AustLit

'Randy Munoz was the toughest kid in Kowloon Tong. For a start he had a knife. He first produced it on a YMCA camping trip we went on to some small, rugged islands in the Port Shelter group in the waters off Sai Kung in the eastern part of the New Territories.

We were bunked down in a huge shed on one of the islands because it was raining at the time and late at night contraband items including Scotch whisky (Johnny Walker red label to be precise) and Cuban cigars were produced by some of the older boys who must have been only 13 or 14. Randy, meanwhile, had his knife and during our weekend, which always reminds me of Lord of the Flies for some strange reason, we practised throwing it – sometimes at tree trunks, sometimes at the ground and sometimes at each other’s feet, nimbly jumping from side to side to avoid the blade.' (Introduction)