Off Beat

Parading the Mace

DCP MAN Tsang Yam-pui and other Force officials celebrate the memory of Sir Siu-kin Tang with Lady May and her son Richard ON 19 June 1998, the Police Training School marked the anniversary of the death of Sir Siu-kin Tang with a simple ceremony held in its Officers' Mess.
It was Sir Siu-kin Tang who many years ago had presented the solid silver mace to then-DCP MAN, Eric Blackburn, to mark his years of friendship with the Force and a family association that continues through Sir Siu-kin Tang's wife Lady May and their son Richard - and which is manifested today in both the PSRC and the POC, the two principal Force recreational facilities.

Sir Siu-kin Tang's special affection for the police bands led to his financing their uniforms as well as to the immortalisation of their music on tape and disc.
DCP MAN Tsang Yam-pui officiated at the ceremony during which the silver mace was placed on the traditional stack of drums in front of Lady May, then saluted by Police Pipe Major Nelson Chan Cheuk-kwan. A minute of silence followed after which a small contingent of the band played music appropriate to the occasion.

The last "Drumbeat"

DESPITE the pouring rain, the Hong Kong Police Band pipers and drummers waited patiently for the Hanoi to Hong Kong Dragon Air A330 Airbus circling Kai Tak Airport to land on 9 June 1998.

Then, disembarking from the aircraft, as Regional Commander Kowloon East John Yuen Ying-lam was piped and drummed through arrivals it marked the end to a long and successful Drumbeat Operation for Kowloon East Region that saw the repatriation of over 12,000 Vietnamese illegal migrants from Hong Kong to their home country.

The first of what would turn out to be 121 "Drumbeat Flights" took place on 9 November 1991, and saw a total of 12,895 people repatriated under flight escort by volunteer officers from various formations of Kowloon East Region - mainly Operations Wing, Airport District, Crime Units, the Kowloon East Police Tactical Unit Company and PTU's "Tango" Company.

Piper leading RC KE Yuen Ying-lam, DRC KE Ng Man-kim, and SSP OPS KE D. O'Brien after the last Drumbeat Flight back to Hong Kong

Initially there were difficulties and problems encountered due to the unique nature of the Drumbeat Flights and although they were carried out in an orderly fashion, there were occasions when resistance from the returnees was encountered at the airports in Hong Kong and Hanoi.

Nevertheless, throughout the last six-and-a-half years the hundreds of officers involved showed a commendable degree of tactfulness, tolerance and professionalism, as well as compassion in dealing with an often unpleasant operation.

To celebrate the smooth and successful end of the Orderly Repatriation Programme, the Police Band performed a drumbeat in the Airport Officers' Mess followed by a reception in which those involved in the operation over the years shared their experiences and satisfaction at a mission well accomplished.