# Baha'i Faith in Hong Kong

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Graham Hassall, Baha'i Faith in Hong Kong, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Bahá'í Faith in Hong Kong
> 
> Graham Hassall
> 
> 1998
> 
> The emergence of Bahá'í communities in all corners of the
> world, amidst all peoples, cultures and religious traditions, is
> gradually giving substance to the vision of a world community
> generated in the last century by the Faith's prophet-founder,
> Bahá'u'lláh. In Hong Kong, one pillar of this expanding global
> society has been established through the efforts of a small and
> dedicated group of His followers.
> 
> Among small territories, the position of Hong Kong is unique.
> Whereas most colonies have evolved toward independence, or some
> form of self-determination, Hong Kong has become a Special
> Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. Until
> annexed by Great Britain in 1842, the islands of Hong Kong were
> quite insignificant and sparsely inhabited. The English had
> arrived in the east to trade with China, particularly in the
> commodity of tea, but the Chinese had initially restricted the
> movement of "foreign devils" to Canton, north of Hong
> Kong. There was at first a great deal of cultural
> misunderstanding. As the Chinese had no tradition of making
> "equal treaties" with other lands, Europeans were
> expected to take a subservient position; but this expectation
> angered the English, and there was often trouble.
> 
> Relations were further strained because British traders began
> purchasing tea with opium. The Chinese government opposed this,
> and the conflict escalated into the Opium War, 1840-42, which the
> British won through their possession of superior weaponry. By the
> 1842 Treaty of Nanking they commandeered the island of Hong Kong
> (favoured by the British for its proximity to Canton) and five
> other harbours. In other treaties the British, who were concerned
> at Russian and French expansion in the region, secured Kowloon in
> 1860 and then leased the New Territories in 1898 for a period of
> 99 years. A total land area of 1,061 square kilometres was
> acquired in this way.
> 
> Although Hong Kong Island and Kowloon had been ceded in
> perpetuity, it was obvious by the late twentieth century that
> they could not be separated from the New Territories. In 1984 the
> British and Chinese agreed that the colony would revert to
> Chinese sovereignty at the expiration of the New Territories'
> lease on 30 June, 1997. Hong Kong is now a "special
> administrative region" of China.
> 
> The Afnán: Hájí Mírzá Buzurg-i-Afnán and Hájí
> Mírzá Muhammad-'Alí
> 
> There were Bahá'ís in Hong Kong in the lifetime of
> Bahá'u'lláh. Hájí Mírzá Buzurg-i-Afnán, a cousin of the
> Báb who lived and traded in Hong Kong in 1879, was part of a
> trading empire that Balyuzi described as "stretching from
> Hong Kong to Bákú". Bahá'u'lláh once requested from
> Mírzá Buzurg a few pairs of good spectacles to be given as
> gifts to prominent men in Beirut and Damascus. Aqa Mírzá
> Ibrahim, a nephew of the Báb, lived in Hong Kong during 1881-82.
> Another member of this family, Hájí Mírzá Muhammad-'Alí, son
> of the Báb's maternal uncle Hájí Mírzá Siyyíd Muhammad,
> resident in Hong Kong from 1870 to 1897. He later visited in
> Haifa. 'Abdu'l-Bahá subsequently wrote of him in Memorials of
> the Faithful:
> 
> What a radiant face he had! He was nothing but light
> from head to foot. Just to look at that face made one
> happy; he was so confident, so assured, so rooted in his
> faith, and his expression so joyous. He was truly a
> blessed being. ...After he had received the endless
> bounties showered on him by Bahá'u'lláh, he was given
> leave to go, and he traveled to China. There, over a
> considerable period, he spent his days mindful of God and
> in a manner conformable to Divine good pleasure. Later he
> went on to India, where he died.
> 
> It is not known whether the Báb's relatives established a
> community of believers in Hong Kong. According to Balyuzi, Hájí
> Mírzá Muhammad-'Alí exercised a virtual monopoly on trade in
> Chinese porcelain to the Persian nobility. His clients are said
> to have included Násiri'd-Dín Sháh. A number of ornamental
> Chinese vases sent by him to the Holy Land are now located in the
> Shrine of the Báb. No doubt further information about these
> Persian traders in the new and rapidly expanding British colony
> will be uncovered. For the moment there are no indications of
> other Bahá'í progress there until the infrequent visits by
> Western travellers that commenced some two decades later.
> 
> Early Bahá'í travellers
> 
> The visit to Hong Kong by American Bahá'ís Howard Struven
> and Mason Remey in 1910, during their world-encircling travels,
> seems to have been no more than a stop-over. Agnes Alexander, who
> introduced the Bahá'í teachings to Japan and Korea, first
> visited Hong Kong in 1923, although this too was most likely a
> transit visit. Miss Alexander returned to Hong Kong on several
> more occasions as much as thirty years later.
> 
> In 1924 Martha Root visited Hong Kong for the express purpose
> of making the Bahá'í teachings more widely known. She arrived
> from China on 27 March 1924 to undertake a busy schedule, meeting
> editors, librarians, and the president of the university. She
> spoke on radio, and at the Hong Kong University. "Long
> articles about the Bahá'í Teachings" were printed in
> "all the leading papers of Hong Kong". The Hong Kong
> Telegraph carried on its front page for 17 April a report of
> her public address before the Theosophical Society. Another
> travelling Bahá'í, Mrs Lorel Schopflocher, who had recently
> visited Ceylon and Borneo, and who was passing through Hong Kong
> at this time, attended the same lecture, and spoke about the
> Bahá'í movement in America and Canada. The South China
> Morning Post reported that "Two distinguished
> visitors" were in Hong Kong: Mrs Schopflocher, who was
> staying at the Hong Kong Hotel, and Martha Root, at the Astor
> House Hotel:
> 
> While interviewing Mrs. Schopflocher and Miss Root
> they both said that the Bahá'í Revelation is the spirit
> of this age. It is the essence of all the highest ideals
> of this century. The Bahá'í cause is an inclusive
> movement; the teachings of all religions and societies
> are found in it, Christians, Theosophists, Buddhists,
> Mohammedans, Jews, Freemasons, Zoroastrians, find their
> highest aims in this cause. Socialists and philosophers
> find their theories fully developed in this revelation.
> 
> Martha Root received further coverage in the South China
> Morning Post following her lecture at Hong Kong University on
> "Universal Peace and how the Students can help bring
> it". From Hong Kong Martha Root travelled to Vietnam and
> Canton, before returning to give another five lectures at the end
> of May. On May 15 her lecture to the Theosophists on "New
> Views of Immortality" was reported in the Hong Kong
> Telegraph and The China Mail. Miss Root returned to
> Hong Kong briefly in 1930, and again spoke at Hong Kong
> University. She recalled a year later:
> 
> When I spoke in Hong Kong University the second time
> last year, a beautiful girl in the university called upon
> me the next day and said: "What can I do to promote
> the Bahá'í Movement in Singapore, my home city?" A
> professor's wife who was calling at the same time, told
> me afterwards that if that girl takes up the Bahá'í
> Movement, she will certainly be a great teacher for she
> is one of the brightest and most capable girls in the
> entire university.
> 
> Whether or not this woman promoted the Bahá'í teachings on
> her return to Singapore is not known (there were no Bahá'ís in
> Singapore at this time). In Hong Kong Miss Root associated with
> her Esperanto friends and acquaintances. Presumably, she also met
> Mr Pei Tswi, a Bahá'í who lived in Hong Kong for a decade from
> the late 1920s (about whom little else is known) - although such
> a meeting between the two is nowhere recorded.
> 
> The only other Chinese Bahá'í known to have resided in Hong
> Kong prior to the Second World War is Liu Chan Song, whose
> address was given in the directory of the Bahá'í World volume
> for 1939-40 (p689) as 767 Nathan Road, Kowloon. Mr Liu had heard
> of the Bahá'í Faith while a student at Cornell University in
> the United States. After returning to China he worked for the
> government. By 1943 Mr Liu had moved to Kweilin (Quilin), Kwongsi
> in China. There were other brief visits by Bahá'ís to Hong Kong
> in the 1920s and 30s. Siegfried Schopflocher visited about 1927.
> Mrs Keith Ransom-Kehler passed through in 1932. Mark Tobey and
> Bernard Leach visited for a week in 1934, during their
> investigation of eastern artforms and philosophies.
> 
> From the late 1930s the countries of Asia experienced
> considerable social and political turmoil. Bernice Wood, an
> American Bahá'í who had been living in Shanghai until the city
> fell to the communists, stayed briefly in Hong Kong about May
> 1949 before moving to Bangkok in Thailand. She returned in 1960,
> and for almost three decades made her home in Hong Kong.
> 
> The World Crusade
> 
> Such is the scant record of Bahá'í activity in Hong Kong in
> the first century of the Bahá'í era. Although followers of
> Bahá'u'lláh had lived in the colony during his lifetime, no
> Bahá'í community had been established, and throughout the
> Ministry of Bahá'u'lláh's son `Abdu'l-Bahá, the intermittent
> visits by Bahá'í travellers had similarly produced little
> result. It was only during the Guardianship of Shoghi Effendi,
> `Abdu'l-Bahá's grandson and his appointed leader of the Bahá'í
> Faith, that a more systematic approach to the planting of the
> principles and teachings of the Bahá'í Faith had its impact on
> countries world-wide, including Hong Kong.
> 
> When Shoghi Effendi embarked the Bahá'í world on a
> "decade long, world encircling crusade" in 1953 Hong
> Kong was one of several hundred locations around the world to
> which the members of larger Bahá'í communities were called on
> to direct their energies. At a conference convened in New Delhi
> in October 1953 for the purpose of discussing the movement of
> Bahá'ís to new posts throughout Asia, Hong Kong was among those
> territories marked for consolidation. The British Bahá'ís were
> given primary responsibility for this task. However, as it turned
> out, Bahá'ís from a number of other countries came to settle in
> the colony, through a variety of planned and unplanned
> circumstances. As the community expanded it corresponded at first
> with a committee of the British National Assembly, and later with
> the Asian Teaching Committee in North America.
> 
> Early pioneers and travellers
> 
> Shoghi Effendi had asked the North American Bahá'ís to open
> two other territories close to Hong Kong and to China. These were
> the Portuguese colony of Macau, and Hainan Island, which was part
> of China. Frances Heller visited Hong Kong on her way to the New
> Delhi Conference. She stayed at the Victoria Hotel, visited Macau
> for a day, and decided to pioneer there after the conference,
> arriving on 20 October 1953. Miss Arden Thur travelled directly
> from the New Delhi conference to reside in Hong Kong:
> 
> After the Conference in New Delhi, October 1953 [one
> of four conferences held at the beginning of the World
> Crusade], I went to Burma, Thailand, Malaya, and Hong
> Kong - arriving in Hong Kong in December 1953. The
> purpose of these travels was always to meet the Bahá'ís
> and teach the Faith. These experiences are my eternal joy
> - friendships through the Blessed Beauty.
> 
> Miss Thur secured a three month position with the British
> Publishing Bureau selling advertisements in the Hong Kong Medical
> Journal, before departing, in March 1954 to make her pilgrimage
> in the Holy Land at the invitation of Shoghi Effendi. Miss Thur
> later wrote:
> 
> Hong Kong was beautifully international. I met many
> important people who were there then. I participated in
> society events with Mrs Church, the woman who ran the
> advertising bureau. She was not well liked but even this
> association helped me to meet people and speak of the
> Faith "Those months in Hong Kong were among the most
> meaningful of my life. I really felt like a pioneer.
> There were many confirmations of a spiritual nature for
> me and a feeling of constant assistance from on high.
> Even though there were no declarations of new believers,
> I had the feeling that being there was important. Now
> looking back I realise that three months in a place is
> not really pioneering, but it does not change the impact
> that those three months had on my life....Mr Sun Sun was
> a money changer on Queens Road. He became a good friend.
> I visited him later when coming to Hong Kong in 1956 and
> again in 1958. At those times, Mamie Seto was pioneering
> there and I took a young Englishman, Maurice (Tim)
> Williamson to meet her. He was an inspector of police and
> he liked Mamie. He attended Naw Ruz with the friends in
> 1958 and spoke of having a spiritual experience after
> hearing about the Faith, but he never declared. "
> 
> Although no one became a Bahá'í through the activities
> initiated by Miss Thur (the one Bahá'í she found in Hong Kong
> had heavy work commitments and little time to spare), her
> presence provided an important sense of continuity at a crucial
> period in the community's early stages.
> 
> Hishmat and Mahboobeh Azizi
> 
> Hishmat and Mahboobeh Azizi arrived in Hong Kong in March
> 1954. They were from Tehran, and had volunteered to pioneer to
> the remote destination of Hainan Island while attending the New
> Delhi Conference. They had tried, unsuccessfully, to obtain visas
> for Hainan while in India, and later in Singapore, and once more
> on their arrival in Hong Kong. They were to wait until the 1980s
> before they succeeded.
> 
> Gian and Mrs Lachmi Datwani
> 
> Mr Gian and Mrs Lachmi Datwani arrived in Hong Kong on 4
> August 1954. Mr Datwani had met Mrs Shirin and Dr Fozdar in
> Singapore and become a Bahá'í there before his wife had left
> India (Mrs Datwani became a Bahá'í in February 1954). Gian
> served on the first Singapore Local Spiritual Assembly, and
> having moved to Japan with his wife in November 1953, served on
> the first National Spiritual Assembly of Japan. On their arrival
> in Hong Kong the Datwanis unsure of their future, but Gian soon
> obtained a position managing a trading company. Hong Kong became
> their permanent home.
> 
> Anthony and Mamie Seto
> 
> Anthony and Mamie Seto arrived in Hong Kong from San Francisco
> on 1st October 1954. The Setos had become Bahá'ís in Honolulu
> in 1916 and had moved to San Francisco in 1932 (Mami Seto's
> family was from Michigan, while Tony's was from Canton, in
> Southern China). In 1943-44 they pioneered in Canada's Maritime
> Provinces, and in 1951 Mrs Seto was elected to the United States
> National Spiritual Assembly. She and her husband thus brought
> considerable experience to their new pioneer post.
> 
> After settling in Hong Kong, the Setos received a six month
> extension to their visas, to 30 June 1955. They also obtained a
> year's permit for entry to Macau. Mrs Seto wrote to the Suleimani
> family, who had lived for many years in China, and were now in
> Taiwan:
> 
> We are just getting settled and are concentrating on
> some friends and we feel that we are needed here to keep
> up the continuity of the work. Also, my husband is not
> well and I feel that he should not attempt travelling and
> visiting for a while. The entire matter of selling our
> business, making plans for the journey and the strain of
> travel have been hard for him and he is just becoming
> rested.
> 
> There was now a small group of Bahá'ís in Hong Kong, and
> others had settled in Macau. Charles Murray, an elderly Canadian
> Bahá'í, had arrived in Hong Kong early in 1954 and was living
> on his pension in a small room. Carl and Loretta Scherer had
> arrived in Macau in December 1953. The Azizis moved between Hong
> Kong and Macau, able only to obtain three month extensions to
> their Hong Kong visa, where Mr Azizi was working hard as a
> merchant of Persian carpets, and seeking more permanent status.
> 
> In March 1955 Mrs Seto described progress in Hong Kong in a
> three page report to the Asian Teaching Committee of the National
> Spiritual Assembly of the United States:
> 
> For over a year now we have had active workers here in
> Hong Kong, but as yet no immediate results; there are
> always the remote ones, as we have been repeatedly
> assured. Arden Thur did very good work here as did
> Charles Murray; the latter rarely lost an opportunity in
> presenting the Faith, and fearlessly gave the Message
> whenever there was an opening. The Scherers, Frances
> Heller and the Azizis likewise have sown many seeds, and
> also Mr. Datwani.
> 
> Mrs Seto found the Chinese people "very pleasant people
> to be among", and admired their kind, gentle and sweet
> qualities. They responded to friendship, were earnest and
> sincere, and worked with an admirable "vim and
> intentness". She felt that the Chinese adhered to their
> religious beliefs with a devoutness that would make them firm
> Bahá'ís, once they knew of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings. The Setos
> attended meetings of ECAFE, the United Nations Association,
> dinners at the American University Club, and lectures at the
> University of Hong Kong. They presented Bahá'í books to the
> head of the Chinese Department after attending his lecture on
> "China's Age of Faith". Nineteen people had attended an
> event to commemorate World Religion organised by the Bahá'ís.
> Mrs Seto had spoken on the Bahá'í Faith to audience of 20 at
> the Kowloon Union Church, an interdenominational Christian
> Church. A report to the European and Asia Teaching Committee in
> November 1955 focused on dinners hosted by the Setos, and other
> activities with which they were involved:
> 
> ... We had Persian pilau prepared by Mrs. Azizi, and
> East Indian curry prepared by Mr. and Mrs. Datwani. We
> are holding two regular study classes per week, and we go
> out to attend different gatherings, lectures and meetings
> with the view of meeting new people. In this connection
> my husband and I joined the United Nations Association of
> Hong Kong, first studying its by-laws to see if these
> contained anything that contravened our Bahá'í
> Teachings. During the United Nations Week Celebration, I
> was asked to be chairman of a meeting and my husband also
> spoke briefly.
> 
> Mamie Seto considered Hong Kong an attractive place, with a
> magnificent harbour, but overcrowded. Many refugees had arrived
> from China in recent years, and there were shortages of housing,
> water, employment, schools, and telephones (there were 18,000
> ahead of the Setos in the queue for a telephone). Hong Kong was a
> "melting pot" of peoples in which many languages were
> spoken. The local news was broadcast in Cantonese, Mandarin and
> Fukienese. Few Chinese spoke English and few foreigners spoke
> Chinese. The people worked hard, many working seven days per
> week.
> 
> Community activities
> 
> In the first years of the Crusade a number of Bahá'ís passed
> through Hong Kong en route to their virgin and consolidation
> goals, or otherwise travelling to visit new Bahá'í communities.
> Indian Bahá'ís Zena Sorabjee and her husband visited for two
> days in May 1954, en route to Japan. The Nadler family had passed
> through Hong Kong after having spent four years in the
> Philippines and Hazel Mori visited en route to Manila. The
> Suleimanis visited in November 1954, renewing there their
> acquaintance with Elin L. Tsao, who with her late husband, Dr
> Y.S. Tsao, had been a member of the Bahá'í community in
> Shanghai. Hand of the Cause Mr Zikhrullah Khadem, together with
> Mrs Khadem, and Miss Haddad, visited Hong Kong and Macau in
> November 1955. Mrs Seto reported to Mr S.A. Suleimani in Taiwan:
> 
> Yesterday all three went over to Macau to visit the
> friends there and will be back here by Saturday for an
> evening talk to the local friends and our contacts at our
> apartment. This is our greatest teaching opportunity and
> we have sent out invitations to all prospects whom we
> feel will be interested.
> 
> The visitors departed Hong Kong for Bangkok on 21 November.
> Mrs Seto informed Barbara Simonds (secretary of the East Asia
> Teaching Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
> British Isles), that Mr Khadem inspired the Bahá'ís "by
> telling of his travels and experience in working for the Faith in
> various lands. He sets the great example of strict and implicit
> obedience to our Beloved Guardian."
> 
> Association with so many Bahá'ís from other lands thus gave
> heart to the Hong Kong pioneers, and demonstrated to the first
> Hong Kong Bahá'ís the reality of the global community of which
> they had become a part. Charles Duncan, Knight of Bahá'u'lláh
> to Brunei, later recorded of this period:
> 
> The greatest cooperation has always existed between
> the friends in these two crucial spots in the orient. Mr
> and Mrs Carl Scherer and Francis Heller went to Macau.
> later, Mr and Mrs Anthony Seto went to Hong Kong. There
> was constant exchange through visits and correspondence.
> Although there were new declarations in these colonies,
> the progress was slow due to the fact that the population
> in both places is mobile. Hence, after declaring, the new
> believers often left to go to Japan, Taiwan, England,
> India, Cambodia and other places. Although the victories
> gained are for the entire Bahá'í world, keeping the
> Bahá'í work going in Hong Kong and Macau was difficult.
> Later, Dr and Mrs Dean and Bernice Wood went to serve the
> Faith in Hong Kong. Pioneers came and went. Slowly a
> community was built in Hong Kong consisting of long time
> residents. They were of Chinese, Indian, British and
> Southeast Asian backgrounds. There was a constant stream
> of Bahá'í visitors from abroad including travelling
> teachers, tourists, pilgrims, Auxiliary Board Members,
> Continental Counsellors, and Hands of the Cause.
> 
> On 16 February 1956 Mrs Seto reported some of the community's
> activities to the European and Asia Teaching Committee:
> 
> In our letter of 24th January to you, we wrote of a
> tea we were giving at our home for selected members of
> the U.N. Association of Hong Kong. This tea turned out to
> be a most complete Bahá'í meeting. After the meeting
> progressed and tea was served, the Vice-Chairman of the
> Association said to my great amazement and utmost
> delight, "Mrs Seto, please tell these friends about
> the Bahá'í Faith." After such a pleasing request,
> I felt very free to speak, and did so for well over half
> an hour. After which I gave those present Bahá'í
> pamphlets in the Chinese language, and to the
> Vice-Chairman, a brochure of the proposals for the
> revision of the U.N. Charter. The friends stayed on and
> on until early evening. Present on this occasion were a
> professor, a doctor and students, none of whom had ever
> heard of the Faith. We shall give another tea in the
> coming months and throughout the year. We are working
> closely with this organisation.
> 
> We have also given three of our Bahá'í books to the
> head of the Department of Oriental Studies of the Hong
> Kong University, for his private library. In a warm
> letter which we received in acknowledgement of this gift,
> he gave us a special invitation to attend a series of
> four lectures, he was giving on the subject of Tibet. We
> have accepted the invitation and are learning much about
> this mysterious land.
> 
> The Setos added much confidence to the work of the small
> Bahá'í community. Through her involvement in the United Nations
> Association, Mamie Seto demonstrated how it was possible to
> inform public-minded people about the Bahá'í teachings. Gian
> Datwani also joined civic organisations, such as the Lion's Club,
> at which he gave occasional addresses.
> 
> New Bahá'ís
> 
> On 12 February 1956 four "very fine young men"
> joined the Bahá'í Community who were "punctual, dependable
> and eager for knowledge" became Bahá'ís having studied the
> Bahá'í teachings for ten months. These were Chan Lie Fun, Chan
> Lie Kun, Ng Ying Kay, and Nari Assudamall Sherwani. The families
> of Chan Lie Fun and Chan Lie Kun (who were twins), and Ng Ying
> Kay, had fled from Canton to Hong Kong at the time of the
> Communist revolution. The twins' father was a bank employee in
> Canton, and Ng Ying Kay's father had been a minor official in the
> pre-revolution government. All three young men spoke both
> Cantonese and Mandarin, but their educational and career
> opportunities had been disrupted by the revolution. Chan Lie Fun
> and Chan Lie Kun were now working at the Kowloon Motor Bus
> Workshop. They heard about the Bahá'í Faith through a cousin,
> Mr Ng Wing Kwong, who told them of the experiences of a Mrs Wu,
> who had met Bahá'ís in Macau. Lie Kun and Lie Fun lived at the
> National Bahá'í Centre in Hong Kong for a number of years
> before migrating to North America.
> 
> The fourth man who declared in February 1956, Nari Assudamall
> Sherwani, left the colony soon after. He had arrived from East
> India in late 1955 to train in his cousin's import-export
> business, Dhanamall & Co. of which Mr Datwani was manager. On
> February 12 Mr Sherwani had attended a talk at the Seto's home,
> at which Mr Mumazi - a resident of Japan, spoke of his recent
> pilgrimage in the Holy Land. Mr Sherwani had already accepted the
> message in his heart, and joined without hesitation when the
> three young Chinese men who were also present declared their
> belief in Bahá'u'lláh. Although Hong Kong was a cosmpolitan
> city, Mr Sherwani stated that it was only at Bahá'í meetings
> that the several races - Chinese, European, and Indian -
> integrated, and so demonstrated the truth of the Bahá'í
> principle of racial harmony and unity. Like a number of others
> who became Bahá'ís in Hong Kong, he departed, intending at
> first to live in Japan, but moving then to Africa and eventually
> to Ireland (from where he continued to visit Hong Kong
> regularly). Among the other members of the early Hong Kong
> community were Paul and Mary Shia, who had been living in Macau.
> Paul Shia was already in Hong Kong when Mary arrived in February
> 1956. After residing for a time in Tsuen Wan in the New
> Territories, they they moved to Cambodia and later to North
> America.
> 
> The formation of Hong Kong Assembly
> 
> The enrolment of four new members allowed the Hong Kong
> Bahá'ís to form their first Assembly at Ridvan 1956. The
> members were Mamie and Anthony Seto, Gian Datwani, Chan Lie Kun
> and Chan Lie Fun, Paul and Mary Shia, H. Azizi, and G. Punwani.
> (Although part of the community, Mrs Lachmi Datwani was not yet
> twenty-one years of age).
> 
> Table: Hong Kong LSA 1956-1963
> 
> 1956
> 1957
> 1958
> 1959
> 1960
> 1961
> 1962
> 1963
> 
> Mamie Seto
> Mamie Seto
> N.Sherwani-vc
> 
> Paul Shia
> Paul Shia
> M.Seto-sec
> Mamie Seto
> Mamie Seto
> 
> Mary Shia
> Heshmat Azizi
> 
> KH. Chiu
> Mary Shia
> Mary Shia
> B.Wood-tr
> Bernice Wood
> Bernice Wood
> - sec
> 
> Gian Datwani
> Gian Datwani
> G.Datwani-ch
> Gian Datwani
> Gian Datwani
> Gian Datwani
> Gian Datwani
> Paul Shia
> 
> Chan Lie Fun
> Chu Kwok Hung
> 
> M.Seto-sec
> Mamie Seto
> Mamie Seto
> JimmieY.Jung
> LachmiDatwani
> 
> Sun Pao Kang
> 
> H. Azizi
> F.W.-Strong
> F.W.-Strong-tr
> 
> F.W.-Strong
> Wu Ying Chi
> ChanLieKun
> ChanLieKun
> Chan Lie Kun
> 
> G. Punwani
> Chu Hon Lung
> Chan Lie Kun
> Chan Lie Kun
> Chan Lie Kun
> Chan Lie Fun
> Chan Lie Fun
> Chan Lie Fun
> 
> Paul Shia
> Paul Shia
> Chu Hon Leung
> 
> Chu Hon Leung
> 
> Chu Hon Leung
> L. H. Lewis
> H.Azizi
> H.Azizi
> 
> Anthony Seto
> Anthony Seto
> Lachmi
> Datwani
> Lachmi
> Datwani
> Lachmi
> Datwani
> Paul Shia
> Marjorie
> Buckle
> L.M.Y.C. Tao
> 
> Chan Lie Kun
> Chan Lie Kun
> Chan Lie Fun
> Chan Lie Fun
> Chan Lie Fun
> Mary Shia
> Chu Hon Leung
> 
> Chu Hon Leung
> 
> Table: Delegates to North East Asia Convention 1957-63
> 
> 1957
> 1958
> 1959
> 1960
> 1961
> 1962
> 1963
> 
> H.Azizi
> H.Azizi
> M.Seto
> Mamie Seto
> Mamie Seto
> Mamie Seto
> M.Seto
> 
> T.Seto
> M.Seto
> ?
> ?
> H.Azizi
> Gian Datwani
> H.Azizi
> 
> At the beginning of 1957 there were 14 members in the Hong
> Kong Bahá'í community: Anthony and Mamie Seto, Hishmat and
> Mahboobeh Azizi; Gian and Lachmi Datwani, Mr Chu Hon Leung - who
> joined at the end of 1956; Mr Chan Lie Kun and Mr Chan Lie Fun;
> Mr Wu Ying Chi; Mr Chiu Kwok Hang; Mr Punwani; Paul and Mary
> Shia. There were also the Datwani's two daughters and the Shia's
> son.
> 
> Mr Chiu Kwok Hung had become a Bahá'í late in 1956. He was
> then 26, and living at Castle Peak Boy's School, 19 miles from
> Kowloon, too far to be able to attend meetings regularly. Chiu
> wrote that he had been impressed with the nomenclature for
> "Bahá'í", (Tai Tung + plus Chinese idiograph),
> 
> which signifies "the world is unified and all
> people irrespective of their races are sisters and
> brothers in the fourseas family". In fact, such
> magnificent enlightened ideas had been manifested by
> Confucius, one of the greatest Chinese philosophers over
> 2500 years ago in the late Chow dynasty. He related
> "Tai tung" as "only could people love one
> another, the wars be perished; true philanthropy and
> peace be permanently maintained."
> 
> Mrs Seto described Chiu Kwok Hung, who was a member of the
> United Nations Association of Hong Kong, as the community's
> "most gifted bi-lingual believer". He subsequently
> translated a 20-page Bahá'í booklet from English to Chinese.
> 
> Bahá'í Writings were to be translated into five Chinese
> languages (Chungchia, Kado, Kapo, Mongol, and Na-Hai) during the
> World Crusade. From June 1958 the NSA North East Asia appointed a
> three-member "standing committee" in Hong Kong to
> identify books to be translated, select well qualified
> translators, and supervise translation and publication. Among
> translations completed were Stanwood Cobb's Tomorrow and
> Tomorrow, by Mr Sun Pao-Kang, in 1962.
> 
> In about March 1957 there were three further declarations:
> Ling Che Fai and Lee Pun Kwong, both aged 19, and Vashi Daswaney,
> an East Indian merchant (who soon after moved to Hong Kong from
> Singapore, and eventually to India). Another to arrive in 1957
> was Mr Francis Warrington-Strong, a Lieutenant in the British
> Navy who had become a Bahá'í in Britain shortly before arriving
> in the Colony on his final tour of duty. He returned to England
> following his retirement in December 1959. Also resident in Hong
> Kong were Dr Sidney Dean and Isabel Dean, until Dr Dean was
> invited to become Director of the New Era school at Panchgani,
> India, in 1964.
> 
> Bahá'í visitors began to visit Hong Kong in ever larger
> numbers. These included Hands of the Cause Jalah Khazeh in 1957
> and Mr Ala'i in 1959. Other visitors at this time included Mr
> Marangella, Mr Smits, Arden Thur, Mr and Mrs Naderi, Mrs Momtazi,
> Anita Ioas, William Maxwell, Mr and Mrs Scherer, Harry Yim and
> Manuel Fereria. A newspaper printed an article featuring Albert
> Rakovsky, a Bahá'í from Westmount, Quebec, who visited Hong
> Kong for just one day. When Mr and Mrs Sabet visited Hong Kong in
> 1957, they hosted a dinner for the Bahá'ís at the Miramar
> Hotel.
> 
> The public profile of the Bahá'í community was raised by a
> visit to the colony for six days by Shirin Fozdar and Mrs George
> Lee, of Singapore. Mrs Fozdar spoke to the Indian Women's Club,
> and the United Nations Association. She also met the executive
> committe eof the Hong Kong Council of Women, appeared on radio
> and television, and had interviews published in five Hong Kong
> newspapers.
> 
> With the Bahá'í community expanding in size, administrative
> responsibilities multiplied. Until the Hong Kong Spiritual
> Assembly could afford its own premises, its office was officially
> designated as Mamie Seto's home, at 3 College Road, Kowloon. For
> answers to administrative questions, it corresponded with the
> British National Spiritual Assembly, and the committee in Britain
> established to correspond with overseas communities under the
> British NSA's care. The Assembly wrote to seek guidance, for
> instance, when Mr Punwani attended few LSA meetings or other
> Bahá'í events. It was known that he worked from 9am to 10pm
> daily, but also, he seemed to show little interest, as he was
> seldom heard from in later years. The Assembly wanted to know
> whether his position on the Assembly could be declared vacant and
> another member elected.
> 
> The Hong Kong Bahá'ís were holding feasts, conducting
> Bahá'í holy days, maintaining a regular weekly study class, and
> managing a Bahá'í fund. Bahá'ís were invited to speak from
> time to time before other organisations, including the United
> Nations Association. Some 30 people attended Hong Kong's Naw-Ruz
> party in March 1957, including sixteen guests. It was the Hong
> Kong Bahá'ís' first "public" gathering, and a sign
> that the Bahá'í community was gathering momentum. On 15 June
> the community's voice was added to those of Bahá'í communities
> in other parts of the world in protest at the ill-treatment of
> the Bahá'ís in Iran, and in thanking the Shah for the
> restoration of Bahá'í property. A cable sent to the leader of
> Iran said:
> 
> PLEASE ACCEPT HONG KONG BAHAIS ABIDING GRATITUDE
> YOUR GOVERNMENT NOBLE ACTION IN RESTORING NATIONAL
> BAHAI HEADQUARTERS OUR BAHAIS PRAYING GOD'S
> PROTECTION YOUR THRONE LASTING PROSPERITY YOUR GOVERNMENT
> REALIZATION ALL DESIRES YOUR BELOVED LAND.
> 
> An application for registration of the Hong Kong Assembly with
> the government was made on 21 March 1958. Mrs Seto, as secretary,
> followed this with a letter explaining the nature and spread of
> the Bahá'í Faith on 24th March. The Assembly was registered on
> 29 May 1958.
> 
> The National Spiritual Assembly
> 
> From 1957 until 1974 Hong Kong was part of the Regional
> Spiritual Assembly (called the National Spiritual Assembly) of
> North East Asia. This Assembly was first elected at a convention
> held in Tokyo, Japan, 27-29 April 1957. Hong Kong's delegates to
> this convention were Hishmat Azizi and Anthony Seto. A further
> seventeen delegates were elected by the Bahá'ís in Korea,
> Taiwan, Macau and Japan. Shoghi Effendi sent a message to the
> first convention outlining the tasks for these Bahá'í
> communities for the remainder of the Ten Year Crusade:
> 
> With feelings of exultation, joy and pride I hail the
> convocation of this history-making Convention of the
> Bahá'ís of North-East Asia, paving the way for the
> emergence of a Regional Spiritual Assembly with an area
> of jurisdiction embracing Japan, Korea, Formosa, Macao,
> Hong Kong, Hainan Island and Sakhalin Island.
> 
> This auspicious event, which posterity will regard as
> the culmination of a process initiated, half a century
> ago, in the capital city of Japan, under the watchful
> care and through the direct inspiration of the Centre of
> the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh, marks the opening of the
> second chapter in the history of the evolution of His
> Faith in the North Pacific area. Such a consummation
> cannot fail to lend a tremendous impetus to its onward
> march in the entire Pacific Ocean, a march which will
> now, no doubt, be greatly accelerated by the simultaneous
> emergence of the Regional Spiritual Assembly of the
> Bahá'ís of South-East Asia and of the National
> Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of New Zealand.
> 
> I particularly welcome the establishment of this
> highly important institution in the capital city of
> Japan, as it affords a splendid opportunity for the
> diffusion of the Light of the Faith, and the erection of
> the structure of its Administrative Order, among a people
> representing the overwhelming majority of the yellow
> race, living in the islands of the Pacific Ocean and in a
> country regarded as one of the strongholds of the
> Buddhist Faith.
> 
> I feel a warm tribute should be paid, on this historic
> occasion, to the members of the American Bahá'í
> Community, as well as to their elected national
> representatives, who have, for so long and so devotedly,
> promoted the interests of the Faith in that country, and,
> in recent years, in its neighbouring islands.
> 
> I call upon the Regional Spiritual Assembly now being
> formed to signalize its birth through the initiation of a
> subsidiary Six-Year Plan, designed to swell the number of
> the adherents of the Faith throughout the area of its
> jurisdiction; to multiply the groups, the isolated
> centers and the local spiritual assemblies; to obtain
> recognition from the civil authorities for the Bahá'í
> Marriage Certificate, as well as the Bahá'í Holy Days;
> to inaugurate a national Bahá'í Fund; to consolidate
> the work initiated in the newly opened territories; to
> lend an impetus to the translation, the publication, and
> dissemination of Bahá'í literature in divers languages;
> to establish summer schools, and Bahá'í burial grounds;
> to propagate the Faith throughout the smaller islands of
> Japan; and to acquire a plot to serve as the site of the
> first Mashriqu'l-Adhkár of North-East
> Asia.
> 
> May the blessings of Bahá'u'lláh be showered, in an
> ever-increasing measure, on these newly emerged
> Communities now hold aloft, so steadfastly and so
> valiantly, the banner of His Faith, and may the outcome
> of their collective efforts illumine its annals, and
> contribute to a notable degree to the consolidation of
> the institutions of the Bahá'í embryonic World Order
> now being erected throughout the length and breadth of so
> vast, so turbulent, and yet so promising, an area of the
> globe.
> 
> Unfortunately, the success of the first convention was
> followed by the untimely death of Tony Seto. For five months he
> had undergone medical treatment in California for a heart
> ailment, returning to Hong Kong in February. Elected as one of
> Hong Kong's two delegates to the first National Convention of
> North East Asia, he flew to Japan, where he suffered a heart
> attack while boarding a plane for the flight home to Hong Kong.
> His death at this time was a severe loss to the entire Bahá'í
> community, no less than to Mrs Seto. Cables expressing sympathy
> reached her in Yokohama, where her late husband was buried.
> Shoghi Effendi cabled:
> 
> GRIEVED SUDDEN LOSS DEAR HUSBAND VALUED CONSECRATED
> HIGH MINDED PROMOTER FAITH RECORD HIS DEEPLY APPRECIATED
> SERVICES BOTH AMERICA ASIA UNFORGETTABLE REWARD GREAT
> ABHA KINGDOM ASSURE LOVING FERVENT PRAYERS PROGRESS HIS
> SOUL
> 
> "My dear husband was Chinese, while I am an
> American," Mrs Seto later wrote to a new Japanese Bahá'í,
> "but in our marriage we worked for this World Religion of
> Bahá'u'lláh. We both loved Japan and the Japanese people."
> Mrs Seto returned to the United States to settle her late
> husband's affairs, before returning to Hong Kong. Whereas the
> loss of a life-long partner while living in a foreign land might
> have crushed the will of some, Mrs Seto remained in Hong Kong
> another five years. In 1957 she was appointed to the Auxiliary
> Board, but her health was failing. Her departure for Burlingame
> in California on 5 June 1962 meant that others now had to
> initiate activities, not only support those that others planned.
> 
> Functioning of the Hong Kong Assembly
> 
> The mid-years of the Ten Year Crusade were characterized by
> steady if unspectacular progress. An article on the Bahá'ís was
> printed in the Hong Kong Tiger Standard, one of the
> leading newspapers. In 1958 eleven of the community's 14 members
> gathered for the third election of the Assembly (Mrs Mamie Seto
> and Mr Hishmat Azizi had left to attend convention in Tokyo). In
> June 1959 there were just thirteen members. In addition to
> holding regular feasts and meetings, the Bahá'ís continued
> their involvement in United Nations activities, and presented
> Bahá'í literature to prominent individuals and public
> libraries. Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era was donated to
> the library of the Hong Kong Club in August 1959, and the
> Bahá'ís remained in occasional contact with a professor of
> Oriental Studies at the University of Hong Kong. Mr Azizi gave a
> talk about Persian carpets at the YWCA. Mrs Seto's speech to the
> United Nations Association on 24 May 1959 was reported briefly in
> the South China Morning Post, and she addressed the
> Association again on 16 November. Her report on progress in the
> colony written to the Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land in
> August illustrated the limitations within which the Hong Kong
> Bahá'ís worked:
> 
> While not withholding the message from any receptive
> soul, we have kept in mind the wish of the beloved
> Guardian to seek out the people with capacity. The
> Teachings have been freely given to the educated, the
> prominent and influential Chinese of the Colony. My
> husband never overlooked his former classmates, business
> acquaintances and friends in making clear to them his
> purpose in coming to Hong Kong. Yet to date there has
> been no response whatsoever... Although the Faith has
> been given to the rich, the educated and the prominent,
> it has been accepted by the lowly. These lowly ones have
> no homes, no money, so the meetings are all held at my
> home...
> 
> Mrs Seto attempted in her report to provide an accurate
> description of progress in the colony. She noted there had been
> small victories: relations with the United Nations Assocation had
> remained strong. One member of the U.N.'s Refugee Committee had
> moved to Switzerland, and had apparently become a Bahá'í there.
> Late in 1959 the Hong Kong Bahá'ís donated $300 toward purchase
> of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár site in Japan.
> 
> In December 1959 Hand of the Cause Mr Shu'a'llah Ala'i visited
> Hong Kong, and inspired the Bahá'ís "with his humility,
> knowledge and service to our Cause". Other visitors in the
> year came from Australia (Mrs Jean and Miss Alicia
> Hutchinson-Smith), Korea, Iran, Cambodia, Canada, France, U.S.A.,
> Japan, Singapore and Taiwan. In February 1960 Mr Rafi and Mrs
> Mildred Mottehedeh of Conneticut visited, as did Mrs Helen L.
> Carter, of California. Hand of the Cause Agnes Alexander visited
> for a week in November, staying with Mrs Seto. The following year
> she made another visit, this time visiting the Philippines also.
> Also in Hong Kong in 1960 were Mr M. Azizi and Mr and Mrs
> Kazempour, who were waiting for visas to return to their pioneer
> posts Japan. Mr M. Labib was also present for several months,
> prior to moving to Japan. He worked in Mr Azizi's shop, and often
> spoke to audiences gathered on the Persian carpets. Miss Elsie
> Elliot, later a member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council, was
> among the guests at these early meetings.
> 
> Despite so much worthwhile activity, the Bahá'í community
> grew by just three members in the year 1960-61: Mr Lewis, a 43
> year old school teacher from England, who joined on 11 September
> 1960; Mr Jimmy Y. Jung, who arrived from Macau; and Mrs Bernice
> M. Wood, who arrived from Kuwait. Apart from an absence between
> 1967-1972, Mrs Wood remained in the Colony until her departure in
> August 1990 at the age of 77.
> 
> In the early 1960s the Local Assembly met at the home of the
> secretary, Mrs Mamie Seto, at 268 C, Prince Edward Road, Kowloon.
> Feasts were held regularly, but it was sometimes difficult to
> gather a quorum for Assembly meetings. For some, work hours were
> long and tiring, and there was little time and energy available
> for community events. On 7 March 1961 Hand of the Cause Dr
> Muhajir surprised the Hong Kong Bahá'ís, when he arrived
> unexpectedly after attending the opening of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár
> in Kampala, Uganda. "Hong Kong", he later wrote in an
> assessment of the many countries he visited that year, "...
> needs the patience of Job...". Dr Muhajir encouraged
> numerous Malaysian Bahá'í youth to travel teach in Hong Kong,
> and also encouraged Filipino Bahá'ís to settle there. He
> returned many times over the years, sometimes accompanied by his
> wife, Mrs Iran Muhajir.
> 
> The Local Spiritual Assembly began to appoint committees to
> undertake the various tasks involved in community function: in
> 1962 there were committees responsible for Hospitality, Feasts,
> Language, and Teaching. Public meetings were being held monthly
> or bi-monthly at the committee room in the City Hall, and small
> study classes were being held in individual homes. Some new
> members joined the community in 1962: Mr Ng Wing Kwon, who had
> studied the Faith since 1955, and whose two nephews Chan Lie Fun
> and Chan Lie Kun had joined in 1956; Mr Ng Ying Kay, another of
> Ng Wing Kwon's relative; and Miss Marie Peres, a fluent speaker
> of Chinese, Portuguese and English, who had heard of the Faith
> from Mrs Buckle, with whom she was then residing. Following the
> departure of Mamie Seto, activities were maintained at a modest
> level. Feasts were sometimes conducted in Mr Azizi's carpet shop.
> The feast of Kamal (August 1, 1962) was attended by just
> five members (Mr Gian Datwani, Mr Jimmy Yen, Mrs Bernice Wood, Mr
> Sung, and a guest).
> 
> The Bahá'ís in Macau faced the same challenges in
> establishing a community as were the Hong Kong Bahá'ís. In 1957
> Mr Datwani began weekly visits to Macau to teach Bahá'í
> classes. His efforts were continued in the early 1960s by Mr
> Azizi. During 1960-61 Mr Azizi visited the Bahá'ís in Macau
> nine times. At the end of the Crusade there was one Local
> Assembly in Macau. The Hong Kong and Macau Bahá'í communities
> continued their close relationship, and were jointly administered
> (first under the National Spiritual Assembly of North East Asia,
> later under the National Spiritual Assembly of Hong Kong) until
> Macau established its own National Spiritual Assembly in 1989.
> 
> Completion of the World Crusade
> 
> Ridvan 1963 marked the completion of the decade long
> "World Crusade". In ten years the Bahá'í message had
> been taken to many hundreds of new destinations. The number of
> National Spiritual Assemblies around the world had risen to
> fifty-six, and the governing body of the Bahá'í world, the
> Universal House of Justice, had been established with its seat on
> Mount Carmel in Israel. Although progress had not been rapid in
> Hong Kong, the foundations of Bahá'í administration had been
> laid. The Bahá'í World, reporting the years 1954-1963,
> recorded the existence of the Hong Kong Local Spiritual Assembly
> and the presence of an individual Bahá'í in Kowloon.
> 
> The Nine Year Plan, 1964-73
> 
> Between 1964 and 1973 Hong Kong remained under the
> jurisdiction of the National Spiritual Assembly of North East
> Asia. A series of goals was set for the National Assembly and the
> Hong Kong Bahá'ís to achieve, far in excess of their
> accomplishments in the previous decade. They were to raise the
> number of localities to twenty, the number of LSAs to five, and
> the number of these which were incorporated to three. Further,
> they were to obtain from civil authorities recognition of
> Bahá'í Holy Days and the Bahá'í Marriage Certificate.
> 
> There were about six additions to the community in the first
> year of the new plan, including Mr Chan Ching-ki, Miss Linda Wong
> of Kam Tin. Other new Bahá'ís at this time were the Hui family:
> Mr Hui Ping and Mrs Hui, Mr Tan Men, and their daughter Hui Oi
> Ling. Sisters Irene and Nancy Young joined in June.
> 
> The Local Assembly met on Sunday evenings at the Centre, prior
> to the 8pm weekly fireside. The community was working toward the
> establishment of an Assembly on Victoria Island by Ridvan 1965.
> Teaching activities were also going on in the New Territories.
> 
> The community continued to receive visits by Hands of the
> Cause: Tarazu'llah Samandari in 1966; John Robarts in 1968 while
> visiting the newly appointed Counsellors in Japan; A.Q. Faizi in
> January 1969; A.A. Furutan in October 1971, while returning from
> the Oceanic Conference in Sapporo, Japan, and again in 1974 and
> 1976. Collis Featherstone, like Rahmat Muhajir, visited Hong Kong
> on numerous occasions. Ruhiyyih Khanum represented the Universal
> House of Justice at the International Conference in Hong Kong in
> 1974. The visits of these Hands of the Cause were often only
> brief, but each was nonetheless a precious experience for the
> Bahá'ís.
> 
> Additional support for the Hong Kong Bahá'ís emerged in the
> 1960s through the work of Malaysian Auxiliary Board Members
> Yankee Leong and Leong Tat Chee, who first visited Hong Kong,
> Macau and Taiwan in 1965. Yankee Leong was subsequently appointed
> to the Continental Board of Counsellors, and continued to visit
> Hong Kong in that capacity. On some visits he remained for
> several months. It was from Leong that Jerry Lulla, of Kowloon,
> heard of the Bahá'í Faith in April 1968 (in a dentist's waiting
> room?) He became vice-chairman Kowloon LSA, and married Linda
> Lau. The couple moved to the United States the following year.
> 
> It was through Yankee Leong and Leong Tat Chee that R.D.
> Gulwani, an Indian of Brahman and Sinhi background, became a
> Bahá'í. He declared his faith in the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh on
> 9 February 1966, having held discussions with the Malaysians for
> three days. He participated in Hong Kong Bahá'í activities
> vigorously until he returned to India in 1969.
> 
> The devotion of Leong Tat Chee, from Malacca, was a particular
> inspiration to the Hong Kong Bahá'ís in their teaching
> activities. To the distress of the community, he died on 9
> October 1972, after a prolonged illness.
> 
> Members of the Continental Board of Counsellors were also
> frequent visitors to Hong Kong in the 1960s: R. Momtazi from
> Japan (the primary counsellor assigned to Hong Kong); K. Payman
> from Indonesia; Victor Samaniego from the Philippines, and
> Chellie Sundram from Malaysia. Counsellor Firaydun Mithaqiyan,
> resident in Laos, visited several times during the years 1970-75,
> before moving to Hong Kong with his wife and two daughters. The
> Mithaqiyans settled first at Lamma Island, later moving to Mei
> Foo in Kowloon.
> 
> Additional pioneers arrive
> 
> In 1967 Jacqueline Lee arrived in Hong Kong, her husband
> Chester following two years later. The Lees had become Bahá'ís
> in Cambodia in 1955. Chester had been detained by the authorities
> there for 18 months on his return from the World Congress held in
> London in 1963, and in 1965 the couple had moved to Vietienne in
> Laos. Now they were moving again, to Hong Kong. The Hong Kong
> newsletter, 29 April 1969, reported:
> 
> Chester Lee recently arrived from Laos to settle down
> here with his wife Jacqueline - God willing! Already he
> has rejuvenated the Chinese friends. He is certainly an
> answer to our prayers as for long we have hoped he would
> be permitted to come to Hong Kong to communicate the
> Bahá'í spirit and teachings to the Chinese folk in
> their own tongue. He is very very welcome and it is hoped
> that he rapidly settles down to enjoy a long, happy and
> worthwhile sojourn.
> 
> Chester Lee was appointed to the National Administrative
> Committee charged with preparing for the formation of the
> National Assembly, in 1974. The Rubitsheks were another family
> who arrived in 1967. They settled on Victoria Island and were
> able to strengthen the Assembly there. Nuri and Graham Pepper
> arrived in Hong Kong from the United Kingdom in 1967. The
> Rubitschek and Pepper families established Bahá'í children's
> classes, which were later handed on to Mona and Meena Datwani. In
> 1968 Navidad (Baby) Cruz became the first Filipino Bahá'í to
> settle in Hong Kong. She remained more than a year, teaching in
> the New Territories and on other islands.
> 
> Although these pioneers were valuable additions to the
> community, the Bahá'ís were still poorly positioned to convey
> the Bahá'í teachings to the majority of the people. More
> Chinese-speaking Bahá'ís were needed, and the community looked
> to the arrival of Malaysian pioneers. Other hindrances were
> bureaucratic. When in 1967 a committee (comprising Gian Datwani,
> Jody Rubitschek and Len Lewis) was formed to make plans for
> celebrating the centenary of the public proclamation of
> Bahá'u'lláh, and approaches were made to Hong Kong broadcasting
> authorities to allow the broadcasting of Bahá'í programs. The
> committee was informed by the Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting
> Company that they were:
> 
> ... not in the position to accept any broadcast
> material on religion, finance and politics. We regret
> therefore, to decline your kind offer of a series of
> short talks on the Bahá'í Faith, because of this
> reason.
> 
> Acquisition of the Bahá'í Centre
> 
> Yet another hindrance to the community was the lack of an
> appropriate meeting place. Dr Muhajir decided when visiting Hong
> Kong in December 1967 that the time was right to acquire a
> Bahá'í centre. He may have heard that property prices had
> fallen as a result of recent race riots in the colony - or may
> have simply felt inspired, for he soon found an apartment in a
> block still under construction on the eleventh floor of the
> Hankow Centre, Middle Rd, Tsimshatsui in Kowloon. The apartment
> was 840 square feet in area, and cost HK$64,000. While this
> amount was substantial for the community at that time they agreed
> to make the purchase. The Hong Kong and Kowloon Local Assemblies
> held a joint meeting on 31 December to consult on purchase of the
> Centre. Although they did not have sufficient funds to make the
> purchase outright, they were confident that the funds would be
> found, and that the combined resources of their Assemblies would
> be sufficient to cover the Centre's ongoing expenses. The Hong
> Kong Bahá'ís made the first down-payment, and a large
> proportion of the outstanding sum was donations by the National
> Assemblies of Iran, Malaysia, the United States, and Japan, and
> by several individual Bahá'ís.
> 
> Full cooperation and consultation between the Bahá'ís was
> required to make the new Centre operate successfully. Officially
> opened in August 1968, it housed the National secretariat, and
> had live-in facilities as well as room for study classes and
> meetings that were open to the public. Maintaining the centre
> proved a challenge to the small community. Mr. Lewis made
> considerable financial contributions in the first months, and the
> Local Assemblies of Kowloon, Shatin and Hong Kong each paid a
> share of the Centre's monthly expenses.
> 
> National Administrative Committee
> 
> As a step toward the later establishment of a National
> Spiritual Assembly in Hong Kong, the National Spiritual Assembly
> for Northeast Asia decided that the time had come to establish a
> National Administrative Committee (NAC). The nine-member
> committee, appointed in 1968, had six duties: incorporate the LSA
> of Hong Kong as soon as possible; plan methods of proclamation in
> the colony; plan for teaching and consolidation activities,
> including a teaching institute and summer school; organise plans
> for teaching in Macau; transfer ownership of the Hazirat'ul-Quds
> to the LSA of Hong Kong; and send copies of the comittee's
> minutes to the National Spiritual Assembly.
> 
> Chester Lee and Graham Pepper attended the first NAC meeting
> on 26 October 1969, in addition to those named by the NSA. The
> NAC immediately added Mrs Datwani to its membership, appointed a
> four-member Hazirat'ul-Quds committee, and devised a provisional
> teaching proclamation plan.
> 
> The committee's initial consultations indicated considerable
> concern at the weak position of Hong Kong's three Local
> Assemblies. It believed each was in danger of lapsing, and
> considered the possibility of establishing a business in Shatin
> in order to place a pioneer there. The NAC was concerned,
> furthermore, at the community's ability to raise sufficient funds
> to pay for the activities that had now been added to the already
> onerous task of paying off the newly-established Bahá'í centre.
> The small proportion of active Chinese members compared to
> non-Chinese, moreover, led to considerable consultation. Minutes
> of the committee's meeting with a visiting American Bahá'í,
> Colonel Pelle, noted:
> 
> Difficulty of deepening and teaching Chinese friends
> in Hong Kong who are as a social group, very pragmatic
> people, was also a problem which to date had not been
> solved, in spite of considerable thought and effort. It
> was considered essential to maintain three LSAs at all
> costs.
> 
> Twelve of Hong Kong's sixty-six Bahá'ís were non-Chinese:
> Len Lewis, Jerry Lulla, Graham and Nourieh Pepper, Gian and
> Lachmi Datwani, Al and Jodie Rubitschek, T.A. Jashan. R.D.
> Gulwani, Irma Marsh, and Vicky Etzkorn. But no more than a sixth
> of the Bahá'ís were regularly attending meetings. Informed of
> the situation, the NSA requested Mr Tehrani to visit Hong Kong.
> He came for two months at the beginning of 1970 to assist in
> stimulating the community's activities. He visited again in 1971,
> with the objective on that occasion of consolidating Bahá'í
> communities, and assisting in reforming the existing Local
> Assemblies.
> 
> Signs of Growth
> 
> The Hong Kong Spiritual Assembly, having been first registered
> in 1958, was incorporated as a limited company under the
> Companies Ordinance on 28 November 1969. This form of legal
> recognition granted the Assembly tax exempt status, and
> strengthened the legal status of the BahÇ 'ê i community in Hong
> Kong. In the next few years the activities of the Assembly
> increased, as did the number of enrolled members. There had been
> just 14 BahÇ 'ê s in Hong Kong in
> 1957; by 1961 there were approximately 60 BahÇ 'ê s and not one but
> three Local Spiritual Assemblies. Hong Kong's second Local
> Assembly was formed in 1967, on Victoria Island. The first
> Assembly, which had been known as the Hong Kong Assembly, was
> renamed the "Kowloon" Assembly. By the 1970s there was
> a need for new approaches to teaching the Bahá'í Faith more
> widely in Hong Kong society, and the solution came following the
> appointment of a National Teaching Committee, and the decision to
> undertaking wide-spread teaching campaigns.
> 
> The National Teaching Committee
> 
> In 1971 a National Teaching Committee was established to
> co-ordinate the propagation efforts of the Hong Kong Bahá'ís
> in. Chan Lie Kun was chair of the committee, Ambi Gabathy vice
> chair, Yin Hong Shuen secretary, and Chan Lie Fun treasurer.
> Peter Tsang was also a member.
> 
> Hong Kong's three Local Assemblies were reformed at Ridvan
> 1971. In August 1971 the NTC resolved to establish at Ridvan 1972
> a Local Assembliy at Tsuen Wan, an industrialised town that had
> recently been opened by Yan Kee Leong. The committee also moved
> to address the needs of Shatin community, assisting its youth
> committee and encouraging the commencement of children's classes.
> 
> First Malaysian Pioneers
> 
> In May 1971 the NSA of Northeast Asia informed the Bahá'ís
> of Hong Kong that two pioneers were soon arriving from Malaysia,
> intending to stay in the colony for two years. Yin Hong Shuen was
> the first. After two months in the colony he wrote home:
> 
> Not being able to speak Cantonese is a major problem
> as almost everyone speaks nothing else. I learn Cantonese
> in the mornings, and go to the villages in the afternoons
> with Uncle Yankee and another Bahá'í. Hong Kong and
> Kowloon are very beautiful, but I much prefer the
> countryside especially the mountains. We visit the New
> Territories a lot. Shatin is about nine miles from
> Kowloon and there is a local assembly there with a very
> cheerful group of Bahá'ís...
> 
> There is a continuous flow of Bahá'í visitors to
> Hong Kong, from a couple who have been pioneering for the
> past seventeen years in Swaziland to Hand of the Cause
> Collis Featherstone. Hong Kong, as you all know, is at
> the crossroads of Asia.
> 
> ...We had a very interesting proclamation meeting in
> the City Hall where over a hundred attended. The speakers
> included Orpha Daugherty from the Philippines, Counsellor
> Rehmani from Iran and a Vietnamese Consul. Terry Madison,
> a very vivacious Bahá'í professional singer, sang for
> the audience. Publicity was obtained in three local
> English papers and over the radio.
> 
> That same evening we went with a busload of Iranian
> Bahá'ís touring the New Territories, and visited Lok Ma
> Chau at the Chinese border where special prayers were
> said.
> 
> The possibilities are so immense that really one
> cannot even imagine the final outcome of our humble
> efforts in Hong Kong. We are hopefully awaiting more
> pioneers from Malaysia.
> 
> Yin Hong Shuen was elected secretary of the National Teaching
> Committee in 1971, and contributed signficantly to the teaching
> activities of the years immediately ahead. Hong Shuen volunteered
> to move to Shatin. In October 1971 he introduced to the Faith
> Lawrence Ip, who became a Bahá'í on 4 April 1972, at age 22.
> Two years later Ip was elected to the first NSA, and became its
> secretary. In 1975 he went travel-teaching in the Philippines,
> and met there Veam Cornejo, whom he married in 1976.
> 
> Forty-Day Teaching Campaign - 1971
> 
> The idea of conducting a 40 day teaching campaign in Hong Kong
> was conceived at the Oceanic conference in Sapporo, Japan, 2-5
> September 1971. Following this conference, a special
> international meeting was held in Hong Kong on 14 September to
> discuss plans in detail. Hands of the Cause Dr Muhajir and Mr
> Furutan, the Counsellors in North and South East Asia, and the
> National Assemblies of Northeast Asia and Malaysia, all
> contributed to the consultation, which resulted in the Bahá'ís
> aiming to attract fifty new members, in nine new areas. Efforts
> were made to attract newspaper coverage. In September Chester Lee
> and Gian Datwani approached the media, and reporters from the Hong
> Kong Standard and the South China Morning Post visited
> the Bahá'í Centre and interviewed Hong Shuen.
> 
> The campaign commenced in October 1971. Counsellors Vic
> Samaniego and Yan Kee Leong took part, as did Philip Marangella
> who moved from Japan to Hong Kong at about that time. Mrs Mae
> McClinton assisted for ten days while en route from the United
> States to her pioneer post in Swaziland. Other participants
> included Charles Duncan of Korea, Ray Cooprider of Taiwan,
> Hashemi Assassi of Iran, and Auxiliary Board Member Betty
> Fernandez of Malaysia.
> 
> The campaign targeted islands, rural areas, college campuses,
> urban areas, civic organisations, and even the communities of
> boat people. Pamphlets were distributed, advertisements placed in
> newspapers and public meetings held. A progress report by Ray
> Cooprider appeared Bahá'í News in January 1972:
> 
> Public meetings are now being scheduled for five
> communities outside of Hong Kong and Kowloon. With
> publicity, slides, and 50,000 copies of the new Chinese
> pamphlets we hope to make the name of Bahá'u'lláh known
> to many people throughout Hong Kong(p9).
> 
> Hong Kong Bahá'ís were also extensively involved: the
> Datwanis and their children Mona, Lolita, Meena and Ranee (who
> all spoke Chinese), Mr Azizi, Chan Lie Kun, Chan Lie Fun, Yin
> Hong Shuen, and R.D. Gulwani. In the course of the campaign Yan
> Kee Leong, Charles Duncan and Ray Cooprider made two four-day
> trips to outer islands which resulted in declarations by
> twenty-four people. On another occasion they were accompanied by
> Chan Lie Kun to Peng Chau Island. Leonard Lewis, secretary of the
> National Administrative Committee, and one of Hong Kong's most
> dedicated Bahá'ís, passed away at this time. He had arrived in
> the colony from England seventeen years earlier as a school
> teacher at Victoria Barracks. He learnt of the Bahá'í teachings
> from Mr Labib and Mrs Seto in 1960, and had since worked
> tirelessly for the progress of the Hong Kong Bahá'í community,
> giving particular support to the establishment of the Bahá'í
> Centre. His passing was noted in the South China Morning Post.
> 
> More Malaysian pioneers arrive
> 
> On 19 January 1972 two more Malaysian Bahá'ís, Mr Teh Tiek
> Hoe, a graduate of Kuala Lumpur Technical College, and Richard
> T.K. Lee, a newspaper correspondent with the Straits Times,
> arrived in Hong Kong. Mr "Hungshun" and Mr
> "Tekho" (as they were known) arrived in Hong Kong
> highly recommended by the NSA of Malaysia, and by Hand of the
> Cause Dr Muhajir. They stayed at the Tai Po Bahá'í Centre to
> concentrate on teaching activities, reporting to the Malaysian
> Bahá'í News:
> 
> As soon as we settled in and found our bearings (it
> was so cold!), Uncle Yankee, full of youthful vigor and
> bouyant spirit took us round on whirlwind visits lasting
> many days, to meet the Bahá'ís living on various
> islands around Hong Kong. These places had been opened up
> during the forty-day campaign and we were quite amazed to
> see how much the friends had achieved. These islanders
> are steeped in traditions of which they are immensely
> proud and to bring in a single believer in this
> atmosphere is equal to bringing in a few hundred in more
> fertile places.
> 
> The success of the first 40-day campaign resulted in two more
> being conducted before Ridvan 1972. Nineteen new localities were
> opened, and more than 60 new members were attracted during these
> campaigns, boosting the size and capacity of the community just
> two years before the formation of the National Assembly.
> 
> The energy and enthusiasm of the Malaysian pioneers made
> possible Hong Kong's first Winter School, held at the Bahá'í
> Centre in February 1972. 19 Bahá'ís and 7 enquirers
> participated. Lee and Teh also organised a youth teaching
> Institute in July 1972. The growing numbers of Bahá'í youth was
> a sign that the community as a whole was expanding. A National
> Youth Committee was established in 1974, its first members
> including Meena Datwani, Stephen Fong Kwok Wai, Graham Smith, Tse
> Yip Oi, Yik Siu Ying, and Mary Sze.
> 
> Passing of Philip Marangella
> 
> Philip Marangella, who had retired to Hong Kong after having
> spent almost two decades in Japan, passed away on 31 January
> 1974. He had attended the North East Asia Convention in Japan in
> 1973, and although ill on his return to Hong Kong had continued
> his Bahá'í administrative duties. In particular, he had been
> engaged at the time of his death in determining the allocation of
> delegates among the Hong Kong communities in preparation for the
> election of the first National Spiritual Assembly.
> 
> Other new members
> 
> Toward the end of the Nine Year Plan the Hong Kong community
> was bolstered by the addition of pioneers, and new members. K.H.
> and Monavar Attar, formerly pioneers in Algeria and France, who
> resided in Hong Kong from 1972 to 1986. From Hong Kong Mr Attar
> frequently attended business fairs in China. An able speaker, he
> associated with the leaders of Hong Kong's religious communities:
> the Sikhs, Taoists, Baptists, Brahma Samaj and other Hindus. Mr
> Attar was also a member of the Lions Club and Toast Masters, and
> participated in activities of the United Nations Association.
> Before departing in 1986 the Attars donated to the community the
> Bahá'í Centre at North Point in King's Road. This property was
> later sold, the proceeds from its sale contributing to the
> purchase of the Bahá'í Hall in Shelter Street.
> 
> Graham Smith arrived from Australia in 1974 and settled in
> Tsuen Wan. James Liew arrived from Malaysia in January 1974 and
> remained one year. A fluent speaker of Cantonese, he convened a
> workshop in Chinese, and was able to assist with his knowledge of
> Bahá'í administration. He attended the first National
> Convention as a delegate.
> 
> In August 1974 Michael and Sharon Bond arrived in Hong Kong,
> after living for three years in Japan. Dr Bond was a lecturer in
> psychology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The Bonds were
> the first non-Chinese Bahá'ís to live at Shatin, where there
> were some 30 Bahá'ís, and a functioning LSA. Sharon Bond
> recalled:
> 
> I remember Tsang Bei Dak who used to mass-teach with
> us on Sundays in then rural Shatin. We also had a younger
> Peter Tsang (no relation to the above), Mr and Mrs Yik
> and their daughter Yik Shiu Ying, and Lau Kin Kwok in our
> community. We had most of our Bahá'í meetings in the
> Yik's home. Counsellor Yankee Leong often came to Shatin
> in the early days for mass teaching with us. I believe
> Shatin was the third LSA formed in Hong Kong.
> 
> The Five Year Plan 1974-1979
> 
> By 1974 there were five Local Assemblies in Hong Kong. The
> Universal House of Justice decided it was now time for the Hong
> Kong Bahá'ís to establish their National Spiritual Assembly. At
> Naw-Ruz the Universal House of Justice informed the community of
> its responsibilities for the next five years:
> 
> It is with special joy that we hail the establishment
> of your National Spiritual Assembly, a significant
> development in the onward march of the Faith holding
> great promise for the future. To the north and to the
> west live millions of souls, nearly a quarter of the
> world's population, the vast majority of whom have not
> yet had the bounty of hearing of the Teachings. To your
> community is given the challenge to play a preponderating
> role in winning the hearts of the Chinese people for
> Bahá'u'lláh. For this role you must now prepare
> yourselves.
> 
> In the next five years, the Bahá'ís of Hong Kong and Macau
> were to:
> 
> * Raise the number of Local Spiritual Assemblies to a
> minimum of 10 in Hong Kong and two in Macau;
> 
> * Provide for the incorporation of Local Spiritual
> Assemblies in all areas except Macau;
> 
> * Greatly increase the number of believers in all
> parts of Hong Kong and in Macau with a view to the
> establishment of a solid base from which the Message of
> Bahá'u'lláh may reach Chinese-speaking areas of the
> world;
> 
> * Incorporate the National Spiritual Assembly;
> 
> * Acquire a national Hazirat'ul-Quds by conversion of
> the present local Hazirat'ul-Quds in Kowloon;
> 
> * Acquire a site for a future Mashriqu'l-Adhkár
> assisted by the National Spiritual Assembly of Japan;
> 
> * Acquire a local Hazirat'l-Quds in Macau;
> 
> * Take over from the Universal House of Justice
> jurisdiction over Bahá'í activities in Hainan Island
> and establish at least one locality there;
> 
> * Encourage and organize regular Bahá'í activities
> and classes for women, youth and children of the
> communities of your area;
> 
> * Mobilize Bahá'í youth for active participation in
> the teaching and consolidation work, assigning them
> specific goals such as the further development of the
> teaching work on high school, college and university
> campuses in your area, and the opening of new areas;
> 
> * Establish a Publishing Committee for the purpose of
> providing translations of Bahá'í literature into
> Chinese and, in cooperation with the Publishing Trust of
> Taiwan, to publish such literature;
> 
> * Make plans to accommodate, and derive the greatest
> benefit from the International Conference to be called by
> the Universal House of Justice in Hong Kong in November
> 1976;
> 
> * Assign extension teaching goals to the stronger
> Local Spiritual Assemblies under your jurisdiction.
> 
> The Hong Kong Bahá'ís were reminded, in addition, that it
> was their privilege to "provide a continuous flow of
> Chinese-speaking travelling teachers to various parts of the
> world", and that they would receive pioneer assistance from
> Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
> 
> Formation of the National Spiritual Assembly
> 
> These objectives were in the minds of the one hundred
> participants at the first national convention, held 26-28 April
> at the Mandarin Hotel. Ruhiyyih Khanum attended as representative
> of the Universal House of Justice. She presented the community
> with a lock of Bahá'u'lláh's hair. Representatives from nearby
> Bahá'í communities also attended the convention: Kimiko
> Schwerin from Japan, Counsellor K Payman from Indonesia. Late on
> the first evening the convention cabled to the Universal House of
> Justice:
> 
> OFFER SINCERE GRATITUDE FOR HAVING
> HONOUR OF AMATULBAHA AS REPRESENTATIVE FEEL THIS BOUNTY
> AND PRESENCE TWO COUNSELLORS TWO AUXILIARY BOARD MEMBERS
> AND REPRESENTATIVE MOTHER ASSEMBLY WILL GREATLY HELP US
> ACHIEVE SUCCESSES TOTAL 84 BAHAIS PRESENT INCLUDING 17
> DELEGATES WE PLEDGE CARRY OUT OBJECTIVE OF FIVE YEAR PLAN
> AND BESEECH YOUR PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES FOR OUR RAPID
> ACHIEVEMENT ALL GOALS.
> 
> The first National Spiritual Assembly consisted of two
> Chinese, two Iranians, two Indians, one Filipino and two
> Americans. Thomas Lane was elected first chairman, Chester Lee
> vice chairman, Lawrence Ip secretary, and Khodabakhch Attar
> treasurer. The newly elected NSA had the privilege of meeting
> with Ruhiyyih Khanum, and the Counsellors. The Universal House of
> Justice cabled:
> 
> DELIGHTED NEWS SUCCESS YOUR FIRST
> CONVENTION PRESENCE HANDCAUSE AMATU'L-BAHA PRAYING
> SHRINES SUCCESS HIGHEST HOPES WIN GOALS ATTRACT DIVINE
> BLESSINGS CONFIRMATIONS.
> 
> Conclusions
> 
> Although the Hong Kong Bahá'í community remains one of the
> colony's less-known religions after several decades of concerted
> effort, its foundations are undoubtedly firmly established, and
> its further consolidation is assured. The formation of the
> National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Hong Kong in 1974
> was the culmination of efforts commenced by Bahá'ís at least
> fifty year previously. In diverse countries Bahá'í communities
> have grown and developed at rates which have varied in response
> to prevailing social, religious and intellectual conditions, and
> as a result also of the effectiveness of their own actions.
> 
> Hong Kong society presented a unique and in many ways
> difficult society in which to transmit new religious ideas. It is
> a congested commercial entrepot developed by a people who
> have for the most part arrived from China as either economic or
> political refugees. In their new environment they have focused on
> rebuilding material prosperity, using traditional Confucian,
> Taoist and Buddhist values in matters of religion.
> 
> Any novel systems of religious belief would have struggled to
> take root in such a distracted environment. Some of the
> difficulties that faced the Bahá'ís, however, were attributable
> to their own circumstances as much as to social and religious
> conditions. These related to culture, and to language. The first
> pioneers were from Western, Indian, or Persian backgrounds, and
> spoke English rather than Cantonese or Mandarin. Quite naturally,
> therefore, those to whom they gave the Bahá'í message were
> predominantly English-speaking - whether members of the
> expatriate community, or else well-educated Hong Kong residents.
> Both groups were highly mobile, with the result that perhaps half
> of all of those who became Bahá'ís migrated out of Hong Kong.
> It may have been that employment conditions in the colony
> inhibited many of the pioneers from staying permanently in Hong
> Kong: their presence on fixed contracts may have deterred them
> from learning Chinese. A later group of pioneers, the Malaysians,
> were not as limited by language, and were more successful in
> moving among Hong Kong people and attracting them to the Bahá'í
> community in larger numbers.
> 
> Chinese speaking Hong Kong residents who did become Bahá'ís
> were frequently tied to long working hours, or resided in distant
> locations which prevented their regular attendance at Bahá'í
> meetings. One result of this continual absence seems to have been
> their gradual distancing from the consultative and
> decision-making processes that are at the heart of the Bahá'í
> administrative system, leading to their social and psychological
> remoteness from the dynamics of Bahá'í community development.
> The historical records mention but only briefly Mr Moon Chow, who
> was unable to attend meetings because of business demands; and
> Paul Fong, who worked as a hotel receptionist; and Mr Sun Fat,
> the first Bahá'í on Lantao Island; and Stephen Fong, from
> Silver Mine Bay on Lantao Island; and Roland Hshu, who left Hong
> Kong in 1957 to work aboard a ship. Neither do the records tell
> of the life of Chi Fai Ling, or of Ng On (who worked in a shoe
> shop and was unable to attend meetings); or of Pong Choo, first
> Bahá'í in Po Toi; or of Mr Wong Shiu Fun, who became a Bahá'í
> in Tsuen Wan in July 1971; or Dr Shu Feng Wong, an early Bahá'í
> of Tsuenwon; or Yick Shui Ming, of Shatin; or Anna Yee, who
> married Fok Hoy of Seattle.
> 
> Whereas numeric growth of the Bahá'í community was not
> large, other achievements were nonetheless notable. Ethnically,
> the Bahá'ís exemplified a diverse but unified community. There
> was Mrs Kosim Satyaputra, an Indonesian Bahá'í who lived in
> Hong Kong with her children Kosim and Widyustuti, and Mr Teksang
> Lee, who heard of the Bahá'í Faith from Shirin Fozdar while at
> High School in Bangkok, Thailand, and who contacted the Bahá'ís
> when he moved to Hong Kong about 1964. There were Bahá'ís from
> India, England, North America, and Malaysia, each adding their
> temperament and cultural flavour to Bahá'í meetings,
> consultation, and festivities.
> 
> In the years since the formation of the National Spiritual
> Assembly the Hong Kong Bahá'í community continued to expand.
> Land for a future Mashriqu'l-Adhkár was purchased
> in 1975; an international conference attended by 600 Bahá'ís
> from 34 countries was convened in Hong Kong in November 1976. By
> 1979 the Hong Kong Bahá'í community had grown to ten Local
> Spiritual Assemblies, and a total of twenty-six localities. The
> National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Macau was
> established at Ridvan 1989. By 1991 there were twenty-two Local
> Assemblies in Hong Kong.
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views30754 views since posted 2000-01; last edit 2015-02-22 02:25 UTC;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../hassall_bahai_hong_kong;
> URLs changed in 2010, see archive.org.../bahai-library.org
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> Shortlink: bahai-library.com/162
> Citation: ris/162
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