XN000022-1979-04-27 — Page 3

2

FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 1979

+THERE MAY BE CONTROVERSY ABOUT AESTHETICS, ABOUT WHAT OF THE NEW IS GOOD AND ABOUT WHAT OF THE OLD SHOULD HAVE BEEN RETAINED, BUT THE GREAT STRIDES IN BUILDING BETTER LIVING STANDARDS ARE THERE FOR ALL TO SEE.

+ WILL NOT ENTER INTO THE GLORIOUS CONTROVERSY ABOUT WHAT SHOULD AND SHOULD NOT BE RETAINED OF COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE IN THE URBAN AREA.

+THE PRESERVATION OF BUILDINGS AND TOMBS AND OTHER RELICS OF THE PRE-COLONIAL AND INDEED PRE-HISTORIC ERA IS LESS CONTROVERSIAL AND IN MANY WAYS MUCH EASIER. BUT THERE IS A SPECIAL SUBJECT I WOULD LIKE TO MENTION.

+THE GOVERNMENT IS INVESTING STEADILY INCREASING RESOURCES FOR THE PRESERVATION OF LARGE AREAS OF MOUNTAINOUS COUNTRYSIDE. THESE CONTAIN VILLAGES, OFTEN NOW DESERTED, AND PRESERVATION OF SOME OF THESE WOULD BE OF GREAT INTEREST TO LATER GENERATIONS.

+THEY ARE RELICS OF A TRADITIONAL RURAL LIFE AND RURAL ARCHITECTURE THAT HAVE EXISTED FOR CENTURIES BUT IS NOW RAPIDLY DISAPPEAR ING FROM HONG KONG. MANY STILL EXIST IN HONG KONG UNCLUTTERED BY MODERN ADDITIONS AND WITH THE IR SITES STILL PROTECTED BY THE IR TRADITIONAL TREES.

+PROBLEMS OF OWNERSHIP ARE HARD TO OVERCOME AND MUCH ADMINISTRATIVE EFFORT AND ARCHITECTURAL CARE (THOUGH I THINK NOT MUCH MONEY) WILL BE NEEDED TO PRESERVE THEM- BUT I HOPE THAT BY THE COMBINED EFFORTS OF THE NEW TERRITORIES ADMINISTRATION, THE COUNTRY PARKS DEPARTMENT AND WITH THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE ANTIQUITIES BOARD AND RURAL COMMITTEES PRESERVED SOME OF THEM WILL BE AND SO BE ABLE TO REMIND THE URBAN POPULATION OF THE FUTURE OF THE LIFE FROM WHICH THE IR FATHERS AND GRANDFATHERS CAME.

+BUT THIS CONFERENCE IS OF ARCHITECTS FROM ALL THE COMMONWEALTH AND NOT JUST FROM HONG KONG. IT IS PART OF THE UNOFFICIAL COMMONWEALTH, THAT COMMONWEALTH MADE UP OF THE MANY PROFESSIONAL AND ACADEMIC BODIES WHICH PARALLELS THE OFFICIAL COMMONWEALTH OF GOVERNMENTS.

+THE VALUE OF THESE NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS WAS ACKNOWLEDGED IN THE COMMUNIQUE OF THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT IN 1977, AND SUBSEQUENTLY THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON RELATIONS BETWEEN THE OFFICIAL AND UNOFFICIAL COMMONWEALTH WAS SET UP ON WHICH THE PRESIDENT OF YOUR ASSOCIATION WAS INVITED TO SERVE AND I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS COMMITTEE'S REPORT WAS ON THE AGENDA OF YOUR OWN CONFERENCE.

I AM SURE NOTHING BUT GOOD CAN RESULT FROM CLOSER TIES BETWEEN MEMBER INSTITUTIONS AND MEMBER GOVERNMENTS.

+WE HERE IN HONG KONG ARE DELIGHTED THAT YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO HOLD YOUR CONFERENCE IN HONG KONG. I HOPE IT HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL AND ENJOYABLE. I NOW ASK YOU TO RISE AND DRINK A TOAST TO THE COMMONWEALTH ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS.+

13