Remembering Everest man Sir Edmund Hillary and a hard-nosed hack

Recently, New Zealand's pioneering Everest-conquerer Sir Edmund Hillary passed away. Several days later, veteran Hong Kong journalist Kevin Sinclair died. Both had an ever-so-slight influence on my news writing career.

Sinclair, while hardly a global figure on the scale of Hillary, was nonetheless a well-known name in Hong Kong, having covered and commented on the political developments of the former British colony for more than 40 years.

For me, who was just learning news writing, it was ironic that these two personalities died within days of each other because both had a major impact on me as a budding journalist.

In the mid-80s, when I was just starting out as a reporter in a business information company in Hong Kong, I was assigned to my first-ever press conference, which was about Hillary promoting the Indian Himalayas as a tourism destination.

Kevin Sinclair was also there. Sinclair was known as much for his rasping voice as his columns. He had his cancer-ridden throat removed earlier in life and he spoke with a guttural, grating voice that was difficult to understand.

Because of his voice, he had a female assistant who asked questions on his behalf. Anyway, on this occasion, the Indian delegation and Hillary were singing the praises of the Indian side of the Himalayas as a great place for tourism.

I, as a rookie journalist, was dumbstruck at the thought of being in the same room as the first man to climb Everest, AND being able to ask him a question.

Towards the end of the conference, Sinclair's assistant stood up and asked the following question (can't remember the exact words): “With border tensions with China, do you think it is safe for tourists to go to that part of the Himalayas?”

One of the head table answered that they don't want journalists to ask questions about those issues because the conference was about positive aspects of the Himalayas as a tourist haven.
Sinclair was furious. Normally hesitant to speak publicly because of his voice, he stood up and rasped: “If we can't ask questions, why are we here?!”

With that, he packed up his brief case and stormed off with his assistant scampering behind him. Hillary and the head table did not really knowing where to look.

That one incident taught me a lot. There was everyone else, in awe of Hillary. And along comes a veteran hack and brings them down to the level of mere mortals.

Don't get me wrong. It was great for me to be in that press conference and Hillary was brilliant. He answered my question about the Yeti eloquently and many of the newspapers went with that angle the following day.

But Sinclair's action made me realise that no matter how famous the name, journalists shouldn't feel they are in the presence of divinity. Yes, they deserve respect for their achievements but they are, after all, only human.

And that's why they passed away. Hillary deservedly received global tributes upon his passing, and Sinclair received fitting obituaries in the Hong Kong media and was also feted by the Chief Executive Donald Tsang.

I will remember them for that incident 22 years ago, when an icon of the 20th Century and a hard-nosed journalist made a big impression on my career.

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