RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g 195 HAYIM, E. J.* HAYWARD, G. W. HEANEY, Robert S. HECHTEL, F. O. P. HENSMAN, Dr. Bertha HERRIES, M. A. R. 41, Island Road, Deep Water Bay, H.K. White Mill End, 5 Granville Road, Seven-oaks, Kent, England, Deer Park, Greenwich, Conn., USA. 10 Branksome Towers, May Road, H.K. Chung Chi College, Ma Liu Shui, N.T. c/o P. O. Box 70, H.K. d'HESTROY, Baron P. de G. Belgian Embassy, 1653 Calle Viamonte, Buenos Aires, Argentina. HILL, D. A. HINDMARSH, R. H. Hồ, Mrs. Hưng Chịu HO, Teh-Kuci HO, Tickon* HOCHSTADTER, Dr. Walter HOGAN, Sir M. Kt. HOLMAN, J. P. HOLMES, Hon, D. R. HONG, Sheng-Hwa HOPKINSON, Mrs. J. E. HORSTMANN, Mrs. C. HOTUNG, Eric Edward HOWARD, W. J.* HOWE, D. H. HOWE, Mrs. P. M. HOWNAM-MEEK, R. S. HOWORTH, J. F. HOYNINGEN-HUENE, Baron Ture von HSIA, Tung Pei HUI, Miss Wai-haan CIECD Engineering Consulting Group, P.O. Box 23, Taipei, Taiwan. Room 606, Gloucester Building, H.K. 11, Briar Avenue, First Floor, H.K. Lake Side Building, 2nd Floor B, 259 Gloucester Road, H.K. 50, Village Road, Ground Floor, Happy Valley, H.K. 9, Cambridge Road, 1st Floor, Kowloon. Chief Justice's Chambers, Supreme Court, H.K. 15A Vivian Court, Mt. Kellett, Peak, H.K. Commerce and Industry Dept. Fire Brigade Bldg., H.K. c/o U.S. Consulate General, Garden Road, H.K. 12, Mt. Nicholson Gap, H.K. Peninsula Court, Kowloon. 10 Stanley Street, H.K. P. O. Box 282, H.K. D-1, "On Lee", 2 Mount Davis Road, Pokfulum, H.K. As above. P. O. Box 70. H.K. c/o Leigh & Orange, Room 2015 Union House, H.K. 9-A Stanley Beach Road, H.K. 131B, Wanchai Building, 8th floor, 131 Wanchai Road, H.K. Dept. of Chemistry, The University, Pokfulum, H.K. * Life Member Please notify the Hon. Secretary of any inaccuracy ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 20 T. C. CHENG authorities should look into the teaching of Chinese boys in English so as to increase the efficiency of the teaching of English. As a result, a Committee was appointed in 1917 "to enquire into the teaching of the English language to Chinese boys in Government schools, and to examine the question whether by a reduction in the number of other subjects more time can be devoted to such teaching". The Committee reported the same year, but did not recommend any changes in the school curriculum. However, they recommended (a) small classes, better buildings and better-paid teachers which would bring better results, and (b) the appointment of one English teacher to a maximum of 120 pupils. The Committee also advocated medical inspection of pupils in Government schools, as a result of which a system of medical examination was instituted the following year. In recognition of Lau's services towards his fellow-men in Hong Kong, the Chinese Government conferred upon him “The Order of the Excellent Crop, Third Class" in 1916. He died in 1922. There is a Chinese belief that “good deeds will be rewarded by bearing good offspring". This seems only too true in his case, for his eldest son, Lau Tak-po, founded the Hong Kong & Yaumati Ferry Company and his eldest grandson, Lau Chan-kwok, J.P. is now the Managing Director of the Company. When Sir Boshan Wei Yuk retired from the Legislative Council in 1917, he was succeeded by Ho Fook, younger half-brother of the late Sir Robert Hotung. He was another outstanding student of the Central School. In 1878 when the Governor, Sir John Pope Hennessy, attended his first Prize Giving at the Central School, Ho Fook, then in Class 2, received from him a prize in the form of a gold pencil case.23 He served in the Compradore's Department of Jardine, Matheson & Company and in 1900 was a founder of the Chinese Merchants Bureau. He remained in the Legislative Council for only four years and retired in 1921. Ho Fook was a generous benefactor of education. In 1917 he donated HK$50,000 to the University of Hong Kong for the erection and equipment of the School of Physiology. He also endowed prizes in all the faculties of the University. Like the Honourable Lau Chu-pak he produced some very fine offspring.24 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d CHINESE UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS OF COUNCILS 21 On Ho Fook's retirement from the Legislative Council in 1921, he was succeeded by Chow Shou-son (later Sir Shouson Chow) who, together with Sir Robert Hotung, were often referred to as the two grand old men of Hong Kong in the 1940's and 1950's. Chow was born in 1862.* In 1874, he was sent, together with 29 other Chinese boys, by the Manchu Government to the United States to pursue higher western studies. This was the third of four batches of young Chinese scholars who, through the efforts of Yung Wing, were sent to America by the Manchu Government in the years 1872 to 1875.25 Young Chow was eventually admitted to Columbia University where he remained until 1881 when the Chinese Educational Mission in the United States was disbanded and all the boys were brought back to China. While in North America the Chinese boys, totalling 120, were under the supervision of some ignorant and stupid Manchu officials who did not understand what the boys were learning and who were not in sympathy with their activities. These officials sent back to China reports saying that instead of concentrating on their academic studies, the boys were taking part in all sorts of barbarian games and athletic activities. Worst of all, some of the boys were going out with American girls and were being converted into Christians. A report ended by a recommendation that they must be returned to China immediately, otherwise they would lose all interest and patriotic feelings towards China. This recommendation was readily accepted and the boys were back in China in 1881. Many of the boys made good use of the knowledge they acquired and turned out later to be leading engineers, railway builders, diplomats and admirals in China. Chow Shou-son was at first assigned to the Chinese Customs but later became, at various times, Manager of the China Merchant Steamship Navigation Company in Tientsin and Managing Director of the Peking-Mukden Railway. He also held appointments in the Foreign Ministry and was at one time a Chinese consul in Korea. After the founding of the Chinese Republic in 1911, he came to Hong Kong to engage in business and later became Chairman of the Boards of Directors of the Bank of East Asia, the China Entertainment and Land Development Company and the China Emporium. His family had been settled in one of the Hong Kong villages for nearly two hundred years. See JHKBRAS vol.7(1967), pp.164-166. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 22 T. C. CHENG In May 1915, Japan forced the Republic of China, then under the premiership of Yuan Shih-kai, to accept the "Twenty-one Demands". Four years later, in 1919, the Chinese delegation failed at the Peace Conference in Paris to prevent the "transfer" of Germany's "rights and privileges" in the Shantung Province to Japan. As a result of this complete disregard of China's sovereignty by the foreign powers, thousands of students took part in processions demonstrating against foreign militarism and oppression in China on 4 May 1919. In response, students, merchants, and workers throughout China also staged demonstrations and strikes, thereby sparking off in China the "May 4 Movement". Chinese national feelings were also stirred by the Nationalist Party, the Kuomintang (or K.M.T.), who now pressed for the abolition of extra-territorial rights and unequal treaties and the retrocession of foreign concessions. All these had serious repercussions in Hong Kong, and in 1922 the first of a series of seamen's strikes began. On 30th May 1925, certain Chinese demonstrators were shot and killed by British policemen in the International Settlements in Shanghai. This led to more serious strikes and demonstrations in Shanghai, Canton, and Hong Kong, culminating in an economic boycott which paralysed Hong Kong. During this period, the Chinese unofficials, viz., Chow Shou-son, Ng Hon-tsz (who died in May 1923) and Robert Kotewall (who succeeded Ng Hon-tsz), and other prominent Chinese leaders, including Sir Robert Hotung and the directors of Tung Wah Hospital, stood solidly by the Government. Some of them actually acted as unofficial middlemen in negotiations between Hong Kong and the seamen's representatives in Canton. The services rendered by Chow Shou-son and Robert Kotewall during this crisis were so valuable and outstanding that speedy recognition was accorded to them. In 1926, Chow was created a knight. Kotewall was given the honorary degree of LL.D. by the University of Hong Kong, and the following year was awarded the C.M.G. It may be of interest to quote here the Governor Sir Cecil Clementi's remarks made in early 1926 at a Legislative Council meeting about the big strike of 1925 and the boycott that followed: "We are determined to give full protection to the people of Hong Kong, and to put down with a firm hand any conspiracy to intimidate or otherwise to cause trouble among labourers and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 26 T. C. CHENG in 1936 he was succeeded by Mr. (later Sir) Man-kam Lo. Sir Man-kam, born in 1893, was the eldest son of the late Lo Cheung-shiu, J.P., who was Chairman of the Tung Wah Hospital in 1915. He was also the son-in-law of the late Sir Robert Hotung. Sir Man-kam went to England to study law in his youth and later founded the solicitors' firm, Messrs. Lo & Lo, his partner then being his younger brother, M. W. Lo. He was appointed a J.P. in 1921 and served on the District Watch Force Committee, the Sanitary Board and many other Boards and Committees. He was Chairman of the Tung Wah Hospital in 1929 and was a member of the Legislative Council from 1936 to 1941. After the war he was appointed to the Executive Council and was knighted in 1948. Sir Man-kam was not only a brilliant lawyer but also a very conscientious and outspoken member of the Legislative and the Executive Councils in his time. His views and advice were always highly esteemed by the Government. He died suddenly in 1959. In his book Via Ports, a recent Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Alexander Grantham, had this to say about Sir Man-kam: “Out-standing amongst them (i.e., Executive Council Members) was Sir Man-kam Lo, whose death in 1959 was a great loss to the Colony. He had a first class brain, great moral courage and a capacity for digging down into details without getting lost in them. I can picture him at a meeting of the Council when some difficult or controversial subject was under discussion. Another member would be expounding his views. From the glint in 'M.K.'s' eyes and the way his lips were moving, I knew he had something forceful to say. I could hardly wait for the previous speaker to finish and to hear 'M.K.' Then again, when a complex but dull matter was being dealt with by the circulation of papers, on which members would write their opinions, I would look to see what 'M.K.' had written and, as often as not, save myself the tedium of reading all the other minutes. He was invariably right to the point” 28 When Dr. Tso Seen-wan resigned from the Legislative Council in 1937, he was succeeded by Dr. Li Shu-fan who, born in 1887, received his early medical training at the Hong Kong College of Medicine and later at Edinburgh University. In 1964 he published his autobiography, entitled Hong Kong Surgeon and it is recommended that any one wishing to know more about the late ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g NOTES AND QUERIES VISIT TO THE TUNG LIN KOK YUEN, TAM KUNG TEMPLE, HAPPY VALLEY, AND TIN HAU TEMPLE, CAUSEWAY BAY, SATURDAY, 7TH NOVEMBER 1970 Tung Lin Kok Yuen The Tung Lin Kok Yuen(t) is a Buddhist nunnery situated at Shan Kwong Road, Happy Valley, not far from the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club stables. It was founded by the late Lady Hotung (1878-1938), wife of that well-known Hong Kong figure, Sir Robert Hotung. The Yuen comprises a Buddhist temple and the Po Kok Vocational Middle School. The main building was completed in mid-1935 when two other institutions founded by Lady Hotung, the Po Kok Free School in Percival Street and a Buddhist seminary in Castle Peak were moved to it. The Yuen is said to be the only place in the Colony which provides a seminary for Buddhist nuns, and the study of Buddhism forms a major part of the curriculum. A new school building was opened in November, 1951 and an extension for teachers' quarters in 1954. Although the Yuen is not very old, it is of special interest in that the religious images, furniture and other fittings survived the Japanese occupation when so much else in the Colony was dispersed or destroyed, so that we can see today, more or less, how the Yuen looked when it was completed in 1935. Readers of Mrs. Jean Gittins' recently published book Eastern Windows Western Skies (Hong Kong, South China Morning Post Ltd., 1969) pp. 106-7, will recall how many of the internal fittings for the Yuen were carried out by Shanghainese craftsmen in Sir Robert Hotung's house on the Peak. Of particular interest are two halls devoted to the maintenance of memorial tablets for the dead. One of these, named after one of Sir Robert Hotung's sons who died early, there is a painting of him in the hall is part of the original building, whilst an extension was added about 10 years ago. The persons depositing memorial tablets in these halls are said to pay a once-for-all donation to the Yuen. Besides memorial tablets kept under glass-fronted altars, there are also lists of names written on pink paper. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 202 NOTES AND QUERIES moon) by carpenters and varnishers (the latter generally worship his two wives)." [Note the different date on which worship is carried on in Hong Kong. The above is given without the Chinese characters found in the original.] The Kwong Yut Tong states that between 1000-1500 persons visit the temple annually on Lo Pan's birthday, drawn mostly from bosses and workers in the construction trades. The God must be considered to be effectual, since deities who perform no miracles soon lose support and patronage. The hillside adjoining the temple has recently been cleared of squatter huts, and it is hoped to develop it as a public park, Lady Ho Tung Hall, University of Hong Kong According to the HKU's Jubilee publication The First Fifty Years (HKU Press, 1962) this women's hall of residence was donated by Sir Robert Hotung a few years after the War, to be named after his deceased wife. The foundation stone was laid on 14th August 1950 and the hall opened on 16 March 1951. It provided accommodation for 85 of the 206 woman students then enrolled, and was in addition to two other halls of residence for women administered by religious bodies. (2) VISIT TO OLD WANCHAI FRIDAY, 5 APRIL 1974 Background and Early Development Wanchai is one of the oldest districts of British Hong Kong. Under the name Ha Wan or 'Lower Bay', it was one of the 5 wan, alternatively 'bay' () or 'circuit' (#), a term used in the 1850's and 1860's to describe the residential and commercial areas largely developed by the new Chinese population of the Island. (See The China Review Vol. 1 (1872) p. 333 for an article "The Districts of Hong Kong and the Name Kwan-Tai-Lo'.) The area is described as follows in a list of the city districts, with boundaries, given in the Government gazette in 1857: 'Ha Wan, District No. 5. From Murray Barracks to Observation Point', Footnote: Those members who visited the Lu Pan temple at Ching Lin Terrace, Kennedy Town, in January may wish to know that there is an article on this subject in Colonel V. R. Burkhardt's Chinese Creeds & Customs, Vol. 2, pp. 117-120. The statement therein that the temple was built in 1928 is misleading: the entrance is dated in 1884-85. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1982 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p BOOK REVIEWS Two views of internment: Stanley: Behind Barbed Wire by Jean Gittens (Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, 1982) and A Yen For My Thoughts by G. A. Leiper, (South China Morning Post, Hong Kong 1982) Happy coincidence has brought two excellent accounts of war-time internment in Hong Kong onto the bookshelves at the same time. Written from personal experience, they are a poignant testimony to the courage of all who endured hardship and deprivation at Stanley and fill a gap which has long needed filling in our knowledge of conditions during the Japanese occupation. As a Eurasian, Jean Gittens need not have been interned, but the chance, however faint, of reunion with either her children in Australia, or her already imprisoned husband led her to enter Stanley voluntarily. The opening chapters of "Stanley: Behind Barbed Wire" are a revealing social commentary. She relates how her parents, the late Sir Robert and Lady Clara Hotung, were the first non-Europeans to gain permission to live on the Peak and the resulting snide remarks they had to endure from neighbours and their children. The "difference" was brought home with unbelievable callousness when the Eurasian wives and children of government employees, advised to leave Hong Kong prior to the invasion, were turned back on reaching Manila because of Australia's insistence that only those of "pure British" descent could be given refuge. The same chapters convey the impression of a spoiled little rich girl: "In spite of the fresh air and exclusiveness, living facilities on the Peak were understandably primitive. Braving these conditions would have tried the spirit of anyone, but for a woman with a large family of young children it needed true courage," and again: "The summers were long and trying and, especially during our early years, Mother would take us away to one of the seaside resorts in the North to escape the heat.” I am not sure whether the prissiness is deliberate, but it serves to heighten the contrast with the degrading and dehumanising conditions of the camp detailed in the remainder of the book. Page 330 Page 331 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 86 wiring and piping ripped out. The ravage was so extensive that many people in the camp thought it must be part of a deliberate policy on the part of the Japanese. This I doubt: whatever pickings there were to be had the Japanese wanted for themselves, and I think the true explanation is simply that they could not at first spare enough men for effective policing. The looters were dangerous, and a party of five Swedes who were foolhardy enough to remain on the Peak were murdered. It was not long before the Japanese themselves entered into competition with the Chinese looters, but on an official basis. Foodstuffs were their first objective, followed by metals of all kinds and medical stores. Hongkong had been stocked with supplies for 6 months: it held out for only 18 days, so enormous stocks fell into Japanese hands and these were shipped off to Japan as fast as they could be loaded. Of the Hongkong Dairy Farm's herd of 1500 cattle, over 1000 had been shipped away by the end of March. All the European members of the Police Force were interned at Stanley. The Sikhs and Chinese accepted service under the Japanese. The guards round the internment camp and the gaol warders were principally Sikhs. If drawn into conversation, they would say they must work for the Japanese or starve; but Pennyfeather-Evans, the Chief of Police, told me that the Sikhs had been practically in a state of mutiny during the last days of the fighting. As regards the Chinese or semi-Chinese members of the Legislative Council, Sir Robert Hotung was, I think, in Macao when the war broke out. He subsequently returned to Hongkong, but I do not know what line he took or what became of him. Sir Shouson Chow, Mr. Kotewall, and Mr. M.K. Lo joined the "Rehabilitation Committee" set up by the Japanese and had to attend official ceremonies such as receptions for the Japanese Governor. Lo, who met A.J. Evans on the street one day shortly after the Japanese occupation, told him that he had at first refused, and that he had then been imprisoned without food till he gave way. I have no doubt similar measures were taken with the others. I have already referred to the eviction of the staff and patients from Queen Mary Hospital and the War Memorial Nursing Home. The Matilda Hospital was cleared at the same time. Japanese wounded were pouring into Hongkong from other places, and it is clear the Japanese needed all the accommodation and the medical supplies they could get for their own. ================================================================================