Lingnan University Establishes Hong Kong and South China Historical Research Programme to Promote the Compilation of Hong Kong's First Local Records

Lingnan University ("Lingnan" or "the University") announced the establishment of the Hong Kong and South China Historical Research Programme ("HKSCHRP" or "the Programme") at an inauguration ceremony held today on campus. The Programme, aimed at establishing the University as a hub of historical research on Hong Kong and South China, strives to promote the related research works, including the compilation of Hong Kong's first Local Records to lay foundation for future study on Hong Kong.

The establishment was made possible with the generous donation of HK$ 1 million from Mr TAM Kwong-lim, Managing Director of Kingstar Shipping Ltd, Chairman of Lingnan's Advisory Board on History, and Honorary Fellow of HKSCHRP. The donation was matched on a dollar to dollar basis under the University Grants Committee (UGC)'s Matching Grant Scheme, making a total funding of $2 million available for this establishment at Lingnan's Department of History.

The cheque presentation ceremony was jointly officiated by Mr Tam Kwong-lim, Prof Edward CHEN, President of the University, and Dr LAU Chi-pang, Coordinator of HKSCHRP who each delivered a speech at the inauguration ceremony. Immediately following the ceremony, the HKSCHRP launched its first programme "Workshop on Hong Kong Local Records", at which Prof QIN Qi-min, Secretary General, Chinese Local Records Directing Group, and Prof CHEN Qiang, Guangdong, Office of Local Chronicles Compilation of Guangdong Province, presented a Shanghai Local Records and a Guangdong Province Local Records to Lingnan respectively and Prof Chen received these gifts on behalf of the University.

Local Records is a comprehensive and systematic record of a place, its geography, natural environment, history, culture, society and current situation. Comprising both past and present records, Local Records provides invaluable information for development planning in diverse areas such as economics, natural science, social science, tourism, arts and others.

The history of China's Local Records could be dated back to over 2,000 years ago while the compilation of the new editions of Local Records was started at national level since early 1980's. However, Hong Kong is still owed a compilation of its own Local Records as yet.

In his welcoming remarks, Prof Edward Chen said the University was indebted to Mr Tam Kwong-lim for not only contributing his precious time and wise counsel to the Department of History by serving on its Advisory Board but also making a generous donation that was instrumental in realising the establishment of the HKSCHRP. The Programme will develop a research network among historians, scholars and institutions to facilitate the respective research projects.

According to Mr Tam Kwong-lim, "For my shipping business, I traveled extensively within the Asia-Pacific region and detected very often a lack of understanding among different peoples of each other's culture and history. There is an urgent need for the younger generation to learn and appreciate more of their own history as well as the diverse culture and history of other places. Only when one knows who he is and where he comes from will he learn how to respect others. I think Lingnan's liberal arts philosophy will make it a great institution, broadening minds and deepening knowledge of history and culture of its students."

Dr Lau Chi-pang said, "With a long history of its own, Hong Kong's strategic geographical location has lent its development over the past decades. However, Hong Kong is still owed its own Local Records. The HKSCHRP plans to undertake historical research to address the needs of the Hong Kong community in the 21st century. It is also hoped that, with the support of scholars, academics and various sectors of the community, and through collaborative research projects and fostering new partnerships, the Programme could promote the compilation of Hong Kong's first Local Records."

In addition to research projects and academic seminars, the HKSCHRP's scope of activities will include also organising a themed academic conference each year. This year, a Workshop on Hong Kong Local Records was presented, featuring scholars and academics as speakers and conveners from the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan. They included three speakers for topic speech, namely, Prof QIN Qi-min, Prof CHEN Qiang, and Prof HUANG Hsiu-cheng, National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan who were joined by Dr Lau Chi-pang, Dr LEUNG Ping-wa, Prof SIU Kwok-kin, Prof LIU Shu-yong, Prof YAU Xin-li and Dr WANG Jie.

The HKSCHRP's current projects include: "The History of Sea Rescue and Fireboats Services in Hong Kong" and the "History of Ta Teh Institute" research projects, both funded by the Hong Kong Museum of History; the "Tuen Mun History and Heritage Project" research project funded by Tuen mun District Council; the revised edition of "Jianming Xianggang Shi" to be published by Joint Publishing (Hong Kong) Company Limited; the "Qing Shi: Xianggang Zhi" joint research project with the University of Hong Kong, commissioned by The National Committee for the Compilation of Qing History; and the collation of "Xinan Xianzhi", a HKSCHRP project.

The HKSCRP will also organise in association with the Home Affairs Bureau a cultural heritage camp in Hong Kong and a cultural heritage tour to Quanzhou during the forthcoming summer holidays.