PRESIDENT'S REPORT FOR 1967
The year 1967 will remain on record as a trying and difficult year owing to the Communist disturbances which broke out in May and made it difficult to hold the monthly meetings. Despite these difficulties the Society continued to flourish. It maintained its membership and held twelve meetings, including the very interesting visit to Aberdeen and old Hong Kong under the guidance of Mr. James Hayes. The list of public addresses attached to this report includes some of the most interesting which the Society have enjoyed, and all maintained the standard of scholarship and interest which have been expected of this doyen of Royal Societies.
In the last four years the popularity and, in particular, the value of the Society's work has been enhanced by the weekend symposia and excursions to places of interest undertaken with a view to studying the traditional ways of life of the Chinese, in their historical, social and religious aspects, and to placing on record all the knowledge gained through these researches before it vanishes for ever. The symposia and excursions have been highly popular and very well attended; they serve not only to supply gaps in our knowledge of Hong Kong and of the people amongst whom we live but have resulted in the gathering of material of the highest value which have been recorded so far in two publications of great interest and a high standard of scholarship edited by Dr. Marjorie Topley. The first brochure on the Symposium of 1964 (published in 1965) on "The Aspects of Social Organisation In The New Territories" is now sold out and will certainly have to be reprinted. The second and larger book of 145 pages published in 1967 and entitled "Some Traditional Chinese Ideas And Conceptions In Hong Kong Social Life Today" is now on sale and has already been warmly received and appreciated not only by members of the Society but by scholars and research workers in the field of Asiatic studies abroad. These activities of the Society have been conducted under the leadership and guidance of Dr. Marjorie Topley and Mr. James Hayes, and to them and all the experts who have helped them we owe our deepest gratitude. We look forward to the continuance of their valuable work.
At the end of 1967 the membership of the Society stood at 420. We were fortunate in the circumstances when so many left the