“All Is Well in Hong Kong,” Says Sydney’s “Law Society Journal.” 2. Misrepresenting “Colonial Hong Kong”
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The article claims that Hong Kong in the 1960s was under a harsh British colonial administration. This is an uncharitable and false description.
By Mark Tarrant
April 11, 2025
Article 2 of 2. Read article 1.
In Sydney’s “Law Society Journal” (LSY) anonymous pro-CCP article “Deep Harbour” I am reviewing, Associate Professor Chey describes Hong Kong in the 1960s as being “very colonial.” “There was a European expat community that had very little to do with the Chinese community… it was really run by the Brits for the Brits,” she says.
Chey’s statement is simply not true.
I lived in Hong Kong in the 1960s. Two of my brothers were born in Hong Kong in the 1960s. My father, a New Zealander was a senior Land Surveyor for the Hong Kong Government since 1959.
Much of the 1960s was spent building public housing estates for the thousands of refugees fleeing Mao’s carnage over the border in Mainland China.
Hong Kong-born British citizen architect Michael Wright was instrumental in developing Hong Kong’s post-war public housing estates. Wright was the Director of the Hong Kong Public Works Department in the 1960s, where my father worked as a Land Surveyor. There are plans to create a Michael Wright memorial park in recognition of his contribution to Hong Kong’s public housing.
The junior Land Surveyor who worked with my father in the 1960s, Kan Fook-Yee 簡福飴, went on to become a successful Hong Kong businessman and employed my father after his retirement from the civil service. Kan Fook-Yee sat on the Hong Kong Basic Law Consultative Committee and was a member of the Provisional Legislative Council.
A family friend, Jim Atkinson from Britain, had lived in Hong Kong since the 1950s, modestly in a room at the YMCA in Tsim Sha Tsui. He still has some of his large insulated buckets for cooked rice for refugees fleeing Mao’s Red China in the 1950s.
Atkinson established a vocational training school at the Wong Tai Sin public housing estate, which we would visit. One could only admire the efforts he was making for the betterment of the local community.
During the Hong Kong 1967 riots, bomb disposal expert Norman Hill (who was ex-British Army) risked his life defusing communist homemade bombs.
As explained by Hill’s Hong Kong Police Force obituary: “His greatest moment came, however, during the 1967 riots when he personally defused several hundred improvised explosive devices over a six-month period. As a result of his outstanding contribution to public safety during these times he was awarded the MBE in 1968. His exploits during those hectic days, when he was rarely out of the public eye, also earned him the affectionate public nickname of ‘Bomber’ Hill.”
On 5 November 1967, Hong Kong-born British citizen Senior Inspector Ronald J. McEwen was killed whilst protecting the community from a communist bomb.
Bill Leong writes in “The Hong Kong Standard” at the time, under the title “The Man Who Stopped To Help”: “If you do not mourn for him, then have the grace to hang your head in shame.”
Inspector McEwen left behind a 6-month pregnant wife, Jean, and two young children, Robert aged 7 and Shiona aged 5. McEwen used to play rugby against my King George V School in Hong Kong,
Reporting on Inspector McEwen’s death, the “South China Morning Post” explained:
“When Typhoon Mary struck the Colony on June 8 1960, Inspector McEwen, then in charge of Cheung Chau Island Police Station prevented heavy loss of life by organising the evacuation of boat people. For this, Inspector McEwen was awarded the Governor’s Commendation.”
In 2022, Inspector McEwen’s daughter posted this message on the gwulo.com website: “I am the daughter of the abovementioned police officer and am on a quest to discover as much as I can about him, his life and his career. I believe there were artifacts of his stored in the Police Museum and newspaper coverage of his death. I realise this is a long shot and I’m depending on the kindness of strangers, but I would be exceedingly grateful for any information or guidance on where to look. Sincerely, Rona McEwen (Barbara Wanless—adoptive name).”
The following is one of the replies she received [from I. Strachan]: “In November 1967 I was a Probationary Inspector, aged 23, working in CID Wan Chai. Ron was the Captain of the Police Seconds rugby team. I played in the second row. The day before Ron died we travelled together on the Star Ferry to Boundary Street to play a rugby match. Ron was an inspiring captain and an inspiring man. He was great fun to be with and though much more senior than me, never was rank conscious. When I heard of his death (described by Mr. O’Regan early in this series) I cried. The context of his death was the Cultural Revolution in China spilling over into HK. Communist sympathisers were planning both real and fake bombs on major thoroughfares. These caused great inconvenience to travellers. Ron, on his Police motor bike, spotted one of these bombs and deeming it to be fake tried to move it to allow HK trams to proceed. Sadly the bomb was real.”
And another reply [from Stuart Gill]: “My parents knew your Mum Jean and your Dad as I think they lived at Breezy Court as we did. A brief time before Ron’s death he was on the Police rugby team who played against a KGV school XV and I was on that team from KGV. After his death Jean gave me a pair of his rugby boots which I wore until I left HK in August 1970.”
Associate Professor Chey is oblivious to all of this—in her world Rona McEwen’s late father, killed aged 37 whilst protecting the local community, leaving behind a six-month pregnant widow and young family, did not exist.
Why did the LSJ Editor allow such a hurtful pro-CCP article to be published?
Who are the mysterious authors of the article and why will not the LSJ Editor disclose their names?
Source: bitterwinter.org
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