30/10/2013 – 9/12/2013

1/F Lobby, Hong Kong Museum of History

Presented by
Institute of Mental Health, Castle Peak of Hospital

In association with
Leisure and Cultural Services Department

Before 1875, no government institution existed in Hong Kong for the mentally-ill. The "lunatics" were confined to special insanity wards.

In 1906, the Asylum Ordinance passed by the Legislative Council was Hong Kong's first ordinance to provide the establishment of lunatic asylums for the detention, custody and care of persons of unsound mind. The two lunatic asylums were united into one entity which later became the Victoria Mental Hospital.

At around 1948, Dr YAP Pao Meng, a Cambridge trained psychiatrist, became the head and superintendent of the Mental Hospital. He brought with him modern concepts and treatment for mental illness.

Hong Kong's oldest psychiatric hospital - Castle Peak Hospital was officially opened in 1961, with modern facilities and environment. This marked the commencement of modern psychiatric services in Hong Kong.

Today, more resources are allocated to the rehabilitation, community reintegration and support to the community.

Presented by the Hospital Archives and Gallery Exhibition Subcommittee of the Institute of Mental Health, Castle Peak Hospital, this exhibition includes display of different pictures, early medical equipment, documents and old ward keys, illustrating the development of Castle Peak Hospital and the psychiatric services in Hong Kong with an aim of reducing stigma towards mental illness.