XN000022-1972-06-18 — Page 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