From Sheila McNamara #7113 After reading the shock news in tlte iMailthat Willie Wo Lap Lam was removed as China editor, his colleagues at the SCMP decided on a party to show their support and respect for one of Hong Kong's most distinguished j ournalists. I instantly rang the FCC to arrange this, and was told we could have a cordoned-off area in the dining room on Friday evening. I arranged to e-mail next day
to confirm the numbers
attending. The following morning, the same lady e-mailed to say the room was pre-booked for the theatre party. I was then put through to the restaurant manager to ask about
the downstairs lounge to be told that tables were only available on a one-member-three-guests arrangement, first-come, first-served. Brilliant! I had explained the occasion, pointing out that Willie was a long-time member. But still no deal. So as a result, the party was held elsewhere.
I should have been at the FCC on attend a fund-raiser for the to Monday night A table for 12 had been Walk. Trailwalker Charity Coincidentall¡
booked, but when the organiser requested an extra table to stack articles for a blind auction, she was tables are for diners only. told this was impossible the event was moved to spare, hour an So again, with the owner put where restaurant to an Elgin Street in a couple threw meal and five-course on a splendid 12 satisfied He's won wine. courtesy of bottles of future customers. I don't want to labour the point, but to turn zway a party for the city's most internationally
known journalist and also badly mishandle a fund-raiser for Hong Kong's top charity event is
W¡nSi'n
I hope the new marketing in October-November read about manager we management gone mad.
edition of The Corresþondenú can knock heads together. Incidentally, when the Trailwalker organiser askecl to see he¡ she was told no-one at the FCC had heard of her. Two major gaffes in two days is quite an achievement. Three strikes and I'm out.
Come to Mo Tat lfan on Lamma Island and discover Hong Kong's newest venue for al fresco dining and
greaf- parties.
Located on the beach, Cococabana offers a laid
back Mediterranean-style atmosphere. Enjoy our exotic cocktails and balcony dining set against the soft sound of waves on the beach and spectacular views over the South China Sea to Hong Kong. Live Latin music and Salsa parties can also be enjoyed on a
President's note: The Club uas þacked that night mahing it dfficuk to accommodate any late-arriuing þarty, no matter hou uorthy. Neuertheless, aþologies for the way the booking uas handled. As for your second example of "bad rnanagement", it was felt fu the staff, and I an'd, th,c House
Committee concurred, that a charity auction (blind or otherwise) could be loud and disruþtiue to other diners uho
uere trying to haae a quiet repast in the Main Dining Room. I understand that the Hughes and Albert Rooms uere offered as þossible alternatiae aenlles and refused. Pity that. Holding the charity auction in one of those rooms uould, to my
mind, have solaed the problem comþletely. As for not getting through on the phone to Andrea Gutwirth, the
regular basis,
new marketing manager, aþologies once again. That
Cococabana can be reached by ferry from the Aberdeen Fishmarket or by junk. Our own boat, Le Junk, is available for hire at very reasonable prices.
shouldn't haþþen.
For reservations please call2328 2138 Produce your FCC n'tembership card and receiue a free Sangriø uPon arriual.
Lunch or dine four times in one month at any of our restaruants in SOHO and enioy a free junk trip to COCOCABANA. Casa
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From Dinah Lee Kung Absent Member #2371 Judy Boillat-Bonavia
The many friends ofJudy (formerly Bonavia), now the wife of Swiss diplomat Jean-Marc Boillat, will be distressed by the news thatJudy and her husband were involved in a serious car accident. The Boillat car's left side collided with a truck on October 15 outside Harare, capital of Zimbabwe, where the couple took up residence early last spring after Jean-Marc was transferred there as ambassador from his previous posting in Buenos Aires.Judy had reported to friends in THE CORRESPONDENT DECEMBER 2000-JANUARY 2001
in August that she in Flarare, despite the obvious political
Switzerland during a "home visit"
loved living
troubles, and she enjoyed travelling to adjacent capitals to whichJean-Marc has also been accredited.
In two emergency operations in Zimbabwe, Judy's life-threatening loss of blood was stemmed, but at grievous cost. Flarare doctors were forced to amputate her left arm above the elbow and remove her spleen. Medical advisors in Switzerland urged the Boillats to fly immediately to Geneva. They arrived by special medical plane in a 15 hour flight to Geneva on October 26. The Swiss medical team is concentrating now on locating the exact source of partial-paralysis of the left eyelid. Only in a second scan on October 31 did they discover that she was trying to talk and eat with a broken jaw. Happily, suspicions of damage to the innermost part of the left ear seem unfounded.
Judy's spirits are remarkably resilient. JeanMarc, physically unharmed, has not left her side. Despite considerable pain, she greets visitors on her
if swollen, smile. Emerging from four uninterrupted hours of rattling in a magnetic scanning tube in Geneva's Hospital Cantonal, she allowed herself only one less than heroic comment: "Okay, now I'm grumpy." Jean-Marc is asking all friends to e-mail messages of sympathy and encouragement to Judy. Urgent messages will be conveyed to her in Geneva by Dinah Lee Kung (<DinahLeeK@aol.com>). The e-mail address in Harare is <boillat@utande.co.zw>. The postal address is MmeJudy Boillat-Bonavia, c/o DFAE (Harare), CH3303 Berne, Switzerland. feet with a big,
Late add:
T-he doctors here
in
Geneaa
From Angus MacKinnon #7619
Writing in last month's (October-November issue) llunt notes that he has a HK$500 bet that there will be a nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan. The esteemed correspondent neglected to mention that the bet, which I was only too happy to take up, specified that the aforesaid nuclear conflict would take place by the end of this year. Corresþondenl, Luke
From Absent MemberJulian Sobin #3233 As a member of the Club, I have just read on page 28 of the October-November 2000 issue of The Corresþondenú a notice of the passing of Klaus Cichon, a long-time friend of mine whom I had lost contact with for too many years. I deeply regret his passing and would like to communicate my condolences to his family. Would you kindly advise me on how to do that? Thank you very much.
Editor's note: Contact details onþassed.
Now open till 3 a.m. on Fridays
þerþrmed a minor
operation to determine the damage to the nerae controlling the þartial þaralysis of the face. The doctors also discouered that her jaw is not broken, but only fractured. No oþeration required there.
From Alan M Abrahams #6135 Chair, Amnesty International Hong Kong On behalf of the Amnesty International Hong Kong Section, I would like to express, formall¡ my thanks
to the FCC for allowing us use of a room for our monthly Group One (English language) members meeting. My thanks to all Club members: but a special vote of gratitude to Karl Wilson (FCC President at the time), his committee and, of course, (General Manager) Gilbert Cheng who has done so much to
WESTERNI IMONEY UNIONI IÎRAIIISFER
make it happen.
Group One meet regularly on the last Monday
of each month. There will be no meeting in
will resume in the new year. They are 'open' meetings, not confined to Amnesty members. All are welcome: curious FCC members December, but
ß 2Lt7 9088 Services available
in the following locations:
Admiralty . Causeway Bay . Central . Kwun Tong Mongkok
.
Sheung Wan
.
Tsìmshatsui
especially so. THE CORRLSPONDENT DECEìIIBER 2000-JANUARY 200Ì
3