RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241
ASPECTS OF HONG KONG MARINE FAUNA

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The University will have a functional Marine Science Laboratory to be completed during the summer of 1970. This establishment will greatly aid and encourage development of marine sciences in the Colony.

Two aspects of our studies may be of immediate interest to the Colony. First, we are relating bottom fauna with the fishes that feed on such organisms. This approach has been used in other places for the past few decades as an effort to aid fishermen in finding more suitable fishing grounds. We have noted 146 species of fishes in and associated with Tolo Harbour. As some of our information comes from the Taipo office of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, there is a likelihood that fishes from Mirs Bay and adjacent areas are also included. Another important study is pollution. By investigating the physico-chemical and biological factors important in Tolo Harbour, we intend to aid Government in guiding the development of communities like Shatin and Taipo, which are located on the shores of the Harbour. A sewage treatment plant will be established at the Chinese University site at Ma Liu Shui, and pollution studies will be correlated with the activities of this plant.

The Future of Marine Resources in Hong Kong

Of great importance for the future of the colony is the conservation of resources available, whether terrestrial or marine. During the spring of 1969, the University of Hong Kong sponsored the Conference on the Development and Conservation of the Countryside. The essence of the outcome of this meeting was that Hong Kong is in a critical state of planning. We must know what we are conserving, and do our best to plan all development with an eye toward future utilization and needs. Every weekend and holiday, thousands of city dwellers flock to the countryside to commune with nature. Just as a receding tide leaves layers of seaweed, these weekend tourists leave their residue. There is a tendency for everyone in Hong Kong to throw away their trash without thought of where it might land. This is true of the city, the countryside, and the beaches—extending into the water by boating enthusiasts and fishermen. This is on an enlarged scale when considering local industries, sanitary conditions, and indeed, land removal and filling processes. The Conservancy Society of Hong Kong has recently been formed. This organization will
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RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h
and a treadmill was in operation for punishment up until the early 1900s. Prisoners were escorted to Court, so it is believed, by a tunnel. Although the author went to Victoria Prison in the 1970s, on Justice of the Peace visits, he is unable to substantiate this.

A few colonial-style buildings, such as the Helena May Institute (completed 1916) on Garden Road, and the old Supreme Court building (foundations laid 1903, completed 1912) in Central District, are still in use. The latter is now the Legislative Council Chambers, and has been described as "Lutyens classical revival style adapted for the tropics".

In spite of forceful protests by the Heritage Society which was wound up, despondently, in 1983 — and the Conservancy Association, the Repulse Bay Hotel, the previous Hong Kong Club building, and the old Kowloon Railway terminus (except for the tower2) have all succumbed to the wrecker's hammer. The average Hong Kong citizen, it seems, has limited interest in conservation. He or she believes that a building has an economic life span, and, after that, it should go. To be fair, the Government, advised by the Antiquities and Monuments Office and the Antiquities Advisory Board, has declared a number of structures, for instance the Stanley Police Station (1859)13 as Monuments under the Antiquities Ordinance. Other Monuments include the steps and gas lamps in Duddell Street, Central District; rock carvings and inscriptions; old villages, for example Sam Tung Uk in Tsuen Wan; and the District Office, North, building at Tai Po in the New Territories.

The Territory also possesses a variety of other old structures, such as the fort and battery at Tung Chung and the fort at Tung Lung. There are also ancestral halls and study halls, like Shut Hing Shue Shan, at Ping Shan, and Chou Wong Yi Kung Shue Yuen, in Kam Tin.

Among other declared historical Monuments are Wan Chai Post Office (1915)1* in Queen's Road East, Western Market in Sheung Wan, and the Pathological Institute,1 in Caine Lane. As of 1990, such Monuments totalled 43. One of the most famous of Hong Kong's old buildings was Murray House (circa 1843).1 It was demolished carefully in 1982, and the parts were labelled, numbered and stored. The intention is to re-erect it on another site.

In 1935, the then new 66-metre high Hong Kong Bank (the third bank on that site) was fully air-conditioned (the first large building in Hong Kong).
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