RAS-2002 — Page 400

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When I arrived in the mid-1950s, only one government department - Medical and Health - was headed by a Chinese. But he was not a local and came from Malaya. Today, of course, the boot is on the other foot. Only persons of Chinese nationality can become Government Secretaries.

Although the Peak Reservation Ordinance was not brought back into force after World War Two, there was, nevertheless, quite a bit of covert racism - certainly among staff in the college where I taught. My old boss told me, when he learned I intended carrying on studying Cantonese, 'Only policemen and cranks learn Cantonese.' Immediately I thought, "Yes, and I'm one of the cranks!" One British colleague would openly say to other Europeans that he had lived in Hong Kong for 20 years and was proud that he could not count, in Cantonese, beyond three. 'After all, this is a British colony!' He used to say that no Chinese had crossed the threshold of his home as a guest. 'As a tradesman, yes. But not as a guest.' Another colleague who was not quite so racist frequently said, "The Chinese are all right, but they need a European behind them."

But then I recall being stationed in the Suez Canal Zone in 1942 in, at the time, the largest military camp in the world. At Qantara railway station there were 10 toilets labelled as follows:

Officers European
Officers Asiatic
Officers Coloured
Warrant Officers and Sergeants European
Warrant Officers and Sergeants Asiatic
Warrant Officers and Sergeants Coloured
Other Ranks European
Other Ranks Asiatic
Other Ranks Coloured