A matter of record

How did Hong Kong's triads earn their notoriety? What impact did the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) have on the island's politics? Who was the person behind Hong Kong's burgeoning wig industry in the 1960s and 70s? And why there are so many mahjong houses in the city?

Expect to find the answers to these - and more - in what is touted as the first encyclopedia ever compiled of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Local Records.

Dr Lau Chi-pang from Lingnan University is the main force behind this mammoth project, which will take at least five years to complete. He sees it as an attempt to reconnect Hong Kong with a literary tradition that it has been cut off from for more than 150 years.