A Step Forward

勇往直前

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter N. N. Wong

 

2001

 

 

 

 

 

 

PREFACE

 

 

 

I had never dreamed that I would leave my family in China and sail across the oceans to study in a far away place called Australia. It was God’s will to bring me from Hong Kong to Australia in order to meet my future wife Beverley (百莉) in Melbourne, a few years after my arrival.

 

This following account records my experiences as a teenager travelling on a small passenger-cargo ship to Sydney and shares my feelings and dreams of an unknown but exciting new world. It also gives a glimpse of my college years in Bendigo.

 

I would like to dedicate this writing to my three beautiful daughters: Jenny Garmun (嘉敏), Angie Garlan (嘉蘭) and Fiona Garyun (嘉欣), for their interest in my early life in China and Australia. The information in this journal is mainly based on my diary, which I found in the dusty bookcase during a clean up after my retirement.

 

 

 

 

  黃乃能

Peter N. N. Wong

 

Croydon, Victoria

Easter 2001

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Front cover: S.S. Changte

 

CONTENTS

 

 

PREFACE                                                                                                                

 

 

A STEP FORWARD                                                                                           1

 

1. THE PREPARATION                                                                              1              

My Family                                                                                                  1

Why Overseas                                                                                            1

Over The Hurdles                                                                                      2  

 

2. THE JOURNEY                                                                                        4

 

A Step Forward                                                                                          4

Goodbye Hong Kong                                                                                 4

My Journal                                                                                                 5

 

3. THE COLLEGE YEARS                                                                          16

 

A Taste of Sydney                                                                                     16

The First Impression of Bendigo                                                               17

Start of The College Years                                                                         18

My Neighbours                                                                                          19

The Easter Procession                                                                                20

The College Ball and Dance                                                                      21

The Sports We Played in College                                                              21

The Church Youth Camp                                                                           22

Summer Vacation                                                                                      23

The Overseas Students                                                                              24

The Boy “Tongwai”                                                                                   25

“What is flying on the College Tower?”                                                    26

Overseas Christian Fellowship                                                                   26

 

4. GRACE AND VISION                                                                             27

 

The Remaining Subjects                                                                            27

Country Roads Board                                                                                27

“Beth” or “Bev”                                                                                         28

The Graduation                                                                                          29

Going Home                                                                                               30

 

 

ATTACHMENTS                                                                                               32

 

Attachment 1 - Photographs                                                                                  32

Attachment 2 - Appointment Notice                                                                     36

 

 

A STEP FORWARD 勇往直前

 

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”      (Isaiah 43:2)

 

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.”      (Isaiah 43:5)

 

 

I.      THE PREPARATION

 

My Family

 

It was a dream come true when I boarded the A-O Liner “S.S. Changte” leaving Hong Kong in December 1959, and sailed across the oceans to Sydney, Australia. It was the reward after months of hard work and cooperation between my elder brother King and me.

 

I was born in 1939, to a middle class Chinese family in Hong Kong. (Photo 1) My parents had four children (three sons – Nai-King 乃經, Peter 乃能 and Dennis 乃波, and one daughter –Winnie慧儂). I am the second child of the family. I did not keep good health when I was young, but performed reasonably well in school.

 

Why Overseas

 

My story starts about two years before I set sail to Australia. I was studying my final year in a government high school in Hong Kong and wished to continue my study in a university somewhere. At that time, it was difficult for me to get into the Hong Kong University because of limited vacancies, even though I had studied hard for the university entrance in my spare time. And sadly, I realised that it was not possible for my father to support my study in that expensive university and at the same time to provide for my brothers’ and sister’s needs. You can imagine that it would have been pretty well impossible to persuade my father and mother to pay for my higher education overseas.

 

With my brothers’ understanding and support, I secretly gathered the necessary information, such as university and college entry requirements, cost of fares, accommodation and college fees, student visa requirements, etc. I wrote to my old school mate studying in Melbourne and asked for help in this matter. After having a long discussion with my elder brother, we agreed that I would have a better chance of acceptance by applying to a senior technical college rather than a university. I suspect my English proficiency at that time was not good enough for attending university lectures, because I was studying in a Chinese high school in Hong Kong (and English was only a second language). In order to increase my enrolment chances, I immediately attended after-school class twice a week, to improve my English.

 

I had been told that the fees of a college were much cheaper than a university in Australia, and therefore, could be afforded by my father. And the entrance requirements of a Diploma course of a senior technical college were lower than a degree course of a university in Australia. I also found out that there were more senior technical colleges in Victoria than in the other States of Australia. For these reasons, I had chosen Victorian colleges to be my target of application. I would have liked to study either architecture or civil engineering either in Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat or Bendigo. After further consideration, I decided to apply for a four-year civil engineering course rather than a five-year architecture course for its lower cost and bigger enrolment chance.

 

In order to obtain my student visa, I had first to be accepted by a senior technical college. I wrote to a number of technical colleges in Victoria for information. After studying their prospectuses and discussing the matter with my elder brother and close friends, they advised me to apply to RMIT in Melbourne, Gordon Technical College in Geelong and Bendigo Technical College in Bendigo. I sent the application forms to these colleges and hoped to find out which one would offer me a place.

 

Over The Hurdles

 

I do not know how long I waited for their reply; but it seems a long time when you are waiting. I was getting worried about the whole event because the time was getting closer to the commencement of the course. I would take the first offer I received. After many prayers and sleepless nights, a letter from Bendigo Technical College finally arrived. My hand was shaking when I tried to open it. I sat down and collected myself, then read the letter. “I have been accepted!” I told my brother. King grabbed the letter from my hand and read it to ensure that that was right. Yes, it was correct. The letter said that I should pay the course fee as soon as possible and advised me to apply for my student visa without delay. I was also asked to attend a one-week induction course for prospective overseas students, about two weeks before the official commencement of the engineering course. After the excitement had died down, King said, “You should tell Ma our secret, but do not tell Ba (Chinese for father) and others yet. I will support you when you explain the whole thing to her.”

 

You should have seen the shock in my mother’s eyes when I unveiled our plan to her. Ma thought for a while and just said, “ O! I don’t know what your Ba would say. I will certainly support you if we can afford it.” I knew in my mind that she would do her best for me, even though she was worrying how I would cope with sickness, because I had had a sickly childhood. I ensured her that I would be O.K. – with the help of the good Australian air and weather, together with plenty of milk and meats. My health should be improved in no time. One of my high school classmates, David, had also been accepted for a course by the same college in Bendigo. He had agreed to travel with me and we promised to help each other.

 

Before I handed in my student visa application to the Australian Embassy, I had to obtain my Hong Kong Identification Certificate for travelling (I.D.). I could get a British Passport instead of an I.D. but it would take too long and be a lot of bother. At this stage, I had to reveal the whole plan to my father and ask for his permission and a large sum of money to pay the College registration, I.D. and visa applications, and other necessary requirements.

 

I waited until my father finished his tea and had a rest in his room before going back to his shop. With Ma and King’s support, I told him what we had done and explained the next steps of our plan. He was excited but worried that the family did not have enough money for both of King and I to study overseas. King assured him that Peter was the one to study overseas, not him. We showed our father how we could manage the anticipated needs, including the possibility of working in the summer holidays in Australia, and indicated that we, as a family, should not miss this great opportunity.

 

After a long quiet moment, my father told us that our other old house would be pulled down and rebuilt sometime next year. The family would have no income from the rent for one year but there would be more income from the rent eventually. The family could live on his earnings from the shop and Peter’s needs could be provided for the first year from the family savings. After more discussions, he eventually agreed with us (knowing in his heart that the family would have a hard time ahead, at least for the first year anyway!) and promised that he would not tell anybody about the plan until I had my visa and booked my ship ticket.

 

The Australian Embassy in Hong Kong wrote back to me, about one month after I put in my application for a study visa, in early 1959. They wanted a health certificate from me to prove that I had good health and asked me to attend an interview in the embassy on Hong Kong Island. I was excited but worried about the interview.

 

One morning, I crossed the Victoria Harbour and presented myself to the embassy officer. I showed him my enrolment receipt, health certificate, Hong Kong I.D. and proof of financial support for my study. He was nice and helpful. He asked me in English about my study and discussed the engineering course to be attended. He told me that he came from Melbourne and gave me some useful information about Victoria. I sat for the English dictation test and passed. He told me that the embassy would advise me when they had received the Australian Immigration Department approval of my visa in about one to one and half months.

 

After this interview, the next thing for me to do was to book my travel ticket for Australia. While I was waiting for my final approval, I enrolled myself in a half-day school to improve my English writing and conversation skills. It would be a hard life for me in the next few years. But it was a necessary step that I had to have to move forward.

 

 

II.      THE JOURNEY

 

A Step Forward

 

In late August 1959, I received my student visa from Canberra. I had booked a third-class ticket for early December on the “S.S. Changte” of the Australia-Orient Line (a sister ship of the “S.S. Taiping”). It was a small pre-Second World War passenger-cargo ship, but captained by a very experienced former Australian Navy Commander. For this reason, the ship flew the Australian Navy red ensign and was permitted to enter or depart Sydney Harbour without engaging a port pilot. David, my high school classmate, had also booked a passage on the “S.S. Changte” and would travel with me. It was a surprise when we found out that Mr Cheung, a family friend, was travelling back to Sydney on the same ship after having a long holiday in Hong Kong. My parents were pleased that Mr Cheung could look after me all the way to Sydney. Praise God for his wonderful timing and provision!

 

By mid November 1959, I was ready for the journey and looking forward to exploring the world. Ma was busy finishing the last minute shopping for my clothes, especially those clothes for the “cold” Australian winter. My father bought four big leather suitcases for me and painted my name on each one. All suitcases were numbered for ease of finding them when I arrived in Sydney. The whole family was excited and couldn’t wait to see me on board the ship at the Ocean Pier.

 

It was time for me to say goodbye to my relatives and friends. Some of my relatives did not believe that my parents would allow me to study in Australia. Even one of my older cousins thought that I was going to study in Taiwan or Macau, because they had never heard of Australia or knew where Australia was. Our uncles and aunts had mixed feelings about my adventure. They were shocked by the news and did not think that I would go to study overseas, due to my poor health and, most of all, my father’s limited finance. Anyway, I was the first one from my father’s village to study overseas. It made my parents and the whole family proud of what we could do when we worked together. After my departure for Australia, a number of my cousins went abroad to study in places, such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany. I did open a new chapter to the young people in my village.

 

Goodbye Hong Kong

 

The ship was due to sail to Sydney on Wednesday, 2 December 1959. My luggage had been checked in a few days before departure. My family, cousins and a primary school friend came to see me off that afternoon. None of us had ever been on board an ocean-going ship before. It was a whole new experience for all of us. We wandered everywhere on board in order to find out as much as we could about the facilities of the ship.

 

Eventually the horn sounded to urge the visitors to leave the ship. I said goodbye first to my friend and cousins, then my two brothers (my only sister couldn’t come). It was harder to say goodbye to my parents. I was so emotional at that I almost cried in front of them. I held their hands, one in each of my own, and said, “Thank you Ba and Ma. I will do my best in college and will not let you down. Don’t worry about me. I will write to you as frequently as possible.” Then I turned to my elder brother and thanked him for his help and support and asked him to look after the family while I was away. They turned away reluctantly and walked down the gangway when the loudspeaker of the ship played the music “Auld Lang Syne”. The ship moved slowly away from the pier and headed to the South China Sea, under the cover of the fading evening sunlight. My heart cried out, “Goodbye Hong Kong and goodbye my family. Don’t forget me. I will come back soon.”

 

The third-class accommodation of the “S.S. Changte” was located in a converted cargo hold at the forward part of the ship. There were many bunks in the hold. A canvas screen was used to separate the male quarter from the female quarter. The dining area was situated between the washrooms and the bunks. In general, the accommodation was not exciting by present day standards, but the meals (mostly Chinese foods) were acceptable and the fellow travellers were friendly.

 

My Journal

 

Many interesting things had happened on the ship during the 18 days journey to Sydney. I am presenting it in diary format in this chapter.

 

The First Day - Wednesday, 2 December 1959

 

My journey had commenced from the time the ship left the pier and moved slowly toward the harbour entry, Lay Yue Moon (鯉魚門). The ship departed at 5:45 pm, a delay of 45 minutes due to additional cargo loading and a minor engine problem.

 

As soon as the ship sailed through the harbour entry, we sat for our first meal on board. Generally speaking, the foods were O.K. The dinner included steamed Australian rice, three Chinese dishes with different meats and vegetables, and soup. The food was tasty and sufficient for everyone (six people per table). However, we were not yet used to the Australian rice, which was stickier than the normal rice after cooking.

 

Following tea, I went straight back to my bunk and unpacked my hand luggage. I put up a clothes-line, between the posts of my bunk, for hanging bath towel and small washing. Before finishing the “house-keeping” tasks, I started to feel the ship rocking slightly with the waves. By 8:00 pm, I was very tired, both physically and mentally. I went to bed without washing myself. When I woke up about mid night, I felt unwell with a heavy head. I suppose that was due to seasickness.

 

The Second Day - Thursday, 3 December 1959

 

The weather has been fine and sunny today, more pleasant than yesterday - Wednesday was cloudy and stormy all afternoon and even through the night. Unfortunately, the sea was heavier and made us seasick, but was not a concern to the seamen. They told us that the present weather and waves was normal in the South China Sea west of Luzon, Philippines, during this time of year.

 

I had not had any normal meals all day because of my seasickness, except two mandarins, one apple, one orange, biscuits and one bread roll, which was given to me by an “upstairs” dining room staff-member.

 

I slept most of the day in bed. This morning, Mr Cheung advised me to go up on the ship’s deck and get some fresh air for easing my seasickness. I took his advice and walked one round of the deck. It helped me to some extent, but I couldn’t do any more walking other then rushing back to my bunk.

 

What I could see all day from the ship’s deck was sea and sky, no land, except a ship in the far distance. My head felt uncomfortable when I stood up or sat down, but I wasn’t sick or rushing to the washroom. I felt better when I lay down in bed and read.

 

The Third Day – Friday, 4 December 1959

 

In the morning, we woke up and felt much better. We passed through the Mindoro Strait, Philippines, at night and sailed into the Sulu Sea. The weather was fine and the sea was calm. I did not feel seasick any more. We saw three cargo ships not far away travelling from the opposite direction.

 

Most of the people had recovered from seasickness after breakfast. The young people became active again. I noticed a young man in our quarters, who put up a good performance in front of his parents and his “girl friend” when he said goodbye to them on Wednesday, but was now very busy chasing the young women on board today. Well, he certainly could be a good actor in my opinion!

 

In the afternoon, the air became warmer because the ship travelled southward to the Equator and closer to Borneo. We saw a number of small islands, which were close by or far away, and seagulls, which glided above the calm sea, as still as the Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. It was a wonderful view to watch a school of large fish swimming along beside the ship. They jumped out of the water, glided in the air for a short distance then fell back into the sea.

 

We had rice for our breakfast and rice noodles for lunch. Our dinner, i.e. “tea” in Australia, was tasty (after suffering from seasickness) and included an Australian chicken dish and the beef with dried water-lily root soup. I even had a cup of white tea and three freshly baked biscuits for supper.

 

I changed my winter clothes into summer dress. The swimming box, which commenced assembly on the stern deck of the ship yesterday, was completed today and will be ready to use tomorrow after filling with seawater. The box is made with timber panels and lined with canvas. Its size is approximately 20 feet by 15 feet by 4 feet.

 

Generally speaking, the crew and the passengers of the ship, whether European or Asian, are friendly and helpful. When David and I wandered around on the stern deck this afternoon, there were four European-looking teenage girls playing rope coil on the deck. When they saw us, one of the girls came over and asked did we speak English, and invited us to join them. My friend David was very shy and pretended that he did not understand English. I could not play with the girls alone without David. I told the girls we were sorry that we didn’t know how to play the rope coil game. “What a pity,” I thought to myself “that I cannot play with them.”

 

The Fourth Day – Saturday, 5 December 1959

 

This morning, I got up early and had a quick wash of my whole body before too many people got into the washroom. The weather was fine and the sea was calm and pleasant. The sun became hotter and hotter toward mid-day. For exercise, I walked to the stern of the ship and back to the front again a few times. It was no good for me just eating and doing nothing on board.

 

In the afternoon, the swimming box was open to the first-class and second-class passengers. We, the third-class passengers, were not allowed to join them in the box, but were allowed to watch and perhaps play deck games with them later. I didn’t mind not swimming in the box; it was too small anyway.

 

We passed more small islands belonging to Philippines in the afternoon. I just enjoyed myself by watching the sea and the sky from the deck and occasionally seeing some large sea birds flying over the ship.

 

After having our tea, we went to the stern deck of the ship, where a temporary screen had been set up for the movie tonight. The name of the film was “Ferry of Hong Kong” which had not been shown in Hong Kong. A lot of people were there already waiting for the commencement of the film. I obtained a good position high up in front of the storage area at the stern and nobody would block my view. Unfortunately, the story of the film was disappointing. By 11:00 pm, I had had enough of it and went back to my bunk to find my sweet dreams.

 

The Fifth Day – Sunday, 6 December 1959

 

When I woke up in the early morning, my head was heavy and my throat was sore. I felt sick and cold. When I touched my forehead, I gratefully found that the temperature was normal. Thank God, I was O.K. and went back to sleep.

 

I got up about 6:00am and had a shower to freshen up, before everyone rushed into the washroom. It was my first nice long shower on board since I left Hong Kong. The sunrise was particularly beautiful. The morning air was refreshing too.

 

The third-class passengers were allowed to wander anywhere on the deck of the ship, but not in the first-class and second-class quarters. However, I saw some of our young people sneaking to the “upstairs” bathrooms from time to time to have a quick shower. There were more bathrooms with less people and no limit of fresh water, anytime of the day.

 

I made friends with a young man who occupied a bunk opposite me. He was born in Australia (to a Chinese father and a European mother). He was very quiet and did not mix well with other young people on board, because he did not speak and read Chinese very well.

 

Talking about the young people on board, a few of the young ladies in our quarters changed their dresses two to three times each day! I don’t know why they did it; perhaps that was one of the ways for them to attract the young men on board. Of course, they were only a minority of our number.

 

We had two sittings for each meal in the third-class dining area: breakfast 8:00am, lunch 12:00pm and tea 4:00pm. Each sitting would take about one hour. I usually took the first sitting. Supper was served at about 8:30 pm and always had tea or coffee, together with sweet or dry biscuits, occasionally cakes. I did not have my supper tonight because of my sore throat.

 

There were some small items for sale on board, such as soft drinks, books, post cards, soaps, toothpastes, etc. The ship’s purser accepted Hong Kong money as well as other currencies. A bottle of Coca-Cola cost HK$0.50. The exchange rate of Indonesia currency was 10 for each Hong Kong dollar. I bought a postcard of the S.S. Changte and sent it to Dennis tonight (I posted it in the ship’s post box). I thought Dennis would like the card and the family would love to hear from me.

 

The Sixth Day – Monday, 7 December 1959

 

The ship passed through the Sibutu Passage last night and sailed toward Borneo in the Celebes Sea. When I woke up about 6:00am, the ship had already anchored off the port of Tarakan. The reason for stopping at Tarakan was to get diesel oil and fresh water supplies for the ship.

 

Tarakan was one of the important ports of Indonesia. It had a deepwater harbour but only fair facilities for exporting crude oil (which was plentifully produced in this region). The township of Tarakan was on an island, about 100 kilometres south of Sabah. The highest hill on the island was approximately 100 metres tall. Its vegetation was typically tropical species.

 

The harbour pilot boarded our ship at 7:00 am and navigated it to an inverted “L” shaped pier in the harbour. The passengers were allowed to wander on the pier to stretch their sea-legs but not go outside the wharf area. I wandered on the pier for a while until we were ordered back on to the ship by a security guard.

 

The living standard was low at Tarakan. You could exchange a packet of 20 cigarettes for a half-bucket of live shrimps with the natives. A double-bed size mat made from cane would cost only ten Hong Kong dollars.

 

The ship departed from Tarakan at 1:00 pm sharp and set sail for Australia. We put our watch a half hour forward today.

 

The Seventh Day – Tuesday, 8 December 1959

 

My sore throat felt better since I took some Chinese herbal tea yesterday. I drank some more herbal tea today and expect that it will completely cure my sore throat.

 

I have not seen any land since leaving Tarakan. Instead, I saw plenty of flying fish gliding above the water and many seagulls flying over the ship. The seamen told us the ship would cross the Equator tomorrow and the weather would also become hotter.

 

This afternoon the stewards were busy hanging up coloured electric lights along the decks on both sides of midships, just outside the first-class cabins. They were having a party tonight, to celebrate the crossing of the Equator.

 

We, the third-class passengers, were not invited to the party. To ensure we did not miss the celebration, our Purser, Wong Fook, set up his own portable record player in the dining area during supper and let us play his collection of records, including many Chinese and western pop-songs, Cantonese opera and music, and the latest Japanese hit songs. We, young and old alike, enjoyed our own little party very much.

 

I had made friends with the kids in our quarters. After tea (the first sitting), I liked to play with them on the bow deck while their parents had their meal (the second sitting). I taught them games and made toy swords with the timber of a broken packing case.

 

The Eighth Day – Wednesday, 9 December 1959

 

The ship left the Celebes Sea and entered the Makassar Strait late last night. I felt that the temperature was getting hotter each day. The ship took some three hours to pass through the Equator, commencing about ten o’clock in the morning.

 

In Roman times, the seamen believed there was a sea king, Neptune, who lived in the high seas. In order to give them a safe passage crossing the Equator, the ship crew performed a special ceremony on board to please king Neptune. This ceremony is still performed as a fun game for the people who cross the Equator for the first time.

 

To celebrate the crossing of the Equator, we gathered around the swimming box at the stern deck after lunch.  At 1:00 pm., the passengers who conducted the ceremony got up on the little platform, which was built to one side of the swimming box this morning. One tall man with a silver paper crown dressed as King Neptune, and one fat man with a grass skirt, made with hemp from rope, dressed as the queen. The other four official members were the judge, doctor, executioner and policeman; they dressed according to their roles.

 

The judge held a list written on a roll of toilet paper, containing the names of people who were crossing the Equator for the first time. Standing on the deck next to the platform, there were three young women and six men who volunteered to take part in the ceremony, all in their swimming costumes. The Christian names of the participants were written on their backs for identity. (They were either the first-class or second-class passengers.)

 

King Neptune and his Queen sat in their chairs by the table. The King announced that the passengers of this ship had polluted the water by dumping rubbish into the sea. The Queen, holding a three-pronged spear, asked the King to punish the passengers who were responsible for these guilty acts on the ship. The Judge reported to King Neptune, that the passengers who were crossing the Equator for the first time might have committed this crime. He ordered the policeman to fetch one of the suspects, a young woman, to the platform and made her kneel down in front of the King and Queen. But the King had pity on her and let her sit in a small chair in front of them. The Judge read out the charges and announced that she was too dirty. He sentenced her to have a big cleansing immediately. A Doctor was sent to examine her before the execution. The executioner took a large ladle of egg looking substance from a bucket and poured it over her head and body. She was cleansed by shaving her hair and body with a large wooden knife. After that, sugar was sprinkled over her, before pushing her into the swimming box. They made us laugh and cheer them on. This procedure was repeated with all participants. After the last participant had been dealt with, they rushed out from the swimming box to the platform and dragged the King, Queen and others into the water, including the Chief Purser of the ship who was watching the ceremony next to the swimming box. King Neptune finished the ceremony by spraying us with a fire hose. I thought that it was an exciting and fun-filled celebration.

 

We sailed all day without seeing any land. At the Equator, the colour of the sea was deep blue, the sun was hot and the air was still, without any wind. We put our watches a half hour forward again today.

 

The Ninth Day – Thursday, 10 December 1959

 

In the morning, the ship turned eastward and headed to the Flores Sea. The seamen were busy painting the ship in order to make every thing acceptable for the owner’s inspection in Sydney.

 

This afternoon, we were given the Passenger’s Baggage Declaration form to facilitate our clearance through the Australian Customs. I completed the form carefully, because correct completion of the form would enable my baggage to be cleared promptly in Sydney. Yesterday, the Purser had collected our Passports and other travelling documents to check against the ship records.

 

After supper, about 8:00 pm local time, we saw an island, “Bird Island”, a few kilometres in front of the ship. The island was a cone shaped hill, an inactive volcano. There were mature trees with plenty of birds on one side of the island. The ship sounded her horn when we approached the island. Our intention was to scare the birds and make them fly into the sky. It didn’t work. The ship sounded her horn the second time. It didn’t scare the birds off the trees. We tried our last resource by firing fireworks at the stern of the ship. It didn’t work either. By this time the ship was very close to the island. We could see the trees and the beach quite well under the beautiful moonlight.

 

After passing the “Bird Island”, the ship would enter the Australian waters soon.

 

The Tenth Day – Friday, 11 December 1959

 

It was hot in the third-class quarters today. However, it was cooler and more comfortable on the deck, due to the gentle sea breeze.

 

The Purser returned our passports and other documents today. He also handed us (the students) an application form of Temporary Resident Visa. We were asked to fill in the form and hand it to the Immigration Department Officer when we arrived in Sydney. I asked the Purser for ten luggage labels for my suitcases and hand luggage.

 

I estimated that my family should have received the postcard, which I sent to them from Borneo, today or tomorrow. I could imagine the joy showing on their faces when they read my postcard.

 

We had our film tonight, instead of tomorrow night. It was a funny old film, which I had seen in Hong Kong before.

 

The fresh water on board was getting less and less every day because of the large number of passengers and the hot weather at the Equator. The water supply would be restricted to a few hours per day for the third-class passengers from tomorrow.

 

The Eleventh Day – Saturday, 12 December 1959

 

After we crossed the Equator, the ship sailed eastward for three days, from Flores Sea to Banda Sea. We saw the island of Timor from a distance in the morning. The island was divided into East Timor and West Timor. West Timor belonged to Indonesia and East Timor was a colony of Portugal (East Timor has been independent since 2000). The serious criminals of Macau were usually sent to East Timor to serve their punishment. After passing Timor, we entered the Arafura Sea and sailed in Indonesian waters.

 

We did not see any land again during the afternoon, or the evening. The sea was extremely calm like a lake or swimming pool, and the surface of the water was flat and still like a mirror. You could not believe how beautiful and peaceful the sea was under the silvery moon, unless one had experienced it with his or her own eyes.

 

The “upstairs” passengers had a fancy-dress dance tonight. As there were more male than female passengers on board, some young men had dressed in ladies clothes for the party. They put on all sort of funny things and really enjoyed themselves until mid night.

 

I understood that the Captain of the ship was giving a cocktail party to the “upstairs” passengers soon. He also would present a cup to the winner of the deck games competition some time this week.

 

We were given two large boxes of ice cream for supper by a staff of the “upstairs” kitchen. I had my share of ice cream and enjoyed it very much.

 

We put our watch a half hour forward for the third time. The local time was 1.5 hours faster than Hong Kong time. We were going to enter Australian waters (some where north east of Darwin) tomorrow.

 

The Twelfth Day – Sunday, 13 December 1959

 

The ship sailed in the Arafura Sea all night and had entered Australian waters early in the morning.  We saw a lighthouse with five little huts on an island not far in front of our ship. We could see the hills on the mainland of Australia on our right hand side and many small islands in the Arafura Sea on our left hand side. These islands were small and only one to two metres above water.

 

The ship entered the Torres Strait about midday. We met a Japanese oil tanker sailing from the opposite direction, presumably returning to Japan from Australia. Our ship then rounded the most northern point of Australia, Cape York, and changed its course toward the Coral Sea.

 

Most of the afternoon, the ship sailed just out side the Great Barrier Reef. We saw many coral reefs on our right hand side. The reefs were only about a half metre above the water. The water between the reefs and the mainland was calm and its colour was light green. We saw many white sand dunes behind the mainland beaches. Mr Cheung told me, “The sand is good quality glass-making material and big quantities are exported overseas.”

 

The ship sailed in this water without engaging a pilot, because the ship’s Captain was a former Australian Navy commander and he also held a pilot’s licence for this stretch of water. The Captain had saved the shipping company hundreds of pounds by not hiring a pilot!

 

We were looking forward to walking on dry land again when the ship called into Queensland for half day (either in Cairns or Townsville).

 

The Thirteenth Day – Monday, 14 December 1959

 

The ship sailed continuously southward along the Great Barrier Reef today. We saw mountains on the mainland on our right and small islands and reefs on both sides. We also saw a few ships from a distance. The Captain decided that we would call into Townsville tomorrow.

 

I was busy writing Christmas cards and letters to my friends in Hong Kong this morning. I wrote a postcard to Winnie with a message for the whole family. I must post the mail in the ship’s letterbox before we arrive in Townsville.

 

There was nothing worthwhile to mention on board today. Perhaps I might describe the layout of the ship for future reference.

 

The facilities located at the bow of the ship were rope/tool room, cargo holds, seamen cabins, toilets, bathrooms, a kitchen, and the living quarters for the third-class passengers.

 

There were cargo holds and two standing-alone structures at the stern of the ship. The single storey cabin was a print room for printing menu, ship news, etc. The lower level of the two-storey structure contained a rest room, a bar and a smoking room (used for drying clothes now). The upper level of the structure was a carpenter’s room and a hospital with two male sick rooms, one female sick room and the doctor /medicine room.

 

On both sides of the print room were staircases going down to the second-class (economy class) cabins. The stairs led to two corridors at the midship, with cabins on both sides. On the deck above the second-class cabins at the midship, were the dining room, lounge room, bar and the galley. The first-class cabins were on the deck above the dining room. All first-class cabins had their own toilet and bathroom, even provided with two electric fans in each cabin! The third-class sleeping quarters were on the same deck as the second-class cabins, occupying the front part of the midship, and under the dining room. No direct access was provided to the passengers on this deck between the second-class cabins and the third-class quarters.

 

The top level of the ship was the bridge and the officer cabins. The ship’s Post Office was located on the same deck as the first-class cabins. In fact, it was also used as the Pursers’ office. We could buy stamps, postcards, exchange most of the foreign currencies, send telegrams and make enquiries from that office. The ship doctor’s office and barber/hairdresser shop were located on the same deck as the second-class cabins. The price of a hair cut was three shillings. Behind the third-class sleeping area were the oil storage tanks and the cool room. The lowest deck accommodated the engine room, storage rooms and the ballast tanks.

 

There were no entertainment facilities for the third-class passengers, other than radio, record player, marjong, cards and a few old magazines. We did not mind because most of us were first time travellers and every thing was fresh and interesting.

 

The fourteenth Day – Tuesday, 15 December 1959

 

We got up early today. We were excited to watch the islands and birds when the ship crossed the Great Barrier Reef via the Magnetic Passage and headed to Townsville. Before the ship entered the port, we saw a beautiful island called “Magnetic Island” just outside Townsville. It had nice long sandy beaches with plenty of trees. But beware of the sharks if you swim in the water.

 

The ship entered the Townsville waters at mid-day and was berthed beside the pier by 12:30 pm. The Harbour Doctor came on board when we were still outside the port. We lined up on the deck for health inspection. He walked along the deck and inspected our hands. I didn’t know what he was looking for? Anyway, we were told that all of us were O.K. The next step, after we had berthed, was getting a landing pass from the Immigration Department Officer. They checked our passports, other travelling documents if any and entry permits, but kept our temporary resident application forms and a paper with our name and fingerprints! The Immigration Officer issued me with a green landing pass with my photograph on it. The temporary pass would permit me to stay in Townsville (or Australia) up to 30 days.

 

By the time I obtained the pass, it was 7:00 pm. It was too late for us (Mr Cheung, David and me) to go into town because the ship had been scheduled to depart at 8:00 pm. The distance between the pier and the town centre was approximately two to three miles. We walked down on the pier, wandered in the dock area and looked at the town landmark Castle Hill from a distance. It was a pity that we couldn’t visit the town, even for one hour!

 

Following was the report given by the passengers who had visited the town this afternoon:

 

“The taxi was good and the fare was about the same as in Hong Kong. All taxis were large size and had two-way radio for communication. The township was nice, fresh and clean. The roads were wide with plenty of tropical trees and flowers on both sides. There were five tall buildings, seven to eight storeys high, at the town centre. They were the department stores and offices. The department stores were attractive and better managed than most of the Hong Kong stores. Other buildings in the downtown area were two storeys with gable roofs.  The milk was cheap and the price of a bottle of Coca-Cola was the same as in Hong Kong. There were few Chinese restaurants in Townsville. The best one was the Hong Kong Restaurant.

 

As it was summer in Australia, many girls wore shorts and peddled their bicycles in the streets. By 6:00 pm, all shops in the town were closed, except the corner milk bars and some eating-places.

 

There were a large swimming pool and a beautiful park, with many flowers and trees, at the waterfront. After a day of hard work, the town people appeared to be enjoying themselves in the cooler part of day.”

 

The Fifteenth Day – Wednesday, 16 December 1959

 

After departing from Townsville last night, the ship continued on her journey to Sydney. We saw many islands in the Great Barrier Reef in the morning. Most of them were small and not inhabited. About midday, we passed through the Whitsunday Passage and headed to the Capricorn Channel. The ship sounded the foghorn and hung up the appropriate flag signal when we passed the lighthouse of the passage. The lighthouse replied to our message by flying the appropriate flag signal on its flag mast and flashing its light signal as well. The sea became heavier when we sailed into the Capricorn Channel and headed to the Tasman Sea.

 

There were no more water restrictions on board, because the ship had obtained enough fresh water from Townsville for the rest of the journey.

 

I saw a ship from a distance in the afternoon but could not tell what kind of vessel it was. In the late afternoon, I saw a ship wreck (with only its funnel and bridge above the water) on the beach of an island. I was told that it was the English merchant ship “Golden Horse”. The ship was accidentally grounded on the beach when it attempted to escape from the pursuit of a Japanese warship during the Second World War.

 

In the evening, I settled to read the newspaper brought back from Townsville yesterday by one of the passengers.

 

The Sixteenth Day – Thursday, 17 December 1959

 

The ship sailed in the Tasman Sea just east of Brisbane. The weather was cooler and the wind was stronger today. A few passengers were seasick. Luckily I felt alright and wandered everywhere on the deck.

 

I saw a warship continuously appearing for a long distance, either on the right or left of our ship. Later on, I saw another warship in front of us then a cargo ship from a long distance.

 

The seamen pulled down the swimming box at the stern deck today. We would arrive in Sydney on Saturday, two more days from today. I could pick up the broadcasting stations along the Queensland coast with my little transistor radio.

 

The Seventeenth Day – Friday, 18 December 1959

 

When I got up this morning, the wind and the waves were quieter. But the temperature was cooler than yesterday. The weather was cloudy and showery. I did not feel the cold as much but would mind the rain when we arrived in Sydney. We were told that the ship would arrive in Sydney tomorrow morning.

 

The meals were good and plentiful today, because we were leaving the ship tomorrow. After lunch, I had packed as much as I could of my baggage. I didn’t want to do it in a hurry tomorrow morning.

 

David and I had found out that three of the passengers on board were going to Bendigo Technical College. They would travel from Sydney to Melbourne tomorrow night. However, we had planned to stay in Sydney for a few weeks and look for work if possible, before heading to Melbourne.

 

We went to bed very early tonight. We hoped that we could get up in time to watch the ship passing through the Heads into the Sydney Harbour tomorrow morning.

 

The Eighteenth Day – Saturday, 19 December 1959

 

I couldn’t sleep very well last night. But I got up early this morning to finish my last preparations for landing. When I went up on the deck to watch the ship passing through the Sydney Heads, the sun had already risen above the horizon with bright red colour. It promised a fine day. Sydney was a beautiful city with an attractive deepwater harbour. It did remind me about Hong Kong in some way.

 

The sea was rough outside the Sydney Heads. It was partly because of the strong wind blowing from inland and partly from the current. I didn’t feel comfortable when I finally packed my hand luggage.

 

The ship passed through the Heads approximately 7:00 am and berthed beside the Wooloomooloo Pier at 8:00 am. We passed through the Customs and Immigration formalities without any problems and walked out the gate of the pier by 10:00 am. I was glad that I had landed on Australia safely and would start my college life soon.

 

Mr Cheung, David and I, with our hand luggage only, went to Chinatown in a taxi. We had planned returning to the pier to pick up our suitcases tomorrow.  We had our lunch in a Chinese restaurant in Campbell Street. After lunch, Mr Cheung booked us into a hotel for a night. He contacted his friends in Chinatown and found a room in Campbell Street for us to move into tomorrow. By that time I was tired and thankful that I had a bed to sleep in for the first night on Australian soil.

 

III.      THE COLLEGE YEARS

 

A Taste of Sydney

 

The room, which David and I rented in Chinatown, was at the first floor of a three- storey old building opposite a theatre in Campbell Street. Mr Cheung left us four days after we arrived in Sydney, to take up his new job as a Chinese cook in Brisbane.

 

There were two Chinatowns in Sydney: An old Chinatown in Dixon Street near Haymarket and a new Chinatown in Campbell Street near Central Railway Station. The distance between the new and the old Chinatowns was only a few blocks apart.

 

David had a friend of his brother living in a south western suburb of Sydney. We decided to visit him one afternoon. We had worked out that we needed to catch a train from Central Station and change to another train on the same platform of a station about half way. David and I did every thing as planned, but the second train took us in a wrong direction. We got out of the train at the next stop and sought help from the Station Master. He sent us back to the last station in order to catch the next train to the suburb of David’s friend. He explained to us, the last station was a railway junction for three lines. We should check the destination of a train before we hopped on it. We had learnt a good lesson in catching a train!

 

David and I had our first Australian Christmas in Sydney. Sadly we couldn’t get any jobs since we arrived, because most of the shops and factories were closed for the long Christmas and New Year’s holidays. However, we visited the beautiful Hyde Park and shopped in the colourful Haymarket. I felt lonely and sad for the first time since I left home.

 

In order to cheer us up, Mr Ho, the landowner, encouraged David and I to attend the New Year’s Eve celebration at Kings Cross. We thought that it would be a good way to spend our first New Year Eve in Australia. After having our tea, we walked from Campbell Street to Kings Cross via Hyde Park, about two kilometres distance. When we arrived, a lot of people had already gathered in front of a small platform in front of a pub on Kings Cross Road. A woman and a man, accompanied by a four-man band, were singing popular songs on the platform. The people were excited by the singing and cheered them on all night. When the church bells rang at mid-night, the people greeted each other and wished a happy New Year to everyone they met in the street. To finish the celebration, we held hands and sang “Auld Lang Syne”.

 

We stayed in Sydney about three weeks without finding any jobs. We agreed that if we couldn’t get a job here, it would be better for us to move to Bendigo and get ourselves familiar to the place and college before commencing the induction course for the first year overseas students.

 

We contacted the college in Bendigo immediately and asked the staff to advise our landlady about our arrival date and time. David and I left Sydney the next evening and headed to Melbourne on a red interstate overnight train.

 

 

The First Impression of Bendigo

 

We travelled in the second-class train carriage, in a small compartment with two long leather seats. After the train conductor had checked our tickets, we closed the compartment door and slept on the seats with our clothes on, as we were the only two passengers in that compartment. In the early morning, we were woken by the loudspeaker announcement and changed to another train waiting at the Albury Railway Station, at the border of New South Wales and Victoria. The N.S.W. train ran on the standard gauge tracks, which were narrower than the Victorian broad gauge tracks. The change over was simple and quick; we just walked from the train on one side of the island platform to board the waiting train on the other side, with our hand luggage. There was no need to worry about our suitcases because all had been transferred to the Victorian train by the station porter.

 

The train pulled into the Spencer Street Station, Melbourne about 9:30 am. We did not plan to stop in Melbourne overnight. David and I checked the timetable of the connecting train and bought our tickets for Bendigo. The Bendigo train would not leave Melbourne until 12:30 pm; therefore, we had about three hours to wander around in the vicinity of the station. We thought the Spencer Street Railway Station was old and small compared with the Sydney Central Station. I couldn’t comment on Melbourne because I didn’t have much of a chance to look around the city.

 

The red country train took about two and half hours to travel from Melbourne to Bendigo. Because the train was travelling in the daylight, we could see the houses and farms when it passed through the outer suburbs of Melbourne and the country towns. The train went through two tunnels at Big Hill before having a quick downhill run to Bendigo. The train arrived at the Bendigo Railway Station about 3:30 pm, on Sunday, 24 January 1960.

 

Chan, the President of the Bendigo Technical College Overseas Student Association, met us at the station. He was studying Mechanical Engineering in the College and came from Hong Kong two years ago. Chan took us, in his old car, to our landlady in Hargreaves Street. She was an old lady with white hair and lived with her daughter’s family in the same house. She showed us our rooms and kitchen. The house was very old and the garden was neglected. David’s room was O.K., but my room was very small and old. We shared the kitchen with the landlady, including her refrigerator (incidentally we didn’t own one in my father’s house). The rent was two pounds per person per week. The accommodation was about one kilometre from the town centre and one and a half kilometres from the College. We did not pick up our suitcases and a second hand bicycle bought in Sydney from the railway station until the next morning.

 

Chan came back to see us that night and made sure that we were settling in alright. He gave us a street map of Bendigo and the general information of the city and the College. We thanked him for his help and kindness.

 

Bendigo was an old gold-mining town and the third most populated country city in Victoria. In the mid 1800s, gold was found in the Bendigo Creek near the present town centre, and subsequently more gold was discovered in the surrounding areas. The discovery started a new gold rush in Australia. To the Chinese, San Francisco was the “Old Gold Mountain” and Melbourne the “New Gold Mountain”. Therefore, Bendigo was “Dai Gun San” or the “Big Gold Mountain” because of its plentiful gold in the district.

 

Bendigo was a beautiful, historic and peaceful provincial city. It had nice parks and lakes. The terrain of the city was neither hilly nor flat, but rolling and attractive. The weather of Bendigo was excellent; more fine days in winter than Melbourne, Geelong or Ballarat. The life in Bendigo was much quieter and restful than Melbourne. The locals would stop and talk to you with interest. The population was not large compared with Hong Kong. However, we could buy most of the things we needed and obtain service in the local shops, except for Chinese cooking ingredients. Two Chinese restaurants were located in Mitchell Street, between the Alexandra Fountain and the Bendigo Railway Station.

 

Imagine, if you can, the life of a Chinese digger on the Bendigo gold fields more than 100 years ago. It was hot, dusty and dirty. The water was foul and the landscape crowded with thousands of other gold seekers. You didn’t speak the language very well or at all, and the miners’ culture was just as alien to you. There was widespread ignorance, distrust and even hatred of you and your fellow Chinese diggers. You had to pay for a miner’s licence, which was an additional burden of a ten-pound arrival tax imposed on each Chinese on arrival in the colony. You worked hard and long hours everyday because you wanted to earn enough money to provide a better life for the family when you returned home.

 

I considered that I was lucky compared with the Chinese diggers in Bendigo many years ago. I came to study in a technical college, not digging for gold. I could speak, read and write English to some degree, even though not fluently yet. At least I could communicate and get along with others. The Bendigo people were friendly and helpful to me. I knew it would be many years before I could go home to Hong Kong. In the meantime, I had a lot to learn and needed to learn quickly. I made up my mind if I wanted to be accepted by the locals then I should live and do as the locals in Bendigo.

 

Start of The College Years

 

I attended the five-day induction course for the first year overseas College students about one week after arrival in Bendigo. An English lecturer, Mr Cusack, a tall English gentleman, and an Engineering Drawing lecturer, Mr Clark, a short guy from Scotland, conducted the course together. It included general information of the College and Bendigo, English expression, engineering drawings (for engineering students only), visiting the main landmarks of Bendigo and an excursion of the Bendigo railway workshop. I enjoyed the course, especially the introduction to engineering drawing, which was totally new to me.

 

The College’s first semester started from early February. There were 30 first year students in the Civil Engineering course. Most of them came from the local junior technical schools or high schools, and the rest of the class came from the other regions or overseas. We, Lee and I, were the only two first year overseas students in the Civil Engineering course, and both of us came from Hong Kong. The subjects of first year Civil Engineering were the same for the Chemical Engineering, Mining Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, except our numbers were large enough to have our own classes for the same subjects. None the less, we did attend some of the combined classes, such as English and mathematics, together with the students of other courses in the College. All my lectures were day classes in the first year. I rode my old bicycle, which I bought in Sydney for eight pounds, everywhere in Bendigo. My living expenses budget for the first year was 18 pounds per month, excluding College fees.

 

The College had an engineering library on the first floor of a hexagonal building. It kept a lot of valuable records of the gold rush period on the second floor for reference and research. The former name of the College was Bendigo School of Mines. You can see why the College had such a large collection of geology samples and data.

 

All students were required to attend the College assembly in the College Hall every Wednesday afternoon. Generally speaking, it was boring but short, and we could go home after it. The assembly did give us a chance to meet the other students of the College, especially the girls from the Arts and Commerce Faculties. I found out later that some of the overseas students skipped the assembly occasionally, especially in the hot summer afternoons.

 

Many things happened in my five years stay in Bendigo. I cannot put all of them on paper but I would like to select the most interesting events and present them below.

 

My Neighbours

 

David and I made friends with a widow who lived opposite to us in Hargreaves Street. We mentioned to her that we were looking for odd jobs before the College started. She asked us, “would you like to tidy my overgrown backyard for two pounds eight shillings?” We replied, “Surely we would like to do it for you.” We did a good job to clean up the backyard the next day, a very hot day in January. She was so pleased by what we had done and gave us a nice afternoon tea in addition to the wages! It was my first earnings in Australia.

 

Another neighbour whom I would like to mention was a couple (Mr Arthur and Mrs Evelyn Baggaley) who lived four houses from us in Hargreaves Street. They were born in Bendigo and were the second generation of Dutch immigrants. The Baggaleys had two adult children: Frank, a teacher and Elaine, a nurse. Both of their children had left home long ago and worked in Melbourne. Mr Baggaley with the help of his wife ran a green grocery shop in Mitchell Street near the Alexandra Fountain.

 

They were nice, loving and keen Christians. One Sunday afternoon, we were invited to have a drive with them to One Tree Hill, a lookout not far from Bendigo. The lookout tower on the top of One Tree Hill gave a good 360 degrees view of Bendigo and surroundings. Mrs Baggaley was concerned about the condition of our accommodation. She did not think the place was suitable for us.

 

David and I attended the Bendigo Baptist Church morning service with the Baggaleys the next Sunday. The church was situated in Hargreaves Street near the Mitchell Street intersection. The church congregation bought a large property between King and Queen Streets, not far from the old one, for their new church. The new church was built on this site a few years later (it was opened in 1962). We went to church with Mr and Mr Baggaley every Sunday morning until we moved into one of the two old houses owned by the church, at the corner of King and Edward Streets. From time to time, we were invited to have a drive or picnic with the Baggaleys on fine days through the year. I made good friends with them.

 

I attended the Baptist Church services and some of the youth activities continuously during my five years stay in Bendigo. I made a few friends, both young and old, in the church. I maintained contact with the Baggaleys, even after I had finished my study in the College and later settled in Melbourne.

 

The Easter Procession

 

The Bendigo Easter Procession was conducted on Easter Monday each year. It was one of the important events in the Bendigo social calendar. The procession attracted not only visitors from nearby towns but also from the far away places such as Ballarat, Geelong, Shepparton and Melbourne. The Bendigo Easter celebration included a procession, arts show, play, concert, dance, craft exhibition, etc., but the street procession was the biggest item of all.

 

A few weeks before Easter, a letter was put up on the College notice board by the Chinese Association of Bendigo to invite the Asian students to take part in the dragon dance and the lion dance in the procession. The first year overseas students had agreed to be involved in the Chinese section of the procession. On the Easter Monday morning, we went to the Chinese Association building in Bridge Street and received a briefing from the Chinese procession organiser. Both Asian and European volunteered for the dragon dance and the carrying of flags.  The locals believed that it would bring them good luck if they took part in the dragon dance. I was assigned to one of the two lion dance teams. We were asked to change into the lion dance costumes then do some lion dance practice while we were waiting to join the end of the floats in the long procession. There were six players in my lion dance team. One player carried the lion’s head, one carried the lion’s tail, one beat the drum, one sounded the gong, one clanged the cymbal and the last one was a spare. It was a tiring job to perform the lion dance. We had rotated our tasks frequently to ensure that each of us would have a rest during the procession. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my involvement in the procession.

 

I wasn’t involved in any Bendigo Easter Procession again until my last year in College. I was asked to help out on one of the College floats. My duty was to sound the horn and siren of a funny old car during the procession. I also had to ignite a chemical compound occasionally, in a metal bowl attached at the front of the car to create a big smoke and horrible smell. The result made the people run away from us and laugh at the silly car. When we met the float of the Bendigo Teacher Training College in the procession, we attacked each other with flour bombs. What I had at the end was flour everywhere, on my hair, my new woollen jumper and the blue overall! We didn’t mind what had happened to us at all; we just laughed and enjoyed ourselves.

 

The College Ball and Dance

 

The College had two dances and one ball per year. The dances were held during the first and the third terms, while the College Ball was in the second term during winter. Usually the students of the Teacher Training College were invited to our dance and ball, and vice versa.

 

The College Ball was one of the big events of the year. It was held in the grand ballroom of the Bendigo City Hall. All the College staff and important people in Bendigo would be there. The ball was a formal social event therefore everyone would dress accordingly. A dance band would play the popular old and new music all through the evening. The supper would be served to the guests in the lower ground floor after ten o’clock. I had never been to any of the College Balls, except once as a volunteer in the cloakroom.

 

The College Dance was held in our own College hall in McCrae Street. It was informal and usually took place on Friday night. I had never been to the dance except once in my last year in Bendigo. I attended it partly because all my classmates were there and partly because I had been asked to man the soft drink stall. I enjoyed the bush-dancing and the informal atmosphere.

 

The Sports We Played in College

 

The Civil Engineering boys had a cricket match with the other Engineering boys once a year. The faculty staff also took part in the match. The competition was usually held on a Saturday afternoon during September. I did not know anything about cricket and therefore I attended it only as a spectator.

 

Basketball was the favourite sport among the overseas students in Bendigo. We had our own team in the local competition. Once I went inside the Bendigo Prison to watch our team playing with the inmates. Unfortunately, I fell off my bicycle outside the prison and hurt my knee. On top of that we lost the basketball game to the prison team. Some of the inmates were very angry after the game because they had made a bet that our team would win. The other favourite sports of the overseas students were soccer (association football), table tennis, badminton and tennis.

 

The overseas students were not keen on playing Australian football. However, we did have a modified football game with the Australian students. We played with a soccer ball but used the Australian rules and ground. I was asked to be one of the referees in the game. I can’t remember which team won. Anyway, it was good fun and good friendship.

 

I was born in sub-tropical Hong Kong and never saw any snow until I came to Australia. One year, I joined a snow trip organised by the College. We travelled on a chartered bus to Bright on a Friday afternoon and intended to come back to Bendigo on Sunday evening. It was a nice scenic trip to the snowfield. We stayed in a holiday lodge at Bright. The weather was cold and wet but there was no snow in the town. Next morning, we went up Mt Buffalo and had our lunch at the chalet. There was plenty of snow around the chalet; unfortunately it was not good enough for skiing. After having my lunch, I went out to the garden of the chalet and took some photographs. (Photo 2) I saw a snowman made by somebody earlier, in the garden.  I asked my friend to take a photo of the snowman and me for my family. There were a few people waiting to take photos with the snowman. My college friend was inpatient to wait and took a photo of the snowman, an unknown Australian teenage girl and myself. It was O.K. to me but it caused a small storm in my family when they received that photo. They thought the girl in the photo was my girl friend. Hard luck! Next morning we went to Falls Creek for better snow. There was a snowstorm the night before. It gave us plenty of good snow for skiing. I had a taste of skiing and took part in a snow fight with my friends before heading back to Bendigo.

 

The Church Youth Camp

 

I loved to go to the church youth camp held on a Rotary Club property near Eppalock Dam each year. It was a beautiful campsite, with trees and open paddocks, next to the Campaspe River.

 

The camp had four large tin sheds positioned like a rectangle with a courtyard at the centre. The boys’ and girls’ dormitories were located opposite each other, and the toilets and showers were situated in a smaller shed between the two dormitories at one side of the rectangle. Opposite the toilet and shower shed was a large shed for the kitchen, dining area and meeting hall. A big open fireplace was provided in the hall for the cool mornings or nights.

 

We usually left the church late on Friday afternoon and arrived at the campsite before dark. We had wonderful activities in the camp, including Bible study, discussions, sport, outings and other things. We didn’t go back to Bendigo until late Sunday afternoon.

 

A big campfire would be lit near the hall for the first night of the camp. We sang many Australian folk songs and gospel songs around the fire until late in the evening. The boys would throw firecrackers into the campfire to scare the girls for fun. Some of the big boys would throw small stones on the tin roof of the girls’ dormitory to wake them up late in the night! The girls took their revenge by locking us in the dormitory with ropes tied around the two doorknobs. The big boys had to escape through one of the windows to untie the ropes on the doors from outside. I don’t think anyone would have enough sleep on that first night.

 

If it was a wet evening, a campfire couldn’t be lit. Instead of having a campfire we would play indoor games in the hall. One year my friend Doreen, a schoolteacher, organised the indoor games for the camp. The first-time attendees of the camp would be asked to enter the kitchen one by one, but the others could stay in the kitchen as spectators. The new campers were told that our camp parents Mr and Mrs Bishop had an argument after tea and wouldn’t talk to each other. They sat on each end of a low bench covered with a cloth, in the kitchen. The new camper who just entered the room would be asked to sit between them and talk to them. Then the new camper followed the instructions and sat on the bench between Mr and Mrs Bishop. They would stand up suddenly resulting in the new camper sitting on the floor instead. The bench was not a bench at all. It was made up of two low chairs and an empty space in between, with the cloth covering the chairs and the space. It was a big surprise to the new campers but a warm-up camping joke to the others.

 

As a tradition of the youth camp, a girl and a boy would be nominated to be the “milkmaid” and the “milkmaid’s helper” on the first morning of the camp. Each morning before the breakfast, the girl would be asked to fetch a bucket of milk from the dairy farm opposite the camp. She wouldn’t mind the job of fetching milk, and the boy would be happy walking her to the dairy farm and helping her to carry the milk back to the camp. I loved the thick and unpasturised milk freshly obtained from the farm. Mrs Bishop always gave me a large glass of fresh milk each morning in the camp.

 

We had Bible study, prayer and discussion twice each day in the camp. These were held either indoors or outdoors (depending on the weather) after breakfast and also after lunch. The speaker of the camp was usually Mr Lewis, the pastor of the Bendigo Baptist Church. Sometimes, we would have visitors from the church on Saturday, and they would have afternoon tea with us before heading home. (Photo 3)

 

The church youth camps were a fond memory in my life. I enjoyed the camp atmosphere and fellowship very much. The Bible study had helped me to grow in my spiritual life.

 

Summer Vacation

 

After having finished the final examinations in November, most of us would go to Melbourne looking for vacation jobs and would not come back until late January the following year. It was not easy for overseas students to get a job in Bendigo. Usually I would go to Melbourne as soon as I had finished my last examination. Every summer vacation I would stay in my old college friend Peter’s place in Melbourne, except the year I worked for the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission in Bendigo.

 

I worked in different kind of jobs in Melbourne during summer vacations and tried to save as much money as I could for the following year. During my college years, I had worked as a waiter or kitchen hand in two Chinese restaurants and the restaurant in the Sandringham Yacht Club, as an assembly worker in two electronic and electrical factories, as an odd job man in a brewery, and a stall keeper in the Victoria Market.

 

I worked three jobs in the second summer vacation. I was a beer packer in the brewery during daytime of the week, a waiter in my friend Fred’s restaurant every night and a stall keeper of the market-stall owned by my friend’s brother Ron on Saturday. I was too tired after work every night and frequently was late to get up in the morning. Therefore, I had no time for breakfast before I went to work.

 

I earned and saved enough from the vacation jobs to cover about one third of my whole year’s expenses. It was a big help to my father in Hong Kong. As I had a bigger income from the second year summer vacation jobs, I used part of the savings, together with the money from selling my bicycle, to buy a second-hand motor scooter, a Vespa, in the third year. (Photo 4) The scooter gave me some convenience for attending night lectures after I had moved from a shared bedroom in King Street to a single bedroom in Carpenter Street, about three kilometres from the College. I lived in that place for one year, then moved to Mitchell Street near the Bendigo Railway Station. In the new place, I had my own bedroom and a shelter for my scooter but shared the kitchen with my friend from Hong Kong. I stayed there until I left Bendigo.

 

In my fourth year summer vacation, I worked as a survey assistant for the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission in Bendigo. Mr King, a friend of Mr Baggaley, was the head of the Bendigo office. Our survey team worked many places around Bendigo and the survey job gave me a good opportunity to get to know the region better. On wet or very hot days, I would stay in the office and do some survey computation and drafting. In my memory, it was a lonely vacation. Except for a few Malaysian students, all my Hong Kong friends were working away from Bendigo. I went to the cinema every weekend but I couldn’t enjoy it without my friends. I went to the “Carols by Candle Light” in Rosalind Park on Christmas Eve and it was too sad to see the family groups enjoying themselves at the concert. I was missing my family.

 

The Overseas Students

 

The overseas students in the College were about 60% from Hong Kong and Macau, and about 40% from Singapore and Malaysia. I think there were only three girls among us, all came from Hong Kong. The girls studied either arts or commerce in the College.

 

Generally speaking, the Singapore and Malaysian students would have more money to spend and achieve academically better than the Hong Kong and Macau students. Some of them would go home every summer vacation, but not the Hong Kong students. However, we got along very well in Bendigo.

 

We loved to have a big feast together on long weekends or main holidays. We would buy chicken from the farm, then kill and dress it by ourselves. We learned cooking from each other, especially from the ones who had learned cooking from the Chinese restaurant during summer vacation. After tea we might go to the cinema together or stay home listening to music.

 

I budgeted only one to two cinema tickets per month for myself, because I couldn’t afford watching a movie every week. My little transistor radio was a big comfort to me. I could receive the local (3BO and 3BA) and Melbourne AM broadcasts, and the far away short-wave radio stations. Occasionally, I would watch the television (black and white at that time) from the shop window in a warm evening! We passed the old Chinese newspapers, books and magazines around when we finished them. Once I was short of money to pay rent and I was able to borrow from others without any hassle.

 

One Saturday in the early autumn of my first year, the overseas students organised a 40 kilometres pushbike ride to Castlemaine. (Photo 5) We started from Bendigo along the Calder Highway, through Golden Square and Kangaroo Flat, then up and down the Big Hill to Harcourt. We then turned to Midland Highway for the last section from Harcourt to Castlemaine. It was a nice and picturesque ride all the way. One of the boys had a flat tyre, but he was able to repair it by the roadside. It was a hard ride up the Big Hill on our way back to Bendigo. A few of us had to get off our bikes and pushed them for the steep sections. I enjoyed the ride very much. The pushbike ride gave us the opportunity to understand each other more and eventually developed mateship.

 

One Hong Kong student worked in a shop during the Christmas and New Year vacation. He was new and didn’t speak English very well. One day a customer came in the shop and asked for a bottle of ginger beer. He didn’t understand what he wanted. In order to ensure what he understood of the customer’s request, he replied, “Jingle bell?” The customer was shocked by his reply and went away without the bottle of ginger beer, which he had asked for. From that day we called our friend “Jingle bell” as his nickname.

 

On the down side of the overseas students, some of them would skip class and go to horse racing in Bendigo. A few of them lost their monthly housekeeping money and couldn’t pay their rents. One Malaysian student in the College didn’t attend any classes of one minor subject but wanted to sit the final examination. The Faculty Head, Mr “Chuck” Berry, refused the request but changed his mind later in order to give the Malaysian guy a chance. This guy borrowed the lecture notes from his mate and studied almost non-stop for three days and nights. He then sat in the examination and passed!

 

One year I had every Friday afternoon off, without any lectures. On a fine day, I would ride my bike to the Spring Gully Reservoir to try my luck on fishing or collecting clams. Usually I was lucky and caught one to two Redfins large enough for one meal! However, I collected clams only occasionally because it was no good eating clams too frequently.

 

Some of the overseas students came from rich families and had never learned any housekeeping skills. To illustrate my point, one of my high school classmates came to Australia one year after me to study in a college in Melbourne. She didn’t learn any housekeeping at home, even boiling an egg! She had to eat bread and tinned food for the whole first year.  I wrote to my Ma and asked her to teach Dennis basic housekeeping, if he was to go and study overseas one day.

 

The Boy “Tongwai”

 

Tongwai, a chemical engineering student, was born in Bendigo of a Chinese father and an English mother. As both of his parents were working and had a good income, they gave him a new red Mini Minor for his eighteenth birthday. The new car was the pride of his life.

 

He loved to park his car in front of the College showing off to the girls. One day he came out from his class and intended to have a ride with one of the girls. He couldn’t find the car anywhere in the parking place. Somebody informed him a red car had been seen in the hallway of the College side entrance. It was a mystery how his car could get up three steps and park in the narrow hallway. He was horrified and couldn’t get the car out. Tongwai begged his mates to help. Eventually the little car was carried out by five big boys and put back in the driveway!

 

Now you may wonder who did it and how the car got in the hallway in the first place!

 

 

“What is flying on the College Tower?”

 

The main building of the College had a handsome looking tower above the main entrance. On top of the tower was a flagpole, on which I never saw any flag flying.

 

Each year, about one week before the final examinations, we had an unofficial celebration at the end of college year. The students would do something hilarious, such as have a water pistol fight, flour bomb attack and make silly posters. It was just something fun to release the tension of study.

 

One year the students celebrated it in a different way! They climbed up the tower and flew something unusual on the flagpole. No college staff noticed anything unusual until some people gathered in front of the tower laughing and pointing upwards. Mr Thompson, the Principal, was informed immediately and one of the staff was sent up the tower and took the “flag” down. It was not a flag but some underwear from the girls in the arts and commerce faculties. From that day on the door to the tower was always kept locked and no student was allowed up there.

 

Overseas Christian Fellowship

 

My first contact with the Overseas Christian Fellowship (OCF) was in my church friend’s home in Bendigo during the fourth year of my study. My friend Harry, an Australian, studied textile in Gordon Technical College in Geelong. He regularly attended the OCF meetings when he was in Geelong.

 

The OCF was a fellowship of overseas students who were called to share the love of God and the experience of knowing Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord with their fellow students. It aimed to present the Christian Gospel as in the Word of God, and to stimulate the growth of a full and balanced Christ life in its members. The OCF had fellowships in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, and also in some of the big provincial cities in each State, such as Geelong and Bendigo.

 

I was responsible for the OCF Bendigo Group for two years until I moved to Melbourne in 1965. We had about eight members and met regularly in an Australian friend’s house every alternate Saturday afternoon. One of the three Hong Kong girls in the College, Helen, attended the OCF Bendigo Group meetings. I enjoyed the singing of hymns or Gospel songs and talks or Bible studies given by the guest speakers. Our Group had been invited to join the monthly social evenings organised by the local high school Christian student groups.

 

I attended the OCF May Conference in Belgrave Heights each year and the Annual General Meeting in Adelaide and later in Brisbane on behalf of the Bendigo Group. It was not an easy job for me to lead a group but I enjoyed it. The fellowship gave me a purpose in life and valuable experience in public speaking, organising meetings and caring for each other.

 

I was involved with the OCF Melbourne Group continuously until I left Australia to migrate to Canada via Hong Kong.

 

 

IV.      GRACE AND VISION

 

The Remaining Subjects

 

I passed all the subjects in the first year but failed one subject in the second year. It was because I spent too much time on Matriculation English and not enough time for the other subjects. I studied very hard the third year in order to keep pace of the increasing demands in my study. Unfortunately I didn’t do very well again and a few subjects had to be repeated in the following year. I enrolled in 13 subjects for my fourth year and tried again to study harder. At that time, I was tired, mentally exhausted and depressed for the not-too-bright outcome. It was the lowest time in my college life. I didn’t know how to overcome the problem, except cry to God for his mercy.

 

I had to face the prospect of studying in Bendigo one more year. What would my family say about it? My family didn’t say anything but wished me good luck. In the fifth year, I put my head down to study and worked out a balanced study program in order to pass as many subjects as I could but not necessarily getting high marks. By God’s grace I passed all the selected subjects except one.

 

I was pleased with my study results in the fifth year. I could go and work in Melbourne in the following year, even though I still had three subjects to complete my Civil Engineering course: one repeat subject and two new subjects which I was not allowed to enrol for the fifth year. I knew it would be hard for me working full time and studying part time in Melbourne.

 

I eventually passed the remaining subjects in Melbourne when I worked for the Country Roads Board full time. I will talk about it later.

 

Country Roads Board

 

Near the end of the college year, big organisations such as Country Roads Board (CRB) and State Electricity Commission (SEC) would come to our College to recruit new Engineers. After listening to Mr Foster’s talk, I thought that my application would not be accepted by the CRB, on the basis that the Malaysian students in my class would have a better chance than myself. I didn’t even get the application form handed out by Mr Foster!

 

However, God’s way is always the best way. When I prayed that night, I was uncomfortable and felt that God wanted me to apply for the CRB Engineer Cadetship. I argued with God and told Him that I couldn’t finish my course and go to a university next year. But the Holy Spirit still insisted that I should write to Mr Foster of CRB, ask for the application form and explain to him why I didn’t get the application form in his talk at the College. I did and later received the form for my application.

 

The interview was held at the CRB Bendigo Office at Queens Street. I had a long and friendly interview with Mr Foster because I was the last one to be interviewed. I explained my study situation to him. He said, “If you are accepted by CRB, even though you do not pass all the subjects and cannot go to a university next year, you would be employed as an Engineering Assistant.” I prayed to God if it was His will that I would be employed by the CRB.

 

With a lack of faith, I sent also an application to the SEC. I thought it would be safer to apply for two places instead of one, even though I had the feeling that I might get a job with CRB after the interview. In the meantime, all I could do was sitting for the final examinations then wait for the results and a reply from the job applications!

 

Before I had finished all the final examinations, the CRB wrote and offered me a job in the Traffic and Location Section at the Kew Head Office, Melbourne. Praise the Lord that He had answered my prayer and guided my steps into the next phase of my life. A few weeks later, I was advised that my application for a job in SEC was unsuccessful.

 

The next step after I had finished my examinations was moving to Melbourne. I left Bendigo about mid December and stayed in my friend Ron’s house in North Melbourne. I continued to live there after I had started working in CRB at Kew Junction on 8 February 1965.

 

As I held a student visa and was not a permanent resident of Australia, I was employed as an Engineering Assistant Class 1 on the temporary staff of the Country Roads Board, at a salary of ,1125 per annum. (A copy of the appointment is attached as Attachment 2). I was allocated to Mr Pommers’ team in the Location Group of the Traffic and Location Section. One of my college classmates was also appointed to the same Section, but in the Traffic Group, at the Kew Head Office.

 

I found a room with a separate small kitchen on Wallen Road, next to a Catholic church in Hawthorn. It was about 30 minutes walk from my office. To save money I shared the room with Dominic who just moved down to Melbourne from Bendigo and commenced his first year study in the Caulfield Technical College.

 

I enrolled myself in the nearby Swinburne Technical College for the remaining three subjects of the Civil Engineering Course. I studied two subjects with CRB’s time during working hours and one subject in my own time at night. It was not easy to study part time when you were working fulltime.

 

During the period of serving in the Traffic and Location Section, I was primarily engaged on the development of functional plans for major road projects. These projects included several outer suburban freeways with many interchanges and also an urban expressway with major intersections at grade. I also prepared reports recommending the adoption of the routes, which I had developed.

 

“Beth” or “Bev”

 

When Barbara who I met in Bendigo heard that I had moved to Hawthorn, she contacted me immediately and invited me to her home church, West Hawthorn Baptist Church. She was a primary school teacher in Bendigo and had transferred back to Melbourne recently. The church was a small but friendly church and not far from my place, about 15 minutes walking distance. I worshipped in this church on Sundays and was baptised by its Pastor Norman Irvin on 19 March 1967.

A girl with a pair of glasses was baptised in the church about three weeks earlier than me. I was not sure that her name was “Beth” or “Bev”. But she was trim and had a nice friendly face. Bev was a nurse working in a hospital in Richmond. I saw her waiting for the tram after the church service on Sunday.

 

I met Beverley in my former missionary friend Mrs Mary Pope’s home one Sunday afternoon in 1966. Mrs Pope had invited Barbara and I for lunch after Church. For some unknown reason, Barbara couldn’t come that Sunday. As it was Bev’s day off from hospital, Mrs Pope invited her to stand in for Barbara. That was how we met in our dear friend Mrs Pope’s home. After lunch, we sang around the piano and discussed the sermon we heard in the morning. Later, Bev and I even sang together occasionally in front of the congregation.

 

During the second year in the College, in order to concentrate on my study I asked God to prepare a wife for me and present her to me when I had finished the study. I was about 22 years of age at that time.

 

After I had known Bev better, I invited her to some of the OCF activities. I found out that we had similar interests, values and beliefs. By that time I had to ask God was she the girl who He had prepared and promised for me. (Photo 6)

 

A few days before Christmas 1966, Bev asked me, “Do you have anything planned for Christmas Day?” I replied, “No. I will stay home and do some tidying up.” She was surprised that I wouldn’t be with my friends to celebrate Christmas! She decided to invite me to have Christmas dinner with her family in her parents’ home in Murrumbeena.

 

Before I picked up Bev from the Bethesda Hospital Nurses Home in my old Volkswagen, I bought a box of chocolates in the shape of a book for her mother, from a milk bar. I didn’t know what to expect from her family. Mr Close was friendly enough and Mrs Close’s cooking was excellent. I talked to her brother Murray and his wife Helen about their holiday. I thought that I had behaved well and gave them a good impression. I didn’t see Bev’s other brother Lawrence and his family because they were not in Melbourne. Lawrence worked in a bank and lived in Rutherglen.

 

I found out after many years that Mrs Close, my mother-in-law, kept the empty old chocolate box in her possession all the time, even after our wedding.

 

The Graduation

 

I passed all the remaining subjects for my Diploma of Civil Engineering in 1966. However, the Diploma was not awarded to me until 17 March 1967. After I had received the Diploma, I was promoted immediately to Engineer Class 1 of the Country Roads Board.

 

I went up to Bendigo with Bev and her mother in my car on the day of my graduation. I stayed with the Baggaleys that night, but Bev and her mother stayed with Mrs Close’s nursing friend in Kennington, Bendigo. Mr and Mrs Baggaley and Bev came to my graduation night.

 

I was glad that they could attend my special night. I walked up to the stage proudly and received my Diploma, which I had laboured over for many years, from the hands of the Principal Mr Birrell. I was so excited I couldn’t remember the details of the graduation night, but I did remember that we had a nice supper served in a hall opposite the College after the ceremony.

 

I couldn’t wait to inform my family in Hong Kong about the graduation and the Diploma. After I came back to Melbourne, I photo-copied my Diploma and sent it to them immediately, as a token of my thanks to each member of my family.

 

Following my graduation, I was reclassified to Engineer Class 1 of the CRB in March 1967 and subsequently elected a Graduate of the Institution of Engineers, Australia on 27 June 1967.

 

Going Home

 

After my graduation, it was time for me to go home. By then, I realised that Bev was the girl who had been prepared for me by God. I sent in my application to migrate to Canada in late 1966. I talked to Bev about my plans and asked her to come to Canada after I had settled down over there. She didn’t indicate to me either way.

 

As I was not a permanent resident of Australia, I had to leave the country after completing my studies. I booked my ticket on the P&O ship “S.S. Oronsay” for Hong Kong, sailing on Saturday, 20 May 1967. I also put in my resignation to the Traffic and Location Engineer, Mr Guerin. My last working day with the CRB was 13 May 1967. In the farewell presentation, I was given a gift from my work mates and a Certificate of Service from the CRB.

 

By that time, I had not heard anything about my immigration application from the Canadian Embassy in Canberra. I rang and informed them of my travelling plan. The officer was very helpful and advised me that my application had been sent to Ottawa for the final approval. He didn’t think it would take long. The officer promised to advise me, no matter where I was, as soon as the embassy had received the approval. Thank you Lord, your way is not my way and your way is always the better way.

 

In the afternoon of the departure day, Bev and friends of the West Hawthorn Baptist Church came to see me off at Station Pier. “S.S. Oronsay” was a large passenger ship (a sister ship of  “S.S. Arcadia”) with many excellent facilities on board, such as swimming pools, deck games, library and cinema. (Photo 7) The journey to Hong Kong would take about 15 days, via Sydney and Darwin.

 

I had four friends travelling with me on the “S.S. Oronsay” to Hong Kong. (Photo 8) We were to have a good time on board and sightseeing in Sydney and Darwin. However, it was sad to say goodbye to my friends, especially to Bev. I had a quick look around on board with Bev alone. We couldn’t say much in front of our friends even though we would have loved to. We promised to write to each other as frequently as possible.

 

When the whistle blew and the Maori Farewell sounded through the loudspeaker, the ship moved slowly away from the pier and headed for Port Phillip Heads. It sailed for the open sea in the fading sunlight of the Melbourne evening.

 

I received a telegram from the Canadian Embassy when the ship arrived in Darwin. My immigration application had been approved. And I was instructed to report to the Canadian Embassy to finalise the formalities as soon as I had arrived in Hong Kong.

 

I spent seven and a half years studying and later working in Australia. God had kept me from temptations and enriched me with knowledge and wisdom. I left Hong Kong as a teenager and came back with more maturity as an adult. He gave me many friends and most of all, my future wife Bev in Australia. Even though I could not know my future in Canada, but I knew that God would guide me and protect me continuously if I trusted and obeyed Him. Yes, God’s grace is greater than we can imagine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ATTACHMENTS (Photographs and Appointment Notice)

 

Attachment 1

 

 

Photo 1 -  My Family

 

 

 

Photo 2 -  1963 Mt Buffalo Snow Trip

 

Photo 3 -  1961 Church Youth Camp

 

 

 

 

Photo 4 -  My Vespa Scooter

 

 

 

Photo 5 -  1960 Bendigo to Castlemaine Bicycle Ride

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo 6 -  Bev at the White Hill Botanic Gardens 1967

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo 7 -  S.S. Oronsay

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo 8 -  Going Home on the S.S. Oronsay

 

Attachment 2