Unnoticed by almost everybody, life has been marching on at a merry pace in Hong Kong thanks to the foot-drills, salutes and military-style razzmatazz of two almost unknown groups of cadets, the newly founded Hong Kong Army Cadets Association and a second group also calling itself the Hong Kong Army Cadets, but - quite astonishingly - with a decidedly British military background!

First let's try to untangle the confusing origins and operations of this peculiar pro-British cadet set-up, the existence of which seems to have been top secret for the past 14 years. If you are jolted to find that such a group has somehow operated in Hong Kong for such a long period, prepare yourself for a bigger shock - almost unbelievably there are reliable reports that parties of its cadets travel to the mainland to carry out supervised training with live ammunition!

The group was founded in 2001 - four years after sovereignty of Hong Kong was restored to the motherland - by a former British soldier Danny Ng Yau-ming and originally named the Sandhurst Discipline Training Company. There couldn't be a more thoroughly British name for any organization connected with the military since the British army's historic military training facility is the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. It is where all British officers are trained to professionally lead troops under their command. However, more recently its title was diplomatically changed to the Hong Kong Army Cadets.

Its commander is the above-mentioned Danny Ng, except that he is now better known to the cadets as Colonel Ng, and his photograph on the group's website shows him wearing a British-style jungle-green uniform. Ng previously served for 22 years in the Hong Kong Military Service Corps before the 1997 handover.

The cadets' site on Facebook gives this explanation of the group's membership: "As a uniform group in Hong Kong we are unique in that our founders have been regular British Army soldiers from the city." It adds that, "We select appropriate aspects of what the military teaches to give teenagers character, individuality, leadership, good judgment and, above all, a sense of commitment to our society."

The site has only 34 members but for some reason the group was given a surprising amount of "face" in March, 2013, from a most unexpected source - an official visit from Brigadier Duncan Francis, the British defense attache at the British embassy in Beijing!

Brigadier Francis flew to Hong Kong to conduct a review of the cadets, with Colonel Ng presumably standing at attention beside him as he took the salute. Francis would have felt quite at home at the ceremony since the cadets wear British-style uniforms and their corps copies the British Army system of rank, organization and even insignia.

An embassy official in Beijing has confirmed the brigadier's visit, saying "It is normal practice for defense attaches to accept invitations from cadet forces whether they are non-profit or government-funded organizations."

So who funds Colonel Ng's cadet corps? At what park, playground or other venue did the ceremony take place? And if the function took place at a government park, playground or reserve, which department approved its use? These are just some of many questions on the lips of law-abiding Hong Kong residents who must be flabbergasted to learn that this most peculiar sort of para-military British-styled group is permitted to operate in Hong Kong, let alone inculcating teenagers with military values.

Meanwhile, the second group of cadets, the Hong Kong Army Cadets Association, is very much a newcomer to the field. Its inauguration ceremony took place only recently at the People's Liberation Army Navy base at Stonecutters Island. It is chaired by Bunny Chan Chung-bun, who is also chairman of the Youth Commission.

Several dozen youths, all of them university students, were sworn in as members and took an oath to "serve the motherland." And if they were made to learn more about patriotism and sense of nationhood, I say "It's about time - not just for them, but all Hong Kong youngsters!"

In most countries, such activities are not only allowed, but systematically encouraged, be it through classroom lessons, scouting activities, or community gatherings on national days. It is sad to see our politicians warning of something sinister when seeing us engaging in something which should have been a regular part of our schools and community life all along.

Hong Kong now stands at a peculiar juncture in its history when even the noble notion of patriotism is being questioned by some regarding its political correctness. It's time we grew up, got our priorities right and stopped ourselves being misled by demagogues with their self-serving political agenda.

The author is an international businessman and a season observer of Asian affairs.

(HK Edition 02/02/2015 page1)