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THE
C
ORRESPONDENT
JUNE-JULY 2008
THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS’ CLUB, HONG KONG
A NewPresident
ERNST HERBTAKES OVERTHE REINS
1
THE CORRESPONDENT JUNE-JULY 2008
FCC Elections
3
A new Board,a new Club year
Media
6
Kate Webb Awardwinner announced
Features
Sailing: rescue at sea
8
Features
The hidden charmsof Tsuen Wan
12
Seawise afterthe event
16
Opinion
20
Tibet: the article
HongKong Lawyer
spiked
Travel
28
Hoi An, the jewelof Vietnam
Photography
32
Then and Now
Books
34
Hong Kong Media Law
Obituaries
36
David RoadsAlan Thomas
Out of Context
40
Annemarie Evans
THE
C
ORRESPONDENT
Letter
2
Professional Contacts
39
contents
BOB DAVIS
The Seawise saga:lost photos found
Cover photo by Bob Davis
Books
Letters
From Ken Bryan in England
I was sorry to read that Jim Biddulphhad passed away. I have a particularlyfond memory of Jim which occurredwhen I was treasurer to his presidencyof the FCC in 1986.At that time the finances of theClub were not in good shape. WhenI looked at the figures, however, itseemed to me that the primary prob-lem was a poor cash flow. A large num-ber of members were in the habit of paying their bills in arrears; in somecases several months in arrears!I suggested to Jim and the Boardthat we strictly invoke the Club ruleswhich did, indeed, require membersto pay up by a certain date after thereceipt of their bills. So, no more freecredits and no more chasing up tele-phone calls and reminders from themanager. If you didn’t pay on timeyour name would be posted on theClub’s notice board. The Board agreedand we wrote to all members advisingthem of the change.More than 100 members didn’ttake heed of the warning and wereduly posted. One member, quite wellknown, rang Jim in a fury:“I have never been so insulted in allmy life,” he fumed.“Oh,” said Jim calmly, “I’m sure youmust have been”.
In my career, this is the most sup-portive reaction I have ever experi-enced. So much so that I have used itoften, with due accreditation, in talkson management and leadership.
Thank you Jim.
THE FOREIGNCORRESPONDENTS’ CLUB,HONG KONG
2 Lower Albert Road, Central, Hong KongTel: (852) 2521 1511 Fax: (852) 2868 4092E-mail: <fcc@fcchk.org>Website: <www.fcchk.org>
President
: Ernst Herb
First Vice President
: Tom Mitchell
Second Vice President
: Kevin Egan
Correspondent Member Governors
Keith Bradsher, Bonnie Engel, AnnaHealy Fenton, Jim Laurie, Kees Metselaar,Christopher Slaughter, Stephen Vines,Douglas Wong
Journalist Member Governors
Francis Moriarty, Jake van der Kamp
Associate Member Governors
Andy Chworowsky, David O’Rear,David Garcia, Steve Ushiyama
Club Secretary
David O’Rear
Finance Committee
Convener:
Jake Van Der Kamp(Treasurer)
Membership Committee
Convener:
Steve Ushiyama
Professional Committee
Conveners:
Tom Mitchell, Keith Bradsher
House/Food & Beverage Committee
Convener:
Stephen VinesWine Sub-Committee:
Chairmain
: Bonnie Engel
Charity Fund Committee
Co-Chairmen:
Andy Chworowsky,Thomas Crampton
Freedom of the Press Committee
Convener:
Francis Moriarty
Constitution Committee
Convener:
Kevin Egan
Wall Committee
Convener:
Chris Slaughter
General Manager
Gilbert Cheng
The Correspondent
© The Foreign Correspondents’ Club,Hong KongThe Correspondent is published six times
a year. Opinions expressed in the magazineare not necessarily those of the Club.
Publications Committee
Conveners:
Kees Metselaar, Anna Fenton
Editor:
Diane Stormont
Editorial and Production
Hongkongnow.com LtdTel: 2521 2814E-mail: fccmag@hongkongnow.com
Printer:
Printing Station (2008)
THE CORRESPONDENT JUNE/JULY 2008
2
From Mark Erder of APV
For the last couple of years while ourmanaging director Chris Slaughter wasPresident of the FCC, some of us fromAPV – especially Chris – frequentedthe Club around five days or nights aweek. While it was a home away fromhome on most nights it was prettyuneventful; but every now and thensomething happened that remindedus of why we’d joined. The other nightwas one of them.Friday evening started out as a typ-ical night in Hong Kong. After a longafternoon of internal meetings endingin an office party, a group of us fromAPV retired to the FCC for a late din-ner. What was anticipated as a quietcouple of hours of drink, dinner andchat turned into one of those “only inHong Kong” experiences.More accurately, it was an “only atthe FCC” experience.
Shortly after finding table, I toldmy guests: “My God, there is a guy atthe bar that I haven’t seen in 25 years”.A few moments later, “And there issomebody, I haven’t seen in 20 years”.And so it continued, until I was upto five (or was it six?) old friends,acquaintances and colleagues whomI hadn’t seen or talked to – or, in onecase, hadn’t thought about – in fiveto 25 years. For the most part, I wasthrilled to see them or sad there wasn’tmore time to catch up. (For the guy atthe bar I had a different reaction.)
They’ve all moved on in their lives,careers and living situations. Some from journeymen hacks to famous editors,others from well-known editors or writ-ers to skilled craftsmen or small busi-nessmen/women and one from shopgirl to Hollywood producer. Whateverthey’ve become or wherever they’vegone, they come back to the FCC ... how-ever briefly and for whatever purpose
Today, the Club might not have thestoried buzz it had during the VietnamWar years or the excitement of theprolonged lead up to the handover.But, at the end of the day, it is still“The FCC” and it is one of a kind. It islegendary for good reason.And the reaction to the guy atthe bar? Around 25 years ago, he wasa client of my (now) wife’s small adagency. He was trying to call her butcouldn’t get through. But he had toreach her “urgently”. So he used oneof those “only in Hong Kong” tech-niques: he told her secretary this wasan emergency call on behalf of herelderly mother in the UK. Of course,she immediately picked up the phone.He laughed; she didn’t. For any of youwho have lived overseas for awhile– away from your parents – you canfill in the blanks and understand theexact outcome of the call.But things like that no longer hap-pen, do they? Twenty-five years ago,running into a guy like that at the bar,there would have been a fist fight, barstools would have tipped over andBloody Marys would have hit the wall.But not today. Times have changed (Ithink).
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