5
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Sunday, June 18, 1972
He could not adjust easily to the requirements of probation,
because the family, particularly the father, tended to regard him as
the black sheep. Lack of understanding at home sent him into the streets
for comfort, and once here, he soon moved back to the old haunts, the old
acquaintances, and in time tock up opium again.
At this stage, the probation officer became insistent, taking
special pains to keep in close touch with the boy, and his family, to prevent
a lapse into serious crime, with its damaging consequences.
Battle
The big battle was to reconcile the family and the boy, for this
involved mutual concessions, and each was suspicious of the other. It
took time, but this battle was ultimately won, and the next hurdle was
to make the boy see that unless he was willing to go to Shek Kwu Chau to
rid himself of the habit, he would be addicted to drugs for life.
First there was obstinacy, and then indecision, but at last
resistance was overcome. The boy had to wait five months for admission.
Shek Kwu Chau turned out to be far from the repressive prison he had
imagined it to be, and humane treatment turned him into a young man eager
to turn over a new leaf.
He stayed at Shek Kwu Chau for five months, neither always a model
traince, nor completely above the desire to engage in a puff. But when he
left, he knew that if he was really to make good, he had to cut the past
away from him, like a complete surgical operation to remove gangrene.
/Mr. Lee