The Foreign Correspondents' Club Hong Kong

Macau Portuguese and English Press Association statement on order to remove online story from Plataforma

The FCC supports this statement from the Macau Portuguese and English Press Association (AIPIM) criticising the Electoral Affairs Commission for the Legislative Assembly Election (CAEAL) for ordering removal of online content.

The Macau Portuguese and English Press Association (AIPIM) has learned that the Electoral Affairs Commission for the Legislative Assembly Election (CAEAL) has ordered weekly newspaper Plataforma to remove from its online edition an interview with a candidate to the Legislative Assembly elections. The notification quotes the Electoral Law, namely the period during which electoral propaganda is banned, as well as formal instructions issued by CAEAL to internet service providers regarding breaches of the electoral law.

AIPIM deplores this situation, stressing that it is perplexing that news content, such as an interview, can be considered electoral propaganda. In line with what was spelled out in our statement issued on April 20, AIPIM believes that it is crucial that the right to information and press freedom are fully respected – in all instances and at all times, before the election campaign begins – in accordance with what is enshrined in the Basic Law and the Press Law.

Macau, August 28, 2017

AIPIM Board of Directors

Trump ‘could have done better’ over Charlottesville reaction: Supporter Ying Ma defends U.S. president

President Donald Trump could have done better in denouncing white supremacists in Charlottesville but he has a tendency to be extremely imprecise, said his supporter and campaigner, Ying Ma.

The question was raised during the August 29 club lunch at which Ms Ma, an author and former deputy director of the Committee for American Sovereignty – a national political organisation formed to support the candidacy of Donald J. Trump – told members why she supported the controversial American president who in recent weeks has been at the centre of a storm over his comments following riots which left one counter-protester dead. Ms Ma said Trump “has a tendency to be extremely imprecise” and his comments – that both sides were to blame for the violence – reflected that.

Ying Ma, a supporter of President Donald Trump, explained why she backed the controversial leader. Photo: FCC/Sarah Graham

Ms Ma kicked off her talk by explaining why she believed Americans voted for Trump in last November’s election. She said people were tired of being lectured by the elites about benefits of free trade – the same people who were then losing their jobs as the country’s economic state worsened. She said they were the voters who were also sick of being told they can’t say anything about Islam “except that it’s a religion of peace”. She agreed many who voted for Trump were from disadvantaged areas, and that these were people to whom the Trump political movement had offered a reminder that “average Americans do not need to and shouldn’t have to speak in the same way as politicians” in order to have their concerns heard.

Referring to Trump’s personal style, Ms Ma said he “stabbed political correctness politics in the heart” and that he was a man who “makes a lot of threats, a man who believes in very drastic opening positions”.

If Donald Trump does something that is in fact egregious to me yes, I could see myself withdrawing my support.

Several times Ms Ma, a senior advisor at Avenue Strategies, a government affairs and political consulting firm in Washington, D.C, conceded that she doesn’t always agree with the president’s decision-making, particularly in the case of his Twitter criticism of his attorney general, Jeff Sessions. She said: “One thing I thought was very unseemly was the way he went after his attorney general Jeff Sessions. You don’t go after someone who’s been loyal to you for a very long time and someone who helped you become president.”

When asked whether, in her mind, there could ever be a line over which the president would step that would lead her to stop supporting him, Ms Ma said: “If Donald Trump does something that is in fact egregious to me yes, I could see myself withdrawing my support. I’m not seeing an example of that right now.”

During the talk Ms Ma made a point of highlighting the Trump administration’s successes, including tax and regulatory reform, and the construction of pipeline delivering crude oil across the country whilst creating jobs. She said Trump had “proven himself to be somebody who can make executive decisions” such as the Syria air strikes, and was “less confrontational on the China front than people expected him to be”.

She did, however, concede that Trump had so far failed to repeal former president Barack Obama’s healthcare bill. But she described him as a jobs creator, saying that he would deliver on his campaign promises of negotiating better trade deals and getting rid of cumbersome energy and financial regulations that prevent economic growth.

In response to a question from a member, Ms Ma also commented on former FBI director Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the election: “Are you asking if I think the Russian investigation is full of crap? Yes, I do.”

FCC backs HKJA and HKPPA joint statement on barring of Hong Kong journalists from reporting in Macau

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong supports this statement from the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association (HKPPA) and the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) over the Macau Government’s denial of entry for four Hong Kong journalists into Macau.

The Hong Kong Press Photographers Association (HKPPA) and the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) express deep regrets over the Macau Government’s denial of entry for four Hong Kong journalists into Macau today. We urge the Macau government to respect press freedom and not to arbitrarily restrict the rights of entry and exit of journalists in Macau.

A man walks past a damaged car in the aftermath of Typhoon Hato in Macau on August 26, 2017. Photo: AFP/DALE DE LA REY

The four journalists, one from HK01, one from South China Morning Post and two from Apple Daily, were trying to cover the clean-up work in Macau after the enclave was heavily hit by the Severe Typhoon Hato. On their arrival at Macau, they were refused entry by the immigration officials. Citing the ‘Internal Security Law’, they claimed the four Hong Kong journalists “posed a threat to the stability of the territory’s internal security’.

SCMP photographer Felix Wong was prevented from entering Macau. Photo: SCMP

HKJA and HKPPA reiterated that the four journalists were carrying out news reporting duties and had followed proper procedures in entering Macau. They were not trouble-makers. It was unreasonable for the Macau authorities to say they posed a threat to internal security. A number of Hong Kong journalists had been rejected entry to the Macau in recent years. We have expressed deep regrets over the Macau authority’s arbitrarily restrictive immigration policy.

HKJA and HKPPA urge the Macau government to draw up reasonable entry and exit criteria, and call on the Hong Kong Immigration Department to maintain regular communication with the Macau authorities to ensure the normal entry and exit of travellers who hold Hong Kong travel documents.

HKJA and HKPPA express our deepest condolences to families of victims and all those affected by the severe typhoon. We wish all those who were injured a speedy recovery.

HKJA

Calling all FCC members: here’s your chance to make a difference

Do you have a charity in Hong Kong you feel passionately about? Want to raise its profile and generate some funds to help it develop further? If so, the FCC Charity Committee would like to hear from you.

A key to the development of the FCC’s charity programme is to encourage as many members as possible to get involved in the charities we support, including nominating our chosen charities.

The China Coast Community care home in Hong Kong.

Our focus is on charities that fall under ‘The Three E’s’, namely, elderly care, early learning and educational special needs (any age and can be re-training). Whilst many charities in Hong Kong are high profile and receive substantial funding, we will focus on organisations that sometimes ‘fall between the cracks’ though quietly do great work in the community.

The organisation we are supporting in 2017 is the China Coast Community, where we have assisted in the purchase of specialised beds, organised physiotherapy for the residents and are organising visits to the Home. To help us select the cause we will support in 2018, we are inviting members and staff to make their suggestions on the attached form. A panel comprising the Charity Committee and Members of the Board of Governors will choose one of the qualifying charities nominated.

Thank you for taking the time to nominate a charity you know will benefit from the support of the FCCHK.

Please click here to download the FCC Charity Nomination Form.

Sincerely,

FCCHK Charity Committee

Overseas Press Club of Cambodia statement on possible shutdown of Cambodia Daily

The OPCC is disturbed by the levelling, by the Cambodian Government, of a huge tax bill on the Cambodia Daily – a newspaper published since 1993.

The $6.3 million bill, calculated by the Tax Department, will force the paper to close if they do not pay by Sept. 4.

Due process has not been followed:

• The Cambodia Daily has not been allowed an opportunity to appeal or negotiate

• The Tax Department’s correspondence was leaked to government-friendly media which made it difficult for the newspaper’s management to deal with the issue

• The Tax Department calculated the bill in its own audit without referring to the Cambodia Daily’s books that the paper made available.

The Cambodia Daily’s bill is part of an effort by the government to call the country’s media organisations and NGOs to account for back taxes.

The Cambodia Daily has a history of running stories that have angered the government leading many to believe the tax department is being used to target critics ahead of the 2018 general elections.

The Cambodian people have enjoyed a free press for much of Hun Sen’s 32 years as prime minister. Even as neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia were consistently ranked at the bottom of press freedom lists.

The OPCC asks the government of Cambodia to consider this fact carefully and proceed with transparency, fairness and due process.

Furthermore, the Cambodia Daily has employed many journalists – local and foreign – for many years who have built careers and raised families in Cambodia. Their future and livelihoods are now at stake and we urge that be taken into consideration by the relevant officials.

OPCC Board

22 August 2017

Me and the Media: FT’s Victor Mallet on his love for journalism

FT’s Victor Mallet. Ayesha Sitara

Victor Mallet is a journalist, commentator and author with three decades of experience in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. He is currently Asia news editor for the Financial Times. He is also an FCC board member.

Previously: Reuters

What made you want to work in media?

In my first few days at university I was confronted by a strange, dishevelled man who told me I should be a reporter for the university newspaper, and I shrugged and thought “Why not?”. I eventually became the editor, and he later became a senior British diplomat. Three years later, when it was time to find a job, I looked in horror at a long list of career options and realised there was absolutely nothing else that looked to be as much fun as journalism. I started as a graduate trainee at Reuters and stayed there for five years learning and working in the London head office, France and South Africa. I moved to the Financial Times while I was living in Africa and have been at the FT ever since, with short breaks to write books. The new one about the Ganges is called River of Life, River of Death and comes out in October.

It was hard to file from occupied Kuwait after the first couple of days, and when they started seizing hostages, I escaped with some friends across the desert into Saudi Arabia.

What has been a career high point?

It’s hard to beat the excitement of being a reporter for a news agency on the world’s biggest story. As apartheid collapsed in South Africa in the 1980s, we criss-crossed the country interviewing everybody from ANC radicals to white right-wing extremists, from business moguls to landless peasants. There was violence, there was singing, there was emotion. And there was a lot of news. If I remember right, one of my best moments was getting two stories from Cape Town in one day onto the front page of the International Herald Tribune (now the New York Times international edition); one was about the war in Angola and the other about the abolition of an apartheid race law, though sadly the IHT in those days hardly ever bylined the names of agency reporters – so the bylines just said “Reuters”.

What has been a low point?

This job is too much fun for that. Let me give you another (journalistic) high point: landing in Kuwait City in the early hours of August 2, 1990 because I and my then foreign news editor reckoned Saddam Hussein might invade. It turned out his troops had already crossed the border a couple of hours earlier, so I found myself in the middle of a wonderful scoop, made all the sweeter by the fact that almost all my press colleagues and rivals had flown back to London the previous day after a week of nothing much happening. It was hard to file from occupied Kuwait after the first couple of days, and when they started seizing hostages, I escaped with some friends across the desert into Saudi Arabia. I could go on… but we can discuss it in the bar.

What career advice would you give to your younger self?

Learn a foreign language. Then learn another one.

Hong Kong Media Moves: August 2017

Find out who’s moving where in Hong Kong’s busy media landscape, in association with Telum Media. Also, see job listings for the region.

Debbie Yong joins Time Inc. in Hong Kong

Debbie Yong has moved to Hong Kong from Singapore to join Time Inc.’s Hong Kong office as Assignment Editor. In addition to producing a weekly newsletter on China, she will create, commission and curate editorial content on design and design-thinking for Time Inc.’s Fortune, Time Asia and Wallpaper* magazine. She will also assist with the programming of Fortune‘s Brainstorm Design conference in Singapore and Brainstorm Tech International in Guangzhou. She was previously a Correspondent with Singapore’s The Business Times and The Straits Times, and was most recently a Digital Editor with Michelin Guide Singapore and Hong Kong Macau.

Bloomberg’s Colin Simpson moves to Asia cross-assets team

Colin Simpson has moved to Bloomberg’s Asia cross-assets team in Hong Kong as an Editor, where he writes market stories. He joined Bloomberg as an Editor in 2015, working primarily on the Bloomberg Brief newsletter Economics Asia. Prior to that, he was a Senior Copy Editor at China Daily in Beijing and a Reporter at The National in the United Arab Emirates. He also worked at several UK national newspapers for more than 20 years.

Running Wong appointed Digital Media Editor at now.com

Having recently joined as Digital Media Editor at now.com, Running Wong now covers celebrity events, F&B, travel, fashion and beauty and other updates on the website, app and digital platforms.

Chloe Chu joins ArtAsiaPacific

Chloe Chu has recently been named Associate Editor at ArtAsiaPacific magazine, where she covers contemporary art and culture from Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East.

Jennifer Hughes to join Reuters in November

Jennifer Hughes has been appointed Reuters’ Asia Finance Editor, leading its coverage of the financial services sector across the region. She joins Reuters from the Financial Times, where she is currently the Asia Capital Markets Editor. Jennifer will be based in Hong Kong and starts in the role on 1^st November.

Reuters Breakingviews’ Jeffrey Goldfarb moving to Hong Kong

Veteran Reporter and Columnist Jeffrey Goldfarb is relocating to Hong Kong from New York as a Deputy Editor to oversee Reuters Breakingviews’ expanded editorial team in Asia. He will continue to write about corporate finance, mergers and tech companies. Jeffrey first joined Reuters as an M&A Correspondent in 2001, before going to London where he led the European Corporate Finance team. He started with Breakingviews in 2007.

To notify Telum about your move, or to sign up for Telum’s free alerts, please visit www.telummedia.com

JOBS

DDG Taipei – Media liaison

DDG Taipei is seeking a responsible, creative, and highly skilled person to fill the role of International Media Liaison, working for the culture industry in Taiwan. This is a permanent, full-time, salaried position in Taiwan. ARC and work permit provided where necessary. Application deadline: August 11; Start date: September 11. To apply for this position, please email your CV, a cover letter, and a writing or press release portfolio to Ally Shih ([email protected]), Clara Tsao ([email protected]) and Kate Nicholson ([email protected]). For full job description, visit LinkedIn: https://goo.gl/z3Zo9y.

Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business – Content Manager – Global Marketing & Communications

Job description: create an editorial plan and schedule for CKGSB Global Marcom’s content production, including the identification of themes, frequency of articles and interviews, and plan to generate content around each event or milestone. Arrange and conduct interviews with CKGSB’ faculty, students and alumni on their areas of research or expertise, their businesses, their personal journeys, as well as reasons for choosing and benefits gained from CKGSB. Write articles (based on interviews and research) that promote CKGSB and highlight its differentiations from other business schools in China and globally. Edit and write all of the content for the website. Actively pitch and submit work to other publications. Contribute posts for CKGSB’s social media accounts. Native English speaker or equivalent Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Communications, Journalism or Economics 3-5 years of experience in PR, communications or journalism High-level writing abilities in English. Ability to identify trending topics and tailor articles to attract the interest of business editors and readers. Intermediate level in writing and speaking Chinese. To Apply: Please send a cover letter and resume (CV) to Ms. Ira Zaka at [email protected]. For more information, please visit http://english.ckgsb.edu.cn/.

France 24 – Freelance TV reporter position

France 24 is looking for an Anglophone freelance TV reporter for our Beijing office. The position entails stand-up live reports (generally a couple per week on average) and occasional voice-overs. Strong preference for a native-speaking freelancer with TV or other broadcast news experience and press accreditation (not an absolute requirement, but close). Chinese language ability a plus but not necessary. Interested applicants are kindly requested to send CV and work samples to [email protected].

Bloomberg BNA – Freelance/Contract Correspondent

Bloomberg BNA, a subsidiary of Bloomberg producing legal and business information, is seeking a freelance correspondent in Beijing, China to cover regulatory, legal and business news of interest to multinational firms. Applicants should have reporting experience working on daily deadlines for English-language publications. Must be able to work well independently and be aggressive when it comes to pitching story ideas to numerous editors. Areas covered may include tax policy, trade, environment, infrastructure, data security, finance, labor and human resources. Qualifications include the ability to write on daily deadline for U.S.-based readership, knowledge of government and legal processes, the ability to write clearly and concisely about complex topics, and a highly developed nose for news. Freelance positions offer a competitive pay rate commensurate with experience, and correspondents will be expected to file stories on a regular basis. For consideration, please send a resume and published hard news or news analysis writing samples to [email protected].

BBC gender pay gap row highlights wider issue of disclosure, says the Beeb’s Jamie Angus

The BBC’s Jamie Angus addressed the gender pay gap row currently facing the corporation. Photo: FCC/Sarah Graham

The gender pay gap at the BBC is “not something any of us in senior management at the BBC feel comfortable about”, according to Deputy Director of BBC World Service Group Jamie Angus.

The former Today show editor added that the corporation’s controversial salaries, revealed by the BBC last week on the orders of the British Government, were last year’s figures and said that when next year’s figures were published “the direction of travel will be clear”.

The question of the row over discrepancies in the pay of male and female on-air talent was the first to be posed to Angus, also Editorial Director of BBC Global News Ltd, after he threw the floor open to members and guests following a presentation on the BBC’s global viewing figures.

Angus, who was appearing at the FCC as part of the club’s Meet The Editor series, said the row had highlighted a much wider issue about pay disclosure, and that other employers would now be forced to look at their own salary structures.

When pressed further on whether veteran presenter John Humphrys, for example, should be paid more than other journalists, Angus agreed that salaries should based on merit and value to the audience. He added: “He’s a genuinely outstanding talent who the BBC is lucky to have and he should be paid a lot of money.” Angus said that the BBC should not pay full market rate salaries as it is a public service broadcaster but conceded that finding a pay scale that was fair to everyone would be a challenge.

In his presentation to members and guests, Angus had addressed the rise of the digital age and its effect on the BBC’s operations. He discussed the various forms of competition now faced by TV channels in live streaming services such as Netflix, and in turn their effect on advertising. He said services such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu had disruptive, ad-free subscription models that were causing big structural challenges for the TV market.

Watch Jamie Angus discuss the BBC’s efforts to evolve in the digital age

In spite of the rise of digital, Angus said viewing figures showed that World Service reach was up while digital traffic was flat. BBC world news currently reaches 99 million people a week globally – a 12% rise in a year. He attributed this to two factors: owning a state-of-the-art TV screen complete with TV bundle was aspirational for the rising middle classes; and people who consumed their breaking news on social media were turning to trusted TV sources to verify their information.

The real challenge was generating revenue from advertising, particularly in an age where more and more viewers are turning to ad-free formats like Netflix. Angus said the BBC was “immensely lucky” to have 3bn a year in public service funding in the UK – the British TV licence fee – that “sits behind everything we do”.

As for the inevitable rise of digital platforms, Angus was upbeat about the future of TV for news broadcasters: “TV generates cultural moments that audiences can share together that digital fails to provide,” he said, citing world news events, sports, events drama and entertainment that entire households and workplaces will watch together. “The power of TV is with news providers for many years to come.”

FCC Full set menu

Breakfast Menu

[wp-booklet id=12504]

Main Bar A la Carte Menu

[wp-booklet id=12459]

Main Dining Room Lunch Menu

[wp-booklet id=12510]

Main Dining Room Dinner Menu

[wp-booklet id=12521]

Chinese A La Carte Menu

[wp-booklet id=12533]