59 – Bustling Hong Kong kept us busy
From the moment we landed, warmly welcomed at the airport by the officers and soldiers, driven through the busy streets of Kowloon and finally arriving at our quarters in the New Territories we knew we were going to have a great and exciting time in this bustling territory. Realising this appointment was from the Lord we came wholeheartedly to serve the people of Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The quarters provided for the Officer Commanding was beautiful – a two storeyed bungalow called Pink Villa situated on a hill and facing the sea at Castle Peak Road. Living above us was the General Secretary whom we had worked together for many years in Singapore and Malaysia. We have known her since the mid 1950’s and have worked closely with her in Singapore.
When we left for Hong Kong, my elder brother was seriously ill. He had suffered a stroke at the age of fifty and went to be with the Lord a week or so after our arrival in Hong Kong. It would be impossible for me to return to Singapore for the funeral as we were in the rounds of welcome at the various Centres. I believe it was the right decision we made as in life we need to have our perspectives right. However, our two older children were very good and did their duty to represent us at the wake and funeral.
As mentioned in earlier chapters, my wife was born in Hong Kong. Her father returned to Hong Kong just before World War 2 started, and so throughout the years there was no contact with him. He had remarried and raised up another family in Hong Kong. Suddenly I discovered I had a mother-in-law and brothers and sisters-in-law! Well, they heard about our appointment and of course all turned up to welcome us to Hong Kong. It was a great time of reunion! My sister-in-law Pui Ying keeps regular contact with us and recently visited us in Singapore again.
There was plenty to do in Hong Kong, so it was important that we set our priorities. We had to plan for the visit of the International Secretary Commissioner Edwin Marion and Mrs, Marion. They would spend a few days in Hong Kong before leaving for the Zonal Conference in Bandung, Indonesia. I was given a paper to prepare for the conference.
I recall as the General Secretary in Singapore/Malaysia Command I attended the first Zonal Conference in Tokyo in 1978 with Lieut. Colonel Arthur O’Neil. It was held at the Fuji Hotel at the foot of Mount Fuji. That Conference was chaired by General Arnold Brown. It was good we were able to interact with our International Leaders. General and Mrs. Brown were very friendly people and we all felt at ease with them.
On the last day of January 1983, Major Moira Wright and I left for Jakarta to attend the second Zonal Conference chaired by the International Secretary Commissioner Marion. This was my second visit to Indonesia, the first time, accompanied by my wife was to conduct Officers’ Retreat in various parts of the Territory. Indonesia is a beautiful country; the people are always very hospitable. Since then my wife and I have made several visits to this very hospitable country.
We stayed the night at the Training College and left the next morning by train for Bandung where the conference was held. In those days, only the Territorial Commanders, Officers Commanding, Chief Secretaries and General Secretaries attended the Zonal Conference. Wives of Territorial Commanders and Officers Commanding were not included. We had an enjoyable and profitable week discussing matters of mutual concern.
We returned to Hong Kong just before Chinese New Year, the first Lunar New Year spent without our own family together. In Singapore all the Corps Officers (pastors) plus Headquarters officers were out in full force visiting the comrades. As Corps officers of Central Corps, we used to go with the Officer Commanding in the morning and the General Secretary in the afternoon to visit our folk. Not so in Hong Kong. We were told to make sure we were home as the officers, plus some comrades would be visiting us on the first two days of Chinese New Year. We were their ‘bishops’ or elders and they would come to pay respects to us and the General Secretary even though she was not Chinese. That is the Chinese culture, the younger visiting their seniors.
In Singapore and Malaysia because of the climate we offer cold drinks and Chinese New Year delicacies to our relatives and guests. However, in Hong Kong we made sure there was plenty of hot Chinese tea for the visitors. Each country has its own culture and we had much to learn from the local folk their way of doing things.
Soon Major Moira Wright was due for homeland furlough, so she made sure that everything was in order. We were also preparing to farewell our Financial Secretary Major Helen Prosser. She was soon to return to the United States for retirement. Major Wright advertised and selected a young lady to be my private Secretary. She was not a Salvationist but a very good and efficient Secretary which made things much easier for me. Miss Orenda Law served me very well for several years. We thank God for faithful employees who made our work much easier.
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