112
CARL T. SMITH
He only appears once on our élite lists. In 1872 he was a member of the General Committee of Tung Wah Hospital. He was a member of the Masonic Order in Hong Kong. His first four children, a son and three daughters, were baptized at St. John's Cathedral, but his venture into the opium trade marked his departure from the Christian community. He later took on two concubines and was survived by six sons. His eldest son George Chan Su Kee was the first Chinese to be married in a civil ceremony at the Registry Office in Hong Kong.
In this group of Chinese who came under the influence of the missionaries, with the exception of Chan Tai Kwong, we find certain repeated patterns. They received an English language education at mission schools and their sons were usually educated abroad. Almost without exception they served a time as interpreters in the Hong Kong Government. Most of them were interested in journalism. The first four Chinese appointed to the Legislative Council were from this group, their service covering the years 1882 to 1914. They were either blood relations or intermarried, until their family structure forms a complex of inter-relationships. Several of them served the Chinese nation in high posts of responsibility. They were the most significant of the several groups that provided a Chinese élite in Hong Kong before the turn of the century.
CONCLUSION
With the establishment of Tung Wah Hospital, the Hong Kong Chinese had a structure with which they could handle the problems that were peculiar to the Chinese community. They had also a representative élite leadership through whom they could make representation to government and to whom government, in turn, could turn for advice on problems affecting its relationship with the Chinese community. Although criticism arose concerning the operation of the Hospital Committee, charging it with exercising too much power and in effect forming an unofficial Chinese Legislative Council alongside the British administration, in general both parties - the Chinese community and the Government found the Hospital Committee representative of responsible leadership and hence a helpful bridge between the two groups. With the appointment of a Chinese member to the Legislative Council in 1880, Chinese leadership was in-
112
CARL T. SMITH
He only appears once on our élite lists. In 1872 he was a member of the General Committee of Tung Wah Hospital. He was a member of the Masonic Order in Hong Kong. His first four children, a son and three daughters, were baptized at St. John's Cathedral, but his venture into the opium trade marked his departure from the Christian community. He later took on two concubines and was survived by six sons. His eldest son George Chan Su Kee was the first Chinese to be married in a civil ceremony at the Registry Office in Hong Kong.
In this group of Chinese who came under the influence of the missionaries, with the exception of Chan Tai Kwong, we find certain repeated patterns. They received an English language education at mission schools and their sons were usually educated abroad. Almost without exception they served a time as inter- preters in the Hong Kong Government. Most of them were interested in journalism. The first four Chinese appointed to the Legislative Council were from this group, their service cover- ing the years 1882 to 1914. They were either blood relations or intermarried, until their family structure forms a complex of inter-relationships. Several of them served the Chinese nation in high posts of reponsibility. They were the most significant of the several groups that provided a Chinese élite in Hong Kong before the turn of the century.
CONCLUSION
With the establishment of Tung Wah Hospital, the Hong Kong Chinese had a structure with which they could handle the problems that were peculiar to the Chinese community. They had also a representative élite leadership through whom they could make representation to government and to whom govern- ment, in turn, could turn for advice on problems effecting its relationship with the Chinese community. Although criticism arose concerning the operation of the Hospital Committee, charg- ing it with exercising too much power and in effect forming an unofficial Chinese Legislative Council alongside the British administration, in general both parties - the Chinese community and the Government found the Hospital Committee representa- tive of responsible leadership and hence a helpful bridge between the two groups. With the appointment of a Chinese member to the Legislative Council in 1880, Chinese leadership was in-
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