The Correspondent, August 1999 by The Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong

Human Rights Press Awards Hong Kong and the Rule of Law Is Asia's Voice Being Heard?

}{E\Ø YORK

LOS ANGELES TIII

DES MOINES 'üØhere

will your business ta

o NTTNTS

THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS'

CLUB

ou tomorrow?

2 Lower Aìbcrt Road, Houg Kong Tel: (852) 2521 1511 Fu: (852) 2868 4092 E-mail: <fcc@fcchk org> Wcbsite: <rw,.fcchk.org>

2 t"rr.r" and Announcements

od & Beverage Committee Report

Philip SegaÌ President - Christopher SJaughter Ray Rudorvski Second Vice President

trïret Vice President

Correspondent Member Governors Lisa Barron, Rowan Callick, Bob Davis, Hubert van Es, Cathy Hilboru leng, Mark Laudle¡ Saul Lockhart, David O'Rear

over story

5 7 8

Jownalist Menber Governors Liu l(rr-ming, Francis Moriar(y Associate Member Governors William H. AresonJr, Ben Beaumout, .]orr Rittecr, Carl Rosenqrrist

't-

Finance Committee Ber BeaumoDt (Treasurcr)

Conueruor:

Professional Colmittee Conueruor:

I "*urr". Statistics Don't Lie (Very Well)

Mark Latdlet

Planning Committee Cozu¿¿or: David O'Rear

Lunchlines

Hong Kong and the Rule Of Law. Now lVhat?

Membership Comittee

Cozz¿nor;

llrrbcrt lau

Food & Beverage Comittee Conuenor: .for Rittger

Entertairuent Comittee Contpn,tr: Cat I Rosenqttist

Freedom of the Press Comittee Conu enor : F r ancis MoriarLv Wall

Human Rights Press Awards Winners of the 1999 Fluman Rights Press Awards Judges of the 1999 Human Rights Press Awards

Comittee

Co conucnors:

Httbert var

*.oru 12 Is Asia's Voice Being Heard? 14 HryA Survey: Who Came Out On Top? 16 Mushahid Hussain, Pakistan's Minister of Information 18 Helping One Another

ancl Bob Davis

General Mmager Robert Saìldcrs

Northu.esl Aillines flies daily to ovel' 250 destinations in all colners of North Amelica.

The Correspondent @

\íe fl1'non-stop betu'een Asia Detloit.

ancl the US over 130 times every week via 9 gateway cities:

The Ì-oreign Correspondents' Club of Houg Kong

Thc Correspondent is publisbed 1 1 tirnes a lcan Opinions expressed br rvritcrs irt magazine are not necessarily those of the

Honoh-rh-r, La.s Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, San Francisco,

I 9' sooL Review

Club.

Kim Basinger

Longer Than Foreyer

r.uo"t 2o African Blues 22 Hole to Hole

Publications Committee Hilborn Fcng

Convenor: Caft'y

Etlitor SatI Lockhart

Seattle and Anchorage. So no rnatter s/hether yolr're going to world famous cities or lesser

known ports of call, you'11 nevel need to s,.or1y about how to

É,et

Prc rJurlion'. Terry Du ckham

there. Fol infolmation ancl

reselvations, please contact your tlavel agent or call Northu'est Ail'lines

E-mail: lockhart@hkstar.com

Productiou Asiapix Prinr Services Tel:2512 9544 Fax:25?5 8600

2810 4288.

E-mail : asiapix@hk.linkage neL

Printer hnpress OfÏict Printing Factory Limited

Advertising Enquiries Ervan Sirnpson

'lcl:2573 33548 Fax: 2834 3Ì62

A I R L I N E¡

E mail: e\vatak@wlink net

Website

w.fcchk.org>

999Northr/estA'rlines, na Northr/est _ec;cesenoughpaperproductsrnone/eârtos¿ve

Down Memory Lane

Editorial Editor: Saul Lockhart Tel: 2813 5284 Fax: 2813 6394

16000trees f¡

THI.-, CORRESPONDENT AUGUST 1999

2'5 *o.,,,d the FCC in Pictures

r2 6

P.of"ssional Contacts

2 B a""

Faces

-Jonathan Sharp and Betty Fu

Cover: Szeto Wah-koon, Sing Tao Daily This was the winning photograph in the Human Rights Press Awards

Hanassment of Hong Kong iounnalist in Beiiing To: DirectorJiang Enzhu, Xinhua News Agency Commissioner Ma Yuzhen Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PRC

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong strongly protests the treatment of local journalists who were detained and harassed by police in Beijing while on assignment there. The reporters and photographers were covering a peaceful effort by Chinese citizens to express their feelings in a lawful manner, and the journalists themselves were performing their professional duties in a proper and appropriate manner. It is unacceptable that they should have their film conhscated and be forced to sign "confessions"; it is particularl;'distasteful that two of them were warned not to report on the detention of their nine colleagues, and were threatened that they would have to bear undescribed consequences if they did. These actions ale direct violations of press freedom and are deeplv disturbing to journalists both locally and overseas.

Philip Segal, President Francis Moriarty, Chairman

In addition, I would like to extend an invitation to both of you to be our guest at a Club luncheon the next time you are in Hong Kong. Our members would very much look forward to hosting you and listening to anv remarks )'ou may rvislr to give.

Philip Segal, President

50th Anniversary Memonabilia Asiapix still has a lot of 'r,aluable old photos and other memorabilia from the 50th Anniversary Edition

The Corresþondent

in March.

, Fax: 2575 8600 E-mail: asiapix@hk.linkage.net Tel:2572 9544

FGG

Swimming Society? Up to you!

Are you an exercise swimmer? If so why not help start the FCC swimming societl'. That way we could hire a lane in the early mornings at the Wanchai Training Pool for the remainder of 1999. I have been s'rvimming at the pool r,r,ith the Athletic Veterans

of Hong Kong, a group which regularlv

Changes in visas fon jounnalists

work starts. Currentll', there is a lane available between 7 and

To: His Excellency Ali Alatas Minister of Foreign Affairs His Excellency Mohamad Yunus

a.m., and sel,eral lanes available between 8 and 9 a.m., both Monda;'through Fridal: Lockers and shorver facilities are available for free. \4/e don't need too many others to make this a very cost-effectir.e way of staying fit. Interested? Please contact me (b1'e-mail preferablr,) ASAP to register vour interest, f,rnd out more, etc.

I was heartened by the nervs following vour meeting

earlier this month with a delegation from the

Kevin Murphy

International Press Institute, that Indonesia no longer has any objection to allowing foreign journalists to enter the countrv rvithout special journalist visas. The ability ofjournalists to enter Indonesia on tourist visas would make coverage of e\rents in your country far

Tel: 2825 7 517, Faxt 2524 1280 E-mail: kmurphy@pacglp.com

As the delegation mentioned to you earlier this month, the current regulations, which require journalists to obtain special single-entr1' visas from Indonesian diplomatic missions, have caused long delays for workingjournalists. \A¡ith most foreign visitors being allowed to enter Indonesia without special \/isas, the restrictions on journalists pose an undue burden. The Foreign Correspondents' Club joins the IPI in its suggestion that journalists be allowed to enter Indonesia on tourist visas given at the airport, and then apply for offìcial accreditation with the Ministry of Information after arrival. We join the IPI in looking forward to the implementation of these changes and thank you for your interest in the welfare of our journalistic colleagues.

_-¡

the return of your material via the FCC.

Freedom of the Press Committee

easler.

ri ã*3#T="-åc+"i'

Please contact Aira Duckham at Asiapix to arrange

reserves lanes at lunchtime, Monday through Saturdal'. Howeveq it r,r,ould be more conlenient to srvim before

Minister of Information Republic of Indonesia

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

Awands Absentee member Russ Arensman, now a freelance writer and editor based in Colorado, recently won a U.S. national journalism prize, a Silver A,r,ard in

the 21st annual Competition for

Editorial,

Graphics, and Online Excellence, sponsored by the American Socieq of Business Press Editors. This year's contest attracted more than 1,800 entries in 11 categories. The Silver Award, second-highest in the category for Business Case Studies, was for an

article about Boise, Idaho-based Micron Inc. and its purchase of Texas

Technology

Instruments Inc.'s memory-chip business. The article was originally published as the October 1998 cover story lor Electronic Business. Russ worked in Hong Kong from 1990 to 1997. He helped to start Electronic Business Asia and later \\'as

fotrnding editors of

one of the

A.sia Inc. TFIE (]ORRESPONDEN'I- AUGUST 1999

.CHRIS PATTEN BEABWITNESSTOTHEINTEGFIITY OFPBOMISES FOfIEWORD. BARIìY GRINDRODFROM CHUNGKINGTOHONG KONG ACAPSULE HISTOBYOFIHE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS'CLUB.AtBERT RAVENHOLT/ASHLEY FOFD REPRESENTING A PROFESSION, NOT A MOB THE LAST SURVìVOR OF THE FCC FOUNDERS RECOUNTS THE CLUB,S ËARLY YEARS . KEVIN SINCLAIR EDDIE TSENG: ONE OF THE FIRST TELEGRAMS FRÕhI THE FRONI- t-INE . DEBEK DAVIS MEMOHIES OF JOHN [.E CARRE THE FCC AND THE HONOUFABLE SCHOOLBOY . SAUL LOCKHARI'TI-IE FCC'S FINEST HOUR FIESCUING A VIETNAMESE JOURNALIST FROIV] HONG KONG'S REFUGEE CAÍVPS . WALTER LOGAN MY EVENING WITH ZHOU ENLAI MAO TAI WITH THE REVOLUTIONARIES . AL KAFF PING-PONG DIPLOMACY WHEN CHINA OPENED ITS DOORS " JAlv{FS lvllLES WHERE WE WERE WRONG COVERING TìANANMEN SQUARE. KEITH B RICHBUFG EMBRACING FOREIGN BABES CHINA WARY OF CROSS-CULTURAL DATING, BUT DELIGHTS IN TV SHOW. PEIER SEIDLITZ NO FT.'TURE, BUT QUITE HAPPY CHINA REI]ORTING . KARIN N/ALMSTROM FORKED LOGIC, TWISTED TONGI.'E FSSENTIAL JOURNO.SPEAK FOR GREATER CHINA HACKS . KARI- WILSON JUNK BAY THE KUOMINTANG WERE HERE " PHILIP BOWRING TIMES OF TFANSITION FACING A RED-CHIp FUTURE . ARTHUR HACKEFì TAKI¡¡G POSSESSTON OF POSSESSTON STREET THE CHALLENGE TO FIND POLITICALLY CORRECT STREET-NAMES . HANS VRTENS A TALE OF TWO HONGS HONG KONG S FInST OPIUI/-TRADERS ARE HOSTAGES TO THE FUTUREAND PRISONERS OFTHE PAST.STEPHENVINESJOURNALISM IN HONG KONG COTONIALPRESS FREEDOMSTHOUGH LIMITED W{U=,BE LOST. EMILy LAU 1997-A OUESTTON OF HONOUR HOW BRITAIN rS CHEATING HONG KONG "VAUDINE ENGLAND HONG KONG'S GANG OF FOUR WOMEN IN T}IÊ COLONY'S POLITICS.ANDREA KOPPÊL HONG KONG JOURNALISTSAFTER'9T INTERVIEW WITH LU PING, DIRECTOR OF HONG KONG AND IVACAU AFFAIFS OFFICE. MARTIN C M tEI- SELF-CENSORSHIP IS THE SILENT ENEMY AND ANOTHFF WORD FORTFEAR. CLARE HOTLINGWORTH FRONT LINE MY BAPTISlt/ OF FIRE: OUIBREAK OF WORLD WAR ¡l . ANTHONY LAWRENCË FROMOUR OWN CORERSPONDENT THE LONELINESS OF A tONG DISTANCE RADIO REPORTER . PETER ARNETT ENFOUÏE TO ASIA HOW IWALKED INTO JOURNALìSI\4 " TIZIANO TERZANI A DEAFENING SILENCE SAIGONS LAST DAY " JON SWAIN RIVER OF TIME CAMBODIAN DREA\,{S AND NIGHTMARES . JONATHAN SHARP DOTS, DASHES AND THE DAWN DIP SOÍVIE OF THE MODES AND WOES OF COMMUNICAI"IONS IN THE PRE-COIV]PU]'ER AGE. SANDRA BURTON WATCHING MARCOS FALL THE GFìAVITY OF HISTORY'RODNEY TASKÊB BRINGING DOWN A DICTATOBSHIP WATCHING THE GENEFALS'TONY CLIFTON TODAY'S YOUNG JOURNALIST ARE SO DAMN sEB.IOUS]'HE LEcACyOFWOODWARD AND BERNSTETN. PETER OHARLESWORTH rN SEARCH OFTf-lE BIG PICTURE BEWARE OF PHOTO EDITôRS WITH VISIONS . EIIICH FOLLATH NOW iT IS OUR TURI,I INTËRVIEW WITH MALAYSIA'S PRIME IVINISTER MAHATHIR IVOHAMAD . pÈiltp BowRtNG pnEss FREEDoM pur youR tMoNEy wHERE youR MourH rs . RTcHARD HoRNìK THE LtMlrs oF coNFUclANlsM WHATÄRE THESE ASTAN VALUES? . STUART WOLFENDALE AStA',S THRTVING MONARCHICAT, BUSTNESS WHERE FAITH lS lvlOFE Tl'lAN

THEYRECOLLECTED ABAO FANTASY.DAVIDGABCIATHEFCCONTOURV]ISSTIBETANDENLIGHTENMENT.THEYCAME.THEYSAW CHI REUNION TWO DECADES ON . VAUDINE ENGLAND CONVERSATIONS BEHIND THE BAR THE SENIOR STAFF OF THE FCC . FCC PRESIDENTS . FCC GUESTS " FCC MEMBEBS - PHOTOS FFìo[/ THE FCC ARCHIVES . EDDIE ADAN/S 'JOSEPH BECK'JACK BIRNS ' WERNER BISCHOF. LARRY BURROWS. ROBERT CAPA. PETER CHARLESWORTH. RAY CBAI\IBOURNE'BOB DAVIS'GREG DAVIS' RIOHARD DOBSON.TERBY DUCI(HAM, HUGH VAN ES. JOHN GIANNINI. GREG GIRARD. GERHARD JOREN. KEES. STEVEN KNIPP'JAN IAMBEBT. LEONG KAfAI. ROBIN MOYER. ROBERTNG " BASIL PAO. DANTE PERALTA. ROBERT PICCUS. KYOICHI SAWADA. STEPHÊN SHAVEB . DAVID TIIURSTON . C TlI-LYER . PETER TURNLEY . MICHAEL WOLF . EDWARD WONG - PUBI-lSl-lED BY STEFAN REISNER & 1511 KAI BESCHKE.THEFOREIGNCORRESPONDENTS'CLUB,2LOWERALBERTROAD,HONGKONG,PHONE+8522521 FAX +852 2868 4092." EDITED BY PAUL BAYFIELD, VAUDINE ENGLAND, SAUL LOCKHART AND HUBERT VAN ES

HK$250.00 AVAILAELE FROM FRONT OFFICE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT'S CLUB 2 LOWER ALBERT ROAD, HONG KONG TEL: 2521 1511 FAX:2868 4092

Food & Beverage Committee Report There 1S no doubt that along with journalism, dining and drinking are the very cornerstones of the FCC. Convenor Jon Rittger reports on what the committee has been doing he F&B Committee has set five

ambitious

objectives for the current board year, accepting its mandate to optimise F&B acceptance by the

Club's membership, while retaining reasonable and competitive pricing.

conducted a review of the food offerings of each venue to define items and categories that have historically

been popular and identify those that were not acceptable to the membership. Interim changes to the Main Bar and Main Dining Room menus have already been made that reflect our initial findings.

. Broaden the range offood categories to ensure that the majority of members' tastes and dietary requirements are being met; o

Ensure that popular F&B items are retained on

a regular basis;

Review the balance between Chinese, Asian and Western dishes;

Ensure that the quality of dishes included in menus is at least equivalent to or better than similar dishes available at other venues and at a competitive or be tter value-for-money; o Conduct a complete review of wine suppliers and offerings to enhance variety and appeal to the membership.

This is a challenging agenda and the Committee recognises the importance of working closely with the board, management and particularly the members to achieve these objectives. During the month of July we

rom the results of this review, we will be rolling out new menus in new formats for each of the Club's F&B venues. The new Main Bar menu will be launched in August, followed by the Main Dining Room in September and Bert's in October. We will also be looking at ways to improve the ambiance of the Main Dining Room through improved lighting, warmer décor, et cetera. The review of wine suppliers and offerings is also underway. In addition to improving the quality, variety and value-for-money of the wines being offered, we are looking for suppliers who will conduct monthly tastings and provide special home-delivery offers for the membership. As the process evolves, we will be surveying the membership for your valuable input. Any constructive suggestions or recommendations can be submitted through the Club's suggestion box or left at the office for the attention of the F&B Committee. Signed suggestions will get first consideration. I

Human

(-)

Ø c)

PFGs$

AwaFds

Police tackling an act¡vist A Diaoyu lslands activist is stopped by police during an impromptu protest in front of Government House against US President Bill Clinton's visit to Hong Kong Certificale of Merit.

The convenor of the FCC's Freedom of the Press Committee, Francis Moriarty, reports on this year's awards he FCC has once again played host to the Human Rights Press Awards, a major feature on the Club's calendar for the past four years.

The goal of these Awards is to create increased respect for the basic rights of all people, heighten general awareness of human-rights issues and, where threats to those freedoms exist, to focus attention upon them.

TheJune 12th eventwas well attended and received excellent press coverage. Nearly 100 people filled the Main Dining Room for the Human Rights Awards Lunch, along with reporters from a number of local news outlets and wire services, which gave wide

coverage to the winners. The ceremony was free of charge to contestants and judges. The new president, Philip Segal, made his inaugural appearance in the job.

Total entries were up this year by 30Vo to 293. Entries in Chinese increased 23% and for the hrst time passed 100. Entries in English rose 367o. Photography

with entries rising 35%. This year, for the first year, winners in some categories received valuable prizes. The best work on the rights of children received an Armada 3500, a $29,000, ultra-lightweight Pentium II notebook computer from Compaq Computer. In addition, two

was again the most popular category,

sets, one Chinese and one English, of VoiceType Simply

FCC PRTVATE ROOMS The FCC offers members the use of two large inter-cònnected rooms, the Albert and Hughes Rooms, for private functions, meetings and seminars.

inners in all categories recei't'ed

The Main Dining Room and the Verandah areas can also be used by members for large parties, business conferences and wedding receptions. For booking contact Don on tel2521 4

lSll

or fax 2868 4092 or e-mail: fcc@fcchk.org THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST 1999

Speaking voice-input software worth about $1,200 per set were also awarded for work in this category. This software was donated by IBM China/Hong Kong. In the commentary and analysis category, winners recei't,ed a copy of the World Bank China Reference, a searchable CD-ROM reference usually priced at $2,900, donated by pubtishers Asia 2000 Ltd., owned by club member Mike Morrow There was also generous underwriting from the Marclen Foundation which has been a loyal supporter of the event. a

deluxe plaque with the awards a map of Hong Kong logo

with-

South China Morning Postwinners: (back l-r) Glenn Schloss, Robert Ng, Jonathan Fenby, Jasper Becker and Richard Cook, (front /-r) Ricky Chung, Martin Chan and David Wong, Missing: Danny Gittings and K G Ng THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST 1999

a broken chain. Certificates of special merit were also awarded. The top príze, including the

ComPaq

computer, went toJasper Becker of ùte South China

Get lost Beijing police chase away a worker during President Clìnton's visit Certificate of Merit.

Io z 'd

ô o

^Æ#Ít4æ

c 6 o Ø o

WinneFs 0f Ïhe I S99 Hufiian Right$ Ppe$s Awarüs

ç d

Hopes and prayers A young Mainlander seeking Right of Abode in Hong Kong at a sit-in. Certlficate of Merit.

s c) f l

Morning Posl. (The complete list of winners begins on page 7.)

Co-sponsored by the FCC, the Hong Kong Journalists Association and Amnesty International (Hong Kong), the awards seek to recognise outstanding journalism in all media pertaining to any human-rights-

@ @ l

o o

related issue. Anyone who works for a Hong Kong-based outlet or is based in Hong Kong

for an

overseas organisation

is eligible to

enter.

Gh,iR,ose-lan$uage Entp'ies Ghinese Newspapens Merit Certificate Aþþle Daily: The National and Regional Flag Ordinance contradicts the Basic Law

Hong Kong Economic Journal: The incident of the police broadcasting Beethoven's music to drown out the sounds of public protest. Seven out of nine members of the Complaints Against the Police Office proved that the police had abused their authority Chinese Newspapen teatunes

Merit Certificate Aþþle Daily: The 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

he Human Rights Press Awards are now widely considered to be the most prestigious, and coveted,

journalism awards in the HKSAR. The subjects covered are not limited to Hong Kong; entries have included stories from India, Mongolia, the Philippines and the Mainland, as well as other countries in the region. As usual, there were strong panels of prestigiousjudges (the complete list of is on page 7.) in all the categories, and they held to very high standards in assessing the entries, sometimes choosing to grant extra awards or special recognition, and other times deciding to give no award at all. The judges looked for originality, professionalism, amount of effort, depth of understanding of issues and, where relevant, courage on the part of the journalists or the publisher. During the luncheon presentation, thejudges gave detailed explanations of the reasoning behind their choices, providing the entrants with a clear picture of what constitutes praise-worthy reporting. They also discussed what it was, in their minds, that made the difference between good human-rights reporting, and simply producing stories that report on a particular problem that might have a human rights implication. This is sometimes a diffrcult distinction, but it has become evident over the four years of the event that, with the assistance of the judges' analyses, the submissions are reflecting a greater selectivity of material and a more developed awareness of human rights issues.

The highlight of the event was a video presentation of the winning photography and television entries. It was produced under the direction of Angela Lee, Amnesty's Human Rights Education Officer. When the awards were started, there were questions about the future of Hong Kong's free press and free speech, particularly the expression of opinions. It is one of the reasons that after the awards' inception, the organisers introduced a category for opinion and editorials, which has been well received. We also did not know when we began if anybody would enter or if

the event would survive. The answers now are clearly yes and

yes.

y supporting programs like the Human Rights Press Awards, the FCC shows its ongoing commitment to a free press as well as to the other human rights of which freedom of expression is an integral part. The organisers are deeply indebted ro the H{fA and Amnesty and their staffs for all that they have done. We also wish to thank our prize contributors, underwriters, judges, our own FCC staff, and all those who make this event possible.

We look forward to the first awards of the new millennium. I THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST 1999

Merit Certificates Han Dong-fang, Hong Kong Economic Times: Mainland China cannot exorcise itself of the June 4 incident Editorial, Hong Kong Economic JournaL. Since there is still scope for human rights improvement, the stress on 'responsibility' is redundant

Engllsh-[an guû,$G Entries News Joint winners

Ng Kang-chtng, South China Morning Post "Classic case of mainland justice

secret and swift"

Glenn Schloss, South China Morning Posl: "Inside Saipan's sweatshops" and "Where sweatshops are the fashion"

Chinese Magazines Merit Certificates Eastueek: Handicapped infants from Vietnam accuse those responsible for their condition

Merit Certificate Glenn Schloss, South China Morning Posf "Torment of airport body searches"

NextMagazine: One Mother, Two sons with Aids

Winner

Ghinese ïeleuision

Jasper Becker, South China Morning Posl: "North Korea's desperate children" and "People starve as rulers celebrate"

Merit Certificate RTHK Hong Kong Collection: "Lose Face" Chinese Radio

Merit Certificates RTHK: The reflection on the June 4 incident by the

teatunes

Merit Certificates Sherry Lee, Honghong Standard: "Villagers fight to lift ban on street"

reporters

James Cox, LIS-,I Today: "Prison camp or death camp"

Chloe Cattelain, Radio Free Asia: "Does Hong Kong need to exclude the racism la'r'v ?"

Magazines Winner Susan Berfiel.d, Asiaweek: "Ten day,s that shook Indonesia"

Ghinese Commentany

Winner

Merit Certificate

Johannes Chan, Hong Kong Economic Times: I{ow political interference in the judiciary affects its impartiality

Jeremy Hansen, HK Magazinø "Immoral minority"

Human Rights Commentary ToYiu-minq, MingPao THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST I999

f 998-f 999 News

Commentany and Analy$¡$ Merit Certificates Neville de Silva, Honghong Standard: "Don't fault court for abode ruling"

Daniel Gittings, South China Morning PosÍ "Defenders of the faith go it alone"

! ! @

Teleuision

Winner Matt Frei, BBC News, "Cambodia - Ta Mok"

o o o c o I c È

-I

Merit Certificate

È o J

Patrick Yuen Yeuk-kwong, Asia Television, "Tibetans in

Exile and Dalai Lama"

By David O'Rear

Radio he GreatAsian Depression (GAD!) is over. Stock markets (at least at this writing) are

Winner Harvey Stockwin, RTHK: "Reflections from Asia"

roaring, currencies are stable and economies are booming once again.

K¡lpatn¡Gk Awand Fon Human Bights and Ghildnen English Winner Richard Cook, Postmagazine. "Point of No Return" Chinese Winner Eastweeh:

Handicapped infants from Vietnam accuse

those responsible for their condition Overall Winner Jasper Becker, South China Morning Posf For work reporting the plight of North Korean children

PhotogFaphy scct¡on Winner Szeto Wah Koon, Sing Tao Daily: "Driving out the

illegal occupiers" Merit Certificates: David Au, Aþþle Daiþ: "Reporter's life" David Au, Aþþle Daiþ:,'June Fourth candlelight vigil" Dicky Chan, Hongkong Standard: "Hopes and prayers" Martin Chan, South China Morning Post "Exhausted"

Tearful appeal Mother of two Hong Kong-born children appeals for permanent abode during a sit-in Certificate of Merit

Ricky Chung, South China Morning Post "Police tack-

ling an activist" Lo Pui-kwan, Hongkong Standard: "Tearful appeal" Bonny Luk, Slng Tao Daily: "Prisoner and son kiss" Robert Ng, South China Morning Post "Mr Sze shows his family picture" Jackie So Man-kit, Sing Tao Daily Nars: "Get lost!" David Wong Chi-kin, South China Morning Posf. "Crying pain" Wu Ah-lai, Sing'fao Daily: "Piainy June Fourth"

Break out the champagne: We survived! It's true, if you are willing to take a whole new perspective on things. A report earlier this year on Indonesia's economic growth in the first three months of 1999 had a curious slant to it. Because the data looked so awful minus I0.37o the spin doctors decided that the -'rproper" - was not annual, bwt quarterly comparisons. perspective Hence, from the fourth quarter of 1998 to the frrst quarter of 1999, Indonesia's economy actually grew by over l7o. Proof that recovery is at handl By twisting your neck to just the right angle (don't try this at home, kids!), Thailand just recorded its third successive quarter of growth and the Malaysian economy grew a whopping 92% in the first three months of 1999. Dr Mahathir is just waiting to say, "I told you so!" Better than a Taiwan haircut. Massaging data is what economists do for a living, and if we are honest stop laughing we have to measure things consistentþ Shifting gears from annual to quarterly srowth isn't honest.

speaking P.E.N.

Gnanam Devadass, Development Co-ordinator, Asia/Pacifi c, Amnesty International

air circulation device. Then there are headline numbers, the ones that sell papers. According to most reports, Japan's economy just a hair below China's 8.3% actually grew 7S% first quarter frgure. Japan's a developed economy and their numbers must be right. Right? Nope. -lhe 7.9Vo frgure takes the ludicrous assump-

tion that growth in one quarter, from the previous quarter, is representative of the entire

Japan's Real GDP Growth

Judges Fred Armentrout, President, Hong Kong English-

Growth is tlpically measured as the most recent period of time (usually a quarter) vis-à-vis the same period 12 months earlier. Hence,January-March 1999 as compared toJanuary-March 1998. The chart below shows what happens if you think like a propaganda cadre instead of a ... well, let's not get into that. The two lines on the graph show real GDP growth inJapan as measured two ways: year-on-year and quarter-to-quarter. The blue line shows very strong growth in early 1996 and very strong contraction in 1998. The latest data, for fìrst quarter 1999, shows nothing, nada, zip,0.l%. The red line shows growth from one quarter to the next, and greatly moderates both the highs and lows. Growth in the latest quarter is l.9Vo (vs OctoberDecember 1998), and is just about as strong as the first quarter of 1997, before the faecal matter hit the rotary

+l.go/o

Dr. James F. Kenny, Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism and Communication, Chinese

University of Hong Kong

Carol Lai Pui-yee, Columnist and Executive Committee Member, Hong Kong Journalists

Hubert van Es, Photographer, Board Member, FCC.

Association

Audrey Eu Yuet-mee, SC, former Chairperson, Hong

Cornelis Metselaar, Photographer, 98/99 Board

Kong Bar Association

Member, FCC

Rev. Louis Ha, Archivist, Hong Kong Catholic

Dr Stephen Ng, Chai¡ Human Rights Monitor

Diocese

Joyce Nip, Assistant Professor, Department of

Angela Lee, Human Rights Education Officer,

Journalism, Hong Kong Baptist University

Amnesty International Hong Kong

Philip Segal, President, FCC

Jacqueline Leong, SC, former Chairperson, Hong Kong Bar Association

Sin Wai-keung, Chairperson, Hong Kong

? +j.gvo?

+o.lo/o?

fourth quarter followed by a merely bad first quarter will yield an extraordinarl' and totally r'annualised" unbelievable growth - this article is printed, fìgure. By the time the number will be revised, according to the people compiling Japan's data; the typical revision is 0.7 percentage year. Hence , a really ugly

pornts.

All of which is a round about way of saying headline figures are rarely what they seem. The truth is Japan has been in deep wasabi for a long time and is -1

only now beginning to recover. That reflects what is happening in the real world.

-2 -3

Photographers Association

-4 t905

THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST 1999

Daaid O'Rear, regional economist with Intelligence Unit, is quite ready to declare the GAD! ouer and done, if only the the Economist

Press

THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST 1999

region would cooþerate.

that the government will make any similar requests except in exceptional circumstances." assume

Hong Ke,ng and the Rule of [auu: lllerru U,fhat? A distinguished panel of legal experts discussed the burning issue of the law in Hong Kong, a crisis brought about by the HKSAR's referral to Beijing of a Court of Final Appeal judgment on the Right of Abode. Tbdd Crowell reports an Hong Kong still claim to be a society run by laws? Is the Court of Final Appeal only the

Court of Semi-Final Appeal? Is'One Country' taking precedence now over'Two Systems' in

Deng Xiaoping's famous formula for maintaining Hong Kong's autonomy from Mainland China? These questions were debated by a panel of legal experts two days after China's National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) issued its reinterpretation of the Basic Law in the burning issue of migrants rights in Hong Kong. The three panelists seemed to tilt more in favour of the Hong Kong government's position: namely that seeking the reinterpretation was both necessary and would not permanently damage the rule of law. That bias was somewhat balanced by the Legislative Council's Legal Representative, Margaret Ng, sitting in the audience at this packed Professional Lunch, who È O Ø

wedlock. (Even though somehow, miraculously, the tens of thousands of illegitimate children supposedly about to enter the territory seemed to disappear in the HKSAR government's recalculation of those still eligible to enter in light of the new ruling.) He added that the legal status parties to the litigation were still permitted to stay in the territory and had not been

highest legislative body. But after the CFA issued a terse "clarification" disavowing any such claim, Beijing had more or less quieted down, its sovereignty anxieties apparently allayed. Seeking an NPCSC interpretation was basically a Hong Kong initiative, Cheng said. "The interpretation would not have been issued if the Hong Kong government had not asked for the advice in the fìrst place." That of course is precisely what troubles a lot of people

affected.

in the territory.

t*t

6HSI¿"tLAd

¡¡.r oF

If the social consequences of virtually unlimited migration were as dire as the government maintains, why didn't they seek an

rtc

f he fßrq ,'{erll -

' ¡

CÚ..cr^* v-'

strenuously rebutted several of the arguments presented

by the panelists on this point. She called their arguments "revolting."

"In my own opinion, the Standing Committee cannot have interfered with the judicial powers of the Hong Kong courts," maintained Professor Albert H.Y. Chen, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong. He noted that the 155-member Standing Committee, which meets every two months, is essentially a legislature and the interpretation should be seen as being "a legislative act." He noted, "The Hong Kong court retains the power to interpret the interpretation." Ronny K. W. Tong, SC, chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association, politely begged to differ. "There will now be pressure on judges in trying disputes to seek a

pre-emptive interpretation Ifrom the Standing Committeel. People will also lose confidence that the court will make their rulings solely in common-law principles," he said. "We want to believe that the government was right to take this action, but it raises

prepared

the status of children born out of

narrow. For example, it did not deal with

Þ = l

t^o*

Basic Law Drafting Committee, of which he was a member, complained about language used in the judgment. It seemed to place the Hong Kong court on a superior plane than even the NPC, which is China's

offìcial of the Department ofJustice, was not

Mainlander shows his said family picture - hearresl his daughter was ed by immigration. Certificate of merit,

ingfield also stressed that the issues addressed by the NPCSC were fairly

he government attorney on the panel, Ian G. M. Wingfreld, Law Officer (Civil Law), a top

Family reminder A

the future.

fears." He said the government should declare that this was a special case and that in the future it will not bypass a Basic Law by going to the Standing Committee.

Flowever he declined several chances of promising that that the government would not take the same route in

Kong and in Beijing about'One Country' taking precedence over 'Two Systems' have encouraged this view Cheng noted that after the CFA made its landmark ruling on January 29, some Chinese members of the

to make such a commitment

though he insisted that any future ones would be rare, not routine. The reason the government sought the interþretation, as he insisted on calling it, was because of

the exceptional circumstances involved, not just because the government lost the case.

"It

is wrong to

THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST 1999

o o

ã o o

amendment to the Basic Law? Tong believed that was the way to go, but

Cheng said that the amendment route was simply not possible because of insuffrcient support for it among the members of the local NPC delegation. (The Basic Law requires that two-thirds of local delegates support any new amendment by most counts, two-thirds or- more of the Hong Kong delegation opposed such an

ã C)

amendment.)

Cheng conceded that the amendment route was probably a better option from Hong Kong's perspective, but, he said, "I can Failed petition About 200 Mainlanders claiming to have the Right of Abode in Hong understand why the interpretation Kong cry after failing to deliver a petition to Chief Secretary for Administration Anson was more appropriate from a Chan Fang On-sang Certificate of Merit Chinese point of view." An amendheng argued that the NPCSC had made the ment means "change"; while an interpretation just "elaborates" on the subject

"the differences are con-

Added Wingfield:- "It was thought that the

ceptual." intent of the law was discernible." Cheng tried a different tack by maintaining that the interpretation was not a "reintepretation" in the Western sense presumably meaning that the NPCSC but did not act sort- of like a super Court of Appeal

in the Chinese sense. "It's just a legislative ordinance. That's why the Court of Final Appeal (CFA) is still independent." But Tong argued that if the present legal system continues to be "chipped away" in this manner, the Basic Law will lose its importance. Some in the audience questioned r,r,hether the issue was fundamentally a power play, a way of asserting

China's dominance over Hong Kong. Some rather loose comments by prominent people both in Hons THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST 1999

"most generous interpretation" of the words of the Basic Law as possible. "There are different ways of drawing the boundary and they took the widest possible." That brought a sharp retort from Legislative Councillor Ng who called

Cheng's definition of "generosity" revolting. "The government is taking the lead in abandoning commonlaw principles," she insisted. Is the matter settled by the interpretation? Not by a long shot. Lawyers are already standing in line to get their test cases before the court to settle the legal status of their clients in light of the NPCSC's reinterpretation. When these cases percolate up to the CFA, the five justices will, of course, have to apply the interpretation or perhaps not thus starting another crisis. Stay -tuned for the next -twist in the long involving saga. I 11

Is Asia's Voice

at-large Allen Cheng. Cheng explained that Asia Inc. ts a legacy of a unique and famously failed publishing venture, the Managers Group, which comprised the business feature magazine (now revived with senior staff owning 20Vo witl:r

the rest taken by

Heard? sia's voice goes unheard in the din of the Western perspective. NAIO's bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade gave a salutary lesson in how little control Asians have over the way events affecting their region are interpreted. At the l-Iniversity of Hong Kong roundtable Journalism at the Millennium: Can Asians discoaer their own uoice?, tlne normally polite tone of the question-andanswer sessron evaporated quickly as angry voices

complained about the condescending and distorted treatment some international news organisations gave to the massive protests (against the Belgrade bombing) that raged in China. The consensus was that while Beijing had obviously given the nod of approval to the action, it was far from the completely manufactured protest some made it out to be, though it was accepted that less partial media quickly reported the results of independent surveys that showed the vast majoriq' of Chinese felt genuinely someaggrieved and threatened by the bombing - had thing many in Hong Kong, and at the roundtable, believed all along. "It was a failure of the Asian perspective to get across," explained Ying Chan, senior consultant in journalism and media studies at HKU, adding that it raised the issue of Asia's inability to create its own reality in the Western media.

A recent roundtable at the IJniversity of Hong Kong tried to answer that question . Sarah Stewart reports fact that Asians learn about their own region and the rest of the world through the filter of Western news services over which they have little influence. The1, watch the West's superstar journalists (some ethnic Asian, but all raised and educated elsewhere) on TV, they flick through local editions of U.S. and British news magazines and their locaì Sundal, newspapers are stuffed with the thoughts of Western syndicated columnists all in the absence of any home-grown

alternatives. "Public expression is diminishing at the same time that private expression is burgeoning," noted Shimatsu. "There is a culture of anonymity in Asia and a tradition

of goodwill to be

preserved between publishers, businessmen and journalists." This, he explained, "has helped strangle the development of Asian media and contributed to the lack of a pan-Asian outlet. There is enormous social pressure not to stand out, but not to be heard too loud, not too controversial." As a result, there are few spokespeople for Asia who the Western media know and accept.

ingapore's Lee Kuan Yew and Malaysia's Mahathir Mohamad, with their strident views and fluency in English, successfullv command international attention, but there are few candidates emerging to hll the shoes of this old guard.

7Tl I

h o

I :

visitingProfessor University,

ford

?:î;,?iï"iîi

king, Next Magazine's Investigative Editor, and Yoichi Shimatsu, staff writer and editor of the Japan Times both Chan and Shimatsu are HKU Media Studies Fellows) felt the incident was a timely illustration of the 12

had the rug pulled out from

"Many people in Asia want to

create an Asian voice, whether in the financial or media world. But they don't know how to there is no leadership at this point," said Asia Inc.'s, editor-

A major problem the panel identified was the lack of a pan-Asian news forum, either in print or broadcast, to promote the sharing of news and views around Asia. Shimatsu said the Asian Times was an "heroic attempt" to hll the void, but one that failed from the outset by setting up with a staff dominated by expatriate or British-trained journalists and editors, despite a hiring policy preferential to Asians. THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST I999

Malaysian as well

multinational DKH Bhd) as

the

under their feet."

o'Marry people

in Asia want to

and

contract magazines. "They (Thai media magnate Sondhi Limthongkul and team) wanted to build a Dow Joneslike conglomerate here in Asia, but that fell apart because of the Asian crisis. So there have been

create an Asian voice...

But th"y don't know how to..."

efforts to build a pan-Asian news service and no doubt there will be again. But given the current financial situation, no one dare try at the moment at least," noted Cheng. Even u,ith the will and resources to set up an Asian news forum, the region's multiple language gaps are another signifìcant stumbling block. Professor Wong said that a recent visit to India reinforced in his

mind the "tremendous importance" of English in intra-regional communication. "Probabl¡ the voice expressed must be in English," he said. The panel at the HKU forum were pessimistic about the future development of a single (let alone unifìed) Asian voice, butwere unanimous in viewing the current situation as a \¡ery serious problem.

William Woo, a Shanghai-born former editor of S¿. Louis Post-Disþatch, one of America's major newspapers, said he belie'r,ed there was a place for the Asian perspective. But he said it lacked a delivery mechanism and would have to counter resistance to that view being

the

heard.

hough Cheng is conhdent that a pan-Asian viewpoint will one day thrive, he says the demise of t]¡e Asian Times showed that such a process will take time. "The region has only started to develop a voice in the past 10 years. Prior to that, Asia was carved up into colonies and it is only in recent years that economically it started to come into its own.

"In time, there will be opinion leaders coming out

of region again... As people gain political and

economic maturity they will emerge. But right now a lot of people have lost conhdence, because they have THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST I999

whether through spokesperson, a media personality or a pan-Asia news program. However, hampered by the language barrier and hidebound by the same factors that inhibit this sort of development elsewhere in the region, it had failed to do so. Now China has replaced it as the main contender, although the speakers predicted it would be decades before the emerging superpower could function in that role. Like Woo, Cheng raised the Asian voice

Asi,an I'imes and several

other trade, consumer

he panel noted that Japan, in its role as an economlc power, had in past decades been seen as the nation most capable of nurturing a strong

a political-

factor of the United

States'

vested interest in promoting its view of the world. "The U.S. wants involvement in Asia because it serves its interest for there not to be a singular Asian voice," he said. "The U.S. has an agenda and that is that they want to be No. I and from their point of view, they have every right to be. I believe that how they viewedJune 4 (the Tiananmen Massacre) was very genuine. But since then, they have discounted all the progress China has made and continue to write things from a very Cold War point of view, straight from the State Department." Cheng, who serves as president of the Asian Chapter of the Asian-American Journalists' Association,

said he felt "ashamed" about how the U.S. media covered the response to the embassy bombing. Hong Kong's role as a uniquely unconstrained centre for debate in the region, particularly for discussion on China, was recognised at the roundtable. Investigative reporter Chan Pui-King's review of levels of freedom and access under the new regime was generally positive. "Hong Kong authorities are becoming more open, helpful and cooperative," she said, while adding that a clear framework to determine what was off limits to the press was badly needed. Howeveq Wong warned that the territory's reputation as one of the Chinese community's most pluralist and vital press centres could be stifled by the spectre of selÊrestraint as well as coercive censorship. "And there

is a second danger - that the lure of market forces could lead to the degradation of standards. This could lead to widespread popular dissent," he said," referring to some of the Chinese-language papers' famously lurid styles.

I I3

When you try to arrange interviews with officials through information officers, how do they perform?

HKJA Survey:

Who Came Out On Top? Keuin Sinclair looks anew at this survey which, predictabl¡ lambasted government spin doctors, and comes to a surprising conclusion he Hong Kong .fournalists Association polled members earlier in the year to find out what reporters thought of the Information Services Department known to all and sundry as CIS (Government Information Services). The aim, according to the survey results published in the H$A's magazine, The Journalist, r,vas to "enhance understanding and cooperation between journalists and information officers." In the inevitable and highly predictable clash between the press djgging for facts and the information side of the government (or private industry for that matter), it is an odds-on bet that any survey will show the press people dissatisf,red with how they get information (i.e. the procedures to be followed), what they get, and the time it takes to receive it. Not surprisinely, the overall results of this survey showed scribes et al unhappy with the government's information officers and others who dish out material on the administration, or for that mattet other public bodies. About 40% said they were "not satisfied" with GIS officers' performance, claiming the public spokesmen were inefficient. In the multi-option answer, 32% saíd GIS spokesmen "alwa1s" missed out important pieces of information, although no concrete examples were given.

Only one in 10 of the respondents said they were satisfied with the performance of press ofhcers, but 45% clairned they were not helpful in fixing interviews, but said they were good at arranging press conferences. The only consolation came in comparison with press journalists said they spokesmen in private industry

were even worse. Trying to analyse the response survey puts me in

a difficult position. Those who know me, or read my columns, can attest to the number of battles I'r'e had with various elements of the government bureaucracl', before and after the Hando'rrer. However, I find m)'self more critical of the survey than of the government flacks. What's more, I feel the HKJA survey misses the mark. To my mind, a close reading of the survey results reflects worse on the journalists than on their targets. I now find mvself in the unusual situation of involuntarily backing up the government's propaganda machine against criticism b)'-y fellow newspapermen. 14

Why are you not satisfied?

But the survey's

very satisfactorily

no oprnron

others

satisfactorily

very unsatisf actorily Ò¿ /o

missing or not providing key information

a shocking lack of awareness about the real world. It seems man)/ of the journalists who answered (and I was one of the 58 ans\\¡ers reveal

3B% ineff

HKJA members who filled in the survey out of 550 who were sent the form) want press spokesmen to do their work for them and expect everything to be handed to

them on a gilded platter. Though the survey response I'll leave it to the lads on was dismal by any standards - out the percentage of the business pages to work responses The Journalist claimed it "academically acceptable."- It may be to them, but not to me. \À4lo actually answered? More than half (59%) were newspaper reporters, slightly less than a quarter (22%) worked on radio andl07o were TVjournalists. One pie chart in the survey says there were no freelancers and another pie chart says there are two lots of freelancers,

39% half-half

bridge

trveen off,rcials and j ournali sts" (2I

Vo) .

Maybe.

job of the Information Officers (IOs) is to boost the However, SIVo

nore realistically

say the

g-o\¡ernment's image and promote its policies. Of the seven pie charts, three add up to 101% and one to 99%, which is a bit confusing and also, to my mind, prettv sloppy reporting and editing. (After that, I couldn't be bothered to add up the percentages in

the unillustrated questions. ) Consider t7'is: IIVo of respondents criticised GIS staff for not having "good writing skills." On the other tLand, TVo say the IOs do have good writing skills. Forgi'r'e me, but what's pretty writing to do with their job which is to give out facts, not well-written fiction?

hile not a single respondent said they lvere "very satisfied",38% rvere "very dissatished" or "not satisfied" with the go\¡ernment spin doctors, the main reason for their unhappiness being "inefficiency and missing out vital information" (38%). OI( That's valid. But read on: In another question, good manners evidently mattered rnore (39%) than prompt answers THE, CORRESPONDENT AUGUST I99I)

tt/o

poor writing Sorrrce'.

Tlre

Journalist, Hong Kong.f ournalist Association

(27%). Fourteen per cent were "satisfied" that GIS provided "detailed information" and met the "the needs of journalists." The biggest bitches were about slorvness in giving answers and giving inadequate or irrelevant information (33%). hen it came to asking IO's to fix interviews

only 7Vo with officials, GIS did badly thought they were "satisfactory" vs 45Vo who were on the other side. Inefficiency (23%) and that elusive "poor manners"

each with 2%. Puzzling.

Many seem to have a confused role about what government spokesmen are slrpposed to do. Almost an equal number thought the government PRs were there to "facilitate the work ofjournalists" (23%) or "act as a

icienl

(22%) were mentioned, but the main complaint (2870) was that the IOs were unable to arrange interviews.

Are these reporters cripples? What's to stop them telephoning or faxing or e-mailing the civil servants themselves and asking questions or requesting an interview?

The balance between satisfaction with pressconference arrangements (30% satished) and those unhappy (I7%) can give a bit of solace to the government spin doctors. Asked to rank the top 10 government departments and organisations by performance, the Security Bureau (to my utter amazement) came first, closely followed by (in a tie for second place) the Information Serr'ices Department and, to my further astonishment, the Chief Secretary's Office. The Housing Department locked onto fourth place all alone rvhile the Financial Secretary's Office, the Mass Transit Railrvay Corp. and the Constitutional Affairs Bureau tied for frfth. That left a three-way tie for the proverbial wooden spoon rvhich was shared by the Flome Affairs Bureau, my old adversary the Police Public Relations Bureau and e.r,eryone's bête noire, the Immigration Department. The organisation which I find truly excellent, the Trade Development Council, didn't get a mention! To me, the survey raised more questions than it settled. It also, I feel, illustrates a rather depressing THE CORRESPONDE,NT ÀU(}UST I999

skills

attitude of reporters who want to be spoon-fed information instead of digging it up on their own, the old-fashioned, but quite strenuous, way. I've been dealing with the GIS, on an almost daily basis for more than 30 years. If used correctl¡ the organisation is an invaluable reporting tool, especially for a freelancer without extensive research and secretarial back-up. But like everything else, you get back what you put in. \A¡riting this stor¡ I tested the system by asking some questions about changing population patterns. I got a full statistical answer within the mornrng. Of course, there's still plenty to criticise in CIS, its staff and the way it operates. Years ago, almost all CIS staff were hired from newspapers. It used to drive me to fury when I was the news editor on the Hong Kong Stctndctrd and the South China Morning Post and had half my top reporters lured away by high government pa-v packets cotrpled 'rvith housing allowances, lat 257o gratuities (if they were on contract) and generous leat'e arrangements. hese days, )/ounger GIS staff tend to be directþ

hired into public serr,ice from universities. They are better educated, but they lack that spark of knowledge about newsgathering during a breaking stor'l'. They often don't have a sense of urgency. I'd like to see government second staff to a genuine

for a ferv months. I would gladlv accept one working with me and I am sure many newspapers would offer them temporary berths. Then they might get a sense of what it is like on the other side of the phone or fax or e-mail rvhen an urgent reql.rest comes through from an anxious reporter pushing a news organisations

deadline. But as for the HKJA survey... I don't think it tells the whole tale, and what it tells ma1' well be inaccurate. I

Mnnr,t

Mushahid l{ussain

Questions gave us an opportunity to raise these concerns.just as it gave the minister many occasions to stare hard and glare even harder at the questioners.

Somehow, he managed to give

the

impression of a man 'rvho is not used to being questioned. he first one was about Hussain Haqqani who was,/is "active in

opposition politics" Hussain said. The Minister added that this involved a case of corruption with a

Pakistan's Minister

for Information spoKe at a meetlng

organised by the Freedom Forum. Michael Mackey

reports ushahid Hussain, Pakistan's Minister for

Information as well as Minister for Culture, Tourism, Sports and Youth Affairs is the consummate diplomat and dapper, urbane and with beautifully - He's in the news quite a lot now with modulated tones. Pakistan's Himalayan confrontation with India. That said, the trouble with Hussain is what he says. Hussain was in town and spoke at a meeting organised by the Freedom Forum. This is a brave move on his part as not only is Pakistan a difficult, troubled state to explain, but he is the Information Minister of a state where several journalists have been jailed. The meeting began r'vith Hussain giving an over-view of l'vhat was happening. There were, he said, "signs of

spin doctor

hope and confidence." For tvhom was never made clear,

but somehow I don't think it'rvas for Najam Sethi, editor of the weekly Frid,ay Times who was arrested in NIav b)' the Inter Services Intelligence Agency. He probablv was not referring to Hussain Haqqani, another journalist behind bars for allegedly breaching securitv laws. More worryingly', at least in the macro sense, was what Hussain said about last year's nuclear testing race

between Pakistan and

its arch-rival India. "The

doomsday scenario has been belied," he said bel'bre adding this was "more conducive to a stable situation between India and Pakistan and other neighbours as well." The silence was stunned, but not golden. Hussain then puzzlinglv talked about the srowth and the still more potential growth in the South Asian tourist market. 2001 is 'Visit Pakistan Year', by the

way, although it will probably appeal to the more adventure-minded teetotallers. Then came the bit we were all waiting for Najam Sethi. First some background. Sethi's paper is less than flattering about Pakistan's ruling elites, which is a function ofjournalism some would say. Sethi also has profile and at the India International Centre on April 30 this vear gave a speech which was, he said, "published almost word for word in my newspaper as an editorial some months ago." That speech is not easy reading, the gist of it being in Sethi's words that Pakistan "is in the throes of a severe multidimensional crisis." Clearly it rvas even less easy reading for the sensitive souls who had Mr. Sethi arrested. Jumbled as my notes are from this part of Hussain's speech, the words are familiar and ominous. This is what I have: "The press has never been freer than it is now... (this) is not linked to the issue of press freedom, nor will it undermine the freedom of the press... (it's) seen as a national security issue... still under investigation... (he's) not been harmed."

on to talk about the economic development of the South Asia region u,hile some of us tried to puzzle out why remarks a newspaper editor made in a public forum in a neighbouring country with whom Pakistan claims to be having a big rapprochement are a matter of national security. Particularl¡ as those same words were circulating in ussain then went

US$500,000 price-tag rvhich he described as some "hanky panky." Then it was the turn of Sethi to be raised which allowed the Minister to praise Pakistan's judiciarv,

which, he said, would ultimatell'

Answering questions Pakistan's Minister of lnformalion, Mushahid Hussain (/elf) tries to explain his government's aclions aga¡nst the press while the Freedom

determine what happened. He described Forum's Arnold Zeitlin looks on the judiciary as being "transparent and above board" in the wa,v thev operated. This is not really what others sa¡ but it's what the the story in the Pakistan press in June of the exis"There his Minister said so we have to take him at word. tence of a government hit list of 35 journalists (Subsequent to deemed troublemakers. will not be a travesg'ofjustice," he said. Flussain's talk, Sethi rvas released in earlyJune after a But the time he came nearest to being publicly month's detention on an alleged sedition charge when unstuck was 'when he was asked about u'h)' it the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif bowed was necessary to use securitv laws to deal u'ith newspaper editors in a countrv where according to international and domestic pressure.) However, befìtting the audiences' obvious sceptito him, the.judiciary was even-handed and free of cism about what was being said, the questions contincorruption, and accountability the name of the ued. "I would be verv concerned if there was a s)'spolitical game. "Well, states take positions," he said before adding, "I'm defending the rule of the law tematic pattern of attacking the press," he said at one journalists took to the and the interest of the state as defined under the point in response, ,vet Pakistani rule of law." streets recently protesting about the arrests and This he did not define, br-rt somehorv, like the demanding an end to their harassment at the hands Emperor's new clothes, it is a little threadbare. I of the authorities. Nor did he make any reference to

Postscript ushahid Hussain said nothing directly about former Prin're Minister Benazir Bhutto's husband although several days after his sojourn in Hong Kong, he was gracing the world's TV screens to alla;' f6¿¡r about this man rvho had made a suicide bid while held in jail. \Â/hat he did sa1'though was instructive about the Bhuttos, about Pakistan and about him, and underlined mv impression that he r,r,ins prizes for bare-faced cheek without even trying. Asked about general economic development in Pakistan, he said that the major problem it and other developing countries had was that "they have been robbed bv their elites." The rest of my notes are again jumbled as it took time to get my jaw from off'the floor; this was after all a cabinet minister speaking and what is that if not some part of the elite? More to the point, a minister speaking about no less a hgure than a former prime minister's husband. Hussain went on to say that the elite must not be held in the same disregar-d as the Indian government whose nuclear test trigsered a similar response from Pakistan, which in turn brought a bout of crippling sanctions frorn the U.S. Pakistan was, he said, "a victim of India" and as a result "had to pay a price." Some people are, but I don't think the Minister is one of them.

Pakistan and, we can assume, elsetvhere some months previously. THE CORRESPONDENT AI]GI]S'f I999

THI-. (IORRESPONDENT ¿\UGUST 1999

Mnnrn

e Another

KIM BASIIUGER Lon$en Than Foneuer

Is it possible to build a free press alliance in Southeast Asia? A. Lin Neumann believes the answer is yes. Formerly the Committee to Protect Journalists' Asia Director, he is now an advisor to the fledgling Southeast Asian Press Alliance November 1997 Asia-

Pacific Economic

Southeast Aslan

(APEC) forum were discussing the then-spreading economic crisis over breakfast in a small Vancouver hotel, wondering where it would lead and why it was happening. At the table were Filipinos, Indonesians, a Malaysian and a Thai editor. They all agreed that corruption, lack of accountability and opaque business dealings were at the heart of the spreading financial gloom. Asian newspapers, they said, had often either failed to warn

their readers or were prevented from doing so by government regulation and self-censorship. The Indonesians among them Ahmad Taufrk, a - more than three years in jail journalist who had spent for publishing articles critical of Suharto despaired of ever getting to ilre bottom of the "New Order" regime that had shuttered some news outlets and cowed the industry into fawning submission. The Malaysian reporter could see few challenges to the selÊ censorship of the Mahathir era. The Filipinos and the Thais enjoyed a free press, but felt isolated from their colleagues in the region, their media often susceptible to pay-offs and political pressures. "We need a way to protect ourselves from all of this," said Kavi Chongkittavorn, the Executive Editor of the Banghok Nation, a note of exasperation in his voice. "Nobody else will do it. This crisis can help us do better. We need an Asian organisation to advance press freedom."

sitting around the table that morning in Vancouver, attending APEC as a representative of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. As CPJ's Asia director, I was also

could see the value of what Kavi was proposing. For too long, organisations like mine have sought to extend protection to the press in Asia and elsewhere in the developing world from a base in the West. How much better it would be ifjournalists in the region took the lead in frghting those battles. Less than two years later, the organisation Kavi wanted is a reality. Founded in November 1998 in Bangkok, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)

by her first husband, Ron Britton, with the assistance of life absent members Ian MarkhamSmith and Liz Hodgson. The book is reviewed by

aims to unite independent journalists' organisations in the

handful of journalists attending the

Cooperation

Sex kitten Basinger is the subject of a biography

region into a force for advocacy and mutual protection. With an office in Bangkok,'SEAPA recentPress Alliance ly elected Kavi its frrst chairman and laid out an ambitious program to build a regional network to share information on attacks against journalists anylvhere in the region, while holding governments responsible for their actions against the press. The discussion and subsequent founding of SEAPA also changed my life. Working with Kavi, Chavarong Limpattampane e of the Reporters' Association of Thailand, a number of fine journalists from the Philippines and the newly free press in Indonesia, I had a hand in organising SEAPA's founding conference. Recently, I left my position with CPJ in New York to move to Bangkok as an advisor to SEAPA while continuing to be a part-time consultant to CPJ. or me, it is like a homecoming. As a foreign correspondent based in Manila during the 1980s, I was impressed with the courage shown by the many Filipino reporters and

editors who challenged the rule of

Ferdinand Marcos. Now I have the chance to work directly with Asian reporters on issues crucial to build a free and responsible press. Not too many years ago, the press in this region was often accused of sleepwalking through stories, taking its cues from authoritarian governments. The crisis and spreading democratisation have changed that situation in many countries, with others sure to follow. SEAPA's goal is to be part of the process, giving protection to the local press and nurturing an environment in which the crucial story no longer goes unreported. I

For further information, contact: Southeast Asian Press Alliance Phaya Thai Court Unit L 65/2 Soi Kolit - Thanon Phaya Thai

Bangkok, Thailand

Tel: 66-2-653-7393

Bmail: lin_neumann@csi.com THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST 1999

Stuart Wolfendale n Ian Markham-Smith andLiz Hodgson are the marks of the true print paparazzi.'lhey not only know where the bodies are buried, they publish the map references. Markham-Smith and Hodgson, life absent members of the FCC, file on the semen stains in Tinseltown to the British press and the South China Morning Post Now they have focused on one prominent damp patch and written a book. The couple tracked down one Ron Britton, a movie make-up artist in his fifties, who was for most of the 1980s the now-forgotten husband of actress and sexual incendiary Kim Basinger, who won an Oscar in 1997 for her role in L.A. Confidential. He tells them of his life with the then little known Basinger, her childhood, her early years in the movies and her sexual appetites.

Let it be said straightaway that the book contains photographs of Miss Basinger from Mr. Britton's personal album which are simply not fair play and fine soft porn. The text is splashed with sexual incidents involving Basinger and Britton doing it where they might get caught. Britton has as much a proprietorial interest in all this as a voyeuristic one. Kim is overpoweringly the one event of importance that has ever happened to him. Longer than forever is how long he tells her his love will last. If it is true, he is on his own with it. She has not acknowledged his existence in a decade. Basinger is a country girl from Georgia. The authors

work hard to dramatise her not particularly

dysfunctional family and tell of her problems in being shy, tall and a virgin. She gets a modelling break and goes to New York. She hates it and leaves for L.A. and

stardom. Basinger's career is a source of wonder that, even now in Hollyvrood, a woman can rise from flop to flop on sex appeal alone. Of 20 movies she has been in, all but two have been critical and box-office dogs. Her contribution to this pattern is best described by Richard Schikel in a review in Time of Marrying Man a particularly outstanding lemon. "She is a selfabsorbed actress, giving the impression of a woman trFng to get in on ajoke she doesn't quite understand". THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST 1999

Early on in this progress from a parallel world, she meets Britton. Fifteen years a make-up man, he is one of the legions of Hollyvood techs. Early in his relationship with Basinger, he is on the verge of being discovered in her room by his steady girlfriend. "I panicked and almost without thinking, I ran to the window opened it and jumped out..." By page eight, we have the measure'of the man. The man is a hopeless name dropper and sycophant. As a breathless example of his rise with Kim, he has courtside seats at the L. A. Lakers and lo, Jack Nicholson "was sitting right opposite us." Ron's night would have been made if Nicholson had spat their way. Mostþ the talk is of sex happening to a man above himself. Yet, just as he does not see any threat to the marriage in his own casual infidelities, he does not anticipate Basinger's. He is devastated to discover her affair with Richard Gere which is first revealed in this book. Stoned out of his mind, he even attempts to videotape letters from Gere to her. He claims to have been shattered when she sends him back home from London to check on the pets and then dumps him through an intermediary. This is the time of the first

Batman (1989), the fìrst film of any impact that Basinger starred in. The need for Britton is over. It is more a fast, tit-by-tantrum account by two consummate Hollywood insiders tracking the progress of this lurching lady comet. This is a dirty book and it clearly means to be. It paints a dirty picture. It includes dirty details. It does the dirty on everyone in it. It's how you might feel when you put it down. After all, you'll have just read the story of a relationship in which the woman was glad the man changed his surname so it matched the initials on her luxury luggage. I Kirn Bøsingev-Ls¡gsv Thøn Foreaer by Ron Britton with Ian Markham-Smith and Liz Hodgson. Blake Publishing Limited 294 pages f16.99

rsBN#l 857823257 19

Tnavnr

Los Angeles-based absent member Ian Markham-Smith and wlfe Liz Hodgson recently went on the press trip of a lifetime

A VlPladen event South Africa's new President Thabo Mbeki (then Vice

President) speaking at

here are pressjunkets and there are pressjunkets some you remember and some you'd prefer to forget. Bul never was there a trip like the launch of South Africa's Blue Train II. From the outset the invitation was one that couldn't

The Blue Train was re-launched in 1997, travelling between Pretoria and Cape Town. A second train was introduced in December 1998, journeying on various excursion packages through the Valley of the Olifants (home of the world-famous Kruger National Park)

be turned down. On the phone one morning was and, more importantþ - South Africa's leading oìd pal David Barritt, now - "Would you like to spinmeister. come to Johannesburg for a ride on the Blue Train?" he asked.

Eastern Cape Garden Route taking travellers along South Africa's spectacular coastline and through the dramatic forests between Cape Town and Port

journalist-turned-PR supremo

"We're launching a new train and

you could get to meet Nelson Mandela and Robert Mugabe. It's

going to be quite a party." That was an understatement.

Everything about this journo junket was larger than life. Even the invitation card was huge. When it arrived by air courier a few days after the call, it was a cardboard file-box full of African artefacts. In six days the assembled correspondents would arrive inJo'burg from points all around the globe; party on numerous

up to Victoria Falls and down the

Elizabeth.

resident Nelson Mandela off on its fìrst journey. On board were South Africa's Deputy (now) President Thabo Mbeki, ar'd a Who's \¡\rho of Southern African politics. But we weren't there for that stodgy stuff. This was the party to beat all parties. No sooner had the train pulled out of the station than the saw the train

Nelson Mandela looking on,

Zaml¡ezi River clividing Zimbabwe and Zambia. The next morning, with the formal part of the festivities over, there was time for a leisurely Sunday at the spectacular falls before joining the train to sample the same delights as our political betters on a relaxing twonight rail trip back to Jo'burg. A champagne send-off

preceded a multicourse gourmet dinner on the train. The wine and spirits flowed freely as we made our way through the African night. Liz and I were enjoying a cleansing ale as the train abruptly stopped at 5 o'clock the next day in Serule, a totally unimpressive town consisting of a few mud huts and fruit stalls. Ninety minutes later I enquired about the unexpected halt to the proceedings. "There's been a derailment of two goods trains about 60 km up the track," my chum Barritt confessed anxiously. "They say it'll take about three hours to clear but, who knows, it could be three days!" he Dunkirk spirit quickly frlled in to our group of multicultural travelling companions. The usual

assembled hacks were coached to

Jo'burg International Airport to

board a chartered Boeing 727 resprayed and renamed The Blue occasions with assorted heads of Plane for the occasion as we - dignistate and leading politicians; visit leap-frogged in front of the South Africa, Botswana and taries chugging their way across Zimbabwe; be entertained by Southern Africa at speeds reaching 110 kph on the approximately some of Africa's finest record.ing The magnificent Victoria Falls 1,600 km journey. After a dusk party greeting the train artists at an opulent Victoria Falls banquet; spend two nights travelling across the country in arguably the most on its arrival at the station in Botswana's capital, it was back to the plane for a night flight to Zimbabwe. We luxurious train in the world; and at virtually every stop gathered at Bulawayo Station at 7 a.rn. to witness an be given heaps of presents. A freebie extraordinaire! honour guard from the Zimbabwean Navy (honest, Without doubt the Blue Train is a worthy opponent they have one!) meet the MPladen train. to its rival the Orient Express for style and grandeur. It The mid-morning flight to Vicroria Falls before the was voted the world's leading luxury train in the 1998 train's arrival was a much needed lull in the proceedWorld Travel Awards. Runners-up were the Veniceings before the never-to-be forgotten banquet aboard Simplon Orient Express and India's Edwardian-style Palace on \Arheels.

the launch of Blue Train ll with then President

the train which was parked on the bride-e over the THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST T999

two sittings for dinner, standard procedure on these trips, were immediately scrapped in favour of a train-length dining bash followed by party time. Around 11 p.m. the train was given instructions to pull out of Serule and stop three kilometres down the track until the route was cleared. There in the steamy African night with the carriage doors open to let some air in as we waited patiently in the jungle, the party got into full

journe¡ and the locomotive jolted into movement, propelling our hapless companion into the African night as the doors swiftþ and abruptly automatically his

closed as he tumbled to the ground below.

s the train picked up speed, a woman

in the

observatory car, the last of the train's 18 carriages that doubles up as a conference room, thought she was hallucinatins- on an overdose of champagne as her eyes blearily focused on the crumpled white heap lying by the tracks that we were rapidly leaving behind. A tug on the emergency cord brought the train screeching to a halt, although it still took two kilometres for a stop, whereupon a rescue party was dispatched to find our fallen friend.

Tequila has some phenomenal effects on the body: It makes it bounce and gives the consumer super-human strength. The rescuers discovered the cameraman unharmed apart from a few bruises - But when they tried to wake and sleeping like a baby. him from his slumbers, his vision was obviously impaired. For he presumably thought he was being attacked by head-hunters and promptþ set about the band with Mike TysonJike ferocity. Out-numbered, he was eventually subdued, handcuffed and reluctantþ returned to the train.

The ride on the Blue Train was an unforgettable experience.

swing.

It was at 4 a.rn. tltat a TV cameraman, who had been enjoying the pleasures of tequila for many hours, decided to take a break of nature. Unfortunately the toilet was already occupied so he took it upon himself to water the parched Zimbabwe soil along the track. Unfortunatel¡ as he stood with his feet half in and half out of the train, unbeknownst to us all, the train driver was given permission to continue THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST 1999

Blue Tþain Price: HK$3,57 5-10,7 25 Reservations:

Tel: (27) ll-773-7631 Fax (27) ll-773-7643 Homepage: < http. / /www.bluetrain.co.za> 21

Tnnvnr gate. Up one floor and catch the lift down and f,rnd the basement. Up two floors and finally the landing. Find the nightwatchman, he'll know the time. I point to mywatch. "Da, good!" Thumbs up sign. "No, what time?"

tetic Daue Garcia

"Da, Ok!" Points to his empty wrist. Oh shit, he thinks I want to give him my watch.

is on the road

Thumbs up by both sides and off I go back to my room. I'm sure he's still waiting for his watch. Oh well, stay on Moscow time and I'11 be safe.

time to Russia to inspect a steel mill catch up with former FCCers o o o

et your butt on a plane and go to Chelyabinsk." Ugh, gee, it's kind of cold up there now ummm,

maybe this can wait until, say, March or April? Mid-January doesn't quite frt into my schedule. Short silence. "Book your flights and let me know." Chelyabinsk is located in the Ural mountains and is

o l

approximately 250 kilometres from Yakaterinburg. Yakaterinburg is where they slaughtered the last Tsar and his family. Yeltsin was the communist party chief of Yakaterinburg and had the house where they were whacked torn down. Now that he is President, he has ordered that it be rebuilt. Times change. There are two ways to get to Chelyabinsk from Hong Kong. The short way is through Beijing to Moscow, but that involves flying on Russian airlines. Fathers teaching sons how to fly comes to mind. Nope, take the long route through Europe, minimise my exposure to

shower. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Ka{a arrives promptly at eight and announces "heat wave over, now is cold." And was it ever, -37'. How do these people do it? Everyone has a fur coat, not to be stylish, out of sheer necessity. Polar fleece hasn't hit Chelyabinsk yet. There are lots of babushkas in Russia. These are

Russian airlines.

Smile Dave

Boarded in Hong Kong at 11 p.m., landed in Frankfurt at 5:15 a.m. Change watch (-7 hours). Take a shower, wait three hours, board a plane to Moscow Change watch. Met at gate by our local guy. Processed through diplomatic channel and rushed off to the office. Not bad. Pretty smooth in fact. We have connections in Moscow. The Russians are friendly folks. Very friendly at times. They meet you once and it's a hearty handshake. The second time it's big bear hugs. After that, you stand

Garcia in action at the 50th

a chance of getting kissed with no sender considerations.

oscow has changed since I was last there in mini-skirted girls, lots of the early Seventies - long lines, neon signs, shops with goods, no

McDonald's hell I even found a place - a fully equipped, stainlesscalled the Starlight Diner, steel diner transplanted from America to downtown Russia complete with cute waitresses. Did I mention the mini-skirted girls? A quick burger and a few vodkas and it's back to the airport for my flight to Chelyabinsk. Two hours later I'm met by I{a{a, a six-foot-tall redhead. Hearty handshake and it's off to the mill. "It's cold!" I say to Ka$a. "No, it's only -13'. It shouldn't be this warm." Wow a heat wave.

hot water. Even at -13' this is Shower inhumane. I do the best I can and trudge off to bed. The room is warm, but the windows leak. Where's the blanket? I'm now too tired to care. Put on my long underwear and socks, get my coat and pass out. The next morning I wander into my kitchen to see if there is any bottled water. Nope. OK boil some. Over to the sink and lo and behold, hot water. Rush to the shower, cold water. Flmmm... grab the hose from the shower, take it back to the kitchen, hook it up to the faucet and sit in the sink to take a hot

large, very large women carrying shopping bags and wearing fur coats. Thousands of them. They are as tall as they are wide and they just waddle along everywhere. At every turn you see a babushka with a shopping bag. Russia could line up, say, a hundred thousand or so of these babushkas and overrun Europe. No modern

Anniversary

party

conventional weaponry could stop them. I fìrmly it was the babushkas that finally stopped Hitler in Russia. I believe Visit the steel mill. Drink lots of vodka - you put that the Russians use vodka like the zntifreeze in your car radiato¡ so you won't freeze. More vodka that evening and finally back to Moscow the next morning. Kala calls and tells me I'm lucky, "temperature just hit -50"!" Thanks Katja, see you in summer. believe that

e arrive at the steel mill guest house which

is a perfect example of mid-Fifties

Russian architecture, complete with a steelplated front door. The interior is more Stalinisk.

I'm given the suite, which is actually a threebedroom apartment. "Ok, Ihlia, now what?" "\AIhat do you mean?" "No! I mean do we go and eat, if not, what time tomorrow?" "Oh, no food now Perhaps I can find something at the workers' canteen." "Never mind, what time tomorrow?" "I pick you up at eight." Off she goes. Shit, what time is it. Oh no, Russia has 11 time zones, did I cross one or two? Off I go to try and catch up, but no luck. I have to go down one floo¡ catch the lift down another three floors, or is it four floors. My brain is turning to mush. It's been 32 hours since I left Hong Kong. I'll just walk down. Bottom floor, you guessed it, a THE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST ]999

ow to Paris to hook up with (former FCC presidents) John Gianinni and Sinan Fisek. Though I am still drunk from the night before, I meet up withJohn and Sinan mid-morning and the discussion begins immediately on where to have lunch. \Me, or should I say, the¡ frnally agree on an appropriate place and off we go. I advise them that I have to get my wife Celia a birthday gift, so somewhere in the course of the da¡ we have to get to one ofthose haute couture shops and buy something.

"No problem," they reply, almost in unison. Yeah, right! It shows how drunk I reallywas and how THE CORRI,SPONDENT AUGUST 1999

cloudy my sense of mind also was; I have just chosen John Gianinni and Sinan Fisek as my fashion advisors! Four bottles of wine later and we decide to hit the streets. But where to go? Better pop into this bar to get directions. In the bar we meet Jacques, an ex-lÀrV\{I resistance fìghter (anyone in France who overcharged a German for anything was a hero of the Resistance) who loves to talk to Americans. More drinks and now Jacques decides that it's time to crack open a bottle of champagne and we celebrate the end of the war. He takes a particular liking to John. Sinan and I

back off and let love take it's course. Jacques now declares that he is too drunk to drive home and he must find a hotel, won'tJohn help him? John declines and we bolt for the door. John and Sinan are now getting close to my own state of drunkenness and we stumble around some shops for half an hour when my fashion consultants decide we

must stop and regroup. Sinan declares that Harry's Bar is close by and we could discuss strategy there. Great idea. A few more rounds and I notice that it is getting late and we better hit the shops before they close. My fashion gurus agree and off we stumble. We now find ourselves outside the Kenzo boutique and decide this is the place.

l;.iffi

#;1d

She calls over two shop assistants and her friend also joins us. They bring over a number of selections and I now find myself calling Celia at 1 a.m. (Hong Kong time) to try and find out her size while these women discuss what looks best on a fairly short Chinese lady. John disappears to try and hustle some woman across the room and Sinan looks at one outfit and declares "if my. wife wore that I would divorce her." The room goes silent and the four women turn to Sinan and give him THE LOOK. Notjust any looh,but THELOOK! It is something only a woman can do. It's when their eyes join together in sort of a cyclops-type action and they focus this laser beam-type stare at you which can actually melt the hardest carbon steel known to man. One of them then puts up the sign of the cross in Sinan's face and they manage to bad vibe him out of the shop. John is now nowhere to be found and I am drunk and alone with four very hostile women. Thanks

Sinan.

I decide to buy the most expensive item they have and duck for cover. I frndJohn, who has had no luck on his search for a rich woman to keep him, and high tail it out of the shop. We find Sinan outside, in the rain, smoking a cigarette vowing never again to go into a shop like this. The moral of the story: If you need a drink in Paris, contactJohn and Sinan, you can't go wrong. But if you are in need of fashion advice... I 23

DowN Mnuonv LeNn

f)own Memory Lane Here's one from the archives, taken in the old Sutherland House Circa 1975. (L-R) Vic Vanzi and Bert Okuley, both UPI at the time, chat with formidable copper Graham \{4ritely and Kevin Sinclair, who was then news editor of tlre South China Morning Post. All were involved at the time on the fringes of John le Carré's masterful novel, The Honourable Schoolboy. Vanzi and Okule¡ thinly disguised, were partially used by the author in his portrayal of newspapermen who appeared in the book, much of which was set in the FCC. Whitely, a longtime Club member, was head of an undercover police narcotics unit. In the book, the writer gave him the nickname Rocky. In real life, he was known within the force as "Punchy" Whitel¡ because as a young inspector, he was known to deal swiftþ with people who upset him, usually other police offìcers. Reminisces Sinclair: "I was in the 14th floor bar in Sutherland House one rare quiet evening when a quiet individuat came in, talked to the waite¡ then went to sit in solitude. Being an affable t1pe, I went over and and chatted away amiably about his name was David Cornwall offered the visitor a drink. We got talking - of the þ'ar Easlern Economic -Rniew) barellecl into the bar and Hong Kong until Derek Davies (then editor claimed his quest. Cornwall, of course, was (and still is) John le Carré, an author whom I greatly admire. He was in Hong Kong and the FCC researching what turned out to be The Honourable Schoolboy." (If

uur u¡r otrrnoays, gettin Plil's new job as pR Dirðctor (Ed will continue to be base astronaur.) To hetp the celeb L,'s-.,

GIuckman.

¡ night in the Main nothilsuccessful theme

D cards and Villas in phuket

ôhi ^,^.. tö"i."*?. n"n

haue old þictures of the Club or Members, please submit them to the Editor )

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Blood donations The Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service set up shop in the FCC to make donatlng blood an easy task. More than half the donors were FCC staff. (Clockwìse from the top left) F&B coordinator Don Khoo, FCC President Philip Segal, Captain Kan Fok, waiter Richard Tsang and bartender Kelvin Ng.

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