Long-time Sai Kung resident Tony White died on Christmas Eve, HONG KONG BUZZ sadly reports. Tony was a familiar figure striding around the town and a regular at the Duke of York pub.
Roger Medcalf, a friend, said, “Tony was a good man with a kind heart. He didn’t affect the airs of a gentleman, but when you got to know him you realised he was just that, a gentleman. I remember he used to play asymmetrical chess. He’d attack only with his pawns, initially. This was very disconcerting. He was a devilishly difficult opponent.”
Tony was in the Duke of York the day a boy-racer revved up his car down by the sea on Fuk Man Rd, gunned it and by the time he reached the Duke he was pushing 80. “The dumb kid let the left wheel of his car go up on the angled concrete at the side of the road and it flipped, landing on its roof, slewing down the road with tortured metal shrieking. Tony was one of several blokes who rushed out onto the street, yelling, ‘Encore, encore’.”
The late John Warham mentions Tony in his book The 49ers, crediting him with helping Warham through the dark days after he was fired by Cathay Pacific.
Peter Robertson remembers him as a very honest and dependable friend who would never take advantage: it took a lot of persuading before he would accept a drink when he was not in a position to reciprocate. He also remembers playing chess with him, and his absolute refusal to use the “Castle” move or the “en passant” move.
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