The Correspondent, April 1986

@llt [.otttßponùtnt April

1986

Board of C'overnors Election Jim Biddulph will be the next club president as he was the only candidate nominated for that post at the April 2 meeting.

After having worked for the BCC as a diplomatic correspondent, as well as in Afric¿ and in Asia, Biddulph now

All other positions on the board are being contested. The fiercest competition is for correspondent member governor posts where there are 11 candi-

runs his own news agency.

Biddulph expressed satisfaction with

the smooth running of the club under president Philip Bowring. "The FCC is one of the most famous clubs in the world - far eclipsing other clubs in the

dates for 8 positions.

By this time members should have received ballots in the mail, which must be returned by mail or in person not later than 2:30 p.m. Thursday May 15.

and all I can try to do is make Far East it even better," he said.

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Mr. Jim Biddulph.

Other winners when the votes are tallied will be Penny Byrne, who is the

associate member governor positions: Ken Bryan, Russell Cawthorne, Wendy Hughes and Tim V/illiams.

sole candidate for second vice president,

and the four candidates for as many

The winners, who will assume their responsibilities at the May 28 Annual General Meeting, will be posted on the club bulletin board as soon as the ballots are counted.

Candidates for The 1986-1987 FCC Board of Governors Office

Candirlates

President

Jim

lst Vice-President

Michael Malik

Far Eastern Economic

Lois Tretiak

Business

Biddulph

Byrne

Affiliation

Nominated

Freelance

Philip

By:

Bowring

Seconded By: Sandra Burton

Review Philip Bowring Sandra Burton Marcel Toussaint Mark Michelson

International

HK Tourist

Association

Bell

David Perkins

Hubert Van Es J.A.M. Malik Philip Bowring

Brian Jeffries Sandra Burton

David

2nd Vice-President

Penelope

Journalist Member Governors

Nicholas Beacroft Peter Cordingley Sarah Monks

R.T.H.K. TV Times

Paul Bayfield Marcus Brauchli Anthony Dyson Gavin Greenwood Barry Kalb

Far Eastern Economic Review

Freelance

J.A.M. Malik Hubert Van Es

Melanie Kirþatrick Dinah Lee Chris Pritchett

The Asian Wall Street Journal Economist Reuters Ltd. Handelsbatt Reuters Ltd. Asiaweek

Cheah Cheng-Hye Paul Sillitoe Graham Hillier Philip Bowring Graham Hillier Philip Bowring

Joe Manguno

HKSB Corporation

Hubert Van

Es Byrne Penelope Byrne Philip Bowring

Bert Okuley Sandra Burton Hubert Van Es

Correspondent Member Governors

Peter Seidlitz Paul Smurthwaite Burton Woodward Associate Member Governors

Ken

Bryan

S.C.M.P.

AP-DOW Jones Emphasis HK

Unicom News

RussellCawthorne GoldenCommunications

Hughes Williams

Wendy

Tim

Wendy Hughes Ltd. Lloyds Bank

Paul Sillitoe Philip Bowring Paul Sillitoe

Penelope

Cynthia Hydes

Gavin Greenwood Hubert Van Es Ian Findlay-Brown Brian Jeffries Murray Bailey Gavin G¡eenwood

Alan Thomas Paul Sillitoe

Alan Thomas Sandra Burton

Penelope Byrne

The FCC At Sea Miller's Marauders Make Manila Club president Philip Bowring headed a mighty exodus from the bar over Easter for the bi-annual Silk Cut China Sea Race to Manila.

In fact, one wonders how the event could have taken place at all without our stalwarts: Bob Lavoo organised the race; ril'endy Hughes was in charge of public relations; Russell Cawthorne was whittering on the airways; and the sailors

included the likes of Mike Lunn, Fred Whitehouse, Ian Whalle¡ Keith Shakespeare, Mike Keats, Tony Scott, Simon

Martin, John Price, Mike

Westlake,

David Creffield, Uncle Tom Cobleigh, et al.

But without doubt main interest centered on an unlikely bunch from the 17th floor aboard the good ship Marauder, skippered by Frank Miller.

auder, home for ten for at least five days (some thought ten), was also being meticulously prepared by Miller and men.

Twenty cases of beer, eight bottles of whisk¡ two of vodka, one of rum and a special sixty-six-year-old Portuguese brandy were shipped aboard.

The chefs David "The

Sausage"

Gilhooly and Maestro Adriano Pinto Marques lovingly loaded the beef, legs of lamb, chickens, fresh fruit, garden new potatoes, a sprig of mint for sauce, the chilies for spice and the perfect wine to accompany every course.

Lying somewhat lower in the water than most, Marauder's elegant red and white speed flash on her hull finally

slipped below water level as enough deisel for any eventuality was piped into her overloaded belly.

Among them was John Lenaghan, usually more at home wielding a four iron rather than a winch handle. His narration follows: Excuse the jerky writing. No, it's not caused by sexual athletics nor the trem-

The forecast was for Force Three winds moderating as we were wafted gently over the starter's line. "Look, his sail moved!", or "Has he got wind over there?" Even "Hope it's not like this all

ble of a bomb crater on some remote battlefield. The room is moving as a corked bottle on a stormy sea. One of

suddenly the world turned on its side.

The seemingly immovable, bloated Marauder leapt into the foam of a mounting gale and sped offlike Pardon the son of Reprieve. Hanging on for grim death as

Miller's Marauders, I have just returned from the Silk Cut China Sea Race. And it's definitely true about sea legs and the 'sailor's gait.'

In the tradition of Drake and Bligh, the doubting yachties, themselves of dubious experience, said it couldn't be

the way or we'll run out of

beer"...

the top few feet of every huge wave broke over the almost vertical deck, every fun seeker aboard gradually rea-

Former FCC president Hugh Van Es.

lised that ocean yachting is a deadly serious business.

it was like water-skiing typhoon while downstairs was

Upstairs through

a

in the words of David Creffield "like living in a washing machine". The stairs leading below were treacherous for everybody but worst for wee Gilhooly.

When his hands were on the bulkhead handles his feet were 6 inches off the deck below. After one savage blow to the ribs he decided, whether through fear or to avoid doing any cooking, to stay on deck for two days and nights, and never went to the head for the duration of the voyage. In one of his few utterances, barely heard above the gale he said, "Ah mite doo this wunce but niver again!"

There were various forms of sickness.

The Jim W'atlington green-for-two-days

done. Shakespeare and Keats are recorded as having said "It'11 be a miracle if

Marauder arrives in Manila".

In truth half of the gallant Marauders

had not previously been on a yacht.

Preparations were largely centred on victuals and booze. Flopping about in the sparkling clear waters of Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, boats were festooned with flags, bilges were being pumped, sails repacked and stored, life lines made taut, safety equipment checked, water

tanks filled to allow a daily ration of precious but heavy liquid, bosons chairs were hoisted for top rigging and final taping of anything to snag a spinnaker, wives and lovers were saying last farewells from a crowded wharf.

Amid this industrious harbour Mar-

"Miller's Marauders" - David Crffield, Iøn Findlay-Brown, skipper Frank Miller David Gilhooly and John Lenaghan.

look, the Lenaghan scramble for leeward, the professional style of Palfrey and Miller, the I'11-live-in-it-or-run-head-

first-through-the-bulkhead version of

Ian Findlay-Brown, the funny, I'mnever-seasick-forthright-Firth-fashion and the Jack Glattback bark.

Not much food or drink was

con-

sumed over those first frightening forty-

eight hours. Only two men stood tall while others slopped and slithered around them. "Iron Guts'Creffield kept eating prodigious quantities of spiced Portuguese sausage and quaffing gallons of ale and red wine, the extent of his emissions being gale competing blasts of wind when awake or sleep. Adriano who, to the admiration of all, stayed below decks and kept Creffield supplied.

But the marauders came through.

Despite two wasted days, the food and booze was tรฅckled with great gusto and .We with determination. exhausted all supplies just as Corregidor came into view. We had made it!

There were three cheers for the skip-

per from a grateful creq three

cheers

for Adriano the cook who had sailed in a plaster body cast after severely injuring his spine in practice, and congratulations and backslapping all round. Celebrations

were interrupted by five other sails appearing around us and we were involved in a race for the line up Manila Bay. Palfrey set the course for the finish and kept announcing a distance which was seemingly further away every minute. The Palfrey mile it was unanimously decided is slightly longer than an Irish stonesthrow.

It

was then discovered by sophisticated communication systems, (hollering from one boat to another), that the

Rugby Sevens The day before the Rugby

rocked Hong Kong Stadium, Australian rugby legend Mark Ella treated club members to some insights about himself and the game at a club luncheon.

Now retired from plaยก Ella was part

of the Australian team that took the Grand Slam in 1984. In Hong Kong he said he was frequently stopped on the street by enthusiastic fans who mistook

Exchange Lunch Shortly before the

April2 opening of

the unified Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Director Ronald Li addressed a packed club luncheon where he gracefully deflected sceptical questions about the long-awaited venture.

Li

While regretting that changes were afoot in the largely amateur sport, Ella said he felt the agitation for better com-

pensation

for

players was justified.

"'W'e're not asking

for a lot," he

"W'e're just asking for what's fair."

said.

Ella dismissed the Australian bid to eclipse the Hong Kong Sevens by holding a competition prior to the territory's April match as "aggressive marketing."

"There's no doubt in our mind Hong Kong comes first," said Ella, whose visit this year marked his seventh appearance at the competition. "The people of Hong Kong have no worry about New South

ril'ales trying to dominate the Sevens.

I'd tell them where to go."

said he hoped that a unified ex-

change would encourage mid-sized companies to turn to the market to raise

capital. "The stock exchange is meaningless unless it serves as a conduit to support industrยก" he said. "If not, it's nothing more than a gambling casino."

He also dismissed the conventional wisdom that Hong Kong's markets were more prone to dramatic fluctuations those of other countries. He said because of the small number of companies listed on the exchange, fluctuations are simply more apparent.

Li, who founded the Far East Stock Exchange, said he hoped the unified exchange would further enhance the sop-

histication

of Hong

markets.

yacht neck and neck with us in a sprint for the finish was captained by a woman.

The male chauvinistic pride of our seemingly unflappable skipper shot to the surface, and shouting something like

Kong's financial

Mark Ella and Philip Bowing.

David Russell Lange, the pugnacious

lawyer who became New Zealand's prime minister in 1984, dropped by the FCC on a Saturday afternoon, to hold a press conference at which he fielded

questions ranging from the health of Deng Xiaoping to prospects for a nuclear-free zone in lhe Pacific.

Lange had just completed his first official trip to China, and was on a stopover in Hong Kong en route to Manila to meet Cory Aquino.

"Goodbye darling. See you in Manila,"

he promptly lost control of a difficult tack, almost jibed the boat and lost our little battle with a great lady.

What makes a bunch of seemingly

The press conference, on March 29, drew a big crowd of local and foreign reporters. On Deng's health, Mr. Lange reported that the Chinese strongman hoped to live until the year 2000, but he "would settle for five days after a certain date in 1997."

sane grown men, average age 42 years, suddenly do something dangerous and reckless like sailing in an ocean race?

God knows but perhaps that man of words Gilhooly summed it best: "1986 will go doon as thi year ah gi up ocean

racin!"

Sevens

I

him for his brothers, the equally famous rugby stars Glen and Gary.

The 40-minute press conference was arranged by the FCC with the assistance of New Zealand's commissioner in Hong Mr. Ronald Li.

Kong, Frank Muller.

New Members

X",,i"å',',"1*IiJî:fi*rîiJï

wercome

For your diary May 7-8

-

The Actors Rep

presents "Greater Tuna," FCC dinner theatre in the main dining

room. This long-running offBroadway hit comedy is a satire of the more bizarre characters one would find in the average small Texas town. Two actors Teresa Norton and Andy Chworowsky - portray 20 characters

'#F Correspondent V/illiam Schwalbe

Journalist

Interasia Publications Ltd.

Howard Winn Radio Television HK

including the Smut Snatchers, who want to burn "Romeo and Juliet" because it's too sex¡ and

Journalist Shum Choi Sang Wah Kiu Yat Pao

a scorpionJoving, chicken-hating conservationist. Not your average

"nice" comedy, "Greater Tuna" makes "Dallas" look like a Christ-

mas pagent. Price: $120 per Person'

/i'lli!!$

llLt'

Associate

Associate

Jeremy Smith W. Greenwell & Co, Far East

Lyle Pai Rei Reuters

-

Associate Tei

Maynard Macaskill Squibb Worldwide Hq

Board Resolution The club Board of Governors have passed a resolution disputing the condi-

tions under which Reuters' Singapore correspondent Marilyn Odchimar was expelled after government authorities found a story she wrote to be "irresponsible" and damaging to Singapore's image overseas.

Odchimar reported on March 18 that a survivor of the Hotel New World col-

lapse had heard

a

rescuer demand

a nearby woman before he extricated her from .the rubble.

money from

Odchimar, who had the statement on tape, interviewed the man three times to verify his allegation but was unable to talk to the woman, who had died.

Congratulations !

checking with rescuers or authorities.

While regretting the story included no comment from authorities, Reuters Asian Editor Ian Macdowall defended Odchimar saying: "Miss Odchimar

is

neither a psychologist nor a government servant. It was not her function to assess the survivor's mental condition or to protect the image of Singapore by surpressing the allegation."

The resolution reads: "The Board of the FCC views with concern the explusion from Singapore of Reuters correspondent Marilyn Odchimar. It is particularly disquieted at the reason given for this action."

The year has been a rough one for correspondents. Indonesia did not renew

The Singapore government claimed the man was incoherent and delirious

the employment visa of Far

when interviewed. The government further charged that Odchimar "made no attempt to verify the facts" through

coln Kaye and its stringer Paul Handley, who also worked for the Italian news agency INSA.

Eastern

Economic Review correspondent Lin-

The editor of thß publication Lesley Hargreaves has taken a brief leave of absense to coo oyer her beautiful new daugher Julia, who was born April 8 at Matilda Hospital.

The graceful 5 lb 14 oz baby is

the third daughter

for

the Hør-

greayes clan, which includes lone

male Alan.

Puttíng ít together Editor-Danelle Morton Tel: 5-234438 Newsletter Liaison

-

Michael

Malik (FEER) Tel: 5-8936688

Printer- Ad-Asia, Worldwide Commercial Bldg., 34 Vfndham Street, Central. Tel:. 5-256067