The Liechtenstein Princely Navy celebrated the season in style at its annual Navy White Christmas party at Stormies in Lan Kwai Fong.

Some twenty Sailors in their finest white uniforms and their spouses/girlfriends attended what is arguably the highlight of the offseason. Aside from enjoying a three-hour open bar, the Navy raised money for Operation Santa Claus, the annual charity drive organized by the South China Morning Post and RTHK.

In order to achieve its self-set target of raising $25,000, the Admiralty came up with a number of innovative games and auctions to coax money out of its Sailors.

To start off with, Sailors’ uniforms were inspected with the following penalties going to charity:

No uniform: $100
No hat: $50
No gloves: $20 per missing glove
Shoes not polished: $20 per shoe
Ribbons: $20 for each excessive ribbon

After all Sailors had been sufficiently fuelled up, Lt Charlie introduced the Ten Commandments to the attending crew. The Ten Commandments are an extension of the 100 Push Ups and will be mandatory for all Active Duty Sailors to complete in 2010 in order to secure a Race Seat. Following the introduction of these grueling new exercise tests, the Admiral auctioned off Certificates of Entitlement that will allow the holder to improve his score on any of the Ten Commandments. Bidding was particularly fierce for the 12 Minute treadmill run that will require Sailors to cover a distance of 3km.

Later on, the 2009 Navy Quiz tested Sailors knowledge of Prince, Country and Navy history. Pairing up two by two, any Sailor getting the answer wrong would have to donate $100 for charity. Displaying an embarrassing low level of basic knowledge within its ranks, the Navy quickly collected plenty of cash. And no, Sailor John, Liechtenstein is NOT the capital of Liechtenstein!

Some exclusive items were also auctioned off later. Captain Widmer offered 5 stars to the highest bidder, in the (mistaken) thought that the winner could out-rank the Admiral and would thus be able to take control of the entire Navy. Commander Mei – wife of the Admiral – placed the highest bid of the night at $1000 in the wane hope of trying to exercise some form of authority over her Admiral husband. The Admiralty however wishes to state categorically that rank and authority are not for sale in this Navy!

The final fund raising activity was entitled ‘Bid for the Punishment’, whereby the Admiralty presented incriminating evidence of various offenders and offences. Sailors and guests were then invited to come up with a punishment for $100 each. At the end of the bidding, the offender would either have to fulfill the various punishments or match the total amount bid on him in order to be exonerated from all the charges. Showing their creative side, Sailors bid for punishments ranging from 50 naked push-ups to a full body wax and eating an entire bottle of ketchup.

The night ended with a special auction for the ladies in the party thanks to Able Seaman Frauenfelder (a.k.a. The Chocco Man) who had produced an exquisite – and rather large-sized – chocolate male body part that was up for grabs (literally)!

Later in the night, the party spilled into the streets of Lan Kwai Fong as usual where Sailors actively tried to coax more money out of passers-by wishing to take pictures with the crew.

All-in-all, our overfilled donation box yielded a total of HKD 20,330.70 in cash, which combined with a total of HKD 5,100 in online donations received from Sailors unable to attend the party meant that the Navy had raised a total of HKD 25,430.70 for Operation Santa Claus! In traditional Liechtenstein fashion, the Navy had thus achieved - and exceeded - its self-set target of HKD 25,000.

The Admiralty wishes to thank all its crew and guests for their generosity and for getting into the Christmas spirit in full force and Liechten-style!

Click here to read the article in the South China Morning Post.