MY LIFE Part 3: THE EARLY HONG KONG YEARS (1967 - 1977)
At the end of 1966, I left Christchurch and went to Hong Kong for, supposedly, a two-year teaching stint at a new secondary school, Ming Yin College. (The reason for two years was that I was allowed a maximum of two years from the NZ government superannuation scheme; anything longer, and I would have to withdraw from the scheme and transfer the funds to a private scheme.) Well, the two years became four then indefinite. In 1974, I moved to the newly-created Hong Kong Technical Teachers' College as a Principal Lecturer in Education. After three years there, I moved to the School of Education of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
This page covers the period from my arrival in Hong Kong in December 1966 until moving to the Chinese University. As in the earlier pages of my life, the photographs and documents for these years should be read and viewed in conjunction with the Life History files.
In 1967, leftist-inspired riots broke out in Hong Kong. Ming Yin College was right in the centre of one of the main areas for the riots.
The Early Hong Kong Years: Life History Files
Cross-harbour swim from Kowloon pier to Hong Kong side
Here are accounts of the early years in Hong Kong. On clicking the first link, the file will open in a new tab. Alternatively, you may like the file to open in the frame at the bottom of the page. If so, click on the second link.
The same photos of the old YMCA as a slideshow (on different platforms)
The old YMCA years (Vimeo). Password (if needed) = Y:
YouTube video. If "Video unavailable" appears, refresh, click "Share" then on link. Or, mouse right click, then click on "Copy video URL" and paste in a new tab.
Near the top of Avalanche Peak in the Southern Alps in New Zealand during a visit there
The pictures here cover only a few years. Other holiday trips were taken in 1967 (Philippines and Japan), 1968 (South Asia, the Middle East and the Soviet Union), 1970 (Britain), 1972 (Western Europe), 1973 (Scandinavia), 1976 (Western Europe again). Many of the pictures are Kodak slides that need to be converted to digital pictures. Others may be lost. Keep posted!
1968 trip
Apart from a visit to Japan in 1967, this was first big excursion into the world. It took place during the school summer break of 1968 and lasted about 7 weeks. The map above shows the route taken. This was a very exciting holiday and I remember most of it very vividly, even without my diary which seems to have been misplaced. Open the file below for an account of the trip. You may be surprised (shocked!) at some of the things I got up to.
