A new book, “Stories from the Royal Hong Kong Police”, will bring back memories for long-term residents, who will likely find friends and acquaintances among the authors. It’s subtitled “50 accounts from officers of Hong Kong’s colonial-era police force”.
New Zealander Sandy Macalister (blue shirt at left) in his days as SPCA executive director. Now he is GM of the Victoria Recreation Club
Let’s start with a local lad, Sandy Macalister, now General Manager of the Victoria Recreation Club, which has premises at Emerald Bay. Sandy was a New Zealand police and navy diver before arriving in Hong Kong. After joining the RHKP and rising to chief inspector, he was sent with Alpha Team of the Special Duties Squad (the unit charged with tackling the most serious incidents such as hostage situations, hijackings and terrorism) to the Royal Navy Diving School at HMS Vernon in Portsmouth. There Sandy and his colleagues qualified as Royal Navy ships divers and as diver supervisors. They also were trained by the SAS.
“The Water Team became very skilled both above and below the water, and their diving skills outside of the anti-terrorism role were regularly called upon and used in a variety of cases, including security operations, homicide investigations, and drug and vehicle smuggling,” Sandy wrote. The tough New Zealander’s chapter is modestly and disappointingly short.
Barry Griffin when he was a Hong Kong police officer
Barry Griffin writes amusingly about his days in Transport Police when as “Red Team Leader” escorting a convoy for Queen Elizabeth II he led the monarch astray. His lead escort team member went down the wrong road and Barry and the rest of the entourage had no choice but to follow taking Her Majesty off the agreed route. He couldn’t communicate because the one dedicated radio channel was hogged by the Kowloon commander overhead in a helicopter. Barry disgustingly notes the commander was talking on the radio to the media telling them what a lovely night it was. He was extricating the convoy from the embarrassment of the wrong turn and his stress level was going down, when an escort sergeant on a motorcycle skidded on a manhole cover and fell off. The motorcade was slowed down while the sergeant remounted, and a few minutes later Barry had the Queen and her party at Whitfield barracks, her destination. Inevitably he was carpeted, but once all was understood, received a Commissioner’s Commendation “for excellent duty performance during the Royal Visit”.
Peter Halliday, who rose to Assistant Commissioner, left
The book contains chapters describing how caringly the police and the government treated the Vietnamese “boat people” (Ian Lacy-Smith and John Turner). It has pacy action scenes and evocative descriptions of days at the old Marine Police Headquarters at Tsimshatsui overlooking the harbour (Gordon Elsden). Entertaining tales are told of how officers met the girls who would later become their spouses and the complications of fathers in powerful positions. Peter Halliday writes a couple of the best chapters, about a little boy rescued after a kidnapping– “I embraced him as if my life depended on it”– and a young police officer dying of cancer promoted by a senior officer in full-dress uniform, before his grieving family, chevrons pinned to his sleeve, just hours before he died. Peter’s writing is quite emotional. It is no surprise to learn the kind-hearted man attained the rank of police commissioner. Here he is on leadership:
“We hear a lot about leadership and what works, and what does not. In my book, it boils down to two or three very simple things: looking and acting the part; dignity; and boundless compassion.”
There is only one woman writer in the book. Rose Johnston, a legal aid lawyer, writes as a good a capsule portrait of life in Hong Kong as we have read. “I was fortunate to see more of Hong Kong than most. I drank tea in a squatter hut and wine in the Mandarin Hotel; photographed machinery at a pig farm and ate fatty pork at a police station Bai Kwan Dai ceremony; heard international concert pianists at City Hall and the clash of cymbals at the Cheung Chau Bun festival.”
“I will never forget going to work in Hong Kong. Nor will I regret coming home nine years later. After all there is only so much excitement you can take in one lifetime.”
The book has emerged from the Royal Hong Kong Police Association, founded in 1938. It is published by Blacksmith Books. We got our copy from Sai Kung’s Kidnapped Book store.
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