Visual Communication
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Newspaper design as cultural change
James de Vries
Visual Communication 2008; 7; 5
DOI: 10.1177/1470357207084862
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visual communication
REFLECTIONS ON PRACTICE
Newspaper design as cultural change
JAMES DE VRIES
ABSTRACT
This article describes the (re-)design of newspapers and magazines as a
process of cultural change which goes beyond designing a publication’s
layout, typography and use of colour, and includes designing the
processes and structures of its production.
KEY WORDS
culture change • news design • typographic design
WE NEED A NEW BREED OF VISUAL PRACTITIONER
Big newspapers have a big problem. They have declining circulations, and
their fundamental business model of advertising-funded journalism is under
threat. There are websites, discussion groups, summit meetings and international conferences dedicated to the future of newspapers, and the pundits
are wringing their hands about where the solutions might come from. As a
design consultant working with newspaper publishers, it has been an
interesting challenge to develop an approach to the topic.
One obvious, yet difficult, solution for the publishers is to observe
how society has changed from the heyday of newspapers, and to design a
contemporary business-place and a new product that matches the lifestyle of
readers more closely. Everybody agrees that we are living in an increasingly
visualized world, yet few newspapers seem interested in understanding how
to really harness modern visual communication. They are most likely to still
think of the visual as a decorative afterthought to the content. Newspaper
designers try to promote visual communication as a fundamental of newspaper design. They try to get the message across that everything that is visual
in a newspaper, from the paper and typeface selection to the way pictures or
graphics are used, conveys meaning and tells a story.
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But it is a difficult message to get publishers to take action on. It
means changing an ingrained culture that is fundamentally founded on
words, and words alone. It means ignoring the groaning of the crusty old
senior white males who say ‘You’re dumbing down our paper.’ It means
asking the tough question: which traditions are useful and which traditions
are dragging us backwards?
But sometimes publishers do make a conceptual leap forward. For
instance the case of the recent redesign of The Guardian (Figure 1) where
Creative Director Mark Porter, and his team of designers (including our
colleague Mark Leeds), genuinely grappled with the issues of ‘how’ readers
experience the media today, and how a news ‘brand’ can cross multiple media
and remain relevant. Perhaps more importantly, the Editor, Alan Rusbridger,
has an integrated understanding of the importance of the visual, and had the
backing to make profound changes to the processes and planning that
usually stymie innovation on large, western newspapers.
According to Malcolm Gladwell (2005), the visual informs our very
first and most profound decisions about things. This applies to reading
newspapers. Good editors know that readers do not necessarily read every
word of every article. They might spend five minutes with a newspaper,
flicking through it and getting an overall sense of it from the way the paper is
visually organized. This is just as legitimate a way of reading as spending an
Figure 1 As society and our daily habits have changed, The Guardian has re-thought all
aspects of presenting and editing the news to more closely align the product with a
contemporary lifestyle.
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hour with the paper and reading every word. Thinking of the reader first
means thinking about the visual presentation of stories. But this is difficult
for traditional newspaper people because the way most people get to a senior
level is by being very good writers. They are word people, and their cultivation is infused with the solitary primacy of words.
Words remain absolutely crucial of course, but rising to match that
importance is the notion that an editorial product is a visual product, so
visual presentation and the idea of telling stories in multiple ways that appeal
to multiple types of readers is growing. This requires a new breed of visual
practitioner, who loves ideas and understands that the heart of a good newspaper is to tell compelling stories, an intelligent, editorially minded visual
practitioner who understands how to find a story in data, how to visually
interpret that story and how to tell it with the best combination of words,
pictures and graphics.
OUR PROCESSES
For de Luxe & Associates (my own practice), a newspaper design project
typically involves three areas of effort and expertise: the technical and
typographic, the editorial or device and component ideas, and the systems
thinking that allows clients to renew their processes and make the most of the
design (see Figure 2).
Figure 2 The three spheres of design discipline that de Luxe & Associates use in a
typical design project. They may be seen as following the same trajectory as Richard
Buchanan’s (1992) Four Orders of Design: things, symbols, action and systems (or
thought).
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Figure 3 The revised Nameplate of the South China Morning Post.
For Designers, being a New Breed of Visual Practitioner means that designing
a newspaper goes beyond typography and layout. It also includes designing
how people work. As part of our recent makeover of the (English language)
South China Morning Post (Figure 3), we devised some basic typographic
visual elements that can be handled by sub-editors. As a result they no longer
need to go to a separate Graphics Department to get things done, and can no
longer resort to traditional excuses such as ‘I’d love to get a graphic in this
article but we just don’t have the time’, or ‘Those graphic guys, they never
deliver accurately.’ The layout subs can do basic graphics themselves, because
the technical process no longer requires specialist skills, so in the design
templates we are working towards the incorporation of stronger visuals as
the path of least resistance.
INFOGRAPHIC
The infographic in Figure 4 comes from The New York Times, 7 September
2006. Designed by Ben Schott, author of Schott’s Original Miscellany, it is an
‘op chart’. It does not require much Illustrator skill, but it does require
insight. And it is designed for the opinion page because it allows readers to
compare different issues related to the story, and therefore to gain insight.
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Figure 4 Infographic from The New York Times, 7 September 2006. Designed by Ben
Schott, author of Schott’s Original Miscellany. Showing that a successful information
graphic is more the result of a strong idea than strong drafting skill.
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Figure 5 Before: The South China Morning Post stuck to few layout variations and the
main headline face, designed to be a body typeface, conveyed a lack of elegance. This
and a host of other design and editorial problems meant that the newspaper’s design
didn’t match its desired ‘position’ in the marketplace.
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Figure 6 The new headline face, Farnham Headline. Christian Schwartz, the type
designer, refined Farnham Display, which had quite extreme characteristics, to create
Farnham Headline. A more compact, sturdy typeface, it retained a contemporary,
elegant feeling that could drive the look of the newspaper, which was why we chose it.
IT’S NOT JUST A MATTER OF TYPOGRAPHY
The first step in the makeover of a newspaper, after all the research, analysis
and comparison, is redesigning the typography. The South China Morning
Post was using a body typeface as its news headline typeface (see Figure 5).
Typefaces are designed for their expected size of output, so it looked quite
clumsy.
Our makeover had its origin in this observation. We met with the
Editor in Chief, suggesting a discussion of the paper’s design, and this led to a
brief for an overall typography makeover. But, as already mentioned, it is
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Figure 6 (cont.) Early design experiments used different typefaces to define the new
character of the newspaper. This option uses Amplitude as the headline face. Note how
other structures such as taglines were also being tested.
Figure 6 (cont.) Electra as the headline face.
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Figure 6 (cont.) Farnham as the headline face. This was the most conservative option
and was unanimously preferred by the newspaper’s management committee.
Figure 6 (cont.) Stag as the headline face.
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impossible for us to just do a makeover of the typography because everything
about design questions the status quo. Cleaning up the typography and
making it more appropriate for a modern newspaper has implications for
page layout, and page layout has implications for the way news is written and
edited (see Figure 6).
When we analysed the layout on the newspaper we saw patterns that
showed a laziness about how the news was assembled (Figure 7) and how the
typical layout solutions were produced.
As a part of the project we started building story-telling devices such
as mini-graphics (Figure 8). These, in turn, affected, not just the layout, but
also the structure of the news story, and even the newspaper’s division of
labour and the geography of the newsroom. Design has implications all the
way up and down the organization.
At the South China Morning Post, the layout subs had historically been
the all-powerful final arbiters of what the newspaper would look like on a
day-to-day basis, the ‘gate keepers’ of the newspaper’s pages (a layout sub is
usually a senior sub-editor, who has learned how to use the layout functions
of the editorial software used by a newspaper – they usually have minimal
design training). But at some stage they had been stripped of that power, and
it had been given to a group of senior editors from different backgrounds,
some American, some Australian, some Chinese. The layout subs were told to
Figure 7 A common layout on the old newspaper. A large photo would be centrally
placed (no matter what quality or story value), and stories would ‘pinwheel’ around the
central photo. Despite using comparatively large photos, this approach did not respond
well to the quality of information.
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Figure 8 These simple quote devices, seen here in a page from the style spec-sheet
delivered to the CCI ‘builders’, were devised to retain a modular concept, and give the
layout staff simple ways to add an extra dimension to stories.
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15
Figure 8 (cont.) A page from the User Style Guide, showing the commonly used
editorial devices available to subs that add visual and story-telling variety. Although
these are simple components, they still require considered use. When they are
overused, they simply become annoying distractions.
‘just do it.’ But the editors who now decided what would be included did not
think visually or cohesively. They didn’t have a feeling for how the whole
would be assembled for the reader, and they seemed to work more from a
‘push the news at them’ approach to readers, rather than ‘What will readers
want to know?’ approach.
We were told of cases where eight stories might have been allocated
for a page that already had a two-thirds advertisement on it and the editors
wondered why the layout subs couldn’t get a picture in (pictures were always
the first thing to be sacrificed). Clearly it is crucial that from the very
beginning there is an idea of what the page will look like, and what will be
given space and priority. So, as is our usual practice, we developed a ‘user
guide’ for the people who actually put the pages together (Figure 9).
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Figure 9 Pages from the User Guide, showing instructions on how to use the
respective components.
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17
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were locked into the system) and how various components should be used.
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USER GUIDE
Sometimes an organized outcome needs to trump user flexibility. Our User
Guide constrains many components of the newspaper, including the number
of headline sizes. There was much discussion of this. People asked: ‘Why can’t
we keep going smaller? Why can’t we just have an infinite scale between
them?’ It is a reasonable question, but readers can perceive only about three
or four priority levels on a page. There might be ten articles but there is no
point in ranking them one to ten. I believe readers want to be told what is the
most important, the next most important, and from then on they will work it
out for themselves (Figure 10). Our constraint on headline sizes also helped
to provide visual breaks. It was also a big part of our design task to improve
the sense of organization on the pages. Sub-editors will often write a headline
that fits neatly and then expand the size so that it fills the whole width. But
headlines do not have to go all the way across. They can allow a bit of white
space, a visual break in the layout.
All this changes the way news is written and read. We argued, for
instance, that headlines in this design could afford to become longer now
that the new headline typeface read so well. This goes against the tradition of
‘punchy’ headlines, but it reduces the need to have both a headline and an
introduction. It changes the way news is written and edited. It also deprived
some subs of their much loved puns.
Figure 10 (cont.) Headlines are constrained to five sizes. It is important to give
readers a consistent sense of priority, and to signify meaning this way. Adding more
headline sizes would have the effect of confusing or blurring the definitions.
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19
Figure 11 The first colour we proposed for the Life section. We thought it worked
well, but it was refused point-blank by the editor.
Figure 11 (cont.) The second colour we chose for the Life section was called ‘tarty’ by
some of the editors, which we thought entirely appropriate.
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T H E D E S I G N E R I S A C U LT U R A L I N T E R P R E T E R
When we redesigned the South China Morning Post we had many discussions
about the meaning of colour. We were trying to get a good spread across the
spectrum, but our client preferred red. So we ended up using three different
reds: the Sport section red, the City section red, and a main news red. We
proposed a crimsony red for their lifestyle section (which has a lot of
material about shopping, beauty, etc.). But this met with resistance from the
management committee. They thought it was too feminine and a bit ‘tarty’ –
there was a specific Chinese word for that. In the end we prevailed, though it
was in fact our second approach. We had first proposed an eggy yellowy
colour which they had absolutely resisted (Figure 11).
Colour is a very powerful tool, but it is easy for designers to overdo
colour and develop multilevel colour symbolisms that are completely
irrelevant to readers. As a function of our short-term memories, a system of
three or four colour-coded themes is about all most readers can take
meaning from. The rest is subconscious (Figure 12). Layout also has its
cultural differences. Chinese papers are very active, apparently very chaotic.
Many have a layout we would regard as visual anarchy. The Apple Daily for
instance is an extremely ‘vigorous’ newspaper, both in layout and editorial
stance, but it is very successful. Of course, cultural and reading differences
Figure 12 The colour palette used in the newspaper.
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21
Sport
Life
How filmmakers are helping
NGOs broadcast their message
Feature C5
After South Africa, Australia have
their eyes firmly on the West Indies
World Cup C18, C20
Precious metallic: five
great silver handbags
Style C7
Porsche aims for 31pc
stake in Volkswagen
Cars B17
The smart money is on for
a boom in the mainland
Tom Holland B2
World
Comment
Hang Seng Index:
change on the week
▲
Blue-chip mover of the
week: China Resources
3.9%
▲
Snapshot
C
Olga Wong
The excessively intense display lighting used by jewellery shops – to make
their wares sparkle – is putting thousands of sales workers in danger of irreversible damage to their health and
wasting electricity.
Among five jewellery shops surveyed in a South China Morning Post
investigation, indoor lighting intensity was up to two times the level recommended by the labour watchdog,
prompting calls from eye-care physicians and unionists to address the
issue of “indoor light pollution”.
Some popular goldsmiths have
pledged to review their lighting to
safeguard staff after learning of the
findings, but green activists said the
issue was just the tip of the iceberg.
The Post earlier this month visited
five jewellery shops – branches of
Chow Tai Fook, Luk Fook, Chow
Sang Sang and Just Gold at New
Town Plaza, Sha Tin, and Tiffany &
Co at The Peninsula hotel. All were
using spotlights to illuminate their
products.
The readings were taken with a
modified photometer developed by
Henry Chung Shu-hung, associate
dean of the faculty of science and
engineering at City University. Three
readings were taken at each shop.
The average readings ranged from
770 to 960 lux – units that reflect light
intensity – among the five shops.
Maximum readings of 1,100 and 1,200
lux were recorded at two spots in the
Chow Sang Sang and Tiffany stores
respectively.
The readings were higher than the
optimal lighting level for shops as listed in occupational safety guidelines
issued by the Labour Department in
2000.
There is no specific lighting level
recommended for jewellery shops.
But the department’s guideline rec-
ommends 500 lux for shops and 1,500
lux for jewellery factories.
The investigation also found differences in lighting levels of up to
three times between the three spots
measured in the Chow Tai Fook and
Luk Fook shops.
Eye specialist Chow Pak-chin said
apart from the lighting intensity, a
stark contrast could cause the eyes’
pupils to stretch and contract constantly in such a mixed lighting environment, resulting in eye fatigue and
headaches.
“If you work there for years, you
are very likely to get astigmatism or
even presbyopia due to serious fatigue of eyes,” Dr Chow said.
Chang So-min, director of refractive surgery at Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital, also warned that
excessive lighting could cause macular burn – damage to the retina causing permanent loss of eyesight.
In response to Post inquiries, Tiffany & Co said it would review its
working environment, while Chow
Sang Sang said it allowed staff to take
short breaks. Just Gold also said it
would consider adjusting the lighting
in its stores.
Hong Kong Jewellery and Gold
Retailers’ Association vice-chairman
Cheuk Kai-chan said some members
might believe the brighter environment made their products shinier.
But Wong Tsz-wan,
chairman of the Retail
and Wholesale Trades
Talkback
Employees Association,
What
should be said that it was being
done at the expense of
done to
the workers’ health.
reduce
A spokeswoman for
light
the
Labour Department
pollution?
said that officers would
Send your
comments be sent out at regular into talkback tervals to observe the
@scmp.com lighting levels of jewellery shops.
Lux in perspective
China Shenhua Energy, the world’s
second-largest coal producer by sales
volume, posted an 11.8 per cent rise in
net profit to a record 17.46 billion yuan
for last year, although it was below
market expectation due to lower than
expected coal sale prices.
The profit is 7.2 per cent lower
than the 18.83 billion yuan mean forecast of 21analysts polled by Thomson
First Call and 5.4 per cent below the
18.45 billion yuan forecast of the same
number of analysts in a Bloomberg
survey.
Second-half net profit grew 13 per
cent year on year to 8.85 billion yuan,
outpacing a 10.4 per cent increase in
the first half.
The firm will pay a 34 fen per share
final dividend, up from 12.5 fen in
2005.
China Shenhua, which has an integrated coal and power production
network as well as a rail and ship coal
transport operation, last year sold
171.1 million tonnes of coal, 18.5 per
cent more than in 2005.
Of that, 135.7 million tonnes were
produced by the company, an increase of 10.4 per cent from the previous year.
Sales of coal sourced from third
parties that it blended with its own
coal to enhance quality and to fill its
rapidly rising transport capacity
soared 64 per cent to 35.4 million
tonnes. Power sales surged 42.2 per
cent to 51.71billion kilowatt-hours.
Analysts said a 59.8 per cent jump
in the cost of coal bought from third
parties was responsible for a fall in its
coal division’s operating profit margin to 42.9 per cent from 46.8 per cent
in 2005.
“Higher purchase prices of coal
from external sources have dragged
down China Shenhua’s profit margin,” said UOB Kay Hian analyst Foo
Choy Peng. Third-party purchases
were 48.5 per cent more expensive
than self-produced coal on average.
The average coal selling price
edged up 0.88 per cent to 308.10 yuan
per tonne, slightly below a 2 per cent
lux
Maximum level
Chow Tai Fook
What was the
companies'
response?
Luk Fook
970
800
770
No response
900
980
Chow Sang Sang
1,100
890
“We were the first to create a boutique
ambience for our customers' shopping
pleasure - a stark difference from the
traditional goldsmiths with glaring lights.
We will consider making adjustments to
the lighting to better safeguard our staff”
No response
SCMP GRAPHIC
Tiffany
1,200
960
“Sales representatives stand
behind the panels for most of
the time, where lighting levels
are not the highest. They can
take a short break if there are
no customers to serve”
860
“It has always been in Tiffany's
interests to provide a safe and
comfortable working environment
for our staff. We will review local
requirements with our
management immediately”
Saleswoman’s vision blurred after
years of work in heat and glare
Too much of a shine
Goldsmiths have been told they
could save money and energy by
not relying so heavily on powerconsuming spotlights.
Friends of the Earth
environmental affairs manager
Chu Hon-keung said excessive
display lighting was a traditional
way of promoting products in Hong
Kong, particularly among
goldsmiths.
He questioned the need for as
many as 200 spotlights hung
above the display panels at the
300 sq ft 3-D Gold jewel shop in
Jordan Road.
Some shopping malls also were
ignoring calls to save energy to
mitigate climate change and
improve air quality, and continued
to turn on hundreds of lights at
midnight when there were few or
no shoppers, he said.
Energy used by shops for
lighting increased by 34 per cent
Average level
Just Gold
from 1994 to 2004, while the
figure for the whole commercial
sector had increased by 40 per
cent, the Electrical and Mechanical
Services Department said.
Mr Chu said an energy-saving
light bulb such as an LED lamp
could save 90 per cent of
electricity consumption compared
with tungsten lamps. Just
replacing one bulb could save
about HK$400 a year.
Asked how to keep jewellery
displays attractive and be energyefficient at the same time, lighting
specialist Henry Chung Shu-hung
said they could choose to put some
newly designed jewellery under
the spotlights. The associate dean
in the faculty of science and
engineering at City University also
advised reducing the lighting levels
of other areas for health reasons.
......................................................
Olga Wong
Twenty years of examining gold and
diamonds under bright lights have
taken their toll on the eyes of Ms
Chan.
The 38-year-old jewellery saleswoman says she had healthy eyes
when she joined the workforce at age
18. Now 38, she suffers from astigmatism that blurs her vision and forces
her to wear glasses.
She says her workplace is lit up
like a sunny beach, so much so that
she uses sun block to protect her skin
from the glow of the lights, not realising the artificial lights do not cause
sunburn.
The irregularity in her left eye has
reached 2.25 dioptre, regarded as
high by optometrists.
“My eyes tend to get dried and
..................................................
Olga Wong
tired easily,” says Ms Chan, who does
not want her full name published.
“Sometimes they tingle when I
have finished checking the colour
and clarity of a diamond.”
For six days a week, more than 10
hours a day – apart from 45 minutes
for lunch – she checks diamonds and
jade through a magnifier.
The task is repeated time and
again under two rows of spotlights
just one metre above her head. To
make the showroom more attractive,
Ms Chan says more lights were installed in the display windows.
“The working environment is hot,
I have to put sun-block lotion on before work to prevent my skin from
getting tanned,” she says.
Most of her colleagues also suffer
eyesight problems.
Ms Chan recalls the busy days before the financial turmoil in 1997
when people thronged to jewellery
shops. She would be focusing her
eyes on the magnifier continuously
for four hours at a stretch, which she
believes is when her eyes were
damaged.
A supervisor who has worked at
the same jewellery shop for more
than 20 years said there were more
than 60 lights above his head.
“My eyes feel like being pinched
after half an hour at work and the
pain gets more serious after lunch,”
the supervisor, Mr Yip, said.
He found his eyes could not tolerate strong lighting after five years in
the job. Later, when he found his staff
also could not tolerate the blazing
lights, he reported the complaints to
the manager. But his company refused to reduce the number of lights
because they make jewels “look more
precious and beautiful”, he said.
Mathew Scott
It has been a long time coming, but
Hong Kong will officially mark the
run-up to next year’s Beijing Olympics with the unveiling of the city’s
countdown clock in the centre of
Kowloon Park tomorrow.
And another clock is expected to
start counting down the time at Chek
Lap Kok airport.
After squabbling with watch-
maker Omega – a worldwide sponsor
of the Games – over the site of the
clock, Kowloon Park has been agreed
upon and the 500-day countdown
will begin in a ceremony at 4pm.
“It’s a huge monument and a
huge moment,” said Lam Woonkwong, chief executive of the Equestrian Company, which is running the
Hong Kong-hosted Olympic events.
“And it is a fitting way to mark the
occasion. The Olympics are of course
a huge event for Hong Kong and the
countdown clock will help build the
excitement.”
Omega had wanted the clock situated on the harbourfront, at the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui or in
Central, and its dispute with the government meant the chance for a twoyear countdown was missed.
But the government appears to
have got its way and the clock’s unveiling will be the highlight of an
afternoon featuring appearances by
Hong Kong athletes and dignitaries,
such as Secretary for Home Affairs
Patrick Ho Chi-ping and the president of the Sports Federation and
Olympic Committee, Timothy Fok
Tsun-ting.
Activities include the unveiling of
a “mega puzzle” put together by 500
youngsters and an exhibition of submissions to the Equestrian Company’s jumps design competition.
“We are planning a larger event to
mark the one-year countdown,” said
Mr Lam, adding plans were under
way to have another clock at Chek
Lap Kok airport.
The idea, he said, was to alert visitors to the city’s involvement in the
Games. The clock is expected to be
ready in time to mark the one-year
countdown in August.
The Kowloon Park clock will be a
replica of the 14-metre-high model in
front of the National Museum that is
ticking away towards the August 8,
2008 opening of the Olympics in
Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
CityDigest
Crime
5-year ordeal
Charity
Police accused over rise in bike thefts
Dog’s return big surprise for owners
Runners raise HK$1.3 million
A motorcyclists’ group has pointed the finger at
police after statistics showed the number of
reported motorcycle thefts rose by 78 per cent
last year. Many are shipped to the mainland,
Taiwan and other Asian countries. The most
popular are Hondas, which account for more
than 80 per cent of stolen bikes. Franki Yang Wai,
Hong Kong United Front for Motorcyclist Rights
founder, said a stolen 400cc Honda could be sold
for up to HK$30,000 on the mainland. “I think the
police are not treating the motorcycle thefts as
one of their top priorities,” he said. Full report C4
If every dog has its day, golden retriever Sandy is in
canine heaven. Five years after owners Rajesh
Sadhwani and daughter Shanti gave her up for
adoption believing she was off to a better life in
Canada, officers of the Agriculture, Fisheries and
Conservation Department contacted the family to
say they were holding the dog, which they had
identified from a microchip implant. Sandy was in
a rundown state and officers suspected she had
been used as a puppy factory near Sha Tau Kok.
Now reunited with the Sadhwanis, Sandy is very
much a pampered pet.
Full report C3
Hundreds of Jardines’ staff and families, students
and friends raced up the 49 floors of Jardine
House in Central yesterday in aid of charity. The
sweat-soaked runners jogged the 947 steps –
climbing 183 metres – and raised HK$1.3 million
for their efforts. Proceeds will go to Mindset, a
charity set up in 2002 by the Jardine Matheson
Group to promote mental health. As in the past
few years, the funds would be allocated to
support Health in Mind, a youth programme coorganised by the Hospital Authority and Mindset.
Sherry Lee
Four guilty in killing
of newspaper vendor
......................................................
Chandra Wong
Four men who hacked a newspaper
vendor to death seven years ago over
a business dispute were convicted
yesterday of charges arising from the
killing.
Lo Hon-shing, 32, Li Cho-ming,
34, and Leung Chi-hung, 35, were
found guilty of murdering Ho Waiha, 40, and face mandatory life sentences. Lam Tse-lik, 32, was found
guilty of manslaughter. The four were
arrested last year and in 2005.
A Court of First Instance jury
reached unanimous verdicts after
three days’ deliberation. Mrs Justice
Verina Bokhary adjourned sentencing to today.
Ho’s husband, Lau Ping-sun, who
was in the front row of the public gallery to hear the verdicts, said outside
court: “I feel relieved. I believe in justice, in the law of Hong Kong.”
Ho was found slumped in a pool
of blood, with chop wounds to her
back, left arm and leg, in front of her
newsstand in Tai Po Road, Sham Shui
Po, early one morning in September
1999.
She had previously received
threats from a newspaper distributor
over her refusal to pay for papers she
could not sell.
The trial, which began in January,
Shanghai Anxin Flooring, in which
United States private equity firm Carlyle Group has a stake, plans to raise
about US$150 million from an initial
public offering in New York as early as
the third quarter.
The company had yet to decide
whether to sell shares on the New
York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq
Stock Market, sources said. Anxin
could not be reached for comment.
Carlyle in May last year paid
US$20 million for an undisclosed
stake in the company, the mainland’s
largest wood-flooring maker and distributor. At the time, it said it would
invest an additional US$7.5 million in
heard that Lo had helped arrange the
attack, which had been ordered by a
man named as Michael Choi, a senior
figure in Ching Wui Newspaper and
Magazine Distribution Company
who, the court heard, was disgruntled with Ho and wanted to “teach
her a lesson”.
Leung administered the fatal
blows, while Li and Lam acted as
lookouts, the court was told.
Mr Choi was said to have ordered
the attack in response to Ho’s leading
role in a campaign of resistance to
new sales quotas for vendors in Sham
Shui Po. Ching Wui was responsible
for distributing the Oriental Daily
News and The Sun in the area at the
time.
Mr Lau told the court that a dispute had arisen after Ching Wui had
told vendors they would be supplied
extra copies of the papers, which they
would have to pay for regardless of
whether they could sell them. Previously they had been allowed to return
unsold papers to the distributor.
Ho, who was part of a union of
newspaper vendors, had been
threatened by the distributor, Mr Lau
said.
The court was shown videos of
police interviews in which the accused admitted their roles in the
attack. They told the court those had
been made under duress.
Figure 13 Front of the City section.
20
65
China’s coal production
M tonnes
2.5
Y-o-y change (%)
25
10
2.0
15
1.5
15
55
10
45
0
35
10
1.0
June 05
March 07
5
0.5
0
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
0
China Shenhua Energy’s coal production
M tonnes
Shendong Mines
Wanli Mines
250
Zhunge’er Mines
Shengli Mines
200
Jinjie
Hu’erwusu
Others
150
100
50
0
03
04
05
06*
07*
08*
09*
10*
* Forecast
SCMP GRAPHIC
PHOTO: XINHUA
We expect domestic
coal demand and
supply to be fairly
balanced, which
should provide
strong support for
domestic coal prices
......................................................
ABN Amro research report
rise to 310 yuan forecast by BOC International.
The average domestic selling price
rose 4 per cent due to tight supply as
the government increased efforts to
close unsafe mines, while the average
export price tumbled 7.8 per cent to
381.60 yuan per tonne.
Analysts expect coal prices to remain firm this year as the government
continues its efforts to shut small and
unsafe mines, while demand should
remain strong as the economy heads
for 10 per cent growth.
Overall, the industry’s annual output growth has fallen between 8 per
SOURCES: BLOOMBERG, CHINA COAL MONTHLY, ABN AMRO
tract sales accounted for 77.3 per cent
of domestic sales in 2005.
ABN Amro forecast that the company’s output would grow 14.2 per
cent this year to 156 million tonnes. It
said production would log a compound annual growth rate of 12 per
cent from 2005, to 215 million tonnes
in 2010.
Of the 2010 volume, the European
brokerage expects 15 million tonnes
to come from asset injections from
the firm’s parent Shenhua Group.
China Shenhua chairman Chen
Biting said the injection of coal and
power assets was possible this year.
cent and 10 per cent in the past 2 years
from between 15 per cent and 22 per
cent over 2001to 2004.
“We expect this trend to continue
given the stricter enforcement of
mine safety regulations by the Chinese authorities,” said ABN Amro in a
research report. “We expect domestic
coal demand and supply to be fairly
balanced, [which] should provide
strong support for domestic coal
prices.”
China Shenhua’s management
said in January the company had
signed 1-year sales at prices at least 5
per cent higher than last year’s. Con-
the company by the middle of next
year.
Anxin in 2004 acquired a forest reserve in Brazil, the first mainland
company to buy forestry resources
overseas, according to a statement by
Carlyle at the time of the stake purchase.
The following year it bought
40,000 square metres of land in Heilongjiang province. Anxin invested
100 million yuan in a wood-processing facility on the site that will start
operation this year. It will be able to
process 1,000 cubic metres of timber
a month.
The company has an annual production capacity of 3.5 million
sq metres of wood flooring and operates more than 400 retail outlets in
the mainland by franchise. It is trying
to expand into the growing market
for engineered flooring. Such floors
are made from gluing together thin
pieces of wood and are cheaper than
the solid wood floors the company
initially focused on.
The country’s engineered floor
market is expected to surpass the
solid wood segment by 2011, according to the statement.
Timber used in the company’s
flooring includes white oak, birch
and Brazilian tigerwood.
Anxin generated 700 million yuan
in sales from solid wood floors in
2005. China’s wood floor market volume rose to 230 million sq metres in
2005 from 130 million sq metres in
2004.
China National Cereals, Oils & Foodstuffs Import & Export Corp (Cofco
Group), the mainland’s largest grain
trader and processor, expects to list
all its businesses within 5 years after a
systematic segregation of its various
activities.
Chairman Frank Ning Gaoning
said Cofco, whose China Agri-Industries Holdings raised HK$3.2 billion
in an initial public offering earlier this
month, would keep injecting assets
into its two Hong Kong-listed vehicles for the next 3 to 5 years until units
of the group are all listed.
More spin-offs from Cofco were
also possible in the near future, Mr
Ning said.
Shares of China Agri-Industries
surged 48.66 per cent on their debut
last Wednesday.
Cofco International, the group’s
other Hong Kong-listed firm, is a
leading food processor aside from
other businesses.
Mr Ning, who gained experience
in consolidating state-backed firms
when he was chairman of China Resources Enterprise, said Cofco’s various businesses should be clearly
categorised into separate branchesto
increase their appeal to investors.
“Many investors are concerned
about whether big-scale conglomerates in China can have a focused
business,” he said.
Mr Ning said the next step would
be consolidation of the group’s property business.
China Agri-Industries is in oilseed
and rice trading, brewing and wheat
processing, and plans to focus on
biofuel and biochemical businesses
as it seeks to benefit from government efforts to expand the use of
alternative energy products.
Beijing has so far issued only 5
licences to produce ethanol, an alcohol made from sugar in grains such as
corn, rice, sorghum and sugarcane
that was introduced in the mainland
in 2002 as a fuel blend to cut carbondioxide emissions.
“It is the government’s policy to
develop alternative energy,” managing director Patrick Yu Xubo said. “By
2010, the government plans to attain
a production target of 5 million
tonnes of ethanol, of which we hope
50 per cent to 60 per cent will come
from China Agri-Industries.
“As more companies look into the
biofuel business, we’re creating demand for ethanol in the country.”
China Agri-Industries wholly or
partially owns 2 of the 4 licensed
operating ethanol fuel plants in the
mainland. According to its prospectus, the company’s biofuel and bio-
Many investors are
concerned about
whether big groups
in China can have a
focused business
......................................................
Cofco Group chairman
Frank Ning Gaoning
chemical division generated 30.2 per
cent of profits and 6.7 per cent of total
revenue in the first 9 months of last
year.
China Agri-Industries more than
doubled its 9-month profit last year
to 506.7 million yuan from 224.5 million yuan in the first 3 quarters of 2005
as sales rose to 13.84 billion yuan
from 12.08 billion yuan.
The company has a capacity to
make 180,000 tonnes of ethanol fuel
annually. It plans to expand this to
1.08 million tonnes by the end of next
year as part of capital spending of 2.8
billion yuan for the period.
Huadian Power lifts
net 12.6pc to 1.2b yuan
......................................................
coal cost accounted for 69.4 per cent
of operating cost.
However, the savings were largely
offset by a 34.81 per cent jump in interest expense to 691.93 million yuan
and a 5.4 per cent fall in plant usage to
5,402 hours, which raised its fixed
costs per unit of power sold.
Huadian said coal costs were set
to rise as price controls were relaxed,
while interest charges would continue to rise as it built more plants. Plant
usage would also fall as capacity expansion rates exceeded demand
growth in its operating provinces.
ABN Amro estimated Huadian’s
net profit to grow 37.1 per cent this
year to 1.6 billion yuan and a further
30 per cent next year to 2.08 billion
yuan. Citigroup has a 1.26 billion
yuan estimate for this year’s net profit
and 1.65 billion yuan for next year.
Eric Ng
Tim LeeMaster
......................................................
China Shenhua Energy
Share price
Regional thermal coal price
25
75
Anxin targets US$150m
from New York share sale
......................................................
Olympic clock to start ticking tomorrow
Kandy Wong
Black power
Eric Ng
10 000 lux
Jewellery store lighting levels measured in lux
......................................................
......................................................
lux
is the level recommended
for retail stores by the
Labour Department
Cofco aims to
list all units
in 5 years
Shenhua falls short with
record 17.5b yuan profit
<1 lux
10 lux
50 lux
400 lux
400 lux
500
B
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2007
Firm sells more coal but lower sale prices affect margins
The glare out there
Glittering
displays
come at
high price
......................................................
US$5.17
www.scmp.com.biz
www.scmp.com
MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2007
Spotlight on jewellery
retailers shows up flaws
Commodities mover
of the week: Oil
▲
MARKETS Baht hits 9-year high B20
TALKBACK Your views on the gay TV show ruling C2
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
11.61%
Huadian Power International, a unit
of state-owned power producer
China Huadian Group, said net profit
rose 12.6 per cent last year to 1.2 billion yuan, thanks to higher generation and lower unit coal cost.
The profit, based on international
accounting standards, is 2.9 per cent
higher than the 1.16 billion yuan
mean estimate of 20 brokerage analysts polled by Thomson First Call.
The company, the largest power
producer in Shandong province, said
generation volume grew 12.2 per cent
to 52.53 billion kilowatt-hours last
year.
Coal cost per kilowatt-hour of
power generated eased 1.18 per cent
to 15.34 fen. This helped lift profit as
Business Digest
Gaming
Telecoms
Endowments
Hot Macau plays turn cold
Success secrets
US-listed Macau plays were one of last year’s
best bets. As the territory overtook
the Las Vegas Strip as the
world’s largest gaming
market, shares in Las
Vegas Sands Corp more
than doubled while
rival Wynn Resorts rose
more than 80 per cent.
But recent weeks have
delivered a painful reminder that even
the hottest winning streaks must eventually
turn cold.
Full report B2
China Mobile chairman
Wang Jianzhou has
revealed the secret of
success at the nation’s
largest mobile
operator. It is all down
to international bestseller Blue Ocean
Strategy – how to
create uncontested
market space and make the competition
irrelevant by economists W. Chan Kim and
Renée Mauborgne.
Full report B3
Accounting
Funds for
universities
Universities in the
United States have
hoarded billions of
endowment dollars to finance
their operations for years to come
and in Britain the government is
offering incentives to encourage
schools to do the same.
But in Asia, endowment funds are few and
poorly funded, a difference that could leave
our institutions trailing those in the west.
Full report B11
Mainland moves up
When Sir Michael Rake
joined the accounting
profession in 1968, there
was hardly a need for
international
accountants on the
mainland as the country
was in the throes of the
Cultural Revolution.
Forty years on, his view of the mainland
has changed completely. And the KPMG
international chairman is switching
professions.
Full report B26
Figure 13 (cont.) Front of the Business section.
Hit them where it hurts:
commissioner declares war
on outlaw players C15
When is a draw not a draw?
When it feels like a loss,
says Gerrard C14
NFL
Soccer
Sharks v Brumbies
10-21
Super 14 rugby
Cricket
Australia right on track
after Hayden-inspired rout
of Proteas C18
NBA, GOLF C15 RACING C16-17 SWIMMING, RUGBY, BASEBALL C19
www.scmp.com
C
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2007
Main figures grilled for a second time
before team are allowed to go home
Police question
Pakistan squad
members again
......................................................
CRICKET
Patrick Moser in Kingston
Reeling from the murder of their
coach Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s players flew home from the World Cup
yesterday after Jamaican police interviewed three team members for a second time.
The team expressed relief to be
leaving Jamaica, where Woolmer was
strangled in his hotel room just a day
after the team crashed out of the tournament with a shock loss to Ireland
on March 17.
“They clarified a number of
points,” Jamaica’s deputy commissioner of police Mark Shields said
after captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, caretaker coach Mushtaq Ahmed and
manager Talat Ali were questioned
before the Pakistan team departed.
“There is nothing to suggest any of
them is a suspect at this stage,”
Shields said.
“It was nothing, just one question,
nothing special,” the 37-year-old Inzamam told Sky News television.
All team members were interviewed by police and gave DNA samples and fingerprints. Shields said the
team had cooperated fully.
“They were never under detention,” said Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri,
the first secretary at the Pakistani embassy in Washington, who flew to
Kingston with another diplomat to be
briefed about the investigations.
Speaking on Saturday at a joint
news conference with Shields, he said
the team were still traumatised by the
death of their 58-year-old coach.
“The players are relieved now to
be going home,” team spokesman
Pervez Mir told Sky News before the
players departed for Islamabad via
London.
“The players have been very
scared. When something like this
happens it’s indeed a very scary
thing,” Mir said, as rumours continued to circulate that the death may
have been linked to match-fixing.
Generous odds of up to 8-1 were
offered for an Irish win.
“Of course it’s one of our lines of
inquiry,” Shields said of the speculation.
Shields separately told the London-based Observer newspaper:
“One aspect is, what were the odds on
Ireland if Ireland won? I understand
that they were extremely good if you
bet on Ireland.”
Shields said he was keeping an
open mind, and stressed that investigators had not yet identified any
“clear suspects” or made any arrests.
Jamaican police believe Woolmer
may have known his killer or killers.
“It’s fair to acknowledge that because
it was in his hotel room, it may be an
associate,” said Shields.
Lookalikes in hiding
Life as a lookalike of an Indian cricket
star can have its perks, but lately it’s
had a nasty downside, with some
hiding from irate fans after India’s loss
to Sri Lanka.
The lookalikes of Sachin
Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and
Mohinder Dhoni have been watching
their backs.
“When Sehwag plays well, I am
treated well. But when he scores
badly, even the lives of my wife and
child are in jeopardy as people
threaten to beat me up for Sehwag’s
bad performance,” The Times Of India
quoted Yogendra Shah as saying. AP
Inzamam said beTimely
fore his departure he
break
just wanted to forget
the traumatic campaign. “It’s been a tournament which I and millions of Pakistan supporters would like to forget,
but it won’t be as easy as it looks,” he
said.
“We failed to reach the second
round and lost a great mentor who
was also an inspirational figure in the
dressing room. I feel Bob’s loss much
more than our elimination.
“My heart goes out to his family
and I want to assure them on behalf of
the team and entire nation that we are
right behind them. I will leave the Caribbean for the last time [as a player]
with a very heavy heart.”
Inzamam said the team were in a
good frame of mind when they came
to the Caribbean despite a poor buildup during which they lost key fast
bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif due to fitness problems.
“When I landed here, I had high
hopes but things changed and became so tragic that we are still struggling to cope with them. Most of the
guys are still in a state of shock and
when I try to talk to them, I can see
their blank faces.
“They are physically with me but
not mentally. I still believe my team
was good enough but we just couldn’t
click. I am disappointed that we failed
to live up to our supporters’ expectations and also for Bob who gave his
heart and soul throughout his three
years as coach, hoping we could fulfil
his dream of winning the World Cup.”
Authorities in Jamaica said the
body would remain on the island until the conclusion of a coroner’s inquest to be held as soon as possible.
C18
Guo in class of her own
SWIMMING
Martin Parry in Melbourne
Guo Jingjing
Diving queen Guo Jingjing won a
record fourth consecutive three-metre springboard world title yesterday,
but China’s iron grip was broken with
Russia’s Gleb Galperin clinching the
men’s 10-metre platform.
No other diver in the history of the
world championships has managed
to win four titles in the same event.
Guo, the photogenic 25-year-old
reigning Olympic champion, scored
381.75 points, opening with a nearperfect backwards 21⁄2 somersault in
pike position to signal who was boss
from the outset.
Wu Minxia, Guo’s customary
strongest rival for the gold medal, recovered from a poor qualifying ses-
Serevi inspires new generation
......................................................
RUGBY SEVENS
Alvin Sallay
......................................................
Agence France-Presse
......................................................
Legendary Fijian Waisale Serevi gives a masterclass for mini rugby players at the Hong Kong Football Club yesterday. Photo: SCMP
sion to easily finish secPark stuns
ond with 368.80. Italy’s
Hackett
Tania Cagnotto was
third with 341.70.
Guo said everything she was doing was focused
around preparing for the Beijing
Olympics next year.
“I think the biggest rival [in Beijing] will be myself, but I really don’t
want to think about it. The thoughts
of being there simply scare me at this
stage,” she said.
Wu said while Guo won yesterday,
the Olympic title remained wide
open. “Actually, everyone who participated in the finals here has the potential to win. It’s just that it might not
have been a great day for them today,” Wu said.
C19
......................................................
Agence France-Presse
Fiji began their campaign to win back
the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse
Hong Kong Sevens by winning the
hearts and minds of hundreds of new
and young fans at the Hong Kong
Football Club yesterday.
Overawed children from as young
as four were happily surprised when
Fijian legend Waisale Serevi and a
number of his team, including Serevi’s heir, William Ryder, turned up at
Sports Road for the Football Club’s
season-ending presentation for their
mini-rugby section.
The fortunate and outstanding
few got their trophies and certificates
from the famous Fijians, but Serevi
had consoling words for those left
empty-handed: “For those of you,
who don’t get awards, just remember
that in rugby we are all winners, because rugby is a team sport.”
Inspirational words which will
surely remain in the minds of the 400strong mini-rugby section, all of
whom will never forget the day they
shook hands or stood for photographs with the man who is widely regarded as the greatest sevens player
of all time.
“Last year we had Martin Johnson
[England’s World Cup-winning cap-
Sports Digest
Olympics
tain] and he was very good, but Serevi
is something special,” said Rob Buckley, chairman of Football Club’s
mini-rugby section.
“Fiji will definitely be the crowd’s
second favourite team after Hong
Kong next weekend.”
Serevi said: “The secret of life is to
enjoy what you do. Not to just do
what you do. I’m here today not for
the parents or the sponsors, but to
support you kids.
“I wish you all the best and good
The secret of life
is to enjoy what
you do. Just
remember, nothing
is impossible
......................................................
Waisale Serevi
Fiji player-coach
......................................................
HK women keen C19
Figure 13 (cont.)
Front of the Sport section.
22
IOC president Jacques Rogge has shrugged off
increasing criticism of Beijing’s dire pollution
levels from within his organisation by claiming
next year’s games pose no more of a threat to
health than several other recent host cities.
Speaking exclusively to the South China Morning
Post ahead of tomorrow’s “500 Days To Go”
celebrations, Rogge brushed aside concerns
raised by vice-president Gunilla Lindberg, who
two weeks ago said living in Beijing was bad for
your health. “Environmental challenges are not
new to the Games,” said Rogge. His interview will
be published in full tomorrow. Peter Simpson
New Zealand arrive
minus skipper Iaosa
New Zealand arrived last night missing
inspirational captain Tafai Iaosa, who was
a late withdrawal after injuring his knee
in a four-day training camp last week.
Iaosa has been a standout figure in coach
Gordon Tietjens’ campaigns in recent
years.
Auckland’s D.J. Forbes will take over
the captaincy and Otago’s Adam
Thomson, the only new face in the squad,
will replace Iaosa. Tietjens said Thomson
deserved his selection. “Adam is a very
skilful player with a big, athletic frame
and he offers us additional height.”
New Zealand and Fiji are joint leaders
in the IRB Sevens, on 60 points. The Kiwis
won the George leg last December. They
also finished runners-up in Dubai and
made semi-final appearances in
Wellington and San Diego. Alvin Sallay
The squad Tomasi Cama
(Manawatu), Edwin
Cocker (Auckland),
D.J. Forbes (Auckland,
captain), Nigel Hunt
(Wellington), Solomon King (Bay of
Plenty), Zar Lawrence (North Harbour),
Afeleke Pelenise (Tasman), Lote Raikabula
(Hawkes Bay), Willie Rickards (Southland),
Adam Thomson (Otago), Nick Thomson
(Canterbury), Steven Yates (Canterbury)
Zhu remains defiant despite loss
Racing
Motorcycling
......................................................
Rossi back in the limelight
China coach Zhu Guanghu faced
down growing calls to quit after the
tame defeat to second-string Australia which raised early doubts about
their Asian Cup chances.
Sections of the crowd chanted for
Zhu to step down as the home side
lost 2-0 against a visiting Australian
team missing many of their firstchoice players.
The match was played days after
the coach’s car was attacked by dozens of angry fans as he left a match in
the southeastern city of Xiamen.
SOCCER
Talek Harris in Guangzhou
Rogge shrugs off criticism
luck in your careers. Just remember,
nothing is impossible.” At 38, he is
still enjoying his rugby so much he
will make his 16th appearance in
Hong Kong since making his debut in
1989.
“I might retire this year,” joked Serevi. Despite having handed over the
captaincy to giant forward Semisi
Naevo – who towered over the gathering yesterday – Serevi continues to
call the shots as player-coach.
“We are just thinking of the 30
points on offer in Hong Kong. Our
aim is to win again here and retain the
IRB Sevens title which we won last
year. This is a very important tournament, not only because it offers the
most points, but also because winning Hong Kong is very important for
the people back home in Fiji,” Serevi
said. Fiji have not won the Hong
Kong Sevens since 1999 but captured
the World Cup here in 2005
Pointing to his protégé Ryder, Serevi said he would be the player to
watch when the Sevens gets under
way on Friday. “ “You will see a lot of
him this weekend. He will score six
tries in one game,” promised Serevi.
And cheering him and the rest of
his team will be a bunch of new fans,
who will remember the day when
they rubbed shoulders with a legend.
Moore in
All-clear at Sha Tin
Security sweeps of Sha Tin
business
racecourse yesterday came up
empty and the 11-race card went
ahead without a hitch. Jockey Club
director of security Stephen Chandler described it
as “business as usual” after an incident-free first
meeting following Wednesday’s sabotage attempt
at Happy Valley, where remote-controlled
projectiles were buried in the turf. “There has
been no no change in the number or nature of
patrols,” he said. “It’s been all about maintaining
standard operating procedures with our two main
goals in mind – safety and integrity.” Murray Bell
C16
Five-time world champion Valentino Rossi ended
his barren spell of form when he blew away his
rivals to claim a dominant victory in the Spanish
MotoGP race at Jerez yesterday. The Italian
notched up the 85th win of his career, and
seventh in all classes at the southern Spanish
circuit, with an authoritative display that saw him
cross the line comfortably ahead of Honda’s
home favourite Dani Pedrosa. It was Rossi’s first
victory since Malaysia in September last year,
ending a spell of five races without a win, his
worst run since his debut triumph at Donington
Park in 2000. Reuters
Visual Communication 7(1)
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© 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.
Zhu said he realised fans were upset but pointed to a spirited secondhalf revival, led by Manchester United’s Dong Fangzhuo, as cause for
optimism. “The fans didn’t want
China to lose this match, that’s why
they said those things,” Zhu said. “In
the second half some players played
very well, but they just weren’t strong
enough, so the crowd reacted. My job
is to try my best, to fight for my country and make our football team much
better in Asia.”
China made an abominable start
as Australia, orchestrated by a sparkling Mark Viduka, cut through them
twice in the opening 30 minutes and
threatened to humiliate Zhu’s men in
front of their home fans.
But Dong, 22, made an
instant impact when he
came on late in the first
half and proved a constant threat down the
right flank.
“Dong was very useful in this match and I’ll use him
much more in the future,” Zhu said,
also praising Energie Cottbus midfielder Shao Jiayi and Charlton’s
Zheng Zhi. “Blending our overseas
and home-based players in one team
is the key to making our team much
better,” he said.
Zhu
Guanghu
......................................................
Agence France-Presse
Wrecking or renovating?
Diving Queen
China’s Guo Jingjing pulls off
a record fourth title in a row
Battle lines are drawn over HK’s
pace of urban renewal
Behind the News A18
Sport C20
PUBLISHED SINCE 1903 VOLUME LXIII NO. 83
Monday, March 26, 2007
see live updates at www.scmp.com
B
HK $7.00
Chief executive secures better-than-expected vote; pledges to strive for universal suffrage
Tsang promises
to govern for all
......................................................
Jimmy Cheung and Denise Hung
Donald Tsang, with his wife Selina, takes a victory ride across Hong Kong to thank the public for their support – even
though those he is waving to didn’t get to vote in yesterday’s chief executive election. Photo: Martin Chan
Donald Tsang Yam-kuen yesterday
pledged a government of consensus
in his second term after securing an
expected victory in the chief executive poll with 649 votes.
As the result was announced, Mr
Tsang, 62, choked back tears, while
supporters cheered and opponents
chanted slogans calling for universal
suffrage.
Mr Tsang received eight votes
more than the nominations he received from the 795-member Election Committee. His challenger, Alan
Leong Kah-kit of the Civic Party, received 123 votes, nine fewer than the
nominations he received to force the
first contested chief executive election since the handover – and first to
have a pan-democrat challenger.
“The third SAR government, under my leadership, will be a government that represents all social strata
and one that strives to balance the interests of all sectors,” Mr Tsang said.
“My government will have consensus-building as its governance
style. Officials will deepen their contact with society and listen to the people. Policy formulation will take a
bottom-up approach.”
Mr Tsang pledged to strive for universal suffrage and to adopt a “pragmatic and proactive” approach in resolving differences over the issue.
Other commitments included making the city Asia’s premier financial
centre and tackling poverty with innovative ideas.
Yesterday’s election, lasting
barely three hours, brought together
tycoons, professionals, unionists and
lawmakers at the AsiaWorld-Expo at
Chek Lap Kok to return Hong Kong’s
leader for the 2007-12 term.
Most of Mr Tsang’s support came
from government supporters and
Beijing loyalists. His victory was a
foregone conclusion but the 11 blank
votes cast was taken as a barometer of
dissatisfaction with the ex-civil servant. Another five votes were invalid
and one was unused. The number of
blank ballots fell within the estimates
of Mr Tsang’s campaign team.
Mr Tsang described the voting
outcome as “not bad”.
He said his campaign was to forge
social consensus rather than fuel
class struggle. “Let us resolve to put
aside our differences and work together for our tomorrow,” he said.
Mr Leong also claimed success,
saying the election had brought
about a fundamental change that
could not be undone.
Vowing to run again in 2012, Mr
Leong said he did not know why nine
of those who had nominated him
chose not to vote for him but said it
would be unrealistic and meaningless to focus on the number of votes
secured in a “small-circle” poll.
In the afternoon, Mr Tsang undertook a victory parade to thank the
public, most of whom did not have a
vote, for their support. The trip,
aboard an open-topped doubledecker bus, took him to Tsuen Wan,
Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok, Kwun
Tong and Causeway Bay.
The central government’s liaison
office, the Office of the Foreign Min-
Inside
News & analysis A2-A4
Alan Leong eyes 2012;
Tsang seeks place in history
Comment A16, A17
Editorial; Harry’s view;
Andrew Wells – Tsang
should stay out of the way
istry Commissioner and the People’s
Liberation Army in Hong Kong
issued separate congratulations to
Mr Tsang. “His re-election fully demonstrates the recognition from different sectors of his service,” the liaison
office statement said.
Congratulating Mr Tsang, former
chief secretary Anson Chan Fang Onsang said the election marked an important milestone on the road to universal suffrage.
She said Mr Tsang must provide
leadership that was representative of
the aspirations of people from all sectors and sustain the confidence vested in him to govern in their interests.
Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan urged Mr Tsang to
improve the accountability of political appointees and to open up statutory bodies to members of the opposition camp.
He said it was hard for the public
to tell whether Mr Tsang had promised anything in exchange for the
support he received during his campaign from allies in the Democratic
Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, the Liberal Party,
the Federation of Trade Unions and
The Alliance.
DAB vice-chairman Tam Yiuchung said the party would welcome
more involvement in the policymaking process, although that had not
been a condition for its support of Mr
Tsang.
Mr Tam said he hoped to see
more interaction with the chief executive on party political affairs, such as
in the upcoming district council
elections.
The SCMP is taking a fresh look at the news
To Our Readers,
Today you will see that your
newspaper has a new look. We have
done nothing drastic, we’ve simply
adopted a sleeker, clearer design
aimed at making your reading
experience more engaging and
enjoyable.
In this increasingly visual age,
we’ve revisited everything from our
typefaces and layout to graphics and
photography to ensure you can get the
information you want more quickly
and easily – whether you’re dipping
into the paper for five minutes over a
coffee or settling in for a longer, more
leisurely read. We’ve improved the
layout of pages so that you can see
quickly and easily what are the most
We’ve evolved continually since 1903.
important stories. We’ve adopted two
elegant new typefaces that will allow
us to get more words into each line,
making our headlines, picture captions
and introductions more explicit. We’ve
updated our infographics, and added
more, to better show you key facts
and figures. And we’ve developed a
more varied colour palette to give
each section of the paper a distinct
personality.
These are all part of ongoing
changes to give you more choice in
how you get your information from
the SCMP. Whether through our
newspaper, our website, scmp.com, or
our other digital offerings – podcasts,
vidcasts, headlines to your mobile
phone by RSS or SMS – we’re
committed to giving you more ways to
access our content and to get involved.
So why not take the opportunity to tell
us what you think of our new look.
Write to us at 16/F, Somerset House,
979 King’s Road, Quarry Bay, Hong
Kong, or e-mail [email protected].
We want to hear your views.
Change is nothing new for the
SCMP – we’ve been leading rather than
following since our first issue in 1903.
But rest assured, some things will
never change, such as our
commitment to independent,
authoritative, high-quality journalism
and our promise to produce the best
possible daily read for you, our valued
readers.
Mark Clifford, editor-in-chief
News Digest
National
National
City
New Tianjin party chief confirmed
Role for HK in mission to Mars
Alert over jewellery shop lights
The Communist Party has formally announced
the appointment of ex-Shenzhen party chief
Zhang Gaoli
as party secretary of Tianjin
, one of a number of key appointments. Mr
Zhang, 61, party secretary of Shandong province
, has spent most of his career in Guangdong.
His appointment to Tianjin, the boom town on
the rim of Bohai, is being seen as a sign that the
central government will provide more support
for the regional hub. He is expected to become a
Politburo member later this year. Full report A6
A major component for a Russian mission to
explore the Martian moon Phobos is to be
developed by a Hong Kong team. An agreement
between the China National Space
Administration and the Russian Space Agency for
the project is included among US$4 billion worth
of deals to be signed during President Hu Jintao’s
visit to Russia beginning today. The Hong
Kong team, based at Polytechnic University, will
develop a retrieval system to grind and filter soil
and pebbles on Phobos.
Full report A9
Thousands of jewellery shop workers could be
suffering damage to their health due to the
intense display lights used to make the gems
sparkle. Among five shops examined by the South
China Morning Post, the
lighting intensity was up to
twice the level recommended
by the labour watchdog. The
findings have prompted calls
for action from eye specialists
and unionists.
Full report C1
Contact us
News
Hotline
Got any
stories, tips or photos?
2565
2252
Call our
News Hotline
2565 2252 Ads
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&
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City page 2
For more contacts, see C2
Inside
scmp.com today
NEWS
SECTION A
Weather
A2
.......................................
Hong
Kong & Delta
A2-4
.......................................
National
A6-9
.......................................
Around The Nation
A9
.......................................
International
A10-14
.......................................
Editorial & Letters
A16
.......................................
Insight
A17
.......................................
Behind the News
A18
BUSINESS
SECTION B
Tom
Holland
B2
.......................................
Companies,
Finance B2-4,9,11,14
.......................................
International
B17
.......................................
Markets
B20
.......................................
Currencies
B22
.......................................
Hong Kong Stocks
B24
.......................................
China Stocks
B25
.......................................
Monitor
B26
CITY . LIFE . SPORT SECTION C
City
News
C1-4
.......................................
Take
Action, Talkback
C2
.......................................
Health
C6
.......................................
Style
C7
.......................................
Diversions, TV & Radio
C12-13
.......................................
Soccer
C14
.......................................
Racing
C16-17
.......................................
Cricket World Cup
C18 & 20
Hear the best
news and analysis
with SCMP
podcasts,
updated daily
Log on to www.scmp.com/
podcasting today
Figure 13 (cont.) The first edition of the new look. Note the integrated graphic in the
lead story, and of course the self-reference to the new design. Editors want to show
readers that design change is part of continuous development for their newspaper.
De Vries: Newspaper design as cultural change
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© 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.
23
play a big part in our perception of chaos and order too. The way a reader
views and understands Chinese characters is very different to our western
top-down, left-to-right sequence. So this was an issue in the makeover of the
South China Morning Post as well. After all, more than half the readers have
Chinese as a first language. It is no longer only read by expatriates. But the
research showed an important cultural/ psychological factor, that the local
Chinese themselves did not want it to look like a Chinese newspaper. They felt
that a more austere, restrained, western format would be more prestigious.
Designers are, or should be, cultural interpreters. Many young
designers take too long to understand this. They design for themselves and
their own sub-culture. But designers have to understand the audiences they
are designing for, and create visual expressions that work for these audiences
and that are appealing to these audiences. That can become quite challenging
when you work in different cultural contexts and, for instance, encounter the
idea that design should be chaotic, and not prioritize left to right, which goes
against the grain of western design teaching and design practice.
NEWSPAPER DESIGN IS AN EXERCISE IN
C U LT U R A L C H A N G E
There is of course also the matter of workplace culture and the lack of
importance many columnists and journalists attach to visual communication, still thinking of design and graphics as a kind of Christmas sprinkling
that trivializes what they do. This is a big issue for newspaper designers.
Some designers who work in newspapers are their own worst enemy,
relentlessly avoiding reading and overall editorial thinking, and behaving as
‘artistes’ and Mac virtuosos at the expense of accurate communication.
The changing of the editorial/communication culture has been by far
the hardest nut to crack in our newspaper design experience. Designing a
newspaper is as much an exercise in cultural change as an exercise in
changing typography and layout. Changing a culture requires a courageous
and clever business team. We have to pay attention, for example, to the
geography of the newsroom and to the sequence of events in a day that turns
the news from vague ideas to finished pages. Newspapers usually structure
themselves around two daily general conferences. There is a morning conference about general story lists and direction and an afternoon conference
in which the structure of the paper is decided – which stories will be
included, what the page one lead will be, and so on. Quite often, newspapers
do not begin to consider the visual until that second conference so that there
is only a very small window of time to put stories together visually. This is a
cause of constant stress for the graphics and photographic departments. If
the whole planning process incorporated the visual as a necessary and
advantageous news device, then there would be far more time for internal
team work, and for achieving the best possible results that make the
newspaper irresistibly good.
24
Visual Communication 7(1)
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© 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.
Recently, British, European and American newspapers have begun to
experiment with newsroom structures, bringing the visual people and also
the web people right into the core. The rise of the web has driven much of
this change; the ‘internet folks’ are no longer somewhere in a darkened room
where they take a second edit of the news stories to put together their
website. Web stories are now published first, and then the big interpretation
of the story may follow in the print edition. This is a big conceptual change
for newspapers. And it is also important for the two to be complementary.
Web stories and print stories should not try to do the same thing. Readers are
quite capable of consuming both. And complementarity is the only way
newspapers are going to bring in younger readers.
These are the issues: promoting visual communication in newspaper
design from the profound heart of the organization, and changing the very
meaning of newspapers as society and technology change. Unfortunately
many newspapers are foolishly conservative when it comes to addressing
these issues. It may be that by the time they are ready, their audiences will
have moved on.
REFERENCES
Buchanan, R. (1992) ‘Wicked Problems in Design Thinking’, Design Issues
VIII(2).
Gladwell, M. (2005) Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking. New
York: Little, Brown and Company.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
JAMES DE VRIES graduated from Sydney College of the Arts with the
Academic Prize in 1984. He started de Luxe & Associates in 1993 and has
developed an international specialty in editorial communication. James has
created and redesigned many of the region’s major newspapers and
magazines. Clients include all of the Fairfax Newspapers and magazines,
Time Inc, West Australian Newspapers, Vogue Living Australia, Federal
Publishing (Courier Group) Newspapers, The Hong Kong Standard,
AsiaMoney, East Asia Foundation and the South China Morning Post. James
contributes to journals and magazines and he continues to guest-lecture at
universities and speak at conferences.
Address: de Luxe & Associates, 7 Ivy Lane, Darlington NSW 2008, Australia.
De Vries: Newspaper design as cultural change
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© 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.
25