We would like to issue grants from the Fund to enable books in English on Hong Kong Studies to be published which could otherwise not get published because of their lack of commercial viability. We have come to an interim agreement with Hong Kong University Press such that, if and when the Fund is formally established, they would publish a series of English-language books possibly to be called The Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Studies Series with cash assistance from the Society for each volume. A vetting committee, under the oversight of the Management Board, would ensure that the academic standard of any book so published was high. We have already identified a number of works which could possibly be funded as part of such a series. We are also looking into the possibility that the Fund would be able to make smaller grants to assist with research into Hong Kong Studies: this possibility requires further consideration. We are still considering the detailed rules by which such a Fund would be operated. Our aim is to get enough money into the fund so that one or two books and perhaps one or two smaller grants could be made each year. Annual disbursements from the Fund of perhaps $75,000 is the sort of level of cash transaction we are currently hoping for.
We have been actively seeking donations for this Fund, and are close to achieving some considerable success in this, although details cannot yet be disclosed. We will, as soon as the Fund is formally established, draw this to Members' attention: should any Member, or other well-wisher, wish to make any donation to the Fund this would, I can assure you, be very gratefully received! In fact, the Council has already received some donations which they are ear-marking for the Fund and which will be transferred to the Fund when it is formally in existence: the most significant of these is a donation of $1,000 given by Dr Solomon Bard as a gesture of appreciation to the Society for having made him an Honorary Life Member of the Society, and which I would like to take this opportunity of gratefully acknowledging. It is my hope that the Society will eventually manage to get about a million dollars set aside in this Foundation Fund.
However, the Council is of the view that the Society cannot seek donations for the Fund from well-wishers in the Community at large unless it makes a substantial donation to it itself. Over the more than 40 years of the Society's existence, our generally conservative and careful financial management has led to a significant cash balance
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