Preserving Local Documentary Heritage: Conversations with Special Library Managers and Archivists in Hong Kong 9789629375232, 9789629372378

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Preserving Local Documentary Heritage

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Preserving Local Documentary Heritage Conversations with Special Library Managers and Archivists in Hong Kong Patrick LO

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The cover image is reproduced with kind permission of the following copyright holder: The Hong Kong Heritage Project (Ref no: 9220683210)

©2015 City University of Hong Kong All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, Internet or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the City University of Hong Kong Press. ISBN: 978-962-937-237-8 Published by City University of Hong Kong Press Tat Chee Avenue Kowloon, Hong Kong Website: www.cityu.edu.hk/upress E-mail: [email protected] Printed in Hong Kong

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Table of Contents

Foreword by Dr. LAU Chi-pang

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Associate Professor, Department of History, Lingnan University, Hong Kong

Preface

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Acknowledgements

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About the Author

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Chapter 1 Why Hong Kong Needs an Archives Law



1



2

An Interview with Simon CHU, Hong Kong Archives Society

Self-Introduction Establishment of the Hong Kong Archives Society Archival Work in the Hong Kong Government Archival Work versus Government’s Agenda Archival Work in Hong Kong versus Mainland China Archival Education and Career Roadmap Difficulties and Challenges Afterthoughts

Chapter 2 Learning the Importance of Archives Law through the Tragic Loss of 39 Lives

4 8 13 17 20 24 26

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An Interview with William WAUNG, Archives Action Group

Self-Introduction Archival Situation during the British Colonial Period The Urgent Need to Establish Archives Law in Hong Kong Educating the Importance of Archives Law Future Strategies

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30 34 36 39 40

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Motion on the Archives Law not Passed Archives Laws in Mainland China Challenges and Prospects Afterthoughts

Chapter 3 Witnessing the Transfer of Sovereignty over Hong Kong through Public Records



41 42 44 46

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An Interview with Don BRECH

Self-Introduction Archival Studies Programmes in the Early Days Career as an Archivist Archival Work of the Hong Kong Colonial Government Destruction of Government Records Afterthoughts

Chapter 4 How an Archivist from Virginia Came to Build a University Archives and Fell in Love



50 53 55 58 62 62

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An Interview with Stacy Belcher GOULD, University of Hong Kong

Self-Introduction Working in the HKU Archives Development of University Archives in Hong Kong Future Plans and Difficulties for the HKU Archives Preserving Hong Kong—A Unique City Afterthoughts



66 69 76 79 81 82

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Table of Contents

Chapter 5 News Library—“The Library that Never Sleeps”

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An Interview with Roeter KWOK and David WONG, Television Broadcasts Limited

Self-Introduction The News Library at TVB Stressful Work and Job Satisfaction Maintaining and Organising the News Archives Challenges and Difficulties Afterthoughts

Chapter 6 Preserving Corporate Memory in Hong Kong



84 86 89 93 96 97

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An Interview with Amelia ALLSOP and Clement CHEUNG, The Hong Kong Heritage Project

About the HKHP Archive

100 104 109

Strategies and Policies

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Future Plans for the HKHP

116 117 119

Self-Introduction Job Nature

Advice to Young People Afterthoughts

Chapter 7 The Goethe-Institut Librarian as a Cultural Ambassador of Germany

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An Interview with Gabriele SANDER, Goethe-Institut Hong Kong

Self-Introduction The Goethe-Institut and the Library Experiences in Hong Kong and Other Asian Countries

122 123 132

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Strategic Plans for the Goethe-Institut Library

134 138 138 138

Afterthoughts

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Roles as the Goethe-Institut Librarian Challenges as the Goethe-Institut Librarian Personality Traits Required for a Goethe-Institut Library

Chapter 8 Building a Crowd-Sourced Community Archive in Hong Kong

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An Interview with David BELLIS, The Gwulo.com website

Self-Introduction Development of Gwulo.com Sourcing Photos Rewarding Experiences and Frustrations Highlights of the Collection—Wartime Diaries Future Development Afterthoughts

Chapter 9 The Judaic Library Serving the Jewish Community of Hong Kong

144 148 153 155 157 159 160

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An Interview with Brenda YI, Jewish Community Centre of Hong Kong

Self-Introduction The History and Role of the Judaic Library Highlights of the Collection and Other Library Activities Difficulties or Barriers at Work Users of the Library Being the “Solo Librarian” Afterthoughts

167 168 170 172 176 179 182

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Chapter 10 Developing Informed and Positive Attitudes towards Sex and Sexuality—Resources for Sexuality Education

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An Interview with Ava CHAN and Grace LEE, Family Planning Association of Hong Kong

Self-Introduction About the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (FPAHK) Training and Knowledge of Librarians Library Collections about Sex Functions and Roles of the FPAHK Roles as the FPAHK Librarian Changes in Users’ Needs and Demands Afterthoughts

Chapter 11 Different Missions, Common Goals— Debates Surrounding Museum-Library Collaborations

186 188 192 194 197 200 202 205

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An Interview with Kitty BUT and Robert TRIO, Hong Kong Maritime Museum

Self-Introduction About the Museum Library and the Maritime Museum Challenges Faced by the Museum Library

The Intricate Relationship between the Resource Centre and the Museum The Museum Library and the General Public Collaborations and Strategic Plans Expectations of the New Generation Afterthoughts

208 210 214 216 219 222 225 226

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Chapter 12 Reviving Traditional Chinese Theatre Arts via the Chinese Opera Information Centre

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An Interview with Milky CHEUNG, Chinese Opera Information Centre

Self-Introduction About the Chinese Opera Information Centre Rewarding Experiences Difficulties and Challenges Afterthoughts

Chapter 13 How a Company Treasures Its People

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An Interview with Charles HO and Phoebe NG, MTR Corporation Limited

Self-Introduction Roles of the Learning Resource Centre From a Small Library to the Multi-functional Centre The LRC Users and Their Reading Preferences Challenges and Difficulties Faced by the LRC Afterthoughts

Chapter 14 From Healthcare Heritage to Public Awareness

248 250 255 257 258 262

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An Interview with Faith HO and Condon LEE, Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences

Self-Introduction Highlights of the HKMMS Collection Target Audience and Services of the HKMMS Rewarding Working Experiences Afterthoughts

264 268 273 275 276

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Table of Contents

Chapter 15 Keeping Traditional Martial Arts Alive

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An Interview with Hing CHAO, The International Guoshu Association

Self-Introduction Establishing the HKMALA

Senior Chinese Martial Arts Masters versus Young Practitioners



The New Style Wushu versus Traditional Chinese Martial Arts

Public’s Views towards Traditional Martial Arts

Afterthoughts

Chapter 16 Graffiti Inside an Art and Design Library?

279 280 284 288 290 292

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An Interview with Wilson CHU, Hong Kong Design Institute

Self-Introduction

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Collection Highlights of the HKDI Library

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Characteristics of the LRC

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Afterthoughts

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Conclusion

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Foreword

Preserving Local Documentary Heritage: Conversations with Special Library Managers and Archivists in Hong Kong is an unusual study that was nearly invisible in colonial Hong Kong when, for many reasons, society was unconcerned about the narrative of local history. Archives management, the theme of this book, has only recently been recognised as an important social and cultural issue when local history has been well-received in post-1997. It is in this historical context, I believe, that the writing of this book is made possible. Keeping memories of individuals and groups is perhaps one of the most significant characters that distinguishes human beings from other species. For many centuries, historians and other parties have strived to preserve as many historical materials as possible for records and for shaping the past. It has always been an assumption that the past can be clearly and accurately reflected in records, and archives are essential elements in the formation of social and cultural memories. Whether or not history can be objectively and accurately written from authentic and original records is still under debate among historians. Nevertheless, it is widely acknowledged that history can hardly be produced in the absence of archival materials. Having said that, there is always a gap between the use of archival materials and historical truth. Archives are, theoretically speaking, repositories for materials available and transferred from institutions and individuals. In practice, however, there are always materials that should have been retained but are disposed of for unjustifiable reasons. In this connection, the ways in which archival materials are collected and processed may in many ways determine how the past is represented. History, in a way, is the outcome of an unending interaction between archivists and historians.

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Today, archives have gone beyond the concept of simply providing repositories for historians to reconstruct the past. It is a reflection of cultural and national identity that links the past of a society to the present and the future. While the use and nature of archives have been discussed by historians and archivists over seminars and conferences, the creation of archives has attracted the interests of professionals such as librarians, architects, engineers, builders, and computer programmers. Archives management has become a complex matter that warrants more intensive and extensive explorations. In the past 10 years, historians and archivists of Hong Kong have actively participated in the above discussion. We are encouraged to learn from the conversations recorded in this book that, archives of various scopes have been created in recent years by private institutions and groups, though public access of these archives has been restricted in one way or another. With the absence of an archives law, Hong Kong’s public records service will have a long way to go to keep up with the provisions and standards of archives management in neighboring countries, not to mention China, Taiwan, and Macau. We have the confidence that one day, our society will be able to determine what to remember and what to keep in the archives. Let us continue our conversations.

Dr. LAU Chi-pang Associate Professor, Department of History, Lingnan University, Hong Kong ; Co-ordinator, Hong Kong & South China Historical Research Programme

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Preface

Aim of this Book In Hong Kong, there are a number of professional forums for academic and public librarians to share information and resources – allowing them to learn from one another; and at the same time creating valuable opportunities for them to share ideas and experiences related to career development. On the contrary, the opportunities for professional sharing among special library managers in Hong Kong seem rather limited. Many archivists and library managers do not have the funding, the time, or simply the suitable forums to share their valuable experiences and expertise. This book is based on a series of direct face-to-face interviews with different practising archivists and special library managers in Hong Kong. The primary purpose of this book is to serve as a reference guide for current students and graduates who are choosing a career in the archival science or library and information (LIS) profession, to provide insights into the careers of different types of archivists and special library managers that are with many years of training and professional experiences. I asked them to describe the necessary professional skills, knowledge and personalities that are required for working in such environments of varying size, nature, and composition in Hong Kong. For example, for all the top-quality TV news programmes that we enjoy every day – after all the TV news footage is aired, where would they go? Who is looking after this news footage? How would the footage be arranged, stored and catalogued at a TV news library? More importantly, how should the library be staffed in order to support 24-hour news production routines at a TV station? This book includes an exclusive interview with David Wong, News Production Manager, and Roeter Kwok, Principal News Librarian, at TVB (Television Broadcasts Limited), which

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will provide the answers, and also discuss the unique professional skills, knowledge and personality traits needed for working at a library of a 24-hour TV station. In other words, in addition to the common career route for becoming an academic or public librarian or a public office archivist, this book hopes to provide LIS students and graduates with more insights into career options, and thereby enabling them to make better informed or more suitable career decisions. As this project progressed, I realised that all these stories told by different archivists and librarians and the collections they described, gradually revealed a richness of the local heritage that is “uniquely Hong Kong” – which unfortunately many of us have simply overlooked in the past, due to various social, educational, political and historical reasons. Some of the interviews feature stories told by foreign archivists and librarians who are practising their professions in Hong Kong; while others present interesting insights shared by local Chinese librarians working for foreign cultural institutes. Among all the professional archivists and librarians, this book also includes a very interesting interview with a community archivist named David Bellis, who happens to be a British expatriate living in Hong Kong. Although not a native of Hong Kong, he has devoted countless hours as well as an immeasurable amount of time and resources of his own to creating an online community archive, allowing the public to share their expertise, knowledge and interests, as well as memories about Hong Kong at any time, and any place. All these different stories are no doubt testimonials of how multicultural and multi-faceted Hong Kong is; and how much Hong Kong society is willing to embrace internationalism – thereby creating borderless opportunities for cross-cultural as well as cross-national information sharing, creative enquiries, artistic

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or cultural endeavours, and other possible collaborations on knowledge exchange.

Choice of Method The qualitative (direct face-to-face interview) approach provided valuable opportunities for the individual practising archivists and librarians to describe their experiences as they perceived them. The interview answers were created from the participants’ own viewpoints. The interviewees took full control over the flow of the entire conversation, and I purposely did not want to control or interfere with the answers to my open-ended questions, giving the participants total freedom to respond in their own words, based on their interpretations of the questions. The natural and conversational interviews also enabled maximum flexibility for more open, spontaneous and instant exchanges of ideas without any preconceived expectations on my side. More importantly, I could use a series of follow-up questions to clarify their answers, and verify the participants’ responses and my understandings. In other words, different “themes” could emerge naturally during the course of our conversations, and develop a mutual understanding of the concepts being examined. The goal was not always the technical explanations behind specific tasks or operations, but rather the immediate and direct experiences of the individuals illustrating the underlying reasons for their actions and decisions. As Rossman and Rallis point out, the interview approach not only provides opportunities for open discussions where both the participants and researcher can “construct meaning” together, it is also “essential for the

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understanding of how participants view their world”.1 In order to observe the ethical issues associated with research interviews, after they had been transcribed, all the transcripts and the “Afterthoughts” were sent to the interviewees for their review, corrections and approval.

What are the Similarities and Differences between Archivists and Librarians? Archivists and librarians are not “glorified filing clerks”. They not only function as guardians of information, but also serve as information experts in our current society which is more than ever driven by both technologies and information. In the past few decades, the roles of an archivist and a librarian have been constantly evolving to meet society’s fast-changing information, social and technological needs. In fact, the specific duties of a librarian vary drastically depending on the size and type of the library. Similarly, an archivist’s duties are also very much defined by the size, nature and functions of the parent institution that he or she serves. Other than traditional academic and public libraries, it is also very common for many medium- to large-scale financial, oil and transportation companies, architecture and law firms, museums, art galleries, auction houses, hospitals, TV/news stations, orchestras and opera houses to have archivists and/or librarians working within the same organisation. They manage the documents and other information that are important for their

1. Rossman, G. B. & S. F. Rallis. (1998). Learning in the Field: an Introduction to Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, Calif. Sage Publications, p. 124.

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daily operations, as well as for the future development of the organisation. Archivists and librarians have many common points, for example, they are both responsible for collecting, processing, organising, preserving, and disseminating information to their clients. Both archivists and librarians essentially aim to bring information to the point of use. Although the nature of the jobs of archivists and librarians bear many similarities, we need to acknowledge the differences between the two professions. The fundamental difference is that archivists specialise in handling primary sources, that is, the original documents themselves, which are usually unpublished and are generally unique. Archivists also tend to spend more time on research and preservation of the original materials. It follows that archival materials are generally irreplaceable. According to Pearce-Moses, “archivists keep records that have enduring value as reliable memories of the past, and they help people find and understand the information they need in those records”.2 Since archival materials are irreplaceable; they are mostly restricted for use within the premises of the archive, and normally borrowing outside the archive is not allowed. On the other hand, librarians tend to focus more on managing materials that are published by commercial publishers in various formats (for example, books, periodicals, CDs, and DVDs). Managing institutional repositories for electronic articles is another task commonly found among many librarians. With the exceptions of rare books and out-of-print titles, library copies are generally replaceable in most cases. That being said, many libraries are also staffed with archivists, and hold archives

2. Pearce-Moses, Richard. (March/April, 2006). “Identity and diversity: What is an archivist?” Archival Outlook.

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collections that fall under the same rules of processing and access as the archives collections held at other “proper” archives institutes. Meanwhile, some archive institutes are also equipped with their own libraries, with the aim of providing a centralised service gateway for answering end-user enquires, as well as for facilitating the research activities carried out by both the in-house staff and visiting researchers. According to Anne Gilliland, Professor of Information Studies and Moving Image Archive Studies at UCLA, archival science and librarianship are both professional domains that acquire, manage, preserve and provide access to documentation and information more broadly. Historically, the two fields developed separately, with archival science focusing primarily on bureaucratic records that were created by governments and other forms of organisations. Sometimes personal papers of individuals were preserved in archives after they were no longer immediately useful to their creators for various kinds of future research purposes. Librarianship, on the other hand, focused on acquiring and circulating books, journals and other published or “bibliographic” material, emphasising to meet immediate and upcoming user needs. Although professionals are increasingly trained for both fields within information schools, the professions have tended to remain distinct in terms of their professional roles, practices, and associations. By the second half of the twentieth century, new forms of media and documentation were increasingly being produced, such as film, video, oral histories, which blurred the distinction between archival and

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bibliographic materials. Special types of archives and libraries were established to address particular kinds of media, social and cultural needs, community heritage and collective memory of events and places, and organisations (for example, corporations, academic institutions). Because these repositories often blended different approaches to information to address a range of materials and user needs, they might variously be referred to or titled as a library (or a special library), archives, heritage centre, museum, and so on. “Special libraries” and “community archives” (that is, archives that are by or sometimes about, local communities and their identity and experiences) are particularly reflective of this kind of blending, with each often taking a hybrid professional approach to their activities.

Difficulties and Challenges According to Keyes, one major issue faced by many special libraries (corporate libraries in particular) is the difficulty of putting a “dollar value” on the intangible services which the library provides to its parent company.3 As explained by Edgar, values of the services provided by corporate and special libraries cannot be easily measured, as no one can precisely determine whether and how the knowledge may be useful immediately upon acquisition, or at any unspecified time in the future; or to

3. Keyes, Alison M. (1995). “The value of the special library: Review and analysis”. Special Libraries, 86(3), 172–187.

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what extent such acquired knowledge could be actually applied.4 There is no doubt that many corporate or even public office archivists are facing similar situations. For this reason, archivists and librarians often become the first victims of budget cuts. Furthermore, since both professions deal largely with records management and provide services for information seekers, many administrators and budget holders do not understand the profound differences between the two professions. In many cases, because of financial constraints, many librarians are also assigned the responsibilities of looking after archives collections. In other words, a single person is hired to perform dual duties, with the sole purpose of saving expenditure and other resources. Finally, in many cases, archivists and librarians have always played a rather supporting role, and their hard work and contributions to society often go unnoticed by many of us. In addition to offering a LIS career guide and a testimonial of our own local heritage, I wish to express my utmost respect and gratitude to all those archivists and special library managers, who have devoted their careers to building and safeguarding the documentary heritage of Hong Kong society through this book. It is definitely of interest to anyone who is studying, teaching and practising in the fields of archival and library science. Furthermore, the topics covered in this book are also of much relevance to anyone who is researching Hong Kong and its unique documentary heritage.

4. Edgar, William B. (2007). “Corporate library resource selection: Exploring its support for corporate core competencies”. The Library Quarterly, 77(4), 385–408. Available at: www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/520996

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Acknowledgements

Since this is my very first book, I would like to dedicate it to my parents for their unconditional and unfaltering love; and also for the forbearance in the face of my too-frequent absences from home, due to my long years of overseas education, as well as my current teaching job in Japan. I would also like to thank my parents for paying for my boarding school education in England, as well as for my university tuitions in both Canada and Germany. Without their unparalleled tender love and continued support, I would not be where I am today. I would like to thank all the librarians and archivists again for giving me their precious time for the interviews, and sharing their inspiring stories and insights into their careers. I would also like to extend my sincerest gratitude and appreciation to the City University of Hong Kong Press for turning my humble interview project into a book. Furthermore, I would also like to give my special thanks to two Cambodian students with excellent English skills, Hong Sokuntheavy and Kimsan Teng for helping me transcribing some of the interviews, despite of their busy schedules as graduate students at the University of Tsukuba. I would also like to thank William Lee (Imagio Image Consulting Co.) and Ernest Tse (photographer) for creating his professional image photos for this book. Finally, I would like to dedicate this book to a special friend William Chesser (from Metro Atlanta, Georgia, USA), who just lost his grandmother. According to William, his grandmother was the only unconditional love he ever knew. William happens to be a very keen reader and a lover of East-Asian cultures. Although he has never been to Hong Kong before, he has always expressed

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an interest in the Cantonese language / dialect – always studying, analysing and comparing it in a “scholarly” fashion. William has also thought about a career in library and archival science. I hope this book will give him the inspirations and courage to fully develop his talents and potentials, to enable him to achieve great things one day, so that he could make his grandmother and mother proud.

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About the Author

Dr. Patrick LO (盧敬之) has been serving as Associate Professor at the Faculty of Library, Information & Media Science, the University of Tsukuba in Japan since 2012. He earned his Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) from the University of Bristol (U.K.) in May 2009. He has obtained a Master of Arts in Design Management (M.A.) from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2004), a Master of Library & Information Science (M.L.I.S.) from McGill University (Canada; 1994), and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) from Mount Allison University (Canada; 1992). He also took part in a one-year academic exchange at the University of Tübingen in Germany from 1990–91. Dr. Patrick LO is proficient in Chinese (both Cantonese and Putonghua), English and German. He has presented close to 100 research papers and project reports focusing on librarianship, humanities, and education at different local and international workgroup meetings, seminars, conferences, including: Mainland China, Hong Kong, Austria, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Turkey, United States, and Sweden, at institutions including the Library of Congress (U.S.), Austrian National Library (Vienna), University of Vienna, National Library of France (Paris), National Institute of Informatics (Japan), Konrad-Zuse-Center for Information Technology (Berlin), etc. His research interests and areas of specialty include: comparative studies in library and information science (LIS); music librarianship; art and design librarianship; visual information literacy, etc. His recent publications on LIS include the following: “Information for Inspiration: Understanding InformationSeeking Behaviour and Library Usage of Students at the Hong

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Kong Design Institute.” Australian Academic & Research Libraries, Vol. 46, No. 2, 101–120. (2015). “Modeling Your College Library after a Commercial Bookstore? The Hong Kong Design Institute Library Experience.” Community & Junior College Libraries, Vol. 19, No. 3–4, 1–18. (2014). “The Roles of the School Librarians as Information Literacy Specialists: a Comparative Study between Hong Kong, Shanghai, South Korea, Taipei and Japan”. New Library World, Vol. 115, No. 7/8, 314–339. (2014). “Attitudes and Self-Perceptions of School Librarians to their Professional Practices: a Comparative Study between Hong Kong, Shanghai, South Korea, Taipei and Japan”. School Libraries Worldwide, Vol. 20, No. 1. (January, 2014). In addition to his research in LIS, Patrick is also a keen lover of Western classical music, and an avid concertgoer. His recent publications on music librarianship and music culture include the following: “A Conversation with Matthew Naughtin, Music Librarian at the San Francisco Ballet”. Music Reference Services Quarterly, 17, 142–168. (2014). “A Conversation with Robert Sutherland, the Chief Librarian at the Metropolitan Opera Library”. Fontes Artis Musicae Journal, Vol. 60, Issue No. 2, 76–91. (2013). “The “Most German of All German Operas”: an Analysis of Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger and Its Influence on Hitler’s Nazi Ideology”. International Journal of the Humanities, Vol. 7, Issue No. 9, 71–102. (2009).

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About the Author

He is currently working on another interview book entitled: Conversations with the World’s Leading Orchestra and Opera Librarians, and will be published by Rowan & Littlefield in 2016. On top of his full-time job as an academic, Patrick is also a very keen amateur martial arts practitioner. In addition to the traditional Chinese martial arts (praying mantis style/螳螂拳), he enjoys spending his free time training in a number of modern and foreign combat sports as a serious hobby, including: Aikido, Japanese-style kickboxing, Western boxing, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jujitsu, etc. He is also a senior member and Foreign Liaison Officer of the International Praying Mantis Martial Arts Society (國際螳螂拳學會).

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Chapter 1 Why Hong Kong Needs an Archives Law

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Interview with Simon CHU President, Hong Kong Archives Society What exactly is an archives law? An archive is an accumulation of historical records of events that took place during the lifetime of an organisation. Such archival records are preserved to document the functions of that organisation. They are a repository of factual information, and they are necessary for helping us understand the history and identity as well as the functions of that particular organisation. According to Simon Chu, president of the Hong Kong Archives Society and former director of the Government Records Service, “an archives law is actually a very general piece of legislation. Such a law aims to govern the operations and the management of archives in a government, for ensuring that the government officials will have to create records to document their official transactions, as a result of their official duties”. To ensure maintenance of a good archives system, many modern jurisdictions have such an archives law, including many Asian countries. Hong Kong, however, is an exception. In this chapter, Simon Chu will discuss in detail his past experiences as an archivist for the Hong Kong Government, as well as the implications of, and the urgent need for, introducing an archives law in Hong Kong.

Self-Introduction Could you begin this interview by introducing yourself and your working experiences? My name is Simon Chu, and I am an archivist by profession. I have worked as an archivist for the [Hong Kong] Government Archives for over 22 years, before retiring in 2007. All my life, I have worked as an archivist. I am currently serving as the President of the Hong Kong Archives Society.1 I only became the

1. Hong Kong Archives Society. Homepage available at: www.archives.org.hk/about. html

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President about two years ago (2011). On top of being the President of the Archives Society, internationally, I am also the Secretary General of EASTICA.2 EASTICA is the acronym for the East Asian Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives. And ICA is the International Council on Archives,3 which is similar to IFLA for the Simon CHU International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions4 for libraries and librarians worldwide. In addition, I am the Advisor for the Asia Pacific Committee of the UNESCO5 Memoir of the World Programme. In fact, I have been working for the UNESCO for over 15 years. I am also teaching at the Chinese University of Hong Kong,6 and at Hong Kong University-SPACE,7 so I am the Adjunct Associate Professor of two different universities in Hong Kong. Furthermore, I am a member of the standing committee of the Chinese National Committee for Archive and Documentary Heritage Programme. This Chinese National Committee is actually responsible for appraising and selecting the documentary

2. EASTICA. Homepage available at: www.eastica.org/ 3. International Council on Archives. Homepage available at: www.ica.org/3/homepage/ home.html 4. IFLA. Homepage available at: www.ifla.org/ 5. UNESCO. Homepage available at: http://whc.unesco.org/ 6. The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Homepage available at: www.cuhk.edu.hk/ english/index.html 7. University of Hong Kong, School of Professional and Continuing Education (SPACE Community College). Homepage available at: http://hkuspace.hku.hk/

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heritage of Mainland China, and I am preparing them for the submission to the international register. Basically, these are all the things that I am doing at the moment. Did you begin your career as an archivist in Hong Kong immediately after you graduated from university? No, after I finished my studies in Canada, I taught in Canada for a while at the Medicine Hat College8 which is about a twohour drive from Calgary. I had also obtained my MLIS9 degree in Canada before I started my career as an archivist in Hong Kong. How did you develop an interest in archival work? I can feel that you have such a keen interest and strong passion for archival work? I was a history student. When I was a student, I spent most of my time doing my research in archives. I guess my passion for archival work developed gradually during my time as a student in Canada. All seemed very natural to me.

Establishment of the Hong Kong Archives Society Are you one of the founders of the Hong Kong Archives Society? Yes, I am one of the founding members of the Archives Society in Hong Kong. Without being too humble, I should say that I initiated the whole idea. With this Society, we try to establish a platform, via which we aim to advocate the archives law, as a hidden agenda for Hong Kong.

8. Medicine Hat College. Homepage available at: www.mhc.ab.ca/ 9. MLIS – Master of Library and Information Science.

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Did you establish the Hong Kong Archives Society after you have retired from the Hong Kong Government? I think it was back in 1999. It was around that time when we founded the Hong Kong Archives Society, and I was still working as an archivist for the Hong Kong Government then. What were the goals and purposes for founding this Hong Kong Archives Society? What are the current functions of the Hong Kong Archives Society? The general public in Hong Kong does not have any clear and correct concepts and perceptions about archives, and what kind of work that is involved in an archive. They tend to mix up archival work with librarianship, or museum curator work. In fact, very few people have clear ideas about what an archive is, and what archivists actually do in an archive. Such common misconceptions tend to have significant impacts on the financial resources being provided for archival work, including archival work being carried out in both public and private organisations. Because of such wrong perceptions, people in Hong Kong think that archival work can be taken up by librarians or museum curators, etc. This is the actual situation in Hong Kong, both then and now. It has not improved very much, although it seems to be improving slowly. For the Hong Kong Archives Society, one of our objectives is to promote “professionalism”, that is, “archival professionalism”. We also aim to promote awareness among members of the public, the importance, the values, and the uniqueness of an archive, that is the unique evidential values of an archive. We aim to teach people to distinguish archival materials from the other library materials or museum objects. With the Society, we simply aim to create more archives, that is, to create more archival objects, more professionals, and more career opportunities, etc. Unlike many other countries, where archives law is actually very common among many civilised jurisdictions, there is an absence of an 5

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“archives law” in Hong Kong. In the West, as well as a majority of the Asian countries, they have this archives law which is a very general piece of legislation. Such a law applies to the government, and also applies to the public officials, but does not deal with the private or commercial institutions. In other words, it is a law that governs the operations and the management of archives in a government, for ensuring that the government officials will have to create records to document their official transactions, as a result of their official duties. Thus the law also ensures that all the created records will be professionally managed, according to the professional standards, for example, the ICA Standards,10 the ISO Standards11… and all the other international standards. Finally, this archives law also makes sure that after the records are created, they will be transferred to the archives authority for proper appraisal. This law also ensures that the public offices have no rights to dispose any of the records without the proper approvals from the archival authority. For those records that are appraised to have “permanent archival value”, the archivists would then recommend those records to be transferred to the archives for permanent upkeep. The last provision of the archives law is that, after a certain period of closure or custody in the archives, usually it would take about 20 to 30 years, the archival records will have to be opened for public access. In short, the archives law covers these basic four provisions: (1) The archival records have to be created by the public officials as a result of their work, or as their official duties.

10. International Council on Archives, Committee on Descriptive Standards. Homepage available at: www.icacds.org.uk/eng/standards.htm 11. International Organization for Standardization. Homepage available at: www.iso.org/ iso/home.html

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(2) The created archival records have to be managed professionally. (3) The finished records have to be transferred to the archives for proper appraisal. (4) The records will then be transferred to the archives for permanent retention, and eventually, they have to be opened for public access. But in the absence of the archives law, the Hong Kong public officials are not obliged to create these records. Even after they have created records as such, they can turn around and say, “Oh sorry, we do not have such records created”, if they do not want to show you these records as printed evidence of their Government’s transactions. Secondly, because of the absence of the archives law, they can easily destroy the records without the approval from the archival authority. Moreover, without the archives law, the archival records in the archives, whether they will be opened for public access is entirely up to them – up to their discretion – thereby depriving Hong Kong people of their rights to know. And when you are talking about the freedom of information, there are many Western countries that have this legislation called “the Freedom of Information [Act]”, by which, citizens can ask for access to information within the government. We do not have this archives law, and also we do not have this “Freedom of Information Act”. But in this place, we do have this so-called “Code on Access to Information”. However it is not a law, which in fact, is only a “code”. As a result, granting access to information about the Government is not a legal obligation on the part of the Government, and getting information from the Government is not within our legal rights! In other words, the “Archives Law” and the “Freedom of Information Act” are all closely related. These two laws guarantee people’s right to know, and also serve as the basis

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of democracy. These two laws are also the basis of ensuring government transparency, therefore the basis of our Government’s accountability. So without these two laws, the Government can do whatever they like. As a result, the Hong Kong Archives Society is advocating strongly for the alignments of these two laws.

Archival Work in the Hong Kong Government Were you working as an archivist for the Hong Kong Legislative Council? No, I was the archivist for the Hong Kong Government, not the Hong Kong Legislative Council;12 they are two different things. With reference to the Legislative Council, my two former colleagues in the Government Archives, because of their activities to advocate for the archives law, they were not very much welcomed by the Government. So they quit the Government and joined the Legislative Council instead. In fact, one of them is actually the founder of the Legislative Council Archives.13 When you were working as an archivist for the Hong Kong Government, what were your major duties? The major duties were actually kind of routine tasks. I am not saying that because the governmental departments do not transfer the records to us as they do not have this “legal obligations” to do so. In fact, over the years, records still get transferred from the

12. Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region of the People’s Republic of China (Legco). Homepage available at: www.legco.gov.hk/index.html 13. Hong Kong Legislative Council Archives. Further information available at: http://legco. gov.hk/general/english/visiting/archives.pdf

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Government, but we are not getting records from those major vital bureaus. As you understand, the bureaus are the decisionmaking units, and the departments are responsible for the actual implementations. Hence, records from the bureaus are far more important than the records from the individual departments in terms of their historical and archival values. Hence, we still had some of the routine work like doing record appraisals and accessioning, which are similar to what you do as a librarian, that is, you catalogue, advise, describe and arrange the archives for access purposes, etc. Even though we do not have the archives law, we have another rule called the “Code of Access Rule”, which is public-record-access rule. This access rule gives you some rights, while not legal rights, to gain access to the Archives. When I first joined the Hong Kong Government Archives during the 1980s, maybe in 1982, I was very lucky to have worked with the founding archivist, Ian Arthur Diamond. He was very keen and very enthusiastic about archival work. Because after 1940s, the War [the Second World War] ended in 1945, most of the Hong Kong Government records – the pre-1940s, pre-War records – were destroyed by the Japanese Occupation (1941–1945) during the War. So we started building the Government Archives by going into those old basements of different government departments to search for those lost records or hidden records. We also started building up the Archives by making purchases of different records, for example, from the Foreign Office in London, and also from the former colonial offices in London. That is how we started building up the Hong Kong Government Archives. Actually, it is very ironical to say that, in terms of the holdings, before the War, which is before 1945, we have almost a complete set of records. It is because we bought the microfilms from the London Office. But since then, in terms of the completeness of the Archives, from 1945 until 1997, during this period, we do not have a great number of records documenting the Government’s activities.

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When you said from 1945 to 1997, were you referring to the British colonial period in Hong Kong? Yes, I meant the British Colonial Government in Hong Kong from 1945 to 1997. When I said there was no archives law, meaning that the government departments were not obliged to transfer the records to us. In other words, there was no regular transfer of records in accordance with the archives legislation. So, the Hong Kong Government was like a vessel trying to sail, but without any wind to fill its sails. The situation after 1997 became even worse!

How has it become worse? From 1945 to 1997, there were still some British colonial officials who were “amateur historians”. They knew about our [Hong Kong Government Archives] existence, and they were sympathetic about our work as archivists. So we got some support from the Government during that time. But after 1997, we lost a whole bunch of those British colonial officials. In short, from 1945 to 1997, we did not have many important classes of records coming in. When I say “important classes of records”, I meant the records created by the bureaus – those decision-making bodies. And from 1997 until now, the situations has become much worse than before, that is no important classes of records coming in at all.

Do you think there is an obvious political agenda behind such low transactions of records? Yes! There is an obvious political agenda, because first of all, this [record transfer] is not their primary task within their own agency. The officials have their own work to do, and they are all very busy. The business of minding the records is not on their agendas. So, if they do not have to, why should they give a damn about the records? If their records end up accumulating, and if their records are lost, it is not a matter of concern for them.

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During your time working for the Hong Kong Government Archives, what kind of people would come to ask for your services, and what kinds of service did you provide on a regular basis? They were mostly academic people. Did people from the different departments within the Hong Kong Government also come to the Archives to ask for your services? There were some cases, as they wanted to check the records about some past policies. If they couldn’t find the records in their own agencies, and they knew “Oh, we have the Archives”, they would come to us. But most of the time, we couldn’t give them much assistance, because as I said before, we don’t have many records ourselves. So they did sometimes come to us, and ask for help to locate certain pieces of records. But I should say, most of the users were academics, lawyers, and reporters, etc. These were the three main classes of users of the Government Archives. Could you give me a situation where you think your work as an archivist has made major contributions to our documentary heritage, and to the overall development of the archives profession? Back in 1994, the Government Archives was located on the mezzanine floor of the Murray Road multistorey car park on Hong Kong Island. That building is just right opposite to the Hutchison House. And in the 1990s, the Hong Kong ICAC14 wanted to expand their Operations Department. As the commercial premises did not want to rent the premises to ICAC and we were a floor under them, so the Hong Kong Government decided to move us out of that multistorey carpark building and

14. Hong Kong Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC). Homepage available at: www.icac.org.hk/

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attempted to relocate us all the way to Tuen Mun – into a factory building named Sun Yik, which was located in the middle of an industrial slum. Right beside it was a warehouse for dangerous goods, and there was also a candle production manufacturing factory nearby. That factory building used to serve as a closed camp for the Vietnamese refugees. But after all the refugees had been expatriated, the whole commercial factory building became vacant. As a result, the Government “generously” handed the building over to us. As you understand, the environmentally hazardous ashes and waters just kept coming from these factory buildings – and I made them all known to the press, of course in a secretive way, telling them that “the Government has this plan of moving or exiling the Archives to Tuen Mun”. As a group effort, the Royal Society of Hong Kong and some of my friends at HKU [The University of Hong Kong] and Chinese U [The Chinese University of Hong Kong], they started writing to the newspapers, accusing the Government for taking such a stupid move. Never in the history of archives would a government select such a location for the “documentary heritage” – a location site that is in the middle of industrial pollutions. So there was a public hearing afterwards, and also some public protests against the Government’s move. There were also various public accusations against the Government’s attempt to destroy all the records. Because if there had been a fire around that area in Tuen Mun, all the documentary heritage of Hong Kong, all the history of Hong Kong, will be burned and turned to ashes. So after the public hearings, under the pressures, the Government decided to find a more suitable location in the city for us to build a proper purpose-built archives building. And the Archive now standing on Tsui Ping Road in Kwun Tong is a purpose-built archive. So, this was my work and my two archivist colleagues whom I mentioned earlier – our work as a team. But we are still in the same situation, as we are fighting for the archives law, which I think is even more difficult than fighting for an archives building.

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Archival Work versus Government’s Agenda Have there always been conflicts between your work as an archivist and the Government’s agendas? You were employed as a civil servant, but at the same time you were constantly working against them; with such working relationship, how did it work? There were constant conflicts between my work and the Government. But to be honest, this is very common among archivists throughout the world. As an archivist, if you want to uphold the professional ethics, and do your best as a professional archivist, one is bound to come into conflicts with the government. The reason is very simple – the government wants to destroy the records because they do not want any of their misdeeds or stupid acts to be documented as records of evidence. But as an archivist, you want to say, “No, it is better to keep it”. This has always been the source of conflict. When the Government wanted to relocate us to Tuen Mun, I said “No!”, because Tuen Mun was not an ideal place for housing our documentary heritage. So how did I work? I had no choice, unless I just tried to forget that I was an archivist, and tried to brush aside my moral obligations, or professional obligations, so that I could live happily with my boss. There were many difficult years. It was difficult because I was always engaged in constant emails, discourses, fights, and debates, etc. Over the years working for the Hong Kong Government, the relationship between me and my boss could be very difficult at times. But they could not get rid of me, because I was a civil servant, and I was also pensionable. It meant unless I had committed a crime, a very serious crime, otherwise, they could not get rid of me – so that was the beauty of it. And because I was already in the archivist position, they could not demote me either. If they could demote me, they would have found every single valid excuse to do so.

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The Government is usually very bureaucratic and they would prefer their staff to be compliant. It is kind of rare to find a person of your character to be working for the local Hong Kong Government. Is my observation correct? I took that as a very good view. After several years working in the civil service, I regarded myself as not suitable for the job. But my job in the Archives was very different from working in other Government agencies or departments. Because working in the Archives, the Government would leave us alone most of the time. I could do my research, and do my appraisals, and work on my historical research, and also do my cataloguing, making the Archives available for the future access – there was a big satisfaction there. Also, as a historian doing archival research, it is always a challenge and at the same time, a bliss. So when I joined the Government, I found it very interesting and entertaining, and at the same time, very challenging. These conflicts and constant struggles with the Government only came a little later. Only after they tried to move us to Tuen Mun, the relationship between us kind of deteriorated gradually. But before that, I was nothing, and they did not care, as long as I was not creating any trouble. What did you find most rewarding about your job as the Archivist for the Hong Kong Government? Aside from that “Archives Building issue”, I think the most rewarding thing was that I have made acquaintance with a lot of archivist friends from different countries, broadening my horizon and my perceptions. The satisfaction was that even though I did not see myself as an effective guardian, because without the backing of the archives law, I was crippled in my work as an archivist, I should think of myself as a guardian of this commodity – collecting memories. I still could perform some of the functions as an archivist in that regard. My satisfaction as an archivist also came from raising the general awareness among the public about archives, and the importance of archival work.

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Do you think there is a difference in terms of attitudes towards archival work before and after 1997? People in Hong Kong seem to have developed a stronger awareness for the preservation of the local Hong Kong identity, history, and culture, etc., after 1997, fearing that all these things we have taken for granted in the past might be gone one day. You are perfectly right. After 1997, people started looking for their “roots”, and started talking about the collective Hong Kong identity – all these are linked to the historical studies of Hong Kong, pursuing records of artifacts that would lead to the past. Indeed, after 1997, there has been a rise of Hong Kong studies as an academic subject. Taking the local secondary school curriculum as an example, Hong Kong history has recently become a subject; before 1997, there was nothing. And also at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, one can now study Hong Kong history and Hong Kong culture, and you can also find much more research being carried out on various Hong Kongrelated subjects.

With this enhanced awareness for the local Hong Kong history and identity, has this made your job easier as an archivist? No, people’s conceptions towards archives are still very foggy. I would not say it has made our job easier, but it is the perfect time to raise the public awareness about archival work in Hong Kong. And I have to say we couldn’t find a better time to do the job.

Are there any differences in terms of archival work being carried out before 1997 and after 1997? Did the Government give you more funding, more people, and more materials to handle after 1997? In terms of the Government, as I mentioned before, it is worse. Before 1997, there were some British colonial officials, those

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Gweilo,15 who were more interested in Hong Kong history. But after 1997, the local Chinese officials, the Chinese AOs [Administrative Officers] don’t read books; they are not interested in history. After 1997, the archival policy and archival work have become worse, as far as my experiences are concerned. Are you referring to the Hong Kong SAR16 Government officials or the Mainland Chinese officials from the PRC17 Government? When I say the Chinese officials, I am talking about the Chinese officials from the local Hong Kong SAR Government, in comparison to the Westerners, the Gweilo from the British Colonial Government in Hong Kong before 1997. As I mentioned earlier, the local Chinese officials who are in charge of Hong Kong now, they don’t read much history. I can single out one incident as an example. Before 1997, when our heads in the Colonial Government came to visit our Archives, they were very impressed with our holdings, especially impressed with our preWar, and early nineteenth-century records, and spent time looking around in the Archives. But after 1997, with these Chinese AOs becoming our heads, when they came to visit us at the Archives, as usual, we arranged the visit programme and showed these local Chinese officials around the Archives. During this very polite visit, I could see the difference. They just looked around very quickly, and then wanted to leave – to return to their Government headquarters. When I showed them these pre-War records or our 1,843 records of land of Hong Kong, they were simply not interested in them. They just walked past everything very quickly. Maybe I exaggerated a little bit, but this is the impression I got from them. After 1997, the local Hong Kong SAR Chinese officials are not interested in archival work.

15. Gweilo (鬼佬) is a common Cantonese slang term referring to foreigners who are Caucasians by race. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gweilo 16. SAR – Special Administrative Region. 17. PRC – People’s Republic of China.

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Did you see any differences in terms of the Archives’ usage rates or access rates before 1997 and after 1997? Maybe after 1997 there are more younger clients and younger readers coming in, because Hong Kong history has become a curriculum in the local secondary schools. And there are younger students coming to the Archives, which was considered quite rare before 1997.

Archival Work in Hong Kong versus Mainland China Do you see there are many differences between the archival work done by the Hong Kong SAR Government and Mainland Chinese PRC Government? In Mainland China, the archivists or record managers performing archival work in a government agency, and when we are talking about the descriptive part of archival work, that is, cataloging and describing the records, they are the same. But in Mainland China, they have the archives law; this is a legal obligation that they have to follow and perform, in terms of management and preservation according to the Chinese archives law. Unfortunately, Hong Kong archivists working for the local Government are working without the support of this archives law. As a result, receiving records is at the mercy of the Government – it is all very passive work. In Mainland China, archivists are taking a more proactive role, whereas in Hong Kong, the whole environment does not allow you to do so. The only proactive role we attempted and undertook was that we went out to the different governmental departments to acquire the records and make some enquiries. But if a public archives in Hong Kong is staffed by those archivists who are not so enthusiastic, these archivists could choose not to do all these extra work and duties. So after all, they are very passive! 17

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To advocate the archives law – is it one of the major duties or goals of the Hong Kong Archives Society? With the Archives Society, we try to advocate the archives law. But advocating the archives law so publicly in Hong Kong could frighten some of the members in our Society, especially those institutional members. We have membership category called institutional members in our Archives Society. Some of these institutions have good relationships and connections with the local Government. This is another reason why our Society does not advocate so publicly for the archives law in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a rather democratic society; don’t you find it ironic that the senior management of our Government is so frightened of this archives law while Mainland China already has it in place long time ago? First of all, you are making an assumption that Hong Kong is a democratic place, but in fact it is not a democratic city. I mean, for the Hong Kong Government officials, they are not democratically elected by the general public. As a result, they do not have to answer to the people in Hong Kong. Therefore, for the Government officials, if they choose not to be accountable for, they can do that. That means if I do not have to show the evidence of what I have done, I would not show it. Because this archives law governs the behaviours and actions of the public officials, this law will also create some kind of controls over them in return. As a Government official, do you want to introduce a law that could eventually control yourself in return? Let’s put it this way, for the people working in the Government, they would want to introduce a law to control you as the people, as the citizens, for example, the “Public Safety Act” or the “[Hong Kong Basic Law] Article 23”18, but not controlling themselves as

18. Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 – for details, please see: www.basiclaw23.gov.hk/; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Basic_Law_Article_23; www.basiclaw.gov.hk /en/basiclawtext/chapter_2.html 18

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Government officials. The archives law is a law that could control the Governmental bodies themselves. By comparison, it is very natural for countries like Canada, USA – those bi-party democratic countries – with those dualparty political systems to have archival law: when Party A is in control and in power, Party B is the opposition party, and they will make sure that what Party A has said and has done to be documented and recorded. And when Party A steps down and becomes the opposition, they would also want to make sure that Party B’s actions are equally accountable for. That is [why] the archives law is so important and is a must. But in Hong Kong, that are no such incentives.

Why does the Mainland Chinese Government create such an archives law then, since China is not a bi-party democratic country? This is my own personal understanding, and maybe I am wrong. The Communist Party as a totalitarian party tries to control everything, and they want to control all access and flows of information. They want to make sure that all the municipal and provincial governments will agree to create the records, so that they can control them. For them, the archives law also serves some other purposes. But for us, our interpretations and expectations of the archives law are a little bit different from them. For our archives law, we also emphasise much more on the rights and freedom of public access to archive records to that end. Maybe in China, the law also meets the proper provision for public access. But in real practice, we do not know how liberal they are. The law can be turned to political advantages for different governmental parties. But for the Hong Kong Government, there is no need for that. I don’t know if you agree with me on that or not. 19

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Archival Education and Career Roadmap What major activities or events did the Hong Kong Archives Society hold in the past and also plans to hold in the future? Our Society has held two major events. One was the International Archives Day Celebration19 in Hong Kong in June 2012, and another one was the Oral History Workshop20 which was held in October 2012. We also held different public seminars, public talks, with topics ranging from archives management, relations between archives and democracy, as well as the advocacy of archives law for various professionals and the general public in Hong Kong. What would you say to those young people who want to take up a career as an archivist? You mean to take up a career in archival work in Hong Kong? I would advise them to try to figure out another choice or maybe to take it as a second choice. First of all, because the biggest employer for archivists is the Hong Kong Government; and you know, the Hong Kong Records Office is hiring archivists right now. They are hiring people in response to a very serious attack or comments made by the Auditor General on the archival work done by the Hong Kong Government. The Hong Kong Auditor General published the report in 2011 attacking the Government Records Services, the Public Records Office, and all the other offices under the Government

19. For further information on International Archives Day 2012 in Hong Kong, please see: www.ica.org/?lid=13103&bid=341 20. Hong Kong: Voices and History (Oral History Seminar and Workshop). Further information available at: http://hkuspace.hku.hk/event/20121020/hk-voices-andhistory

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Records Services, criticising the deficiency, the inefficiency and the ineffectiveness of the archival work done by the Government. Actually, these were all frontal attacks on all the archival and record management within the Government Records Services. And in response to the Auditor’s attack, the Government Records Services attempted to reinvent themselves by trying to do a small reform, which is why they started hiring professional archivists. And I can only say that this Auditor’s attack was also our making; because during the past year, we tried to expose the general problems found in the archival operations in Hong Kong. Because of that they are hiring people. And other employers of archivists are big corporations, for example, the Hong Kong Bank, the Standard Chartered Bank, and Swire Group. They started to hire professional archivists, rather than librarians or other related professionals to manage their archives. Yes, there are some employment opportunities, but they are not enough. So, I won’t encourage young people to go into the archives business. Besides, we don’t have a formal archival school in Hong Kong. We do have a library school in Hong Kong at HKUSPACE. And HKU-SPACE is collaborating with the Charles Sturt University, Australia, offering library studies degree programmes.21 But we do not have an institution in Hong Kong that offers a higher degree in archival science. Based on my understanding, you can still take archival studies as part of the MLIS curriculum at HKU-SPACE? But there is no such a concentration or a module on archival studies in MLIS programmes in general. At HKU, they also have

21. Master of Information Studies degree programme in Hong Kong, jointly offered by Charles Sturt University, Australia, and HKU-SPACE: http://hkuspace.hku.hk/prog/ master-of-info-studies

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an MLIS programme22 but they do not have such a concentration on archival studies. Would you agree that archival work should be learned on the job rather than studying it as an academic discipline? I agree partially of course. The practical side of learning, learning in the actual environment, is of course very important for archival work. Actually this is a major component in the curriculum of archives studies in the university programmes – I mean the practicum part. Both theory and the practical parts are equally important! If you have no other options, on-the-job training is a workable solution. Provided that there is a sufficient professional staff in the agency to train you, and provided that the professional staff have the time to train you – of course, this would be the ideal. So what kinds of practical skills, knowledge which you think are so important that cannot be learned from a textbook or inside the classroom? I think learning from textbook is one thing, but when you are coming to the actual environment, and when you really have to set your mind on doing it – they are actually very different. The textbook can give you all the principles; it can teach you all these techniques on how to do it like a manual. But when you have to apply them in an actual environment, there could be major differences. I would say, the actual practicum is very important. But in Hong Kong, there are no schools that could offer both theory and practical training.

22. University of Hong Kong, Master of Science in Library and Information Management (MSc[LIM]). Homepage available at: http://web.edu.hku.hk/programme/mlim/

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What kind of archival training would you give to a fresh graduate to start with? For the Hong Kong Government Archives, because it is not possible for us to recruit professional archivists, we recruited students with history, or political science or public administration degrees, and with a few years of research experience; this is the “entry requirement” for the junior archivists. In fact, many of our junior archivists are already master’s-degree holders. Once they are in the job, we provide in-house training for them, which would last for a minimum of two years. And within these two years, we will try to expose these trainees to every aspect of archival work from appraisal, description, reference services to arrangement, etc. These are the four major areas of archival work. This new recruit will be going through these four aspects of archival work under a mentorship. I am talking about the Hong Kong situation here. At the end of this two-year training programme, we will issue an examination for them. If they pass, we will send them overseas for further education. In the past, we would send them to either Australia or Canada for a oneyear study programme, in order for them to get the professional qualification. So after they come back, they are regarded as fullfledged professionals. To summarise, four years of first degree, two years of research training, then two years of in-house training, and then one year overseas study – so almost nine years in total. After he or she has successfully completed all the professional training and studies, one is then eligible to be promoted to the professional rank, that is the “Assistant Archivist”. This is actually the path which I went through myself. How many of such qualified professional archivists are now working in Hong Kong? If you are talking about the Hong Kong Government Archives, there is only one. All the others, they did not receive the formal 23

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qualifications to work as archivists. So, they are not full-fledged. There are another two archivists working for the Legislative Council Archives instead. So, I would say there used to be four full-fledged archivists in Hong Kong. Since I am now retired, there are currently only three in total, with one of them work for the Hong Kong Government, while two of them work for the Legislative Council.

There are also archivists working for different academic libraries, but it does not seem that they need to go through the same kind of training as you just mentioned. These are the people who call themselves or claim to be archivists, without actually going through the actual professional “path”. For librarians, it is the same. You have to have a librarian degree, that is, master’s degree in librarianship, and then some years of on-the-job experience in order to become a truly professional librarian. And in the archival work field, those three people whom I mentioned earlier are also fully-certified archivists. They are fully certified by a professional archival body in the United States.

Difficulties and Challenges Are there major differences between the archival work being done now and the archival work done in the past, for example, during the years when you first started your career as an archivist? Yes, there is a big difference, and all because of the onslaught of the digital world. Because of the emergence of digitised records, the emails, they are making a big difference in archival work. When I first joined the Archives, our world was paper-based, the “paper world”. After a few years, we started to feel the 24

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differences, for example, the emails, the electronic records, the digitalisation; you know all the digital aspects of our business, this could be very frightening! As an archivist, I always say this is a “nightmare”! Up to now, with my limited exposure to this, I don’t think the international archival community has come up with a very effective solution in managing and preserving records in electronic format. It is indeed a big threat and challenge! I am lucky that I am no longer in the archives business. It really scares me, because we still haven’t found any management software that could effectively classify, dispose and preserve the archival records in the digital environment. Such difficulties and challenges are caused by the diversity or incompatibility of different record formats or record management software/systems? Yes, because of the format, also because of the different data structures, and because of everything. When you are talking about digitalisation in the library field, you are more concerned with the information dissemination. But in the actual archival world, dissemination and access is one thing, and preservation is another. When we are talking about preservation, we archivists are not talking about preservation for 10 years, but preservation for 100 years, and over 1,000 years. So, that part of archival work is scary! Are you saying that as an archivist, you always have to be concerned about the problems caused by data migration and the operational software being obsolete? It is indeed one of the problems relating to the obsolescence of record formats and data migration. But we are talking about the data transfer and also the formatting and everything. One of the problems relating to this is because technologies change so fast, and data formats became obsolete so easily. And we need to transfer data from one format to another. 25

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Having to provide a centralised access for the records in different data formats and structures, is this one of the most difficult aspects of archival work that most modern archivists are currently facing? For us archivists, we keep emphasising the integrity and the authenticity of the records, because archival records should serve as historical evidence. And as evidence, they have to be authentic! Such integrity cannot be tampered with. This is why archival work is different from librarianship. And we are always talking about the uniqueness of that single and particular piece of record. Because we need to preserve the authenticity and the integrity of the records, we have to have a management software that will guarantee that. When a piece of record is being transferred to another format, you do not know whether any of the data will be lost, or will there be any metadata loss? If there is data loss, we cannot guarantee the authenticity and the integrity of the records as valid evidence. So, these are all the issues that we have to deal with. For the records to be transferred from the present-generation formats to the next- or another-generation of records, while ensuring the authenticity and integrity of all records being handled, it is definitely not that simple!

Afterthoughts Hong Kong has always been cherished for being “Asia’s World City” – a model for government “best practice”. At the same time, the Hong Kong SAR Government persistently refuses to acknowledge the urgent need to implement an archives law. A bill was proposed that any public officer who failed to create or manage public records properly would face a maximum penalty of HK$100,000 or twelve months in jail, and that those

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who destroyed public records would face double the penalty.23 Unfortunately, in November 2011, the motion on “Enacting an archives law” was rejected by the Hong Kong Legislative Council (Legco). As reported by Vivian Ng, among the 51 present Legco members, 24 voted for the motion, 1 against and 25 abstained from voting. The newly appointed Chief Secretary, Stephen Lam Sui-lung, said in the meeting that Hong Kong has already established its system for archival keeping, and that there is no urgent need for Hong Kong to enact such law. He stressed that with the existing mandatory regulations, the government has standardized its management of archives among bureaus and departments.24

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Government publicly admitted in 2011 that, before relocating to their new headquarters, it destroyed a large quantity of its official documents, with the amount shockingly equal to three times the height of the two IFC buildings.25 A conservation adviser also found in a 2002 survey that 30% of 1,600 selected government records were already in deteriorating conditions.26 The archives legislation is imperative to ensure that government officials are held accountable for both their actions and decisions. “Without the archives legislation,

23. Waung, “Good Governance and Preserving History”. 24. Ng, Vivian. “Archives Law: a Missing Fundamentals in Hong Kong Governance”. UPI Next. 14 December 2011. Available at: http://next.upi.com/archive/2011/12/14/ Archives-Law-a-missing-fundamentals-in-Hong-Kong-governance/4851317003313/ 25. The taller of the two IFC (International Financial Centre) skyscrapers in Hong Kong. Homepage available at: www.ifc.com.hk/en/index.html. See also ARCHIVES ACTION GROUP. “Number of documents destroyed = 3 X IFC 2’s height”, at http:// archivesactiongroup.org/main/?page_id=379 26. Wong, Olga. “Call for Archive Law to Protect Valuable Government Data”. South China Morning Post. 5 January 2013. Available at: www.scmp.com/news/hongkong/article/1120068/call-archive-law-protect-valuable-government-data

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any access rights provided by freedom of information are of little value as there is no assurance that the information sought is properly recorded, complete, reliable and readily accessible.”27 After draft archives legislation was rejected, Simon Chu and the other Archives Action Group28 and Hong Kong Archives Society members have not given up on pursuing this issue. On the contrary, they continued to seek support from different political parties to pressure the Hong Kong Government, as well as to arouse more public attention through public forums and university education – by organising more seminars, talks, exhibitions, workshops, or even rallying on the streets, etc. As Simon Chu puts it, “we should not be passive and pessimistic on this issue. We should not take it as a long way to go; rather, we should take it as an urgent battle to fight.29

27. Archives Action Group. “How Does Archives Legislation Work?”. Available at: http:// archivesactiongroup.org/main/?page_id=2 28. Archives Action Group. Homepage available at: http://archivesactiongroup.org/ main/?page_id=2 29. Ng, “Archives Law”.

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Chapter 2 Learning the Importance of Archives Law through the Tragic Loss of 39 Lives Co-authored with Yang LU

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Interview with William WAUNG Chairman, Archives Action Group Good governance is mostly effectuated by documenting decision processes and actions, and making the documents accessible to the citizens, including the creation, management and dissemination of trustworthy records which will further be referred to as recordkeeping. Recordkeeping is among the most important means of power and control, and an indispensable part of bureaucratic systems.1 In the following interview with William Waung (Chairman and founding member of the Archives Action Group), the true reasons behind the “lack-of-archives-law” situation in Hong Kong will be further examined, in particular the kinds of negative impact that it might have on public safety, as well as on the city’s future democratic development as a whole. Being one of the directors of the Hong Kong Maritime Museum, William Waung will also explain how people in Hong Kong could learn the importance of implementing the archives law through the 2012 Lamma Island ferry collision disaster, as one of the most unfortunate results of not having a proper public records management system. Dr Lu Yang, an archives expert from Shanghai University, is the main author of this chapter. She and Dr Patrick Lo will also examine and compare these archives-law-related issues together from a triangular, cross-cultural and cross-regional perspective, with the hope of bringing possible solutions to light.

Self-Introduction Could you please introduce yourself and your profession before your retirement? After legal studies and pupilage (barrister professional training) in London, I qualified as a UK Barrister in 1971. In February

1. Sundqvist, Anneli. “Access and Accountability: Democratization of Information in PostConflict Societies”. International Council on Archives, KLCC Kuala Lumpur, 2008. p. 1. Available at: www.ica.org/download.php?id=1806

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William WAUNG

1972, I returned to Hong Kong and was admitted as a Hong Kong Barrister. From 1972 to 1994, I was in continuous private practice as member of Temple Chambers, specialising in commercial and shipping law. I was appointed as a Justice of the High Court of Hong Kong in 1994, and was the Commercial Judge of the High Court from 1994 to 1997 and the Admiralty Judge of the High Court from 1997 to 2008. I retired from the

Hong Kong High Court in 2008. Could you also describe your involvement with the Archives Action Group? It was shortly before my retirement that I first learnt about the poor state of the Government archives in Hong Kong. I met Nelly Fung,2 another founding member of the Archives Action Group, and she told me that there was no archives law in Hong Kong. She proposed that we all needed to do something together. I suggested that we should form a small action group to find out the actual state of the Hong Kong Government archives, and why we should follow other countries to establish a similar legislation for saving our government records. That is how the Archives Action Group (AAG)3 was first established in 2008.

2. Nelly Fung, founder of Chinese International School and ISF Academy and historian by avocation. 3. [Hong Kong] Archives Action Group – further information available at: http:// archivesactiongroup.org/main/

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When we first established the AAG in 2008, the core members were Nelly Fung, Simon Chu,4 Don Brech,5 Stacy Gould, Chua Fi-Lan and me. These AAG archivist members educated the lawyer members of the AAG on what the government archives situations were like in Hong Kong, compared with other countries. We reached the conclusion that the Hong Kong archives system is unacceptable. I said to the AAG members that it was imperative for us to draft a Public Records Bill to persuade and pressure the Hong Kong Government to take action. It took us over 18 months to draft the bill, and the draft bill was not finalised until March 2010. When you were practising as a High Court judge in Hong Kong, did you realise that there was a lack of such archives law in Hong Kong? No, I did not know. When I first learnt about the “lack-ofarchives-law” situation in Hong Kong, I was absolutely shocked. Given the legal jurisdiction in Hong Kong, I assumed that there would be a proper archives law already in place to govern our public records. Unfortunately, in reality this is not the case at all. With your expertise and professional knowledge, why did you choose to take part in advocating the archives law instead of doing other things that would gear more towards commercial law which you had practised for a long time? Because I regard it as vitally important for Hong Kong. There are two principal activities that I am undertaking after my

4. Simon Chu, president of the Hong Kong Archives Society; Adjunct Associate Professor, History Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Special Advisor, Memory of the World Committee for Asia/Pacific Region (MOWCAP), UNESCO; Secretary General of the East Asian Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (EASTICA); and former Government Records Service Director. 5. Don Brech, consultant on Archives and Records Management; and former Government Records Service Director. 32

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retirement. One of them is to serve as a Board Director and Endowment Trustee of the Hong Kong Maritime Museum (HKMM).6 The other work is to become an AAG member and to advocate archives law for Hong Kong. The archives law for me is far more important than the HKMM as it would definitely affect every single one of our citizens in Hong Kong, and also our future generations. The archives law governs the Hong Kong Government’s creation, preservation, archiving, and giving access of public records. These public records are the most important aspects of the documentary heritage in any civilised culture or nation. That is why I have invested a lot of time and energy in advocating the archives law for Hong Kong. How do your professional knowledge and your expertise contribute to your current work for the AAG? First of all, drafting the Archives Bill was a very technical exercise. A law basically has to do with a legislative creation of a proper system in relation to a particular area of Hong Kong activity. A law is to set out in legal terms the vision of what that system is, whether it is a law relating to the archives, or a law in relation to the sale of goods. It is all about governing “what should be the standards” that everyone must abide by that system of governance, and the detailed provisions of the law are only there to achieve that goal. So my knowledge helped considerably in putting together this draft bill. During this exercise, we studied the archives law from England, Australia, and New Zealand in order to take the best parts from each jurisdiction and put together for Hong Kong our draft Public Records Bill.7

6. Hong Kong Maritime Museum – Homepage. Available at: www.hkmaritimemuseum. org/ 7. Archives Action Group, Draft Public Records Bill 12.03-2, 12 March 2010. Available at: http://archivesactiongroup.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Draft_Public_ Records_Bill_12.03-2.pdf 33

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Archival Situation during the British Colonial Period Many former British colonies like India, Singapore, and Malaysia have archives laws developed and their governments are all practising such law. Hong Kong is the only exception in this regard. What are the reasons behind this lack-of-archiveslaw situation in Hong Kong? During the British colonial period, there was already an absence of an archives law in Hong Kong. However, there was an archives law in the United Kingdom. Because of the democratic system in England, the archives management in Hong Kong had to be subject to questions in the parliament of the United Kingdom. For that reason, although there was not an archives legislation during the British colonial period, Hong Kong was not doing too badly in terms of public records management within the government. Before 1997, the British Hong Kong colonial government were actively creating, collecting, keeping, and archiving the government records. However, after the transfer of sovereignty in 1997, things started to go downhill. While other former British colonies like India, Malaysia, and Singapore simply accepted the necessity for the archives law when they became eventually independent, Hong Kong, being not independent, was unfortunately in a very unusual situation. Mainland China has a good system of archives legislation, but Hong Kong, in which we could enjoy a much greater degree of political expression, does not have an archives law. And I think it is the result of a combination of different political and social factors. It is my pure speculation that the major reason for the Hong Kong public records services to decline after 1997 was because our Hong Kong SAR Government8 became increasingly dominated by weak civil services and a powerful property tycoon

8. Hong Kong SAR – Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.

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lobby. Whether this is the real reason behind such resistance in implementing the archives law among the local government officials, I have never been able to understand. Are you saying that during the British colonial period, the local government was keeping the records as a routine rather than relying on the archives law to collect the documents? Yes, under the British colonial government, they were doing the necessary routine archival work, including record creation and record preservation even without the archives law. Unfortunately after 1997, everything went downhill, therefore we need the archives law to stop the situation from deteriorating further. Did the individual bureaus and the government departments in Hong Kong have a choice to submit their records to the Government archives during the British colonial period? Or was it mandatory for every single department to submit all the records to the archives, since there has never been an archives law in place? This is the key to the necessity of the archives law for Hong Kong. The selection should not be done by the individual government departments. The selection should be done by an independent authority. Of course, both parties need to work together but the final authority must be with the independent authority, that is, the archives law authority. That is why it requires the creation of the legislation so that the power is in the hands of the government archivists, but not in the hands of government departments. But during the colonial period, who would decide what kinds of records or documents should be submitted to the Government archives? I think it was up to the individual government departments. I do not know what the situations were like then, but there were

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no complaints at that time about the massive destruction of government documents.

The Urgent Need to Establish Archives Law in Hong Kong Is there anything we can learn from Mainland China in terms of the treatments of government archives or from their public archives systems? For a country, having an archives jurisdiction basically means that it is very proud of its history, proud of its own culture and civilisation. China and its leaders have always been extremely proud of its country and cultural heritage. And that is why during imperial China, all the emperors would have had large possessions of historic records, not just from their own dynasties, but also historic records of the past dynasties. All jurisdictions which care about their history would normally have a good and mature archival system readily developed, and an effective archives law in place to ensure that public records offices are doing their job properly. Because of the way history was developed, Hong Kong has never put any emphasis on its own local history, and everything is treated as “temporary”. And Hong Kong has always neglected civic education. That is why we have not been able to energise the people of Hong Kong to care more about their own history, their own cultural heritage, and to care about the Government archives. Is there anything teachers, librarians, and academics could do to contribute in advocating the archives law for Hong Kong? Yes, the first thing you should do is to write about it. But more importantly, the AAG has been courting the local political parties to persuade them to push the Hong Kong Government to take immediate action. 36

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In fact, the AAG went to see Leung Chun-ying9 in 2011 to ask for his support, and his response was very positive at that time. As soon as he was elected and became the Chief Executive of Hong Kong in 2012, we had a one-to-one meeting in June 2012 about implementing the archives law for Hong Kong. He said to me that he would study it with his new team, but eventually, as it came out, they are not going to implement it. In order to push the Hong Kong Government to move forward, people of Hong Kong have to understand the importance of proper government records management. In fact the 2012 Lamma Island ferry collision disaster10 became a very good lesson to show what Hong Kong has become and suffered for not having a proper system of public records management. I have been studying the Marine Report and I have done an Addendum to the AAG submission to the Ombudsman, and my Addendum is about the implication of this Marine Report on public records management in Hong Kong. Basically, what I want to highlight in our AAG Addendum submission is that the Marine Report shows huge shortcomings of the Hong Kong Marine Department:11 no children’s lifejackets, the passenger seats were not properly secured, the lack of a watertight bulkhead door, which led to the very fast sinking of the ferry in 90 seconds and resulted in the tragic and unforgivable loss of 39 lives. There was a legal requirement for a ferry to have on board lifejackets for children. The Marine Department deliberately did not apply the law. During the public hearing, the Maritime Department was asked why children’s lifejackets were not on the

9. Leung Chun-ying, Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR. Available at: www.ceo.gov.hk/ eng 10. See Michael Lunn and Benjamin Tang. Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Collision of Vessels near Lamma Island on 1 October 2012. April 2013. Available at: www.gov.hk/en/theme/coi-lamma/pdf/coi_report_e.pdf. See also http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/2012_Lamma_Island_ferry_collision and www.coi-lamma.gov.hk/eng 11. Hong Kong Marine Department – Homepage. Available at: www.mardep.gov.hk/en/ home.html 37

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ferry, and the explanation was that the Marine Department has a “policy” of not enforcing the law for ships or vessels built before the coming into effect of this law. When the Hong Kong Marine Department was asked to show their “policy”, they said they did not have any written documents, such information was only meant to be passed verbally from officers to officers based on memories. What I am trying to highlight is obviously very serious against the whole government system. What is not understood by outside people is that the archives law is not just about archiving documents by the Hong Kong Government or merely filing for record-keeping reasons; it will affect every single one of us in Hong Kong. The first and foremost relevance and importance of a Public Records Bill is what I wrote in an article for The Hong Kong Lawyer: “The driving force for proper records management (keeping, destruction or transfer) derives from the identification and analysis of the business of the particular government agency, taking into account not only the legal and organizational record keeping requirements, but also the interests of all stakeholders”.12

For the archivists, first of all, they have to understand the nature of the business of a particular government department, including its core businesses, its core functions and its core services. You have to understand all that before you can even begin to say what are the necessary documents you must create as a records manager, in order to have an efficient records management system to operate and to carry out the basic functions of that particular government agency.

12. Waung, William. “Good Governance and Preserving History: Why Hong Kong Needs an Archives Law”. Hong Kong Lawyer 7 (2011): 16 – 29. Available at: http:// archivesactiongroup.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Articles2.pdf

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As a result, records management systems will and should vary from one government department to another. It is because each government department performs different functions, so the proper archives legislation should entail the following two things. First, you should have a central records authority and it would have officers to work with each government department’s records managers who should have access to the very top of that department. It is only in that way that you could have efficient creation of records. That is the very first step. You have to create records; the proper managing of records, proper preservation of records and proper archival of records would come much later down the chain. Secondly, you have to create the right records before you can even talk about the preservation and the management of records. We all know that in order for us to work properly, we need to have a proper record filing system to find our documents efficiently. And it is all about efficiency. Memories may not be adequate and especially with the Hong Kong Government, civil servants tend to change duties all the times due to the job rotation system. More importantly, you cannot rely on memories to pass information from person to person. The only reliable way to do it is via proper and professionally created records; the fuller the record, the better the other person will then be able to carry on doing that work. That is the essence of the vital necessity for record legislation.

Educating the Importance of Archives Law For academics, teachers and librarians, do you agree that our job is to educate the next generation and to help promote the importance of the archives law for Hong Kong? Your job now is to educate the people of Hong Kong on the importance of what government archival records can do and what these records are about. It is about how our Government 39

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should create their own records, so that our Government could operate more effectively and efficiently. H a v e t h e r e b e e n a ny s u r v e y s c a r r i e d o u t a m o n g t h e local universities or the general public to ask about their understanding towards the archives law and whether they think there is a need of such a law in Hong Kong? No, I don’t think so; but a survey takes money. What you should promote is to say to academics and people involved in archival work to organise the students to do such questionnaire surveys, and broadcast the result. Students are indeed the most powerful force. If you can organise or inspire the students, or even young people, they would push the Government to take action. I am trying to organise an exhibition about the importance of archives for the Hong Kong Maritime Museum and to organise an exhibition about maritime safety based on the Lamma Island Ferry Marine Report. As I would like to have the people of Hong Kong, especially children, to understand in a small way what the creation of government records means. After seeing this exhibition, they will go back to ask their parents and teachers why we don’t have an archives law in Hong Kong.

Future Strategies Given the current situation, the archives law would not be able to implement in the next five years. What kinds of impacts it would have on the Hong Kong society, especially to the Hong Kong Government’s operations as a whole? What kinds of actions will the AAG take for tackling the situation? At our next AAG board meeting, we will be discussing our future strategies. In terms of short-term actions, we need to make people learn from this Marine Report and its serious implications. We want to push some of the government departments to start 40

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adopting proper records creation. I think the Marine Department has already said that they need to have a complete review of their governance and control system. The AAG has offered to help the Marine Department, as well as to inform the general public what needs to be done. When it comes to other long-term action plans, the Government is trying to stall the archives law process by appointing a law reform sub-committee, which will normally take about ten years for the law to become enacted. We need to continue to push the Government to enact the law much faster. For example, they could pass the law maybe not in relations to public access, but they could at least pass the law up to an earlier stage before access. If you look at our Bill, it is divided into different sections: the creation, the preservation, the archival, the access, and the sanction. The Government can leave the access part of the law until much later as they might not be “happy” with the idea of public access. We need to first concentrate on the creation of archival records. We also have to stop the massive destruction of the government documents, and their excuse was that they needed to relocate their Central Government Offices from the Government Hill to the Central Government Complex at Tamar. There are actually many different directions that the AAG has been pursuing at the same time.

Motion on the Archives Law not Passed The Motion on the Archives Law went to the Legislative Council in 2011, but there were not enough votes to pass. Why? You have to understand that under the Basic Law,13 and under the very strange political structure in Hong Kong, in order to pass a

13. The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. further information available at: www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/index/ index.html

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motion in the Legislative Council, you need both the geographical constituencies or democratic constituencies, as well as the functional constituencies which mean largely non-democratic pro-government constituencies, and you need to have a majority from both. Although the majority was in support, when it comes to the functional constituencies, all they need to do is to abstain; and they don’t even need to vote against it. If you have, let’s say, 20 functional; therefore, you need at least 10 positive votes to pass a motion. All you need is 11 of them to abstain – and that is enough. That is our version of legislature “democracy” and that is where the problem lays. It is because we do not have universal suffrage, and we therefore do not have democracy in Hong Kong and that’s the reason we must have the archives law implemented. Unfortunately, most people of Hong Kong do not understand the situation, both in terms of our political system and the Government archives, and our legislators fail in explaining it. They could at least educate the people of Hong Kong on how the system works, but most people don’t understand why they need to vote. That is why, as a former judge, with the knowledge about the system, the law and the details, I can understand why we are in this appalling situation, and that is why I am devoting so much of my time to pushing for archives law in Hong Kong.

Archives Laws in Mainland China Have you ever studied the national archives laws of China? Not only have I studied the national archives law,14 I have also studied the provincial laws of the different provinces in Mainland

14. Archives law of the Peoples Republic of China. Further information available at: http:// baike.baidu.com/view/102861.htm

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William (2nd left) and the AAG members visiting Qingdao Archives where massive amount of records and documents are stored.

China.15 I also studied the city archives laws of Qingdao.16 Not long ago, I went with the AAG to Qingdao with TVB17 for the shooting of a documentary on archives law. We visited the Qingdao Municipal Archives18 and talked to the archive people in Qingdao. During our visit, they showed to the Hong Kong visitors a massive amount of land documents at our request, and they are usually archived within 12 months from their creation. The Qingdao Chinese officials even showed us the “land

15. Pearl Report on Public Records: Mainland versus Hong Kong. [Online video] Available at: http://archivesactiongroup.org/main/?page_id=400 16. Archives management regulations of Qingdao, available at: www.34law.com/lawfg/ law/1797/3388/law_892534383489.shtml 17. TVB (Television Broadcasts Limited of Hong Kong) – Homepage. Available at: www. tvb.com/ 18. Qingdao Municipal Archives – Homepage. Available at: www.qdda.gov.cn/

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transaction” approved by the City Hall of Qingdao.19 They have wonderful archives systems in Mainland China and they are always fully used by the locals. I know that the Mainland Chinese authority is not against archives legislation and that there is no opposition from China to Hong Kong’s proposed archives law. The opposition is only found in Hong Kong, with the combination of the Hong Kong Government and the “big boys” in the business communities – and I think they are probably the property tycoons. In addition to ensure the individual government bureaus and departments creating and archiving their records, do you think the archives law in China is doing well in guaranteeing people’s rights to access governmental information? When I was in Qingdao, we saw heavy usage of the local government archives among the general public. The local public in Qingdao was using the archives to find out about the past employment situations or to find information about their parents or grandparents or their ancestors. Based on what I have seen, there have been no problems about access at all in that particular part of China.

Challenges and Prospects What is the current situation in Hong Kong regarding the access to government information? The Hong Kong Government has now created two Law Reform Subcommittees: one is on archives; the other is on access to

19. Qingdao Government Affairs Online – Homepage. Available at: http://english.qingdao. gov.cn/n2043295/index.html 44

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information. Access to information is a very difficult area, and the AAG deliberately does not want to go into this because there is also the element of privacy. In Hong Kong, we have the “Privacy Law”, which means you cannot easily reveal the Hong Kong ID card details of a person because it contain personal information. Your hospital records also contain private and personal information. So the “access to information” is often associated with privacy or personal information. The AAG is mainly concerned with the creation and preservation of government documents; the access to the documents through archives would eventually take place of course, but much later. It is only after the records have been transferred to the archives that you can then begin to talk about access. Access to information is a very different aspect. The media may say that we need to know about this and that information. “You have the documents, but I don’t necessarily need to see the documents. You just need to give me the information.” It has more to do with the immediate transparency of government operations; it is about people’s right to know about good governance. The transparency of government operations is a very important feature of democratic society. As the Marine Report says, what the Marine Department has done is totally not transparent. They have an oral policy about not enforcing the law, but no one outside the Marine Department knows about this policy. If there had been a law to guarantee your right to information, everything would have been much different. If there had been an archives law, they must tell you everything about their policy which must be documented. In our draft bill, the final part is about access. Access has two aspects: one is access given; the other is denied access or the refusal of access. In Hong Kong, people can try to have access, but the government has actual right to say no. The draft bill provides for the “appeal mechanism” like an appeal to a court. So in cases of denied access, there would be a central body to act 45

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as an appeal, to decide whether the denial or refusal is reasonable or not. And there is also the penal sanction which would mean that anyone who disobeys the law will be punished. Previously, our concentration has always been more on the whole Bill from creation to access. But with the massive destruction of the public records in Hong Kong, we are very concerned about preserving them first. As you can see, it is necessary for the draft bill to cover all aspects. But if the Hong Kong Government is willing to discuss with the AAG, we are happy to say, “Let’s do Parts 1, 2 and 3 first, and leave the access until later.” Anything else would you like to add for closing this interview? I think we should have as many local and international archives conferences as possible, so that the media will have a chance to cover and to educate more people about the current archival situations in Hong Kong. Tell all your friends that the Hong Kong Government does not have a proper public records system, which led to the loss of 39 lives. That is something the general public in Hong Kong can easily and must understand. In time, the Hong Kong Government will eventually be forced to change due to public pressure.

Afterthoughts Based on the above interview with William Waung, we might never be able to identify the true reasons for the “lack-of-archiveslaw situation” in Hong Kong, and the opposition to implement the archives legislation among the Hong Kong Government officials might always remain a mystery. The unavoidable truth remains that the public records service performed by the local Government archives continues to decline. Meanwhile, no one has been able to put a stop to the mass destruction of public offices’ records; all due to the absence of an archives law in Hong Kong. 46

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Advocating the archives law is only a small, and yet important chapter of Hong Kong’s democratic development as a whole. The former 150 years of British colonisation and the political separation from Communist China have enabled people in Hong Kong to enjoy a much greater degree of political expression. At the same time, the actions carried out by the AAG have explicitly highlighted to us that there is still a great demand for a much more transparent government, a strong desire for a democratic society, and the hope for the local government taking up a leadership role in preserving and educating about our documentary heritage that is unparalleled elsewhere in the world. These give us all the more reason for the people to come together to voice out their concerns, to pressure the Hong Kong Government to take effective action to implement the archives law. We should ask ourselves this very important question, “How many more of such Lamma Island ferry collision disasters we would have to endure, before every one of us in Hong Kong could truly understand the importance of an Archives Law?”

Bibliography Addendum to AAG’s Submission to the Ombudsman arising out of the Lamma Ferry Commission of Inquiry Report. Available at: http:// archivesactiongroup.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/ Addendum-to-AAGs-Submission-to-the-Ombudsman1.pdf Archives Action Group. Draft Public Records Bill 12.03-2. 12 March 2010. Available at: http://archivesactiongroup.org/main/wp-content/ uploads/2012/04/Draft_Public_Records_Bill_12.03-2.pdf Chu, Simon. “The Tragedy of Hong Kong Archive Preservation Status” (in Chinese) at TEDxKowloon. 16 February 2013 [YouTube video] Available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J1LLdKg6xA Frisch, Nickolas. “Hong Kong’s Blind Spot: the Territory Lacks a Law to Ensure the Government Preserves its Records”. Available at: http:// archivesactiongroup.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/HongKong’s-Blind-Spot.pdf 47

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Lunn, Michael & Tang, Benjamin. Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Collision of Vessels near Lamma Island on 1 October 2012. April 2013. Available at: www.gov.hk/en/theme/coi-lamma/pdf/coi_ report_e.pdf Pearl Report on Public Records: Mainland versus Hong Kong. [Online video] Available at: http://archivesactiongroup.org/main/?page_ id=400 Waung, William. “Good Governance and Preserving History: Why Hong Kong Needs an Archives Law”. Hong Kong Lawyer 7 (2011): 16 – 29. Available at: http://archivesactiongroup.org/main/wpcontent/uploads/2012/04/Articles2.pdf “Why Hong Kong Needs an Archive Law”. The Pulse, RTHK, 25 November 2011. Available at: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=cOHTfpyeB6Q [YouTube video]

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Chapter 3 Witnessing the Transfer of Sovereignty over Hong Kong through Public Records­­ Co-authored with Yi-tak LAI & Dickson CHIU

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Interview with Don BRECH Consultant Archivist Still happily working as a consultant archivist and an active member of the Archives Action Group (AAG), which is campaigning for archives legislation in Hong Kong, Don Brech was headhunted by the former Hong Kong Government to take up the position of the Government Records Co-ordinator in 1987. During his five-year contract, he managed a microfilming programme to provide the Government in London with copies of selected records in support of its mandate under the Sino-British Joint Declaration for monitoring Hong Kong after the Handover. He was also responsible for the establishment of the Government Records Service as the agency for improving the management of government records in Hong Kong. Don went back to Australia in 1992 when the contract came to an end, returning in 1994 to set up his own archives and records management consultancy. Other than being a member of the Archives Action Group which was formed in 2008 to campaign for the enactment of archives legislation in Hong Kong, he is also an active member of the Hong Kong Archives Society. In the following interview, Don Brech shares with us his experience in executing the above projects, as well as giving us an account of the overall development and transitions of the public records management system in Hong Kong since the early 1900s.

Self-Introduction Could you introduce yourself and tell us how you came to serve as the Government Records Service Director in Hong Kong? My name is Don Brech. My family originally came from Vienna, Austria but I was born in England. I was educated at the University of Cambridge, studying Economics for the first year and History for the remaining two years. After graduating from university in 1964, I got married; and my wife and I emigrated to Australia. After moving to Australia, I worked as a teacher

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and then as a research officer. After seeing an advertisement in the Australian Commonwealth Gazette1 I applied for a position of archivist at the Commonwealth Archives Office in Canberra,2 the capital of Australia. I was lucky enough to be appointed, and that Don BRECH is how I began my career as an archivist. At the Commonwealth Archives Office, I was put in charge of the reference service, assisting government departments as well as members of the public with their research. I acquired other responsibilities, including initiating an oral history programme and the Office’s first exhibition of archives. In 1970, I went back to England and was appointed as the foundation Archivist of the Royal Air Force Museum3 where I was responsible for setting up the Archives Department. I left the Museum in 1979, and returned with my family to Australia. There I established the Archives of the Riverina College of Advanced Education in Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, which later become Charles Sturt University.4 Then I took up an appointment as the Principal Archivist within the Northern

1. Australian Government Gazettes – Homepage. Available at: http://australia.gov.au/ publications/australian-government-gazettes 2. In 1961, the Commonwealth Archives Office was formally separated from the National Library of Australia. The organisation was renamed the Australia Archives in 1975. The Agency was renamed the National Archives of Australia in February 1998. The National Archives of Australia – Homepage. Available at: http://naa.gov.au/ 3. Royal Air Force Museum – Homepage. Available at: www.rafmuseum.org.uk/ 4. Charles Sturt University – Homepage. Available at: www.csu.edu.au/

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Territory Library Services,5 located in Darwin, the Northern Territory of Australia. My role was to establish the government archives, creating the Northern Territory Archives Service,6 at the same time separating it from the library service. I think most archivists would agree and tell you that archives are quite distinct from libraries. Institutionally speaking, archives management and librarianship should be separated from each other for various administrative, functional and technical reasons. In 1987, I was “headhunted” by the Hong Kong Government to take up a five-year contract to take charge of a special archives unit in relation to the Handover of Hong Kong in 1997. I took up this position on 30 June 1987, precisely 10 years before the actual Handover. My role as an archivist in Hong Kong was twofold. The first task was to conduct a microfilming project, in which we produced microfilm copies of the records of the Hong Kong Government Secretariat. These microfilms were to be transferred back to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)7 in London, while the original records would all remain in Hong Kong. The idea behind this was to provide the British Government with selected public office records from Hong Kong with the aim of supporting its responsibility for monitoring Hong Kong for 50 years after the Handover under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.8 That was part of the mutually agreed arrangement between the British and the PRC9 Governments.

5. Northern Territory Library Services – Homepage. Available at: http://artsandmuseums. nt.gov.au/northern-territory-library 6. Northern Territory Archives Service – information available at: http://artsandmuseums. nt.gov.au/ntas 7. Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom Government – Homepage. Available at: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/foreign-commonwealth-office 8. The Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed by the PRC and the British Governments on 19 December 1984 in Beijing. In the Joint Declaration, the PRC Government stated that it had decided to resume the sovereignty over Hong Kong on 1 July 1997. 9. PRC – People’s Republic of China 52

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The second part of my remit was to improve arrangements for record keeping within the Hong Kong Government. To this end, I recommended the establishment of a central records agency and, using the resources of the then-existing Public Records Office (PRO), I secured the formation of the Government Records Service.10 This comprised the Public Records Office as the archives and a Records Management Office (RMO) created out of the secondary records division of the former PRO which dealt with records that had not been appraised as archives. The RMO was to be the engine that would drive modern records keeping within the Government. If you don’t create and manage the records properly in the first place, you are never going to have any archives.

Archival Studies Programmes in the Early Days Did you receive any formal training in archives, or did you undertake any archives and preservation programmes at university before becoming a professional archivist? No, I didn’t. It is rather ironic that I read history, and all my studies were undertaken on the basis of secondary sources. But no one in those days was introduced to original primary resources. In other words, no one had contact with archives as part of studying history as an undergraduate. I did not encounter archives until I joined the Commonwealth Archives Office in Canberra. In those days in Australia, it was not possible to take professional courses in archives as a graduate qualification. They were simply not available.

10. Government Records Service – Homepage. Available at: www.grs.gov.hk/ws/english/ home.htm 53

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So in the early days, did most practising archivists acquire their professional knowledge and skills through on-job training and apprenticeships? That’s correct. But things did change and after a while in Australia, archivists began to establish their own professional archives association and organisations, much the same way as many other professionals have done. It is a way to establish professional standards, to promote archives, as well as to provide opportunities for ongoing professional development. Gradually, universities in Australia were encouraged to develop professional courses and degree programmes in archives and records management at postgraduate level. In fact, one can now undertake masters and PhD degrees in archives and records management at a number of universities. Having said that, all these opportunities were simply not available for me when I first began my career as an archivist in Australia during the 1960s. What about in the United Kingdom? Were there any universities or polytechnics offering courses in archival studies during the 1970s? There were in the UK. There were two programmes, one at the University of Liverpool,11 and another one at the University College London (UCL).12 I did actually undertake a course provided by the UCL when I was working at the Royal Air Force Museum13 in London. I followed much of the course at the UCL, but I was not in the position to take the final examination. I was doing the course at UCL on a part-time basis while working fulltime at the Museum. The Museum had a small staff and we were all committed to ensuring that the Museum would be ready for its

11. The University of Liverpool – Homepage. Available at: www.liv.ac.uk/ 12. University College London – Homepage. Available at: www.ucl.ac.uk/ 13. Royal Air Force Museum – Homepage. Available at: www.rafmuseum.org.uk/

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opening by the Queen Elizabeth II in 1972. Once the Museum’s official opening was in the Her Majesty’s diary, things simply had to be done. In fact, for a few months, the Museum’s Archives and the Library were completely shut down at the Director’s request in order for the archives and library staff to be deployed in assisting with preparations for the opening of the Museum.

Career as an Archivist Have you always wanted to work as an archivist? Was it ever your first and active career choice? In a sense, it was a combination of both interest and practicality. After I left my teaching position, I joined the Commonwealth Public Service in Sydney and was appointed to the Department of External Territories of the Australian Government. A few weeks later, I was transferred to Canberra where I served as an Acting (temporary) Research Officer. Wanting to make it permanent, I applied for the position but my application just sat on the Section Head’s desk for several months with no action being taken. I got frustrated, so I asked my colleagues what I could do. I was told that advertisements for all vacancies in the public service were published in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette every Thursday, and they suggested that I should take a look. So I followed their advice, and within a couple of weeks, just by chance, there was an archivist position being advertised. The appointee was to take charge of the reference and access services of the Archives Office. I applied for the job and I was lucky enough to be appointed. I took up my first archives appointment in January 1966. In other words, I was looking for something that would interest me; and at the same time I needed to advance my career. So being an archivist was partly being practical and partly out of personal interest.

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Archival Work in Hong Kong Could you tell more about your work in Hong Kong? Before arriving in Hong Kong, had there already been a central archives system set up by the Colonial Government of Hong Kong? Yes, prior to my arrival, the Public Records Office in Hong Kong had been set up by an Australian archivist named Ian Diamond in 1971. Unfortunately, after his retirement, the Public Records Office ceased being proactive about acquiring records.

How about your roles and responsibilities as an archivist in Hong Kong? When I first arrived in Hong Kong, I was not appointed to the Public Records Office. I was appointed to the post of Government Records Coordinator, heading the Government Records Coordination Unit (GRCU) within the Government Secretariat under John Chan, the last Deputy Chief Secretary. The Unit was responsible for the microfilming of Government Secretariat files, including policy files of the Colonial Government from 1945 up to the Handover of Hong Kong in 1997. The microfilms were to be transferred to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in the UK. The FCO would then have a body of information, which would assist the British Government in monitoring the subsequent implementation of the Joint Declaration on Hong Kong. The original records would remain in Hong Kong. Although an archivist had already been appointed from the Public Records Office to take charge of this microfilming unit before I arrived in Hong Kong, they had just begun the microfilming process. With previous experience in microfilming archives in both Australia and the UK, I realised there was a need

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to change various things, from the microfilming equipment to the record-handling procedures, which was subsequently done. When I was appointed, I also had a second task, that is, to review the overall system for the management of government records in Hong Kong. After the review, I proposed that a new organisation should be created with responsibility not just for preserving the archives, but also for assisting and guiding government agencies in managing their records as part of their day-to-day operations and functions. My proposal was accepted and was eventually sent to the Hong Kong Legislative Council14 for approval. This new organisation was to be called the Government Records Service and would be created out of the existing Public Records Office. The following are the three sub-units that formed the Government Records Service: (1) the Public Records Office; (2) the Records Management Office; and (3) the Government Records Coordination Unit. All were to be headed by an archivist. The purpose of the Records Management Office was to improve records management throughout the entire Hong Kong Government. This was the office that would be the engine for driving records management, including the development of standards and guidelines for record keeping and disposal schedules.

14. The Legislative Council of Hong Kong – Homepage. Available at: www.legco.gov.hk/ index.html

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Archival Work of the Hong Kong Colonial Government The British Government took over Hong Kong in 1841, but the Public Records Office was not established until the 1970s. Did the Hong Kong Colonial Government establish any policies or regulations to ensure that official records created by individual agencies within the Government would be preserved for longterm archival purposes? During those years, all offices within the Hong Kong Colonial Government were creating records as part of their functions and responsibilities. I believe the majority of those records survived up to the Second World War (WWII). During the War under the Japanese Occupation between 1941–1945, it is generally understood that there was a fuel shortage and that many government records were taken by the local people and used as fuel. In addition, there were some losses as a direct result of bombing during the War, both by the Japanese and by the Allies. So after the War, when the civil administration in Hong Kong was re-established, it was found that the vast majority of government records had been lost. There was no formal central archives in Hong Kong during that time, and each government office simply kept its own set of records. In 1958, the UK passed a new Public Records Act, which might have influenced the Colonial Government of Hong Kong to establish its own Public Records Office. They appointed an Australian archivist Ian Diamond in 1971. I know that for many years, Ian advocated the need for archives legislation for Hong Kong. Unfortunately, no archives law was enacted during the colonial period.

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Was it because neither the British Government nor the Colonial Government of Hong Kong saw the need of such legislation? There is no record of any discussion on this issue. We don’t know why the local Colonial Government did not follow through to enact an archives ordinance. Many other colonial territories, which subsequently became independent – for example, Singapore and Malaysia – all have archives legislation, in many cases prior to becoming independent. Sadly, we simply don’t know why. Simon Chu15 said that as a large amount of the records had been lost during WWII, the only way they could find those records again was to purchase them via the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. Was it how the Public Records Office in Hong Kong began building its basic and core collection of government records, as well as filling the gaps? The existence of records relating to Hong Kong in the UK is nothing unusual. It was part of the way colonies were administered from London. Colonial governors had a responsibility to report to and communicate with the Colonial Office in London on a regular basis. The dispatches from the governors formed part of the records of the Colonial Office. Very often, a dispatch would include copies of local reports, correspondence and memoranda. So there was a steady accumulation of records within the Colonial Office (later the Foreign and Commonwealth Office) in London, documenting what was happening in Hong Kong throughout the colonial period. The records would eventually be transferred from the Colonial Office to the Public Records Office in London, now known as the National Archives of the UK.16

15. Simon Chu – former Government Records Service Director and current President of the Hong Kong Archives Society. 16. National Archives of the United Kingdom – Homepage. Available at: www. nationalarchives.gov.uk/

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When the Colonial Office records relating to Hong Kong were transferred, the Public Records Office would have given them a class number, as part of their system for controlling the archives. In the case of the Hong Kong Governor’s dispatches, the class would be CO, which stood for Colonial Office, and the number given was 129. There was a long series of dispatches over many decades relating to Hong Kong, and they are all classed under CO 129. Simon Chu would have purchased copies of the microfilms from the Public Records Office in London and brought them back to the Public Records Office here. In fact, microfilm copies of CO 129 can also be found at the University of Hong Kong Library17 and at the Hong Kong Central Library18 in Causeway Bay. We don’t have the originals of CO 129 because they are official records accumulated in the Colonial Office in London, belonging to the British Government. Unfortunately, many records created by the Hong Kong Colonial Government during the post-WWII period have not been transferred by government departments to the Public Records Office in Hong Kong. For this reason, very often when researchers want to carry out research on Hong Kong history in the 1950s, 1960s and the 1970s, they have to go to the National Archives in London to find the records. Could you explain why records from individual government departments were not being transferred to the Public Records Office? You need to ask the Hong Kong Government about this question. Of course, some records have been transferred but there are

17. University of Hong Kong Libraries – Homepage. Available at: https://lib.hku.hk/ 18. Hong Kong Central Library – Homepage. Available at: www.hkpl.gov.hk/en/hkcl/ home/index.html

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obvious gaps, so the records have either not been transferred or they have been destroyed. If we had archives legislation, there would be a statutory obligation on the Administration to transfer records to the Government Records Service (GRS) on a regular basis. For any records they wish to destroy, they would first have to obtain approval from the GRS. Under archives legislation they would also be subject to sanctions for non-compliance. Being afraid to take responsibility for their actions, I think this is the reason why records are not being transferred or are destroyed, and why the Hong Kong Government is not enacting archives legislation. You were hired to come to Hong Kong to implement the microfilm programme and the objective behind was to provide the British Government with public office records that could help monitoring Hong Kong after its Handover. Was that no one see the great need to formalise the archives management for the Hong Kong Public Records Office until the 1997 Handover was approaching? If by formalise you mean a system supported by archives legislation, then I think you are right. No one acknowledged the need, although I did recommend the enactment of an archives law in the report I prepared while I was GRS Director, which was submitted to the Chief Secretary. No action was taken on that, however. The British and the Hong Kong governments had other priorities following the Joint Declaration. Although arrangements for the transfer of Hong Kong Government’s records intact to the incoming HKSAR Government was a matter that was addressed by the Joint Liaison Group to meet China’s concerns that the records would be handed over, I sometimes wonder, if it had been the PRC Government handing a territory to another country, would they have taken the records away, or had them all destroyed, or have left them intact as the British Government did?

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Destruction of Government Records In 2011, we have witnessed a massive destruction of government records being carried out by the local government officials. In your opinion, what benefits could the local Hong Kong (SAR) Government gain from carrying out such an act of destruction? I’ve no idea, apart from perhaps making a saving on the cost of transporting the records from the former Central Government Offices to the new ones at Tamar! There is no doubt that some of the records would have been covered by GRS approved disposal schedules allowing for their destruction. However, the lack of transparency and the exceptionally large volume of records destroyed within a relatively short period of time suggest that normal procedures were not followed, and that records that should have been appraised as requiring retention as archives were not. For those “in the know” and who authorised the destruction it may appear that there were benefits to be gained, but in the long term, history will show that a great disservice was done to Hong Kong and to the people of Hong Kong.

Afterthoughts Many citizens and government officials in Hong Kong witnessed or even participated in the actual Handover of the City to China in 1997. However, very few of them had an experience similar to Don’s, that is being involved in the direct handling of the policy files of the Hong Kong Colonial Government from 1945 to the last decade before the Handover. Don was the third person from Archives Action Group (AAG), whom I interviewed on the subject. Despite my continuous investigation, the reasons behind the absence of an archives law in Hong Kong and the reluctance of the local government to implement such a law still remain a big mystery. All we have is merely speculation. Even more shockingly,

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in 2010 the local government publicly admitted that the offices of the Chief Executive, Chief Secretary and Financial Secretary have not been transferring their records to the Government Records Service (GRS) since 1997. Meanwhile, there are activists like Simon Chu and Cyd Ho Sau-lan (何秀蘭),19 a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo),20 who lament the difficulties faced in rallying support and generating interest among the general public, as the “issue” is far too remote from daily concerns of people of Hong Kong, except when some disaster like the Lamma Island ferry collision happens. As highlighted by Kenneth Chan Ka-lok,21 another member of LegCo and a political scientist who teaches at the Hong Kong Baptist University,22 “politically speaking, it does not have to be this way. It is all about the right to know. The demand for legislation can be linked up with transparency, accountability and better governance, and that’s what most Hong Kong people want”.

Such transparent governance is no doubt the pillar of modern democracy. Archives legislation would not only strengthen public service delivery and public accountability, it would also enhance citizens’ trust in the Government by fostering citizen participation in the key processes of public policy development.

19. Ho Sau-lan, Cyd (何秀蘭) – LegCo Member Biography. Available at: www.egco.gov. hk/general/english/members/yr12-16/hsl.htm 20. The Legislative Council of Hong Kong – Homepage. Available at: www.legco.gov.hk/ index.html 21. Office of Kenneth Chan Ka-lok (陳家洛), Legislative Councilor – Homepage. Available at: www.chankalok.hk/index.php?lang=en&Itemid=118 22. Hong Kong Baptist University – Homepage. Available at: http://buwww.hkbu.edu.hk/ eng/main/index.jsp

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Chapter 4 How an Archivist from Virginia Came to Build a University Archives and Fell in Love

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Interview with Stacy Belcher GOULD University Archivist / Director of the University Archives, University of Hong Kong Founded in 1911 during the British colonial era, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. Despite its long history, few people actually saw the need to establish a centralised archives service for the University, until HKU’s 100th Anniversary was approaching. In 2006, a seasoned professional archivist from USA named Stacy Gould was appointed to take up the position of Director of the University Archives at HKU. In addition to selecting, collecting and preserving the records that have enduring value for the University, one of her tasks was to develop an institutional-wide University Archives Policy for HKU. In the following interview, Stacy Gould gives us a chronicle of her career as a professional archivist, as well as an anecdote-filled tour about the unique working environment and cultural values in the postcolonial Hong Kong.

Self-Introduction Could you introduce yourself, particularly your education background and your professional training in the field of archival science? My name is Stacy Belcher Gould. I am currently serving as the University Archivist/Director of the University Archives at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).1 I come from Williamsburg, Virginia, United State. Ever since I was in secondary school, I had an interest in public history. When I was about 14 or 15 years old, I was working as a part-time docent at a local history museum in my hometown, and I did my undergraduate studies in

1. University of Hong Kong – Homepage. Available at: www.hku.hk/

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Anthropology at Indiana University.2 After finishing my bachelor’s degree, I took a break from school and tried a number of different jobs in sales and management for about six to seven years. Then in 1987 I decided that I would go back to school to Stacy Belcher GOULD study Public History, which was a regular master’s degree in History, and also a twoyear programme in Archival and Museum Studies; so it was a kind of dual degree. My first choice was to undertake a twoyear master’s programme in Public History, via which I obtained solid training in archives and museum work. This programme also required me to undertake an internship of minimum 300 hours in order to complete the degree. I did that internship at the Cincinnati Art Museum3 in Eden Park. Afterwards, I did a six-month postgraduate internship at Biltmore House4 in North Carolina, working on architectural drawings, landscape drawings, and also on museum collections, etc. For a while, I really thought I would end up working as an archivist in the museum world. After that, I got a job teaching history at the Edison State College for a single quarter.5 However, I was interviewing around for other jobs around the States at the same time.

2. Indiana University – Homepage. Available at: www.iu.edu/ 3. Cincinnati Art Museum – Homepage. Available at: www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/ 4. Biltmore House – Homepage. Available at: www.biltmore.com/ 5. Edison State College – Homepage. Available at: www.edison.edu/

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Eventually, at the end of 1992, I took a position at Michigan State University6 as the University Records Archivist. Although I had an introduction to records management during my university days, the emphasis had been on permanent historical collections. When I took this job, I soon realised that I would need a much greater understanding of records management. I was at the Michigan State University for about four and a half years. While I was working there, I joined the ARMA International7 (Association of Records Managers and Administrators), and I also undertook the CRM (Certified Records Manager) Examination Course and completed the first part. I became very active in my state chapter of ARMA and I learned a lot from my colleagues. Then I took a job at the College of William and Mary in Virginia8 in 1997 for nine years. I was the Assistant University Archivist for the first year. And soon afterwards, the Senior Management asked if I would consider stepping in as the Acting University Archivist because they were beginning to build a huge new library and the University Archivist was promoted into the position of Building Project Coordinator. In 2002, I became the University Archivist. I was accustomed to quite having a lot of autonomy and also lots of control over the operations of my own department. This is because universities and colleges in Virginia are required to adhere to the State Records Retention Schedule and I was the State Records Officer for William and Mary as well as the University Archivist, and a sort of Co-Head of Special Collections Research Center which also comprised Rare Books and Manuscripts, and the Warren Burger Collection,9 which were headed by my counterparts.

6. Michigan State University – Homepage. Available at: www.msu.edu/ 7. ARMA International – Homepage. Available at: www.arma.org/r2/who-we-are 8. College of William and Mary – Homepage. Available at: www.wm.edu/ 9. Warren Burger Collection - The College of William and Mary – Homage. Available at: https://swem.wm.edu/research/special-collections/warren-burger-collection

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At the end of my ninth year at the College of William and Mary, I saw the advertisement under the website of the Society of American Archivists10 about this job opening here at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), that they needed to find a professional to build and manage a properly organised and centralised University Archives programme, since their University’s Centennial Celebration11 would soon be coming. The 100th Birthday has prompted everyone at HKU to think about the fact they should be taking better care of their own records, and that their records should not be scattered all over the HKU campus, making it difficult to care for them and also for researchers to find and use them. All the short-listed candidates had to fly all the way to Hong Kong for the actual face-to-face interview. The interview was a weeklong process, and all the candidates had to give a presentation to the Senior Management of HKU, which was open to the whole University. Eventually, HKU offered me the position as the University Archivist/Director of the University Archives.

Working in the HKU Archives What are the missions and core functions of the HKU Archives? The HKU Archives serves as the collective memory of HKU, and the HKU family. For this purpose, our job is to document the life of HKU and the HKU family by collecting and preserving records of permanent value related to HKU in any formats, and also make them available for the University community as a whole. HKU’s Senior Management also agreed that the University Archives should serve as the central, designated repository for all records

10. Society of American Archivists – Homepage. Available at: www2.archivists.org/ 11. The University of Hong Kong Centenary – Homepage. Available at: http://100.hku.hk/

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of enduring value to HKU. And our role and responsibility as the HKU Archivists is to select, collect and preserve the records that have enduring value for permanent retention in the University Archives. One of your core responsibilities was to develop a top-down institutional-wide archives policy for the University, is it correct? Yes, I think it was one of them. The first goal was to collect the existing records that were oldest and at risk and get them into the HKU Archives, so we could treat and re-house them. But it takes time to build the trust and it took the Senior Management at HKU about six years to approve the HKU Archives policy which I developed over time; you see it took me six years to get to the point where I felt the trust and understanding was there and that the time was right for presenting the policy. You have to understand it is not easy to get HKU or any large institution in Hong Kong to embrace changes. I think this “reluctant” attitude has to do with the fact that the University was tied so closely with the former Hong Kong Colonial Government for so many years. I have read that in any business it takes at least three years to make a new process or policy.

When you first presented the archives policy drafts to the University’s Senior Management, did they express any special concerns on any particular issues? Did it take a long time for them to approve your proposals? When I first started drafting the archives policy for the HKU Archives, I worked on quite a few drafts for the first three or four years. In fact, I could not even really ask them to look at my proposal until two or three years ago, partly because I knew they might find some of the proposals uncomfortable as we hadn’t reached that point of trust yet and partly because we were fully engaged in all of the celebrations for the Centenary and the University at that time. Archives’ support for all these projects 70

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was very demanding and we did not have much time to devote to policy making. This is certainly one of the most stressful and frustrating parts of my job. Having said that, when I first arrived HKU, the Senior Management were very interested in building a centralised Archives for the University and the interested parties eventually formed the Archives Working Group at HKU, with the University’s Vice Chancellor’s support. In short, despite all the obstacles, there were people within HKU who understood the benefits of building an archives collection for the University and they supported it. However, we were headed towards our HKU 100th Anniversary at a lightning speed and they had hired me merely five years before this major event began. You have no idea how busy the Archives could be before and during the actual celebration. We didn’t have enough time and manpower to build the collections, not to mention setting up the policy and the “space/place”, in order for the Archives to operate and provide reference services. For the first five years, I focused mainly on identifying and getting the most at-risk records of HKU into the Archives. To be honest, this part of the job still isn’t finished because there are always a few people who hang on to these records and have not yet transferred them to the Archives. But it is no matter, it is only a question of time and education. Mh gan jiu (唔緊要), as we would say. So despite its long history, HKU did not see the need to establish an archive for the University until the University’s 100th Anniversary was approaching? There were people at HKU who saw the need to build a central archive for the University long before that. I am not faulting HKU in any way because this is just typical. If you look at the establishments of archives across the United States you will find a huge number of them, particularly the government archives, university archives and corporate 71

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As a result of its long history, HKU established its University Archives when the University’s 100th Anniversary was approaching.

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archives; they all sprang up in the years following the bicentennial of the United States and almost all of them were founded in the late 1970s. Anniversaries tend to be the “trigger”, for example, the William and Mary College was founded in 1693, and their University Archives was founded in 1974. As you can see, even for the William and Mary, it took them 200 years or more to build a proper archives and records management programme. So this is just typical. It is similar to people suddenly expressing an interest in genealogy. Most people are not interested in it, until they are hit by some significant anniversaries of their own. And all of a sudden, memories of their own families and traditions become important. This is why you do not generally find teenagers practising genealogy as a hobby. It is usually older people. The situation is very similar for a large institution like HKU. In fact, after HKU’s 90th Anniversary in 2001, there were consultants coming in and they already started discussing the feasibility of building an Archives for HKU; it just took another five years to get one here. What kind of people come and ask for services from the HKU Archives? Can you give me a general profile of your users? We get many different types of researchers using our Archives, for example, Dr Peter Cunich12 practically lives in here because he is researching the history of the University, as well as many other researchers who were preparing for the University’s anniversary celebration ceremonies. The different faculties and departments within HKU needed information relating to various centennial events for their own webpages, so they have been asking us to provide records to them. HKU students also come to the Archives and look for materials when they are writing theses or other assignments. We also have people who come to

12. Peter Cunich – Homepage. Available at: www.history.hku.hk/people/staff-petercunich.html

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look for their family members, who studied or worked here, and they sometimes look for old pictures of HKU. Graduates and researchers outside Hong Kong also ask for our services as well. In addition to the HKU community, does the HKU Archives also provide services to the people outside the University? Yes, but we have to be careful about not violating the Data Privacy Act while making things as available to the public as we possibly can. One of the main reasons for building the University Archives is that we try to make the history of HKU available so that everyone in Hong Kong can use and benefit from it. Which part(s) of you job do you find most satisfying? Being an archivist, you can certainly make a comfortable living but you are definitely not ever going to become rich. I do this because I have a great passion for this profession, as I truly believe that archives and records management are important. For any developed society, archives are just as important as museums and libraries. And the ultimate job satisfaction comes when we get things right. It is certainly frustrating when we have circumstances holding us back, but they are all just natural growing pains. When we discover a new treasure that wasn’t there before; when we discover a new technique to preserve and make an old picture of HKU look more alive and interesting; when we have people telling us how much they enjoyed and benefitted from our services, these are all definitely very satisfying and rewarding experiences. Do you see your American background and experiences to be an advantage when you work in Hong Kong? I think my American background has enabled me to develop a better, and yet a more objective understanding of certain

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The University Archives serves as the memory of the University of Hong Kong, collecting materials that are about the University and the HKU Family members.

situations via the view of an outside observer. My background from the West is mostly education and training, and they are indeed very helpful. However, I must highlight that education alone does not help me to be successful. Being patient, flexible and willing to adapt to a completely different set of cultural values and working environment are equally important. When working among Asians, being overly direct and straightforward is awkward for other people and doesn’t work well. Over the years, I have learned to shut up and listen more, that is, figuring out the situation before opening my mouth. In other words, to phrase my opinions and my different outlook in a way that people can understand and feel a little more comfortable with at the same time.

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At the beginning, when I was frank, I expected the other person to be frank with me too, which was simply not possible in the way I expected. There were certain key people within the HKU Senior Management who were totally “okay” with my outspoken and straightforward attitudes, because they knew well that only people with these kinds of character traits could get the job done. Additionally, we also needed to spend time learning to trust each other. I have been trying to be very honest about things without being hurtful or rude. In short, over the years, I have learned to “repackage” myself and my working style in order to get things done in this new Hong Kong environment.

Development of University Archives in Hong Kong There are around 11 universities in Hong Kong, but only a few of them have the archives programmes. What do you think about this situation? We now have a University Archives programme operating at Lingnan University (LU), Baptist University of Hong Kong (HKBU), and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). They are perhaps not all run by professional archivists but they are definitely a step in the right direction and I am excited about the growth of awareness about archives and archivists in Hong Kong in the last few years. Now the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is in the process of hiring a professional archivist and starting up their University Archives programme. I also notice that there are more corporate archives programmes now in Hong Kong than there were 10 years ago and that is brilliant as well! We are also engaged in public discussion, and debate on adopting an archives law for the HKSAR and a corresponding freedom of information law as well. This is all good news!

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Finally, I would say it is “age” that brings out our interest and respect in/for history and cultural heritage, and archives are able to bring our appreciation to things that are “old”. I think it is a natural progression because you can see there are many more archives in Hong Kong than when I first came. And I hope more archives existing will mean more appreciation of the value of archives to our community and of our profession. Is HKU the only University in Hong Kong that has employed a professional archivist to manage its University Archives? Yes, it is true so far, but I mentioned earlier that CUHK is currently looking for a professional to start up their programme. Based on my understanding, the HKUST13, HKBU 14 and the Lingnan University15 also invested a great deal of manpower and resources in developing their own archives collections. However, these universities have chosen to deploy their existing librarians to oversee the archives, or to serve as both archivist and librarian concurrently. After the archives collections have been established, their senior management refused to support their librarians/ archivists to implement the top-down institutional-wide archives policy. Do you see the reasons behind their conflicting interests and decisions in this regard? I am not sure of all the reasons behind this so I can only speculate. However, I think that many people confuse Archives with Libraries, including many librarians. They do not understand

13. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology – Homepage. Available at: www.ust.hk/ 14. Hong Kong Baptist University – Homepage. Available at: http://buwww.hkbu.edu.hk/ eng/main/index.jsp 15. Lingnan University – Homepage. Available at: www.ln.edu.hk/

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that it is a different profession requiring different training and education from that of a Librarian. I have a great respect for the librarians of my acquaintance, but I often feel that this is a respect that librarians do not show for archivists. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, and most of my experience has been in America and Hong Kong. I understand it is not so much like that in the UK, Europe, and Australia and New Zealand, where there is a better understanding of the differences between archives and records management as a profession and library science/ information management as a profession. What I have seen here is that universities can be willing to build an “archive” when they do not have any trained staff to take this on, and because they understand so little about what they are doing, they feel that a librarian or administrative assistant can take a few short courses and then manage and build “an archive”. I am not denigrating the efforts of these people to do a good job or to further their education. However, you cannot become a professional archivist without a master’s degree, internship time and training and a few years on the job, which would suit you for the purpose of building an archive. The other thing I abhor is the fact that these archives are often started as departments under the Libraries, and there seems to be no records management component to them. They have neither sufficient autonomy nor power to effect universitywide policy as they should, in order to ensure good records management, which leads to a steady flow of records into the archives, and good governance for the university as well as good risk management for the same. The end result of this should be historically valuable collections of enduring importance. But if that is where you start, with the collections, without building the proper programmes underneath to support it, that are in fact backed by university statute and policy, then you end up with a programme that will never really work properly, and that can become a liability rather than an asset to your institution.

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Future Plans and Difficulties for the HKU Archives Do you have strategic plans worked out for developing the HKU Archives for the next three to five years? The biggest goal is to move our entire HKU Archives, including both collection and operations, to the new space. Since we already have the top-down institutional-wide archives policy in place, the next thing is to further refine our policy and to add an Access to HKU Records Policy to the Archives Policy. In terms of the classification and retention schedule for the University records, we have to ensure that such this “agreed on” policy will be applied to all records belonging to HKU, regardless of what formats these records are in. Now that we have our web pages, we are starting on the building of our new database this year with a newly released software which we hope will allow us to put up not only our finding aids for the collections but also some digital content. The new space for the University Archives will be finished in 2017 we hope. Hence, we have to start working out the arrangements for compact shelving, organisational schema, etc. Setting up the environmental control and monitoring system is also an important part of our planning before moving into the new building. Another important part of our duties is to continue to make things happen for the University, for example, helping to ensure accountability and transparency in the University’s operations. By doing so, hopefully, we can educate people as to the value and importance of the University Archives and Records Management Programme so that we continue to build up these levels of trust with our faculties, departments and students here at HKU.

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What are the major challenges and difficulties that you have been facing? Like everybody else who works for the government or a university, I could legitimately spend my entire lifetime complaining about the fact that I have not enough money, not enough staff, or not enough room. But that doesn’t help. You have to think of solutions and to ask for what you want. You also have to convince people to give what you want and tell them why your department deserves these things. And sometimes you don’t get them and it is really difficult. As you know, when the economy was not doing well a few years ago, every single department within the University suffered. It wasn’t just the University Archives at HKU that suffered, it is just that we had a small team of staff and had a tiny budget to begin with. In fact we were considered rather lucky because we did not have to have any budget or staff cut. But when HKU can support us with more space, a few more staff and a little bit of extra money, all these will no doubt allow us to move forward with our programme more quickly. You are also an active member of the Archives Action Group (AAG) 16 in Hong Kong. Based on your observations and experiences, how much longer do you think we need to wait until this archives legislation can be put into practice in Hong Kong? I don’t know, and being an AAG member has been a big learning experience. I believe that we are speeding up the process of change through education and outreach and agitation for an archives law for Hong Kong. I hope that we see it happen within the next couple of years. We have been working towards this for

16. Archives Action Group – Homepage. Available at: http://archivesactiongroup.org/ main/?page_id=2

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six years now as a group, and even the Ombudsman’s Report of March 2014 agreed that Hong Kong was 30 years behind the rest of the world, when it comes to public records and archives systems. While I was living in Virginia, our work was underpinned by a freedom of information law that everyone is entitled to the freedom of access to information based on archives law that says we must keep proper records and archives. I also grew up with the same idea that an archive is just as, if not more, important than a museum or a library. Whereas in Hong Kong, the difficulty is to get people over this paranoid idea that “nobody has right to know anything about anyone else!” Actually that is an exaggeration but it is definitely a more closed, privacy conscious society than the U.S. Based on my understanding of the Hong Kong culture, and the institutional cultures in Hong Kong, it will definitely take us a much longer time to become completely comfortable with the idea of free and open access to most records.

Preserving Hong Kong—A Unique City Is there anything you would like to add before concluding this interview? I think it was fate that brought me to Hong Kong. Originally, I promised myself that I would come to Hong Kong for a threeyear contract, maybe followed by another three years but that I would return to the States probably after six years at most. And I didn’t expect to fall in love with Hong Kong, but I did, right around my second year here. I have a deep respect for the fact that Hong Kong is a unique place, and our culture, our history are different from anywhere else in the world. I think that we should do everything we can to preserve it. And I think it’s important that the citizens and permanent residents understand the importance of public records and archives for our own history and culture. It would be just a bonus if they also appreciated 81

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the work that archivists are doing for them in preserving the documentary heritage of this unique City.

Afterthoughts The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is the oldest university in the City. This means that the University has the largest collection of archives, as well as having the highest number of university family members to serve. Despite her busy schedule and heavy workload, Stacy is also an active member of the Archives Action Group (AAG). Meanwhile, she is generously giving advices to other higher education institutions in Hong Kong to set up their own archives collections, which serve as examples for best practice for many other archival professionals to follow. Her dedication, expertise, together with her outspoken and straightforward attitudes are definitely her hallmarks. Ultimately, we are all forever grateful for her contributions to the field.

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Chapter 5 News Library—“The Library that Never Sleeps”

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Interview with Roeter KWOK and David WONG Television Broadcasts Limited Television Broadcasts Limited, commonly known as TVB, is the very first, and also one of the two free-to-air television broadcasters in Hong Kong. In addition to its Chinese-language television dramas, TVB is also well known throughout Asia for its high-quality news and social documentary programmes,1 for example, News Magazine (新聞透視),2 Sunday Report (星期日檔案), and The Pearl Report (明珠檔案)3. The News Library is considered the backbone of all news-related operations at TVB and is responsible for housing all the news archives footage and news scripts, with the coverage of the collection going all the way back to the beginning of the company in 1967. In the following interview, David Wong, News Production Manager, and Roeter Kwok, Principal News Librarian, openly discuss what professional skills, knowledge and personality traits are needed for working at the library of a TV station which never sleeps.

Self-Introduction Could you begin by introducing yourself, your current roles and responsibilities at the TVB News Library? David Wong (DW): I am the News Production Manager of the TVB News and Information Services Division, and I am responsible for supervising the overall operations of the whole News Production Team. The News Production Team includes our cameramen, tape editors, and also our news programme directors, etc. The News Library is also part of the News and Information Services Division and the Library is indeed the backbone of the

1. TVB News Website (無綫新聞網站 ) – Homepage. Available at: http://news.tvb.com/ 2. News Magazine (新聞透視 ) – Homepage. Available at: http://news.tvb.com/ 3. The Pearl Report (明珠檔案 ) – Homepage. Available at: http://programme.tvb.com/ news/pearlreport

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whole News Department. For that matter, I rely a great deal on our News Library to support the information needs of our News Team. Roeter Kwok (RK): I am the Principal Librarian at the TVB News Library. I have been working here for almost 20 years and I am responsible for overseeing the operations of the whole News Library. Every day we transfer the news footage from the network server onto individual physical digital discs for storing and archiving purposes. After downloading, we will evaluate and see which footage should be kept permanently by the News Library. For the retained footage, we will catalogue them accordingly. In answering the information requests for news footage issued by our news reporters, news editors, directors, video editors of our News Team, we retrieve their desired archival news footage from the Library and make it available according to their individual needs or assignments. Could you tell me about your background and your training prior to joining TVB? DW: I joined the TV industry in the 1980s and learned everything almost through on-job training. I have over 30 years of experiences in doing TV news production. When I first joined the TV production business, I found it very challenging and interesting. And 30 years later, I found myself still working in the same business; that means I really like my job in the TV production field. RK: My first library job was at the library of an accountancy firm. A few years later, I switched and started working for the Hong Kong Standard newspaper4 and I spent over five years working as a librarian there. Since 1994, I have been working at the TVB News Library.

4. The Hong Kong Standard – Homepage. Available at: www.thestandard.com.hk/

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The News Library at TVB is filled with all these mobile filing cabinets also known as “mobile compact shelves”.

The News Library at TVB “News” is a 24-hour business and people in this business can never stop working. How does the News Library operate to support the information needs of the whole News Production Team? DW: The Newsroom operates on a 24/7 basis. Even when the News Library is not physically open, we still have to be on “standby mode” at all times. Actually, this 24-hour routine does not only apply to our Library staff, but also to everyone working in the News Department, all the way from our frontline camera crew to our news reporters, our news editors and programme directors, etc. Normally, the frontline crew (that is, the camera and the reporters) will go out to cover their assignments, which means the camera crew will shoot according to the reporters’ requests, as well as shooting the actual incident itself. Taking a news-breaking story on a major accident as an example, when the footage come back to the News Office at TVB, the reporters will go through whatever the cameramen have shot 86

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and write the news scripts according to the materials they have on hand. Afterwards, the edited package (that is the footage, plus the news script written and the voice-over by the reporter), which would normally last about 60 to 90 seconds, will be aired in our news programme. But the rest of the unaired footage will not be regarded as useless. The remaining part, what we refer as the “raw footage”, will be kept in the News Library and Roeter will then make the decision by judging the significance of the individual stories or incidents being covered. For example, for some minor accidents which we know will not be used in the future, the raw footage will not be kept. But for the other major incidents, for example, the Lamma Island ferry collision5 which killed 39 people and around 100 injured, and the Fa Yuen Street fire (2011年花園 街排檔大火 )6 that killed nine people and 30 injured in Hong Kong in 2011, we had crews at the locations and different hospitals. We had to keep all the raw footage, including every single shot taken at the scene, together with the final edited on-air footage. For the unaired footage, we still have to keep them in the News Library, because you never know what will be considered useful again in the future. For example, there was an inquest hearing on the Fa Yuen Street fire accident. In fact, on 19 March 2013, the coroner’s court ruled the nine deaths as “accidental”. As a result, we need to maintain those kinds of footage, even if not being aired, for the use of the story itself. RK: That means we just have to keep all the footage taken by the cameraman. For example, the on-air footage which the audience sees on TV may only last about one to two minutes. But for the actual raw or complete footage, it could amount to ten hours in total. As a result, we need to “sort out” which parts of the raw

5. Lamma Island ferry collision (2012南丫島撞船事故 ) Further information available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Lamma_Island_ferry_collision 6. Fa Yuen Street fire in 2011 (2011年花園街排檔大火 ) Further information available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Fa_Yuen_street_fire 87

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footage are considered important and worth keeping. To respond to the coverage of the court hearing on 19 March 2013, the reporters started looking for those old raw footage of the firemen inspecting those old buildings for the fire prevention measures in Hong Kong. These are the raw footage that were not aired last year. However, in order to do a comprehensive story relating to the court ruling, these raw footage have to be used, so the News Librarian has to support the needs of the whole News Team in this regard. How many staff are there in total working at the TVB News Library? DW: Including Roeter, we have altogether ten staff members in total working in shifts. The first shift at the Library begins at 5:00 a.m., and the last shift ends at midnight. But in real practice, we operate around the clock and we never stop. As I mentioned earlier, we are always on “standby mode”. TVB has a number of different channels which have newscasts throughout the day, including TVB Jade (翡翠台 ),7 HD Jade (高清翡翠台 ),8 TVB Pearl (明珠台 ),9 and the 24-hour news channel, iNews channel (互動新聞台 ).10 We also have TVBN1 and TVBN2 on our pay-vision platform, which are 24-hour news channels as well. Moreover, we have the TVB news app and dotcom news platforms. In order to facilitate the needs of all our news platforms, our Library has to serve continuously around the clock, under a non-stop basis.

7. TVB Jade Channel (無綫電視翡翠台 ) – Homepage. Available at: http://programme. tvb.com/jade/ 8. HD Jade (高清翡翠台 ) – Homepage. Available at: http://programme.tvb.com/hdjade 9. Pearl Channel (明珠台 ) – Homepage. Available at: http://programme.tvb.com/pearl 10. iNews Channel (互動新聞台 ) – Homepage. Available at: http://programme.tvb.com/ inews

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From 12:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m., if any major incidents occur, the Library staff has to respond to emergency calls and return immediately to the TV station. In other words, we are on standby at all times.

Stressful Work and Job Satisfaction In the past, have you ever received very urgent phone calls from the reporters, asking the Library staff to return immediately to the TV Station? RK: Yes, for example, the September 11 attacks in 2001, the Iraq War in 2003 and the death of Chairman Deng Xiaoping (鄧 小平 ) in 1997; for such major incidents, the editors called us in the middle of the night and we had to return immediately to the station. Everything is moving at such a high speed in the news business, do you find your job very stressful? DW: Yes, the enormous stress certainly comes with the job! The stress does not only weigh on the Library staff, but also weighs every single personnel within the News Division. Such stressful working conditions are no doubt caused by the fact that we are constantly working against time. When we are reporting any stories, regardless it is a major news-breaking story or just a feature story; we have to put them on air as soon as possible, because we also have to compete against the other news channels in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, there is another station, ATV.11 In addition to that, there are other paid channels, including

11. ATV (Asia Television Ltd. / 亞洲電視 ) – Homepage. Available at: www.hkatv.com/v5/ index.html

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i-Cable,12 NowTV,13 BroadbandTV14, etc; all these 24-hour news channels are no doubt our competitors. So we have to beat them by providing better and faster news services. As a result, it is very hard to find any words that could appropriately describe the amount of stress we all are facing every day in the News Division. Despite the tremendous amount of stress that you are all facing, which parts of your job do you find most satisfying? DW: I would say the ultimate job satisfaction and also the most challenging part, is to be able to beat our competitors. That means we should be the very first one to broadcast the news to the viewers. For example, TVB was the first channel to announce the death of Chairman Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平 ) in 1997. We cannot say that being the first to break the news is the “winner”, but certainly will gain recognition in the industry. In addition to maintaining a rich archives collection of news footage, does your Library also provide other additional services to support the reporters? RK: There is a good example to illustrate. In 2004, there was an incident regarding a famous Hong Kong politician, Allen Lee (李 鵬飛 ) and another Mainland Chinese government official, Cheng Shousan (成綬三 ), and the whole story went like this. Allen Lee, a National People’s Congress (NPC) Deputy, resigned from being the host of his radio programme, Teacup in a Storm (風波裏的茶杯 );15 because he claimed that he had

12. i-Cable (有線電視 ) – Homepage. Available at: www.i-cable.com 13. NowTV (now電視 ) – Homepage. Available at: http://nowtv.now.com/ 14. Hong Kong Broadband Network (香港寬頻網絡 ) – Homepage. Available at: www. hkbn.net/new/tc/# 15. Teacup in a Storm (風波裏的茶杯 ). Further information available at: https:// zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A2%A8%E6%B3%A2%E8%A3%A1%E7%9A%84%E8%8 C%B6%E6%9D%AF 90

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received a threatening phone call from a retired Mainland official, Cheng Shousan. The point was that Allen Lee claimed that he had never met Cheng Shousan in person, and did not even know him. At that time, our News Editor was just wondering if our Library could actually locate any footage in our archives featuring both Allen Lee and Cheng Shousan together. The News Editor only hinted that both of them were serving in the same advisory committee in 1996. With such limited information, we literally had to go through all the tapes shot by shot. Luckily, we managed to locate the particular piece of footage, which featured both Allen Lee and Cheng Shousan standing next to each other. Although it was not an exclusive TVB story, on the following day, most of the local newspapers credited that “evidence photo” to TVB. Through participating in this kind of information support or investigation work, we certainly can derive a great deal of satisfaction as well as excitement. How many hours did you spend on locating that “evidence photo”? Was that particular piece of footage in digital format? DW & RK: It was on video tapes. Because we had to locate that particular shot before everyone else did, so we had to work extremely fast. Luckily, it only took us less than two hours. I am sure our competitors also tried very hard to locate the same shot by doing the same. And in this case, we managed to beat our competitors. Reporters usually have to do the background research prior to conducting any interviews with any important people or politicians; how does the TVB News Library support the reporters in this regard? RK: When our reporters start doing their research, they would go through the online databases, such as WiseNews, for background information. They would then send their requests for the specific footage for the stories to us. We would search through our archives and try to have them ready for their editing. 91

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For other special projects, take the 12th National People’s Congress (十二屆全國人民代表大會 )16 as an example. As there would be major changes in the politburo and leadership in PRC, before the final announcement was made, speculation was that Xi Jinping (習近平 ) would be the next President and Li Keqiang (李克強 ) the new Premier. So our reporters and sub-editors were working on the profile analysis and background on the new leadership and other politburo members. The reporters came and asked for whatever materials we had, and our News Library staff would search against the database to look for all the related footage in the Library archives, and provided them accordingly to the reporters. Back in 2009 when Xi Jingping, then Vice President, visited Mexico, and there was a clip where he said, “First, China doesn’t export revolution; second, China doesn’t export hunger and poverty…” As TVB went all the way to Mexico to cover the visit, many foreign media, including Japanese TV media, requested TVB to license that soundbite to them for broadcasting on their own news channels. Again, all these information, footage or soundbites have to come from the News Library, and the Library staff are the ones looking after these materials. Is there something inside your collection that you are really proud of? DW: TVB started broadcasting in 1967. That means we have archives footage with over 40 years. Compared with the other TV channels in Hong Kong, I think we have a much more complete and comprehensive archives collection of news footage, which we are very proud of. For example, we have a programme called the News File (新聞檔案 ), which is a one-minute programme aired

16. The National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China (全國人民代表大會 ) – Homepage. Available at: www.npc.gov.cn/englishnpc/news/

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every day. The topic of News File, which usually at least 15 years old, has to coincide with the current news. Actually, the Library contributes a lot to this one-minute programme. For example, the Hong Kong Observatory has recorded a mild earthquake in Guangdong Province, and some people in Hong Kong reported that they did actually feel the tremor. Roeter then looked into the Library and found that 30 years ago in Hong Kong, on exactly the same day, there was a report about a rumour that Hong Kong was to be hit by a major earthquake, and the reporter did a standup in Tsim Sha Tsui, saying that, “People are having rumours that Hong Kong is going to be hit by a major earthquake at a certain time today, but now I am standing here, verifying before you that nothing has happened!” And we ran that report on the News File. This is a really popular programme, as it recaps and takes the viewer back to the past, with interesting comparisons about Hong Kong from the past and to nowadays.

Maintaining and Organising the News Archives If the reporters come to the Library and ask for their desired footage, in what format do you provide the requested information to them? Do you give them the desired materials via online streaming or you just give them a USB file? RK: We just give them the actual videotapes or the Blue-ray discs. If there are reporters stationed overseas, how would you provide the requested footage to them? RK: Whenever they are working overseas, the reporters will send their requests via the “Assignment Desk” here in the Newsroom. The Assignment Desk will then relay the requests to the Library. Usually, for overseas packages, a senior reporter will be assigned to supervise the production and editing of the stories. That means the footage shot overseas, which are fed back to Hong

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All the searching of the footage and news scripts can be done with these equipment in the News library.

Kong, together with the library materials, will be packaged here at the Station. The News Library does not directly transmit the requested footage to the reporters stationed overseas; instead it will be done by the Assignment Desk.

What to Keep? In addition to the news archives footage (in both AV and audio formats), do you also maintain other printed or electronic collections of textual information? DW: We also keep the news scripts written by our reporters. The on-air versions (footage) include the video, and also the audio part, together with the scripts by the reporters. In other words, the News Library also collects and maintains the electronic copies of the news scripts. So everything will be in accordance, that is, the video footage plus the news scripts. Every time when the reporters try to retrieve the footage, they can go through just 94

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the news scripts or content descriptions, and be able to look up whatever information being carried inside the footage. This setup allows the reporters to search for and identify their desired footage easily via using simple keywords, so that they do not have to go through all the discs or tapes to look for a single shot. It is the same for foreign footage, mainly from the Associated Press and the Reuters, the video packages plus the transcripts will be in accordance for easy identification and retrieval. When the reporters want to look for footage featuring some foreign dignities, maybe say US President Obama at a particular event, they could simply search against the Library database via using simple keywords themselves, and they would know whether the footage is available, and the detailed content including the dates, the locations and other important details of the events, incidents, or persons that have been covered, etc.

How to Organise? Since your database is open to all the reporters, how do you organise your database in a way that the reporters could find whatever they need easily? RK: We perform basic cataloguing, and assign keywords to facilitate easy retrieval. For cataloguing, we try to tag all the persons (with names) being featured in the footage. In addition, we tag all the locations and venues of the different events that took place, the soundbites, or even tagging all people’s dress codes. What do you mean by tagging their dress codes? RK: Sometimes the reporters might need to search for some special politician or celebrity in sporty clothing. For example, they might need to search for some special footage featuring some important government official attending a special event, for 95

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example our Chief Executive attending a special charity walk in a tracksuit, or a sports jacket, but not in a formal dress suit.

Challenges and Difficulties What are the biggest challenges that you are currently facing? Does migrating the audio-visual data to a new format pose a major challenge for the Library staff? DW: I won’t call it a challenge, it is really hectic work. It really consumes a great deal of time and manpower when we change our AV data from one format to another. The manufacturers simply stop manufacturing the old machines, not even spare parts. Under such circumstances, if you still keep the old-version tapes, you might not be able to find any machines to play them. In other words, once we change the format, we have to go through the whole process again, that is, transferring the AV data from one format to another one manually, in order to save whatever materials we have. Have you encountered any situations that you had to exercise your experiences or expertise to identify last-minute solution to any critical problems in order to keep the show running? RK: This happened to us once in 2003 when our system broke down, and all our data inside our database were completely wiped out. In other words, all the data from year 1967 to 2003, almost 36 years of cataloguing data, were simply gone. We had to re-input all the data manually, that is, to go through the entire cataloguing process again from the very beginning. How many hours or working days did you spend on recataloguing or re-entering all the data? RK: Over six years, and we had to hire extra hands. During this period, whenever there were requests for any footage, we had 96

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to stand in front of the tape shelves, recollecting from our faint memories, guessing wildly where the requested tapes would be located. Without the cataloguing data, there was no way we could pinpoint the exact location of the individual tapes being requested by the reporters. As a result, we had to rely on this “manual-retrieval-and-wildly-guessing system” for over one year. Is there anything else you would like to add before closing this interview? DW: In September 2012, we introduced the TVB News App on iPhones17 and on Androids, allowing people in Hong Kong to directly download the daily news clips aired on our news bulletins. In fact, TVB aims at making our complete news archives available to the public via this TVB news app, and eventually, we plan to make our entire 40-year-plus collection of news archives available for the general public in Hong Kong.

Afterthoughts Without even realising it, for the past four decades the TVB news programmes have been playing such a key role in the daily lives of the people in Hong Kong. All those high-quality news broadcasts that we enjoy for free every morning at breakfast and every evening at dinner, and all those news footage that made the TVB news programmes possible. Who does the editing? Where do the footage go after they are aired? Who spends days and nights looking after them? How are they shelved, arranged and organised? What does the TVB News Library look like? I think very few of us (including many practising librarians) have thought about the importance of the News Librarian in

17. TVB News App on iPhones. Further information available at: https://itunes.apple.com/ hk/app/wu-xian-xin-wen/id547917626?mt=8

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supporting the overall operations of the whole News Department at TVB. Much of their dedication and hard work has gone unnoticed outside the news community; not to mention the fact that one may not even find the News Librarian’s name and the job title on TVB’s company homepage. All these have no doubt given us more reasons to respect their professional ethics, as well as their immeasurable contributions in helping us become informed citizens of Hong Kong.

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Chapter 6 Preserving Corporate Memory in Hong Kong

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Interview with Amelia ALLSOP and Clement CHEUNG The Hong Kong Heritage Project Hong Kong is perhaps best known as an international centre for finance and trading, rather than for its cultural heritage or other artistic offerings. Once a tiny fishing village, Hong Kong has transformed itself into one of the freest economies in the world, creating a uniquely dynamic culture that embraces internationalism and diversity. The former 150 years of British colonisation, the political separation from Communist China, combined with elements of the traditional Chinese culture, have resulted in a “multicultural identity” that is unparalleled elsewhere, evolving into a local cultural heritage of specific characteristics. The unique historic legacy of Hong Kong is undeniable as well as irreplaceable, and is definitely worth studying and preserving. Unfortunately, it was not until recent years that the local government, the citizens, and the media have begun to bring more attention to the education, as well as devoting comparatively more resources to the conservation of the city’s unique historic past. In fact, in addition to the local government, many private and non-profit organisations in Hong Kong have also begun building their own museums, libraries, information centres or even archives, with the aim of contributing to the preservation of the city’s overall legacy. The Hong Kong Heritage Project (HKHP) is a wonderful example of such heritage preservation initiatives, established by a non-profit organisation in 2007 for preserving and promoting the local heritage in Hong Kong. In the following interview, Amelia Allsop, Collections and Research Manager, and Clement Cheung, Repository Manager and Librarian, of the HKHP discuss in detail the goals and mission of the HKHP Archive, as well as their joy and passion towards their careers as archivists.

Self-Introduction Could you briefly introduce the Hong Kong Heritage Project and the goals and mission of the HKHP Archive? Amelia Allsop (AA): The Hong Kong Heritage Project (HKHP)1 is a non-profit organisation established in 2007 to preserve history

1. Hong Kong Heritage Project (HKHP) hongkongheritage.org/html/eng/index.html

–

Homepage.

Available

at:

www.

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and promote heritage awareness in Hong Kong. The project is sponsored by the Kadoorie family2 and two Kadoorie businesses: China Light & Power (CLP)3 and The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels Limited (HSH).4 The HKHP Archive was established with the mission to collect, interpret and make accessible the historic records of the Kadoorie family and their business and charitable endeavours and to record the wider history of Hong Kong through oral history. Opened to the public in 2009, the archive is the guardian of Kadoorie corporate memory and acts as a central research facility for the wider community. Since then, HKHP has released various publications and launched public exhibitions and other cultural and educational programmes to promote history. The HKHP Archive supports and provides a focal point for these activities. Could you introduce your education and training background? AA: I have a bachelor’s degree in History and a master’s degree in International Relations, both from King’s College London. Following graduation I worked as a researcher for a Minister of Parliament and in a Parliamentary Bill team before leaving London to work for the Hong Kong Heritage Project in 2007. From 2007 to 2012, I worked as a project manager, focusing mainly on collecting oral history interviews, writing archival publications, working on exhibitions and researching the collection for finding aid development. When my role changed to Collections and Research Manager, I applied a part-time master’s degree in Archives and Records Management with the University of Dundee, which I am currently studying. I was elected as a

2. Kadoorie Family. Further information available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Kadoorie_family 3. China Light & Power (CLP) – Homepage. Available at: www.clpgroup.com/Pages/ home.aspx 4. The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited (HSH) – Homepage. Available at: www. hshgroup.com/en/default.aspx 101

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Director of The Hong Kong Archives Society5 in 2010 and am also the joint-convener of the Hong Kong Oral History Group, through which I am in contact with Hong Kong’s archives and heritage community, from whom I have learned a lot. Clement Cheung (CC): I graduated from the Department of Law of the National Taiwan University. After returning to Hong Kong, I worked in several libraries and resource centres. I obtained a post-graduate diploma in Librarianship and Information Management whilst working for the Hong Kong Film Archive.6 After joining the Hong Kong Heritage Project in 2007, I obtained certificates in Archives Management, Records Management and Conservation and Preservation of Books and Documents7 from HKU-SPACE.8 Besides academic training, I continuously develop my knowledge through visits to various archives and special libraries as well as attending professional talks. Clement, since you have a law degree, do you find your previous academic training contributing to your current work as Repository and Library Manager, for example, being able to understand and process legal documents? CC: The course taught me to think logically and my research skills were also developed during study, although there are not many legal documents in our collection. I would say the study of Law is useful for my work.

5. Hong Kong Archives Society – Homepage. Available at: www.archives.org.hk/about. html 6. Hong Kong Film Archive – Homepage. CulturalService/HKFA/en/index.php

Available:

www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/

7. HKU-SPACE, Certificate in Conservation and Preservation of Books and Documents. Available at: http://hkuspace.hku.hk/prog/cert-in-conservation-preservation-booksdocuments 8. HKU-SPACE (University of Hong Kong, School of Professional and Continuing Education) – Homepage. Available at: http://hkuspace.hku.hk/

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Amelia giving talk

As the Collections and Research Manager and Repository and Library Manager of HKHP respectively, what are your specific duties? AA: As the Collections and Research manager, I am responsible for developing strategies and policies to manage the archives, for collection development and archives advocacy. I work on acquisition and liaise with donors both inside and outside of the Kadoorie businesses to acquire and identify records that align with our collecting scope. I also spend time researching and writing finding aids to increase accessibility. The other part of my job is to promote the archive to our key stakeholders by organising seminars with partnership institutions, ensuring participation and representation with professional associations and contributing archives related literature. CC: My job duties are more focused on the preservation and cataloguing side of the archives. I preserve the collection so that it can be used in the future. I manage the database and the online catalogue and arrange the collection physically and intellectually so that records and our reference materials can be retrieved efficiently. 103

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I try to keep myself up-to-date with modern technology, and look after the day-to-day operations of the archive, ensuring the repository is kept securely and at a constant relative temperature and humidity level, helping researchers with their requests and managing our supply of conservation materials.

Job Nature I know that Clement is skilfully trained in the art of classical European swordsmanship and has spent a lot of time, efforts and patience researching the history and development of different swordsmanship techniques. Do you think pursuing in this area contribute to your work as a Repository and Library Manager? CC: You can also interpret it in the reverse way. The knowledge of information management helps a lot in doing research on my hobby, which requires retrieval and study of historical records and documents. On the other hand, my experience of retrieving information also helps me understand the needs of end-users. To me, one of the challenges is that useful information is sometimes hidden here and there in bits and pieces. In fact this is not limited to the study of any specific subject. Bearing this in my mind does help in the enhancement of the online catalogue. I enjoy finding out more about my hobby by reading old manuscripts and watching internet video demonstrations of European medieval swordsmanship practitioners. Do you perform most of your work independently? To become a good Repository and Library Manager, is it important that one has to be able to withstand working in isolation? CC: My job is very independent but I do not work in isolation. For example, I work closely with the Collections and Research Manager as it is important for our work to be consistent. I have to communicate regularly with the Administration Department

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As part of the job duties, Clement has to arrange the collection physically.

for proper storage space, and with local and overseas suppliers for procurement of our archival materials. At times we have archives and conservation professionals visiting the archives for exchange. As the Repository Manager, I also provide services to our customers (researchers or internal clients) such as locating and fetching materials. How would you describe a typical day at work at the HKHP? CC: My job is quite diversified. My day-to-day work depends on whether we have any researchers visiting the archives or newly acquired records. Sometimes I spend half the day helping researchers locate the records they need. When a new collection arrives, I may spend a whole day browsing through two box files in order to arrange them properly. The following day, I might search the internet to look for suitable archival suppliers and assign storage space for the collection.

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AA: My work also differs on a day-to-day basis. I could be finetuning our archives policies, visiting offices to conduct record appraisal, conducting research or editing the HKHP newsletter. From time to time, we also receive internal requests for information on the history of Kadoorie businesses, or charities and opportunities to feature the archives in publications, which in turn requires a lot of research and writing. What best prepared you for your current job as the Collections and Research Manager and Repository and Library Manager at HKHP? CC: In general, my academic training provides a good foundation for my knowledge whilst my previous work experience helps me tackle job details. For example, my past experience of using different integrated systems is more important when I am looking for one specifically for my organisation. With regard to cataloguing work, the course provides me with basic concepts but I have to build up my skills using day-to-day practice. My previous work experience in various libraries, especially the Hong Kong Film Archive, equipped me with practical knowledge of handling audio-visual materials, which is important as we have a major audio-visual collection (our oral history interviews) in the HKHP Archive. AA: My training in history provides a good basis for the skills required to describe and interpret the collection, as well as a foundation to understand the collection more deeply. I worked with archives in my under-graduation and post-graduation and so I have been exposed to archives for quite a while. My previous work experience was research and writing-based; this required the ability to absorb and analyse a lot of information quickly and efficiently. Undoubtedly, the master’s degree in Archives and Records Management has been invaluable. The course has taught me the theory behind archives management and the history of

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the discipline. It helps keep me up-to-date with current debates in the archives field and also provides a forum for discussions with fellow students and professors. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is important in the archives sector and it is nice to be continually learning and developing through talks, seminars and contact with other archivists in Hong Kong. What part(s) of the job do you enjoy most? CC: In the process of cataloguing I have to go through the historic records. Of course not all of them are interesting, but I do enjoy reading some of them, especially those related to public policy. Like other citizens, I am curious about what has been discussed and how decisions were made by government committees. I also enjoy reading records about significant projects, such as the development of Light Rail Transit in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long. AA: One of the most satisfying parts of the job is investigating the provenance of a new collection, discovering new treasures and identifying links between collections. I enjoy the research aspect of my job, since the Kadoories were involved in a wide range of public affairs and had varied business interests, the collection touches on all aspects of Hong Kong’s history. I also enjoy meeting researchers, working with donors and liaising with archives professionals from other institutions. Knowing that we are helping to preserve the Kadoorie businesses’ corporate memory provides a great deal of job satisfaction too. As the Collections and Research Manager, how do you acquire and appraise records? AA: Any new acquisitions must fall Collection Policy, which outlines the looking to acquire, including subject media and chronological period. Our

under the scope of our type of records we are area, geographic scope, policy was written with

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reference to TNA’s Archive Collection Policy Statements: Checklist of Suggested Contents (2004).9 The bulk of our collection comes from in-house transfers but we are also a collecting body in that we collect historic photographs of Hong Kong as well as reference materials for our library, which I usually purchase from Amazon or in local bookshops whilst photographs are acquired from external donations. When appraising materials, informed decisions can only be made once the context in which the organisation operated is understood. We have painstakingly built up a large amount of data and knowledge about the history, structure and management of Sir Elly Kadoorie & Sons and other Kadoorie businesses, which we use as a basis to inform our appraisal decisions. In particular, I am looking for records that fulfil our acquisition strategy, that are complete, have informational and evidential value, fulfil possible future research needs and that have minimal conservation and preservation requirements. Also, like most archives, we tend not to accept materials on loan. During the appraisal and acquisition process, I begin by listing all items in a box list and photographing the collection. Following this I will write an acquisition report which lists the acquisition background, contact details of the donor and documents the appraisal decisions taken as well as general information on the collection such as date range and urgent preservation requirements. We then update the Accessioning Register database, which provides us with a reference list of our acquisitions. I keep documentation (including email correspondence) relating to our acquisitions in a folder which will help account for our decisions in the future.

9. The National Archives, Archive Collection Policy Statements: Checklist of Suggested Contents, 2004. Available at: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/informationmanagement/archive-collection-policy.pdf

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As the Repository and Library Manager, how do you catalogue and provide accessioning for the records? CC: I describe and arrange the archives collection based on the hierarchy system of the General International Standard Archival Description.10 Records of the same creator are grouped together to form a record group. I assign the title, date and extent of the record and create a reference code. I transfer the papers from their original folders to archival acid-free folders and boxes. All the metadata is put onto the catalogue which is partially accessible to the public via the online catalogue on the HKHP website.

About the HKHP Archive Could you describe the collections and range of services provided by the HKHP Archive? CC: As a private archive, our major collection consists of business and family historical records collected from the Kadoorie office and Kadoorie businesses. Most of them are paper-based, but we also hold different media such as negatives, slides, film and audio recordings. The quantity is around 150 linear metres. Apart from historical records we also have a major collection of oral history interviews recorded by our project and a small reference library about Hong Kong history. AA: We provide a range of services to researchers such as access to the collection, fetching, photocopying, and scanning. We also provide basic research services to help answer overseas enquiries and those who can’t physically access the collection (free of

10. General International org/?lid=10207

Standard

Archival

Description.

Available

at:

www.ica.

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charge). However the service has its limit due to time constraints and time pressures of other projects. We also provide group tours for students and experience sharing sessions with professional bodies. Internally, the archive is used in HKHP’s exhibitions and education programmes, and we also conduct research on behalf of our business stakeholders. Can you describe the highlights of the collection? AA: The collection is very varied due to the prolific business and charitable work of the Kadoorie brothers, Lawrence and Horace, during the twentieth century. Our collection strengths include “charitable” materials relating to the Jewish communities of Hong Kong and Shanghai, thanks to Lawrence Kadoorie’s role as president of the Ohel Leah synagogue in Hong Kong and Horace Kadoorie’s Shanghai Jewish Youth Association and his position as honorary treasurer of the Joint Distribution Committee. We also have extensive material on the rural community of Hong Kong, credited to the 20,000 Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association11 case files donated by the Kadoorie Farm in 2012, which provides a wealth of raw data on rural communities in the 1950s to 1980s. The Archive also houses Lawrence Kadoorie’s 1950s Legislative Council papers and his 1980s House of Lords papers that provide evidence of the issues surrounding the impending handover of Hong Kong. In terms of our business records, our strengths lie with industry, manufacturing and tourism, and these records also chronicle Hong Kong’s post-war development. We are also very lucky to have nearly complete administrative records including the earliest minute books and ledgers of the Hongkong Hotel Company (later to merge and become the Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels) from 1880 onwards. When the Archive was

11. Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association – Homepage. Available at: http://kaaabgn.org/

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first founded in 2007, it was part of our collecting mission to record interviews with employees of the Kadoorie businesses and ordinary Hong Kongers. We now have the largest oral history collection in Hong Kong (at 440 interviews) and we are very proud of that fact. Who are the major users of the HKHP Archive? CC: The major users include authors, researchers, students, stakeholders and staff of the Kadoorie businesses and related organisations. What kind of research enquiries do you usually receive? CC: We receive enquiries from all over the world. Some request access to our collection or a visit to our Archive whilst others ask for copies and permission to publish materials. Some have enquired about the history of Hong Kong and we also get a fair amount of genealogical enquiries too. What kind of access is provided and how is this decided? AA: Our archives policy was written based on the UK’s PSQG Standard for Access to Archives12 which outlines our commitment to access based on four key principles: equity, communication, responsiveness and efficiency. We must also ensure that we comply with legislation that governs data protection and copyright in Hong Kong. Although we are committed to access, as a business archives, we also need to be stringent and exert a certain amount of control. Only those records up to 1969 are made available whilst other series are not open to the public. For those that are accessible, potential researchers must send their

12. PSQG Standard for Access to Archives. Available at: www.archives.org.uk/images/ documents/access_standard_2008.pdf

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research scope for review, and sign and complete the Research Registration form and our Access Policy. Use of the collection is controlled by our Reprographics Policy and Publication Policy. I think there will always be a fundamental dichotomy between access and preservation. Although we favour access, we try to protect our records from excessive handling via the digitisation of fragile or oversized materials, by limiting the number of photocopies made (and encouraging people to use digital cameras when possible) and limiting access to our Special Collection, unless the need is very valid. We file and keep all documentation relating to researchers and also record every visit and enquiry in our researcher’s database. We are also mindful of our ethical duty towards our oral history interviewees. Transcripts and full videos are available to bona-fide researchers within the archives environment only. What finding aids exist for the collection? AA: We started writing finding aids in early 2011 when most of the Sir Elly Kadoorie & Sons collection had been catalogued. This work was undertaken as part of our collection development programme, so as to increase accessibility to the collection for both researchers and business stakeholders. The bulk of this work involves describing the content and context of the file (we write our descriptions at the file, series and fonds level respectively) in the “scope and content note” field. This is a research intensive process that involves building up a body of knowledge about the creator and discovering inter-relationships between records. We have also started indexing key collections and creating authority files, a lengthy and time-consuming endeavour but one that pays dividends by providing valuable access points to researchers and anyone looking for information internally, thanks to the work of our in-house researchers. We use ISAD(G)13 as our framework

13. ISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description. Available at: www. icacds.org.uk/eng/ISAD(G).pdf 112

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and we have also developed our own in-house description rules using International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families (2004)14 and TNA’s Cataloguing Guidelines (2007).

Strategies and Policies Why are strategies and policies so important for the setup of an archive? How did you establish the strategies and polices for a completely new archives project (HKHP) from scratch? AA: Both strategies and policies are important to ensure the success of an archive. Policies and standards govern the way records are used, acquired and accessed. They are important in ensuring standardisation and consistency in terms of our cataloguing, finding aid and indexing work. This is important as last year we hired an in-house researcher to help develop our finding aids, and this year our Cataloguing Assistant is cataloguing the 20,000 Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association records. We need to ensure that everyone is working towards the same descriptive standards, otherwise access to the collection will be compromised and researchers will have difficulty finding what they are looking for. Similarly, policies are important as they ensure we receive the “right” type of records, as governed by our Collection Policy, and that these are then managed in accordance with the donor’s wishes, as governed by the Deed of Gift. Our Access Policy, Reprographics Policy and general Rules and Regulations ensure the records are protected for the long term and these also regulate the wider use of the Archive.

14. International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families. 2004. Available at: www.icacds.org.uk/eng/isaar2ndedn-e_3_1.pdf 113

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Strategies are important as they govern long-term goals be in line with the Archives’ mission statement and aims, which sets out our objectives internally and externally as well as our identity. Strategies should govern everything from cataloguing schedules to outreach, advocacy and digitisation programmes. Many standards and policies are already in place within the archives community, although they may differ from one region to another. In general, we look to the UK for our policies and standards, and a useful resource has been The National Archives. For issues such as copyright we look to Hong Kong legislation. We then tailor these standards and policies to meet our own needs and requirements. I also subscribe to the NRA Listserv and am a member of the UK Archives and Records Association, which helps keep me up-todate with changes and developments in the field. What cataloguing system do you use and how was this chosen? CC: At first I looked for an integrated library system readily available on the market, but these were not compatible with the International Standard Archival Description we wanted to follow. I also looked for an archives management system but found that there was no supplier or agency in Hong Kong. Knowing that other archives in Hong Kong were having their own systems specially designed, I decided to create one according to our own requirements and worked with a local web design company to put our cataloguing system together. You can view our online catalogue by searching for www.hongkongheritage.org and clicking on the “archives” tab. What measures do you take to preserve the collection? What archival supplies are used by HKHP? CC: We try to provide a suitable storage environment for our collection. We have an independent, self-contained repository with temperature, relative humidity, lighting and security control. We use a data-logger to monitor and keep track of the level of 114

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To preserve the collection, when handling the records, all researchers must wear cotton gloves.

temperature and relative humidity inside the repository. When a new collection arrives, I remove dust and replace rusty paper clips and box files with archival acid-free products. Suspected infected records are examined before entering the storage area and are separated when necessary. We store our collection in archival quality containers: archival paper folders and boxes are used for our paper-based collection and negatives, slides and photos are stored in archival sleeves and bags. Researchers must wear cotton gloves when handling the records. To lower the possibility of harm from frequent handling, we are digitising some of our more vulnerable collections, such as historic negatives, maps and plans.

The HKHP Archive and Kadoorie Business How is the HKHP Archive important to the Kadoorie businesses and what role does it serve within the businesses? How is the HKHP Archive important to the community? AA: The HKHP Archive provides value to the Kadoorie businesses by preserving corporate memory. The Archive is an 115

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excellent source of ideas and innovation, and our material has been used in corporate branding and for corporate films and books over the years. People react favourably to a business that can demonstrate a long history. China Light & Power was established in 1901 whilst The Hongkong Hotel Company, which later merged to become The Hongkong & Shanghai Hotels, Limited, was registered in 1866. It is our job to preserve that history whilst keeping an eye to the future, creating a porthole into the past. In a wider sense, good record keeping contributes to accountability and serves an important legal function too. Culturally, I think the HKHP Archive is very valuable to the Hong Kong community. It provides evidence and information about the social and economic development of the city, and we also champion archives in a place where only two business archives are fully open to the public (the other being HSBC Asia Pacific Archives15). The wider HKHP programmes, which include education initiatives and public exhibitions, have been very successful in promoting heritage and history to a wider audience at a time when people are showing more and more interest in preserving their local history.

Future Plans for the HKHP Do you have any plans for the development of the HKHP Archive for the next two to five years? AA: We have some exciting plans and as with every archive, there is a long list of things we would like to do. We would like to finish the finding aids for the Sir Elly Kadoorie & Sons fonds and

15. HSBC Asia Pacific Archives – Homepage. Available at: www.hsbc.com.hk/1/2/cr/ community/artsculture/bankhistory

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release a print catalogue. We are also aiming to finish cataloguing the 20,000 Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association16 case files and to make these available to researchers in the near future. In the long-term, we would like to improve accessibility by digitising collections that are heavily utilised by researchers and uploading more archival film footage and photographs online using existing social media channels. We hope to fill gaps in the collection and continue our research development so that the archives can be utilised by a wider audience. In terms of our positioning, we would like to see more direct contact and partnerships with university departments and students, and to continue to organise archives and oral history related seminars, placing us at the very heart of the debate on archives and records management in Hong Kong. CC: We are looking forward to moving to CLP’s17 old Head Office on Argyle Street in Mong Kok in a few years’ time. The new facility will provide us with a purpose-built repository, more storage space and better archival facilities. Then we will be able to share our resources more effectively with the public and launch more structured and frequent activities such as lectures, seminars and exhibitions for the benefit of the wider community.

Advice to Young People What advice would you give to young people who wish to work for any heritage or archival projects like the HKHP? AA: If you want to work in the archives sector, I think first and foremost it is important to get an archives qualification. There are

16. See above, note 13. 17. See above, note 3.

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a number of good short courses available here in Hong Kong or you can look into distance learning for accredited post-graduate programmes based overseas. The archives community is very small and friendly in Hong Kong, and so networking and meeting archivists face-to-face is a good way for young people to ask questions directly and to understand more about the skills and training required, as well as to find out about any openings or opportunities. In this capacity I think it is worth joining the Hong Kong Archives Society, the only professional archives association in Hong Kong, which updates its website with details of job openings from time to time. You can also find out more about the profession online from the Archives and Records Association (UK)18 and the Society of American Archivists (US)19 websites. I would recommend finding work experience in an archive so as to understand the diversity of the work involved and the skills required, such as communication and analytical skills and the ability to use rapidly evolving technology. CC: Those who wish to start a career in the heritage preservation industry must understand the diverse nature of the sector. The job nature of private archives can be very different and this depends on the scale, resources, target-users and scope of the collection. In other words, you will have to learn everything as a beginner when moving from one archive to another, especially when you are facing different systems, managing different types of collections and serving different groups of users. Other than academic training in archives management, a degree and knowledge of fields such as history and document preservation would be an advantage when working in private archives.

18. Archives and Records Association – Homepage. Available at: www.archives.org.uk/ 19. Society of American Archivists – Homepage. Available at: www2.archivists.org/

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Afterthoughts According to Tousey and Adkins, “the key is that companies establish archival programmes solely to serve business goals, and support can fluctuate with the company’s fortunes. Therefore, corporate archivists must tie archival programmes to business goals, placing internal needs ahead external requests”.20 For this reason, most business archives are simply closed to the public, and a majority of research enquiries issued by external researchers are basically unanswered. This is a fact that many researchers may find discouraging. Despite that, there are a few exceptions. The HKHP is a very good example of such an exception, that is, an archive being set up by a commercial enterprise for promoting the awareness of the local heritage of Hong Kong via opening their business records for public access. The HKHP does not only enable the Kadoorie businesses to preserve their own corporate memory, it also adds to the body of records selected for their unique cultural and historical values. The HKHP is definitely of interest to anyone researching the documentary heritage of Hong Kong, as well as the history of Jewish diaspora in the Far East.

20. Tousey, Becky H. & Adkins, Elizabeth W. (2007), “Access to Business Archives: U.S. Access Philosophies.” In Access to Archives: The Japanese and American Practices. Proceedings of the conference of the Society of American Archivists held in Tokyo, May 2007, p. 1. Available at: www.archivists.org/publications/proceedings/ accesstoarchives/10_B-TOUSEY_E-ADKINS.pdf

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Chapter 7 The Goethe-Institut Librarian as a Cultural Ambassador of Germany

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Interview with Gabriele SANDER Former Head of Library and Information Service, Goethe-Institut Hongkong In Hong Kong, there are three major non-profit European cultural organisations specialising in the fostering of international educational and cultural opportunities, namely: the British Council, the Alliance Française, the Italian Cultural Institute and the Goethe-Institut. Among these three institutions, the Goethe-Institut Hongkong is the most active in the promotion of knowledge and cultural exchange. Currently, there are totally 149 Goethe-Institutes in the world. Founded in the early 1960s, the Goethe-Institut Hongkong aims at promoting German language, culture, as well as academic cooperation with different partner organisations throughout the Pearl River Delta in South China. In addition to offering German language courses and organising a great variety of cultural programmes, exhibitions, workshops, seminars, and conferences, the Goethe-Institut Hongkong is also equipped with a small library, with the aim of meeting the German-related information needs of the local users. At the time of the interview, Gabriele Sander was serving as the Head of Library and Information Service at the GoetheInstitut Hongkong. In the following interview, Gabriele Sander discusses her joy of being a librarian who gets to travel around the world, as well as the challenges of her dual roles: being the head of a small Germanlanguage library and a cultural ambassador of Germany.

Self-Introduction Could you introduce yourself and your roles at the GoetheInstitut Library? I am the Head of the Library and Information Department1 of Goethe-Institut Hongkong.2 I am a professionally trained

1. Library of the Goethe-Institut Hongkong – Homepage. Available at: www.goethe.de/ ins/cn/hon/wis/bib/enindex.htm 2. Goethe-Institut Hongkong – Homepage. Available at: www.goethe.de/ins/cn/hon/ enindex.htm?wt_sc=hongkong 122

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librarian and graduated from the Cologne University of Applied Sciences,3 where I earned my diploma in library science, specialising in the management of public libraries. I started my library career as a public librarian in a Gabriele SANDER small branch library of the public library of Bochum, Germany. A couple of years later, I switched and became a librarian at the Goethe-Institut employed by the head office located in Munich. Working as the Goethe-Institut librarian means that I would be posted at different Goethe-Instituts in different countries every five to six years, and probably being stationed at the head office in Munich. I have been working for the Goethe-Institut Hongkong since the beginning of 2007. As the head of the department, I am the only person who is working full-time at this library and the other three colleagues are all part-time librarians.

The Goethe-Institut and the Library Most people think that the Goethe-Institut is only a place where they can go to learn German; could you tell us more about the Goethe-Institut? In addition to teaching the German language, the GoetheInstitut also functions as a German cultural centre, which means we also organise a great variety of German-related cultural activities, for example, exhibitions and film festivals, creating

3. Cologne University of Applied Sciences – Homepage. Available at: www.verwaltung. fh-koeln.de/organisation/dezernatesg/dezernat3/sg32/service/english/index.php 123

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different opportunities for exchanging ideas on music, films, theatre, and literature or whatever creative or cultural ideas that one can think of. Inside the Goethe-Institut, we also have the Library Information Centre which is open to the general public. Of course, we are also a school for anyone who is interested in learning the German language, and people can attend German language courses at different levels. We also offer German language examinations which are internationally recognised. Is every Goethe-Institut equipped with a library regardless of its geographical location? No, we have Goethe-Instituts of different sizes, located in different parts of the world, with different facilities and functions catering for clients with different demands. Sometimes, they could be very small and just function as coordination offices, and are therefore not equipped with any language departments or library facilities. A “proper” Goethe-Institut usually consists of the following three departments: the Library, the Cultural Department, and the Language Department. However, there are Goethe-Instituts that put more focus on the teaching of the German language; they might also come with a library but not to invest too many resources into organising cultural activities; or it could be just the other way around. So it really depends on where the individual Goethe-Instituts are located and what the local demands are. When was the Goethe-Institut first established in Hong Kong? It was first established in Hong Kong in 1963. Was there already a library built inside the Institut? When a Goethe-Institut is established, there is usually just a small team of two or three people. They will then gradually negotiate for additional manpower and resources as they expand. Normally, 124

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when a Goethe-Institut is first established, they would organise just a few small-scale cultural activities by outsourcing most parts of their activities to various local venues or organisations. Setting up the Language Department would be the second step. Normally, the Language Department is responsible for training the German language teachers for meeting our demands, because all the German language teachers have to meet a certain standard before they can start teaching. After training the teachers, the Goethe-Institut may begin offering language courses at different levels. In combination with all that, a library is usually required for supporting the teaching and learning needs of both the language teachers and students. As a result, it is never everything at one single stage. The whole Goethe-Institut is usually set up over a period of time in different phases. How does the Library support the overall operations of the Goethe-Institut? One of the main tasks of the Goethe-Institut Library is to set up a basic collection according to our users’ needs. The books, the periodicals, the DVDs, and the CDs are selected or bought according to the profiles of the individual Goethe-Instituts. For example, here in Hong Kong, we certainly have a lot of materials for supporting the learning of the German language. On top of that, our Library also puts a lot of emphasis on materials related to fine arts, graphic design, and photography, etc. In fact, library materials related to all such visual arts disciplines are of high demand at the Goethe-Institut Hongkong. Most of the materials available in this Library are either bilingual (in both German and English) or in English, so that even for people who do not know any German, they could still make good use of our library collection. By comparison, this is something very different from a Goethe-Institut set up in Poland or in other central European cities, where the knowledge of German language is usually very 125

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high. In these neighbouring countries of Germany, people have already started learning German at school, the knowledge of the German language among the general public is quite proficient, and people there are able to read in German. As a result, for the Goethe-Institut Library in Hong Kong, we only have a small selection of books and modern literature in the original German language. And we try as much as possible to find the translated works in either English or Chinese, or sometimes in both languages, instead of presenting the original German version to them. This, I would say, is the major difference. Do you also acquire other visual arts books, for example, books by German artists, designers or books on fine-art photography, architecture to encourage non-German-learning people to come and use the Library? Yes, we do. One of the reasons for having a rich collection of fine arts books is because we are located inside the Hong Kong Arts Centre.4 So we are in the middle of the “arts scene” in Hong Kong. We certainly want to encourage more people to just come in, and get more ideas about what is going on in the fields of visual arts and design in Germany. But different GoetheInstituts in different countries tend to do things quite differently. Different cities maybe have different subject focuses, for example, some overseas Goethe-Institut libraries may focus more on international or European politics, while the others might emphasise more on environmental issues, etc. The Library also organises many other value-added activities, for example, academic lectures, cultural seminars or travelling exhibitions; can you give us some examples or highlights? Via the Library, we are also trying to establish a professional network to connect ourselves with the other libraries in different

4. Hong Kong Arts Centre – Homepage. Available at: www.hkac.org.hk/en/index.php 126

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Library of the Goethe-Institute Hongkong

countries. By doing so, we could establish dialogues between the librarians in Hong Kong and the librarians in Germany, with the aim of facilitating exchanges of creative ideas and knowledge, and hopefully we could learn from each other. In our case, we are not just dealing with the librarians in Hong Kong, but also with the library community around the whole Pearl River Delta in Mainland China. So we regularly organise different events with our library partners in different places for different audiences. In terms of knowledge exchange, when we invite library experts from Germany to give lectures or seminars in Asia, it creates opportunities for allowing deep-level discussions between the German experts and Chinese library colleagues. You can imagine that it is almost impossible for 300 librarians from Guangzhou, China, to travel all the way to Germany to attend seminars or workshops, or to just take part in library visits in Germany. As a result, we try to bring these German experts to 127

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China to give seminars or workshops on specific topics instead, and hopefully, a lot more people could benefit from them. For the German library experts, they are always telling me how much they have learnt from their visits to China. So it is equally important for these German experts to bring these experiences back home, and share with their colleagues in Germany as well. To give you a few examples of what we are doing: one major event we did in 2006/2007 was organising lectures and workshops on reading promotion for the public libraries in South China. At that time, there was a huge demand for reading promotion activities, especially for the children in big cities in China. Currently, we are focusing mostly on projects related to the restoration and conservation of old European documents. This project was first started in Guangzhou with the Sun YatSen University5 Library; then the National Library of China6 also became a member of our project, and this is something which I think is very interesting and valuable for all of us. When you organise seminars, workshops or travelling exhibitions in Hong Kong and Mainland China, do you see any major differences in terms of the audiences’ responses? Yes, there are definitely differences. Obviously, not every single programme is suitable for both regions. The demands in Hong Kong are very different from the demands in Mainland China. For example, workshops on document restoration and conservation are indeed very new for the librarians in Mainland China. Certainly, they also have restoration and conservation techniques for their own Asian materials, which are no doubt excellent; nevertheless, the Chinese library colleagues would still

5. Sun Yat-Sen University - Homepage. Available at: www.sysu.edu.cn/2012/en/ 6. National Library of China – Homepage. Available at: www.nlc.gov.cn/old/old/english. htm

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come and ask me, “Please! Can you help provide some training workshops on the conservation for our Western books?” But people from Hong Kong have a totally different level of knowledge, skills, resources and expectations for conserving these old Western documents. Because for the people of Hong Kong, many of them already received their training in Great Britain. Certainly, some people in Hong Kong also want to undertake these workshops to refresh their training, but it is nothing new for them. Another example is that Hong Kong has very different government structures and a completely different set of regulations and legislations. If you are dealing with the Hong Kong Government, it might take much longer time; because there are many governmental procedures that one must follow. Whereas for Mainland China, it is sometimes much faster and easier; because there are not so many steps or procedures to observe. But it all depends on the situations, the timing, and also on the “contents”, etc. People in Mainland China are very different; the librarians there are also different, in terms of both the way they think, the way they work, their needs and also their expectations, etc. Another difference is that because there are more possibilities and options in Hong Kong, people here tend to be more critical. On the other hand, in South China, people tend to just love everything we offer them. A lot has to do with their different backgrounds, different education received, and also because of the different exposures. It is indeed very interesting for us to observe all these big and small differences. For the programmes organised in Mainland China, does censorship create any major problems for you ? No, we do not have that many difficulties because we are a nonprofit organisation, which makes everything much easier for us.

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When doing exhibitions in Hong Kong, we are always working with a local partner, for example, the Hong Kong public libraries. If they are happy with your proposed exhibitions or events, we would just need to go through the “normal procedures”, that is, just fill out a form and that is all. In Hong Kong, there are not so many restrictions in terms of the “contents” or the “themes” of the exhibitions. Certainly, in Mainland China, it is a totally different story. If you have an exhibition, it must go through censorship. It is just a very normal part of the procedure, but we are not dealing with that. For tasks related to negotiating and dealing with the local Chinese Government, we usually delegate them to our local partners in China. Via such partnership, the burden of handling the different regulations and censorships are shifted or shared with the local organisations. Undoubtedly, the local partners are far more experienced and knowledgeable in handling such local regulations, legislations and censorships than the Goethe-Institut Librarian. On the other hand, finding the right persons from Germany to give lectures in Asia is definitely my specialty. For my work, every year, I try to attend different library conferences, and I also need to visit different public, state or national libraries in Germany to look around and see who might be the next suitable group of speakers for China and Hong Kong. Not every expert, regardless how excellent, is suitable to give lectures in China, because we need to provide translations. Sometimes if the speakers speak too fast, real-time interpretation would simply not be possible.

Did any of your exhibitions or activities need to go through some slight modifications in order to satisfy the censorship review in Mainland China? No, not in our case. We have never experienced that in South China, and I do not know about the northern part of China. I think our Goethe colleagues always know what they are doing,

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and we know how to deal with the different situations, that is, to avoid certain things or issues that are sensitive to the Chinese Government. For example, the recent exhibition entitled, “The Most Beautiful German Books Exhibition”, launched by the Goethe-Institut: this exhibition was held concurrently with another exhibition in China entitled, “The Most Beautiful Books of China”, and they were both very well received as the audience could see and compare the differences in book production between the two countries. As for such dual exhibitions, we did not receive any complaints from the provincial government in China. Certainly, it could happen, but it really depends on the situations, timing, and definitely on the contents of the books, etc. But since the very beginning of the planning stage, the local partners would already begin negotiating with the local governments. If it turned out to be a critical period, we would then simply say to ourselves, “Okay! Maybe we will just wait, because now is not a good time to do this theme, and we will try it again in two to three years”. On the other hand, I think the Chinese Government knows the Goethe-Institut very well, because we as foreigners working for foreign companies or foreign organisations are always under close observation by their officials. They know us and they know what we are doing. Even for Hong Kong, when the Goethe-Institut brings in German-language movies from Europe for the different film festivals, all these foreign movies also need to go through the Hong Kong motion picture rating system7 before they could be released to the public. As you can see, such “censorship issues” do not only apply to Mainland China, they also apply to Hong Kong. But it does not really interfere with our work, and we are also learning to deal with it.

7. Hong Kong motion picture rating system: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_ motion_picture_rating_system

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Experiences in Hong Kong and Other Asian Countries Before you came to Hong Kong, did you also work for another Goethe-Institut located in another Asian country? Yes, before coming to Hong Kong, I was working for the GoetheInstitut located in Uzbekistan in Central Asia; and I have also worked for the Goethe-Instituts in both Vietnam and India, and also in a few other non-Asian countries.

In terms of your work as a librarian, how are the users’ demands and information needs in Hong Kong different from the users in other Asian countries? There are major differences. In Hong Kong, it is very important for us to be very well connected with the local libraries via the Hong Kong Library Association.8 The Goethe-Institut Library is just a very normal library, in terms of its functions and services. But once they recognise me as the Librarian from the GoetheInstitut, and not just a regular librarian, they would begin to see me as a partner, with the possibilities of co-hosting various events and functions, etc. Hong Kong is an extremely busy city; as a librarian, you cannot afford to get lazy. You have to be constantly rethinking about your work, for example, making the whole library environment more attractive for your users. People in Hong Kong are very selective and they always know what they want, which is something very different when you compare it against places like Vietnam or Uzbekistan, where they are so used to having “nothing”. In those places, if you could just offer the library

8. Hong Kong Library Association – Homepage. Available at: www.hkla.org/component/ option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/lang,english/

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materials, people would still want to come. Whereas for Hong Kong, you have to do a lot more to satisfy their needs and/or expectations. People in Hong Kong have high demands because they have so many other possibilities or options. If they want to learn or read something, they could always order their own materials via online, or from a bookstore, because they have the money to do so. For places like India or Vietnam, by comparison, people are simply less resourceful in this regard.

For the cultural activities and exhibitions provided by the Goethe-Institut, would there be events that you would only do in Hong Kong but not in the other Asian countries, for example, India and Vietnam, etc? Definitely! For example, when I worked in Uzbekistan in Central Asia, there was a very high demand from the Academy of Culture. Because at the Academy of Culture, they were training the librarians, and they wanted to learn about the structure of the university education in Germany, including how everything was organised, the different academic courses and the syllabuses for future librarians. In Uzbekistan, we helped to implement the International Standard Book Number (ISBN), something they did not have before. By comparison, “how to implement ISBN” is certainly something that you cannot offer in Hong Kong or Mainland China, because there is simply no need for that kind of information. But in Hong Kong and China, we could do workshops and seminars on topics such as library quality management, staff development, and change management. Whereas for Uzbekistan, where I worked as a Goethe Librarian until 2007, they simply had a completely different set of problems to deal with. Their library had structural problems and they did not have any money for libraries; hence, they simply had to make the best out of very limited resources and funding.

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Roles as the Goethe-Institut Librarian As the Goethe-Institut Librarian, when you get posted to a different country, what is the first thing you need to do? And how would you go about to find out the differences in the cultural and political climates in each country? After arriving in a new country, the first thing I would do is to visit different libraries, getting in touch with local library associations and having a look at the local bookstores to see how things are organised, and what is going on there. In addition, talking to the local librarians is very important, not just visiting and looking, but actually talking to them; meeting with the professors who are teaching library and information science, to find out what is going on there. These are all the important things that one needs to do at the beginning stage, but could literally take up a few months of your time. What do you think about the constant moving from one country to another? It is interesting. I am a very lucky person, and I am working for a very nice institution which has branch offices all over the world. I think I am in a sort of secured environment with my Institute. I am working with nice people, some are locals and some are from Germany. And I have always been working as a librarian, so I know the principles of my work very well. And moving to a different location also means that I have a chance to refresh both myself and my work, dealing with different ideas and challenges; how to accommodate different information needs among the locals, a combination of all these elements does make my work much more interesting.

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Challenges as the Goethe-Institut Librarian As the Goethe-Institut Librarian, which part of your work do you find most challenging? When you move to a completely new country or to a new Goethe-Institute, the first thing you need to do is to form good relationships with your colleagues. Because before your arrival, most of your colleagues have already been working there for a couple of years, so you are always an “outsider” to them; and also they are not always German. The colleagues working at the Goethe-Institut Library, apart from the Head Librarian, are usually locals. In other words, you are in a completely new environment, and you have to get used to it. In order to make it work, you have to be flexible, accommodating, observant and also sensitive towards the people working around you or working for you. Because different countries have different cultural characteristics, and their ethnic and religious backgrounds are also different. As a result, you have to take all these into serious considerations and try to fit in as a boss. Then you have to settle down your family; start looking for an apartment in a new city; look for schools for your children; and then you may begin to familiarise yourself with the library community in the city, and maybe even outside of the city eventually. All these could take up quite a lot of time. But normally, after six months, things will gradually turn out to be fine. By that time, you may have already created some sort of professional network, it would then be an appropriate time to bring in your own experiences to these new countries. I myself definitely enjoy this part of my work. Most of the Goethe-Institut Libraries are never very big. You can imagine yourself working in a small special library like the Goethe-Institut Library, with a collection that has no more than 10,000 volumes of books. If you need to spend 40 years working in the same place, things could get a bit boring after a while. As a result, you always need to

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create something new, maybe a new service or new programme, for yourself and for the Library. However, it might still a bit too small to stay at the same Goethe Library forever. Unlike working for a large university library or a city library where you could always switch around, trying out different positions or departments. If you work in different departments, you can continue to develop yourself in a different way. Whereas for me, if the library is too small, you would not have the chance to try anything else, and options would simply be too limited, which would not be satisfying for me. So being able to get posted at different Goethe-Instituts around the world is obviously something very nice for me.

Personality Traits Required for a Goethe-Institut Librarian In order to constantly deal with different cultural climates, different working environments or different people, what personality traits are necessary to become a Goethe-Institut Librarian? First of all, you have to be quite curious, in a sense that you want to know about the different lifestyles, different countries, different possibilities around the world. And you have to be very openminded because if you are just sticking to your own way of living or thinking, then you will be hopelessly unhappy. As a GoetheInstitut Librarian, you also have to be very flexible and have the willingness to try different things. You can never say or even think that “the German way is the only way!” or “the German way is the best way!” On the contrary, in our case, you have to be happy with the idea that you are constantly leaving things out. You always have to “improvise” your own living environment. There are just always some big boxes which you need to push into storage for the next country or the next city. And you have to think about if you like that particular city or if you don’t like it at all. Lots of 136

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people, after a couple of years, become sick of it, because they want to stay in one place; or maybe the children are growing up and they do not want to move around anymore; or maybe your wife or your husband cannot find a job because they are not allowed to work there. These are the things that a Goethe Librarian has to deal with, and are indeed part of our daily lives. But I personally love it and we have not regretted it ever since. What do you find most satisfying about your job, compared to working as a public librarian in Germany? There are major differences. When I first worked as the Librarian at the Goethe-Institut, I remember that I was still very young and it was my first time to work in a foreign country. I had to go to meet with the director or head librarian of the national library, and to talk face-to-face with the Deputy Minister of Education in Vietnam. As a manager of a small city library in Germany, this is something that one would never get to do. Being able to get in touch with the people of different cultures or backgrounds is something that I never thought of in the beginning. When I was still very young and inexperienced, having to talk to someone of that high status was definitely a very frightening experience for me. The Goethe-Institut Librarian is also a representative of Germany, even though I felt very frightened, I just had to deal with the situation. And now, I am so used to it and I see it as a very routine part of my work. Would you agree that the Goethe-Institut Librarian is serving dual roles, a librarian and also a cultural ambassador for Germany? Do you feel that people are actually seeing Germany through you? Yes, that is right. For the other non-Germans, we Germans represent “quality” to them. With this “quality image”, they always expect that we have something “good” or “of high quality” to offer, and their expectations are usually very high. 137

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When the different national library directors come and ask me, “Can you please have a look at our library systems?” or “Can you do something for our country or for our cities with your knowledge or expertise?” Then, I will have to do it with the best of my ability, and make it as good as possible, so that they will not get disappointed. I always have to bring the most appropriate and the best people from Germany, and in our case now, to China. Because of such high expectations, it would sometimes be very demanding and could become a burden for us. On the other hand, it could be equally satisfying if what you have done turns out to be really successful. Then, we could make ourselves proud because I am representing my own country, and what I have presented to them or doing for them is something they find meaningful and valuable. Have there been any situations that people come to the GoetheInstitut to seek for help, support or advice instead of going to the British Council or to the Alliance Française in Hong Kong? Yes, for example, the workshop on restoration of Western books carried out in China. People did not seek help from the British Council or the Alliance Française, but they came to the GoetheInstitut instead. Because they knew that Germany and Holland are the leading countries on book restoration, and we had some of the most valuable and culturally-significant books in Europe restored.

Strategic Plans for the Goethe-Institut Library Do you have any strategic plans for the development of your Goethe-Institut Library for the next two to three years? We are planning to do more in the field of book design. We have already conducted one workshop on book-cover design, and that

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turned out to be quite successful. The colleagues, the students and the professors in Hong Kong were quite happy with the results of that workshop. Both the designs and illustrations were very different from what they are teaching at the universities here in Hong Kong, so this would be the idea that we want to focus on. For the Library, we would like to provide more translated works in both English and Chinese for our German literature collection. There are about three to four major European cultural institutes in Hong Kong, namely the Goethe-Institut, the British Council,9 the Alliance française, 10 the Italian Cultural Institute, 11 etc. Are there any differences in terms of the activities and services provided among these institutions? The Goethe-Institut, at the moment, is the only one dealing a bit more on knowledge exchange; this is also what the Americans are doing as well. The others are not doing it at all. The Alliance Française is mainly maintaining a very small library for supporting the teaching and learning needs of their Language Department. The British Council has no library and it focuses more on providing information materials on studying in Great Britain. Why do you think the Germans tend to put more emphasis on knowledge and cultural exchanges than the other countries? I think it started after the World War II, maybe around the early 1950s as a soft diplomatic thing. That Germany carrying an

9. British Council Hong Kong Homepage. Available at: www.britishcouncil.org/hongkong. htm 10. Alliance française de Hong Kong - Homepage. Available at: www.alliancefrancaise. org.hk/content/alliance-fran%C3%A7aise-de-hong-kong 11. Italian Cultural Institute of Hong Kong – Homepage. Available at: www.iichongkong. esteri.it/IIC_HongKong

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extremely negative image after the War was certainly the main reason. And via the Goethe-Institut, we are trying to create a positive image of our nation, with the hope that we Germans could form better and easier friendships with the other nations. This is a very nice tradition. Via the Goethe-Institut, we are trying to create something more realistic and to create more possibilities and opportunities for knowledge and cultural exchange, in order to allow other people or nations to judge Germany by themselves. Anything else you want to add to conclude this interview? I could tell a little bit more about what we are doing. Currently, we are doing a lot of activities outside of the Library. In both Hong Kong and China, we are very active in terms of outreaching to our users. Different Goethe-Institut Libraries are also outreaching to their users in different ways. But for the Goethe-Institut, I can say that starting with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, there was a huge demand for libraries, especially in Eastern Europe, and a large number of Goethe-Instituts were founded in Middle or Eastern Europe during that time. During the initial setup stage, it was very important for the librarians to get in touch with the other colleagues, for the sake of sharing resources and experiences, and most importantly trying to learn from each other. During that time, very often the small Goethe-Institut Libraries would serve as model examples for the other library colleagues in Eastern Europe. They even had to come to look at our Goethe-Library furniture, because in Germany, we have special companies which specialise in manufacturing library furniture. And then these librarians would try to create their own little model libraries, and the experts from Germany would come to give lectures and so on… The concept of Goethe-Institut Libraries outreaching to different user groups already started a long time ago; but certainly like everywhere else, budget is always a problem. This is the reason why we librarians must collaborate and do what we can to help out each other. 140

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Afterthoughts What is cultural diplomacy? Cultural diplomacy is a type of public diplomacy and soft power that includes the “exchange of ideas, information, art and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understanding”.12 In addition to providing the traditional information services and other reference materials for enabling people to get a “taste” of Germany without leaving Hong Kong, the Goethe-Institut Library also serves as a cultural ambassador by fashioning a positive image of the country’s people, culture, arts and policies, etc; thereby creating opportunities for better cooperation and other cultural-exchange opportunities between different nations. Unfortunately, the success of cultural diplomacy is also very difficult to measure, simply because culture and its success can almost never be measured by sheer numbers or financial gains alone. Although one gets to spend time living and working in different countries, and experiencing different cultures, the professional life of a Goethe-Institut Librarian is not always as glamorous as one might imagine. In addition to possessing the working skills and knowledge of a regular librarian, one must also have a strong sense of cultural sensitivity and diversity awareness, willing to leave friends and family behind to relocate globally, and always be prepared to blend into a new culture and a new social environment.

12. Lenczowski, John (2009). “Cultural Diplomacy, Political Influence, and Integrated Strategy.” In Strategic Influence: Public Diplomacy, Counterpropaganda, and Political Warfare, ed. Michael J. Waller. Washington, DC: Institute of World Politics Press. p. 74.

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Chapter 8 Building a Crowd-Sourced Community Archive in Hong Kong

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Interview with David BELLIS Founder, The Gwulo.com website Community archives are often created and owned by the community or by an individual. Community archives collect and preserve historic records of significant social and cultural values that might be neglected or unwanted by the university, public and government archives, etc. In addition, community archives can often tell the story of a community’s unique history and cultural heritage. They also contribute to the overall process of identity production, as well as building the collective memory for a multicultural society like Hong Kong. Virtual community archives are also a great way of bringing people together. Using a natural voice that encourages anyone to get involved, allowing them to share their expertise, knowledge, interests, as well as fond memories at any time, any place, anywhere. The Gwulo.com website was created by David Bellis, a British expatriate currently living in Hong Kong, who possesses an unparalleled passion and curiosity for the local history and culture in Hong Kong. His website combines photographic images with people’s narratives, personal diaries, articles, discussions, and old maps, etc. The photographs on the website date from 1880s to 1960s; and the website in May 2013 holds over 13,000 pages, featuring over 6,000 photographs and 300 articles on the old as well as contemporary Hong Kong. According to David, his Gwulo.com website attracts no fewer than 700 visitors per day. In the following interview, David Bellis discusses the causes for his curiosity and interests in the local history and culture in Hong Kong, as well as the challenges and rewards of building a crowd-sourced community archives.

Self-Introduction Could you introduce yourself and also tell us how you came up with the idea of developing this Gwulo.com? It is actually called Gwulo: Hong Kong.1 “Gwu lo” is roughly how “古老” sounds in Cantonese. It means ancient or old-

1. Gwulo: Hong Kong. Available at: http://gwulo.com/ 144

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fashioned in Chinese. Very often, we have people writing to us, saying that we have got “Gweilo” spelled wrong. As my original background is in Computer Science, and has nothing to do with History at all, I don’t have any formal training as a historian. I David BELLIS have been living in Hong Kong for about 20 years. About 10 years ago, I started a blog with a friend, and this blog is about living in Hong Kong. Over time, as I found that I was writing more and more about history, and less and less about the current life in Hong Kong, it only made sense to split the blog into a separate website. The Gwulo. com website derived from the idea of making documentary records of different things that I see in my daily life in Hong Kong, for example, when I am wandering around the streets in Hong Kong and I see something curious, I will write about it in a kind of casual or informal manner. Perhaps, I would also do a little more digging, to see what the whole story behind it is. For the Gwulo.com, we have been running for about seven years since 2006. The big step forward was when readers started joining in and adding their comments and photos to the stories I had written. Later, people started asking questions and sharing their own stories. Although most visitors just enjoy looking at the old photos, a growing number join in with contributions. We have snowballed slowly and gradually from there, and our website is growing little by little every day. To summarise, I would say we are a bunch of amateurs writing about whatever catches our interest in. are welcome to write about anything related to old Kong, for example, a fond memory or maybe just a very

happy People Hong simple 145

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question about their own family; or they may see something (an old street sign, an old tree, or a fire hydrant, etc.) that they do not understand, and they would just come in and join the conversation. What made you come to Hong Kong in the first place? More than 20 years ago, I was on my way to Australia and I decided to make a quick stopover in Hong Kong. It was because during that time, with a UK passport you could enter Hong Kong without the need of applying for a visa; so it was very easy and convenient. Eventually, I did go to Australia and returned to Britain. But I soon realised that I missed Hong Kong very much. Then I worked and saved enough money to buy a plane ticket to return to Hong Kong, and I have been here ever since.

Interest in Local Culture and History What started your interests in the local culture and history in Hong Kong? I would say the air-raid shelters in Hong Kong,2 and the first thing we wrote on our Gwulo.com website was the air-raid tunnels3 in Hong Kong. They are all over Hong Kong. They were built during the early 1940s, shortly before the Japanese invasion. Unfortunately, several have already disappeared, as the hills they were bored through have since been dug away. Others are disappearing from our sight and memory as their entrances get covered during re-development work.

2. “Air-raid shelters under Kowloon Park.” Gwulo.com. Available at: http://gwulo.com/ kowloonparkarp 3. “Life in Hong Kong’s ARP tunnels.” Gwulo.com. Available at: http://gwulo.com/life-inhong-kongs-ARP-tunnels

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Gwulo.com has over 6,000 photos about old Hong Kong. This photo shows 25th Middlesex Regiment Concert Party in Hong Kong, 1917.

Your interests in history seems to be more war- or militaryrelated, or are you just interested in the little things of the everyday life among the ordinary people in an exotic city? My interests are not limited to military-related subject matters. I think my interests are actually about looking at something or anything, and when I am not quite sure about the story behind it, I will get a bit curious; this often leads me to do more research. For many of the things that we write about on our website, very often, people in Hong Kong just take them for granted and don’t even notice that they exist at all. At the same time, I found that most people who are involved with our Gwulo.com website tend to have that “curious nature”. In other words, they like looking at things and ask questions.

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Without formal training as a historian, does it in any way hinder you from doing your job well, or you actually see it as an advantage? I do not think it matters at all. Because we write about what is interesting to us in a sort of “natural voice”, I hope it makes it easier for anyone reading it to see they can just join in and take part in our discussions. Maybe a professional historian who looks at our materials might find it a little careless, or not 100% accurate; but we encourage everyone or anyone to just join in. We do not mind mistakes at all, and we certainly do not mind half knowledge.

Development of Gwulo.com Was your original idea of developing this Gwulo.com website just meant for sharing common interests among the amateur historians in Hong Kong? Or was it meant to be a public forum for promoting the awareness of local history and culture in Hong Kong? I cannot say there was any grand plan during the initial stage. It started off with the idea of sharing what I found interesting in Hong Kong, and then as people started sending in pictures to the website, that has definitely encouraged more and more people to join in and add more pictures. And then over time, a bit more structure has gradually appeared on our website. I have gradually developed an idea of how I want to continue to develop the website, that is, to be less of an unstructured blog and to put more structure to it, by providing better and clear linkages between people, organisations, and places, etc., so that our users could navigate through the website more seamlessly. Hopefully, as you enter the website, you will be able to follow your line of interests via the various webpages according to the different subject contents. 148

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Starting from his own curiosity, Gwulo.com is getting more and more people join in and add pictures to it. This photo shows Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong Island, in 1920s.

Why did you choose to call your website “Gwulo: Hong Kong”? When you are developing a website, you need to choose a short name for its domain. I found that those likely English names, for example “old Hong Kong”, were already taken; so I had no choice but to choose a Cantonese name instead. I asked my wife for suggestions, and “Gwulo” seems to be an appropriate and reasonable choice; because it is easy to remember, and it is not too long, plus the name is also Chinese. Do you think your Gwulo.com website is making contributions in promoting the awareness of local history and culture among the general public in Hong Kong? In its own little way, I would say yes. I think it encourages people who might otherwise think what they are interested in somehow is not worth sharing or mentioning. There are a lot of people who might think, “I am the only one who is interested in this research, and no one else would be interested in this”. Or maybe, “I am not a professional historian and what I am writing does not deserve 149

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to be made public at all”. And via this Gwulo.com website, we hope to encourage more people to join in, to share their interests, and to share what they know. How many photographs do you have on your website so far? At the end of the 2012, we had up to about 6,000 photographs in total. They are a mix, with some are modern photos of old things, some photos were taken in Hong Kong during the 1950s and 60s and some of them came from the early 1900. I would say they are all over the place really. As of January 2013, our Website has over 11,000 pages and over half of them are photos (for details regarding statistics about contents of Gwulo.com, see Appendix). Photos are indeed the most popular thing on our website. We also have many pages about people; so family history is another big thing at the moment. With reference to family history, there are people with family members who have previously lived in Hong Kong maybe in the 1950s or maybe even 100 years ago. These people usually try to trace some family history or maybe to look for other people who might know their family members. We have also a group of audience who are interested in old buildings in Hong Kong; so we are never short of materials or subject contents for our website. Is the Gwulo.com the only website devoted to the documentary of the local history and heritage in Hong Kong? Do you know if there are other similar websites that are developed by other nonprofessional historians? We are not the only one. You can go to the local public libraries’4 websites and the PRO5 website and see different collections of

4. Hong Kong Public Libraries – Homepage. Available at: http://www.hkpl.gov.hk/eindex. html 5. Hong Kong Government Records Service, Public Records Office – Homepage. Available at: http://www.grs.gov.hk/ws/english/org_pro.htm

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old photos of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Museum of History6 also has a collection of old Hong Kong photos, but these are the professional organisations. A couple of other local websites that focus on local history include Hong Kong (& Macau) Stuff7 and Hong Kong’s First.8 They both turn up lots of interesting information, but in a slightly different way. They use a “blog with comments” style; but as Gwulo.com also encourages people to contribute their own stories and photos, it is more of a community website. When different people contribute to your website, do you have guidelines or do you accept pretty much anything or everything submitted? Do you exercise censorship when you are accepting photos from the users? I have to take materials off the website every day, but that is only because they are spam postings, for example, people trying to sell sneakers, or perfumes. Literally, there were only two or three occasions so far that I had people who got too passionate about their subjects, and they started getting into personal attacks which had to be stopped; so these comments had to be taken off the website. But as long as you are writing something about old Hong Kong, pretty much anything is welcome. I can give you a couple of examples. We had an old picture featuring some old ice-cream delivery tricycles on Des Voeux Road in Central. Somebody saw those old photos and wrote, “My grandfather used to drive

6. Hong Kong Museum of History – Homepage. Available at: http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/ CE/Museum/History/en_US/web/mh/index.html 7. Hong Kong (& Macau) Stuff – Homepage. Available at: http://orientalsweetlips. wordpress.com/ 8. Hong Kong’s First – Homepage. Available at: http://hongkongsfirst.blogspot.jp/

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one of those ice-cream tricycles in Hong Kong”.9 That I think is a lovely story to have on our website, because it has definitely brought the whole picture to life. We have another contributor who is an expert on Hong Kong cinemas. If you look at those old photos, you often see a poster for an old movie, and this movie expert could look at the poster, and tell you the date the picture was actually taken, because he knew when the movie was played in Hong Kong. All these odd and seemingly unrelated interests, they all link up together somehow, and they all help to better describe the pictures. Why you find the culture and history of a foreign city like Hong Kong so appealing? Since you are not getting paid for what you are doing, and considering the amount of time, energy and resources that you have invested in developing this website. I have given a couple of interviews in Hong Kong recently. They asked similar questions, “Why are you doing this? Why would you want to do this, when there is no financial reward?” It might seem a bit odd here in Hong Kong, but I think it is partly a cultural difference. Back in the UK, it is quite normal to have a hobby, even when it is considered to be an “odd hobby”. But in Hong Kong, many people consider a hobby is a waste of time when you could use your time to do something else for financial reward. Then what is so appealing about Hong Kong’s history? Honestly, it is just where I am living, so that is what I write about. I find subjects to write about, by seeing something that raises a question. If you use that way to get into history, you have to write

9. “Ice-cream tricycles in Hong Kong”, see photograph at: http://gwulo.com/ node/13803#comment-22593

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about what is around you. I cannot write about Wales or England because I am not there. And I am not seeing things in Wales every day. I wrote about air-raid shelters here in Hong Kong because I walk past them every day and I have seen them many times.

Sourcing Photos When you find something interesting, is it because you find it aesthetically pleasing to you, or because it is important to our past or other people’s past in Hong Kong? It would be a lot more grand to say that. Again, it is just about my own personal curiosity. I see something and I don’t know why it is like that, so I go to look for the answer. Then I write the answer down, and that raises another question, so I go to look for that. That ongoing process of research and enquiry, I find it very exciting. There are two questions I am thinking about at the moment; both have come from some paid research I am working on, that is, sourcing old photos for a publication. First I am trying to find out who was Arbuthnot Road named after. I don’t know the answer, so I will try to spend some time to find out, and that would probably raise some other questions too. The other question is, you know that wooden cangue that used to go around a prisoner’s neck for public humiliation and corporal punishment in China? So was this wooden cangue ever used in Hong Kong? I don’t know so I tried to find out the answer. And we found an old photo of someone in a cangue, and it said it was taken in Hong Kong. But it now seems that the photo might have been taken in Shanghai instead. So every question you ask, there are more questions; and I just enjoy this ongoing enquiry process very much. It is the interest of trying to find out the answers.

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Why did the customer approach you to do the research, instead of hiring a professional historian for their history project? Coincidentally, one of the customer’s manager is also a subscriber of our Gwulo.com newsletter, which I send out on a regular basis. Since I spend a lot of time looking for and looking at old photos and writing about them, they thought that I might be able to do the same for them, so they gave me the job. The photos you are looking for, since they do not come from your website, how would you go about sourcing them? First of all is knowing which local archives have collections of Hong Kong photos. If the archives have online access, I can always search them online. In February 2013, I was in the UK for a family trip, so I used that as a chance to visit the UK National Archives10 and the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.11 I found some old Hong Kong photos there. I would also ask the subscribers to our website to see if they would know anyone else who could help me to find old photos of Hong Kong. Have there been any scholars, researchers, academics or students approached you in the past, and asked if they could use the photos from your website? Or have they asked you to provide information to help them with their research? Very minimal, and almost no requests for photographs. I was talking to someone else who runs an archive in Hong Kong, and we are talking about our Gwulo.com website. According to what he told me, people who do research here in Hong Kong often know about the Gwulo website, and they said they use it

10. The National Archives, nationalarchives.gov.uk/

London

–

Homepage.

Available

at:

http://www.

11. Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland – Homepage. Available at: http:// www.royalasiaticsociety.org/site/

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regularly. However, it is rather strange that we do not hear from them. For these people who are using our website, I am curious to know if there are professional historians or researchers, and I would like to know how we could better encourage them to join in and contribute, rather than just using our information and photos. The people we tend to hear from are mostly amateur historians with a keen interest in local history and are willing to share. So I am not sure why we do not hear from these professional historians or researchers if they are really using our website.

Rewarding Experiences and Frustrations As the creator of this Gwulo.com website, what part of such experience do you find most rewarding? I think the most rewarding part is about the people. It is great to hear from someone who lived in Hong Kong, maybe in the 1950s or 60s, and is now quite elderly. And via our photos, they are really happy to see these old areas the way they remembered, and maybe to bring back some happy memories. For the other people who are researching their family history, our website could help them undercover some little mysteries about their family background. The satisfaction and rewards were all around the people-side. Have there been situations that people were able to reconnect with their long-lost family members or learn more about their own family history via using the website? We do not have anything as exciting as re-connecting long-lost family members, but we can definitely help people to learn more about their family history. For example, it is hard to imagine what life was like in Hong Kong during the late nineteenth

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or early twentieth century, and we are able to give them some photos and to provide them with detailed information of where their ancestors lived and where they worked; or put them in the right directions in terms of “where to look” in order to continue their research. With your current Gwulo.com website, are you currently facing any major challenges and frustrations? There are lots, for example, we have far more people just reading our website than the number of people who wish to contribute. I suppose that is the nature of the web or that is how it works; but I love to encourage more people to just come in and write something or anything. For those people who are contributing to your website, are they mostly locals or foreigners? In terms of our users and subscribers, it is a really big mix. There are some Western people who have previously lived in Hong Kong, but live in overseas now. There are also other local people who have emigrated overseas, but would still like to stay in touch with Hong Kong via our website. Some of them are Western people who are currently living in Hong Kong, meanwhile some of our contributors are local Chinese people currently living in Hong Kong. So there is not just one type. The people who are contributing to your website, would they sometimes tell you why they are contributing or tell you what they have gained from using this website? In the last two to three weeks, we had someone who grew up here in Hong Kong, but moved back to the UK, and they uploaded over 100 of their own photos taken from 1960s to early 70s. I think they did it as a “thank you gesture”, telling us how much they have enjoyed using our website, and they would like to 156

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give something back in return. But all of us have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of feedback coming from these newlyadded photos. For example, other readers would tell us that, “You have got the wrong title for the photo” or “You don’t remember where it was taken, but it was actually this place…” And people would even tell you that, “You got the photo wrong way around, and it should be flipped”. And I do get thank you messages by email from time to time, which are always good to get.

Highlights of the Collection­—Wartime Diaries Any highlights of your Gwulo.com collection? We have different projects going on under our website. One that I am happy how it has turned out is our Wartime Diaries project.12 During the Japanese occupation in Hong Kong, many people kept diaries of that time, which I would like to make available. We take a diary, transcribe it, cut it up into daily entries, then people may subscribe to these wartime diaries by email. Once you become a subscriber, each day you will be sent an email with all the different diary entries from this date 70 years ago. The reader will follow the whole experience of the original authors who witnessed the war 70 years ago. They will experience it day by day for over four years. How did you find these wartime diaries? Who wrote these wartime diaries? And how did you get a copy of such diaries? There is a discussion group on Yahoo.com, which is about the Stanley Internment Camp (赤柱拘留營)13 in Hong Kong. And one

12. Gwulo: Old Hong Kong – Wartime Diaries. Available at: http://gwulo.com/70-yearsago 13. Stanley Internment Camp (赤柱拘留營). Further information available at: http://groups. yahoo.com/group/stanley_camp/

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of the members there is a 94-year-old lady who was interned in Stanley. She now lives in England, and she often mentioned extracts from her diary. As we were coming up to the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Hong Kong, I got in touch with her and she kindly agreed to send the text of her diary. Then I also asked other people, to see if they could offer more materials on the related topic. We have another diary written by the man who was the editor of the South China Morning Post14 at that time. It was supplied by his son. The editor was a Eurasian, living in Happy Valley outside of the internment camp during the Japanese occupation. He gave a very different experiences of those years during the Sino-Japanese War. I am hoping that as people read these diaries, they would come forward and tell me that, “I have also got a family diary and would like to add the diary to Gwulo.com website”. So far, we have got three very complete diaries, and we have got other people who have written about certain major incidents. For example, we are including contemporary intelligence reports from the British Army Aid Group (BAAG). They were based in China, but had spies in Hong Kong reporting on conditions here. As you can see, we are mixing all these materials together. So on different dates, subscribers obtain different angles on different events, depending on what materials we have on that day. And I am quite excited about that one. I also enjoy old maps. We take the old maps, overlaying them onto the current maps and then overlaying them onto the buildings that we know about, and allow people to explore that way. In addition, I would love to publish a book, because it could get to a different audience, and I think the book and the website

14. South China Morning Post – Homepage. Available at: www.scmp.com/

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Different people have different experiences living in Hong Kong. This photo shows people drinking tea at Happy Valley racecourse, c.1935.

can help each other. I think the people who enjoyed the website might like to buy the book to see the photos in a larger format, and people who read the book might also like to come to the website and contribute. I write an article and that goes to the subscribers, and eventually, I will compile them into a book.

Future Development Do you have plans for future developments for your website? If I had someone offered to give me a cheque tomorrow, I would pay for all the early jury lists in Hong Kong to be transcribed and be added to our website. Because from the late 1800s to 1940, during the British colonial period, the Hong Kong Government would put out a list of people who were on the jury. And on that jury list, there would be each juror’s name, occupation, company, address, which I think is a wonderful resource.

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Why do you think such jury-list is so important? Because if you search for information about someone who lived in Hong Kong in 1900, for example, the jury-list can give you a lot of useful clues. You can immediately find out where they lived and worked. By comparing lists from different years, you can track where they lived and worked over a range of years. It is very difficult to find this information any other way, so the jury lists are a wonderful resource. In what contexts or situations would such information be useful? For example, if we are doing research on a great-grandfather who previously lived in Hong Kong, with the jury-list information, we would be able to tell how long he stayed in Hong Kong. And also about his job and career and even the addresses. We are currently relying on volunteers to transfer such information onto our website, but it has been a very slow process. To be honest, I would rather pay someone to get the whole thing done.

Afterthoughts Community archives are collections of materials that tell the story of a community’s history. They may consist of photographs, documents, sound recordings, printed materials, digital media, film and other objects, a community’s very own “memory box”. Community archives are created and owned by the community. They are a great way of bringing people together. Anyone can get involved.15

15. Hampshire County Council – Community Archives. Available at: http://www3.hants. gov.uk/archives/community-archives.htm

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Community archives have the ability to alter public understanding of events and history by introducing “new and alternative narratives”.16 Therefore, it is especially important for the provenance of records being preserved in a community archive to be established.17 The Gwulo.com online resource created by David Bellis is one of the best examples of how a community archive could help collect and preserve the local history via which a diverse and yet shared cultural identity can be established, thereby enriching and nourishing the collective memory of the ever-changing city of Hong Kong.

References Beerman, Jason. “Touring Historic Hong Kong with Gwulo.com”. CNN Travel, 14 November 2011. Available at: http://travel.cnn.com/hongkong/visit/gwulo-571977 Gwulo: Hong Kong. Available at: http://gwulo.com/ Gwulo: Hong Kong. [Facebook page] Available at: www.facebook.com/ pages/Gwulo-Old-Hong-Kong/111078355627552 “Hong Kong Heritage: David Bellis from Gwulo.com”. Radio interview at RTHK Radio 3, with Annemarie Evans (presenter) on 5 January 2013. Available at: http://programme.rthk.hk/channel/radio/player_ popup.php?pid=520&eid=203170&d=2013-01-05&player=media&t ype=archive&channel=radio3 “Japanese Tunnels near Blacks Link” (2010-02-15 #5). Anonymous [YouTube video]. Available at: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=YSQLPMXpPhQ

16. Moore, Shaunna & Pell, Susan (2010). “Autonomous Archives.” International Journal of Heritage Studies 15(4): 255–268. 17. Daniel, Dominique (2010). “Documenting the Immigrant and Ethnic Experience in American Archives.” The American Archivist 73: 82–104.

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Leighton, John. “Gwulo.com – David Bellis on Old Hong Kong”. Report on a lecture given to the Hong Kong branch of the Orders and Medals Research Society at the Hong Kong Police Officers Club on 26 September 2012. Available at: www.omrs-hk.org/blog Young, Chris. “President’s Message” and “Photos of Old Hong Kong and the Tales They Tell”. Newsletter of the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch (September 2011), pp. 2 and 6. Available at: www. royalasiaticsociety.org.hk/newsletters/2011/2011_09.pdf “Photographs of Old Hong Kong and the Tales They Tell” – a public lecture to be given by David BELLIS at the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre on 2 November, 2012. “鬼佬說Gwulo”. Golden Age Magazine. March 2013. Available at: www. goldenage.hk/b5/ga/ga_article.php?article_id=1722 “港英餘業：黑白照想當年—鬼佬話 Gwulo HK”. Apple Daily. 15 September 2012. Available at: http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/ supplement/culture/art/20120915/1801667

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Appendix Statistics about Contents of Gwulo.com The following statistical data are taken from Gwulo.com at: http://gwulo.com/node/14415 2012 in numbers Pages on website

2012

2011

2010

Stories

243

213

170

Forum topics

639

525

350

Places

2,035

1,623

1,310

People

1,000

28

Photos

6,359

5,725

4,330

Diary pages

1,589

–

–

Total pages

11,865

8,114

6,160

Total comments

17,477

14,910

11,370

27

19

11

603

353

180

82

53

–

463

273

–

Jurors Lists (years) Newsletter Subscribers Email subscriptions RSS subscriptions Facebook ‘likes’ Twitter

43

33

–

1,191

712

180

71 years ago

81

–

–

70 years ago

37

–

–

250

200

157

150

113

88

1,149

919

872

Total Wartime Diaries subscribers

Website traffic (thousands) Visits Unique visitors Pageviews

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Chapter 9 The Judaic Library Serving the Jewish Community of Hong Kong

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Interview with Brenda YI

Librarian, Jewish Community Centre of Hong Kong Hong Kong has long embraced internationalism. For that reason, Hong Kong has always attracted tens of thousands of foreigners to work, live, and create new business opportunities. Among these foreigners, there are many Jewish families from different countries. In fact, the very first group of Jews came to Hong Kong during the mid-1850s. According to Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of the Jewish People, “the current Jewish community’s population in Hong Kong, as of 2010, is estimated to be approximately 5,000 and is comprised of mainly expatriates originating from countries that include United Kingdom, United States, France, Australia, South Africa, Israel and Canada who worship in seven congregations”. With the aim of further promoting Jewish culture and heritage through holiday celebrations, the Jewish Community Centre of Hong Kong (JCCHK) was built in 1995 to replace the former Jewish Recreation Club (JRC). In fact, it is the only Jewish Community Centre in Hong Kong and it serves all the Jews, from Ultra-Orthodox to Reform Jews. The Centre aims to provide communal programmes that cover a wide spectrum of interests, ranging from recreational and athletic to academic and cultural programmes, for example, seminars and lectures from renowned scholars in the fields of Jewish history, international political affairs, and Jewish genealogy, etc. Unknown to many local people, the JCCHK is also equipped with its own Library, staffed by a full-time librarian. Despite its small size, the Centre’s Library is best known for its unique Sino-Judaic archives, and is considered the best-stocked Judaic Library in the Far East. In fact, many local as well as overseas academics, journalists, historians and students come to this Judaic Library to conduct their research, because its Sino-Judaic Collection keeps all sorts of information on the Jewish communities in Hong Kong, in Mainland China, and in the neighbouring countries in South East Asia, for example, Malaysia, Myanmar, Macao, India, Singapore, etc. According to the Librarian, “It is really a ‘one-ofa-kind’ Sino-Judaic Collection”. In the following interview, Brenda YI discusses her interesting first-hand experiences as a native Hong Kong Chinese person working as a librarian for a foreign community centre in her home city.

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Self-Introduction Could you please introduce yourself, your training and your background? I have been working at the Judaic Library, Jewish Community Centre of Hong Kong (JCCJL)1 since May 1996. I am the only person working here and it is a fairly small Community Centre Library serving our members only. So you can say that I am the “solo librarian”. Our collection is made up of about 4,500 items of printed materials, plus a few hundred items of audio-visual materials. With reference to my training and background, I had previously worked for the Hong Kong Public Libraries2 for around 10 years. In 1991, I emigrated to Canada and stayed there for five years. I came back in 1996, and I have been working at this Judaic Library for 17 years since then. Have you also obtained a master’s degree in Library and Information Science (MLIS)? Is the professional library qualification also part of the job requirement? Yes, I have a degree in MLIS. Actually, since I joined the Hong Kong Public Libraries in the early 1980s, I already undertook a diploma programme in Library Science. When I went to Canada, I also studied for a diploma course in Library Science at Seneca College in Toronto. When I returned to Hong Kong in 1996, the JCCJL offered me a job as a librarian. Although the JCCJL did not require me to have a master’s degree at that time, I still thought that it would be a good idea to do further study. Hence,

1. Judaica Library, Jewish Community Centre of Hong Kong – Homepage. Available at: www.jcc.org.hk/jcc-library.php 2. Hong Kong Public Libraries – Homepage. Available at: www.hkpl.gov.hk/eindex.html

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I undertook the MLIS programme in Hong Kong. It was a joint master’s programme offered by Charles Sturt University in Australia and HKU-SPACE.3 Actually my bachelor’s degree was in business studies, which has nothing to do with libraries or information science.

The History and Role of the Judaic Library Can you give us a brief account of the history of the Judaic Library? This Library was first developed as a private library. In the 1980s, a Jewish gentleman named Dennis Leventhal donated a lot of books, which formed the basis of this Library. Mr. Leventhal returned to the United States in the late 1990s. When I first came in 1996, the Library was quite empty because we have more space in this newly-developed premise. I spent a lot of time finding books and other materials to enrich the collection of this Library, so there was quite a lot of purchasing and cataloguing in the beginning. Despite its small size, this Library has a little bit of everything. We have a strong collection on Jewish holidays and Jewish festivals because these topics are the most popular among our users. We also have a big section on Jewish fiction because our users tend to travel a lot; very often they would like to come to our Library to pick up one or two books with them while travelling. As a large percentage of our users are children or young adults, we also have a rather large collection of children’s

3. Master of Information Studies programme offered by Charles Sturt University at HKUSPACE. Available at: http://hkuspace.hku.hk/prog/master-of-info-studies

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The purpose of the Library is to provide the Jewish community with information for their spiritual needs and their use in daily lives, and Brenda has spent a lot of time to enrich the collection of the Judaic Library to serve the purpose.

literature. The children love to read stories about their religion, holidays, festivals, traditions and culture, etc. For this reason, our Library also provides a lot of picture books, story books and DVDs on these subjects for the youngsters. Would you say that you are one of the founders of this Library, establishing and developing the whole Library from scratch? No, I am not a founder. The founders are Dennis Leventhal and a Chinese gentleman called Mr. Sui-Jeung Chan. They were very devoted to keeping the Jewish tradition, history and culture. Thus they decided to start a Judaic Library. I just help develop the collection for this Library and manage its daily operations.

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What are the cultural and informational roles of this Library at the Jewish Community Centre in Hong Kong? In my opinion, this Library is quite complete in terms of its collection, because I try to buy books that cover a wide range of subjects as long as they are related to Jews and Judaism. However, due to the limited space in the Library and the budget constraints, I have to be more selective when it comes to acquiring new resources for the Library. The purpose of this Library is to provide the community members with information for their spiritual needs and their use in daily lives. For example, the section on religious studies is for the more observant members. The whole range of books on Jewish holidays can help our members to prepare for the various festivals. We also have materials on life cycles that people can consult when preparing for the occasions like Brit Milah (circumcision), Bar/Bat Mitzvah (coming of age), marriage, sickness and death, etc. Also as I said earlier, the best sellers are for people to read in their leisure time. There is also a very unique collection in the Library, that is, the Sino-Judaic Collection. It consists of books, journals and newspaper articles and multi-media items about Jews in Hong Kong, China and Southeast Asian countries. These resources are mainly for research.

Highlights of the Collection and Other Library Activities Could you tell us about the collection highlights at this Library? Our collection highlights is definitely our “Sino-Judaic Collection” which I have just mentioned. Some of the books in this collection are in fact rare books. Some are very old, and I was told that one or two books were bought from auctions. Many of 170

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Activities for children will also be held in the Library.

them are already out-of-print and they have been locked up for safe keeping. Do you have to collaborate with other departments in this Centre to co-host events and cultural activities? As the Librarian in this Centre, I do organise activities for children and also play a supporting role in events held here. Occasionally I organise competitions for young children from four to nine years old. I have done the bookmark design and book cover design competitions based on the books in the Library. Creative writing competition was also organised. The main purpose is to let children and parents to be aware of the resources we have here. Regular notice on new books is sent out to the whole Community Centre so that members know about our new additions. For major holidays or festivals, I will set up book displays, so people need not go to different places to look 171

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for information. I put the relevant materials in one place for them. Regularly there are story times for children; I would help the storytellers to identify interesting books to be read to the children. Also, students in Shorashim (equivalent to the Sunday school) come to the Library every other week. Their teacher may read a story to them or they can read on their own. Each child will sign out a book to take home too. It is always a pleasure to meet these lovely children who add life to the quiet Library. I noticed that some of your books are in Hebrew, did you receive any training in handling Hebrew-language materials? Yes, we do have a small collection of Hebrew books and it will be expanded. I have taken Hebrew classes at this Centre. Unfortunately, language is something that if you don’t use it, you lose it. I think I have forgotten most of what I have learnt apart from a few simple sentences. I will resume the study if new classes are offered in the future. How would you handle all these library materials in Hebrew in terms of cataloguing or buying new Hebrew books? I would get help from someone who knows the language and the subject matter. I would ask them for opinions on selecting the Hebrew books. When the books arrive, I will ask them to briefly tell me about the subject contents and the book titles in English. With the necessary information, I can catalogue them.

Difficulties or Barriers at Work What does it feel like to be a foreigner working for a Judaic Library? It was a bit difficult at first because I am not familiar with the subject matter. Hebrew is not a big problem because the majority 172

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of the members speak English. When I think deeper, it would not be different from managing a small special library, the subject contents of the book collection should not be an “issue”. Take a law library as an example, very often the law librarians are not exactly lawyers. Their professional knowledge may not be comparable to a practising lawyer. It is the same story with the medical librarians; how many medical librarians do you know have finished medical school? So I take this attitude and I just concentrate on the subject contents of the books that need to be processed. I am glad to tell you that I learnt a great deal about the Jewish culture and their history by cataloguing these Jewish books. My normal routine is that when I do the book selection, I will first begin by reading a lot of trade catalogues and also the book reviews. In addition, I also consider the book suggestions from the Community Centre members. When the books finally arrive, I will have to read parts of the books in order to determine the subject contents. By doing so, I have learnt about their culture, their religion, their festivals and their history. Without such basic knowledge, I would not be able to process the books at all. Having acquired the basic knowledge, the acquisitions and cataloguing parts of my work have become much easier now. However, occasionally if the subject content still turn out to be “tricky” or “not so obvious”, I would simply need to do more reading and research in order to determine what the book is really about.

You said that it was a bit difficult in the beginning; was it because you had to overcome many of the cultural and language barriers? I think the most difficult part was that I was not familiar with the subject matter and the terminology. Every culture has its own vocabulary set. At first I did not know what people were asking 173

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for because they told me in the terms that I had not heard of. However, after working with these books for some time, I have got some basic ideas of the major holidays and festivals around the year and the major happenings in the history of their race and country, and my work could proceed more smoothly. It was very rewarding to know about their festivals like Shabbat, Pesach and Hanukkah, and I know Brit Milah, Bar/Bat Mitzvah and the various wars the Jews fought in the past century to defend their country. It was a whole set of knowledge that I might never know if I do not work for this Library. And when the cookery books came, it became a very good opportunity for me to learn about the special dishes the Jews prepare for various festivals. In this regard, the Jews and the Chinese are very similar that we all make use of every occasion to hold big feasts with family and friends. I would like to think that our Library is helping the Jewish community in Hong Kong to preserve their culture, traditions and heritage by sharing and passing them down generation by generation. The mission of this Community is, “To provide a centre for all Jews living in Hong Kong, which will strengthen fellowship, enrich family life and enhance Jewish identity. The centre will be a focal point for Jewish culture, education and heritage for all members of the Jewish Community”. The Library fits in here and provides a supportive role.

What you have just described is related to the processing of the library materials. Have you also encountered any difficulties or barriers when you were interacting with the Jewish users in the beginning? In the beginning, I did encounter many difficulties; for example, they would tell me a term in Hebrew or in a vocabulary that is pertinent to their culture or religion, and I had absolutely no idea

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what they were talking about. Then I would start a reference dialogue by asking, say, “Could you please explain more to me about what you are looking for, and what do you want to do with such information?” Eventually, I was able to find something for them from the Library, from the Internet resources or the discussion group of Jewish librarians around the world. If more religious topics came up, I would consult the rabbis because they are very knowledgeable. They are the “walking encyclopedia” to me. Actually after so many years working in here, I have already mastered some basic Hebrew vocabularies. I am by now far more knowledgeable about their information needs and their reading interests within the Jewish context. This streamlines my work a lot. In case the books or materials requested are not available in our library, I would buy them in order to fill the “collection gaps”. During the initial period, when you were not able to fulfil their information needs immediately, were they being understanding and sympathetic towards your situation, or would they expect you to learn all these before you took up the position as the solo librarian at this JCCJL? They were very understanding and they still are. At the beginning, when users asked me for resources and I was not familiar with the subject matter, they were very patient in explaining to me what they were looking for. In this way I learnt a lot from them. Very often, I listen to the good books that they talk about among themselves. Being a non-Jewish has its advantages. People are more willing to teach me about their culture, history and religion. These add to my knowledge bank of Judaism. Our Centre receives a lot of visitors every year and most of them visit the Library too. I even have quite a few users and visitors asking me if I am Jewish jokingly.

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Users of the Library You mentioned earlier that the role of this Library is to support the information needs among the Jewish community in Hong Kong. So what kind of reference enquiries do you usually receive from the users of this Library? The reference questions that I receive can broadly be divided into two categories. The first category, I would say, consists of simple questions. People would ask for a particular book, or books by a certain author. They would also seek recommendations on a certain subject. On the lighter side, I receive enquiries from visitors on information on transportation and sight-seeing spots. I don’t mind being a tourism ambassador though. The other category would be in-depth research questions. The most asked topic would be the local Jewish community: how and when they came, where they came from, what their life was like, etc. This Judaic Library is the only place to answer these questions and we collect all the information on our community in all formats as far as we can. On a wider scope, researchers would ask for information on Jewish settlements in big cities in China, like Kaifeng, Shanghai, Harbin, Tianjin, etc. The Jewish community in Kaifeng has always been a very popular research topic because this is where the first Jews settled in China in the Zhou Dynasty of the Five Dynasties Period (951–960 AD). The Kaifeng Jews came from Central Asia along the Silk Road as small businessmen. Some cities are also quite popular among the Jewish community. Harbin and Tianjin are large north-eastern Chinese cities where the Russian Jews left Russia and immigrated to during World War I and the pogroms. As for Shanghai, it was an open seaport during the Holocaust, when the Nazis tried to persecute all the Jews in Europe. There were not too many countries that would issue visa for Jews to enter. China was one of the few exceptions. As a result, thousands of Jews fled Europe and entered China via the seaport in Shanghai. 176

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One of the unique collections in the library is the “Sino-Judaic Collection”, and some of the books in this collection are even rare books.

A lot of Jewish people from different overseas countries would come and tell us that they went back to Shanghai to visit the places where they lived during World War II as refugees, or to see if their old houses were still standing. Sometimes, they would pass through Hong Kong. We can often read this kind of stories from newspapers or journals. It is no surprise to hear them say, “Wow, this is the house we used to live in, and there are still people living there! And the current Chinese occupants seem to be doing well; we used to have a table here, and the bed was here and…”. So there are numerous stories of happy reunions among the Jews: stories about their nostalgic old days or fond memories that they still cling onto. Researchers come to this Library because they know that we have a Sino-Judaic Collection which collects all sorts of information on the Jewish communities in Hong Kong, in Mainland China, and in the neighbouring countries in Southeast 177

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Asia, for example, Malaysia, Myanmar, Macao, India, Singapore, etc. This collection is still growing and expanding and will continue to serve people who need the information therein. The people who are making these kinds of research questions or enquiries, are they mostly academics, professors, researchers or university students? Are they usually from local or overseas? The users include all of the above. I have also received enquiries from journalists, historians and students, some local and some overseas. The extent of the research depends on the requirement of their assignments. Some people come to the library and consult the materials if they are engaging in bigger projects while others may ask for information by email. I can give you some examples on how people use our resources and what their projects are. Once a secondary school teacher and a few students came and looked for information on the history of the local Jewish community. They also interviewed some leaders in the community. It was a multi-media project to enter a competition on cultural heritage among schools. Though they did not win any prize, I was happy to be of help to them. On another occasion, two teenage sons of a librarian friend of mine needed more in-depth information on Judaism than their own library could provide. They were studying in the UK and needed the information for their assignments. So while they were in town for vacation, they consulted the materials here. I later learnt that they got good marks on their assignments. For the overseas researchers or journalists, if they want to look for information about the Jews in China, why do they not contact the other Jewish information centres or librarians in Mainland China instead? When I first joined this Library in the 1990s, there were not so many libraries in Mainland China that had sizeable collections

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of books on Jews in China or Judaism, so most researchers would use the resources in our Library. In the past few years, there have been an increasing number of universities in Mainland China offering Jewish studies courses and they set up their own libraries. These libraries are quite well equipped with resources that are specific to their studies. So I see more and more people are heading to Mainland China for information on the local Jewish communities. But for whatever reasons, if they still choose to use our Library to supplement their research, I am more than happy to help them in any way possible.

Being the “Solo Librarian” As the “solo librarian” of a very small community library in Hong Kong, what kind of challenges are you currently facing? We had a space problem, just like any library in the world. New bookshelves have just been added, so this is not an urgent matter for the time being. But then I have the budgetary problem. I have a small budget and I always don’t have enough money to buy all that I want to add to the collection. Since there are so many new and good titles on Jewish topics being published every year, with a limited budget, I have to be very selective in acquisition. Does the senior management of the JCCJL give you a complete free hand when it comes to selecting or buying books or other materials for the Library? Basically, yes. But I also have the Jewish Historical Society of Hong Kong to help me when it comes to “big issues”. For example, for the annual book order, I would submit the suggested book list to the Society. They would examine it and make the necessary amendments. Also when there are bigger library policies involved, they would give advice or take up the matter

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with the management. In terms of the daily operations, I make the decisions. When you first came to work for this Library, did you also need a policy or maybe even a procedure manual for running this Library? There was not a formal policy at the very beginning. However things get straightened out and they form the precedent. Since it is a small library, guidelines are developed as we proceed. Since you are the only person working in this Library, why do you think a policy or a procedure manual is necessary for this Library’s daily operations? It is always nice to have a policy. When problems arise, the policy or the procedure manual can provide guidelines to handle the situation. In addition, policy and procedures are always useful when you need to justify yourself to a third party, or to the senior management on why you have made such a decision. However, as it is a small Library, a lot of things can be treated with much greater flexibility. Which part of your job do you find most rewarding? My biggest satisfaction at the beginning was seeing the Library gradually filled with books and multi-media materials. Basically, every single item in this Library was catalogued by me personally. When people ask me, “Do you have this book?” I know whether we have it or not, as my memory is still good. Later my satisfaction comes from seeing more and more people using our library. I love to see people leaving the Library with a smiling face, either they get the materials they want or they are happy with my service. My happiness also comes from people I have helped with their researches. Very often I receive thank you

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notes from users after they get the information they need. Indeed, this Library is unique in a way that we keep a lot of information on the local Jewish communities, the Jewish communities in the big cities in China, and those in the neighbouring SouthEastern Asian countries. It is really a “one-of-a-kind” Sino-Judaic Collection. In addition to books, we also collect conference papers, manuscripts, newspapers and journal clippings on various topics related to the Jews in this region. In fact, some of the items which we collect are rather unique, such as our in-house JCCHK magazines. Since you are the solo Librarian, what would happen if you go on leave or you are sick and cannot come to work? If I go on long vacation, the Library will still be open so that people at this Centre can come and use it. The users can also take out books by filling out the loan forms which we prepare for them. All of the users know where we keep the loan forms. They just need to insert the completed loan forms into this little box. When I return to the Library, I will know which books have been taken out. And if the Library is not open, they can always return the borrowed book to the Centre’s reception. Do you have anything else to add before closing this interview? As I said, this is a small but very unique Library. Though the facility is for our members only, the resources in the Library can be made available to genuine researchers who cannot find similar materials elsewhere. Over the years, there is a growing interest in Judaism, the history of the local Jewish community and Jews in Mainland China. There are more non-Jews visiting our Centre, and there are more students from local secondary schools working on assignments on Judaic topics. There are more university students and professors showing interest in Jews in Hong Kong and China. As far as I know, the academic libraries would have a special collection on Judaism if religious 181

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studies programmes are offered in the university. However given our special focus and our unique role, I am confident to say that our library is considered the “ideal place” in the Far East for conducting research on Jews, Judaism, the Jewish culture, their country, their history, as well as the Jewish communities in Hong Kong, China and Southeast Asian countries. So I would like to encourage the faculties and students of universities and theological colleges to come and use our library materials for their assignments or research. As the world is becoming a global village, we can help by making it a better place to live in by learning from each other and understanding the culture and religions of other races. Through understanding and empathy, we can minimise conflicts and live in harmony. I think it can be called “Tikkun Olam”, a Hebrew phrase for “repairing the world”.

Afterthoughts After the above interview was completely transcribed, I received a rather surprising email from Brenda telling me that she had only a few weeks remaining in her employment at the Jewish Community Centre Library, because she would be retiring at the end of 2013, and she was in the process of searching for a suitable successor. It was totally unexpected, but I am very glad that I was able to do this interview with Brenda just in time before her retirement. To conclude this chapter, as well as her long career of 30 years as a librarian, I asked Brenda if she could say something to inspire other young and soon-to-be LIS professionals. In addition, I was interested in knowing whether she felt lonely or socially isolated when she was working as the solo librarian at the JCC Library for the past decades.

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Brenda’s answers were indeed very honest, frank and straightforward: “As for my concluding line, I would say, ‘do the job you like, retire early and enjoy life while you can!’ I am absolutely doing nothing serious at this time. I am enjoying my free time and no more rushing around. Lonely? I don’t feel lonely at all. In fact I rather enjoy it. I guess it suits my character. I don’t mind desk-top work, I can meet people and do some reference work. The working environment is comparatively pleasant, in comparison, there is definitely less office politics, etc. I enjoyed my work. I loved my library job. If you enjoy what you do, you won’t feel bored or lonely”.

References Allsop, Amelia. “The Jews in Shanghai and Hong Kong – A History”. Hong Kong Heritage Project, 2011 [Youtube video] Available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiKQNblzpfs Allsop, Amelia. “The Kadoorie Estate – A Short History”. Hong Kong Heritage Project, 2011 [Youtube video] Available at: www.youtube. com/watch?v=ZfrTGmR-DZo Beit Hatfutsot, The Museum of the Jewish People. Databases. Available at: www.bh.org.il/database-article.aspx?48706 Lu, Fanny. “Jewish Refugees and Post War Hong Kong= 口述歷史訪問 3:猶太難民及其他”. Hong Kong Heritage Project, 2011. [Youtube video] Available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge9Mukgew6g Lu, Fanny. “The Kadoorie Legacy (嘉道理家族百年旅途)”. Hong Kong Heritage Project, 2011. [Youtube video] Available at: www.youtube. com/watch?v=yJJW5KOMBpU

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Interview with Ava CHAN and Grace LEE Family Planning Association of Hong Kong The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (FPAHK) is the leading non-government organisation that advocates for sexual and reproductive health in Hong Kong. The Association was first founded in 1936 as the Hong Kong Eugenics League (香港優生學會). In 1950, it changed its name officially to the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (香港家庭計劃指導會). The FPAHK was founded with the initial mission of spreading the “family planning” message. The Association is perhaps best known for its “Two is Enough (兩個夠晒數)” campaign launched in the 1970s, with the aim of tackling the social and economic burdens generated by the rapid population growth in Hong Kong. Unknown to many people, the FPAHK is also equipped with its own unique Activity & Resource Centre (ARC)/Library. Over the years, the former “Library” has evolved from a very modest “book room” for self-learning among the in-house staff to a multi-purpose Resource Centre, with the most up-to-date interactive installations to address the drastically-changing sexual health needs in Hong Kong. In the following interview, Grace Lee (Education Manager) and Ava Chan (Resource Centre Officer) at the FPAHK discuss in detail the unique services and functions offered by the ARC, as well as how they use the ARC as “gathering place” for the promotion of sexuality education for the Hong Kong society.

Self-Introduction Could you introduce yourselves, as well as your major roles and responsibilities at the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (FPAHK)? Grace Lee (GL): I am the Education Manager at The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (FPAHK).1 My core

1. The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong – Homepage. Available at: www. famplan.org.hk/fpahk/en/template1.asp?style=template1.asp&content=home/ mainpage.asp 186

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duties and responsibilities are to oversee the planning and implementation of the programmes and services on sexuality education provided by our Education Division. The range of services provided by our Association include training workshops and other education programmes for both parents and local school teachers, with the aim of enabling them with the knowledge, Grace LEE (right) skills, and confidence in delivering sexuality education for their own families, as well as school students. I am also responsible for overseeing the overall operations of the Activity & Resource Centre (ARC)2 which some people might refer it as the “Library” sometimes. Ava Chan (AC): I am the Resource Centre Officer at the ARC at the FPAHK. I am also referred to as the “Librarian”. Our Centre is located inside the FPA Jockey Club Youth Zone (家計會賽馬 會青Zone)3 which serves the young people by providing them convenient access to education programmes and resources, clinic and counselling service, etc. As the Resource Centre Officer, my major roles and duties include managing the daily operations, as well as the collection and resource development of the ARC. I also assist with the promotions of various activities for the general public and other visitors, such as the ARC study tours and summer programmes. The main functions of this ARC are to provide different educational supports to the local community, including schools, families, parents and social workers, by

2. The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong – Activity & Resource Centre – Homepage. Available at: www.famplan.org.hk/sexedu/En/arc/intro.asp 3. FPA Jockey Club Youth Zone (家計會賽馬會青Zone). Further information available at: www.famplan.org.hk/sexedu/en/arc/intro.asp 187

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providing a convenient and yet centralised access to educational programmes and other printed materials and online resources for self-learning and other research purposes. Our Centre also allows users to borrow or even purchase our in-houseproduced publications, audiovisual materials, as well as education kits (in either Chinese or English) for education Ava CHAN (second right) purposes. The ARC is open to the general public in Hong Kong.

About the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (FPAHK) Could you briefly describe the history and establishment of the FPAHK? More importantly, what contributions the Association has made to the Hong Kong society? GL: The FPAHK has over 60 years of history, and it dates all the way back to the 1950s. It began as a volunteer group, and the initial mission of the FPAHK was to spread the “family planning” message, with the aim of responding to the rapid population growth in Hong Kong. During the early 1970s, the average number of births per family in Hong Kong was simply overbearing, creating both social and economic burdens on the couples as well as on the society. In order to tackle the situation, the FPAHK started its “Two is Enough (兩個夠晒數)” campaign.4

4. 香港家庭計劃指導會 1975 宣傳廣告-兩個夠晒數[YouTube video] Available at: www. youtube.com/watch?v=1xSKWUZExbo

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About 30 to 40 years ago, our services were limited to the promotion of family planning, including provision of information and service on contraception and birth control. As time went by, since the late 1970s and early 1980s, the population growth in Hong Kong has slowed down gradually. At the same time, we witnessed an increasing need for sexuality and health education among different social classes in Hong Kong society. The demands for sexual and reproductive health education, including premarital examination and women’s health and illnesses were simply increasing. Among which, sex and love education for teenagers and young adults was no doubt in great demand. For that reason, starting from the 1970s, the FPAHK has started to develop a wide range of sexuality education programmes to advocate adolescent sexual health among the secondary school students in Hong Kong. With further years of development, the services and functions provided by the FPAHK have become increasingly versatile as well as diversified in order to meet the fast-changing needs and expectations of the Hong Kong society. In addition to providing sexuality education programmes to local secondary school students, we have also developed other education programmes at different levels for different social groups, for example, young children, adolescents and youths, university and college students, parents, volunteers, social workers and school teachers.

The Activity & Resource Centre How about the development of the ARC? Has there always been a library or a resource centre of some sort since the first day the FPAHK was established? GL: The ARC used to be called the “Reference Library”. During the early days, the Reference Library was only meant to provide basic learning and reference materials for the FPAHK inhouse staff for self-learning and staff-development purposes. 189

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The ARC used to be called the “Reference Library”.

However, owing to the fact that we had a large portion of the library collection focused on family planning and sexuality/ love education, and with such a strong concentration and our centralised location for access to such materials, since the 1980s the FPAHK has decided to open the library to the general public, with the hope that people outside the Association, including parents, social workers, volunteers, school teachers as well as students, could also make good use of the collection for teaching and self-study purposes. In order to encourage usage and access among the general public, we did not implement a membership system for using our library at that time. Are you saying that there was already a small library built inside the Association since the mid-1950s? GL: Yes, but the library was of very small scale at that time. Since the original library was so small and with so few and limited resources, we would only call it a “resource room” (資源室) instead of a library.

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Table 10.1 List of subject categories/range of materials available at the ARC Subject categories 00*

Reference Books

01

Adolescence and Sexuality

02

Sexuality Education

03

Psychological Health

04

Sexual Assault & Sexual Harassment

05

Family Life Education

06

Marriage & Family

07

Between the Sexes

08

Sex Life

09

Sexual Orientation

10

Sexual & Reproductive Health

11

Reproduction

12

Pregnancy & Neonatal Care

13

Women’s Health

14

Men’s Health

15

Health Care

16

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

17

Family Planning

18

Demography

19

Gender Studies

20

Sexuality and the Media

21

Sexuality Cultures

22

FPAHK Services

23*

Social Work & Services

24*

Education and Learning

25*

Organisational Management

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With reference to the ARC, who or which organisation in Hong Kong provides the funding for it? How many people does the ARC employ? GL: We receive regular funding from the Department of Health5 to support the personnel emoluments and expenses, such as purchasing of resource materials. In terms of staffing at the ARC, in addition to our Resource Centre Officer, there is also one fulltime clerk, plus one part-time clerk responsible for running the daily operations of the ARC. How many items does the ARC hold and what range of materials does the ARC provide? GL: With reference to our ARC’s collection, we have about ten thousand items, of which 90% are books and journals, 10% are multimedia items, such as DVD-ROM, teaching kits, models, games and exhibition panels, targeting different communities, including children and youth, families, couples, teachers, social workers and healthcare professionals. The ARC is also equipped with installations of multimedia games and unique exhibits to help visitors acquire six key concepts of sexuality in a fun and relaxing way.

Training and Knowledge of Librarians Since this ARC is housing such unique collections catered for very special user groups, what special knowledge did you need to acquire before serving as the manager of this Resource Centre? AC: My specialty is library and information management, and I also obtained the master’s degree in Library and Information

5. Department of Health, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region – Homepage. Available at: www.dh.gov.hk/eindex.html

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Science. Obviously, the resources, facilities and setup of our ARC are very different from that of a regular academic library. For example, the resources at our ARC are arranged and classified under the categories related to sexual and reproductive health, and sexuality education, such as gender studies, sexual orientation, men’s and women’s health, family and school sexuality education. On the surface, we are not that much different from a small-scale public library. However, on an operational level, we tend to put more emphasis on community development and outreach and educational programmes. For example, the ARC hosts various youth programmes and guided tours for the local primary and secondary school students on a regular basis. This is something which I think sets us apart from a regular public library.

Since your users are so diverse, do your colleagues also need to undertake other additional or special training, for example, learning a different set of skills, knowledge for serving or interacting with the users? AC: That is correct. For example, we have many parents coming to the ARC. These parents would expect us to have substantial knowledge in sex and love education, and be ready to answer any and all of their questions at any time. Under such circumstances, we will try our very best to introduce them to the different resources available inside the ARC, and hopefully, they could find something from the Centre that could meet their expected information needs. GL: Please allow me to further explain. When we are hiring people to work for our Association, we always look for someone who is non-judgemental in a moral or religious sense. We prefer someone who possesses a rather open and accepting attitude towards sexuality, that is, an attitude align to the FPAHK’s organisational goals and practices. For example, during our discussions with the young people, some of them might be totally 193

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against the act or even the idea of premarital sex. However, from our Association’s perspective, we will emphasise that premarital sex is a matter of choice and personal preference between two grown adults. In other words, instead of telling these young people what they “should do” or “should not do”, our colleagues would teach them how to develop a positive and correct attitude towards sex, so that these young people could make wise, informed and responsible decisions about their own actions. For this reason, when we are serving our users, we always try to refrain from judging. We truly understand that there is a strong demand for sexuality education in Hong Kong, and we do very much hope that our job applicants or candidates would already be competent in sexuality education by the time of appointment, but what is more important for our Association is for them to have an open, accepting and non-judgemental attitude towards sex. I think such employee “selection criteria” set us aside from other voluntary organisations or information centres.

Library Collections about Sex In many Asian societies, people do not openly talk about sex. Have you encountered any users who feel shameful or embarrassed in articulating their needs? What kinds of techniques would you use to ease their burdens? GL: From my own personal perspective, for many parents, if they have already decided to come to our Association or to the ARC to seek help it means that the issue or problem has already been started, or it has turned into “problem” that they cannot managed by themselves. That is why they came to us for help. In order to ease their worries and fears, we need to try our best to demonstrate that we care about them, and we understand their situations, followed by providing our services and resources according to their different needs and problems.

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The ARC is also equipped with installations of multimedia games and unique exhibits.

In addition, although Ava operates most of the time alone at the ARC, whenever the ARC receives any special requests or demands from our users, the Education Division colleagues will always be there to provide any additional supporting services or follow-up care, with services ranging from volunteer workers to consultation services for school teachers and parents, etc. Furthermore, in case some of the parents are not satisfied with our existing ARC collections or the readily available electronic resources, our professionals and experts from the other operational units within our Association can also come to provide them with further assistance if necessary. There is already much information that one could easily find or harvest via the Internet, why do you think people still chose to come to the ARC instead of searching Google for their desired information? GL: In my opinion, under our ARC, the theme of sexuality education is considered “healthy”. Our ARC collection on

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sexuality education is also very rich and comprehensive, and our Centre’s facilities are also very resourceful. Other than the printed books, many of our teaching resources are interactive to better able to engage young people for self-learning purposes. In addition, the environment inside the ARC is also very inviting and attractive, and the classification of our ARC resources is also very detailed and yet easy to follow. For many college and university students, when they have to write term papers or conduct research on sex or sexual behaviours, they would choose to come to the ARC at FPAHK to collect their research materials. It is simply because the information available here is so complete and comprehensive. At the same time, the FPAHK is a volunteer organisation with a long history, we have almost become an “icon” for sexuality education in Hong Kong. To many Hong Kong people, even to many local school teachers, as long as it is related to sexuality education or sexual health education, they will immediately think of the FPAHK. The resources available at our ARC are also very centralised and yet complete, in comparison to what one can find at a regular public library. Although one can always find a large amount of information via the Internet, no one could guarantee that all information found on the Internet is always correct. The quality of the Internet resources can never measure up to those available at the ARC; the Internet resources simply cannot replace what we could do for our users at the Association. On top of your collection of literature on sexual culture, it seems that the ARC also holds a large section of Chinese erotic fiction or translated erotic stories, for example, The Plum in the Golden Vase (金瓶梅). What is the purpose of having such erotic fiction in the Collection, and what target audience do they serve? GL: With reference to such classical Chinese erotic literature, for example,《金瓶梅》, which you just mentioned, we could learn so 196

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much about the traditional values and attitudes towards sexuality in ancient China. When we talk about China, the first thing that comes to people’s minds are usually “repressive”, “conservative”, and “sex is a topic that cannot be discussed in public or with parents”, especially when it comes to the topic of homosexuality. In fact, the long tradition of erotic literature in China can date all the way back to the sixteenth century. Such traditional erotic literature allows us to better understand the different cultural and social factors contributing to the evolution of sexual attitudes in Chinese history, as well as the major events that were influential to such evolution during different time periods. They actually enable us to obtain an overview on how we arrive at the sexual attitudes and behaviours in today’s society. Perhaps, such classical Chinese fictions do not seem to have much relevance to our modern-day life on the surface; however, on a deeper level, from a cultural or social perspective, such classical literature is closely associated with the values, attitudes and behaviours towards sex in modern-day Hong Kong.

Functions and Roles of the FPAHK With more and more people recognising the important functions and roles of the FPAHK, what challenges and difficulties are you currently facing? AC: Speaking of challenges, the Education Division of the FPAHK has already developed a series of resources catering for sexuality education, which include sex-education-related books and education kits, toys, interactive AV resources, and web classroom, etc. Such educational resources are indeed unique, and are only available at our FPAHK ARC because they are mostly produced in-house. At the same time, finding an effective way to expand our ARC resources has become one of our major challenges. I 197

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managed to find many resources related to sex or sexuality education, but many of such resources are published in Taiwan or by other overseas publishers. The contents of such foreignpublished resources might not always be 100% appropriate to our local audience in Hong Kong. Having said that, adding such foreign resources to the ARC might be a good way to supplement or complement our existing collection, for example, filling the gaps in our collection, in terms of both subject contents and formats. For that reason, when we are sourcing materials or other resources from overseas, we always have to consider how to make them applicable to the local Hong Kong context, that I think is the most challenging part for the ARC. Is it similar to other school or academic libraries that the ARC also has low and peak seasons, or the demands for its services have always been very even throughout the whole year? AC: Unlike other school or academic libraries, the seasonal differences are not always that obvious for us. However, based on our observations and statistics, there seems to be more parents coming to use our ARC resources during the long summer and winter holidays. Having taken various school-related factors into consideration, when we host the outreach or educational activities for the young adults or teenagers, we always try to schedule them either before or after their major examinations, with the aim of encouraging the attendance rates. In addition, when we host the major events during the long summer or winter holidays, we will also allocate more resources and manpower to station at the ARC in order to respond to the increasing number of users. With reference to the ARC, what other extra functions or services do you provide for your users? GL: Since we are called the Activity & Resource Centre, one of our specialties is to launch various kinds of outreach and

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educational activities for our teenage users. As mentioned earlier, the ARC used to function merely as a small “for-in-house-staffonly” library for reference and self-learning purposes, but at the same time, we also hoped to reach as many students or teenage users as possible via our library services. Unfortunately, this younger user group did not come to check out the books from our former library. For this reason, we decided to expand the former library and to convert it into the current ARC. Such conversion has included the installation of a number of interactive facilities for self-learning purpose. At the same time, we also preserved the original “reference library” functions. The whole idea of the ARC is to equip ourselves with the most up-todate technologies, facilities and other resources, complemented with a very attractive environment; all with the aim of attracting more young audience members to use our resources at the ARC.

For a non-profit organisation like the FPAHK, is it very difficult to measure its successes or the effectiveness of various activities or programmes implemented by the Association via the ARC? GL: That is correct. In comparison to many profit-making organisations, we do not always have many clear indicators or financial spreadsheets that we could measure our success or effectiveness. Education is like “planting the seeds”; it is a long process and could take time for the results and benefits to become self-evident; and very often, they cannot be measured by sheer numbers or financial gains. This is indeed the “trickiest” part of education for the society as a whole. For example, it would take a long time and many efforts for someone to change his or her attitude towards sexuality via education – because changing someone’s attitudes and mindset is simply a very long process. It could take a few months or maybe even years. For that reason, the ultimate goal of our Association is to tell everyone in Hong Kong that they are welcome to seek supporting services from the

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FPAHK anytime, if they need any help regarding sex and love education.

Roles as the FPAHK Librarian Ava, although you bear the title of a librarian, the nature of your job seems to gear more towards a social worker, do you agree? AC: Generally speaking, about 30 to 40 per cent of my working time is spent on answering enquiries from parents. But my core duties still remain on managing the daily operations of the ARC. Because without a well-equipped and fully operational library or resource centre to serve as a central gateway for our Association, promoting and educating sexual health to the general public would simply be impossible or very difficult. Would you say that your previous experience has helped you a great deal in terms of identifying users’ needs or anticipating their needs? What part(s) of your work do you find most rewarding? AC: I would say being able to answer parents’ questions satisfactorily, being able to help them to find solutions to their problems, and to ease their concerns and worries, these are definitively something that I find most rewarding. Many of these parents come to us with their worries and fears. They have a lot of trust in us and truly believe that we are the only one who could help them. If I could in any way help them solve their problems, this gives me a real sense of satisfaction that I could not derive from simply managing the book circulation activities. And since I am the only manager working at the ARC, I get a lot of freedom on how I want to manage the Centre’s daily operations, ranging from circulations, collection and resource development to designing the workflow, etc.

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Compared to a regular school library, the ARC can offer far more resources and manpower to work with. For that reason, on many occasions, I could really translate my ideas and plans into actual actions and practices. Actions in terms of implementing actual programmes or activities that could fulfil our users’ needs. This is something which I found truly satisfying and rewarding. The Association’s Education Division also gives us a great deal of support when it comes to the overall planning and implementation of the ARC’s activities. Because we have such a wonderful working relationship, we are able to maintain a very “open” attitude, which is willing to listen to each other’s views, comments and suggestions in a positive way. I think this is the core reason why we have been so successful in terms of maximising the educational potentials of the ARC. Such a working environment is indeed very positive in terms of building high working morale among colleagues, enabling us to work together towards the same goals and ideals that are beneficial for both the Association and our Centre users. Could you describe your typical day at work at the ARC? Would you say that your daily work is very routine, or is it different drastically from day to day? AC: With reference to my work at the ARC, every day is almost completely different. Answering users’ enquiries is part of my daily routine. But for some days, I might spend more time in handling membership matters, selling in-house publications and other in-house-produced education materials to our users. Whereas for other days, I might spend more time on giving out information about our Centre’s functions and services, etc. Occasionally, the ARC will receive unexpected or last-minute visits from different local and overseas groups. We will have to immediately put our library work aside and receive these visiting groups or guests, showing them around the ARC.

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Changes in Users’ Needs and Demands Have you witnessed any major changes in the users’ needs, demands or even preferences? Is the ARC a wonderful place for observing the different social changes happening in Hong Kong? AC: My working experience at the ARC has allowed me to better understand what “education” is about; how “education” should be carried out; and what is considered “successful education”. For a school library, the major library users were school students. From my observation, many student users came to the library because they wanted to finish their projects or assignments. Two main performance indicators of the school library would be the number of books borrowed by the students and the number of book reports submitted by them. These were the things that the school library staff would be focusing on, or interested in. However, I am kind of doubtful that the actual reading culture among the students could be truly reflected through such performance indicators. On the other hand, working at the ARC, through the daily interactions with our users has enabled me to develop an empathy for our users, that is, to really try to understand their needs, their concerns and their situations and to express our care for them via the ARC’s services, instead of just doing it as a regular routine of my job. This, I think, is also the “essence” of education, and is something very valuable that I have learnt during my time working at the ARC. As the ARC holds many unique resources and collections not available elsewhere, many users would come to us with the expectation that, “What I am looking for must be available at ARC”. However, it is not always the case. For example, some school teachers would prefer electronic resources or educational kits that are more interactive. For such requests, we always suggest them to use our E-resources available online (性教育網頁

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上的互動教室).6 As you can see, some users are very confident and

competent in using new technologies, and they always want to look for the most up-to-date information, and to obtain as much information as possible. At the same time, there are always other teachers, volunteers and social workers who prefer traditional printed educational guides in paper form. So the issue lies in our hands, that is, how to make our resources widely available in different formats, so that we could fulfil the very diverse needs among our users, at the same time allowing us to achieve the same goals and end results. This is something that we need to take into serious consideration when we are preparing and launching our publications or resources. GL: Based on my observations, parents and volunteer workers who came to use our resources in the past mainly aimed at upgrading their own knowledge via further self-reading, as they felt inadequate in the area of sexuality education. In other words, the needs for self-learning and self-development among parents and volunteer workers or teachers were greater. Whereas nowadays, many school teachers would expect us to provide them with educational packages, kits, handouts, pamphlets or even practical techniques or guides which they could use immediately and directly on their students when they return to school. These I would say are the major differences. Are you saying that people expect more ready-to-use resources nowadays, so that they themselves do not need to invest a lot of time and efforts on preparing the materials themselves? GL: That is correct. Nowadays, people would expect us to provide them with resources or information packages (including

6. FPAHK Sexuality Education Website (家計會性教育網頁). Available at: www.famplan. org.hk/sexedu/en/index.asp

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CD-ROMs, kits, etc.) that are readily available and ready-touse, so that they do not need to spend much time and effort in figuring out how to operate them, or how such materials could be applied to their own teaching in the classroom environment. On the contrary, in the past, many users (especially school teachers) would use our Library resources for self-learning and selfdevelopment purposes to fulfil their individual learning needs, to deepen their own knowledge of different aspects of sexuality education, and to broaden their own thinking so that they themselves could become more effective sex educators or better social workers. In addition, in the past, our training workshops would spend more time on exploring individuals’ attitudes towards sex and sexuality, including identifying appropriate solutions to problems related to the doubtful values about sexuality. Whereas for today, instead of self-exploring, the users would come directly to ask for practical techniques, in the form of readily available education packages that they could use directly on their students as part of the integrated resources for their school curriculum. Having said that, the wide use of such ready-to-use resources among the local school community could unify and ensure the standards of sexuality education carried out among the different schools. In addition, by encouraging school teachers to bring students to take part in the guided tours at our ARC, such arrangements would allow the students to have direct, first-hand exposure to the resources, facilities and exhibitions held at the ARC. In fact, many of our exhibitions and facilities are interactive. This guided-tour arrangement will also save the trouble of teachers from bringing our educational kits back to schools and explain it one more time to the students. It would allow students to engage directly with our facilities and resources. Hopefully, both the students and the teachers will leave with long-lasting impression of the FPAHK.

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Afterthoughts While I was browsing through the Internet, I stumbled across a book entitled, For Sex Education, See Librarian. I do not think I could find any better words for describing the work carried out by the librarian at the FPAHK. The stories and experiences shared by Grace and Ava are indeed undeniable evidence illustrating how versatile and multitasking a librarian could be. Their stories tell us how much more we could do for our users in addition to providing the traditional cataloguing and circulation services. For example, what extra steps librarians could take to identify and to understand the needs of our users. Their unwavering commitment to listen to their clients’ problems and to address their concerns, and the time and effort they spent on building a trusting relationship with their clients are no doubt admirable examples for other LIS professionals to follow.

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Interview with Kitty BUT and Robert TRIO

Hong Kong Maritime Museum Established in 2005, the Hong Kong Maritime Museum (HKMM) is a relatively new private museum that aims to collect all forms of materials related to the development of boats, ships, maritime exploration and trade, and naval warfare on the South China coast, as well as its adjacent seas. The Museum not only serves as a unique platform for teaching and learning of the local heritage in Hong Kong, it also contributes greatly to the promotion of community engagement and social connections. The HKMM is also equipped with its own museum library, called the CSSC (China State Shipbuilding Corporation) Maritime Heritage Resource Centre. In addition to supporting various research activities carried out by the Museum, this resource centre also serves as a central, and yet comprehensive repository for publications, and other archival documents on maritime heritage and history related to Southeastern China. In the following interview with Robert Trio (Project Officer for Technology, HKMM) and Kitty But (Librarian, CSSC Maritime Heritage Resource Centre), they will discuss the new roles of the HKMM, as well as the new problems and challenges faced by the reform of the Museum.

Self-Introduction Shall we begin by introducing yourselves? Kitty But (KB): I am the Librarian for the CSSC Maritime Heritage Resource Centre, and I believe this is quite a special library. It started from an in-house library and is now open to the general public. Robert Trio (RT): And the core of the collection came from the first fellow Dr Stephen Davies who was appointed as the Museum Director. KB: The reason why I joined this Museum as a librarian is that I could fully utilise my experiences and expertise as both an

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archivist and a librarian, as I have professional experiences in both fields. Since our Library Resources Centre is still at an infancy stage, I hope that I will have many opportunities to use my experiences and expertise here. Right now, we already have a fair amount of museum-plus-archive Robert TRIO and Kitty BUT materials to look after. In addition, we need to start collecting archives based on the Hong Kong maritime subjects, for example, the shipping industries, historical records, and personal historical records.

Robert, could you tell us a bit more about your background, and how your expertise could contribute to the whole setup of this Museum? RT: I am from the United States. I am currently serving as the Project Officer for Technology for the HKMM. I think that the biggest advantage I have is that I am not from Hong Kong. I think often that, what I do is to say “this is special about Hong Kong” and that many people of Hong Kong don’t realise it is special, because it is a commonplace to them. And I think working with someone like Kitty, I had the opportunity to continually pull back and say, “That is really special!” and to be able to make those observations. My work background is in museums. Ever since I was young, I have worked in the museum field in one way or another. My most recent position was with the US Government in the Office of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which is the federal agency overseeing museums and libraries in the United

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States. Prior to coming here, I had the opportunity to kind of walk this line of thinking about libraries and museums, and how they work very closely together. I think partnering between the two institutions is a standard procedure nowadays. Did you study museum science or studies? RT: I earned my master’s degree in Museum Studies from John Hopkins University, and I have a bachelor’s degree in History.

About the Museum Library and the Maritime Museum Could you tell us more about this Museum Library? KB: We first joined the library in September 2012, and were situated in a very small office at Murray House in Stanley. In the office there were a couple of bookshelves, and there were about 1,000 books, majority in English. The books were acquired through the former Director, Stephen Davies, who now works as the researcher of the Maritime Heritage Research Centre. He is also the leading person to come up with the storylines for our new museum galleries. Dr Davies is a historian, a philosopher and a politician. He taught politics; so during his academic career he purchased books mainly on maritime-related topics. He loves this subject; and as all the books are supporting materials to his research, there are a lot of gaps that need to be filled. Our biggest collections are on the History and Shipping sections, Naval Architecture as well. Then, thanks to Robert, he told the Museum Director that they needed a professionally trained librarian, not just the head of the Resource Centre, but someone with library knowledge to look after all the materials and resources kept inside the Resource Centre; so they started recruiting a Museum Librarian, and I was lucky enough to be appointed. 210

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The Hong Kong Maritime Museum is a private museum telling the history about trade and maritime in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta.

Is this Museum funded under the Hong Kong LCSD1? KB: No, we are not funded by the LCSD. We are a private museum. Is HKMM the only private museum in Hong Kong? KB: No, the Hong Kong Medical Museum2 is also private. Who was the founder of the HKMM? RT: In 2002, the first donors primarily came from the Hong Kong Shipowners Association;3 they came together and recognised the need for Hong Kong to have a maritime museum.

1. Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Information available at: www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/home.php 2. Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences. Information available at: www.hkmms.org. hk/ 3. Hong Kong Shipowners Association. Information available at: www.hksoa.org/

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The Need for a Maritime Museum Why is there a need for a maritime museum? KB: Why don’t we need one? How was Hong Kong built? What significant industry brought Hong Kong to what it is today? It is the maritime: from a small fishing village, to shipping, to now logistics. It is the biggest and most important reason why we have Hong Kong now. In the past, we were not a very maritime city. Even compared to Macau, the port of the Macau City was much longer than Hong Kong. The reason was that Macau was colonised by the Portuguese and began to develop the city at least 400 years earlier than us. But after Britain took over Hong Kong, we have always been number one, because of the geographical location and its situation. How are we going to tell the young generation if you and I forget about this part of the history? And I think that is the reason why these donors come together and have been trying to persuade the Hong Kong Government that we need a maritime museum in Hong Kong. If Macau can have a very established maritime museum, why don’t we have one as well? But it is politics of course, and I believe we have the coastal defence, the centre of the fire-fighting boat thingy. RT: You know this is where I would play my out-of-town card. When I spoke to people, and showed them where I worked, they would say, in Chinese it doesn’t say “Maritime Museum”, it says “Museum of Sea Matters”. What really struck me is that it is a much more accurate way of thinking of this institution. We focus on the matters of the sea, not just history. That was really the key for me to understand why this institution is needed by the community. It is a repository for people’s collective memories, but also a place to recognise and to remind them who they are now. And to remind us where we came from? KB: Yes. From my point of view, Hong Kong never respected our own local heritage, and never understood how to preserve

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our heritage. We are very lucky to have these people, the donors, to contribute everything they have into the Museum. Some of them also contribute their time and efforts to the promotion, the acquiring of new objects and in making connections. So being able to take part as a team member is an honour, because now I think I am actually part of Hong Kong; and I never had that sense of belonging before. And my grandmother was a fisherwoman, and we might all have relatives relating to the sea. It’s just all behind our minds.

Relocation of the Museum This Museum was originally located in Murray House Stanley, Hong Kong, why are you relocating to the Central Pier? RT: The opportunity arose when they started developing the idea of the Museum. The Hong Kong Government owned the Murray House, and they were planning to use the Murray House as a multi-purpose space, with lots of restaurants and shops. I think it just happened that the vacancy was available at Murray House at that time. Obviously, one of the main factors was that Stanley has a very strong connection to the sea. It is also where the Tinhau Temple4 is located. KB: The Museum was open to the public in 2004, but since 2005 they started preparing for the relocation because they saw the limitation of space in very short years. We had many objects, but we could not show them to the public when we were at Stanley. Even for this current location, as far as I have heard from the curatorial team, we still don’t have enough space for our objects. So they started looking for places for relocation in 2005. They made a report to the Hong Kong Government based on different

4. Tin Hau Temple in Hong Kong. Information available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Tin_Hau_temples_in_Hong_Kong

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factors. Then around 2009, when they were re-developing this area, the Government decided to rent us the current location based on a long-term loan. We have to pay a very limited fee, but we are still struggling; because it is a government property, we might have to move out one day. The Resource Centre is growing quite fast. We need to collect a lot of Chinese materials. In the past, they were not too concerned about the Chinese materials, and I hope that we can find a way to collect more Chinese historical records and rare books as well. It is just so heartbreaking to see all the valuable and rare materials found in the Library of Congress, the British Library, but not in National Library of China. Some of them could be found in Taiwan, which is also a Chinese-speaking country, but not in Hong Kong.

Challenges Faced by the Museum Library How many records are there in the Library? What are the major challenges you have been facing? KB: The library catalogue has 1,700 items, but in fact I found another 500 during the moving and we have about 2,500 items of books in total. Optimally, I want to provide the best library records for everyone to browse online. I think the second task Robert and I are working on is to undertake some digitalisation projects. But as I said we need to find money and partners. When I first looked at the library cataloguing records done by the Museum staff, I found that they used some kind of inhouse software developed by the Museum as a cataloguing tool. I immediately realised that our first challenge was to separate the Library collection from the Museum collection. It also happened to be the same time when Robert advocated building a new website for the Museum. One of the major reasons people requested a new website was because they needed a centralised platform which could 214

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Kitty has to redo the cataloguing work when she realised that the early cataloguing does not work for the general public.

guide the users to the library online catalogue (OPAC) for searching. However, the Museum’s in-house software did not support Unicode and also many diacritical marks. As a result, how to create an effective and efficient library catalogue was a rather major task from the beginning. We needed to set up a library catalogue that could support the cataloguing of Chinese books. Nowadays, we can’t work without Chinese materials. RT: Thinking about the challenge Kitty found, you will find that museums people think very differently than library people. When you look at the early cataloguing of books, they were all categorised from a museum’s point of view. What I mean is that museum people tend to think of everything as a unique object; there is only one of these in the world. But library people tend to think of how this is one of many objects that contains this idea. KB: And how to share this information, and classify and catalogue the materials. 215

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RT: Yes, and the whole idea of creating subject headings, how to write summaries of books. It is a very different point of view from the museum perspective. KB: I mean I would have to re-work on the cataloguing of all these books that you see on the shelves; because they either not have or have not used the standardised subject headings. So for people like students, it would be very hard for them to find these books. The museum people or the researcher would say, “I don’t need that, I know where it is, I know what it looks like on the cover”, and that is the challenge, to make the museum colleagues understand. The re-working process was really time-consuming. And if we clean up and standardise our cataloguing practice, I hope that one day, we could contribute our library cataloguing records to the OCLC WorldCat, and to the other maritime museum libraries as well. If we don’t have a set of standards to follow, we cannot really share our information across other museums or libraries. RT: I think what you are saying about standards is very important. If you never intend to show your records to anyone outside your organisation, standards are not as important. But as the Resource Centre grows, and thinking about consortiums and being able to share your information across, library loans or whatever, you have to have standards.

The Intricate Relationship between the Resource Centre and the Museum KB: But the main challenge here is how to bring the Library ideas into the Museum setting. That is why I am glad to have my museum colleague Robert working with me in this situation, because the museum mind-set and the library mind-set are totally different. I would not say that I am a very traditional librarian,

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but I do believe there are certain rules and theories and practices behind what we do as practising librarians and practising museum curators. But since the very beginning, it has been so difficult to explain or persuade my other museum colleagues that why we have to do this or that for the sake of the library’s operations. RT: Both libraries and museums contain collections. But the main difference is that the purpose behind the museum tends to focus on presentation, that is, presenting information to the public with a specific point of view. While libraries tend to say, “Here is the collection, you explore on your own! You choose what section to look at”. KB: And this is why we always come into conflicts, conflicts on whether this item belongs to the library collection or it should be treated as a museum object. For me as a librarian, any library book item should be made easily accessible to all users. For example, we have a special library collection section, and we have the first edition of Homer Fairchild in it; but I don’t want to have it locked up in a safe, and not to allow anyone to have access to it. That is simply against the purpose of collecting and managing the library materials. Because there might be information that should be free for access for everyone. For this Museum Library, the original idea was to cater to just a small group of people, that is, scholars. It is a special library, but the subject of maritime is very big. Under the theme of maritime, you can include history, geography, art, politics, economics, and law; it can range from being very general to very specific. As a librarian, obviously, I don’t want people to come and say, “Kitty, the Resource Centre is the least valuable place in the entire Museum organisation”, especially we are not making any revenue, which makes it even harder for us to justify the resources and manpower invested into keeping the library running.

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My other challenge is that, based on this set of readilyavailable collections, how am I going to attract more people to come to use the library? How to make the library special collection more special and appealing to general users? How to generate more profits? Would digitalising the existing materials be one of the more effective solutions? But how do we get the money for doing the digitalisation projects? There are a lot of questions and issues involved which I really did not expect when I first picked up the job. Before joining this Museum Library, I was only working at a school Library. But on the other hand, this special Museum Library offers a lot of freedom. Because we are not part of the Hong Kong Government, we have a lot of freedom in choosing what books to be acquired. We are also going to build a youth collection to cater for the local primary- to secondaryschool students. I believe it will be the first museum or library in Hong Kong, which will have this kind of special educationrelated focus. The other thing we have to build up is our collection. It needs to be more diverse to match with our museum objects. For example, a visitor might be interested in certain paintings and I hope that one day, when you finished viewing the paintings, you can come down to the Resource Centre and find more information on particular painters and the paintings. Currently, we don’t have that kind of support to do that. The next function for the Resource Centre is to play a supportive role to entertain certain research enquiries. We do have a lot of enquiries from different scholars, and I would like to do more research inquiries if I have the time. It will be quite fun, and then by doing that we hope we can generate some knowledge which we can share on our website, including producing publications and presenting papers, to make people understand that special libraries are not just for a small group of people, but can also be for the general public as well.

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The Museum Library and the General Public Has the Museum Library been opened to the public yet? KB: No, it was always internal. But we are going to change that. Currently, one of the museum colleagues would do the book cataloging, but she is not a qualified librarian. We don’t have a qualified archivist as well. But this is something I would like to do. Once the Museum gets started, I will do a qualification in archiving, so maybe that will help build up the museum archives. We work really hard to build the connections with others, not just maritime museums, but resource centres and libraries around the world, and sometimes The archives in the Museum could let people individuals for know how Hong Kong is connected to the even world by ships. acquiring archival materials, especially photos. One of my major roles currently is copyright clearance for the images we need to use for the exhibitions. I contribute almost all my time for doing that. Now I found that this is one of the ways we can make money for the Resource Centre.

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What can the visitors expect to see at this Museum? RT: The galleries at the Pier are thematic. But the idea is that each gallery focuses on different topics. China’s maritime history is one of them; the Canton Trade and underwater ecologies of Hong Kong are the others. We also have a section on sports, so it is going to be very diverse.

How are they related to Hong Kong? RT: The Great Canton Trade connected Hong Kong to the world. KB: You really have to spend time to look into the galleries, and some of the books at the Resource Centre. You will definitely realise how the world is rounded up and connected by ships. RT: For example, when I first came to the Museum, there was a plate on display, and it was made here in the Huang Cho Area in the nineteenth century, or maybe the eighteenth century. I looked at it closely and I recognised the coat of arms, because the family who ordered the plate is from my hometown in the US. I could see connection between my own life and something here in China. And as Italian or American, of course I think of Marco Polo and all of our interrelations. KB: For people who would like to know more about the technology side, we have navigation and communication. People can come and play games. In the long run, we will start looking into educational programmes as well. We want to bring in more students and families. We will create different kinds of programmes for children and adults. I may go to do storytelling sessions, and Robert may go to do our paper-folding too. RT: I don’t want people to say, “Oh I’ve been to the Museum”, and checked that off their list. I would like to think of the Museum as a place you go on a regular basis, to hear storytelling or to bring your children into an arts and crafts programme.

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Something along those lines or to have a cup of coffee and enjoy the free Wi-Fi. KB: We can foresee a lot of opportunities for the Museum, as well as the Resource Centre itself, but all these would depend on the time, manpower and other resources available. So I really encourage more volunteers to come to help out at our Resource Centre. Where does the funding for operating this Museum and Library come from? And do you have a fundraising position, such as a marketing person, to look after and attract the money? KB: The funding comes from donors. Currently we don’t have anyone in this position, but it is a long-term plan. RT: Essentially, the Museum is funded through donations, earned revenues and endowment funds, and those three arms work together. The breakdowns are available on our website under the section called money matters, if you want to look at our operating budget, and where the money goes to, things like that. KB: In order to bring more people to the Museum, we only charge 20 Hong Kong dollars for the admission. What kind of help are you looking for at the moment? KB: Library help of course, more than just shelving, I would like them to do some basic cataloguing or writing summaries. RT: The Museum’s Resource Centre is also looking for people who are interested in doing a fellowship, and producing a portfolio of work that will be significant for the research or other related cultural developments. KB: We hope to use the materials here to create a publication or document. That is the reason why we have a Resource Centre; we can’t always rely on Google and Wikipedia.

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Collaborations and Strategic Plans Are you currently looking for collaboration with other museums, archives or institutes in Hong Kong? I know there is also a Hong Kong archive set up by the Hong Kong Bank, is it true? KB: Yes, the Hong Kong HSBC Archive5 is an in-house archive. It is also open to the public by appointment, provided you want to do research in their bank archive. RT: Kitty and I are very close to the archivist and historian in HSBC. We hope to really collaborate because we see some fusion. HSBC was one of the primary banks responsible for the growth in shipping in the 1950s, so it is a natural marriage. KB: There are more and more companies looking to set up archives or in-house archives, like Swire, Jardines back in London. As we are a part of the Hong Kong Archives Society,6 we have regular meetings and will sit down and tackle issues if we have problems. So it is a good network. KB: We do have quite a number of collaborations with museums, not only local but also international. RT: Yes, the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts has several items on display here, and there are many key objects on display that come from the Hong Kong Museum of History. My understanding is that they are just in storage at the History Museum, because their focus isn’t maritime necessarily. One of the best examples is that they have a nineteenth-century lighthouse glass that has been in one of their warehouses for a

5. HSBC (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation)’s Archive. Information available at: www.hsbc.com/1/2/about/history/hsbc-s-archives 6. Hong Kong Archives Society. Information available at: www.archives.org.hk/about. html

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long time. They are loaning it to the Museum and it is going to be on display for the very first time. What form of collaborations will take place between the museums and libraries in the next five to 10 years? RT: I think the most important collaborations that will occur in the next five to 10 years will be in the area of re-thinking how the world works. We are no longer bound to the physical world. This whole idea that the world is round has led people to believe that the other side of the world is unattainable. A digital world is flat. There is a great potential for collaborations. Some may still argue that language is a barrier or culture is a barrier. But like early maritime explorers of the past, museum and library professionals need to take chances and set a course into uncharted waters. There are still wonderful treasures to be discovered. KB: Many major or large libraries also have in-house museums, which I see it as exhibition halls in the libraries, probably it is a wrong understanding from the museum study’s viewpoint. A library is a centre for providing additional information to the exhibits, while a museum is a venue to display the exhibits. I can foresee the merge of these two professions already happening in the major institutions, and they have not tried to clear cut their functions and operations into separate departments. I myself don’t see the reason for creating such distinction either. So I believe the collaboration between the museums and libraries already exist, and they will continue to maintain a strong working relationship in the future.

What kind of strategic plans do you have for this Museum Library for the next five to 20 years? KB: We have to be more Asian, not just our collection and items, but also how we represent the subjects and to be more Oriental as well. It is very hard. I have been talking to another scholar, and

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she was telling me that people of Hong Kong nowadays try to avoid being criticised for being too colonial, because they want to forget that part of our history. But that is part of our history. The Museum has to make a balance and the committee of the Museum had a very hard job to measure that. We need to find or project a more neutral position, which I don’t know, how it could work. But that is the feedback provided by various historians and from different professionals. Like the Resource Centre, when a Chinese scholar came in, he complained why we did not have more Chinese books, and why we spent so much money on the special collections that nobody uses. And my challenge is to make that balance. We need certain things colonial, but we also need certain things more neutral and contemporary.

The Two-Year Plan You are saying you have a two-year plan for this Library, what items are being included in your two-year plan? KB: For the youth collection, it is to bring in more students. We want the Resource Centre to be remembered when teachers are teaching maritime-related subjects, including marine animals, exploration, or shipping industry, history of the Hong Kong trade, etc. I want the students to be a part of the audience, and how we can attract this group of audience is via our collections and via our library items. We may create different programmes and establish a very strong tie with the schools in Hong Kong. RT: Teachers for example, often have challenges in bringing those subjects into the classroom. If you are a trigonometry teacher in secondary school, you probably don’t think of the Maritime Museum as a resource. But there are direct trigonometry principles that helped sailors navigate, and a teacher in secondary school doesn’t necessarily think of the Maritime Museum as a place where they could send students to learn about things like that. So we have a great deal of community building ahead of us

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in order to make sure that we have something that could make the lessons more fun. What you are talking about is related to the unique identity this Museum has established? RT: It is my idea of where the Museum should think about growth and to expand its conversation. The Museum will never have a problem attracting people who are diehard lovers of maritime history. It has a harder time trying to tell people there is a place for your interest here even if you may not know it. Do you mean making the Museum and its services relevant to the daily life of the general public? KB: I mean our major audiences, except the overseas visitors, are the locals. We do have a lot of locals going to the art museum and science museum quite frequently. I think our biggest challenge is how to attract those crowds to come here as well.

Expectations of the New Generation What do you think are the new skills and mindset that should be expected to have for the new generation of museum curators and librarians? RT: Museum curators and librarians often think about curation in terms of tangible items, whether it is a painting, a letter or a book. In the twenty-first century there has been a rise in thinking more about the intangible heritage that these objects represent. So in a way, one of the biggest shifts is moving from curating items to curating ideas. And this concept takes an entirely different set of skills. For example, a physical item can only be in one place at one time, on a shelf, on display, or out on loan. While a digital file

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can be in many places at the same time. It can be copied, shared, and changed. KB: Honestly, I still struggle with the position of being a librarian in a museum setting. It is because librarians can also organise an exhibition, however, it doesn’t seem to be the same way as the museum curators would think or do. I see more and more librarians are being involved in curating exhibitions in oversea libraries, mostly in state or academic libraries. I think, in order to perform a rather supporting role or providing just the background research to an exhibition, when a librarian is organising an exhibition, he or she needs to consider the importance of telling the whole story by using the display items, rather than just using the objects to support a story.

Afterthoughts To conclude this interview, I would like to make a quote from Robert Trio, When I think about museums and libraries I recognise there are fundamental differences between the two. But in the end, there are more things that they share in common. I learned this first-hand from my experience working at the Institute of Museum and Library Service. The driving force behind this has been technology and the growth of online data sets. People who are online don’t care if the data is from a museum or a library. All they care about is whether or not the information is good. Museums and libraries, along with archives, need to learn to leverage resources in order to be seen as essential institutions in their communities. If the community does not see them as essential, then it is all for nothing.

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Chapter 12 Reviving Traditional Chinese Theatre Arts via the Chinese Opera Information Centre

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Interview with Milky CHEUNG Administrative Coordinator, Chinese Opera Information Centre Chinese opera is a comprehensive performing art that combines music, singing, poetry, literature, dance, acrobatics and martial arts. With a history of over 800 years, traditional Chinese opera used to be one of the most popular forms of entertainment amongst all levels of society. Today, there are over 250 different styles of regional opera in China. Unfortunately, many traditional art forms are facing either direct or indirect threats to their survival, and there is no exception for Chinese opera. In the past few decades, such a traditional art form has suffered a tragic decline in popularity, and its current audience is limited to the older generation. With the support of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, the Chinese Opera Information Centre (COIC)1 was established in 2000, with the aim of giving a permanent home to the wealth of archival materials related to traditional Chinese opera. In terms of collection size and scope, the COIC currently holds about 1,500 titles of librettos, close to 300 titles of books, and over 2,000 items of opera plots, as well as over 2,500 titles of audio-visual materials, including live opera recordings, DVDs, CDs, and cassette tapes, etc. In the following interview, Milky Cheung, Administrative Coordinator at the COIC, discusses the reasons behind the opera’s loss of popularity among the Hong Kong public, as well as her joy in serving as a cultural messenger who bridges the gap between the traditional Chinese arts and the young generation.

Self-Introduction Could you introduce yourself, and your major roles and duties at the Chinese Opera Information Centre (COIC)? I started working at the Chinese Opera Information Centre (COIC) of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) since

1. Chinese Opera Information Centre, Department of Music, The Chinese University of Hong Kong – Homepage. Available at: http://corp.mus.cuhk.edu.hk/corp/html/ indexE.htm 228

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September 2005, right after I graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the School of Journalism and Communication at CUHK. In addition to my bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences, I also obtained a master’s degree in Cultural Management from CUHK. My main duties are to assist the administrator to manage the overall operations at the COIC. The Chinese Opera Information Centre is open to the public. In many ways, COIC’s functions and services are similar to a small public library. For example, in addition to serving as an archive for Chinese opera materials, we also provide basic information and reference services to our users both within and outside the CUHK, to assist them in their research, with topics ranging from different Chinese operas being performed nowadays, to the history and development of operatic works throughout different historical periods. The most interesting part of my job at the COIC is being able to take part in the actual fieldwork, that is, to actively go out to different local theatres and other performance venues to collect all sorts of information materials related to Chinese opera. I would then catalogue these materials, and add them to the COIC collection. What kind of information materials do you usually collect from the performance venues? The Chinese opera performance materials normally include performance posters, flyers, synopsis, and programme notes, etc., which are usually not available online or in other electronic formats. As a result, the only way we could collect and preserve these materials is via actual “fieldwork”. Otherwise once the performance is over, most of these related materials would simply be gone forever. I also take photos at the performance venues, capturing what is happening in the offstage before, during and after the performances. I also go to different performance venues with 229

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a voice-recorder or even a video-camera to record the live performances of Chinese opera, and to add these audio and visual recordings to the Centre’s collection. One could find a large number of publications, magazines or even academic journals about Chinese opera at a regular public or academic library in Hong Kong. However, it is not always the case for materials like offstage or backstage photos, opera programme, plots, notes, synopsis, posters and flyers, etc. As a result, the COIC is unique in a sense that it fills these gaps and complements the Chinese opera collections of other public and academic libraries in Hong Kong. You may say that our Centre kind of specialises in collecting or “monopolising” research and archival materials on Chinese opera in “non-traditional formats”. Do you need to have prior approval from the artists or from the performing groups prior to taping their performances? We need to seek consents from the performing groups before taping, especially more and more people become aware of the copyrights issue in recent years. Yet, sometimes it is a “silent consent” rather than a black-and-white one. Actually, we have developed very close relationships with the artists and the performance groups, as well as with the organisers over the years. They would not “strictly forbid” us to record their live performances for most cases, because they well understood that we are taping the performances for archival and preservation purposes and not for commercial use.

About the Chinese Opera Information Centre What were the original aims and purposes for establishing the COIC in the first place? And who were the founders? This Centre is relatively new, and Professor Chan Sau-Yan (陳守 仁) was the founder. He worked at the CUHK Music Department 230

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until 2008, and his main research interest was in traditional Chinese music and Cantonese opera. At that time, he set up a research project with very minimal planning and resources. In short, at the early stage the collection was merely a storeroom for putting away all the original archival materials in a large variety of formats, which Professor Chan and his team had collected over many decades, with only simple classification and arrangements behind the collection. In 2000, the Hong Kong Arts and Development Council (HKADC)2 was looking for someone or some local organisations in Hong Kong to set up an archive for Chinese opera. Professor Chan successfully applied for the project funding from the HKADC for building an archive for Chinese opera in Hong Kong. As Professor Chan already had all the archival materials collected, after receiving the project funding, it was only a matter of re-organising the whole collection in a more logical and systematic order, including cataloguing the whole collection from scratch and making it available to the public via the COIC. The COIC was founded in 2000. Over the years, we have gradually developed more professional ways to manage the Centre’s functions and services. For example, we have developed a very simple online cataloguing and searching system, which our users could easily search for their desired materials instead of relying on the old printed inventory list. With reference to our shelving arrangement, it is a very simple inventory list number, without following any international classification schemes. That being said, there are advantages as well as disadvantages with our in-house developed classification and filing system. For the frequent visitors of the COIC, one can easily locate their desired materials via searching our simple online catalogue or by on-shelf browsing. However, if you are using the Centre for the very first

2. Hong Kong Arts Development Council – Homepage. Available at: www.hkadc.org.hk/ en/

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The Chinese Opera Information Centre has a very rich and comprehensive archives collection, but its physical space is very limited.

time, you may need to take some time to get accustomed to our in-house developed shelving arrangement system. Why the COIC founder did not donate the whole collection to the University Library? The main reason is to facilitate the overall administration and circulation of the whole COIC collection. The CUHK Library would not receive any extra funding or manpower for looking after this “additional” Chinese opera archives collection under an ongoing basis, because there are simply new materials (in different non-traditional printed formats) being added to the collection every month. Another major reason was that the funding for the COIC project came directly from the HKADC. And the mission of the HKADC is to promote the development of arts and arts education amongst the general public in Hong Kong. As a result, one of the HKADC’s funding conditions was to make the COIC collection 232

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widely accessible to everyone in Hong Kong. If the COIC collection were kept at the CUHK Library, its access would be restricted to the CUHK staff and students only; in that case, the public in Hong Kong would not be able to access the materials, and this would defeat the original purpose of establishing this COIC from HKADC’s perspective. Other than that, a small number of our Centre’s items are three-dimensional artifacts and not traditional archival materials in printed format. Since the University Library is not a museum, they simply do not have the facilities and resources to look after these “museum artifacts”.

The COIC Users Who are the main users of the COIC? I would say they are mostly academics or university students researching on traditional Chinese operas. And I would say around 50 per cent of our users come from CUHK, while the remaining 50 per cent come from outside the University. But to my surprise, we also receive quite a large number of overseas users, and they happen to be mostly Caucasian Americans, and not Chinese Americans. In fact, most of these overseas users come from the United States and Australia. What are the backgrounds of these overseas COIC users? They are usually researching on something that is not directly related to Chinese opera. I think they are mostly people working in media or doing cross-media studies. For example, some of them would be working on some stage performances in their own country, and they want to compose a new piece of music with certain Chinese musical elements. Since they know nothing about Chinese opera, they therefore approach us to seek advice. In fact, some of these overseas users are anthropologists, and their main 233

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research interests would be the early history and developments of Chinese opera throughout different historical periods. Another popular research topic amongst these overseas researchers would be the history and design of Chinese opera costumes, onstage makeup and stage props, etc. Are there any examples of typical reference enquiries issued by the researchers or scholars from overseas? Around 2010, I received an enquiry from an overseas researcher. He was a lecturer in music composition working on a research project on Chinese opera, and he wanted to compose some singing dialogues that had Chinese musical elements. He told me that he specifically wanted traditional Cantonese opera. Because he did not know anything about Chinese opera, so he brought to me one piece of lyrics and asked me to verify it for him. As it turned out, it was a piece of lyrics taken from a Kunqu opera (崑劇), but he mistook it as Cantonese opera. Since there are so many different styles of regional operas in China, he simply got confused. He then came to the Centre and asked me to pronounce the lyrics for him, and that was how he further developed his ideas for his own music composition.

The COIC Collection With reference to the COIC collection, what are the formats of the majority of the archival materials? In terms of our Centre’s collection, they are in a wide range of formats, including photo slides, printed photographs, videotapes, CDs, LP discs, performance posters, opera scores, opera synopsis, manuscripts, interviews, etc. In order to encourage access amongst our users, we tried to provide these materials online as scanned images. In addition to that, we have also collected a small number

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of artifacts, such as a few stage props (e.g. footwear) and opera costumes. As you can see, our Centre’s collection is rather multifaceted. In addition to serving as an archive or information centre, the COIC also takes up the role of a mini museum that collects three-dimensional artifacts? Do these three-dimensional objects create any problems for the Centre in terms of preservation, storage and cataloguing? Yes. But collecting three-dimensional artifacts is not our main acquisition focus; we have collected maybe no more than 10 items so far. In other words, our main focus is still on the acquisitions and preservation of the more traditional printed materials in two-dimensional format, for example, opera advertisements, photographs, programme posters, notes, librettos, flyers, brochures, catalogues, and circulars. What is the collection size of the COIC? We have about 1,500 titles of librettos of Chinese opera, and there are close to 300 titles of books, as well as over 2,500 titles of audio-visual materials, including live opera recordings, DVDs, CDs, and cassette tapes, etc. We also have a large collection of opera stage plots. An opera plot is a piece of paper with stage introductions for the actual performance, and is usually posted at the backstage for all the performers and stage crew to follow. We have over 2,000 items of such opera plots, and many of them are already available in electronic The COIC holds a large collection of format. librettos.

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In addition to Cantonese opera, does the COIC also collect and archive other forms or styles of traditional operas from different regions in China? According to the conditions set out by the fund/grant provider, HKADC, we also need to collect other styles of regional Chinese operas. However, since Hong Kong is within the Canton province of China, and Cantonese opera is the main class of musical drama (traditional theatre arts) in the Canton area, it is only natural that the COIC collection is dominated by Cantonese-opera-related materials. But I should highlight that we also collect other styles of Chinese opera, for example, Chaozhou opera (潮劇) Beijing/ Peking opera (京劇), Kunqu opera (崑劇). What are the highlights of the COIC collection? One of our important archives collections is the Yam Kim-Fai and Pak Suet-Sin Collection (任劍輝—白雪仙館藏), because they are original materials donated by the famous Cantonese opera singer, Miss Pak Suet-Sin (白雪仙). The Flower Princess (帝女花) is one of the most popular and influential Cantonese operas in Hong Kong, as well as overseas, and our Centre is very fortunate to archive Pak’s original materials, including opera librettos, stage photos, newspaper clippings, etc., nearly all the original materials related to The Flower Princess. In fact, a large number of the archival materials have already been digitalised, so that users could access them online via their PCs. Meanwhile, the original materials have been archived in the Rare Books Room at the CUHK Main Library. When acquiring the materials, do you need to actively go out to different performance venues to collect the materials, or you just wait for the materials to come to you instead? My job does not require me to go out to acquire the materials, but out of my personal interests, I would go actively to different performance venues to collect the materials, and add them 236

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The Yam Kim-Fai and Pak Suet-Sin Collection is one the COIC's important archive collections. The photo shows Miss Pak Suet-Sin visiting the Centre.

to the collection as part of my daily routine. Throughout the years, I have developed very good relationships and networks with the people working in the Chinese opera business in Hong Kong. Sometimes, I just go to the performance venues to meet and socialise with them. Through our daily communications, I know what is happening in the Chinese opera circle. Such close relationship and network have facilitated me a great deal in terms of collecting the archival materials for our Centre. I also derive a lot of joy from simply talking with the people working in the industry, and I think this is how our friendship formed and developed over the years.

Rewarding Experiences Which part(s) of your job do you find most rewarding? I am most happy when I am able to answer our users’ enquiries satisfactorily or being able to help them locate their desired 237

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Milky is not only a librarian, but also an educator bridging the gap between the traditional Chinese arts and the young generation in Hong Kong.

information materials. We are not a “proper archive”; we have neither the proper facilities nor the equipment to claim ourselves an archive. Based on the limited resources and facilities available at this Centre, we could only call ourselves a “reading room” with archival materials. Despite of such disadvantages, you will be surprised by the amount and scope of Chinese-opera-related materials that one could find at this Centre. For many undergraduate students, when they come to the COIC, most of them do not have any idea what they are looking for. It is simply because they have very little exposure or have almost no training and background in traditional Chinese opera. As a result, very often they cannot find any useful information for their assignments or projects. So one of my major responsibilities at the Centre is to assist our users to locate their desired information for their projects. I can tell you that nothing would give me more joy and satisfaction, if what I do for these young people at the Centre could eventually lead them to develop an interest in our own local culture, and thereby gradually building a young audience for the future of Chinese opera.

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In addition to serving as the archivist, librarian or administrator for the Centre, I also see myself as the educator or cultural messenger, bridging the gap between the traditional Chinese arts and the young generation in Hong Kong. Unlike Western classical music or European opera, Cantonese or traditional Chinese opera does not have such a long history of research traditions. The research foundation or traditions for traditional Chinese opera are rather unorganised, contingent, fragmented and all scattered around. Some scholars might even describe it as being extremely “organic” or “hybrid”. So one of my core duties at the COIC is to guide our users to navigate through such hybrid treatments of information to look for their desired materials.

Difficulties and Challenges As an administrator of this Centre, what are the technical difficulties or challenges? The problem or main challenge lies in the core values of the people in Hong Kong, whether people value traditional Chinese culture, including both traditional Chinese music and Chinese opera, as an important asset or cultural heritage of Hong Kong. This is the most crucial question and also the origin of our problems. The success of the archive is a collaborative effort of everybody in the society, from regular citizens, government officials, arts administrators, researchers and academics, as well as the people working in the performing arts circle. Everyone needs to work together, support each other, and get directly involved in organising and participating in conferences, talks, exhibitions, to promote Chinese opera, so that it would not become an obsolete or dying art form. The role and responsibility of preserving and promoting Chinese opera as a cultural tradition should be shared

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by every one of us in Hong Kong, and should not be weighed merely on the COIC. So are you saying that traditional Chinese opera is being underappreciated in Hong Kong? When you review the funding process for the research and promotion of Chinese opera in Hong Kong, there is almost no formal cultural policy issued by the local Government to support the development of this traditional Chinese art form under an ongoing basis. In Hong Kong, we do not have any centralised cultural organisation that is devoted to the long-term preservation, promotion and education of Chinese opera. As you probably understand, many traditional art forms are facing either direct or indirect threats on their survival, regardless of their place of origin. Traditional Chinese opera used to be a very popular form of entertainment, and is definitely of high literary and cultural value. Unfortunately, the Hong Kong Government is undetermined about promoting this traditional art form with any solid, effective or appropriate long-term plans or policies. Are there any changes in terms of the information-seeking behaviours or the information needed amongst the users? Although more and more people are making enquiries via electronic means, such as emails and Facebook, it seems that traditional ways (for example, in person, by phone or by fax) are still very popular and effective. Most of the research questions received at the COIC are related to the early history of Chinese opera, for example, the costumes and onstage makeup for opera singers. And one of the very “hot” research topics amongst our young users is, “Is Chinese opera facing decline – both in terms of governmental support and audience appreciation figures?”

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Other research questions frequently asked by the students in Hong Kong would be, “How to revive traditional Chinese opera in Hong Kong?” and “How to popularise traditional Chinese opera?” Is there anything else you wish to add before closing this interview? To my knowledge, there are no other central archives like the COIC that has such a strong concentration of archival materials related to traditional Chinese opera. Even in Mainland China, they do not have such centralised information centres that are devoted to the preservation of archival materials related to this traditional art form. Although the COIC has a very rich and a rather comprehensive archives collection, there is still a lot of room for improvement, in terms of the Centre’s operations and its facilities. There was once a senior citizen came to visit our Centre. He expressed to me his utmost disappointment when he discovered that the COIC is no more than just a large reading room filled with opera scores and books. The reason why he got so disappointed was because he came with the expectation that the OCIC (in terms of collection size, environments, user areas, displays, and facilities) would be similar to that of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum.3 He expressed eagerly to me that he very much wanted to see the Chinese opera costumes and other fancy stage props at our Centre. Unfortunately, nothing here at the Centre could satisfy him that day. Because of the political separation from Communist China, Hong Kong is in fact a very unique place for conducting scholarly

3. Hong Kong Heritage Museum – Homepage. Available at: www.heritagemuseum.gov. hk/eng/attractions/attractions.aspx

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research on history and our local cultural heritage, because Hong Kong allows much greater freedom for political expression, artistic creation and scholarly research, etc. Meanwhile we could apply modern Western concepts and techniques to preserve these archival materials that represent such an important part of our own local heritage. Traditional Chinese opera does not gain enough recognition and support from the public in Hong Kong. Government funding for supporting the ongoing development and education of such an art form is very limited, without any solid and long-term policies. In terms of expertise, compared with other Western art forms, people who have the knowledge, and are capable of doing research or teach in this field in Hong Kong are also very small by number. Despite such disadvantages and unfortunate circumstances, being able to successfully establish the COIC in Hong Kong is already a “miracle” on its own. It would be good if we could learn from the music archives in Taiwan, as the Taiwanese government has established several state-funded resources and institutes for supporting the education and research of traditional Chinese opera, for example, the National Repository of Cultural Heritage (國家文化資料庫)4 and the National Centre for Traditional Arts (國立傳統藝術中心).5 Such institutions in Taiwan receive generous amount of funding and support from the central government or Ministry of Culture to organise all sorts of activities and programmes to ensure the ongoing popularity and survival of many different traditional Chinese arts and culture. Of course Taiwan is very different from

4. National Repository of Cultural Heritage – Homepage. Available at: http://nrch.moc. gov.tw/ccahome/ 5. National Centre for Traditional Arts (國立傳統藝術中心) – Homepage. Available at: www.ncfta.gov.tw/ncfta_ce/main/index.aspx

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Hong Kong, in terms of its population size, cultural atmosphere and the amount of funding resources available. Despite that, we could still borrow ideas from them, since they are doing such a good job in preserving this traditional art form. Although the COIC has already possessed a rather rich archives collection, the main questions or challenges remain as: • How to encourage academics, researchers, opera lovers, university or even secondary school students to make good use of the Centre’s collection? • For the COIC, how to effectively acquire and activate the materials under an ongoing basis in the long run? It is not a tradition for the Chinese opera practitioners and artists to donate their personal belongings to a museum or an archive before they pass away. They would mostly want their personal belongings to be cremated alongside and this is basically the tradition. Given the limited manpower and resources available at the COIC, we simply do not have the time and manpower to go out to acquire everything that is available out there. As small scale as it may seem, COIC is a pioneer in collecting, preserving, cataloguing, analysing and promoting the historical and cultural heritage of Chinese traditional theatre arts that all of us ought to be proud of. The COIC functions more than just a storeroom for a static collection of cultural archival materials for sheer entertainment purposes. The OCIC serves as a “cultural hub” that offers endless possibilities, allowing us to better understand our own cultural past and providing sources of inspiration for other new and contemporary artistic endeavours. It is hoped that the COIC could continue to serve as a “central repository” for preserving, as well as promoting our documentary and cultural heritage of the traditional Chinese theatre arts.

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Afterthoughts In its careers information booklet, Working with Music in Libraries, IAML6 outlines the qualities needed for working in a “Music Information Centre”: Work in these Centres relates to the music, often contemporary, of a particular country … Although similar skills to those of a music librarian are required, there should be a fair degree of formal musical knowledge, and perhaps more importantly an almost fanatical enthusiasm for promoting the music of the country in question. Centre staff will be closely involved with the main performing and broadcasting organisations, and Centres may publish their own catalogues and guides and even scores, as well as co-operating with other publishing organisations.7

Although lacking any recognised qualification in LIS, and only holding the job title of Administrative Coordinator, Milky nonetheless demonstrates great ability and considerable competence as the “information specialist” of the Chinese Opera Information Centre. Her skills and responsibilities go far beyond simply ordering materials and cataloguing information for the Centre. In addition to overseeing the daily operations of the OCIC, Milky also serves as a devoted researcher, to go out actively to

6. IAML – International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres. 7. IAML. Working with Music in Libraries. International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres, UK and Ireland branch (1997, revised 2007). Available at: www.iaml.info/iaml-uk-irl/publications/wwmil.pdf

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various performance venues to collect materials to enrich the Centre’s collections. Given the limited resources and manpower available, balancing all of these responsibilities is definitely not easy. Only a true opera lover, with the skills and competencies of a librarian, could do justice to the job.

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Chapter 13 How a Company Treasures Its People

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Interview with Charles HO and Phoebe NG

MTR Corporation Limited Special libraries may include corporate libraries, law libraries, art libraries, medical libraries, news libraries, architecture firm libraries, and financial centre libraries. Some corporate libraries are also known as information centres, resources centres or learning resources centres. Many of them are set up for the purpose of supporting the missions of their parent organisations, and their functions and services tend to target towards the specific needs of their users. According to Keyes (1995), one major issue faced by many corporate libraries is the difficulty in putting a “dollar value” on the intangible services, which the library provides to its parent company. Although its “values” cannot be easily measured, the MTR Corporation Limited is one of the very few commercial corporations in Hong Kong that has undoubtedly invested a great deal of resources and manpower to support the ongoing operations of its library (Learning Resource Centre) for the past two decades. According to Phoebe Ng, the Librarian of the MTR Corporation, although knowledge acquired might not be useful immediately, or at any unspecified time in the future, the MTR Corporation truly believes that only through continuous professional development, staff can acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to keep up with their organisation and the rapidly changing work environment. And through continuous learning, each is then able to maximise his or her potential at work, thereby contributing fully to the MTR Corporation.

Self-Introduction Could you introduce yourselves, your roles and responsibilities at the Learning Resource Centre (LRC) of the MTR Corporation? Phoebe Ng (PN): I am currently serving as the Librarian at the LRC at MTR.1 I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Library and

1. MTR Corporation Limited – Homepage. Available at: www.mtr.com.hk/eng/ homepage/cust_index.html

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Information Science (LIS) from the National Taiwan University,2 after which I returned to Hong Kong and started my career as a librarian. While working, I furthered my studies in the same field at Charles Sturt University. It was a Phoebe NG post-graduate-level course carried out through HKU-SPACE3 in Hong Kong, and via which I obtained my master’s degree in LIS. I have worked in the field of LIS ever since my graduation with a bachelor’s degree in Taiwan. Before joining the MTR, I worked as a library manager for several small- to medium-scale corporate and special libraries in Hong Kong. By now I have been working as the Librarian for the MTR for more than 20 years. Charles Ho (CH): I have been working together with Phoebe as partners at the MTR since four years ago. I belong to the Management Training and Development Department (MT&DD) at the MTR, and specialise in staff development and corporate training, including staff wellness and work improvement initiatives, management of various management training programmes and quality management for the whole MTR Corporation. I am also Phoebe’s supervisor who oversees the overall development of the LRC; while Phoebe is responsible for managing the Centre’s daily operations. As many MTR staff would use our Centre’s resources for self-development and selflearning purposes, a large portion of the LRC collection focuses

2. National Taiwan University (國立臺灣大學) – Homepage available at: www.ntu.edu.tw/ engv4/ 3. HKU-SPACE (University of Hong Kong, School of Professional and Continuing Education) - Homepage available at: http://hkuspace.hku.hk/

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on themes related to staff development and training, corporate business management and business leadership. With reference to my training and educational background, I studied engineering at the University of Hong Kong. I also have an MBA degree from HKUST.4 Ever since I graduated with my MBA degree, I have been working in the field of corporate marketing and human resources, including employee training and staff development for several large-scale corporate organisations in Hong Kong. After joining the MTR in 2010, I feel very lucky that I was able to continue to make good use of my experiences and expertise as a staff development trainer.

Roles of the Learning Resource Centre What kind of roles does the LRC play under a large corporation like the MTR? CH: The LRC was set up with the main purpose of supporting training and development, as well as self-learning needs among the employees at the MTR. There are two major reasons why this is called the Learning Resource Centre (LRC) instead of a library. One reason is that the MTR wishes our colleagues to have easy access to the most up-to-date information, which our staff could depend on for carrying out their daily operations, and also benefits their work in the long run. Regardless of whether it is an immediate requirement directly related to the job in hand, or it is something that our MTR colleagues wish to learn in their own time for self-development purposes. The second reason is that the LRC is designed to serve as a central place for our colleagues to find information materials

4. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology – Homepage. Available at: www.ust.hk/eng/index.htm

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The LRC was set up with the main purpose of supporting training and development, as well as self-learning needs amongst the employees at the MTR.

or other resources that could assist them to enhance their professional competence and job skills. For example, via checking the work-log entries compiled by the LRC, our MTR colleagues might be able to find engineering- or other job-related solutions developed by other colleagues that could be applied for tackling their own problems in hand. In short, the LRC plays crucial and multiple roles in providing valuable resources and other information services for the MTR staff at all levels, to enhance their professional competence and working morale and to facilitate individual staff in carrying out their immediate job tasks at an operational level. Another main goal of the LRC would be to serve as a convenient one-stop venue for storing all sorts of information and other resources that could be used as valuable references for strategic planning or practical solutions for problem-solving. 251

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PN: From a different angle, one may say that the MTR Corporation places strong emphasis on continuous learning and self-development among the staff members at all levels, thereby maximising the full potential and competence of every employee working at the MTR. In my opinion, only large corporations that place strong emphasis on self-development and self-motivated learning among their employees would invest so much manpower and resources on running and maintaining a resources centre or library of such a scale, and the MTR Corporation is a very good example indeed. Because maintaining a professionally-run resource centre or library requires a large amount of resources on an ongoing basis, and only very few profit-making organisations in both Hong Kong or overseas could afford, or are willing to do that.

The qualities and values, including self-reliant development, learning via self-exploring, developing one’s positive working attitudes and morale, which the MTR Corporation places heavy emphasis upon, are kinds of “Western” concepts. Do they come into conflict with the culture of the local Chinese companies? CH: The idea of maintaining an employee’s working morale or continuous learning is relatively new even for most large international corporations in Hong Kong. It is true that more companies in the West tend to invest a lot more resources, care and thoughts into developing individual employees’ competences and EQ. In most Asian societies, we did not talk so much about “continuous learning”; however, Asians also need to maintain the same “continuous learning” principle as much as the people in other Western countries. One of the major functions of the LRC is to fulfil the mental and spiritual needs of the MTR employees, which could be defined as maintaining one’s enthusiasm towards his or her career, developing positive attitudes, job skills and professional knowledge on an ongoing basis so that they would not be made

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redundant at work in the long run, even when new technologies emerge, or when their existing job skills or job positions become obsolete.

How about the collection in this LRC? PN: We have about 30,000 items in our whole collection, including both printed and audio-visual materials. For the printed book collection alone, we have about 10,000 items in total. In order to achieve “continuous learning”, first of all, we have a well-defined collection development policy in place when it comes to the acquisitions of new materials for the LRC. In other words, all the books or other materials acquired for and by the LRC have to be directly related to business or industrial management, for example, management of business enterprises, business ethics, industrial psychology, self-development for managers. For this reason, you will not find any popular fictions, romance novels, or leisure magazines on the LRC’s bookshelves. CH: In addition, the LRC also provides a large collection of materials for supporting development among our MTR staff in a wide range of different areas, for example, • Engineering • Business and corporate law • Corporate marketing / branding • Industrial- and organisational-psychology-related topics, for example, EQ (emotional intelligence) and stress management • Technical reference books and databases, etc. • Writing and speaking or public speaking skills in the technology professions • Language learning • Business writing

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The LRC has about 30,000 items in the whole collection, including both printed and audio-visual materials.

Since the LRC is a hundred per cent devoted to supporting the training needs, development and well-being of the MTR employees at all levels, all the services, functions and materials provided by the LRC are ultimately geared towards the Vision Mission Values (VMV) of the MTR Corporation. Today, the LRC is part of the Management Training and Development Department (MT&DD) under HR, and MT&DD colleagues might recommend particular book titles or other related literature for supporting certain staff training events, such as training workshops on customer service and public relations. One way to support the MT&DD is for the LRC to arrange a series of book displays or exhibits to support or further promote the training workshops being carried out by the MT&DD. By doing so, even after the training sessions are over, our colleagues could still easily locate a lot of relevant literature at the LRC if they wish to conduct further reading on topics related to the workshops and reinforce the things that they have learned.

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From a Small Library to the Multi-functional Centre Has there always been a library or resource centre since the MTR Corporation was first established in Hong Kong? PN: The MTR Library began in the early 1990s. It was set up with the aim of responding to the changing needs caused by the major and drastic transformations of the whole MTR. The former LRC used to be just a small and informal physical library for keeping various in-house technical reference books and other training and operational manuals. It was also used for collecting various research results and other technical reports written by the MTR in-house researchers. Due to the rapid expansion of the MTR, as well as the various changes in the job skill demands and information needs caused by the different emerging technologies, the former Library has gradually evolved into the versatile and multi-functional Learning Resource Centre which you all see today. Since the MTR has continued to invest a lot more resources into developing its own employees’ job skills and professional competence and knowledge in all aspects, the LRC gradually became part of the MT&DD with the aim of maximising each other’s full potentials, for the benefits of the MTR in the long run.

Could you describe the nature, format, and content of the technical documents and research reports in the former MTR Library? PN: They could be guidelines or reports on technical railway or tunnel engineering, hydraulic engineering, electric utilities, and techniques or applications in electric power systems, airport construction. In the former MTR Library collection, people might also find papers documenting various large-scale city planning or urban design projects issued by the Hong Kong Transport Department or by the Town Planning Office. A number of largescale city planning projects carried out by the former British

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colonial government during the 1980s and the early 1990s were documented. Furthermore, our former Library also maintained a large number of safety guidelines on railway emergency management and reports on railroad disaster investigations, etc.

Could you give a few examples of the successful collaborations between the MT&DD and the LRC? CH: The LRC, being part of the MT&DD, hosts a wide range of talks, seminars and workshops on a regular basis for promoting the spiritual, mental as well as physical well-being for the MTR colleagues. At the MTR, we have two major venues for hosting our training workshops and seminars. One is located on the eighth floor of the MTR Headquarters Building in Kowloon Bay, which can accommodate an audience of 160 to 170 people. Another lecture theatre is located at our Fotan Railway House, and this lecture theatre can also hold an audience of 120 to 130 people. And the lectures or workshops held by us at both lecture theatres are almost always full. Furthermore, we also have the “people-counter devices” installed for measuring the number of people entering or using the LRC. Visitor/user counts serve as valid evidence indicating whether the LRC’s services and functions are in fact matching our users’ needs. On average, we have about 100 to 200 people visiting the LRC each day. Since MTR is a large corporation, we have many different branch offices located in different parts of Hong Kong. And for colleagues who are stationed at other branch offices far away from the LRC, we will deliver the requested book items to them based on individual online requests, so that they do not need to commute all the way to the LRC for book-borrowing in person. All they need to do is to activate the book-deliverrequest button under the LRC’s OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue). For the book-delivery service alone, the LRC averages 3,000 to 4,000 transactions per month.

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The LRC Users and Their Reading Preferences Who are the major users of the LRC? PN: The majority of the LRC users tend to be mid- or junior-level managers. We also have a number of senior executive officers who are frequent users of the LRC resources. But for the senior executive personnel, they tend to depend on their assistants or secretaries to pick up the books, instead of coming to the LRC in person. There is no differentiation between levels of services provided at the LRC. Regardless of whether they are junior clerical staff or senior executive officers, as long as they belong to the MTR family, we treat all of them equally, and provide them with exactly the same level and same range of services. Which are the most popular, sought-after, or the most circulated materials at the LRC? PN: It is true that the LRC specialises in collecting engineeringand industrial-construction-related materials; however, such topics are only relevant to our colleagues belonging to the corresponding departments. I would say the most circulated items are usually books related to self-development, such as how to enhance working efficiency and working effectiveness, how to lead a happier lifestyle, or interactive language learning tools for both parent and child. In fact, interactive learning for both parent and child is considered an important part of self-development or self-growth, because whether someone is able to maintain a happy and stable family life would directly affect one’s attitudes and performance at work. Does the LRC arrange new book displays or other themeorientated book exhibitions for promoting the use of the LRC collection? PN: Yes, the LRC launches theme-oriented book displays and exhibits on a quarterly basis. At the same time, we arrange a 257

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special corner inside the LRC for showcasing our newly-arrived books. For example, the theme for our book exhibition this month is “Healthy Living – How to Maintain a Good Balance between Work and Rest”. Based on the feedback we have received so far, users’ responses have been quite positive.

Challenges and Difficulties Faced by the LRC Without receiving any formal training in engineering, do you find your job as a librarian at the MTR challenging? And how would you overcome the challenges? PN: At the LRC, I am surrounded by countless number of books and other literature related to engineering and industrial constructions, with high-tech terminologies ranging from undersea tunnel constructions to railway safety principles and guidance. In addition, I have to handle many highly technical reference enquiries or information requests issued by our inhouse engineers, with terminologies that could be so specialised and advanced that could not be easily understood by people outside the “business”. In order to do my job well, I have to constantly update my own knowledge, making myself familiarise with different and new technical terminologies in the field of engineering and industrial constructions, as well as to keep my eyes open to keep track of their research trends and other information needs. In addition, I have to be aware of any newly-published reference tools or databases, so that I could consult them in matters relating to our engineers’ projects. I truly think that my previous working experience at an architectural firm library has helped me a great deal in this regard, because it has allowed me to master the basic professional terminologies that are commonly used in the field of industrial constructions.

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Luckily, given the convenience brought by the modern-day Internet connectivity, many users can now easily locate their desired information via our networked databases or E-resources on their own, without much interference on our side. Not until they have problems locating their desired materials by themselves do they then approach us in person or send us emails and ask for further assistance. CH: Another major challenge is how to encourage more MTR colleagues to use the LRC resources more frequently. I have to admit that a large percentage of our colleagues are already active users of the LRC, including using both the physical collection, as well as downloading our resources remotely via online access. Nevertheless, the MTR has over 15,000 employees and is an extremely large corporation indeed. In addition to our existing frequent users, we also need to think about how we could attract the other non- or not-so-frequent users to use the LRC resources. As people of Hong Kong have busy life-style and long working hours, they do not have time or desire to read books even if they are free. So this is the area that is definitely worth exploring. I think these are all common challenges faced by many other public, school, and special libraries, and not just by the LRC at the MTR alone. In order to tackle such challenges, the LRC has developed and launched a series of electronic interactive platforms catering to the MTR colleagues at different age groups and levels for self-learning purposes. In other words, the LRC does not only acquire books and other resources developed by the commercial publishers; it also collaborates with outside vendors to design and develop our own in-house learning resources in a variety of formats, in order to fulfil the unique information and learning needs among the MTR colleagues. For example, the MTR also places strong emphasis on the training and learning of Putonghua, because the MTR also has three other major branch offices located in different parts of

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Mainland China, like Shenzhen, Beijing, and Hangzhou. As a result, there is a large number of business transactions and other professional exchanges happening between our colleagues in Hong Kong and Mainland China. For this reason, the need to master the Putonghua has become increasingly important for our MTR colleagues. Among our large pool of E-resources available at LRC, we have also developed an in-house interactive language-learning software named “GoChinese”. With “GoChinese”, one simply needs to input the written script (for example, script for a public presentation) in Chinese characters, and this software will automatically provide the user with the correct and most standard pronunciation of Putonghua. In addition, this software also allows the users to download the spoken text onto their own mobile phones or USBs, so that they could take the recordings home or back to their office to learn and practise at their own time and pace. What do you find most rewarding about your job as the Librarian at the LRC? PN: When the users tell me that I am doing a good job, for example, “The books you have selected for us are great, and really suit our needs and interests”; knowing that what I do could actually make a positive difference for the LRC and our users gives me a real sense of satisfaction and encouragement. Are there other large-scale profit-making corporations in Hong Kong that are also equipped with a library/learning centre similar to the LRC at the MTR? CH: There are other for-profit organisations in Hong Kong that are also equipped with their own in-house libraries. However, I would like to highlight the following: Firstly, in comparison to the other corporate libraries in Hong Kong, in terms of just sheer

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scale and the number of resources and services available, it is very unlikely that these corporate libraries could surpass or even compete with our LRC. Secondly, with reference to their library collections, many of these corporate libraries would merely function as a leisure corner, providing mostly literature like leisure magazines, fictions for leisure-reading purposes, instead of targeting enhancing individual employees’ potential or working performance. In other words, their library is no different from a regular community centre book-corner built for recreational purposes. As you can see, our LRC is very different from most corporate libraries in Hong Kong in terms of scale, the amount of resources available, as well as the degree of professionalism in the services that we are providing. Would you agree that nowadays libraries are also expected to function like department stores, in order to attract people to come to use the library? CH: That is correct. Nowadays, running a library is no different from managing any other profit-making business. We need to explore every possible way to “lure” our users or customers to come to use the library, regardless of whether they are coming in person or accessing the resources remotely via online. Especially in today’s digital environment, we are constantly competing with a variety of entertainment options, as well as other information freely available via the Internet and online social media, including apps, Facebook and free E-books, etc. Nowadays, librarians have to try harder more than ever before to meet our users’ needs, or even to surpass their expectations. We have to stay relevant to our users and organisation so that librarians would not become obsolete one day. Since the MTR is a large and internationally well-known corporation, we have guests from different sectors and even from

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overseas countries visiting our MTR Headquarters regularly. In fact, our LRC has become one of the “must-see-sites” for our visitors’ guided tour at the Corporation. And most of our guests are extremely surprised and overwhelmed by the sheer scale, facilities and resources of our LRC. Over the years, our LRC has gradually become the selling point or an important part of branding (品牌 ) for the MTR Corporation. As you can see, the LRC does not only carry the functions of a library or learning centre, it is also an effective part of branding strategies, projecting a positive image for the organisation as a whole.

Afterthoughts The MTR Corporation is well-known for the amount of manpower and resources invested in providing staff development programmes of great variety to its employees. To conclude this interview, I would like to give a quotation from the Director of Human Resources at the MTR Corporation, Mr Morris Cheung: People are the most valuable asset at the MTR. The MTR has established the Learning Resource Centre (LRC) to provide self-learning materials and resources for both personal and professional development. Being in service for more than 20 years, LRC has received appreciation from our colleagues and contributed a lot to foster a continuous learning culture in the Corporation.

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Chapter 14 From Healthcare Heritage to Public Awareness

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Interview with Faith HO and Condon LEE Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences Established in 1996, the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences (HKMMS) occupies a building formerly known as the Old Bacteriological Institute. Situated in the area of the original site of the 1894 plague outbreak at Tai Ping Shan, the institute was the very first purpose-built medical and public health laboratory in Hong Kong. It was opened in 1906 and declared a public monument in 1990. Later, the Hong Kong College of Pathologists, recognising the importance of public awareness for local history, petitioned for use of the Old Bacteriological Institute as a non-government museum for preserving local heritage. It is now operated by a non-profit organisation, the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences Society. The HKMMS’s mission is to provide a stimulating environment for public education on health and medical sciences, past, present and future. This Museum is devoted to collecting and preserving historically significant records for a variety of research, teaching and publication purposes. Over the years, the Museum has played a leading role in the development of education on Hong Kong’s medical heritage. In the following interview, Dr Faith Ho, Chair of the Education and Research Committee of the HKMMS Society, and Mr Condon Lee, Curatorial Assistant of the Museum, discuss the goals and missions of the HKMMS, as well as its challenges in establishing the archives collection for the Museum.

Self-Introduction Could you introduce your roles at the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences (HKMMS)1 and its archives collection? Faith Ho (FH): The HKMMS is an independent museum run by the HKMMS Society, a non-profit and non-government

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organisation. We were officially opened in 1996 and have since been open to the general public in Hong Kong. We depend almost entirely on donations and sponsorships for our work. In comparison to the other public museums in Hong Kong, we are a relatively small museum organisation, but we are unique in terms of our museum collections and services. The HKMMS was set up with two main themes, Heritage and Health. You can see we are in a heritage building which was built in 1905. The building itself has more than 100 years of history and is now declared a historical monument. Originally, the museum building was used as a bacteriological institute due to the plague that first broke out in Hong Kong in 1894. At the turn of the twentieth century, plague was still recurring year after year, with devastating effects on the economy and the well-being of the Hong Kong community. Therefore, the British colonial government decided to send a medical expert to Hong Kong to help control the plague. But the expert, William Hunter said, “There is no way I can help you unless you have a laboratory in Hong Kong that I can work in”. At that time, in Hong Kong, there was not a single medical laboratory; so the governor of Hong Kong promised him that a medical building would be purposely built for him for medical research purposes. William Hunter then came to Hong Kong in 1902 and supervised the building of this medical laboratory. Of course, this type of old building could not serve all the medical service needs of the Hong Kong community soon as the local population increased drastically. In the 1960s and 1970s, gradually all of its functions and facilities were relocated to new places. This “original” building was then used for various other functions. In 1990, the building was declared a public monument and is currently serving as a medical museum. In this Museum, we want to provide an experience for our visitors via which they could learn about heritage and health. We have exhibitions to let people learn about the historical developments of Hong Kong, in the context of medicine and 265

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public health. Besides that, we want to let people know how to stay healthy, and what is happening now in terms of public health and medicine, not just what happened in the past. All these are important parts of our Museum’s mission. However, for our archival collections, they are focused more on the historical aspects of medicine and public health. With reference to the archives collection, we have a rich collection of documents related to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) as the outbreak of SARS was no doubt a major event and unexpected shock to the Hong Kong society as a whole. Fortunately, our local medical scientists collaborated with an international team of researchers in 13 different laboratories around the world, and managed to discover the cause of SARS; it was no doubt a tremendous achievement. During the SARS crisis, medical laboratories in Hong Kong were working for 24 hours straight. SARS was a major threat to public health in Hong Kong with repercussions spreading to all aspects of life and the economy. For this theme, we will be collecting a lot of oral interviews and other documents from various groups of medical and non-medical personnel. They will indeed be an important part of our Museum’s archives collection. What are the main duties and responsibilities as the Chair of the HKMMS Education and Research Committee? FH: Under the Board of Directors, we have four different committees within this museum organisation, namely the Management Committee, the Finance Committee, the Publicity and Public Relations Committee, and the Education and Research Committee. I am in charge of the Committee which deals with education and research, including initiating and undergoing research projects and advising our staff on the management of our collections. In fact, I am a retired professor of pathology, and I have been involved in this museum project since the very beginning. 266

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Condon is explaining the daily operations and collection of the Bacteriological Institute to visitors.

It has been very interesting to see how the whole Museum has developed and evolved over the past years. The whole Museum was set up by volunteers and all of the committee members are also volunteers. What are your main duties and responsibilities as the Curatorial Assistant? Condon Lee (CL): My core duty is to appraise and to identify which artefacts or records are worth adding to our Museum collection, and be responsible for cataloguing them and ensuring their proper storage. I am also responsible for providing guided tours and talks to the local public groups, including students from local schools and universities, as well as preparing displays and exhibitions for the Museum. Our main goal is to promote awareness about the history of medical developments among the general public in Hong Kong. 267

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Highlights of the HKMMS Collection What are the differences between the records about SARS kept at the HKMMS and the ones kept at the Hong Kong Hospital Authority (HKHA)2 or at the other local public hospitals? FH: I am sure that both the HKHA and the other local hospitals also have many records on SARS. But because we are a public museum, our records would probably be more comprehensive and accessible to the general public than those kept at the HKHA or at the Department of Health Hong Kong.3 For example, for our SARS Oral History Archive project, our interviews will cover a wide spectrum of medical and health personnel, as well as nonmedical and health personnel. For people who wish to consult our SARS records starting from mid-2015, they could apply and state the purpose of their study, and join our Society and become an associate member of the HKMMS. Could you give me an example of the archival records that are made accessible for the public? FH: Plague and SARS are the two themes that are the most comprehensive among our archives collection. There are also other records featuring our historic locality, the Tai Ping Shan district; and the stories and history of our local hospitals in Hong Kong during the early years, for example, the Tung Wah Hospital4 and the Nethersole Hospital.5

2. Hong Kong Hospital Authority – Homepage. Available at: http://www.ha.org.hk/visitor/ ha_index.asp 3. Department of Health of Hong Kong – Homepage. Available at: http://www.dh.gov. hk/eindex.html 4. Tung Wah Group of Hospitals – Homepage. Available at: http://www.tungwah.org. hk/?content=369 5. Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital – Homepage. Available at: http://www3.ha.org. hk/AHNH/index_e.asp

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The photograph showing Temporary Plague Hospital in Kennedy Town with patients lying on the floor. Source: Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences collection, donated by Mrs. Ashburner.

Is this Museum’s archive meant to serve as a centralised one-stop centre or repository for potential users? FH: This is one of the many purposes. We also need to use the materials ourselves in the course of our work in preparing exhibitions and other educational activities. Not all the materials are original documents; some are copies of the original, but they serve to bring together a body of relevant materials in one place for study. In order to make our records more accessible, we are now developing an online cataloguing system to facilitate record filing and retrieval. How do you decide which items are suitable to be added to the collection and which are not? FH: Since we are relatively new, in order to build our basic collection, we have been trying to collect as much as possible; and 269

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we are only now starting to document our acquisition policy. In fact, we do not just collect the original materials. For example, we are looking at a report of the plague outbreak that took place in Hong Kong in 1894; we may not have the original document, but only a copy of that report. Besides, we have a copy of the diary of the doctor who was in charge of the medical team that was responsible for controlling the 1894 plague outbreak in Hong Kong. I have seen the original diary, but the donor only gave us a copy. This document and microfilm is part of our archives collection and as far as I know, this is not available anywhere else. But of course, we have the originals of other historical documents, including the original graduation certificates of prominent doctors and other originals of rare patient records and lecture notes. Does the Museum also collect other three-dimensional artefacts? CL: Most of the three-dimensional artefacts we collect at this Museum are medical equipment. Such old medical equipment provides much information about the history of medicine and some are actual Hong Kong discoveries. Furthermore, we collect photographs and video-recordings for archival purposes. There is this saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Our Museum also produced a video on the plague of 1894 and a video documenting the discovery and the cause of SARS in Hong Kong, by filming in the actual laboratories where the work was done. What are the highlights of your collection? FH: There are a number of the highlights. In addition to the archival records on the 1894 plague outbreak and on SARS, we also have a lot of records on the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital established in 1887. Furthermore, we have collections on important medical personnel and research materials connected with our exhibitions and previous activities, like the development of midwifery in Hong Kong. The reason we had an exhibition on

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A temperature chart from a patient treated successfully by Yersin’s antiserum. Source: Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences collection.

midwifery was because we wanted to reflect how the development in midwifery services impacted on the changing attitudes among the local Chinese people towards Western medicine in the last century. Do you have any rare books that are of high cultural, historical or research values in your archives collection? FH: We don’t have too many rare books. Most of the books found in our collection are related to medicine, including Chinese medicine. But we have about 50 book titles that are of high value. For example, there is a book written in the 1920s by the first professor in pathology at the University of Hong Kong, Prof. C. Y. Wang; and the book is out of print now. Luckily, we still have a copy of this title, which was kindly donated to our Museum by his son. Another example is the original bound copy of notes

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Dr Alice Sibree was appointed by the London Missionary Society in 1903 and arrived at Hong Kong a year later. She was in charge of the first maternity hospital for Chinese: Alice Memorial Maternity Hospital opened in 1904. The photo shows Dr. Sibree with student midwives and graduates. Source: Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences’s Collections, from Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Charity Foundation.

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hand-written by a student, who became a well-known doctor in Hong Kong, taken of lectures given by the first full-time Professor of Medicine in Hong Kong, Professor John Anderson in the 1920s. We also have a few old Chinese medicine books.

Target Audience and Services of the HKMMS Who is your target audience? And who are the vast majority of this Museum users? FH: Our Museum’s educational programmes are mostly opened to the general public, but we also run tailor-made programmes for special groups like medical students. The majority of our visitors are secondary- and primary-school students; and we provide guided tours for local school groups. We also provide special seminars and teaching materials to local school teachers for various educational purposes. Furthermore, a large number of elderly and local community groups also come to visit our museum on a regular basis, as well as visitors from overseas. What kind of people would come to use your medical archives collection? What kind of services have you been providing at your Museum? FH: Our resources are limited and we are still developing our archives and cannot be considered a large archival institution. A large number of our research or reference enquiries, both local and international, have been related to the history of plague in Hong Kong. In fact, we are expecting a visitor from the University of Cambridge; he wants to look at our plague archives because he is doing a particular research in that area. And people frequently ask if we have photos, especially those related to the plague outbreaks in Hong Kong, for their publications. We have also received people asking about medical-related certificates. Most of

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our reference enquiries were requests for accessing our archives collection for research purposes. Earlier, we had a professor from the Department of History, Lingnan University,6 writing a book who was interested in a certificate in our collection awarded during the time of the Japanese occupation. And Dr Tim Ko from the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society7 also asked about the availability of a photograph to use in the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography which he was helping with. We also had a Ph.D. student from the CUHK8 asking to view the materials we hold about the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital, the first hospital providing Western medicine to the local Chinese people in Hong Kong. In terms of health education services, what are the main differences between the HKMMS and the Department of Health? FH: The Department of Health provides the public with health education services; unlike us, it does not involve medical history or archival collections. Nobody has provided archival records and educational activities on medical history integrated into health education; we are the only institution in Hong Kong serving this purpose. In fact, the Head of Central Health Education Unit9 under the Department of Health is a member of our Museum’s Education and Research Committee. We think that it is very important for a medical museum to have a central repository to keep, collect and preserve the documents related to the history of health and medicine in our region, as well as the medical developments in Hong Kong.

6. Lingnan University – Homepage. Available at http://www.ln.edu.hk/ 7. Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society – Homepage. Available at: http:// www.royalasiaticsociety.org.hk/ 8. CUHK – The Chinese University of Hong Kong – Homepage. Available at: http://www. cuhk.edu.hk/english/index.html 10. Central Health Education Unit – Homepage. Available at: http://www.cheu.gov.hk/ eng/index.asp

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Do you have any strategic plans for developing your archives collection and the Museum for the next two to five years? FH: Our plan is to organise them better, as well as finishing the cataloguing which would take at least two years. It will be easier to search and access them in future and we are still documenting our procedures and developing our archives. Then we may consider putting some of our collection items on the Internet to increase the audience and the number of people who can benefit from our collections. So far, we have collected about 2,000 artefacts and documents, 1,000 volumes of books, and over 1,000 historical photographs. For the cataloguing of the printed books, we want to leave them to the very last, because books are relatively easy to access by searching their titles. However, if we should continue to receive more and more new items in the future, we might not be able to meet our target timeframe. We hope to have our entire archives collection and a catalogue list ready for our users for public access by 2015.

Rewarding Working Experiences What part of your job do you find most gratifying? CL: Being able to work for this Museum is indeed a very rewarding experience. By preserving these medical records and artefacts, it does not only enable us to understand our past, it also tells us what is going on at present and is likely to happen in the near future. FH: I am a volunteer at this Museum. When people show appreciation for what I have done for them and for the Museum, I am happy. It is truly a gratifying experience when I know that I could give back to the society even after I have retired. People always talk about intangible cultural heritage; in fact, the medical history of Hong Kong is very much tied with 275

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the whole social history of Hong Kong. And for people of Hong Kong, they would probably like to know what makes Hong Kong different from any other places. For example, comparative studies between traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine have always been a hot topic among the medical professionals and the public, and this is one of the major themes of this Museum. For instance, in the past, the Chinese people in Hong Kong were sceptical and had no confidence in Western medicine. It took many years for Western medicine to be accepted by the majority of the Hong Kong public, but now traditional Chinese medicine is witnessing a resurgence. And currently, there have been a lot of talks on the integration of Western and Chinese medicine, and whether this can be achieved. All these are related to our cultural heritage.

Afterthoughts Although Hong Kong has attained a high standard of public healthcare services for many years, public healthcare awareness has only been aroused since the SARS outbreak. Besides the efforts of the Health Department, the Hospital Authority, local universities, medical institutes and professionals, the role of Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences is quite unique and outstanding. It links our healthcare heritage to public awareness through its artefacts, archival records, and outreach activities. Since Hong Kong is currently still without an archives law, preserving archival records related to healthcare heritage and making them easily available to the public becomes a particularly important function of this non-governmental-organisation-based Museum.

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Chapter 15 Keeping Traditional Martial Arts Alive

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Interview with Hing CHAO

CEO, International Guoshu Association Cultural heritage is a legacy from the past – something that is shared through time, and built gradually over centuries of knowledge and wisdom. It also comes in many different forms. Some are tangible (for example, artefacts, books, and archives), while others like traditions, music, dance, and martial arts are intangible. Regardless of its form, cultural heritage is undoubtedly important, as it helps us understand who we are, and also how we want to create our own future. Despite its undeniable values, it can be difficult for us to quantify the impacts and benefits of cultural heritage at times. China has a long history of martial arts traditions, including countless numbers of different “schools” (門; mén), “sects” (派; pài), and “families” (家; jiā) – each with its own set of philosophies, concepts, techniques, and training systems. Hong Kong once became world-famous for its unparalleled Kung Fu (that is, martial arts) action movie industry, which bloomed in the 1970s and 80s. Unfortunately, in recent years, many masters are lamenting that the number of young people interested in learning this traditional art form is diminishing on a large scale. At the same time, we can see that a drastic increase of new Thai boxing, MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), Krav Maga, Kali (Filipino martial arts), and Brazilian Jujitsu gyms in all corners of Hong Kong. Having witnessed the challenges of keeping our Chinese traditions alive, Hing Chao (趙式慶) (CEO of International Guoshu Association) collaborates with the City University of Hong Kong to create the Hong Kong Martial Arts Living Archive (HKMALA). According to Chao, “the HKMALA is a groundbreaking project to develop a sophisticated methodology for the complete three-dimensional analysis of Hong Kong martial arts, which is applicable to numerous other performance-based activities. This digital Archive builds upon extensive work done in dance annotations.” In the interview, Hing Chao discussed the reasons behind his never-ending passion for traditional Chinese martial arts, as well as his objectives for establishing this HKMALA in detail.

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Self-Introduction What did you study at university? At what age did you start training traditional Chinese martial arts? How did you develop your passion for traditional Chinese martial arts? I read Philosophy at undergraduate level. Subsequently, I studied and researched Chinese aesthetics, anthropology and frontier Chinese history. I began training martial arts (Karate) at the age of eight, and branched into Chinese martial arts when I was around 18. To me, practising martial arts has always been a way of life, a form of meditation, and a spiritual pursuit. It has a purifying effect in getting rid of my negative emotions, and it helps me concentrate in daily life. I started taking a deep interest in martial arts when I was around 16 and never looked back. My first martial arts teacher, Master Chan Cheuk-Sam (陳卓森 ), once said to me, “life is a constant battle – one is always faced with different adversaries; sometimes they are bigger and stronger than us, sometimes they

Hing CHAO has a great passion for traditional Chinese martial arts; therefore, he collaborates with the City University of Hong Kong and establishes the Hong Kong Martial Arts Living Archive.

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are faster and more elusive; but one can never run away, and the only thing one can do is to find a way to beat the opponent in front of you.” I found that deeply inspiring, and the martial arts trainings through the years have made me face obstacles and adversities with fortitude.

Establishing the HKMALA What inspired you to take up the initiatives to set up the HKMALA? My six-year work experience in the field of martial arts research since 2009 made me aware of the tremendous wealth of martial arts resources in Hong Kong, but also the challenges we face in keeping these traditions alive. For those who are not directly involved in the martial arts community, it is mind-boggling to think that there are Kung Fu masters in Hong Kong who represent the highest authority for their respective lineages or styles, for example, Master Lam Chun-Fai (林鎮輝) of Lam Family Hung Kuen (林家洪拳) , Master Lee Kong (李剛) of Yongchun White Crane Style (永春白鶴拳) , Master Li Tin-Loy (李天來) of Chow Family Southern Praying Mantis (東江周家 螳螂拳) , Master Lau Biu (劉標) of the Choy Mok Style (蔡莫 派) . This has to do with the fact that Hong Kong held a unique geo-political position as a former British colony at the southern margins of China, while maintaining very close socio-economic and cultural ties to China, particularly the Guangdong Province, and that many leading masters from Guangdong moved to Hong Kong at different times from the late nineteenth century up to the 1970s. Furthermore, from February 2013 to January 2014, International Guoshu Association collaborated with a local weekly magazine, Ming Pao Weekly (《明報周刊》) to produce a series of 12 feature stories on Hong Kong martial arts, which were subsequently compiled into a one-volume tome entitled 280

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Hong Kong Martial Arts Community (香港武林) . We met and befriended many masters during that time and realised everyone shared a common goal, which was to preserve and pass down their knowledge.

What are the overall objectives of setting up the Hong Kong Martial Arts Living Archive (HKMALA)? The first and foremost objective is to document and preserve traditional Chinese martial arts in Hong Kong using the best technology including motion capture, which allows us to record precise movements in three-dimensional form at 120 frames per second. Hong Kong took an unprecedented step as a centre of Chinese martial arts, particularly for southern styles. We are undergoing a critical period of change when many martial arts styles are becoming endangered, so we hope to record this legacy as many as possible. The second objective is to create a centralised knowledge hub for Chinese martial arts. This will be the second stage of our work after we have assembled enough data to start building a digital archive. At the moment, traditional martial arts are much segmented in Hong Kong (as elsewhere), and it is very difficult to find reliable information on the subject. To better preserve, promote and revitalise traditional martial arts, it is imperative to have a centralised facility. Once the HKMALA is fully set up as an online learning resource, we plan to use this as a basis for further educational programmes, which will spread to local and international communities. We envisage these programmes to come in a variety of forms ranging from online / mobile applications to publications and exhibitions. We see the Archive playing an active role in not only the preservation, but re-activation and revitalisation of knowledge / practice in traditional martial arts. Finally, we hope to find a physical space to permanently store and display the data. 281

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Who will be the target audience (main user group) of the HKMALA? We hope the Archive will have general appeal to the public as Chinese martial arts are popular and closely tied with films, entertainment, operas, dances and other forms of popular culture. Other than this, we expect to have two tiers of users – (i) a small body of dedicated researchers and practitioners; and (ii) martial arts practitioners and enthusiasts.

What is the overall scope or content coverage of the HKMALA? We are leaving this open-ended at this moment but the ambition is to widen the range of data content as much as possible. I have already mentioned that data from motion capture will form an important part of this Archive, but the performance data will also be available in other formats such as video (high-definition video) and photography. It may not be possible to document everything in all recording formats, so this has to be done selectively depending on factors such as future funding and availability of masters. International Guoshu Association is starting a general survey on traditional martial arts in Hong Kong, so the data collected from this exercise will go directly into the Archive as well.

In addition to digitally recording different styles of martial arts, does the HKMALA also provide records on how these forms and techniques could be applied in actual combat situations? In addition to the motion capture data, the Archive will also include interviews with masters – in audio, video, and transcript formats. In order to document the heritage and teachings of each style as thoroughly as possible, the interviews will be further supplemented by oral instructions on training methods, demonstrations of core techniques, and how techniques can be

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The HKMALA uses the best technology including motion capture to record precise movements in three-dimensional motion data format.

applied in combat situations. However, it would not be possible to record all the applications, so these will have to be made selectively by the masters. Does the HKMALA also provide textual or audio explanations on the moving images? Yes, we envisage this Archive to have multiple data formats including texts, audio recordings, videos, three-dimensional motion data, images, photographs, and possibly even digital record of physical objects such as weapons and training tools. Are there any other similar three-dimensional archiving systems being created for preserving similar or other non-Chinese martial arts forms in other overseas countries? Not as far as I know.

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Senior Chinese Martial Arts Masters versus Young Practitioners What were the initial reactions from the traditional Chinese martial arts masters when you first asked them to take part in this HKMALA Project, that is, to use the latest technologies to record their martial arts forms for data collection and cultural heritage purposes? We did not approach all the masters at once, as we felt it would be difficult to explain the concepts of motion capture, so we only spoke to those we knew well. In each case, it took us a few motion capture sessions to figure out the best settings. I am deeply grateful and moved that even though some of the masters might not understand what motion capture was, they participated in this process nonetheless in the belief that this is good for the preservation of their art forms. After getting this going, it is much easier to approach and include more masters and their students. Chinese martial arts community is small and tightly-knit, and it is vital to build a relationship on mutual trust, which we have done through years of dedication. We are deeply honoured to form friendship with the senior martial arts figures in Hong Kong, and we are able to undertake this ambitious project because of everyone’s fundamental commitment to preserve martial arts as our collective cultural heritage. Are there any differences between the old generation and the young generation of Chinese martial arts practitioners in terms of their responses to this HKMALA? Yes, as one would expect, it tends to be easier to explain what “motion capture” is to younger people by reference to CGI films such as Avatar. However, except for the initial experimental phase at the beginning of the project when we were trying out different settings, we usually approach the more senior figure(s) first, 284

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Hing CHAO is deeply grateful that the masters participated in the motion capture and all believe that the HKMALA is doing something good for preserving the traditional Chinese martial arts.

and then the master would suggest the most suitable candidates to participate in the motion capture. Apart from martial arts demonstration, the focus of our interviews / research will be on “older generation” of practitioners rather than young people. There has been a saying that many masters guard their skills or forms like trade secrets, and do not even pass their fighting skills to their daughters; or they only teach the skills to selective students. Did you face any difficulties in convincing these senior masters to have their forms or techniques recorded under this digital Archive? Under ordinary circumstances, I think it would have been extremely difficult to convince martial arts masters to participate in this type of archival project. However, I and my martial arts organisation, International Guoshu Association, have been working hand in hand with the senior masters to preserve and promote traditional martial arts over the past few years, being 285

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engaged in a wide range of research, educational and promotional activities such as the Hong Kong International Kung Fu Festival (2009), Journal of Chinese Martial Studies (founded 2009), several exhibitions as well as numerous talks. This gave us the necessary platform to start the HKMALA. Once we built up a critical mass, more styles and masters were interested to join this Project. Obviously, not everyone is interested to participate in the Project, but so far the support we have received from the martial arts community in Hong Kong has been overwhelmingly positive. Can you describe the information-seeking behaviour amongst the old and current generation of traditional Chinese martial arts practitioners? Reliable information on traditional Chinese martial arts remains scarce, and there are very few researchers or masters who are considered as the authority of Chinese martial arts in general. If someone seeks information on a specific style, it is not uncommon to have recourse to online resources, such as certain masters’ or styles’ official websites. However, the information found on websites or books tend to be limited in most cases. Serious practitioners can better learn the knowledge / information through direct human interaction such as seeking out the master who is considered an authority on certain matters. There is not much difference as far as I observe in the information seeking behaviour between older and younger practitioners of Chinese martial arts, except the tendency among young people to rely more on information in the virtual space. But this has to do with accessibility as well; it is easier for established martial art masters to seek out another master, who may already be an acquaintance or belong to the same community or martial arts organisation(s). Conversely, most of the masters I know are surprisingly tech-savvy such as using mobile phones and social media to communicate and exchange information. I belong to

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more than one such group on Facebook, WeChat, and WhatsApp, as many masters have an international network of students, and the new communication tools are necessary for them to stay in touch effectively with their overseas networks.

As the founder of this HKMALA, which part(s) of the project do you find most rewarding? It is very rewarding to get to know more about Chinese martial arts and become close friends with the masters. It is touching to see them dedicate their whole lives to martial arts and then share the traditions, with no expectation of reward, with the public so openly and unstintingly. It is also rewarding to “discover” martial art lineages or styles that we did not know about, and to find lineage-holders for certain styles which have become rare. This is the joy of discovery one only encounters in ground-breaking exploration and research.

What are the major challenges and difficulties faced by you and your project partners during the course of designing and setting up the HKMALA? We are still at an early stage of the project, and the focus is very much on data collection. The major challenges mainly relate to funding, technology, and human resources, mostly to do with motion capture. Collaborating with the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, we have access to the best motion capture and digital media facilities in Hong Kong. However, to record precise joint movement requires a complex setup, which makes the clean-up process significantly harder. To overcome this, we plan to set up a dedicated team for data clean-up, but it remains to be seen how challenging it will be to train our technical staff up to the required standard, and how efficiently they can handle the clean-up.

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Public’s Views towards Traditional Martial Arts To people living in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Mainland China and other overseas countries, are there any major differences in their views towards this traditional self-defence system in the last 10 to 20 years? In general, I would say martial arts in Hong Kong have been declining steadily since the 1990s, but the interest in traditional martial arts has risen somewhat in the past five or six years, partly in response to the new wave of martial arts films. However, this interest is directed at a very small number of styles or lineages, which is not helpful to the decline for traditional martial arts as a whole. Needless to say, public perception of martial arts is greatly influenced by film and popular culture. For example, the Ip Man (葉問 ) franchise since 2008 inaugurated a new age for Hong Kong Kung Fu cinema that focuses on local traditions, as opposed to an earlier wave where New Wushu (新派武術 ) dominated martial art films. To that extent, traditional martial arts, particularly in Guangdong province, have experienced a resurgence in terms of public awareness and interest during the last six years or so. The success of the “Ip Man” film series also has implications in Mainland China, Taiwan, and overseas, prompting an unprecedented level of interest in a southern style called Wing Chun (詠春 ). Another development we have witnessed in Hong Kong is the deepening interest to know more about traditional Chinese martial arts and to perceive it as a vital part of Hong Kong and China’s cultural heritage. This is an important breakthrough. In Mainland China, since the 1980s, there is a gradual resurgence of the traditional martial art styles. Schools slowly resurfaced after a prolonged period of political suppression. The prospect for traditional martial arts in China is positive as the country sought to rediscover its traditions. The problem they face 288

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is that not enough solid research has been done on the matter, for example, the government and entertainment industry offered a prospect of mixing rich rewards, tradition and innovation in a rather indiscriminate and unfortunate manner. The public, in the meantime, continued to consume martial arts through the lens of popular culture, which unfortunately distorts martial arts in fundamental ways. In Hong Kong, we have a similar problem, but not as severe as Mainland China. What do you hope the local Hong Kong Government, the general public and the martial arts practitioners could gain or learn from the HKMALA? I want the Hong Kong Government and the general public to acknowledge the significant martial arts heritage we have in Hong Kong, and carry on this tradition. As a vital component of traditional culture, martial arts were once interwoven within the fabric of society and its economic and cultural activities. Not only does the HKMALA preserve martial art techniques, we also preserve the collective memory and cultural heritage of Hong Kong such as how martial artists lived at different times and how they contributed to contemporary society. The stories to be found in the Archive provide a valuable window to different cultural groups and social classes. In addition, martial arts also offer deeper insights and appreciation for Chinese culture that many people are unaware of. For example, martial artists are frequently healers and bonesetters. The practice of Chinese medicine and martial arts compliments each other and helps practitioners develop a deeper understanding of the human body. At the same time, since antiquity, martial arts have been used for moral education, and the life stories of some of the masters provide positive examples and inspiration to the general public. Martial arts were once closely integrated with village life and such cultural activities as popular theatre, festivals, lion 289

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and dragon dance, unicorn dance, etc. Therefore, in so far as the Archive is a repository of knowledge for traditional martial arts, it also serves as a source of knowledge and information for the spiritual, moral and physical aspects of traditional Chinese culture, as well as related aspects in religious and cultural spheres. How do traditional Chinese martial arts relate to the current society? Do you see this as a sport, an art form, a cultural product, an outdated self-defence system or others? Traditional martial arts have many aspects, which are more or less emphasised depending on the style, master, as well as the society one lives in. In today’s world, martial arts have no place as a mortal skill but it retains its rightful place as a selfdefence system. More importantly, it is an art form and an educational tool. China’s greatest educator, Confucius, included archery and charioteering in his education system, because he thought “benevolence cannot be without courage”. For the same reason, I strongly believe that martial arts retain its value as a tool for moral education, and for honing one’s character. In our neighbouring countries, Japan and Korea, traditional martial arts have been modernised as sports and incorporated into national physical education. This is a path I would like to see for Chinese martial arts.

The New Style Wushu versus Traditional Chinese Martial Arts As a national sport, the New Wushu has been strongly promoted by the PRC Government. Do you think it is good for promoting Chinese martial arts? Or is this actually weakening Chinese martial arts’ authenticity and heritage? There is no doubt that New Wushu has done far more harm than good to Chinese martial arts. To begin with, Wushu is 290

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anti-traditional. New Wushu was created in the extreme leftist movement of the 1950s, as a reaction against the Guoshu   (國 術 )  system constructed by the previous Chinese Republic administration. Guoshu defines Chinese martial arts as a pluralistic system that consists of fixed routine and adversarial training, which in fact is the core aspect of martial arts training. This is in line with the spiritual and pedagogic legacy of martial arts from the classical times. The educational value of martial arts is to temper one’s moral character by developing courage, persistence, fortitude, and respect. By taking away the real competitive element, martial arts become merely a dance and worse, the pretence of New Wushu as a “martial art” was served to nurture a culture of dissimulation, dishonesty and mythologising.

With the young generation’s fading interest in traditional Chinese martial arts and the drastic increase in popularity of the new Western martial arts such as Brazilian Jujitsu gyms, in order to regain its popularity, do you think it needs to find ways to modernise itself, that is, to find a new way to present itself to the young generation? I do not think Chinese martial arts have lost all their appeal to the younger generation. The number of gyms in Hong Kong that offer Wing Chun instruction proves that young people continue to take interest in learning Chinese martial arts. However, it is true that traditional martial arts are in decline in general, and it is difficult to compete with modern martial arts such as Muay Thai and MMA. Many traditional martial arts are simply not “visible” in today’s society; even if a person wants to learn traditional martial arts, it is often very difficult for him or her to find the appropriate master or style. Secondly, I do think Chinese martial arts suffer from the way they are being presented. When one thinks of Muay Thai, MMA, Taekwondo, Judo or any other forms of modern martial 291

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arts, a very clear mental image emerges immediately. The same does not apply to Chinese martial arts – and indeed, it is nearly impossible to even describe what Chinese martial arts are, given the complexity and sheer number of styles. At the same time, while modern martial arts can be measured and quantified through well-established systems of examination and certification, the same does not apply yet again for Chinese martial arts. So, if Chinese martial arts need to regain popularity, I do think that they need to be “repackaged”.

Afterthoughts Hing Chao was the very last person whom I interviewed for this book. Although I have never met him in person, and our interview was done only via written emails, I found his answers equally frank, open, engaging, and most importantly, inspiring. Although Chao is not an archivist in traditional sense, his efforts and dedication devoted towards the preservation of our traditional heritage are equally admirable, and his works would no doubt serve as good examples for the future generations!

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Chapter 16 Graffiti Inside an Art and Design Library?

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Interview with Wilson CHU Head Librarian, Hong Kong Design Institute Opened in September 2010, the Library (Learning Resources Centre, LRC) of the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) is a multimedia learning facility that provides an environment conducive to study, research and leisure reading, etc. Its mission is to support and promote the academic goals of the Institute, that is, to prepare the students for their professional careers in visual arts and design, with emphasis on learning under a creative and interactive environment, and at the same time upholding a positively relaxing, and yet inviting atmosphere. In the following interview, Mr. Wilson Chu, (Head Librarian at the HKDI), shares with us his unique approach in managing the LRC. He also discusses the distinctive differences between the information needs and other usage preferences of the end-users at the HKDI and those of other traditional academic libraries.

Self-Introduction Could you introduce yourself, for example, your training and educational background, and your major roles and duties at the Learning Resources Centre of the Hong Kong Design Institute? I am Wilson Chu, and I am currently serving as the Head Librarian at the HKDI1 Learning Resources Centre.2 The HKDI is one of the many tertiary education institutes under the Vocational Training Council (VTC)3 in Hong Kong, and I became the Head Librarian at the LRC in 2010.

1. Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) – Homepage. Available at: http://www.hkdi.edu. hk/ 2. Learning Resources Centre (LRC) at the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) – Homepage. Available at: http://dilwllrc.vtc.edu.hk/index_en.php 3. Vocational Training Council – Homepage. Available at: http://www.vtc.edu.hk/html/ en/about/corp_info.html

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The Learning Resources Centre of HKDI is a multimedia learning facility that provides an environment conducive to study, research and leisure reading.

With reference to my educational background, I received both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from the City College of New York.4 Then I received my master’s degree in Library Service (MLS) in 2001 from Rutgers University.5 In addition to that, I also earned a post-graduate diploma and a master’s degree in Chinese Language and Literature from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.6 The formation of the HKDI was that the VTC gathered all the design departments and programmes from three different

4. The City College of New York – Homepage. Available at: http://www.ccny.cuny.edu 5. Rutgers University – Homepage. Available at: https://www.rutgers.edu 6. The Chinese University of Hong Kong – Homepage. Available at: http://www.cuhk. edu.hk/english/index.html

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Wilson thinks that the Learning Resources Centre at the HKDI plays a broader role than the traditional library.

campuses [Shatin, Kwai Chung and Kwun Tong], and merged them together into one single unit. What was the original purpose of combining all the different programmes under the VTC into one single unit? This “merging” was meant to achieve better “branding” purposes. By doing so, we would have a more “stand-out” image, telling people that this Institute is dedicated to the teaching and learning of visual arts and design at tertiary level in Hong Kong. The HKDI Project has been operating for many years, but this physical building of the HKDI and its LRC were not officially opened until September 2010. What are the ultimate advantages for creating a strong brand or a “stand-out” image for the HKDI? I am not the right person to give comment on the overall learning and teaching strategies of the HKDI. But speaking for library 296

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management, our library resources became more focused on design disciplines, as well as the facilities and library workshops. We also offered e-resources, iMac and Adobe Creative Suite (CS)7 workshops that were all tailor-made for design students. What kind of academic programmes does the HKDI offer? We offer a wide range of programmes, ranging from various professional certificates to high diplomas, etc. We also started offering degree programmes since 2013. In short, the programmes offered at the HKDI range from two-month certificate to fouryear degree programmes, which include advertising design, creative media, digital music and media, fashion design, fashion branding, architectural design, etc.

Collection Highlights of the HKDI Library Could you tell us about your library’s collection size? The LRC has 80,000 items, but altogether with other VTC library branches, we have over 600,000 items. We have also subscribed to 240,000 e-books and around 60,000 e-journal titles. How about the collection highlights at the LRC? The focus of our collection is visual arts and design. I would say over 60% of our book collection are related to visual arts and design. But we also have certain percentage of book titles on other academic disciplines, for example, business administration, information technology, digital media, marketing, merchandising, and fashion design – all these are meant to support students’ learning via a more interdisciplinary approach.

7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Creative_Suite 297

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Table 16.1

Basic Facts of the HKDI Learning Resource Centre

Hong Kong Design Institute Learning Resource Centre – Basic Facts (date as of May, 2014) Size of printed collection

82,505 volumes

Size of electronic collection

E-books: 242,725 titles

Electronic databases

120

No. of PC stations

237 (Mac: 53%)

No. of seats for users

Around 480

Physical size of library (square meters)

2861

Cafe / Coffee bar / Vending machines

Vending machines are available at

Zone24 (Learning Common)

1

Group discussion rooms

4

Art gallery, display, & exhibition space

1, still under planning

Reading room

NIL

Information commons

Yes

Archive / Special collections

NIL

Media production rooms

Yes

Lounges

NIL

New book displays

Yes

Leisure / popular reading collection

A few

Faculty reading rooms

NIL

Characteristics of the LRC Could you describe the user behaviour at the HKDI Library? Are they different from the other users at a regular academic library? They are very different! For one thing, they frequently make the furniture inside the LRC dirty. Instead of using their own studio space, they tend to paint and draw everywhere inside the LRC. In other words, you can easily find graffiti, scratches, unwanted pen/ pencil markings and other damages made by paper cutters, colour paints or other sharp/art tools around the user areas inside the 298

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LRC. Under the [Institute’s] regulations, artworks should only be done at the studios designated for the students. However, the art studios are not open 24 hours a day. So when the studio is closed and these students suddenly feel the need to fulfil their creative urges, without giving any serious thinking, they would just lay out the materials on the table inside the LRC and start painting. We also have this Student Learning Common located right next to the LRC, called Zone24. The Common was opened in 2010, but we had to close it down in 2011 for renovation, because the whole place was so messy – as a result of students doing artworks inside, instead of using their own studio space. I heard that other art and design librarians in Hong Kong also suffer from similar problems, that is, unwanted graffiti and other damages made by students inside the library. The overall atmosphere inside our library is more relaxing. Compared to the users at other traditional academic libraries, our students do not follow regular study and research patterns, that is, they prefer not to sit quietly at the desk and study. They tend to gather together as a team to engage in some kind of modelling projects (for example, taking photographs or doing special makeups). You can easily find our students engaging in various group activity or discussions – as so-called brainstorming for creative ideas. In this sense, we are a “noisy” library, as we allow students to make noise and engage in discussions in open areas.

, e.g., be mo

As the Head Librarian of the HKDI library, how do you deal with this graffiti problem? I have designated a library staff to monitor students’ behaviour closely. We have also given these students a very clear message that the LRC must not be used as a space for doing graffiti, or artwork of any kind, by putting up a very large poster at the main entrance. If they are caught violating these regulations, we will suspend their circulation records, as a way to discourage them from repeating such an offense. 299

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Why the students chose to come to the LRC instead of using their own studio space or other venues (such as a café) for their discussions and other creative activities? Do they come to the LRC to find images for their own creative inspirations? The reason that we changed the name from “Library” to the “Learning Resources Centre (LRC)” was because it would enable us to change the concept, in terms of how librarians should/ could manage and operate the Library. According to the old or traditional library concept, users would spend a great deal of time alone, isolating oneself inside a study carrel, and read a book quietly in solitude. In this new era, we encourage them to interact even more actively with others. Inside the LRC, you cannot find a single study carrel. We do not even have any designated discussion zone. As mentioned earlier, students are allowed to make noise and engage in discussions anywhere inside the LRC. In other words, the whole LRC is a discussion zone itself. We do not want the students to come to the LRC to just borrow books or to study, we also encourage them to use the LRC as a space for socialising – to chit chat with friends, or even to lie flat on the sofas to relax in between their lessons. Do you provide information literacy workshops for your students, as a way to teach them how to be self-dependent in locating materials inside the LRC? I found that information literacy workshops are not very popular among our young students at HKDI. The reason is that our students are not at the same research level as the other students at the other universities, for example, the University of Hong Kong or the Chinese University of Hong Kong. For this reason, we almost never receive any formal reference enquiries. The academic level among our students at HKDI is somewhat in between high school and university. Having said that, we do organise a number of workshops to teach students how to use mobile devices, for 300

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example, iPhone and iPad, to access library resources from remote sites. I would say this is our way as librarians to respond to the new trend in learning in the digital era, that is, exploring various new ways to enhance teaching and learning outside the physical classroom environment. In addition, we do not organise workshops only for students, instead we welcome both students and HKDI staff at all levels to take part in our library workshops. Another reason why our circulation statistics are much higher than the other VTC branch libraries is that our design students really need to look at the design books – as a way to gather ideas for their own designs. Based on the feedbacks gathered from the students, images found on the Internet cannot replace the printed images found on these design books – simply because the visual quality of the images is far more superior.

Could you describe in details the circulation statistics at the Learning Resources Centre? Via looking at the circulation statistics, have you identified any interesting usage patterns among your users? The Learning Resources Centre opened in 2010. We have logged the circulation checkout rates and found that it had been steadily increasing for the past three academic years. And the fourth year is also looking strong on the circulation figures. We never studied what kind of materials being the most popular among our students, but our acquisitions policy focused more on design reference and textbooks over leisure books (for example, novels) and blockbuster movies. As the HKDI Librarian, which part(s) of your job you find most satisfying? Under the current digital era, everything is so easily available via the Internet with a few keystrokes, but despite that, the LRC has still witnessed a positive and yet steady growth of circulation

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The overall atmosphere inside HKDI LRC is very relaxing and inviting; students are engaging in various group activities or discussions in the open areas.

usage of our printed books over the past few years, this is definitely something that I found most gratifying In addition, the LRC is collaborating with three different service units, that is, the Library, the IT Department and the ETU (Education Technology Unit, including AV and printing services), to synergise the end-user services among these three different operational units. It is definitely not easy for these three departments to work together as a team; but if everything works out at the end, and our young users are telling us that they enjoy spending time in our library and appreciate what we have done for them, I won’t complain. At the end of the day, it is our satisfied and loyal users that make my hard work worthwhile.

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To conclude this interview, I would like to highlight that I really like the way VTC is running the library. The overall atmosphere of this library is very leisurely, inviting, and at the same time, very lively and engaging. I am very fortunate that I have been given a lot of freedom to exercise my professional knowledge and skills to the best advantage for the overall success of the whole organisation.

Afterthoughts I purposely selected Wilson’s interview as the final chapter of this book, because Wilson’s answers in the interview have given us a glimpse into the future of LIS (Library and Information Science) and archival services – providing innovative and yet feasible ideas to push the boundaries of what libraries and archives could be, and what LIS and archives professionals could do for our endusers. In addition to the competitions posed by the commercial bookstores and other online entertainment applications, information needs and expectations among end-users have been transformed by the fast-paced advancement in different communications technologies. The changing needs of the user activities in the digital era definitely push the traditional library services to its limits, and create entirely new areas, as well as concepts for LIS support and development. Most significant is the emerging demands for creating a far less structured, but a much more user-centred environment for library services and collections – for the purpose of constructing an effective collaborative learning environment that could engage and sustain the active participation of our users (either in person or online). For this reason, library services are becoming increasingly “hybrid” and “flux” in terms of nature, content, format, etc.

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Meanwhile, LIS and archives professionals are endeavouring to develop new service models that could help meet users’ fastchanging information needs and expectations. Multimedia information (for example, digital images, or online video and audio streaming) is also becoming increasingly in demand to support the teaching, learning and research for different user groups. Such a “hybrid” nature of library services as well as its environment are no doubt revolutionising the core tasks and the traditional roles of LIS and archives professionals, not to mention influencing our performances in every regard. In addition to their fundamental duties, LIS and archives professionals are also expected to serve as educators, fundraisers, marketing managers, social activity organisers, social workers, researchers, historians, investigators, cultural ambassadors, museum curators, mental wellness and professional development facilitators, not to forget the dedicated advocators of the archives law – for the sake of ensuring Government transparency and accountability, as well as protecting documentary heritage and cultural identity for Hong Kong. They are expected to continue to function as faithful guardians of our documentary heritage. No one has the powers to predict the future, but we could certainly anticipate that the near-future for those practising LIS and archives professionals will be very exciting, challenging, as well as rewarding in equal measure. To conclude this final chapter, I would like to use a quote from the American computer scientist, Alan Kay, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”

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Archives and Records Management Archival records are meant to serve as evidence for the longterm social accountability of a nation, that is, evidence of a nation’s policies and activities for those to whom it is politically accountable. In addition to their undeniable political value, archival records also serve as the basic component of a nation’s documentary heritage – part of the nation’s collective memory, a testament to its history, as well as an embodiment of its national and cultural identity. As explained by William Waung, a retired judge of the Hong Kong High Court, archives are the original records of an event at the time it occurred and preserved for posterity. Public archives record birth and citizenship, confirm death and ownership, verify rights and obligations, detail government policies and decisions and serve legal, operational, research and cultural purposes. They are a repository of significant and factual information that helps us to understand the history and identity of a community, the workings of a government and its publicly funded bodies and enables us to benefit from the past.1

In most modern jurisdictions, the archives legislation is designed to protect the integrity of public records, as well as to prevent these records from being lost under the maladministration of the government departments. As pointed out by Loh and Frisch, archives laws in most jurisdictions share the same basic objectives: enhancing efficiency, accountability, probity, rule of law, heritage preservation, and

1. Waung, William. (2011). “Good Governance and Preserving History: Why Hong Kong Needs an Archives Law”. Hong Kong Lawyer, 7: 16 – 29. Available at: http:// archivesactiongroup.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Articles2.pdf

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understanding of history by future generations. In countries and territories such as Singapore, Australia, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, China and Macau where there is an archives law, government officials who destroy or mutilate official records can be prosecuted in court and fined or imprisoned. Such sanctions provide an incentive for public servants to maintain the integrity of public records, with concomitant improvements in accountability, rule of law, and public trust in government.2

Hong Kong was a British colony for over 150 years. When Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule in 1997, it became a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China; and ever since, Hong Kong has been governed under the principle of the “One Country, Two Systems” – a legal framework that is based on the English common law, supplemented by the local legislation. Under this unique legal system, in contrast to Mainland China, people of Hong Kong have long enjoyed a much greater degree of political expression, as well as a good standard of governance practices that is above the international average – what many people might call a comparatively more “transparent government”. Ironically, despite its obvious merits, the Hong Kong SAR Government continues to deny the need for an archives law for preserving the integrity of the public records. As criticised by Nick Frisch, a government destroys documents with impunity; its Security Bureau advises public employees to shred official papers; citizens seeking justice find pertinent government files mysteriously empty. This certainly

2. Loh, Christine & Nick Frisch. (November 2011). “The Memory Hole: Why Hong Kong Needs an Archives Law”. Civic Exchange. Available at: www.civic-exchange.org/wp/ wp-content/uploads/2011/11/111124PublicRecords_en.pdf

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doesn’t sound like Hong Kong, the semi-autonomous Chinese enclave renowned for its competent civil servants, protection of civil liberties and world-class government services.3

Waung also highlighted that, in Asia, countries and territories such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Mongolia and Macau all have archives legislation. Hong Kong, however, is the only exception. Hong Kong currently does not have archives legislation and it seems that the government is in no hurry to pass such legislation. This is both surprising and exceedingly puzzling given that Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region that prides itself on its judicial independence, its adherence to the rule of law and its unique achievements post-1997.4

The Archives Law The Archives Law of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was promulgated on 1 January 1988.5 According to the law’s general provisions, “any document deemed to have historical value to the state and society, no matter whether created by government action or by private action, is ‘archival’ and must be protected in the public interest”.6 The general provisions also assert “unified

3. Frisch, Nicholas. (2011). “‘Hong Kong’s Blind Spot’: The Territory Lacks a Law to Ensure the Government Preserves its Records”. Available at: http:// archivesactiongroup.org/main/?page_id=277 4. Waung. “Good governance and preserving history”. 5. Moss, William M. (Spring, 1991). “The Archives Law of the People’s Republic of China: a Summary and Commentary”. American Archivist, 54: 217. Available at: http://archivists.metapress.com/content/p177643t46t36715/fulltext.pdf 6. Ibid.

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leadership and decentralised administration” as means to this end. These general provisions reflect the Leninist notion of a “national archival fond”.7 The formation and execution of the PRC’s archives law was carried out through the central authority’s “top-down approach” which is also referred as the “mandatory approach”. Although the execution of the archives law in the PRC is viewed as paternalistic, it has effectively eliminated a large group of people, including government officials, from voicing their opinions as well as successfully ensuring that all bureaus and departments involved are putting this archives law into immediate practice. For the PRC, government records serve as an important and yet effective tool for political control, giving the PRC central government, as well as its citizens, strict control over its resources, technologies, flow and access of information. According to Simon Chu, the Chairman of the Hong Kong Archives Society, “the PRC will try to control everything, and they want to control all access and flows of information. And for them, the archives law also serves some other purposes”. With reference to the archival situation in Hong Kong, by contrast, Hong Kong has never been independent politically. For the Hong Kong Government, regardless whether it was during the British colonial period or after the handover to the PRC in 1997, the region has never enjoyed full independence. Unlike other former British colonies, such as India, Malaysia or Singapore, Hong Kong lacks a self-reliant government that is willing to take up the responsibility of forming and executing the archives legislation, although it has always been in great demand. It was until the 1990s that a group of activists and experts, including legislators, academics, historians, archivists and lawyers, who

7. Grimsted, Patricia Kennedy. (Fall, 1982). “Lenin’s Archival Decree of 1918: The Bolshevik Legacy for Soviet Archival Theory and Practice”. American Archivist, 45: 429 – 443, especially 430 – 431. Available at: www.jstor.org/stable/40292533?seq=6

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have witnessed the poor state of the Hong Kong Government Archives, decided to collaborate together and founded the Hong Kong Archives Society (HKAS) and the Archives Action Group (AAG), with the hope to identify immediate solutions for tackling the “archival situation” which has been rapidly deteriorating since 1997. One of the major actions carried out by the AAG was drafting the Public Records Bill, with which to persuade and pressure the Hong Kong Government to take action to implement the archives legislation, as well as to put a stop to the massive destruction of government records. In contrast to the PRC, this kind of “bottom-up approach” to pressure the government to take action is dependent on the active participation of its people, seeing the urgent need of pushing the government to take immediate action for protecting and preserving their own documentary heritage, guaranteeing people’s rights to information, as well as ensuring the transparency, accountability, and proper governance of the Hong Kong Government.

Archives Professionals Archives and libraries, to a large degree, are reflections of the communities or organisations they serve. In many cases, these special libraries and archive centres become places where the community at large comes together for various reasons such as scholarly research, social networking, and providing information for supporting the overall operations of an organisation. Although the convenience of digital technology has brought the work and responsibilities of archivists and librarians much closer together during the last few decades, there remain key differences in their core duties and job responsibilities, as well as work environments.

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I am afraid I don’t have a really good answer to your question, but unexpected things happen all the time, and one has to simply go with the flow. I know many people ask about performance music librarian programmes at universities or if there are relevant topics that one can teach at the university level. But there is no substitute for actually doing the job, getting experience, and knowing what you do.8 – Robert Sutherland (Chief Librarian at the Metropolitan Opera)

Parallel to what Robert Sutherland has said above, since the nature of the job carried out by these archivists and special library managers is so “specialised” in their individual fields, it is almost impossible to summarise a set of skills or capabilities necessary to fulfil their roles. It is evident that much of their professional knowledge and skills have been acquired via direct on-the-job experience. Feasible solutions for training the next generation of archivists and special library managers might be: • To consult practising archivists and special LIS professionals, and invite them to provide input for redesigning MLIS and archival science curricula, course contents, internship and placement programmes; • To invite these practising archivists and special LIS professionals to conduct guest lectures and other interactive seminars to the students on a regular basis as part of the MLIS and archival science curriculum, thereby giving the students a broad exposure and yet up-to-date information about the current trends, as well as other interesting topics related to archival science and special librarianship;

8. Lo, Patrick. (2013). “A Conversation with Robert Sutherland, the Chief Librarian at the Metropolitan Opera Library”. Fontes Artis Musicae Journal 60 (2): 89.

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Preserving Local Documentary Heritage

• to involve MLIS and archival science students in projects, case studies, and placement in these special libraries and archives. The librarians and archivists interviewed for this book comprise individuals from young graduates to retired professionals. It cannot be denied that, although some of them lack the recognised qualifications, they are equally competent, talented, experienced, devoted and knowledgeable as many other fully-qualified LIS and archival science professionals in many ways. I think the most important thing is that you have to love what you do for your own sake, because you will rarely get recognition for what you do. The job itself has to be a reward. I think you need to be endlessly curious and interested in what you do.9 – Robert Sutherland (Chief Librarian at the Metropolitan Opera)

Compared with other established professions, archival science and librarianship are not always well paid – and this is especially true for those working for small organisations. Opportunities for career progression and promotion can also be very limited. In many situations, chances for a solo archivist/ librarian to move up in an organisation can be close to zero. However, many archivists and librarians who took part in the interviews did not see financial reward as the most important factor in their career satisfaction. Instead, the intrinsic rewards were derived from helping their users and making a positive impact on the local community as a whole. After all, it is the happy and satisfied users that make their job worthwhile and gratifying.

9. Ibid., 91.

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Conclusion

The convenience of the Internet as a platform to deliver information has indeed altered the ways people use archives and libraries. Over the past decades, many scholars and stakeholders have been debating about their diminishing importance as a physical space. Digital services are amongst the most important recent developments in archives and libraries, however, the interviews presented in this volume serve as indisputable evidence for convincing misguided administrators that archivists and librarians, as well as the building itself, are still very much needed; and virtual archives/libraries or Google can never completely replace them. Clear overlaps and distinctions in terms of functions and “expectations” between the archive and the library were clearly illustrated. It is apparent that modern archival and LIS services are gradually moving away from the previously or narrowly defined standards. To conclude this book, I would like to ask the reader one more time: Do you still think archivists and librarians are merely glorified filing clerks?

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