History of Hong Kong Island

Chapter 391
"eight pm."

Jian Baoning was wearing a uniform, stirring the coffee cup with a spoon.

"It's almost time."

"Let's welcome newcomers at the airport together." He Dingxian put down his watch and said with a hearty smile, "As a local, you must be polite."

"Ok."

"He sir."

Jian Baoning chuckled, took a sip of coffee, put the cup on the table, immediately picked up the hat on his clothes, put it on his head, turned around and walked out of the office with He Dingxian.

main entrance.

"He sir."

"He sir"

Lan Gang, Yan Xiong and others were wearing suits, with guns on their waists, and put their hands in front of their lower abdomen, bowing and saying hello together.

He Dingxian said casually, "Go to the airport."

A convoy of six police-licensed buses drove slowly out of Tai Kwun and headed all the way to the North Point pier. After arriving at the Kowloon City Ferry by boat, they changed to Kowloon police vehicles and drove to Kai Tak Airport.Kai Tak Airport, founded in 1925, was first reclaimed from the sea by the "Kai Tak Business Company", a joint venture between Sir Ho Kai and Mr. Au Tak. It was planned to build garden-style houses, and every inch of land was reclamated, hence the name "Kai Tak Bin".

However, due to the bankruptcy of the "Kai Tak Business Company", the land was rented by the Hong Kong government. It was successively used as the Royal Air Force Airport, the training center, and the Albert Flying School. Later, because the Hong Kong government planned to build an airport, they searched all over Hong Kong and found "Kai Tak Beach" "It is the largest and most flat piece of land in Hong Kong, and the nearby Kowloon Bay can park seaplanes. The earliest Hong Kong government bought the Kai Tak Beach land in 1927 at a price of 100 Hong Kong dollars.

Kai Tak currently has two runways, one is the east-west runway built by the Hong Kong government, and the other is the northwest runway built by the Japanese during World War II. When there are flights taking off and landing at the airport, vehicles on Clear Water Bay Road must be stopped. .

Whenever a plane whizzes by, it always attracts many children in Kowloon City to look up.

Although commercial flights have been opened on Hong Kong Island, including British Empire Airways, Pan Am, Air France, and Air Eurasia, Kai Tak Airport is still semi-military in nature, guarded by military personnel, and has a dedicated hangar.

When the convoy arrived at the airport gate, it happened to see an Imperial Airlines plane circling and landing, the landing gear approaching the ground a little bit.

"boom!"

The plane hit the ground with a loud noise.

The convoy He Dingxian was riding in was stopped by military personnel until Jian Baoning showed his ID and said: "Police Chief Jian Baoning came to welcome the Governor to perform his duties. Political figures and urban safety are the scope of the police force. , I hope you don't make any trouble."

After checking the documents, the second lieutenant walked into the sentry box and called his superiors. He returned the documents after getting approval, saluted and allowed him to pass.

"Mr. Governor."

"Hong Kong Island is here."

Bai Liji had thin cheeks, slender eyebrows, a blanket covering his legs, and was flipping through a magazine.

As a professional politician, he spent 27 years in the Colonial Department. He served in Seafood Colony, Trinidad, North Borneo and Hong Kong. His last position as Governor of Singapore was Counselor for Hong Kong Island. long.

Returning to Hong Kong Island is a revisit for him, so he displayed a very calm appearance. Under the soft reminder of the waiter, he put down the magazine and nodded slightly: "I see."

"Okay, Mr. Governor." The waiter was in his twenties, a young and beautiful age, with exquisite makeup and silk stockings, and he had no intention of admiring the beautiful scenery during the trip.

And several members of the ruling team brought from Singapore also began to pack their suitcases and luggage in an orderly manner.

"sir."

"The door is about to open." At this time, a captain walked out of the cab and came to salute and greet him in person.After Bai Liji smiled and shook hands with him, the cabin door made a pneumatic sound and slowly opened, revealing a piece of night.At the moment when the cabin door was fully opened, he was already standing in front of the gangway, wearing a suit, and slowly beckoning.

"Clap!"

The red carpet has been spread between the gangway and the car.

A group of reporters took pictures on both sides. A total of more than a dozen senior officials, including the Administrative Secretary, the Government Affairs Bureau, and representatives of the garrison, stood in front of the red carpet.

Bai Liji walked down the gangway and shook hands with the officials one by one. In fact, he knew all the information of everyone by heart. Just as he was saying hello to the representative of the garrison, a dazzling light suddenly swept over.He instinctively squinted his eyes and looked sideways. It was a convoy arriving at the scene.

He Dingxian, Jian Baoning, Yan Xiong and others pushed the door to get out of the car, came to the red carpet and saluted: "Sorry sir!"

"Ken sir."

But Bai Liji smiled brightly, held his hand and patted his shoulder: "Long time no see."

"Yes."

Jian Baoning didn't dare to say more.

Bai Liji looked at He Dingxian again, and said, "He sir."

"Long time."

He Dingxian was slightly surprised when he heard the Cantonese uttered from his mouth, and saluted, "Welcome, sir!"

Undoubtedly, the police force rushed into the airport as a sign of Mawei, but Bai Liji gave people the feeling that he was not surprised by honor or disgrace, and he didn't care at all about the intention of the police force to show his muscles. He not only shook hands with He Dingxian and Jian Baoning, He also shook hands with Yan Xiong, Lan Gang and others, and offered to be escorted by the police to Mount Taiping.Naturally, He Dingxian, Jian Baoning and others readily agreed, and the convoy drove out of the airport after a while.

in a car.

With a cigarette in his mouth, He Dingxian said in a playful tone, "Sir Jian, this new governor looks difficult to deal with."

"Bai sir was the private secretary of Sir Kim Tae-wen, the governor of Sanzhou Prefecture in his early years. He has been admitted to the colonial government office after graduating from university. He has very rich experience in colonial management." Jian Baoning said: "And he was in the army during World War II. An officer of the Federal Far East Intelligence Corps, responsible for special operations in the Malaysian region, also organized guerrillas to resist the Japanese army in the North Borneo region, but was captured as the entire territory of Malaysia fell, and was imprisoned in a prisoner-of-war camp until the end of World War II.”

He Dingxian knew some of Bai Liji's experience in Singapore, but he didn't know that he had also led the Malaysian guerrillas. He was a person who had been tempered by the flames of war. No wonder he could bear many things and not care about them.

"I heard that Bai Liji resolved many constitutional crises in Singapore during his tenure?" After he asked, Jian Baoning nodded: "Yes, if there was no mediation by Sir Bai, there would have been a large-scale rebellion in Sanzhou Prefecture."

Sanzhou Fu is Singapore, Penang, and Malacca, the collective name of the three important port cities in the Malay Peninsula. In a broad sense, it also refers to the attached Malaysian archipelago.Before World War II, these places were all under the management of a governor, officially called the "Governor of the Straits", and the folks called "Governor of Sanzhoufu".After World War II, the Governor of the Straits was divided into three, and eleven states including Malay, Penang Island, and Malacca formed the "Malaysian Union", which was managed by the Malay Governor. Labuan and North Borneo were merged, and the Governor of Brunei was established. Singapore was split off separately, and a Singaporean governor was appointed to manage it.

This is obviously because the British officials realized the emergence of the tide of colonial independence and consciously dismantled the three continents to avoid the emergence of a medium-sized sovereign state in the Straits of Malacca.In the future, if it is self-governing and independent, it will be better for three countries to check and balance each other than one country to control the strait.

Taiping Mountain.

Governor's Palace.

After Bai Liji got off the car in the mansion, he did not enter the door in a hurry, but smiled towards He Dingxian and Jian Baoning: "Sir Jian, Sir He, if you don't mind the trouble, come in and have a drink?"

"Yes, sir."

He Dingxian and Jian Baoning quietly looked at each other, and they all saluted and agreed.

There are a group of accompanying officials who are responsible for carrying the luggage. In fact, the three of them have nothing to do. The mansion has already been cleaned, and they just need to add some things according to their personal habits.Bai Liji took the two of them to the reception area of ​​the office, smiled and asked the secretary to make tea, and said softly: "The office has not officially started today, and this is not an official office, just treat it as if I invited the two of you to my home." Small talk."

"I still remember the last time I came to Victoria Peak, I was still working in the Colonial Secretary. Seven years later, Sir Jian was still the Senior Assistant Commissioner at that time, right? Now he is the head of the police force. Sir He was working at that time. Well?"

He Dingxian made some calculations and said with a smile, "Studying in the police academy."

"Times have changed, and many things have changed. For example, Singapore has become a semi-autonomous state, and I believe it will soon achieve the goal of self-government. The population of Hong Kong Island has also more than doubled. While gaining labor to develop the economy, it has also caused many social conflicts. " Bai Liji said sharply: "Last year's Double Ten incident was an outbreak of contradictions. Sir Gee's policy of developing the economy and absorbing the population is correct, but he only cares about developing the economy along the way, regardless of digesting social conflicts and adjusting the status of the Chinese. Social conflicts are only It's going to get more intense."

He Dingxian was silent, because the governor in front of him was not an arrogant, arrogant, and powerful person, but a smart person who knew how to analyze social conflicts and the international situation. In other words, every governor must be a qualified politician However, the longer you stay in the position, the easier it is to be kidnapped by ambition and interests.

He asked: "Mr. Governor, how do you plan to solve social conflicts?"

"Hehe, the first thing is to revitalize the industry, solve the heavy labor force in the society, let more Chinese enter the factory from the wharf, and change from coolie labor to skilled workers. Although the social class has not changed, the excess productivity brought by industry is enough to make The Chinese live a better life than the agricultural society." Bai Liji stared at him straightly and said: "You can't deny that only one percent of people on Hong Kong Island live in modern society, and the remaining 90.00% nine people , still living in an agricultural society.”

"For the Chinese, there is no difference between today and 100 years ago. When Hong Kong Island's industry improves, it will naturally feed back to the areas of people's livelihood such as medical care, education, and water and electricity. As for the capital area, liberalism will be adopted."

"So, sir, I need the support of the police force to put aside disputes together and develop together. When Hong Kong Island is well, every Hong Kong person's life will be better. In the field of people's livelihood, the citizens enjoy the most, and the citizens enjoy the most Chinese."

Bai Liji took a sip of tea: "There is an intermission in the war, let alone a political struggle? Sir."

(End of this chapter)