Life at sea

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Senior Inspector Mr Philip Lo Hing-kwok belongs to the sea - the place where he was born (on a fishing boat), grew up and works. He even received education at schools specially designed for fishermen's children.

Having worked in the Force for nearly three and a half decades, he has virtually witnessed all the changes, however big or small, experienced by the Marine Region since 1968 and has earned himself a reputation of "walking dictionary" of Marine Police.

Mr Lo joined the Force as a Police Constable in 1968 at the age of 18 and has worked in Marine ever since. In an interview with OffBeat, he explained how he had gained the compliment. "Perhaps, it's because I am interested in the history and developments of Marine Police. And many people love to talk to me and share with me their special encounters in Marine. Hence, they gave me this alias," he said.

Looking back to the 1960s, Mr Lo said most launch mechanics at that time were staff transferred from the Marine Department because of their rich knowledge in launch machinery. Mr Lo was the first person with formal Police training promoted to the ranks of Sergeant and Station Sergeant in 1975 and 1980 respectively. After serving as Station Sergeant for five years, Mr Lo was promoted to be an Inspector.

Mr Lo comes from a fishermen's family. His parents were fishermen and he lived on a fishing boat at Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter when he was young. That explains why he is so familiar with all kinds of fishing vessels. That also explains why he never feels uncomfortable amid big waves or in bad weather.

His decision to join the Marine Police, however, was mainly influenced by his elder brother who was also a Marine policeman.

He was frank to admit that initially he saw his work as an ordinary job and never expected that he would spend three and a half decades in the Force. "I was determined to be a teacher when I was young. When I was studying at primary school, I regarded teachers as learned persons," he said.

Teaching recruits

Mr Lo finally has his dream come true. Now, he is an instructor in the Marine Police Training School, teaching a wide range of topics including the history and duties of Marine policemen as well as sea survival skills. Up till now, he has taught some 1,000 policemen.

Recalling an interesting episode that happened two years ago, he said: "I asked my students in a class if anyone of them had reached Form Seven level. None of them put up their hands. I doubted if I should ask if any of them had attained Form Five standard. Again, no one put up his hand. Later, a student said, 'Sir, all of us are university graduates!'"

Comparing with his past students, Mr Lo said recruits passing out from the Police Training School these days were better qualified and all they needed was to acquire more experience in their daily work.

Vivid memories on PL1

His service on Police Launch No. 1 (PL1) has also left him with many vivid memories. In the 1980s, he worked ceaselessly to stem the influx of illegal immigrants and Vietnamese refugees and the flow of smuggled goods. He even arrested some 500 illegal immigrants on a single day.

Up till now, he still remembers working on PL1 command launch for a whole week when thousands of Mainland people flocked to Hong Kong on their fishing boats in the early 1980s.

He said: "My colleagues and I were on extra alert off Jose House Bay to prevent the boats reaching shore. Manpower was tight. Worse still, reinforced officers weren't accustomed to working at sea. As a result, I worked day and night and didn't go home for the whole week."

Horrible experience

No matter how hard he tries, he can hardly forget the experience of picking up decomposed bodies from the sea in the late 1960s. On a most unfortunate day, he had to handle up to three dead bodies a day.

"In an evening, my superior and I found a decomposed body washed ashore off O Pui Tong. We were left with two choices - removing the corpse by ourselves, or staying behind to wait for help. In the end, we decided to remove the dead body together. When I lifted the body up, I found it was very light. I looked back and found that one of the arms had come off. For a teenager under 20 years old, I couldn't bear what I saw. It was disgusting and I really wanted to cry."

Mr Lo went on duties in all weathers, even when typhoon signal number 10 was up. On one dangerous occasion, two ropes of PL1 were broken amid strong winds and crew members had to wear life jackets as a precaution.

In early 1970s, he also witnessed how waterspout took away the lives of small children at Leung Shuen Wan. "I was still a Police Constable when suddenly fishing boats were swallowed by big waves and sank to the bottom. We were so sad as some people lost their lives despite our efforts to save them."

Mr Lo said the biggest sea wave he had ever seen was up to 20 feet tall. "I wasn't afraid of big waves. Big wind and wave don't come often. The most dangerous thing is that you don't know how to react when a big wave is coming. The most important thing is that you should know your ship well and know if your ship can withstand big waves. Some ships can hardly endure big waves."

Improved navigation facilities

Mr Lo said the Force's rescue facilities had improved significantly during the past three decades. New launches are built of aluminium, highly manoeuvrable and have advanced digital radio communication and satellite positioning systems.

"Navigation of old-style launches could only rely on a less advanced radar system, the performance of which was largely affected by bad weather. The maximum speed was only 10 knots. Frankly speaking, sea navigation in the past, to a large extent, relied heavily on the experience of individual crew members."

During his service in Marine, he was most sympathetic with the poor living conditions of fishermen. "Fishermen were poor in the old days. They had no money to renew their licences. Worse still, some of them were illiterate and therefore, couldn't pass the technical certificate exams.

"On one occasion, in the 1970s, my team and I found a couple whose fishing boat licence had expired for three years off Aberdeen. Their three young children were also on the boat. We had to do our job and arrested the man. As the couple had barely any money to pay for the $500 bail, the man had to stay in Police custody overnight. My colleagues and I were touched by their plight and we altogether raised some $20 for them to buy some necessities.

"Although I was sympathetic with their plight, I was just a law enforcer. I couldn't play the role of a judge and let him go," he added.

"After working for so many years, I do find my work meaningful. I helped set up the Trial and Maintenance Unit in Marine. After trying out different posts, I really love teaching at the Marine Police Training School. Teaching has given me a lot of satisfaction," Mr Lo concluded.

SIP Philip Lo Hing-kwok is "walking dictionary" of Marine Police