227
The chairman of the public meeting had attempted to avoid these difficulties. He sensed that the community was about to launch itself into a stormy sea if it decided too quickly on a project.
He suggested that they might like to have more time to consider the matter. If so, he said he would be quite willing to entertain a motion for the meeting to be postponed until there was sufficient time for mature reflection. Or, as an alternative, if there was no wish for another meeting, the official committee which was to be named could be instructed to ascertain the views and wishes of the whole community.
These suggestions were wise, and much discord would have been avoided if they had been heeded.
Following the meeting, one writer listed all the schemes which had come to his notice. He had heard of "the enlargement of the already too large City Hall, of the removal of the Clock Tower to another site, of transporting the Dent Fountain to Wongneichong (to be buried there, perhaps) and of its replacement by a statue of the Queen in front of the City Hall, the addition of a ballroom to Government House, of a statue of the Queen anywhere or everywhere, of a subscription to the Indian and Colonial Institute, of the balance of subscriptions for a fete and rejoicings being handed over to the local charities, of a high school for girls, a home for the Protection of Young Girls, and (most wonderful of all) of a Poor House."
To put his own stamp of foolishness on the affair, the writer said: "It has likewise been breathed softly, but not yet openly proposed, that a Home for Decayed British Merchants who have subscribed regularly for charities for say twenty years back might be suitable, as it seems likely to be a necessary mode of celebrating the historical event of Her Majesty's jubilee."
A few of the proposals are of special interest because they reflect some of the social problems of the period. Two of them were concerned about the needs of girls in Hongkong.
The proposal for a middle school for girls would satisfy an
227
The chairman of the public meeting had attempted to avoid these difficulties. He sensed that the community was about to launch itself into a stormy sea if it decided too quickly on a project.
He suggested that they might like to have more time to consider the matter. If so, he said he would be quite willing to entertain a motion for the meeting to be postponed until there was sufficient time for mature reflection. Or, as an alternative, if there was no wish for another meeting, the official committee which was to be named could be instructed to ascertain the views and wishes of the whole community.
These suggestions were wise, and much discord would have been avoided if they had been heeded,
Following the meeting, one writer listed all the schemes which had come to his notice. He had heard of "the enlargement of the already too large City Hall, of the removal of the Clock Tower to another site, of transporting the Dent Fountain to Wongneichong (to be buried there, perhaps) and of its replacement by a statue of the Queen in front of the City Hall, the addition of a ballroom to Government House, of a statue of the Queen anywhere or every- where, of a subscription to the Indian and Colonial Institute, of the balance of subscriptions for a fete and rejoicings being handed over to the local charities, of a high school for girls, a home for the Protection of Young Girls, and (most wonderful of all) of a Poor House."
To put his own stamp of foolishness on the affair, the writer said: "It has likewise been breathed softly, but not yet openly proposed, that a Home for Decayed British Merchants who have subscribed regularly for charities for say twenty years back might be suitable, as it seems likely to be a necessary mode of celebrating the historical event of Her Majesty's jubilee."
A few of the proposals are of special interest because they reflect some of the social problems of the period. Two of them were concerned about the needs of girls in Hongkong.
The proposal for a middle school for girls would satisfy an
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.