The Correspondent, June 1993

JUNE 1993

I ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS'

CLUB

Reports from the past president, the treasurer, the publications committe chairman and a look at the new board.

North Block, 2 Lower Albert Road, Hong Kong.

Telephone: 521 l5ll Fax: 868 4092 Presidenl - Philip Bowring

First Vice P¡esldent - Carl Goldstein Second Vice Presidena - Stuart l¡r'olfendale ' Classic encounters The annual Carlsberg Media Golf Classic descended on the Canlubang Golf Course in the Philippines.

Correspondenl Mernber Governors Paul Bayfield, Dmiela Deme, Simon Holberton, Brim Jeffris, V.G. Kulkmi, Philippe [æ Cone, Paul Mmney, Huben Van Es

Journalist Member Gove¡nors Cfuistopher Slaughter, Kul Wilson Associate Member Governors Kevin Egan, David Garcia, Saul Lækhart, Julie Meldrum

INTERVIEW A year at the helm

Professional Committee: C¿nyerror.'

Cùl

Goldstein

Simon Twiston Davies interviews the Review's Gordon Crovitz after his first year as editor.

Members: Julie Meldrum, Philippe Le Corre, Paul Mooney, Paul Bayfield, Christopher Slaughter F¡nanace Committee Simon Holbrton, Carl Goldstein, C.G. Kulkami

Membership Conmittee: C¿nv¿na¡.'Hubel Van Es Members: V.g. Kulkmi, Kevin Egm Entertainment Committee:

COVER STORY

23

C onv e nor : Daniela Deane M embe r : Dav id Gæia, Paul Bayfield,

Medieval melting pot Karin Malmstrom's pictorial essay of life in Dali in China's Yunnan province.

Julie Meldrum Publicåtions Committee3 Convenor : Saul Lockhart M embers : H. Y n Es, Christopher Slaughter K. \ililson (Editor), Paul BayFreld (Co-opted) F& B Committee: C o nve no¡ : Sat¡aí Wolfendale Members : Dzvid Gæia, Simon Holberton, V.G, Kulkami, Brim Jeffries, Philippe Le Core

AND VIEWS 19972 Outlook Hong Kong A panel discussion, before a packed house, looks at Hong Kong's future after 199'7.

Wall Commiltee: H. Van Es, D. Garcia

An ABC of rhyming slang A selection by Arthur Hacker.

Club Manager H. Grabner

THE CORRESPONDENT

Just what do journalists create?

Fred Armentrout looks at this copyright conundrum.

Adverllsing Manager: Kit My€ß Page Måke.up3 Jme Ræio Arl¡sl: Ammdo D. Ræio, J¡.

EDITORIALOFFICE: AsiaPac¡fic Direcrories Ltd, Rm. 1301, l3lF, Pa¡k Commercial Cent¡e, 6-10 Shelter Stræi, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Telephone: 5'17 9331:

Fu:

The Coæspondent is published monthly for æd on behalf of The Forcign Corespondents' Club by: As¡sPâc¡llc D¡rectodes Ltd. Rm 1301, l3lF, Pilk Commercial Centre, Glo Shelter Strcet, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

Tel: 577 9331; Fu: 890 7287 Publlsher: Vomie Bishop Managlng Dlretor: Mike Bishm

A Jardine Pacific Business (Distributor for Hong Kong and Macau), Bonaventure House, Lrighton Road Hong Kong Tel, 895 7288 122 Canton Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon Tel:735 1199 Zung Fu Carpark Building, 50 Po Loi Street, Hunghom Tel, 764 6919 SOUTHERN STAR MOTOR CO. (Distributor for South China), 40th Floor, Central Plaza, 18 Harbour Road, l/anchai Tel: 594 8888

MEFCEDES-BENZ AG, BEIJING LIAISON OFFICE (Distributor for North 19 Jian Cuo Men Vai Dajie, Be ijing Tel, 500 3051

China), 20/F, CITIC Building,

Merc

Engineered to move the human spiril

The Voice of America Ed Peters writes on the cowboy philosopher Will Rogers.

28

Undoing Mao's buttons Marty Merz has some thoughts on the ubiquitous Mao buttons of the Cultural Revolution era.

890 7287

@ The Corepondent Opinions exproed by writes æ not næwily thorc of the Forcign Conespondents' Club.

ZUNG FU

27

PEDDLER'S JOURNAL

....".

Cover photograph by Karin Malmstrom.

Colou !€pmtioo by: Colour An Graphic Compuy

Inside photographs supplied by David Thurston, Hubert Van Es

Prirtcd by Elit€ hinting Co., Ltd,, Hoog lvfa¡ I¡d. Cane, 1403-140E.2 HongMil St., Cìai Wil, HK.

and Ray Cranbourne.

THECORRESPONDENT JUNE

1993

1

tre and to prevent the anti-social practice of stealing the publications in the

ANNIUAL GENERAL MEETING REPRESENTATIONAL ACTIVITY

Presidentts report

Centre.

The FCC has rightly adopted the practice of being careful not to get involved in politics but we make no apologies for making our voice heard in the interests

of preserving a free media.

furtherance of this aim we have

he current Board was fodunate to inherit the work of a very energetic board under the chairmanship of Peter Seidlitz which set in

expressed our concern over such matters as the treatment of our colleagues in Beijing and Bangkok, over the arrest of a Hong Kong journalistin Beijing and over the decision to establish the Asia Pacific Economic CooPeration secretariat in Singapore - which

motion a great deal of badlY needed renovation work and upgrading of the food and beverage facilities.

The prime aim in the Past Year has been to enhance the Club's professional role as a centre for journalists. To this end we have made considerable efforts to

limits access to the overseas media. We have maintained contact with our colleagues in the Hong Kong Journalists Association in these matters, which, believe, is a sound policy.

I

improve the speaker's Pro-

Our aim is not to create an

gramme, maintain a fruitful association with the Hong Kong Journalists Association and cre-

ate beĂźer working facilities on

Steve Vines

the Club's premises.

Anand Panyarachun.

with guest speaker Thai PM

Thailand. I very much hope we can

PROFESSIONAL EVENTS

develop these activities.

During the year we have had a verY

The advent of Star Television and the

speaker's programme with ad-

BBC's excellent coverage has given

dresses from prime ministers, the leaders of the local administration, business leaders and some interesting speakers from the cultural sphere. The objective has been to maintain the FCC as Hong Kong's premier platform for speakers with something worthwhile to say.

members an oppodunÂĄty to follow breaking news stories on the Club's television screens. We have been holding a series of special events around major election times, which seem to have proved popu-

full

The FCC is fortunate in having

lar.

no

political or business aff iliation, so that

those appearing at the Club can be confident that they are attending a 'neutral' venue with guaranteed access to the media. This is a considerable advantage which we should carefully preserve.

We have started to redress the

the May 1992 democracY Protests

elitist association of foreign correspondents but to be seen as working for the interests of the media as a whole.

We are not seeking to develoP a confrontational approach in these matters. On the contrary we have been working hard to maintain good relations with the Hong Kong government, establishing closer liaison with the Government lnformation Services, with the New China News Agency and with overseas missions in the colony. At all times we have stressed the need for greater access to information, requests which -- I have to report -- have met with a mixed response.

The series of cocktail Pafties designed for members to meet government officials, diplomats and busi-

ness representatives, have Proved

to be a considerable success

and

will, hopefullY, be continued.

WORKING FACILITIES

bias in favour of the written media by initiating a programme of documentary film evenings, reflecting some of the best work from this media. We have also had film evenings showing the work of the audio-visual media covering such contemporary events as

2

ln

in

THECORRESPONDENT JUNE 1993

The opening of the Press Centre this year has significantly improved the facilities available to working jour-

nalists. The Centre contains comVice-president Van Es laYs down the law.

puters, radio broadcast rooms and a light box for photographers. We need to improve the library facilities in the Cen-

BURSARIES FOR YOUNG JOURNALISTS I am delighted to repon that the FCC has managed to raise a significant amount of money for donation to a bursary fund for students studying journalism at the Baptist College. The money was raised at a film evening, showing a 'l 960s James Cameron documentarY about Hong Kong. I believe tha-t this kind of activity strengthens our ties with the local media community in the best pos-

sible way.

customer is always right - if members want good quality, reasonable, but basic food - it is our responsibility to provide it.

We still have a problem with making

ing head and shoulders above the aver-

age club publication.

PREMISES

better use of the Veranda at night. The

The best news here is that we will sign

initially popular concept of creating an Italian restaurant there failed because of insurmountable operations difficulties. We also need to make better use of the function rooms which are a valuable source of revenue.

Some members have been pressing the Board to bring in external catering contractors to take over this area of work. We approached Hong Kong's

a new seven year lease to secure our tenure of the building up to the year

most experienced club contractors, the

Peninsular Group,

2001. We also have the option to renew the lease again in two years time, taking us through to 2003. I don't think it is necessary to spell out the advantages of this arrangement, Although we are faced with a rent inbrease, the Club is still able to obtain its premises at something like 40 per cent below current market prices.

to see if they

t

would be able to take over this activFOOD AND BEVERAGE

ity.

After careful examination of our The bulk of the Club's revenue and use remains concentrated in its food and beverage operations. There has never been a period in the Club's history

when these operations have not been

accounts etc. they concluded that it would not be possible to do so without increasing prices. ln the course of their study they declared themselves impressed by the Prices we were able to offer members. I think therefore that we should

concentrate on making inhouse improvements rather than hope for a solution from an external 'saviour'.

\rr

ENTERTAINMENT

We have had another strong year of entertainment activities. lf

anything, we have probablytried

to put on too many, rather than too few events. As well as a

the subject of criticism. However -- to put matters in perspective -- I am happy to report that this year has seen the highest revenues and highest number of covers served in our food and beverage outlets, providing some objective testimony to the fact that they remain well used and popular.

Nevedheless it would be irresponsible to ignore criticism. A number of recurrent complaints have been met with remedial action. ln essence these relate to the provision of basic and popular dishes which remain the mainstay of our menus. ln these matters the

number of highly successful food theme nights, we have had some stellar parties which have done much to destroy members' health and well being.

PUBLICATIONS

Editorially'The Correspondent' has gone f rom strength to strength, although

production difficulties have increasingly annoyed and detracted from the value of the magazine. We have approved a small budget for editorial contributions but still rely heavily on the generosity of members in making contributions. The best compliment about this magazine is that it has become a good read, stand-

With the renovation of most of the Club's public areas completed, the new Board will be faced with the problem of renovating the kitchens and staff areas.

This is a very expensive job but cannot be indefinitely postponed. Our staff should have decent working conditions.

The quality of service and hygiene will inevitably deteriorate if remedial aQtion is not taken.

The Club's decision to buy its own office in Lan Kwai Fong is increasingly looking like a shrewd move. lvery much hope that we do not lose sight of a longer term objective of buying premises for the Club itself.

THE STAFF

I would like to pay a very sincere tribute to the staff who work for the Club.

Many staff members are well l,(nown to us all. They show a remarkable degree THECORRESPONDENT JUNE 1993 3

of patience and diligence in the face of what is frankly, sometimes a very difficult bunch of FCC members. lt is invidious to mention individual staff members

but we owe a debt of gratitude to them all for their work. We should also acknowledge the work of the back-room staff, in the kitchens, the cleaners, the accounts department and elsewhere in the office. They are the backbone of the organisation and should not be treated as out of sight and out of mind.

Having said it is invidious to mention individuals, let me straight away break

this self denying ordinance and pay tribute to Heinz Grabner who will be leaving at the end of August. He is the Club's longest serving (and possibly longest suffering) manager who will be starting his own business. When Heinz joined the FCC it was a barely solvent, struggling club -- living very much on a hand to mouth basis. lt is now, bY anY standards, a flourishing business --

Heinz's contribution to this turnaround has been considerable. We shallgreatly

Ross Way holds the floor.

Rarely a sell-out, there was a reasonable turnout of members.

Treasurerts report he Foreign Correspondents'

barwhich incorporated

a

spacious work-

Club ended the financial year 1993 in a healthy financial position. We have continued to generate a net surplus despite having to incur substantial capital expenditure, includ-

ing area for journalists. The upgrading and improvements to the Club's facilities added another $5 million wofih of

ing the purchase of a $3.1 million office

property in Lan Kwai Fong and renova-

Club enjoyed good sales at the bars and restaurants and kept price increases on

lwould like to thank my colleagues on the Board who have worked so hard during the year. This has been a very harmonious Board whose members have contributed a great deal to the Club. My job, awkward enough as it

tions to the basement pool bar.

The Club's operating surplus for the year ended March 31, 1993, was

food and beverage below the rate of inflation. An 11 per cent increase in monthly dues was, however, not re-

$701,107.

flected in the accounts for the financial year just passed as it took effect only in

was, would have been a damn sight

climbed 15.7 per cent to $20.6 million.

The bulk of the increase in expenses went to staff salaries and depreciation charges for the newly-renovated pool

miss him although hope to see him often

in his new incarnation as an honorary member of the Club.

FINALLY

more awkward without the support and assistance received from colleagues on the Board and a number of other Club members who hold no official position

but have been stalwarts in working for the FCC's interests.

Very finally, I would like not to apologise to critics who have been annoyed by my, somewhat flippant communications to members during the year. Life is too short to be taken seriously, even at the FCC. I wish the very best to the new Board and to all members of the Club.

Total income rose 9.7 per cent to $21.3 million while total expenditure

fixed assets to the balance sheet.

During the year under review, the

April.

The move to have our surplus funds managed professionally instead of merely holding them in fixed deposits has proved a timely one. lnterest rates

in general have been on

the downtrend while prices of Hong Kong equities have surges since the

& 'ĂŽ

Club's funds were placed with Wardlev lnvestment t' Services Ltd in November 1991.

Wardley, as instructed bythe Board, has adopted a conseruative investment

strategy. ln the main, it has allocated no more

Steve Vines,

President

Catherine Ong: good news on finance.

4

THECORRESPONDENT JUNE 1993

than a quarter of the Portshares. folio to Yields on investments excluding capi-

Publications chairman David Thurston.

tal gains have averaged nine per cent, more than double the returns we would have received under prevailing interest rates. lnterest and investment income of $465,859 in the general account was lowerthan the previous year's $619,263, this was due to the liquidation of nearly $6 million in bank deposits from the general account to meet capital expenditure. lnterest and investment income in the Development Fund rose 40 per cent to $714,542. Total funds under management stood at $1 1.9 million at March 31 , 1 993.

Capital commitments approved by the Board of Governors, but not yet contracted for the year 1993-94 amounted to $3.4 million. This will cover renovations to the main bar and kitchen, and recarpeting of the staircase, entrance and main dining room, The Government has informed the Club that the rent on the Club's premises

at Lower Albert Road will soon go up from $125,000 to $150,000. ln conclusion,

I

would like to point out

that while the Club's finances are

in

good shape, it would be prudent for us to continue to keep spending and costs under control. We are confident that with the many improvements already made to existing facilities, the FCC has laid a strong foundation for the future, both professionally and financially.

Catherine Ong, Treasurer

PUBLICATION'S COMMITTEE

Stepping down after four years fter four years working on the

direct control over how much he was

Publications Committee, two as itschairman lam stepping away from what we journalists laughingly like to call the red hot struggle for production. I'd like to thank all those people who have helped The Correspondent

paid to do the job;tne result in effect was that he was underpaid. Second, there

along during that time, particularly its contributors.

I mention them first because they're the people, who either on a regular basis

or occasionally, provide the ingredients of the monthly fare. They're also the people who I hope have benefited most from the reorganisation of the structure and financing of the magazine which we achieved last November.

To backtrack for a moment, The Correspondent has for many years been published on the basis of the Club paying a monthly sum to a publisher who undertakes to employ and pay an editor, printthe magazine, sell ads and split any surplus there might be with the Club. I always felt there were two serious drawbacks with !his kind of arrangement.

First, the Club, while through the Publications Committee had control over

who was appointed as editor, had no

was no mechanism for ensuring that the editor had at his disposal an adequate budget to pay contributors something at least approaching the market rate.

Frankly, it seemed to me to be unprofessional, not to say embarrassing to prevail upon people's good natures to turn in the goods, and bad for the image of a journalists' club, and perhaps we were losing out on quality, too.

So last November, when the contract with Asia Pacific Directories, which has

been publishing The Correspondent since Viswa Nathan left Hong Kong three years ago, came up for renewal, we worked out the following agreement:

the Club agreed to provide each month the complete editorial product, including the services of an editor, layout person, proofreader etc., and APD would do the

rest, including selling ads and bearing any losses. The FCC Board for its parl agreed to allocate a monthly editorial budget of $20,000, which includes some $10,000 per month for contributors. The Club's total monthly outlay is therefore

THECORRESPONDENT JUNE 1993

5

l-t___s-l_-z-z

Lru\S no more than was being incurred more than four years previouslY. We have been extremelY luckY to

have the services of Karl Wilson as editor, a former foreign editor of the SCMP, and now with the SundaY Post, who had the vision to draw on available writing talent in the region and outside it to broaden and deepen the scoPe of The Correspondent to being more than just a club magazine, but one for jour-

nalists everywhere.

Thanks also to Paul Bayfield who has been looking after the editorial production side, and long time Club members Mike Bishara and Vonnie BishoP, of APD, who know they're never going to get rich doing this, but put up with the

trlltr

The new Board President: PhilipBowring, Freelance First Vice President: Carl Goldstein, Far Eastern Economic Review

Second Vice President: Stuart Wolfendale, Freelance

Correspondent Member Governors Paul Bayfield, Asia Pacific Directories Daniela Deane, Washington Post Simon Holbefion, Financial Times

THERE'S ALWAYS

Brian Jeffries,

Freelance

Journalist Member Governors Christopher Slaughter, Metro News Karl Wilson,

Finally, a parting bleat: there are many members out there, both journalists and associates, who either have or know people who have control over adveftising budgets. Any helP that members can provide in ideas or introductions to APD's ad sales team can only result in a healthier, more informative and enjoyable monthly magazine of which the Club can be proud.

Sunday Morning Post

Associate Member Governors Kevin Egan, Barrister David Garcia,

Orient Steel Ltd Saul Lockhart, Trade Development

David Thurston, Convenor, Publications Committee

Council

Julie Meldrum, Australian Consulate

Marchant wins PATA award

ated for PATA by Royal Selangor lnternational of Kuala Lumpur.

Garry was born and educated on the Canadian prairies and is regarded

eteran Canadian travel writer and author, Garry

as one of the regions most talented and colourful travel writers and photographers.

After a few reporting jobs with a number of snall newspapers in Brit-

Marchant, has

been Asia Pacific coveted awarded the (PATA) Travel Association Travel Journalism Award.

The Hong Kong-based journalist and FCC regularwas selected bY an international judging panel headed by the Australian Tourist Commis-

ish Columbia in Canada, Garry hitch-

Garry was presented with the award's handcrafted Malaysian pewter and teak perpetualtrophy and with an individual

hiked from Vancouver to Rio de Janeiro in 1972 where he landed the editor's job fdr a year of the Brazil Herald, the country's only English language newspaper.

From South America, he moved to Hong Kong late in 1973 to join the South China Morning Post as a senior reporter and in 1974 he moved to the Far Eastern Economic Review as

recipients plaque

assistant

sion s director for Europe, John King.

Garry was presented with the

\

award duringthe opening of PATA 93

-

both specially cre-

editor.

ยก@

The Hong Kong Trode Development Council con help you moke business heodlines every doy of the yeor, As

o mojor force in world trode you'll find we've olwoys got o good story to tellt no podding, no puff ond bocked by qccurote, up{oJhe-moment figures ond stoti$ics, Next time you receive one of our press releoses, give it o good once-over You'll soon see whot we meon, Or contoct us if you need deioils on ony ospect of Hong Kong trode,

Hong Kong Trade Development Council We Creole Opporlunilies

Heod Office: 38lh Floor, Office Tower, Convention Plozo,

6

THECORRESPONDENT JUNE 1993

THE

HONG I(ONG TRADE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

V.G Kulkarni, Far Eastern Economic Review Philippe Le Corre, Radio France lnternational Paul Mooney, Far Eastern Economic Review Hubert Van Es,

hassle anyway.

in Honolulu last month.

Before an international audience that included PATA 93 keYnote speaker, former British prime minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher,

A STORYAT

Asia-Pacific Space Report

l

Horbour Rood, Wonchoi, Hong Kong. Tel: (852) 5B4 4333 Fox: (852) 824 0249

NEWS AND VIEV/S

Reilly: Tsang Yok-sing, will Hong Kong

tions and that he should have been

face a Human rights problem after 1997?

negotiating on the conditions rather than arguing on unconditionality. I disagree with that. lthink its like the small I liberals in Hong Kong who start off by saying "well China will never accept full democracy so let's not start off asking for 100 per cent, let's ask for 50 per cent" and then of course what they actually got was 1/3 directly elected seats in 1997. I think Patten very wisely did not fall into

Tsang: Patten's visit to the US first.

19972

Outlook Hong Kong

Patten told us.thEt the main purpose of his visit was to lobby for the unconditional continuation of MFN for China and if that is the case Patten he has achieved

very little. ialogue first staded in 1984 at the Chicago Press Club and was sponsored by Loyola University of Chicago along with a number of American corporations. Since then it has grown in size and stature and is now

funded by a grant from the Sara Lee Corporation.

To a packed house James Reilly, Loyola University Chicago, moderated over a panel discussion on Hong Kong's future after 1997. The panel consisted of: Tsang Yok-sing, chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong; Legislative Councillor,

Christine Loh; political commentator and columnist with the Far Eastern Eco-

nomic Review, Frank Ching; chairman of the Liberal PaĂąy, Allen Lee and Hong

Kong University political science lecturer, Dr N. J. Miners.

The following is an edited extract. lt is

On Monday,May 10, the FCC was honoured to be one of the

co-sponsors of an international forum known as Dialogue at the Press Club. Part of an inter national di s cus sion s erie s which takes place at various press clubs around the world, Dialogue is aforum inwhich major international issues are discuss ed and analysed. democratic reforms were discussed, something which the Chinese press has criticised him for.

From the press reports he was well received in the US and is well respected.

Reilly: Wasn't one of Patten's agenda items to separate the subject of human rights from that of trade?

Lee: Yes.

Reilly: Christine Loh, for Hong Kong's

I think that if there is anybody that

future is it wise to separate the human rights issue from the trade issue?

really benefits from Patten's visit to the US it can only be Patten himself.

He certainly has done very little there to try and improve Sino-British relations and has reinforced the general image in the US that China is the bad guy.

Actually Patten referred on one occasion at least to China as the bad guy and

Loh: I'll answer the question as you put it to Allen and then answer your question.

The purpose of Patten's trip: MFN. Subtext: overall better understanding of Hong Kong. But I think there's a subliminal message and that message is the objections Americans have to US-China relations at the moment and we know there are three of them.

One of them is trade. lf the Americans were to impose conditions that required China to open up, it might be impolite for Hong Kong to say anything but surely that's good for the rest of the world and good for Hong Kong.

The second is arms proliferation. ls there something Hong Kong can say? I don't think so. Not in that regard.

worth pointing out that this forum was held wellbefore US President BillClinton

renewed China's most favoured nation status.

James Reilly: What was Governor Chris Patten's real mission to the United States, subtext and what might the outcome be?

Allen Lee: He impressed upon President Clinton the importance of renewing China's MFN status, without conditions, something which the US President could not give a commitment on.

Some of the Chinese press view this as failure but I don't think so. Patten has taken Hong Kong's name to Capitol Hill and has told the Americans what the effect will be on Hong Kong if there is a

trade war between China and the US. Our livelihood and economic performance will be greatly affected.

I gather he discussed other issues such as human rights, arms proliferation, imbalance of trade , trade deficits between US and China. The point is that it is really up to China to satisfy the US that things are improving.

Of course the subject of Hong Kong's

8

THE CORRESPONDENT JUNE

1993

Reilly: Do you think that's wise?

Lee: Yes, that was the point was going to make. I think the Americans are using MFN as a political weapon. To link trade with politics, I believe, is unwise and not necessary. But the Americans see themselves as being the world's policeman and MFN has become a very emotional issue on Capitol Hill.

And the third is human rights. Here Hong kong is in a very difficult position.

We have been trained and forced not to talk about human rights in China. The only time we did was on June 4, 'l 989.

Whether we like it or not we are going to be a part of China in four years time so how can we say we don't Ă´are about human rights?

practice the one country, two systems scheme.

The visit itself is another important event in his political career. lf his purpose was to convince American politicians that they should not link political issues with the continuation of MFN for China, then obviously he has done very little on this count.

Reilly: Frank Ching, how do you asses the Governor's visit and is it really a question of good guys and bad guys?

Ching: I think he was being simplistic when he used the good guy bad guy viewpoint China is the bad guy, other-

was a packed house for the Diatogue panel.

national community can really do much

if China has no intention to put into

Hong Kong as the good guy. And he

wise the US would not be thinking of

It

opinion?

Tsang: I don't think the so-called inter-

spared no chance to throw ridicule at the Chinese government.

terminology but clearly from the US

lĂŹio,

and the dangers to its autonomy after 1997 the better for Hong Kong.

Reilly: So is the role of the international community one of providing an insurance for Hong Kong? ls that true in your

using MFN as a sanction against China.

I think there were two purposes for the trip: one is the stated purpose-gaining the continuation of MFN without preconditions and the other was to get a better understanding on the part of the US government and the US Congress on the situation in Hong Kong.

He probably achieved the second objective and the first objective was probably unachievable. I have heard people say that Patten publicly was calling for unconditional continuation of MFN but privately he was probably telling the US to attach conditions. I don't give any credence to this but I think that it's impossible for a leading political figure to be saying one thing in public and another thing in private and not expect to be exposed so I'm sure that this did not happen.

People have said that it is unrealistic to expect the US not to impose condi-

Tsang Yok-sing and Christine Loh found something in common. that trap and he started off asking for no conditions and continued asking for no conditions until he left America.

Reilly: Dr Miners did he do the right thing over there? Or was he saying two things privately or publicly?

Dr Miners: MFN is bound to be granted

with conditions, the only question how tough will they

is:

be? lf they're

so stringent that it will be impossible for the President to renew MFN next year, then it will be very dangerous for Hong Kong.

So I would have thought that Patten is trying to reinforce the arguments of those who want the conditions to be put as vague as possible but I don't think Clinton can avoid putting conditions on MFN because of the Bill that has just

been introduced into Congress to impose conditions anyway.

He has to do something on similar lines to prevent that Bill going forward.

As far as the subliminal message is concerned, it is fairly obvious that the more Hong Kong is kept in the interna-

tional spotlight the more people are conscious of Hong Kong and its future

After 1997, when Hong Kong reveds back to Chinese sovereignty, whatever the Chinese government decides to do in Hong Kong will be entirely an internal matter for the Chinese.

I don't think any foreign country can do much for people in Hong Kong if we have no faith in China's intention to keep her promises as in the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. Reilly: Do you agree with that Christine Loh?

Loh: I don't think it's a matter of faith because if we have to rely on faith alone China's track record is extremely bad.

So there is no reason for us to have faith.

However, since we're really now talking about the implementation of the Joint Declaration we should at least have all the promises that have been given to us and to have them implemented before 1997.

On the issue of human rights the Joint

Declaration and the Basic Law promised Hong Kong that the lnternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights will continue to apply after 1997.

THECORRESPONDENT JUNE 1993 9

Since 1984, when the Joint Declaration was signed, we have seen no sign that China will accede to the covenant. lf she does not sign the covenant then one has to question: How will she let the international covenant apply to Hong Kong after 1997?

You may say that the international covenant is just a piece of paper. What use is it to Hong Kong?

One of Britain's present obligalions as a state party is that she has to report periodically to the United Nations's Human Rights Committee. lt is exactlythat kind of international attention that we want to ensure Hong Kong will be able to enjoy.

We should continue to address the problem and we should not be fearful about going to China and discussing human rightswith Chinese leaders. They are aware that there are people around the world who care and I believe we will see improvements in this area.

Reilly: China's progress in this area then is raising the standard of living and opening its markets?

Lee: I see developments in China very encouraging. Not long ago people lived in poverty. Today people can now talk about the Cultural Revolution freely and can talk about the mistakes China has made. They even admitthat the Cultural Revolution set China back a generation.

until that time Britain will certainly have a role to play.

This is an agreement that both Britain

and China have registered in the UN and clearly that act of registering the international agreement was an invita-

tion to the international community to observe Britain and China as they implement the Joint Declaration in the years before and 50 years after 1997.

I don't think we should accept that Hong Kong will be an internal matter for China after 1997 and I don't know why Tsang accepts it. Why does he accept it without question?

Tsang: China has always maintained that the treaties by which Hong Kong and Kowloon were ceded to Britain were unequal and have never been recognised by the present government.

The Chinese government made it wellknown in the 1980s that agreement or no agreement China is going to resume sovereignty over Hong Kong.

Since 1972, I think, Hong Kong has not been a colony. So it was entirely within China's legal rights to resume sovereignty over Hong Kong, whether

there was an agreement or not.

The British made an agreement with China to the effect that China would

Allen Lee and Frank Ching had differing views.

It is even more important after 1997 one when we are part of one country that is still totalitarian. That totalitarian government fears international exposure. For China to be serious about the second system within one country she must allow the most generous compliance of the international covenant to be applied in Hong Kong.

Reilly: Allen Lee, do you have the same concerns?

Lee: I think the Chinese leaders are conscious that the world is watching.

Our views on human rights and China's are two different things and China is aware of that. They will tell you that the people are not hungry and enjoy a good standard of living. To the Chinese this is a form of human rights. We might not agree with this but that is how the Chinese see it.

-

10

THECORRESPONDENT JUNE

1993

China realises that it has to become a responsible member for the international community. Economic development is not enough. I believe you willsee political reform too ... Communist Pafty

or not.

Reilly: Frank Ching, are you that optimistic?

Ching: Various issues need to be addressed.

The Swire Group

willnot lapse untilthe year 2047 andup

operate a one country two systems and give Hong Kong a high degree of sovereignty. The fact that China will only resume sovereignty in 1997, and not earlier, is a promise in return for a British promise to maintain law and order and maintain an effective administration up

to

Offering more space than ever, Cathay Pacific now introduces new Marco Polo Business Class seating

with an extra two inches of legroom on all aircraft. And also on all 747s, you'll find

a

new, redesigned seat featuring

a convenient swivel table and

1997.

After that Britain will have no involvement in Hong Kong affairs ... that's the case.

We are now developing from a colonial government system into a democracy. We need a smooth transition and for that to happen British co-operation is

fully extendable legrest for

long

distance comfort. What's more, we've dedicated the upper deck of

all our 747s exclusively to

marco

Polo Business Class and made it

Tsang said that after 1997 China will view Hong Kong as an internal matter

essential.

and that no other country will be in-

Editor's Note: D/a/ogue is co-sponsored by Loyola University Chicago,

comfort of our cabin is yet another way

in which Cathay Pacific helps business

volved.

, smoke-free. Enhancing the space and

don't see how that can be. After all

The lnternational Press Centre of Chi-

China and Britain signed an interna-

cago, The Foreign Correspondents'

tional agreement, the Joint Declaration, regarding how Hong Kong would be run for 50 years after 1997.

It seems to me that the Joint Declaration is an international agreement and

Club, The University of Hong Kong, the Journalists' Club of Sydney, The University of Sydney, The Australian Centre for American Studies and the EastWest Centre, Honolulu. @

I

travellers arrive in better shape.

.-

4

CATHAYPACIFIC Arrive in better shape.

The name of the world's

Reuters opens Shanghai office

PEOPLE

New

Reuters has reopened its Shanghai

publication

bureau, expanding the services it provides from its China base in Beijing.

"Reuters' return to Shanghai, at a

launched

significant point in the city's emergence as a major player in financial markets, is particularly oppodune," said Chris Catlin, Reuters' chief representative in China.

Veteran Hong Kong journalist and FCC member, Kevin Sinclair, and well known public relations woman about town, Susan Field, have joined forces to produce a new publication for the hospitality industry called Asian Hotelier.

Staffed by some of the region's best known journalists and communicators, the first issue appeared in May and

Kevin promises that the next will be even better.

Kevin said: "The aim of the publication is to keep the professionals in the industry informed of trends, events, news and

items of interest.

"For too long, the hotel, catering and accommodation industries in Asia have been without an adequate publication that reflects their interest."

Kevin, whose by-line has appeared in scores of Asian publications over the past three decades, said: "The hotel industry in the Asia-Pacific region is an unrecognised giant. Too few politicians and bankers realise the scope of the significant developments taking place under their noses.

"Too often, when national leaders

After 15 years in Hong Kong, FCC member, Hugh Witt is to return to England to concentrate on freelanc-

T2

think of financial and economic growth,

they consider steel mills and factory chimneys.

"Too seldom do they appreciate that hotels and the associated industries they spawn catering, accom- travel, forge modation, tourism the sinews and encourage the basic infrastructure

that leads to national and regional growth."

The 16-page glossy tabloid is attractively produced and is staffed by some familiar namesto Club members. Names such as David Bell, the former Cathay Pacific public relations manager, who is chief correspondent for Australia; Alan Boyd, formerly with lhe South China Morning Post and now back in Thailand

for the second time freelancing will be covering hotel industry developments in Thailand and lndochina and freelance photojournalist Mark Graham.

Bound for Kent "Offbeat, now approaching its twentieth birthday, has always been a leading publication in its field. lt's freely avail-

the Royal Hong Kong Police Public relations branch, mostly as editor of the Force newspaper Offbeat. "lt was a job that suited me very well," Witt said. "l made friends wĂ­th a lot of cops and didn't have to relate with the public.

able to anyone who wants it and it circulates among police forces, other organisations and individuals in thirty

1993

5Tt0 te3s

"One of the company's biggest bu-

ing.

He arrived in Hong Kong from London in 1978 and spent 14 years with

THE CORRESPONDENT JUNE

MasterCard issuer,

six countries."

Witt spent his final months in Hong Kong editing the government annual report.

I

0t6

[T

reaux in Asia used to be on Shanghai's Bund," he said.

"To resume reporting when the city's markets are booming, and the general business climate is tracking upward; will be important for our audience inside and outside Shanghai. They will now be able to receive fast, accurate and timely reports of immediate impact on trading," he said.

5b

LES

The name welcomed at more than 9 million outlets worldwide.

Reuters correspondent Andrew Browne, who has extensive experience of covering China from the Beijing and Hong Kong bureaux, has been nominated as the first foreign correspondent, with the exception of Japanese agency representatives, to take up a position in Shanghai.

The Chinese authorities gave Reuters the go-ahead in Aprilto station a journal-

The most important name of all,

ist there.

Togetherwith Beijing and Guangzhou,

Shanghai is one of the fastest-growing markets in China; its development is viewed as a barometer of China's growth as a player in the worldwide financial

community.

q

Before Hong Kong, Witt worked with the overseas press services of the Central Office of lnformation in London and wlth a features agency in New Delhi.

He now looks forward to a relaxed life with wife Maggie at his home in Kent, where he started his career in journalism 30 years ago. "l'm just going to dig my garden

Wp'vE puT THREE BIG I{AMES oN or{E sMALL cARD. CITIBANK MASTERCARD. Pick up an application form today 0r call our 24-hour hotline: 8661123.

and wait for the phone to ring," he said, hopefully.

4

Not Just MasterCard.

Citibank Mastercard.

:1.,¡

GOLF

Classic encounters record-breaking 56 finely tuned

athletes set out from Manila last month for the yearlY crusade to Canlubang Golf Course in the Philippines.

Nestled among the sugar plantations of Laguna, Canlubang is the home of the annual Carlsberg Media Golf Classic.

Prior to the departure for Canlubang, a presentation was held at the poolside

of the Sheraton Hotel the

Previous evening where last year's joint winners Dave Hodges and Charlie Smith made their winning donation on behalf of Carlsberg to a children's shelter. Traditionallythe winnerof the Carlsberg Media Golf Classic has the right to select how best the money donated by the sponsor should be spent on a worthwhile cause.

Last year's joint winners, Dave Hodges and Charlie Smith selected the Kaibigan

Dave Hodges and Charlie smith present a cheque to Kaibigan

Outreach Programme. total of 67,000 pesos which will enable roughly 23 children, school education for a full term.

Ermita Outreach Programme, which

gives unde'privileged and homeless children in Manila a better chance in life.

After the 50,000 pesos donation, the

DAY ONE Amid towering coconut trees and a burning sun overhead, fourteen flights

children entertained the assembled

of four golfers attacked the south course

group with a selection of songs which was quite moving for all concerned.

The FCC members and other Partici-

of Canlubang for the coveted Carlsberg/

pantsfrom Hong Kong, Thailand, Macau

would win, nobody left anything to

and the Philippines came uP with a

chance and each flight was armed with an ample quota of caddies, umbrella

further 17,000 pesos, making a grand

FCC Scramble trophy.

As nothing less than a sub-par round

girls and bottles of nectar.

As the day progressed huge cries of joy would periodically break the silence on the greens to suggest one flight had secured a birdie, but more often than not this was a ploy to conf use the oppo-

sition, and one particular flight did it every time the beer wagon arrived.

Some five hours later, the 14 colourfully dressed flights staggered in after

completing the 6,165-yard tropical course -- each with a different tale to tell.

After some more light refreshments the party moved to Makati for the prize

s

,t _t

J-t¿ Left, the competitors; and right a satorially splendid Scramble team.

L4

THE CORRESPONDENT JUNE

1993

't'

iri l,,t l¡

scorching fifteen metre hit, while Mitch Davidson took the honours at the tenth where he started from. Later in the day as the sun was slowly sinking (as were

Some more modest refreshments ensued before itwas revealed that David Bateson's scramble side had tied with the defending champions, led by John Lenaghan at six-under-par.

Although different flights started at

tations than others. the putting competition for the caddies and umbrella girls was taking place.

With total prize money of 5,000 pesos at stake, the event was another instant

of Lenaghan's side, found out that his

Despite several distractions during

the prize-giving ceremony, we

managed to keep order and and patience with Dave Hodges executing a joke that lasted through four brown-outs.

When it came to announce the winner of the Media classic, it was found that

The pyjama-led team of Mitch Davidson narrowly missed out on the best dressed team award to John

changing team shirts with Mitch Davidson after the competition.

Top, Media Classic winner Larry London with Flemming WithSeidelin. Bottom, runners-up David Allison and Robin Moyer.

Trophy competition held at Canlubang

in 1988.

Sponsored by Carlsberg that day, Ray Cranbourne won the event which brings to mind the headline "Cuddles Cranbourne Clinches Carlsberg Canlubang Classic".

name from a Richard Hughes Memorial

The Winners Carlsberg/Fcc

Scramble

Slx-Under-par

David

Bateson

Dav¡d Hodges (Phil¡ppines)

Witn-SeiO'tih Rãsmussen John Lenaghan (Thailand) David Gilhooly (Macau) Derek Currie spencer Robinson Flemming

Wlnner Runners-up

Torben

Best Dressed

Team

Ihe Man ¡n the Barrel 11

16

overPar

Ross Wa)/ Charliê Smith Ray Cranbourne John McDougall

Award

Best Front g Best Back g

NearestThe P¡n Longest Dr¡ve Handicap 24 or

Paulolayton Kevin O'Hagan (Philippines) Peul Strahan

THECORRESPONDENT JUNE 1993

Stableford Points (18-1 8) Stablelord Po¡nts (f 9-17) Points (19-.l7)

¡Stablelord

under over Shortest D¡ive Hole 1 Shortest D¡ive Hole 10

Dav¡d Hodges Howard Coates Robin Moyer Mike Tinworlh Larry Gilliland Milch Dav¡dson

viewfor years and had admired it."

At the time Crovitz was an editorial writer for lhe Wall Street JournalinNew

On the other hand, circulation has been climbing steadily sìnce the change

York and had worked at Dow Jones in a variety of guises for almost a decade, although none of them had included an Asia beat.

of command, and advertising along with

it.

"But I hear that the Review has lost money for years under Dow Jones ownership and continues to do so," I said, referring to an alleged HK$10 million deficit for the past financial year.

"Who said that," the normally passionless American shot back. "l can't discuss what the magazine's finances are. That's Dow Jones policy. But I will say that

Crovitz is still hesitant and some-

surprising.

Afterall, the arrival of the young American created more furore in Asian journalistic circles than any appointment in decades.

The ousting of his predecessor, Philip Bowring, the forceful Reviewedilor of three yearswho had been with the magazine for most of his professional career, certainly produced more column inches than similar changes at

The Times of London, fhe

j J

Economist, Time magazine or the Soufh China Morning Post done since.

"Yes," says the 34-year-old Crovitz, as he sits in his characterless 25th floor office in Causeway Bay, "that gave me an ideaof whatan important jobthis is."

It must have produced a pleasurable

glow, but it probably considerably increased Crovitz's nervousness at the proposal.

,

Hole4 1l

lism.

"Of course, l'd been reading the Æe-

what wary of his reception.

Maybe that shouldn't be too

Stableford Points (20-18)

David Bateson - i9 po¡nts Alan Taylor (Thailand) 20 Points

Nearest The Pin Hole

Handicap 25 or Jeff Heselwood

London 38 David Allison 36 Robin Moyer 36 John Lenaghan 36 Larry

most prestigious jobs in Asian journa-

his chair up to the editor's

Derek Currie

Carlsberg Media Golf Classic

words on the subject of exactly when he learned he was to take on one of the

desk at lhe Review,

Select had won with 38 stableford points.

Although a semi-confessed teetotalor Larry sportingly filled the winning trophy with the sponsors product and proceeded to down every last drop.

David Allison defeated Robin Moyer and John Lenaghan for the runners-up spot on a countback.

Despite the soaring temperatures at this year's event, a modest equivalent to 3,360 bottles of amber fluid were consumed during the three-day sortie, which accounts for a mere 60 bottles per head. Which is just enough to replace the excessive loss of body fluids on the golf course. . . my doctor tells me.

On the first tee Larry Gilliland claimed

being squeezed and had, in fact, fallen by 20 per cent, while the number of editorial bodies employed to do the work was reduced by 1 0 per cent.

But Crovitz, the Dow Jones corporate insider, would seem to have enough clout with the New York head office to tap into hard cash for "fresh eyed", expat packaged staffers and to take new office space, set up a new computer system and to introduce a tad more colour into the design.

ust a year after drawing

Larry London, channel director of FM

McDougall's Kangaroo dressed outfit. lt was touching to see Ross Way ex-

green and driving range in preparation for the big one.

Sun-bloc lotion applied, the assembled field made their way to the north course for the Classic, which derives it's

looks at the changes his editorship has brought. Crovitz, who recently joined the FCC, was also recently named (after this interview) publisher -- as well as being editor.

hit.

boss and general manager was a member of Bateson's side, and the decision of employment or a pot was at stake, found the decision painless.

ney from Manila, the athletes decended the coach and swarmed round the putting

L. Gordon Crovítz has been editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review for just over a year. Simon Twiston Davies

As the scorecards were being marked,

prevail and Bateson's side took the winning pots of silver.

Since the writer, who was a member

For all that, Bowring had long complained that his editorial budget was

A year at the helm

some of the golfers) the field drifted into the clubhouse, some with higher expec-

different holes, it was decided by the writer that the countback rule should

DAY TWO Everyone appeared in great shaPe with a solid eight hours sleep behind them having collapsed at 10 Pm the night previous through fatigue.

After the comfofiable two-beer jour-

INTERVIEW

the prize for the shofiest drive with a

giving ceremony at the Ritz Sports Centre.

Yet, long before Karen Elliot House, parent company Dow Jones'vice president responsible for lhe Review, finally shook Bowring out of his tree, Crovitz knew there was something in the wind. "l'd realised for some time there were possibilities. I had known lcould come

here," he says, carefully picking his

revenues have never been higher."

On Crovitz's arrival a number of key players left quickly including local hires such as news editor Paul Bayfield, deputy business editor Steve Proctor and

Gordon Crovitz: no blueprint for change.

Anthony Rowley, the former business editor and international

But with the US publishing giant's avowed policy of revolving senior employees, Bowring's days had been numbered for some time and the Crovitz star was rising fast.

"Really, it makes sense to move people around," says Crovitz now. "And that is especially true in Asia where political

and business events move so fast. A fresh eye in new circumstances is vital."

That "fresh eye" has ceftainly brought changes at a magazine that for years

was characterised as solid on fact

-

and often opinion - but was seen as impe-netrable by many except those with an iron determination to read everything that could possibly be said on any particular Asian subject.

finance editor. Art director John Hull also packed his pencils, while several others have walked since, some with clear regrets at the fall of the ancien regime.

Among those replacing those who have moved on to pursue other options are deputy editor Nayan Chanda - a Reviewrelurnee from the US, where he had met Crovitz

-

senior editorial writer

Bill McGurn, formerly with the

,Asran

Wall Street Journal; and senior editor John Leger from the European Wall Street Journal; and youngster Jason T. Shaplen, son of Bob Shaplen, the now

deceased former New Yorker correspondent and long{ime Club member, the assistant to Leger.

THE CORRESPONDENT JUNE 1993

17

lrrcur-o You Qery.g¿-oln effect, it is said, a new level of American bred decision-making has been instituted and those who follow the iconoclastic British-amateur ethos have been overtaken.

"Those are the people now out of the decision making loop," says a former senior staffer, "They are journalists with deep-rooted Asian experience and they are being virtually ignored."

Yet new sections have been launched; old departments, such as the lntelligence page, have been expanded. A

Personal finance column has been created. A profile p"g"

the prospect of visiting China as do so many old hands.

That fresh eye DOES breed fresh enthusiasm.

"Yes, it's hard not go get involved when you have been out here for a while," he admits. "But don't think that my personal involvement would ever slip over to the news pages. We must report the facts just as they are."

(Thanks to that straight-shooting stance, Ihe Review remains virtually banned in Singapore after almost five

ffi

gut-felt causes have gone and a Dowist set of principles, apparently learned by rote, would seem to have replaced them. "l stand for free trade and for freedom against the power of the state; against restra¡nts on the free movement of capital or labour. I believe in the rule of law and the institutional protection of the freedom of expression," says Crovitz.

"That's one reason why I like it in Asia.

Believing those things here is not exactly controversial. lt's wonderfully unlike the US or Europe."

L. Gordon Crovitz has clearly

been destined for important things since he was a lad.

economics guru,

blueprint for change," Crovitz declares, perhaps naively.

"These things have evolved logi-

cally."

almost years

of conflict with the Lion City over stories written on low key political dissioff ices. dents. Crovitz's answers to questions Blue, button-down shirls, orange juice on the subject are oblique and he defers and loafers are in. Out is hard drinking to management when the matter is disand British-made scruffiness. These cussed.) are the clean cut days that made corpo- Crovitz, however, reckons he has been rate America great and will perhaps "pleasantly surprised" by lhe Review's make Dow Jones greater still. capacity to break news on a regular But the Review's traditional taste for basis. prising out information that others would "l think that is partly because there is wish to keep hidden from prying West- somuchgoingon. Alsoitisbecausewe ern eyes remains in place, even if the know what we want to do. Other maga-

sepulchrally silent running

magazine

aggressive line-taking of the old days zines seem to be suffering an identity has passed, possibly in order to avoid crisis and can't make up their minds offending ultra-sensitive governments. what their function is."

And obtaining news scoops in this But ask Crovitz about his politics and always lively region is still a thrill for he is less sure-footed.

Crovitz after a year in the Far East.

As a fallback he avows a belief in the He talks glowingly of the pleasure of catechism that governs the editorial talking with Asian prime ministers and stance of the entire Dow Jones group. finance ministers. He was enthraled by The old days when the Reyiew esa trip to Vietnam and doesn't groan at poused a series of sometimes variable, THE CORRESPONDENT JUNE

Pe^ls,o N?

The son of academ ic psychologists at Duke University in North Carolina, he first went to the University of Chicago in the late 1980s to study politics, economics, rhetoric and law, partly under the tutelage of free market

-¡

And certainly there is a far more American tone at today's

-

LIvE ,N A

1993

Milton

Friedman.

After Chicago he won a scholarship to Wadham College, Oxford to study more law and then moved back to the US to gather yet another legal degree at Yale.

But how did this academically excellent young fellow end up a journalist, of allthings? Surely a corporate law practice or a career with a major US conglomerate would have been more likely?

"Not at all," says the almost permanently soft-spoken and cautious Crovitz, looking offended. A nerve seems to have been struck. "l started in journalism when I was 14 years old and worked as a reporter for a local radio station. While I was a student I was also a stringer

lor Time and

loÚ ^¡s

(C(OtLltrlRltlD(GlÐC(OlLlÐ.&lRì(O)lBìlÐlRì1rSS(O)N Coleridge Cole & Robertson

The

209 Shell House, 24-28 Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong fel 868 2772 Fax:524 1233

Washington Post."

Then in 1980 he became a summer intern at lhe Wall Street Journal andlhe

die was cast.

Please provide me with more information on your services.

,

This year it is the Far Eastern Economic Review in Hong Kong.

But next year, who knows? The editorship of Ihe Asian Wall Street Journal? The European edition? Or could it be the big one in New York City?

Simon Twiston Davies based freelance writer

is a Hong Kong

@

I am (please tick the appropriate boxes):

tr T T T

Without school fee arrangements Without pension arrangements Without suitable life cover

T T

tl

Looking for residential finance

ln need of university fee advice ln a muddle and need help

Concerned my existing arrangements may be inadequate

Name

Tel (Home)

Address

Tel (Office) Date

NIEWS

AND VIEV/S Maria Tamburger

-

NEV/S AND VIEWS Hamburger; a

tasty snack.

An ABC of

Ned Kelly - Belly; probably of Australian origin.

rhyming slang

Orchestra Stalls - Cobblers.

Pig's Ear - A Port Melbourne Pier. ockney rhyming slang was originally

a

Arthur Hacker

quasi-criminal language designed to confuse the guardians of the law. ln the last century it was transported to Australia, where it flourished.

From Oz it drifted across the Pacific to America; but the "septic tanks" never really took to it.

It works like this. You take an expression like "apples and pears". The word "pears" rhymes with "stairs". Therefore in rhyming slang "up the apples" means "up the stairs." Sometimes a single word is used as with "Alligator" which is the slang for "later".

"Getting down to brass tacks" meaning "facts", is a variation where the

complete expression is used. But you must use the complete expression. The

Quarter Pot - A sot; someone

Selected by

secret underground

confuse with "Elephant and Castle."

"River Lea" is "Sea"; "Nancy Lee" a

Frog and Toad - Road; "One for the f

True or False: People make news,

doh."

Hot Potato - Waiter. Please don't use this expression in the upstairs restaurant.

Uncle Ben; Bert; Ned; Fred; Willy and Dick - Ten; Shirt; Bread; Bread; Silly; etc.

Vera Lynn

-

"Mother's Ruin".

lnsects and Ants

-

Pants; Under-

pants not "Ripsey rousers".

Xianggang

- Gangbang. A

mental "Friar Tuck-up."

"Thumping the old Joanna".

Khyber Pass - Gluteus Maximus; Film title: "Carry On Up the Khyber".

of Bread -

Head. "Use your

Yaumatei Ferry - Cherry; a virgin.

Uncommon in Yaumatei.

Zounds - God's Wounds. A blasphemous oath, used by one William Shakespeare - a dramatist of some note.

q

-

Bottle; sometimes abbre-

Bird Lime; Bird

-

right law.

Parliament could have been true to the spirit of the Berne Convention and

signatories and just about everyone else

True or False: Editors make newspapers and magazines, producers make

includinþ drafters ofthe Hong Kong Law

news broadcasts, journalists and broadcasters just fill the spaces they create.

True or False: Employed journalists are þst glorified "shift workers" with the difference that assembly-line auto workers in Detroit or Osaka function in less primitive conditions than exist in most of the world's word factories? lf your answer to any of the above is True, don't expect to exercise copyright ownership over the things you create for a living within your lifetime. The fact is that, if you don't see yourself as a

-

Ref

orm

Commis-

sion's Consultative Document on Copyright.

Perhaps it's some wrongheaded notion that one cannot be at once literary and ob-

How else does one expla¡n

Iournalists] apparent disdain for their own creat¡ons.

jective that keeps em-

ployed journalists from reacting loudly to the fact that protection that existed for some 35 years in the United Kingdom

has been signed away by an Act of Parliament under the 1988 revisions to the UK copyright law -- and are about to

E.

extended that protection to all employed and freelance writers, but no. After concerted lobbying by powerfulpublish-

ers in the

United

Kingdom, itwascon-

cluded that

em-

ployed journalists just assemble things for their employers

and are so far

re-

moved from the final products by editors that they don't deserve to be considered the first creators of their works - even if those works are bylined.

Using the kind of convenient reasoning upon which Jeremy Bentham built

LTPSHER, C.P.A.

6/E Fook Shing Court, 50 Wyndham Street, Central Tel: 868-3961 Fax: 525-9679 I]OLY

a prison-

-

Bum; buttocks not a

derelict.

Dog and Bone portable dog."

Elephant's Trunk

20

called moral rights in the world of copy-

MACKEREL\

sentence; "to do bird".

Choi Sum

market a journalist's work to all and

with your publishers, the government of the United Kingdom, many other signatories of the Berne Convention on copyright, all of the non-

LAURENCE

taste; but this is not to be unexpected of a criminal cant. Selection has been difficult. I have tried to avoid including expressions which might cause offense like "Donald Duck".

Aristotle

monu-

Joanna - Piano; pronounced pianner.

is

viated to "Arry".

An alternative to

such windfall profits as are derived from syndication or book rights, etc. with the authors. Nor could employers wantonly

creator of literary works, that's just fine

journalists just report it.

Trouble and Strife - Wife.

Gay and Frisky - Whiskey: Obsolete.

Today a "Gay" is a "Ginger Beer".

exactlywhat it is meantto be.

Rhyming slang is not always in good

-which

By Fred Armentrout

Hoppit "Let's

Flow

rog" is similar in meaning to "Yat for the

"Flea"; "Geftie Lee" is "thirly-three"; and

"Good Old Harry Lee" is something entirely different. lt is all veryconfusing

with "third".

joyed a statutory protection denied all other writers - that their employers could not use their work for purposes other than those for which they were assigned without sharing the spoils of

sundry sources without permission of the creator of the work, under what are

Richard the Third - Bird (feathered); and other less pleasantthingsthat rhyme

word "brass" on its own is a "brass nail"

which is the slang for a "piece of tail".

This I understand is a vulgar term for a practitioner of the oldest profession.

"Rosie Lea" means "Tea". However

you

don't like who drinks as much as you do.

Copyright conundrum: Just what do journalists create?

be taken away in Hong Kong.

It used to be, before 1988, that both employed and freelance journalists en-

A

-

lf you have not filed any pr¡or year individual U. S. income ta¡< returns, now is the time to do so.

ÏAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE TAX AMNESTY PROGRAM !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Drunk. Do not

THECORRESPONDENT JUNE 1993

THE CORRESPONDENT JUNE 1993 2I

=-

cruitment advertising -- under helpwanted headlines like: A Nose For

his classic Handbook of Political Falla-

cies, Hong Kong Government's Law

News and A Stomach For Whisky.

Perhaps because their final products are so ephemeral -- what can be more stale than yesterday's news? -- journalists seem least able of all literary creators to see their works as saleable commodities. "Journalism -- an ability to meetthe challenge of filling the space," quipped Rebecca West in a New York Herald Tribu ne article published in 1 956, the year that copyright law which pro-

Reform Commission advisors have con-

tinued

to bend the principles of

the Berne Convention away from its basic premise that copyright rests first and always with a work's creator, to conclude that it is for the greater good of

consistency

in legislative

language

(read: doing what Mother England does)

to follow the UK example to eliminate the statutory protection of journalists that currently exists (its existence is an accident of the fact that until its law is reformed, Hong Kong operates under the former UK legislation, which pro-

tects journalists and was enacted 1

956).

lf they are to protect their existing copyrights under Hong Kong law, employed journalists in Hong Kong prob-

of early Hearst publishing empire

There's nothing tangible of yesterday.

tions?

All I can say I've done is agitate the air ten or fifteen minutes and then boom it's

ably have less than a year to overcome what seems a congenital disinclination to see themselves as creators of literary works -- rather than the happy gadflies

Heady stuff, but it does not detract media conglomerates from selling air

re-

Computer software writers have no

Murrow opined that : "A reporter is always concerned with tomorrow.

ment.

The year before, 1955, the legendary American news broadcaster Edward R.

PHOTO ESSAY

stories or news files for editors, publishers and readers -- not necessarily in that order of impodance. By the terms of the Berne Convention, those are literary works. problem with the notion that their works are literary for purposes of copyright law, nor do telephone book publishers.

Journalists, however, seem unable to look over their shoulders long enough to see they have indeed created things which may have a longer shelf-life than the publications in which they first appeared. How else does one explain their apparent disdain for their own crea-

tected journalists' ownership of their work was passed in the British Parlia-

in

and print and video and translation rights

to those supposedly intangible Murrow broadcast moments. Employed or f reelance, journalists create things called

Fred Armentrout is the publications manager for the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

@

ITREMIS ttttârttt

t-

t*t -Flì-

***;'ef.relrc*â

¡tE¡

¡L +Gltt l-:l -F I * fH til Íz *3 *t - e

r*ka\Ër E!Ètrl Ës

' * fDE¡ãlÉ*+**Ff;r

f,J+

l¡E

Think about it!

MF' Compocl lighling System

Professionol Tope Recorder

Wireless Tronsmilter & Receiver

f-.l l¡rj :.,,lgn'*1",s,

Cooper Sound

Pro

Professionol Audio Mixer

teclor

.,,,,,,,.,,

Coses

/-\

_J

Lighting System for Film & Video

Comero Supporl & [ightirg

ltcY-l¡rctï

Equipment

O-tastoüle

HCIFISEMAN

Bockground

Profossionol

4x5

View Comero

qIT]F

el¡nchrorrr

Studia Stonds & Top System

Stud¡o Elecironic Flosh System

consumer spending groups

"ln fact, you can't stop here at all. Get moving."

For those passengers eager to disembark in Dali to celebrate San Yue Jie Third Month Festival -thousands - along with of merry-makers f rom all over southwest China, it's no easy task negotiating an exit from the packed bus and onto a colourful highway jammed with livestock, vendors and meandering pedestrians.

All was peacefulone week priorto this 1Sth day of the Third Month (early April)

,

For further information please call

¡:**ÊFtllillç ftlÉlEô*+,Ù.8O1 - 2= t¡; : aas 3101 {n{!¡t¡l : 564 5295

22

ao1

2KOÊNHTLL

METRO TOWÊR, 1 KORNHILL ÂOAO, TéliAAs

THECORRESPONDENT JUNE 1993

31

lAtKOO, HONG KONG 01 Fax 56A s295

"Y n#:iï;i,il:;

bus driver, diverting us outside the city gates of Dali, Yunnan province.

Professionol Cosos for Field Produdion Cre'ir

Di[f usor,

Dali's medieval melting pot

per-capita,

in Hong Kong.

Mogic Dolly & lrocks

rϡ

one of the highest earning,

schtler I .--

¡ìKdedolight

Colloprible Roflectors,

F.C.C. members represent

Dali's horse market.

Kit Myers on Tel: 577 -9331

while the picturesque Bai nationality town of Dali was preparing itself for the annual assault of festival-goers and

By Karin Malmstrom

carnival accoutrements.

Nestled by the shores of Erhai Lake at the base of the Cangshan mountains in northwest Yunnan, Dali could pass for a diluted version of Katmandu and Thai beach culture.

The Dali tie-dye chic

foreign

backpackers who hang out at Marley's Tibetan and Coca-Cola cafes, stand out as the only out-oflowners during most of the year. For one week each spring, however, they become another ingredi-

ent in Dali's medieval melting pot.

"We haven't sold any animals yet, but it's only the first day," says an animated Wang f rom beneath his make-shift camp tarp.

Wang has shipped eleven horses of ten different colours 100 kilometres by truck to sell at the market.

"Black horses usually fetch the highest price, but it depends on what use the buyer intends for his animal. ln my

opinion 'Ze'

-

'purple' horses run the

Although prices range from Rmb 23,000, prize specimens sell for up to Rmb 5,000. And just in case a buyer isn't quite convinced he's getting what he's paying for, he can always check the horse's mouth sign of - a totelltale the horse's true age confirm that the merchant is not selling a lemon.

Race horses are a different breed, according to one expert named Zhang.

"See that black one, number 10? He'll

win the race," Zhang says just before the competition begins.

THE CORRESPONDENT JUNE 1993 23

T

to Zhang, criterion for

a wide chest, winner includes a sturdy and long body, lowtail, and awell-developed hind-leg thigh.

Zhang's prophecy materialised as Big Black's hooves hit the track running before his jockey could properly mount him.

Celebration of Black's runway victory was delayed, however, because Black didn't want to stop thundering around the track.

The crowd went wild with delight as clumsy race officials attempted to put the breaks on Black. Finally, Black came to a graceful halt in a cloud of dust before a cheering stadium. He had won his jockey an Rmb 80 prize.

Although originally a festival centred

According

on Buddhist rituals, San Yue Jie in recent times has evolved into a free-for-all

moneymaking fair, complete with freak shows, miracle potion sellers and itinerant musicians.

Even the People's Liberation Army is in on the deal. "We're now allowed to be in business," says one soldier dressed

24

THE CORRESPONDENT JUNE

1993

in a Western business suit selling surplus fatigues, army uniforms, magnetic healing belts and gold jewellery.

"No pictures, please. The policy

is

quite new and we don't want to cause misunderstandings."

Another army garrison staked out around the fair ground selling rat poison, makes it understood to all passersby that they are enthusiastic about their newfound civilian activities.

Down the cobblestone path clogged with families and women brightly dressed in national costumes, a dentist has set up an outdoor shop. Hundreds of teeth lie on a table for prospective, possibly doubting customers to view as proof of his tooth pulling abilities.

"By the time people come to see me,

they've already decided to have their teeth pulled. For Rmb 3, I take care of their toothache. As you can see, business is good."

Business is booming for purveyors of

just about anything, including herbal medicines, horns and pafts of rare animals and animal skins.

THE CORRESPONDENT JUNE 1993 25

NEV/S AND VIEV/S a plane crash aged

Will Rogers: The voice of America half of the 20th century his pungent

By Ed Peters

prose and penetrating wit was revolutionary and precisely summed up the

os Angeles - the'Film Capital of

the World", home to

that

clubbable man, Rodney King, and of course, that august institution, the Greater Los Angeles Press Club; but away from the more unappealing

The market is monopolised by the

cine. For Rmb 20, the doctor goes away

Aesthetics are left to the dancers' costumes and to the spectators' imagi-

vital energy and health, it's obvious their lifestyle suits them.

After a few days buying, selling, dancing, eating and drinking, its time to resurface into the 1990s.

The fair is winding down, cows are lumbering away on new leads, toy stocks are depleted and the fortune tellers are

with a kilo of orange gold, wotth 100

nations.

packing up.

Tibetans who have come with wild cat pelts, tiger bone and ibex horn.

"How much for this saffron?" inquires a local Dali doctor, having found a sur-

prise source for the impossible{oJind saffron so important in Chinese medi-

times the price.

By dusk, the teaming hillside market begins to settle down for the night, animals whinnying for dinner and stall minders closing their doors. Within Dali's gates, the town is gearing up to entertain all interested local and foreign tourists.

Handmade lanterns advertise restaurants and stores. Video parlours, movie houses, dance halls and billiard rooms easily fill up quickly with country folk

-

seduced by seasoned ticket sellers who are experiencing modern amusements for the first time.

The highlight of San Yué Jie evening activities is a dance performance by

26

THECORRESPONDENT JUNE

-

1993

troupes representing many of Yunnan's ethnic minorities.

Set around a blazing fire in the middle of a basketball court showered in harsh spotlights, the event takes on a Felliniesque atmosphere.

Most frenzied and colourful dance numbers are presented by members of a clan of the Yi nationality from Nan Jiang county, 250 kms south of Dali.

"We chew these seeds in our leisure time, and when dancing and singing," says a handsome male performer as he rests on a concrete bleacher between members. He's referring to marijuana seeds.

"We also use them in medicine, to numb pain and to soothe aching muscles. Try some."

The seeds are sold year round by the bagful in Dali's markets, going for Rmb 0.'l 0 a wine cup measure.

The Yi people display such overall

It

could have been the end of a pagan

rock concert.

One constant in all the chaos, are the sawy Bai women money changers who are a fixture in the scenario. They are for the rest of the the oauoe of business ¡ year, as are thê restaurant owners who exclusively cater for foreigners.

"Business is down this year," says Marley, owner of Marley's Cafe. "Maybe I'll change my business to attract more locals."

Karin Malmstrom is a freelance journalist based in Hong Kong.

q

aspects of the inner city, LA is also the site of a memorial to a journalist who effortlesslyparleyed his home-spun skills into a supremely successful career and became a byword for hitting the nail on the head with a single pithy sentence.

His name will not be familiar in these days of CNN celebrity. But before the Second World War the Cowboy Philosopher's catchphrase "l only know what I read in the papers" was better known than any anchor's sign-off . His straight-f rom-the-shoulder Mid Western perspective commanded more respect than any other pundit's, and he was a man America clasped to its heart with passion. His name was William Penn Adair Rogers, and his ranch at Pacific Palisades on the outskirls of LA is now the centrepiece of a state park. lt's a place wofth visiting, just to catch a glimpse of one part of the American Dream that became reality.

Atthe height of his fame Will Rogers' column was syndicated through 500 newspapers in the USA and abroad, making him one of the most widely read journalists in the world. His output and popularity far outweighed that of, say, Cassandra or Beachcomber, and unlike most who plied a similar trade, he could count on the collective, respectful ear of Presidents, politicians and people. His style appears gentle nowadays, but in the early

feelings of a tongue-tied and somewhat bewildered America. He had no qualms about pointing out the grosser stupidities of government, party politics, or individuals, and what he wrote and said was acknowledged as gospel.

But Rogerswas much morethan mere hack, and a sample entry in an informal Who's Who might well make mention of his abilities as roper, horseman, broadcaster, flyer, film star, polo player, unofficial ambassador, traveller, National Hero and All-Round Good Guy. To his most famous aphorism, "l never met a man I didn't like", could be added the rider that no one who met him could fail to return the compliment.

Rogers was born in 1879 and died in

55. He epitomised

the combination of American innocence and American Dream, honed with allthe enterprise of the Frontier Spirit. His

death was both ironic - he had championed the merits of air travel and the need to strengthen the US Air Force and untimely. His sane voice would have sounded a much needed balance in the reds-under-the-beds hysteria promoted by Nixon and McOarthy, and as Elder Statesman he would have provided a solid bedrock in the years of Kennedy's assassination and Vietnam.

But he was fated to be a man of the Depression years, making Americans laugh in the face of adversity and proving that a guy could be a success and still remain downright decent. Today, he would not be able to get away with it.

Animal rightists would castigate his roping lechniques, his children's bareback riding stunts would be slated as dangerous abuse, the supermarket tablo¡ds would dig up some sort of dirt, but the pre-war public still held faith and Will Rogers was the man they worshipped.

Part Cherokee, born in Oklahoma, a truant who preferred life on the range to that in the classroom, Rogers developed his skills as a lasso artist early. lnfinitely curious, he travelled to Argentina in 1902 and from there to South Africa where he won 50 pounds for performing a trick at Texas Jack's Wild West Circus. He was involved in show business for the rest of his life.

By 1905 he was starring in Madison Square Garden in New York. At one performance, when he accidentallytangled the rope around his legs, he grinned and said: "A rope isn't so

bad to get tangled up in -- if it isn't around your neck." The audience hooted with laughter, and from then on jokes were a part of his act. As he hunted for new material, his wife, Betty, suggested he should read the newspapers, and from there it was a short step to a healthy symbiotic relationship. ln 1922 he stafied writing weekly articles and broadcasting regularly, and four years later had his own daily column "Will Rogers Says".

The All-Round Good Guy,

Will Rogers.

He wrote the way he talked, with a straw-sucking wisdom and certainty that THECORRESPONDENT JUNE 1993 27

caughtthe imagination of the most jaded audience.

"Lord, the money we spend on government, and it's not one bit better than the government we got for one third the money 20 years ago."

"Hawaii is the only place I know where

they lay flowers on you while you are alive."

Undoing Maots buttons

And: "Washington DC papers say Congress is deadlocked and can't act -- I think that is the greatest blessing that

By Marty Merz

could befall the country."

He disdained ceremony, and when obliged to wear a tuxedo neglected to put on shoes. He refused an honorary college degree for his writing, calling it "hooey" and adding: "l got too much respect for people who work and earn

According to the Cultural Revolution Dictionary just published in Hong Kong it would go like this quing

'em (degrees)to see 'em handed around

bao xiang.

to every notorious character."

Qing: Originally a feudal superstitious euphemism (i.e. a Buddhist term) for

When Hollywood approached him, as it had been bound to do, Will replied: "l'm no actor. I'm just a roper. I can't do it."

A compromise was reached. No matter what the part, he simply played himself, changing his lines as he saw fit. The additional fame affected him not a whit.

"The time to worry about this autograph

business is when they quit asking you for them," he grinned. ln private, Will carried on pretty much as he did in public, happily indulging his

eccentricities and unconcerned that the American public revelled in his extrovert

behaviour. He continually lassoed his house guests, causing the cowboy artist Ed Borein to send him a stuffed calf on wheels as a substitute victim. All three children grew up with rope burns, but far from being antagonised followed in their father's footsteps and were all expert riders.

Today, his ranch is very much as he left it, although his country is vastly changed. Rogers inhabited if not a perfect America then an innocent one, and his tranquil house -- festooned with furniture and souvenirs from his travels - the adjacent polo field and surrounding acres are a final testament to his honest energies and enthusiasms. America, and journalism, will not see his like agarn.

Ed Peters i s a f reelance jou rnal i st based in Hong Kong.

@

28

THECORRESPONDENT JUNE

1993

9

both shared a need to remind everyone

who is boss.

ln ihe 27 months from May 1g66 to August 1968, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, some 20,000 factories consumed 6,000 tons

PI E,A,SE PATRONISE THESE

of aluminium alloys and plastic to manu-

I

Eight billion buttons. A finite quantity yes, but a collectible? Well there are far

Buen Vino

fewer than eight billion buttons now.

How do you say "buy a Mao button" in Chinese?

of relief and most families threw

moving or purchasing a "sacred" object, as the word "buy" would desecrate the object.

Bao xiang: A term of respect laden with feudal implications referring to badges, paintings or photographs of Mao Zedong (literally precious likeness).

This authoritative tome, still a little too controversial for publication in China, notes that while some Mao buttons were made prior to the Cultural Revolution, theirwearing became "a mark of whether or not one deeply loved Chairman Mao.,, But it's really quite hard to say why China went so far overboard about Mao buttons, as chaos theory seems to offer more answers than historical research.

No one had devotees of collectibles in mind when the broad masses, under the guidance of a cynical coterie of hangers on, were encouraged to spend more time on ritualistic worship of Mao than on anything else.

Chinese tradition dictates sucking up to the boss, no matter how unphotogenic he is or how obscure his accent or how

squeaky his voice. Mao was familiar with his arch-enemy Chiang Kai-shek, who insisted on his followers believing him to be a warrior, statesman, politician and -- just in case all that was not enough to impress -- philosopher. But

Mao preferred a different four titles: teacher, leader, commander-in-chief and -- perhaps owing to his fondness of swimming -- helmsman. lt is clear they

join us et one of Cenfrsl's favourite pubs.

Opening Hours: 8 am till Midnight Monday - Saturday, Noon - Midnight Sunday Co¡ne snd

facture over eight billion buttons. One aircraft plant gave up making fighter planes to churn out buttons.

After the "gang of four" were arrested in 1976, Chinese sighed a collective sigh

FCC sT/PPORTERS Bull & Bear

Tlpls -ll

B¿n WYNDHAM STREET TEL: B7t1172

tlearty English Breakfast served till 10:30 am Mon. - Sat. Traditional Pub G¡ub, Daily Special

\

British,

t¡cal

and Imported

Bìers. \--

We look forward to seeing you

!

Ground Floor, Hutchison House (nexl to Furama Hotel) Central, Hong Kong. Tel; S2S j436

out

everything connected with the Cultural

G.rdL

Home of US Steaks & Ltve Maine I,obsters

Revolution.

During the era of the blue ants when China was drab with the monotony of regimentation and drudgery the only bit of colour in peoples' lives was connected with the Cultural Revolution.

Íelz 877 9773

frrd

*^d[ & \vdr]rmn *r.noro-* arvaiú . .

.

South China Building, l-3 Vyndham Sr., Central, Hong Kong, Tel:526 5293

TR¡O'S RESTAURANT q LOUNGE G/F iN Wo On lono D'Agullor Strrot Crntml Hong Kong

Close Encounters of the Exotic Indian Kind

The Ashoka "

flrt. l(ql¡t¡r,r¡rt ' A l{ovrl ¡¡ournrct dt litc

(7:(l()

¡r.n1.

-

101ìt)

'''l-¡kt'¡\rr¡vs

¿\

¡hîits

p.m.).

you, h,ith \hlc,t l)arkin¡; St,rvice,

dclicior¡s Inrli¡rr lnrlulgcnct, Wt,tìe,livcr thc lltlrrlgcnct, ttrtr,

[.('tr\'!qì 7lltl [ì.nì. - llllll) ¡r.m. trle ¡rc still thùc ¡t 57-59 t\/t,n.lh¡rn

St., Cerìtr.rl, I I K., T(,¡. 524 9623,525 5719 .]:):l:11.. .it ,nrr ['nrnd. neu'¡iace ,rr (ì/l: Cur¡rr¡ßhr ConrnrtrcLrl t]uiitling, Itt5 \V.rneh.ri ltr'¡.1, I LK., l.,l Bql F()¡tt, dot 50îi

NO BTJFFETS

Ot'ttN Àt_t- D¿\l,S ()t- .t't ilt !\,tìtrK ((\'!frìl(J lrr t nrt(rl Urerreri('. lnternrtiù'rìt¡

Marty Merz When everything around was shabby and shoddy, the buttons stood out radiantly. Revolutionary costume jewellery, affordable to all.

I have an American friend who collects tennis rackets. "Don't tell my wife I spent $400 dollars," he confides conspiratorially, "she thinks I got the lot for a hundred bucks." This is the true essence of collepting. Take something as mundane as a tennis racket and find ways to create significance. Just make sure that the perceived value at least approximates the amount you actually spent acquiring them.

Mao buttonology is simply a new branch of collectibles which provides a greater challenge than tennis rackets, not just because they're harder to hang on the wall.

@

ì5..,

,,

i,lr

PREPARED TTIE BEST

REST?\UR,\NT

BARBECTJEAND CURRYDISHES

PAPILLOI\

-LUNCH - AIITERNOON TEA - HAPPY HouR - DINNER

il

ALLFRESHLY

FRENCHCUISINE

526

fl ft lll

J1lF

.\Jf-\ DINNER -I CENTRAL. àtl -T

. LIVE PIANo AND AMBIANCEAFTER B-13 wo oN LANE

TEL:

INTOWN

5965

l

1Æ., C¿rfield Comm. Bldg., 75-77 Wyndham St., Central, Hong Kong.

Reservations: 52/10107 (Valet parking: 6:30 pm onwards)

lf you own or manage a restaurant or nite spot near

the Fcc This is your invitation to join the

INNER CIRCLE Ring Ms. Kit Myers on 577 9331 (You'll be surprised at how little it costs)

cFl\at-rR/{T OPE'hI

[DA.TI-Y

HAPPY HOURS. ALL DAY SUNDAY AND.5 . 7 PM & 11 - 12 PM EVERY NIGHT c/F., Ot{ HtNc BLDG. (UP THE STAIRS, oppostre .LOFT. tN WYNDHAH ST.) CENTRAL RESERVAT¡,ONS: Bt ot I 62

*FCC SALE

TTFCC

SALE *FCC SALE *FCC SALE

.TFCC

SALE

TKFCC

SALE

*FCC SALE

>?FCC

SALE |þFCC SALE *FCC SALE

you thought you had euerything. Now -- with So

started. Unique is the znatchword. IMere else can you get items with the distinctiae FCC logo and colours. They are all reasonnbly priced, too

TTFCC

SALE *FCC

SALE

E

Polo Shirts in three colours -- pink, blue and white.

D Club ties in two colours -- red and blue.

E Leather wallets with an FCC logo.

D Folded cards with a drawing of the FCC. tr Get in early with some Club Christmas cards.

Q Club sweaters in three colours -- red, dark blue and light blue.

D Watches for men and women. tr Umbrellas -- big enough for two, blue with gold logo.

D Postcard book, a colletion of historic Hong Kong cards tr Headlines of the world postcard. tr Club lighters in the new squat design.

Diaries and address books

Watches

$qO

$150 $130 $40 $SO

$190

$190 $140

$2ls $¡ $e

Wallets Polo shirts

Postcard book

Ties

Umbrellas Sweaters

*FCC SALE *FCC SALE *FCC SALE *FCC SALE *FCC SALE *FCC SALE

*FCC SALE *FCC SALE

TVFCC

SALE *FCC SALE *FCC SALE *FCC SALE

The SLRc

PEDDLER'S JOURNAL While they do offer an efficient but

Asia's struggle with

traffic congestion t is discouraging to contemPlate the fate of Asian cities if the motor vehicle is allowed to prolif-

erate unchecked at its current rate.

According to a statistic I came across

a couple of years ago, 500 new cars were hitting the roads of Seoul each day. There is no reason to assume the number is not higher now, nor that a similar figure does not apply for other Asian cities.

ists. Not only has their

market expanded in terms of potential customers but motorists being trapped in their vehicles for longer periods of time are

discipline on their citizens. One wonders where it will all end.

The above named cities along with

tic parking lot.

Twenty{ive years ago Bangkok's traffic problems had already become legendary. Over the intervening period new highways have been built, flyovers

constructed and the few remaining klongs filled in. And today the traffic is worse.

Many's the time I have consumed an entire issue of Time or Newsweek, or both, sitting in a car with my local colleague on the way to visit a customer only a couple of kilometres away. And this in spite of the fact that I am not a fast reader and he had executed an imagi-

32

THE CORRESPONDENT JUNE 1993

unfoftunate side effect of the traffic scene in Bangkok, noise and pollution.

I have often stood on a corner of Sukhamvit and Soi something or other and marvelled at the din. For some reason the Thais have an aversion to muff lers.

Great blue clouds bellow forth from trucks and busses rising skyward to do theirthing on the ozone layer. The earsplitting noise of motorcycles weaving between lanes combines with the revving of engines of taxis and unmuffled three wheeled tuktuks to create a pan-

the ever increasing traffic congestion.

They are the hawkers who gather in flocks along the major thoroughfares to press their wares upon the motor-

Not many years ago those cities,

teries, Bangkok collapsed overnig ht with a massive stroke. Or to be more explicit was suddenly transformed into a gigan-

hazardous form of transport, they also add more than their share to that other

demonium unmatched anYwhere.

But there is one segment of South East Asian society which welcomes

with Taipei being the outstanding example, had a reputation for chaotic traffic conditions. Today choked thoroughfares are forcing an unwelcome

Manila, Jakarta and the late stafter Shanghai may be approaching saturation point but Bangkok is still the front runner on the road to total paralysis.

It is not stretching the imagination to speculate that we may all wake up one morning to read in the papers that, like a sufferer from cholesterol clogged ar-

fromadiffere

native manoeuvre to cut a half an hour off our journey.

The manoeuvre goes like this. He drives into a multi-storied parking compound in one of the larger buildings. He pays the fee but with no intention of parking, proceeds up or down a few levels and then out another exit. Depending on the layout this clever stratagem can result in bypassing one or two gridlocked intersections.

Obviously know-how and experience are required to gain maximum results from this technique. ln the continuing struggle against traffic congestion, a few years ago the motor-bike taxi appeared on the scene in Bangkok.

There must be well over 50,000 of them by now. Most of the drivers are teenagers and many unlicensed but for those willing to brave a sweaty nerve-

wracking ride they are the only way to get around the city without wasting the better part of a day.

receptive to a greater variety of goods.

There is a railroad crossing in the suburbs of Jakarta where a train has not passed in over 20 years. Until recently however the gates were lowered according to the original schedule forcing the motor vehicles to wait in line for 10 minutes or so for a nonexistent train.

It provided ample time for the hawkers to come out from behind the bushes to ply their trade among the frustrated motorists.

With the pickings having become so easy elsewhere in the city this artifice has now become obsolete.

Leighton Willgerodt is an associate member and sales executive with an American multinational company.

@

Your point of Yiew.

Whether you're a seasoned professional or a budding amateur photographe¡ Canon EOS cameras put you a step ahead in your quest for perfect pictures.

Designed with your individual requirements

EOS

in mind,

these advanced SLR cameras give free rein to your creativity

eos lOOqo

I

A New Breed Of Quiet SLR Camera

The Professional's Ultimate Creative Tool Full auto mode or sophislicated manual operation lets you take w¡nning shots with sure precision Custom Control Function allows you to tailor auto mode to your personal preference AF system detects both vertìcal and horizontal lines to provide focusing of extreme sharpness and clarity

For Action PhotograPhY One-shot AF, Al Sewo AF or manual mode puts you in control ¡n any situation, even when shooting extremely fast-movingsubiects l\4otor

drive and Camera-shake Alert function ensure you'll capture aLl the action with sharp definition

Three handy control dials simplify the art of fine photography Multifunction Zoom flash provides natural lighting in low-light conditlons. A unique film transport system automatically advances and rewinds film without distracting noise.

eos

eos 1OOO/1000F Autofocus SLR The New Standard

The best of AF SLR features packe<j in an exceptionalty compact and lightweight body.

Functions include two ÀF modes, four metering modes and ten exposure modes Large LCD panel gives full data on camera setti ngs

Canon Canon Hongkong Trading Co,, Ltd, 1O/F., t!4ir¡or

Towei 61 Mody Road, Tsimshalsui Easl. Kowloon, Hong

Kong

Tel: 739 0802

A D-

'//

¿\ Þ\

-l

I\E\rySMAKER Where history is made, as it is being made, the Nikon F4 toils. Unfailingly, tirelessly.

The F4. Good news for pros everywhere.

D¿

ffiffi

I i !

I I