The Correspondent December 1996

TE

-t

Tbe Official Publication of tbe Foreign Corcespondents'Club of Hong Kong

FCC BOOK LAT]NCH

EYEWITNESS ON ASIA UP TO 1997 AND BEYOND

Stephen Shaver Exhibition in Main Bar

-

THD CORRf,SPONITDNT December 1996

ÏTIE FOREIGN CORRÉSPONDENTS'

2_

Letter:s

4-

Frorrr the President

CLIIB

Reactions and freedom

2 Lower Albert Road, Hong Kong Telephone: 2521 151 I Fax: 2868 1O92

6-

Presldent ciannini -John Paul Bayfield First Vice President Second Vice President Karin Malmström

Corzer Stol-J'Eleu)itness on Asia

-

9-

Cotrespondent Member Governors Bob Davis, Cathy Hilborn, Robin Lynanr, Michael Mackey, Kees Metselaar, Jonnthan M¡rslq', Rob Mountfort, Keith fuchburg, Christopher Slaughter, Hubert van Es

l\4errrlrers

atLalrge

Tnscany Trar.els

Tuscany Trauels

L2-

Life Okay, so I'm in n wheelchair,..

Secteta tJt: Cath¡' Hitborn

Joumalist Member Governors Saul Lockhart, Fmncis Moriart),,

Associate Memb€r Govemors William H Areson,John Corberr,

a6.

Ptrrel¡,' Personal Election färce

Ronâld Ling, Julifln Walsh

Professional Comittee r : Michæl Macke),

4.7-

Co n uetto

Ifrter:net Traidng c¡'ber surfers at the FCC

Houe Commlttee Lirg

Co,,uenor: RonÃld

Flnance

Comittee

a8-

Conuenor: Willi^m H. Areson Trea s ut'e r: J uli^t1 w zlsh

Membemhip Coûnlttee Conuenot': Htbert van Fs Trea s u re r: J \linn W F& B

Publications Con uen ot':

P

atl

Ba¡, fr

eld

FCC G€neral Manager Roben Sanders

The Corespondent EDITORIAL OFFICE JeffHeselwood, Editor Teleplìone: 2at1 0493 Fax: 2815 2530 2 lower Albert Road, Hong Kong Telephone: 2521 1511 F^x: 2868 4rJ92 E-mail: ihc@neNigator.com @ t996 t'tre Foreign Correspondents' Club of HonB Kong Opin¡ons expressed b) writers in Tbe cofresponderr, afe not necessarily those of The Foreign Coüespondents' Club Tbe Cor'Ìespo,tderr¡ is published monthly b), The Foreign Corrcipondents' Club of Hong Kong

HongkongBank

Rttssian-5t¡,1s, 007 and \4adivostok

-

\Ieszs IMMF course for Inclochinese journalists

27--

Elezuihtess on Asia

FLeview Cltinese Footltr'lzf.s b1' $¡¡5x11¡o

go"

Comittee

Freedom of the Press Coffnlttee Con ue,to | : F rrncis Mori¿rt),

Lasr A LmErn¿n.

20-

md Entertalnment Comittee Wall Comfnlttee Conue,nr: Bob Davis

PnnrrvERsHrps

News

^Isl1

Con ue nor' : Kano Mal mströnr

l\tredia

PRODUCTION FST L¡ne Design & Print¡ng Founh Floor, l5B Wellington Street, Centnl, Hong Kong 'fel: 2521 7993 Fax: 2521 A366

t2

Portfolio On the wall; photographs b)'Stephen Shaver

25-

FCC Golf Socieû5r FCC take seconcl place in Bangkok

)1

Social

3L-

People

torrnanent

New metnbels

32-

FCC Faces Vernon Ram On the

Main cover picture

:

uall

Shanghai as it wâs adr.er-tised in the Thirties From the Reisner & Reschke Collectiou

Your Future Is Our Future December 7996 TÃE

C0RRXSPOilDENT

signs the book. The Sydney Journalists' Club laces closure.

In Germany, the Presse Club Munchen could not be found at its

To the editor From Mr Hans Vriens Reading your [the President's] letter of October 17 I would like to express the following views. Like we have discussed before the board has a long standing policy of standing up for freedom of the press in Hong Kong,

China, Cambodia and wherever we decide it is appropriate to voice our opinion about.

If this is our policy and I am not aware the board made a decision to

address of Ma rieîplatz 22. Ltelephone call resulted in an answering machine.

your proposal to abolish the above described policy on press freedom the FCC will become the laughing stock of

the journalistic community. And not just in Hong Kong. And for sure the Chinese govemment will no longer respect the cowards of Ice Holrse street.

As tbis is a copy of a letter receiued by tlre Board, it is þrinted ín its entireU) nnd in its origínal form u¿tboLrt editing. JH

the contrary, this brings up the question what it means in practice?

From Mr Edward

The following summary:

nothing of disgusted

Testi,ffingbefore Legcopanels inissues related to the press (although our role is

so-called artyphoto by someone called Bob Davis on prominent display in the

often limited in giving moral support);

downstairs bar of the Club.

This has somehow escaped the notice of the Board's censorship unit, so allow me to describe the lascivious pose that is on view for all to see. A man's naked nipples can be plainly

1.

jointprojectswithAmnesty lntemational, the Hong KongJoumalists Association and the Freedom Forum; 3. H:avtng a Freedom of the Press sub2. tùØorking on

committee, which among others prepares statements, lobbeys and whose members usually testify before Legco panels; In 1'our letter you suggest to bury the FCC-policy onfreedom of the press.

From now on it would be sufficient for the FCC to issue a letter "stating that the FCC supports the rights of journalists to work without interference no

matter where it is". I presume this is joke. But in case it is not, we should be honest. Issuing a statement like that is the same as saying the club is in favor of "stability and prosperity in Hong Kong". It is meaningless. It is amarfira.

A reflection of a lack of moral courage.

With regard to your idea that "we must maintain orrf status as neutral observers" you are mixing up your role as a foreign correspondent; an 'independent' obserwer indeed and your role as President of the FCC. Bydefinition somebody who is expected to have the moral courage to stand up for issues regarding the members, pressfreedom among them. It is somewhat troublesome if a president would be "neutral" in a case like Xi Yang, a Hong Kong journalist who is spending 12 years in a Chinese jail. Andforwhat? Foran ordinary scoop.

I am afraid if the board accepts

Peters

I was extremely alarmed

-

-

to sa¡'

to obserwe

a

seen, his fist is holding what is definitely a small vibrator, while the tattoos on his torso - also completely naked include a dragon (suggesting bestiality) and a butterfly that looks when regarded through half-closed

eyes - like a woman with a thick forest of pubic hair with her legs akimbo.

ü

In Bangkok, the FCC Thailand is no longer at the Dusit Thani hotel, but is now in a much smaller location in the Jewellery Trade Centre, near the Holiday Inn. In Singapore, finding the

Foreign Correspondents' Association is impossible.

There are no doubt other clubs whose inforrnation needs to be urgently updated for Club members that travel.

From Mr Peter Bennett I don't believe what I am reading: 'because of complaints by þrospectiue members (my italics) who said theY wouldnot join a clubwithpictures like that on the wall ... the offending (my italics again) photo should come down'

.

members objected to Huvan Es's more colourful turns of phrase? Orfound the FCC Rockfish Soup unacceptable? Or objected to Ted Thomas on account of his advancing years? Or were unable to tolerate Arthur Hacker's faslion sense? 'lflould those prospective members callse the committee to have them all removed? And would the committee behave in the same gutless manner as it did over tlre Style cover?

who are offended by 15-year old

any more of those around.

magazine covers?

From Mr Peter Finn It is abouttime the reciprocal clubs

I believe the action of

the question

most pafticulady where

tn Tbe Corresþondent is uPdated.

For instance, in Britain, the Sf.ig & Pen Club is now a Pub, not a club.

Anyone can go there.

TheLondonPress Club &Scribes is on the second floor of the Wig & Pen and has no special club atmosphere.

of freedom of expression is concerned.

always to be closed orunder renovation.

In Australia, both the Rugby Club

in

Sydney and the Victoria Club in

Melbourne are open to an1'one who

,/ . LÉú EF so--

i-s''

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All these sophisticoted feotures

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ST(lLICHNAYA Letters to tbe editor are altuaYs tuelcome - uin Yourself a bottle of StolicbnaYø for an

original or uittY letter

-

\

the

committee in acceding to thewhims of individuals who are not even members of the Club to be totally outrageous

idormation that is printed periodically

The Foreign Press Association seems

,/".''",\.",i

the conduct, the decor and the decorum of the FCC? \ùØhat if these prospective

This is not a laughing matter. If anyone can find anything offensive about the Stjtle cover, then they are bloody perverts! And we don't need

photo be removed

,

Since when do prospective members have any say whatsoever in

at once, so I can enjoy the FCC in peace without being visually harassed.

P.S. Do we really need members

Please could this

IN COS WC TRUsT

but

u)e reserue tbe riglct to editfor clarity orfor reøsons ofsþøce.

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I nout twenty years ago I sat down L \at the No Name Bar in Sausalito, Califomia. A burþ characterthat looked like a rugby player kept giving me sidelong glances. I tried to avoid leis gaze.

Since the bar was across the bay from

Hugh van Es that the wall committee

had not been consulted, that theY threatened to resign from the Board' They both lambasted me fôr allowing this to happen. Bob suggested that if

to

sTomen were offended by what was on

encourage any unwelcome advances.

After about fifteen mtuÌutes of this, he approached me and said, 'Aren't You John Giannini and aren'tyou supposed to be dead?'

'Yes, on both counts', I said, suddenly realising I was talking to an otd friend, the late, great Australian radio reporter Roger Allebone. \üalking into the main bar of the FCC during the Past month has been a

our walls, then perhaps they would be better advised applying to another club.

As a member of the Ladies' Recreation

San

Francisco, I'didn't want

somewhat similar exPerience.

However, I must thank all of You who accosted me to voice your complaints before I could reach the bar. Mybill has

dropped drastically. Having had to accept the blame for the removal of the Style cover has caused me to redefine the meaning of 'a sobering experience' .

Taking the rap for this ill-advised decision comes with the job. However, one memberdidconf.de,'Everymember of the board I've spoken to denies that they were even at the meeting.'

The general membershiP has had

no problem making their feelings known. PhiliP Bowring was the most succinct.'The word is'intolerance', he said, 'pure and simPle.' As the month passed and the brickbats flew, from the lawyer's corner came anofferto swap the picture ofthe little drum major for the Style cover.

Tony Nedderman suggested that 'the only intelligent solution is that it goes back on the wall now and if PeoPle really feel strongly about it, it should become a topic for the AGM - in 1998.'

Brian Jefferies reacted to the implication that political correctness had creptinto the club. He said, 'This is a fundamental decision, which decides which way the club goes.'

Club, he offered to Put them uP for membership there.

Another Yote was taken and this time the Board came down on the side of freedom of expression. The picture

is back. Jennifer Bowskill told

me afterwards that'if thatpicturewas taken down, itwould mean that I could never exhibit my work here, because I take pictures of women - and men - with no clothes on'.

A huge error regardrng tl'rc StYle cover needs to be corrected. It was shot by the late Dinshaw Balsara, not Kevin Orpin as I mistakenly repofied.

There was one reaction regarding the freedom of expression statement made to Legco on the Club's behalf. Ed Gatgan, t}ae New York Times bureau chief calted me to say that he was 'outraged'. 'It seems to me,' he said,

'that it is not the role of the Club to approve or disapprove ofone country -two systems. One country-two systems is some construct, that Deng Xiao-ping came up with, that is part of the Chinese political process. The FCC should not

take political positions. Our job as journalists is not to monitor the implementation of anything. Our job is

to report what is going on, Period.

'What you have written is basically a political statement. It is not our job to make political commentary.' .ê>, A

word of caution: Gangs of thieves

have been targeting restaurants in Wanchai and Lan Kwai Fong, where they have been snatching bags from

unsuspecting patfons. One would have thought that the FCC would not be an

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righteously replied that I

to preserve a few brain cells. 'You don't need brain cells to write,' she shot back. 'This is the FCC.'

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lnchcape Pacific Limited is the Greater China regional arm of lnchcape, the international distribution group.

tlrc S øn Fr ancisco Cbronícle columnist, who is known as 'Mr Three Dot'.

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had to go write my column and needed

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recent Fridaynight he mingled in the crowd until he thought itwas safe, then boldly picked up a bag and made for the

recently,

Wong

tr1tr Hong Kong Trade Development Council

a

months ago?'

She: 'No he didn't' He: 'Yes he did!'

She: 'Yeah, but he's still writing.'

I discovered that Herb Caen has a web page linked to www.sfgate.com. I sent him a note to apologise for the three dots in last month's column.

And a somewhat related remark: To Betty Fu's offer of another drink

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,NFORMATION Photogrophs-Vrdeos-Fe otures-Literoture-Books on oll ospects of tourism industrY

a

-il

t

/& ,þ-

(¡

irq @ 6)

Iejt: CommunLst

demonstrators

Top: Helicopters loaded xaitlr Marines bead.

for

Toþ:

Eyewôtness on Asíø

'

Up to 1997 and Ete¡zond

published by Stefan Reisner and Kai Reschke, and edited by Paul Bayûeld, Vaudine England, Saul Lockhart and Hubert van

British trade delegation to

It is, quite simply,

a superb tome andworthy ofits title . It r€cords a number of significant events throughout the

region. Its mziny photographs are a collection of the years gone by, while the photographs of past and present members will undoubtedly evoke a string of memories. Some of the subjects have moved on; some, sadly, are no longer

with

us.

W.ith a foreword by Chris Patten,

in which the Govemor emphasises the need for the wodd's press to maintain a

vigil over Hong Kong in the years to come, the FCC's part in the ongoing M arcb íng

for

de rno cr acy

saga of

nextyear's handover

is

gradually

drawn out. Baffy Grindrod unfolds the

THD CORRESPOII|I!f,NT December 1996

Wise,

Jonatban Sbarpe andJím Príngle

Club's history in the first chapter, while well known columnists such as Stuart Wolfendale, Jon Swain, Stephen Vines and Karl Wilson pop up in the ensuing pages.

Thereis evenhumourfromDavid

Garcia.

Es.

House ín 1987

Beijing tuitl: Zbou Enlai in Marcl¡ 1973. Spot Clare Hollingutortb, Dick Hugbes, Derek Dauíes, Dona.ld

long anticipated f tub -.-bers have \-¡this work, put together and

ttt Gouenxment

tbe Kompong Seíla

Any serious book review should examine the content, the stfticture and

the layout of the work. In terms of content, Eyeuítness on Asia is beyond criticism as in most cases it is a factual record ofevents of - from the outbreak by war in 1939 to the fall of Marcos

-

the people that were present at the time: Clare Hollingworth and Sandra Bnrton respectively in these two examples.

There are inevitably minor errors but it would be chudish to mention themhere. As awhole the bookiswell produced and worth every cent of the $368 cover pnce ($377 if paying by credit card).

As you will see on these pag es of Th e Correspondent, where space dictates

Aboue: Table tennìs

but a few can be shown, tl¡re 614 photographs are of the very highest quality and illustrate the book to an

diþlomacy: Prof. Cbien

exceptional level Eyetuítness on Asiø, which runs to 248 pages, is a serious exercise and it would be unwise to think of this book as a 'coffee table'work. It is an effort well worth reading, or at the

lritb

Jobn Ricb, AP's Jobn Roderick, NBC's Jack Reynolcls and

veryleastpickingup fromtimeto time to

US table tennís

Wei Cbang

browse through.

The only problem Stefan Reisner and his co-publisher and the book's

Ntr[C's

þlayer Glenn Cotuan.

designer, Kai Reschke , will have is trying

to repeat the exercise in years to come.

Books which relate to people, inevitabll' become quickly dated. The next edition will also be eagerþ awaited.

MrPatten,inhisaddressatthebook's Rigbt: Cteanìng launch earlier this month, described uþ Møo beþre

EyetuitnessonAsiaasa'teasuretrove'.

I would not argue with that. JH s]fl

tbeworkers' Day parade December 1996 TÃE

C0RtrESPOII|IIENT

Tuscany Ttavels

by I(evin Sinclair

Clockuise: Constructíon oÍ tbe Tsing Mø bridge; Hong Kong in tbe Fífties;

Bamboo scaffoldíng; Notlríng cbanges: Hong Kong bauker, 25 years a'qo.

No, it's not Terry Duckbam, but a tuell-buílt

Breakfast ott

tLJe tet"ra.ce a.t tlJe

fa.flnlJouse...gre¿.t xuay to start tbe da!,

oufs writhe in torment.'Women are ravished in graphic detail by lewd demons. Men are stretched on

Q \-l

racks, disemboweled, decapitated, crucified. Scenes of outstanding agony and horror are etched on the walls in loving and specific particular.

'Welcome

Tuscany.

THE G0RRXSP0MIDNT December 1996

to the

cathedrals of

cbef ín a Florence restaura.nt.

Guidebooks will tell you that it was these ancient walls which

of Siena. You go to Tuscany, you bathe in art and culture.

provided young painters, frontline intellectual troopers of the Renaissance, with their opportunity to explore the borders of their art.

It lives on, triumphantly, in tiny village churches and the museums of Florence, as well as the laneside walls

A vacation in Tuscany can be affordable. As with all holidays, it pays huge dividends to make a few

advance. 'We left Hongkong on September 3; it was a

basic plans

in

couple of days after we wanted to go but savedthousands of dollars because

Decembe¡ 1996 TÃE

CORRDSPOlfIlEllT

it

are renting the huge ground floor, bigger than the average Hongkong flat and fullyfurnished down to wine and home-grown olive oil and of

avoided the peak school holiday

and vacation period.

On an Amex package, we flew to Rome and back, with two nights in a comfortable hotel off the ViaVeneto,

spaghetti.

The L-shaped apartment which used to be the cow barn has a course!

for $16,000. on no account attempt to drive in Rome; everyone behind the wheel of a car is certifiable and there is no parking near places like the Forum or the Coliseum. \ü/alk, grab buses or take the excellent underground where you can gape at trains hide ously adorne d with graffiti.

The ancient centre of Rome is pretty small and walkable. Romans are a friendly bunch, except for the riot trooper with a sub-machine gun who moved me on from the back door of the presidenfial palace; I thought it was a hotel. l7.e headed north by train, and it's

flagstone-floored bedroom-lounge, a bathroom, storeroom and a kitchen

where you could cook for a Roman legion.

All this surrounds a

teffacotta.

terrace shielded from the sun byvines with red beries. Outside the bedroom window is a big fig tree with ripe

fruit.

With strong coffee and fresh figs, sittinginthe morning sun looking out at the ramparts across the valley, you scan the maps and plan your day.

At $4,000 for a tull week, the spacious apartment is about par for the Tuscan coufse. Get on Internet and call Tuscan tourism and you can se€ scores of apartments for rent.

here that the advance planning comes in handy. On a previous trip, I had met a fellow called John Garner, an Englishman who has become the first

ern Tuscany. Over yonder

was

Montepulciano, where the brunello comes from. The other way, was Montalcino. Cortona was close by.

The whimsical city of Piensa - the heart of it was built by an ambitious pope as a metropolis to rival Rome, but abandoned by his successors

-

-

On the terrace, we would open

remember these statues are four times life size, all over.

Across this marvellous countryA young oliue oil seller at a uillage fete.

the DarkAges came this way, e ger to get what plunder remained in Rome.

The Tuscans themselves were not exactly Mr Nice. Feuds that lasted for centuries pitted Pisa against Florence , Siena against Arezzo.If there wasn't an invader to fight, theywould grab a

became totally fluent in ordering beer, wine, cheese, bread, spaghetti and pears. I could also ask if there was a lion in the house; for some reason totally inexplicable, this was a phrase

weeks of the year

bother askin g anltalian. It's like Hong Kong; go to the New Territories and

depending on popularity. Au-

query a Hakka farmer about the history of the area. You'll get a blank look.

Same in Tuscany.

Garner has lived in Italy for 20 years, speaks the language and is on

tumn is cheaper; the tourists have

neighbour.

largely trekked back north, the

habits?

Kong?"

nodding terms with the history of

crammedandthe weather is cooling and glorious.

We swiftly fellinto apattern.

I'd be up eady, outontheterrace with my trusty

Out to explore this violent past and peaceful present, we would head

Florence...

every castle, vineyard and cathedral.

He met us at Chiusi railway station, with a nifty Fiat which he had rented for us for $8,OOO for 15 days. Off we set with Garner, thankfully, driving.

Every single Italian I met was charming, helpful, smiling and polite - when on foot. Behind the wheel, they turn into rampaging motorised

versions of the Visigoths. It's customary for Italians to drive one metre from the car in front, so when you get pile-ups everyone is - and driving 100 km/h there are scores of vehicles involved.

for different

Does this explain the driving

in the Fiat. Tuscany has churches the

way Hong Kong has cooked food stalls. Each is different. This is where

Sony shortwave,

listening to the BBC SØodd Serv-

ice (Thank you,

Beeb!) and belt-

ing out a few yarns on the laptop. Kitwould

brick and wood farmhouse, set amid olive groves and grapes. He bottles his own oil and wine. The nearest neighbour is the fortified hill town of Rigomagno across a wooded valley, more than a kilometre away.

The air is clear and crisp. It is quiet. He lives on the top floor. 'W'e

couple offigs.

get up, pluck

a

\ùØe

map.

The location

was ideal. All around us were

the famed wine towns of south-

CORRESPOI|ItENT Decembe¡ 1996

Tbe tirneless face of Tuscany, uíneyards and touers.

And then, There are no words to do justice to the city on

atheist, the cathe-

as

soft

as

angel's tears. Siena,

Medici's knife in the back.

would study the

"Isabella,

who is this raging moronfromHong

grandma to serve you. Study the map again. !Øhere are we?'Who cares?

brunello

Montepulciano where a gorge ous gid in a wine shop took me through a tasting of a dozen reds, which made me appreciate the tortures inflicted on the ungodly on the walls of the cathedral next door.

By mid-afternoon and a long

@

house?"

the Arno. We had

where the truffles came with rabbit and the cheese was as sharp as a

So it's back home and start planning for next autumn. 'W'e've decided to go back to Southern Tuscany for a week, then to rerft a farmhouse over in neighbouring Umbria for a week and then to spend a third week in a farmhouse on the far side of the peninsula at Abrvzzi, where they make a purple wine that is perfect with a Florentine steak and would inspire Michaelangelo to catve a female companion for David.

in the guidebook.

"Hello, doyou have a lion in the

artists learned their trade. After viewing 637 Yirgins, 3,87 4 assorted saints and a few score crucifixions, it was time for a beer.

Choose the tiniest, sleepiest hamlet. Park. Wander. Sit andwait for Into one of the bigger towns for lunch. Piensa, where we discovered pasta with truffles, and whole roast suckling pig washed down with a

Lord, for the

John Garner and his partner, Carol, live in a 5Do-year old stone,

TIE

sword and go for the nearest

museums are not

a

Wonderful day followed maryellous day. I practised my Italian and

officially recognised foreign culinary tour guide. If you have a liking for historyand romance andfolklore, don't

soar

large crowds of lady tourists. It's obvious they've got something on

solid sleep.

side have tramped rugtag armies, or-

Pricesplungeand

David, Neptune and other very well-endowed naked figures attract

their minds apart from strict appreciation of art. Hey, ladies,

-

unpolluted skies. Then to bed for

reason, Signor.

a

magnificence it is!

- stands in a museum on the other side of town).

one of the bottles of the wine we had bought that day as we watched the sun go down over the valley. A slow dinner, watching the stars come out to play; there's a lot of stars in these

are all on the pinnacles of the highest possible hills. Why? For a damn good

-

square.

and what

and big juicy

steaks.

deep green of the ripening vines, rolls into the far distance. The towns

Rome enthusiastically put the Etruscans to the sword. Atilla, the Goths, Vandals and every brigand of

(The original carving

were my favourite

A rum bunch, the lties. The glorious patina of Tuscan landscape, the gold of wheat, the grey olives, the

ganised invaders and freebooters of every stfipe. The legions of an infant

statue of David

towards the farmhouse. On the way, we would stop at local shops. Small containers of olives, tuna, pickles and sausage. A loaf of that wonderful rockhard bread that does miracles for the

digestion. Jars of homemade pasta sauce mushrooms and tomatoes

rears out of the rolling plain atop a granite outcrop.

in the main

lunch, we would head slowly back

a horel ($1,ooo a

nighr) right in rhe

heart of town.

Even for a devout

and practising dral facade uplifts

the spirits.

The

museums hold the treasures of the Renaissance; it was here fiye centuries ago that European civilisation was revived.

It can be em-

barrassing, how-

ever, when the spouse focuses

her Minolta on the private parts ofthe copyofthe

Kìt Síncløír relaxes on tbe teffa.ce at sunset, ¡n come

from

a.

settíng tba.t could

tbe ca.nuas of a Renaissance ,naster.

December 1996 Tf,E

C0RRESPONItENT

and torment myself daily with

of my Vancouyer optometrists conferring aftet aî afternoon

my lips is barely intelligible to the

evaluation session concerning my problematicvision: "It's possible," the

uninitiated.

Only those with whom I have regular contact are able to 'decipher'

junior of the two opined, "his eyesight

unanswered cries of 'what ifs' or 'if only I'd' and thatwhich emits from

mywords. Theyhave learned to adapt

to my stroke-rearranged mouth

Okay, so I'm in awheelchaír, but, hey! at least I can speak ... (sort oÐ

by Tobias Ted Dunfee

muscles. If you did not hear me speak during my 42nd birthday fete at this very FCC in March of '95, suffice to know that I very much doubt that I'll everwin any elocution awards. It was

onths back

- before he

estimable Mr Peter Cordingley, asked

me if 1 might pen a 'longer piece', ('longer', I presume, than my'falling out of bed' tale, published in the June/July Corresþondent), on what

many perceive

to be my rather

steding, seemingly endless 'recovery' .

Since I have finally come to tefms with that which befell me back in the

of 1990, yes, I most certainly am interested. May I address this piece, then, to those in Hong Kong with whom I've had the pleasure early summet

of intermingling, those who know only of myplight, andto Ms Cbristinø Yiu siu-ling who remains dear to my heart lo these many years.

Contrary to what those who know

me well must think, I've actually become unconscionably serene these

days, having coiled my embattled psyche into an impenetrable ball and simply accepted my lot.

Oh sure, I require a wheelchair to alternatively meander or recklessly

afternoon, my

left eye saw

nought but a milky white residue

.

My

upon the marked similarities between mine and my pal, (and yours), Kevin

better, but not

-

!ühyfore my grinning mug, then?

'Síell, for starters, I've finallycome to accept that which I've become,

well before my dotage. It has been a battle to be sure, and one hard won, but only recently was I able to shed the anger, the untoward hostility, and take stock of my general ill and offputting demeanour.

I know not precisely when or why, but my guess is that after over six expletive-deletedyears of blaming the wodd for all my ills, the time was indeed nigh to wipe the eyer-pr€sent

scowl from my face

.

I

had rcalized at long last that e\¡ery utterance 1 expel is in itself, a triumph. Readers familiat with my saga will know that having survived six weeks in Bangkok's Samitivej

Hospital's Intensive Care Unit attached to all manner of medical

paraphernalia, I was given little hope of ever becoming functional again. viral The severity of my illness

-

encephalitis compounded by an infarction and a stroke was such that the prognosis posited that I'd never again speak, I'd never againwalk, my

at least ltís way. Then I thought that perhaps I could arrange to

my second, the last, left-eye haemorrhage just prior to that

right eye was

they're

The

to the point whereby I coulddecipher a printed page.

Chastened

upon hearing the singulady most depressing me dical newsofmylife, I was moved to

consider the heretofore unimaginable: would I take my own life?

' accidentally' end my misery by simply hoisting myself out of mywheelchair, plopping onto my third-fl oor hospital room's window-view desk, smashing my way outside with my valuable 'dressing stick', (I kneut lhe tool had

Could I ? A pox on myself for inadvertently overhearing the doctor's words not meant f,or my ears.

Back in my lodgings at G.F. Strong

Rehab Centre, my chin cupped morosely in my wrought hands, unable to recognize a soul in the burning activity warren around me, I

a plupose, because I hadn't yet

pondered a life unable to walk, barely able to speak, and now never to be able to see well enough to read Dr Seuss to my boys, Shakespeare, or Playboy to myself.

My life had been pretty much miserable and joyless now for about 20 months. The doctor's words served

to extinguish my faint glimmer of hope . I sobbed when I thought of my

career around and about, I have not

mind would be 'elsewhere' for

boys. Of the strange tragedy their

seen my lady, Siriporn Singhanan Dunfee, the mother of my two sons, Sasha, now in grade two, and Satori,

evermore, and I'ct likely remain in institutions untilmymakerandlmeet.

In otherwords, I was to 'pine-for-thefjords' until the end of my wodd..

It is fair to conclude that things looked uniformly bleak for me. For then, and for the longest while, my

young lives had become through no fault of their own.

grade one, since that terrible, terrible

month of Mayin 1990 andl am able to see myboys only'occasionally'. They have lives of their ownin Canada, you know, and are being ably raised by mysister, Pat, andherhusband, Enrico (Ric) Tesan, (I refer to the pair as 'St, Patric'), in a Vanconver suburb other than the one in which I willfully reside THD CORRDSP0IUIXNT December 1996

never improve.

developing l7-year-old mind might produce in defending the suicide of his then role model, 'Papa' Hemingway. !íould I do same? Could. I? Nah, I initially decided, too messy,

haemorrhages took their toll." After

Saul Lockhart, I believe, who opined

Sinclair's voices. I concur similar, bt different.

sought 'greener pastures' Corresþondent editor emeritus, the

will

l like to think of it as eloquent, yet painfully adolescent verbiage of what a

'progress' resembled that of a tortoise.

The faint 'glow at the end of the

proverbial tunnel' was further darkened one afternoonin eafly'92, when I accidentally overheard a pair

Until that fate-laden

jungle

assignment, I'd been a 'winner' in life.

Howwas I to possibly defeat this most

recent, incomprehensible and veritably unbelievable combination ofrnisfortune?

I asked myself if indeed It could be overcome? My answerwas an emphatic 'NO'. My thoughts singled out the essay I had written and published during my senior high school year in '71.

mastered dressing with it), and thence to waving afond farewell to this wodd.

Coining aword to describe my feelings on the tragedy that my life had become during my descent, "IRRIDICULOUS,'

I would shout before my

with the pavement.

Alas, no go. I was physically unable to perform such a demanding stunt. If I bad been able, I likely would have, but since I was not, I continued to feel the damnable thumpety-thump within my chest. I wished my heart would simply cease to beat. I even asked 'up there' to help me die, butto no avail. Ibreathed deeply, pondering my imponderable inner turmo il y et again. " Is t lt i s hell? " I asked. Actually, I had established all manner of ludicrous scenarios for my

final act in those baleful, painfully darkdays of depression. Butno matter how much I debated from one side of

my now-bald orb to the other, I concluded that I' m just not the suicide

December 1996 TÃE

CORf,XSPOI{DHIT

type. Ill-tempe¡ed and irascible, I may be. But suicidal? I guess not. Besides, what if my attempt faile d? What rhen?

I'll face facts: I'm simply not all that keen on incurring pain; my twodecades of rugby playing norwithstanding. I do not believe that I'm a masochist.

Four, maybe four-and-a-half years

later, aftet two laser surgeries plus darly readingof least ten pages of back-

issue after back-issue of library large-

prtrÍ Reader's Digests to retrain my eyes to - glory, glory! read, I very nearþ unintentionally -met he/she/it or whomsoever responsible for my existence. I had 'seryed' my 1,O79

Vancouver suburb

'earned' a kind of a living with a monthly subsistence wage as the recipient of a goyernment disabilitypension. It allowed me to shop for food and such little 'such'. More - Ivery importantþ, lcad escaped institutions.Ihadtime to commiserate all by my lonesome.

One'96 summer Sunday morning,

I

decided

and had become relatively content

to exercise my freedom

privileges by treating myself to a ,hot tub'. I motored my trusty wheelchair

the mile or so to the Community Centre to which I belonged.

I

days in four hospitals in two countries,

of Richmond. A

better venue for the wheelchair-bound has not yet been inyented. I also

motored up to the facility at

about 9:00 a.m. 'SouthArm' was open, but only just. The gym was empry, as was the aerobics centre, the outdoor pool, the whirþool, the sauna, and

with my life, having fortuitously landed a one-bedroom, government-funded, wheelchair-modifie d apartment in the

the rest. An attendant raised

his eyebrows at me, I raised mine back,

down into the pool, (an acquired skill

I'd learned on my previous visits), I neyertheless let out an exhilarated

pointing in the direction of the hot pool. He nodded and idly sauntered to the health club portion of the Community Centre. He twisted on the whiilpool jets for me. I had been there five or six times in the recent

whoop of joy when my toes touched the tumultuous water.

I sighed with joy then, bur it wasn't until I tried to manouevre my

bulþ, 235-pound,handicapped frame around one of the railings to enable

past, and if anything the jets had always been a tad too tame for my liking. I demand a'massage' from my hot-tub forays. Perhaps this was my mistake? I'll forever assume so.

As always, negotiating myself out of my 'chair and into the pool was a simple yet laborious affair. Stepping into the pulsating hot water, and taking notice of the liquid uproar into which I was about to dip, I figured 'it's probably not

as

fierce

as

it looks'

.

How wrong I was. It was u)orse.

Using the twin hand-railings to step

me to sit along the tertazzo tiles and

commence to relax, fhat

I

rcalized

the whirlpool had become

a

su.tirlþool.

Iwas apparentlyreliving a movie I had seen as a child,Journey to tlre Centre of tbe Eørtb. I was caught up in the jets' power and swooshed

taken for a - involuntarily A nano-second or two

away

lcoping to grab hold of the edge. The thought hit me that this could be my last official act on this earth; I silently mouthed. "Good luck, big fella."

As it has done so many times

before, 'ad,renalin', (a hnman secfetion) empowered me to 'feach out, touch and hold'. I could feel the ledge and cuded my right fingers around, painfully so. My hand seemed

about to implode .

Atlast, Iwas stable oîthreteffazzo tiles. My terror had been but a minute , but still my entire being trembled.

Assuage d, yes, but I wasn't 'out of thewoods' justyet. The jets continued to rage. I sought a le ss-turbulent spot,

terrifying ride.

into my 'journey', I thought about simply allowing the jets to 'have their way with me' and dip my head into the angry water. I'd struggle, to be sure, but hey, I'm an excellent swimmer. It won't take nte long to

necessary

traction.

I hadn't any choice but to allow the jets to take me as they saw fit. I wondered if the well-polished railings

øll my bodily functions had been released. STas my waste to be my legacy?

It was then that I

realized how much I actually ualuedhfe, even in my

state.

I

resolved then not

to allow

those jets to take any more latitudes

withmyperson. I couldn't, I shouldn't, I

u,touldn't, even think of the turbulent,

pounding surf around me I took a deep breath water TnE c0RRXSP0lftlEI{T December 1996

-

.

- air

not

and flailed out again, wishing,

one hand coiled until I ascertained the safest spot - the least turbulent spot in the pool.

Here I realised once again that I was in some kind of a serious pickle.

Not a soul in sight, nor even within earshot. I thought ifperhaps I could gain somebody's attention - the attendant who started this terror for me?

- he/they could come into the whidpool/sauna enclosure and at the very least'tone down' the turbulence of the jets.

I tried an experimental "Help", but the effort almost threw me back Se

curing myself

would allow, I

Nary a soul eventuated. Seven or eightminutes of struggle in the turmoil had gone unnotic€d, and I was wondering how I'd appear as a prune?

I summoned the strength for one last, one final, "IøOULD SOMEBODY HEL. . . "when the jets suddenlyceased. The South Arm attendant, bless his soul, must have started the whirþool bath on a lO-minute timer. The timer had expired. By good fortune, I hadn't.

I allowed the water to reduce itself to a dull roar, glanced about the now becalmed pool to inspect the

yearned lor a pair of sneakers with

¡:

I allowed the jets to pummel me around the pool with the fingers on

tried a slightly louder "Help" then "Please help".

disabled.

I reminded myself to remain calm.

After all, I was embroiled in a fight for my life, miserable though it may be. I

were the last thing I'd ever see.

A further nano-second or t.wo later, as I was about to fam feet-first into the wall of the circular pool. I frantically reached out to grab the edge of the pool top to pull myself out of the raging turmoil that used to be a quiet hot tub. I failed. I was scared, uh. . . sltitless.

Terror engulfed me, rampaged through my eyery pore My musculature vanished. For all I knew,

balance.

out into the jet stream. as best the torrents

regain my equilibrium. I had momentarily forgotten that I'm

which to provide the

My life did not flash before my eyes, but, oh my word, the thoughts that arise when one's life hangs in the

and using my hand as a hook, coiled

and throbbing with the dull ache of survival, I tentatively allowed the jets to power me from jet to jet. After all

the previous þseudo-tlrought of suicide, was I to now find out what it's like to die? Involuntarily?

Certainly, I thought, there is no

good way to die, but

I

am pretty

ceftain some ways are less unpleasant than others. To die by simply taking a deep breath one deep breath of

water would- definitely not be- my choice. Dammit, Ithought, lwas once good enough to rank number ten in all the nation among Canada's 8-10 year-old swimmers, and hadn't I captained my high-school swimming

extent of my 'waste', saw nothing, wiped my brow with an exuberant "boorøy, y'tooray", then giddy with excitement hopped smiling from terrazzo tile to terrazzo tile, thanking an unseen hand for 'coming to my rescue', Once again, rather excitedly this time, I grabbed hold the railings and

was up and back into my chair in what I presume would be an Olympic record time if there exists a record for 'Skedaddling the Hell up and our of

a

Hot Pool'.

Tobiøs Ted Dunfee acquired ø mystery uirus utbile on øssignment for Asia Magazine ín tbe Golden Triøngle inMøy 1990. BetueenMøy and Deceruber tbøt year, be lost 122lbs as well as muclt of bis preìllness lnetnory.

@

team?

December

I

Election farce A Ont Fool's Day usually lasts unril ,( \mid-day on the first of ApriJ. In

I

Britain, newspapers see this as an oppoftunity for running spoof stories. In

office of one of Britain's political parties while a real election was nnderway.

The problem we had as election campalgnerswas twofold. First, we did not know all the electorate. In Britain

out a glimmer of journalistic humour on the horizon. This is something of

a

disappointment.

That disappointment ended a few weeks ago when I started reading stories about something called the 'Chief

theyhave the strange practice of allow-

we did not know the result in advance. ..

careflilly checked my diary and

strongly

-arr objecti\ze

ot>serwer rnigfit laot rega-rd rn)z Sr-rp edranvk a.s a, Rolls-R.o¡rce, tl'-rrat sa-n1e ol>sen er rnigtrt conclude the Ckrief E><ecutirze Election szas nottring of the kiaad

can confirm that al7 this did not begin on April 1 , nor did it simply end at miclday. It went on and on, and then on some more. The joke started to wear very thin indeed.

At particular moments it sprung to life and was covered in such a straight-

I

with them all. Indeed I

ing more than 400 people to vote which tends to complicate matters. Seconcl and you may find this hard to believe

LrecutiveElection'. Onsome dayswhole pages were devoted to this phantom election; eamest editorials appeared commenting on the event andtelevision news programmes developed special backdrops to signify'election' stories.

forward manner that

am familiar

once worked in the headquarters press

Hong Kong, April 1 often passes with-

I

Training cyber surfers at the FCC

ot

by Stephen Vines

sus-

pected that the Hong Kong media had become affected by that rare occurrence known as irony. For example, one of the alleged candidates in this

Drawing on this experience I can confidentþ say that both of these problems were profound and I can therefore quite understand why the Chi nese govefnment decided itwould be better to dispense with the great Llnwashed as electors and decide the result in advance.

The new system is more predictable, efficient and reliable. But, can it

alleged election was a chap with a knighthood. Ever since Her Majesty the Queen gave him this honour, he has been quite happy to be known as Sir Ti Liang Yang.

Suddenly, about a few days after the so-called election camp aignbegan, this knight ofthe realm decided his real

be said to be an election? Psephologists

will no doubt argue about this for years to come. My view is that everyone is

name was plain old Mryang.

Within minutes the media stopped callinghim byhis propertitle and startecl using the new honorific. I should like it

pefectly entitled ro call an¡hing they own what they like.

I, for example, callmy 4OOcc Honda Superhawk motorcycle, a Rolls-Royce car. I have no problem with this, nor does the aforementioned motorcycle which responds well to the worcls ,go Rolls'. \ù7hat goes for the Honda must

to be known that although for many years I have been known as Mr Vines (coincidentally the same name as my father), I shall henceforth be called Sir Stephen, or, to both my friends, Sir Steve. This has the added adyantage of avoiding confusion with either my father or my uncle.

Meanwhile, back at the election front, I noticed the use of the words ' campaign','voting' and'electionrace,.

surely go for the owners of the Selection Committee, which organised the alleged election.

However, in the same way that it is just possible that an objective observer

might not regard my Superhawk as a Rolls-Royce, that same obserwer might

conclude the Chief Execlrtive Election was nothing of the kind.

Fortunately, the Hong Kong meclia has shown a generosity of spirit in this matter. It has allowed the owners to get

byTerryDuckham

away with a descrþtion which frankly would not stand up to much examination.

I have asked the Consumer Council what they make of all this becarne if consumers of the media are not consumers, I would like to knowwhat they

are. Generally accustomed to dealing

with

shark-hfested electrical shops, dodgy purveyors of dubious medicines

and the like, the testing section of the Council was baffled by this enquiry.

'Seek truth from facts,, I urged, as comrade Mao Zedong once instmcted us.

'But where can we get the facts?, they moaned. They had a point. Facts arc hard to come by and as comracle Qian Qichen has told us, they must not be confused with opinions.

So, what to do? I pondered long and harcl before remembering that comrade Qian thoroughly approves of the facts contain ed kr Tb e Pe ople's Daíly. I rushed out to buy a clutch of back copies of the overseas edition. Careful

reading demonstrated that

it

argot !Øilliams, under the auspices of Freeclom Forum International, recently invited a number of FCC members to

was in-

deed afact that the events under discussion constituted an election.

'If that is so,' said the Consumer Council experts, 'there are no grounds for complaints about shoddy work by the Hong Kong media.'

Shamefacedly, I admitted my effor in making the report. Now I know that the Hong Kong media gets its facts fromTbe Peoþle's Daiþ, eveq¡rhing is much clearer.

@ Views expressed in 'Purely Personal' are those of the author. The board and publications committee of the FCC do not necessarill'agree.

a

series

of

seminars on the mysteries of the Internet and how to unravel them.

Margot is a staff writer for the Wasbington Posl and writes a weekly

I ;

'

column called Networkings, all about how to make effective use of the Internet and intelesting places to visit there. A little like Gareth powell,s Netlife column in Sundal'' 51¡¿ ng Kong Life magazine, with a lot more hard

information.

Space was

limited and those

sites to visit. Margot also distinguishecl

between basic \ùØ!l!T surfing tips and basic high tech pirfalls for beginners

in a down-to-earth conversational manner spiced with anecdotes.

To quote from one of Margot,,s

Networkings columns on new technology;

"It's summe r akeady. Out at the beach, a few wetsuit-clad surfers are way, wa)¡ out there in the watef, grabbing the next big wave. Ordinary folks sit in the sancl or duck and splash close to shore. Butafew swim wayout there, and sometimes get into trouble.

members

lucþ enough to attend had a choice of two subjects "How

It's pretty much like that on the Internet these days too. Much of the exciting new stuff that's being

Journalists Can Make Best Use of the

cleveloped is forpeople on the soffware

Internet" or "How to Create

and

Improve Your Web Page ". Both proved

to be highly informative and straight to the point, with a useful bias to the needs of those of us in the information getting and disseminating business.

The seminar on making better use

of the Internet was packed flill of useful information and addresses of

eqtrivalent of the sna.zzy boards.

Ordinary folks who rry ro sample it risk getting wiped out."

On Web page construction she told us; " There really isn't much scary

about creating a Woild rù7ide \Veb page. Here's what you neecl: Some ASCII text . A few brackets ( these things:< > ) to make hypertext mark

up language (HMTL) commands. And to gllssy things Lrp, an image or two.

Pretty simple."

It might sound simple to Margot, but to most of us who grew up in the pre - computer generation it still sounds

pretty scary. Its like you have to do a special language course before you can do the training seminar, but Margot was pfetty gentle with us and put up with dllmb questions like, "\ù7hat is an ASCII?". She took the group through the basics, step by step from creating a basic web page with headlines and

text, to aclding images and copying links to other'W-WrùØ web pages of interest and pasting them to your own web page.

It was all very useful ancl in a world and

informative stuff

profession hurtling at warp speed into to the cyberwodd of the 21st Century.

But it was a learning experience I, for one, will need to repeat many times overbefore I evenlooklike coming up to speed, let alone warp speed. rü(/hen are yoLl coming back Margot?

THE CORRf,SPONIIf,NT December 1996

Decernber 19

@

simply a translated digest of the Russian

paper, it gradually developed its own

identity, and nowadays some 80% of the Vlad News is generated by Syedain,

her Russian deputy editor, Nonna Chernyakova, and reporter Karen Ogden. Plans are in hand to goweekly sometime in1997,andad sales - an innovation triggered by Syedain when she took over in September 1995

News Russian-style, 007 arrd

Vladivostok Hasbi Syedaín

-

Ed

in

CLtief

by Edward Peters

I t tne age of 12, incarcerated at L \an all-boy boarding school in Surrey, I read my first James Bond You Only Liue Tutìce inwhich 007 destroyed his arch-enemy Blofeld by

but in dealings with the former

blowing up his castle in northern Japan, severely injuring himself in the

main daily, which also runs the only

USSR,

if the question is "why?", the answer is so often "just because".

My generous unknown host turned

out to be The Wadiuosfock, the city's

"We coyer stories that are much bigger than our paper would suggest.

It's a little local paper with a small circulation but we cover important business stories, political stories, national news and because of the

English-language paper, called Wadiuostock Netus, an eight page, 2,5O0-circulation, bi-monthly free-

audience, do quite exciting stories which you wouldn't get to do on a

on his futon. Something in all this must have jogged Bond's memory because

sheet that veers somewhere between local rag and hard-hitting tabloid.

Editor-in-chief of the Mad News is former Fleet Street freelancer Hashi Syedain, who holds down what many

he looked over the sea towards

similar paper back home ."

As an example, the mid-Noyember issue splashed with a "sea-of-blood" grenade attack by a drug addict in a local disco, ran an in-depth feature on

wouldregard

process. An amnesiac Bond was rescued by a naked pead diver, one Kissy Suzuki, who compounded her resusci-

tation efforts by putting love potions in his food and leaving a 'pillow book'

Vladivostock, decided it was concerned with his past, and set off there at once.

The book's ending left my

adolescent mind with two thoughts.

Bond must definitely be off his trolley to leave somebodywho combined sex and motorbikes, and there must be

something pretty damn interesting about Yladivostock. Japan headed my list of must-sees at the time, but \4ad was a close number two.

A quarter century later, I applied for a visa at the Russian Consulate, only to be told I hadn't a hope in hell unless I had a letter of inyitation. How did I get that? Oh, we can apply for you. rù(/hy not just give me the sodding visa straightaway, I could have asked,

intemàtional slant and the intemational

aplum assignment. No

a stalled multi-million dollar

set budget, no set editorial agenda, publishers who can't actually read English, no competition, and - tn a city that's largely run by five separate

supermarket project, and profiled

as

Mafia gangs

-

enough political

mayhem, lurid killings and shady goingson to fill the paper several times over.

Now for the bad news. Communi-

cations are lousy, power cuts can wreak havoc with production schedules, nobodywants to do an interview oYer the phone, and the handful of staff have to runround doing the distribution themselves.

"Sometimes you do want to bash your head against the wall," admits Syedain, "but it is incredible fun and there's a gteat sense of achievement getting a paper out.

THD CoRRDSPOITI¡IEIII December 1996

are growing.

-

"For the first time ever we're breaking even, andwe are also on the

.

So

the Wad Neuts soldiers on,

phone and oîefax,one copyeditor Heidi Brown and two translators.

"The language is a problem, and

so is talking to people orrer the 'phone. It could be something very straight-forward like getting statistics from a goyernment department, but they stillwantyoll to go there in person. It's very time consuming."

Wodd !íide'W'eb, getting about 16,000

Another communications

hits a month," says Syedain. "!(/e got a US aid grant for the web server andlease line, whichis marvellous because people read us all over the wodd, as there is very little information avatlable about the areain English."

Syedain is also fortunate in that

barrier is the Wad Netus'layott

she has a free hand, editorially, to decide what goes in the paper. " We are probablythe free-estpaper here, as most others tow a particular

political line. Our bosses don't read English, don't pay much attention to us andthatmeans we candowhatever we like."

The finance side is another mafter.

Syedainhas no defined budget, andno

rigid targets either.

"It's all terribly Russian - if we want something we ask them. And if they think it's reasonable they grant it.

It appears to bear no relation to how much the paper is making, or if we're doing well or badly. tù(/orking for a Russian company with Russian bosses is a real experience."

with

four "ancient, steam-driven" PCs using PageMaker, frequent power cuts, one

man. "He can't read or speak English, so if a headline busts or a story's one line too long every little thing has to come back to us. It makes the production process very cumbersome."

In a city that was off-limits

to outsiders for years and which

¡

is

barely getting used to a new system of business, gathering infomation is also

an absorbing process. "You have to keep on going, build up your contacts, although sometimes we don't get to the bottom of things and just have to say we couldn't find out any mofe.

"There are alot ofbusiness stories, and there are local problems like the

power cuts

we've been trying to

find out exactly why they are

happening. And we have covered a number of elections. During the presidential election, for a short while Vladivostock was the centre of the wodd, as the first results came ollt

here and we all try to do a bit of freelance so we were filing for Reuters, AP or the BBC." Freelance is an important outlet for the expatriate staff who arc paid Russian salaries, although these do include housing allowance.

"Heidi and Karen are both on local terms, although it's a great opportunity

for young reporters and I think it's going to prove a very good career move for them."

A portrait of life in Vladivostock is incomplete without mentioning the Mafia, whose gangs oversee much of the business dealings in the city.

"'We haven't done a great deal on them to be honest it's the kind of

-

thing where you want to know your teffitory very well before you venture into it.

"The Mafia's only really on one

enyironmental specialists trying to save

the Far East's endangered Amur leopard. Nibs included an acting governor's suicide, a threatened state of emergency - and a lament from Madivostock prostitutes that visiting Italian sailors were "cheap". Plus

level, but if you are involved in trading or any cash-related business you will comeup against them. It's like Chicago in the 1930s inaway," Incidentally, James Bond was, not surprisingly, intercepted by the KGB in Vladivostock, brainwashed, and sent to Londonwhere he tried to assassinate his boss. I flewback to Hong Kong and

with a rather more homely feel -

-

there was a welcome for new arrivals Nick Rees and Debbie Hutton, details of shows at the Primorye Puppet Theatre, and the regular "S7e Love It Really" column on the arrival ofwinter.

straight into an argument $/ith

The paper started just o\¡er three

Accounts o]¡ef expenses. I know just how 007 felt.

IheYladivostock News' uebsite is 6tt : bttp ://ulad. tribnet. com

years ãgo, when publishers Vladivostock Novosti decided that

as

the city was opening up it needed some English language media. Initially

Hasbí Syed.aín and copy edìtor Heidí Broun on deadline dalt alter tlre comþuter crasl¡ed!

@ December 1996 THD

GORRf,SP0IIItEIIT

IMMF course for Indochines e i ou rrrraltsts from Peter Eng in Bangkok

,.ï',ï,"^:'**oo*I "--"''Ì; issues. It was taught in classroom sessions in Bangkok with field trips to the southern Thai coast.

The IMMF was founded in 199 I b1,

British photo-journalist Tim Page, to commemorate the more than 3 50 jour-

nalists from all countries killed in Indochina. 'With start-up money proFielrl triÙ tuíth If,IMF

vicled by the Asia Foundation, a nonprofit group was set up in Thailand,

hanks to the Indochina Media Memorial Foundation, 18 southeast Asian journalists are now better equipped to cover one of the most

g teway to Indochina.

important issues of the region's

effect of - the on the rapid industrialisation developing countries environment.

The IMMF conclucted anintensive three-week cotrse forprint and broad-

cast meclia journalists from Vietnam, Camboclia, Laos, Thailand and Burma.

The course, which ended on October 23, focused on marine and coastal

Its first major training course, in basic journalism, was conducted in May,1994. Aside from a project director, the IMMF is mostly run by western journalists based in Bangkok.

The environment course marked the first time a Burmese had attended an IMMF course. That not only met a great need to improve journalism in Burma, but also ftirthered the IMMF's goal of promoting understanding ancl co-operation among journalists of different countries.

In the classroom, the students re-

viewed basic journalism skills and learned the key scientific and other concepts involved in environmental reporting. During their 10-da1' field trip, they visited village fishing com-

The IMMF is currently seeking fund-

ing for.cotrrses planned lor 1997, on photo- and radio-journalism. sff

you sÍgn

 comptete, searchable ftarcrrive of the American Society of Journalists and Authors Contracts' Watch Ís available on the World l9id.e l{eb. Find. it - with other

valuable infornation and. tips on freelance contracts, electronic rights and copyright - at It

tl-p'./ / w ww. a s ja. or grlcwpa

g e.

THE C0RRISPONDENT December 1996

htur

book is refreshingly -freethe of the hectoring tone a term like 'feminist history", or come to that any other category of self-consciously

(

TJ I I rn.l imagination',

istory rs rhe marriage or racrs

sl-ates Susanna Hoe baldly. That is, to say the

least, a contentious definition of the

historian's function, but Cbinese otþrints (Roundhouse Publications HK$155) offers plenty of both those

Fo

talks, lectures and articles researched,

written and previously given by

Ms

One of the newest and most convenient

Hoe, or published in outlets including

hotels in the centre of Hong Kong, the Bishop Lei lnternational House, located on Robinson Road (close to the escalator) is otfering Cl u b mem bers a c0rporate d iscou nt of 35 per cent off the published room rates.

the late and generally unlamentecl

Members should book directly with the hotel: tel. 2868 0828 fax. 2869 9829

1997 T-Shirts: 20Vo FCC discount!

FRONT OF T.SHIRTI

ONLY HK$80!

HONG KONG 30 JUNE I 997

1007o white cotton. 100olo Fun. XXL, XL, L or M. Call Jon Resnick at 2836 0335 ol email joninhk@asiaonline.net.

Winclout andthe Liuerpool Daily Post and Eclco, with generous chunks of

new material specially written for it.

Given this piecemeal method of genesis the end result is remarkably

coherent.

women, many of whom were fascinating characters and clearly deserved the author's attention and

all-consuming passion for her subject.

The otherside ofthe coin ofcourse

abundant enthusiasm. Philanthropist Clara Ho Tung, China's Minister for Jlrstice 1949-1959 Shi Liang, and American radical journalist and activist Agnes Smedley spring immediatel)' to mind.

is that, while the book is long on

normally imply.

The book is concerned with the lives of arouncl40 Chinese and'W'estern

The author's fascination with Clara Elliot, wife of Captain Chades Elliot,

perpetuity, seems to me more eccentric. Turning a

word 'diligent' is far too mild

not make them into

of the supporting cast does ke1'

and for anybodywith an interest in the history of China, Hong Kong and Macau it makes fascinating reading.

Ms Hoe calls herself afeminist, but except to some extent in the chapter

players.

The chapters on Clara do however have the merit

a

principal intention - of shedding some light on Charles Elliot, a more interesting figure about whom we know too little, and I confidently expect

'Different Wavelengths'

comparison of two accounts of the same journey across China undertaken

]n 1935 by two adventure úaveller/ writers, one female, ancl one male to whom

she seems to have taken a dislike

it when she is behg fanciful, bLlt one sometimes wonders if a little more distance from her sr.rbjects might pr.rt them into a more first to admit

It's a small cavil. This is a wellwritten and highly readable book and )'ou don't have to be a female or a feminist to enjolz i¡.

E35

obtained Hong Kong's cession in what he fondlf imagined at the time to be

spotlight on to members

imaginative engagement, it is shoft on objective detachment. Ms Hoe is the

balanced perspective.

the British plenipotentiary who

Cbinese Footþrints is the fruit of several years' research for which the a term,

to be berated f'or mentioning this next time we meet.

As interesting in manyways as the women she has written about is the persona of the historian herself which

is strongly present in the book. She wlites almost as much about the process of her research as abont the results of it, and a fascinating portrait enrerges of a serious histolian with an

slanted historical interpretation, would

ingredients.

This book combines a number of

NEWS

Ctreck before

Reviewed by Robin Lynam

The IMMF operates on a bare-

tion and AusAID.

Clcùnese

by Susantra Hoe

they were introdnced to a computer program which analyses problems of coastal and marine management. bones budget and depends on sponsors for each of its courses. Main funding for the environmental course came from Danida, Denmark's govemment aid agency. Other ftincling came from Freedom Forum, The Reuter Founda-

ii

tootprínts

munities, atrawlingfleet, shrimp farms and projects to rehabilitate the mangroYes that such farms destroy.

At a university research institute,

,A -'

iJ:'g i:

this was - although not Ms Hoe's clearly

Susanna Hoe

uitb Duantnu Hongliculg, Beiiing, 1995

December 1996 TllE

CoRRXSPoNIIENT

I I

On the wall Photographs by Stephen Shaver p I

nrrograpirer stephen shaver coveredtheRennie,sMillprotest

when the government took the decision to evict residents from the old Taiwanese enclave.

Shaver was also present during

the Daiol-u Islands incident which resulted in the death of protest organiser and leader, David Chan.

Stephen Shaver's photographs from these two disparate but none the Iess tragic events are currently on display in the Main Bar of the Club.

@ Photographs reproduced by

Colorsix Clocktuße: Dauíd. Cban eefi) figbxþr lris tfe; Ihe deatb ofþrotester Døaid Clsan íronicalþ brouglrt Tl¡ß Rennìe's Mill res¡dent's E)es say it all; Police u.titbd.reut to calnx emotions rmdþreuent A þrotester and resídent of Renníe,s MíU.

AJapanese

journarßt

Lùbo

¿,

ca.hn to ttre rtßþuted

ßktn^;

Wury;

ß løuncL¡ed ínto ríot þolice;

Dauíd cban suspected of being a

bettueen þarameclics and the protest sbiþ's cetþtaín

sp1t, acted as ri,ìson in an efort to scrue ch6tn

il THE CORRXSP0N|IENI December 1996

FCC takes second place

in Biangkok tournament

Døuid Gilltooþ off tlre tee

Renewal of memberships lor 1997 Subscrþtions lor 1997 will be HK$500 which I think compares favourably with other societies. 'We

I

plan to have at least 10 'local' games in 1997 of which four will be at Kau Sai Chau and the balance at a variety of other courses in Hong Kong, Macau and China. There will also hopefully

Murray Burton drinks froru tlre BOC cuþ uLticL¡ he won he FCC Golf Society came second

our 5th consecutive second place) was

overall in the annual golf

that they were better players than us.

tournament played over three days in Thailandin November. Firstplacewent to the other competitor, the Crown Royal Golfing Society of Thailand. The

However, that did not stop them resorting to some dirty tactics. A lot of trouble was caused by the traditional 'Thai' meal that was hosted for us on the first evening, a steak and kidney pie dinner with lashings of gral,y. The Thai chef could hardly be blamed for

format ofthe eventwas ateam scramble on day one (played at NaturalParkHill), an individual Stableford (played at Siam Country Club) on the second day, and a

two man better-ball (played

at Noble

Place) on the final day.

Points were accumulated during the tournament and our second place

spot was never seriously threatened

not knowing that this is traditionally a dish served at least warm and that it is quite common in Europe for the pastry to be cooked as well.

Some of the bushes on the 5th hole at Natural Park should soon be

by the competition. As always, the

sprouting luxuriant growths due to

organisation was seamless (courtesy of Mike Howard andNiftyNicholson) and the Cadsberg and jokes flowed in

Murray Burton's urgent contribution of nutrients the next day. However, this slight setback did not stop Murray from winning the individual Bangkok Overseas Challenge trophy with a marvellous 39 points.

traditional torrents. The general conclusion at the post mortem as to why gold eluded us yet again ( it was

be the normal oYerseas tours plus a trip to Guam that is being planned for eady in the new year.

If any existing members have changed their address or contact details please let me know if you haven't

-

aheady received a fax regarding membership renewal and the issue of new cards for 1997 then it means that the details I have foryou are not coffect.

New members of any ability are most welcome.

By the time you read this we will have made our first visit to the public course at Kau Sai Chau. There is another game scheduled for Tuesday, lanuary 21, agatn atKau Sai Chau, only this time on the daunting North course. Getyour entries in now. It should be a gteat day.

Julian Walsh Secretary FCC

GS

December 1996 lÃ0, GoRRXSPoillllNT

E@

1

FCC

book launch pafiy

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong

Eyewitness on As¡q Up to i 997 ond Beyond 240 x 300mm, 224 poges (full colour ond duotone) Hordcover (linen bound) 'l

997 is on unique onthology of reportoge ond insight, on qlmonoc of wor ond remembronce, but olso o look qt times to come, os well qs o reference book for those who qre interested in iournolism ond the mediq of Hong Kong. lt will be volued os on essentiol tool for everyone reporting on the historic events thqt will chonge Hong Kong ond The FCC Book

Chino.

Distinguished writers debote the future of our profession, os well qs different ospects of Chino qnd Asiqn politics. The best photogrophers offer their imoges of Asiq.

Eyewitness on Asio will be q voluoble gift for everyone who is interested in next yeor's chonges.

The book deols with oll ospects of the FCC, the enterTqining ond the serious ones; storting with Chungking, the move to Shonghoi qnd then to Hong Kong; stories, onecdotes, essoys ond clippings, oll interwoven with the history of modern Chino ond the rise qnd success of Hong Kong. A foscinoting reod, o feqst for the eyes is promised.

The book will be ovoiloble only through the FCC. The price per copy is HKD 3ó8.00.

S

È

5UBãERIEE NOW TO RE5ERVE YOUR OWN PIEEE OF H',TORY ANI' SAVE

s Õ

PO%O 77)e

Þr'od.uct¡on

tean

]-/_ _ MaiI gour order now Faxio + 852-2868 4092 Pleose chorge the omount

to The Foreign Correspondents'Club,2 LowerAlbert Rood Hong Kong or

of HKD

tr membership occount tr Moster Cord tr Visq cord

no.

þ

Ê

No.

*È

ct

Dote of expiry:

tr I will collect the book(s) ot the FCC E Pleose send to (pocking ond moiling HKD 45.00 for one copy, odditionol

Tbe gouernor, Cbrß Patten receiues a Çree) copy of tbe book from John Giønninl. Stefan Reísner looks on.

to

postoge

Nome

Signoture

Tiger seems impressed

Van Es Øa.tcbes tbe GouemoÌ slgn a copy

December 1996 TÅ0,

CORRXSP0IIDENI

David T.K.'\Yong launches lfong Kong Stories

Oldie but goodie Louis Thomas completed this year's Trailwalker. At 61, Louis was the oldest among the 1,400 competitors that took part in the charity walk.

Despite being due at a major civil service function at the same time on the same night, acting governor Anson Chan found tirne to pop into the Club to congratulate old friend and colleague David T.K. Wong on his latest literary achievement.

Hong Kong Stories is a collection of fiction that finally gets awayfrom the stereotypical 'triads, t¡'phoons and cheongsams, school of writing and looks at modern Hong Kong life as it is

C'olden wedding

really lived.

(Left to rigbt)

Nuri Vitt¿tchi a.ncl Chailes

Weatberill @CC tr[embers)

ù

c

F s Mr and Mrs Anthony Lawrence

recently celebrated their 5oth (Left to riglrt) Dauicl T. K. Wottg

wedding anniversary. ctrxd

[ianna (Cltairntan Pttblic Seruices

Hilicler

(LeÍt to l"igbt) Kittjt

W671g

(DTK's Wife), Atxs()n Cban ¿md Dct.uicl T.K.

Col11llxission)

Guam Island Food Fiesta winner Ms Lola Linker, Club member and former T\lB presenter, was the lucþ winner of the Guam Islancl Food lucþ draw, leceiving a trip for two to Guam, flying continental Micronesia and staying at the pacific Islands Club. The drawwas made by Club manager-, Bob Sanders andpresented bysponsors, DougFiesta

las King of the Guam Visitors Bureau ancl Johnny Wan of Continental Micronesia.

The Pacific Islands Club of Guam was

Vernon Ram turns 70 A 70th birthday celebration for Vernon Ram, hosted by friends, M.P. Gopalan and K.K. Chada, was held in the Hughes room on November 28. Anthony Lawrence

proposed a heart-felt toast to Vernon "he's younger than I am".

the third principal sponsor of the month long promotion, which was launched in October with the Guam Island Fiesta Evening in the Club's main dining room.

as

(Lelt to rígbt) Roger Medca$ Veflton, Bíll Knigltt nnd. Brian Cutbbertson

The evening featured the exotic islan<l fare

of chef Ronnie Guillermo and the pacific Islands Club Fantasy Dancers.

Other sponsors providing spots ancl nightlife tours were Sanclcastles, Guam Tropical Dive Station, Bien Biahi sports fishing charters and Leo Palace Golf and Country Club. Ms Angela Ho won the Island Fiesta evening's grand prize, also a trip to Guam for two.

(LeÍt to rigbt) Bob Stmders, Douglas King, Iota Linker,./oltnny Wan

Forntet" Corresþondel,tt rrxen, Petet. and Sítltr¡t.t Ttttiston Dauies utith Nicolct Niglctingale, the

Artbur Hacker ancl Lan? Allen

Cord.ìngle1 Oíght)

Bob and Iuy Dauis congratulctte Ventc¡t't

proof-reacl.er.

THE CORRXSP0NIIDNT Decembe¡ 1996 Decer.nber

1

FCC members'

table at this year's Macau Grand Prix

New members

---'l

()orrc

sl><>rrcl

ent Àzlerrrt>ers

Mike Chinoy

Aun Koh

Matthew Flynn

Patrick Dransfield

Tricia Caithness

A:filîi;ïx#i*i:ï*; (Manhattan)

would like to swap apartments with someone in Hong l(ong for the month of February. The Fourth Estate couple will be here researching an artÍcle and reckon it is the perfect opportunity for anyone who would like a rent-free stay in the Big

Apple,

Qeft to rìgbt) Aira Fernanelo, AndJ, Cliluorou)sk!, An¡ta Rooke, tbe Macøu Canídtome's Bríatl Murþh1,, Warren Ru)ke, L.)'t'ttl Grebstad (stand¿nÐ , Terry Duckhant ancl Torryt Neddennan.

Lloyd's Asia

Irw

Asia

& Pmctice

Fü

East Trade Press

Ass<>ci¿tte À4errr t>ers Eugene Galbraith

Roderick Wu

Alexander Wong

Andy Chworowsþ

Paul Har¡is

Banister

lfindy City Int'l Ltd

Gilt Chambe6

Contact Çael Çreene TeI: (212) 799-3073 Fax: (21Ð 799-1174 E-mail:

7

4627 .210@compuserye,com HG Asia Ltd.

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December

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CoRRXSPoiltt[NT

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A montbly portrøùt of FCC ùrceþløceøbles llowever Good You fue, You Can D0 Better ,,,

Vernon Ram Member since: Profession:

Club's heyday at Hongkong Hilton, now defunct Younger than Clare Hollingworth 'Wordsmith

Nationality: Least likely to say: Most likely to say:

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If the hat fits, flaunt it.

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