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An interactive lecture presented today (February 14, Toronto time) by Senator Vivenne Poy on her new book "Profit, Victory & Sharpness - The Lees of Hong Kong" at the Asian Institute at the University of Toronto illustrates a remarkable story of how Hong Kong has evolved from a fishing village to an international financial centre.
The lecture launched the Asian Institute's "Hong Kong in 2007 Series: A Prospective Retrospective". The series of lectures and events marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) - when Hong Kong's sovereignty was returned to China on July 1, 1997. Upcoming lectures include "In Search of Good Governance: Administrative Officers of Hong Kong" and "Inequality and Autonomy: the Double Dynamic and Hong Kong's Special Status". Other events include two video conferences, including "The 2007 Hong Kong Canada Career Video Conference", a session devoted to Hong Kong Art and Design and a Hong Kong Film Festival.
Senator Poy's book, which depicts the history of modern China and Hong Kong through the history of her family, is a fitting way to launch the series. The Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (HKETO), the official representative of the HKSAR Government in Canada, Mr Bassanio So, thanked the Asian Institute and the Richard Charles Lee Canada Hong Kong Library for presenting the series and featuring Senator Poy. "I'm excited about Senator Poy's new book as it truly is a reminiscence of Hong Kong's 'can-do' and 'entrepreneurial' spirit - traits that Hong Kong people always take pride in and are well-recognised for," he said.
The book focuses on the family's last four generations, in particular, Poy's grandfather Lee Hysan and her father Richard Charles Lee Ming Chak. As one of the most eminent families in Hong Kong, distinguished by phenomenal success in business and public service, the Lees' experiences reflect the development of the Chinese people in modern times and illustrate the polynodal connections of an important segment of Hong Kong elites during the second half of the 20th century. To Senator Poy, writing this book was like "writing the history of modern China and Hong Kong, on a very personal level."
Certainly, her intelligent and absorbing portrait is set in the broader context of 20th century Hong Kong and Chinese history, and illuminates many dimensions of Hong Kong society. According to History Professor Diana Lary of the University of British Columbia, the book is "a moving and evocative study of Hong Kong's recent history", and that "Vivienne Poy captures the richness and the complexity of this history through the study of her own remarkable family, the Lee Family". Succinctly put by Professor Ruth Hayhoe of the University of Toronto, "the story of Hong Kong's Lee Hysan Family is, in many ways, the story of Hong Kong".
Ends/Thursday, February 15, 2007
Issued at HKT 10:25
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