New book of photography opens window to Hong Kong’s colonial past
- Veteran photojournalist Wong Kan-tai focused on collection of files from the National Archives in London
- Father of President Xi Jinping and former Hong Kong governor Sir Murray MacLehose among those featured in Secret 1842-1997
The seating plan of a 1979 banquet hosted by the father of President Xi Jinping for then Hong Kong governor Murray MacLehose is among images in a new book that offers a glimpse into historical intricacies.
Veteran photojournalist Wong Kan-tai’s Secret 1842-1997, published by Mahjong on Saturday, features 114 photographs of papers and pictures from British archives on Hong Kong, from the 19th century to the 1980s.
They were selected from more than 1,000 photos Wong took of files on the city at Britain’s National Archives in London in 2006. He spent a month taking photos in the official archive of the British government that year.
Wong, who joined the media industry in the late 1970s, said he hoped the publication of his photo collection would arouse interest in the city’s history.
He said the filing of apparently trivial documents, such as the seating plan for a dinner hosted in Guangzhou on April 3, 1979, by Xi Zhongxun, then governor of Guangdong province, for MacLehose showed the British government’s respect for history.