The Helena May History Group is always delighted to hear from past members of the Club. Recently we had a very interesting email from the son of one of our past Chairs, Mrs Margaret Moore. Andrew Moore told us that his mother will celebrate her 90th birthday in July 2019.Â
Margaret Moore was Chair of The Helena May three times. Her first term of office, from 13 Nov 1968 to 11 Mar 1970, coincided with very difficult years in Hong Kong’s history.  The Cultural Revolution in China meant political unrest in Hong Kong. The Helena May residents would watch from their balconies as the communist protesters made their way up Garden Road to Government House to demonstrate against British rule. A number of families left Hong Kong during this time and at one point subscriber membership was as low as 123 members. Today we have over 1,000 members. Residential members also left. Many were young girls and they were recalled to their home countries by their families who feared they may be in danger. Residential members were down to about 20.  To save money only two amahs were retained out of the usual five.  In 1968, the Court building (or the Annex as it was then known) was forced to close since it had no residents. In 1969, the Club was fortunate enough to find a tenant for this building – the Scouts’ Association – to bring in some much needed revenue.  However the Council feared it may soon have insufficient funds to keep operating.Â