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| The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong is concerned that a representative of global press freedom NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has been denied entry to Hong Kong by the city’s immigration officials. |
| Aleksandra Bielakowska travelled to Hong Kong twice in 2023 without incident, both times in her professional capacity as an Advocacy Officer at RSF, but was denied entry on this trip. Her colleague Cédric Alviani, who was travelling with Ms Bielakowska on April 10, was granted entry to Hong Kong. |
| The FCC has reached out to the Immigration Department to ask why Ms Bielakowska was denied entry. |
| While we appreciate that the Immigration Department does not normally comment on individual cases, we respectfully request an explanation in order to improve the transparency of the system, and so that the public may better understand the reasons behind the decision. |
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FCC Submission on the Consultation Document of Article 23 of the Basic Law
On February 28, The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong sent the following submission to the Security Bureau on the Consultation Document of Article 23 of the Basic Law.
Opening Hours during the Chinese New Year 2024
Festive Season Opening Hours
In loving memory of John McBeth
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| John McBeth |
| May 31 1944 – December 7 2023 |
| Of all the foreign correspondents who have worked in southeast Asia over the past six decades, none surpassed John McBeth in dedication to his craft and the esteem and friendship of his colleagues. |
| As a young and adventurous journalist from Taranaki, he left the Auckland Star en route to London. He never got there. Stopping off by chance in Indonesia he found a new Asian home and field for his talents. |
| Working in Bangkok for a variety of publications and agencies, he was an early recruit to Asiaweek, then in 1979 joined the Far Eastern Economic Review where he was to remain until its 2004 closure. He was in a Bangkok bureau with such talents as Rodney Tasker and Paisal Sricharatchnya and close friend of Neil Davis, the noted war cameraman killed in an abortive Thai coup. Eased out of his Bangkok comfort zone to Seoul, he distinguished himself covering the turmoil and political change of the late 80s and, with colleague Nayan Chanda, scooping the world on the North Korean nuclear programme. |
| From there it was to Manila and a still much-quoted series on the nation’s regional warlords. He then had a medical issue which resulted in the amputation of one leg. This trauma would have killed the spirits of most journalists, but with the never ending support of his wife Yuli Ismartono, the correspondent for Tempo he had met in Bangkok, he overcame the challenge. It is hard to overstate the importance of their bond. |
| They moved to Jakarta where he again distinguished himself with coverage of the latter Suharto years and then turmoil which followed his downfall. After the Review’s closure he wrote a regular column on Indonesia for the Straits Times and contributed to other publications and in 2011 wrote an entertaining book accurately entitled “Reporter: Forty Years Covering Asia”. |
| He had some strong opinions but never let them get in the way of accurate reporting delivered cleanly and on time. |
| As a colleague, he was always good company. Good friends included not just his immediate workmates but correspondents at large, not least FCC immediate past president Keith Richburg. |
| He seemed indestructible and was in fine form when I saw him just three months ago. But such is aging. Now we mourn with Yuli the passing of someone who has left us with so many good memories and a permanent record of good journalism. |
| Philip Bowring |
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LeaveHomeSafe App Update: “Red and Amber QR Codes”
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| LeaveHomeSafe App Update “Red and Amber QR Codes” |
| Dear Members: |
| I would like to update you that the government has announced a new Vaccine Pass Color Code System — blue, red and amber codes. Under the regulations, any persons with the red or amber codes will not be allowed to enter the club. You can find more details here: https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202208/08/P2022080800771.htm?fontSize=1. Please also be reminded to update your LeaveHomeSafe app to version 3.4.0 to access your coloured Vaccine Pass QR Code in the “Vaccination Record” section. |
| The Club restrictions will remain in place. Feel free to visit our site at: https://www.fcchk.org/fcc-restrictions-update-on-2-june-2022/ for more information. |
| Once again, I want to thank all Members for your continued patience, understanding and your support. |
| Keith Richburg President 12 August 2022 |
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FCC Minimum Spend
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| Dear Members, |
| With the lifting of many of the restrictions which have limited FCC activities for so long, we have been delighted to welcome back more members to the Club’s expanded offering of speaker events, film nights and our extensive F&B promotions. As a result of the Club being more accessible, please be advised that FCC Minimum Spend, which was rolled over from March means $1800 requirement (from January to June), will now appear on members’ June statements which will be sent in early July. We will continue to offer the opportunity for Members to purchase vouchers to be used in subsequent months if you are unable to utilise the Club before the end of June. |
| 23 June 2022 |
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FCC restrictions remain in place
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| FCC restrictions remain in place |
| Dear Members, |
| The Government announced an extension of the existing social distancing measures. Please note that showing proof of a negative rapid antigen test (RAT) result obtained within 24 hours before entering the relevant premises WILL NOT be applied to our club members and guests. This new measure is only applying to bars, pubs and nightclubs but the FCC is not affected because we operate as a clubhouse catering premise. |
| The Club restrictions and vaccine pass implementation will remain in place, feel free to visit https://www.fcchk.org/fcc-restrictions-update-on-2-june-2022/ for more information. |
| We thank all Members for their understanding and your continued support. |
| Keith Richburg |
| President |
| 16 June 2022 |
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FCC restrictions update on 2 June 2022
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| FCC restrictions update on 2 June 2022 | ||||||||||||||
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| Dear Members: | ||||||||||||||
| The current precautionary measures will be extended from June 2 until further notice. The current policies will continue as follows; | ||||||||||||||
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| The Club continues to implement the government’s “Vaccine Pass”. Anyone who is unable to provide valid proof of vaccination will be denied entry to the Club. Please be reminded that you and your guest are required to complete the 3rd dose starting from May 31. Please remember to upload your 3rd jab record to your LHS app and make sure you’re using the latest version of the app. See below for more details on the number of doses the pass requires and arrangement for recovered persons. (https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202203/20/P2022032000438.htm?f_ontSize_=1) |
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| Please be aware that mask wearing is a government requirement except when eating and drinking, and anyone not wearing a mask faces a $5,000 fine. In case of an inspection and a fine being issued, the Club is not responsible. | ||||||||||||||
| We thank all Members for their understanding and your continued support. | ||||||||||||||
| Keith Richburg President |
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| 2 June 2022
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FCC AGM on May 30
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| FCC AGM on May 30 |
| Dear Members, |
| We’d like to remind everyone of Monday’s Annual General Meeting which will start promptly at 6pm in the Main Dining Room. We are aware there is additional interest this year so to help facilitate a smoothly-run meeting, here are some answers to questions members have asked recently: |
| How many people can attend? |
| Our capacity is 150. |
| Why can’t we get a bigger venue? |
| The location must be included in the official AGM notice, per our Articles of Association, and cannot be changed without restarting the AGM-holding process. Our Articles also compel the Club to hold an AGM between 15-31 May each year, so we can’t restart the process either. |
| Can motions be put forward at the AGM that were not included in the AGM notice? |
| No. However, under Any Other Business (AOB), members can bring up any issue for discussion. If there is a request for a vote, the Chair can allow a vote to get a sense of the membership’s views, but the result of any vote is not binding on the board because the issues were not included in the AGM notice. This is common corporate AGM practice around the world to allow members to be notified in advance of issues to be discussed. |
| Who can vote at AGMs? |
| All voting Members – that is, Correspondent, Journalist and Associate Members. Please note the capacity constraints on attendance. |
| What if I can’t attend but want to vote? |
| You can arrange a proxy – that is, nominate a Member attending to vote for you – by filling in a form and getting the original to Reception by Saturday, May 28 at 6pm. We are still looking into whether we can accept electronic versions and hope to have an answer later today. Please contact the concierge at 2521 1511 or email [email protected] with your email details if you’d like to be informed once we’ve clarified that. |
| What if Members want to compel the Board to do something not already on the AGM agenda? |
| Members can call for an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held at a later date. The rules around holding EGMs can be found in our Articles of Association. |
| Can we stream the meeting to expand capacity? |
| No. It’s not possible to do that at this point, not least since votes in the meeting have to be checked by our auditors. This is a legal requirement and we’re currently not set up to do this remotely. |
| What if I have other questions? |
| Please contact the concierge at 2521 1511 or email me at [email protected] and we’ll do our best to answer before the meeting. |
| Keith Richburg |
| President |
| 27 May 2022 |
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