Serving Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Volunteers

15.10.2004 － 31.5.2005

Upper Gallery

The Hong Kong Volunteers was essentially a part-time volunteer force. Since its founding in 1854 and until its disbandment in 1995, they had been continually serving the Hong Kong communities. The Volunteers, first temporary in nature, subsequently developed into a highly mobilized unit with advanced light weapon. Since the 1960s, the job nature of the Volunteers shifted from defence against foreign enemies to maintaining order at home and carrying out surveillance at the border. The bilingual members of the Volunteers were particularly adept at this type of work, given their familiarity with the topography and the social customs of Hong Kong. The generations of volunteers unreservedly sacrificed their spare time for the prosperity and stability of the territory.

To mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Hong Kong Volunteers, the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence and the RHKR The Volunteers Association jointly organized this exhibition. More than 50 artefacts are put on display. It is hoped that visitors will appreciate the essence behind the establishment of the Volunteers and its transformation in line with the changes of Hong Kong.