Hong Kong Builder
INERTIA............ A BODY AT
REMAIN
The unique position that Hong Kong occupies in the affairs of the Far East due to its location and its func- tion as trading post and refugee centre has resulted in a conglomeration of population in which practically every type of human nature is represented.
Business conditions in Hong Kong very seldom strike a happy medium. It is either very good or very bad. Either conditions are flourishing and there is a tremen- dous demand for products and accommodation, or it is in the depth of a depression during which business is practically at a standstill. And it is liable to go from one extreme to the other almost at a moment's notice, being influenced by external conditions over which the local business man has very little control.
During the period of prosperity, doubtful and un- desirable elements seem to be particularly attracted to this Colony and the control of these elements in all their multifarious phases of endeavour has not always been successfully undertaken by our Government.
We, in the Building Trade, are of course mainly in- terested in the trying conditions foisted upon us by irres- ponsible elements, who choose the building development field in which to exercise their talents. Their activities in this industry take many forms, but at the moment we are interested in but one.
On June 13th, 1940, there appeared in the Corres- pondence column of one of our local newspapers a letter signed "Architect," pointing out that although the Government was taking all precautions to protect the public from the illegal practice of medicine, the same vigilance was not extended to the important practice of architecture.
The correspondent stated that there were in this Colony innumerable illegal offices where in some cases a large staff is employed to execute the professional work of architects or civil engineers. Such offices, he claimed, are illegal because they are not established by authorised architects nor are any employed by them, being run by draughtsmen who have had some experience in the pro- fession. In order to obtain approval for their plans it was their practice to obtain the services of some author- ised architect who, for a small fee, will sign such plans and submit them to the Building Authority.
The correspondent pointed out that there can be no real supervision over the work sponsored by these draughtsmen, and that it allows various abuses to creep in which was detrimental to the public. He further stated that this unfair and illegal practice has assumed such vast proportions as to seriously undermine the pres- tige and business of architectural firms fully qualified and duly authorised to practise in this Colony.
Mr. J. S. Gibson, an authorised architect of this Colony, replied to this correspondent and suggested that the only way to stop this pernicious practice was to form an Architects' Association.
"Two attempts," stated Mr. Gibson in his reply, "were made a few years ago. The first was by a meet- ing in the Peninsula Hotel, but the attendance was too small to form a sufficient quorum, and nothing further was done in the matter. The second attempt was by a meeting held in Messrs. Lane, Crawford's premises. This meeting was convened by a fully qualified Government Official, and about thirty Architects, authorised and otherwise, attended.
After a Chairman had been duly elected, it was proposed, seconded and carried unanimously that an
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Association be formed. A Working Committee was then formed and all present were of the opinion that early action would be taken.
Strange to say that not another word was heard about it, and the proposal was given up in disgust for reasons that need not be stated at the moment.”
On July 10th, 1940, a meeting was convened at the Metropole Hotel in another effort to form an Architects' Association, but unfortunately owing to the threatening political situation the Hong Kong Government was forced to order immediate evacuation of European women and children from Hong Kong a few days prior to the date of the meeting. As a result of the confusion into which Hong Kong had been thrown by this order only nine out of the thirty-one architects who had been invited to attend the meeting, were able to be present, and although brief discussions were held and a resolution passed that it was extremely desirable to form an Architects' Asso- ciation in Hong Kong it was felt that the moment was not opportune to attempt its inception. In any case, the meeting felt that it was not sufficiently representative of the architectural profession, and it was decided that a further meeting would be called at a later date when the political conditions might be sufficiently clarified to insure a greater measure of support.
Accordingly, at the end of August invitations were again sent out for architects to attend a meeting to be held on September 18th, 1940. However, the response to this letter was no better than that of the previous one and it was finally decided to abandon the idea for the time being.
It would appear to us that, in spite of present diffi- culties, which would militate against the successful pro- secution of all the objects for which the Association would be formed, there still remains no valid reason against its formation and operation except the collective inertia of the architectural profession in Hong Kong. We have spoken to individual architects who have in every case agreed that such an Association in Hong Kong would be to the benefit of the profession and to the public as well, yet every attempt to organise this sentiment into a concrete form has met with failure. There have been good excuses, undoubtedly, but in our opinion these ex- cuses have not been good enough to offset the value of the proposed Association functioning to the mitigation of conditions of which every one deplores.
司公造建利
The Editor
LEE CHEONG & COMPANY.
GENERAL CONTRACTORS.
ALEXANDRA BUILDING, 3RD FLOOR
HONG KONG.
P. O. Box 1433.
TEL. NO. 30678
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