The Lone Flag: Memoir of the British Consul in Macao during World War II

Chapter VI: Relief

Let us return to our refugees and their problems and see how they were looked after. Some of them, I am afraid, would deny, or try to deny that they were looked after at all but it is the lot of the public official, all over the world, sometimes to have to take unpopular decisions, sometimes against his own wishes, without being able to point out to the public the reasons for such decisions, whether they stem from superior orders or from his own judgement of the situation. On the whole, apart from the inevitable disgruntled minority, to be found in every community, my family showed their appreciation of our efforts very fully indeed and we are grateful for their gratitude; it fortified us during our difficulties and refreshed us after our labours were over; it leaves to this day, and will till our deaths, leave an aftertaste mentally which cannot be destroyed. I have spoken vaguely of the C.E.R., the Portuguese side of the relief problem. This was, as I have indicated, to begin with, extremely haphazard and even fragmentary; no definite policy was determined and everything was on a hand-to-mouth basis. This could not continue and a conference was held between Mr. Leo d’Almada Jr. (a member of Hongkong’s Legislative Council), Mr. Remedios of the P.R.A. (Portuguese Residents Association of Hongkong) and myself in general terms. As a result of this, Mr. Remedios and I sent in completely independent memoranda suggesting a course of action vis-à-vis the Portuguese refugees; somewhat surprisingly, the two memoranda were almost identical notes; we both suggested a measure of self-government for the refugees and various means, communal gardens, farms, classes etc. to improve morale. Whether owing to our memoranda or Chapter VI Relief The Lone Flag 50 to the fact that the problem was now beyond the power of an already overworked Colonial Secretariat, the first part of the programme at least was put into action and the C.E.R. was the result. I may here not have given enough credit to Leo d’Almada,1 who may have influenced the course of events more than I knew. But I have at least given credit to Mr. Remedios2 who later died as a result of Japanese cruelty, as so many innocent men and women were to die. I must again emphasize that this record is not written with a strict regard for the chronological sequence of events; parallel interlocking developments were too frequent for such a course to be possible. So, if I speak of the C.E.R. as a living entity, I imply that it grew, little by little to the stature that I describe. It had a semi-governmental capacity being headed by Mr. Lobo and Captain Silva e Costa who was known as the Governor’s Private Secretary; his actual title was Chefe de Gabinete (literally Chief of Cabinet or Office) which could more or less be translated as Chief of the Governor’s Civil Staff;3 since I have already referred to him as “Captain” this may lead to further confusion but many Civil posts under the Portuguese Estado Novo, New State, the Government of Dr. Salazar, were filled by members of the Armed Forces; the Governor himself was an example. Under these two was an Executive Committee consisting of Mr. A.A. Lopes, Mr. Eddie Sousa, and Mr. Botelho. The first of these was the President of the Executive Committee, Sousa was supply-officer and Botelho accountant (if there are any inaccuracies it must be remembered that I am writing from memory). All three did a fine job, better perhaps than the refugees themselves know; Artur Lopes used to be blamed for dictatorial methods but thinking refugees realised that strong discipline was frequently only too necessary. It is within my personal knowledge that Artur many times risked his position to help refugees who were behindhand on repayments due to the Commission; if his cash position had been examined at such a moment he would have been dismissed; only very few of us knew the risks he was taking on behalf of individuals some of whom deserved less consideration by far. Relief 51 Eddie Sousa, a giant of a smiling man, best known perhaps for his comedy turn as a child in sailor clothes, had a hard row to plough. It was far from being...