HONG KONG

Hong Kong was my first experience of life in a British Colony . It of course had been fostered by those good Christian Scots so they could sell opium produced in India to the Chinese . I think Chinese and European culture are poles apart . We did not really socially have any interface with the Chinese. Madarin is the most spoken language in the World with some1,025 million speakers .
However, in south China including Hong Kong and Macau (the Portugese Colony ) they spoke Cantonese . The Madarin speaking Chinese in the north tend to look down on the Cantonese calling them "monkeys ". I never attempted to learn any Chinese , it is difficult as the same word with a different pronounciation can mean something totally different .

The Officers' Mess Colour Sergeant would have difficulty with pronouncing the names of the Chinese Mess Staff so they would be referred to as No1 , No 2 etc up to No10. However, as he berated them their No would frequently be preceded by F---king . Now Chinese have difficulty with "F" so they would refer to themselves as No Hucking One . I remember as I marched through HK carrying the Regimental Colour I heard some Chinese call out there goes No Hucking One : they obviously thought the guy with the flag was important .

 I would say there was a certain deference on the part of the Chinese towards their Colonial Masters . They had had a rough time during the Japanese occupation . The Japs did reduce TB by bayoneting any Chinese they saw spitting . At the Japanese surrender there was a rush by the Brits to get back as there was some fear the Americans might try to prevent us reoccupying HK . When I went back to HK 25 years later attitudes had changed as handover to China got closer. The HK Chinese wanted stability in an enviornment where they could make money. As that was all about to change there was no need to defer to Europeans.

I had my 21st birthday in Hong Kong . I treated myself to a shave in the Grand Peninsula Hotel, first time ever. The next time was in Edinburgh with Douglas some forty five years later.

One big event in Honk Kong was The Queen's Birthday Parade. The photographss are of me in the Colour Party . I am the one on the right in case you do not recognise Grandpa in his youth .

Little incidents come to mind wich seem amusing in retrospect. I recall being ferried round Sai Kung harbour by a little Chinese girl in a sampan going from junk to junk to haggle for the best hire price to take the soldiers to one of the islands for a picnic.  We would anchor off an island swim ashore and hope four hours later they were sober enough to swim back ! We did have a rescue boat .

One amazing thing to watch  were Chinese funerals. They had access through our camp to burial grounds at the end of the peninsula . Professional mourners would be hired . They dressed in white would head the parade wailing as if they were in an LSD trance , all part of their culture .

All the things you would expect went on : lots  of sporting events , swimming at the officers club , cocktail parties etc all part of the British Raj .

Not really sure how long I spent in HK . It could have been as little as four months as the next move was to Malaya to the Jungle Warfare School.

During my time in HK I did get a trip in a light aircraft round the territory . Years later I did a similar trip in a helicopter . The amazing difference was land reclamation .