[ { "id": 205703, "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-1969", "page_number": 9, "title": "RAS-1969", "content_text": "Council in February of this year, and more recently both Mr. J. S. Lee and Mr. M. S. Cumming have resigned owing to their many other commitments, and in the case of Mr. Cumming owing to the likelihood of his being away a good deal from the Colony during the year. Of the original Council of 1959 there are only two left - Dr. Marjorie Topley and myself. The Council is a hard-working body; it meets at least once a month and its activities involve a great deal of time and labour. It is essential for the future of the Society to fill the vacancies with persons who have real interest in the work of the Society and are prepared to share the work in furthering its interests.\n\nIn concluding I want to thank all my colleagues on the Council for their unremitting work, the British Council for their traditional help in a variety of ways and for the use of their premises for the meetings of the Council and their Library to house the greater part of the Society's books, and last but not least Mrs. O'Hara, also of the British Council, for her ever-willing and ready help and secretarial work which have been most valuable.\n\n28 April, 1969.\n\nLectures in 1968 comprised:-\n\n15 January\n\nProfessor Michael Sullivan.\n\n\"The Cave Temples of Maichishan (with slides).\n\n26 February\n\nJ. R. JONES\n\n\"The British Treaty with Siam of 1855\"\n\n16 March\n\nMr. Robert Bruce.\n\nVisit to Chinese Vegetarian Halls (chai-t'ang) and the Sects of Former Heaven (Hsien-t'ien Tao).\n\n18 March\n\nDr. Philip Mao.\n\n\"Some Aspects of Ching Dynasty Porcelain of the Kang Hsi, Yung Cheng & Ch'ien Lung Periods\" (illustrated with slides).\n\n8 April\n\nAnnual General Meeting.\n\n29 April\n\nMr. T. C. Cheng.\n\n\"Chinese Unofficial Members of the Legislative and Executive Councils in Hong Kong up to 1941\".", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1969.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209354, "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-1982", "page_number": 11, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "had the most to do with its organization in the past, were no longer able to manage it because of their other activities. There was no response to my appeal last year to members to come forward and volunteer for photographing and indexing. Our difficulties however, I am very pleased to say, now seem solved, as Mr. Philip Bruce of the Information Services Department, a keen photographer and explorer of Hong Kong's older quarters, has agreed to continue the survey when he returns from leave in May. We still welcome volunteers who would like to help him, particularly with the cataloguing work, however. In capturing old Hong Kong on film time is of the utmost importance, for Hong Kong is being reconstructed at a very rapid pace. So more hands are needed if we are to work faster.\n\nMembership\n\nApplication forms for membership are displayed as usual so that members who have brought along guests to the dinner tonight can invite them to join. Our total membership, as at January 31, was 543, consisting of seven honorary members, 113 local life members, 311 local ordinary, two institutional, seventy overseas life, and forty overseas ordinary members. Changes between March 1, 1982 and January 31, 1983 consisted of twenty-one resignations, four deaths, twenty-five notices returned, presumed resigned or moved without notifying us of a change of address, and thirteen unpaid members. There were fifty-two new members. We had the usual one or two protests from members who claimed they were not getting notices but who in fact had altered their address without informing us, so please do remember to let us know when you move.\n\nPersonalities\n\nDuring the year Lord and Lady Maclehose left Hong Kong and our new governor, Sir Edward Youde arrived with Lady Youde. I take this opportunity to repeat our thanks to Lord Maclehose for acting as our patron during his term of government office, and to announce our pleasure that Sir Edward has consented to take his place. We are also pleased that Lady Youde has accepted honorary membership of the Society.\n\nxi", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209752, "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-1983", "page_number": 11, "title": "RAS-1983", "content_text": "the compatibility of Confucian values and attitudes with the requisites of modernization.\n\n6th June 1983 Dr. Norman Miners, Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Hong Kong, talked interestingly about the Hong Kong Government Opium Monopoly between 1914 and 1941.\n\n22nd November 1983 Mrs. Mimi Chan, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Asian Studies and Comparative Literature, University of Hong Kong gave an enlivening talk on the study of lexical-borrowing from Chinese into English with special reference to Hong Kong, entitled \"Hongs, Tongs and all that Jazz”.\n\n6th December 1983 Miss Elizabeth Ride, daughter of our former President, Sir Lindsay Ride, talked informatively on his wartime activities and his role in the establishment of the British Army Aid Group in China, following up her brother's book on this subject.\n\n1st March 1984 Dr. Brian Shaw of the Department of Political Science, University of Hong Kong gave a well-illustrated talk on the kingdom of Bhutan and its cultural traditions.\n\nPhotographic Survey and Publications\n\nMembers will remember the successful publication Hong Kong Going and Gone published by the Society in 1980. This provided photographs and text on a number of interesting old buildings in the Central and Western districts. The Society planned to follow this up with another book, but cataloguing a mass of photographs from these and adjoining districts was felt to be a prerequisite to another publication or any further photographic work. Last summer, through arrangements made by Ms Elizabeth Sinn, Mr. Tony Rydings and Mr. Ian Diamond, university students undertook the work for a suitable remuneration and the backlog was cleared. Since then we have been fortunate in obtaining the enthusiastic support of our member, Mr. Philip Bruce of the Government Information Services Department, who has already taken 1,000 photographs of the Wan Chai area and", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1983.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209756, "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-1983", "page_number": 15, "title": "RAS-1983", "content_text": "Hon. Treasurer's Report\n\nAs usual, Mr. Gilkes will provide a separate account.\n\nConclusion\n\nFinally, I wish to thank all members of the Council for their support and hard work. We are all busy people, and yet nothing can be achieved for the Society without effort. We are fortunate in having a good Council and an efficient, helpful Assistant Secretary. I wish also to thank others who have helped us during the year, including Government Information Services for the use of their theatre for our lectures, our honorary auditors and our printers, our Assistant Secretary, and Mr. Philip Bruce whose work has been noted above. Thank you.\n\n30 March 1984.\n\nxiv\n\nJAMES HAYES\n\nPage 15\n\nPage 16", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1983.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210402, "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-1985", "page_number": 9, "title": "RAS-1985", "content_text": "Wai bund. Constructed in 1916, this encloses the large area of fish ponds that will become the site of Tin Shui Wai new town by the late 1980s. On this visit we also went to a lookout point above Deep Bay and entered the Mong Tseng Village with its interesting temple.\n\nOn 23 November 1985, over 80 members of the Society attended, by invitation, the 10 yearly Ta-chiu (FTA) rituals at the Kam Tin group of villages in the New Territories. This was a splendid opportunity to attend and understand a long-established important local event which is now in its 31st cycle, the latest in a series begun in 1685.\n\nOn 7 December 1985, Dr. Michael Lau, Curator of the Fung Ping Shan Museum and one of our Councillors, arranged a tour of the museum including an exhibition of paintings by Lui Shau Kwan. The tour was conducted by Miss Flora Chan, a former pupil of the artist.\n\nOn 11 December 1985, Professor Cameron Hurst III, the Japan Foundation visiting Professor in History at the University of Hong Kong, gave a talk entitled \"Martial arts and the martial way - the Samurai martial culture in Japan\".\n\nOn 7 January 1986, follow-up talks entitled \"Kam Tin Revisited\" were held at the Museum of History by Drs. Patrick Hase and David Faure and Mr. Chan Wing Hoi who had all led the group to Kam Tin in November.\n\nOn 22 February 1986, Major Willie Shiel and Mr. Philip Bruce conducted a successful visit attended by 50 members to Lei Yue Mun Fort, a late 19th century imperial coastal defence project of considerable interest.\n\nOn 22 January 1986, Mr. Jeff Lanham of the Hong Kong Polytechnic gave an interesting talk on the Fanling-Sha Tau Kok branch line of the old Kowloon Canton Railway 1910-1928.\n\nOn 21 February 1986, Mr. John Lundin, US Consul at Canton, gave an illustrated talk on the history of the Shameen\n\nviii", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1985.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210404, "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-1985", "page_number": 11, "title": "RAS-1985", "content_text": "himself (by the President). This is a most interesting book which I commend to members who have not purchased a copy. I would remind them that it is still available to members at a 25% reduction in block orders through the Society.\n\nI am also glad to report that the talks given on Radio Hong Kong in 1984 by eight members of the Society on important buildings in Hong Kong, under the title \"Heritage Houses”, are now in course of publication by Government Information Service with the editorial assistance of Mr. David Skinner: in short, another joint venture.\n\nPhotographic Survey\n\nMr. Philip Bruce reported that he has completed photographing and cataloguing the Wanchai area. He is ready to move on to another district.\n\nVenues for Lectures during the Year\n\nDuring the year we have continued to use the Museum of History in Kowloon Park whose excellent lecture hall facilities have been made available to us through the courtesy of the Curator. We have been grateful to him and his staff for assistance on these occasions. However, despite the availability of the mass transit railway whose Tsimshatsui station is located outside Kowloon Park and only 5 minutes from the museum, we know that many members prefer the Hong Kong side. We have therefore looked for suitable venues there but with little success so far. We are continuing the search. One of the difficulties lies in the fact that it is not always possible to make bookings well in advance and find lecturers whose schedules meet the chosen dates.\n\nA New Home for the Library\n\nAs stated in last year's report, a new home had to be found for our library after the Hong Kong Art Centre advised its constituent members, of whom we were one, that it would be revising the basis of their participation in the organization. This meant that\n\nX", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1985.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212068, "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-1990", "page_number": 10, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "Hase, Chek Lap Kok organized by Philip and Sharon Bruce, Fung Ping Shan Museum (x2) organized by Michael Lau, Parsee Building and Parsee Temple organized by Geoff Roper, Lam Tsuen Ta-Chiu festival organized by Dr. Patrick Hase. Shataukok visit (x2) organized by Dr. Patrick Hase, and a visit to the Chinese University of Hong Kong with its Arts Gallery organized by myself.\n\nWithout detracting from the other lectures I would like to mention that we were very privileged to have Dr. Wang Gangwu, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, to speak on the occasion of our 30th Anniversary, followed by a Chinese dinner at the City Hall restaurant.* I must confess it came as a surprise to find that it was 30 years since our rebirth. I think that all those who heard Dr. Wang's lecture on this occasion would agree that his lecture was as stimulating and thought provoking as you would ever wish to hear. It will, incidentally, we hope, be published in a future edition of our Journal.\n\nOverseas Tours\n\nFrom time to time members have asked us to organise tours overseas, and in response to this we have recently circulated a proposal for a visit to South Korea, where we would hope to meet up with the Royal Asiatic Society there. Unfortunately although many members have expressed interest, the final numbers who have definitely said they will go are below what we think is financially viable, and unless there is a strong interest in this trip within the next day we will be cancelling it. I am grateful to Dan Waters for all the hard work he has put into this, and I think we have learnt by this experience. We will continue to consider overseas tours but I think it will be a question of something closer and for shorter periods. Members' advice on this would be very much appreciated.\n\nMembership\n\nAt the end of last year my predecessor reported to you that there were 638 local members and 80 overseas members, making a total of 718 Members. Mrs. Bruce reports that at the last count there were 596 local members (492 living on Hong Kong Island, 65 in Kowloon, and 39 in the New Territories) and again around 80 overseas members, making a total of 676 members. This decline in the total membership\n\n* See Plate 16\n\nix", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212456, "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-1991", "page_number": 10, "title": "RAS-1991", "content_text": "Mr. David Sheil Mr. Michael Kirkbride Mr. Yip Cho-hong\n\nMr. Philip Bruce (twice)\n\nand Mr. David Mahoney\n\nDr. James Hayes Mr. K. Leung\n\nMr. Tao Ho\n\nMr. Charles Walker\n\nTibetan Rugs\n\nHong Kong: a Landscape History Preparing for the Future: Our First\n\n15 years in the Antiquities Office Second to None: The Hong Kong Volunteers and the Battle of Hong Kong\n\nTsuen Wan: 1887 to 1987\n\nCivilians Under Japanese\n\nOccupation\n\nWestern Market\n\nEric Lidell\n\nThere have also been the following trips/tours over the last year since I last reported. Dr. Patrick Hase and Dr. Graeme Lang organised a trip to Wong Tai Sin, and three visits have been organised by Mr. Philip Bruce namely the Bogue Forts in the Pearl river Delta, the Colonial Cemetery and Chek Lap Kok in conjunction with Mr. Bill Meacham (again and probably the last), Mr. John Wilson organised a trip to the Shing Mun Redoubt in keeping again with the Society's sights on the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Hong Kong. Dr Patrick Hase and Mr. Philip Bruce did not also forget to look after our gastronomical and liquid desires since the former organised our annual Chinese dinner at the City Hall, and the latter our resuscitated Christmas cocktail party at the Volunteer Officer's mess at Beaconsfield house. Since the new year we have also been well taken care of by a visit to the South Side of Hong Kong Island organised jointly by Mrs. Rosemary Lee who took us to the war cemetery at Stanley, Mr. Michael Kirkbride who expanded on Keteleeria Trees, and Colonel Douglas Fox who showed us how the South side of the island and Stanley Fort in particular was fortified in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Colonel Douglas Fox also led a very successful trip to Stonecutters Island. This was followed in quick succession by a tour to more of the remote parts of Lamma Island led by our honourary secretary Mr. David St. Maur Sheil. And more recently we had a very successful if rather wet trip to Xiamen, organised by Mrs. Anita Wilson and Mrs. Rosemary Lee, and a very comprehensive tour of Tsuen Wan led by Dr. James Hayes. To all these organisers may I extend our thanks and sincere appreciation.\n\nOur local tours are very popular as many members, who were not able to get on some, found: the Council is very conscious of this problem,\n\nIX", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1991.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213187, "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-1994", "page_number": 9, "title": "RAS-1994", "content_text": "ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY\n\nHONG KONG BRANCH\n\nPRESIDENT'S REPORT FOR 1994/95\n\nMay I welcome all of you here this evening, the 35th gathering since the resuscitation of the Society in 1960.\n\nFor me one of life's real pleasures is to be a member of the Royal Asiatic Society (Hong Kong Branch) and I hope that this feeling of enjoyment is shared by all of you this evening. It is not idle enjoyment, it is of the active voluntary kind, which stimulates the mind, and gives you insight into areas of activity which you would not normally tread into given the very busy lives which most of us lead in Hong Kong. In other words most of us make time to come to the activities of the Society, because we know that when we come to hear a talk or go on an activity we will learn something we did not know before, or are given some insight into Hong Kong's history which is much more fascinating than many of us imagine.\n\nThese words, although they may be obvious to some, are worth saying because it gives me a lead into the very active programme which we have had since I last reported to you this time last year. At that time I said I thought we had had one of the most active years ever, but looking at this last year we seemed to have even surpassed last year. We have had no less than seventeen lectures, fifteen visits to various parts of Hong Kong and two very successful visits: one to North Vietnam, and I am very pleased to see so many Vietnamese veterans here this evening and one to North Taiwan; the former organised by Dr. Patrick Hase and the other by Mr. Keith Stevens. (Some of us did our best to conquer the Perfume Pagoda high in the Vietnamese hills but lack of time and breath in some cases prevented us from reaching the top, and seeing members of the Society sitting and wobbling precariously in a Vietnamese sampan trying to eat a picnic lunch out of a box without falling into the water was something which is not easily forgotten by those who had the privilege of seeing them). For the success of the talks and visits we have to thank the very active Programme Committee, i.e. Mrs. Rosemary Lee, Rev. Carl Smith, Dr. Patrick Hase, Dr. Elizabeth Sinn, Mr. Geoffrey Roper, Dr. Dan Waters, Mr. Philip Bruce, Dr. Michael Lau and Dr. Joseph Ting. They have really done a splendid job.\n\nviii", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1994.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213418, "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-1995", "page_number": 14, "title": "RAS-1995", "content_text": "I Jul 95\n\n19 Aug 95\n\n23 Sept 95\n\n18 Nov 95\n\nTraditional Trades and Crafts of Hong Kong - HK Museum of History (Exhibition)\n\nHeaven's Embroidered Cloths A Thousand Years of Chinese Textiles (Exhibition) - HK Museum of Art\n\nLife Under the Japanese Occupation 1941-45 (Exhibition) - HK Museum of History\n\nExhibition of Chinese Folk Art - HK University Museum and Art Gallery\n\nNew Territories Temples and Da Jiu at Kam Tin\n\n26 Nov 95\n\n16 Dec 95\n\nJade Exhibition - HK University Museum and Art Gallery\n\n13 Jan 96\n\nPrince of Wales Barracks and former HMS Tamar Site\n\n20 Jan 96\n\nVillages of the north eastern New Territories\n\n10 Feb 96\n\nWalk through the deserted villages of Sai Kung\n\n9 Mar 96\n\nMaritime Silk Route (Exhibition) - HK Museum of History\n\n16 Mar 96\n\nOrganic Farm on Lamma Island\n\nVisits outside Hong Kong:\n\n22/23 Apr 95\n\nDapeng, Xin'an County\n\n2/3 Feb 96 14/17 Mar 96\n\nBocca Tigris Forts of the Pearl River\n\nTemples of northern Taiwan\n\nSuch activity demands some very dedicated organisers and besides those already mentioned in the Activities Committee we are particularly grateful to Dr. Joseph Ting, Dr. Anthony Siu, Mr. John Wilson, Mr. Philip Bruce, Dr. Patrick Hase, Mr. David Sheil and Dr. Michael Lau for their help. Sometimes not all members can obtain places on these outings and I would like to say that we are quite willing to run the trip again provided we can find someone to assist in organising it. In fact, if any member is willing to propose any trip to somewhere of interest the Society will always be prepared to consider it.\n\nThere is one other activity to which I would like to draw your", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1995.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213666, "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-1996", "page_number": 19, "title": "RAS-1996", "content_text": "Venues\n\nWe are grateful to the Urban Council for allowing us to use the City Hall for our jointly organised lectures. The Urban Council gives additional support in the form of publicity. Other lectures have been held at the Antiquities and Monuments office and again we are most grateful. Most of our Council and committee meetings are held in Price Waterhouse's offices. Again a sincere vote of thanks is due.\n\nAcknowledgements\n\nI have already thanked lecturers and Council Members for their help. Both David St. Maur Sheil and Philip Bruce, however, have been compelled to step down from the Council because of competing claims on their time. David served as Honorary Secretary starting in 1993, and Phillip had been a Councillor since 1987. We thank them both for all they have done for our Branch. A special mention must be made here of the contribution that Philip Bruce has made regarding military history, which he has researched and written about extensively.\n\nA further thank you is necessary to Claire Hockaday who, in addition to filling her post as Assistant Secretary where she has set about bringing everything up-to-date, has also in recent months taken on the job of Honorary Secretary. Her efforts are greatly appreciated.\n\nOne thing that we are not looking forward to, however, is saying goodbye to Anita Wilson this summer. Anita started serving on the Council in 1986 and she steps down tonight, although we hope to co-opt her for the next few months. Because she has always been such a willing and efficient Councillor, she will be extremely difficult to replace. We thank her sincerely for all she has done during the past 11 years. We wish her, together with her husband, John, well in their next posting.\n\nWhen I took over as President, one member said to me: 'You are lucky that you have good back up.' I must stress that I do indeed greatly appreciate all the support that I have been given, not only from Council and committee members but also from the membership as a whole.\n\nxviii", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1996.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214157, "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-1998", "page_number": 15, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "together with his wife Edith, re-visited Hong Kong. So did Past President Dr James Hayes who gave an entertaining, illustrated talk to our Branch about his army days, in Hong Kong and Korea, in the early 1950s. We were delighted to see these three old friends once again.\n\nIt is always sad when old friends depart, for whatever reason, and we are sorry to have to report the passing of two of our overseas members in Britain: the Reverend Cyril Clarke and Mr G Harden. We are also sad to record the passing of Lady May Ride who was a strong supporter of our Branch from 1960 right up to her death after she had moved to England. May they all rest in peace. In addition other members resigned and some left, we later discovered, without informing us which complicates the keeping of our records. As a matter of general interest, there appears to be no founding member (who joined in 1960) who is still active in our Branch today.\n\nMembership drive\n\nBecause of reduced membership, strenuous attempts have been made to increase numbers in various ways. For instance a successful photographic exhibition, on the Landmark Building's Overhead Walkway in Central, was mounted at the end of May, 1998 (see Appendix C). The major organisers for this event were Robert Nield and Tim Ko, assisted at planning stage by Philip Bruce and Arthur Hacker. Their efforts were greatly appreciated as was the help of a large number of other members, including Dr Michael Lau who did the Chinese translation.\n\nIn addition to the successful Landmark Exhibition (no pun intended), the RAS message has been spread in various other ways. This has included the President and members giving talks to, or liaising with, approaching 20 associations, such as the Corona Society, Dante Alighieri and the Hong Kong Natural History Society. Reciprocal arrangements with other societies are obviously important and, in some cases, other associations have been very supportive. Councillors have also taken part in radio and television programmes and our Branch is to be allocated space by the British Consulate on the Internet. For all this assistance we are grateful to many different organisations.\n\nWe are also grateful to RAS members Bob and Sally Bunker and\n\nXiv\n\nPage 15\n\nPage 16", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214166, "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-1998", "page_number": 24, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "Appendix C\n\nRASHKB Projects Undertaken during the 1998/9 Year\n\n(a) Photographic Exhibition: From 25 to 27 May, 1998, the RASHKB held a photographic exhibition on the overhead walkway leading from the Landmark building to Swire House. The RASHKB photographs of Western and Sheung Wan aroused considerable interest among the public. The main purpose of the exhibition was to boost RAS membership. Although many RAS members helped mount and man the exhibition, most of the planning and the bulk of the work was undertaken by Robert Nield and Tim Ko. Members Philip Bruce and Arthur Hacker also helped plan the recruitment drive, with the latter designing a new RAS brochure assisted by Dr Michael Lau for the Chinese translation. We are grateful to all who assisted in any way.\n\n(b) Tracing Graves: From July to September our Branch was involved with tracing seven graves for the British Association of Cemeteries in South Asia. The requests to trace these graves came from descendants of the deceased living in Britain. Four of the graves were traced in Happy Valley and Carl Smith was able to trace, from his card index system, that the fifth person had died in Ningbo. The bulk of the research in Hong Kong was undertaken by Dr Dan Waters with help from the Government Urban Services Department.\n\n(c) Samuel Cornell Plant (1866-1921): Commencing in September as an ongoing project, two of our overseas members, Captain A.C. Bromfield and Mrs Rosemary Lee, have been assisting the British Association of Cemeteries in South Asia research the life of Captain Plant. He was an inspector in the Chinese Maritime Customs on the dangerous upper section of the Yangtze River and he and his wife are buried in Happy Valley. The RASHKB has been involved at the Hong Kong end where research has been undertaken by Dr Dan Waters.\n\n(d) The National Library of China: From 17-24 January, 1999, RASHKB member Dr Kazimiera Gasztine worked in the National Library in Beijing, in an honorary capacity, assisting staff translate passages into English, and writing synopses of the contents of old and rare works. It is understood there is in the region of 4,000 such books in the Beijing library in languages about which the staff at the National Museum...\n\nxxiii", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214507, "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-1998", "page_number": 365, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "334\n\ntherefore to the outside of the building, which is of neo-gothic design. Although built in the 1930s, long after Germany ceased to hold sway over Tsingtao, the cathedral was built largely with German money. However, before it was completed the money supply was drastically reduced by the incoming Nazi government. Hence the inside, had we been able to see it, would have shown such incongruous features as flat ceilings instead of the vaulted and beamed roof that the outside would suggest. Legend has it that during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, two over-zealous Red Guards climbed the towers with the intention of removing the crosses from the top, but they fell to their respective deaths before completing their mission. As the cathedral is in a very narrow street, it is not possible to get a good camera angle unless one walks somewhat away from the front, down to the street to the left, where a lively street-market gives interesting and contrasting foreground possibilities - the whole looking rather medieval. In fact, the street market is worth a visit in its own right, being very extensive and lively. A chopper seller (as used in Chinese cooking and violent crime) was being very vocal at the time we were there.\n\nHills and beaches - the east of the city\n\nWe had organised a picnic lunch from the hotel. Given that time was tight we did not want to spend an hour or so hidden away in a restaurant. Instead, we took our picnic lunch up Qingdaoshan Hill, formerly Bismarck Berg. Access to the hill was somewhat unusual, being through a small museum on Jing Shan Road. The museum was in fact closed, but our guide managed to navigate us through and out of the back door, whence up the hill. A look-out post at the top gives good panoramas of the city and out to sea. The picnic lunch was adequate, but Philip Bruce appeared to be very pleased that he had brought his tin of sardines from the Co-op in Worthing.\n\nFortified and refreshed, our next mission was to find any remains of the German cemetery. Its location was clear enough from the many old maps that we had between us, but the guide was not hopeful of finding anything of interest. And so it turned out, or almost. The cemetery is now Baihua Park, and is remarkable for a reason that cannot be much further removed from cemeteries. On entering the park we noticed a wedding couple, and another - and another. There must have been upwards of 30 or more newly married couples wandering around", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214509, "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-1998", "page_number": 367, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "336\n\nI do not know if a couple of bus-loads of \"extras\" were sent on in advance of our arrival at the beach, but we were greeted again by the sight of bridal couples - a beachful of them! I have a photograph that clearly shows more than 30 couples, the brides for the most part in western white gowns and the grooms in black suits. The heavily decorated taxis were present here too, but so was a totally different kind of conveyance, one that is rather hard to describe. Bright red in colour, it appeared to be the sort of car that might have been designed by Walt Disney - long and open with running boards and big frog-eye headlights. Our guide explained that the city had commissioned 20 of these wonderful creations. One of our number (the dashing and debonair Philip Bruce) found out that such cars were available for hire (with driver) during the evenings when not being used for weddings - and so off he went later that night for a very special city tour.\n\nAt the eastern end of the beach is the commanding building that was once the governor's seaside retreat and hunting lodge. Fully open to the public, and containing a souvenir and trinkets shop, it affords a wonderful panorama back across the city and the beach full of brides.\n\nThe day finished with dinner in a nearby restaurant, where our enthusiasm to support the local beer-making industry easily broke the budget of our unfortunate China Qingdao Overseas Tourist Company guide.\n\nDespite the preponderance of good beer in all the places we visited, some of our number preferred to sample the local wine. Chinese wine has been around for some time, during which it has steadily been getting better. A local find worth noting was the excellent Hua Dong, which really took by surprise those who sampled it. Comments were heard such as: \"I have never tasted a good Chinese-made wine before.\" In fact the Hua Dong winery has been made famous by none other than the globe-trotting Michael Palin, who went there in his TV series as well as managing to stay at the German Governor's residence in Qingdao.\n\nChefoo - The Brighton of China\n\nThe road from Qingdao to Chefoo (or Yantai as it is now known)", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214519, "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-1998", "page_number": 377, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "346\n\nBy the time dinnertime came, we had finished dinner. Let me explain. Dusk fell at about five o'clock, and the guide said that we were now going for dinner. Of course, there were howls of protest, but we were assured that this was perfectly normal. At least, we demanded, can we have a change from Chinese food. We all enjoy Chinese food and the quality had been consistently on the good side, but we craved a bit of variety. So we were treated to a Korean BBQ buffet, and it was absolutely excellent - masses of fresh meat, seafood, and vegetables and gas-fired hotpots to do your own cooking in. A real eye-opener and tummy-filler, but all was finished by about seven o'clock, leaving some of us in desperate need of a cream cake or two back in the hotel.\n\nPort Arthur\n\nOn the 40-odd mile journey to Port Arthur, we were treated by Philip Bruce to an introduction to fortress-building and sacking, just so that we could be prepared. However, I have to say that the visit to Port Arthur, or Lushun as it is now known, was the closest we came to a disappointment. We were all experts on the place from the time Captain Arthur first dropped his anchor there until the early part of this century, but none of us was prepared for the present day Lushun.\n\nTo be fair, the guide had told us that the whole place is still dominated by a naval base - but this time, of course, one operated by the People's Liberation Army. We tried to explain that we were not interested in any of the naval installations or hardware, but the old buildings that remained to be seen, and in particular the railway station. However, we were told that as we were foreigners, we could not even go into the town at all. Only half-jokingly, those of us that could produced our Permanent Hong Kong Identity Cards, demonstrating that we too were citizens of the People's Republic. But this did not impress the guides. It was suggested that it might be a case of us not looking all that Chinese that was the problem. The guide assured us that this was not the case - it was simply a matter of not wanting foreign nationals wandering over highly sensitive military facilities. However, when it was pointed out that four of our number did indeed look very Chinese (despite their Canadian, Malaysian, and other passports), the guides agreed that these four could indeed visit the town.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215921, "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-2002", "page_number": 220, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "154\n\nsince 1997. But getting Ko to first join, and then to be on the Council, was not easy.\n\n\"I never heard about [the RAS] of course, not until I started working at the HKTA. They have the whole set of the journal in the library. So I started reading and it was really an eye-opener for me. Particularly reading those articles written by James Hayes...I never read anything like that before in my life.\n\n\"Even though I'm so interested in history and I knew about this organisation, I think...it's not an organisation for people with a background like mine.”\n\nBut Ko met Philip Bruce, a Council member, during a freelance job, and decided to join. In 1997, he was asked to serve on the Council.\n\n\"At that time my first thought was it was totally beyond my wildest thoughts because of my background...I had nothing to do with academics. I don't have any degree in history, anthropology or whatever, and at that age, I'm not that young, but because all the other Council members are much more senior in whatever aspect, I was quite surprised when they invited me.\n\n\"This is Dr. Hase, Dr. Sinn, Dr. Waters...and who am I?”\n\nAlthough he answers with sincerity that he doesn't know what he's contributed as a Council member, he has given several talks. Ko believes that one reason he was asked to serve on the Council was to help with the recruitment of younger Chinese members.\n\nSeventy-three percent of the members of the RAS are aged between 40 and 60, but over the last year the society has stepped up its effort to recruit new members, especially young Chinese members.\n\nKo said he has tried to recruit some young Chinese friends but because the RAS is an English-speaking society, Ko says from personal experience, it can be intimidating for people who are second language speakers.\n\n\"It's too difficult to speak in English, I think, for many people.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 } ]