like to thank our friends at the Antiquities and Monuments Office, the Public Records Office, and elsewhere, for their support and assistance.
To end this report, however, I would like to pay a special tribute to the Rev. Carl Smith, our Honorary Vice President. His contribution to the history of Hong Kong is immense. His articles illuminate nineteenth century Hong Kong in a way no other historian has managed. He has been a guide, mentor, and friend to two generations of local scholars. I am personally greatly honoured by having Carl as my friend and advisor, and I am very happy to have this opportunity of expressing my indebtedness to him on any number of matters. Carl has been a stalwart supporter of the Society since the early 1970s. He is the longest serving Member of Council, having served as a Councillor for over 25 years, under five Presidents, for many years as Vice-President. He asked to retire from Council a couple of years ago, but Council was extremely unwilling to let him go, and created a new post of Honorary Vice-President for him, so that he could continue to serve but without holding down any post. Now, alas, his new responsibilities in Macau make it impossible for him to attend Council on a regular basis, and he has indicated that he feels he must now step down, and I have, very reluctantly, agreed. However, it is open to Council to invite anyone it sees fit to attend Council, and Council has agreed to extend a long-term invitation to Carl to attend Council whenever he is free and available to do so, and we will continue to send him copies of all our papers. I sincerely hope we will thus continue to receive his advice regularly, even if he is not able to attend every meeting. However, Council feels that this is an inadequate expression of our gratitude to Carl for his services both to the cause of scholarship in Hong Kong, and to the Society in particular, and we have decided to make him an Honorary Life Member of the Society, as being the most public statement available to us of our esteem and regards. Thank you, Carl!
PATRICK H. HASE
PRESIDENT
MARCH 2003
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