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if the jubilee was to have the support of the whole community.
From the practical standpoint, as a journalist pointed out, their financial backing was necessary if a sufficient sum was to be raised for a memorial “that should be worthy of the Colony and that would do honour to the illustrious Sovereign whose long glorious reign it was to commemorate.”
The Chinese were ready to be included in the community planning. They did not wish to ignore the jubilee. They were, however, dissatisfied with the project selected by a general meeting at City Hall on March 2, 1887. They therefore decided to hold their own meeting at Tung Wah Hospital on March 28.
The meeting was attended by all the Chinese leaders in the community, including Dr. Ho Kai, who had been the Chinese spokesman at the City Hall meeting. The Honourable Wong Shing, the Chinese representative on the Legislative Council at that time (there was only one representative), presided over the meeting. Mr. Ho A-mei, however, was the moving force behind it.
At
Opening the meeting, the chairman reviewed the situation. The Europeans had decided upon the formation of a Victoria Park. He noted, however, that "this proposal was objected to by a portion of the European population and by most of the Chinese.”
He suggested that a proposal which had found favour with a larger number of Chinese was that of a school for Chinese females. It was likely this would have been his choice, and his remarks were an indirect introduction of the idea. He did not mention the plan that was about to be presented for consideration.
He ended his remarks with the rather weak comment that, if "the majority of the meeting was in favour of the Victoria Park scheme, he should be very pleased to support it." A strange statement in view of his mentioning only moments before that most of the Chinese were against it.
Though a man of high principle and greatly respected by his fellow countrymen, Wong Shing was of a somewhat retiring