24th June 1966

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
Kowloon Branch
Peninsula Court
P.O. Box 5986, Kowloon,
Hong Kong

Dear Mum, Dad and Alan,

Am afraid I am behind in writing but with the humid weather it is so easy to put it off in the evening and so the time passes.  The floods did not effect us at all except for all the schools closing and the children having a week off.  Today is the first without any rain for about 3 weeks.  It was pretty heavy at times and the damage on Hong Kong side was very bad.  Whole sections of the road washed down the hillside and the Peak Tram out of action.  People clambering up and down did so without knowing when or where the next ship would be.  For many days the cloud was down low and this did not help the helicopters working.  Telephones were out of action on both sides of the harbour.  Trams and buses stopped and water everywhere.  We were lucky to be on this side and dry.

Caroline had an enjoyable party and many presents.  She has now got her twenty lengths badge for swimming so is doing well.  Her width crawl is very impressive except that she is unable to breath at all on the way across.  Diving comes next and is proving to be difficult.

I bought myself a sports shirt for my birthday just under £2 as I found my stock was wearing out.  Life beyond the office has been a little vague because of the weather.  The days are very full with quantities of new requirements in preparation for the various stages necessary for the introduction of the computer in 1967 and 1968.  With 160 on the staff there are many problems.  Today I had one man off having been in a fight with a supervisor, one man to sack and one taken ill.  A time consuming and bringing extra problems in their wake, so the end of the day often comes as a surprise - but it is not dull.

Cheerio and love
Peter