Sailing through

• Source: Global Times
• [00:25 November 02 2009]
• Comments

Malcolm and Emily Rose, Ibiza, Spain in 1997.

Emily Rose can't imagine what may have happened to her life if she hadn't agreed, in 1994, to marry Malcolm Rose. She embarked on an intrepid voyage with him from China to the UK a year later, and from 1995-1998, the couple, having only each other for company on a beautiful yacht, "Pittulie Pride," sailed half way round the world. Setting off from Hong Kong, they sailed through the Malacca Strait, the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and the Straits of Gibraltar, to finally land at the Port of Dover, overlooked by the famous white cliffs.

Sailing into each new country to set foot on dry land, the first challenge for them was to obtain a visa for Emily. "At the time, it was rare for a Chinese citizen to travel abroad on his or her own," says Emily. "Malcolm would always tell the immigration officer that I should be granted a visa as I was probably the first Chinese woman to sail around the world on a yacht."

A life less ordinary

It was love at first sight for both Malcolm and Emily, who met on a sunny spring afternoon in April 1994 at Dr. Sun Yat-sen's birthplace in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, south China.

"I saw a tall European trying to negotiate with a shop assistant with some difficulty, and thought to myself, 'How come the foreigners always have the nicest hips,'" recalls Emily, then an exuberant young woman in her 20s. "So I went forward and asked if he needed any help with interpretation, it was all very spontaneous."

In the middle of a group of noisy tourists, Malcolm was stunned by Emily's excellent English and her charisma. He was in his 50s and was taking a break from sailing, working temporarily in Hong Kong as an architect. He had sailed from England across the Atlantic Ocean, visiting many countries before coming to this corner of Asia. At that point in his life, he was looking for a partner to share the moments of beauty in his extraordinary lifestyle.

Emily sorted out the purchase for him, and he sought her out after the short conversation and befriended her. Malcolm told her all about his life: The freedom that he enjoyed and the knowledge that he had for the world was so overwhelming to Emily that when he asked if she would like to accompany him for the rest of the holiday, she gladly obliged.

On their third date, he asked her: "I'd like to spend the rest of my life with you. Would you like to marry me?" Emily gave an emphatic "Yes" without even the smallest hesitation.

"My parents, of course, were worried about my career and the vast differences between us in age and backgrounds. But they trusted that we were deeply in love with each other." Though born into an ordinary family, Emily was that kind of girl: capable, bold and adventurous, whose life was not doomed to be ordinary.