Tables turn on ATV newsman
THE funny thing about journalism is that every now and then the journalist can become the story. Such a thing happened to ATV reporter Andrew Patterson the other day when he was on an assignment in New Zealand, covering a story about Asian crime gangs there. He interviewed a former Hong Kong man reputed to be a member of the 14K triad who had emigrated 20 years ago.
During the course of the question and answer session, Patterson managed to seriously embarrass him on camera. The man then demanded that elements of the interview be excised before transmission. Patterson told him to get his lawyer to call him and he would discuss the matter.
When the reporter returned to Hong Kong to prepare the story for broadcast on Newsline, the current affairs show presented by Susan Yu, he discovered his flat had been broken into. A video player and stereo were taken but valuable items such as a portable television, portable CD player, laptop computer and printer were left behind.
'It didn't look like a burglary,' he said. 'It was more like they were trying to make it look like a burglary. I believe it was a warning from the triad I interviewed but I can't prove it. If those people want to find you, they find you.'.
Patterson reported the matter to both the Hong Kong and New Zealand police. The latter persuaded him to give the story to a New Zealand newspaper so they could also be quoted and take the opportunity to warn the triad in print that if anything happened to Patterson's family, who live down there, they would come knocking at his door. Patterson's story was subsequently broadcast with the offending quotations still intact and so far there have been no repercussions. By coincidence, Patterson is leaving ATV's employment shortly.
MUSIC fans stay tuned. Midas Promotions and Neon have just confirmed that those popular bands Air Supply and the Gypsy Kings will be performing concerts in Hong Kong in June at a venue yet to be announced.
MEET Sammy Lai, possibly Hong Kong's most loyal and skilled bartender. We're telling you about him because regulars of the Captain's Bar in the Mandarin Oriental hotel have been enthusing about his skills.
Sammy, 59, who was born in Guangzhou, is scheduled to retire next year but hopes to be allowed to stay on in his job. He came to Hong Kong in 1938 and his first job was as a helper at a Tsim Sha Tsui hotel, when he was aged just 13. He joined the Mandarin when it opened in 1963, aged 27, becoming a junior bar tender in the Captain's Bar, where he has been ever since.
So what is it that makes him so popular? Apparently he remembers the names of all his customers and prepares the drinks of regulars before they need to ask. His service is swift, smooth and polite, they say, despite the fact that he has to serve about 200 drinks a day.
JEWELLER Ian Ng has come up with a crafty idea for overworked executives who wish to express their appreciation to their personal assistants on Secretary's Day next Wednesday but are too busy to shop around for a gift. His company, Just Gold, is offering the first direct mailing of gold jewellery in the territory.
Clients receive a catalogue of his innovative designs and can then select any item ranging in price from $400 to $2,000 and fax the order over. Ian arranges for the executive to pick up the gift at the most convenient of his 20 outlets.
TALKING of jewellery, Christie's spring auction at the JW Marriott hotel ballroom on April 30 features a magnificent art-deco collection from the 1920s Russian socialite Vera Hue-Williams which is expected to fetch a staggering $40 million. Public viewing of the lots will be between April 27-29 in the ballroom.
