Club News
Club News
A party for Hugh
It was standing room only upstairs at the FCC on Friday, 22 May, when people gathered from around the world to mark Hugh Van Es’ death with a party he would have been proud of. Vaudine England was there.
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ong after hours of anecdotes and alcohol had passed, a clutch of Van Es friends was holding up the bar downstairs, ruminating in a tired and emotional sort of way. It was interesting, they agreed, how the story changed, as the days of coming to terms with the death of their best friend and Vietnam war photography icon have passed. At first, it was just about the photo, that famed image of the fall of Saigon, 1975. Obituaries from Vietnam to Turkey, from Amsterdam to Hong Kong, the UK to the US, all focused on that. Then it was about the friendships, the community of people Van Es knew around the world, from fellow hacks to former showgirls, from Air America pilots and spooks to ambassadors and executives, from family to lifelong friends of all kinds from all over. All were drawn together by ever-growing chains of emails and reminiscence, with stories of marathon calvados sessions in Sutherland House, of paying corkage on wife Annie in Bangkok bars, of Hugh’s often hidden decency, generosity and much more. Then the wake. A huge collaboration over booze, hilarity, tears and hugs. (“Everyone had a ball - just the way Hugh wanted it,” said Annie.) And after all this, those ruminators agreed, the story turns out to be very simple - it’s a love story – the story of Hugh Van Es and Annie Cheng. “They’re more funky than Mick
and Bianca aren’t they!” noted one younger attendee of the wake. Older friends can hear the Van Es riposte to that, even as they all were awed by the dignity and strength of Annie, now deprived of her soulmate a few months shy of their 40th wedding anniversary. “I’m holding up better than I thought,” she said, after cracking up laughing at the fine dry wit of Gijs Kijlstra. His winning speech featured explanations of the role of jenever (Dutch gin) in hair-care, offering a possible explanation for Annie’s raven locks,and a helpful description of how the FCC matched a Dutch brown bar in becoming the front room to Hugh’s life. Tributes poured in from all over, ably managed by new Club President Tom Mitchell, starting with the laughs prompted by David Garcia. He was followed by Saul
Lockhart, best man at Hugh and Annie’s wedding, who came back to Hong Kong with wife Alison for this moment. Gijs and fellow “cloggie” Kees Metselaar showed the fun, and the emotion, inspired by their best friend, before Derek Williams took the mike. Classic war stories followed, capped by the glorious Rosalynn Carter anecdote, explaining how Hugh often got the best shots by being smart - picking out the sorriest looking baby in a refugee lineup in order to get the best shot of the President’s wife. Dominic Nahr then spoke through his son, Wally, who reminded those who need no reminding of the importance of holding your own copyright - a reference to the sad fact that Hugh’s famous picture is actually owned by Corbis, not by him. And Hugh’s niece, Noortje Kuhlman, flown in from the Netherlands, expressed her love for the man who told her always to be true to herself. Alan Daniels had come from Vancouver for the wake, after living in Hong Kong in 1967-68, admitting that time had changed his life. Ashley Ford also came from Canada: “Hugh was a mate, simple as that.” Jim Okuley (brother of Bert) came from Saigon, Peter Charlesworth, Derek Williams and Kate Dawson from Bangkok, Gary and Marnie Marchant from Paris, Felix McArdle from Ireland, Doug and Stella Mueller from Seattle,
Dot Ryan from deepest Tasmania, Niva Shaw from California, Bill Barker from Blighty, Luke Hunt from the jungle, and many more too numerous to mention. Bob Davis told us simply to look at Hugh’s pictures and realise that photojournalism lives. Peter Berry recalled Hugh’s “lack of tolerance for idiots”. Former attorney general John Griffiths remembered when Hugh was up for assault after helping an obstreperous drunk out of the Club. In fitting tribute to a life of fluid intake, Hugh’s wake was honoured by the attendance of former bar staff of the FCC, from David Wong who first served Hugh in 1978, to Looby, Steve.... Irene Mak remembered how Hugh’s grip on Cantonese may not have been extensive but was effective: “He would say, ‘Where’s my tai-tai?’ ” The music was provided by Allen Youngblood and friends, who all turned up to play at the wake “out of respect”, they said, for the man who had most supported their musicianship. It was a lot to take in, until FCC General Manager Gilbert Cheng, came over to down some bullshots – one of Hugh’s favourite drinks, and share the story of how Hugh and Annie had saved his job at the Club. “It taught me about honesty, about Hugh van Es, about love,” he said, summing it all up. Over the next six pages are 60th Anniversary recollections by five former Club Presidents. Hugh was scheduled to pen the sixth. Wake images: Gerhard Joren and Bob Davis
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THE CORRESPONDENT
THE CORRESPONDENT
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