ThisbooktellsthefascinatingstoryofthedevelopmentofmedicalandsanitationservicesinHongKongduringthefirstcenturyofBritishruleandhowchangingpoliticalvaluesanddirectionsofthecolonialadministrationandthesocio-economicstatusoftheHongKongaffectedthepoliciesofdevelopmentintheseareas.Italsorecountshowthebubonicplagueof1894changedthegovernment’slaissez-faireattitudetowardssanitationandpublichealthandbegansanitaryreformsanddevelopedpublichealthinfrastructure.
ThisbookisnotjustachronologicalhistoryofthemedicalandhealthsystemofHongKongbetween1842and1941.Italsogivesacriticalanddispassionateanalysisofthedifferentcultural,social,andpoliticalfactorswhichpromptedthegovernmentandthepublictoconsiderchangeandimplementreformswithfarreachingeffects.Italsoteachesusthatracialdiscrimination,socialinequity,andmutualdistrustarealwaysobstaclestosocialprogressincludinghealthcare.
──RosieT.T.Young,TheUniversityofHongKong
ManybookshavebeenwrittenaboutthehistoryofmedicineandpublichealthincolonialHongKong,buthereatlastwehaveacomprehensivesurveythatwillappealtogeneralreadersandscholarsalike.MoiraChan-Yeung’staleoftwocitiescontraststhegraduallyimprovingsanitationandhealthstandardsenjoyedbyHongKong’s
privilegedEuropeanelitewiththesqualidconditionsenduredbytheimpoverishedChineseresidentsuntiltheturningpointofthebubonicplagueepidemicin1894.ThestoryofrapidimprovementinthelivesofHongKong’sever-expandingpopulationintheearlytwentiethcenturyisexplainedwithinthesocial,politicalandculturalcontextthatmadeHongKongsodistinctiveasaBritishcolony.
──PeterCunich,TheUniversityofHongKong
Basedonsolidarchivalresearch,contextualizedinthesocial,political,andculturalhistoryoftheperiod,physician-scientist-historianMoiraChan-Yeunghasgivenusafascinating,readableexplorationoftheevolutionofWesternmedicineinHongKong,itsdiseases,institutions,colonialabuses,andscientificachievements.Inthisstory,mattersofgender,race,class,andautonomyrepeatedlydeterminedhealthorillnessandinfluencedattemptstocare.
──JacalynDuffin,Queen’sUniversity
RACE QUEEN SOCIAL KONG MEDICAL class HISTORY HONG
