AS the United Nations celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, historians are counting the number of crises it has solved or not solved and of aid programmes its subsidiary organisations have implemented all over the world.
The lists are long, but Hong Kong's name appears sparingly.
The major exception is the high-profile presence of the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees. But it is here to deal with the Vietnamese boat people problem and its clients are not the local people.
But Hong Kong people should actually be happy that the UN's involvement here has been minimal, because with the promotion of peace and welfare being its mission, the presence of the UN usually means its host country is afflicted by chaos and deprivation.
Just look at Bosnia, Rwanda and Somalia, where soldiers wearing the UN's distinguishing blue berets patrol the streets amidst the gun fire and mayhem, and we know it's a blessing the UN is not here.
The east Asiatic region has not been free of conflicts in the past five decades, but fortunately the clashes have not affected Hong Kong directly.
The first time Hong Kong was affected by a UN decision was when it passed a resolution in 1950 to impose an embargo on the export of strategic goods to China for its support of North Korea in the Korean War.