title: The writing of competing histories of Hong Kong, with special reference to the perspectives from Britain, Mainland China and Hong Kong

authors: Yuen, Kwok Keung

abstract: The thesis covers the competing perspectives on Hong Kong history, with a special focus on how British colonial historiography and Mainland Chinese patriotic historiography wrote the history of Hong Kong. It is found that the two historiographical discourses had very clear political agenda behind. Post-modernism and post-colonialism are used as methodologies to critique these two discourses. British colonial historiography is shown to be an administrative adjunct to British colonialism, justifying the British claim to rule over the British colonies. Similarly, traditional Chinese historiography is found to be politically conservative, serving to aid the ideological imperatives of bureaucratic administration. Historiography under the CCP is an apparatus for political and social control.

The thesis continues to elaborate on how British colonial and Mainland Chinese patriotic historiographies wrote on colonial Hong Kong, covering the whole period from pre-1841 to 1997. The competing historiographies started their debate on whether pre-colonial Hong Kong was a “barren rock” (British discourse) or a “treasure island” (Chinese discourse). The debate ended over the rows about Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule in 1997. Detailed and systematic analyses (of the two competing discourses) are reserved for the period 1830-1900. It is found that both sides used evidence favourable to their own discourse and wilfully ignored inconvenient data.

The local voice of Hong Kong was originally absent from these competing discourses. Before 1949, the Hong Kong Chinese did not perceive themselves to have a separate political identity or historical consciousness. Marked changes occurred from the 1960s and the Hong Kong Chinese began to see themselves distinct from both Imperial Britain and Mainland China. A generation of local Hong Kong historians emerged in the 1980s who challenged the correctness of the British and Mainland Chinese historiographies. They were no longer prepared to have their opinions stifled. Through their vigorous research, many of the British colonial and Mainland Chinese patriotic “myths” were found to be quite hollow. Gradually a Hong Kong School of historiography has emerged, a healthy sign of Hong Kong's growing intellectual maturity and autonomy.

text: The writing of competing histories of Hong Kong, with special reference to the perspectives from Britain, Mainland China and Hong Kong The thesis covers the competing perspectives on Hong Kong history, with a special focus on how British colonial historiography and Mainland Chinese patriotic historiography wrote the history of Hong Kong. It is found that the two historiographical discourses had very clear political agenda behind. Post-modernism and post-colonialism are used as methodologies to critique these two discourses. British colonial historiography is shown to be an administrative adjunct to British colonialism, justifying the British claim to rule over the British colonies. Similarly, traditional Chinese historiography is found to be politically conservative, serving to aid the ideological imperatives of bureaucratic administration. Historiography under the CCP is an apparatus for political and social control.

The thesis continues to elaborate on how British colonial and Mainland Chinese patriotic historiographies wrote on colonial Hong Kong, covering the whole period from pre-1841 to 1997. The competing historiographies started their debate on whether pre-colonial Hong Kong was a “barren rock” (British discourse) or a “treasure island” (Chinese discourse). The debate ended over the rows about Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule in 1997. Detailed and systematic analyses (of the two competing discourses) are reserved for the period 1830-1900. It is found that both sides used evidence favourable to their own discourse and wilfully ignored inconvenient data.

The local voice of Hong Kong was originally absent from these competing discourses. Before 1949, the Hong Kong Chinese did not perceive themselves to have a separate political identity or historical consciousness. Marked changes occurred from the 1960s and the Hong Kong Chinese began to see themselves distinct from both Imperial Britain and Mainland China. A generation of local Hong Kong historians emerged in the 1980s who challenged the correctness of the British and Mainland Chinese historiographies. They were no longer prepared to have their opinions stifled. Through their vigorous research, many of the British colonial and Mainland Chinese patriotic “myths” were found to be quite hollow. Gradually a Hong Kong School of historiography has emerged, a healthy sign of Hong Kong's growing intellectual maturity and autonomy.

year: 2003

title: Wise City Governing: Bridging the sustainability aspiration-action divide in the New Zealand mid-sized city Authority

authors: McLaren, Kareen Jane

subjects: wise governing

abstract: Perhaps expecting a pragmatically emerged local government to embed the concept of sustainability as its guiding principle in 2002, may have been too big-an-ask, yet the modern city complexity demands that a greater shift toward this approach be purposively pursued in Aotearoa/New Zealand (NZ). This study searches below the symptomatic concerns of the mid-sized NZ city context, in order to explore and understand the causal features, conditions, factors and elements that currently appear to be inhibiting local integrated sustainable development success. Through this exploration, this research also strives to identify a ‘wise city governing’ model that may assist in bridging the apparent phenomenon of the sustainability aspiration-action divide. Within the background to this exploration, the study additionally considers whether the Local Government Act 2002 ‘better local government’ 2012 reforms may work to resolve this deeper problématique of local governing in NZ. 
This research, seated within a whole systems/social constructionist frame, utilises a broad literature review, the five city survey (offering an institutional capital perspective) and a more detailed case study of one selected city (offering a social capital perspective) to explore this context and phenomenon. From the initial literature sweep, it was found that previous research on NZ local government has tended toward seeking out the political, peak body and senior public administrative viewpoints, or been representative of the larger NZ city voices, while the every-day perspectives of mid-sized Cities and their Authorities have been under-researched to date. 
The survey findings evidenced that the aspiration-action divide exists across the five surveyed cities, while the presence of serious systemic weaknesses within the case study Authority are also revealed. From a whole system viewpoint, the results of this study find that the current NZ corporatised mid-sized city Authority model is hamstrung in its capacity to wisely transform its governing system. The Authority system therefore remains blind to realising the urgency presented by the critical natural and human ecological cues. Additionally, it continues to be limited in its ability to authentically engage with its full community in order to co-create flexible, innovative and adaptive solutions to meet the real city demands. 
The consequence of perpetuating a tokenistic but essentially unsustainable state, where the fiscal sphere persists in dominating decision-making, is an amplified risk of continuity interruption, failure or ultimate collapse. 
The full study results, support the research histories of Stoker’s local governing review and through the comparative literature of Naschold, Norton, Scott et al. and others, finds that the NZ transformational model is at least 20 years behind its international counterparts. Furthermore, the differences between the approaches of the overseas ecological and New Zealand’s corporatised modernisation models are accentuated. Additionally, this research bears out the concerns expressed in the Jacobs/Taylor discourse around the dangers of hybrid government manipulations, and this was found to be even more critical when a low civil engagement within a corporatise-government hybrid is present. This understanding links with Evans et al. 2006 DISCUS study, whereby an equally high institutional and social capital capacity was evidenced as being a prerequisite for attaining a greater level of localised sustainable development success – as originally expressed within Agenda 21 and Local Agenda 21. 
Overall it is unlikely that the current ‘better local government’ legislative changes will produce the contextual shift up the ‘wise local govern-ing’ ladder, bridging the sustainability aspiration-action divide in order to deliver ‘better’ short and long term sustainable development value.

text: Wise City Governing: Bridging the sustainability aspiration-action divide in the New Zealand mid-sized city Authority Perhaps expecting a pragmatically emerged local government to embed the concept of sustainability as its guiding principle in 2002, may have been too big-an-ask, yet the modern city complexity demands that a greater shift toward this approach be purposively pursued in Aotearoa/New Zealand (NZ). This study searches below the symptomatic concerns of the mid-sized NZ city context, in order to explore and understand the causal features, conditions, factors and elements that currently appear to be inhibiting local integrated sustainable development success. Through this exploration, this research also strives to identify a ‘wise city governing’ model that may assist in bridging the apparent phenomenon of the sustainability aspiration-action divide. Within the background to this exploration, the study additionally considers whether the Local Government Act 2002 ‘better local government’ 2012 reforms may work to resolve this deeper problématique of local governing in NZ. 
This research, seated within a whole systems/social constructionist frame, utilises a broad literature review, the five city survey (offering an institutional capital perspective) and a more detailed case study of one selected city (offering a social capital perspective) to explore this context and phenomenon. From the initial literature sweep, it was found that previous research on NZ local government has tended toward seeking out the political, peak body and senior public administrative viewpoints, or been representative of the larger NZ city voices, while the every-day perspectives of mid-sized Cities and their Authorities have been under-researched to date. 
The survey findings evidenced that the aspiration-action divide exists across the five surveyed cities, while the presence of serious systemic weaknesses within the case study Authority are also revealed. From a whole system viewpoint, the results of this study find that the current NZ corporatised mid-sized city Authority model is hamstrung in its capacity to wisely transform its governing system. The Authority system therefore remains blind to realising the urgency presented by the critical natural and human ecological cues. Additionally, it continues to be limited in its ability to authentically engage with its full community in order to co-create flexible, innovative and adaptive solutions to meet the real city demands. 
The consequence of perpetuating a tokenistic but essentially unsustainable state, where the fiscal sphere persists in dominating decision-making, is an amplified risk of continuity interruption, failure or ultimate collapse. 
The full study results, support the research histories of Stoker’s local governing review and through the comparative literature of Naschold, Norton, Scott et al. and others, finds that the NZ transformational model is at least 20 years behind its international counterparts. Furthermore, the differences between the approaches of the overseas ecological and New Zealand’s corporatised modernisation models are accentuated. Additionally, this research bears out the concerns expressed in the Jacobs/Taylor discourse around the dangers of hybrid government manipulations, and this was found to be even more critical when a low civil engagement within a corporatise-government hybrid is present. This understanding links with Evans et al. 2006 DISCUS study, whereby an equally high institutional and social capital capacity was evidenced as being a prerequisite for attaining a greater level of localised sustainable development success – as originally expressed within Agenda 21 and Local Agenda 21. 
Overall it is unlikely that the current ‘better local government’ legislative changes will produce the contextual shift up the ‘wise local govern-ing’ ladder, bridging the sustainability aspiration-action divide in order to deliver ‘better’ short and long term sustainable development value.

year: 2013

title: Taking quality work to a new brilliance: Tama Ma on tour [Review]

authors: Crawford, Terri Ripeka

subjects: Tama Ma

abstract: Choreographers: Taiaroa Royal and Taane Mete; Douglas Wright; Michael Parmenter  Okareka Dance Company at Telecom Playhouse Theatre, WEL Energy Trust Academy of Performing Arts, Hamilton
From 17 Jun 2009 to 20 Jun 2009 

Reviewed by Terri Ripeka Crawford, 22 Jun 2009.

text: Taking quality work to a new brilliance: Tama Ma on tour [Review] Choreographers: Taiaroa Royal and Taane Mete; Douglas Wright; Michael Parmenter  Okareka Dance Company at Telecom Playhouse Theatre, WEL Energy Trust Academy of Performing Arts, Hamilton
From 17 Jun 2009 to 20 Jun 2009 

Reviewed by Terri Ripeka Crawford, 22 Jun 2009.

year: 2009