Sessional_Paper_1938 — Page 17

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Appendix I.

REPORTS ON THE MUSEUMS OF

CEYLON, BRITISH MALAYA, THE WEST INDIES, ETC.

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THE MUSEUMS OF HONG KONG.

The Museum situation in Hong Kong.

Mention has already been made of the fact that Hong Kong represents the low-water mark in museum provision throughout the whole of the Empire, excepting only the smaller islands of the Pacific and some of the more backward African territories, but this statement, sweeping as it is, is not sufficient to give a general idea of the museum backwardness of this Colony. It is true there was

a small museum in the City Hall building which existed precariously from 1874 to 1933, but even this has now disappeared, and the Hong Kong authorities generously presented part of the collections to a Portuguese Museum in Macao and to other institutions. In the same City Hall building there was a library consisting mainly of 19th century books in a very poor state; some of the more valuable books and many of the less valuable have been attacked by pests of all kinds, and even the recent attempt of the British Museum authorities to have proper precautionary methods taken may prove to be too late. The University, the Hong Kong Club and the Helena May Institute have libraries open to their members, and there is a fine Chinese library in the University, but apart from these there is little public library provision. When it is realised that the population of the Colony is 841,000 and its area just under 400 square miles, or three to four times that of Malta, it will be realised how lacking in certain cultural amenities is this Colony.

On the other hand the Botanic Gardens include a fine herbarium and a small, but good, botanic library. There are, of course, teaching collections at the Univer- sity, which has a fine Medical School. To these may be added the Sir Paul Chater collection of objects d'art which is to be handed over to the Government on the death of Lady Chater. The Government already own the Chater collection of pictures, which is temporarily housed in various public buildings and offices.

It would seem, therefore, that there is a need in the Colony for a cultural centre embracing a Library, a Museum and possibly an Art Gallery, and there are indica- tions that such a proposal is at the moment being considered by the Government. Such a scheme would obviously command approval if there were some indication that the Government would recognize and assist such an Institution on terms at least comparable with the Colombo Museum or the Raffles Museum at Singapore. If some such guarantee were forthcoming, if there were definite indications that a first- class librarian and a first-class curator would be appointed, then without doubt Hong Kong would soon be as advanced in museum and library services as the best of the other Colonies.

At the moment the Hong Kong University is becoming an authoritative centre of information on the Biological Sciences for the whole of China, and comparatively large quantities of fauna and flora are being collected and sent away to Universities and Museums throughout the world for classification and study. These authorities not only return named specimens, but also write up the data in the form of articles, the best of which are published in the "Hong Kong Naturalist "--an excellent quarterly publication now in its fourth year. But nowhere in Hong Kong is there any adequate public museum of Chinese flora or fauna to supplement this excellent work, and it would seem as if the University itself should take the lead in founding a Museum of Natural History (archaeology might be added later) in order that its work on these lines may be more adequate.

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