SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 1985
10
STAFF OFFICER CALLS IT A DAY AFTER 34 YEARS
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WHAT DOES ONE MISS MOST ON THE LAST DAY OF A COLOURFUL 34-YEAR CAREER WITH THE GOVERNMENT DEALING MOSTLY IN FOOD INSPECTION, MARKET MANAGEMENT AND HAWKER CONTROL?
MR PONG KIN-HONG, WHO RETIRED AS STAFF OFFICER (ABATTOIRS, HAWKERS AND MARKETS) FROM THE REGIONAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT ON APRIL 4 HAD THIS TO SAY +WHAT STOOD OUT REALLY AS I LOOKED BACK WAS THE PRIMITIVE WORKING CONDITIONS IN THE SLAUGHTERHOUSES UNDER WHICH WE HEALTH INSPECTORS HAD TO WORK IN SOME 15-30 YEARS AGO.
+IN THOSE DAYS, THE HEALTH INSPECTORS LITERALLY HAD TO GO DOWN ON THEIR HANDS AND KNEES TO INSPECT THE CARCASSES STREWN ALL OVER THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE GROUNDS WHICH WERE COMPLETELY EXPOSED TO THE ELEMENTS. THE CONDITIONS IN THE SLAUGHTERHOUSES WERE FAR FROM HYGIENIC AND SLAUGHTERING WAS NORMALLY DONE ON THE FLOOR. YOU REALLY HAD TO BE IN TIPTOP SHAPE TO BE ABLE TO FUNCTION - OFTEN UNDER THE BROILING SUN AND INCLEMENT WEATHER CONDITIONS.
+REFRIGERATION, THE ASSEMBLY-LINE SET UP OF CARCASS INSPECTION AND THE ALMOST CLINICAL AND ORDERLY WORKING ENVIRONMENT THAT ARE NOW PART OF THE STANDARD FOR PRESENT DAY ABATTOIRS WERE NOT EVEN DREAMED OF,+ MR PONG SAID.
SO WHY THE SPECIAL FONDNESS FOR THE TOUGH OLD DAYS?
+IT WAS THE CAMARADERIE THAT WE SHARED IN TACKLING A DIFFICULT BUT MOST ESSENTIAL JOB UNDER VERY TRYING CIRCUMSTANCES. I PERSONALLY DERIVED MY GREATEST SATISFACTION FROM THE KNOWLEDGE THAT PUBLIC HEALTH IS PROTECTED AS A RESULT OF MY THOROUGH INSPECTION. ONLY MEAT THAT ARE FIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION WILL THEN BE RELEASED TO THE CONSUMER,+ SAID MR PONG, WHO TOOK A ONE-YEAR COURSE IN 1963-64 AT THE NATIONAL COLLEGE OF MEAT TECHNOLOGY ON A GOVERNMENT SCHOLARSHIP.
BUT A GENERALLY REPUGNANT WORKING ENVIRONMENT WAS NOT ALL MR PONG AND HIS COLLEAGUES HAD TO CONTEND WITH IN THE EARLY YEARS OF HIS CAREER AS AN URBAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT HEALTH INSPECTOR.
+WE ALSO HAD TO BE ALERT AGAINST TRI AD ELEMENTS WHO INFILTRATED THE SLAUGHTERHOUSES. A COLLEAGUE OF MINE, WHO TRIED TO STOP A TRI AD FROM REMOVING UNINSPECTED MEAT FROM THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE WAS SLASHED WITH A BUTCHER KNIFE. THE ATTACK SEVERED A TENDON IN ONE OF HIS HANDS WITH THE RESULT THAT HE CAN NO LONGER GRASP WITH THE INJURED HAND, MR PONG SAID.
/MR PONG