The Correspondent, November 1995

THE

OIIIIDNT

Tbe official Publication of tlse Foreign correspondents'club of Hong Kong

SONDHI TIMTHONGKUL Can he make Asì,ø Times a winnef?

Renovation plans begin to take shape Hans Vriens: 'We must work on

ouf China ties'

THD CORRDSPONIIENT November 1995

2-

Fforrr

tfre President

The club is securing its place in the future

THE FOREIGN CORRESPOI\DENTS'

5-

CLTJB

Chrb lrrlotices

2 Lower Albert Road, Hong KonB Telephooe: 2521 l5ll FX:2A6A 4O92

Presldent

Presldert--

secord vice

6-

Hans Vriens

Flñt Vlce P.esldent

Nury Vittachi

Corzer Stor:r Asia Times: a first for the region

Stuart wolfendale

Coff espoûdef,t Member Governors

9/AL-

Paul Bayfield, Marcus W. Bmuchli, Mark Cli-fford, Peter Engtrdio, Cathy Hilbom, Robert Macpherson,

Chrb Ne-vrzs FCC gets Netted

with Àsia on-Line; Renovation

Neu on tbe neussta.nds

plans begin to take shape

Jonathan Mißky, Hubert Van Es Seaetary: C^tby }ll.lbom

L3-

Jouûtâllst Membet Goveírors Frâncis Moriarty, Simon Twiston Davies

In ttre rìreurs CNN and the wily ways of the censor; Press perils

in Cambodia; A time to reminisce

Assodate Member Govemors John Corbett, Kevin Egan, Karin Mâlmstrom, Dorothy Ryan

L6-

Professlonal Commlttee Contenor: MarkCÍ[ñord Hor¡se Commlttee

lVferlrbefs Book captures the essence of Macau

Conuenot': Kevin F-gan

Flûaûce Comittee rd' : D o rothy Ry rn

aa_

Tre as:u

Membershlp Co n

u en o

r : Hùb ert V lfi Fs

Entertaimnt Comitt€e Co nue

[lackl>encfrer \øill it be second time lucky?

Comittee

20-

nor: Ka¡n llìlalmslrom

F& B

Cormlttee

Ba-rside fBaûter: An early taste of Christmas

Conuenor: Stua¡ W olle¡dale

Tbe FCC on.

wall comm'itree Conuenor: Ilubert Van

Es

2t

Publlcatloris CoúrDlttee Conuenot': Simon Twislon Davies Fr€edom ofthe P¡ess

Non-stop to Johannesburg every Saturday, at 2500 hours.

Direct to Johannesburg and. Cape Town every Tuesday, at 2250 hours.

The Correspondent

24-

EDITORIAI, OFFICE

lsll

2-

ß^x:2A68 4092

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS

,{.FRIC,ryS ÏV',{RNIEST WELCOIVIE.

to flole

lfril>ute

@ 1995 The Foreign corespondents' CIub ofHong Kong

Opiniom expressed by writefli in Tbe CorresÞondezt are not necessarily those

of

2A-

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People The ideal companion; Really?; There go two more; Pinkie steps down; Members on1¡.; Malteser in

Tbe Cotresþondent is pùblished monthly by The ForeiBn Crßpondenls' Clùb of Hong KonB.

I

Ilole

A busjacker's final ride

The Forei8n Cotrespondents' Club.

A

pipped in Thai thriller

Something fishy about Nessy

Peter Cordin8ley, Editor Nicola Nighti¡Bale, Assistant Editor 2lowerAlbert Road, Hong KonB

Telephone: 2521

GoIf FCC

Cotae nor' : F nîcis Moriarq, FCC General Manager: Jethro Lee Mahone)'

tour

action; Thìngs are swinging again; A belly laugh; In memory of Fred

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FCC Faces Mike Matthews

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November 1995 TÅE

GORRf,SPOIÐENT

Canofl So

The club is secuflng its place in the future

itwill

come as

no surprise that the Board of Governors was delighted that the heads of,the AsiaPacific News Depart-

o

ment of the Xinhua News Agency (Hong Kong) branch, Chen Monhua and Zhang Gouliang, accepted

our invitation to organise an informal get-together at the club for our members and the 70 odd (yes,

O11e countl-y, tñzo s)¿sterns is 11ot

70) Xinhua corre-

jlrst sorne vagì.re slogan. It also a¡2¡21ies to the ch-rb, sa)zs president Flans \Zriens- Aaad it is our job to rnake it szork.

spondents based in HongKong. Unfortunately, for technical ,E reasons, tne tunctlon s could not take place

Ð on the scheduled date, but the good-

f I

n tess than o00 days. a unique con-

stitutional arrangement will start in Hong Kong. The Chinese patriarch Deng Xiaoping called it, appropriately, "one country, two systems". By now, we probably have heard this slogan so often that we might have forgotten

what was actually meant by it. The original idea at the beginning of the Eighties was that Hong Kong will be allowed to keep its capitalist system for the first 50 years after the change of sovereignty, while in Beijing the communist party will mle. But what is left of the distinction betlveen capitalist and communist in the middle of the Nineties? After all these years of Chi nese reforms, people might be excused for being confusecl.

Of course, "one country, two systems" implies more than just the distinction between capitalist and communist. No one will doubt it will be one of the great news stories of our time. All our correspondent and journalist members and many visiting colleagues will be writing about it.

But what does "one colrntly, two systems" mean to us, the Foreign Correspondents' Club ofHong Kong? FCC members will not only report on the change of sovereignty, their club will

actually be part of this constitutional arrangement. This might make some correspondents neryous, but there is no way out. To put it bluntly, the FCC has a responsibility to make the "one

country, two systems" idea work

will is still there.

however to tq.. 9n.1ong-term surwival depencls upon it.

Alot more will be done to familiarise our Chinese colleagues with the

small our role. 'W'e will have

The good news is that the Board

of

Governors has been working on the question for quite some time. To give a few examples. The director of the Xinhua News Agency in Hong Kong, Zhou Nan, visited the club some years ago to give a speech to a selected group of correspondents. In the last

eign ministers, such as Dai Bingguo.

Mr He, of Xinhua, told my predeces-

govemment. Let us call

sor, Simon Holberton, on several occasions that the central government had

country, tlvo systems committee".

No one will doubt, I hope, that there is room and a need for improvement. To make sure Hong Kong andits vibrant FCC will remain as successful as they have been in the past, we need to do more than stand up for press freedom. 'W'e are paft of the most bizarre constitutional experiment ever

had meetings with Chinese vice-for-

no intention of applying China's laws relevant to foreign correspondents to Hong Kong after 1997. "At our last meeting, inJune 1995, Mr He said that foreign correspondents in Hong Kong after 1997 would be as free as those in

New York today," reported Simon Holbenon.

This is very good news. BLrt we shouldn't fool ourselves. 'W'hether we like it our not, the British are leaving

will take over govefnment with which the FCC has never had to deal before. That is why there is every reason to keeP on and a new government a

working on the improvement of our relationship with China and the future government of the Special Administrative Region.

+i

FCC and the FCC with our Chinese colleagues. Among otheractivities, the Board is trying to organise a trip for its

members through Guangdong province - to see and hear first-hand how otu' neighbours are doing.

To put our efforts on a sounder footing, it has been decided to form a committee to advise the Board of Governors on what steps to take to improve the relationship between the FCC and China and the ftiture SAR

fewyears, several board members have

:"¡'qj tll

Capturing the Thr¡ll of the Game

it the "one The thrill and excitement of spectator sport transcends borders and excellent way for people to express the union of different countries, It

important to capture the thrill in photoglaphs fol the worlcl to share. Ancl professional photographers from all over the worlcl lely on Canon SIR cameras to give them their best shots becuase for them not a single

opportunity can be missed, Successful photographers use Canon cameras ancl the EF lenses Canon EOS system

undertaken. The FCC is a great asset to the SAR-govemment. ìle know that.

The FCC will be living proof of the 'one country, two systems' concept.

That is the message we have to get

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not just because ofits worlcl fastest autofocus

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function, not just because of Canon's renowned relìability, but also because of the quality of the images they can produce with the Canon system.

Canon is always thele where the excitement

acfoss.

After having lived in Hong Kong for over five years, I am confident it will work. But only in Hong Kong.

And that might be a difficult message to get across to the rest of the wodd @

is an 1s

is

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The EOS System : Tl're answel to the plofessional's needs.

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Þ

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Erecrron ¡cs

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Tel.: 2739 0802

TâE

BY

ZOO

^Rrf

Getting on rhe

uRHAckER

E¡

GU

The FCC has already registered the domain name FCC.ORG with the InterNic in Reston, Virginia. This will 4llow members to haye individual Internet addresses (example: Lancaster Bomber@fcc.org). To negotiate the best deal with Internet service providers, we need your input. Please return this questionnaire to the reception desk orbymail, markedATTN: CONEHEADS. We hope to be able to choose a provider by mid-October.

THÉY ARE GUARANTEÊD

trREEÞOAOF

SPEECH, FRÊEÞOM OF THOUGHT, FRÉEDOM OF RELIGION

AND oF f

OA, Ess!

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9,à \ Æo-o

If so, which ones 2. Are you interested in getting E-mail and

$€. /

l'"?'

Facts

full Internet access through the ',

by fax

so, please let us know the method you

prefer and the relevant details.

To Deputy General Manager Allister Lim Rochstad FCC 2 Lower Albert Rd Hong Kong Fax2a6A 4092 Tel2521 l5II

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If there is any information that we have not requested, but would help us choose a provider, please add your comments

I

L FCC

memberstrip

nO.W On Sale!!!

More bums on seats. That's one reason behind the FCC's new-membership incentive scheme, also known as the "pre-renovation sale", which runs until the end

ofthe year.

The club can accommodate 1,600 members - obviously not all at once, but that's the "maximum capacity" level at which its diverse facilities can still operate efficiently. Right now we're 15 per cent short of that target. Active correspondent members number jllstover300, joumalistmembers slightlyover 150, andassociates

about925.

FCC No

Correspondent n Journalist Associate

n

Yesn Yes

been completely successful. Some members' machines have been turned off, some have run out of paper, others have been busy. In short, a host of problems - exacerbated by the fact that some members have changed address and/or fax nurnber without notifying us.

Only a few members elected to have their flyers posted to them. lf you have NOT been receiving flyers regulady, but would like to do

Membership Category @lease

Yes

6. Now that you know, will you use them? Yes n No n 7. Please provide name, address, phone andfax numbers, E-mail address you already have one

notifymembers of activities, meetings, lunches and other activities.

The system, while good, has not

K;.-_

FCC?

Do you have a computer?

Yes NoE 4 Do you have a modem?

Non 5 Did you know there are five computers with modems in the workroom?

3

For almost yer the club has been using the ^multi-fax system to

Free door-to-door limousine seruice while travellinq on a business class fare? +At Virgin Aflantic, we have a term for tkris.

Intefnet

'With more members comes more revenue

- hence the image of posteriors on the stools aroundthemainbar. Butthere's anotherimportantreason, too. rüith 1997 closing in, it's more impoftant than ever for the club to have a strong membership to assert its role as a recognised, viable meeting point for Hong Kong's joumalistic commllnity.

To encourage new coffespondent and journalist members, the FCC is putting itsmembership "onsale" witha $500 discount. Ineffect, thatbringsthe joiningfee down to $3,500. \üØe're hoping that such a discountwill encourage younger eligible correspondents and journalists who consider the basic joining fee a bit stiffto join.

The FCC, afler alJ., is their rightfrf home.

For the other categories, we're inviting cuffent members to find new ones by rewarding them with food and beverage credits. For every new associate member whose successfr-rl application is received by December 31 , his or her sponsor (that's the first of the three required signatures on the application form) will find an F&B credit of $ 1 ,000 on his/her next bill. For those who introduce diplomatic members, the creclit is $1,500, and for those bringing in corporate members, it's $2,000. \Vith everybody's help, we should have no trouble boosting the membership of what is arguably the wodd's best-known media watering hole (and restaurant .

..anclhealthcoflrer...andbilliardroom...andfullyequippedworkroom...and luncheon speakers'forum) ahead ofthe renovations thatwillmake the FCC the next best thing to a "through train".

November 1995 THD

CORRESPOI{IIDI{T