[ { "id": 209243, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1981", "page_number": 146, "title": "RAS-1981", "content_text": "132\n\nTA ACTON\n\nbe for them, despite all the official denials. But it had been filled up with outsiders as soon as it was finished. Just in the past couple of weeks, he told me, there had been whispers of resettlement for a number of families in a temporary housing area some miles away. The part of the harbour that contained the club-houseboat and most of the leaky old living-boats would then be filled in and reclaimed as land for further housing. Those of the Shui-sheung-yan who were still fishing would have a long way to travel to their boats on which they were employed. (The richer fishermen had mostly established already their own private, more convenient shore bases.) 41\n\nDespite the fact that it would mean the virtual end of their club, and despite frequent reports in the press of other boat people dissatisfied with the temporary housing areas, members of the association appeared resigned to moving, to feel it was necessary. Boat people from Aberdeen resettled in Shatin had complained that their family life was breaking down because their menfolk were either unemployed, or spending all their time travelling back to work in the Aberdeen fishmarket. They also complained that the Shatin schools had higher standards than those in Aberdeen (including, presumably, the F.M.O. schools) and that their children were falling behind or dropping out. 42 This can in a way be read as an expression of confidence in the F.M.O. schools. There are, however, no F.M.O. schools in Castle Peak; there are no data on how well children there have adapted to the ordinary schools there. Whatever the problems, at Castle Peak for the poorer boat-people, rehousing was still the priority.\n\nAs in the case of the struggle for re-housing at Yaumatei, that at Castle Peak was given continuity by an outside force. With SoCO both ideology and finance are supplied from Western trusts and churches; at Castle Peak it is the concern of the Chinese authorities. The Hong Kong Government for its part, appear to regard the Trojan horse of liberal capitalism as rather more dangerously subversive and left-wing than that of communism.\n\nThe Fishermen's Recreation Clubs\n\nThe Fishermen's Recreation Clubs of Chai Wan and Stanley were founded by a lighthouse-keeper, now retired, Charles Thirlwall, M.B.E., who has been concerned with helping the Shui-sheung-yan since the 1930s. The clubs are, as they say, recreation clubs. The Chai Wan club room is three rooms knocked together in the basement of a resettlement estate block of flats, its walls covered with photographs of smiling", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1981.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209244, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1981", "page_number": 147, "title": "RAS-1981", "content_text": "EDUCATION AS A BY-PRODUCT OF FISH MARKETING\n\n133\n\ngroups of men receiving trophies for rowing, for fishing, or for winning the San Miguel beer-drinking championship. Dragons from the head of dragon boats are also hanging up; the club is very strong on participation in the dragon boat races. A much-used ping-pong table occupies one end of the room; at the other sits a caretaker amid piles of plastic heels: he does a little cobbling on the side. In a nearby restaurant the club holds numerous dinners, where guests are entertained with Chinese opera singing, and modern pop songs. Both present and ex-fishermen attend these dinners; it was estimated that at one I attended no more than 10 percent of those present were still active fishermen, (though this estimate discounted women and children and guests present, such as the San Miguel brewery representative.) Probably a greater proportion belonged to active fishing families.\n\nBefore the war, Mr. Thirlwall said, there had been no policy for the boat-people, and they had been very socially isolated. From his lighthouse he had befriended them, dressed wounds, and had come to prefer their society to that of the uptight land-based Hong Kong Chinese. After the war, the pace of social change had been very fast, bewildering many older people. The fishing industry had contracted, and despite his local efforts there was very little solidarity among the fishermen, and that they were not represented as a community in the government process. Challenged as to whether the Regional Co-operative Federations did not do this job, he responded that the credit societies were just concerned with the operation of the better-off boats; they did not concern themselves with the slow loss of small anchorages to land reclamation, the difficulties of getting settlement without becoming an illegal squatter. It was said that all the boat-people were keen to settle: why then did the Marine Department have to refuse all fresh registrations of houseboats? In fact a community was being broken up, and many of the members of his clubs in Stanley and Chai Wan were no longer active fishermen. But they would defend their rights to be part of the Shui-sheung-yan community. He did not use the word “Tanka”, however, (“In fact, I hate it\"), because it was used by land people to oppress them.\n\nThese two clubs in fact bridged the gap between the well-to-do active fishermen and the poor ex-fishermen, partly because of the very evident affection in which Mr. Thirlwall was held by all sections of the community. The clubs were, in fact, an exception to the general rule among the boat-people, not economic organisations, but quasi-ethnic ones, following a very common Hong Kong Chinese pattern, that of the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1981.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215228, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2001", "page_number": 5, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "ADDENDUM - VOL. 41\n\nThe HKBRAS Council, 2001-2002, pages iv-v: Jason Wordie was, of course, a member of Council during 2001-2002. Apologies to Jason.\n\nERRATA - VOL. 41\n\nPage 303, line 2: 'Stilwell' should read \"Thirlwell' (my spellcheck \"corrected\" \"Thirlwell' to Stilwell, unfortunately).\n\nii", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215565, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2001", "page_number": 342, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "292\n\nI am sorry I cannot tell you much about the life of the keepers. If you have not been able to question Charlie Thirlwell (and people like him) then it is likely their story has gone forever. Sad, but so many stories are already lost.\n\nThe good news however is that, over a period spanning approaching half a century, the author has been able to question, off and on, some of Hong Kong's lighthouse keepers, together with seafarers and Government Marine Department staff. Accounts given by them and the life keepers led are detailed in this paper. Much of the material is based on oral history gleaned in discussions with Government Marine Department staff, both serving and retired, as well as other persons. Both authors have made several visits to Hong Kong's lighthouses and have appeared on television programmes about them (Video; 2001).\n\nEmphasis in this paper has been placed on Waglan Lighthouse because, situated approaching five kilometres from and to the south of Cape D'Aguilar, and nearly 13 kilometres from Lei Yue Mun, Waglan is the most isolated lighthouse in the Territory (Banister; 1932, 50) (Lee, HC). Other lighthouses include those at Cape D'Aguilar and Cape Collinson, both on Hong Kong Island. Others at Green Island and Kap Sing lighthouse are both within harbour limits.\n\nClimatic conditions\n\nThe author recalls visiting Waglan Lighthouse with the Royal Asiatic Society (Hong Kong Branch) by boat on a lovely afternoon on Saturday 9th June 1990. Indeed on some days out there in the South China Sea it can be idyllic - a not-to-be-forgotten experience. Terrence Courtney, an Australian who served as Superintendent of Lights in the late 1950s and '60s, used to stay overnight on the island because he found it ‘enchanting.' He slept in an isolated, small, brick building which is still standing.\n\nBut the helipad, constructed in mid-1982, destroyed much of the romance although helicopters do of course provide a vital service - if a keeper fell seriously ill for example. Also, they were useful for getting keepers on and off Waglan in bad weather. Previously, it had sometimes meant their being hauled up or lowered in a basket which served the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215575, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2001", "page_number": 352, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "302\n\nDepartment opined - sincerely - to the author that lighthouse keepership had become a kind of Eurasian tradition. They had developed the expertise and took pride in this. One can see, looking in Government staff lists, that lighthouse keepers in the 1950s and '60s usually had English names. But they were generally Eurasians.\n\nThey are still talked about by those who remember them. In fact the eccentricities (if they may be called that) of some of the old timers are recalled with affection (Rull; 1999). When on shore leave the Brown Brothers (Henry and Richard) would go fishing. Marine Department staff used to laugh and say it was because they found, after working in an isolated lighthouse for so long, that the \"hubbub\" at home was just too much to bear.\n\nTheir grandfather was a Danish mariner named Bruhn, although the family was of German stock with the spelling Braune (commonly spelt Braun). It is not known when the family changed its name to the English Brown. Grandfather travelled in and around China and lived for a time at the old treaty port of Amoy (now called Xiamen). It was a large family, generally tall, and several of the children were educated at Diocesan Boys or Diocesan Girls schools in Hong Kong. Most family members have now emigrated to Britain, Canada or Australia.\n\nHenry (born in 1898) was a big man in more ways than one. He liked double-breasted suits and bow ties. He enjoyed parties, telling jokes and drinking with friends - although not to excess. He made up for his time at Waglan when on shore leave. Both brothers liked fishing and shooting. Richard (born in 1896), who had lost fingers in an accident, was the quiet one. Both used to talk to family members about Waglan and of having to be hauled up in a basket in bad weather. One of the Brown brothers acted for a time, in the mid-1950s, managing the Lighthouse Section until the post of Superintendent of Lights was filled in March 1957 by Terrence Coughtney who was posted from Sarawak (Lack; 1999). Because the Brown family was of Danish nationality, and Denmark was not technically at war with Japan, the Brown brothers were not interned during the Japanese occupation.\n\nAnother colourful character, who served as a lighthouse keeper starting in 1937, was Charles Beatty Allenby Haig Thirlwell. With three of his four given names taken from surnames of two famous British", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215576, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2001", "page_number": 353, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "303\n\ngenerals and an admiral, he must have had a very patriotic, British father.\n\nAs a British subject, Charlie Stilwell was interned in Stanley prison camp during the Second World War. A great story-teller he liked to recount how a police superintendent escaped. In reprisal, the entire police contingent at Stanley was incarcerated in Stanley Prison proper. Some had brought musical instruments from the police band into camp. As they were marched away to prison, Thirlwell recounted, the musicians struck up the well known, stirring march, Colonel Bogey, and everyone in camp joined in singing: 'And the same to you!' As a result, the Japanese felt they were losing control of the situation and fired their revolvers into the air (Sinclair; 1997, 32).\n\nAfter the war, besides working as a lighthouse keeper, Thirlwell led an active life when on shore leave. This included community service. Thirlwell had close connections with the Chaiwan fisher folk and boat people and his wife, in fact, was one of them.\n\n'He was a nice, cheerful man,' Dr James Hayes recalled, ‘and yes, he sang very well...' (Hayes; 1999).\n\nHe not infrequently sang stylised, Cantonese opera, with correct tones. He even sang lusty, boat-people songs which were beyond the capabilities of most native Cantonese. This surprised many who did not know his background. Charlie's appearance was much like a European. In reality, he was a Hong Kong born and bred Eurasian and he started learning Cantonese at his mother's breast. Perhaps surprisingly, he spoke English with a bit of a North Country English accent.\n\nHKBRAS member Louis Thomas agreed with Hayes: 'Yes, he was a jolly man, humorous, and one of those people who seemed to know everyone. He was well thought of. He enjoyed a glass of beer.'\n\nThomas said that at one stage his Round Table in Wanchai linked up with a boat people association at Chaiwan to provide assistance. Thirlwell was one of their leading members. He did a great deal of much needed community service.\n\nDeservedly, for his work as a loyal lighthouse keeper (and later in", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215577, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2001", "page_number": 354, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "304\n\ncharge of the government gunpowder depot), coupled with community service, Thirlwell was awarded an MBE in 1971 by Her Majesty the Queen. Towards the end of his government service he was awarded a merit trip to England. But, Louis Thomas recalled, after about five days he requested permission to return to Hong Kong. We are talking of a Hong Kong before the MTR and the like and Thirlwell was having difficulty in adjusting. Britain was quite different then to Hong Kong and especially to being stationed out at Waglan.\n\nBut although lighthouse keepers during most of British colonial times by tradition were mainly Hong Kong Eurasians, in November 1956 three Chinese joined the lighthouse service as keepers at Waglan. In the run up to automation and as localisation took effect, by the 1980s all such posts were filled by Chinese. How does Lai Tak-wah, who still serves in the Marine Department, who had been at sea as a radio operator before joining the civil service, look back on his ten years spent at Waglan?\n\n146\n\n'It was all right for someone who enjoyed a peaceful existence. But separated from one's family out at Waglan, life was boring,' Lai told the author.\n\n'A week at a stretch was too long.'\n\nHow would he have felt pre-World War Two, when keepers did a one-month tour of duty in one stretch, one wonders? But he said that for three to four years of his time spent on Waglan he studied for his City and Guilds of London Institute telecommunications examinations.47\n\nThese sentiments, regarding boredom, were echoed by Lai Kwok-keung, another Chinese employed at Waglan. On being interviewed by a reporter when the island's lighthouse was changing over to automation, he said, as he lowered the Union Jack for the last time: 'I'm not sad to leave' (Hong Kong Standard; 1989).\n\nSuperintendent of Aids to Navigation Tam Cheong-wai (now retired), a Chinese (previously this post, as mentioned before, was held by a European and later by a Eurasian), who spent one week's induction training at Waglan when he first joined the Marine Department, agreed. 'It was boring,' he said. Not everyone shared his views. There are", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215711, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2002", "page_number": 10, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "ADDENDUM - VOL. 41\n\nThe HKBRAS Council, 2001-2002, pages iv-v: Jason Wordie was, of course, a member of Council during 2001-2002. Apologies to Jason.\n\nERRATA - VOL. 41\n\nPage 303, line 2: 'Stilwell' should read 'Thirlwell' (my spellcheck \"corrected\" \"Thirlwell' to Stilwell, unfortunately).\n\nii", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 } ]