Clutha businessman steps up in Chinese tourists’ hour of need

Bilingual Balclutha businessman Chik Yin So’s Cantonese skills can be a potential life-saver. PHOTOS: NICK BROOK

Fish and chip operator, interpreter and man of the hour — Chik Yin So can do it all.

Known in the community as Yin, the Balclutha businessman was called at zero notice to interpret for Chinese tourists caught in a close-call crash late last month.

About 10am on April 29, a car was struck and thrown by a southbound locomotive in Balclutha.

Emergency services arrived quickly to find the occupants were Chinese nationals with "not a word of English".

"That was quite an obstacle," Balclutha Volunteer Fire Brigade Chief Fire Officer Jason Lyall said.

But Yin came to the rescue.

‘Most of us had the number for Canton Takeaways on our phones.

"When Yin got here and started talking to them in their own language — the look of relief on their faces was unreal.

"He was there in about five minutes ... life got a lot easier for everyone after that."

For more than three hours, fire, ambulance and police officers speaking through Mr So were able to assess the situation in detail.

They came in handy in the aftermath of the recent train versus car wreck in Balclutha in which Yin helped to interpret for the car’s occupants.

"There were four people in the car, following a van from the same group, and a local car," Mr So said.

"In front were a husband and wife who own a furniture factory in Macao; the others were from Canton.

"They saw the lights and bells but there are no barrier arms and she started to follow the others but the husband yelled he saw the train. She tried to reverse but got stuck trying to work the gears."

Witnesses hearing the approaching train’s horn described a "thump" and the rental SUV spinning 270 degrees as it was thrown across the road.

CFO Lyall said the incident was "a matter of inches" from being extremely serious, but somehow the result was simply the small group taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Mr So ascertained one victim had recently had surgery in China, a factor in two of the group being kept overnight in Dunedin.

"He had a big lump on his head [and] the GPS broke off and hit her in the eye," he said.

"They looked very upset. But when they saw a Chinese man to help them speak they were very happy. They said they felt very lucky."

Mr So has been running his business since he arrived in Balclutha in 1991.

"We’ve told him how important he was and how grateful we are, and he’s said he’ll be there to help us out again for any similar situations in the future."