This is a fascinating book and quite different. It is not a political or security
memoir or an account of the difficult work and the negotiations leading up to
the transfer of sovereignty, of which we have heard much in recent times. It is a
personal account, told with humour and a degree of light heartedness, of many
years work in the Hong Kong Government/Hong Kong SARG both before and
after 1997.
Rachel Cartland served in a variety of posts during her long and varied career in
Hong Kong and much of her service was spent in Government Departments not
perhaps regarded as the 'political mainstream'. She spent a long time in Social
Welfare and Culture Recreation and Sport. She was responsible for
broadcasting policy during a time of considerable change and her observations
on this provide an important historical record. Her views on the issues and
problems which arose in these fields and the difficulties she faced in a territory
which was overwhelmingly Chinese in a cultural sense, make fascinating
reading. Her account of the awful effects of the SARS epidemic of 2003, when
299 people died in Hong Kong, is particularly interesting. Her light hearted
accounts of some of the peccadilloes of the Hong Kong colonial regime will be
instantly recognisable to those who served there at the time. In her final chapter
entitled 'Afterlife', Rachel does offer some political analysis and an assessment
and comparison of public attitudes towards the Government both before and
after 1997.
I was interested in her definition of 'breath holding events': the corruption
amnesty in 1977, the effect of the 1989 Tiananmen Square 'massacre' and the
actual handover in '97. Having lived through the same three events I would
endorse her choices of these as fundamental to the development of political
consciousness in Hong Kong.
I knew Rachel and particularly her husband Mike, who was Chairman of the HK
HMOCS Association. Rachel was not herself a member of HMOCS, having availed herself of the opportunity to serve on contract terms after her marriage (a
hangover from the days when lady officers had to resign from the permanent
service on marriage) and she therefore missed out on the Compensation
Schemes.
This book is an excellent read which tells a personal story of a working life in the
service of Hong Kong.
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