RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 LIST OF MEMBERS ORDINARY MEMBERS: BUTLER, Miss B. A... BUTT, Dr. Nancy CAMERON, Nigel + CAPLAN, Malcolm Public Services Commission, Room 573, Central Govt. Offices, H.K. 253 The Grantham Hospital, Wong Chuk Hang, Aberdeen, H.K. 11-D, Venice Court, 41, Conduit Road, H.K. c/o Hongkong & Whampoa Dock Co. Ltd. Kowloon Docks, Hung Hom, Kowloon. CAREY-HUGHES, Dr. John Room 315, Hongkong & Shanghai Bank Building, H.K. CENTRE OF ASIAN STUDIES CERNY, Miss Eva CHAN, Prof. Cheng-siang · CHAN, Sui-Jeung CHAN, Tom CHEETHAM, Mrs. J. A. CHERN, Dr. K. S. CHEUNG, O. CHIU, Mrs. Carol C. CHIU, Dr. Ling Yeong CHOA, Robert COCHRANE, Mrs. Valerie COCKELL, Miss June V. COLBOURNE, Dr. M. J. COMBER, Leon CONNOLLY, Miss Moira COTTON, P. C. CRABBE, P. I. + CRAIG, Dr. Dale A. CRAMER, B. L. CREMA, Mario + + + + University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, H.K. Department of Anatomy, University of Hong Kong, Li Shu Fan Building, Sassoon Road, H.K. Geographical Research Centre, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T. Environment Branch, Colonial Secretariat, Lower Albert Road, H.K. 43, Stubbs Road, Flat B-1, 5th floor, H.K. 12, Douglas Apartments, 22, Old Peak Rd., H.K. Department of History, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, H.K. 703, Prince's Building, H.K. Twin Brook, Flat 11B, 43, Repulse Bay Rd., H.K. c/o Dept. of Chinese, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, H.K. Banque Nationale de Paris, 2nd floor, Central Building, H.K. 3rd floor, 112, Macdonnell Road, H.K. 66, Conduit Road, Flat 6B, H.K. Dept. of Preventive & Social Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Li She Fan Building, Sassoon Road, H.K. P.O. Box 6086, Kowloon. Queen Mary Hospital, Pokfulam, H.K. c/o Humphreys Estate & Finance Co., P.O. Box 44, H.K. Property Dept., Local Property & Printing Co. Ltd., 34/6 Caxton House, 1 Duddell Street, H.K. Music Dept., Chung Chi College, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T. 18, Fenwick Street, 7th floor, H.K. c/o Italian Consulate General, Chartered Bank Building, H.K. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n BRUNEI: A HISTORICAL RELIC 19 in insurrection; but being disunited, they have not thereby improved their condition: the Bornean Government always threatening them with calling in the Kayans to subdue any opposition. The Muruts and Bisayas of Limbang are the most impoverished people I have ever met, My own findings concerning the sultans of Brunei during this period show quite conclusively that they supported and frequently had financial interests in pirate fleets. Brunei throughout the nineteenth century is pictured by most authorities as a decrepit principality whose chief characteristics are political weakness and anarchy. Brunei is in a state of anarchy and the sultan too mixed up with trading affairs and piracy to care for administration of justice or the welfare of the country.8 That less than sanguine description was written in 1854. Almost twenty years later the situation remained generally unchanged: The picture that has been presented to us is of an aged prince devoting the last years of his life to the unscrupulous pursuit of wealth... ruled by his petty rajas, whose first aim is their own aggrandizement.9 By the middle of the 19th century the physical look of Brunei, built over the mud flats of the Brunei River, had changed only in terms of its now lack of pretension and prosperity from what Pigafetta had observed three hundred years before. The following is a description of the place by Raja James Brooke of Sarawak—taken from an 1841 entry in his journals. It describes the town and Brooke's reception by the sultan's court, and contrasts rather vividly with that of Pigafetta. **24th At 7 A.M. the state-boat, a shabby concern, decorated with yellow flags, arrived; at eight the letters were borne away under a salute. Thus we had a second time the satisfaction of getting rid of the mob at an early hour. "25th At 9 A.M. I started with Williamson in the gig, with the long-boat in company, carrying the presents. On approaching the town, before the ebb had run long, it appeared to be a very Venice of hovels, a river Cybele rising from the water. For those who like it, the locality is not ill chosen. The hills recede from the river, and form an amphitheatre; and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n LIST OF MEMBERS ORDINARY MEMBERS: BROMFIELD, Mrs. Jeanne BROWN, E. de R. BROWN, Dr. H. O. BROWN, Mrs. R. C. BROWN, T. D. Jr. BROUWER, Mrs. R. P. BULLEN, J. B. BUTLER, Miss B. A. CAMERON, N. CAMPBELL, M. C. CANTERS, R. CARDENZANA, J. CAREY-HUGHES, Dr. J. CATT, Miss Pauline CAVAYE, P. K. CENTRE OF ASIAN STUDIES CHAN, Mrs. A. CHAN, Sui-jeung CHAN, Mrs. T. CHEETHAM, Mrs. J. A. CHEN, Prof. Cheng-siang CHERN, Dr. K. S. CHESTERMAN, Miss M. 5. Cumberland Road, Kowloon. c/o C3 Reef Court, 48 Stanley Village Road, Stanley, Hong Kong. School of Education, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. Seabranch A3, 31 Horizon Drive, Chung Hom Kok, Hong Kong. Seabranch A3, 31 Horizon Drive, Chung Hom Kok, Hong Kong. A3 Repulse Bay Mansions, Repulse Bay, Hong Kong. Myer Eastern Buying Ltd., Cheong Hin Building, 72 Nathan Road, Kowloon. Public Services Commission, Room 573, Central Government Offices 5th floor, Hong Kong. 11D Venice Court, 410 Conduit Road, Hong Kong. Oxford University Press, 5/F News Building, 633 King's Road, North Point, Hong Kong, The Belgian Bank, P.O. Box 27, Hong Kong. Hill & Knowlton Asia Ltd., 1401 World Trade Centre, G.P.O. Box 5389, Hong Kong. Room 315, Hongkong & Shanghai Bank Building, Hong Kong. Dept. of Geography & Geology, University of Hong Kong. 8 Aigburth Hall, 9 May Road, Hong Kong, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. Hong Kong Tourist Association, Connaught Centre 35/F, Hong Kong. Environment Branch, Colonial Secretariat, Lower Albert Road, Hong Kong. Hong Kong Tourist Association, Connaught Centre 35/F, Hong Kong. 12, Douglas Apts., 22 Old Peak Road, Hong Kong. Dept. of History, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 242 ORDINARY LOCAL MEMBERS BRIGGS, The Hon. Sir Geoffrey, Q.C., Courts of Justice, HONG KONG. BROMFIELD, Mr. Antony Clifford, King Fung Villa, 224/225, 104 Miles, Castle Peak Road, Tsuen Wan, NEW TERRITORIES BROUWER, Mrs. R.P., A3 Repulse Bay Mansions, Repulse Bay, HONG KONG BROWN, Mr. Edward de R., Flat 2IB, 19 Braemar Hill Road, North Point, HONG KONG. BROWN, Dr. H.O., School of Education, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. BURNS, Dr. John P., Dept. of Political Science, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. BUTLER, Miss B.A., Public Services Commission, Room 573, Central Government Offices, 5/F, HONG KONG. CAMERON, Mr. Nigel, 1ID Venice Court, 41D Conduit Road, HONG KONG. CAMPBELL, Mr. M.C., Oxford University Press, 5/F News Building, 633 King's Road, HONG KONG. CANTERS, Mr. Rene, c/o The Belgian Bank, P.O. Box 27, HONG KONG. CARDENZANA, Mr. John, Hill & Knowlton Asia Ltd., 1401 World Trade Centre, H.K., P.O Box 5389, HONG KONG. CAREY-HUGHES, Dr. John, Room 315, Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Bldg., HONG KONG. CATT, Miss Pauline, Dept. of Geography & Geology, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. CAVAYE, Mr. Peter K., 8 Aigburth Hall, 9 May Road, HONG KONG. CENTRE OF ASIAN STUDIES, The Director, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. CHAN, Mrs. Amy, H.K. Tourist Association, Connaught Centre, 35/F, HONG KONG. CHAN, Mr. Sui-Jeung, U.S.D. Kowloon H.Q., 148 Sai Yee Street, KOWLOON. CHAN, Mrs. Teresa, H.K. Tourist Association, Connaught Centre, 35/F, HONG KONG CHANWAI, Dr. D.J.L., 203 D'Aguilar Place, 7 D'Aguilar Street, HONG KONG. CHAPMAN, Mr. V.F.D., c/o Wong Tai Sin Police Station, KOWLOON. CHEN, Mr. S.H., 79 King's Road, 4/F, HONG KONG. CHESTERMAN, Miss Merlyn, 24D Peak Road, 1/F, Cheung Chau, HONG KONG. CHEUNG, Mr. Oswald, 703 Prince's Building, HONG KONG. CHIAO, Dr. Chien, Residence No. 8, Flat 1A, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NEW TERRITORIES CHILVERS, Mrs. Anna E.S., 3 Mount Nicholson Road, 1/F, HONG KONG. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 455 could sometimes hear barking deer calling from Victoria Peak. At the time one could still hire a sedan chair and four coolies to carry one up to Conduit Road. There were half a dozen or so parked regularly in Wyndham Street, in Central, up until the late 1950s. The fare was 30 cents for each 15 minutes with a 30 cents surcharge. The working life of a chair coolie was said to be eight years. As with many houses in Conduit Road at the time, 41 Conduit Road had a superb view and, long before the days of cross-harbour tunnels, one of the pastimes of children was counting the number of ferries they could spot. Between the two World Wars an eccentric Englishman who lived in Robinson Road, not far away, did not own a clock. He used a telescope to tell the time from the clock tower then standing in Pedder Street. In the "good old days," more than one British Governor used the activities in the harbour as a barometer of the strength of the economy. We are talking of times, up until the mid 1930s, when a cannon was fired from Blackhead Point, in Tsim Sha Tsui, to let residents know when a typhoon was approaching or, alternatively, the mail ship had arrived. Occasionally, inhabitants were not sure to which of the two events the firing referred! When the FCC vacated the premises the final days had come for the old mansion at 41 Conduit Road. In 1960, it was bought by Cheng Hing Realty and, in 1966, rebought by Court Properties. As with so much of Hong Kong it was a case of 'Hungry for the new forget the old.' The old building was demolished and the site remained empty for some time. The sale price was reputed to have been $13 million. The site was then redeveloped. In the summer of 1970, there were 1,200 applications to purchase the 400 flats at Realty Gardens. My wife and I were successful in the ballot and we took possession of our newly completed flat in Venice Court, for which we paid, in mid 1972, the princely sum of $114,000. Prices were still low after the property slump brought on largely by the drawn-out 1967 riots. My flat has been a splendid investment. We let it for the first four years, unfurnished, at $2,000 a month. We moved in ourselves on 1 March 1976. Although I can see a narrow strip of the harbour and Stonecutters Island (an island no longer) from my bedroom window, my flat at Realty Gardens in fact faces south. It is thus shielded from the cold north-easterly monsoon in the winter and receives the benefits of the cool ================================================================================