Then & Now | Gold teeth, Parker pens, a Rolex watch: escape kits for when you have to flee for your life, and the things you’d leave behind

Many Hong Kong people have experienced traumatic upheaval in their own families’ relatively recent past; vivid stories of hurried escape from the aftermath of war and revolution – both in China and in Southeast Asia, in times of rising anti-Chinese sentiment – are an inherent part of the fabric of too many lives.

Traumatic, handed-down experiences of sudden dislocation continue to influence how many still live today – especially in their approach to personal possessions.

What would one suddenly grab to take away, if the local security situation rapidly deteriorated and the only realistic option was to do a runner, and as quickly as possible? This awful conundrum has confronted people faced with uncertain political circumstances since the dawn of human history, and tragically still does, on a daily basis, for thousands of refugees all over the world.

The gap between the objects each individual needs emotionally – the “these and thems and those” that signify past, present, home and belonging – and their practical value in times of chaos, yawns into a gaping chasm at these times.

Portability, concealability and redeemability were key considerations. For personal safety, a stash of valuables had to look like anything other than what it was. In times of civil unrest and instability, a certain amount of gold, carried on one’s person at all times, was vital insurance against unforeseen catastrophe.

Part of the reason for the popularity of gold teeth in earlier generations was that potentially life-saving stores of precious metal lay permanently embedded in one’s mouth. Effective concealment rested – literally – on keeping one’s trap firmly shut.