And the wise man withers away like a plant
Late of Shanghai and Hong Kong, Arnold Graham frequently wrote to the newspapers in Hong Kong under the pseudonym of 'Ancient Gwailo'. Before he left Hong Kong, in 1994, he made a donation of about 515 books to our library for which we remain grateful.
Finance
Again our Honorary Treasurer, who looks after our precious dollars and makes sure we charge members sufficient for our services, will present his own report. We are grateful to him, and we depend a great deal on his professionalism and sound advice.
The Council
Much of the work done by your Council requires a special expertise, for instance posts like Treasurer, Librarian, and Editor. As mentioned above, we are grateful for the experience these office bearers bring to bear. Likewise, it is important the Council is able to offer a standard of scholarship and some of your Councillors are, or were, employed in academia. Several Councillors, as well as non-Council members, have published. Some offer administrative experience. It must be repeated here that your Council is a working Council. Everyone is expected to pull his or her weight. Some have undertaken additional tasks. For instance, Dr Elizabeth Sinn, with the assistance of Matthew Hockaday, is in the process of sorting and indexing the Society's collection of photographs.
In addition, because of their individual expertise, several Council members also serve on the Antiquities Advisory Board, in a personal capacity, and some are involved with 'Heritage Year' which is presently running in Hong Kong. Several Society members have acted as volunteers and have assisted the Antiquities and Monuments office. Your Branch has a good relationship with the Antiquities and Monuments office which we value.
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