描述: Senior Officers Mess

 

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描述:

History of the Hong Kong Police Senior Officers' Mess

The idea of setting up the Mess, formerly known as the Gazetted Officers' Mess, can be traced back to immediately before the Second World War. During colonial days in Hong Kong, senior police officers enjoyed a relatively high status in society, but financially they could not afford to socialise with the city's prosperous businessmen, other military officers and taipans. It was partly against this backdrop that the Force decided to provide club-type facilities for Gazetted Officers so that they could have a place to hold official events, to receive senior officials, the city's top businessmen and overseas visitors as well as visiting royalty.

Also, there were other practical reasons for providing a pleasant dining facility for police officers. In the old days when telephone was a rarity, effective communication, swift mobilization and emergency response was a challenge to the Force. To keep officers readily available, in particular when off duty, it would be operationally desirable if there was a place inside the station where officers could eat, relax, socialise or even reside.

While the first Mess Committee was formed in 1952, it was not until 1954 when the Police Headquarters moved from the Oriental Building at Connaught Road to the newly built Caine House that the Gazetted Officers' Mess was opened. (The Mess was formally opened on the 25th of March 1955 by His Excellency the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Alexander Grantham.) The Mess has been occupying this location at Caine House since then. From the beginning, the Gazetted Officers' Mess was used as a residential mess for single Gazetted Officers where it accommodated six Superintendents in the 6th floor south wing and one Senior Superintendent on the 7th floor. The Mess was regarded as 'superior' accommodation. The Government supplied first-class fittings and furniture to the Mess, which included the high back dining chairs, each chairs has carved into it with the original Hong Kong Police Badge and the Tudor Crown (the King's Crown), and are still in use in the Dining Room today.

Over the years, the Mess has undergone various renovations and developments, such as the extension of dining areas to cover the original balcony facing the harbour, installation of the air-conditioning system, the alteration of the 7th floor into an anteroom, which includes a bar and a dining room, and not to mention its change of name from the Gazetted Officers' Mess to the Senior Officers' Mess when China resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong on the 1st of July 1997.