1935-02-21 — Page 7

SOCIAL WELFARE

Poverty. At Close Quarters

(By Rev. T. F.-Byan, SJ.)

animous Deed.

Poverty is one of those things, the poor and acquired it are un- about which" It is easy to talk in

acknowledging its Generalities. Naturally, just an wealth, or capitalism, or urien- ployment must often be discussed

י.

Strangely enough, the need of this contact is vigorously denied In the abstract, and so made the "by some. These quote tlie ex subject of generalities, so too must mple of shareholders at a meet- poverty. But those who speak of Jing who decide on policy for an poverty do not always discuss it industry of which personally they as a social "problem; they talk know nothing, or of financiers and about its effect on character, its stockbrokers

who never And" it consequences in relation to health necessary to have personal ac- and similar topics, without ever quaintance with the working" con- coming down to real facts, for theditions of concerns which they simple reason that actual contact keep in existence. But the with poverty has never been a part of their experience. Without this contact one knows poverty only a second-hand, and to speak of it then is to be in the position of one who presumes to discuss the classics of ome language whose literature he knows only through translation.

parallel is obviously false. A more natural comparison would be someone dealing with tropical dis- eases who had never in a tropical area, or deciding about working conditions in a factory which he had never visited. Ignorance of this kind can be appreciated here in the East, where we so often "If it is unazilsfactory to speak | hear of comments made on East of poverty without some personal ern affairs in the West, and ac- acquaintance" with it, it is equally (cepted as authoritative, though we unsatisfactory to engage in any know that they are based kind of welfare work, connected i ignorance beyond enlightenment with it without some personal ex- Real Sympathy. No Offence perience of conditions when life Ar objection to sometimes is lived below the poverty line. | made that, no matter how use-

ful Nothing could be more unreal than this contact may. be, it an effort on the part of any oue cannot be gained without giving to do something for the benefit annoyance and offence to the of those who live in want, with- | poom, and that it is better to re- out some personal acquaintance with those for whom the good la intended. Mere study of statistics,

or reading of what others have 'seen' or said is not enough, for "the proper study of mankind is *man."

23

On

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HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21 1935.

CORRESPONDENCE LIFE OF HELEN

(All letters intended for publis cation must be accompanied by the same and address of the writer, not i for publication, unless so desired, but as evidence of good faith.-E]

(To the Editor "Dally Press")

Confucian Classics

Skr,-At the prize

KELLER

Professor Brown's Lecture

8.11

HELENA MAY'S

CONCERT

To-day's Attractive Programme

www.wwwwww

"Madame Diana de Precourt has

attractive pro-. arranged a very gramme for her Dramatic concert which is being held at the Helena may Institute to-day at 5.30 p.m usThe Bathroom Door.

The items are as follows—

The Young Man

The Young Lady

Yesterday evening Professor W. M. Brown gave a very interesting | discourse to

appreciative audience at the Sailors and Soldiers' Home on the story of distribution Helen Keller the blind and deaf of the Government

Vernacular authorest. The lecture was Middle School, which took placetrated with slides. some three weeks ago, I gave as To those people who are my opinion that two of the books command of every faculty which of the Confucian Classics. (name-nature had endowed them, ly, the Confucian Analects and story of

Helen Keller's He

in

the and

the Book of Mentius), are to the achievement cannot fall to be an Chinese people what the Bible is inspiration.

มิก

וי

Gerald Nigel

"Jean Mollison

The Elderly Gentleman.

The Elderly Lady

Jack Grenham

Hermione, Beauclerk

Diana de Precourt Frank How?e

The Prima Donna

At

to Europeans; and that, in spite At an early age this remarkable of these two books having been woman had lost both her sight written over 2,000 years ago, they and hearing through finess are couched in language so sim-which was never diagnosed. ple that anyone with ever so that time she could not learn to slight a'knowledge of Chinese can speak and was in fact like a dumb master them.

ten in

animal.

St. John's Review in its issue

Thanks to the way led her by for the current month while ad-

a wonderful teacher this woman mitting the analogy between the has become a woman of culture Chinese Classics and the Bible, and scholarship and is known as contends that

an authoress of several books and "Whereas the former is writ-articles in magazines. She is

language divorced known 1.

to have ал amazing from the spoken language and courage and endurance. is somewhat difficult to

She was endowed with robust learn, the latter is express-common sense," enthusiasm ed in the simple, every cheerfulness. having the purest day language of the peo- and sweetest mind of any living a child in creature, so the speaker described ple so that even the earliest stages learns, very her. quickly to read 'and 'under- stand very large portions of

..

Our own

mother tongue are all agreed that these two books are written in a style which is at once simple, limple, and crispin short-the style of the Authorized Version of

Оде of the greatest of our Chinese

late scholars the

and

Through her mother having heard of the Perkins' Institute, Helen's teacher Miss.. Anne Sulli- van

was introduced. The teacher at one time an inmate of that Institution and later became a teacher.

With a big task before her, she,

by persistence, managed to do it and made Helen Keller more like- a child and

started to imbibe

main in the world of theory than to penetrate into the world of fact

I do not know where the Editor by peering into privacy and treat- ing the poor as

of that paper got the Idea that herself was object of

our Confucian Analects and, the curiosity. "It is true that if'ex-

Book of Mencius are difficult, for perlence could be gained only in

we Chinese who know this way it would be better not Personal Contact Essential to try to acquife it. But where Personal acquaintance with there is real sympathy and а poverty means going among the genuine desire to help there is no Poor, talking with them, seeing fear of giving offence or of offence how they live, taking an intelligent being taken. If visitors were to go interest in their lives, and main- | among the poor, note-book fa taining a continued acquaintance hand, asking perpetual questions, with some families over a certain period of time. This may seem too much to ask, but a very slight consideration will show that it is not, while to pretend to act with out it would be an impertinence, Those who have attempted to work without this experience and then at a latter date have mixed among

THE ROYAL WEDDING Geographical Error In Certificate

(Special Air Mail Service)

London, Feb. 1. Elther the marriage certificate of the Duke and Duchess of Kent contains a geographical error, or there is a part of Middlesex which is not in the Middlesex known to the public.

Certainly it is not administra- tively in Middlesex. But while it is not in, nor of, the county, it is "claimed by speech and writing to

be Middlesex.

"In the. Close of St. Peter West

and acting as inspectors, then hey would naturally cause resent- ment and leath nothing. This not the way to get to know pover ty. To know. It one must go and work the poor. The real way to get to know the poor is to go among them, as sympathetic social worker.

FRENCH HONOUR FOR FINANCIER

Recognition For Nestle's Head

News have just been received by the local offices of the Nestle and Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Cə, that the President of the Co., Mc Louis Dapples, internationally käöwn as an outstandig Aran- cler, banker, and business leader, has been awarded the honour of the "Commander of the Legion, of Honour" by the French Govern- ment.

飾

This interesting news WBS Té- ceived by the Company's Head Office in a communication from Paris on the 22nd. January ad-

minster, in the County of Middle-vising that this decision was tak

sex," reads the marriage certificate of the Duke and Duchess of Kent.

Now the City of Westminster, as every citizen knows, is in the County of London. For was not the "County of London” defined by the Local Government Act, 1888. and by the London Government Act, 18997

And was not the City of West-- minster created a City by Royal Charter in 1800, extending from the western end of Fleet Street to Kensington Gardens, and from Oxford Street to the Thames? How, therefore, can it be proved that Westminster Abbey, or "the Close of St. Peter, Westminster is

"In the County of Middlesex” ?

Stil the Wonder Grew

An official of the Middlesex

en by the French Government to conter this honour upon Mr. Dap- ples.

1611..

an

MT. article

Leung Kai Chiu in heading "An Index of books for written in 1925 and bearing the the study of Chinese in its early stages," referring to the Confucian

Analects and the Book of Mencius say&

X

nowledge to her. After many attempts the child began to understand. She made, quick pro- gress and soon learned to write. Later she learned several foreign languages. history, astronomy. her deficiency made her a friend Her progress in her work despite

America and Europe.

many prominent people of

of

Professor Brown then gave For the last 2,000 years the tion and her philosophical outlook examples of her beautiful "dic Confucian Analects have form- Although deat her sense of touch ed the principal perennial spring from which the people could tell the difference between was highly developed that she of China have been obtaining violin and plano music. In her material for thought. Since works she described colours and the end of the Sung Dynasty differences between various must- (A.D. 960 to 1278) the Book of feal instruments.. Menclus has attained a posi- tion equal to that of the Analects. It is not too muen to say that these two books re

gulate the actions of the mind and of the outward behaviour of the Chinese... "It is there' fore to be hoped that the student will read them thor- oughly till he can reproduce thein from memory and even

Such was the life of Helen Keller as was told by Professor Brown who had made special study of this subject.

together with certain other Class- ics, must be read by all beginners. in the study of Chinese. "So far as I know, while he has been

If this is impossible he shouldn favour of the vernacular man- darin for modern literary produc- read them many times over and at any rate commit partions, he has never actually sug

gested that the Clastics should be of the text to memory, or select and femember those modernized. Would the Editor of sayings which it is intended St. John's Review favour the mo- should be followed, both phy- derrization of Shakespeare, or of sically and mentally to assist Milton, both very much more cim- in seir culture and the nou-cult than the Confucian Classic: -rishing-of-one's-inher-man...

The texts in the Confucian Analeets and the Book of Mencius are not by any means dimcult to understand."

This well merited distinction

The Editor of St. John's Review which the President of the Nestle contends, however, not only that. and Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk the Chinese Classics are difficult Co has just received is in appre- but that the Bible is in "simple- ed outstanding qualities as a lead- clation of his universally recogniseveryday language:"

ancial world,

But surely that is rather an

ing man in the business and fin- exaggeration. There is, at least in the Authorized Version, much archale vocabulary and many ar- 1 chalc turns of phrase which may add to its beauty but not to its intelligibility...

LARGE ESTATE

Late Mr. Lam Woo Leaves $818,000

He not only makes this erron- eous comparison but also suggests that the supposed- difficulties of cheuk, the wellknown local build-into be with the supposed eagl

the Confucian Classica be brought

ing contractor, of No. I Tramway mess of the Bible. He says

Mr. Lam Woo, alias Lam Kau-

Path who died on December 27, County Council, asked to unravel 1933, has left estate sworn at $818,-

the tangle, admitted that the. Middlesex. Gulidhall, close to the Abbey, is in Westminster. Asked whether Westminster was in Middlesex or in London, he medi-- tated awhile and whispered: "Say Westminster; B.V. 12 00

700.

Double probate of the will has been granted to his son, Lam Chik-sun, of No. -117, Waterloo Road, Kowloon..

With the problem still unsolved An official of the Westminster the inquiring layman approached City Council, on the other hand, at the Head Verger of Westminster first delivered himself of the clear-Abbey.

It is for that reason that the new school of Chinese Scolate in advocating the sim- plincation of the written lan- guage to make it correspond with the spoken language and therefore mores accessible to thy many millions of Chira.“ It is in this new medium that

tenets of Confucian (sic) to they with the excellent moral

be expressed.

Now Dr Hu Shh of whom one cut opinion that Westminster was Marriage certificates he said naturally thinks when the new In London, and then cautiously were marked "County of Middle school of Chineze sch referred the "Morning Post re- sex" before the LCC was formed mentioned, did presentative to the Registrar's They were still belag, and would cate, in his addres omce

continue to be so marked The University wording of the Royal Marriage cer- traditiona tificate was, therefore, legally cor- "dead" rect

An official at the Registrar's Omes informed the Inquirer that the words County of London" had once been in use, but that now the official formula was: * In* the|

opolitan Borough of the City Westminster."

And, moreover, in the Head Ver- titmed zer's opinion, the Abbey Close was of books unique, and not subject to the or- ese langu dinary limitations,

The Boots 2-Closed for Re-dressing.

Window Dresser

Cecile Delcourt Wax Models

Hermione Beauclerk, Diana de Precourt Argument: The window-dress- er sleepily prepares the man- nequins for the morrow. His

increases enthusiasm

and animates them to fantastic life. But his careless kiss awakens their emotions and when they realise the futl- lity of their love they wreak revenge upon him.

3-Miss Otis Regrets.

James. Ferguson, Joan Mollison,

Jack Grenham.

4—"Tennis at 3”

The Quest

5 The Bit:

The Commissionaire

Hermione Beauclerk

Gerald Nigel

Cecile Delcourt Frank Howle Diana de Precourt Joan Mollison Herralone Besuclerk Jack Grenbam

CHINESE Y.M.C.A. Election Of Officers

At the monthly meeting of the Members of the Board of Directors of the Chinese Y.M.C.A. yesterday evening, the following directors were elected to be officers of the Board for this year: Mr. David W. K. Au, President, Dr. T. C. Yip, Vice-President, Mr. Mann K. Wong, Treasurer, and. Mr. P. C. Kwok, Recording Secretary.

During the

meeting the budget and policy of the Association for the current year were among some of the im- portant questions discussed and determined.

Since, then, the late Mr. Leung Kai Chiu, admittedly a conserva- tive, and Dr. Hu Shh, whom we might term a revolutionary,' both very high authorities,. agree that Classics car and, show'd be studied in their original form even by beginners. it is evident; that any attempt to simplify the Classics is both unnecessary and undesir- able.

H. WOO.

this picture bears, a

Analects and the Book Mencius

the famous actress.

Hong Kong, Feb. 20, 1935,

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