Letters | Peter Moss was a journalist, Renaissance man and warm friend who will be deeply missed
- The veteran journalist and writer’s love of Hong Kong was apparent in his work
Heading the publicity division of GIS, Peter was responsible for all government publicity, including the Lap Sap Chung anti-littering and anti-smoking campaigns. He reported on the 1967 riots, covered the border area, and once rode on a helicopter that landed on the roof of a building in North Point where bombs were manufactured.
In some 18 books, he demonstrated his love of Hong Kong and its people and his quintessential ability to evoke the past and a wealth of memories. His autobiography presented as a trilogy – Bye Bye Blackbird, Distant Archipelagos and No Babylon – charted his experiences in India, Malaysia and Hong Kong as each territory entered the last days of the British empire and was lauded by author Jan Morris as “a marvellous achievement, both as a personal and a historical document”. His first novel, The Singing Tree, described as “a little gem” by The New York Times, very nearly appeared on the silver screen.
Peter has been a huge support to Brian both as art critic and enthusiast since 1962 in Kuala Lumpur and he inspired the production of the book Hong Kong Heritage in 1989.
Recently, Peter had divided his time between Kuala Selangor and Manila where his devoted family looked after him, as he had them since 1965. There are friends scattered all over the world who felt singularly helpless in the face of his impending death.
Brian and Moyreen Tilbrook, Lamma Island