RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m 96 There is no slavery carried on." CARL T SMITH In commenting on the questions raised in Parliament the editor of the South China Morning Post said there could not be much harm in the traditional Chinese custom when throughout the eighty years of the Colony's history no steps had been taken to abolish it. The children in domestic service had the full protection of the law and there was no evidence that they were frequently ill-treated. What few cases are brought before the courts are sharply dealt with. He did admit that some reform might be needed, "to guarantee the child's rights and those of its parents", but any changes should only be introduced gradually and with the co-operation of the leading Chinese, "whose services have never been withheld in any case having for its aim the uplifting and enlightenment of the people".3 Reaction in Hong Kong -- Mass Meeting at Tai Ping Theatre – July 1921 The Chinese elite "establishment" in Hong Kong was disturbed by the discussion in Britain of one of their long established customs. They and the Hong Kong Government were also annoyed by a letter published in the correspondence column of all four English newspapers written by Mrs. Haselwood, the wife of a Commander in the Naval Dockyard. Her husband was officially warned that unless he stopped his wife from airing the question, he would be superseded and sent home. He refused to submit and was shortly sent home where he retired on half-pay. The Haselwoods, however, continued their campaign in Britain. When the Hong Kong Government was asked to explain Commander Haselwood's early termination of service in Hong Kong, it replied that the activities of his wife were "causing annoyance to the Chinese community". The leadership of the Chinese community was sufficiently aroused by the statements being made in the English press concerning the practice that it called a mass meeting to be held at the Tai Ping Theatre in July, 1921. The meeting was convened by the two Chinese representatives on the Legislative Council, the Hon. Ho Fook, brother of Sir Robert Ho Tung and one-time compradore of Jardine, Matheson and Co., and the Hon. Mr. Lau Chu-pak, compradore of Messrs. A. S. Watson and Co. Also particularly mentioned were S. W. Tso, a solicitor, Chow Shou-son, a Hong Kong-born former official of the Chinese Government who had extensive business interests in Hong Kong, and Chau Siu-ki, shipping and insurance magnate. The theatre was crowded with about three hundred including a ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 224 CARL SMITH Secretary of the On Tai Insurance Company. He remained at this post until his retirement in 1898. During these years he was involved in many other business ventures and in community affairs. He was an enterprising entrepreneur and financier, as well as a prominent public personality. The organisation of the On Tai Insurance Co was one step in the latter part of the 19th century of the intrusion of Chinese into areas of commerce and finance formerly monopolised by foreign merchants. With the introduction of steam vessels into the China trade, more and more Chinese firms began to ship by them rather than by junks. Insurance as practised in Western trade was not a feature of traditional Chinese business methods. The more progressive Chinese merchants, however, realised its value. They began to patronise the established marine and fire insurance companies. These insurance companies were profitable ventures and paid substantial dividends to shareholders. The Chinese, however, found it difficult to acquire shares. They were shut out. The excuse was given that the companies could not determine the financial standing of prospective Chinese shareholders because of the secrecy and complicated arrangement of their firms. In 1871 a group of Chinese merchants in Hongkong secured the services of the American firm of Olyphant and Co to assist them in organising the Chinese Insurance Company and in providing foreign management for it. At its organisation the board consisted of five foreign merchants and two Chinese. The press recognised its formation as a revolutionary move in the balance between Chinese and foreign business in China. "The step will mark an important era in the history of commercial affairs in China; as there can be very little doubt that the plan will be followed in other matters besides insurance. It is already well known that the Chinese merchants are large supporters of some of the most important companies, and their adoption of the plan of organising companies consisting avowedly chiefly of Chinese ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 225 shareholders will, in all likelihood, result in a species of competition such as must gradually work a complete revolution in enterprises of the natives. The foreign businessman did not have long to wait before this prognostication began to be realised. In 1872, under the patronage of the Chinese Government, the China Merchants Steam Navigation Co was organised at Shanghai. Progressively the Chinese entered areas of business formerly monopolised by foreigners. In 1877 the On Tai Insurance Co was organised in Hongkong. At the annual meeting of the Chinese Insurance Co, the chairman took notice of the new competition. The two companies had almost the same constituencies. The chairman reported at the meeting that this overlapping threatened to have a serious effect on the company's resources, but as yet was not as disastrous as had first been expected. He remarked: “This is proof that the habit of insuring is being developed amongst the natives of this mighty empire.” In 1881 the On Tai Insurance Co applied for and was granted membership in the Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce. They were its first Chinese members. At the annual meeting at which the firm was elected as a constituent member, Ho A-mei thanked the chamber and then asked if the rules permitted him, as a new member, to propose anything. If so permitted, he wished to bring up a matter that was to the general interests of the commercial life of the whole Colony. The chairman ruled him to be quite in order. A-mei then proposed: “That a memorial be addressed to His Excellency, the Governor, asking that restrictions recently put upon emigration to Honolulu be done away with.” Not only had Ho A-mei a long-standing interest in emigration, but the Wo Hang firm of the Li family, whose interests he represented and who were the principal shareholders in the On Tai Insurance Co, had been engaged in the sending of Chinese labour ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 249 JEALOUSIES SURFACE IN THE JOCKEYING FOR A SEAT IN LEGCO The year 1883 presented opportunities for Ho A-mei to become the recognised leader of the Chinese community. First, there was his election as Chairman of the Tung Wah Hospital Committee to be followed by that of the Po Leung Kuk. These positions were honours awarded by the Chinese community to a member who merited recognition for his concern about their welfare. Second, there was the prospect of selection by the Governor to the vacant seat in the Legislative Council created by the resignation of the Honourable Ng Choy. One of the hurdles to get across was the competition provided by other possible candidates, particularly Dr. Ho Kai, for this position of leadership. Remarks made by Dr. Ho Kai, acting as spokesman for the Chinese, when an official deputation visited the Officer Administering the Colony in January 1883, provided an opportunity for Ho A-mei to suggest publicly that Dr. Ho Kai was not representative of the Chinese community and, by implication, not a suitable person to represent them on the Legislative Council. Ho A-mei had been elected Chairman of the Tung Wah Hospital in 1882. In the official list of directors his name appears as Ho Hin-ping, otherwise Kwan Shan, of the On Tai Insurance Co. The following year he became the Chairman of the Po Leung Kuk, an organisation for the prevention of kidnapping and the protection of women and children. These offices, the highest the Chinese community in Hongkong had to bestow, made Ho A-mei a possible candidate for the Legislative Council. Ng Choy, who had recently resigned, was the first Chinese member of the council. He had been appointed by Governor John Pope Hennessy in 1878. His nomination had been part of what the English language press liked to call "Hennessy's pro-Chinese policy." Governor Hennessy's object was to establish closer rela- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 117 A SENSE OF HISTORY (PART II) CARL SMITH JEALOUSIES SURFACE IN THE JOCKEYING FOR A SEAT IN LEGCO The year 1883 presented opportunities for Ho A-mei to become the recognised leader of the Chinese community. First, there was his election as Chairman of the Tung Wah Hospital Committee to be followed by that of the Po Leung Kuk. These positions were honours awarded by the Chinese community to a member who merited recognition for his concern about their welfare. Second, there was the prospect of selection by the Governor to the vacant seat in the Legislative Council created by the resignation of the Honourable Ng Choy. One of the hurdles to get across was the competition provided by other possible candidates, particularly Dr. Ho Kai, for this position of leadership. Remarks made by Dr. Ho Kai, acting as spokesman for the Chinese, when an official deputation visited the Officer Administering the Colony in January 1883, provided an opportunity for Ho A-mei to suggest publicly that Dr. Ho Kai was not representative of the Chinese community and, by implication, not a suitable person to represent them on the Legislative Council. Ho A-mei had been elected Chairman of the Tung Wah Hospital in 1882. In the official list of directors his name appears as Ho Hin-ping, otherwise Kwan Shan, of the On Tai Insurance Co. The following year he became the Chairman of the Po Leung Kuk, an organisation for the prevention of kidnapping and the protection of women and children. These offices, the highest the Chinese community in Hongkong This instalment completes the reprinting, with the author's kind permission, of “A sense of History" that appeared in the South China Morning Post between 1977 and 1979. ================================================================================