Catherine S. Chan

Belonging to the City: Representations of a Colonial Clock Tower in British Hong Kong

This study interprets the transformation of a European clock tower that was built in British Hong Kong. By examining its purpose and life in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, I focus on the voices that spoke for the clock tower in times of crisis and change. Through a combination of government documents, newspaper articles, editorial letters, historical narratives, travel guides, and photographs, this study aims to show the transitions of the clock tower in line with the development of local identity in Hong Kong during the colonial era. It highlights the shift in colonial society from a racially segregated city to a cosmopolitan city shared, to a certain extent, by urban elites, foreign settlers, and local Chinese residents.

Folklore without a folk: questions in the preservation of the Marinduque Moriones heritage

Abstract Since the 1870s, the Moriones festival has been part of the Lenten celebrations in Marinduque, located at the heart of the Philippines. Inventoried by the Philippine government, the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA) and the Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (ICHCAP) as one of the Philippines’ intangible cultural heritage, the Moriones festival has exhibited various problems regarding a decreasing historical value, political intervention and increasing detachment from the Marinduque community. This study raises questions on regional inventorying of ICH, especially in light of what needs to be tackled before, during and after the incorporation of traditions and practices as ICH.