ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY NEWSLETTER HONG KONG E-mail: [email protected] Tel: + (852) 2234 5011 Fax: + (852) 2234 5039 GPO Box 3864, Hong Kong www.royalasiaticsociety.org.hk http://www.facebook.com/RoyalAsiaticSocietyHongKong Twitter: RASHK 1959 November 2017 Lantau Rural Scene – Water Buffalo in Mui Wo Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong 2017 Contents PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 3 FUTURE ACTIVITIES Thu, 9 Nov 2017 Lecture Policing Hong Kong- an Irish History 5 Wed, 15 Nov 2017 Lecture Generation Hong Kong 7 Fri, 17 – Wed, 22 Nov 2017 Overseas Visit Trip to North Vietnam 8 Fri, 24 Nov 2017 Lecture The Lisbon Maru Incident 11 Sat, 2 Dec 2017 Local Visit North Korea’s Public Face Exhibition 12 Sat, 9 Dec 2017 Local Visit Guided WW2 Battle Site Walk - WNC Gap 14 Wed, 13 Dec 2017 Lecture The Centenary Tai Tam Tuk Reservoir 15 – The Dam and the People RECENT ACTIVITIES Sat, 26 Aug 2017 Longevity & Virtues 17 Tue, 12 Sep 2017 Hungry Ghost Festival (盂蘭節) 18 Wed, 27 Sep 2017 When True Love Came to China 19 Sat, 7 Oct 2017 Visit to Mui Wo 21 OF GENERAL INTEREST Obituaries 24 Fri, 6 Oct 2017 Presentation to the Consul General of 25 Ireland in Hong Kong St. John’s Cathedral Shop 26 2018 Membership Renewal 27 PUBLICATIONS 28 CONTACT DETAILS 31 2 Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong 2017 President’s Message I hope everybody enjoyed a good summer and that you have been able to participate in some of the Society’s events which started in September. All members should have received their copy of Vol 57 of the RAS Journal, which was published in September. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking our Hon Editor, Dr Stephen Davies and all members of the Editorial Board for their time and effort in producing another very interesting journal. Judging from several comments, made by members, Volume 57 has been very well received and enjoyed. The Editorial Board would certainly welcome more member’s comments on the journal and some of the articles in this volume will be the subject of talks in the coming months. So far only five copies of the journal have been returned, which is less than in previous years. Once again, I do ask members to ensure that any change of your address is reported to the Administrator so that the database can be updated. Sales of the RAS Journal are a welcome addition to the Society’s income. Copies are available from the RASHK office by post or from St John’s Cathedral bookshop. Currently issues ranging from Vol 55 -57 are on sale at the bookshop. In addition to the Journal several titles under the ‘Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Study Series’ can also be bought at the Cathedral bookshop. Recently I attended an informal gathering at the Irish Consulate General and presented the Consul General, Mr. Peter Ryan with a copy of Vol 57. Members who have read this volume will know there is a particularly interesting article by Brian Edgar entitled ‘Steering Neutral – The Un-interned Irish Community in Hong Kong’. The article dealt with the plight of Irish neutrals living in occupied Hong Kong during the Second World War. This was an opportunity to make available copies of the edition and several copies were sold at the breakfast gathering. If members have any suggestions regarding the marketing of our RASHK publications, please make your suggestions known. Our post summer programme got underway in September with a talk on the ‘Yu Lan’ or Hungry Ghost festival, which was given by Sylvia Fok-Midgett. The talk was given in Café 8 at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum in Central, which is a new venue for the Society’s events. Following the talk members drove to Moreton Terrace to see the festival taking place. Shanghai based writer, Lynn Pan made a welcome return to Hong Kong in September and spoke to a large audience on the subject of her book ‘When True Love Came to China’. Over dinner Lynn also updated members about the RAS in China, Shanghai Branch which continues to be very active. Another local visit took place on a hot Saturday afternoon in Mui Wo on Lantau Island. This was an unusual event and I would be interested to hear from members, especially those who participated, what they thought about it. The theme of the visit concerned a talk on the flora and trees which grow in this area and an introduction to Mui Wo and its cluster of villages. We were fortunate to have as our hosts and speakers long time Lantau residents Bob and Sally Bunker. Sally, a botanical artist, has spent the last five years working on a book entitled ‘Portraits of Trees in Hong Kong and Southern China’, which it is hoped will be published next year. Bob complemented Sally’s botanical introduction with a general background talk on Mui Wo and its historical development. The afternoon started with lunch at the Stoep at High Tide Restaurant following which Sally and Bob gave short introductions on their chosen subjects. The group of twenty-eight then undertook a walk around Mui Wo before heading back to the Bunker’s hill-top home overlooking the bay. This was a very full afternoon and I would like to thank Bob and Sally for their hospitality in providing tea in their home at the conclusion of the afternoon’s event. I would also like to thank Kim Chai for her detailed review, notwithstanding her departure overseas shortly after the event. If other members have a specific location in mind which would be worth visiting, please do make your suggestion known., 3 Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong 2017 President’s Message Travel will continue to be a theme in November and the Society will undertake its second overseas trip of the year, this time to North Vietnam. The group will be led by Rocky Dang and Peter Stuckey. Having been on the wonderful trip to Guizhou in the Spring I do wish I was going with you. I would like to wish all members of this group a safe and interesting journey and look forward to hearing about the trip when you get back. I would also like to mention that we have had several overseas resident members in town recently. They include Colin and Jenny Day, Colin is the Associate Editor of the Journal and Jenny was at one time our Administrator. Kirsty Norman is in Hong Kong again, doing research for her book and I hope we shall see her during her stay. Not so fortunate, I regret to say, was Mary Painter, who like Jenny Day was a former Administrator. Mary and husband Alan together with daughter Briony were due to visit Hong Kong at this time. Unfortunately, Mary had a fall and injured herself. On a brighter note Mary has written to say she is recovering and plans to reschedule the trip, hopefully in the spring next year, are being made. I am sure all members will wish Mary a full and speedy recovery. This is the sixth and last newsletter for 2017. Before I close can I please ask every member to make a special effort to check that membership subscriptions are in order and if possible please let the Hon Treasurer have a bank direct debit authorization? This will assist the Society and reduce unnecessary administration. Secondly there has been some improvement in our membership and this needs to be everybody’s priority in the coming year. Please do think about introducing your friends to the RAS and encouraging them to join. Lastly please make a note that next year’s Annual General Meeting will take place on Wednesday 25 April 2018. Further details will be circulated later. The Society needs new members to serve on Council and the Activities Committee. I therefore appeal to all members who have time and are interested in the Society’s future to step forward now. Michael Broom President Remembering the Fallen 4 Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong 2017 Future Activities LECTURE Policing Hong Kong - an Irish History The Aftermath of the Gresson Street Affray 1918 (Photo courtesy: Patricia O’Sullivan) Under-resourced, under-supervised and ill-prepared, the three constables at the squalid Police Station on Cheung Chau stood no chance against the ruthless pirate gang in 1912. Five more policemen lost their lives in a bloodbath in Wanchai that might have been averted by better coordination and information. But travel forward just a little and the outcome at the hold-up in Canton Road is very different. These three incidents, spread over eleven years in the early part of the last century, were some of the most significant events for the Hong Kong Police Force at the time. They also portray the journey of a force coming to terms with the new world of the early twentieth century, changing attitudes as much as developing resources. Using material from her research for Policing Hong Kong - an Irish History and beyond (policemen in all three events had Newmarket, Co. Cork connections) Patricia O’Sullivan will revisit the (in)famous crime scenes and sketch some of the consequences and outcomes for Hong Kong’s police. 5 Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong 2017 Future Activities The Speaker Patricia O’Sullivan has come to Hong Kong frequently since October 2009, when she first came over to discover what had happened to her great-uncle, Mortimor O’Sullivan, of Newmarket, Co. Cork, in the Gresson Street Affray of 1918. Since then her researches have uncovered the lives and careers of almost of score of Newmarketeers in the Hong Kong Police Force and Civil Service.