THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY (HONG KONG BRANCH)
PRESIDENT'S REPORT FOR 1998-1999 PRESENTED AT THE
39TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD ON FRIDAY 19TH MARCH 1999
Come July 1, 1999, it will be two years since the Handover of the Territory, from Britain to China. As far as the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch (RASHKB) is concerned, little, you will see as you read these pages, has basically changed. However, inevitably, we are moving with the times.
It has been jokingly said that a careful driver is someone who looks both ways before he or she goes through a red light and certainly, with our evolving role as we enter the new millennium, we need to think things through thoroughly before making drastic changes. We are, as you know, affiliated to the RAS Headquarters in London and, although we do communicate on occasions we are almost entirely left to plough our own furrow. It is, after all, important that our Branch is thoroughly rooted in Hong Kong. Perhaps I should add here, however, that we still, after almost two years, have not found a suitable person to be our local patron. Nevertheless, we seem to be managing quite well without one although we have not shut the door entirely.
I will now report on various aspects of our Branch over the past year which, I am pleased to say, has continued to be strong and active, thanks largely to the work of its Councillors and Activity Committee members.
Membership
At the end of 1990, the then President reported that our Branch comprised a total of 718 members, although this number dropped to 676 by early 1991. This was partly, we were told in that year's report, because of a 'more thorough weeding out of those who had not paid their subscriptions or had left Hong Kong.'
As at 16 March, 1999, our Branch's numbers have dropped to around 580. This includes both 486 local and 94 overseas members of
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