A summary of the turn-over of membership during the year is as follows: honorary members fell from six to four; local life membership decreased from 121 to 118 and there was a small increase in local ordinary membership from 296 to 303. We now have 62 overseas life membership as opposed to 57 last year, and overseas ordinary membership has risen from 37 to 41. There were 23 resignations, 5 renewal slips were returned presumably because members had left Hong Kong. In addition there were 21 unpaid dues, presumably for the same reason. Again I would like to appeal to members to let us know, please, either if you change your address during the year or will be leaving and not renewing membership. Remember, however, that conversion to overseas membership will still enable you to get the Journal regularly. Costs to the Society of publishing the Journal and other sundry expenses have been rising like everything else in Hong Kong. Rather than increase our membership fee or price of the Journal we would prefer to make up our losses by recruiting new members. Membership is only a modest HK$50 a year, including the Journal, and we hope you will all make a special effort to introduce more of your friends to our Society. In May last year we sent out membership forms to all members to pass on to interested friends and this did in fact appear to have a positive result. Anybody wishing to obtain forms may do so by contacting the Secretary, and we hope to have more printed in the near future so that another batch may be circulated before long. Please do also remember to let us know of anybody passing through Hong Kong who has a subject suitable on which to address the Society, or who is here already and may have escaped our notice.
Acknowledgements
It only remains for me to thank all those who have helped the society and who have not already been mentioned. I would first like to thank Mr. Iap Diamond who put in four hard years' work as our Hon. Secretary before he stood down at the last Annual General Meeting. Standing down as Secretary has not meant standing down from work for the Society and we have been glad of his continuing assistance as member of the Council. We would like to thank Mrs. Ruth Rydings for all her work as Assistant Secretary before she left at the end of July owing to family commitments, and welcome Mrs. Deb Hotchkiss who has taken her place.
xii
Page I