Expats say farewell to colonial era before luxury cruise home

Eyes brimmed with tears as the opulent Oriana liner prepared to sail from Hong Kong yesterday with 53 retiring expatriate civil servants and their families on board.

For officials taking a final glimpse of the territory under British rule, it was an emotional occasion. Former director of social welfare, Ian Strachan, who retired last October and flew from Britain to sail home again, described the moment as the end of a big chapter in his life.

'There are tears in my eyes,' he said. 'It is like leaving an old friend when you are not sure when you are going to see them again. Hong Kong has been such an important part of my life.' Mr Strachan said the British had to leave but they should be proud of what they had achieved.

'I came to Hong Kong when I was 21, straight from university,' he said. 'I intended staying three years and never imagined that I would stay 32. I never imagined Hong Kong would become as important, wealthy and as prosperous as it has.' Former refugee co-ordinator Brian Bresnihan, 50, who left his job last week, was another to board the cruise ship.

The retiring officials and 13 others due to leave on Cunard's QE2 tomorrow are exercising their contractual right to a sea passage home, at a cost to the taxpayer of $9.9 million, or $62,700 each.

Passengers will spend 34 nights aboard the Oriana, calling at Kota Kinabalu, Singapore, Mauritius, Durban, Cape Town, Walvis Bay in Namibia, the Cape Verde Islands and Tenerife before arriving back in the Britain.