Fearless of the Night, the Light is Always Bright

Description

The sea is so broad that it can accommodate all rivers. As a cosmopolitan city surrounded by sea on three sides, Hong Kong's civilization has been nurtured by the sea, and its ability to embrace diverse cultures has also been honed.

The traffic flow of this city is busy. While the urban crowd rushes through the grey forest of concrete and steel, there is a group of people who gave up the urban glitz and left their families to guard the safety of the similarly busy maritime transport day and night.

They are lighthouse keepers.

Charles Beattie Allenby Haig Thirlwell was born in a British family in Hong Kong in 1918. His father served Tai Koo Dockyard as Master Mariner and captain of the tug “Tai Koo.” Fearless of solitude, Thirlwell chose to live in and guard guarding Waglan Island Lighthouse and Green Island Lighthouse for more than 20 years. He was not only devoted to the management of the lighthouse, but also helped to promote the integration of fishermen with the Hong Kong community, breaking down barriers and building bridges between land and water cultures.

He has passed away, but his voice is still there, and his family and friends will tell us more about him.

“How did Charles Thirlwell become father of fishermen in Hong Kong in the 1980s?”

“Why was a "gweilo", the expatriate inspector on Waglan Island, able to speak the fishermen’s language?”

" How did the Thrilwell family spend Christmas on Green Island, far from the urban area?”

“What is the early life of those people living on water like? What did Charles do for them on Waglan Island?”

This event will invite the Thirlwells, Mary Leung, James Thirlwell, Catherine Thirlwell, Christine Thirlwell, and Olivia Thirlwell and his friends, Peter Ying-lun Chan, Lai Chi Keung, Lai Tim and Lai Wing Hung to share their anecdotes and feelings. The students from City University of Hong Kong’s Lighthouse Heritage Research Connections (LHRC) who have contributed to the book will also be there to tell us the story of Hong Kong's lighthouses from the perspectives of different disciplines. Spoiler alert, these students will include visually impaired students who have also contributed to this research.

Period	12 Dec 2021
Event title	Book Release and discussion panel “Seeing in the dark: Hong Kong Harbour and Lighthouses”《夜航明燈: 香港港口與燈塔》專書發布會
Event type	Other
Location	Hong Kong, ChinaShow on map