papers that I was preparing for publication or for some academic conference, in the hope that he would respond. He invariably did so. He had a wealth of information to draw upon, and his replies always provided insights and incisive comments. They were also full of humour. The eleven pages of closely-typed notes and comments on my book The Rural Communities of Hong Kong (1983 Oxford University Press, Hong Kong) was a particular joy, but this quality was evident in practically everything he wrote. For instance, he perplexed me one day early in my career by writing in a file, “DO South should kindly explain why the Clearwater Bay villages are full of children none of whom have ever been born” a reference to non-compliance with the registration requirements of the Births and Deaths Ordinance.
I once sent one of his letters to Sir Ronald Holmes. He returned it with a note, "Thank you so much for letting me see this most interesting and also, like all good writing, highly evocative. It is nice to know that Ken is still going so strong”. This was written in late 1975.
I have two favourite anecdotes. One is his amusing account of a pre-war traffic accident case when he was Police Magistrate, Kowloon. Let him tell it himself. "I do not have anything polite to say to those who regard ‘Europeans’ and ‘Asians’ as separate species, like the witnesses in a case I heard 32 years ago almost to the day (1937) in which the ten passengers in a New Territories bus were described by one witness as ‘two other people, besides myself and seven coolies’ and by a second witness as ‘seven people and three GWAEZIRLOO’ (i.e. foreigners).” He added later "I am glad to see this perfectly true story immortalised. Alas, England is getting as bad."
...
The other story was told to me recently by Dr. Graham Johnson, of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. When he began the field work for his doctoral thesis on Tsuen Wan in the late 1960s he wanted information from the Census Office. He telephoned Mr. Barnett who said he was happy to meet him, but would like him to go to a sauna for the purpose. This surprised Graham but along he went, and his first meeting with Ken was in the nude, in the heat and steam. Thereafter, he said, they were able
papers that I was preparing for publication or for some academic conference, in the hope that he would respond. He invariably did so. He had a wealth of information to draw upon, and his replies always provided insights and incisive comments. They were also full of humour. The eleven pages of closely-typed notes and com- ments on my book The Rural Communities of Hong Kong (1983 Oxford University Press, Hong Kong) was a particular joy, but this quality was evident in practically everything he wrote. For instance, he perplexed me one day early in my career by writing in a file, “DO South should kindly explain why the Clearwater Bay villages are full of children none of whom have ever been born" a reference to non-compliance with the registration requirements of the Births and Deaths Ordinance.
I once sent one of his letters to Sir Ronald Holmes. He returned it with a note, "Thank you so much for letting me see this most interesting and also, like all good writing, highly evocative. It is nice to know that Ken is still going so strong”. This was written in late 1975.
I have two favourite anecdotes. One is his amusing account of a pre-war traffic accident case when he was Police Magistrate, Kow- loon. Let him tell it himself. "I do not have anything polite to say to those who regard "Europeans" and "Asians" as separate spe- cies, like the witnesses in a case I heard 32 years ago almost to the day (1937) in which the ten passengers in a New Territories bus were described by one witness as "two other people, besides my- self and seven coolies" and by a second witness as "seven people and three GWAEZIRLOO (i.e. foreigners).” He added lat- er "I am glad to see this perfectly true story immortalised. Alas, England is getting as bad."
...
The other story was told to me recently by Dr. Graham John- son, of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. When he began the field work for his doctoral thesis on Tsuen Wan in the late 1960s he wanted information from the Census Office. He telephoned Mr. Barnett who said he was happy to meet him, but would like him to go to a sauna for the purpose. This surprised Graham but along he went, and his first meeting with Ken was in the nude, in the heat and steam. Thereafter, he said, they were able
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