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SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 1991
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GUARDIANS OF HONG KONG HISTORY
THEY ARE FAITHFUL GUARDIANS OF HONG KONG HISTORY.
TO KEEP THE MULTIFARIOUS LIVES OF THE OLD HONG KONG ALIVE, THEY KREP A CONSTANT FINGER ON THE PULSE OF GOVERNMENT AND NON-GOVERNMENT ARCHIVES, JUST TO MAKE SURE THEY WILL NOT BE BURIED IN OBLIVION.
THEY ALSO HELP THE OVERSEAS INQUIRERS SEARCH FOR THEIR LOST ROOTS IN THE TERRITORY.
BY NAME, THEY ARE CALLED ARCHIVISTS.
BY JOB NATURE, THEY ARE THE PEOPLE WHO LOOK AFTER HISTORICAL RECORDS IN THE FORM OF REPORTS, LISTS, MAPS, PHOTOS, LETTERS, MICROFILMS, SOUND RECORDINGS AND FILMS.
MR
THIS BRIEF JOB DESCRIPTION MAY SOUND BORING TO MOST PEOPLE. BUT LEE YUK-LUN, ASSISTANT ARCHIVIST OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS OFFICE (P.R.O.) THINKS DIFFERENTLY.
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HIM, THE JOB DOES NOT SIMPLY ASSOCIATE WITH OLD DOCUMENTS. THEY ARE ALIVE WITH TOUCHING AND HUMANE STORIES.
"APART FROM ACADEMICS, CRITICS AND WRITERS, WE GOT QUITE A NUMBER OF ENQUIRIES FROM PEOPLE OVERSEAS.
"SOME OF THEM HAD KEEN INTERESTS IN THE HISTORY OF HONG KONG BECAUSE THEY HAD SOMEONE IN THEIR KINS WHO HAD LIVED HERE DECADES BACK, SOME EVEN IN THE LAST CENTURY," MR LEE SAID.
IT IS NOT UNCOMMON FOR HIM TO RECEIVE ONE ENQUIRY LETTER A DAY. MOST OF THEM ASKED ABOUT THE ACCOUNTS OF THEIR ANCESTORS. THEY USUALLY- CAME FROM BRITAIN, CANADA OR AUSTRALIA.
"BUT OCCASIONALLY, WE RECEIVED LETTERS FROM LES9 KNOWN PLACES ASKING ALL KINDS OF STRANGE QUESTIONS TOO," HE SAID.
HE IS MORE THAN WILLING TO HELP PEOPLE TRACE THE LOST BITS AND PIECES OF OLD HONG KONG WHICH THEY WISH TO KNOW.
"IT WILL BE A LOT COMFORTABLE IF THE 'WANTED' MAN HAD WORKED IN THE CIVIL SERVICE (THE THEN COLONIAL SERVICE). WHAT I NEED IS TO LOOK UP THE 'BLUE BOOK' (THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT STAFF LIST).
"I CAN CHASE IT BACK AS EARLY AS 1870. I CAN GET THOSE DETAILS SUCH AS THE DATES FOR THEIR JOINING AND LEAVING THE SERVICE," MR LEE SAID.
HE MANAGES TO SNATCH THE OLDEST COPY OF THE BLUE BOOK WITHIN
SECONDS.
"BUT IF THEY WEREN'T CIVIL SERVANT, THE SEARCHING JOB WOULD BR MORE CUMBERSOME.
"I WOULD,
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