Meet the bomb squad chief who has protected Hong Kong from more than 300 explosives
Ready to retire after 30 unforgettable years with police force helping protect city, senior superintendent believes not in luck but discipline
From serving as a personal bodyguard for Hong Kong’s last British governor to overseeing the city’s bomb squad to protect it from more than 300 explosives, Tony Chow Shek-kin is no stranger to danger.
“Everyone’s afraid of death,” the 54-year-old outgoing head of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Bureau told the Post, dressed in the EOD’s classic black jumpsuit at the base of Jardine’s Lookout. “But I think it’s about how you eliminate the danger. If we don’t do it, who will?”
Retiring next March after 30 years with the police force, the long-time safety specialist does not believe in luck. And he said mistakes can creep in when fear takes over, leaving no second chance. The experience is rather unlike the one portrayed by award-winning singer and actor Andy Lau Tak-wah, who played a charming bomb disposal officer in the 2017 action film Shock Wave. Chow helped Lau learn about EOD work for the film.
In Chow’s experience, defusing a bomb while wearing a 65lb protective suit is not as glamorous as Lau made it seem. In fact, it’s far dirtier, the senior superintendent said with a laugh.
“Andy Lau is prettier than we are,” he quipped. “In the movie, officers go in there, spend five minutes on the bomb, then walk away very quickly as heroes. In real life, we have to be there for quite a long time. There’s no second take. If we make a mistake, we die.”
