Page 72 - moondani kyema
P. 72
ndani kyema, My Story - Ray Moore 72
HONGKONG ENTERTAINMENT
So what did we do in Hong Kong for that month?
We rode on the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island and soaked in the atmosphere of the
Hong Kong harbour with its plethora of boats of all sizes, and especially the sampans
and junks with the eyes painted on the front to see the evil spirits that were always
lurking in the background to cause trouble.
We wandered around the shops looking at things we had never seen before and,
because our pockets were empty, would never be able to purchase anyway.
We went down to the waterfront in Kowloon and talked to some of the British
servicemen and women who were still manning this British outpost. If we were lucky
they shouted us orangeade or an orange popsicle. I could never take to the bean
popsicles!
I spent some time in rummaging through the cabin trunk which was under my bed. It
belonged to a Lutheran missionary who was away somewhere while we Moore boys
slept in his room and invaded his privacy.
I joined the missionaries in some of their regular prayer meetings and discovered a
new experience of prayer and the presence of God.
I borrowed a bicycle from
the missionaries and went
riding, north towards the
Kai Tak airport. Here I
found a small flat topped
hill about fifteen feet high
that had been built to hold
large guns and other
equipment to protect the
airport. From this mound I
could see across the
airport which had been
built by the Japanese
during their time of control
in Hongkong.
Here on my private
plateau, I met an English
RAF major who was still stationed in this colony five years after the War had finished.
They had their base on the other side of the airport. We formed a friendship which, if
it had been a few years later I would have been very cautious of, but I knew nothing
of paedophiles or sexual predators then. As it turned out he was neither, and
probably found this 15 year old helped to fill a void in his life that service in the
colonies had forced upon him.
HONGKONG ENTERTAINMENT
So what did we do in Hong Kong for that month?
We rode on the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island and soaked in the atmosphere of the
Hong Kong harbour with its plethora of boats of all sizes, and especially the sampans
and junks with the eyes painted on the front to see the evil spirits that were always
lurking in the background to cause trouble.
We wandered around the shops looking at things we had never seen before and,
because our pockets were empty, would never be able to purchase anyway.
We went down to the waterfront in Kowloon and talked to some of the British
servicemen and women who were still manning this British outpost. If we were lucky
they shouted us orangeade or an orange popsicle. I could never take to the bean
popsicles!
I spent some time in rummaging through the cabin trunk which was under my bed. It
belonged to a Lutheran missionary who was away somewhere while we Moore boys
slept in his room and invaded his privacy.
I joined the missionaries in some of their regular prayer meetings and discovered a
new experience of prayer and the presence of God.
I borrowed a bicycle from
the missionaries and went
riding, north towards the
Kai Tak airport. Here I
found a small flat topped
hill about fifteen feet high
that had been built to hold
large guns and other
equipment to protect the
airport. From this mound I
could see across the
airport which had been
built by the Japanese
during their time of control
in Hongkong.
Here on my private
plateau, I met an English
RAF major who was still stationed in this colony five years after the War had finished.
They had their base on the other side of the airport. We formed a friendship which, if
it had been a few years later I would have been very cautious of, but I knew nothing
of paedophiles or sexual predators then. As it turned out he was neither, and
probably found this 15 year old helped to fill a void in his life that service in the
colonies had forced upon him.
