Probus Club of Charles Darwin May meeting
29 May 2018
Pictured below is Kevin Chin (he and his wife Joyce a wonderful members of the Probus Club of Charles Darwin Inc) taken at the ClubsMay meeting. The Club had a young guide from Crocodylus Park with a couple of friends as the guest speaker.
Member Kevin shared this true story.
Kevin’s grandfather Chin Mee Lung, came to Darwin in the 1880’s as indentured labour to build the first railway line southwards from Darwin and in his spare time, he repaired clothes for other workers and did some prospecting. He was kind hearted and felt sorry for the crocodiles which were being slaughtered, so he bought young crocodiles and set them free.
After high school (1958 +), Kevin’s training to be a Land surveyor often took him on bush trips, so his grandmother Chin Wong See advised him not to be afraid of crocodiles because his grandfather who was kind, used to set them free and the crocodiles would remember his kindness. He was told to tell the crocodiles that he was the grandson of Chin Mee Lung and he would be safe from them.
During Kevin’s survey trips to the Daly River, they often swam amongst the young fresh water crocodiles and were never attacked. At the time, crocodiles were being culled, so they were not aggressive.
In the photo above Kevin is talking Chinese to the crocodile telling it not to be afraid.
®