Modest Wong 'just doing his job', but doing it well enough to prevent a disaster

The silver lining in the dark clouds of potential sabotage last week was the impressive thoroughness and engaging humility of tracks supervisor Jackson Wong Chak-shuen, who was credited with discovering the destructive device and foiling the wicked plot.

Wong was leading a team of four in their inspection of the track that morning and the serious way they have conducted what, to an outsider, might seem a boring and repetitive job says much about their character and diligence.

Just imagine walking the track, as they do every meeting, looking for something, anything, where nothing has ever been found before. Just expanses of lush, green turf. How alert would you be? The racing industry can be thankful that Wong, 29, was super alert, and there is no telling how many lives were saved and injuries prevented simply because he was dedicated to doing a simple job to the best of his ability.

The young man, who has been with the club for five years and was promoted to his present role two years ago, has been hailed as a hero, but was amazingly modest, deflecting the praise that washed over him because 'I was just doing my job'.

Chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges introduced Wong to the media on the night, saying his high level of diligence had been the difference between a happy ending and a potential disaster.

While Wong will no doubt be proud of his performance, the club can also take a big positive out of the experience. It was their programme of checking and double checking, way beyond what other race clubs might deem reasonable, that led to Wong discovering the buried projectile launchers and sounding the alarm.