Britain's lasting link

From the colonial days to the post-handover years, Hong Kong's relationship with Britain has been a long, intimate affair. The political situation may have changed but more than a decade after the last colonial governor set sail for home, the organisation charged with promoting British culture has continued to thrive.

As it celebrates 60 years in Hong Kong, the British Council kick-started year-long festivities last Saturday with a gathering of 60 prominent Hongkongers who attended British universities.

The guest list read like a who's who of Hong Kong society; from Bank of East Asia chairman David Li Kwok-po, Civic Party leader Audrey Eu Yuet-mee and Liberal Party vice-chairwoman Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee to media personality Chip Tsao, an indication of the wide-reaching influence of the council, which opened here in 1948.

The Hong Kong office of the British Council was one of the first to open in the aftermath of the second world war. The organisation had been established in 1934 as the British Committee for Relations with Other Countries by Sir Reginald Leeper, ironically an Australian by birth.

According to the council's website, Sir Reginald was 'persuaded of the importance of what he termed 'cultural propaganda' in promoting Britain', and persuaded the Foreign Office to fund work that included lecture tours and book donations to nearly 30 countries.

The first British Council representative to Hong Kong arrived on July 19, 1948.

Director of the council in Hong Kong, Ruth Gee, said the office was opened to strengthen cultural relations between the Chinese and British, a goal that continues to drive the council's work.