SOLDIERING ON

IT SEEMED LIKE the end of the road for Hong Kong Chinese members of the British armed forces in the run-up to the handover in 1997. As the British prepared to leave, the 1,300 locally enlisted personnel (LEPs), who had been ready to die to defend the British crown, were told they had no special privilege in applying for British passports. Not only were many worried about the prospect of falling victim to an anti-British backlash, but their soldiering days appeared to be over. Today, almost five years after the handover, some have yet to fully embrace civilian life.

Of the 460 members of the Hong Kong Military Service Corps (HKMSC) and more than 800 local members of the Royal Navy, only about 250 won British passports and the right to live in Britain. The local navy personnel lost their jobs when the British left and the HKMSC disbanded in December 1996.

Formed in 1962, the HKMSC gave Hong Kong Chinese the opportunity to pursue a soldier's career in the British Army for the first time. Thousands joined up during its 36-year existence, prepared to defend the territory from threats both internal and external. They performed many roles, working as drivers, cooks, dog handlers, guards, engineers and medical orderlies. The dog handlers in the Defence Animal Support Unit, for example, arrested more than 20,000 illegal immigrants in their time.

Many former military personnel now say they were not unduly worried about falling victim to any anti-British discrimination, which they say has not materialised. Many former HKMSC squaddies now serve in the Hong Kong Police and others have settled for jobs in security and property management, which pay only half the amount of their former military salaries.

Like many of his colleagues, former corporal Joe Ching Kwok-cheung, who has 12 years' experience in army logistics, opted to stay put. 'I didn't want to leave Hong Kong because I was born here and my family originated from here,' Ching says. 'I have been to other places around the world but I knew I would feel very homesick if I lived permanently elsewhere.'

But Ching, 38, who works for a road-management company, admits a reluctance to return to civilian life spurred him to find a way to utilise his military training. Together with business partner and former staff sergeant Benson Hong Wai-kai, an 18-year veteran who left the corps a year before it was disbanded, Ching is passing on his army expertise to civilians. The pair set up Teamwell Development in 1997 and now employ 15 part-time trainers, all former HKMSC soldiers. Based near Tuen Mun, they provide a wide range of training to the public, from outdoor corporate team-building to war games.