The Correspondent, Novemeber 1988

PROFILE

A living legend of the skies

HE CORRESPONDENT, in its re-born format, has now completed one year, and with th¡s issue it begins the second.

The magazine appears to have been

Discover the hospitality and culinary delights of dynasties long gone. Discover our exclusive new Dynasty Restaurant.

Lunchtimes and evenings, we'll tempt you with some of the most imaginative Cantonese a la carte and special menus.

All beautifully

prepared by our Chefs to bring alive an old tradition of Chinese culinary excellence.

And all impeccably

served

especially important occasion? Be sure

' å:'J. ¿:1,'ij¿äf i,Tî'"i" rit64h&. your reservation. LryngSV woRLD HoTEL .lZl. ANEW New world Hospitalitv of

22 Sålisbury Road, Tsìmsharsur, Kowloon Hong Kong Telephone: ì'694 I I I

New World Hotels lnrernaoonal

(

ì I

I

below our hopes, but we extend our sincere thanks to those many corporations and small businesses that haye advertised in the magazine.

In the meantime, we can take some satisfaction in saluting this first anniversary.

THANKYOT.]

in a quietly refined setting that

\!||!|

every description, and of unrivalled influence both as professional hacks and corporate decision-makers. The Correspondezl's advertising revenue so far is somewhat

age

takes the Tang Dynasty as its motif.

And, for that

a welcome addi-

tion to the services the Club offers its members (and has been particularly welcomed by former members and life membersof the FCC, nowelsewhere, asameansofkeeping in touch with old friends and colleagues).

Nearly everyone also seems agreed that the editor, P. Viswa Nathan, and his company, Printline Ltd., which promotes, produces and prints it, have done an excellent job.

The Club is also grateful to everyone who has contributed to its pages, particularly those who have done so free of charge. They include: Arthur Hacker, Tony Lawrence, Al Kaff, Gerry Delilkhan, TedThomas, MaryLee, John McBeth and V.G. Kulkarni. And we should thank

Berton Woodward and Michael Dalton who helped get the magazine offthe ground.

A survey conducted earlier this year showed that the membership of the Club is incredibly well-heeled, welltravelled, replete with booze, foods, consumer durables of

!

With this issue, The Correspondent in its present monthly magaz¡ne format, enters its second year of publ¡cat¡on. This would not have been possible without the generous support of the advertisers who recognised the un¡que nature of this magaz¡ne and the need foritto beestablished. Wethankeach one of them:

AmericanExpress HutchisonWhampoalimited Holidaylnn HarbourView CSL SchrodersAsia Ltd Swire Properties Far Eastern Economic Review OmarKhayyam Alphagraphics Sophie's Flowers William & Simon Tailor Spice Island Gourmet Club Lowie Dick ArcherTravel NewAsiaGrocery Ltd SanMiguel NewWorld Hotel Unisys Kent WarwickMeyersTailor Borsalino Globenet-TV CafeAdriatico ConcordeTravel Maharanie Mess Yau Ngai Jewellery Wanderlust Books JohnnyWalker Asiaweek Toppan Moore BritishAirways Jimmy'sKitchen Bloomsbury Books HongkongBank DHL Dragonair HK Telecom Datacraft Continental Car Rental Mabuhay Restaurant TDC Reuters Air India Newsome Travel Brian Lack Silvia Kogan Martell Chevalier (OA) Ltd Transchina International Cambridge Diet Cl-Alexanders La¡ng & Cruickshank Secur¡t¡es Laptop Shop Woodland Restaurant R.J. Reynolds Duty Free Shoppers HK Used Computers Cathay Pacific P&OTravel Kashmir Holidays Kodak Canon Hong KongTelephone lnternational Herald Tribune Hongkong Standard Teresa Chan Treetops Telerate Tourism Authority of Thailand

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NOVEMBER 1988 THE CORRESPONDENT 3

NOVEMBER 1988

THE

VOLUME2 NUMBERT

GORRISPOIUIIDIUT

s

message

REMEMBERED YESTERDAYS I

Beer mugs swa.yed and the sound of yodelling echoed around the rooftops of Centralas the Club celebrated the Oktoberfest with live music b.v the Hans Gerhant Oomph Band and an unlimited supply of Lowenbrau beer (See pp.24-25).

The best of times

PROFILE 'Pat

Patterso¡'-

¿

living legend of the skies

MEETTHE PRESS The spirit of '46 rises again

t4

A retum to the sanctuary

19

COVER

Club team treks Maclehose Trail ¿ì

r'å'tÀJ

DEPARTMENTS

{

-ri

Letters

People

TheZoo

Stop Press

ClubNews

Crossword

Fld

itor

President -Sinan Fisek. Secrnors paul Bayfield, James rcr Seidlit¿, Richard Waener.

P Viswa Nathan

Editorial Supervision Publications Sub committee: Paul Bayfield (Chaiman) Ken James

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MemberGovernors --Ken

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r¡y'endy Hughes, percr

S"tatit. lrri fuyn.iã. rian Jellrics. TccÍrnical kking.

Club Manager: HeinzCrabncr, Club Stewardi Juliâ Suen Thc Corespondent is published monLhly for and on bchalfofThe ForeiBn Corespondents' Club, by:

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4 THE CORRESPONDENT NoVEMBER

I

2

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1988

NOVEMBER

1988

THE CORRESPONDENT 5

LETTERS

THE ZCC

David Bonavia I WENTto

a wake

BY ARTHUR I-IA¿KER

Local detail. Global perspective.

WOULD SIR LIKE METO OPEN TI-IE GRAVE9 ?

atthe Club on

Sept 21, for David Bonavia. I was late, tumed up about 8 p.m.

The sandwiches were limp, the dip a little dagg¡ the satays a

littlesoggy. I was solate,Ihadto sign for my own beer.

Quiæ a few people had drifted offto the main bar. If there was a

speech (there was a forlorn microphone standing there), I missed it. As I edged into the remaining conversation, there wasn't much talk about David his work, his contribution to the written word and that usually morbid stuff that gets said at wakes, funerals, memorial services and such. Instead, people remembered David for his wit,

his decisive mind, his

deep

knowledge and sometimes cynical view ofChina.

I didn't know

Bonavia inti-

mately, but we were contemporaries at ¡he Far Eastern Eco-

nomic Review and I made it a point of seeking him out whenever I went to Peking (or Beijing, asheneverwished torefer to it).

Bonavia was a good bloke and usually agreeable company to share ajar with at the bar. He was a good raconteur and, to ourcollective loss, had a lot more left to

idea to get together and down a few tubes forBonavia.

Gongbei!

PeterBennett

Thanks THE FCC Trailwalker

Team

wishes to thank the Board of Govemors for risking the Club's repu-

tation by approving the Team as an official Club entry, Heinz Grabner for making the snack menu available after midnight on

recount than we'll ever know.

When you ease into your late 40s, you value an acquaintance like Bonavia. That's why I feel fairly confident I am speaking, in one way or another, for people who showed up like Irene

The Team is particularly grateful to Gloria Ho and Barbara for their

O'Shea, Viswa Gerry Delilkhan (hnally met him after

trail,

-Nathan,

all these years!), David Thurston, Kevin Sinclair (in his best suit yet, I thought he was from Citibank) and a whole lot of other FCC types, new and old, who reckoned it would not be a bad

Tate's Cairn, and those Club members who so generously succumbed to Barbara \üaters' en-

thusiastic sponsorship campaign.

Agood read

readable ofall press club pub-

LET me congratulate yo:u onThe Correspondent It is an interesting mix of solid information about the region and pleasant gossip about people in Hong Kong, particularly FCC members. I and my wife, who left Hong Kong in 1975 and

since visited the territory only once (1984), Iook forward to its arrival everymonth. Keepup the good work.

Any club member passing through Bonn, or Cologne where I work,is welcome to call so we can swap y¿uns about Hong Kong over thelocalbrew.

RexEllis Euskirchen-Palmersheim

moral and logistical support on the where their cheerful faces

Federal Republic of Germany

and encouragement were worth

Tel: (02255) l7 26

much as if not more than, the hot food and dry clothes they brought as

withthem.

RobertGrinter

forFCCTrailwalker'88

lications I see.

Al Kaff, Comell University News Service, New York I MUST congratulate you and all the others involved with the new and much improved look of The Correspondenr. Ireaditcover to cover and enjoy it immensely. I paficularly enjoyed the Remembered Yesterdays that have appeared to date, and hope to see more of them in the future.

The Hong Kongofthe 1950s and 1960s is my era, and I have fond memories of the old club up

on Conduit Road; I wasn't a member then, but as a visiting joumalist I certainly enjoyed the hospitaliry.

I

am proud that Richard

The Correspondent"s contents,

club years ago.

typography and pictures look betterwith each issue. Youarepro-

w

ducing the most attractive and

.

Hughes nominated me for the Please keep up the good C orre sp onde nt.

work

i¡hT he

Scott C.S. Stone, Hawaii

This means that thrcugh any of our 1,300 offices in more than 50 @untriqs, you can get access to advice ftompeople immened in

For editorial and publishing services, contact:

PRINTLINE LTD 601 Fu House, T Ice House Street,

Central, Hong Kong.

Phone:

5-237848, Fax: 5-8453556

6 THE CoRRESPoNDENT NoVEMBER 1988

Capel in the U.K., Marine Midland Bank in the U. S.4., and The British Bank of the Middle East in the Middle East.

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CONSOLIDATED ASSEIS AT 30 ruNE I9E8 EXCEED US$II3 BILLION.

REMEMBERED

YESTERDAYS

TED THOMAS

fr

a,

THE AGE OF THE BLUDGER: By this time

himself was regularly attacking the world's vodka drinking record whilst remaining a charming erudite and generous host to anyone who cared to join him.

The age of the bludger had

The best of times The FCC of today is more entertaining than at any time in its history.

OBODY ever writes about the old FCC up on Conduit Road these days.

Could it be that Charlie Smith, Bert Okuley and I are the only survivors?

Everybody says what a grand old building it was and I do recall, (as though through a glass darkly), that there were some pretty memorable parties there with tables on the

lawns and soft-footed waiters filling our glasses with the most generous measures of booze to be found east of Suez.

The veterans fยกom the Korean War were

there in force. In winter, trench-coats were still the rage for war correspondents and I bought a splendid, fur-lined model from L/e photographer John Dominis which made me feel quite grand as I fl ashed around the island in my TR3-engined Morgan, at that time one of the fastest cars in Hong Kong. John's wife Frances Dominis was something of a driver herself and together with Munay Leavitt

(wife of Time/Lrle's Scott Leavitt) entered the Macau Grand Prix and performed quite credirably.

Bud Merick of UPI, who was later to be retumed to the battle front in Vietnam, held his wedding in the oldFCC and I well recall a rousing wedding speech by the late Richard Hughes of fheTimes, who claimed thathehad realised Bud was heading for matrimony when he had confided that in his opinion, "the love ofa beautiful woman wastheequivalent of a front-page, three-column exclusive".

Who could argue with that?

We had an alcoholic manager in those days. A closet drinker, he would never be caught with a glass in his hand but continued to walk around half-pissed all day.

Lunches in the dry season were set out on the lawns which you can see in the old blackand-white photograph of the club on the stairway leading to the main dining room of the present club.

I remember Newsweek correspondent Bob Elegant, then a newsman, now a successful novelist, bellowing out his orders in execrable Mandarin, then tuming to his guests, newly arrived from the USA, and explaining in English what he had just said. "Waall Bob," said his embarrassed guest, "that wasn't exactly what you said," and proceeded to tell him where he had gone wrong.

8

rrrp

PUGILISTS' NURSERY:

Ir

dawned.

'When China's Cultural Revolution spilled over into

was up in

Conduit Road that the FCC first gained a reputation as a nursery for up-and-coming pugilists. Some memorable gladiatorial contests took place on that lawn after midnight but with both combatants usually stoned out of their minds, little more than egos were

Hong Kong in 1967 and the Red Guards paraded through the streets brandishing the little red book containing the thoughts of Mao, the foreign correspondents flocked here, for Hong Kong

bruised.

Far more bruising, to the ego of some members were the encounters with lady guests in the upstairs room available ostensibly as accommodation foritinerate joumalists but also

providing

was once again a story. This merry band, their ranks swollen by the increasingly large contingent of real war correspondents from Vietnam that's where I first met Saul Lockhart and Don North spelt the beginning of a renaissance for the FCC. Suddenly it was fashionable again.

I was one of the last to hold

convenient rendezvous for what to call "a quiet and discreet naughty."

It wasn't the sort of club you wanted to take your fiancee to. Somebody else's fiancee maybe - but definitely not yours.

Abuse of the system was far more widespread in those days. Non-members wandered in as their fancy took them, bought books of cash tickets overthe bar and never bothered tojoin. As the numberof real correspondents declined, the need to recruit more associate members increased, but that need was not recognised. All too soon the lovely oldhouse up on Midlevels was surrendered fora shabby old formernightclub dpwn on the waterfront in Yu To Sang building.

Membership fell off even more rapidly, andeventually, through the generosity of Ken Moss, then regional vice president of the Hilton Hotel Group, the club gained a temporary home on the top floor of the Hong Kong Hila

the Australians were wont

out but finally surrendered when I discovered that drinks at the FCC were still half the price of those atthe Hong Kong Club and that, despite a figure tending to coยกpulence, I was still regarded as a contender for the cruiserweight title of the club of

-one the least contentious divisions.

Inevitably I joined again. It hurt to learn that newcomer

Arthur Hacker now had a lower number than I had and that ankle-biters were now allowed to run wild in the hallowed precincts of the bar, but if Richard Hughes and Hugh Van Es could endure it, so could I. The move to the premises at Ice House Street sealed my fate.

ton.

UNHAPPY DAYS: This was probably rhe mostboring time in theclub's historyanda

I thought for

number of members (myself included) handed in our resignations and joined other,

morelivelyestablishments. It was about this time that one member, presumably for good reason, chose the FCCto commit a particularly spectacular suicide by diving out of the FCC window and taking the short way down 24 storeys. Unhappily, pieces ofhim landed on the bonnet of the car of one of the member's wives and another husband and wife drinking team was lost to tbe club.

Something had to happen if the club was ever to regain its former glory. President John F. Kennedy came to the rescue and esca-

CORnESPONDENT NOVEMBER 1988

the

"Richard Hughes Table" had become a fixture and Richard

some time that

membership would lated America's involvement in the Vietnam War and suddenly being a foreign correspondent meant more than collecting the stock market reports every day.

In a visionary move, thecommittee ofthe time, that much abused and little appreciated body, decided on a change of location to Sutherland House which was, if nothing else, handy to Mercury House which housed Radio

Hong Kong, a rich mother-lode of serious drinkers that included me.

'Warren Rooke, Len Port, Barry Haigh,

as oldermembers.

Timothy Birch, Donald Bยกookes and Ron Winyard all became members although the Hong Kong Cricket Club, then just across the road at what is now Chater Gardens, was only

trickle back, drawn by vastly improved fa-

a technicolour yawn away.

I hung back a bit, living on the cash

retumed to the bar stark naked - a tough act to

chit

system and retuming for serious dining and drinking to the Hong Kong Club, directly across Club Street, and reserving the Cricket Club, across Chater Road for more frivolous evenlngs.

One by one the old members began to

cilities and the legend that one member, a very senior policeman, was repofted to have removed all his clothes in the men's toilet and follow!

Mention of the toilets in Sutherland House reminds me that these really did afford the finest views of the harbour to be seen from the club and this fact was mentioned in a book by Frederick Forsyth, Ian Fleming or some other Richard Hughes crony.

fall off

tottering ยกnto

senility, found the climb up Wyndham Street too much for them, but as usual I was wrong.

The FCC of today is more spacious, elegant and entertaining than at any time in its history. It provides betterfood on a dollar for dollar basis than any comparable establishment and it offers a much liked and much appreciated facility for over a thousand devotees who gather regularly there to lift a convivial glass and tell lies about how much better everything used

to

be in the old days.

NOVEMBER 1988 THE CORRESPONDENT 9

T would an age on

HOWARD

difficult to put Allen Longsdale

be

JEAN:

("Pat") Patterson, the grand old member of the Foreign Correspondents' Club.

girl and a halfhour later the t"vo left in the Hughes to the

former's car and JeanHarlow

Oldtimers, and that would include a vanishing lot dating back to the club's founding days in Chungking, are, however, unanimous in their appraisal of the high-flyer a spruce airman with apenchant for sartorial elegance topped off by the obligatory bow-tie and the discreet smile ofrecognition reserved for a select coterie ofhis acquaintances gathered around him at one comer ofthe bar.

Those who do not belong to Pat's inner circle, and the staff at the FCC, instinctively

of Hell's Angels was launched,

The 1920s was a boom time for the big names of the aircraft industry. They included Donald Douglas, founder of Douglas Aircraft (now McDonnell Douglas), Allen Loughead (founder of

Lockheed) and

Jack Northrop. They were making names for themselves as designers and builders of aircraft.

By 1929, Pat was vicepresident and sales manager of the General Aircraft Company of Buffalo, New York, which sold a plane called the Aristocrat, powered by the first continental radial engine ever built. The engine went on to become famous, but Pat and his comp4ny were wiped out by the depression and bank

recognised his.presence when the timecame for him to settle

the bill. On each occasion, Pat ceremoniously whipped out a chop bearing his name and membership number and

stamped it on the chit, a wise precaution that ensured that credit was protected all round. It was also the hallmark of a man who has always been a stickler for details in a career that is paft of aviation history and folklore for the better part of a century.

Though 1900 is listed as the date of Pat's birth in Canada, the discharge certificate from the Royal Air Force in World War I, proudly

l-r

/

\'.,J

Hong Kong

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framed in his souvenir-filled Mid-Levels

(39)-02-865715

Cab|e: KONGTRAD MILAN Telex; 333508 HKÍDC I Facs¡mile: (39)-02-860304

B€rcelona

C¡ntact: Joaquin ¡/aestre

Telex: 414705 COFBA D Facsimile: (49)-069-7451 24

Conlacl: Pamela Bottomley Telephone:

I 41

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J A Furer

Telephone: (4 )-01 -251 -0'1 -85 Cab|e: CONOTRAD ZURICH Telex: 817850 CONZ CH Facs¡mile: (41)-01 -251 -08-1 4

apartment, puts the date at I 895. Give or take

Be¡jing Contact: Lo Hoi Sing lelephone: (86)-01 -500-3285 felex:22927 HKIDC CN Facsimile: (86)-0 1 -500-3285

five years; the Patterson legend gets bur-

Oska

FLYING PIONEER: Anecdotes

in that

(86)-21-265935 Telex; 301 75 TDCSH CN Facsimile: (86)-21-264200

Amelia Earhart who sent him a photograph shortly before her disappearance on July 2,

1

Tokyo Corìlact: Dennis Yau Telephone: (81 )-03-502-3251 /5 Cable: CONNOTRADD TOKYO Telex: HKTDCT J269'17

Fa6im¡le:

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1

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FromUSA:3682989 From other æunlr¡es: 3792989 Facsimile: (507)-69-61 83

Hong Kong K trLltr Trade Development Council

the depression for Pat was the

film.

Pat counts among his friends the late 1937, near Howland Island in the Pacific.

Pat's high-wing monoplane, Cruzair, deof the Spiritof StLouis which Charles Lindbergh piloted acroSs the Atlantic to Paris to win instant, international fame.

By 1927 , Pat had well and truly arrived as a young man who dropped out of a course in

signedin I927,was theprototype

opened. Pat, hearing that General Chiang

PATTERSOI\ A living legend of the skies

1930.

For several years he trained pilots

and

sold aircraft

and spares. From 1934, Pat served as Far East representative of the US Bureau of Air in the Department of Commerce, licensing pilots. He also sold DC2, DC3 and Sikorsky S38 aircraft to China, Indonesia and Thailand and served as president of ChinaAirmotive Company.

Allen 'Pat'Patterson, member of the FCC, is a legend in his lifetime. His Hong Kong home is crammed with aviation memorabilia.

a

SKYWRITING SPECTACLE: One of Pat's fondest memories of this period was Gen Chiani's 5Oth birthday. His contribution was to take a Boeing Stearman biplane and

skywrite an enonnous birthday greeting. The catch was that the writing had to be in a complex Chinese character and it is a tribute to

By Vemon Ram States, where he bought a few warplanes he hoped fo rent out to film-makers. He also gave flying displays at an airfield

Britain'sRoyal Flying Corps (latertobecome theRoyalAir Force). Pathad to lie abouthis

outside Los Angeles. One of the girls who soldtickets forhis show at DycerField caught

age to enlist, but by the time he left the RAF, he had seen action in Italy and NorthAfrica.

The end of WorldWarI saw Patretum to

the eye of Howard Hughes, who had dropped

at

trying to start an airline, shopped around for contacts and hardware, shipped out a training aircraft and moved to Shanghai, where he set up home and office in Kai-shek was

the Massachussets Institute ofTechnology to enlist in

aeronautical engineering

triggerfor new

adventure. As one door closed, another

abound

ShanghEi Contact: Agnes Hsu Telephone: (86)-21 -2641 96

of 1929.

1ühile weaker men would have been licking their wounds and moaning about their lot,

6PAT'

flights offancy.

about the pioneer of the flying machine era, the man who introduced Jean Harlow to the late Howard Hughes, leading to her debut castingin Hell's Angels and Pat's own bit part

Tsip€i Contact: Vivia Yang Telephone; (886)-(02)-705-9333 Telex: 23288 OUANTA Faæimile: (886¡02-705-9222

crash

PROFILE

nished each time it is told or takes wing on new

C¡ntact: Yoshihisa Uem Telephone: (81¡06-344-521 1 Cable: CONNOTRADD oSAKA Telex: c/o Tokyo HKTDCT J2691 7 Facsimile: (81 )-06-347-079 1

MEETS

Pat introduced Howa¡d

the United

in on Pat to buy some planes for his film, Hell's Angels.

Pat's professionalism, that he accomplished themission, even though the aircraftstalled three times during the exercise. So successful was the mission, that the mile-wide birthday greeting in the sky stalled traffic for miles around

as

people stopped to read the message.

Associates of Pat's China days include Herman Newman, technical director of Eurasia (later Lufthansa) and Claire Chennault of the Flying Tigers Squadron fame. Pat made Chennault's acquaintance during the Los

NOVEMBER 1988 THE CORRESPONDENT I

1

Angeles air show in 1926. Captain Chennault was aUS AirFcrce precision flyer. He came into the show with three airplanes and put on

the finest exhibition of precision flying.

When the controversial Chennault resigned from the US Air Force after a dispute with General Henry Amold, Pat happened to be in America on a short visit from China.

Madame Chiang Kai-shek, who was head of the ChineseAir Force, decided she needed an expert to come out for consultations. Pat suggested to Chennault that he come to China and that was how he was picked for the job,

thästartof oneof the most thfi|iñgichapters of modem military history. Pat" counts among his accomplishments the honour of flying with Claire Chennault over the Himalayan hump to relieve the wartime Chinese capital inChungking.

In I 940, Pat founded the Allied Engineering Corporation in New York, acting as the American agent for the combined China companies moving aviation equipment to the FarEast. When theUS entered Vy'orld War II,

Pat shifted the company to New Haven, Connecticut, where it helped military contractors to develop radar and electronic iæms. Atthe same time, Pat becamemanaging director of Bristol Aeronautical Corporation which dealt in special and highly secret projects for the US NavY.

ON WINGS OF WOOD: Oneof thecom-

1

pany's specialities was inwarping wood to the special shapes demanded by aircraft wind profiles, the beginning ofthe design and construction of wooden aircraft. That same technology steered Pat in the direction of a piano factory helping craftsmen to bend and fix wood in theinstrument. Someof thewoodwork technology developed by Pat's company was used to build the famous de Havilland Mosquito bomber in England. It was the sametechnology that went into thebuilding of Howard Hughes's Spruce Goose, the giant, all-wood flying boat which made one successful flight and is now preserved as a museum prece.

At the end of World War II, Pat made an attempt at retuming to Shanghai, but conditions were far from encouraging. Equally, attempts to modify surplus military aircraft for civilian use appeared doomed from the staf.

Pat began travelling extensively to develop business contacts in his field. He workedwiththe US AirForceforawhile as an outside contractor on technical research. In 19ó0, Pat establishedAirservices Company Ltd in Hong Kong to continue the operations he had pioneered, selling equipment and aircraft to many Asian countries.

TOO BUSY: In recent years, Pat has kept very much to himself and, except for visits to'the FCC, potters around his Mid-Levels home filled with tons of memorabilia of an exciting and eventful life. Asked by an interviewer why he hasn't written abook yet, Patreplied: "I haven't the time because I have to eam a

living. Ihave about 10,000 lbs of files offhotographs and otherbits and pieces stored out atthe back ofthe apartment, and Ijust have no time to sort it all out."

Michael Westlake of the Far Esstern Economic Review, who posed the question, then went on to offer this apocryphal tale: "Atone time,"Vy'estlake wroteinThe Asia Magazine, "the US Air Force historical section offered Pat the loan of two men to come

and sort out the material, much of which is irreplacable. Pat tumed down the offer."

Quoting Pat, Westlake says: "One of the pictures in the heap is of myself and a group ofpeoplel can't now identify, withPresident Harding at the White House. I remembered one member of the group and wrote to him asking if heremembered why we were there and who the others were, His reply led to more inquiries, and the result is a file an inch thick

all

for

-through

one picture. Imagine having to go that process for all the other stuff as

Pat's home atMacdonnell Road in Mid-Levels, Hong Kong is an archives of photographs, letters and other documents of historic value.

Exn'eme LeftPat in his stud¡ examining some of the old pictures.

Top, Middlle,Pat in Shanghai, after the skywriting the birthday greeting

for General Chiang Kai-shek in 1937, and rRigå¡, in World War I flyer's uniform. Above : Ãt the Los

In I 975, he sold his controlling interest in the company, which continued operating llawker de Havilland (HK) Lt{ and became a

well."

The man with a wealth of memories will, therefore, remain an enigmato all but ahand-

Angeles air show in 1926.

consultant to various manufacturers.

ful ofhis close acquaintances.

P hoto s : R:ay

2 THE CORRESPONDENT NOVEMBER 1988

Cranbourne.

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Datuk Musa Hitam(standing) speaking at the FCC.

Datuk Musa Hitam has been a close associate of Malaysian prime minister, Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad for many years. After being deputy prÍme mÍnister since 1981, he resigned in early 1986, because of differences with the prime minister.

Speaking at the FCC last month, Musa said the differences between him and Dr Mahathir have been growing over a long time on many matters of policy and style of government

MEET THE PRESS

including independence of the judiciary and freedom

MALAYSIA: THE SPIRIT

of the press.

Now

campaigning against Dr Mahathir, Musa says that developments in

oF,46

RISESAGAIN

D

EVELOPMENTS in Malaysia have

reached a stage where the situation is serious and Malaysians should be made awa¡e of the serious trend...which I unhesitatingly describe as a threat to the Malaysian democratic way of life...

Why am I talking about the dangerous trend? I'm talking about it simply because

quiteanumberofevents have takenplace in Malaysia recently. But specifically since the assumption of office of Dr Mahathir, admittedly with me as the deputy, in 198 I , the trend had actually been set.

It seems to me that the Malaysian general

public agrees whenever

we talk about Dr

Mahathir as the man who is taking us along this path...leading ustothis trend. The Malaysian public seems to understand it immediately, seems to catch it immediately, and seems to even agree with this point of view

would declare a state of emergency. Musa also answered questions from the floor. Excerpts:

that I'm putting across...I personally...that

in the present

feel

atmosphere,

vibrant opposition to the leadership of Dr Mahathir.

Now, oneoftheissuesthat seems to have convinced the Malaysians that DrMahathir is leadingus to this path that is threatening democracy is, of course, the issue of the you literally feel the

independence

of

Malaysia have reached a serious stage, that Dr Mahathir might call a snap election to consolidate his power and, if he lost at the polls, he

the judiciary.

When one

talks about the independenceofthejudiciary,onewouldexpect that the educated elite would immediately understand what this is all about. And politicians willonlybeleftto say that theindependence of the judiciary is most crucial to the survival of the democratic way of life; but the village folk would just be

indifferent to such arguments because it

then on to the suspension of the five Supreme Court judges, leading on to twoofthembeing sacked, there seems to be a ground swell of an

understanding

of

whatindependenceofthe judiciary meant and what the implication was..,

But now, as soon as we talk about the of thejudiciary as the basic principle of democratic system of govemment, there is clapping and cheering and independence

village folks. This responseseemstobe based on an appreciation of what this is all about.

This is an interesting phenomenon. Why it is happening this way is simply that we have been democratic in the past; democratic, not only in political terms, but in agreement from the

Lord President of

educational terms. I'm not talking about formal education, I'm talking aboutpolitical

Malaysiaandleading on tohis expulsion, and

education as a process that goes on during the

would be beyond their understanding. But since the suspension of the

14 THE CORRESPONDENT NOVEMBER 1988

course

of

us

following the democratic sys-

tem that we have

In other words, the Malaysian appreciates that a judgecouldnotandshouldnot be touched. He appreciatesthat ifhe were in trouble, even with the govemment, he would, and could, tum to

the

the state

of your relationshipwithTunku of a

Razaleigh and the possibility eventually

adopted thus far.

judiciary for appeal.

rival coalition

being formed, perhaps with theparticipation ofotherforces. that are not now part of the National Front,such as the DAP, the fundamentalists, etc.?

I

opted for a snapelection. Iamtoldthatthe curÍent problems in the MCA, where the

And in many casesheknows that, if itisthe

MUSA:

govemmentthatisguilty, the court wìll say thatitisthe govemmentthatis guilty. He has

Razaleigh when he challenged the prime

president of the MCA, has taken leave, is because the prime minister says that he

minister for the presidency of the party. It had been done before and we nearly succeeded. So there'snoreason why itcannotbe

wanted asnapelection before he went on this huge shopping spree. But the MCA was horrified at the idea because they thought they

been so used to

it.

So much so, when the prime minister tries to and succeeds in muffling them, there seems to be an uproar. And

this is something which I feel that the prime minister would not be able to stop. I have beeningovemment forquite along time, and I have been in UMNO (United Malay Nationalist Organisation) for quite a long time.

Every time we wanted to have a crowd, let

me confess to youif youdid not knowalready, we'd have to allocate a certain amount of money. In other words, how many busloadsof people...They would be called volunteers, of course.

What's happening now, in the current Malaysian situation is that this allocation is completely ignored by the five or six tìmes bigger crowds that come. They just come.

They cycle, they comebybus, bylorries,they pay on their own, they come by car, they walk. This is what we are talking about the so+alledspiritof '46. ln 1946, onthe lltlr of May, UMNO was formed in Johore Baru. At that time, the village folks and all the Malays from all over the country used to walk, used to go by lorry, on their own, to Johore Baru to form the party and to oppose the British. So, now, we get the phenomenon of '46. is

It

indeed a people's movement.

QUESTION: Could you please describe

was in partnership with Tunku

that the leader of the group, Tunku Razaleigh is holding talks with a lot of pèople, in the opposition as well as those in the coalition now. So anything might emerge out of that.

The prime minister is reported to have

the moment, the reforming of this partnership seems to have attracted enough

would be wiped out. So they're dead against it. Asa result, they had longdiscussions with the presidential council of the

attentionto make the govemmentsidetryto

MCA. The most interesting thing is thatthey

done now.

At

splitit very seriously with all sons

of

articles

discussed whether or not they should stay in

in the newspapers. In fact, letme say thatlots

the coalition. About half of them said they

of people have saidthatthey wereconcemed about this talk; that since I came back there was a lot of hoo-ha, about the position of TunkuRazaleigh. But my answer is simple.

should get out in order to survive and join up with us. The otherhalfsaid they should stay.

My footnote: those who advocated to stay had

There's no problem because I'm not tlreatening the leadership of the group. I'm not afterthe job. I'm back here onlytobackthe group and to support them wherever and whenever I feel that I am needed.

Secondly, with regard to possible realignment of the different political groups, just as I would have said let me say this, politics about the Tunku- Razaleigh and me is the art of the possible, with -only one objective in mind, that is, to gain power. Let me unashamedly say this: anybody who gets into politics and says that I'm really not

interested in power is bullshitting. In one way or another, he's interested in power, either at its ultimate or being nearest to it.

So, having said that, it seems to me that it is not impossible that we get quite a few opposition groups to be with us...I am told

problems ranging from four million to 450,000 Malaysian ringgit. So there you are, you have

a

situation of the full range ofpossi-

bilities.

QUESTION: I realise you have said that you arenotthe leader, but let's imagine thatyou have the ultimate power and you are Prime Minister Musa, what are the major changes you wouldlike to see made society as iî currently exists?

MUSA:

in

Malaysian

Let's say I'm not the leader but as a

good politician I fantasise. Thank you very much.

To begin with, style. To westemers it might sound unimportant. In a developing society,stylecountsalot. How do youdeal with people? Do you push your ideas across

NOVEMBER I988 THE CORRESPONDENT 15

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MEET THE PRESS

MEET THE PRESS to

persuade people to be on

ing style to thecuÍentprimeminister, who says, like thegooddoctor thathe is, 'this is good for you,takeit.' I would try toper-

evolve. There must be gentle...subtle persuasion within tbe Malaysian context.

Then of course, to me personally, the emphasis should be on the rural areas. This is me. I've had arguments over it with the prime minister. I've said, 'look, you spend

think style, to the Malay

billions, give me400million, Iwillmake the

especially, is very important. The problem with Dr Mahathir is he is crass, rough and

village folk happy.'

So, these generally are my views. I feel that it could be done; I feel that Malaysia could go ahead.

What is happening in Malaysia now is not unlike what's beenhappening in Korea,toa lesser extent of course. That is, Koreans were wealthy as a nation, and the people were reasonably happy, their stomachs were full. Yettheydemanded freedom. The Malaysians are also prosperous. Malaysians are reasonably happy, their stomachs are full, and yet they are telling the govemment: 'Look, weare happy, because ofthefreedom and we don't wantyou to spoil this.'

or doyoutry your side?

I

would provide acompletely contrast-

suade and discuss. I

hard. This man pushes things down your throat. Andthe Malaysian public seems not to be able to accept that or swallow that.

When you talk about other things, we're a very rich country. But the trouble with what's going on is simply this: what Dr Mahathir wants, Dr Mahathir gets. What does that mean? It actually means one-man rule.

We became independent, as a counffy, and within a few years we managed to do

without expatriates. We have young, talented minds in the country. That goes right across. And we don't seem to beusingthem.

Inthe govemmentservice, for example, we have a so-called economic planning unit and, underDr Mahathir ithas become less and less

job of the economic planning unit is merely to justify a fait accompli,

useful. The

something that has already been decided rather than looking at projects and the implications of them, and then making the

QUESTION: About this freedom.

You

just

mentioned thøt Dr Mahathir decided on srnp

electionswhichled to the latestconcern of the MCA. Do you think that he will still go with the snap elections? If not,will he stay untilI99I? And if things get out ofcontrol, what are the possibilities of emergency rule?

his

imposing

politicans decide. Even then, politicianscol-

lectively decide.

Now, consider the way that Tun Razak usedtodo things. He used notonlyMalaysians, but he also used to have foreign experts, and he used to talk continually, have dialogues, have ideas, get ideas from people beforeheembarked on anything. That's one big thing, But now any project is literally named by the prime minister as who should

I think

this isjustbad,justblatant, it can't go on...I would revert to the old system oftender, open tender, competitive tender.

Now, on the social side, I don't think Malaysians need to bepushed. Revolutions are always counter-productive. Now you know my political stance. I'm anti-revolution. I think it's not sensible. A society needs to evolve. And in the Malaysian context, the Malaysian society needs to be giventhe chance toevolve,not to be forced.

When the prime minister talks about 'look East,'for example, it sounds good. Okay, you can tell people, take them as examples.

But when you carry it very far and push it very hard, it's counter-productive. People rebel against it. When you talk about Islam,

getit.

orvalues, it'swellandgoodtosay,"look it's good for us." You persuade the people. But when you get rightdown to it,peoplesay, this is no good for us because human beings don't like to be forced.

So at that level of social interaction of Malaysians, I think we must be allowed to

I

8 THE CORRESPONDENT NOVEMBER

MUSA: My guess is thatDrMahathir wants to have this snap election whateverthe consequences; because the king the present king. By next year we'll have a new one.

Sorry this sounds terrible but that's true, it's afactoflife. Now my theory is that he

is

wouldgoforelections. Ifhe wins, hewillof

very happy, he'll trumpet to the whole world that we're still a democracy. But ifhehasany inkling, anyindication, that he could lose, he would create trouble I think.

He could and would create trouble so that course be

is an excuse to declare an emergency.

And this is something very unpleasant. But all I wish to say is that, if what I say makes them say:'Nowe'renot going to doit',then I've achieved something very good in the interests of the nation. I'msayingthisquite openly athome. there

QUF,STION: Thß Club was host to aformer head of starc ofsingapore, Devan Nair, who also had a long history ofcooperation withamanheis now at oddswith. You have been deputy príme minister of Malaysiafor four years , a close colleague of Dr Mahathir for some time, could you describe to us, the steps with which you gradually

became

disillusioned and convinced that the policies were divisive?

MUSA': Within the course of the four years, issue after issue have been raisedprivately

1988

us. I believe that as the deputy prime minister I should not make between the two of

public any differences because I think that this is the principle of collective responsibility and thatlshould keep it in theconfines of thetwoofus. Ithink it ismyjobto tell him.

Letmegive an example: Thenationalcar. I had arguments with him and he gave me a long lecture and I was telling him about the dangerof the Japanese taking ove¡ if you did not know how to do it. And he told me that I did not know how; while he knew how todo itandthat things would go on beautifully.

We knowwhat's the status of thenational car.

We're very

proud to have a national car.

I

always recommend people to buY the national carbecause it's the bestJapanese car and the cheapest on the market. But the point is that having criticised and forewamed him of the danger of going ahead

without proper planning and assuring that it would really stay Malaysian, now we know what are the losses, 214 million Malaysian dollars.

There are lots of other things...One newspaper after another, and magazines, have been asked to be suspended or to bedelayed.

I will tell you frankly...I had a lot of diffrculties in trying to convince him, you either have freedom of the press or you don't. If youhave the freedom, they will criticise you and you have to take it.

Now, the judiciary. He was continually upset with thejudiciary. One of his favourite slogans, privately to cabinet ministers, the supreme council members: 'Hang the law-

yers,hangthe judges.' Believeitornot! He has been saying this for years...and itbecame quite ajoke. But underlying thatjoke is a state

of mind, of frustration and anger with judiciary. AgainI remember telling himthateither

you have an independentjudiciary oryou

A return to the sanctuary

Anyway, how lucky all of us joumâlists were to have Hong Kong and the FCC waiting for us and to still have it. Oddly enough, I don'trememberCathayPacific then at all. In the '60s they were spreading their wings over

Foreign correspondent and author, Gavin Young, returned to the FCC on October 20 to address a professional luncheon. Young had spent many years reportingAsia's trouble spots and his book, Slow Boats to China, was a bestseller. Recently, he completed two books Beyond Lion Rock, a colourful history of Cathay - and Worlds Apart, a collection of stories from his Pacific Airways, days as correspondent for the London Observer. Speaking at the luncheon, Young reminisced about his days in Asia and Hong Kong's role in providing apleasantsanctuary. Summary:

love

coming back to Hong Kong

because, for me, as for other correspondents, it has been a pleasant sanctuary over theyears...an escape to peacetorecoup

from the horrors

and general exhaustion.

Singapore and Hong Kong, it's difficult now to recalljust what these two places have meant to me in the past. For years, actually since the early'60s,they've been wonderful well-ordered oases of sanity after the shambles of somewhere else Bomeo, during confrontation, Vietnam,-of course, and Cambodia.

I remember the utter delight and relief in collapsing here after a month or months of

almost non-stop struggle elsewhere. And here in Hong Kong was peace, the end of crashing and gunfireand homeless refugees, sleep,goodfood and above atl goodfriends.

This FCC itself...I'm always paticularly

coming here to see the Vietnamese war photographs downstairs on the wall. I perhaps particularly in pamthink we all - Hong Kong with its strong pered, sheltered

pleased

Southeast Asia. But I can't remember flying with them at any time.

That brings me to say something about that

need that reminder tendency to smugness that still exists. of a very tough world outside And perhaps, I think sometimes, copies of those pictures, very large reproductions, mightbe sent to all Legco members and DistrictBoard members in Hong Kongwhoare feeling called upon topontificate negatively upon the fate of the Vietnamese refugees here, with a reminder that they too could be "eco-

nomic migrants" come 1997, if they don't watch out.

But you know, the old ramshackle FCC at Sutherland House was wonderful in its way too. It was an ever-blessed sancutary from war, and I was particularly attached, some-

times too literally, to its narrow, spiral staircase. Itreminded me ratherof being onboard a ship; a ship which sometimes in a very rocky

sea,youhadto cling onto because it tended at such times to sway. Occasionally one would havebeenpassingthe time with Dick Hughes, Donald Wise and Micheal Keats, with Barry 'Buzzer' Came of N¿wsweek.It's typhoon time! Seven nights a weekl

airline which I have been seeing quite a lot of recently. I thought I might say something abouthow Icametowrite Beyond Lion Rock.

When John Swire, a marvellous man, a great friend of mine, and chairman of the Swire Group, asked me if I was interested in writing Cathay's story, I thought, well, not really. I felt sure he would be bound to want an inhouse book, a sort ofelaborate and extended company report.Also, quitefrankly, I thought it might be pretty boring.

Then, a Cathay director supplied me with synopsis of the company's history. It read extremely well. It was like finding a remarkable object in a book, half-smothered by its wrappings. One only had to peel away the entanglement of ext¡aneous matter and lift out

somethingdistinctlyexciting. Inbrief, I saw a proper story. A rags-to-riches story. A real

yam.

An adventure.

After all, it started in the second world war in the jungles ofAssam.,.American andAussie

pilots, all incredibly brave, risking their lives...flying supplies risking appalling weather conditions with primitive navigational aids, dodging Japanese zero fighters.

That's a wonderful start for any story.

Why was the book titled, Beyond Lion Rock? We thought of titles like Up, Up and Away, Hell's Angels and On a Wing and a Prayer. However, we wanted something that suggested Hong Kong and Beyond the Lion Rocft provides this.

don't...This sort of argument went on...

Then there was the incident about radioactivewastenear thetown of Ipoh. Village folks were very unhappy and worried, admit-

tedly the enviommentalists and politicians came and stirred the people against it...Prime minister ignored it...Thenhe went overseas, I

was acting. Iwenttothe site.

I

knew that

something was wrong, I changed the site. And then, whenhe cameback,he toldmethatwhat I did was admitting amistake andthat Admitting a mistake is a sign of weakness! And I

told him that admitting a mistake need not necessarily show weakness, it might show coufage.

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Again, this is what the difference is all about. And, then,there are just athousand

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and one things.

Finally, at the supreme council meeting he

justwentagainstmeaccusing me of trying to topple him...Obviously the prime minister had no confidence in me, so I had to leave.

And I quit.

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NOVEMBER 1938 THE CORRESPONDENT 19

KODAK T.MAX

COVER

Thebeginningof anarduousjourney. TheFCC team(top,teft toright) Grinter, ong, Grindrod and Rogers on the trail. Below; Assessing the trail befoie the start.

Photos; Eddie Jim, Hongkong Standard.

Trailwalk: CIub team 74th

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hiieryo*

ORE THAN $10,000 was collected in sponsorship money by an

-l' Y I.FCCteam thattookpartinthean-

nual t¡ekkins ng of the 10O-kilometre 1OO-kilometre MacleTrail on October 28-29.

The 4-man team comprised Robert Grinter , Barry Grindrod, Stephen Rogers all Club members and H ongkon g Standard - Chuam. joumalist Ong Hock The Trailwalk, organised by Queen's Gurkha Signals and Oxfam and sponsored by the Hongkong Bank, attracted nearly l,000participants and proceeds will go to support the Hong Kong Association of the Mentally Handicapped, the earthquake victims in Nepal and an agricultural education programme in Bhutan, Some 80people, many of them sports bar habitues, backed the club team with sponsorship money, says Barbara Waters who supervised the collections and supply offood and water to the team during the walk.

Grinter, who took the initiative to organise the team had, earlier this year, trekked to the hose

top

of Lion

Rock, Violet Hill, Shek O Peak,

and Lantao Peak.

Climbing Lantao Peak earlier last month, according to him, was tough; but the Maclehose Trail was worse particularly when the track, which became- muddy and slippery in rain, was hardlyvisible at night.

Trekking began ar Kung at midday on Friday, Oct 28 with trailwalkers braving the damp and windy conditions.

The Club team completed the walk

by Saturday night. They were aÍ the Club's sports bar later that night to down a few beers and lest theil legs.

Altogether, 226 teams of four participated. The FCC team reached the So Kwun Wat finishing line as the 74rh- beating 152 teams. It took them 33 hours and 34 minutes to cover the 1O0-kilometre trail which goes up and down hills and wooded areas. Com-

pleting the walk

as first and second were, of course, the teams from the Queen's Gurkha Signals. They reachedthe finishing line in l3 hours and 48 minutes, and 15 hours and 3l minutesrespectively. After all, trailwalking

was originally an arrny training exercise.

For the FCC, meanwhile, Grinter's team has set a reco¡d for other members to challenge. The trailwalk will take place again

next year.

NOVEMBER 1988 THE CORRESPONDENT 2

1

CLUB NEWS

A taste

of Thailand During the last week of October (24-28) the Club held a Thai Food Week, serving a la carte delicacies

in main dining room. The lunch and

of Thailand

dinner menus were specially prepared byfour chefs flown in from Bangkok's famous Bua Restaurant.

The food festival was sponsored by the Tourism

Authority of Thailand and Thai Airways International Ltd. For those members wishing to discover the secrets of Thai cuisine, a cooking demonstration was given. The week-long event concluded with a gala evening of dinner and

traditional Thaidance.

Photos:Ray Cranbourne

22 THE CORRESPONDENT NOVEMBER

1988

NOVEMBER 1988 THE CORRESPONDENT 23

CLUB

N EW

S

When steins swayed to the sound

of yodelting ON THE evening of October 14, the main dining room of the Club turned into a festive mood with live music by the Hans Gerhant Oompah Band, delicious Schwarzwald and

Bavarian cuisine and countless litres ofbeer.

It

was Oktoberfest.

Sponsored by Lowenbrau and the recently opened Hong Kong branch ofthe Bayerische

Hypotheken-undWechsel-BangAG; itwas not long before the band's lively vocals and music infecteddiners. The half steins began tosway and the sound ofyodelling could be heard echoing around the rooftops ofCentral.

One of the highlights of the evening was the men's and women's beer-drinking competition.

Five women volunteered and the eventwas won by Wendy Kay with Bonnie Engel drinking her way to the second place.

The men's division attracted 10 "combat. ants". Karl Wilson won the event several seconds ahead of Jan Eriksson who came second. Winners of both men's and women's

divisions were from the SouthChĂ­naMorning Post-Kay areporterand Wilson the foreign They celebrated their victory with more beer (middle picture in lower row).

editor.

Photos:R:ay Cranbourne

24 THE CORRESPONDENT NOVEMBER

1988

NOVEMBER 1988 THE CORRESPONDENT 25

T I

C

PEOPLE

LA S S I F I E D

TIME flies when you are busy...and happy. The

RESTAURANTS

1\It

FCC member and awardwinning graphic designer,

Peter Wong has

HCNG

KONG

been

blessed with a combination of both.

Since his arrival in Hong Kong as a24-year old in late 1978, the New Zealand-born Wong has been busy building his reputation in the media

1-3 V/yndham Street,

Central, Hong Kong

Tel:5-265293 1Æ

Kowloon Centre,

scene as a

29Ashley Road, Tsimshatsui,Kowloon Tel:3-684027

graphic

de-

signer and art director.

And in the past eight years,

he was also fortunate in winning the love of abeautiful young woman, Hong

TRAVEL

Kong-born

Nikki Lui.

Now he has made success on both fronts.

conconde r0

0EsTllrATr0lr

Last month, about

Peter Wong and Nikki Lui after their wedding at Cotton Tree l)rive marriage registry.

a

year after Won g celebrated

L-]

hisprofessionalsuccess by establishinghis Reminiscing aboutthebeginningofthe own design and production house, Peter longlove affair thathas nowblossomedinto Wong Design & Associates Limited, he and matrimony, Nikki Lui recalls: "My sisrer Nikki took the solemn oath and tied the knot Susan and Peter were colleagues in the late at the Cotton Tree Drive marriage registry '70s and it was at Susan's wedding eight witnessed by many members of the FCC. years ago that I first met Peter." At the end of

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1988

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LA S S I F I E D R

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Live and Let Live Go Vegetarian

s T

PEOPLE the day, as he was leaving the

wedding recep-

tion, Wong told Lui,"see you later".

"I didn't consider it any more than a farewell gesture," shesays. Then,aweeklaterhe telephoned her to ask for a date; but the request was tumed down. "But he was determined", Lui recalls. "He called again and again and a week later when I went to meet him near Daimaru in Causeway Bay, there he was standing with a bunch of red roses in his

G/F, No 8 Minden Avenue, Off Mody Road, Kowloon Tel No: 3-693718

hands."

Reassured of Lui's love, Wong has been concentrating in the past eight years on establishing himself as a top-class art director.

12pm to3.30pm

and 6.30 p m. to 11 P.m. dailY

And he has won many awards; among them, nine from the Intemational Editorial Design Competition in New York and a Gold Award from the Hong Kong Designers'Association.

But this yea¡ the couple thought, was the ideal time for marriage. A few months ago Wong had bought an apartment in Mid Levels and this month, his mother and sister were coming from New Zealand for a holiday. So, Lui calledherparents in California to arrange

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a suitable date.

At the maniage registry Lui took vows in Cantonese and Wong, who cannot read or write Chinese, in English.

=\,t 'tltô

A delightful bistro presents:

WHERE ARE THEY NOW Ted

RATHER fewer old members have passed to that great newsroom in the sky than was feared and as a result of my letter to The Correspondenl, some ofthe legendary figures of the past have emerged trembling arthritically fromunder various rocks andstones toproclaim loudly and clearly that, whilst perhaps not kicking these days, they're most certainly

Live late night jazz, from after ten, till two am. Oldiei but goodies, thirties to fifties, gvery day of the week. OPen for happy hour, dinner, late night drinks orjust coffee.

A long chat with Frank Wolfe one of Life magazine's all-time great photo- joumalists at Hal Archer's magnificent soiree last

EDDIE TSENG who

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28 THE CORRESPONDENT NOVEMBER

one source that Life photographer, John Dominis had joined them. No doubt, I shall now hear from John that reports of his demise are greatly exaggerated.

has been receiving treatment forcancer at the Veterans' Hospital in Taipei, has started moving about, visiting friends in the city. "My doctors encourage me to go out. So, I often go out for lunches and dinners," says Tseng.

Tseng has been receiving one lrealmenl of chemotherapy each month. He was earlier expected to leave the hospital and retum to Hong Kong by the end of September. But his doctors felt that it would do him good if he received [wo more treatments of chemotherthe last in early November. apy -"I could have checked out of the bospital in September, but, then, it might be difficult to get a room here again when I need one for the chemo treatment," says Tseng. Rooms in the 2,000-bed hospital are always booked up, he polnts out.

1988

WhenThe Correspondent spoke to him on October 2l and27, Tseng sounded in good spirits and he repeated his thanks to FCC members who have boosted his morale with telephone calls, letters, cards, flowers and personal visits. Their words of encouragement "have given me the strength to fight, ard I am very touched by their concern," he adds.

"My system", he says, "has responded very well to the treatment and I feel very good".

He has, however, suffered one visible loss. "I have lost a lot ofhair as a side effect of this treatment; but still, my head is not as hairless as yours," he told the editor of The

Correspondent Viswa Nathan. And for Tseng, there is of course hope. According to him, his doctors say that hair might grow back after six months.

month brought me up to date with some of the old lags who went to war in Korea, and later in Vietnam. then survived insurrections, riots, earthquakes andfloods to pass into retirement

or embrace

don and Forrest Edwards in Hawaii. James Wilde, who smoked many a pipe of opium with Russell and usually vomitted copiously immediately following the drag, is said to have vanished.

T

T

To Frank Wolfe, Rex Ellis and Russell

IAN WILSON, according

Spurr my grateful thanks, ahd to the rest of you

lovely Japanese wife at 5105 Bolton Road in Hawaii. Christmas card writers please note.

who have information on the geriatrics who once provided such a colourful backdrop to our riotous living in the FCC of yore, just write in and I will pass on the news.

Expectant mothers and abandoned girlfriends need not apply for information.

to a letter from Rex Ellis, is alive and well in England and Kayes Beech lives happily retired with his

T

FRANK ROBERTSON is

retired in Lon-

FOR SALE Artificial trees and plants with genuine trunks and silk polyster leaves.

We design to suit your office and home. contact Nora 5-257803 for an appointment.

alive.

Eddie Tseng at Veterans'Hospital, Taipei, with wife Betty.

89 Kimberley Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon. Tet.3-6EE554' 3ó8{Xn3.

Beside St. Mary's Canmsian College.

Parking Sewice from ?pm onwards.

Thomas

Knox, Jim Robinson and Stephen Barber have gone to their reward; and I did hear from

,TREETOpST,

Discount prices on all stock!

CAR HIRE

a new career.

Frank himself long ago forsook the life

of a peripatetic

lensman for that of an inven-

tor-cum-businessman.

I

Bob Elegant, who I once sba¡ed a junk with, is norv aworldfamous author, lives the life of a country squire in England after hnding life in tax-free Ireland and contact with the natives a bit more than even a placid, even-tempered New Yorker could stand.

t

I HAD a pleasant meeting a few weeks later with that spellbinding old raconteur and bon v¡van¡ Russell Spurr and his charming wife Rosemary. They're to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary soon, and if I understood him right

-

-

grand parenthood.

T

NEWS from the graveyard is that Rawle

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NOVEMBER 1988 THE CORRESPONDENT 29

The Swire Group

A BOTTLE OF

CROSSY/ORD Compiled by Brian Neil

O

CHIVAS REGAL

NO9

1988

l. An old song could be out of tune on canals (8)

5.

Capable chap, bur a diny old man sometimes (4)

8.

Bosun toddled off and

rendered... (4)

9. Fifty famines - makes

15. No dogs of mixed breed can be sponsored

l.

Entries must be sent to:

THE CORRESPONDENT CROSSWORD,

Printline Ltd,

7.

Those divers obvi-

11. Nice, to a poinr, but

used when dressing care-

fully (8)

23. Sid is hungry, al-

25. Pet tooth could

be where we would all like to

IN BETTER SHAPE

On Juþ tOth, we invited Mr. David Lloyd, Direcror of an International Finance Company, on

flight CXZ01 to Bangkok ro test the New Marco Polo Business Class.

The changes that he saw

are

indeed signifìcant.

12. Watch it climb low, now, and it's mostly gone

A compìetely new environment which gives each passenger over

become sweet smelling

16. Mr H.C. Tonbridge retums part of the way to score (5,2) 17. Peruse, lose direction, but it's still terrific! (5) 19. Those who have nought, should have (5) 20. String gets rangled, drops a point and goes to the mill (5) 21. Odin, Thor combine to make their mark (4)

Crossword No. I correct solution

l0%o

rnore individual space.

Wider, more comfortable

seats.

'\ new interior designed to create a relaxing and businessÌike atmosphere. .And, on long haul flights, foot-

and leg-rests to further

enhance

passenger comÊort.

All

these improvements met

with

his approval. Bur one thing pleased him more than anything else.

our high standard of service.

Cathay Pacifìc acknowledges the participation of Mr. David Lloyd in testing the New Marco Polo Busriess C/ass.

be awarded a bottle of Chivas Regal.

5. The solution andwinner'snamewillbe published in nt

AaAtp 34lq !a !_Y_ê&&IY!

The fact that we hadn't changed

4. The first correct solution drawn from the entries received

T he C or re spo nde

TU E

relative (5)

(7)

is

BUILT TO HELP

ously got wet (5)

22. Green pin which

2. Entries must reach the office not later than November, 2g 3. Entries must carry the name, address and the club membership number of the contestant.

will

Being rum, bleach hair moan about it (7) 2. Set on being retumed with the currency (5) 3. Hello! Ireland has a flower not usually found there (5) 4. Also, father had a seat (4) 6. In deeper mines there are little creatures (7)

(5) 14. Violent, then drops a point and takes another to

so (2,3, 3)

House, T Ice House Street, Central, Hong Kong.

601 Fu

l.

partly and then

(6) 17. First over part of the range (5) 18. Thing to change, bur not today (7)

though he has some food (4) 24. There stands part of what's left (4)

RULES

MARCO POLO

CLUES DOWN:

you mad! (8) 10. Baste in a mixture for protective headgear (7) 12. Good French joumalist who studied hard (5) 13. Vines point to being green (6)

r ll-I--

TFIE NE,W

BUSINESS CLASS CLUES ACROSS:

Lrrrlrl rt I

X

the f ollowing month.

For editorial and publishing services, contact:

PRINTLINE LTD Publishers of

601 Fu House, 7 Ice House Street,

Central, Hong Kong.

Phone:

5-237848, Fax: 5-8453556

THD GORRXSPOIUIIDNT The winner is John Rowles

30

rnp

coRRESpoNDENT NovEMBER

1988

Arrive in better

shape la

CATHAYPACIFIC'-

compact cÉative frctdom

Soneq e Canon presents a trio of mid-range cameras made especially for'people interested in taking great pictures without going to great pains. No matter how little you know about photography, these feature creatures do so much for you automatically, like film loading, winding, and rewinding.

The Prima Junior is an eye-catching, picture-grabbing compact that's so simple to use you'll want to take it with you everywhere. It has semi-automatic film loading and automatic film wind and rewind, even from the middle of a roll. Flash photography is easy because a low{ight warning tells you when the flash is needed.

The Prima Zoom sports a continuously variable 35mm70mm zoom lens, and three exposure modes: auto,

automatic. lowlight, and fill-in-flash. Focusing, film handling functions, and the built-in flash are all automatic.

The incredibly compact Prima Tele makes use of an exciting new development-an auto retractable lens.

It appears only at the moment of shutter release, closes in an instant, and stays that way until the next shot, thereby protecting the lens. The Prima Tele also gives you the equivaìent of six different views with the optional AF converter. Focus, exposure, flash, and film-handling functions are all fully automatic.

With so much done for you, each of these little marvels gives you more time to have fun. '[n

sonre areas, Prima Junior is called snappy

Tclc is called Surc Shot ìVlulti Tèle

EZ. Prima Zænr is called s.re shot zærn, and prima

CANON lNC.: P.O. Box 5050, Shinjuku Dai-ichi Seimei Bldg., Tokyo'163, Japan CANON HONG KONG TRADING CO., LTD.: Room 1101-3 &. 1121-2, Peninsula Centre,67 Mody Road, Tsimshatsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong