RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g 166 NOTES AND QUERIES held office for many years on the main advisory bodies representing the Chinese community in the Colony, including the District Watchmen's Committee, the Tung Wah Hospital Committee, the Chinese Public Dispensaries Committee and the Po Leung Kuk.15 Sir Show-son CHOW's son, Mr. CHOW Yat-kwong, J.P. has kindly given permission for members to visit the house in the New Village which contains the family's ancestral hall, III. THE Hung Shing Temple And AP LEI CHAU The Hung Shing Temple, The Hung Shing Temple at Ap Lei Chau, judging by the temple bell, dates from the 18th century.16 It appears to have been enlarged in 1847 and some wall-tablets show that it was given a major repair in 1888. The present building dates from that time or earlier. Its origin is uncertain because it is not clear who built it in the first instance. Records show that the Ap Li Chau land population was "no more than two or three families of Hakka grass cutters" before 1841, so that we must look elsewhere for the builders. It could have only been built and supported by the joint efforts of the local (i.e. Aberdeen) land people and boat population. The former only amounted to a few hundreds before the British came, but the boat population was probably as considerable before 1841 as after, e.g. 415 boats and 2,243 persons at the 1856 census18 and 424 boats and 4,130 persons in 1866.19 The temple is interesting in that it has old-style flagpoles still standing in front of the building. Old prints frequently show this kind of pole; but though a few bases can still be seen nowadays in Hong Kong, Macau and the New Territories these could be the only ones left with the poles and their basket-like tops still in place. Ap Lei Chau before 1911. The present land settlement on Ap Lei Chau was founded in the early decades of British rule. By the mid-1860's there were 60 houses there, which implies that several hundred residents were living on the island at that time.20 By 1897 the number of residents was 1,123 rising to 1,437 at the Colony Census of 1911.21 This population gained its livelihood to a great extent from concerns directly associated with the fishing industry, such as boat-building yards, ship chandlers and rope and sail works, and from provision shops and general stores that also catered for the fishermen's daily needs.22 There was very ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 130 H. J. LETHBRIDGE Permanent Board of Direction was established by ordinance in 189352, the Tung Wah Hospital Advisory Board came into being in 189633, the Chinese Permanent Cemetery Committee in 1913 and the Chinese Temples Committees in 1928. Two other Chinese committees should be mentioned: the Chinese Recreation Ground Committee, established in 1890, contained the Registrar General and the Chinese unofficial members of the two Councils; and the Chinese Public Dispensaries Committee, formed in 1909, consisted of the Registrar General as chairman, the Chinese members of the two Councils and the Sanitary Board, the three chairmen of the annual committee of the Tung Wah Hospital and a number of other leading Chinese. In 1941, the official Chinese committees, inclusive of the District Watch, were eleven in number. Together their members represented a Hong Kong Chinese élite, in which such values as wealth, prestige and power, to use William Skinner's expressive term, ‘agglutinated’. Nomination to the District Watch Committee was a great achievement, but nomination to the other ten committees and boards was also regarded as an honour and an additional notification of a person's standing within the community. But Chinese appointed to these ten committees and boards exercised either a more specialised or more purely honorific role, primarily because these committees did not hold a constant or uninterrupted dialogue with the Registrar General/Secretary for Chinese Affairs. They met infrequently, sometimes only once or twice a year; and although they gave advice on occasions, the giving of advice was not their primary function. Much of the work of these committees centred on the allocation of charitable funds, the management of property and the supervision of accounts. The District Watch Committee represented the real locus of power: at its meetings the members formulated a Chinese point of view on government policies and general issues. The Committee acted as a permanently installed barometer for the government, giving it a clear indication of the state of mind of the Chinese bourgeoisie. It marked out for government how the élite felt on certain questions39. The same people were to be found represented on all the eleven committees and boards (although in slightly different combinations in each case) so that it is a little unreal to distinguish ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 140 H. J. LETHBRIDGE 44 Sir Robert Ho Tung was never a member of the District Watch Committee although he was at one time chairman of the Tung Wah Hospital Committee. Sir Robert's brothers—Ho Fook and Ho Kom Tong—and other relatives became members of the Committee. 45 Sir Chau Tsun-nin, who served on the Committee, was the son of Chau Siu-ki, a prominent financier and member of the Committee until his death. Chau Siu-ki (1863-1925) was killed in the collapse of a house during an abnormally heavy rainstorm. 46 I think one may conclude that by the time the Committee met the Registrar General most of the problems to be discussed had been thrashed over previously, most likely at the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce or at the Chinese Club, both located in Connaught Road. There was also a Compradores' Club. 47 For an account of Ho Kai's involvement in Chinese politics see Harold Z. Schiffrin, "The Enigma of Sun Yat-sen", in M. C. Wright, ed., op. cit., pp. 246 ff. 48 The Hong Kong Chinese General Chamber of Commerce was in close touch with the Canton Chamber of Commerce and members flitted between one and the other. Many members of the District Watch Committee had offices and businesses in Canton and invested heavily in Kwangtung enterprises. Many bought land. 49 Ho Kai, however, believed in the 'Open Door' policy in China, which he thought would be beneficial to both China, Hong Kong and the West. See the letter sent to Lord Charles Beresford in Beresford's book, The Break-up of China, London, Harper and Brothers, 1899, pp. 216-233. 50 This is made clear, I feel, by a perusal of the commissions of enquiry into the workings of the Po Leung Kuk and the Tung Wah Hospital. In both cases Ho Kai worked in concert with Lockhart to protect the interests of the Chinese community. Ho Kai was no yes-man. On the other hand, he did use his inside knowledge of government activities to line his own pockets. Endacott states that Ho Kai and his cronies were suspected of spreading rumours about British intentions in the New Territories before the takeover in order to reduce land prices. Endacott, op. cit., p. 263. See also Despatches and other papers relating to the Extension of the Colony of Hong Kong, Sessional Papers, No. 32 of 1899, p. 20. 51 For example, Ho Fook, Chau Siu-ki and Wei Yuk all died in office. 52 This board was set up to oversee the working of the managing committee and to see that continuity in policy was maintained. 53 See note 52. An important function of the Advisory Board was to see that money was spent wisely. 54 The Committee controlled fee-paying cemeteries at Aberdeen and Tsun Wan. Burial was reserved for Chinese who had been permanently resident in the Colony. 55 This Committee, like the others listed above, was under the chairmanship of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs. Chinese temples were controlled, in accordance with Ordinance No. 7 of 1928, by this Committee. 56 The Chinese Recreation Ground was an open space situated off Hollywood Road. Funds derived from the rents of stalls in both Hollywood Road and the Yaumati Public Square in Kowloon. 57 Before 1941 there were 9 Chinese Public Dispensaries controlled and maintained by a committee under the chairmanship of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs. They were originally established to help combat plague. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 84 the accuracy of the registration.7 It is consistent with a climate of insufficient funds and a well-established colonial principle of subsidy to voluntary agencies to provide services that fee payment was resisted by government. Mr. May, the Acting Governor, proposed instead that the money should be spent on a maternity charity, viz. the Training School of Chinese Midwives at the newly completed AMMH, which subsequently enrolled the two trainees from the Civil Hospital. Setting Up: the LMS and the Chinese subscribers. Dr. Ho Kai is largely credited with the initiative in promoting Western medicine for the Chinese people in Hong Kong, building on the LMS' interest in missionary medicine and funding the Alice Memorial Hospital and the College of Medicine for Chinese. From its inception, the Alice Hospital, by now comprising the Alice Memorial Hospital and the Nethersole Hospital, had been dependent on the wealth and goodwill of the Chinese elite, amongst whom Dr. Ho Kai was a leader. After just six years of operation, the 1893 Annual Report of the Finance Committee noted that subscriptions from the European community were down by $1,000, although the expenses of a growing hospital were higher. At the same time, subscriptions from the Chinese had increased from $1,708 to $3,131 between 1891 and 1892. Indeed, the Report suggested that the example of the Tung Wah should be followed, and representatives of the Chinese guilds be invited to join the hospital finance committee, to increase Chinese participation. This proposition was not implemented, and in 1908, Dr. Gibson opposed any increase in Chinese membership of the AMMH's Management Committee, because of likely friction and consequent reduction in trust which Chinese people had in the LMS organisation. At the same time he noted that the subscribers gave little to the Alice compared with their donations to Chinese institutions, such as the Tung Wah and District Dispensaries.9 Chinese finance was crucial for the expansion of the hospital; indeed, for the establishment of the maternity hospital proposed in 1901, support from the rich Chinese was essential. When the Chinese benefactors moved, mobilisation was rapid. To correspondence from Dr. Ho Kai to Dr. Gibson on 3 March, 1902, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 99 of the Union Church, in 1914,2 and continued her private practice and work with the Chinese Public Dispensaries Committee, setting up the Tsan Yuk Maternity Hospital in 1922. She was reappointed to the Midwives Board in 1914, became Supervisor of Midwives in 1916, and was awarded an MBE in 1919 for wartime services. From 1918, she was employed by the government, when she became Acting Medical Officer of Health, being appointed Assistant Medical Officer in Charge of Native Hospitals in 1923.* On her untimely death in 1928, she was lauded for her work amongst poor Chinese women over nearly twenty-five years. 84 She must have been a woman of strong personality to persist and achieve difficult goals in the alien environment of Hong Kong. Dr. Sibree's interaction with others was moulded by her personality, partly formed by her experience of gender, class, and patriarchy, in a Christian family environment. She reacted in a 'feminine' non-confrontational way, according with social expectations.* Had she behaved in a 'masculine' mode, she would have been no more likely to achieve her goals. Thus, she was in a 'no-win' situation. Breaking away from the LMS in Hong Kong, which perhaps reproduced family relationships, may have been necessary for her autonomy. Dr. Perkins' experience was different, but the circumstances cannot be equated. First, given the delay in her appointment, and Dr. Gibson's overwork, her presence was welcome and doubtless upset would be avoided, by either Dr. Gibson or the District Committee; secondly, the service was well set up and not pioneering, as in Dr. Sibree's case; thirdly, Dr. Gibson went on leave in 1912; and fourthly, she developed a romantic attachment with the widower* locum, Dr. Mitchell, resulting in their marriage in 1913. The barriers facing Dr. Sibree in the early years resulted not only from the relationship with Dr. Gibson and the perceived lack of support from the LMS Hong Kong. It is probable that the barriers to work with Chinese women, and to access to work with women at the Tung Wah were entrenched cultural barriers. China had been through waves of anti-European feeling and, both in Hong Kong and in China itself, there was minimal contact between Chinese and European women.7 Chinese women of the upper classes lived behind 'a bamboo screen', unlike their menfolk who learned English and engaged in commerce with the foreigners. These barriers broke down to some extent in the changed political and value climate of the years after the Manchu overthrow. Even before that, change was discernible in the trend to education of daughters. ================================================================================