Page 151 - Michael Frost-Voyages to Maturity-23531.indd

Manila. My contact with the real world came through a letter from Heidi (she
declared that she had been subject to ‘emotional troubles’, but hoped that I still
liked her) and Paula, whose letter was gushy; I had written to her, informing her
of my literary and musical preferences; she answered that, “She liked everything”.
I knew from this that, firstly, I really wanted Heidi to my 21st, and secondly, that
all was over with Paula; one who likes ‘everything’ either knows nothing about
anything (an airhead) or is a polymath. I knew no polymaths, but I was pretty
sure that she wasn’t one. Pity, a contact in LA would have been nice.

It was something of a relief to arrive in the civilisation that was Hong Kong,
a very rough passage from Manila making me realise that the South China Sea
could sometimes be anything but benign (it is subject to two monsoons, both of
which could be severe, but neither usually bore comparison with the Arabian Sea
SW monsoon). But the time off was welcome (Hong Kong cargo-handling being
left almost entirely to the local companies; Mr Ah Fat seemed on all occasions to
be in charge of our gangs. He was large and imposing, unusual for the Chinese,
perhaps because he came from northern China, where the staple diet was more
wheat- than rice-based) none of the supervisors much appreciating officers
interfering with their skilful discharging and loading. I also took a ride north and
stood on the hills overlooking Communist China, elected not to buy a copy of
Mao’s Little Red Book, and enjoyed some local food (Chinese cooking was high on
my list of favoured styles – British had come crashing down some time before!).
We departed Hong Kong at midnight, the late time being because of the sudden
illness of the Captain; this was only a slight inconvenience, on P&O vessels the
mate always, and the 2nd mate usually, being master mariners, so a sick Captain
could be flown to wherever was appropriate upon recovery. The important point
was that I was suddenly the (uncertificated) 4th mate, unimportant in fact, but
good for my morale.

Singapore was usually a fairly dull port, which sounds unlikely, but the trauma
of that state’s relationship with Malaysia rendered this a very difficult political
time for that nation, which comprised Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo and
Sarawak. Malaysia was created from these separate Commonwealth members in
September 1963, but the relationships were fraught with mistrust, culminating in
1964 with race riots (we were there in November 1964). The issues, racial inequity,
preference for Malays, a quiescent Communist uprising, economic uncertainties
and the contribution of each state to the economy were of little concern to most
of the world (with troubles in Africa, the Middle East, Cyprus and the like – not
to mention Vietnam), but reading ‘The Straits Times’ one could conclude that
Malaysia’s problems were the world’s most pressing dilemma. Ashore, one was
only too aware of submerged tensions.

But Singapore was not entirely dull; one of the officers was acquainted with
a nurse stationed in Singapore at the British Military Hospital (the Alexandra

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