June_1965 — Page 31

The whys and wherefores of

Professional Associations

W

HV

by

Cedric

Astbury,

AA Dip,

FRIBA

finds that there are duties it cannot avoid even though they were not part of its creation. When the professional societies were emerging, the ranks of the professions were filled from the upper layers of society and the services they rendered were in general for the same group,

The industrial revolution and the political revolutions which have followed have created a large middle class which requires the services of professional men. This class now also supplies recruits for the profession. The proportion of the population for whom the professions exist and from which they draw their trainees is however still very small.

The professional society should have as one of its aims the provision of the services of the profession to the widest possible clientele. Recruitment to the ranks of the professions on a wider scale depends, of course, on a raising of the general educational level.

The professional society has further duties which it should not avoid. It should present an informed point of view on matters of public concern and it should be available to advise public authorities on matters in its own field. Moreover, it should not hesitate to criticise when this is necessary.

men do professional form themselves into Letter

groups, and what should be the aims of such associations?

Before the Industrial Revolution and during its early years there were only four recognised professions in England These were Medicine, Law, Holy Orders and Military or Naval Officership. Even so, it was necessary to belong to a particular part of these profes- sions to be a professional man. Barristers and physicians were professional men whereas solicitors and surgeons were not. Non-conformist ministers and officers without private means, were likewise outside this exclusive class.

The Class distinction in the Medical Profession can be seen in the formation of the Colleges of Physicians in 1518 (later called Royal) and the Barber Surgeons Company in 1540. The latter is now the Royal College of Surgeons.

The formation of professional societies in England since that time clearly shows the growth of the number of professions and the emergence of a desire by their members for public recognition.

It would appear from this that from the middle of the eighteenth century the professions connected with the building industry began to emerge. A Society of Civil Engineers was formed in 1771 and an Architects Club in 1791. Whatever other societies were formed in this era were closely associated with the original four pro- fessions and included the Veterinary College and a little later the British Medical Association.

Creative Urge

The Architects' Club was the forerunner of the Royal Institute of British Architects and was formed by people interested in the promotion of architecture, whether they were architects or not. Study and discussion were the functions of this body. When the Architectural Associa- tion was formed by articled students of architecture, it was for the same purpose. The function of an architec- tural society is still the same. When discussion and study in person have become geographically impossible, these functions have been taken over by small branches of the larger body and by the written word. Developing from the desire to study, most professional bodies have introduced examinations to gauge the standards of

education.

The primary reason for the formation of a profes- sional society is the creative urge and desire for fellow- ship.

A secondary reason is the need for protection: pro- tection of the members against an uninformed public and protection of an uninformed public against spurious practitioners. The professions must be protected against unfair competition for the public good.

Once the professional society has formed itself it

Far East Architect & Builder June, 1965

Sir.

There is a well known adage about a prophet not being honoured in his own land. This must have been coined especially for Hong Kong.

Whenever a problem occurs which is a little cut of the ordinary, the immediate reaction appears to be to commission an expert from elsewhere to report on it. Normally the expert spends a matter of a few weeks pumping local sources of information, goes away, puts it all down in writing and submits it to the commission- ing authority.

This is probably the last one hears of it. Why? Because it contains nothing that one does not know about already. The only value it has is that it forms a record of information, views and opinions, which would not otherwise have been collected.

The problems of Hong Kong are peculiar to itself: they are large and they are familiar to us all, and what is more the people of Hong Kong are far from being apathetic to them. Housing, traffic, education and wel- fare services are ever a topic of discussion, and publish- ed statement of opinion.

Hong Kong possesses a reservoir of expertise and experience. There are people in Government, in com- merce, in the universities, in the public and private wel- fare services, who have been grappling with local pro- blems for years, and who are well qualified to serve on working parties and study groups. Why do we not use them more. The success of community development depends on local participation and interest: it is not fostered if recourse is made to an outsider, who remains almost anonymous except in name.

It may be argued that those persons, already im- mersed in local activities cannot see the wood for the trees, and it is necessary to bring in experts from over- seas to put matters into proper perspective. One wonders if the perspective that is drawn, is not really that of those in the forest!

It may be argued that the local "experts" are already too involved in their affairs to have time to study local problems. If this is so, then the answer is that there must be set up local planning authorities, research in- stitutes, and development councils to tackle these studies. Hong Kong is large enough to support them, and there is no fear that they will become redundant Hong Kong's problems in the future will be greater than those of to- day.

It is about time Hong Kong got rid of its inferiority complex.

Cirano,

Hong Kong.

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