Sai Kung’s ubiquitous Guy Shirra pops up again. Now he has published a book under his own brand, Sherriff Books. “More Tales from a Barren Rock” is a sequel to the one that appeared on the book shelves a few months ago, edited by Rod Olsen and myself.
In his book Guy writes about the Kotewall Road landslip disaster of 1972. A policeman at the time, Guy rescued several people from the landslide muck and debris including a boy, Jules. Modestly, Guy does not say that for his courage that day he was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Brave Conduct.
Guy Shirra Photo: SCMP
Like its predecessor this new book is well worth reading. Anyone who loves Hong Kong, is nostalgic for the city or just wants to know more about this marvellous place will enjoy “More Tales from a Barren Rock”.
Snippets to arouse your interest:
Nigel Collett, author of the bombshell book, “A Death in Hong Kong”, writes about a grave that can be seen today in Happy Valley cemetery. Charles Richard Goddard was a Royal Navy midshipman who boarded a pirates’ boat only to be killed at the age of 18 when they set off explosives.
Sai Kung Guerillas were the heroes who fought the Japanese army in the early 1940s. Using their knowledge of the bush trails they harassed the occupiers, Guy writes, and are commemorated by the war memorial standing proudly on the right at Tai Mong Tsai Road as you drive towards the country park.
Animal lovers will enjoy this book. Lynn Seymour tells us about her exploits rescuing cats for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Veterinarian Hugh Stanley describes how a chicken brought ghosts into his surgery. Ornithologist Roger Muscroft writes how Hong Kong is a global birding spot where 575 species have been identified and lyrically describes the inhabitants of the Mai Po marshes.
David Willott, Sai Kung’s much valued snake man, tells about the many bites he has suffered, the loss of a finger and what is like to wrangle a 12ft king cobra. If you find a snake in your garden and call the police, they will likely dispatch David to your aid.
Bob Noble who became a parachuting instructor at Sek Kong in the days when it was an RAF base, talks about his terror before his first jump and how he later progressed to sky-diving, loving it. In one of my daft adventures I organised a Parahash, a world’s first we reckon. Bob was our instructor. Eight of us jumped out of the Cessna Hotel Foxtrot at 2200ft, hitting the ground running, then sprinting off on a Hash House Harriers run.
Clinton Leeks, a high flying civil servant who became private secretary to the Governor and a director among the team who opened Chek Lap Kok airport, contributes two chapters to Guy’s book as he did for the original “Tales from a Barren Rock”. He tells how the Government battled to care for the more than 200,000 Vietnamese refugees who flooded Hong Kong in the 1970s. Also he details the enormous difficulties overcome to give us CLK airport. “At my last press conference in the terminal,” Clinton writes, “I told the reporters, ‘one day you will return here to cover a different story, namely that this airport has been voted the best airport in the world’. And that of course is exactly what happened . . .”
Mike Sharp, another ubiquitous Sai Kung character, describes his days as a soldier guarding the border, leaping snakes while hunting IIs. This is similar to his chapter in the original “Tales”.
Kay Rawbone talks about how she created, with her late husband Mike, Sai Kung’s greatest homegrown charity, Sailability. This organisation has given more than 20,000 disabled and disadvantaged people experiences on the sea. Some people have been so disabled they could barely move a muscle but loved the sailing nevertheless.
In conclusion, we can’t resist mentioning the tale about the cross-dressing Mr Shufflebottom. Mother Superior was not having it. She carpeted him at the nunnery and demanded that he take off his female clothing in front of her. You couldn’t make it up.
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