ciation go principally to Dr. Elizabeth Sinn as Chairman of the Programme and Activities Committee, and to our speakers and tour leaders. As a gesture of the Society's appreciation, all our speakers have been invited as guests to attend this evening's dinner, an innovation that I hope will become a regular feature of this important event in our calendar.
Back-up Organisation
The Hon. Secretary and Assistant Secretary have been very busy during the year, coping with the paper work associated with new membership and support services and with the many enquiries and arrangements connected with our programme of activities. In this regard we owe special thanks to Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Bruce. They provide an efficient service to members and to the Council, and keep us all informed through the Newsletter which is now a regular feature. Mrs. Bruce and her husband Phillip, a co-opted Councillor, have made a special effort to provide information on publications and to improve sales. Whilst this is proving very successful in earning revenue, it does involve Mrs. Bruce in a lot of extra work. In consequence, the Assistant Secretary's monthly salary will be increased in line with work done on behalf of the Society, backdated to 1 January this year.
The heavier burden of secretarial work apart, the new wave of interest shown in the Society in the past three years made it necessary to review our organisation in order to keep up with demand. We found that it was no longer possible to make all arrangements through and by the Council, as hitherto. At the same time we were also concerned with the Society's situation in changing times and needed to consider how, together with the rest of Hong Kong, we could best prepare ourselves for the future, especially in these transitional years before the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 1997. This led to the Symposium on the Society's Future held on 9 May last year.
Symposium on the Society's Future
The symposium was attended by over 70 members, justifying the organisers' belief that such an event would be well supported. In addition, a detailed questionnaire sent to all members before