The Correspondent, October 1997

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October 1997

TE,E CoRRXSPOIYDDIIT

To the editor

regional publications that will reflect unlikely to sr-tcceed without non-Asian help.

tl-re Asian perspective is

He points oLrt Asictueeþ' as an example. That magazrne's 7975 lnission statement, Knipp says, rl/as

penned not by an Asian; the From Bill Mellor Editor-in-chief , Asiø, Inc.

As Sondl-ri's failule to pay staff had been w-idely reported, r'eaders

tnagazine's founding editor, the late Michael O'Neill, a New Zealander, wrote it.

I claim no inside knowledge to

to go after Sondhi Limtl'rongkr-rl in the September issr,re of Tbe Corresþondent, his inaccurate and

The allegation is, of

say who wrote tl-iat staternent but I knowtl-ris much. The founding editor was T.J.S. George, a full-blooded

n-rean-spiritecl attack on the talented

the authors who wimped'out of

and extraordinarily resilient staff of

putting their names to the letter or

Asian as weli as an experienced journalist and the author of several books long before Asiatueeþ. was

Asia, Inc was quite pathetic.

I don't need to take r-rp too much

that such an allegation was publisl'ied unsigned in the magazine.

Then in the Septemberissue came

\Øhile Steven Knipp had every right

space defending Asia, Inc.'s

joulnalists. Their skills are amply displayed in the redesignecl October issue of the magazine, which was produced undel the most difficult of circnmstances (how n-iany j ournos have to pr-lt out an edition without having

been paicl for thlee rlonths and q,ith bailiffs prowling the editodal floor?).

But it shor-rld be pointed olrt that it is thanks to the superb professionalism

could assume the reference was to us. coLÌrse, olrtrageor-rs. I'm not sure whether I'm more sulprised at the gutþssness of

Steven Knipp's piece on Sondhi.

Knipp, of couLse, should have declared an ìnterest. He u.as one of the first freelancers to be given an Asiø, Inc. assignment by Tony Paul and when I first met hin tl-rree years later he was still whingeing about how his piece never came to be published. But what palticularly

of

bugged my staff was his assertion that Asia, h'tc has suffered fi-om a "lack of

Sondhi's media empire, the rnagazine lives on, published by a new company

seasoned journalists" - a preposterous allegation given tl-rat the staff has

in which they ale part-owners. More on that, I hope, in the next is ste of The

decades

of the staff that, despite the collapse

Corresþonclent.

to save Asiø, Inc. has brought out tl'ie best and wolst in the parochial Asian media community.

Many joulnalists, most notably our colleagr-res at A€iM rlagazine, have been highly srÌpportive. But we have also hacl to pLlt up with cheap jibes Tl-re battle

from a hanclful of journalistic pygmies u,'ho, perhaps because they cannot liold down decent jobs themselves,

actually seem to rejoice when

a

publication

rr-rns into trouble.

A classic exarnple of this trvas an anonymous letter in the August issue

of

Tbe Correspondent pvtrportedly

fi'om "several veteran melnbers". The letter took a ran'rbling and disjointed swipe at people who use the FCC but

of experience on four

continents.

I doubt any Hong Kong editor would put Knipp in the same league as Asia Inc.'s Peter Comparelli and Allen Cheng, or former staffels Tony Paul and Steve Plocto¡.

Asia lrtc.3 jor-rrnalisrn and design

have won nllfirerolrs international awards, most recently for the Althur Hacker "Aftel Hong Kong" cover that hangs on the FCC w-a1I. Thlee years in succession we won the Citibank Pan Asia Journalism Awarci for business repolting. The Citibank juclges ale pillars of the Asian business commnnity. I'rl sttre Asict, It't'c.'s readels and advertisers n,ill give greater: ü¡eigl'tt to their jr-rdgment than

to that of a

disgruntlecl freelance

journalist.

don't bothel to join. It then went on

to

accLrse

an unnarled pr-rblication

of picking up non-members' bar bills

"as sorne kind

of perk, when

the

salne company can't seem to pay its

own staff"

From P. Viswa Nathan In "How Sondlii Got It'ùØrong" (Tbe Corresþortdertt, September), Steven Knipp seems to sr,rggest that the desire of some Asians to lar-rnch

launched. To imply tlnatamanof that calibre was not capable of writing the

mission statement is preposterous.

Geolge, being highly critical of

the \Øestern domination of Asian regional rnedia, had been talking about a publication that would see the world from an Asian perspective and become Asia's voice in the world well before he came to O'Neill. \Øhile George was regional editor of the Før Eastertt Economic Reuiew, he

went about organising the financial sLlpport needed for such a project as well as selecting the people who could understand his dream and work with him.

After a few years publishing Asiøweele, Geolge stepped down as editor-in-chief to return to India He handed the reins o\/er to his trr-rsted ally O'Neill who, despite his New Zealand origin, was more Asian at heart than many Asians I know. The

fact, however, is this.

rùTithout

George, the Asian, there would have

been no Asiaweeþ..

There is a flaw is Knipp's

contention that the Asian approach,

v'hich Sondhi tried to push, is a concept thzìt neither readers nor advertisers have embraced. Readers and adr.ertisers pick fi'om what is available and sometimes settle for the

best of a bad lot. Again, Asiøweek stands as a good example of l-row a well-thought-out Asian publication can change the attitr-rde of readers and advertisers.

Knipp says "Asia's ownmediawill

n'iature and develoP to its fr-r11 potential. But if they rush to give cot'¿titttted otx þ6tge 5

a

corruption told us how a lively,

emerging from the shadow of

useful check on government excesses,

vigorous press was one of the best weapons in the fightfor accountability and against official corruption that

authoritarian rule over the last decade ¡he Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan now see the press playing a key role in the consolidation of democracy, But then again, some find it odd that the wealthiest, most sophisticated Asians, the Hong Kongers, are being told to wait until some time in the

coverage

of corruption has been

while giving an airing to all the accusations and complaints.

In Hong Kong, there are no official controls on the local press, but the problemwe keep hearing aboutis one

"self-censorsl'rip" - editors not wanting to offend the new powers-

of

When people and the press speakout J n Manila, the colour was yellow; in Ianngt oL, it was green. But

declaration: "No way, and never

whatever the hue, they were both

an unlikely coalition of business leaders, community organisers, labourites and leftists. And their

Afew days later, I was in Bangkok, where another equaliy extraordinary scene was on display. On Silom Road, a main drag of mostly banks and office biocks, there were thousands of Thais - middle-class office workers, men in suits and ties, women in smart outfits and heels - out marching for democracy and showing their support for a new constitution that many hope

followers turned out by the hundreds

will end the influence of money in

of thousands on a

Thai politics.

In Thailand, green

rather exhilarating examples of People

Power.

The Manila rally, on September

2L, was called by the Catholic archbishop, Cardinal Jaime Sin, the former presid ent, CorazonAquino, and

rain-drenched

Sunday afternoon in a vigorous defence of their new-found democracy, their decade-old constitution,

again."

is the colour of those in favour of constitutional reform. And the office workers that

of bright lime green.

and the notion that term limits prevent

day formed

dictatorial abuse of power.

At issue was whether President Fidel V. Ramos would be allowed to tinker with the charter to extend his stay in office beyond his legal term, which ends nextMay. Ramos-backers called their campaign "Cha-Cha", for Charter Change, and they claimed to have widespread suppor-t because of Ramos' successful stewardship of the Philippine economy.

Men wore green ribbons on their lapels. Many women chose to wear green outfits to work that day. And along the way, rally organisers in green baseball caps passed out bright

a sea

sometimes uncomfortably,

in her trademark yellow

dress,

warning the would-be charterchangers on the anniversary of Ferdinand Marcos' martial law

stable, but ruled by an unelected military man backed by the powerful armed forces. In those 12 years since myfirstAsia stint, Taiwan has emerged as a freewheeling democracy, and I had the pleasure of covering the first free election for president there last year. And in South Korea, where I

covered the first free presidential election in late 1987, a long-time opposition leader, Kim Dae Jung, is leading in the polls and may even become president in December.

These examples of solid and functioning democracies - noisy,

making money.

"No To Cha-Cha" posters and T-shirts

as

speaker

after speaker denounced his government for corruption and ineptitude.

These two displays

of

PeoPle Power served as a reminder to me of

just how entrenched PoPular

command chain, where the bottom line is too often just that, the bottom

dates the handover. !Øe heard

line.

complaints that the local press had lost its bite, particularly when it comes to

critical, investigative or analytical

Long-time Asia-watchers say they find it unfortunate, or at least odd, that Hong Kong, which once boasted the

coverage of the mainland.

freestlocalpress inAsia,

And earlier that day, at another FCC panel, a S7orld Bank experl on

Thailand, by contrast, was politically

critique olhis regime by

confidence vote. -With the debate carried live on Thai TV, I watched Chavalit sitting impassively,

we heard that local reporters feel the self-censorship is not new, but pre-

are

developed enough to have full direct elections for a legislature.

I'll just stay on the sidelines of the debate. After all, I'm just a foreign interloper, laden with the baggage of .W'estern r-rpbringing and values, my and still naive enough to get excited by the sight of thousands of people out on the streets,

is nowworried about self-imposed restraints from editors and owners, while colrntries

buffeting by military putschists.

less about democracy and more about

succession

forum on September 24 sponsored by the New York-based Committee To Protect Journalists (see also Page 9), FCC

next century before they

investigates importantissues,

dictatorship, and the democracy

house, sitting through a withering a

hand-in-hand, as experience in the rest of the legion has shown. And a press that asks tough questions, and

looked fragile and unlikely to survive

messy, boisterous they may be - serye

But on the road into town from the airport, and at the sprawling Luneta Parkwhere the rallywas held, I saw mostly a sea of yellow - yellow stìckers. There was even Cory Aquino

in 1986, the Philippines was just shaking off Marcos' 20-year

green placards.

And as the green rally took place, the embattled prime rninister, Chavaiit Yongchaiyudh, was at the parliament

of opposition MPs staging a îo-

and baseball caps and bumper

democracy has become in much of Asia. \Øhen I first landed in the region

impedes development.

Democracy and a lively press go

is a good grtalantol against government excess.

Our colleagues inthe local press know that well - but the message sometimes seems to get lost further up the media

that-be, and spiking critical stories or slanting their editorial stance. At an

-

as a useful rejoinder to those who tell us that Asians somehow possess a different set ofvalues, that they care

And one other point is itnportant here: in all these examples of Asian

democracy, the press plays a vital

lole. In Mantla, the relentless press criticism of the Ramos charter-change moves cleady infuriated the president

- but also helped build

popular

From I(eith Statham

To the editor

predictions on Hong Kong postJuly

Asians their 'own voice' before the industry has the ability to delìver on that promise, their efforts will be self-

defeating." That is a repugnantly condescending statement.

By Knipp's own assessment "Sondhi seems to be a man of good intentions plagued by bad advice

provided by expensively

bad

advisers". There is lesson to be learned here. None of these "advisers", senior

editors and executives, except

a

namesake head of the editorial team,

was Asian. Had Sondhi and his advisers looked around Asia to mobilise a predominantly, if not

Cordingley's "what a sodding cheek"

complaints" about "balls-aching tedium" he accuses me of in your September issue. (What a master of the English language he is!)

That he, of all peopie, admits to being "in awe" of anything ("gobsmacked" would have been more in character), let alone care about my own or Ted Thomas's views shows a degree of humility which, in itself, for

him is remarkable: that

he

misrepresents and tries to rubbish the PR business is entirely predictable.

If he seriously thinks that I spend

and Asiar¿, Inc., they could have

than half of the story: the half that is

found highly competent people and kept Sondl'ri's "1ong pockets" at least half full.

Is it possible that these farang

favourable to

advisers did not want Sondhi, an Asian,

trumpeted the constitutional teform

dominance over the regional media, and so they went about quickly to empty his long pockets?

has been ,

corporations have relocated.

Cordingley, from his ivory tower,

has obviously noticed changes that

the rest of us haven't and rants on about a million people losing "the vote" and then goes into his "ballsaching" routine about me and Ted Thomas not caring, on the basis that all that concerns us is that "nothing has changed for the business community".

Thank God! One thing is for sure, whether we like it or not, Hong Kong m the business community. \Øe are either in it, serwicing it or commenting on it. There isn't anything else!

part (or anyl) of my life "devoted to ensure that journalists never tell more

to succeed and challenge Western

debate, and the Thai media's relentless

1,

Peter

wholiy, Asian team io rvn Asiø Times

opinion that saw the huge rally turnout.

In Thailand, too, the press has

about the accr)racy or otherwise of some of the international media's

but I have to respond to

July 1, the Beijing government noticeable in Hong Kong only by its absence and, contrary to many predictions, none of the 183 banks in HongKong has lefttown and no major Since

I don't want to drag on the debate

...

clients", then he does

a huge injustice not only to everyone working in PR but also to his own (?)

profession by implying that journalists are stupid andmalleable. Mostof them are certainly not, and nor are we! The notion is childish!

That the prophets of doom on the handover got it wrong is for all to see.

@

ST(lLICHNAYA Ietters to the editor øre always win yourself a bottle of Stolicbnayafor øn original or welcome

letter- but we reserue the rigbt to editfor clarity orfor

witty

reasons of space.

October' 1997 TÅE CORRXSPONIIDIIT

Left: An agitated Malaysiatt Prime Minister Mabatbir Mobamad speaks out against George Sot"os and intentational cLlt'renc! traders

Riglit. Cbinese Vice-Prentier Zbtt Rottgi| got on uitb tbe main story and. laud.ed.

Cbina's economic refotuts

footage to justify the expense. Little thought is given to readers andviewers who have followed the ploceedings as

€ s

a cheap substitute for Mogadon.

ù

This year was different. The epic

ùq q

Mahathir-Sor os ding--dongwas both fun

and interesting.

\7ho could resist the invective

Buddy, carryou spafe me a ringgit?

Geolge Soros cl-rarged the good Dr Mahathir with being a menace to his

when they found they had a leal story on their hands. And what a story it was. The leader of one of Asia's tiger economies launching a frontal attack on one of the wodd's richest men and the two of them slugging it out on the fi'inges of last month's \Øodd Bank/ InternationalMonetaryFundmeetings.

These events are generallygenteel

countly, while the Malaysian prime minister accused Mr Soros and his ilk of being engaged in the "unnecessaly, unproductive and immolal" business

affails where seemingly arcane matters

of clevelopment and other forms of financing are discussed between centlal bankers and finance rninisters

temporarily l-rogging a shred of lìmelight on the world stage. They are

lfo l-ris sr-rrprise, Sterze \Zines found tl-rere q/as lalore to tl-re rù(zor1d t>a-nk/II\/{F conference tkra-n a l>r-rnch of Ì>oring bankers

as

o one was rrìore amazed than the -ù7orld Bank press officers

accorded a spur'íous significance simply becar-rse so many people attend and such a large su,athe of media has l¡een mobilised to cover the event.

Newspapels, r'adio and television stations ale compelledto invest heavily

in sending theil lepresentatir¡es and so tend to take a 1ot of copy and

of ctrrrency trading?

Moleover, the debate

was

interesting and significant. Developing countries are genuinely worried about

their r,r¡lnerability to the ìnternational financial markets recently admitted to their shores, On the other hand, participants in those malkets are wary of the governments which regulate

reforms and let everyone know, yawn, yawn, that Hong Kong was still open forbusiness (PRnote to the SAR'smedia advisers: if everything is normal you don't have to say an],thing, if you do people will suspect that everything is somewhat less than normal).

However the local media did their best to make the China story - almost

entirely a repetition of the previous

This year qzas difFerent. ll-he epic À4ahra"tkrir-Soros ding-dong rñ/as botl-r fr-rn and interesting.

"fact" was gleaned by his use of a clutch

of heavily accented English words.

As is known to all, as the Chinese like to say, Mr Zhu is the heir apparent

to the even rnore dour and infinitely less user-friendly Premier Li Peng. Mr Zhu is clearlynofoolbutequallyclearly,

from where I was sitting, he did not appear to be the new Messiah.

However he knows all the right buzzwords about economic liberalisation and can talk debt ratios along with the best of them so he could plausibly be presented as "New China Man".

The alternative, as we saw in Li

Peng's opening addless

to

the

meetings, was less palatable, Clear'ly someone had forgotten to tell Mr Li that he was no longer at the Communist Party Congress and that the average banker feels a tad uncomfortable u,hen

being lectured about the defeat of imperialism and the stluggle against

them.

week's 15th Congress of the Chinese

As everthis was not supposedtobe the main story. Conlerence organisels almost never understand that what they perceive to be the main story does not exactly set the rest of the world alight.

No, the main story from the host's

the enslavement of labour. As for me, I enjoyed ít, but then I happen to be a collector of Maoist kitsch.

I arn not, however, a great fan of

governlnent and the new sovereign

Conmunist Parly story - the main story.

Iuckily the story had a hero.

Unluckily tlie hero was the rather dour Zhu Rongji who had to be made to look not only good, but perfect, to fill the role. Mr Zhu, we were told was witty, open, well informed, accessible and, accolding to one Chineselanguage

power, was to lar-rd China's economic

newspaper, spoke pelfect English - this

why lepresentatives of regines, with

point of view, rneaning the

SAR

the Hong Kong secr-rrity services who yet again demonstrated their firm belief that journalists are the most dangerous people on earth. How else to explain

Oc¡ober 1997 THE

CORf,.ESPOilIIENT

Right; Sonteone bctcl.fcugotten b rell Ii. Peng he' tucts 17o lcntger ctt tbe þ6fft))

How did you report after the handover?

col'r81?ss

blood on their hands, were allou,ed to freely enter meeting halls while the media had to report ages before each set-piece event to be frisked, searched and corralled, presr-rmably to avoid suicide attacks or something similar.

(Note ntulber 2 to SAR PR men:

Did the press harze to toe the Cl-rina line a.fter Jul>t 1 or l-rad tl-rey been doing it all a"lc>ng? A ror-rnclta-ble lTret at thre Clul> t<> ana"lyse journalisrrr in tl-re nes/ era

you don't win friends and influence people by treating them as scum believe me, this is an old Chinese ploverb, almost certainly originating from Confr-rcius.)

Jt's business as usual in postI Hrndou.rHong Kong. But if ihings

So when people ask rne: "How I have to say, aside fron-r the searches, the sight of too many men in suits and the horrendous prices fol cups of coffee, itwas fine for me. I came away with n'rore data than anyone could ser-iously need in an

was it for you?"

are fine for business, what about for journalism?

On the fringes of the \ØorldBank/ International Monetary Fund meetings tlie International Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based pressllre group which monitors press freedom around the world, presented a report on the Hong Kongmedia after'

lìfetime ancl I will use it ^vetage shan'ielessly folever more. Readels yoLr have been warned.

the handover, Freedom

is tbe Hong Kortg q corresþonclent of The Indepenclent of E London. He is auailable for couerz,ge of all finøncial euents, nteetings witb S ò q Rítø Føn and børmilzuabs E { Steue Vines

H:iî,*:,iï-.ä:iiì Breatlre

A

Free?

f

He pointed out concerns about

self-censorship and individual

incidents such as the failure of Next Media Group to find an investment

bank to sponsor its initial public offering.

information capital of Southeast Asia, he recalled how that when he covered

the Philíppines under Marcos Hong Kong was important place to rneet contacts where the restlictions of the regime would not be felt. "You could breathe easier, " he said. "It is a pleasant

fact that there is still an aspect of freedom in Hong Kong."

Neumann highlighted the press's role inrootingout cot.rrption. "As China seeks to open its markets,

¡r J

louncl taþle

centre for reporting for 50 million or more Chìnese speakers outside China itself and Hong Kong that rely on Hong Kong as a centre of reporting about China and the rest of the world,"

the lole that the Hong Kong press will be vitai,"

'

he said.

I

Dr Jonathan Mirsky, East Asia editor of The Timesof London, made a confession. "I did think it was going to worse," he admitted. But he believed

discussion was held in the

Club dining room to examine the issues with representatives of the CPJ and lnembers of the local and the overseas media,

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the fears for press freedom

President, Keith Richburg.

that correspondents like

SØilliam Orrne, the CPJ's executive director,

Handover.

was

himself felt before the

In April Mirsky had

quicktopointoutthat ft

most of the people in

rãáìr

the

*... fr..iv,o r.""*

s

ort

the panel: ionathan Mirsky' Liu Kin-ming, Keith Ricbburg, Tctlv Chenp. A. Litt Neuntann and \X/illictnt Orme

his colleague, A. Lin Neumann,

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he had not exaggerated

the

rnore aDout tne worKrng of the Hong Kong than he was. He let

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moderated by

However, Neumann said: "rVe

a

acknowledge, gratefully so, that there

veteran correspondent in the region

has been no overt action taken against

and the CPJ's Asia programme coordinator, who wrote tl-re report, oulline the cornrnil.lee's views.

"One particular concern that we

the media in Hong Kong, either the EnglishJanguage or ChineseJanguage

have, " Neumann said, "is forthe future

Hong Kong is now the financial capital of China and the window through information abotrt Cl-rinese

of Hong Kong

-

not as a centre of

English-language media for East Asia because the English-language media can look after itself at the end of the day but the future of Hong l(ong as a

rnedia. \7e also recognise ear-ly in the process."

markets cilculates to the

it is very

rùØest

and the

resI of Asia, Neumann said.

Undellining the city's role as the

asked Tung Chee-hwa,

then Chief Executive designate, how his

working life would be on July 2 and had been alanned by the response.

"He said'why don'tyou wait and see'.

I said I was a very impatient man, wlry don't you tel1 me now? He said: 'Read Articie 23'."

That article ofthe Basic law covers treason and sedition. And Mirsky was alarmed. However, since the handover, Mirsky had written articles for the Hong

Kong Economic Times on \Øei Jingsheng and Zhao Zryang without fear or favonr.

October 1997 TÃE coRRf,SPolfIlEilT

Nevertheless, Nlirskywas damning abont rnost of the Chinese-language press. "rü/hatever clranged in the press happened tr¡o years ago ancl finished a year ago," he saicl.

The papers were caleful abor¡t liow they repolted on China In fact, he said, they were nseless at it now. "I used to be a regulal leadel of Ming

Pao.

I wouldn't bothel to buy it

anymofe."

1ot

Neumann replied tliat the CPJ would conlinue to rììon ¡tor tlìe sitr Lation even if itwas not on the front pages although

he added: "Tlie papers are

journalists had to band together to see

very good on the tl-iings that Ml Tung says he's interested in. They are real

that any incidents were publicised However, he said: "Tl're foleign press is a notol-iously unleliablg guarantor of anlthing \ü/illiam Ol'n-re said: "I would be leally surprisecl if Hong Kong did not become even ûlore attractive for \øestern media because of leporting on China. It would seem to be a mot'e

Br-rt

issnes : housing, con'uption, edr-rcation,

health and the state of tl'ie har-bour.

Theyare forthright and do whatpapers

ought to do."

The two English-langlrage papers sliowed no signs of differ-ence, he nraintained. Although tlne flong Kong Standardmight see itself as a patriotic paper it still ran plenty of things that Beijing would not 1ike.

Mirsþ had two other complaints: that the Hong Kong Government had decided to have no truck with foreign correspondents and that tl-re poiice's treatment of the press during the demonstrations at the \Øorlci I3anl</ IMF meetings was shameful an<l not a good augrrry lor the futule.

Fol Liu Kin-nring, opinion page editor of Íhe Ecottornic Times and vice-chairpel'son of the Journalists' Association, it had seemed a calm transition but it was too early to tell wliat the effect of the handover had been on the pless. "\Øe still have 597 months to go," l'ie said of the life of the Special Adrninistratíve Region.

Some things had cheered him though. "The NCNA l'ras cancelled the post of spokesman," Liu said. "The gentleman wl-io r-rsed to come everyday ancl gir.e us loads of noise pollution -

we don't have to endure that garbage," he explained.

"I always believedJuly I 1997 was only a syrnbolic day. Tl'ie handover happenecl a longtime ago. Tl'ie change took place long ago," Liu said. "\Øait until next May until the first legislature is elected and they will enact legislation f-ie was gone. So

'

agree that thet'e are a

nndercurrent,s," Cheng said. He said the change to Chinese sovereignty had been a long process ofabout 10 years From the floorJonatlian Braude of the Soutb Cbina Monzing Post said that the foreign press was bor-rnd to leduce its numbers in Hong Kong. Lin

efficient place to cover the China story.

"

He cited tlie growth of economic

rüÇzkraterzer cl-range

day before made sr-tle tliat he inadvertently hit rne with a crttsl-r barrier'. "

Terry Cheng agreed t1-rat the police hadbeen excessive in their'handling of the protests. Jonathan Mirsky said Chinese leaders don't deal with the press. He re called how a British mellber of theJoint tiaison Gror-rp had told him

the Chinese side had insisted: "Our leader clon't v'ant to see or hear any Terry Nealon of RTHK contrasted

Sil Percy Cradock's comment about Cliris Patten being the incredible slrrinking govel'nor with Jonathan Mirsky's about the clrrrent adrninistration being the incredible shrinking government Nealon said: "The main reasonwliy

u/e are not able to get the flow of information we are used to from govelnment is because of our incredible shrinking Legco." The absence of Jarnes To, Maltin Lee,

Nealon said, adding that he had seen no change in the atmosphere at RTHK since the handover.

In response to a qlrestion fi'om Hedley Thomas of the Soutb Cbina

Morning Post al¡ont jor,rrnalism which had

vested interest in tlie Hong Kong story. a

Retulning to Jonathan Mirsky's point about the handling of the press during that week's demonstrations, Alaria Maria Sala of the Spanish agency EFI recounted her treatment al the hands of the police. "I went to the Monday demo," she said. "There was

fole ign

correspondents' fears abolÌt restraints on the press, Jonathan Mirsky cited the SCMP's publication of \Øei Jingsheng's lettels. "On that day something happened at tl'ie Posl and it went back to being a leal newspaper' ag in," he said.

On t1're restrictions placed on Hong Kong leportels in China, Liu Kin-rning desclibed how the mainland felt Hong

to

Kong had become a base for snbversion since the Tiananmen

Despite her accreditation for the rneetings sJre was told to legistelagain

Square lrrassacl-e. This had resulted in

an

afna.zing

fatio of police

demonstrators."

to coverthe protests \Øhen she left and

returned to the allotted area she was

on Alticle 23."

physically prevented from leaching the press area and told to register again.

The officers concelned refr-rsed to give their names and nr,rmbers. Only the

For Ter'ry Cheng, editor of the I{ong l{ong Stanclørd, the post-

presence of several TV crews who began to take an interest in her pliglrt

handover months hacl been "so far, so good". "But I agree it is still too early to make a fim conch-rsion and I also

made the officers back off.

She added that the next day: "One of the officers who l'iad harassed me the

rXzlren the part;z brol' gl-rt forq.ard its latter-day sair-rts, Dorrrirric Z,ieg,l.er s/as there to ¡>rorzide ternptatiorr ResobLteQ striue

the lailing of a Ming Pao reporter.

"The case of Xi Yang certainly sent Lts a ve1y, vely cleaf message: 'Don',t you dare intelvene in areas we don't

want you to othelwise you will know qrhere you'll encl up'," Liu said.

"And it's not just on political news," Lir,r added. "Mr- Xi v,as implisoned because he was cligging in financial intefest rates. The message datzL ^nd has been very clear."

@

to cany

oLLt Deng Unstuentingly upb olcl Marxist-Lenit'tist-M ao -Ze dong

"

Xiaoping

Council was possibly rnuch more impoltant than we realised before,"

in tl-re press hal2pened tq¡o years a.g<> artd finisl-red a y<-af a"g<)

modelworkers

demonstrators."

Chlistine Loh andMalgaretNg had had a real effect. "The loss of that Legislative

d

Blessed ate the

Tbeory

Tbougbt. . ."

- 15th Congless Par-ty of China

of the Communist

J lnr*.,.'ingìy. There ale ploblerns LJ il you do rlrings tlrat wry, and

r-rnexpected benefits if you do not.

Recently, tl'ie car in which my friend

in

it. A mere one-and-a-ha1f hours of eally molning is allocated to foreigners, as well as to those locals wishing to get married, to undergo a selies of checks and to answer a series of questions about "social" diseases, schizophrenia, paranoid delusions, and other psychoses.

The scant time allotted shrihks

further as doctors finish their

seems. The needle is meant as a gestLrre of reasslrrance, for it is still in

its wl'apper and is unpeeled

pregnantly in front of you. Behind the stern mask, warmth and humour break out, for the foreígn phobia of Chinese needles is noq, known to all, though thele is not yet a category fol it on the medical forms.

newspapel-s, something I had learnt

China u'as ricling

It occurred to me

ran LÌnss"elvingly into a lolry. The sr-rlgeon

that the warmth behind the nask

w'ho operatecl on l-rim smokecl Lln--

might pr-ovide a way

of understandìng

su'elvingly, sapping l-r1y fliend's lifesaving morale. This

the new, irnprol'ed Communist Party and

its congress.

The congress's outward show'is a mix of stern rhetoric, slogan and

last u,-as restored by a

second doctor, who burst thror-rgl'r the

su.ing doors of the theatre, swervingly

negotiated the operating table and

the tyranny of tedium.

No change here.

But the subliminal lnessage - al1 that

.s

I

'ñ

disappeared thlor-rgh s the opposite doors; (5ù-o q q on his bicycle.

I rerlenbered

stuff about thought liberation and the Beijing

btLs cottcltLctor

this on the n-rorning of tlie opening of the party congress, an occasion, I thought, fol seizing tl-re day, playing truant frorl the Gleat Ha1l of the People, and resoluteiy seeking rhe nredicai exarnination in a northern Beijing subnrb for the lack of v'l'iich, no p1'ospective con espondent can entertain the hope

of living in Beijing.

Choosing a party congress for the clay of your meclical exanination, I now suggest, has mnch to commend

Li Suli (t"ight) sharing ber thotLgbts tit the Cot'rgress

modeln entelprise - is

warmer. Read oul on a previous, failed mission to the hospital. Yet on this occasion, there was nothing to read but acres about the congress. -ùØork started on tine, and ran through to its allotted hour.

The X-ray machine, a medical friend told me, was the tlue dangel, thanks to its unswerving lacliation.

Most visitols are concerned about

the blood test: a

n-rasked rnedico

conrnanding you with a long needle

to hel bench. Yet all is not as it

actions, the party seems to say, not our lips.

Thank God it is that way round.

But what dangels this brings to a party that no longer intends words to lnean what it wants them to mean! Heavens, people might no longer take you

seriously. Tl'ie Vatican, that other lnaster in wielding langr-rage as an instrlrment of rule, would never cor-nmit such an elementary mistake.

Rome means what it says. \Øho knows?

October 7991 T'dE GoRRXSPoIDDIII

_T

The island the araillery forgot HaIf a- rnillion shrells landed on Qr-rerrro;z in sb< qzeeks in 1958. Noqz only laaotor scooters disturb it peace, reports Gar4r N4arctrant

T I

i-ru¿n't expecteci Lo run into

a

reminderof theFCConthis remote island, but there he was, the late

Charlie Smith and other foreign correspondents in living black and white. \Øe happened on the photograph (which I'd seen before in Tbe Corresþond.ent) of repoltels

È

È

o q oo

ò

{

Tbe outward. sbow is

a mix of stent rhetoric, slogan and the

tlra.1xtxJ) of teclium

standing outside the "Quemoy Press Club" in the August 23 Artillery \Øar

announced an " even-day ceasefire", and fol the next 20 years the two sides traded artillery fire on alternate days (with Sundays a day of rest), Instead of artillery shells, they fired canisters containing propaganda leafl ets.

toward China. They carried propaganda as well as pocket calculators, digital wristwatches and other products of Taiwan's capitalist

The volume of war of words

factories (including, it is said, seethrough lingerie) to demoralise the mainlanders. As far as I know, no

increased to karaoke-like levels, with

one has determined the effectiveness

the

mainland

broadcasting

of silk panties as a

propa-ganda

weapon.

All of this

non-

in

1997,

Museum on that

Shanghai's failingwaterworks: "Good

after 10 minutes the local press did so too. And after 15, even the impassive model workers started to fidget. After all, the hero Li Gtioan, a well-digging coionel, had notyet come outwith his masterline, and this he did now, damn

largest of 1,2 tiny

majorbattlefields

man Xu Hu, you are the Lei Feng of the 1990s. !(/hat is the Lei Feng spirit

the technological breakthroughs in Daqing: "I myself would rather drink

islands covering just

decades ago gradually

felt itself rather self-consciously on

ofthe

waterfrom

58 square rniles, is more than a scenic

opened up to local, then international

show during the congress. And there was one parg showpiece over which needles of no mattel what length could

by Zhao Ziyang, had circulated that

tropical getaway. Fol those too young to lemembet, this outpost about a mile off Xiamen on the coast of China was on the TV news and in the

tourism.

This fortified little

The party's insincerity perhaps now provides grounds enough for its claim to be Catholics' legitimate shepherd

(who "brings br:ight warmth to the people"): "Li Suli, what are your deepest implessions of the Party

in

congress?" To the "good man" Xtt Hu,

china

a plumber stemming the tide of +**

The improved Communist Party

not take precedence. The party's staunchest "nodel" workers were to be paladed one afternoon before the press, They would answer qnestions:

even from foreignersl This, the party spokesrnan beamed, was an historical event, a firstl

The event ought to have run smoothlyfor,

as

the model spokesman

put it: "These four are heroes much admired by the people of China, and inthemyou canfindthe fine traditional virtues of the Chinese: industry and hard work."

Amongst the 1oca1 press there was due reverencetowardthese laysaints.

To the Beiling bus conductor, Li Suli

1990s?"

Yet a letter, purpoltedly written

very rnorning, calling for

a

reassessment of the Beijing massacre tn7989.Sothe foreignpress, in dogged

style, plessed the model workers on their views about Tiananmen Square.

This was a matter, the good man Xtt Hu said, that he ignored when it was brought r.rp on pipe-mending missions to neighbours'homes at night.

The party's model spokesrn anhad had enough of the foleign taltnts.

Suspending questions, he delegated a hero of the Daqing oilfields to list tl-ie number of scientific and tecl-inological breakthroughs that had contributed to leaps in production there. Æter five rninutes, the foreign press had tired of this, andbeganto chatter;

bitterwell, but if I can help the people drink from wells with sweet a

water, then my ambitions are fulfilled."

After that assurance, itwas back to the Daqing oilfields. And this iswhere, modesty suspended for a moment, I

Iay clain to contributing to party history. I caught the eye of the impassively bored Li Suli; I made a theatrical gesture of yawning; and her

bright warmth showed itself as an nncontrollable fit of giggles. The newspapers the next day, of course, chose to show her earnest side, noting

sense ended

with the

general relaxation of international tension. líhat

Taiwanese island.

Quemoy (Kinmen, or Golden Gate, to the Chinese), the

papers daily in the 1950s. In an attempt to capture the Taiwanese islands, the Comrnunist army launched

was one of the world's

foreigners for about

a

Communist propaganda to Quemoy.

Taíwan retaliated with four 30,000watt loudspeakers (supposedly the

as the papers dulynoted, a rematkable landmark in par-ty candour.

Over the next 44 days, they lobbed half-a-million shells on the

world's lar-gest) on the island blasting anti-CommlÌnist messages and rock

@

a

year is remarkably casual. About 20

Daqing s progress. The occasion was,

of

few

island which has only been open to

massive artillery barrage on Quemoy on August 23, 1958.

Dontinic Ziegler is bureatL cbief The Economist in Hong Kong

a

minutes after arriving onthe 55-minuteflight from Taipei, we have checked into the River Kinmen Hotel, and are in Kincheng village at the motor-scooter rental shop.

The grinning owner shoves a form in Chinese at me, and says his only three

words of English: "Name. Number.

islands. Taiwan, equipped by the US,

songs acfoss the naffow strait. And

Money."

with an artillery and air offensive, severely damaging

when the wind was right, Nationalist

mainland forces. In October, China

of helium balloons over the

'ùØhat number does he want?

Passport? Credit card? International Driver's Licence? I scribble my FCC

retaliated

forces on Quemoylaunched thousands

years

October. 1997 TÃE CORRXSPONIIXIIT

It is eerie, seeing this once forbidden

zone, just over a rnile away, and imagining the deadly artiilery duel.

Perhaps it is the onlybit of theirformer horneland thaL many of these Taiwanese will ever see.

Riding on to the nolth-west point of the island, we come to the Kuningtou Military History Museum near the site where iocal forces repelled a major

Communist amphibious

as

sault in

79

49

(10 years before the deadly artil1ery duel). Displays hele are mainly huge,

heroic battle-on-the-beach oil paintings, some basic mock-ups of the

battle zone, plus weapons such AmericanM5Al tanks, knownhere

as as

Kinmen Bears.

Continuing on, and frequently getting lost in the maze of roads, we

find the August 2J Artillery

\Øar Museurn. Like the entire island, this is

noY/ a swolds-to-ploughshares endeavour. Set in

a

pleasant park with

a Iake, it has an F-86 jet fighter, a 155mm cannon and an amphibious landing craft, aIl now backdrops for tollrist photographs. High-spirited Tbe atmosþbere seems

youths strike heroic poses before the pieces, hoist their gidfriends into the

untbreatening, Iike a military tbeme park

jet engine, and click off souvenir snapshots fol the folks back home.

membership number and give him the

equivalent of about US$20 in

Taiwanese dollars. He hands me the

keys to an almost new burgundy scooter of the type that gigolos ride in Italianmovies, andleaves us to it, with no instructions, no helmets.

But these machines are simple, with no clutch, no gears, no shifting, just gas and brake controls. The light

traffic in the few blocks of town presents no problem, andwe are soon

out on the open road, exulting in the

born-to-be-wild, wind-in-your-hair riding - even though we can only reach about 35 miles an hour. The pleasant, pine-covered island with its excellent, empty roads is perfect for motorcycle riding.

The island is a repository of fascinating military sites and

eye on tourism) call a "park on the sea". Andwiththe captive labourof all those soldiers based on the island, Quemoy is as trim and clean as a military base.

As we scooter across the island, we happen on soldiers everywhere in

Station, the closest spot

lfhe island is a repository c>f f a s c irl.ating rnili taÍy sites and lraerrroraf>ilia., as qzell as natr.rral Ì>eauq. mottled, camouflage uniforms, like

with beaches and pine forests. Decades of large scale reforestation, with each soldier stationed there responsible for

Chinese male Spice Gir1s. It is the most militarisedplace I've seen, with armed

growing one tree, has succeeded in the greening of Quemoy, turning it into what residents (with an obvious

emplacemeîts, anti-^ircraft guns mounted on the t'oundabollts, and jeeps and army trucks draPed with

as

well

as

.

the island, andthe Mashan Obseruation

natural beauty

memorabilia,

netting. Yet the atmosphere seems unthreatening, like a military theme park, and thele appear to be few restrictions (except the bases) as to where we can go Navigating with our Chinese map, we reach the north-eastern point of

guards standing by

sandbag

to

China.

Despite not speaking a word of English,

two bespectacled armed soldiers

Inside, the nÌuseum displays grainy black-and-

white photographs of Quemoy's military past.

There is also a display of English, Flench and Spanish

news clippings

and

pictures depicting war correspondents with

PRESS

on theil helmets and TV newsmen with hand-held

standing guard at the camp entrance make it clear that we can't enter now, The station is closed fol lunch.

Shortly before 1. 30pm a half-dozen

newsreel cameras. And there

tour buses appear and disgorge hordes

slirn Charlie Smith, outside a

of excitable, amiable rustics. The

bunker under a makeshift

solcliers let us pass, and we follow the

"Quemoy Press Club resident mernber-s only" sign.

chattering crowd into a tunnel, which goes a long, long way, arrow-straight towards the beach. At the end, the tunnel opens into a bale, blue-painted room, with narrow eyeJevel slits along the outer wall. China is visible just beyond the narrow strait. rùle all take turns peering through one of the five mounted binoculars to what was once "The Bamboo Curtain"

.

it is, the famous photo of the youthful and jovial correspondents, including

a

\X/ith dark (and the

cocktail hour)

fast

q

\e

we return to the I'rotel, and reluctantly appr-oaching,

hand the scooter key to the desk clerk. It is only a pansy

È

ù res, tourists

little bíke, but I feel like a Hell's Angel robbed of his

Harley.

@ October 7991 TÃf,

GORRISPOI\IIIENT

Magnificent lens in those flying rrrachines One photograpl-rer has dedicated l-ris life to sl-rootin5l frorrr the cockpit of fighter ¿ttrcra.ft. He told Ste¡zen l(nipp qzl-rat keeps l-rirn up there szhere l-re belongs

fl,,-,r.,g1.r his business

also published 1'ris ou,n specialist

Flance, Switzerland, Italy ancl Japan

calendar every year since 1981 and is

Katsu Tokunaga is theworld's forernost

legularly commissioned by r-nultinationai arriation companies ancl various air forces to do l-iis mid-air

and Canada. \X/hat does it take to photograpl-r fighter planes l-rr-rrtling across the

czrlcì sirnpll leacls Plloto Joulnalìst . ancì lre hr-rrnbly hesitates to acknowledge it,

I

aircraft photographer. His u,olk, and his life's passion are flying tlachines.

No, not the standard con'imercial ailclaft we all know and loatl'ie, but the a\

¡esome powelful missile-like

photographic rnagic for them. \Øhile lie has encountered a few othel pl'iotographers like himself, they only workecl within theil own bolders .

heavens atneally 1,000 miles perhor,rr'?

Talent ancl a very tor,rgh stornach are not enough, equal amor-rnts of patience

and paper-work are also needed.

l-rovn' good a photographer yol-Ì may be, yor-r can't sirnply shovr. up

No matter

rlachines that rnake up the fightel aircraft of thewodd'stop air

at an air

forces.

youtl'iful-looking

to fly u,'ith a

39-year-old

squaclron. "That

has specialised in air-toair photography. "I

quite inpossible," Katsu says.

First, a photographel mnst have

says. "Bute\/ersince I was a child I liked

a special permit,

ailplanes, and it s/as lr'ìy hobby to

issued by various air'

folces, wl'rich show

that the holder

photograph them.

But of coulse then it n,as only possibly

also had proper Beþrc euery.f'light Katsu Toktutaga sþencls an hour telling

tbe

pilors uhat he utants

rlltch tine on t1're ground. Each year he spends some 200 days flying to hardly spends

clifferent locations Froln his n'iol'e than 600 hours'

flying time in the cockpits of tl'ie n'ol'ld's most advanced jets he has produced 17 books. His tliost recent book is fol tl'ie Allstrian Air Force, u.'hile his next is being plodr-rced for the Veneztielan Air Force. Katsr-t lias

As far as he is awale, tl-iere is no othel' photographef who has flown in nearly 50 differenttypes of airclaft, q,'ith some 35 different ail forces. Katsu has also been airborne u.'ith most of theworld's militaly aerobatics tezrrls as wel1,

including the United States Air Force's Thunclerbirds ancl the US Naly's Blue Angels andJapan's Blue Eagles. He's alsc¡ flown with teams from Russia.

safety training.

"Each air folce

who lives in Tokyo,

'-'*.

l-ras

an understanding of aelonautics ancl has

fi'om the ground."

Today Katsu,

jet

would be

probably har.en't gros/n np," Katsut

I.#+*

base

sornewhere and ask

Since 1979, the.

have similarlequirerlents," says KatsLr. "There's a u.'l'itten test to pass about general knowledge,

plus physical training al¡out hou. to handle G-forces and u'hat to do in an emergency. In the US Na'uy, you must be able to swim, ancl drere's a weeklong snlival course on how to l-ianclle hypothelrnia in case you have to eject at sea " These perrnits, wl-rich Katsu holds October'

199- THI

CORRXSPONDEIì|T I

\¡ith

a l-ralf dozen air lorces inclucling An-ierican, tsr'itisl-r, Flench, Italian and -fapanese, mr-rst be renewecl t'egular'l1r.

"Usually, I just do tl'ie refresher courses togetlie| u,ith pilots," .says Katsu Over his 18-year career, Katslt has built up a sterling reputation rzitl-r fighter pilots alound tl'ie ,;r,'odcl, ancl this sor-r-ietilr-res make his wolk easier

'Tl're community of

ail-claft

pl-rotographels is really \/e1y small," he notes.

"Everybocl), knows e\/erybody. 5e rvl-ren I flyw-ith some pilots, t1-reyknow other pilots - it helps if you can get lecor-r-rlnended frorn one glolrp of

pilots to another." Yet, even

if

a

Éaovel'nn-ìent says yes to KatsLl',s feqLlest

to fly in theil rnilitar-y jets, it is the pilots tl'iemselr,es who actr-rall1, þ2vs the last wold.

"Usr-rally, I try to cleal u,ith the pilots filst, to discnss wl-rat I want to

orchestrates tlie aerial pl-rotogfaphic is always my nunbel one concern. If the pilots feel tl-rat you're dzrngerous you'11 never have a ch:rnce to fly with ther-r-r i've been doing this for a long tirne and I knou, r,vhat they can clo, and lvl'iat the1. 6¿¡'¡. To captule these planes on film is cliffelent from normal flying, bnt I never ask them to clo an¡hing

balletwhich follows. "Safety

stupid.

"Before every flight

I

spend an

hour detailing to the pilots everything

I want, how I s/ant them to fly.

Everything fron-r take off tq landing."

At tìr¡res Katsu's jet flies as close as one

in

his

of choice

are

metre from other fighters formation.

I(atsu's cameras

Nikon, Canon and Pentax. "If I'm flying

in fonnation I take two camelas. If you're productive yoll can take r]]aybe five rolls But if your're flying solo, and

clo, and find a suitable timing. Tl'ren I

deal with tl-re headquartels."

Katsu feels that the golden age of air'-to-air pl'rotoglaphy may encl dr-re to cost festraints.

"In the late 1970s, it u'as easy to fly n,ith tl-re An-rericans, and I was able to lear-n many things at that time. Evely lirne Illele was a nlilitlr)/ x¡r exer( jse n'ith the US Ail Force, they would be happy to pLlt a photo-journalist in the

back seat of the ailclaft. That was tl'ieil policy. Becanse if the photojoulnalists couldn't fly, they couldn't rlake a detailed report and the US Air Force was vely conscious of pr-rblic l'e1ations. "

Tl-rat

policy, however',

encled abrr-rptly in early 1980s. Nøith the Cold

\ú/ar over', military accountants l-¡ecame ûìore a\vare that it costs

If ;zcru're in a 1oo¡> erzerytl-rinÉl loose qzill be hr,rded aror-rncl tl-re cockpit qzith slre'àt force

the technical side. "i like to lneet people when I [ravel. Even the

negotiations to convince the

autliorities to fly me is son-rething I enjoy It's a challenge. It's lr-iuch mole interesting to fly rvitl-r diffelent people than jr-rst different ahcnft "Eacli countly has diffelent types of pilots. The American pilots al'e very n'ruch like the image in tlie Top Gun filn'i, especially the Air Force. T1-rey are vel'y proud of theil wolk. The

Flench ancl Itâlians are rnore intel'ested in the pliotography. If

makes a big difference."

Though Katsu has witnessed fatal air crashes involving pilots who were friends, he has no fears and says that the pilots he flies with are among the best in the wor'ld.

No matter how n-ruch he's flown, Katsu still gets a tl-rlill out of being the vely first to photoglaph a new aircraft.

"In 1990 I pl-rotographed the Soviet Air Force in the air for the first time l-rad

clone it before, at least no non-Russi¿rn

fol

What's cooking

tl-rey've heald of yotu'nalne they treat yoLl as a professional equal. But in the States, if you're not a pilot . . . Well. It

and that r'"'as exciting. Nobody

thele will be a lot of invelted and negative Gs, I only take one cafirera.

Otherwise, if you're in a loop ever)/thing loose will be hulled aronnd the cockpit with great folce. " Large format cameras are only

seerns to relish the hr-tman aspect of his work as lliuch, if not rlore, thzrn ¿Llso

photographer."

So far, the only countryw4-rich has reflrsed Katslr's request to photograpl i their aircraft in action has been China.

"I applied for permission from the Chinese embassy in Tokyo, before going to the Zhr-rhai Air Show They never leplied "

KatsLr sometimes

accepts

con'irnercial ailclaft clients sucl-i

as

Boeing. "Tl'ie difference witl'r photographing airlinefs is tl'iat you firove arollnd tl-rem - you go nnder and over - r-rsually in a small jet, like the T-37 trainel'." He admits that it

O

;nå'

I " i;i,"ï," : fl ;;'; "".i sornetimes feel as though you are working in a vacuum. The food plepaled in the kitchen is intended to please the people in the restallrant, but because yol.r're in amongst the stoves rather- than ottt amongst the tables, you selclom get to gauge the reaction at the time. For this reason we're very dependent on what people tell us about tl-ieir dining

too strong to lift tl're mirror. " Because he only works in good s/eather and flies at the san-ie speeds as his subjects no special higl-r-speed fihn is reqr-rired.

hardly colrpares with captuling

that we can clo something abor,rt, br,rt

figl'rters on filn-r. "Actually, evetybody can fly alongside an airline ancl take pictr-rres. They don't neecl me to do

n-iost

'ù(/l'iat does it feel like to dive at near slrpersonic speeds? "I hat¡e to say, it's cluite different from a rollel'coaster ride Tl-re pull of gravity is continuons and tr-ruch strongel'. It's

that."

smile. "If just one person says n(),

llot

then it's no."

Once pelrrt

But it's still fun."

horl,errer,

ission is given,

it is largely

Katsu u,'ho

as

colrfortable

as a

l'oller-coaster'.

Despite his enthr,rsiastl for

modern aviation technology, Katsl-l

easier - yor.r can do everything fron-i a

cl'iairl"

@

of food is valiety.

different responses - but both of thern

Some problems are easy to rectify. If you order a steak done medium and it comes back medium rare, that's easy to fix. It can be cooked more. By all means send it back and we'll sort it olÌt as quickly as we can, br,rt the most common complaint in may restalrrants is that food is being overcooked, and we tly hard to avoid that. As a lule of thumb we cook meat and fish. just a little over mediulr'i rare - if you urant it closer to medium orweil done, just tell us.

If you have views yolÌ want to air there are rraLious ways of letting us know what they are. I'm aronncl the club a lot and I'm always prepared to listen to what anybody has to say. The best way thougl-r is to fill in tl'rose collment cards. That gives r,rs sornething in black and white to react to. It's your club and we need yor-rl feedback. If you really l-rave enjoyed son'rething - or- íf yotr haven't - q/hy not fill in a comment

in different ways are helpftrl.

'We

need to know what you think.

You can't please everyone all the time, but we do try to please most of you most of the time, and all of you at least some of it. If you do have special request or pleferences

for you is that there is no accounting

people like the food, hardly anybody tells you. Curiously enough the same is true wl-ren they don't. In just over

been qlrite varied. Some ane

for taste. If you don't like son'rething

corlplirentsr solrle are complaints

that doesn't necessarily mean there is anything objectively wronfl with it.

of them take the form of

people's personal opinions about the

way food sl-rould be.

That's fine, but the truth is that

One of the most colrflr.lon cornplaints in any restaurant is tl'rat sornething has been plepaled "the wrong \ /ay". Very often that is the

of Tl-re Collespondent s/ere a classic example of that - one member'

opinion, not an objective assessrnent. \ü/e still want to heal that view, but evely chef has a style, and whatever' tl're dish no two kitchens are Éloing to prepal'e it tl'ie same way. Tl'ie CaesalSalad here will not be the sarie as at

was enthusiastic about the clianges made in tl're Main Dining Room over'

any othel restalrrant in town, but that doesn't lnean that any of those

no two people have exactly tl-re sarne tastes on seasoning, pr-esentation,

or even the tetlperature food is selrred at. Two letters in the last issr-re

salads are necessarily flawed - they're diffelent, ancl a big part of the joy

jr-rst

restaLlrant, same rrrenu, totally

Mind yor: the con'iments have

Years of wolking in restaurant kitchens has taught me that when

bnleaucracy," Katsu laments. "Yotr have to apply first to the embassy.

Then the er-r'ibass1, 6e¡¡2çts the foreign

Occasionally, KatsLl Tokr,rnaga even pl-rotoglaphs aircraft on the ground, as he once <lid as a boy in Tokyo. "It's not nearly as exciting as air-to-ail- photography, but it's a lot

Same

five montl'rs in the club I've had fewer than 20 comments cards.

experlences.

"gentle flying" KatsLr notes. "If you fly at more tItan4.5 Gs, the shutter won't wolk bec¿ruse the gravitational folce

pl'ess centl'e. Tl]en tl're press officer' l-ias to contact tl-ie Departr-r'ient of State, ancl tlie State I)epartment contacts the l)epartment of l)efence. There s about 20 people in the chain, ancl evel'yone lias to sa1. ye.s, says Katsu u,'ith a grirn

to like any of them.

we want to know about them, and we can handle a few con'rplaints. If you l'iave a problem with a clish, then call the waiter over and say so.

If we can fix it we wil1. If it needs replacing, we'll replace it. \Øe want you to eat food that yolr like, but one thing to bear in n'iincl q,hile we're trying to produce that

tl-rousands of dollars evely tilne even a single jet fighter goes up "In tl-re States now there's a lot of

is

the last feq' months, anotl'rel didn't

seem

October 7L)9f THE

CoRRISPoI\IDENT

of tl're best looking antiqnarian u-orks on Hong Kong I f-iaIe yet seen. ancl I hope he hzrsn't lost sales to the kind of

Hacker takes on history

icliot that

Reviewed by Robin Lynam

ale cellrin crrllings abotrl ftr.,.

I u'lr¡cll tlre crllecl cìo wellro keep

if

tl'iey wisf i to renain part of tl're

con\/e1'sation

at cocktail

par-ties.

Inspector of taxes is one of these Rat catcl'iel' is another, ancl u'ell up in tl're

pantheon,I'm afraid,

is

local l'ristorian.

The local historian stancls in lelation

to the leal histor-i:rn in lor-rghly tl-re relation of a Chr-rr-ch of Englancl lay pr-eachel to the Alchbisl-rop of Canterbtrry. Knou'n for' 1-ris \\'o1'1n's e 1 e view of tl'ie past and

Hâving rlade the transition from artist n-ho writes a bit to li.ritel who occasionally cloes a bit of art ol design, Artl-ur is to be congratulated on harrinÉl learnecl the important lesson thzrt 1'ou c¿rn't sencl good matelial lound too lnany t1lnes.

There is a certain amottnt of overlap in dre content of these trl,'o books blrt it is r"'ell worth har.ing both of then an)-\ ra\'. Notq.'ithstanding its title Arthut" Haclaer's

'úanchai is leally

his passionate lnslstence on

a

mini history, of Hong Kong as a vn-hole q'itl'i a

special emphasis on that nebulously

talking endlessly ¿rbout its minntiae,

he is ¿rhlost aln'ays bestavoided. Unless

bounclecl area.

\ü'/anchai bargill u,itl-r the healt of gold rnay u.ell be impossible to find today, but the "Angels of W'ancl'rai" dr-rling tl-re Second Vor'ld W'ar were cleally laclies of ¿r different stalnp. They have an hononrable place in the storl u,'hic1'r Arthul dr,rly alots them. He spends, per-haps, a little mol'e tirne on the Suzie \íong br-rsiness than a local reader' wor-rld q,ish, but tliis book is publishecl

asons fol this. One is

-1

R,rrr .l)/ror1r¡rr,¡riri. Ilooftl

n-ryths u,ill

quality

fol a hi.stolian and Philip

Bol.'r'ing u'ill doubtless be glateful fol justice clone to his ancestor', Sir Jol'in, and his Gleat Prava

finally looks set to becorle a realiq..

On the whole

,,l'1lI I860.

althor-rgl'r

fzrir'l1'

eady stage

in

- will r'ecognise the tone and content of his books. They reacl like good conr.ersation, and ale packed

with obscure yet

interesting infolr-nation presentecl u.ith eng¿rging

goocl hur-r-ronr HarrinÉ{ a sense of httt-t-lottr is one t1-re

qualities tliat sets Arthur apart

of his

tlainspottir-rg colrntel'pal'ts Eacl-r of these books offel's ser.eral lar-rghs pel page, along

flor-r-r r-r-rost

point

u.ith nuggets of painstalcingll' gleaned and unr-rtterably' obscure information which, rathelthankillthe subjectstone clezrd as is r,rsna11.v the case, somehos' bring it to life THE CORRf,SP0NIIENT Ocrober 199-

Al'thr-rl rl'r'ites

of the players in

Hong Kong and \ù/anchai's past - from Gor,'efno|s to pirates to baf girls - as thor-rg1-r

he hacl knon'n

tl'ren-r all

Press Club nevel'\\'ent bankr-r:pt is one of tü,'ancl-iai's most insolllble m)'steries

It is not only in existence todal'but

Hong I(ong

personally. In the case of a felr. of the last lot quite clear'ly he l-rad. He begins u.ith the Stone Age and ends r-ith his cantious pledictions for tlie year 2010.

Pliol to citing 13 possible scenarios for tl-re futr-u'e

he offels us "Hacker's Lau.":

'Vhater.'el 1,ou pledict abont Hong

Kong's fr-rtule u'ill be n'r-onp¡'. That at least is alnost certainly corl'ect.

His rlzrin concel'n l-iou'er.'er is the past, ancl here he puts a fe\\'common misconceptions in their place. The

is

- and tl-rat he gets the title of zr poem by Alexander Pope wrong on paÉle 110, but doubtless this is because the British Council's copv of the great Ar.rglrstan's Collected Poems llzls l'tcen s¡ippetl to Hanoi.

Having made his caleer shift Artliur has steaclfastly reftrsed to get invoh,.ed in tlie design of his books, but sensibly made an exception for' Hong Kot'tg' A Rare Pbotogrøphic RecorcJ of the 1860s The result is one

sctil.orc

taking

hct¡tp1,

RÌgltl: The Qtreett o.f tbe Winner Bcn in Iuard Ro¿tcl Silk scrcen ¡nint b.1'

Arlhttr Hacker. 1987

jimrlla, ancl looks like it" - and fen' coulcl argue witl-r his cìescription of Sir'

little suspect on page 107 - "\ú'hy the

flor-rlishing"

Anterictnt

Fu

Nol'man Fostel"s Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Bnilcling as an "offshore on-shore oil rig" bttt I har¡e to t:rke issne with l-ris praise of I ÀI Irei's Bank of China as '.splenc1icl" Of al1

will annoyhim, tl'iat his plescience is a

the

er.ening

of

I u''i11

out to the author, simply because it

Top.

stl.tps it1 Lockhcn'l Rr¡ctcl. 1966

desclibes as "Hong Kong Electric's depressing sub-station' rt4ricl-i now

and meticulous on

er.er chattecl to

r-nore colourfr-rl episodes

rragnificent o riginal Zetland Hal1, once just donrn the roacl fi'ou tl-re Club. to argr-re tl-iat u'hat Arthr,tr col'rectl)¡

ir-r-rplor.ement.

He also makes se nse on buildings sncl-i as Gor¡ernt-nent Hor-Lse 'rebttilt ì 11- a,Japanese railu.:r)¡ engineer, Seichi

the small details,

hin-r

On the v4role I an-i in s)rmpathy with this version of the man It would be difficult for any sensible person looking at Sir Geor-ge Clevell)''s

occupies the site is any kincl of

book is sound on the big pictr-rre

bal about the

fire earll'

tl-re

Kong. Anyboclyu,'lio has

ideally at a

photograpl

contelllpol'a1fr

reaclers less fanriliar'

Fair n-rindedness is an irpofiant

trs, is Arrìrur'. tllc otìrel rs that his sr-rbject is Hong

of this locale's histoly -

Territolies, The book is n'orth having for the

\X/anchai's best-knou,'n tale.

that Arthur', God help

alor-rncl the

tl-ie cir.ic br-rildings of the ela deplessingl), feu' of u'hich fiaye snn.ived - to days zit the laces ancl lillage houses out in tl-ie Neu'

plesr,rmably u.ant to knou,'mol'e abor-rt

in the UK and

n'ith Hong Kong's

HONG KONG

Thel'e al'e t$'()

This book presents excellent reprocluctions of a fine set of \-ictorian albr-rr-nen prints - r'eac1 the intl'odr-tctior-i to fìnc1 out lr,hat this neans - and offels a fascinatingglin-rpse into zìspects ollile in ealll r'olonìallristolr langing fi'om panorarlas of tl-re l-ralbolrl and

is alone - sot'ne .surplisinp¡l1r photoÉaraphers appar:ently r-n¿rde tl-ieir'üra)/ oLrt east - but the real jo)' for ue is Arthur s colÌlmentarJr en face, He re r'r'e al'e introchrced to Hacker the critic of al'chitecture , ântiqLre and

Schen-ie u'hich

of conrse f-ie is Artl-rur Hacker'. re

books accolcling to

publishing only a softback edition

Hong l{ong: A Rare Plroto Recold of the 186Os t>y Arthr- r Hacker, rX/attis Fine Art Arthl r Hacker's \X/anchai by Arthr,rr Hacker, Odyssey

qr-riet

r-¿rh,res

the clensity of tl-ieil co\/ers b)

s abundance of ugly effiçs builclings, that one still str'ikes rne as tbe single biggest blot on a tortr,u'ed

r-rlban landscape

Botl'r of these books are cìesigned to be easr. to pick up. clip into ancl set clou'n again Actnalltt u,hat Arthul has come Lrp r.itl-i are page turner-s I leacl tlrror-rgl-r t\\'o at a singìe sitting and I sLrspect )'oLt

\\'ill probabll'do the szulle

Both zrre available fi-on'r tlie

.

FCC

reception clesk

@

7bp: A grouþ ol cill tbe tI

i Lfe

renl

Co

nl trcLclores

en tp I o.)'e(l b-y Eu rol te cnt

Hongs. nr Hottg Kcntg Rrgltt:

Itt

1B9B ll:¡ere tt,ere

645 riclesha.us otr Hcntg Iior tg Islcr ttcl'l u)ent-l' J)ect rs lctter tbere u,ere ot'er 2 000 October 1991 THE

CoRRf,SPOIIIIIEI{T

THE FCC BOOK 1997 . EYEWITNESS ON ASIA - UP TO 1997 AND BEYOND . 248 PAGES .614 IMAGES . A COLLECTORS' ITEM

+E-TT#TC*

t;

* -t-Æ

{

Jim Bennett

,i

Award-winning TV newsman

s

-d

A it",.",r ingintlrct S\arydrrling l. \V',-.rr'ld \\'rl llas a grrnrìrr's nì:rtc

. CHRIS PATTEN BEAR W|TÍ\¡ESS

To THE lI{TEGRITY OF PROMISES FOFìEWORD. BARRY GFìINDROD FROM C¡-IUNGKING TO HONG KONG FORD REPRESENTINGA PROFESSION, ACAPSULE HISTORYOFTHE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS'CLUB.ALBERTRAVENHOLT/ASHLEY NOT A MOB THE LAST SURVIVOR OFTHE FCC I.OUNDERS RECOUNTS THE CLUB.S EARLY YEARS. KEVIN SINCLAIR EDDIE TSENG: OT{E oF THE FrRST TELEGRAN/S FBOM THE FRoNT LtNE'DEREK DAVrs MEMoRIES oF JoHN le cnRnÉ THE FCc AND THE HoNoURABLE SCHOOLBOY . SAUL LOCKHART TI-IE FCC'S FINEST HOUR RESCUING A VIETNAMESE JOURNALIST FRO|V HONG KONG'S. REFUGEE CANIPS . WALTER LOGAN MY EVENING WITH ZI.IOI,,' ENLAI MAO TAI WITH THE REVOLUTIONARIES . AL KAFF PING.PONG DIPLOMACY RICHBURG WHENCHINAOPENEDITSDOORS.JAMESIVILESWHEREWEWEREWRONGCOVERINGTIANANIVENSQUARE.KEITHB EIVIBRACING FOREIGN BABES CHINA WARY OF CROSS.CULTURAL DATING. BUT DELIGHTS IN TV SHOW. PËTER SEIDLITZ NO FUTURE, BUT QUITE HAPPY CHINA FEPORTING . KABIN I\4ALMSTFìOM FORKED LOGIC, TWISTED TONGUE ESSENTIAL JOURNO-SPEAK FOR GREATER CHINA HACKS . KARL WILSON JUNK tsAY THE KUO[/INTANG WERE HERE " PHILIP BOWRING TIINES OF TRANSITION FACING A FED.CHJP FUTUBE . ARTHUR HACKER TAKING POSSESSION OF POSSESSION STBEET THE CHALLENGE TO FIND POLITICALLY CORBECf STREET.NAMES . HANS VRIENS A TALE OF TWO HONGS HONG KONG'S FIF1ST OPIUIVI-TRADERS ARE HOSTAGES TO THE FUTUREAND PFISONERS OFTHE PAST. STEPHEN VINES JOURNALISM IN HONG KONG COLONIAL PFESS FREEDOMSTHOUGH LIN4ITED WILL BE LOST. EI\¡ILY LAU 1997.A OUESTION OF FIONOUB HOW BRITAIN IS CHEATING HONG KONG.VAUDINE ENGLAND HONG KONG'S GANG OF FOUR WOMEN IN THE COLONY'S POLITICS.ANDREA KOPPEL HONG KONG JOUFNALISTS AFTER'9T INTEBVIEWWITH LU PING. DIRECTOR OF HONG KONG AND I\4ACAU AFFAIFS OFFICE. MANTIN C M, LEE SELF.CENSOBSHIP IS THE SILENT ENEMY AND ANOTHEF WORD FOR FEAR. CLARE HOtt|NGWORTH FRONT LINE MY BAPTISN/ OF FIBE: OUTBREAK OF WORLD WAR ll . ANTHONY LAWRENCE FBOM OUR OWN COREBSPONDENT IHE LONELINESS OF A LONG DISTANCE RADIO REPORTEF . PETER ARNETT ENROUTE TO ASIA HOW I WALKED INTO JOURNALISIvI . TIZIANO TEBZANI A DEAFENING SILENCE SAIGON'S LAST DAY. JON SWAIN RIVER OF TIME CAN/BODIAN DREAMS AND NiGHTMARES.JONATHAN SHAFP DOTS, DASHES ANDTHE DAWN DIP SON4E OFTHE MODÊS AND WOËS OF COMMUNICATIONS IN THE PRE-COMPU'IER AGE . SANDRA BUFTON WATCHING MARCOS FALL THE GBAVITY OF HISTOBY. RODNEY TASKEF BRINGING DOWN A DICTATOFSHIPWATCHING THE GENERALS.TONY CLIFTON TODAV'S YOUNG JOURNALISTABESO DAMN SERIOUSTHE LEGACY OFWOODWARD AND BERNSTEIN. PETER CHARLESWORTH IN SEAFCH OFTHE BIG PICTURE BEWABE OF PHOTO EDITORS WITH VISIONS. ERICH FOLLATH NOW IT IS OUR TURN INTERVIEW WITH MALAYSIA'S PRIME IVlINISTER MAHATHIR MOHAMAD . PHILIP BOWI]ING PRESS FREEDOM PUT YOUR IVONEY WHERE YOUR IIOUTH IS . RICHARD HORNIK THE LIMITS OF CONFUCIANISM WHAT ABE THESE ASIAN VALUES? . STUART WOLFENDALE ASIA'S THFIVING MONARCHICAL BUSINESS WHERE FAITH IS MORE THAN THEYSAW THEYRECOLLECTED ABAO FANTASY.DAVIDGAFCIATI-IEFCCONTOURMISSTIBE-TANDENLIGHTENMENT.THEYCAME CHI REUNION TWO DECADES ON . VAUDINE ENGLAND CONVERSATIONS BEHIND THE BAR THE SFNIOB STAFF OF THE FCC . FCC PFESIDENTS . FCC GUESTS . FCC MEMBERS .. FI'iOTOS FROlv4 THE FCC ARCHIVES . EDDIE ADAI\IS . JOSEPH BECK . JACK BIRNS .

WERNER BISCHOF. LARRY BURROWS. FOBERT CAPA . PTTER CHARLESWORTH . RAY CBANBOURNE. BOB DAVIS. GREG DAVIS .

RICHARD DOBSON.TERRY DUCKHAM. HUGH VAN ES.JOHN GIANNINI. GREG GIFARD " GERHABD JOREN. KEES. STEVEN KI']IPP. JAN tAN,lBERT. LEONG KATAI . ROBIN MOYER. ROBERT NG. BASIL PAO. DANTE PERALTA. ROBERT PICCUS. KYOICHI SAWADA. SIEPHEN SHAVER . DAVID THURSTON . C, TILLYER. PETEB TURNLEY. N4ICHAEL WOLF. EDWARD WONG .. PUBLISHED BY STEFAN BEISNER & 151 RESCHKE.THEFOREIcNOORRESPONDENTS'CLUB 2LOWERALBEFTROAD,HONGKONG.PHONE+8522521 FAX +852 2868 4092.. EDITED BY PAUL BAYFIELD. VAUDINE ENGLAND. SAUL LOCKHARï AND HUBERT VAN ËS

KAI

1

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS OFFER HK$250.00 AVAILABLE FROM FRONT OFFICE FOREIGN CORHESPONDENT'S CLUB 2 LOWEB ALBERT ROAD, HONG KONG

Gez6-ree7)z

:rboard the clestroyer llSS Rensh:rw in the South Pacific,Jin'i tser-rnett re tLrrnecl toJackson Higli Scl-rool, r'her-e he got 1-ris first taste of jour:nzrlism as a repol'tel' for tl-ie scl-iool ne\vspaper.

After' leaving tl're lJnivelsity of Rochester NY in the eady 50s 1-re embarked on hrll-tilne journalism, first repofiel' on tl-ie S1'racuse N1- Hel ald

wzLs

alound fonr months in Slovenia to intlodnce the u,ays of a modeln

ser.el'¿il

repolting skills, he rvas

Former VOA Correspondent

follol.ecl b).the ElP¿rso (Texas) HeralcÌ Irost ancl the Los Angeles Helald Exar-ninel'

Jor-rrna1,

It

leputJt¡()n lrs :t lelei isi(rn newsr'ììJn par excellence that lecl him to his final folzry' into tl-re T\- ne\1/s wars as a consultant fol CNIF (Centlal Er-u'opean ÀIedia Enterplises Gror-rp). He spent

newsrooln to tl-re st¿rff of POP-TV .filli cliecl of czrncer, leaving behind liis r.ife Bevel'l), claughtel Clzrr-rdia, sons Scott and Nlatthew ancl :r gleat rranlr f¡lg¡cls arouncl tl-re globe

2rs 2ì

thele, alter l.inning

awaLcls for his

Emn-r1'Au,ard for his sclipt fol a PBS clocr-rrrentaly Et'tuit"ot'nnental Heroes.

In the spling c>f 1996 it was his

offeled a job as ne\v.s corresponclent fol I{NBC-T\', a local affiliate of NBC. NBC sent .|irn to Sc¡r-rth East Asia in 1968, url-iele he correr-ed the \/ietnan-r fol ser.eral )re ars Dlrling tl'ris time he u'as "poacl-recl' b,v ABC Nerrn-s ancl

'W'ar

rlovecì to Hong I{ong with his farnily,

s'fiere he joinecl the FCC ]n 1973.

He cor.elecl tl-ie region for ABC, inclr-rcling ser¡eral stints in Beirr-rt ch-rr-ing that li.ar', till he ancl his family leturnecl

to tl-ie US in L9la After' his retlrrn he became Execntir;e Neu's Dir-ectol for \X-GHP-TV in Higl-r Point, NC, n'hiclr \\'as not exzrctll,'tl-re high point ir-r l-ris life . He left then-i to join \íINK-T\'(a CtsS affiliate) in Fort N{vers, }'lc¡rida, ancl br,rilt their news department intc) the best in the le¡¡ion.

He retir-ed in 1989, br-rt couldn't quite give it all up, so he helped several smallel'TY stations to spl'Llce up tl-reirl-ieurs ciepaltllìents, till he becalle "Lee Counq. Public lnfor llation,/Film Liaison Officer" in Fort Nl)¡ers. He again triecl tcr "r'etire", but for,rncl himself t'r'iting and conslrlting for the filu plodr,rctior.r colrpan)' of an olcl fi'iend He \\-on an

.

Jím Miller writes: Of the olcl colrespondents corps that in the 1970s gatlierecl faithfr-rlly at the FCC e ach clal' zrndiornigl-rt, I seem to be the onl1'one q,ho in lecent)/ears spent considerzrble

time *'ith

Bennett. tl-ansferlecl fi'on-r Neu,l)elhi to take overtl-re Hong Kong VOA bureau ancl w¿ts introducecl tcr Jin-r

In I97i I r.as

-|in'r on n'ry filst r.'isit to the Club. \X¡e soon bec¿rme close friencls.The filst stol),'\\'e correrecl together s/as Indian PÀ{

Indila Gandhi's failed re-election

bid Then u,e.*.eLe in Ralr,alpindi after Pakis¡¿rni PÀ{ Zr-rlfikalAli Bhutto locked

up al1 opposition leadels in Islamabad.

a

house

ir-r

\(/e rvel'e staying at the lnterContinental. Jim and I enteled the lift one evening to fincl oulselves in the

colnpany of tl-ie

Iril of Pizarro, a

rnerctirial political ancl spiritual leacler', u'ho lvas a boyl'iood lriencl of Bhutto.

He, in l-iis in-rmaculate lr,'l-iite suit and tr-rlbzin, u,'as sipping a cl-rocolate maltecl He tolcl us that he u'as being

helcl plisoner', r-rnclel gr-rald

ancl

told me to tlu'n on

1ny

recorclel and he

wolrld delirrer an impol'tant

lnesszìge

to the worlcl. I ciicl and lie shouted into

rnicropl-ione, "Bhutto is a t'eal nr-tt".

His final n ords to r.rs were, "Bhuttcr will be hanged". He u.or-rld be pr-or.ed, of course, absolutely correct Jir-r-r zrnd tl-ie

I held or,rr colnposlrre until we told hir-r good nigl-rt, got off, ancl tl-ren br-oke down laughing for a long tilne Jin-r zrnd Ber,erl) l'eturnecl to the States in 7977 md I in 1978. \y'e soon

le-established contact. In 1981 I retiled to the Florida Kevs at about the sarne time l-re became News l)irector of t1-re CBS-TV station in Folt Nl_vers He began to r.isit n-re regularly to escape the rolrtine. \X/e u'ould go deep-sea fìshing in the Gulf Stleam ol'u'alk the beach About four,vears ago he called n-re to say l-re hacl prostate cancer ancl s.'as unclergoing cliemotl-rerapy. Aftel a fer'r,' nonths tl-ie situation seenecl to be undel contlol. Last 1.s¿¡ he phonecl tcr

sal llrc ( Jn( er'\\ JS tlllcxlcning lgain.

Tl-ien last Apl'il he carle o\¡er to spend

a u.eek ancl u'as \¡eÐ/ Lrpbeat. Thr: doctors hacl advised him he u'as better.

Three montlis later Rev callecl tcr say -Jirrr lr.ishecl to speak to rr.re He soltndecl terribll. r¡'s¿¡ .tcl rl.as heayily seclatecl. He gar.e me the bacl neu.s His doctol's l-r¿rd found a separate principal cancer, tl-r:rt 1-rad ah'eacly' spleacl fi'on-r kidnel.s to h-rngs to liver' I asked him r¡'h¿rt else I're n'as told and he szrid that with h-rck he had about a ),ear- Thlee weeks later f-ie died. .lirrr's lrrirlcssionrtlisnl solììelilìlcs r-nacle hir-r-l seen-i gn-rff zrnd clen-randing,

it al1 he u'as a pr,rshor.el u,'ith a big he alt. I knou'tl-iat, ancl I shall miss hin-r. br-rt r-lnder-ne¿,rth

@

restricted to the hotel b1'Bhr-rtto He

TEL:.2521 1511 FAX:2868 4092 r-lrtrrlrur

ì99-

THE CORRf,SPOI{DEI{T

rl

¡

CanOn 10/F.,

Canon Hongkong Company Limited

M¡rrorTower,61 Mody Bd., Kowloon, Hong Kong

Tel: 2884 77BB Fax: 2568 8505 email. Krol.lasia@attmail com

Services/Products:

Stephen G Vckers Senior Managing Director Managing Director (Operations) David W Holloway

Canon cameras and v¡deo camcorders

Sole D¡stributor: JOS Consumer Electronics

Marketing

Address:21lF, Comwall House, Ta¡koo Place,979 Klng's Rd, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong Senior

l\y'anager

N/rAlbert

Assistant Product lvlarketing

KROLL ASSOCIATES (ASIA) LIMITED 906-91I Mount Parker House, llll King's Road, Taikoo Shing

lvlanager

EØ.ãË

Chan

l\ils Louise

Wong

Co-ordinator

Services:

Yasmin R Shaker

2565 2008

Internarional Risk Management Consultants I nte rnational C o rp o rate Inv e stig alo rs

2565 2007

Wo

rldw ide

B us ine s s I nte IIi g ence

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Macäu Government lnformation Services I

Tel: 853-332887 853-332886

For Hong Kong trade statistics, information and

Fax:853-336372

analys¡s, fast, call TDC's Media Communications

lnternational Section at2584-4333 Ext 7489.

Corporate Communications Coryorate Affaiß

Stephen W.

Manager

Officer

1,

lnternet: Http://www.macau.gov,mo E-mail: lnfo@macau,gov.mo

Clerk

Pun Kenmy Y¡p

lrene

2524 5031 2842 4704

Assistant Public Relations Marketing

Manager

Communications

Jessica Chan Enquiry : 2564 9333

Direct

Fax

2842 4629

: 2564 9309 : 2856 5004

lnchcape Pacific Lim¡ted is the Greater China regional arm of lnchcape, the international distribution group

lxi*onl

Shriro

(H.K)

2/F, Hutchison House, Central, Hong Kong Tel: 2524 5031 Fax: 2810 6586 lnternet: http://www,shriro.com

Director Manager

Manager Phillip Bruce Manager Terri Lai Enquiries (24 hours)

Public Relations Media Relat¡ons

28247700

Media

28247152

Sole agent of Nikon cameras, Hasselblad cameras, Linhof cameras, Elinchrom

ROBIN LYNAM - Features on travel, food, wine and spirits, music and literature. Speeches and corporate copy writing also undedaken Tel:2827 2873 Fax:2827 2902 MICHAEL MACKEY - Writer + Researcher, Politics, Economics & Business Tel: 2559 6037 Fax: 2575 3860 MELINDA E. PERSSON - Copywriting, proofreading & editing Tel. 2527 9970 Fax. 2528O720 EDWARD PETERS - Features, Travel, Profiles, Research. Many Asia Pacific photos Tel: 2328 2553 Faxi 2328 2554 E-mail :edpeters @ netvigator.com STEFAN REISNER - freier Korrespondent für deutschsprachige Medien Tel: 2982 0989 Fax: 2982 6048 E-mail:sreisner@asiaonline.net CHARLES WEATHERILL -Writer, Literary Services, Researcher Tel: 2524 1 901 pager: 7 3OO 7 37 3 E-mai : charlesw @ netvag itor.com STUABT WOLFENDALE - Writer and columnist Tel: 2804 1925 Fax: 2804 1975 Los Angeles (1-818) 405 0879

Ground Floor, 18A Stanley Street, Central, Hong Kong.

Tel : 2526-0123 . Fax : 2524-9598 Managing Director Johnny Lee Lam Yan Hung Shop Manager 6o¡ot Enlargement

Terry Duckham/Asiapix Te!.25729544 Fax. 2575 8600 e-mail: asiapix@ hk.linkage.net

Blitz Video Works Ltd. François Bisson Director / Cameraman

I

FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHERS

0887 Fax: 2866 221 2 E-mai I : bobdavis @ netvi gator.com JOHN GIANNINI - News, people, travel, commercial TeL2541 254O Fax.2541 4954 E-mail: giannini@fcchk.org

Crews, Transport, Fixers & equipment hire: Betacam Sp EFP/ENG Rigs in PAL & NTSC Mini DV in PAL & NTSC - Lighting, Sound ++

Phone/Tax: (852)25709722 Mobile: 9097 2766

rq/ cranb.¡rne pl-otography

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EDITORTAL . CORPORATE . INDUSTRIAL

Advertising, Portrait, Corporate, Still-life

Ray Cranbourne Photography Ltd.

l7 Old Bailey St., l/F, Central. Hong Kong Tel: 2.530-4812/2541-6300 Fax: 2536 4214 Mobile:90995056

YY Mansion, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 25248482 Fax: (852) 2526'7630

Developing Hong Kong's new airport at Chek Lap Kok

ARTHUR HACKER FCC L997 T-SHIRT

TRAVEL NETWORK LTD.

Contact Angelica Cheung or Mark Graham Tel: (852) 2191 743112191 9107 Fax: (852) 2191 1431 E-mail: angelica@asiaonline.net / mrg@asiaonline.net

Function;

u"

No 3sro86

HK$

L20.

00

This classic piece of Hacker memorabilia now ayailable directly from the FCC

MYANMAR.YANGON NIGHTS PACKAGE T997

NEWS Include: . Roùnd trip economy class air ticket on Ì\Iyânmar Airwâys International . One and half daJ optionaì tour'3 nights hotel accommodâtion ât your cho¡ce rvith daily Amer¡can breakfast . Roûnd trip Yangon Àirport-Hotel transfer. Myanmar Toursit visa . Hong Kong A¡rporl

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security service charge

Any enquiry or booking please contact: Gigi / Alene At our hotline: 2845 4545 I 2368 8231

Rm 1006, HK Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Road, Wanchai Tel: 281'7'7611 Fax: 2817 1618

E-maìl : Newsasia@asiaonline.net

CAMERA CREV/S. EDITORS. EDITING SATELLITE FACILITIES PRODUCERS. FIXERS PACKAGED STORIES . LIBRARY FOOTAGE Contact: Vivian McGrath

THE CORRXSPONIIEI|T October. 1997

Editorial Features, Advertising, Corporate and Commercial Photography throughout S.E. Asia and the Pacific

Feature writing, fixing for overseas media, colloquial interpretation (English, Cantonese, Mandarin) photos and photo sourcing.

4 DAYS / 3

Digital Retouching & Output

Tel:2851 0493 Fax:2815 2530 E-mail: ¡hc@netvigator.com

THE

COLOR SIX LABORATORIES LTD.

.

ARTHUR HACKER - Auihor & Historian Tel: 2987 9043 Faxi 2987 9072 JEFF HESELWOOD - Automotive lndustry & Motor Sport Writer

FIRST WORD MEDIA CONSULTANCY

2824 7705

P,L. Poon Jimmy Wan

studio flash system, Epson LCD portables TV Agent of Epson multi-media projector

Services: Film Processing

DAVID THURSTON - News, people, wacky digital podraits for 1997 Tel: 2524 4381 Fax: 2525 O77 4 E-mai I : th u rston @ asiaon line.net HUBERT VAN ES - News, people, travel, commercial & movìe stills Tel: 2559 3504 Fax: 2858'1721 E-mail: vanes@asiaonline.net

96 Pokfulam Road, 1iÆ, Flat B-2

AInPORT AUTHORITY

Ltd.

Managing Senior

DAVID BAIRD - Writing, Editing, Research, Photography Tel/Fax: 27927278 E-mail: baird@asiaonline.net

Tel : 2866

Kodak (Far East) Limited

\{ +E*tn*larnea

Kodak House 1, 321 Java Boad, North Point, Hong Kong

1041

Director

Macau

7¡

lTth Floor, Standard Chartered Bank Building,4 Des Voeux Road, Central,

Corporate Affairs

Rua de S. Domingos, No.

853-574447

@ KEES

JENNIFER BOWSKILL - Specialising in portraits,fashion,events, Commercial & Corporate photography TeVFax.2547 6678 Pager:71 1 68968 #88Í18 BOB DAVIS - Advertising, corporate and editorial photography

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Photography -- News . fealures . Online TeL2547 9671 Fax. 2547 8812 E-mail: vovokees@as¡aonline.net

FREELANCE WRITERS

Providing a comprehensive serv¡ce throughout As¡a Pacif¡c

News & Feature Programming . Beta SP crews . Producers

. Journalist. Editing . Stock library . Avid Editing . Transport & Accommodation

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October 1997 TEE

CoRRXSP0IIDDIIT

FREELANCE CAMERAMEN

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FRANCOIS BISSON - 10 years in Asia PAL & NTSC Betacam rigs Documentaries, Corporates, News/Features Tel/Fax: (852) 2570-9722 Mobile: 9097-2766 RICHARD JONES - News & Corporate Video/Editing Tel: 2982 0508 Faxi 2982 1758

l/F Tien Chu Cornmercìal

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Nei I Farrin Photoglapby has been estabÌisbed in Hong Kong since 1 977, having

traveÌled worldwide on majol adveltising campaigns, hotel and colporate assignments Moreover, wehave overseasproduction contacts lorall worldwide proJects.

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FREELANCE ARTISTS

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if yon have any photoglaphic requirements

Tel:25747878

T

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ARTHUR HACKER -Ad Caftoons Design Tel. 2987904Í, Fax.29879072 GAVIN COATES - Say it with a cartoon! Tel/Fax: 2984 2783

PUBLICATIONS

Paul J. Hicks

t¡g å'SI stvplg Pxoto

vì

Associates Ltd.

Smart, young consultancy for editorial, supÞlements and the fuli range of PR services.

Currently specialising in travel and high tech areas - but we can handle anything.

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Call Paul hicks on 2804 1925 or fax2804 1915 E-mail: pjha@ asiaonline.net

ÞTP ER RET9VCh'NG

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spons publication, welcomes contributions. Also require freelance editors, sub-

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g Caribbean & Western Food Pan-Asian Cuisine & Dim Sum 3 i Bar. Live Music.Indoor & Outdoor Dining ó Opett Every Day . Ample Parking Available

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We meet informally, usually on the first

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Wednesday of each month, at the Foreign Correspondents' Club, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central, 6-8pm All women interested in the publishing industry welcome -- contact us for further details

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Investment house SBC \Øarburg Dillon Read was kind enough to sponsol' a cocktail palty for the journalists attending tl-re'ùØorld Bank/International Monetary Fund meetings. The company's hospitality was enough to lure scol'es of hacks to the Main Dining Room, including the distinguished former BBC correspondent in India, Mark Tully.

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MACAU INFORMATION BUREAU

a

The Correspondent requires freelance writers to cover the Club's lunches and

& MACAU TRAVEL TALK

speakers.

Contact Paul BayfTeld at 25412540 or fax 2527 9843

Room 307, Yu Yuet Lai Building, 43-44 Wyndham Street, Central Tel: (852) 2869-7862 Fax: (852) 2536-4244

PROFESSIONAL CONTACTS The Professional Contacts page appears every month in The Correspondent and on the FCC Correspondent web site at >http://www.fcchk.org < . Let the world know who you are, what you do and how to reach you. There has never been a better time. Listings start at just $100 per month, with a minimum of a six month listing, and are billed monthly to your FCC account.

Wigs arrd Pens called to the bat CC veterans, Michael

his furry friend, which were strictly unconnected to the pursuit of law and order, from a pencil case to ahe a d-w a rme r- cu m- s c a 1 p -

Lintern-Sn'iith and Ted Thomas convened yet another gatheringof the \X/igandPens in September.

reliever.

i

The \Øig and Pens is a branch of the London clttb on

E

!

n2ünes@$100

E

small box

@

3lines

@ $150

$300x6mths / $250x11

E

E

mths !

4lines

@ $200

E5hnes@$250

Large box @ $600x6mths / $550xllmths

Large box w/ spot colour @ $700x6mths / $600x1lmths

FCC Membership No. Company Name:

copy attached

columnist, spoke eloquently on what he imagines "A Day in the Life

The Strand which is freqnented by a group of Lawyers (\Øigs) and the Journalists (Pens). The Hong Kong \X/ig & Pen is held at

of a Judge" entails. He provided much of the audience's l'rilarity

the club's adoptive home, the FCC, every other month and

September's meeting featured

provides an opportlrnity for gLrests to engage in friendly banter, exchange gossip and enjoy a convivial glass or

two of wine.

Part of the \Wig & Pen

tradition

is

to invite speakers to carly the banner

Address:

for- each of the professional

Signature:

persuasions, and provide the evening's entefiainment in the form of anecdotes,

For more information telephone 2512 9544 or fax 2575 8600

THX CORRESPOilDENT October 1997

Graeme Mackay, a Hong Kong barrister' is no stranger to the art of witing.

Graeme did the honours for the'ùØigs

who

by speaking on what he perceives to be "A day in the life of a Journalist". ìùØhilst drawing a parallel between the legal and rnedia professions, both nse a "presentation of language in a way

satirical

which generates wealth", Gr¿reme ploduced his own wig to syrnbolise

comment often delivered at the fellow speaker's expense.

the versatility of a careel that "dispenses justice". He proposed several uses for

witty tales and the odd

Tim Harnlett, the well-known Post

South Cbina Morning

when he bravely ventured onto the subject of the cost of legal selvices in Hong Kong. Tim's final riposte was his analogy between lawyers and urban councils toilets, whichwas met with amusement - lawyers are like

Urban Council toilets: everyone knows they're there, but hopes they nevel'luve to use one.

The next meeting

will be in

will reunite to enjoy an evening of r'âppor t, socialising and dr-inks on

January when the \Øigs and Pens

the FCC's

Velandah.

October"l997 TAÍ, CORRf,SP0IllIIEIllT

E

Lefi to right. The FCC's oldest actiue ntentbets, DauicJ Roads (#00Ð, Totqt lawrcnce @006),

Gtn,Searls (1tO52) and Maruitt Farkas (#004)

Lawrence of Asia Veteran correspor-rdent lfon;z La-uzrence celebrates l-ris 85t1-ì birthd'a¡z at the ch-rl> Hundleds of FCC rnembels, including some of the international jotu'nalism in last month as the Club celeblated Anthony Lawrence's 85th birtl-iclay. Cl-iris and Lavender Patten sent their regards from France. Telegrarns por-rred in fi'om all corners of the globe frorn absent rnernbels, alnong them, Donald and Daphne \Øise, Derek Davies and I'eter Seidlitz, conrreying affection and respect for a journalist whoses dispatches frc¡m Asia over the past 35 years set the standard.

Tony Clifton, nou' 60 and still at Newsueel? where he's surlor-rnded by "childlen uùo were born afrel'I started" urged Tony to reveal his secrets. "Tony, please v'lite a booklet for the lest of us on hosr yoLr clo it," his message, relayed

by MC Ster¡e Vines, ran. "Don't botl-ier, of cor-rrse, if ;re¡,r ¡..t yor-r have to begin: 'lead a clean life and give r-rp drinking'."

It u-as Vernon Ran-i who summed it r-rp. He raised a toast to a man whotn, he declaled, would hencefortl-r be knou,n in tlie FCC and be1,o¡¿ nt cor-r'in'irrnity's rrrost venerable professionals, tuned

Photos by Aira Duckham & Hu van Es

"Lawlence of Asia" THE C0RRXSPONDENT October 1997

October' 1997 THX C0RRf,SP0IIIIEIIT

A montblJ, portrøít of FCC irrepløceøbles Local Needs.

Local Response.

Supporting educat on Protecting the environment Providing young people with

cultura and recreational ooporLuniLies.

Or

ganizing car

e

of the aged and disabled There are many ways to support Hong Kong

Forgl ongBan, is play ng rts

part Our aim is to contribute to a happy, healthy, secuTe future for everyone

rn

Hono Konq, younq and o

Guy Seads Before nost metlbets n'erc born.

Not among thc 1'or,tng ones.

Joumalist, clamn it

Nlcmber since: Age:

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