The Correspondent, April - May 1999

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THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS'

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l)iane S[orrnort President Philip Segal First Vice President Ricìrardsol Second Vice President -

in the side of China

-Jerr1,

Correspondent Member Governors Paul Bayfìclcl,Johr Cohrcl, Tinr (ì'il¡b, Rrian Jcflèries, I(ees lvf etselââr, Chrisropher Slaughter, Hnbert ran Es

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10 Photo Essay 12 Will,v Wo-Lap Lam

Journalist Member Governors Lirr I(irr-rnirrg. Ftartci. \[or iar f) Associate Member Governors \,\Ìjìliarr H Ar-esol Jr., I(evir Egan, Car l Roscrtqrrist. Stere Usì rilatna

Finmce Comittee Treasurer: \,\'illiani H Al'esol

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Professional Comittee Convenors: Liu l(inrling.. and Joìrn Colmev

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Colve¡or: Jerr)' Richardsol Membership Comittee Coulenor: HuberL val L.s F

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Multi-Media Comittee Currverror': Br irr r Jefler ies

& B and Entertaiment Committee Corlerors: I(eliu .Egal alcl Carì Roscnquist Wall Comittee Conyeno¡: HuberL van lls

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Freedom of the Press Cormittee Couveror: Francis À,IoriarLl, General Manager Robe¡t Sanders

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THI,], CORRF],SPONDIjN I'lAPRIL-NL{Y 1999

The Life and Tirnes of Graham Earnshaw

'

'

Letter to the Editor; FCC Statement Finance

-

Measuring Markets

Lunchlines l8 Peter Lilly - Britain: Recession? Etío?

20 Richard Thornburgh - Rule of lar,v 22 Derek Fatchett - Britain's \¡iew of Hong Kong 23 Andrew Sheng - A Random Walk Down the Asian Financial Crisis

Y""UReview -The Polyester Prince

2 B *u,"ring

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30

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O Cìopl,right 1999 Thc For eign Corresponclen ls' (ìlub

of Horg I(oug

The era ofJiang Zemin

2 6 oonrary - Remembering

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Impress Offset PlinLilg FacLor¡ Lirnited

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Hong Kong Journalists' Association

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Tcr ry Dnckhan, Robin Ll narn,

Detloit, Honolr.rh-r, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, San Flancisco,

it if it ain't broke?

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Photo Essay Sir \A¡illiam Purves

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The Leopold Ba¡ Bombay

conferences

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FCC Golf Society Takes Second Place

d the FCC in Pictures

Prot.ssional Contacts

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Faces

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Diane Stormont coverphotographsbyDawd thurslonandHuberfvanEs

PnnsronNT's Coruvr¡l

Diane Stormont passes on the gavel to Phil Segal from the end of May o that's it. Another FCC board draws to the end of its natural life. It's been a tumultuous year, one filled with, for want of a better word, "robust" debate. But one that, I hope, has

brought tangible benefits to the Club.

I'd like to thank the members of the 1998-99 board who have worked so hard to, among other things, transform the pool bar to Bert's, put on a superb 50th anniversary partf , refit the workroom with the latest computers kindly donated by IBM and install the new Club computer system -- no mean undertaking.

It's not just been board members who have given their time and expertise. Plenty of non-office bearers have volunteered too. Whether its sitting on the regular committees, serving on ad hoc committees for one-off events or keeping the FCC flag flying over the MacLehose Trail, all played an integral part in the successes of the past year.

And there's the unsung heroes. Bob Sanders and his team. Everyone knows the public face of the FCC - the bar staff, waiters and waitresses and the front office

paragons of virtue. But spare a thought for the backroom staff too, from the housekeeping staff, to the accounts and administrative staff to the chefs and bottle-washers. It's been a privilege to work alongside such a hard-working, cheerful and cohesive team. Long may you prosper.

It has become almost a tradition in recent years for

the outgoing board to take on its collective

shoulders any possibly controversial decision in order to give the incomers an unencumbered start to the year. No, I'm not going to announce a subscription increase. Or even a minimum charge. Luckily the membership campaign is addressing the cash-flow problems that were so worrying earlier on. If we can reach the target of about 1,600, which at this stage looks promising, the Club's finances will look positively rosy. No, this is a different topic entirely. Membership

been squashed, offers us a whole range of additional services. These include stored-value cards for úsitors and absent members. Hopefull¡ they will encourage visitors to spend more. Those books of chits have an

inhibiting effect. And for those of you who

ha't'e

privately pointed out the occasional misuse of absent status by a handful of not-really-absent members (sorr¡ but Kowloon does not count as overseas), the new cards should put a stop to that sort of thing.

But key to all this is that members need to produce their cards for swiping. While we're not going to resort to turning away anyone who forgets their card as some clubs do, we have to encourage members to produce the thing for swiping. It will cut costs, save time and aggravation. It is a headache to correct a wrong billing.

The victim is understandably upset and trying to effect identifìcation by deciphering a scrawled signature is an

exercise in frustration. So we will, fromJuly 1, introduce a HK$10 administrative charge for those who don't produce their cards. There's a long-enough lead time for members to get used to it. And with a bit of luck, The Corresþondenl despite the best efforts of the esteemed editor and his production people, won't appear until my term is over so it'll be Philip Segal who has to deal with any disaffected member fall-out! Sorry Phil!

But if anyone can handle the vagaries of the FCC Presidency, it's Philip. He's been a terrific, clear-thinking and efficient First Vice President since stepping into Mike Gonzales's shoes when Mike was posted to Brussels. I'm confident he is going to be a huge success and the Club will go from strength

to strength under his

able

stewardship. So congratulations and many thanks, Philip. You can count on

my full support in the year ahead. I hope that he can count yours, too.

cards.

We've experienced some wrong billings as a result of incorrectþ punched membership numbers following non-production of Club cards. Keying in the number (which is actually nine digits long) is also slowing

service down dramatically, particularly at busy periods.

The new computer system, once the fìnal bugs have

FIOxG I(oNG What a week. What a celebratlorl.

We'11 need araother half century just to recover. In addition to a slam bang party for 350 which took over the entire Club, the 50th Anniversary Week also saw five professional lunches aÍtd a musical interlude in Bert's, our new |AZZ bAr.

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50lh Ann¡versary Party pholos by: Dav¡d Thurston, Tery Duckham and Hubert van Es and illustrat¡ons by: B¡il Yim and Mi¡ch Dav¡dson

THE CORRESPONDENT/AIRIL-rVIAy

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Beijing believes labour leader Han Dongfang to be one of the four 'Black Flands' responsible for

the 19Bg Tiananmen

an Dongfang

sPoke, without much

cheer it -.rît tr. said, to the FCC about China and 20 Years of reform'

"China is changing," he said' agreelng with the conventional wisdom' "The

Square protests. He spent nearly two years in jail before being released and expelled (in 1993). He has been marooned in Hong Kong ever since, unable to return to the PRC. Han is currently the editor of the China Labour Bulletin and hosts a weekly show on Radio Free Asia.

Michael Mackey reports should know that ifyou have a huge stack of refo you have to prepare economic reform, social reform

for unemployment," he said in a tone of

himself the topic even if at times you feel unnerved by it.

It is, he went on to say, a disaster in the making as up to 50 million unemployed and 100 million farmers all look for rvork. "\4rhat I said five years ago is happening," Han said forcefully. "What I said was that without social security...the wolkers issue will be a time bomb."

Han claimed that in that time there had been rrore than 200,000 protests over the jobs issue, involving some 3.5 million people. More disturbingl¡ he added, violence has been seen on 627 occasions with more than 300 officials injured, 78 of them fatally. (He did not give a source for the figures, though there has been a trickle of news about some of these protests in Guangdong, Flunan and Sichuan.) "But fthese fìgures] ...don't mention deaths on the people's side, the demonstrator's side," which is more disturbing and worrying.

Future protests may not be in the style of the peaceful, almost mystic demonstration in April by the 15,000who lined the streets strong Fa Lun Gong Movement outside of the Zhongnanhai leadership compound but rather dark jostling crowds threatened with violence. No'w, even the Fa Lun Gong rvould be met with a different response.

"Now I am in a difficult time," Han said, already putting himself at the top of the list for understatement

t,o1ø,r

of the year. As difficult and discour-aging as it is, he is trying. He advice to those who call his radio programme, Labour Bt"tlletin, to complain about how bad their bosses are, is simple: "Use the law and organise yourselves." His callers have more scope than most to complain. Bad though editors and proprietors can be, no journalist as far as we know, has ever been given three pairs of eye glasses in lieu of two months wages, a true if surreal case FIan has had to deal with.

But the formula of law and organisation may not be enough. He told a story of workers who followed his advice and went to the courts, only to have their factory owner laugh at a court order telling him to pay wages before admitting the truth that there was simply no money left. "They don't trust the law anymore," llan said.

Maþe he was thinking of this rvhen later he talked about the consequences of such alienation when he said, in a less than subtle side swipe at China's nondemocratic tradition, "every time ¡ve change our ruler rve do so by violence. We need to change our ideas, fand think ofl ways to rebuild our society. Norv I believe that more than eve¡" Han sáid. If China doesn't take that on board then "everything will explode."

Let's hope not,'but we can now uñderstand a bit more as to yhy it might. Club lunches have witnessed happier suinmaries, but few have been

as

disturbing.

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suggesting he is still shocked a bit by such an omission.

The other reform that was obviously needed but also neglected was administrative reform.

"Communist leaders like Deng wanted to break the country and that was greal."

iot do - rvith obvious consequences for th"e Hans of China is prepare for the consequences of China openine up. "The government What Deng did

has dáne almosr

done enough

"iËu* "o, to build up the""rnnã, social" securitl' s)'stem' Evervone

iron rice bowl of the workers, but no one broke the iron rice bowl of the officials, the powerful people, and this really gave them the chance to make money easil¡" Han said. Such an ot'ersight which would have had others spluttering was delivered calmly, almost sadly. You have to admire Han's ability to distance THE CORRESPONDENT/APRIL-MAY

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it if it Broke?

Sir William Purves, former

head of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation is dead against the SAR Government's plan to do away with the bank interest rate agreement. Cyril Durup reports refacing his remarks by stressing he was voicing only his own personal opinion, Sir William said -l- those advocating a ch4nge and those tinkering with a system that has "stooü.Flong Kong well over the years" will come to regret their actions in the end.

Labelling the interest rate agreement as a "banking cartel" was only a matter of perception.

Sir William, who is now a Reuter's trustee and a member of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's panel of international advisors explained: "I can assure you that there will be after results of the interest rate agreement coming to an end. It may be that depositors have felt that they have not always been paid the highest rate of

interest and that the interest rate margins have been rather generous to the banking sector.

"That is the perception. But, you know, there's been a very good banking service and it's been free - by and Iarge. Alright, some will say it hasn't been free because they have not been getting a decent rate of interest on their deposits. But some people do not have deposits and they have been getting an unbelievable banking service for free.

"So, that will come to an end in about 12 months.

The banking community has been expecting changes

in the interest rate mechanism for some time now.

What will happen is that the people who've been shouting the loudest about the cost of banking are going to be shouting a different story in a couple of years because they are going to be paying charges," the

banker predicted.

The ex-Hong Kong Bank chairman stated that there were currently very few charges for bank transactions in Hong Kong compared other parts of

I

the world. "I am very sure banks will have to introduce banking charges for those customers who don't keep sizable deposits. Who knows? This may even lead to some downsizitg at banks, which is not going to help

the overall employment situation here."

Pointing out that the banking system in Hong Kong was not broke and therefore not in need of fixing, Sir William lamented: "Sometimes you tamper with things and you don't get the results you expect. But then, you'd expect a banker who's spent a lot of his time in Hong Kong making too much profit to say something like that, wouldn't you?"

Having got that bit of angst out of his system, he settled down to talk about what he saw as the strengths and weaknesses of Hong Kong and areas where the territory should capitalise on if it is to survive and prosper as an international financial centre.

"As I said many times back in my PR (pre-retirement) days, nobody sent out invitation cards to the international companies that decided to set up shop here.

Nobody offered them special terms or special treatment. They came because of Hong Kong's many strengths. "

lTl"p of the list of strengths was Hong Kong's rule I "f law and a transparent legal and regulatory -I- system. "Hong Kong is recognised as one of the

In the last survey of in Hong Kong that I saw, most

least corrupt economies in Asia. overseas companies

respondents ranked cleanliness of government as the number one factor in their decision to come and stay in Hong Kong."

Location was another factor. "Hong Kong is still considered an ideal strategic base for companies seeking to expand in the Asian region, particularly for companies wanting to do business with China."

THE CORRESPONDENT/APRIL-MAY

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nfrastructure, said the banke¡ was another a big plus. "Hong Kong has one of frnest deep-water harbours in the world. In my view, Hong Kong's harbour is one of its greatest assets and I hope the government will reconsider its reclamation ideas which, if carried out, would turn the harbour into not much more than a river. "Hong Kong's container port is one of the busiest and most efficient in the world. An added attraction is the SAR's impressive new airport which ensures drat Hong Kong has the capacity to serve growing cargo and passenger needs well into the next century."

Access to information and telecommunications is another attractive asset for Hong Kong. "The SAR has the highest rate of telephone line penetration in Asia and one of the world's highest penetration levels in cellular phones."

Insofar as competitiveness is concerned, Hong Kong is consistently rated as one of the most competitive economies in the world and one of its freest. "Of course, critics are quick to point out that Hong Kong has lost its crown to Singapore in the latest Heritage pageant. My reaction to this is: So what?

Yes, Hong Kong has been relegated to first runnerup position. But, the fact remains that the SAR is still a top international financial centre and it will continue to flourish as such as long as it allows for a free flow of capital and ideas within a legal and accountable environment of international standards."

advisors stressed in their meeting with Tung earlier this year, Sir William said

selling Hong

Kong's image abroad was thejob of the government and the business sector. "The press has to report the

facts, good and

bad.

Unfortunatel¡ the latter has been in the forefront lately."

"FlongKong as one

least

of the

coffupt

Another minus factor is cost. "I was surprised to hear that Hong Kong people were going across the

border to shop in Shenzhen for things such as even groceries.

CCONOITì1CS TN

theworld"

not the demise of an international financial centre make. That said, the perception outside Hong {ong is that this place is still expensive. In reality, they are right. A recent report confirmed that Hong Kong is still one of the world's most expensive cítiês for expats, second only to Tokyo.

For Hong Kong to be competitive, costs will have to come down further. I see from figures that they have come down, but there's still some way to go."

However, a few groceries do

Hong Kong's ong Kong's resilient people is on Sir William's list of strengths. "Companies that have come here in the past have found an ambitious, hard-working and educated populace with entrepre-

neurial spirit.

It is a mistake to underestimate

Hong

Kong's people. They have always risen to the challenge.

I have no doubt in my mind that in time the latest (economic) challenge to Hong Kong will be just another

notch in their belt."

The ex-Hong Kong bank boss would have surprised and probably disappointed everyone if he had failed to mention the banking sector as one of the cornerstones of Hong Kong's ascent to economic greatness. "The

length and breadth of the banking and financial services on offer have been a major plus. The SAR's resilient banking sector has enabled Hong Kong to weather the current economic storm and it will also ensure that Hong Kong is in a prime position to benefitwhen the region recovers."

So much for the upside. On'the downside, he believes Hong Kong's most serious weakness is one of image. "Hong Kong is suffering from guilt by geographic association. The weak fundamentals of some Asian economies have resulted in the whole region being branded as the same. Hong Kong is unique. Its fundamental strengths remain in place and it has a good story to tell. The job ahead now is to tell this story to the world in a consistent and clear manner."

Confirming that this was one point the international THE CORRESPONDENT/A?RIL.MAY

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over

ectors such as property

"Hong Kong needs to diversify to withstand future economic shocks. \ÀIhile there is no quick fix, two obvious areas are the development of high technology and tourism." Focusing on the latter, Sir William said that with or without a new Disney theme park, tourism offered an enormous potential given Hong Kong's rich and historical significance.

But, he warned, the greatest threat to the development

of tourism in Hong Kong was the declining state of its environment. "Over time, the places which continue to ignore the importance of taking care of their land, water and air will not only see tourists disappear, they will also see business disappear. Environmental health it is a must." is no longer just a nice thing to have On a final weakness: the decline of- the English language in Hong Kong. He was quite emphatic. "Like it

or not, English is the language of international

business, finance, commerce, science and aviation. If Hong Kong is to maintain its place as an ipternational service centre, its young people must be proficient in and be able to communicate fluently in English. This is not an optional skill, it is an essential one."

Having delivered his pearls of wisdom, he then called upon the gathered hacks to play their part.

Quoting the famous words of the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, the ex- banker requested: "Tell them I said something." Si señor, we can but try.

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now on the backburner because 'Jiang is taking

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no chances...nothing disastrous would happen this year."

Working against him though is the economy which is also being subject to reforms, although Lam conceded

"a bit less " It is a 'r'ery

these were exciting.

delicate balancing act

between trying to reform the

stat-e-ownecl

sector without causing unemployment as well as trying to end the discrimination against the private sector.

I*i'iË#

ensures the socialist nature of the country is not adul-

China expert Willy Wo-Lap Larn, who is Associate Editor and China Editor of the South China Morning Post, gave members attending

this professional lunch an insiders view of China's president.

Michael Mackey reports illy Wo-Lap Lam set himself a hard task when he spoke at a recent FCC professional lunch about China's President liang Zerntn. "The

party general secretary has not exactly distinguished himself with too many new ideas, too many new ways of doing things as can be seen from his track record in the past severl or eight years," he noted in more or less the fìrst line of his speech.

A difhcult problem when the man he is talking about currently has "history uppermost on his mind."

Still Lam has a way to deal with this. He lifts the curtain and talks about what is not headline news, but no less profound because of that.

FCC member Lam recently published his second book on China's top leaders, The Era of Jiang Zemin. In 1993 his Life After Deng Xiaoþing was published, frrmly establishing him as one of the leading Chinawatchers.

According to Lam, the big surprise is that Jiang, seemingly a conservative both through circumstance and temperament, is trying to generate new ideas by having brainstorming sessions with intellectuals which is better than the way at least one of his predecessors treated them.

12

Great sounding though this is, it is "unlikely he will implement these ideas in the coming four or five years because of the considerations of political stabilit¡" Lam said. 'Jiang Zemin's priority is maintaining economic

and political stability. This is what Deng Xiaoping taught him after theJune 4 (Tiananmen) crisis." \Alhere the strength of Lam's speech lay was nor in

terated," explained Lam, before going on to say it showed the "very cautious way" ofJiang and economic czar Premier Zhu Rongji in dealing with the problem.

He went on to say the other part of their strategy was "that private enterprises should not be discriminated against," adding, in a long and detailed digression, that

Jiang and Zhu were encouraging the development of hi-tech parks in the Special Economic Zones to work with Hong Kong companies on a joint-r'enture basis.

After the deliberate cooling down of the economy in the earl)' Nineties,Jiang was a\ ¡are of the need to reflate.

The role model he picked was, and still remains instruc-

tive, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal.

"Some of these New Deal mechanics were incorporated byJiang," revealed Lam. 'Jiang has studied FDR closely " And, like the rest of us, probabl;, cannot say why. llowe'r,er, it is another American president who currently holds the most important answer. Lam, citing Beijing sources, stated that 'Jiang made a pri't,ate pledge to President Bill Clinton that he might try out these reforms." Flence Clinton's fulsome praise ofJiang at his Hong Kong press conference last 1'ç¿¡.

"The economic and social conditions in the next three to four years are important," noted Lam. The economy must grow by at least 7-8Vo a year which means the private sector must grow faster so it can provide enoughjobs for the workers who have been laid off by the state sec.tor, thereby minimising social unrest. If all that The Era of Jiang Zernin goes to plan, "there's a ByWillyWo-Lap Lam possibility that'dûring Prentice Hall the last one or two years PB 452 pages, HK$150 of Jiang's tenure, he rsBN 0-13-083701-6

might try out reforms." I

these

(on sale at FCC)

the Jiang Zemin-sups-with-intellectuals-shocke¡ as any

good tabloid writer would have put it, but in the wa1' that he was able to give afarrly detailed summary of the reforms thatJiang might implement if he can weather the crisis of governing China over the next four years.

One of the key areas is the move to a \A/estern style civil service. This will involve things such as open recruitment, regular exams and, most important, a definite retirement age. "Even cadres as senior as a minister must retire," Lam pointed out.

AssoG¡ation É',þaèäli|Ê

erhaps more important, and defìnitely more profound, is the current thinking about direct political reform bringing in, as it does, the prospect of a multiparty system and more direct elections (after a fashion). It will take time, of course, lots of it, Lam noted.

Currently the schema, and it is only a schema hating no public life or announcement, is that the Chinese village st1'le elections will be expanded to county level and then to municipal level. "By 2018-2023 perhaps some national level officials will be elected," predicted Lam. Married to this is a plan, as Lam put it, is to "beef up" the role of the minor political parties in the hope that they will "inject more energ'y" into the political process as well as ease media censorship.

The trouble lies in the timing. This year is a sensitive one in China as it is the 50th anniversary of the Communist victory. As a result, all such proposals are f I tL, coRRESPONDENT/APRIL-\4Ay t1'9C

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HKJA events in the FCC Leff: Tsang Iak-sing (left), the former editor of Ihe Tung Kung Pao who is now a member of the SAR's thinktank, the Central Policy Unit, shared his views on the future of Hong Kong Chairing the event was Liu Kin-ming (right), HKJA president and FCC board member

Above:fhe HKJA also conducted a Forum on AntiPiracy wilh a five member panel

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His laconic manner,

sudden

laugh and warm smile remain the same. So does the shrewd brain that made the 46-year-old one of

the most astute and

respected journalists in Asia right up to the

moment he decided the world held more than being a spectator.

Although the notion would

plunge him into dire embarrassment, Graham Earnshaw has for years not only been respected by other journalists, but for 20 years has been admired by people in many helds. A total professional with a passion for ne'rvs, his skills as a reporter were outweighed only by his toughness of mind, his courage and his delerminaf ion.

'oThe world

wondered what was gorng on.

Earnshaw could tell it. I{e could read the ...big character posters...!!

orn in Manchester, he emigrated with his family to Australia in 1965. His father, Arnold, was a Fleet Streeter (Daily Mail, atnong other titles) recruited by Rupert Murdoch when he launched The Australian.

Graham had no overwhelming urge to follow his father's path. He failed his second year in university in Sydney - "Otherwise I would be a boring rich lawyer" -

of Eraham Eann$haw The former Reuters stalwart is now cutting a swathe through Shanghai's economic scene.

Knin Sinclair reports en Graham Earnshaw was posted to as Reuter's bureau chiefin 1995, he found himself enthralled with the explosive energy and intellectual excitement of the city. He also found himself pondering the role of the journalist in

Shanghai

socrety.

Was he merely a pedestrian standing on the pavement watching the world rush by? Was this suff,rciently satisfying? Or should be become an active player in the vast drama streaming so turbulently past him?

When the respected newsman decided he wanted to

join the action, it was a decision that stunned many of his friends. Earnshaw the entrepreneur? Few gave it much credence.

Toda¡ the gaunt fìgure of absent member Graham Earnshaw, cuts a knowing swathe through Shanghai's bubbling economic waters. With partner Tony Zhang

Haodong, he's the imaginative brains behind the highly-creative, English-lansuase website

in the huge(<uuw.shanghai-er1'com>) ' He's an investor ly popular Park 97 tract with Oxford Beijing, Shanghai and H halÊfinished. He's sPeakin

China and exPorting C Name a pie in Shangha finger somemer Hong Kong rep"orter has got a where in it. one he finds It's an unlikely metamorphosis' but both invigorating and com In a rough old demin

never waned.

He got a job as a cadet reporter on the South China Morning Post and loved it. It gave him a chance to

J t was 1973 and a time of monumentàl change in rhe I Middle Kingdom and Hong Kong. The Cultural

to stay rn gadgets allow him around the city he

hese electronic constant touch as h" -outt ChÏtt't ¡.11,,':ti now calls home - the fourth studied He'slived' tt^tt' he hu, b.rto*.l

which 'n'i .nurr* ä;g, i"iPti 1q worked i,t Ho.,g and worKeu ano î:t:;: 'r in china' he has moving to Shanghai. I ;i;";;;:tades colrntry travetlãd wideþ throughout the

ryÏ

l

14

and a family friend offered him the chance of becoming an executive trainee with Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong.

The legendary Hong Kong publisher and FCC raconteur Careth Powell was then putting out Cathay's in-flight magazine, Discouery, and he got the young Earnshaw a slot. Earnshaw retains great affection for Powell and gratitude for the chance that forged his life.

"Swire's was an inter-rsely English public school organisation, very British," he recalls. "My hair was too long."

He didn't fit neatly into corporate life in a miehry hong. He was also unashamedly obsessed. From his first day on a Hong Kong street, he had become fascinated with the Chinese language. It is an obsession that has

plunge into the communiry to see at first hand and close-up the daily life, the hard chalìenge, the tough choices, of the people.

trousers that most Shan would disdain, Earnshaw fìgure. But he fairlY bristle the era: a tinY mobile Ph and in another is a Palm-t the information he needs to survlve'

THE coRRIsPoNDENT/ÀPRIL-l\4AY

99e

IRevolution was ending, but nobody knew it. Most journalists worked hard and played hard in an era of riotous uncertainty. Earnshaw rvorked hard and studied harder. He signed up for language courses that laid the solid foundation for his perfect Cantonese.

He gives that unexpectedly deep laugh... "I went to full-time courses designed for civil servants, mostly policemen. I was the only one interested in learning; THE CORRESPONDENT,/APRIL-r\{AY 1999

the others had to do it if they want-

ed promotion in the force. The teachers were long suffering; they had to teach people who had a total lack of interest in learning Cantonese. Strangely, this made the courses highly effective." dded to the newsroom gossip, in which he could ncreasrngly take an easy part, and to his widening circle of friends, ttre 22 weeks in the classroom prepared him for a personal crisis.

As a bo¡ he had spent two years in hospital with tuberculosis of the bone, then comparatively common, now thankfully a rare human blight. It had struck again when he was a teenager in Australia. Then, in Hong Kong, it came back again.

He found himself a $2 a day patient in Queen Mary Hospital, the only European among drug addicts, sick workers, the poor . and the dying. "It was a great opportunit¡" he says, and he means it. Six months in a cast concenhated the mind marvelousl¡ and he chatted with his fellow patients.

It also gave time for him to continue his fascination with written Chinese. He would devour newspapers, then look up unknown characters, searching for the radical core of every character in old fashioned dictionaries, hunting the meaning down labyrinthine paths oflanguage.

T T.

also chatted to the staff

- former nurse

Lam

.Fl H iäåî1,' :.H;J.' :T ïi' :? i-"ä1i

University. A considerable part of Earnshaw's talent as a singer-composer have been dirêcted towards writing songs about his wile.

"I was lucky," he says of his time in hospital. He walked out to rejoin the editorial fray with the painful limp that is part of his physical signature. News from Hong Kong and China was even more intense than it had been when he was hospitalised. It was a time of rare fascination, and Earnshaw plunged into it.

His language fixation knew few bounds. Taipei was a virtually closed society, but through the canny old Shanghainese reporter Victor Su, he got into the Mandarin Daily News Language Centre to study the national tongue. Toda¡ he grins, his Mandarin, is better than his Cantonese. Native speakers of each dialect say he is tone-perfect. \Arhen Reuters wanted a local reporter in 1976, bureau chief Alan Thomas chose young Graham Earnshaw. Two years based in Hong Kong gave him an appetite for wire service life. He wanted more. He asked to move on within Reuters. There came that time in the life of every upwardly mobile Reuters reporter

t5

when he did his stretch at the bottom of the world desk in London. He hated it. "London on no money is no fun," he sums up.

n China, momentous events were stirring. Mao had died. The Gang of Four had risen. Deng Xiaoping had been purged and unpurged. There was a battle for leadership. Reuters got permission to add a third arrow to their Beijing quiver and Earnshaw got the nocl.

It was baffling times in Beijing. The two correspondents in place were hardy \¡eterans. But neither spoke nor wrote nor read Chinese. And in the centre of the city, at a place which was to resound around the world as DemocracyWall, the old Chinawas tumbling down. The world wondered what the hell was going on. Earnshaw could tell it. He could read the roughly hand-printed big-character posters with their calls for a less restrictive life. He could talk to the people putting them up. He knew what was happening.

He was in the cockpit of change.

Looking back, he sees how Deng so cunningly and cynically used the press and idealists to manipulate events and wage propaganda war against his enemies inside the party. \44ren Deng gained the upper hand, the usefulness of the Democracy Wall liberals came to an end.

The iron hst once again was unveiled.

letten t0 Editon Thank you for the excellent articles ar-rd the cover of the January,/February edition dedicated to Macau.

After so much attention given by the Hong Kong press and some foreign correspondents to the crime in Macau, it was good to see your prestigious magazine conveying a different, more correct image of this beautiful city that certainly deserves much more than stories about cops and triads.

He left the wire service, spent three years in Beijing lor The Daily Telegraph, every day improving his linguistic skills as he interpreted the astonishing patina of evolution. He went back to Reuters and was posted to Tokyo, but as events in Tiananmen Square avalanched towards catastrophe, he was pulled back urgently to Beijing.

He was in the square that fateful night ofJune 4. He was detained in the square, his passport seized, then released. He managed to get a new passport from the British embassy that allowed him to leave

By David O'Rear hich are the best markes in Asia during the

Great Asian Depression

(GAD !) ?

Obviousl¡ it depends on who wants to

China. e then spent five years as Editor for Asia at the Reuters office in Hong Kong. It gave him managerial and executive skills, taught him budgets and planning and personnel care, the sort of disciplines that are a rarity among reporters. When that came to an end in 1995, he asked for a posting to New York where he wanted to play a part in the latest cultural revolution, the one taking place on the

Internet.

That role was frlled. Instead, he went to Shanghai.

To man¡ it looked like a demotion. From Editor for Asia, he was a Bureau Chief again, a working reporter.

Maþe, but he loved it. It was enthralling. The very air was an intoxication. He had a big old pre-revolutionary apartment, hugely spacious. Once a month, he would throw a party. Hundreds would turn up, about twothirds of whom he didn't know He had always loved music. He sang through the Seventies and Eighties in Beijing's first rock group and earlier as a Bob Dylan soundalike with his own compositions poking fun at the pretentions of colonial Hong Kong. The parties were full of music. And characters who make up the vibrant, multiethnic New Shanghai. Flere were the movers and shakers of the 21st century. ne of them was Tony ZT:'ang, a China-born, US-

and can bry what you are selling, and whether the local authorities will let you play in their backyard. Companies in the consumer goods business will segment their priorities according to how many customers there are with the money to buy the product (or sen,ice). Soap powder sellers have a pretty clear idea of where the markets are: go for the big population centres (China and India). Those selling microwave food products have a slightly different approach, as the only market will be those who have a microwave oven available, either at work or at home.

Masochists can think of it as: Individual Buying Power X Number Of Potential Buyers = Priority Level

Market

Jorge A.H. Rangel Secretary for Administration, Education and Youth

Consumer goods TheJapanese are clearly the biggest spenders in the region, but not by as much as you might think.

Private Consumption and Spending per Person

Macau

visions of excitement. Earnshaw asked himself the fatal question: Was there life after Reuters for someone who had all his working life been a newsman?

"Bloody right there is," was the answer he gave himself. Life without a salary is challenging. Ideas

tGG Statement The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong was sorry to learn of the deaths of fellow journalists Shao Yunhuan, Zhw Ying and Xu Xinghuin in Belgrade. We extend our heartfelt condolences to their families, friends and colleagues.

Once again, frontline journalists have paid the ultimate price for fulfrlling their duties.

16

sparkle. New enterprises loom. He now spots opportunities the way he used to find stories.

"You see something, you put it together," he shrugs.

Tony has the managerial side, Graham has the web knowledge. They both have guangxi. "It's the era of opportunit¡" he preaches, sipping an orange drink in a restaurant so obscure that only veteran Shanghai Hands could find it. 'And Shanghai is going to be the epicentre. "

Down an

ill lit

side lane past what used to be

Lafayette Park in the old French Concession, Earnshaw strides fluently into the future. I THE CORRESPONDENT/APRIL-Ñ4AY Ì999

Size--and Growth--Matters SizeChânse(1996-99)

Contunell{ùtst,1999

Sor¡tl¡Korer TÀin'âu

JâltÐ CùIM EK ..ISEAN

Ar$t-Nil Ze. SqrtbAi¡î

0

100

200

acces.s

47 salesmen tend to have a hard time winning legal access to the entire universe of people who might want their products, and because this is really, really important, they look for "other" means of accessing markets.

common. They chatted. They exchanged

belong to New Zealand, Taiwan and South Korea,

flS$ Billion

Market access is pretty important, and the less you have the less likely you'll be able to make a convincing case to the board of directors. Heroin pushers and AK-

educated entrepreneur. The two had a lot in

US$10,000+ category include Australia (US$11,500) and Singapore (US$10,800). The next three positions

1{p00 12p00

although in total market size the latter two would place higher than Hong Kong and Singapore (but behind India). Naturall¡ companies like economies that grow, but personal consumption has a fairly strong base (stop consuming and you tend to die), and so the more basic the products; e.g. grain

the less volatile the market.

- ways of thinking about marThe two graphs show kets. The first one, "Measuring Markets", is a snapshot of the individual buying power and total market size.

Up is rich, right is big, ,so while China has a bigger total market than Hong Kong (i.e. the PRC is further to the right side of the chart than the SAR), the market for expensive goods and services may be better in Hong Kong. How many private banking centres are there in China, compared to the number here?

Ð ro,ooo

^¡

Ë c.

{

8,ooo

6000

Ë

aÍ,.noo 2,O00

200

300

Tot¡l Mùk.? (US$ Billlotr)

Although Hong Kong's private consumption spending is just 4Vo tine size of Japan's, spending per person in the SAR this year will be just under US$14,000, or abou 73% of Japan's nearly US$19,000. Others in the TH E ( ìORRESPON DENT/A PRIL-M,AY I 999

and Growth he second graph, "Size Matters", again looks at- total market size (the bars running to the right), but then also takes into consideration what has occurred over the past three years.Japan, at US$2,410 billion in total consumer spending this year, is huge. However, the market is also US$125 billion smaller than last year. Taiwan and South Korea both have markets of about US$175 billion this yea¡ but South Korea's is shrinking while Taiwan's is still growing. The contraction is for trvo reasons: the GADI and the won's faster depreciation vis-a-vis the US dollar, in comparison to the New Taiwan dollar.

17

Capital idea!

Not in the business of feeding, clothing, frnancing

or otherwise satisfying individual consumers? Then you would probably prefer to look at a measure of industrial investment. Here per capita measures are less useful than total market size and growth counts heavily.

Again Japan dominates the region like a petrochemical complex in the back garden: nearly 53Vo of Asia's gross fixed capital investment is in Japan, followed by China with 20Vo and no one else even close

to half that size. However, Japan's investment is expected to contract by I.3Vo àyear in 1999 and 2000, whereas China's should grow by aboutg.SVo ayear (if you can believe the statistics).

Japan's market shrank by US$20a billion last yea¿ but at over a trillion dollars, they can afford it. South

Korea's investment fell by more than 25% (in dollar terms), and is forecast to continue falling this yeaç as will spending Malaysia and Singapore. To think of it another wa¡ China will increase its investment this year

by an amount equal to the entire annual spending in Indonesia and the Philippines! I

Peter Lilley, a deputy chairman of Britain's Conservative Parq was in Hong Kong on a fact-finding mission. His search led him to the FCC. Michael Mackey reports hen Peter Lille¡ a deputy chairman of the British conservative party spoke to the FCC it was an odd, jarring experience. As

a senior

conservative

and former Cabinet min-

ister you could expect the arrogance of the recently powerful or the vainly self;justifying. Instead we got neithe¡ although there was the odd barbed comment flung out from his own rather defensive position.

What there was a hesitantly spoken almost diffìdent man trying to digest a changed world and help accommodate his party to it. This was the key part of the Lilley mission to Hong Kong. No frolic this, but a serious attempt to see if in Hong Kong can be found a ke¡

no matter how small, to restoring the Tories electoral fortunes.

That being said, he spoke well if briefly on Britain, and politics, as well as the Euro, although economy its that every time he mentioned the noticeable itwas it was with a discernible tick of currency, new "Euroland," he would say the same disapproval. and bored teenagers speak of intellectuals way Disneyland.

He began by summing up the state of the British economy which he said was suffering the double whammy of "higher taxes and making the Bank of England independent at the top of the cycle and the backwash of the Asian crisis." Paradoxically he went on to concede "something strange is happening (to) the British economy. Its doing better than businessmen expect it to be doing or than their level of confidence

would suggest its doing. So that's the

collusion between sections of the media and the Labour Part¡ he dropped the following polished response: "I think there was an alliance between some people in the Labour Party and some people in the media to find an excuse for delving into people's private lives...Peter Mandelson was no slouch in throwing political stones and if you throw political stones, you shouldn't choose to live in the most expensive glass house in London."

The real murky business he was to speak about was not cabinet ministers tipping off low-brow tabloids about their rivals' mistresses, love children, loans and leather fetishes, it was the Euro. A topic which it must be said is less interesting than any of the former and much more diffìcult to comprehend.

It began with scorn. "Everything works during an upswing," he pointed out as an explanation as to why the Euro's start was being claimed as a great success.

But its what it means long term that clearly worries him and it r,ias this that he tried to communicate. There have of course been other devices for macroeconomic ¡þs gold standard, the link of sterling managemen¡ - and the Exchange Rate Mechanism. to the US dollar "All those had an exit door. The Euro has no exit doors.

It's irrevocable. You join it forever and that makes it diÊ ferent," he noted.

And there's more. "Its become clear joining the

Euro is not just a monetary project, it's a political project," he stated, clearly feeling the distress this involves for people who adhere to the view that nations govern themselves unaffected by the world economy.

Lilley believes passionately t}lat the Euro will ultimately lead to a federal European state which, he is "something no British party could acknowledge and remain electable. But it is the perhaps intended destination and that has become increasingly clear."

And this is Peter Lilley's and the Tories basic problem: says,

that people aren't moved by the Euro. And Lilley's own speaking style is not of the sort that would move people, least of all to the barricades.

There is a certain wisdom to what he says. Talking of the frnancial centres New York, Zurich and Hong Kong, he said: "I should imagine that financial institutions in those centres must relish the prospect that London submits itself to a single currency and the (tighter) system of regulation that must follow."

He has after all been there and spoke with relish of how, as a cabinet minister, he had taken "great pleasure" in vetoing similar European regulations that would have imposed extra taxes on British fin an cial institutions.

Itimately though, Peter Lilley is a politi-

cian, the role of prophet warning us about the dangers of Europe not being one he was really suited for. It was for the New Labour's complacency on the topic that he reserved his sharpest comments. The government, who he referred to aç "the present lot, who are a little less robust," he said, "rely on the sense of inevitability which to my mind is a non-argument as a substitute for the detailed argument."

Again. the man has been there and to make this point he quoted that mood of the Seventies, which had even infected senior conservatives, as seeing socialism as inevitable. Although it is perhaps fitting that that example dates. from the very different world of Britain belore Thatcher.

But there is an even more telling local comparison, that there is a great deal of fretting about the veracity of 'One Countr¡ Two Systems', \{hat about the logic and consequences of '15 Countries, One System'?" he asked. "Can it be right that we keep for Britain less than we negotiated for Hong Kong?" I

Free

economy."

n politics he was less ...err... balanced. At least in his speech. In later questions he showed more thoughtful deliberation and a bit less knee

jerk. Speaking of recent scandals that have hit the New Labour Government, he said with an almost matronly tone of disaproval, it "all seems to me a continuation of the process of degrading British politics which began in the last parliament...(the) Labour Party is reaping where they have sown but we should not be the same and get into this murky business."

Asked

if he thought there had been unhealthy THE CORRESPONDENT/APRILMAY 1 999

Fifth anniversary of the Freedom Form's Asia Centre To celebrate the occasion, an exhibition of cartoons

was held. Hong Kong in Caricaturefeatured the works of Paul Best, Chan Kai-yin, Chow Mingfai, Larry Felgn, Lily Lau, Sara Seneviratne and Zunzi Wong Together, their work lampooning the leadership appeared in most of the Hong Kong press - Apple Daily, Ming Pao, Next Magazine, the SCMP and the Hongkong Standard

THE CORRESPONDENT,/APRILMAY

1

999

19

the concept of 'One Country, Two Systems', they should nevertheless give us pause to reflect before we rush

...(the) consensus on the Fland.over was that it passed,

without

arry

untoward' interference from Betjirg.

forward to pronounce the Handover an unqualified success. Everyone had to accept that the contrasts that existed between the political and judicial systems of Hong Kong and the PRC were huge. The mindset in the PRC is diametrically opposed to that of Hong Kong on the rule of law, human rights and democracy.

Hong Kong citizens need look no further than the PRC to discern the dire consequences of any dilution of the rule of law and its guarantees."

To drive his point home, he cited four developments in the PRC: o

The imprisonment of up to 13 years of persons charged with trying to form an opposition party: "a right inherent in Hong Kong's vibrant and multiparty system";

. The jailing of 16 people for publishing political tracts and the promulgation of regulations warning mainlanders of stiffjail terms if they threaten state security;

¡ The continued trackdown on freedom of speech and"ekçlression in the PRC in contrast to their.continued free exercise in Hong Kong.

in the

SAR's criminal law and raised questions on where criminal suspects should be tried in connection with crimes deemed to have been committed in Hong Kong. 'A definitive answer to that may have to await the finalisation of a rendition agreement with the PRC which spells out the rights of Hong Kong citizens in such cases. Speaking as a private observer, I must say that I have grave doubts about the usefulness of such a

rendition agreement under today's conditions," warned the American lawyer.

"I do not

s Hong Kong's rule of law, human rights and

pace to democracy ailing or perhaps even in a terminal state? According to Richard Thornburgh, a former US Attorney-General under Presidents Reagan and Bush (1988-1991), who is also an expert on American constitutional law, the jury has not yet brought in a defrnitive verdict on

But'.he warned'

"untoward" interference from Beijing' therehadbeenafewrecentdevelápmentsinSAR-PRC political relations that were for the continued Progress

What was most worr

in May 1998 for the Legco elections

Thornburgh is no stranger to the SAR. He was here as part of the National Democratic Institute's monitoring team. lIe wrote a report on the prospects for the Rule of Law in Hong Kong for the International Republican Institute and he is chairman of the UIS Committee on Hong

ambiguitY that surrounde courti and their jurisdicti China's National PeoPle's Although he could not the Court of Final APPea abode would unleash such words turned out to be u uncertaintY clouds the req Final Appeal refer Particul

Kong.

j

the issue.

In his

address at an FCC professional lunch, Thornburgh noted that the initial consensus on the Handover was that it had passed without any 20

"of,:rH;';r, o tt

". confidence in the

#;-.;iliîtg

SARs;; orilw tntilYTl:::,: a raw nerve case had exposed

-MAY THE CORRESPONDENT/APRI]

Hong Kong's and China's, with such different notions not only of procedural justice but substantive crimes, can work out such an agreement. But I was assured by Secretary of Security Regina Ip that she proposes to do just that and I certainly wish her well."

hornburgh expressed a further concern for the rule of law, human rights and the expansion of democracy in the SAR was the potential chilling effect of Hong Kong ordinances regulating freedom of assembly and expression and the fashioning of ordinances under Article 23 of the Basic Law that deals with sedition, subversion, secession and the theft of state secrets. He

that had eroded ;rrai.ial development

ðp;"dtt

see how two legal systems as different as

1999

also mentioned the reported willingness of SAR authorities to forego prosecution of Mainland governmental bodies and persons well connected with Chinese authorities as harmful to the progress of the rule of law in Hong Kong.

"While no one of the developments I have listed or perhaps all of them in their totality portend a necessarily bleak future for the SAR's rule of law, or for THE CORRESPONDENT/APRIL-MAY

1

999

. Rèligious persecution by PRC authorities intolerant of those who seek their right to worship as they please,.

"Ironically, all these ca-me to pass in a China that, with much fanfare, finally signed the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights last fall (1998)," he pointed out.

n a more encouraging note, Thornburgh reported that his di s c u s sions with Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa had yielded an admission from the CE that he was unhappy about the whole format of executive-legislative relations and that he would not rule out a constitutional convenlion to address the issue, a process which could accelerate the move towards democracy.

"So, while substantial challenges exist,

I continue to be hopeful and optimistic about the future of the rule of law, democracy and human rights in Hong Kong, so long as democracy advocates as Martin Lee and his Legco colleagues, an informed business community, a free and vital press, and careful observers such as Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor do not yield to those forces bent on subverting the characteristics that make Hong Kong so unique.

"I have no doubt that this extraordinary community will survive and prosper and perhaps offer a muchneeded model to others around the world who share aspirations to freedom, democracy and the superior quality of life that is exemplifìed in this communiry he noted." I

2I

Bnitai

O UIEW responsibi

A Random Walk Down The Asian Financial Crisis

to Frlllv committed Kong' owards Hong

The Asian Contagion began just after the Handover and SAR has been battling away almost since the day it was created. So where are we now? Andrew Sheng, chairman of Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission discussed the situation atant FCC lunch. Time's Hong Kong Bureau Cfuef John Colmey reports

The British minister for sPecial Kong relat spoke recentþ on Ang ¡llìe

Til I il:

Hong Kong recentlY'

Dlrek Fatchett' According to (New) Labour MP commonwealth Minister of state f., ;;;;t8; and Affairs

-u.t *hoî'

the

t"tPtlttllltil

ätt

'pttiur a maJor th; UK tottt'tt"t to be

- Kong for Hong -stakeholder in Hong Kone' legitimate interests Fatchett said the u"f itlf had here: economic interests, interests

China keeps to its promises under the Joint

Declaration." He emphasised, though, that it was not the UK's responsibility to second guess the various political debates that were going on in Hong Kong.

"It is not our task to join any particular political faction, party or individual in Hong Kong and say that theirs is the view the UK government supports," he pointed out. "Our task is to ensure that the values of the Joint Declaration are implemented. What we don't

want to do is to undermine the autonomy of Hong Kong by being

under theJoint Declaration and interests derived tä- tne cultural and personal

of ties that exist between the peoples Hong Kong and the UK. SPeaking about the UK PercePúon

o., úo*

we"ll

colonisers. "

the 'One Countr¡ Two

Systems' principle is working, Fatchett'

iho

was'last

h.." for

the Handover'

to a stressed that Britain was committed

high degree of autonomY F:t Ït."q Kãng ut promised in the Jotnr uçLrr 5s1'rised bv the r vc been Declaration. "I've lrcclal-auoll. openness and bY the deg system and bY the co

indication of a political

pluralism and transPare Kong people taking Hon believe that China remains Kong that high degree He added: "MY hrs with the way the model of He said he was also ver there was a commitment a

to make a

success out "unique constitutional exP no other countrY in the wo Kong is experiencing. Evet

for its degree ofindePende in an open and Pluralistic sYstem' Kong t was Fatchett's view that the Hong workins so well ,n"r r'ä' f'"p*

T-:9-"]J-i ti f*:iïi:1 äi,Ï'inäto'i.;ä i; Ëu'iti-o't Tn"l T1l'::j ri o.1,1; t ;.'Ïf, :'.'""i:t:Ï # ffi ;f l" * or nu' on-e,ï1,'.'1,'*:; ffi;'-ã J'r is m

ffJ.::Jii:i:

Ï:ff

-tf

to look at ror

ffi'.ï,1J"ï'.#;iö'ili'o"ti""e possible application elsewhere-' uK shourd ,'il;,ii'iöp"; tt ;*;;;; ::?:ï''Ji * ".Tp'ä"' .' :i' : :i j ïl1ïl iiäi.åT'' o ur 11,î iì Jr.:,i '..,iill ;l;' :i i. lJ; ä': ffi: "i'' ffi:'ìJ;i; "l'ä #Jiuiìiï'^eto tobeardo'*" Y: ï'll to ensure that co

o

.

also bring

internationii;t"tt"*

a

government that tries to second guess the people of Hong Kong. In the UK, we are known as New Labour. We do not want to be known here as new

oving on to the Rule of Law, Fatchett said he was glad that the temperature over the Right of Abode ruling by the Court of Final Appeal (CFA) had subsided. "Clearly, this is a sensitive issue because of its political and practical implications. At the time of the ruling we welcomed the judgement as a reaffirmation of Hong Kong's authority in judicial matters.

"We are not competent to comment on the powers granted by the SAR Government and the CFA under the Basic Law That is a Chinese law and it is not our responsibility to interpret that. Nonetheless, it is important to realise the damages and negative consequences for Hong Kong if international perceptions of Hong Kong's judicial independence and integrity were to be compromised."

Mr Fatchett said the UKwould continue to say that the important element that had come out of the CFA ruling was that there had to be faith in the independence and integrity of the judiciary in Hong Kong. 'We will make our judgement, as others in the international community will, not on the interpretation of technical legal aspects of the Basic Law We will make our judgement on what is important to Hong Kong: respect for the rule of law and a judiciary that has integrity, is seen to have integrity and is seen to be independent."

He categorically refuted suggestions that the UK was toning down on raising Hong Kong and human right issues wi th China to We regret to report that further British trade Derek Fatchett died suddenly interests with the of a heart attack in May mainland.

I

THE CORRESPONDENT/APRIL-MAY

1999

ver since the Thai Central Bank governor decided in earlyJuly 1997 to give up the baht to the winds of the free market, setting in motion the currency's collapse and the Asian financial crisis, economists have carried out endless economic autopsies to determine who or what killed the Asian Miracle.

Almost two years on we are now in the process of the putting the body back together which is almost as messy as watching- a 100 economists tear it apart- and trying to make sense of all. To do just that Andrew Sheng, Chairman of Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission, came to the FCC on March 12 to lead members, as he said, on "a random walk down the Asian financial crisis."

Overall, the former deputy chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority says there has been too much emphasis placed on the health of the macro economy GDP growth, employment, inflation and the like and not - sector. enough placed on the strength of the frnancial In Asia, he says, there needs to be a better balance between the two, especially given the increasing competition in exports.

"You need a strong export sector, manufacturing sector," said Sheng. 'You need avery strong service sector,

the World Bank, likens the situation to a global power

grid where "local markets are networks and global markets are local networks linked together through the global financial system."

In other words, if your neighbour's house has faulty

wiring, he can knock out the lights in the whole neighbourhood. Contagion.

"Bad accounts equals bad statistics, equals bad risk management, equals bad decisions and-bad policies, equals financial

crisis,l' Sheng pointed out. "This sums up exactly what happened in Asia." But thé golden bullet that killed the miracle happened across the globe when the US signed the North American Free Trade Agreement and opened up its trade with Mexico. "The minute NAFTA came into effect, the Mexican crisis occurred and Mexic-o devalued," he said. Then Mexico took a share of Asia's exports to the US, tuined its current account deficit into a srirplus, and left Asia with the deficit. Now the deficit is moving from Asia to Latin America. "Competition is becoming intense and nobody can run away from it." heng believes one important answer to frxing the global (and Asia's) econbmies and markets is the

implementation

of international

standards of

a strong capital market, banking system that is pumping the blood and resources and savings in the

accounting and transparency. Those in turn must be followed by enforcement. But even if smaller or

right way."

Internationall¡ Sheng says there are currently two trends of economic theor¡ which in some ways are clashing. First there is traditional macroeconomic theory which drives the World Bank and others. Second, there is the emerging finance theory, which drives the likes of George Soros and others on Wall Street. But the wizards of finance don't really spend much time with the macro economy and concentrate instead on complicated computerised models.

The problem is that "the financial market is a derivative of the real economy." And if the true condition of the underþing economy is not known then the market it reflects is unpredictable.

IJnfortunately, given the world rnarkets are now interlinked, the problems can move right on down the line.

Sheng, who has studied myriad global banking crises for

developing economies introduce international accounting standards, good corporate governance, open up their markets that won't necessarily lead to a more equitable or even more efficient world economy.

Can the Philippines, or Botswana, ever really compete with the US? In the Darwinian world of survival of the frttest, the weakest make a nice lunch. But, says Sher-rg, in the world of the level playing field "even the fittest sheep

THE CORRI,SPONDI,NT,/APRIL.MAY

1999

get eaten by the wolves." So, he argues what is also needed

is some type of early warning

system. That might include making the giant hedge funds more transparent.

"If you are asking the sheep to be transparent on how fit they are, we are asking the wolves to be transparent on how fit they are."

In the meantime, and until that happens, Soros and friends should still find plenty to eat. I

23

business interests, he could be contemptuous towards

rivals from the Bombay business establishment who were less driven or more scrupulous. But McDonald is respectful of Ambani's remarkable trail of innovation and success. He was the petty trader who started out in Aden in the dying days of British rule to become the chief player in the Bombay yarn market. From there he became a small scale textile manufacturer who

Prince The Rise of''r

acquired an extraordinary ability to influence tariff and industrial licencing policies in his favour. This not only allowed him to or''ertake rivals but, more rernarkabl¡ to create a business empire at a time when Indian large scale private enterprise was stifled by

þ

go\rernment controls.

Dhirubhai

¡ {

¡

Ambani

tk,e Far Eastern Economic Review

I t l ¡

I I

Dh

at

one stage n all the voluminous literature about Asian boom

and bust, there is barely a single book-length' figure and his in-depth

H by corpor empi.L.

I ¡

Phitiþ Bowringreviews this new book by absent member Hamish McDonald who is currentlY the foreign editor of the Sydney Morning Herald,. His postings as a foreign correspondent in Asia included stints in Jakarta, TokYo and New Delhi' He was also the Regional E,ditor of

many

.

But more

24

"o

^l',' å[ ",

I

f

, I

t ! !

of financial markets arrd foreign listing, may have cramped the Reliance style. But while for many the history of Reliance represents some of the less praiser,r,orthv aspects of India, for at least as many Ambani represents a triumph of ambition, action, entrepreneurship, even of internationalism; over bureaucratism, castism, and (strange as it ma1' seem to outsiders) the selÊsatisfaction of India's elites.

As for Reliance itseli McDonald concludeS that there is a real chance that it will both shake off the murkier- aspects of its past, and avoid the fragmentation that has been the lot of so many family businesses in Asia (notjust India) whe¡r the patriarch passes from the scene. \Ârhatever the future, the Ambar.ri story is central to an understariding of the India of toda;,. Ambani would har¡e been a hugely successful businessmal anywhere. McDonald has written a classic tale of why business and politics should not mix. I

I

individual shareholders than any company in India' and has a world record for attendance at its annual meetlngs.

gutlhis book is as much about power as about decades business. In India, Ambani has for nearly two frgure controversial and been a immensely powerful with intertwined been whose business ambitions have a city is This Delhi' in political and bureaucratic power of ingredient an often *h.." suitcases of cash are opponents political decision making but where press, and business rivals are always at hand with exposes' plots and rumours. cDonald traces Ambani's rise from

aftei the fact, hindsightful exposes' But thorough accounts of going .orlð".n. and their founders are all

Dirubhai Ambani and his Reliance group is an especially welcome addition to the modern Asian ¡oot rt-r.lî. Admittedl¡ it deals with a country far from the Asian "miracle". As for Reliance' it is best known outsid.e India not for its technological or ney lt

¡i ];

l l

ï::_::ly:"p_:ïlg

well suPPorted have attracted'

too scarce.

So Hamish McDonald's rivetting account of the rise, triumphs and near-disasters of Indian entrepreneur

first to appreciate the potential of the equity market and India's millions of small savers to fund his industrial ambitions, first to use con\¡ertible debentures as prime funding source, among the fìrst to appreciate how to use overseas Indian investment to his own advantage.

And when India opened to foreign portfolio investors, Ambani was in the lead raising money in London and New York. Investors often ended up disillusioned by unexpected changes in policy or accounting periods, but Reliance still has millions of loyal small shareholders as well as large government agency shareholders -who invested at critical moments. e was the

I !

Much of the criticism ofAmbani is in effect a criticism system of bureaucratic controls, state interr¡ention, high but variable tariffs, industrial and irnport licencing, state control of unit trusts and life insurance. To beat the system to get ahead, it was necessary to exploit the human frailties of its power holders. Everl'e¡s did it. Ambani did it most effectively.

Economic reform, increased competition, and some bad publiciq', may have eroded Ambani's position, as 'çvell as that of the Delhi bureaucrats. Tighter regulation

of the Indian

prime beû,vee tariff d

EXPATRIATE MORTGAGES

a school-

teacher's son in an obscure torvn in Gujarat to controller of a huge hbre, plastics and petrochemical empire. He shows Ambani's importance, one way or another, to every and the nexus

Parentþ obscure d be won or lost' in which incidents He describes a series of high-profìle even and fraucl and gion corrupt This associates' o Ambani murder

having been exhaustivelY is not n and covered in the local press. But he re-tells some long manner' dispassionate complex tales in a concise and boot is thus unlikely to fìnd favour with its

|fne

image conscious subject. Ruthless

in pursuit of his

THE CORRESPONDENT/AIRIT,-MAY

T999

TI-IE CORRESPONDENT/I\PRILMAY 1999

25

d è

o e 5

I

former stalwart Earlier this year, one of the FCC's passed away' members, Chandroth Hari Raghavan'

deePlY admired'

ike everYone else in

Keuin Sinclair reminisces

w

became serious; itwas 3 P' in the air' was-"Mr Raghavan" was paged' later, he came back from the phone and Picked uP

A couple of

minutes

based to me chestnut. He had bizatte ideas rites mystical the on his boyhood faith and on provenance' "..rfu ãi- iugi.ut faith healers of uncertain that rose ih.r. îas a divine power' be said earnestly' top of the of out f-r., ,f-t. anus up ttre backbone and skull. the ----"Oh, I intoned' yeah? Have another whisky' Raga""

His true life

to buy a707 inverY good condition?" he asked' There were no takers' the late Dick Hughes

from where the RoYal NavY ruled the Asiatr waves. In his sPare dme' he studied cartoonlng'

he

fter the sudden' stunning .lupunese

luck) and headed out

into the summer humiditY of the wheeling-dealing

invasion, he worked in the

Eighties.

pixie?

Hari ^"¿ truly cl'iscovered' Chandrothmoney' I never of plenty Raghavan always seemed to have the grin of a,mischievous' butbenign'

Li leasing a 15-'000 Another time, he pressed me abo idling ;;;;; ship loadeã with cement which was somewhere off the coast of Korea' "Thanks "You can make a lot of mone¡" he urged' another White Label and soda'" Rugu wjtl ^ue -t I loved him. He was a wonderful character' dried a g;; that would wrinkle up his face like

"

26

inclependence.

"Tlre Burmese were very lazy," he used

the vast British naval base

declared brought PeoPle

ptr.

"No thanks," he said' He smelled op¡ror-tunity in Burma racing towards

Federated States of Malaya. He ended uP working in SingaPore' training in exPlosives at

$200 (Hong Kong, not even US dollarsl)' Raga shrugged, rubbed his

this imPish merchant with the bald

rcp¿ìtriated home.

to one of the British-run

resources. IIard Pressed, we could have raised, saY,

for a living,

a

work. A 30 ruPee ticket on a tramP steamer took hirn

(the doYen of foreign correspondents in Asia) and I were at the table, and a bunch of others with similar fiscal

hat exactlY did he do

worker' As a cartoonist and newspaper

novelist could not have invented the tale. Bor-n in Kerala in Southern India, he leftin 1928 in search of

his whiskY. "AnYbodY want

bald head (which

civilised"'

storY

was so outlandish that

these

turbulent times, Raga's Prime aim was to survive' When Rangoon fell once again to the Rritish. he was promptly arrested as a

Baqa the cartoonist ln.a

seli-portrait -- in real llre' his face was usually crlnkled in a grtn

decided that there were

black market. Ineviþbly' he was caught' Arrested bv lhe "Iapanese militat'Y

otti.., Ë. was bacllY

teaten, then jailed' He better ways to make a livtng

British.

FCC lrreplaceable portrait Raga in March 1994

nevcr went back to Burma.

schoolboy in a like something out of a English to coat the famed temples Trver.rties comic book -of \,I¿rnclalay and Pagan with gold' Raga put in a tencler rvhich was acc"epted. Work proceeded briskly

until some unkind and suspicious offìcial t"rãd the gilded spires. The paint was not

ancl ¿rll rvas going welt golcl.

Skipping into fast forward mode, Raga then came to H"ttg'(o,ti. His frrst trip was in 1956 and by 1962' he

living ñ... p..-unently. He was a maî frlled with jovial uoäd ,pirit.. His deviáus smile was infectious' His mincl ilitted over schemes and business deals like an inqtrisitive butterfly, but when opportunity presented itself, he could. swoop like a falcon.

He rv¿rs utterly kindly. Once, an FCC member was findiltq it hard to .ais. a loan to buy a house' Raga made ¿r ¡rhone call and in 30 minutes the pair were in a coffee shop in Admiralty talking to a merchant banker abotrt fìnance. The loan was approved. was

TH

THE CORRESPONDENT/AI'RIL-MAY

T999

lot of us around the Main Bar knew

Not long after independence, the new government Raga used to speak thorrqht it"was a witaid idea

ll ( :oRt{rìspoNDENT/APRrL_MAY

r

999

Raga,

but nobody knew him really

well.

Sometimes, he and I would venture outside for a few drinks in a different environment.

He enthralled me with his recollections of Southeast Asia in another era and of daily life in small-town India of the Raj. He was married for many years to an Englishwoman and to all women his manners were courtly.

Gradually, as ill health overtook him, his

appearances in the club became scarcer. The last time we chatted he seemed frail, but the jolly good humour and wry sense of timing was still in evidence. He told

me once he attributed his good health to casual adherence to his belief in a life force, occasional

yogaJike exercises and his constancy in drinking \A4tite

Label and soda, which had been his daily tipple since 1928, apart from periods

ofjail and

insolvency.

I laughed. I rubbed his bald pate for good luck. He gave me a goodbye grin.

Goodbye, Raga.

I'll remember

you, pal.

I

27

savagely air-conditioned disco, but luckily you can't hear it or see itfrom below I'd still be ignorant of its virtues if I hadn't been sharing a downstairs table with a younger English guy who attracted the attention of an even younger English girl with a newly installed nose stud. \,Vhen she came to the table and asked him to follow her upstairs, he looked at me and said, "I just got engaged, mate, would you mind doing the chaperone bit?" So up we went. Unlike downstairs, there is a doorkeeper to the disco. Its not clear exactly what admission criteria he applies, but occasionally people do get turned back. If you pass inspection (as you will with a young English in tow) you go through the blackened glass door into Leopold's parallel rrniverse.

Ken Iachson takes a look at one"of BombaY's most famous watering holes' o view the latest fashion in body piercing' tattooing, head shaving and East'/West

cross-dreising, there are few better galleries than the Leãpold Café & Bar on Colaba it in òu.r..nuuy in Båmbay. The Brits founded. the Parse.e 1871 as a chemist's shop' Ninety years ago it converted and took'over ìt, owns *Uy which still into - a restaurant. the Asian Today the Leopold is an intersection on an refuge' essential an also is It backpacking rout;. e, ã u.i. or c Jmp arative r e p o s

î,:ïî.":.Ït 3.:rå'.i and

for their mothers,

smen crYing for their them. But an hour in the e back to the serene state of e that Great CitY' in shades Besides the backpackers, who come mostly uP fills of white, the LeoPold on beer breaks, BombaY YuPP middle-aged Western tourists sit for lonay Ptî'netguide or just got lost' -Many patrons books an-$ novels and ho.t.'. ,..diãg their" guáe " ., travellers swaP intellassi and niPPle rings' es like me tend to sit near day' back to plan or recover from a business the -- -The nicotine The matured' is well itself truliding anything and mirrors dingy y.1lo* walls, Datina of the is on :il ;h^, hu, t..,-t there more than two weeks continual form. The de rigeur overhead fans in their Somerset a in service do could languid circling feature favourite My novel' Conrad nl"igtt^"t orJosãph manic the onto opens tltat i, thä ou...iied ãoorway Bombay real to deck observation street. It's a sanitary withitshawkers,moneychangers'urchinsandbeggars by

of "u.ry affliction, all Èept safely at bay lathi-wielding guards'

building' The Leopolã oìcupies two storeys of a corner

neither Each storey has its own character although Downstarrs bar' Western-style proper would quali$t as a seåting in wooden chairs around :+lY ;;;"';;tth tables." Three .plaster;d-1"1*Î:l* nuiä ;"";;capitols hold up. tl' l"?f. and,ofsc5t]e [ãìå-'å"ri.J inside' io;;r";ì;; .rtuã, ""*lat u''tã th" fashionofshow Elvis Bogart' posters with decorated The walls are

icon is prominent Eagle andJames Dean. The Parsee -Man of "Life' at

of q;irky cartoons rv^¡ö mural / ! tong A ^-throughout.

LIII (JUt¿rrvuL.

counter. The counter bright troPical lruit- stacked thJlruir ii not available f,or list downstairs is simPlY: "

ü..t is-.ti

Bottles),

il"tt

(t-utgt Bottles) "'

is crucial' The power eat selection downstairs middle column' It's centre is to the ttft of tnt to waiters who ä;;i;;; "i.*i"g and ror accessthey want to or must walk Past you whether ii,,oå close to the oPen doorwaYs' ùrù

a really bad time. And once I'r'e taken the dubious

ä;;;; nol. rr /uu in vou. .hun..s of ParticiPating . ^. ^L:-^ ii inrre2se -

ut never mind when you leave, or whether, until then, you sensibly sat downstairs sipping beer and scribbling post cards, or wantonly went upstairs and lost your way. The important point is that the Leopold opens early every da¡ even during sectarian riots.

The Leopold is easily reached from Bombay's two major hotels. From the Taj Mahal turn left out the front door; left again at the edge of the building; take the first left on Mereweather Road and the next right.

Walk n¡¡o blocks and its on the left hand side at the Colaba Causewày'júnction. From the Oberoi, take a taxi to the Taj front door and follow stepb two

through five above.

I

Pres$ Gonfepences

irected PersonallY at You rather than generallY at gre It can all tend to Put )/ou be a shame because its not ample and in over 50 triP remember having thrown recall an occasion when I

local rum consumed duri virtuallY certain I'v startling record for There is a regul food includes the intrig SouP" (sic) and 'lVanton menu is less Provocatrve o serve curries, every kind with chips, and anYrhing.

[] h

il

H

il

i'llîi.Ï1i.üä"*-tt:ïry1-'."'p,î':T:?"',',i*å rar<L rs--D-*iö""tt'sherswittrth:^"*::ï:i: alconot or uucc *.'.ilTnÏiå?ff tl-e tor'tffÏl^more large lea\4ng very little room of leaving eff"ct oÏ side effect "",¿;ï;;;*ot.,

r,r" .rirht late nighr

rhe King{ìshers! This situa o^__ñ r^ r/cnrì',e s"4r'::¡:** upstairs to fli*:Ïi:;.ir "" ãr.'.o u,''a swrgl tt--.Y.Y

#;;;;iã

World Bank The financial institution's latest annual report,

il

evenl are the Fanlasttc eno naan the size and shaPe o a deflated rugbY ball'

*;;;

H

Global Development Finance 7999, focuses on lessons learned from the Asian Contagion and the prospects for recovery GDF 99 predicts a prolonged crisis in emerging markets, provides updated assessments of developing countries and gives the latest statistics and analysis on world debt and capital flows to developing countries,

il

I l.

1

THD CORRESPONDENT/APRIL-MAY

28

lashing lights and pounding speakers surround a small illuminated dance floor. A bar in the corner dispenses oceans ofrum and other local spirits much of which ends up on the floor. Clusters of Indian guys in open shirts and gold chains smoke cigarettes and troll for white chicks. It has a quaint charm ¿ 6s¡tain South Asian je ne sais quois.

- It takes new visitors from downstairs a little time or a few rums to adjust to this environment. Foreigners will feel more alien. Despite this, I can't remember having

ttre LeoPard" is Painted

decision to go up I usually stay until closing. I am unfortunately not able to report precisely when the disco closes because I've never been quite capable of telling time when I left. Closing hours do, however, appear to have something to do with the last man out, which has a lot to do with the last white chick out.

I once took a research assistant upstairs to help me remember what it was like and what time it closed. She left with an Indian guy in an open shirt and gold chains before she finished her research. Although I haven't seen her since, I imagine her recollection of the experience would vary lrom mine.

999

TH E CORRESPON DENT/APRI L-Ñ4AY I 999

ll

ll

The Asian Human rights Commission arranged for two recenlly jailed lndonesians to tell lheir story to the world Raharja Waluta Jati (/eft) was one of the many victims of 'enforced disappearance' at the hands of the Special Forces Command while journalist Ging Ginanlar (centre) spent 70 days in detention for covering the lndonesian People's Summit ln February, Amien Rais, Chairman of the newly formed National Mandate Party and presidential candidate, gave a press conference in the club

29

Gorr

i he FCC Golf Society narrowly missed taking frrst place at the third annual Pacfic Travel News Friendship Golf Tournament ( better known to us as the Guam Media Classic ) in April and had to settle for a well-earned second place in this two-team contest.

Julian Walsh reports.

This is the third time the FCC has come second.

Our excuse - apatt from the fact that our hosts in Guam are better golfers than us - is that our finely tuned athletic bodies were not given the chance to acclimatise.

After a traditional FCC night flight, taking the airline's advice to avoid alcohol and get as much rest as possible, we arrived in Guam at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning in fine form, shortly before the US immigration officers arrived for work. Our latest recruit, Peter Wong, caused some consternation at immigration by explaining that he had come on a golf trip for a couple of days. As evidence he opened his golf bag which was full of pool cues. In the finest traditions of FCC camaraderie we abandoned him to the vagaries of US immigration and set off to the Hyatt Regency Guam, leaving Nelphen Wong and our offrcial diplomat, Terry Duckham, to stay with Peter and sort it all out. \¡Ve never expected to see them again.

Fully rested after at least 30 minutes in the magnificent luxury of the Hyatt's Regency Rooms we set off to the Guam International Country Club where we were to play a two-man scramble competition with our friends from Guam. Peter, Nelphen and Terry turned up just in time for the tee-off after having successfully convinced US immigration that Peter was not a cue

30

smuggìling. After the inital excitement we settled down to enjoy a leisureìy game on yet another of Guam' s great golfcourses and renewed acquaintances with old friends and made new ones.

That night we learned that the Guam team were so nervous about losing, that they had set the tee-off times

for the big competition the next day at 7am, which meant leaving the hotel at 5.40am. For most of us this meant getting up before we had gone to be d. It was not a pretty sight on the bus, but everyone managed to make it - except Peter and Nelphin who once again arrived just in the nick of time by taxi.

The tournament was held at the Leo Palace golf course, which is a monster - it is also the venue for the Asian PGA Guam tournament. To add to our difficulties of 180-yard carries over marsh and thick jungle was a howling gale and driving rain. We had a side bet on the number of golf balls we would lose. Which was 232 balls for our 30 FCC players, with Stella Ng winning with a guess of 236, although she, astonishingl¡ only lost one ball herself. The rest of us displayed much less finesse. Yours truly managed to lose 17 balls and George Chu quite a few more than that. Despite the weather, it was a wonderful day of golf in quite spectacular surroundings and, although it is fair to describe the course as difhcult, it was great fun.

Our Guam hosts arranged a reception for us that evening at the Hyatt poolside and there proceeded to embarrass us with numerous prizes for all and sundry. I even won an umbrella and chipper for taking 55th spot out of 59 players. Terry Duckham's father made several speeches and also won a nearest-the-pin prize. To our THE CORRESPONDENT/APRILMAY 1 999

absolute amazement the Guam team managed to beat us overall - once again - to take the trophy. As we said last year, we'll get them next time.

Photos by: Ray Cranboune, Bob Davis & Tetry Duckham

THE CORRTSPONDENT/APzu LN4AY 1 999

The next day some of us played more golf at yet another of Guam's great courses, the Country Club of the Pacific; some went fishing; and some slept before taking the afternoon flight back to Hong Kong.

As in previous years, the hospitality we received was magnifìcent and much appreciated. Our thanks go to everybody involved, but special thanks must go to Douglas King of G\lB Hong Kong and Kennerh Wan of Continental Airlines Hong Kong. At the Guam end our hosts, Pacific Daily Nears publisher and sponsor, Lee Webber, GVB's David Sablan, James Nelson, pilar Laguana and Gina Kono, and the Hyatt Regency's GM David )ång, Sophia Chu and Amamda

Loui. I 31

-r-Anotnm Tur FCC On the road Perched on

Nigel Watt's shoulder is a rare Guam Rail, a "flightless" little critter near to exti ncti on

-

4 j,l

ì\.

Nigel's book ln the Steps of Darwin.

Galapagos is on sale in the

club (9125),

Press trip As if lndia does not have enough troubles - standing lnfront of the Palace of lVysore are (lr) Robln Lynam, Sluarl Wolfendale, Karen Penlington and Mark Graham

Karmic high Award-winning radio presenter, author and acclaimed translator of Chlnese Zen poetry, Bill Porter, spoke to the club about his new project "50 days, 50 Zen masters"

rf 50th in Bert's Ex-president lan Stewart, who flew in for the festivities from his base in Kuala Lumpur, entertains the crowd

Mike Neun at Bert's American comedian Mike Neun brought a version of his one-man, syndicated TV show lo Bert's, the FCC's newest attraction, lf you haven't been downstairs yet, you're missing something -- live jazz on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights plus an excellent, weekday luncheon menu

Last flight out of Saigon Now that goes back a long way, to April 28, 1975 to be exacl Jim Eckes was flying out of Saigon's Tan Son Nhut Airporl when his plane was attacked by a Cessna T-37 He made it of course And now when he visits Hanoi, he visits that very plane in the Aviat¡on Museum Down Under Babies Maybe it is lhe proverbial 'somethrng in the water'. Whatever, Bob and Elaine Howlett brought back from

Sydney pictorial proof of the maternal instincts of former

members Mary O'Malley, ex-Hong Kong Standard, Discovery, (left) and Jennifer Cooke, ex-SCMP, (right)

lnterclub Quiz Night The FCC's all-star

quiz team came

50th in Paris The FCC gang ln Paris gathered to celebrate the Club's half-century mark, including Paul Harrington, Sinan Fisek, lan Pedley, John Giannini, Gary and Marnie Marchant and Richard McGregor.

32

in second behind the Hong Kong Club in an event that saw five clubs joining the competition.

Clive Grossman accepted the trophy for his team,

BBC Mark Byford, chief executive officer of the BBC World Service, was one of the anniversary speakers, He discussed the future of the BBC World Service THE CORRESPONDENT/APRIL.MAY

1

999

THE CORRESPONDENT/APRIL-ìVIAY 1999

Nobel Peace Laureate The 1996 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Dr, Jose Ramos-Horta (right) relurned to the FCC, speaking at a special lunch in March He was introduced by Eric Hotung (left), wilh president Diane Stormont welcoming them,

33

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IX

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2807 6527 2807 6373

INFORMATION oto g ra p h s-V i deos- Feat u res- Lite ratu re- Boo ks

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/

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Property to let in London

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34

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1

999

How to beat news interviewers at theír own game.

The indispensable guide to leveling the playing field when being hassled by radio, TV or press.

By TED THOMAS, written after over 30 years of interviewing celebrities abd teaching the tricks of a despicable trade.

Cartoons by Arthur Hacker *J:¡aHKS70 each ë New I

2eo¡t¡onl

Corporate Connttuticttlions Llct. t004 Enst Town eMg.,+\/\tJ 4l Lockhart Road. WtnchaL TeL 2527 7077. Fax: 2866 6781

TI-IE CORRESPON DENT/APRIL-MAY I 999

35

---rFCC Facns

A monthly portrait of

FCC Irreplaceebles

Ă?VHO SAID TI{ERE WAS NO SUq{

TI1ING?

The Correspondent needs writers to help cover the growing number of luncheon speeches at the FCC. The club

will cover the cost of your meal. Not only that, the

editor of The Conespondent will pay you for your words. And he promises not to

Diane Stormont Member

since:

Age: Profession:

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

threaten your sense of self-esteem by making you rich.

The Ice House was derelict Over 2l Scribbler Jock Let's go shopping for frocks Mine's another bottle of Carlsberg, please

Interested? Contact the Editor.

Phographed by: Hubert van Es 36

THE CORRESPONDENT/APRIL-MAY

1999

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