HKLNA-Project Newsletter No. 12
Monthly Accomplishments (October 2003)

Sollen wir die menschliche Gesellscaft
auf den Zweifel begründen
und nicht mehr auf den Glauben?

The Inquisitor in conversation with Pope Urban VIII
 in Leben des Galilei by Bertolt Brecht1

Top News
Between 13 September and 20 October 2003 EARTH sent out 875 personalized letters of invitation to funders, social critics, academicians, university department heads, secondary school teachers, and school principals in Hong Kong, the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan. These people reflected the needs of the HKLNA-Project, in so far as they included linguists, educationalists, a large variety of social scientists, and area specialists. The purpose of these letters was to identify and muster support for the HKLNA-Project. Under the assumption that Hong Kongers would have a greater interest in the project than non-Hong Kongers two separate versions of the letter were sent each with a different email cover letter. The faculty members of five of the seven Hong Kong educational institutions, who were sent invitations but did not reply, received additional brief, simple-text, follow-up, email  questionnaires. This was done in order to determine why they had not responded.  Approximately 60% of all those invited were included in this second mailing. Follow-up questionnaires were also sent to about a quarter of the non-Hong Kongers who were invited. Please see under Community Relations below for the results and relevant discussion.

Government Relations
The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department has agreed to consider a second request for a waiver of EARTH's business fee and levy. EARTH's owner/manager has still not heard from the Hong Kong Immigration Department whether his work visa will be renewed for a second year. The initial request was filed on 3 September 2003.

Community Relations

Website additions and maintenance

New additions

Maintenance

Software update

Strategy Update
The disappointing results from EARTH's most recent email campaign bode poorly for EARTH's future. As the HKLNA-Project does not depend on EARTH for its existence, it will likely survive what appears to be an ever pending financial crisis.

Acknowledgments
This month special thanks are given to Professor Kooenraad Kuiper, Department of Linguistics, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand for the two papers he sent to EARTH. Not only does his research reach many of the same conclusions that EARTH has reached, but his list of references suggest that EARTH's discovery has not been a singular regional event. In short there are more people out there who might just be interested in joining the HKLNA-Project after all. In this regard the future of the project remains bright.

Closing Remarks
If you would like to provide support to the HKLNA-Project but are unable to donate to the HKLNA-Project Fund, then at least hire EARTH to provide you with the best in telecommuted translation. Surely many ProZ.com translators would also be greatful. See EARTH's translation services' promotion material.

Finally before submitting your request to be removed from the HKLNA-Project's mailing list, please consider obtaining a copy of the play Galileo (Leben des Galilei) (new windows). If you do not wish or are unable to purchase a copy, a play of this caliber can probably be found in a major university or public library in your mother tongue. Certainly the play reflects in many ways the upward struggle that EARTH and the HKLNA-Project have faced here in Hong Kong.

Sincerely,


R. A. Stegemann
hsmr@pacific.net.hk