geog-hist society newsletter

8/13/2019 Geog-Hist Society Newsletter

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Geog-Hist Society News

DECEMBER Edition

Graphics by Caroline Tam 5G (19)


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Hong Kong currently faces the shortage of residential area, leading to social problems such ashigh property prices and poor living conditions. Out of the 1180 km^2 of land in Hong Kong, coun-try parks have taken up almost 70% of the total land area. Recently, the development secretary hadaddressed the issue of land shortage, which he suggests that society should start discussing theidea of changing the land use of some country parks into residential areas.

To consider the idea of developing country parks, it is important to firstly recognize the factthat Hong Kong currently faces a land shortage for residential areas, and the population would al-

so be growing as the average lifespan of Hong -Kongers is expected to increase, and immigration isinevitable to prevent a great decrease in labour supply which might create a great burden on so-cial welfare and a rapid decrease in productivity. Instead, the matter to be discussed, is on how toincrease the residential land supply.

Looking back into the past, the colonial government also faced a similar issue during the1950s as there was a great number of immigrants from mainland due to the Chinese civil war, andthe post war baby boom that occurred shortly afterwards. The colonial government in such a situa-tion had developed new towns to accommodate the increasing population, which was the devel-opment of rural areas in new territories. In addition, it also reclaimed land from the Victoria Har-bour to obtain more land for urban development in Hong Kong Island.

Looking at the aforementioned example, the idea of reclamation in Victoria harbour nowa-days is facing a great opposition, as undeniably, reclamation leads to water pollution, and it wouldaffect the natural scenery of the coastline. Viewing such, the government might be considering do-ing so outside Victoria Harbour, as it is currently doing. Whereas for the development of countryparks, it is quite similar to the development of new towns, as both are converting rural or undevel-oped areas into residential living areas, with the new towns being quite successful as reflected inthe recent decades, the rationale behind the suggestion of the developing secretary is seen. Withthe past success of the new towns, if some country park areas are really being developed, there isa high chance that it would help ease the problem of excess demand for land.

However, it is also true that the reduction in country park area might happen to decrease theimportance and value of the natural environment in Hong Kong. On the long run there might be agreat decrease in country park area as developers might see the opportunity to urbanize those ar-eas. Considering such, the developing of country parks if implemented, should be at a relativelysmall scale, targeting areas of lesser environmental significance. In addition, to compromise for thereduction of rural areas in Hong Kong, the government might also want to undergo greenery ofsome urban areas, such as planting more trees on sidewalks, which apart from compensating forthe reduction of country park areas, could also beautify the urban environment.

To conclude, the question of whether to develop country parks into residential areas remainsa discussion so far, among the many possible solutions, it seems such development might be suc-

cessful, yet it might pave the way to great damage of Hong Kong

s natural environment. Regard-less, it is important for the government to balance the needs for flats and the natural environmentof Hong Kong.

Should Country Parks be Developedinto Residential Areas?


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INQUISITIONPart One Location and Cause

Inquisitors? Theyre sneaky bastards. Useful, yes, even necessary, but Iwouldnt buy a used aircar from any of them.

-Arbitrator General Bex van SturmTo consort with the heretic is to endanger one's purity. But to lie to an In-

quisitor is to forfeit your soul.

-Inquisitor Fazael

Inquisition is an institution aimed to punish or torture those that oppose areligion. It is mainly carried out by religious or political leaders who want tostrengthen his rule by controlling his subjects minds via religion. This extremecase of religious genocide is usually carried out using violence and brutal tor-turing methods, as shown below.

During the middle Ages, Catholicism was widely spread across Europe. Al-most all the great empires set the belief as their orthodox religion, priest andmonks prospered. However, despite the strong group of supporters and believ-ers, there were still certain doubts of the Catholic Church which ultimately ledto the cruel inquisitions in order to secure their positions in their empires. Thefollowing are the three different inquisitions, namely the Spanish Inquisition,the Roman Inquisition and the Portuguese Inquisition, that happened in thesame period of time which was grouped under the category Christian Inquisi-tions


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Roman

Inquisition Spanish

Inquisition Portuguese

Inquisition

Location

Although known as theRoman inquisition, itsrule covered most of theItalian Peninsula, Maltaand Avignon which was inFrance.

This trial, as its name mighthave hinted, met in Spain. Namely, in Portuguese.

Date of establishment Established in 1588 Established on the 1st No- vember 1478

Proposed in 1515,

formally considered 41 yearslater in 1536

Establisher Pope Sixtus V King Ferdinand Proposed by Manuel I, es-tablished under the requestof the King of Portugal.

Causes To strengthen her posi-

tion in Europe, the trialhad sub aims to suppressProtestantism which wasobviously against the Ro-man Catholic church dur-ing the Middle Ages andalso other black magicsuch as sorcery and witchcraft which was re-garded as blasphemy.

The causes of such brutal

torture was actually quitesimple: it had the ultimateaim to maintain Catholi-cism as their kingdom s or-thodox religion and replacethe Medieval inquisition toreinforce the position andsuperiority of the Catholicchurch. The monarchs also wanted to increase theirpolitical authority by weak-ening opposition through

ferocious means.

It targeted Catholics who

were originally Judaist andnew Christians since they were suspected of followingJudaism under the cover ofCatholicism and Christiani-ty.

Other remarks: The Roman Inquisition was actually a nicknamefor the Congregation forthe Doctrine of the Faith

Similar to the Spanishinquisition, it also usedinhumane means of tor-turing to accomplish itsaims.

The Spanish inquisition wasthe most famous inquisitionamong the category due toits overwhelming brutality.

Technically speaking, Portu-gal was actually the firstkingdom to come up withthe idea of an inquisition.


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Part Two Motivation and Methods

Motivation

These seemingly ruthless inquisitionsinterestingly sometimes rooted from thedesire for justice and order. In Rome,Pope Gregory IX's created the Roman In-quisition in the hope of bringing legalityand order to the procedures of heresydealing for there was a growing trend inthe mobs of townspeople being accusedand burnt without proper trials. The initialintent was to infiltrate Catholic teaching intothe Inquisition (as a court of justice) and to instruct in them the orthodox doctrine.However, should they persist, the Church would have authorities apply punishments(e.g. burning at stake) to prevent infection of the Catholic community. But later, ittook the purpose of exterminating all Europeans who differed from the practices andbeliefs of Roman Catholicism.

To an extent, the Spanish Inquisition that camelate to European history too had religious mo-

tives of pursuing secret Jews, or rather, wassheer prejudice roots. The inquisition wasclaimed essential to root out all false conver-sos, but it was mainly to do with the drasticrise of anti-Semitism and anti-converso senti-ment at the time. The Inquisition primarilyaimed at Jewish converts descendants, andcould be concluded as an act springing out ofracial discrimination, envy and greed, quite

apart from preserving the unity of faith.

The Portuguese Inquisition followed thesuit, in essence targeting those who had beenconverted to Catholicism as the conversos(a.k.a. New Christians or Marranos) from Juda-ism and yet are alleged to have secretly prac-ticed Judaism as a lot of such were originally

Jews of Spain who had immigrated. All effortswere concentrated to root out all those who hadnot adhered to the Catholic orthodox strictures,much like the Spanish Inquisition.


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MethodsAlthough the days of the inquisitions have passed, however, it remains to

be a hot topic among history enthusiasts. That is mostly due to the cruel yet in-humanely innovative torture methods that were proposed and put into practical

use at that time. Since the three inquisitions belonged to the same category,their methodologies were more or less the same.

When the tribunal arrived in a city, the representatives would announce aperiod of time called Edicts of Grace. In these thirty to forty days, citizens wereallowed to confess their crimes without severe punishment. However, once thetime has passed, the inquisition stepped into the period of time called Edicts ofFaith when accusations were allowed. After the anonymous denunciation, the

suspects would be arrested and kept under custody for months to years untilthey were told of their charges. After the detention, the trial begins; a defensecounsel would be assigned to the suspects purely to advise them to tell thetruth. Unsuccessful attempts of the counsel would eventually face the cruel in-terrogation, which is what the inquisitions were famous for.

The torture of the Spanish inquisition was considered to be more merciful whencompared to the other two, it consists of Garrucha, Toca and Potro:

Strappado : the victim was tied by his wrists or ankles and hung from the ceiling, theythen would experience several times of lift and drop, hence dislocating and severelypulling their arms or legs.

Toca: The modern term of Toca would be waterboarding where the victim was given acloth to stuff his mouth. The interrogator then forces him to swallow water hence imi-tating the feeling of drowning.

Potro: the victim was to lie on a rack where their wrists and ankles were chained tothe rollers at both ends, the interrogator would then roll the handle where the rack

would pull the victims body towards the opposite direction, dislocating the joints ofthe victim and tearing the victims muscle at the same time, inflicting great pain andpermanent handicap due to the muscles loss of ability to contract.

After the excruciating process of interrogation, the survivorswould undergo the process of sentencing. Possible outcomes in-clude the rare case of acquittal, suspension for a time long enoughthat the victim was granted freedom, penance where they undergopublic punishment, reconciliation where they were condemned pub-licly with more punishment e.g. whipping and confiscation of allpersonal properties and relaxation where the victim was burnt atthe stake.


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Part Three Impacts and SignificanceThough originally, the term inquisitio was neutral in Roman law, the im-

pacts and significance of inquisitions has been very hotly debated over forcenturies till this day, as a historical phenomenon.

On one hand, it was no doubt a brutal and unreasonable system to victimsof inquisitorial justice and their sympathizers. But without sound support fromdifferent parties of the society, the inquisition could not have functioned oversuch a period of time. And they often came with convincing arguments that jus-tified their usefulness and even necessity. A lot has been discussed before,even in literature, as an abstract concept, from various persuasions and per-spectives.

Firstly on the Spanish Inquisition, one of the most profound consequenceswas the mass conversion of Jews. Forced baptism,in which meant in theory anyone who had been for-cibly baptized could legally return to Judaism,though it was narrowly interpreted and that contra-dicted the Catholic Churchs law. And even if onehad only consented to baptism under death threatsor severe injuries, it was still regarded a convertthat was voluntary and accordingly forbidden torevert to Judaism. Many succumbed to circumstanc-es, thinking, finding it safer. So after 1931, the newsocial group that emerged was addressed as con-versos or New Christians. And often they attainedsignificant places in the governing body. Otherseven ascended to achieving the title of nobles as away to illustrate that in essence, all Spanish nobleswere the descendants of Israelites.

The Roman Inquisition was more influential in a cultural aspect, in affectingthe history of Europe and the Roman Catholic Church. The Portuguese Inquisi-tion, quite aside influencing culture, affected her colony Brazil with 300 yearsof repression throughout the Inquisition since 1536. The first martyr of Brazilwas Isaac de Castro Tartas, arrested and tried by the Inquisition, finally burntalive. And France became increasingly important as a refuge for conversos.Secondly, it affected the mental state of civilians. As Seliar put it, "People hid

their emotions and lied during the Inquisition, and today, political and sociallife here is a kind of double talk. There is also a problem of identity, because somany people who became New Christians were not practicing Christians. Thereare people in northeastern Brazil who keep Jewish rituals without knowing therituals are Jewish.
http://www.answers.com/topic/conversohttp://www.answers.com/topic/conversohttp://www.answers.com/topic/conversohttp://www.answers.com/topic/converso


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Review - A HistoryCharlotte Tse 5E 29)

Those who have participated in the Rites of Passage would definitely not forget the wearing and ex-hausting expeditions. Imagine the expedition lasting not only for 5 days, but 7 months! Would you

have the endurance to keep walking? In November 2011, Mr. Rob Lilwall set off on an epic 5,000 km winter expedition through the heart ofChina. Carrying all of their gear, they started amidst the wastelands of Outer Mongolia from wherethey headed south by foot through the Gobi Desert. Crossing into China, they followed the Great Walldown to the turbulent waters of the Yellow River and walked alongside it downstream to the legendarycity of Xi ' An. They then hiked onwards through the snow -capped mountains of central China, untilfinally reaching their finishing point at the glittering skyscrapers of Hong Kong, in May 2012.

When Mr. Lilwall shared his experience with us, he did not boast about his incredible achievement, butrather talked about the hardships, such as extreme cold weathers and blisters, he had suffered andhow he overcame them. I think it was the perseverance that Mr. Lilwall exhibited that inspired me themost. I really enjoyed the talk.

Karen Leung 3A 20)

Imagine walking home from a faraway place that you have never been to, surviving through nu-merous storms and blizzards, and having to ask strangers who you can barely communicate withwhich road to take.

In September, Mr. Rob Lilwall came to our school to share with us his experiences walking from

Mongolia to Hong Kong. We learnt that it was for raising a fund, and also an extremely tough butmemorable experience for him. It was a remarkable journey , a rite of passage, full of enduranceand excitement. I m sure that Mr. Lilwall inspired and encouraged many different young people tobe courageous, and work hard to reach for their dream.

Nowadays, people throw away lives easily but I learnt from Mr. Lilwall to embrace life and the ad-ventures and obstacles ahead of you.

Melody Kwok 4F 15)

Think about travelling home from a far distance for more than half a year, encountering problems suchas bad weather, ineffective communication and being lost. Would you be able to cope with that?

The talk by Mr. Rob Lilwall about his trip from Mongolia to Hong Kong was truly inspirational and hasbroadened my horizons. His spectacular experiences were extremely interesting and has aroused myinterest in life in less developed places in China, like Mongolia. I also got to know more above life ofadventurers, how they prepared themselves for the their trips, and how they manage to survive, mostimportantly. For example, how did they settle basic human needs such as accommodation or food?

All in all, I enjoyed the talk very much and I look forward in attending similar sharings if held in the fu-ture. Though, I do think that id the talk itself and the question and answer session could be longer induration, it would be even better!


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11/11

Fun facts: 1) The longest name of a city in New Zealand is

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukup

2) Serbia is landlocked but it possess a navy

3) In 1811 and 1812, three earthquakes measuring around 8 on the richter

er to flow backwards. These earthquakes also created Reelfoot Lake in Te

4) Australia has more than 28 times the land area of New Zealand, but its long.

5) Kola Superdeep Borehole which is 12,261 meters deep is deemed as thpose of scientific research.

6) On the night of his assassination, Martin Luther King jr. had a pillow fi

7) Sunglasses were invented by Chinese, but not used for blocking out the

court room to hide their emotions.

8)Empress Elizabeth of Austria was famous for her 16 inch waist.

9) Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria once said "I'm the emperor and I want

10) Hitler was a vegetarian.

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