One thing that makes all this worthwhile is when I write about something* and end up learning more about it in the process. I hadn’t realized that Hong Kong did used to have Summer Time, but Dave kindly pointed this out to me on the Observatory’s website:
Summer Time in Hong Kong was first introduced in 1941. Hong Kong Summer Time = Hong Kong Standard Time + 1 hour.
You will notice that during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Summer Time applied for the whole year, and then events in the Middle East and the resulting rise in oil prices prompted them to introduce it for the winter of 1972/73. Apart from that it was in force from Spring until Autumn.
Which is about as exact as it gets, because the start and end dates seem to have been somewhat random (starting any time from mid-March to mid-May, and ending from late October to early December). Then they appear to have given up on it in 1977 and 1978 only to bring it back in 1979 for one final fling.
It’s bad enough having to remember to put your clocks forwards and backwards each year, but the least you would expect is that there would be some logic and consistency to it. Obviously I wasn’t here when this mad experiment was taking place, but maybe one or two of my older readers (Fumier, perhaps) would have some amusing anecdotes about arriving at the Dim Sum restaurant way too early or being late for work on Monday morning.
* Preferably something trivial and unimportant.
Ordinary Gweilo 
Leave a comment