ENG-1975 — Page 20

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A PERSONAL VIEW

Guards, the band of the Royal Hampshire Regiment, and the bagpipes of the Gurkhas, interwoven with Chinese melodies played by Hong Kong's leading Chinese orchestra at a colourful farewell night parade in Nathan Road, when the applauding crowds defied a slight non-Tin Hau drizzle of rain.

A Last and First Over

By less happy chance--in the opinion of Old Hands-the Queen's launch arrived at the island pier just after stumps were drawn following the last club match on the historic, 124-year-old cricket ground, which has now been shifted to a new picturesque location near Wong Nai Chung Gap.

The transfer of the hallowed turf naturally stirred nostalgic regret among many old members, but the move was inevitable as the ever-mounting cement skyscrapers and bloated population closed in on the green oasis, almost all of which will now become a park except for a small area which will contain one of the entrances to the underground mass transit railway.

The new, if more remote, ground has a swimming-pool, a bowling green, tennis and squash courts, and a larger restaurant-and bar.

Some famous old Test cricketers-Harold Larwood, Bert Oldfield and Clarrie Grimmett (once bitter enemies, now close friends)—were invited to the opening of the new ground. (Unhappily, Sir Donald Bradman couldn't come; otherwise, a ceremonial over or two would have been played, with him at the crease, Larwood bowling non- bodyline with Bert Oldfield behind the wicket and Clarrie Grimmett crouched in the slips).

The shifting of the cricket-ground, one repeats, was inevitable and desirable, but it represented the passing of yet another of Hong Kong's venerable landmarks. ‘It's like moving the MCC to The Wash', as one elderly expatriate member snorted.

Vietnamese Refugees

Hong Kong provided sanctuary in emergency for nearly 4,000 stranded refugees from Vietnam after the end of the war. They were housed in three specially prepared camps and given personal medical care and attention. Army personnel and government construction workers, with the voluntary co-operation of local residents, handled the influx, which coincided with the start of the unprecedented visit of a reigning monarch.

Almost all of the refugees were rescued at sea as their crowded escape ship was sinking 100 miles from Saigon; they were then admitted to Hong Kong. The Governor, Sir Murray MacLehose, personally visited the camps and supervised the salvation operation.

For a while it looked as though overcrowded Hong Kong would have the prob- lem of absorbing half of the refugees. But, over the next six-months, the United States quietly admitted the bulk of the unhappy, unwanted homeless victims of the war. Canada, France and Australia were joined by Denmark, Austria, Britain, Italy