Pulling rank on the court officials

WILL the CCF play tennis? That is the strategic question most occupying clear-minded thinkers at present. And it is one the Preliminary Working Committee should really be getting its teeth into if it wants to ensure as difficult a handover as possible.

Most likely the table variety will be more to the taste of the head of the post-1997 garrison, or the Commander Chinese Forces as we shall call him, following the example of his British predecessors. But Hong Kong being the status-conscious place it is, he may decide to go for an upgrade.

However, as the present Commander British Forces, Bryan Dutton, knows to his frustration, there is one place in town he cannot pull rank: in the queue for the tennis court.

Queue? Surely, he doesn't have to queue to play tennis? Apparently, yes, he does. The general's official Barker Road residence has one small failing. Headquarters House has no tennis court.

So where does a senior man like him go when he wants a game? Why, just up the road to the chief secretary's private court. Other top officials use the Victoria House court too. But somehow it is only the CBF who seems to want to use the court at the same time as Anson Chan.

British military training comes in useful here. An upright bearing and a stiff upper lip are the only dignified response when the chief secretary puts a tiny foot down.

We have to hope the future CCF does not go for more conventional military solutions.