- 6 -
A five-page feature appears in the Milan transport magazine Tuttotransporti on Hong Kong's public transport system.
Crime and Punishment
Hong Kong homosexuals' attempts to revoke a law "dating back to Victorian times" which forbids all forms of sexual contact between persons of the same sex is reported in Lisbon daily Expresso.
The Eleventh International Conference on Drug Prevention which was held in Hong Kong on 23-27 November 1987, is mentioned in the Milan paper Avvenire at the beginning of January. The same paper reports increasing sales in Hong Kong of the drug "Mandrax", Chinese in origin.
The Portuguese paper Prim. Janeiro (Porto) says that sales of cannabis coming from the Philippines had increased last year on the Hong Kong market.
Wide coverage is given in the Portuguese media to the arrest of
It three ex-governors of Macau accused of illegal currency transactions. appears that a branch of Macau-based Deak & Co in Hong Kong was also involved in these goings-on.
A report in the German daily Die Welt by Jochen Hehn on oriental prostitution paints a grim picture of the lives of one million girls in the Philippines. Hehn says these girls have a much easier life when working in Hong Kong the prime destination for many.
Religion
A report on the Episcopalian Conference of Asia in Hong Kong appears in the Milan paper Avvenire. The participants discussed the situation of Chinese Christians.
There is a long article on the Church in Hong Kong which is printed in the Danish religious paper Kristeligt Dagblad. Peter Seidlitz, the Hong Kong based journalist of many faces, writing in the South German paper Südkurier, highlights the career of Father Lancelot, a Roman Catholic priest based in Macau. Seidlitz says that the German priest, together with fellow priests in Hong Kong, has started a social programme for mentally handicapped children in China. The Catholic Church in Hong Kong is praised here for its pioneering work.
There is a photo of Franco Mella, an Italian priest, which is printed in La Stampa (Turin) protesting against the ten year sentence imposed on his friend Lau Shan-ching of Hong Kong for giving aid to Chinese dissidents.
Tourism
There is a six page feature on Hong Kong in the German news magazine Die Zeit (Hamburg) entitled "Hong Kong, the trembling city". An art and antique delegation from Belgium recently did a tour of China and wrote about their experiences in the January issue of Arts-Antiques-Auctions. They recommend readers to arrive in Hong Kong before setting out for China as the view on landing is "surprising and splendid". Readers of the Portuguese daily Expresso are urged to go on a sentimental journey to Macau not forgetting a short stay in Hong Kong. The article is illustrated with colour photos.
/Two