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The traditional view of the Hong Kong colonial economy is that it was dominated by Western companies, notably the great British merchant houses, and that these firms enlisted support from Chinese middlemen – the compradors – who were effectively agents working for the Western firms. This book, which presents a comprehensive overview of the compradors and their economic and social functions over the full period of colonial rule in Hong Kong, puts forward a different view. It shows that compradors existed before the beginning of British rule in 1842, discusses their economic and social roles in the colonial economy, roles which included activities for Western firms, for the government and to support compradors’ own commercial activities, and outlines how the comprador system evolved. Overall, the book demonstrates that the compradors played a key role in the formation and development of Hong Kong’s economy and society, that they were active participants, not just passive servants of Western companies.
Over the past four decades, East and Southeast Asia have seen a proliferation of heritage sites and remembrance practices which commemorate the region’s bloody conflicts of the period 1931–45. Remembering Asia’s World War Two examines the origins, dynamics, and repercussions of this regional war “memory boom”. The book analyzes the politics of war commemoration in contemporary East and Southeast Asia. Featuring contributions from leading international scholars, the chapters span China, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Singapore, covering topics such as the commemoration of the Japanese military’s “comfort women” system, forms of "dark tourism" or commemorative pilgrimages (e.g. veterans’ tours to wartime battlefields), and the establishment and evolution of various war-related heritage sites and museums. Case studies reveal the distinctive trajectories of new and newly discovered forms of remembrance within and across national boundaries. They highlight the growing influence of non-state actors over representations of conflict and occupation, as well as the increasingly interconnected and transnational character of memory-making. Taken together, the studies collected here demonstrate that across much of Asia the public commemoration of the wars of 1931–45 has begun to shift from portraying them as a series of national conflicts with distinctive local meanings to commemorating the conflict as a common pan-Asian, or even global, experience. Focusing on non-textual vehicles for public commemoration and considering both the local and international dimensions of war commemoration within, Remembering Asia’s World War Two will be a crucial reference for students and scholars of History, Memory Studies, and Heritage Studies, as well as all those interested in the history, politics, and culture of contemporary Asia.
Sir Robert Ho Tung (1862–1954) is a compelling figure in Hong Kong history. He is regularly portrayed as the colony’s greatest philanthropist and wealthiest man of his day, the first Chinese to live on the Peak, and, at the end of his life, the ‘Grand Old Man of Hongkong’. The illegitimate son of a Chinese mother and European father, he was highly sensitive about his mixed heritage though he consistently made the most of his fate. He was a man perfectly in tune with his place and time, his success driven as much by his entrepreneurial talents as by his being Eurasian. This book shows him in all his immense variety—clerk with the Imperial Maritime Customs, chief compradore of Jardine Matheson, financial wizard, husband and lover, patriarch of a large family of five sons and eight daughters, loyal British subject but also, paradoxically, Chinese patriot. China’s president Yuan Shikai awarded him the Order of the Excellent Crop, and King George V knighted him. May Holdsworth’s thoughtful and deftly written account of the life is the first full-length biography in English. Given unique and unprecedented access to family and personal papers, including letters, diaries, notes, and photographs, she offers a nuanced perspective on a public but also private man. Her book will be a rich resource for historians and general readers interested in the men and women who played a key part in the shaping of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Hong Kong. ‘With painstaking research using an invaluable cache of private letters, family photographs, and other rarely seen archival materials, May Holdsworth has produced a definitive English-language biography of Hong Kong’s Grand Old Man, Sir Robert Ho Tung, as both public figure and private man. A must-read for anyone interested in Hong Kong history.’ —Emma J. Teng, Massachusetts Institute of Technology ‘This biography of Sir Robert Ho Tung is well written, well organized, and based on original unpublished documentary sources that have not been previously utilized. Though of a scholarly nature, it is eminently readable and should appeal to a broad readership, including lovers of Hong Kong history.’ —Edward J. M. Rhoads, University of Texas at Austin
In Networks beyond Empires, Kuo examines business and nationalist activities of the Chinese bourgeoisie in Hong Kong and Singapore between 1914 and 1941. The book argues that speech-group ties were key to understanding the intertwining relationship between business and nationalism. Organization of transnational businesses and nationalist campaigns overlapped with the boundary of Chinese speech-group networks. Embedded in different political-economic contexts, these networks fostered different responses to the decline of the British power, the expansion of the Japanese empire, as well as the contested state building processes in China. Through negotiating with the imperialist powers and Chinese state-builders, Chinese bourgeoisie overseas contributed to the making of an autonomous space of diasporic nationalism in the Hong Kong-Singapore corridor.
In 1941, Sgt Albert Victor Ient sought adventure and travel in the Services. Stationed in Hong Kong, he faced a different reality when his position was overrun. A generation later, his son Vic Ient set out to discover exactly what his father went through as a POW on the island of Innoshima. This is the story of how World War II affected everyday people. Beneath the politics, military tactics and diplomacy, there were the ordinary, hard-suffering servicemen. The author uncovers details of not only Sgt Ient’s capture and imprisonment, but also of the experiences of seven others who lived to share their personal accounts. Ient explores armed conflict, ghastly prison transport and 3 years of suffering, through personal testimony, maps, photographs and telegrams, all in the context of the Far East theatre. With great strength, and even humour, these eight men’s accounts reveal what POW life was really like. Including a foreword from WWII historian Dr Tony Banham, These Valiant Men is both personal and factual – a must read for anyone with an interest in World War II. “A worthy and necessary addition to the library of works on the Second World War in the Far East.” – Reader Review
Remembering the Second World War brings together an international and interdisciplinary cast of leading scholars to explore the remembrance of this conflict on a global scale. Conceptually, it is premised on the need to challenge nation-centric approaches in memory studies, drawing strength from recent transcultural, affective and multidirectional turns. Divided into four thematic parts, this book largely focuses on the post-Cold War period, which has seen a notable upsurge in commemorative activity relating to the Second World War and significant qualitative changes in its character. The first part explores the enduring utility and the limitations of the national frame in France, Germany and China. The second explores transnational transactions in remembrance, looking at memories of the British Empire at war, contested memories in East-Central Europe and the transnational campaign on behalf of Japan’s former ‘comfort women’. A third section considers local and sectional memories of the war and the fourth analyses innovative practices of memory, including re-enactment, video gaming and Holocaust tourism. Offering insightful contributions on intriguing topics and illuminating the current state of the art in this growing field, this book will be essential reading for all students and scholars of the history and memory of the Second World War.
Originally published in 1981, this book tells the story of the Armenian dispersion and gives a graphic account of the persecution of the Armenians by the Turks from 1895 to 1922 which foreshadowed the Jewish holocaust at the hands of Hitler, who is said to have modelled some of his own ideas on those of the Young Turks. Drawing upon material from little-known sources, this book follows the trail of the Armenians from their native lands around Mount Ararat to such far-flung spots as lhasa, Harbin and Buenos Aires. This lively and readable book is an excellent account of a people who have been partly in exile for some 2,000 years.
This book tells the story of 24 foreigners who are long-term residents of Hong Kong. Their lives have been closely connected with those of their Chinese neighbours. Some were born and raised here, others came to seek opportunities for work and study, and some because they were forced to flee their homeland and start a new life. No matter what brought them here, they have dedicated themselves to Hong Kong and made an important contribution to society. Hong Kong gave them an opportunity to change their destiny, and it has become their second home.