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Asiatic Society has really been a “labour of love" and James has described the Branch as the "Joy of his life". Although now living "Down Under", he likes to stress he is "only a fax away". He makes regular visits back to Hong Kong.
Following Dr Hayes as President was David Gilkes. Almost all his nearly 30 years as a member of the Branch in Hong Kong was spent as an office bearer.
In addition to Dr Hayes the Reverend Carl T. Smith, at present as Honorary Vice-President, an American, is another Branch member with an international reputation. He has made major contributions to local history with many publications to his credit. One of his greatest achievements was working through all the records in the Hong Kong Public Records Office (Smith 1995: 315). As a result the "Carl Smith Card Index System" has been microfilmed by the Utah Genealogical Society and a copy of the system is in the Public Records Office where it is known as the "Smith Collection",
Other Hong Kong RAS present or past members of note include J. D. Romer, normally known to the Chinese as the “Snake King”. In Cantonese, this expression has a double entendre. Romer was, however, certainly not a lazy person! Worldwide, the Romer Tree Frog (Philautus romeri) is found only on one or two of Hong Kong's islands. It is little bigger than an adult's thumb nail and was first identified by Romer (Dudgeon 1994: 168),
There is also Keith Stevens, now an overseas member living in England, where his house has a large “god room". His personal collection, said to be the largest private collection of Chinese gods in the world, consists of about 1,500 images of deities (Stevens 1997).
The future
A well attended seminar was held in May 1987, the purpose of which was to look at the future of the RASHKB. At the time, a questionnaire was also issued to all members. Since then, the future role of the Branch has been discussed at various Council meetings.
It was quoted in a publication entitled, A Handbook to Hong Kong,