THOUGHTS of England fail to bring a smile to the face of one Hong Kong Chinese member of the British forces.
Asked why he didn't apply for a British passport he fixed a cold stare and answered without pause for thought. ''I should have been given one automatically - I should not have needed to apply,'' he said. ''I am a member of the British Forces. Am I not British?'' British Home Secretary Michael Howard, himself the son a Romanian refugee, has confirmed he is not. But for his 22 years' service for the British Crown, taking orders from the British Government, and being prepared to defend the British territory even against a nation which will soon rule it and rule him, he does get a slightly better than one-in-six chance of British nationality.
But odds, about the same as Russian roulette, were not tempting enough to prevent him stubbornly throwing his opportunity away to make a point.
The 1,300 locally-enlisted per sonnel (LEPs) of the British Garrison, made up of the Hong Kong Military Service Corps (HKMSC) and the Royal Navy LEPs (RNLEPs), have been included in the same category as the police and correctional services for the 7,000 British passports being handed out under the disciplined services class out of a total of 50,000 on offer.
In the first of two tranches under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act, 632 of the 1,084 then members of the HKMSC applied for passports, while 124 of the 334 RNLEPs applied - 756 applications in all, of which 202 were successful. In the second tranche, there are likely to be about 54 more passports up for grabs.
The failure of many LEPs to apply may have more to do with financial reasons and loss of face than not wanting a passport. The points system used to grade applicants gives a clear indication who would probably fail. Many may not have applied because theyknew or suspected rejection and did not want to pay up to $7,000 for a family of four to be passed over for someone possibly their junior.