500 PLA summer camp cadets battle heat as they step out of their comfort zone

Combined camp brought together around 350 school pupils and 150 university students for two weeks of military training

Wilson Hui Chau-yuen, a 22-year-old final-year student at Hong Kong Metropolitan University, recalls that the scorching heat was the biggest enemy during an annual two-week summer camp organised by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) garrison.

“Even on the city’s hottest day, our training continued without pause including martial arts, bayonet practice and marching drills,” Hui said on Sunday, adding that he hoped to join Hong Kong’s disciplined services in the future.

The Hong Kong Observatory recorded a maximum temperature of 36.9 degrees Celsius (98.4 Fahrenheit) last Sunday, the highest since records began in 1884.

Hui was among about 500 local students who spent two weeks building resilience and self-reliance at the PLA camp at San Wai Barracks in Fanling.

Form Three student Lewis Wong Lok-hei, from Methodist College, recalled his biggest takeaway from the experience.

“It was very tough, but if it wasn’t tough, why would I even come here? … We came to step out of our comfort zone, train ourselves and persevere.”