BOOK: Tales from a Barren Rock- Reminiscences of Life in Hong Kong

Mayhem and mirth in the daily running of a pool hall, the trials of a police team targeting brothels, plus adventures with triads, murderers and rioters… Tales from a Barren Rock contains more than thirty Hong Kong stories from long-time foreign residents of this enclave on the South China coast. What was it really like inside Government House during the closing decades of the British era? What stories does St John’s Cathedral hold? And what of Cathay Pacific and Cable & Wireless? The writers regale us with tales from their own lives in their home away from home, the place they loved and still love, that jewel on the China coast, Hong Kong.

About the authors:

Jethro Roger Medcalf is a New Zealander resident in Hong Kong for 50 years. He was a journalist in Auckland, Toronto and Hong Kong. Later he ran his own communications agency, Medcalf & Company Ltd, for 20 years. Roger is the founder of SAI KUNG BUZZ news magazine, a director of Windy City International Ltd, and part owner of the Dan Ryan's and Amaroni's Little Italy chain of restaurants for 30 years. Among other interests, Roger is a light aircraft pilot, cross-country runner -- when younger -- and animal welfare activist, having served on Exco of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and welfare groups such as the No Kill Forum. Roger created the Sai Kung Concert for the Animals, an annual benefit for dog and cat charities. Roger has served as a director of the AdventureShip charity, Hong Kong Aviation Club and Hong Kong Hash House Harriers. He lives in Sai Kung, Hong Kong, with his wife and cat.

Born in New Zealand in 1945, Rod Olsen spent his early years on a sheep farm, but when he graduated from high school, the one certainty in life was that he did not want to be a farmer. He earned a degree in Finance and Commercial law from Victoria University and qualified as a Chartered Accountant, then left New Zealand for the wider world. He has since lived variously in London, Paris, Sydney, Hong Kong and Auckland. He worked for Cable & Wireless in Hong Kong for 22 years, also serving on the board of the Standard Chartered Bank for 6 years. At 53, he retired from the large corporate world and started a whole new career as a consultant and advisor to early stage technology companies. Outside the business world, Rod has been an enthusiastic cross-country runner and long distance hiker. His longest trek was along the Pyrenean mountain trail that follows the French/Spanish border for 900 kilometres between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Earnshaw Books (21 May 2024)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 340 pages
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.97 x 1.96 x 21.59 cm