THE ARTS
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Fanling, Tsuen Wan and at many schools in the New Territories as well as on the Island. The Council also started a programme of rehearsed play-readings in Kowloon and arranged frequent exhibi- tions, including one of British Books, in both Centres. Students returning from Britain and broadcasting received particular atten- tion. Shortened versions of the weekly lectures in English and Cantonese went out over Radio Hong Kong and other Council programmes included the annual Introduction Courses for students going to Britain and talks and features for general audiences. The British Council awarded two scholarships for post-graduate study and four for research in the teaching of English as a Foreign Language besides acting as agents for the selection of Fellows of the Sino-British Fellowship Trust and participating with the Hong Kong Government in arranging programmes of a cultural nature for four Government Merit Visitors.
Radio Hong Kong and Rediffusion both made notable contribu- tions to the Arts in 1959. During the Festival Radio Hong Kong produced 'Hamlet' and 'The Wise and The Foolish' by Cicely Finn and Joan O'Connor and Rediffusion two plays in Cantonese and Mandarin. Further details of Radio Hong Kong and Rediffusion's performances during the year are to be found in Chapter 16.
In his foreword to the handbook of the Fifth Hong Kong Festival of the Arts, 1959, His Excellency the Governor, Sir Robert Black, said that the Festival had come to be an annual event largely because of the energy and'' enthusiasm of a few people who believed that the Colony should not neglect culture in its preoccupation with material progress, and he commented on the heartening degree of public interest and support for their efforts. The Festival of the Arts has in fact become a focus of public support for music, drama and art in Hong Kong. There has been discussion during the year of the formation of a standing Arts Council and it is possible that the Festival may before long find a permanent home in the new City Hall, which is described in Chapter 14. If these ideas materialize and the groups, which have been the subject of this brief resume, can carry into 1960 the same enthusiasm that they have shown during this year they may well succeed, in the not too distant future, in establishing a firm