I weighed myself the other day and find I have already put on 10 lbs.
Visitors still come pouring into camp and we have seen a lot more friends: Cedric Brown is coming in today. Mr Ho of Cheong Hing Co. came and visited us and it was nice to see him again. He said that he had done no building work at all during the Japanese occupation but, in spite of that and in spite of the difficulty of raising money and the high cost of food, their firm had managed to maintain all their permanent staff which was a very creditable effort. Mr Ho said he had opened a small provisions shop!
R. Devaux also paid us a visit and we were glad to see him and thank him again for looking after our box of silver. He said that that box and our canteen of cutlery were quite safe. He had emptied the other box and had sent to us in camp the clothes it contained. He could not remember if Pop’s dress uniform was safe. We asked him eagerly and anxiously about Ho Kee ((their 'house boy')) and were horrified at what he told us.
We had known early on that Ho Kee had stayed on in our flat and had obtained employment with some Japanese reporters who had occupied the premises. At first things had been just possible and he had managed to subsist. Devaux said Ho Kee used periodically to turn up at the French Consulate and enquire after Yvonne and myself and although Devaux had not heard anything about us for some time he used to tell Ho Kee we were quite well and it seemed to cheer him up. Then as food conditions deteriorated his Japanese employers gave him less and less until in the end he was getting 8 catties of raw rice per month and nothing else – no money. This worked out at 5 ozs per day. Normally a Chinese coolie would eat 30 catties per month and Ho Kee would eat at least 20 in addition to the meat, fish and vegetables and oil that make up their diet. Devaux said he tried to help a little but was so hard put to it himself to find food for his household that he could really do nothing effective. Ho Kee had become more and more feeble, he had fallen ill and he had lost all his teeth. Finally, unable to bear his misery any longer, he made an end to his life. He hanged himself in his room just three months before the Japanese surrender.
Yvonne wrote:
Ho Kee had been in Shanghai when the Japs invaded. He had escaped and made his way down to Hong Kong. When he came to us I explained we were not wealthy and he must not be extravagant. When I queried two types of matches on his shopping account, he replied;
“Oh Missy! I put proper size matchbox in sitting room but in kitchen we use small one.”
After that I no longer checked. He was well over sixty and had witnessed Japanese atrocities in China and yet he had the courage to bring us hot porridge when we were first imprisoned ((in the Western district brothels)) and to stay in our flat in the hope we should return one day.
I cannot remember feeling a tragedy so keenly as the end of that poor lonely man. Yvonne and I felt we had sustained a personal loss and it quite stunned us for a while. In talking it over afterwards we realised how often we had thought of and looked forward to the day when we should greet him again and be able to repay him for all of his faithfull devotedness. If only we had known. We had not known for the last few years if Ho Kee had remained in the Colony or whether he had managed to get away to the country. Had we known he was in that plight we surely could have contrived somehow to get a message to Devaux and asked him to sell our silver plate and stuff and kept Ho Kee going with the proceeds. It has made us very sad and I feel ashamed of the way we have grumbled at our lot when our Chinese friends were having such a terrible time. Devaux (who is now French Representative in the Colony) said that at one time as many as 1,000 Chinese were dying per day and one day the figure reached 1,100.
Now Cedric Brown and his friend has arrived, both looking very fit and I must continue this later.