Steve Vines, former editor of a former Hong Kong mainstream newspaper, got a curious unsigned letter the other day. In it was a cutting, urging him to buy a newsletter showing business trends. Attached was a yellow sticky note, with a handwritten message: 'Steve, try this, it works, J.' Steve was baffled. 'I don't know anyone who writes to me and signs their letters 'J'.' Rob McMillan, a photographer based in Central, received an envelope containing a page apparently torn out of a magazine called Executive Focus, urging him to spend US$337 on a set of materials called The American Speaker. A handwritten note said: 'Ron, try this, it works, J.' Lincoln Potter, another Hong Kong photographer, received a letter urging him to spend US$195 on a financial newsletter, with a handwritten note saying: 'Lincoln, try this, it's really good, K.' Don't worry chaps. These are not notes from friends you have forgotten about. These are the methods used by Personalised Promotions Global Network 1996, a company in Washington, DC. They are going out to people all over Hong Kong.
Said Rob: 'When someone is offering speechmaking and stocks advice to photographers, then you know something's wrong.' Chris Sanda, of Mid-Levels, found a new brand of denims at the Temple Street Night Market in Mongkok: 'Cross-Dressing Jeans'. 'I think there will be a limited market for these,' he said. The sackings at the Eastern Express yesterday were done in a curious way. Staff were told to prepare Monday's paper on Sunday night - but a small space was left on the front page, the contents of which sub-editors did not see.
The following morning, they found the space filled by a small item explaining that the newspaper was changing because the English newspaper market was too crowded. Two years ago it was obvious that they were 'trying to sell a horse in a one-horse town that already has two horses'.
Friends there were mournfully emptying their desks yesterday.
There were three grammatical/spelling errors in the tiny news item announcing the re-organisation. A good start. Remember that piece I had a couple of weeks ago on how to be a Chinese parent abroad? Well, Beata Young, of Peregrine, in New York sent me a follow-up.
How To Be a Perfect Overseas Chinese Kid.
