Scout Association of Hong Kong
The Scout Association of Hong Kong is the largest scouting organisation in Hong Kong. Scout training was first introduced in Hong Kong by Rev Spink of St Andrew's Church, Kowloon in 1909 and 1910 by the Protestant based Boys' Brigade, Chums Scout Patrols and British Boy Scouts. The Catholic St. Joseph's College, formed its Boy Scout Troop in 1913, and registered with the Boy Scouts Association of the United Kingdom in 1914. The Boy Scouts Association formed its Hong Kong Local Association in July 1915 which became its Hong Kong Branch. After changes to the name of the United Kingdom organisation in 1967, the branch name was changed to The Scout Association Hong Kong Branch. In 1977, The Scout Association of Hong Kong was constituted as an autonomous association and successor to The Scout Association's Hong Kong Branch and became the 111th member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1977.
In 2008, the association had 95,877 uniformed members, with approximately 2,700 Scout groups in the sections Grasshopper Scouts, Cubs, Scouts, Venture and Rover Scouts, making it the largest uniformed youth organisation in Hong Kong. The headquarters at the Hong Kong Scout Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon host the administration, headed by the Hong Kong Chief Commissioner.
The association runs campsites, including Gilwell Campsite, Tai Tam Scout Centre and Tung Tsz Scout Centre, as well as hostels and Scout Activity Centres. It annually organises the traditional Scout Rally, providing Scout competitions and activities. For specific anniversaries, themed jamborees have been organised.
The Scout movement is the largest uniform group in Hong Kong, consisting of more than 100,000 members.
History
Founding of Hong Kong Scouting movement
Scout training was first introduced to boys in Hong Kong in 1909 and 1910, only a few years after the beginning of the Scout movement in the United Kingdom, when Rev. Spink started a Boys' Brigade Company attached to the St. Andrew's Church in Kowloon, in response to popular requests for Scouting activities in the expatriate community of Hong Kong. By 1911, British merchants and military personnel had started to organise Boy Scout troops in the city. On 16 April 1912, Lieutenant-General Baden-Powell, Chief Scout of The Boy Scouts Association, arrived in Hong Kong by. He was a guest in the Government House and discussed with officials of the Hong Kong Government the establishment of a branch of The Boy Scouts Association of the United Kingdom and the organisation of a Boy Scout Movement in the city.Enthusiasts and organisations, including Queen's College and St. Joseph's College, established Boy Scout troops. On 20 September 1913, St. Joseph's College formed a Boy Scout troop. Baden-Powell sent a letter of congratulation to the St. Joseph's College Boy Scouts on 26 November 1913, which was published in the first issue of the Scout Gazette, the first Scout publication in Hong Kong. The St. Joseph's College troop was the first affiliated with the Boy Scout Association being registered as the 1st Hong Kong Boy Scout Troop on 1 May 1914. At the time, the Chief Scout was Major F.J. Bowen and the Scoutmaster was Albert Edwards. Besides training in map reading and communication, the troop also provided training in ambulance by Dr Coleman. On 29 December 1914, the troop was extended with a short-life Sea Scout Troop by Capt. P. Streafield, connected to of the Royal Navy. The Troop also held the first Scout camp in Murray Barracks. At the same time, Bowen was invited to Peak School to educate pupils in Scouting and the school later established a Wolf Cub Pack. The 2nd Hong Kong Scout Troop of St. Andrew's Church was registered on 25 November 1914. Major Alexander Anderson McHardy was appointed Colony Commissioner on 1 May 1914 and then-Governor of Hong Kong Francis Henry May became Chief Scout of Hong Kong. At the beginning all member Scouts were of European descent and not well-recognised by Chinese society. Membership was restricted to those of British nationality. Vice Admiral Robert Hamilton Anstruther succeeded Major McHardy as Colony Commissioner on 1 May 1915. The Boy Scout Association Hong Kong branch started up in July 1915, and was responsible for Scout training. At the end of September 1915, there were in total 155 members in the first census.
Image:Seamens Institute.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Seamen's Institute in Hong Kong
Seamen's Institute was an institute training seamen in Hong Kong located at 8, Praya East which is now the Harcourt Building at Gloucester Road, Wan Chai. In the early days of The Scout Association of Hong Kong, they conducted non-regular activities in the institute.
Growth and development
During World War I, many Scouting leaders served in the war, which limited Scouting in Hong Kong, but the 1st World Scout Jamboree between 30 July and 8 August 1920 revived Hong Kong Scouting. Lieutenant-Colonel F. J. Bowen returned to Hong Kong after the end of the war, and actively participated in the Movement. He became the Colony Commissioner in July 1920 and reorganised the Hong Kong Branch. At the end of 1920, membership was approximately 140 members.The reorganised branch held a Scout Rally at the Murray Parade Ground on 8 January 1921 at Garden Road, now called Cheung Kong Center. In September 1921, the Reverend George Turner Waldegrave succeeded Bowen, and the Scout Movement was firmly established in Hong Kong, though it was still small at 384 members. In the same year, Hong Kong Scouting expanded to the Wolf Cub Section. Sea Scout training had been started in May 1921 with the assistance of the staff of HMS Tamar. Following its success, Waldegrave started the first Sea Scout Troop which he registered in October 1923. The first Prince of Wales Banner Competition, named for Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, was held in Happy Valley on 26 May 1923. The banner stayed with the victorious troop for a year and the troop was honoured with the honorary title of Governor's Troop.
Early Scouters were military officers, priests, teachers and older Scouts. Not every Scouter would apply for a warrant, which would be required for the formal registration with the headquarters in London. It took several months to complete the whole application process through mail. Many Scouters stayed only for a short period and opted for serving without a warrant.
In order to protect Scouting activity and institute its constitution, the Hong Kong branch was incorporated in the Boys Scouts Association Ordinance, nr 22 of the Law of Hong Kong on 2 December 1927. After amendments in 1939, 1950, 1975 and 1997, the ordinance became chapter 1005 of the Law of Hong Kong. Waldegrave returned to England in August 1934 and, in recognition of his work for the Hong Kong branch, he was awarded the civil membership of the Order of the British Empire by His Majesty the King. A year or two prior to his retirement, the Chief Scout Baden-Powell had awarded him the highest Scout award, the Bronze Wolf. The Scout Association, Hong Kong Branch, grew to 682 members that year.
The Reverend Victor Halward became Colony Commissioner on 11 May 1935 after the retirement of Waldegrave. Shortly before he took over the Commissionership, at the request of the Chinese Government in Guangdong, Halward had spent weekends directing a training course for Scouters of the Boy Scouts of China in Guangzhou. The results of his efforts were a great improvement in the relations between the Boy Scouts Association and the Boy Scouts of China, and between the Hong Kong branch and the Guangzhou section of the Boy Scouts of China. For this he also was awarded the Bronze Wolf. Numbers were still increasing yearly and in 1938 Halward appointed District Commissioners from either side of the harbour, viz., Quah Chow Cheung and Chan, who amply justified their appointment and a large step in membership showed to approximately 1200 members in 1942.
World War II
After 1937, China was at war with the Japanese army. Troops of the Boy Scouts of China came to Hong Kong and were incorporated into the Hong Kong Branch. Hong Kong Scouts were instrumental in aiding war refugees. During World War II, Scoutmasters and adult members performed civic duties in the Special Constabulary, Police and Volunteer Defence Corps.On 8 December 1941, Japanese forces crossed the Sham Chun River and the Battle of Hong Kong began. The forces landed on Hong Kong Island on 18 December 1941, and incurred a heavy toll of death during the resistance at Wong Nai Chung Gap. Many Hong Kong Scouts died in the resistance activities. Although heavily resisted, the whole territory of Hong Kong came in Japanese hands on 25 December 1941. Under Japanese rule, all formal Scouting activities halted and many Scouts joined guerrilla units against the Japanese in the New Territories and adjacent prefectures in China. The Scouting headquarters on Garden Road was demolished during the war. The campus of St. Stephen's College in Stanley, which was being used as a military hospital for British forces at the outbreak of the war, was quickly turned into a POW camp by the occupying Imperial Japanese army. Westerners were detained there for the duration of the war. In the concentration camp, Scouting activities were conducted in the shadow. Scout Ronald Whitfield even completed proficiency badges in this period and became a King's Scout when he was back in Scotland.
After the war, Hong Kong was repossessed by British forces. For the reconstruction of Scouting, the Imperial Headquarters of The Boy Scouts Association in the United Kingdom dispatched a five-member Scout International Relief Service Team to revive the Hong Kong Scout movement. A post-war St. George's Day Parade was held on 28 April 1946 at the Botanical Garden with the participation of 672 Scouts and leaders. The salute was taken by the General Officer Commanding, Major General Francis Wogan Festing. In the early 1950s, Hong Kong Scouting was first divided into districts.