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Annemarie Evans

Albert Lam Ping-wai's 24 years' service as a soldier in the British Army serves him - and Hong Kong - well. These days he uses the organisational skills, self-discipline and confidence he learned in the military to help out as vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Ex-servicemen's Association.

'After the soldiers were disbanded in 1997, we needed organisations that could look after former soldiers,' he says.

'It was most important to continue the fine military tradition. I'm also a director with the Hong Kong Volunteers' Association and a committee member of the Royal British Legion.'

The ex-servicemen's association has 13,000 members.

Mr Lam says those who get help are not necessarily the elderly who may have served in the second world war.

'The money from the annual poppy day is used to help all ex-soldiers in Hong Kong,' Mr Lam, 53, says.

'Regardless of age really, we look at the individual cases and pass the case to Caritas and ask a social worker to make a home visit and study the financial situation of the applicant.' One such recipient is a former member of the Royal Navy who has diabetes.

Now 39, he has gone blind and can no longer work and needs to go to hospital every other day for treatment.

Mr Lam's penchant for organisation is reflected in his careers. The former army captain is now an estate manager at the University of Science and Technology.

He says the job 'is like the quartermaster in the army, sorting out the cleaning, labour, transport and stores'.

The Royal British Legion organises the annual poppy appeal ahead of Remembrance Sunday, which is tomorrow. None of the money goes abroad; it is solely used for Hong Kong's former soldiers.

Mr Lam laments the fact that many young Hongkongers know little of their past. 'Regarding those who served in the battle for Hong Kong [before Hong Kong surrendered to the Japanese on December 25, 1941], once this generation goes, I don't know how it will be remembered as the younger generation doesn't know much about it,' he says.

With  Britain and other allies of US President George W. Bush at war in Iraq, conflict is still high on the agenda in international politics, but Mr Lam says it is little understood in Hong Kong.

'It is a very common thing that Hong Kong people, especially the young, are not interested in international politics. Very few young people express opinions on whether it is right for the US to go into Iraq,' he says.

Remembrance Day is widely commemorated  with poppies.

'The poppy flower idea comes from a Canadian army doctor, John McCrae,' Mr Lam says. 'He served on the Western Front during the first world war.

'Many close friends of his died and every day the earth around him grew with crosses of the dead.'

Because the earth was churned on the battlefield, dormant poppy seeds also began to grow.

'McCrae was killed on the Western Front,' Mr Lam says.

'But before he died he wrote a poem that has become very famous and is why the poppy is used today. It starts like this: 'In Flanders fields the poppies grow, between the crosses, row on row'.

'It is very touching. Those soldiers gave away their tomorrow for our today.'



Skills learned as a soldier still being put to good service