sunday lOth September at 1700 hrs. on Radio 4, and on Thursday evenings at 2145 hrs. from 14th September, Radio 5 will

also run each programme.

The series had a major impact in

Britain when it was first heard and over twelve programmes, Michael Charlton covers the story from 1945 until the fall of Saigon. Many

of the

leading participants were

interviewed, including Dean Rusk,

Sir

Robert Thompson, Maurice

Schumann, Tran Van Don, Nguyen Cao Ky, Daniel Ellsberg, William Colby, .William Fulbright, Graham

Martin, General Maxwell Taylor, and a whole programme with General William Westmoreland. would the F.c.c., be interested in circularising it's membership

with some

information

items. Comments are welcome.

Daily Specials and Sunday

Brunch

were

temporarily discontinued until the new menu settled in with the staff. We've

started back offering the old Sunday Brunch menu with some additions.

Club Gets Loge at Shatin This is going to become a familiar sight for some members starting from October 7.

It is the Totalizator board at the new Shatin race track, and the FCC loge is directly in line with the finishing post (at left of tote board).

Those who patronise the 26-seat

Hot rolls are here to stay! We've purchased two roll warmers and received very good comments. Our garlic bread is still available and has become very popular with evening dinner. Bouillabaisse is on every Friday night now. lt's the best in Hong Kong at $35.00 per order. ln order to keep it available, we have to sell a minimum of 10 orders. So if you haven't tried it, why nor come in this Friday?

Our evening business is growing

romp home.

Season Tickets for FCC members who want to use the loge during the exciting fírst season at Shatin will be available for $50. Guest tickets can be bought on a daily basis.

But because more people are

loge will be able to order snacks and drinks while they have the pleasant experience of seeing

expected to want to use the loge, tickets will be allocated on a ballot basis if there are more applications

outsiders they have backed at 33-1

tha n seats.

Winslow'Decorated'

been

I would like to thank all

the

members who have passed on compliments, through cards, on some improvements in food and service. lt is very helpful to the staff to know that their hard work and training is noticed.

Suggestions and complaints cards have been very helpful and although I am a little behind in answering them, I have taken note and will try to send answers soon.

We have started a table d'hote menu to replace the daily specials.

It will offer a choice of one item from each section ( appetizer, soup, entree and dessert). Each item will be individually priced and there will

also be a set price tor 3 or 4

discussion

I

or by recording their thoughts on the validity of the programmes. lf that is to be done successfully, it would be useful to prepare likely participants in

recording incorrect account numbers on chits. Unfortunately,

t, (( I

l,l t

E

chits and also making every effort to sign their chits before leaving the

-!

o

Club Manager Mike Winslow was awarded the order of "Chevalier du taste

(Jeremy Eccles)

vìn" of the Louis Roederer Champagne Club by their representative Mr Cassam Gooljarry. Looking on ís FCC member Phil Wìght, another member of the Hongkong chapter of the select club of Chevaliers.

realised some losses in our revenue due to this problem. We would ask all members to help us in this matter by double -checking their

account numbers when signing

o

Head (General Programmes).

not all of the staff know everyone's

account number and we have

ç o

He is Karl-Hugo Dierichs, Chef von Dienst (News Editor) of the Dusseldorfer-Nachrichten and also president of the journalists skiing club.

Herr Dierichs hastens to point out that just because people come

from a place where there is no snow, that is no bar against membership in his organisation. lndeed, skiing isn't obligatory.

Karl-Hugo and the other 5O0odd members of the skiing

association get together once a year at various resorts, usually in Europe, for an exchange ofviews.

a

There have been.a number of problems recently with members

(

programme

RTHK

and your patience has appreciated.

members.

has finished in November, there might also be the possibility of getting the reaction of local correspondents covering the War,

jóurnalists to sign up for membership in the lnternational

14th floor men's room have been going on, and the 'l 8th floor will be next. Some of the work takes time

dishes and also pick up dishes which are requested from various

on

advance, so that they can hear the programme in mind when listening to the series, lwould be grateful for your reactions to this idea, and would of course be delighted to supply such further information as you require, Yours Sincerely,

some light

dishwashing and kitchen areas, so please try to bear with us in the afternoons.

Repairs and renovations to the

courses. The table d'hote menu will change about every two days and give us an opportunity to offer new

the series? lt struck me too that after it

either through a

in the

Anyone for Skiing?

There is a newspaperman in Dusseldorf who wants Hongkong

Club.

The staff is required

to

record

the member's account number on the top portion of chits when they are opened. lt is hoped no one will be offended by staff members asking for account numbers.

- MIKE WINSLOW

Over several glasses of Pilsner in Dusseldorf bar, Karl-Hugo

to a visiting Hongkong newsman his ambitions to extend the scope of the organisation to Asia. recently explained

ln recent years, the

skiing

newsmen have made pilgrimages to resorts in Germany, Austria,

France, Yugoslavia and, most

recently, to Canada.

Talking

to Karl-Hugo,

one gets

the idea that members of the ski club are more concerned with cultural affairs connected to warmly-

insulated bars than with the of proceeding down cold, slippery and inhospitable slopes hazards

covered with snow.

Anyone interested in joining the ski club can write to Herr Dierichs at the Dusseldorfer-Nachrichten, 4 Dusseldorf, Konigsallee 27.

I I

Eroticisms,

vulgarities,

obscenities, sex and wit lined the various FCC chests at the biennial Tshirt party. With prizes donated by

Cathay Pacific Airways and San Miguel, 12 FCC members (out of

164 contestants) wives or guests walked away with the honours this year.

ln the obscene T-shirt category, Lynne Wilson, Simon Holbeche,

Pool tournament convenor STOP PRESS! Two new FGG

item¡ will be

available

shorily. We are working on an FCG Ï-shirt and a set of FCC postcards. Both Proiects

are currently in

Progress.

Watch for the announcemonta.

Tim

Street finally managed to get half the wÍnners of this year's pool tournament together to present the prizes. (L-R) Hugh Van Es acceptíng Vernon Yates' 4th prize, Jean Chan, 3rd place, Convenor Street, Winner Andy Sloan and Shayne Hurran

accepting the runner up prize for Les Leston.

Mike McGready and Tim Rossi took So t/¡rs guy walks up to Bert Kitain at the T-shÍrt party and says I wonder what it would be like to have a pie in the face. Bert says he doesn't know and whammo, he gets one.

prizes. ln the boob category (females only) Mrs Campbell,

Shirley

Patterson,

Diane

McGillivray and Alice Chu walked way with chestfulls of honours.

Steve and Eve Eddy copped the

prize

for the best couple, April

Tschetter, Glenda Marks and Jim Sweeney for the wittiest T-shirts.

Winner

The only prize that went the wet T-shirt

of the

FCC annual

unawarded was

prize (female category).

And last but not least, Andy Sloan was awarded the Arthur Hacker Prize for the T-shirt in the worst taste, the prize presented

lHappy Birthdäy to You. Club manager Mike Winslow was

by Hacker himself.

We were going to bring you the

presented with a surprÍse birthday cake by the staff after the T-shirt party's buffet dinner. lt was Mike's 32nd birthday.

actual sayings, but this being a family type magazine, we decided against it.

Photos by Arthu¡ Kan

Photos by Arthur Kan

11

Here's a man we are all going see and hear a lot more of.

to

hilarious compositions about life

in

background (his father, Arnold, is an

old Fleet Street denizen recruited Hongkong. least

by Rupert Murdoch first for the are But songs of Reuters Graham Earnshaw has been transferred to London, but important things that Earnshaw Australia and now in the Murdoch American empire) and young the betting among those who know writes. in 1973, Earnshaw landed a cadet's job at journalist-scholar Kong in Hong arrived He th¡s outstanding ¡s that it will not be long before he a self-confessed failure from the South China Morning Post. is back in this part of the

world.

The last most people saw of Earnshaw, 25, was when he made

î,îî;ii:ï::::: ;: itt

university in

Australia.

Newspapers were strongly in

lt was a case of love at first sight

his

tï, ßgut1t1:,

between him and the Orient.

Earnshaw moved into

a

ffiïgp:ff

Library Committee The Board of Governors rs attempting to rejuvenate the

the reference material and thanks to the good auspices of the Far

Gordon Walker Memorial Library (located on the 1 8th floor, for those

Eastern Economic Review, Central News Agency, G.l.S. and the 4.P., along with a few private donations,

of you who don't know). Saul Lockhart has been appointed Chairman of the Library Committee and along with Barry Burton (who in real life is the librarian of the Hong Kong Polytechnic), Bert

Okuley, Ed Overell, Mike Morrow and Kaarlo SchePel, are trying to plaster.

He refused offers from relatives and friends to fly him overseas for treatment or to put him into a firstclass ward.

Days after day spent slowly recovering, his Cantonese improved and patients and nurses helped him master written Chinese. During the long night hours, he tuned in to

to

learn

Back on the job at the

Post,

overseas radio stations

improve the utilisation of the library and the material contained therein.

By the time you read this, correspondent and journalist members will have received (and hopefully returned) a queslionnaire regarding their usage of and their feelings about the Library.

The Library Commitlee has taken

some immediate steps to up date

Earnshaw began translating the 60

leading Chinese newspapers every

He went to Taiwan to study Mandarin for a spell, but quickly Hong Kong

where

landed a job with Reuters.

Now, he will spend at least two years in their head office in London before being transferred to another post.

Those who know this talented

and hard-driving young

man

suspect he will end up where

he

ilO E$Û*lç{F'

ball-tearing monster,

front page lead."

I

It's

a

P. is gett¡ng us their

latest

almanacs.

The Library Committee is

also

contacting various Commissions,

Consulates and

lnformation

Agencies, plus private publishers and companies to increase . the selection of the currenl newspapers

and magazines, as well as

endless

round of farewell parties - and problem getting out of Bangkok

jovial Martin Bishop,

as

well

as

Hong Kong's best flat finding seruice.

CLARA CHUNG REALTY Te¡: 5-225089 5-225080

disappeared - in spite of being inscribed to the FCC and chopped

with the club's stamp." (Would whoever stole the book, Please sneak back into the Library and return it? That rule book is the only one in Asia !)

Club in May. "The book wasn't even

Anyone who has any ideas on improving the Library or access to

in the Library 24 hours, before it

material, please contact Lockhart.

a

-

Garcia Leandro. Forty-two braved the winds and rain to hear Macau's congenial leader assert that political relations between Portugal and the People's Republic of China would probably take place this year.

everyone's

This is the first time a Governor

mate, departed Hong Kong's ICAC

of Macau has spoken to the FCC and it is also the f¡rst time that an

for London and Visnews.

For more than iust a new flat, now we offer uptodate interior decorat¡on & custom-made furniture to f¡t both your taste & your pocket,

the

government reference material. lmproving the FCC library has been tried before and has alwaYs

Correspondent and journalist members of the FCC journeyed to

"It's

"It's a

dating back to the early sixties. The A.

Macau on a miserable and rainy June 26th for a professional luncheon with the Governor of Macau, His Excellency, Colonel

After what seemed an

,!0

Macau Lunch a B¡g Success

wants to go - Peking.

One of the songs Earnshaw sang during his brief 1 Sth floor sojourn was entitled "Front Page Lead."

The chorus is. . . a scoop! It's a story!

"It's got drive, it's got speed.

"It's a shock, horror, drama that will make your poor hearts bleed.

"It's a must! Stop the presses!

"Oh, now, this you've got to read.

a

dating to 1967 and an almost complete set of China Yearbooks

Dice Games by Gil Jacobs - by the author in the San Francisco Press

he

ö

FEER

Yearbooks dating to 1 970, a set of Hong Kong Government Yearbooks

presented with a paperback book Come Up - San Francisco Bar

day.

1o

we now have a set of

failed, mainly because of theft. No sooner than there is a donation of something good, than it is ripped off. Lockhart reports that he was

Mandarin.

returned

,o\

Needs Your Help

FCC professional luncheon was held in the Portuguese Overseas Territory.

The foul weather disrupted the Macau Government's original plans

of having the luncheon on

the

bright and cheerful terrace of the

Pousada de Coloane, overlooking Cheov Van Beach on the lsland of Coloane. lnstead we got a quick tour of the border and the outer

islands, before adjourning to the Lisboa Hotel where the luncheon

was hastily

rescheduled.

13

Ruminating at the 14th Floor bar

Skip lsaacs without his sandals? lncredíble. But Skip put on a coat and tie, and shoes, on the occasion of his FCC farewell party before

leavíng Hong Kong

post¡ng

the other night, I hoped that Mike Winslow's threat, in MANAGERS

CORNER, to renovate the rest rooms will not effect the excellent view of the harbour and Kowloon presently provided free to all urinal users on the 14th Floor. I can't speak for the 1 5th floor-Ladies',

for his new

at the Baltímore Sun's

home office. Tony Scott and Skip's wife, Kathleen, look on with more than amusement as lsaac shows off his fancy footwear after receiving Ithe tradítional Club tie.

Førewell to Fríends of

rare breaks w¡th traditíon accorded

a

Deck and that included the HEADS eat breakfast immediately before the Master's daily inspection. Since that

- out of which you could

f¡rst trip l've always had an affinity to heads. I remember a real beauty,

a public at

that,r

with

polished

the swimming pool, there can be few clubs in the world which can boast such an excellent panorama from the John. (At the RHKYC I

urinoirs in Hong Kong which have their attractions. The prssoft in the back bar at the Hong Kong Club makes one feel one is almost in

peeper the other day. Think! What

Chater Road. Ouite indecent!

Then there are those dreadful

pre-shower

!

No raincoats necessary and an ideal sanctuary for the fantasy flashers!) ln 1953, when I came to sea as Midshipman in the Blue Funnel Line

Foreign Ministry back home in Pakistan, the Club made one

wasn't so! The

copper pipes and brass joints, gleaming tiles and blooming

possibilities

The popularity of Azfar Shafqat FCC precincts was such that when Azfar was reassÍgned to the

lt

never having visited the place. With the exception of the renovated Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club gents, where urinal users are able to peek out on ladies legs lounging round

noticed a naked

in the

bound uniforms.

junior " Middy" cleaned the Half

geraniums and a notice "Gents with poor aim please stand close."

There are one or two other

hotel heads where one

is

embarrassed into paying a dollar.

Extortion! I do begrudge having to

pay for ¡t but worse

those

attendants waste so much water!

AN ASSOCHTE MEDITIITES:

its

and non-Correspondent

member an official farewell party.

Club President Tony Paul is seen presentíng Azfar wíth the Club tie

SOME COME HERE TO READ AND WRITE SOME COME HERE TO WONDER SOME COME HERE TO SIT AT NIGHT AND MAKE NOISE LIKE THUNDER

frich

as the vivacious Shahnaz looks on.

Y

by David Cauvin

(Those gents interested in ships will

have

says. . .

The question you must ask yourself

is: should I trust my eyes to someone who ís not qualified?

Anyone in Hong Kong - regardless of training or qualification - can open an optical business, conduct eye examinations, prescribe and

fit

¡o o

!

À

jau

ndiced eye.

"You

diminutive barque), you'd have appreciated how times have

r973.

changed for the better." Though he

eyesight requirements.

roaring forties, he knew, indentured

U

Ð

,with a

metrist. He graduated from the College of Optometry in West Berlin and has been in practice in Hong Kong since

Ltd. is a professional opto-

Optica you are assuted that a professional - qualified in all aspects of eyecare - is determining your

E

containerisation there were usually two Blue Funnel ships berthed at Holts Wharf where the New World is now nearing completion ), my father, who was a Cape Horner and a master in sail, eyed the Half Deck

wouldn't believe how lucky you are. lf you could have seen the Half Deck on the 'DEE' (his first ship, a

contact

At

tr

before

lenses and eyeglasses.

Erich Schwaabe of Optica

fully qualified

a

noticed

Kindly telephone for an appointment Erich Schwaabe (Optica) Ltd. Rm, ll0ó, l¿ne Crawford House ó4-704 Queen's Road Cent¡al Hong Kong Tel: 5-256937 s-230234

knew I wouldn't have to learn to hand reef a lower topsail in the

to Alfred Holts, I'd be put through the mill!

Blissfully, at that time, I didn't, and was still under the misguided impression that midshipmen were

God's gift to single girls and paraded the poop deck in brass

Of course for value there is

the FREE LAVATORY outside the Star Ferry in Kowloon. What annoys me most, however, are those restaurant restrooms which display

a tophat or a torreador instead of writing 'gents'. When I forget to bring my specs I live in fear of being caught entering the wrong one, or worse, being caught coming out!

Fortunately in Hong Kong we

don't appear to have any Japanese

style Benjos. lt never ceases to amaze me how demure kimono

clad Japanese ladies shuffle through the gents section

apparently completely oblivious of anything to left or right. Are the Chinese and Brits more modest

than the Japanese? I

really

can't believe that! Of course the French would find it acceptable.

And talking of modesty and all the boob bashing that goes on in Hong Kong why, I wonder, is there 15

so l¡ttle graff¡ti in Hong Kong's public toilets? Could it be because these scribes and artists confine their work to elevators? At least the readers are not confined to one sex and in the age of women's lib that's one up for the females.

Which reminds me, who was the wit who scribbled our Editor's name on the 14th floor gents window, in red lipstick?

Alas, I must express that my greatest fears have come true. The beautiful view from the 14th floor gents has been part blocked by an exhaust (l hope exhaust)

Sacrilege

fan.

!

It is my intention to convene a sub-committee of those interested members who share similar sentiments regarding this wanton desecration of the unique view. lt is also my suggestion that the three Johns be raised and one-way windows (outward looking) installed on the cubicle doors

be

so

that sitters can also share the view.

Would any member interested in

joining

o

c

a

committee for improvement of the Loo view please contact the writer? I

f

o

c o

o

o o

E È

The Long-awaited Dick Hughes bust unveiling finally took place, on

The frnest designed porcelain & crystal that money can buy For the year 1978 Bjorn Wiinblad has again designed the Ch¡istmas Plate.

The German financial journal C apital commended Rosenthal Christmas Plates as a "good investment", and desc¡ibed them as "shares in porcelain".

The 1971 Ch¡istmas has

Marriott, entertained at the bar.

This prompted bitter complaints

an extremely wet evening during which the 14th floor bar was

from a few sober

jammed to capacity.

Prior to the actual unveiling, Mr Hughes and assorted other celebrants gathered on the 1 sth floor as the club's new pianist, Larry

being briefed on life

individuals

gathered in the back of the room

in

Chinese

communes.

The Board formally rebuked for his behaviour, which followed a long Sheraton lunch, Hughes

now

appreciated in value by more than 1,000 per cent.

The 1978 Plate is a collector's item and is available from the

c o

Rosenthal Studio shop in Ocean Terminal (3-679285) or P¡ince's

t

o

Building (5-238282)

As they will be in

I=

demand, please collect yours early!

16

o o

E

Photo by Hugh Van

Es

t o l I !

!

great

c o

o

t L

TtA/hy

in the world do so many travelers like the Reader's Digest? o

c

-

o

!

c

o O

!

o o

E L

although Hughes denied all charges lodged against him.

The Board has ruled that a dunce cap must be placed on the bust for a period of one week.

After formal unveiling, guests watched the recent "This ls Your

U c E

o I

Life" television program on Hughes, made by a Sydney television team last winter. I

o o

t L

Probably because we're so easy to read.

In light installments. An article or two at a time. \Me're lots of fun, too. Our pages are peppered with humor. With many articles about the exciting cities and countries of the world. The Digest is an international magazine. That's why we appeal to international travelers.

Digest is also handy to carry. To read at airports, aboard jetliners, in hotel rooms.

And, at home.

If you're looking for travelers, iust look at who's reading the Reader's Digest.

Reader's Digest is the best-selling magazine at Asian newsstands (where travelers pick up their reading material).

Bob Shaplen, one of the finest of

the Old Asia Hands, and wife June have left Hong Kong for the United States, where Bob will aim his allobserving eye at domestic events

for The New Yorker Magazine. Bob

declined the usual FCC farewell party, probably because he knows he'll be back in Asia some day, but was feted at a number of small

luncheons and dinners. pictured after one of these ( L to R) are Club President Tony Paul; Kevin Sinclair, Bob and June, Dick Hughes and

Bought at Newsstands Reader's Digest

Asia

Edition Time

Newsr¡veek

Philippines n,576 7,æ3 6,800 Malaysia 9,2n 2,717 2,1û Korea 9,612 4,478 1,948 lndonesia 10,rt00 5,520 5,000 Pakistan 4,500 3,650 2,ÍA5 Singapore 4,560 2,392 2,2æ Taiwan 2,500 965 1,116 Thailand 42ú 1,616 1,7û Japan 4,000 5,634 7,æ1 Hong Kong/Macau 2,050 2,291 1,951 Sri Lanka 1,600 558 m TOTAL: 78,2ß 37,1il æ,061 Source: ABC Analysis of Paid C¡rculat¡on Reader's Digest, Dec '1976 ¡ssue T¡me, July 19, 1976 issue

Nerewk, Oct

RBtr.{?

25, 1976 ¡ssue

is good for business. Yours.

Tiziano Terzani.

't8 19

¡

l

*

3X

The Art of Communication Hong Kong has been in the communications business for over 'l 50 years.

The art of communication is a Chinese tradition and today

the Fortune Teller, w¡th his little bird picking out your fortune, works in sight of the towering office blocks where businessmen commun¡cate with

the rest of the world through Cable and Wireless.

Multì-natronal companies use telephone, telegraph, telex, leased circuits and television to keep in contact w¡th their i nternational offices.

The most distant office is now only a telephone number away. Eff icient communicat¡on

has made Hong Kong one of the world's largest business centres and nucleus of the East.

The Cable and Wireless Group of Companies know efficient communication means

efficient business. that's what Cable and Wireless is all about.

@'ccllrte&w¡reless A Limited Company lncorporated in England

New Mercury House, 22 Fenwick Street. Hong Kong. Telephone: 5-283111. Telex:73240