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PEOPLE Around the bar
ed walking the streets
Passing through the ground floor bar in
early March was Frank Beatty, former UPI vice-president for Asia.
Frank nowlives in Melbourne (Florida) working as the Asia-Pacific marketing director of a company dealing in
ded to become Streetwise her venture would prove feet.
communications technology. In February Arnold "Skip" fsaacs and wife Kathy paused en route back to the US after a six-month stint teaching in the foreign language department of
Northwest University in Xian. Absent member Skip was the Baltimore Sun corespondent in Saigon from lg72 to 1975, and subsequentþ in Hong Kong until 1978. He alerted to FCC to thé
plight of Vietnam
nterprise that the former ed early last year with her er three years of
gazine.
Trio in Bali
correspondent page
ed journalists were battling the balmy
for latest news). Skip and the FCC were instrumental in getting Tu classified as a refugee so he could qualify for resettlement in the US. Skip is now teaching in the political science department of Towson State University in Maryland and is writing another book.
tlok-bat saam'
airs of Bali. "Life is tough," said freelancer Mark Graham as he sipped a cocktail made of mango juice and grenadine.
US$60 million Bali Hilton International, opened by Indonesian President
"Precisely," agreed fellow travel writer Ken Barrett, enjoying a baked lobster with garlic. "Couldn't agree more," lamented
Suharto. Our picture shows (left to right) Ken
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He the
Although I have made several trips to Hong Kong since leaving the territory in January \990, Thp Cowesþondent continues to provide an invaluable life-line with the club and with old friends and members around the globe. The new publisher and editor are to be commended on maintaining the high standards set by Viswa Nathan and his crew (Salaam, Vis. Kum esta?) Ice House Street may be eight flying hours away, but FCC alumni are all around. Bumped into Russel Spurr at Sydney Airport last month. George Mackenzie is up the Blue Mountains, building a guest house to accommodate passing gurkhas and bagpipe wrestlers. Mike Foote has just moved to Sydney to establish the Australia HQ for
Mont Blanc writing instruments (i.e. pens). Kumar
Pereiira is somewhere at large in the city. Barry Girling and Florence Chong are constantly evident from their bylines in prominent national journals. Len Tracy, ex RTHK, is alive and jamming in Melbourne. Penny Brindisi is alive and well in Palm Beach. Andy 1991
How Streetwise Jane sees Causeway Bay
Barrett, Mark Graham and Kevin Sinclair.
So, after initial research from other books and maps, and listening to the recommendations of friends and colleagues, she began pounding the streets to check the infor-
avoice from the past
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6 THE CORRESPONDENT APRIL
ällåffii,11'-åilJil,
scribe Kevin Sinclair reaching for just one more bottle of Bintang beer, which all three voted a cheeþ little vintage with some claims to aristocracy.
The FCC members were among Hongkong-based freelancers in Bali to visit the new 11-hotel Nusa Dua beach conference-resort complex and the
Peter Bennett was a stalutart member of the FCC from 1g68 untit he and his famiþ moued to Sltdney in earþ 1990. A raconteur, who hell his own for decadzs at the uarious club tables at lunchtirnes, to say nothing of the bar, he reþorts in this t¿tter oneof woùdstori¿s". oþ on Pitt a client when ed unnoticed by Peter and declared a second lnter "lok bat saan't" Peter's FCC ruembershiþ number. The waiter was none other than former barmnn Thomns Tsang.
tho S
trt^-i$frY'iåYilJü;
ookstoresofHongKongt0ÌsoflJlTtfitsll|JtÅilß
As some FCC members shivered in the helicopter sandstorms whipped up during the Iraqi invasion, other harden-
Nguyen Dinh Tu (see letters
covering
Sloan continues to ply his trade for
mation.
"I didn't appreciate how tiring it would be, " she says. "I went out, with my notebook in hand, at the height of the summer, trying to get to know Hong Kong better. By the end of the day my feet were so swollen that I couldn't wait to get home and bathe them." But the agony seems to have been worth it. "I wanted the guide map to be practical as well as offbeat. There was nothing like that in Hong Kong and I was aiming to fill a gap in the market. It also had to look attractive. The artwork had to be first class," she says. The Streetwise guide maps certainly live up to Jane's demands. In addition to their fine colouring and excellent design, they contain a mass of information and such personal and intriguing observations as "sleazy bit". Much of the credit must go to Streelwise art director Benny Yip, whose aim was to produce a guide map that would be good enough to frame and put on the wall. During the hours she spent pounding the streets Jane discovered a few treasures previously unknown to her.
Hill & Knowlton here.
Going back 15 years or more, Gareth Powell (regular traveVcomputer column in Sydney Morning Herald; John
Crawley; Geoff Pike; Ken Kiernam; Barry Haselden; David Mitchell - not to mention my brother Paul, Geoffrey Vincent Somers and Dr. Nick Nicholls up there in Pineapplesville. There must be many, many more - enough to form a southern hemisphere branch of the FCC. And, if the Club's friendly and efficient service is required, there's always Thomas Tsang, late of Sutherland House, now working at the Remada Rennaissance in Pitt Street. (The other day, I was sitting in the coffee shop of that hotel when I was approached by this familiar face. "Lok-bat-
saam", says Thomas, giving my FCC membership number. Not bad for a guy who left the Club and Hong Kong at least eight years ago!) Eclitur's note: Other FCCers in Sydney include ex-President
Ian Stewart, Barry Pearton, now the publisher of Asia Tod"ay (ex-HKhackette Florence Chong Mrs Pearton is the editor), Qantas' PR supremo Neville Kitto and ex-
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RAN PR Kenelm Creighton. Thanks for the story Peter and congratulations on your appointment as The Corresþondnnt's ace coffespondent Down Under. He will have
to fit it in with his duties in his new job. Peter reports that
he has jointed the Chicago-based head-hunting firm, A.T. Kearney, and will be working out of their Australian affi-
liate Frieze & Associates' Sydney office.
After Sunday Post M Magazine editor Peter Cordingley and, Sunday Morning Post Post deputy editor Ann Quon cemented their ten-year romance by getting married in a civil cermony at City Hall on February 2í,Peter set off for a "honeymoon" on his own a trip to Spain for 1O days. "It was the only time- I could go," he confessed. Now the couple have announced they are expecting a baby.
Her particular favourites were Jordan, St Andrew's Church, Kimberley Road and the dumpling shop in Granville Road, which earns a specially enthusiastic endorsement in the guide. Yes, FCC member Jane does not forget to include the Club among the hundreds of places which earn their spot on the map. Streetwise maps are available in Hong Kong bookshops
at HK$40 each. THE CORRESPONDENT APRIL
1991 7