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There could be no question about local loyalty to the Crown. Chater reminded the council that, “the loyal feelings of this community are well known to every resident here, and most of us have already seen the hearty and eager manner in which, not only the foreign community, but also the native population, have come forward on previous occasions to celebrate the arrival of some member of the Royal Family upon these shores.”
If Hongkong was loyal, it was also generous. Mr. Chater was sure Hongkong residents would not enter into the celebration with a niggardly spirit.
He was convinced that "there is no doubt this occasion will again cause a display of eagerness to loosen the purse strings for which I think this community, though but a small one, is second to none in the world."
Something more was wanting, however, than private celebrations. The Government should be involved, for "whatever the loyalty of private individuals may prompt them to do whether they choose to give a ball on a grand scale or a banquet, whether to illuminate their houses or have a display of fireworks — I do not think the Government should spend the public funds in conventional cracker firing; this may be left to the enthusiasm of private individuals. But I think, Sir, the Government ought to do something of a more permanent character, something more lasting, something that should be a great deal more commemorative in its nature, and which will hereafter be of substantial benefit to the whole Colony."
The precise form this lasting memorial should take was a difficult question as future events painfully proved. Chater and others had been pondering the possibilities.
He noted that a number of the communities' needs had recently been provided for: the Civil Hospital had been enlarged, the new Alice Memorial Hospital was almost ready for occupation, and, in addition, "we have the principal school in Hongkong rapidly blossoming into Victoria College (later renamed Queen's College).”
205
There could be no question about local loyalty to the Crown. Chater reminded the council that, “the loyal feelings of this com- munity are well known to every resident here, and most of us have already seen the hearty and eager manner in which, not only the foreign community, but also the native population, have come forward on previous occasions to celebrate the arrival of some member of the Royal Family upon these shores.”
If Hongkong was loyal, it was also generous. Mr. Chater was sure Hongkong residents would not enter into the celebration with a niggardly spirit.
He was convinced that "there is no doubt this occasion will again cause a display of eagerness to loosen the purse strings for which I think this community, though but a small one, is second to none in the world."
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Something more was wanting, however, than private celebra- tions. The Government should be involved, for "whatever the loyalty of private individuals may prompt them to do whether they choose to give a ball on a grand scale or a banquet, whether to illuminate their houses or have a display of fireworks — I do not think the Government should spend the public funds in conven- tional cracker firing; this may be left to the enthusiasm of private individuals. But I think, Sir, the Government ought to do some- thing of a more permanent character, something more lasting, something that should be a great deal more commemorative in its nature, and which will hereafter be of substantial benefit to the whole Colony."
The precise form this lasting memorial should take was a diffi- cult question as future events painfully proved. Chater and others had been pondering the possibilities.
He noted that a number of the communities' needs had recently been provided for: the Civil Hospital had been enlarged, the new Alice Memorial Hospital was almost ready for occupation, and, in addition, "we have the principal school in Hongkong rapidly blos- soming into Victoria College (later renamed Queen's College).”
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