[ { "id": 212942, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1993", "page_number": 10, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY\n\nHONG KONG BRANCH\n\nPRESIDENT'S REPORT FOR 1993/94\n\nThis is my third report to members since I took up the Presidency in March, 1991, and I have found that one of the difficulties of presenting a report at an annual general meeting of the Royal Asiatic Society is that it is sometime before it is in the hands of the members, since it is customary for it to be printed in the Society's journal; and due to the inevitable time lag between the date of the annual general meeting and the publication of the journal many of the events and problems of the Society may therefore be a somewhat distant memory, when read by all members up to two years later. I think therefore that in future it would be appropriate to distribute the report to all members (as you realise only about 60, or about one-tenth, of our members actually attend an annual general meeting) and subject to approval by the incoming Council I would propose that this report together with the financial report and any points arising out of this annual general meeting be circulated to members within the next three months.\n\nI propose this because it is apparent that the Royal Asiatic Society's profile within the community has increased over the last year or so in various ways and I think you will agree with me that in these accelerated changing times it is important that all members should not need to rely on reports which may appear in the newspapers. In the last year for instance the Society has been asked to appear twice before the LegCo Panel on Information Policy, once to discuss the relocation of the Public Records Office and once to exchange views on management of Government information and documents in the light of the proposed data protection law and there are other policy matters, not so controversial, which all members should be aware of, matters which are not able to be elaborated upon in the newsletter.\n\nI think also it will improve the Society's communication not only within the membership but also will assist in obtaining new members. Inevitably in Hong Kong the turnover in members is large and for newcomers to our Society it does take time to establish what exactly we do.\n\nSo what have we done in the last year? Besides the annual general meeting and dinner, we have had no less than 13 lectures and 14 local visits, and one trip to Guangzhou, and looking back through our records I cannot find a year when so much activity has taken place.\n\nix", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212945, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1993", "page_number": 13, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "From the programme, I would now like to turn to other topics which have exercised the Council's attention over the last year. As I mentioned earlier the Society has appeared twice before the LegCo Panel on Information Policy and this was due primarily to the stand which the Society has taken in respect of the Government's intention to move the Public Records Office to an unsuitable and inaccessible factory building in Tuen Mun, a step that is likely to happen in June. I do not wish to tabulate all the arguments that have been rehearsed many times within Council and the media on this subject, except to say that if it had not been for the Royal Asiatic Society's strong opposition to the removal of the Public Record to Tuen Mun then it is unlikely that we would now be looking at a more favourable situation than seemed possible this time last year. As it is we have been informed that the move is only temporary, the Government is actively looking for a site in Central, and provided funds are available the Government is prepared to build or convert some suitable buildings for public records; meanwhile the more important and the most used public records will be moved into a special room within the Government Secretariat. The position will need, however a great deal of attention and watching to ensure that those responsible for the preservation of Hong Kong's public records do really understand what is meant by the word preservation. Hong Kong's efforts in this direction leave a lot to be desired and compare very unfavourably with other countries including China. For this more optimistic emerging picture we need to thank several people including our past President, Dr. James Hayes, who continually prods the Government in the underbelly from down under and the Reverend Carl Smith who, at the height of the controversy last June, agreed reluctantly to appear in a T.V. documentary on the subject and was actually filmed, going to Tuen Mun, and seen groping through the polluted air and smog amongst the surroundings of the future Hong Kong Public Records Office. In addition I would like to thank Dr. Elizabeth Sinn, Mr. John Wilson, Dr. Lau Yee-cheung, and Dr. Choi Chi-cheung for their valuable inputs into these issues.\n\nThe second time members of the Council appeared before the LegCo Information Panel was fairly recently and also to do with public records but in the context of a possible Access to Information Bill. This is a difficult subject and I am not sure one that the Society should become too involved. The Society is more concerned with public records and an Archives Ordinance, since without this there is little point for legislation on access to information if there is no guarantee that the information in question will be available. A letter to the legislative councillors involved\n\nxii", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 } ]