RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 104 CARL T. SMITH imposture and contemptible impudence". He later was part of Chan Lai Tau's ambassadorial staff at Washington, and upon his return to China in 1882, he promoted the organization of the Canton and Hong Kong Telegraph Company.38 Associated with Ho Shan Chee in the Telegraph Company was a kinsman, Ho Kwan Shan (何崑珊) alias Ho Amei (何阿美),†Œ4 the Secretary of the On Tai Insurance Company in Hong Kong. Ho Kwan Shan had been educated at Dr. Legge's Anglo-Chinese College in Hong Kong, being a schoolmate of the sons of Ho Asun. Upon completing his education, Ho Kwan Shan joined his elder brother, Ho Low Yuk (何陸玉) in Australia in 1858. From Australia in 1865 he went to New Zealand to arrange for the importation of the first Chinese laborers to New Zealand. Returning to Australia, he served for a time as interpreter at Ballarat, Victoria. In 1868 he came back to Hong Kong. Here he became a clerk in the Registrar General's Office. Later he became interested in developing mines on Lan Tau Island as well as at other places in Kwang Tung Province.39 The most prominent of the Ho clan, however, was the family of Ho Tsun Shin (何遵善) or as he was better known in Christian circles, Ho Fuk Tong (何福堂).† His father had been a block cutter for the press of the Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca. Ho Fuk Tong joined him there and became a student at the College. He showed scholastic aptitude and for a time accompanied the son of the senior missionary at the Malacca Station to India for advanced study. Upon the arrival of the Rev. James Legge at the Mission, a close bond was established between the two young men. Ho Fuk Tong was his junior by three years. When Legge removed to Hong Kong in 1843, Ho Fuk Tong accompanied him and was ordained as the Chinese pastor of the London Missionary Society congregation in 1846. He continued as a faithful minister of the congregation (now Hop Yat Church) until his death in 1871. He was conscientious and faithful in his service to the church, but he was also very successful as a financier. After his death there were numerous Court suits over the interpretation of his will and the administration of his estate. Some of the difficulties arose because Ho Fuk Tong held his property under various aliases. In one of the cases a barrister gives his opinion why Ho Fuk Tong followed this procedure: ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d NOTES AND QUERIES 323 to the government for a lot on which to build a school. In granting the lot for charitable and educational purposes, it was stipulated that "the school should be built on that portion of the ground furthest away from the front of the native temple which is opposite. The villagers have asked that no houses be erected immediately fronting the temple, but they could not object to a playground. The latter should be fenced around.” (C.S.O. No. 700 of 1885) In 1898, the Roman Catholic Church bought a large piece of land behind the village for a church and a school. The Canossian Sisters, however, already had two lots on Bulkely Street in 1894 where they conducted a school (No. 59 & 60). (c) The Kwun Yam (††) and Pak Tai (†) temples. An old memorial board in the Kwun Yam Temple dated 1873-74 lists eleven individuals or shops who may tentatively be identified as the management committee.* I can only identify one, Li Shing Fat, listed as a rate-payer in 1875 and possibly as Lee A Fat on the 1867 squatter licence list. A Hop Shing shop is listed, and it is possible that the owner was Chan Hop Shing who appears on the 1873 rates list or Chang Hop Shing of the 1867 squatter list. Another possible identification might be the Kwong Lung shop with the Kwong "Leong" grocer in the 1884 Rate. In 1896 the Temple Committee applied for the grant of a Crown Lease for the lot on which the building stood. It was noted that "This Temple is a public temple, owned by the committee of Hung Hom. A notice was posted at Hung Hom on the 23rd (March, 1886) saying that anyone who objected to the issue of the proposed lease should report to the Registrar General within ten days. No communication has been made on the subject.... therefore recommend the issue of the lease." (C.S.O. No. 704 of 1896). In consequence, a lease was granted to Chung Kam Fuk, Chan Ying Cheung, and Ching Ki, Trustees. Of these, Chan Ying Cheung was a large property owner at Hung Hom who was also a wealthy contractor in Hong Kong. Upon his death, his will left his Hung Hom property to his sons. The two named temples date from this early period and have survived: one of them in its original location and another on a new *The names are listed as follows: 福隆號,兴有容,新順扣,勝扣廠,廣隆號,李富利,陳日新,怡興行,廣勝同,合勝號,李勝發。The board carries the large characters 法雨同沾and is dated 同治甲戌年仲春吉旦 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 150 CARL SMITH Mr. Legge and he discussed how they might work out the plans laid down by the London Missionary Society for the reorganisation of the Anglo-Chinese College in Hongkong. By this time Ho Fuk-tong was no longer an enrolled student, but assumed, along with Mr. Legge, duties as a teacher. It soon was evident he was not cut out to be a teacher and it was decided he should devote most of his time to evangelisation and preaching. In this he was a master. The story is told of how, when preaching about the afflictions of Job, the audience became so enthralled by his powers of description that they began to imitate his dramatic gestures. He did not altogether abandon scholarship, for he wrote Christian literature and made translations into Chinese. In this he and Mr. Legge worked together just as they shared preaching responsibilities. The Chinese congregation they served is now Hop Yat Church on Bonham Road. Inside the church is a marble plaque with a picture of the Rev Ho Fuk-tong and his wife Lai She. It was agreed that Ho Fuk-tong should be ordained, thus elevating him to the same ecclesiastical level as Mr. Legge. The ordination service in 1846 at Union Church evoked a newspaper notice. It stated that as a student of the Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca, "he seems to have acquired a remarkably correct knowledge of the English language." He had a dignity of bearing which impressed the reporter, for he wrote: "He deported himself with true modesty, and with a becoming seriousness which must have impressed those present with personal esteem, and a confidence he will faithfully discharge the solemn duties he has undertaken upon himself." Ho Fuk-tong not only showed ability as a preacher and scholar but also as a shrewd manager of money. A barrister, speaking in a case concerning his will, said: “He undoubtedly made good use of his time, money and opportunity." H -- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 178 We climbed half-way up Mount Tai, sweltered in Nanking, found Hangchow entrancing, and considered Shanghai too foreign and bustling to be interesting. The great discrepancy between the rich and the poor was evident everywhere. The extreme poverty and degradation of life with no prospect of change for the poor influenced my decision to become a social worker when I left China. In 1931 Bung Fong returned to the University of Nebraska for graduate work in electrical engineering, but left in 1933 to join me in Canton hoping to find employment there. On a brief visit to Hong Kong he became infected with a "boil" on his chin, and a dentist friend, not realizing it was a carbuncle that gave Bung Fong a toothache, extracted the teeth. This was a disastrous procedure for it spread the infection into the soft tissues, leading to septicemia and his death on 23 November 1933. Antibiotics had not been discovered then, and surgery and medication were not effective. It was a long and agonizing night as I stood vigil by his hospital bed and watched him slowly losing hold of life. The Rev. Chong Jook Ling, who had served in Honolulu, was a great help and support to me in making funeral arrangements and in conducting a service at the Hop Yat Church for Bung Fong before burial in the Christian cemetery in Pokfulam. Some years later, in the 1960s, his brother, Robert Wong, re-interred his remains in Honolulu. Again, like Ruth, a young person with a promising future had died. It left me depressed for several years until I felt he would have wanted me to have a happy life. In reaction, I pursued life with complete abandon the next few years. In my last year at True Light, I served reluctantly under the new principal, who expressed a condescending attitude toward us American-born Chinese. Inasmuch as Mother was very much worried about my safety when Japan began to rattle her sword, I returned to Honolulu upon fulfilment of my contract. To have a new outlook on life, Mother had built a two-bedroom cottage in Puunui on a lot that I had found for her when I was working for Judge Robinson. This has been our home ever since and it holds many fond memories, especially of Mother who enjoyed this humble abode to the end. I arrived home very much out of touch with what had been going on in the United States. The social programmes, such as the WPA, FERA, CCC, etc. were just alphabets to me at first. It was still difficult to find employment, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 21 September 27 September 12 October 2 November 9 November 30 November 7 December 1997 18 January 21 January 8 March Dinner at Police Training School. New Territories Mid-Autumn Festival Fire Lanterns Joint Seminar with the South China Research Circle and the Antiquities and Monuments Office The Future Kam Tin Heritage Trail The Defence of Leighton Hill During the 1941 Battle for Hong Kong. The 'Da Tsiu' Festival at Nga Tsin Wai Village, Kowloon. Art Treasures from Shanghai and Hong Kong A Guided Tour, University of Hong Kong Museum and Art Gallery. Views of the Pearl River Delta · Macau, Canton and Hong Kong, Exhibition held at Museum of Art Visit to Government House and the Legislative Council Building. Visit to Hop Yat Church, the Hong Kong Medical Science Museum and the Man Mo Temple. Visits outside Hong Kong 19-21 October Visit to Guangzhou and Whampoa 14-17 November Temple Tour of Central Taiwan. With 17 lectures and 16 visits it is not surprising if the odd person has been heard to say, probably partly tongue in cheek, that we have too many functions. The rubric would appear to be, however, how XV ================================================================================