1
HON
港
Ex Libris
圖
ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY
HONG KONG BRANCH
BR
RIES
也
本港公共圖書
HONG KON
館
NG KONG PUBLIC LIBRARI
票
:
二
:
香港公共圖書
館
VG KONG PUBLIC LIBRAR
C
ル
HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
1950
;
•
}
2
HONG KONG
ANNUAL REPORT
1950
香港公共圖書館
HONG K
NG KONG PUBLIC LIBRARI
:
OMINIONS BEYOND-TH GEORGE VI.
HONG KONG
\38-SNOINIWOQ-HSIL 188 FHL-ONV·ONVEXI.NI
· DEFENDER OF THE F
•
ET
MON
DIEU
ENSE
THE
QUI
FAITH
CE OF GOD OF GREAT BRITAIN IRELAND-
DROIT
CROWN COPYRIGHT RESERVED.
Hong Kong
Annual Report
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
Sh
་་་་
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
NG KONG PUBLIC LIBRAR
PUBLISHED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF HONG KONG
PRINTED BY YE OLDE PRINTERIE, LTD.,
HONG KONG.
MARCH 1951.
1 HOTU.
RAS.
H. K. B.
Title page photograph by Serge Vargassoff, Gainsborough Studio.
înameID YY UL.
+
*
CONTENTS
PART I
Review of 1950
...
...
PART II
I. Population ...
...
...
:
:
...
II. Occupations, Wages and Labour Organization III. Public Finance and Taxation
IV. Currency and Banking
V. Commerce
VI. Production
Fisheries Agriculture Forestry
...
...
...
•
...
:
Mining and Mineral Resources ...
Industrial Production
VII. Social Services
Education
...
...
...
...
Health
Housing
:
Social Welfare...
VIII. Legislation ...
...
...
IX. Justice, Records, Police and Prisons
X. Public Utilities
XI. Communications and Broadcasting
XII. Research XIII. Religion
XIV. The Arts
XV. Sport
PART III
...
:
:
I. Geography and Climate
II. History
III. Flora and Fauna
IV.
Administration ...
V. Weights and Measures
VI.
The Press
Bibliography Appendix I
...
...
:
•
:
...
...
:
:
:
Colonial Development and Welfare Schemes
Appendix II
Selected Indices of Economic Significance ...
Appendix III
...
...
:
:
...
...
Summary of Total Figures for 1948, 1949 & 1950
1
...
•
·
:
:
...
...
►
...
...
Page
6
19
21
2222*
29
32
34
40
42
44
45
...
...
46
48
53
59
62
:
69
66
69
77
...
81
91
92
94
96
...
101
...
105
...
112
117
:
...
121
:
122
...
...
124
129
130
138
L
The Government of Hong Kong wishes to express its thanks to Mr. J. M. Braga & Mr. J. C. E. Britt for their contributions to this Report, to Mr. A. C. Scott, A.R.C.A. for the cover design, to Mr. Serge Vargassoff of Gainsborough Studio & Mr. Francis Wu for taking photographs specially for the Report, and to all those who have kindly contributed photographs and whose names are acknowledged in each case. Photographs without acknowledgment were taken by Government photographers.
!
RLIC LIL
PART I.
港公共
香港
書名
NG KONG PUBLIC LIBRARI
!
}
;
J
1
心
香港公共圖書
NG KONG PUBLIC LIBRAR
.
REVIEW OF 1950.
For four months during the year the Governor, Sir Alexander Grantham, K.C.M.G., was absent from the Colony on leave. During this time the Colonial Secretary, Mr. J. F. Nicoll, C.M.G., was Officer Administering the Government. The Governor departed on 13th June and returned on 23rd October.
The Rt. Hon. E. J. St. L. Strachey, M.P., Secretary of State for War, visited Hong Kong early in June, and in October the Colony received visits from Mr. W. J. Edwards, M.P., Civil Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. A. M. Crawley, M.B.E., M.P., Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Air, and Sir Esler Dening, K.C.M.G., O.B.E. Other distinguished visitors during the year included H.E. the Governor of Macao, Commander Albano de Oliveira, Sir Arthur Rucker, K.C.M.G., head of the International Refugee Organization, Sir Hilton Poynton, K.C.M.G., Deputy Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, and several Ambassadors from Commonwealth and foreign States proceeding to or from Peking.
Unofficial visitors included the Countess Mountbatten, Mr. Harold Stassen, Senator Pepper, Mr. John Gunther and an unusually large number of leading British and American journalists on their way to and from Korea.
Relations with China /
On the 6th February 1950 His Majesty's Government accorded de jure recognition to the Central People's Government of China which had been formally established in Peking on 1st October 1949. Although H.M. Charge d'Affaires arrived in Peking on 13th February 1950, no further progress has been made towards the establishment of normal diplomatic relations and in these circumstances it has of course been impossible for any official relations to be developed between the Government of Hong Kong and the Chinese authorities in Kwangtung. Even on the Sino-British border there has been practically no contact between the British and Chinese authorities. A number of minor frontier incidents occurred during the year, but fortunately none of these were of a nature to give rise to serious international complications.
The situation as regards shipping using the normal sea approaches to Hong Kong has however caused serious concern. In the early summer Chinese garrisons were established on the islands to the south and south-west of the Colony and shipping passing in the vicinity of these islands whilst using the normal southern and south-western approaches to Hong Kong was fired on without
9
warning. In August these attacks grew to serious proportions and included firing upon one of H.M. ships, which was compelled to return fire in self-defence. About the same time General Yeh Chien-Ying, Governor of Kwangtung, issued a statement alleging the violation of Chinese territorial waters and territory by shipping and aircraft in the vicinity of Hong Kong and threatened retaliatory action in the event of any repetition. Representations in the matter were made by H.M. Charge d'Affaires in Peking, and as a temporary measure shipping using the approaches was warned to avoid passage through Chinese territorial waters as far as was practicable. By the end of the year the Central People's Government had returned no reply on the subject.
It was stated in last year's report that the continued influx of Chinese into the Colony had become a cause for concern. In the spring of 1950 the numbers entering Hong Kong as a result of deterioration in economic conditions in Kwangtung and Kwangsi showed a further alarming increase bringing the estimated population of the Colony to 2,360,000, and in May it became necessary in the interests of the Colony's economy and health to introduce a form of immigration control. This decision was sharply criticised at the time by the Chinese authorities, but there is no doubt that the controls imposed have proved a most necessary check upon immigra- tion, although the population of the Colony still remains at a disturbingly high level.
Complicated litigation developed in the case of the seventy-one China National Aviation Corporation and Central Air Transport Corporation aircraft remaining in Hong Kong and the problem was made even more difficult in view of an act of sabotage which resulted in damage to certain of the aircraft in dispute. Following the rejection of appeals by the American interests concerned for the appointment of receivers for the assets of the two companies, the Supreme Court of Hong Kong (Jurisdiction) Order-in-Council of the 10th May was issued to ensure that the aircraft in question should be detained in Hong Kong until the question of ownership should be legally determined. The directions issued by the Governor under this Order-in-Council provided for the due maintenance and protec- tion of the aircraft during the period of their detention. The position at the end of the year was that application to proceed ex parte had been granted by the Court and a provisional date in 1951 set for trial. The position of the Hong Kong Government in this matter remains of course unchanged. The case is a purely legal one and there can be no question of any interference on the part of the executive authorities.
The traditional friendly relations between Hong Kong and Macao have been maintained as in previous years and both colonies continue to have many problems in common. The Governors of the two colonies exchanged unofficial visits and the Commissioners of Police of both colonies have continued their close cooperation.
Local Affairs
A milestone in the economic and social history of the Colony was the appointment in February of the first Arbitration Tribunal to be set up under the Trade Unions and Trade Disputes Ordinance
10
1948. The management of the Dairy Farm Ice and Cold Storage Company, the Hong Kong and Kowloon Dairy Companies' Chinese Employees' Association and the Dairy Farm Soda Fountain Depart- ment of the Union of Workers in Western-Style Employment agreed to submit to arbitration the employees' request for the grant of a special allowance of $90 a month in addition to their current wages and allowances. They had maintained that this sum was necessary to bring earnings into line with living costs.
Professor R. Robertson, head of the Department of Economics at Hong Kong University, accepted the onerous position of arbitrator and was assisted in his deliberations by three assessors nominated by each of the parties. Although expenses for legal aid were offered by the company the workers chose to present their own cases.
Their unfamiliarity with arbitration procedure and the temptation to indulge in oratory at public hearings made the work of the Tribunal difficult, but after eighteen meetings during February and the first half of March the arbitrator was able to make an award. While he did not consider that the full claim for $90 additional allowance could be admitted he agreed that there was evidence of disparity between earnings and prevailing living costs which merited the award of an additional allowance of $30 a month. The management accepted this award and some of the large utility concerns followed suit by giving similarly increased allowances to their workers.
In
One of the year's significant developments in the urban area was the steady growth of community or residents' associations amongst the Chinese. In spirit they in part looked back to the traditional Chinese kaifong, and in most cases have perpetuated that name by calling themselves Kaifong Welfare Associations. practice they set out at the same time to promote the welfare and general social improvement of all genuine residents in their districts. They aimed to do this as far as possible through encouraging self-help or, in the case of those in dire need, through good neigh- bourliness. The activities which they undertook for a start included the opening of schools and clinics, a pilot youth survey, the provision of new recreational facilities, domestic science classes, and the raising of further local divisions of the St. John Ambulance Brigade. Spectacular work was also done by certain of these associations in cooperation with Government in the organization of mass relief for tens of thousands of the victims of several disastrous fires in squatter settlements. After the Kowloon City fire in January a Relief and Rehabilitation Committee, under the chairmanship of a prominent kaifong leader, carried through a successful pilot scheme for re- settling several hundred families in the model new Homantin village.
In the port the year 1950 has been significant for increased shipbuilding activity indicating what may prove to be the beginning of a return to something like pre-war standards of output. New construction has included one 7,000-ton passenger and cargo vessel, a river passenger and cargo vessel, a salvage tug, and a large number of lighters, small craft for local services and lifeboats for every type of sea-going vessel. Six ferries for passengers and vehicles have been completed or were under construction at the end of the year.
!
11
Rice Purchases
With the discontinuance at the end of 1949 of international allocation of rice supplies by the International Emergency Food Committee of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, it again became necessary for rice-importing territories to negotiate for their supplies directly with producing territories. As the British Ministry of Food at the same time expressed its intention of stepping out of its previous role of bulk buyer for British In territories, responsibility devolved upon individual territories. view of the political situation and the continuing uncertainty as to the adequacy of world rice supplies, a representative was sent from Hong Kong to Bangkok in February to begin negotiations with the Government of Thailand. These negotiations, which were conducted through the British Ambassador and in conjunction with representatives from Malaya, lasted some five weeks. Although there was at first some hard bargaining, the negotiations were friendly throughout and it was evident that the Government of Thailand realized both Hong Kong's special difficulties and the importance of a guaranteed rice supply in meeting them. A contract was finally concluded for 120,000 tons at the same price as was paid in 1949. Arrangements were also made to continue to use the services of the Siam Rice Agency in Bangkok, a consortium of British firms set up in 1945 to act for the Ministry of Food.
Shortly after this the rice situation, both in Thailand and in South China, from which certain supplies had come in previous years but which was at this stage itself buying Thai rice, suggested that Hong Kong's contract with Thailand might be inadequate. A Hong Kong Government representative was accordingly sent to Saigon to purchase Indo-Chinese rice and in view of the situation the French authorities agreed to make special arrangements to transport 10,000 tons of rice from the blockaded producing areas to Saigon for export to Hong Kong.
Development and Welfare
Not yet half the £1,000,000 allocated to Hong Kong by H. M. Government under the terms of the Colonial Development and Welfare Act 1945 has been spent. It had originally been decided to spend £500,000 on rural projects but in view of the steady and satisfactory progress made by the farming and fishing community it is now considered that the Colony's most pressing need is the provision of adequate housing in the urban areas, and it therefore seems likely that the greater part of Hong Kong's unspent allocation under the Act will be devoted to housing. Preparation of suitable plans has been going forward slowly, the planners' most serious problem being what to do with structures already existing on the sites scheduled for new housing projects.
During the year H. M. Government approved the grant of £20,825 for the equipping of two floors of the new Cable and Wireless building, Electra House, as a broadcasting studio and offices for Radio Hong Kong. The plans which were in the process of being implemented at the end of the year include studios for the English and Chinese language radio services, office and waiting-room accom-
12
modation, and the construction of a small theatre occupying a portion of two floors and capable of seating an audience of 100 people.
After further consideration of the previously proposed scheme for mechanizing the fishing fleet, it was felt that in the long run the proposition contained in this scheme-which was to mechanize Chinese junks and advance loans to fishermen wishing to purchase motor engines-was not the best that could be arrived at since due to the nature of its construction the Chinese junk is not really suitable for mechanization. The scheme was therefore cancelled and a new scheme put forward in its place which was approved by H. M. Government in November. Under this scheme a committee of British and Chinese marine architects will be appointed to design two fishing vessels of a new kind, suitable for mechanization and built according to the principles of Chinese ship construction. Models of the two vessels will be tested at Teddington, and if the tests are successful the two vessels will be constructed in Hong Kong and operated by the Fisheries Department for an experimental period of six months, at the end of which period they will be offered for sale. Loans will then be advanced to fishermen who, once they have seen the experimental vessels properly demonstrated, may wish to construct vessels of their own on similar lines.
In November a more detailed application was made for piers in the New Territories, the Secretary of State for the Colonies having advanced £5,000 to enable the Government to carry out borings preparatory to submitting full estimates of the cost of the new piers. If this scheme is approved, it will mean the building of a pier at Tai O, at the west end of Lantao Island, which may be used by ferries, police launches and fishing vessels and will also provide some shelter during typhoons in this exposed harbour. The pier will be connected with the village by a small roadway suitable for tricycles and carts. It is proposed that the rest of the money under this scheme shall be spent on reclaiming a portion of land in Cheung Chau harbour in order to make a more suitable waterfront at this industrious fishing and commercial centre, and on rebuilding the public pier which is in such a dilapidated condition that it is The cost of these not expected to survive another typhoon season. two works, including the road and reclamation, will be in the region of £45,000.
In view of the difficulty of obtaining the services of an irrigation engineer suitable for carrying out the small village irrigation schemes the Government has in mind under its scheme for irrigation in the New Territories, a request was made to the Secretariat of the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East for the names of possible candidates for this post.
The scheme for feeder roads in the New Territories has been temporarily dropped as being no longer of immediate necessity in view of the construction by Government in collaboration with the military authorities of two new roads which have greatly improved communications in the New Territories.
13
A start was made early in the year on the establishment of village depots in the New Territories under the supervision of the Vegetable Marketing Organization and operated by farmers of the region as village units to which they can bring their produce for weighing and from which they receive supplies of baskets and fertilizer. Three such depots were started in the mainland part of the New Territories and have been of assistance in improving the transport of vegetables to the wholesale market in Kowloon.
Appendix I at the end of this Report shows in tabular form financial details regarding the various approved schemes.
Relations with United Nations
The Sixth Session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East was held in Bangkok during May, and was immediately preceded by the Second Session of the Committee on Industry and Trade, at both of which conferences Hong Kong was represented by a three-man delegation.
In April the Forestry Officer attended the F.A.O. Conference on Timber Standardization and Grading at Dalat, Indo-China, and in October the same officer represented Hong Kong in the United Kingdom delegation attending the First Session of the United Nations Forestry Commission for Asia and the Pacific, which was held in Bangkok. The importance of these meetings to Hong Kong is that the Colony is the largest timber importer in the Far East.
During the year several members of the ECAFE Secretariat visited Hong Kong in connexion with the Commission's studies of coal and iron ore resources, cottage industries, handicrafts and statistics.
The new Trade Promotion section of the Department of Com- merce and Industry established a close liaison with the Trade Promotion Division of the ECAFE Secretariat and it is expected that this aspect of Hong Kong's association with the Commission will produce fruitful results.
Outstanding Statistics
The population estimate of 2,360,000 in May 1950 is the highest figure ever given for population in the history of the Colony.
The total numbers of arrivals and departures recorded on the Colony's sea, air and rail routes during 1950 were 3,311,854 arrivals and 3,523,843 departures.
The total value of Hong Kong trade was $7,503 million, a record in the Colony's trade history.
The total tonnage of vessels entered and cleared was 27,350,520 net tons, an increase of 4,310,394 net tons over 1949.
6,254,358 passengers were carried on the railway, an increase of 1,506,612 over 1949. This is the greatest number ever carried in one year.
14
The Colony's bus services carried 169.8 million passengers, compared with 126 million in 1949.
The ferry services carried 102 million passengers, the highest figure ever recorded.
Over $17 million worth of postage stamps were sold compared with $13 million in 1949.
The amount of fish sold in the Government wholesale markets increased from 26,930 tons in 1949 to 32,729 tons in 1950.
The number of cars on the roads increased during the year from 14,551 to 16,028.
area.
The Colony now has 426 miles of roadway in its 391 sq. miles
Detailed economic statistics are published regularly in Supple- ment No. 4 to the Government Gazette; the statistics for 1950 were summarized in Supplement No. 12 of 16th February 1951. One of the tables of this summary, consisting of index figures of economic significance, appears as Appendix II of this Report, and a summary of totals appears as Appendix III.
瓜
IC LIBRARI
1
15
J
香港
共圖
書
館
HONG KONG PUBLIC LIBRARIES
.
:
1
PART II.
香港公共圖書
(
館
NG KONG PUBLIC LIBRARI
}
;
1
香港公共圖書及
NG KONG PUBLIC LIBRARI
It is difficult
to imagine
what a
population
of over
2,000,000
means if-
Photo: Yooky Mann.
香港
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
LIBRAR
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please
contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
-you think
of them all
as individuals.
Photo: Gainsborough Studio.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
Photos: South China Morning Post
It is only when you look at people in groups that population estimates begin to come to life.
HONG KON
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
ז'
1.
POPULATION.
So
Until a census can be held any estimate of the population of Hong Kong is necessarily tentative. When the last official census was taken in 1931 the total population was found to be 849,751. Since then violent fluctuations have occurred, firstly on the influx of refugees from Canton when the Japanese attacked that city in 1938, and later during the Japanese occupation of the Colony and after its subsequent liberation in 1945. In 1941 an unofficial census carried out by Air Raid Wardens gave a figure of over 1,600,000, a total which is believed to have been reached again in 1946 after an estimated reduction of one million during the Japanese occupation. Even after the end of 1946 the population continued to grow. far as it is possible to estimate, the population at the close of the year 1947 was about 1,800,000. The influx continued steadily through- out the following years until April 1950 when it is estimated that the total population reached its highest point at about 2,360,000. During the following months, for the first time since the reoccupation of the Colony, the trend of migration was outward, and at the close of the year the population is estimated to have been about 2,060,000.
The Of the total population the majority is of Chinese race. number of Europeans and Americans permanently resident, excluding Service personnel and their dependants, is about 14,500, including some 9,500 British subjects from the United Kingdom and Common- wealth, 3,000 British subjects of Portuguese race, and 1,890 aliens permanently resident. In addition there were some 2,000 aliens temporarily resident.
The population of the New Territories is composed of Cantonese The farmers are the and Hakka, with a sprinkling of Hoklo. Cantonese, mainly settled, some families for several hundred years, in the comparatively fertile western plains, and the Hakka, whose incursion into the more difficult hilly land on the eastern side of the peninsula is said to have started about two hundred years ago and may not have finished yet. Generally speaking, the Hakka appear to have occupied any potentially arable land disregarded by the Cantonese. Thus long fingers of Hakka penetration have been extended from the eastern side of the New Territories down into the south-west of the mainland and out on to the islands. The two sections maintain excellent relations, and although Hakka help Hakka more noticeably than Cantonese help Cantonese it is remark- able that in their penetration the Hakka have been partly guided
19
by existing Cantonese settlement. Thus, for instance, one of the biggest New Territories villages, Wang Toi Shan, to the north-west of Taimoshan, is populated chiefly by Hakka of the Tang clan, who undoubtedly chose that locality because of the existing predominant influence of the Cantonese Tang.
There are few exceptions to the rule that Cantonese and Hakka in the New Territories do not intermarry. There are a few recent settlements which include both Cantonese and Hakka, but in such cases the families live distinctly, and normally a village is either clearly Cantonese or Hakka. There are however certain well-defined exceptions, notably the villages of Ting Kok and Ping Shan Tsai in the Taipo area, whose inhabitants speak Cantonese and Hakka almost bilingually. These villages are nicknamed "pun kong cham", the half-filled pitcher.
Certain occupations are exclusively Cantonese or Hakka; for instance, the oyster fisheries are entirely Cantonese, while the manufacture of bean-curd and the quarrying of stone are the exclusive sphere of the Hakka. Farmers of both sections, when they live on or near the sea, combine fishing with agriculture, though unlike the boat people their homes remain in their villages even though they may spend nights away on the water. Their women never go fishing.
•
The
In the New Territories sailing and rowing boats, and the people. in them, fall into three classes: the genuine Cantonese boat people (the Tanka), the genuine Hoklo boat people, and the farmers' boats and ferry boats. The boat people live entirely by fishing. types of boats are not difficult to distinguish; Hakka boats, for instance, are largely used for ferry work in the eastern waters, being stoutly built, with hulls high out of the water along their whole length, and a single mast. The Hoklo are a small but virile minority, sailing and rowing the fastest boats. The men often speak Cantonese and Hakka in addition to their own language. They occur mostly in the eastern New Territories, in Tide Cove, Tolo Harbour, and Starling Inlet. There is also a winter incursion of Hoklo farmer-fishermen from Hoi Luk Fung, without their families, who fish along the west coast of the mainland, returning to Hoi Luk Fung in spring for the first sowing. The biggest fishing port is Cheung Chau, but the only place where the boat people live ashore is at Tai O, where hundreds of huts on piles cover the shores of the creeks.
Industrial expansion into the New Territories, chiefly at Tsun Wan and further along the south-west coast of the mainland, has introduced a new element of Shanghai labourers, and the iron mine at Ma On Shan has attracted a picturesque conglomeration of men from many parts of China.
20
II.
OCCUPATIONS, WAGES AND LABOUR ORGANIZATION.
The majority of the working population, apart from the fishing industry and the farmers of the New Territories, finds employment in commerce connected with the Colony's position as a great entrepot, or in industry, which now comprises more than one hundred and fifty types. Up to the end of September the number of workers in registered factories and workshops had increased by some 12,000 from the end of 1949 and now stands at 87,121, in spite of a falling off in such important industries as rubber shoe manufacture and a continued decline in the numbers employed in shipbuilding and repairing. Difficulties caused by the high price of materials since the outbreak of the Korean war were enhanced in December by the almost complete cutting off of supplies of essential raw materials normally received from the United States. Alternative sources of supply are being explored.
Labour Department
This department of which the Commissioner of Labour is the head is responsible not only for the registration and inspection of factories and workshops, the registration of trade unions and the review and preparation, in conjunction with the Legal Department, of legislation to meet local or international requirements, but also for conciliation in trade disputes and in minor complaints (which averaged 48 a month in 1950) usually about arrears of wages or wrongful dismissal, for investigation of working conditions, partic- ularly of women and young persons in industry, and for advising trade unions on matters of organization and finance.
Labour Advisory Board
In January the Board was reconstituted to give equal representa- tion to employers and workers. Under the chairmanship of the Commissioner of Labour, and with the Commodore Superintendent of H.M. Dockyard as Services Observer, it is now made up of four representatives each of employers and workers, two in each group being elected and two nominated by the Governor. The Board has been examining draft legislation on apprenticeship as well as on workmen's compensation.
Legislation
Labour legislation in Hong Kong is designed to apply as far as possible the standards of the International Labour Code and also to meet local needs by specific measures. International conventions
21
on, for example, the prohibition of underground work by women, night work by women and young persons and the minimum age of employment in industry and at sea, are applied in the Colony. The Factory and Workshops Ordinance, 1937, the Employers and Servants Ordinance, 1902, and the Trade Unions and Trade Disputes Ordinance, 1948 form the basis of three major divisions of the Labour Depart- ment's work, while the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs administers the Female Domestic Servants Ordinance, 1923, and the Asiatic Emigration Ordinance, 1915. There has been no occasion to invoke the Illegal Strikes and Lock-outs Ordinance, 1949. The numerous problems arising from the Workmen's Compensation Bill were still under intensive examination by the Labour Advisory Board and Labour Department at the end of the year.
Labour Organization
A delegation, consisting of the chairman of the Employers' Federation, a representative of Chinese labour and a Labour Officer, attended the regional conference of the International Labour Organization in Ceylon early in the year. The conference proved of considerable value and provided an opportunity for interesting contacts with other delegations.
The main work of registration of trade unions had been com- pleted by the end of 1949. During 1950 seventeen workers' unions and three employers' associations were added to the list, making a total of 280 registered organizations.
Shortage of staff in the Labour Department during most of the year unfortunately made it impossible to carry out the proposed programme of organizing film-shows and lectures for trade unions. In the meantime efforts have been concentrated on trying to secure from the unions a stricter compliance with the provisions of the Trade Unions Ordinance in such matters as punctual submission of annual returns of membership, officials and funds and obtaining approval for appointments of auditors. Many union officials are still ignorant of the basic provisions of the Ordinance and sometimes even of their own rules. As an aid to development a pamphlet explaining simply the main provisions of the Trade Unions Ordinance was being prepared at the end of the year for issue in Chinese to all unions. Other difficulties have been the tendency of many unions to spend union funds, both unlawfully and improvidently, on entertainment instead of on more practical benefits for their members, the intrusion of external political factors, lack of sound leadership and more recently the threat in some unions of decrease in funds through unemployment and other causes. In some cases disagreement within unions on questions of Chinese politics has led to the formation of breakaway unions which claim to be non-political in character.
In July three members of a Far Eastern delegation of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions came to the Colony and were entertained by the Trades Union Council, one of the two principal trade union blocs in the Colony. The establishment of a branch of the Confederation in Singapore later in the year was noted with interest and the official in charge of this new office paid a visit to the Colony.
22
Labour Disputes and Stoppages
The outstanding features of the year were the development of the claims (mentioned in the Report for 1949) made by the employees of the public utilities and similar groups of workers for the grant of a special allowance of about $3 a day and, in the summer, the stoppage of work in the important and long-established Fung Keong Rubber Factory.
The dispute between the management and the Tramway Union flared up on Christmas day after a series of intensive negotiations which had lasted about six weeks.
In the course of these negotiations the management agreed to submit the question of the special allowance to arbitration but this was rejected by the union and on Christmas day the traffic staff started a strike. This took the form of the non-collection of fares, although normal schedules were maintained. The management took no action over the Christmas holidays but on 28th December with- drew all tramcars from service. Notices were posted dismissing conductors at once and giving the rest of the traffic staff one week in which to return to work. Notices were also posted informing all employees that they could register for re-employment. Few if any of the workers took advantage of this and the picketing was so thorough and severe that those workers who attempted to re- register experienced great difficulties. During January various union meetings were held, 'comfort' funds for the strikers were instituted by the Federation of Trade Unions and 'comfort missions' were organized which were made the occasion for inflammatory speeches broadcast to the public through loudspeakers. On 30th January a serious incident occurred during one of these missions when pickets resisted the police who had been sent to remove the loudspeakers, the use of which had been forbidden. The incident left a most unfavourable impression on the general public, and indeed on the more conservative elements of the workers themselves. On 10th February the strike ended with a general return to work, after 44 days and the loss of 77,000 man-days. The management stood by the offers they had made during negotiations, but both sides agreed to accept the award of the arbitrator in the Dairy Farm arbitration then in progress in preference to having recourse to separate arbitration proceedings. As a result of the Dairy Farm award a special allowance of thirty dollars a month was offered to and accepted by the workers in March.
The demand for a special allowance of $90 a month (26/3d. a week) was put forward by two unions of Dairy Farm workers towards the end of 1949 almost simultaneously with practically identical demands made by the Tramway Union, four public utility unions and two bus workers' unions. All these unions are affiliated to the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions.
The workers claimed that this special allowance was essential to meet the increase in cost of living and that the existing sliding scale Rehabilitation Allowance was inadequate.
23
•
Early negotiations were inconclusive mainly because the demands were not supported by evidence which the management was prepared to accept. In January 1950 the suggestion of arbitration was agreed to by both parties and, as stated earlier, arbitration proceedings resulted in an award of $30 a month. This award was adopted by the public utility companies and the transport companies mentioned earlier, and was accepted by their workers. After the award was published the two large commercial dockyards, H.M. Naval Yard, two departments of the Government, and the Hong Kong & Shanghai Hotels received similar demands to which they were unable to accede.
The Fung Keong Rubber Factory
On the evening of the 9th August the Fung Keong Rubber Manufactory, one of the oldest factories in the Colony, employing at that time some 1,200 workers, announced that it would close the following day. There was no prior notice given to the employees, the great majority of whom were employed on a daily or piece-rate basis. The Labour Department immediately initiated discussions between the management and the workers, who belonged to two separate unions. This factory has its head office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya, and it was apparent early in the discussions that the local management had acted under direct orders from their head office. The reason given for the closure was that the factory could not carry on owing to the great increase in the cost of rubber. This explanation was not considered satisfactory by the employees, who alleged that the whole incident was a subterfuge designed to reduce wages, an allegation which subsequent investigation by the Labour Department failed to support. Suggestions were made that the factory might reopen on a part-time basis. The management maintained, however, that the economic situation which had brought about the closure precluded any solution on these lines. The Labour Department continued, nevertheless, to seek every means to bring about a satisfactory solution.
When the factory had been closed about five months the Immigration Officer made an offer to the unions to repatriate those of the workers who came from China. This offer was conveyed to the head office of the concern in Malaya. Before any arrange- ments were made to put it into effect, however, the Managing Director in Malaya notified the local factory management that the position had improved enough to allow for the reopening of the factory on a part-time basis. The workers were content to resume work on this understanding and at the end of the year preparations. were in progress which would enable workers to return to work on 2nd January 1951. The management undertook that work would be resumed at the same rates as obtained before the closure.
In addition to the disputes mentioned above, the Labour Department dealt with seventeen industrial disputes which however do not warrant detailed mention in this Report.
Cost of Living
The abnormally high prices of staple commodities prevailing at the end of 1949 continued into the early part of 1950. In the first quarter of the year the rehabilitation allowance, which is a cost of
24
living allowance based on the cost of certain essential items of food and fuel paid to the majority of workers in European employment, varied between $96 and $101 per month as compared with the post-war average of $84 per month. From April onwards the cost of foodstuffs, which form the principal item in the workers' budget, fell steadily. By the middle of the summer the rehabilitation allowance had returned to $84 at which figure it remained till the end of the year, except for a temporary fall to $81 in November. Due to the high population of the Colony the shortage of housing added to the cost of living for nearly all classes of the community.
Wages
The special allowance of $30 a month (or $1 a day for daily paid workmen) resulting from the Dairy Farm Co. arbitration award was paid by the nine large undertakings concerned as from 1st January 1950. As has been stated, the Government was unable to grant a similar allowance to its workmen. Wages for Government employees, and for the employees of firms which did not adopt the Dairy Farm award, remained much as in the previous year.
Average daily earnings, including rehabilitation allowance, in the majority of European firms and in the few Chinese firms which pay that allowance, were as follows:-
Skilled tradesmen & skilled workmen
Semi-skilled workmen
Unskilled workmen
-
-
$5.80-8.20
$5.00 6.50
$3.50-5.00
In the nine firms paying the extra allowance the average daily earnings were $1 a day higher for each category.
Chinese firms generally do not pay rehabilitation allowance, but a consolidated wage. In a great many Chinese industrial establish- ments, although a nucleus of permanent employees may be on a monthly basis, a large number of men and most of the women are on either daily rates or piece rates, which vary considerably from industry to industry. Average daily earnings for nine hours' work range for men from $2.00 to $12.00, and for women from $1.00 to $7.00.
Working Hours
In the European concerns and in an increasing number of Chinese concerns, the 48-hour week is standard. The usual rest day is Sunday, though other days are allotted where work must be continuous.
The majority of Chinese-owned concerns work a 7-day week, with a longer working day, 9 hours being the most common, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with an hour break at midday). Overtime is
common, in some cases almost regular; this is usually worked from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.-occasionally later for men-at the same piece rates, but at increased rates for daily-paid and in a few cases for monthly-paid workers. Some industries work more than 9 hours, e.g. the textile industry has usually a 10 to 12-hour day, though the majority of the spinning mills close one day a week.
25
Factories and Workshops
During the year 487 applications for registration of factories and workshops were received. 412 registration certificates were issued and 159 were cancelled. 31 applications were refused and a further 49 unregistered factories found operating in unsuitable premises were closed down. On 31st December 1950 there were 1,244 registered factories and workshops and 328 applications under consideration. These figures compare favourably with those for 1949, which were 991 and 284 respectively.
The field of inspection continues to expand and now embraces. 150 types of industry. Additions during the year include the manufacture of candles and lime chalk, tea blending and packing.
Employment returns from factories and workshops for the last quarter of 1950 were not yet available but in view of existing shortages of raw materials and steadily mounting prices, a reduction in numbers is anticipated. It is known that several industries, e.g. aluminium hollow ware, metal wares and rubber factories, were affected by raw material shortages and that many small factories, notably knitting and weaving, were affected by high prices of materials. Such small factories usually buy their materials by the day or week and sudden increases in prices are sufficient to put them out of business. The competition offered by new factories, employing new machinery and more modern methods has also hastened their end.
Shipbuilding and repairing which for years held pride of place in the Colony's employment list has now taken fourth place to weaving, knitting and spinning, respectively. In June 1949 employ- ment in the shipyards stood at 9,800, in December 1949 at 8,650 and in September 1950 at 7,819. The shipbuilding output for the year has however been considerable, the decline in employment figures reflecting previous over-employment which is being gradually rectified.
The cotton spinning industry continues to expand and the 13 mills now in operation employ 7,815 operatives at approximately 200,000 spindles and produce 12,500 bales of yarn monthly. addition four of the mills have weaving sheds with a total of 900 modern looms.
Employment figures have fluctuated during the year but there was an overall increase in the first nine months of 1950 from 1,373 to 1,692 registered and recorded factories and workshops employing 55,176 men and 31,945 women. These figures include premises under consideration for registration and certain unregistrable workshops under observation.
In the same period those employed in cotton spinning increased by 1,700, in weaving and knitting by approximately 1,000 each and in garment-making by 700, bringing the total employed in the textile industry to 27,639. Iron ore mining and printing and publishing each showed an increase of 1,000, and enamelled hollow ware and rubber shoes a decrease of 600 and 2,500 respectively.
26
The 14,000 visits made by the inspectorate included, in addition to routine inspections of factories and workshops, 1,788 visits in connexion with industrial injuries and compensation, 584 to registered young persons and 880 night visits chiefly in connexion with the employment of women and young persons in prohibited hours.
A total of 629 accidents (45 fatal) involving injuries to 625 Of these 414 (22 fatal), persons was reported during the year. involving 431 persons, were in factories and workshops, showing a decrease of 91 (fatal, one less) for the year, or a reduction from 6.9 to 4.9 per thousand workers.
Despite the continued shortage of experienced staff and the time given to the training of junior staff, advances in industrial safety were made.
All lifts and hoists in factories and workshops must now conform to safety requirements which include annual inspection by a competent person, inter-locking fireproof doors, enclosed fire- proof shafts and, where the lift or hoist is operated from within the cage, an additional suspension cable. Fuel oil installations connected to steam boilers, furnaces and ovens must also conform to the safety requirements which were drawn up in consultation with the Fire Brigade.
Women and Young Persons
At the end of September 1950 nearly 3,000 more women were working in fegistered factories and workshops than in October 1949. These women are employed in a wide variety of industries-textiles (cotton and silk weaving, knitted piece goods, garment and shirt- making, spinning); the manufacture of electric torch cases, batteries and bulbs; rubber shoes and boots; miscellaneous metal ware from nails and needles to watch bracelets, tin cans and saucepans; matches; joss sticks; cigarettes; ginger, fruit and vegetable preserving-to name only a few. With very few exceptions the women are on a daily or a piece-rate basis and are taken on or laid off according to the requirements of the business. For example the high employment figure in the rubber shoe industry early in the year resulting from large orders from Britain was sharply reduced later by increased raw rubber prices and keener competition from the United Kingdom.
The number of women employed in all branches of the textile industry increased; women so employed now form about 45% of all women workers in registered establishments.
In addition to the women mentioned above who are employed in registered factories and workshops many are employed by con- tractors on a purely casual basis as earth carriers in the building trade and in roadmaking, and as stone-breakers in quarries. Here, as numbers and personnel fluctuate continually, figures are extremely difficult to obtain.
At the end of the year 1,719 young persons between the ages of 14 and 18 were registered with the Labour Department. Inspections of all registered juveniles, and also of many employed casually in unregistered industrial undertakings, have continued in order to see that regulations concerning their working hours are observed.
27
28
It is hoped that the club started by one voluntary organization. to help boys of sixteen and over who are known to be working in industry may be successful and followed by many more.
Both the Federation of Trade Unions and the Trades Union Council have set up clinics. The establishment of one small hostel for women and of small canteens and the provision of some sick and maternity benefits for union members are evidence of continued interest in the promotion of welfare and of the influence of the women's sections in some unions.
港
公共圖書及
恤
NC KONG. P
-C LIBRARI
{
III.
PUBLIC FINANCE AND TAXATION.
The Revenue and Expenditure figures since 1st May 1946 are as follows:-
Revenue Expenditure Surplus
Deficit
1946/47 (11 months)
1947/48
$ 82,141,556 85,624,391 164,298,310
$
$
$
3,482,835
1948/49
✓
1949/50
1950/51 (Estimates)
→ 194,933,955 264,250,543 204,139,480
127,701,174 36,597,136 159,954,023 34,979,932
182,121,726
82,128,817
200,839,083 3,300,397
The cumulative surplus at 31st March 1950 amounted to $154,152,842.
Present indications are that the surplus for 1950/51 will be higher than the figure of $3,300,397 originally estimated.
Revenue
The principal revenue items for 1948/49 and 1949/50 in round figures were:
1948/49
(a) Duties on Liquor, Hydrocarbon Oils,
Tobacco, Proprietary Medicines, etc. 41,111,000 (b) Rates (Assessed Taxes)
(c)
Internal Revenue, including Enter- tainment Tax, Estate Duty, Stamp Duties, Meals & Liquor Tax, Betting & Sweeps Tax, Earnings & Profits Tax and Dance Hall Tax
(d) Water Revenue
(e)
Postal Revenue
1949/50
68,797,000
14,984,000 19,286,000
70,513,000 72,580,000
6,312,000 7,657,000
9,325,000 12,235,000
7,000,900 7,678,000
14,342,000 22,677,000
(f)
(g)
Kowloon Canton Railway
Miscellaneous Fees, Payments for Services and Sales of Government Property
(h) Miscellaneous Licences, Fines and
Forfeitures
(i)
-
Miscellaneous
Royalties
Receipts,
-
including
13,195,000 13,292,000
-
6,785,000 10,553,000
29
Import and Excise Duties
There is no general customs tariff in Hong Kong, import duties being confined to liquor, tobacco, hydrocarbon oils, toilet prepara- tions, proprietary medicines, and table waters. A special foreign registration fee of 15% of the value of a motor vehicle is payable in respect of any vehicle not produced within the British Commonwealth. The duties on imported liquor range from $1.50 per gallon on beer to a minimum of $4 on Chinese liquor and to $44 on European sparkling wines. A reduction in duty is allowed in respect of liquors manufactured or produced within the British Commonwealth.
The duties on tobacco range from $3 per lb. on the lowest taxed Chinese-prepared tobacco to $7 per lb. on cigars. A reduction in duty is allowed on tobacco of Empire origin and/or of Empire manufacture. A duty of 80 cents per gallon is payable on all light oils imported into the Colony, 40 cents per gallon on all heavy hydrocarbon oils used as fuel for any heavy oil road vehicle, and 10 cents per gallon on other hydrocarbon oils. Duty is payable on toilet preparations and proprietary medicines at 25% of ex-factory price in the case of locally manufactured goods and 25% of f.o.b. prices in the case of imported goods. A duty of 48 cents per gallon is payable on table waters imported into the Colony. Excise duty is levied at the same rates on the above dutiable commodities manufactured in the Colony.
Earnings and Profits Tax
This tax, introduced for the first time in 1947, is based on the normal income tax plan modified in material respects to meet local conditions and is divided into four separate taxes, property tax, profits tax (sub-divided into corporation profits tax and business profits tax), interest tax and salaries and annuities tax.
If a person so chooses he may be assessed personally and so enjoy the personal allowances obtaining under the salaries and annuities tax of $7,000 for himself, $5,000 for his wife and a decreasing allowance for children up to the ninth. Tax is chargeable at a ratio of the standard rate (12% in 1950/51). The full rate is levied on corporations and on profits of unincorporated businesses earning over $7,000 (with marginal relief). Salaries and annuities tax, after allowances have been deducted, is levied at rates varying from one- fifth of the standard rate on the first $5,000 of chargeable income to twice the standard rate on chargeable income of over $45,000.
"
""
Revenue derived from the four taxes in 1949/50 together with amalgamated tax under personal assessment was as follows:-
Property tax
Profits tax:
Corporation profits tax Business profits tax
Salaries and annuities tax
Interest tax
Personal assessment
TOTAL:
1
1
1
1
1
1
I
$20,369,992
8,250,743
1
$ 4,563,008
28,620,735 4,058,512 1,437,551 137,790
$38,817,596
30
Assessment Tax (Rates)
There is a general rate of 17% on assessed rateable value. Over $19 million accrued from this tax in 1949/50.
New Measures
There were no important new taxation measures introduced during the year, but the standard rate was increased from 10% to 121%.
Expenditure
The major items of expenditure during the year 1950/51 were, in round figures:-
(a) Miscellaneous Services (including high cost. of living allowance $30,910,515; occupation period salaries and ex-gratia awards $925,302) -
(b) Public Works Department Recurrent &
Extraordinary -
(c) Medical Department
(d) Stores Department
(e) Police Force
(f) Education Department (g) Pensions
1
1
$38,234,811
$30,599,730 $11,675,099 $ 9,826,120 $12,806,353
$ 4,476,141
$ 7,347,902
High prices continued generally during the year and considerable expenditure was incurred on cost of living and other related allow- ances for all civil servants more especially for those in the lower grades. Payment of occupation period salaries to Government servants, Volunteers and members of the Civil Defence Services who were not interned during the period 26th December 1941 to 31st August 1945 was continued.
Public Debt
The public debt of the Colony at the 31st December 1950 totalled $65,667,000 comprising four issues:
4% Conversion Loan raised in 1933 and repayable
not later than the 31st August 1953 - The Sinking Fund of this loan is fully invested and amounted to £246,293 on the 30th September 1950.
$ 4,838,000
31% Dollar Loan raised in 1934
$ 5,040,000 $ 7,074,000
31% Dollar Loan raised in 1940
These two loans are redeemable by 25 annual drawings. During 1950 bonds to the value of $1,032,000 were redeemed.
31% Rehabilitation Loan 1973/78 -
/
-
$48,715,000
The first $50 million of the authorized Rehabilitation Loan of $150 million was raised in January 1948, and the first contribution to the sinking fund in respect of this loan was made on the 15th July 1948. The sinking fund is fully invested and amounted to £331,249 on the 30th September 1950.
The $50,000,000 had been fully expended before the end of 1947/48 and additional expenditure totalling $66,087,071 had been incurred by the 30th September 1950 from the Colony's surplus balances pending the raising of a further portion of the full $150,000,000 authorized.
31
IV.
CURRENCY AND BANKING.
At the time of Hong Kong's foundation in 1841 China's currency was on a basis of uncoined silver but the usual standard unit for foreign trade was the Spanish or Mexican dollar. These coins were the first legal tender in the new Colony and apart from one unsuccessful experiment in using United Kingdom coins alongside. it the Mexican dollar became and remained until 1895 the standard coin. In 1895, in pursuance of Her Majesty's Order in Council dated 2nd February of that year, a British trade dollar, equivalent to the Mexican dollar, was minted and production of the Mexican dollar ceased, although it remained the standard by which others were judged. Its sterling or gold value varied with the price of silver, giving Hong Kong a variable exchange relationship with London and the world at large but reasonable stability with China. In 1853 the Chartered Bank of India issued the first Hong Kong banknotes, followed in 1866 by those of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Although not legal tender these notes became more and more the customary means of payment and from 1890 onwards they were established by convention as practically the sole medium of exchange apart from subsidiary coinage. An Ordinance passed in 1895 had the effect of restricting the right of issuing banknotes to the three banks named. In 1935 the silver standard was aban- doned, and by the Currency Ordinance an exchange fund was set up, to which note-issuing banks were obliged to surrender all silver previously deposited against note issues and to deposit full sterling cover for all subsequent issues. Since that date the value of the Hong Kong dollar has been maintained at approximately 1/3d. sterling. At the end of 1950 its value in U.S.$ was 0.1725, and in Australian currency 1/63d.
Note Issue and Banks
Notes of denominations from five dollars upwards are issued by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, and the Mercantile Bank of India. The Government issue comprises notes of one dollar, ten cent, five cent and one cent denominations and coins of ten cent and five cent denominations.
The Colony is included in the sterling area. Exchange control is administered under powers conferred by the Defence (Finance) Regulations 1940. The system of control is based on that in force
32
in the United Kingdom and other parts of the sterling area, with modifications necessitated by the position of Hong Kong as an entrepot. Twenty-five banks, including the three note-issuing banks mentioned above, are authorized to deal in foreign exchange. Some of these banks have branches or correspondents throughout the world and are thus able to offer world-wide comprehensive banking facilities to the public.
In addition to these incorporated banks, there are in the Colony many Chinese banks which handle a considerable volume of remit- tances from Chinese living overseas to their relatives in China.
Under the provisions of the Banking Ordinance, 1948, no company may carry on banking business without being licensed. 133 licences have been issued, most of them to small Chinese banks.
33
し
V.
COMMERCE.
During 1950 the Colony's trading activities in terms of value increased greatly, being $7,503 million compared with $5,068 million for 1949. This was the highest figure ever recorded in the trade history of the Colony. Records were set up successively in July, August, September, October and November, the last being HK$869.9 million, the highest figure ever recorded for any one month.
These figures do not however represent the true volume of visible trade for purposes of comparison since very considerable price increases were recorded on many items during the year owing to the rise in the cost of imported raw materials and to speculation in the Colony with regard to materials for which there was a heavy demand from China.
Another noteworthy feature of Hong Kong's trade during the year under review was the considerable favourable balance of trade with China which amounted to the figure of $603 million (£37.6 million) compared with the previous year's unfavourable balance of $8 million. In the main this was due to the large-scale buying activities of the Peking Government's trading agencies which had the further effect of raising the Colony's percentage of trade with China to about 30% of the total trade, compared with under 20% in 1949. The trade pattern between the two countries thus reverted more closely to the pre-war pattern. Compared with the previous year imports from China increased by 44.7% whilst exports increased by almost 150%. Total trade with China amounted to $2,319 million (£144.9 million) which was an increase of 97%. For trading on such a large scale with China the Colony came in for very considerable criticism from various quarters, but it should be noted that in accordance with Imperial policy certain restrictions on exports of direct strategic and military importance were imposed during the year, some 200 items including petroleum being prohibited from export in August and another 100 in December. Furthermore other Far Eastern countries also trade extensively with China, but never- theless have not been criticised so severely. Various countries imposed restrictions on the export of certain materials to China, and Hong Kong, in view of its geographical position, was invariably included. In December the United States Government placed a complete embargo on the export of goods to China, Hong Kong and Macao. The full effect of these trade restrictions has yet to be seen but there is no doubt that the American embargo in particular was
34
n
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
1
NINA 1 1 11?འི [TLL.
hese have taken full advantage of the facilities the Government offers for technical training in the wide range of jobs,
from
station control to aircraft maintenance, where skilled men are needed.
power
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
:
:
Pig-farming has come
to play an increased part
in the economy of the
New Territories.
Photos: Shell Photographic Unit.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
Rinderpest
inoculation
is now
compulsory
and
strenuous
efforts hav
been made
to reduce
the
incidence
of New
Castle
disease in
poultry.
MIES
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
at the close of the year already causing dislocation to the Colony's economic life the well-being of which is fundamentally dependent I on free trade.
The Colony's principal imports during the year in order of value were textile fabrics, chemical and pharmaceutical products, rubber and rubber manufactures, vegetable oils, industrially manufactured articles, and raw cotton. The main exports were textile fabrics, chemical and pharmaceutical products, rubber, vegetable oils, and cotton yarns and threads.
The following countries were the Colony's main sources of imports during the year: China, £54,000,000; U.S.A., £41,000,000; United Kingdom, £25,000,000; Malaya, £19,000,000; Japan, £14,000,000 Thailand, £11,000,000; and India, £10,000,000.
Exports from Hong Kong were mainly to the following countries: China, £91,000,000; Malaya, £34,000,000; U.S.A., £19,000,000; Macao, £13,000,000; United Kingdom, £10,000,000; Pakistan, £8,000,000; Indonesia, £8,000,000; and Japan, £8,000,000.
The British Commonwealth's share of the Colony's trade during the year was 28.9% (30.8% on imports and 26.9% on exports). Imports from the British Commonwealth were valued at £73 million ($1,168 million), exports at £62 million ($999 million). Imports from the United Kingdom increased by 10.7% over 1949 and exports to that country by 4.5%.
Since the announcement in May 1950 that foreign exchange for imports from Japan would be freely granted to bona fide merchants, trade with that country has expanded rapidly. Compared with the figures for 1949, imports from Japan showed an increase of 184.5% and exports to Japan an increase of 72%.
Since the outbreak of hostilities, trade with Korea, which was already comparatively small, has been brought to a complete standstill.
The following illustrations give a simple idea of Hong Kong's commerce. Facts and figures in greater detail are given in the tables on pages 38 and 39.
35
:
:
36
HONGKONG
1950
IMPORTING
EXPORTING
748.5
445.5
36.7
192.0
439.4
444.7
101.6
92.6
137.8
107.6
Machinery
113.2
243.4
Base
Metals
IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
78.9
314.4
3
PRINCIPAL SOURCES AND
DESTINATIONS OF GOODS
1950
VALUES IN HKS 1 MILLION
422.6
S. CHINA
}
$42.8
MALAYA
300.2
168.3
U. K.
404.7
366.1
16.6
PHILIPPINES
82.5
37
чт
677.2
136.1 MID.
CHINA
361.3
355.7
N. CHINA
العلم
230
JAPAN
120.7
655.2
U. S. A.
308.7
38
SECTIONS
SUMMARY OF IMPORTS & EXPORTS With Indices based on 1947=100 (in brackets)
IMPORTS
i
EXPORTS
Total 1949
Total 1950
Total 1949
Total 1950
HK$
HK$
HK$
HK$
I. Food products, beverages & tobacco
651,711,098 (190.2)
901,100,921 (263.0)
397,675,730 (218.3)
525,285,444 (288.3)
II. Fatty substances & waxes, animal & vegetable
158,716,912 ( 89.7)
301,293,215 (170.3)
III. Chemicals & allied products IV. Rubber
255,650,848 (241.6)
439,366,294 (415.2)
188,717,277 (167.6) 196,682,696 (164.6)
49,857,974 ( 94.0)
234,185,531 (441.5)
47,885,502 (122.9)
V. Wood, cork
50,198,942 (140.8)
63,284,765 (177.5)
VI. Paper
96,554,344 (170.2)
101,636,205 (179.1)
12,039,619 (262.9) 96,317,745 (249.8)
274,069,932 (243.3) 444,758,081 (372.1) 236,146,124 (606.1) 15,252,494 (333.1) 92,574,619 (240.1)
VII. Hides, skins & leather & manufactures thereof
29,859,000 (193.6)
VIII. Textiles
445,619,083 (201.0)
30,654,654 (198.8) 687,427,750 (310.0)
29,473,611 (195.7) 459,379,694 (265.2)
· 35,520,621 (235.8) 773,375,602 (446.5)
IX. Articles of clothing of all materials & miscellaneous made-up textile goods
87,713,799 (165.7)
92,376,117 (174.5)
189,575,115 (198.4)
279,840,514 (292.9)
X. Products for heating, light- ing & power, lubricants & related products
156,652,798 (153.4)
139,608,812 (136.7)
78,188,324 ( 97.6)
85,540,689 (106.8)
XI. Non-metallic minerals manufactures thereof
&
47,080,170 (195.4)
46,882,577 (194.6).
27,244,202 (155.3)
36,817,337 (209.9)
XII. Precious metals & precious
stones, pearls & articles made of these materials
39,802,045 (464.3)
XIII. Base
metals & manufac-
tures thereof
216,599,450 (174.0)
11,982,758 (139.7)
244,394,004 (196.4)
6,017,676 (1059.9)
6,847,930 (1206.2)
241,220,570 (210.1)
343,801,765 (299.5)
XIV. Machinery, apparatus & ap- pliances & vehicles
189,338,263 (286.1)
185,282,098 (279.9)
66,782,004 (255.0)
XV. Miscellaneous commodities
275,847,075 (384.5)
308,185,952 (431.1)
281,703,227 (381.6)
149,980,945 (572.8)
415,740,276 (563.3)
TOTAL
2,750,201,801 (177.4)
3,787,661,653 (244.4)
2,318,902,992 (190.5)
3,715,552.373 (305.3)
SUMMARY OF IMPORTS & EXPORTS
With Indices based on 1947-100 (in brackets)
SOURCES
DESTINATIONS
SOURCES AND DESTINATIONS
Total 1949
Total 1950
Total 1949
Total 1950
·
United Kingdom
HK$
387,704,877 (235.7)
HK$
HK$
HK$
404,712,710 (246.1)
139,747,813 (365.7)
168,283,403 (440.4)
Malaya
108,192,216 (105.6)
British Commonwealth, Other
300,346,139 (187.3)
300,212,826 (293.1) 462,966,767 (435.5)
239,975,148 (112.0)
Burma
18,403,904 (107.4)
17,903,383 (104.5)
China, North
233,996,191 (367.2)
355,740,833 (558.2)
China, Middle
58,041,805 (186.2)
136,138,080 (436.7)
162,254,254 (163.3) 17,976,756 (250.0) 287,594,271 (522.6) 158,044,820 (366.7)
542,795,840 (253.3) 288,359,335 (290.2) 23,318,447 (325.0) 677,204,476 (1230.7) 361,321,427 (838.4)
China, South
301,453,817 (104.9)
366,072,050 (127.5)
1
Macao
77,647,732 ( 94.4)
Total China & Macao
671,139,545 (144.5)
104,405,096 (126.9) 962,356,059 (207.2)
Indo-China
21,508,457 (107.0)
Thailand
110,189,000 (183.9)
U.S.A.
575,453,586 (192.6)
All Other Countries
557,264,077 (212.2)
30,189,712 (152.2) 182,133,355 (304.0) 655,258,165 (219.4) 771,928,676 (293.9)
138,985,325 ( 82.3) 268,542,272 (378.9) 853,166,688 (252.6) 19,710,969 (110.6) 115,840,878 (133.8).
422,616,375 (250.4)
208,382,885 (294.0) 1,669,525,163 (494.3)
22,602,526 (126.9)
98,475,031 (113.8)
234,456,501 (154.4) 535,773,985 (202.9)
308,690,819 (203.4)
593,501,809 (224.8)
TOTAL
2,750,201,801 (177.4)
3,787,661,653 (244.4)
2,318,902,992 (190.5)
3,715,552,373 (305.3)
39
•
;
VI.
PRODUCTION.
FISHERIES
The main primary product of Hong Kong is fish, the Colony having probably the largest fleet of any fishing port in the Colonial Empire. It is estimated that there is a seafaring population of about 60,000 engaged in this industry and the figures for quantities marketed given below also indicate the magnitude of the operations.
The fishing fleet is essentially owner-operated and consists of sailing junks of Chinese type constructed locally from China fir and hardwoods imported from outside sources.
The waters around Hong Kong being susceptible to typhoons, wind-driven off-shore fishing craft, such as trawlers, are compelled to tie up during the typhoon season between, July and September. Because of this, fishermen realize the great advantage to be gained through mechanization of their craft, and during this year the size of the mechanized fleet has increased from 55 to 111 vessels of all types, the greatest increases being in the number of native-type wooden long liners which rose from 34 to 66, and of native-type fish collectors which rose from 2 to 14.
The desire to mechanize has recently spread to fishermen owning small craft such as purse seiners resulting in a growing demand for small engines suitable for such craft.
In view of the fact that conversion of the Chinese sailing junk to self-propulsion necessitates the installation of a greater power unit than would be necessary for vessels of similar size designed for self-propulsion, it has been decided to design and build two new experimental vessels suitable for mechanization, and built in accordance with Chinese methods of ship construction. A Colonial Development and Welfare grant has been made for this purpose.
Practically the entire catch of fish marketed as fresh fish is for local consumption, but a large portion of the catch is salted and dried; this latter type of fish finds its way to China, only about 40% being consumed locally.
The main types of fish landed are mackerel, scad, anchovies, lizard fish, golden thread, croaker and yellow croaker.
The amount of fish marketed in Hong Kong for the years 1946/50 is as follows:-
40
Fresh Fish
Quantity
Wholesale Value
1946
1,904.05 tons
$ 3,120,457
1947
2,643.79
$ 3,355,513
1948
7,251.07
""
$ 8,651,356
1949 10,822.38
""
$17,689,028
1950
16,425.48
99
$24,414,750
Salt/Dried Fish
Quantity
1946 12,592.79 tons
1947 11,266.19
1948 14,664.76
1949
16,108.63 1950 16,304.28
""
""
Wholesale Value
$18,476,431
$11,166,576
$11,941,515
$18,740,370
$13,873,411
Fish Marketing Organization
The wholesale marketing of all fish except pond and shell fish is controlled, the fish being auctioned at Government-organized wholesale markets. These markets are situated at Kennedy Town, Shaukiwan and Aberdeen on Hong Kong Island, at Yaumati in the Kowloon area, and at Taipo in the New Territories. Fish sold at Aberdeen is used largely for making sauce.
Fishermen deliver their catch to collecting depots situated in the various fishing villages whence it is conveyed to the markets in the Marketing Organization's launches, a charge of 6% of the wholesale price being made to cover handling and marketing costs.
The Marketing Organization provides facilities for the borrowing of money by fishermen at reasonable rates of interest. Most of the loans are short-term loans for the repair of gear and boats, but a few loans of larger amounts have been given for mechanization of craft.
At the collecting depots fishermen's requisites are sold at wholesale prices. The depots also act as distributors of rationed rice to fishermen and provide centres where the various problems confronting the fishing community may be discussed.
The Organization subsidizes schools which have been established for fishermen's children and also awards scholarships to recognized schools.
The whole Organization has been planned so that it may eventually be taken over by fishermen and run as a cooperative undertaking.
Fish Fry
A considerable amount of fish fry used for stocking fish-ponds is exported each year by air to Malaya, Thailand and, to a lesser extent, Formosa. In 1950 880,090 fish fry valued at $64,115 were exported. The fry are brought to Hong Kong by boat chiefly from the West River region of Kwangtung; they are placed in hermetically sealed 4-gallon petrol tins which are filled 3/5 with well water and 2/5 with oxygen. Consignments generally consist of 10 to 20 tins each containing 500 to 1,000 fry according to size, which ranges from 1′′ during summer and autumn to 2" in winter and spring.
41
AGRICULTURE
The Colony's countryside consists mainly of mountains and hills, the more gradual slopes being covered with grass, ferns and sparse pinewood, the rocky ravines with evergreen trees and dense thorny scrub. Very little of the 391 square miles is suitable for cultivation and practically all that is suitable has already been brought under cultivation. The main, gentle slopes of the valleys are intensively cultivated and the lower shoulders of the hills have also been terraced where water is available for irrigation. Some of the terraces and irrigation channels date back many years. On the higher slopes of mountains such as Taimoshan are remains of terraces for tea cultivation long since discontinued probably due to high winds in summer and the cold experienced during winter.
The Chinese farmer of the New Territories is primarily a rice producer and generally speaking any other crop grown is subsidiary to rice except in one area in Tsun Wan which is primarily vegetable growing. Practically all rent of farmland is paid in terms of rice which makes it an important crop to the farmer. Except for the lands irrigated with brackish water, where only one crop is obtained, most of the paddy fields of the Territories produce two crops a year, water supply being the limiting factor. The main area for salt-water paddy is the district around Mai Po. The rice straw is short and the grains are small, narrow and of excellent quality. It is difficult to estimate the amount of milled rice produced annually but the figure of 20,000 short tons is considered about the annual production. This of course represents a very small proportion of the total annual consumption.
On land unsuited to rice other crops may be grown, such as sugar cane and ground-nuts. Vegetables are grown extensively during the winter, particularly in recent years when the general price of vegetables has increased. A great deal of sweet potatoes is also grown during winter for pig food-an essential product of the New Territories. During the summer, vegetables are cultivated on a limited scale and Hong Kong has to rely to a large extent on imported vegetables during this season. Before the war, there was a certain amount of fruit grown, including olives, but large numbers of trees were cut down during the Japanese occupation and have not been replanted. Guava trees are valuable, their wood being used for making plough frames. Lung-ngan timber is also valuable for use in junk building. Lemons and grapefruit do well and it is hoped in due course to be able to extend their cultivation.
As far as livestock is concerned the farmer keeps cattle and buffalo purely for draught purposes. There is hardly any dairy farming except near Kowloon and on Hong Kong Island. Cattle for slaughter are almost entirely imported except for the occasional beast sold by local farmers because of old age or injury. The increase in poultry farming and pig keeping noted in last year's Report has been maintained and these two types of farming are assuming a place of importance in the agriculture of the Colony.
42
Agricultural Department
The Agricultural Department was only formed in 1946 but its growth and development have been rapid and practically all agricul- tural areas are now in close contact with it. The Colony has been divided for agricultural purposes into six districts each_having_an agricultural station. These stations are situated at Tsun Wan, Sheung Shui, Taipo, Shatin and Sai Kung on the mainland and at Silver Mine Bay on Lantao Island. The purpose of these stations is demonstration of new and improved agricultural and animal husbandry technique, and distribution of improved seed and stock. Contact with farmers is maintained by means of regular monthly meetings when farming problems are discussed.
In addition to the agricultural field stations a main agricultural experimental station is in the process of being built at Castle Peak. Here new and introduced varieties of crops, breeds of livestock, insecticides, and methods of cultivation are tried out before being demonstrated at the district stations.
Pending the completion of the main station, there is a pig breeding station and a poultry breeding station at Sheung Shui. At the pig breeding station, the Berkshire breed is being used to cross with the local sow. This cross has been most successful and has aroused the interest of pig farmers in the Colony.
At the poultry station, pens of pedigree birds of introduced breeds are kept. Work is being done on the crossing of these breeds with the local Cantonese hen in an attempt to produce a fast- maturing hybrid suitable for the local market. It has been found that the New Hampshire crossed with the local Cantonese bird makes an excellent hybrid for meat production. Feed trials are also being undertaken.
During 1949 an intensive campaign against rinderpest, an endemic disease in Hong Kong, was undertaken. The cattle were immunized through the use of lapinized vaccine. This vaccine was produced locally using a strain of batch No. 827 which was brought from Bangkok with the help of F.A.O. and kept going by passage through rabbits. At the same time the Chinese authorities undertook a similar campaign on their side of the border. The result of this
campaign has been most striking and no cases of rinderpest have been reported since completion of the campaign. Inoculation of all cattle against rinderpest using this lapinized vaccine has now been made compulsory.
Vegetable Marketing Organization
In September 1946 a vegetable marketing scheme similar to the scheme started for marketing fish was introduced on the mainland. All vegetables produced in the New Territories mainland or imported into that area are sold wholesale by a Government Vegetable Marketing Organization, the aim of which is to ensure fair and steady returns to vegetable producers and reasonable selling prices. to consumers. It is intended that in due course this Organization will become a cooperative enterprise.
43
Vegetables are collected by the Organization's lorries and con- veyed to the Wholesale Market in Kowloon where they are sold under the supervision of the Organization's staff. A deduction of 10% is made from the wholesale price to cover handling and marketing costs.
During the year the quantity of vegetables handled by the Organization increased considerably. Before the war vegetable production was only sufficient to meet 1/5 of the Colony's needs. It is now estimated that, even with the present large population, local producers are supplying not less than 5/8 of the requirements of the Colony.
The Organization has received valuable aid from Colonial Devel- opment and Welfare funds. Grants and loans from this fund have enabled it to purchase a fleet of 16 diesel-engine lorries and have helped in the establishment and running of small village vegetable collecting centres. In recent months two such centres have been established in which farmers themselves have taken over most of the work previously handled by the Organization. In time it is hoped that these centres will be registered as cooperative societies.
In 1947, the first full year of its existence, the Organization handled 19,427 tons of local vegetables and 7,658.7 tons of imported, of which the total wholesale value was $7,348,690. These amounts have steadily risen each year, and the corresponding figures for 1950 were 36,173 and 13,036 tons respectively, at a total value of $16,650,928. The average price of all vegetables per picul rose during this period from $16.1 to $20.18 in 1949. In 1950 there was a slight fall in price, to $20.14.
FORESTRY
Hong Kong derives its water supply from thirteen reservoirs which to a large extent obtain their water from surface run-off into catch-waters running along the contours of the hillsides. As there is a total average annual rainfall of 84.26 inches, most of which occurs between June and September, and as the hillsides are very steep, the strict maintenance of an adequate forest covering becomes a necessity, not only to reduce erosion to a minimum in order to avoid silting up the reservoirs, but also to increase the seepage run-off and extend it as far as possible into the dry season when water shortage becomes acute, especially since the surface run-off is normally more than adequate to fill all the reservoirs before the end of the wet season. Consequently it is not surprising that afforestation work has been largely concentrated on the catchment areas with the object of restoring and maintaining a forest covering, so much of which disappeared during the war years.
The catchment area most urgently needing reafforestation was in the neighbourhood of Kowloon reservoir in some parts of which severe surface erosion is in evidence. Extensive planting of eucalyptus and tristania was carried out but the soil and climatic conditions on the hilltops are rather too severe to support vegetation and con- sequently it is necessary in the first place to establish a forest
44
covering on the lower slopes near the reservoirs and gradually to extend it.
From a somewhat different standpoint the afforestation of the Shing Mun catchment area is of interest in so far as a large part of the area consists of deserted paddy fields vacated when the On these reservoir was built in order to avoid polluting the water. terraced areas the question of erosion and seepage water is less important than the question of finding a productive use for good agricultural land on which it has become necessary to prohibit cultivation. Melaleuca has been the species exclusively used for this purpose thriving as it does under damp or waterlogged condi- tions. Extensive afforestation of the hillsides in this area is also in progress.
Restoration of a forest covering can only be achieved if the strictest possible protection is given to the vegetation both from wood-cutters and from fire. Any planting that is done must be supplemented by protection, since either wood-cutters or fire can Protection against rapidly annihilate a whole season's planting.
wood-cutters has always been a difficult problem in Hong Kong in view of the close proximity of such a large population to the forest areas. Since the war the position has worsened by the spread of the population into former forest areas, and in an endeavour to stop this spread many arrests were made during the course of the year by the Forestry Department of would-be squatters found in the process of erecting huts in the plantations.
To combat the fire menace the lookout post established on Kowloon Peak can report outbreaks over very large areas of Hong Kong and the mainland by telephone before they can spread and cause extensive damage. Notices are also erected during the dry season warning the public of the danger of fires to the plantations.
Approximately 350,000 trees were planted in 1950 and at the end of the year the stock of seedlings in the nurseries was over 300,000.
MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES
There are few places in the world comparable in area to Hong Kong (391 sq. miles) which have such a varied geological record. Igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks are all represented, but it is the igneous rocks, ranging from granites to rhyolites, which are the most widespread. A wide range of economic minerals has been formed. Not all have been located in sufficiently large deposits to be worth working but it is possible that modern prospecting methods may reveal valuable finds in the future. Unfortunately, much of the Colony is covered by a thick lateritic type of decomposed rock which effectively masks the solid geology below.
The principal minerals so far identified in the Colony are: kaolinite, argentiferous galena, wolframite, molybdenite, garnet, pyrite, mica, magnetite, haematite, cassiterite, fluorspar and quartz. However, the chief minerals mined to date, either by modern European methods or traditional Chinese surface scratchings, are kaolin, lead, iron and wolfram.
Lead deposits are widely scattered throughout the Colony. The lead is usually associated with silver as argentiferous galena. There
45
1
are fair deposits to be found at Silver Mine Bay, Lead Mine Pass and Lin Ma Hang.
Iron is everywhere in evidence but the only deposit which so far has attracted a major commercial exploitation is the lenticular magnetite mass at Ma On Shan on the mainland. Its production is exported almost entirely to Japan. Surface scratchings for ochre, a hydrated oxide of iron, are worked on and off. The ochre is used by small local paint companies.
Wolfram, which is loosely called tungsten, occurs in several places. It is mined officially and unofficially at Shing Mun, Castle Peak, Ho Chung and on Lantao Island.
Kaolin, not excluding the great reserves of building stones and sand and gravel deposits, is certainly the most valuable of the proved deposits in the Colony both in quantity and quality. It occurs everywhere in varying degrees of purity ranging from the best ball clay to the coarser varieties. Of the many deposits now being worked, the pit at Cha Kwo Ling is the most valuable and productive. Much of the clay from this pit is exported to Japan but some is used locally in the ceramic industry. Elsewhere other deposits are mined for the various brick, face powder, tooth powder and rubber companies.
There are stone quarries sited all round the coast. The orna- mental grey Hong Kong granite is most usually worked for building stone. Sands and gravels are available in large quantities mainly from the raised beaches along the coasts.
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION
Although 1950 was a reasonably good year for Hong Kong's industry, exports showed a slight decrease when compared with 1949. Local manufacturers have continued their efforts to improve the quality of their goods by introducing up-to-date machinery and methods of production, and at the 8th Annual Exhibition given by the Chinese Manufacturers' Union in December great improvements in the quality of the goods were noticeable in the extensive range of products on display. A record number of 750,000 people visited the Exhibition.
In the same month, however, the United States Government placed a complete embargo upon shipments to Hong Kong, and the local industry, which depends to a great extent on raw material supplies from North America, was faced with a grave crisis. Full details of the extent of the ban were not available at the close of the year, but it was believed that essential raw materials would be placed under strict export control and that Hong Kong's industry might well suffer a blow from which it may take years to recover.
Certificates of Origin (and Imperial Preference Certificates) were issued in 1950 for goods valued at $196 million (£12,250,000) but this figure does not represent the total quantity of Hong Kong manufactured goods sent overseas since for some countries such certificates are not usually required.
46
SOME HONG KONG INDUSTRIES
Cotton Spinning: This is still the largest and most modern development in Hong Kong's industry in recent years. There was a further increase to 187,500 in the number of spindles in operation in 1950 as against 131,940 in 1949. Further expansion is probable. Total production in 1950 was 133,668 bales of 400 lbs. as against 59,365 bales in 1949. In October the United States Government banned the export of raw cotton to the Far East while the Indian Government at the same time restricted exports of certain counts of cotton yarn. Fortunately, the local mills had sufficient stocks to tide them over until further supplies of raw cotton were available from Pakistan, but, a serious position was created.
Weaving and Knitting: A number of small factories closed during the year owing to the high prices of cotton yarn. There were large orders from the United Kingdom for linings for raincoats.
Enamelware: Another factory opened, making a total of 11 in full operation. The market for these goods remained stable and the factories concerned have flourished.
Aluminium Ware: There are now 8 factories in the Colony manufacturing aluminium torches, pots and pans and other popular items such as water bottles. A few of the enamelware concerns have extended their products to include aluminium ware.
Rubber Shoes: 1950 was the worst year on record for these factories owing to diminishing markets and the high price of raw rubber.
Ginger: 1950 was a poor year when compared with 1949 due mainly to the flooding of the United Kingdom market in 1949 and resultant decrease in that country's imports during 1950. Trade with the United States and Canada showed a 15% to 20% improve- ment, while trade with the Netherlands was resumed with exports of about 600 tons. There was no improvement in the prospect of regaining the Australian market.
Torches: Markets were extended considerably and 1950 was a prosperous year for this trade. Quality improved and several new types were introduced, including aluminium torches. Business was somewhat handicapped by the difficulty of obtaining brass sheets.
Plastics: Although raw materials for this section of the industry were not plentiful, markets were extended and the quality and output improved. This industry has completely captured the local market, mainly on account of low prices.
Heavier industries: A significant development during 1950 has been the growth of one or two heavier industries, and productions at the Industrial Exhibition included a printing press, a motor bicycle and a motorized rickshaw, all produced and manufactured in the Colony.
The first diesel-engine lorry to be produced in Hong Kong was completed during the year and ran in the A. A. Rally held during the summer. The same company also produces diesel-engines for small marine craft and generating plant.
47
1
VII.
SOCIAL SERVICES.
EDUCATION
Government expenditure on education has risen from $9 million for the financial year 1947-8 to $13 million in 1948-9. It is estimated that $19 million will be required for the year 1950-1. For the academic year 1949-50 the Government made its usual grant of $1,500,000 to the University. During 1950 fees payable in Govern- ment and grant-aided secondary schools were raised from $120 to $240 per annum. Primary school fees remained unchanged.
The University
The University of Hong Kong, which developed from the Hong Kong College of Medicine founded in 1887, was incorporated in 1911 and formally opened in 1912.
By ordinance the Governor of Hong Kong is Chancellor of the University of which the governing body is the Court presided over by the Chancellor and including, apart from nominated and ex-officio members, certain life members among whom are some of the University's principal benefactors. On the Council, which is the executive body, the Deans of the Faculties, the Colonial Secretary, the Financial Secretary and the Director of Medical and Health Services and prominent members of the community as appointed by the Chancellor are represented, and in the Senate the Director of Education is an ex-officio member.
The academic year 1949-50 was in the main devoted to the planning of a development programme involving the institution of forty-two new senior teaching posts, provision for Honours courses in the Faculties of Arts and Science, additional accommodation for staff and extensions to accommodation for teaching in the Main Building and in the Science and Medical Buildings, the establishment of new Departments of European Languages, Architecture, Social Medicine, Medical Research Statistics and Social Study, development of present teaching arrangements into full Departments of Philosophy and Geography and the institution of post-graduate studentships. Proposals were drawn up for the enlargement of the Great Hall and the building of a new Students' Union and Dining Hall. This programme was submitted to the Inter-University Council for Higher Education in the Colonies and the Universities Grants Committee, after a satisfactory visit by two representatives from the United Kingdom. The estimated cost of implementing the provisions of
48
the programme, being the minimum requirements necessary to ensure the competency of the University in comparision with other British Universities at present standards, was over £500,000 for capital expenditure and recurrent expenditure rising to £100,000 a year in 1953. It should be stressed that the development envisaged will place the University on a sound basis for its proper future growth.
During the year negotiations were also in progress for the foundation of a British Institute of Far Eastern Studies chiefly for language study and research into all Far Eastern branches of study, and it is hoped to enlist the interest and cooperation of the Univer- sities of Oxford, Cambridge and London in this project.
For the academic year 1950-1 the total enrolment is 715 students, compared with 638 in the previous year. Of these 361 are studying Medicine, 172 Arts, 119 Engineering and 53 Science. There are 206 women students, of whom 119 are in the Arts Faculty and 64 in the Faculty of Medicine.
The construction of the Duncan Sloss School of Engineering and Architecture, commenced in 1949, was completed in February and the building was officially opened by the Chancellor on 1st March at a short ceremony following Congregation.
The foundation stone of the new hall of residence for women students, for which Sir Robert Ho Tung donated $1,000,000, was laid on 16th August by the Officer Administering the Government.
Schools and Colleges
The Colony's education is under the general control of the Director of Education, but much of the work of education is in the hands of missionary and philanthropic bodies and private individuals. By the Education Ordinance, 1913, amended in 1947 and 1948, all schools unless specifically exempted are required to register with the Director of Education, to be open to his inspection, and to comply with regulations concerning staff, buildings, number of pupils and health.
Since 1920 there has been a Board of Education to advise the Director on the development and improvement of education in the Colony. The Board consisted during 1950 of five official and eleven unofficial members representative of the principal groups in the Colony interested in education.
For administrative purposes, schools in the Colony may be classified as follows:-
(1) Government schools, which are staffed and maintained by the Education Department; in this category may be placed the two teachers' training colleges and the Technical College;
(2) Grant schools, which are run mainly by missionary bodies with the assistance of a grant from Government under the provisions of the Grant Code;
49
(3) Subsidized schools, which are those schools in receipt of a subsidy from Government under the Subsidy Code;
(4) Military schools and certain others which are exempted from the provisions of the Education Ordinance, 1913;
(5) All other private schools.
The principal medium of instruction in vernacular schools is Cantonese, and a small number of schools teach in Hakka and Mandarin (Kuo-yu), the latter being a compulsory subject in Govern- ment vernacular schools. In Anglo-Chinese and British schools the medium of instruction is English, with Mandarin as a compulsory subject in Anglo-Chinese schools.
Vernacular schools, in which English may be studied as a language subject, have adopted the Chinese system of dividing a 12-year school course, into 6 years of primary and 6 years of secondary or middle school. Attempts are being made to develop post- secondary education, other than that given at the teachers' training colleges, in order to provide higher education for those students who used to proceed to Chinese Universities. Anglo-Chinese schools are organized on the basis of an 8-year course at the end of which students sit for either the Hong Kong School Certificate examination or the University matriculation. In 1950 there were 570 entrants for the former, the regulations and syllabus of which were revised and brought up to date.
British schools are somewhat similar to their counterparts in England. Junior schools accept children from the age of 5, and give infant and primary school education. The King George V School in Kowloon provides secondary education up to the level of the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate. Children under 11 whose parents are in one of the three Services normally attend military schools.
There are 20 Grant Schools, some of which are boarding schools. All of them give primary education and the majority have secondary classes as well. They are administered under a system of grants- in-aid started in 1873 and subsequently revised several times, the latest revision being in 1945. The present arrangement is that after the Education Department has approved a grant school's annual expenditure the Government provides the school with financial aid to cover those running costs which are not met from tuition fees. Grants are also made to cover 50% of the cost of any new equipment or building which may be approved. A grant-aided school which owns its own buildings may be given a building depreciation grant to replace old structures, and interest-free loans normally repayable in ten years may be made for new buildings. Recently three schools have received loans totalling $1,000,000, for the provision of gymnasia, libraries and new classrooms. Under the terms of the Grant Code the salaries of local teachers are the same as those of teachers with similar qualifications in Government schools, teachers with approved British, American or Commonwealth qualifications receiving salaries on an augmented Burnham scale, irrespective of race or nationality. The number of children attending these schools has risen from 12,000
50
一港
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
*
Photo:S.C.M.P.
Education Week: Physical education demonstrations at Sookunpoo Recreation Ground before and after dark.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
Photo: Sing Tao Jih Pao.
恤
ル
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please
contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
VG KONG
Photo Francis Wu.
The new
Queen's College, in Causeway Bay, opened in September.
in 1946 to over 13,700 of which 8,000 were girls. Since these schools are closely linked with the Church of England, or with particular missions and religious Orders, a strong tradition of Christian service exists in all of them.
There are 291 schools subsidized by the Government. Most of them are situated in the rural areas, where only 38 out of a total of 239 non-Government schools can afford to keep going without a subsidy. The large majority of these schools provide primary education for boys and girls and use Chinese as the medium of instruction. The schools are administered under the Subsidy Code, a recent revision of which improved teachers' salaries by 400%, the salaries being now two-thirds of those paid in Government and grant schools. Were it not for the subsidies many of these schools would be compelled either to charge higher school fees, or to pay inadequate The number of salaries with consequent lowering of standards. schools receiving subsidies has increased from 259 in 1948 to 291 this year. Each subsidy is at least half the difference between the school's expenditure and income, and usually a good deal more, sufficient to cover the whole financial deficit. The fact that the amount spent annually on subsidies is rising is an indication that schools welcome this form of assistance in spite of the greater measure of control it involves.
It is the Government's hope that these rural schools when equipped with radio and cinema will become centres of community life, a hope which may well be realized in view of the practical assistance and financial support given by village elders in the expansion of rural schooling. During the year new primary schools were opened at Lam Tsuen and Shuen Wai on the mainland, and on Lamma Island, all built by the private subscriptions of villagers in collaboration with the Government on a dollar for dollar basis. A new middle school founded on the same basis was opened during the year at Yuen Long; the elders and people of this township subscribed $100,000 toward the cost of the project.
Frivate schools, of which there are 560 in the urban areas and 38 in the rural districts, comprise 62% of the schools in the Colony 105 new and provide education for 67% of the school population. private schools were opened during the year, and since 1949 the number of pupils in private schools has risen from 93,000 to 108,800. The majority of these schools give only primary education in the vernacular, but there are 60 with middle school classes and 4 Anglo- Chinese schools. The vernacular schools vary considerably in size and efficiency. As a result of a reorganization of the Education Department's inspectorate, private schools were visited more fre- quently than had formerly been possible, and their income and expenditure accounts examined before monthly fees were agreed
upon.
The Education Department has increased the number of schools and pupils directly under its charge to 29 schools with over 9,600 pupils. The rehabilitation of King's College was completed during the year, and in September the new premises of Queen's College were opened in Causeway Bay.
51
Progress has been made in education for citizenship. Schools are encouraged to take their senior pupils on visits to Government departments, commercial undertakings and the Law Courts, and every assistance has been given in these ventures by the departments and firms concerned. In September six vernacular civics text books were published for use in Chinese primary schools and a further 6 have now been prepared, the 12 volumes providing for civics lessons for all primary classes. A complete course in civics is also planned for secondary schools, and posters with teaching notes have been issued. Many schools maintained their tradition of social service by organizing free schools for poor children during the long summer vacation.
During the week ending 4th December an Education Week was arranged, public attention being focussed upon the kind of education now provided in the Colony. More than half the schools held Open Days, with demonstrations and exhibitions of work. One of the main features of Education Week was a mass display which laid special emphasis on physical education and music in schools. The two-hour programme included typical exercises in physical education given by pupils from every type of school, and Chinese and western music sung by massed choirs of 2,000 pupils. The combined schools orchestra formed during the year gave two concerts, one in Kowloon and one in Hong Kong. Other activities of the week included football and basketball matches, radio quiz contests and nine special broadcasts. A dramatic competition in which 23 schools took part was held concurrently, plays being performed in Chinese and English. It is intended that Education Week and the inter-schools Dramatic *Competition shall become annual events.
Adult education is carried out mainly through the Evening Institute classes organized by the Education Department, and by private night schools. The Evening Institute provides for classes in commercial and technical subjects and in English, the course in Elementary English being extremely popular. Private night schools offer a wide choice of subjects, including foreign languages, economics, law and journalism, but the standard of teaching varies considerably. Adult classes aimed principally at the removal of illiteracy were organized in the New Territories.
Where technical education is concerned the Junior Technical School offers a general education in preparation for the work of the Technical College which gives full-time day courses in building, wireless telegraphy and mechanical engineering, and evening courses in building, engineering, surveying, shipbuilding, diesel fitting and wireless operating. Close contact is maintained with local employers and representatives of organized labour.
The Aberdeen Industrial School, subsidized by the Government, and the St. Louis Industrial School are both operated by the Salesian Society; the former, a residential school of 350 children, mainly orphans or children of poor parents, gives primary education and 5 years of trade training; the latter, with 986 students, offers special classes in printing and book-binding, has completed the building of a new wing, and plans to have both vernacular and Anglo-Chinese
52
courses. A number of private technical schools supply instruction in radio, electrical, telegraphic and automobile technology, but often their teaching standard is low and their equipment poor.
Teachers are given full-time training and refresher courses at the Northcote and Rural Training Colleges. Training lasts for two years, students are given a subsistence allowance, and no tuition fees are paid. 123 teachers in training are now at the Northcote, 48 at the Rural Training College, compared with 116 and 44 in 1949.
The Rural Training College, opened in 1946, continues to achieve. excellent work in the training of old and new teachers for village schools. Students live a full life, the curriculum including two hours' practical work each day in biology, animal husbandry, horticulture and farming, four hours of lectures and practical teaching, and one hour of supervized study. The College cooperative farm raises poultry, pigs, goats, cows and vegetables, and pays a 100% profit per annum. The service of college graduates is eagerly welcomed and several have started cooperative farms in their village schools. The College, however, has not yet found a permanent home.
Besides giving generous subsistence allowances for students at the training colleges, the Government provides scholarships to the University of Hong Kong where 39 students are entirely or partially maintained. One scholarship, tenable at any British or Common- wealth university, is awarded every three years. Scholarships for overseas universities are also provided under the Colonial Develop- ment and Welfare Act, by the British Council, and by the Federation of British Industries.
Although the year 1950 has witnessed many activities and considerable progress, the Colony is still faced with many educational problems, the majority of which can only be solved by increased expenditure.
In September, a scheme was put into action to register children between the ages of 5 and 12 who were without schooling. 21,906 children were registered, over 5,000 of whom have now been enrolled in special classes, and accommodation is ready for an additional 5,000. The number of children receiving schooling has increased from 117,000 at the end of 1948 to 162,000 in December 1950. The Government's ten-year plan for education envisages the opening of four or five new primary schools each year, a programme which will require the training of approximately 100 teachers annually for the first five years. Various difficulties, including the availability of suitable teachers, must be overcome before this programme can be fulfilled.
HEALTH
The Medical Department and the Urban Council are responsible for the health of the Colony.
The Urban Council is a corporate body consisting of a Chairman appointed by the Governor and ten members, four of whom are ex-officio representatives of Government departments intimately
53
concerned in matters of public health, and six unofficials who represent the various communities of the Colony. The Chairman of the Urban Council is also the administrative head of the Sanitary Department which has a staff numbering several thousands carrying out the Council's various statutory duties.
The Urban Council is the responsible authority for administering the public health laws governing sanitation, food inspection, food establishments and offensive trades within the urban district which comprises Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Kowloon.
The District Commissioner, New Territories, is responsible for administering the laws concerning the same subjects in the New Territories. He is advised by the Director of Medical and Health Services and assisted by health officers and inspectors.
The Medical Department, with a staff of approximately 2,636, is administered by a Director assisted by three deputies of whom the Deputy Director of Health Services is the professional adviser and vice-chairman of the Urban Council. This department is responsible for the medical care and treatment of the Colony's entire population; it consists of three main divisions dealing with hospitals, health and investigation.
The treatment of accidents, maternity, infectious diseases (in- cluding tuberculosis), mental and general cases is the responsibility of the hospital division and for this purpose 11 hospitals with a total of 1,750 beds are available. In addition 15 dispensaries, 3 polyclinics and 3 dental clinics are provided for the treatment of out-patients. The Tung Wah group of hospitals, the Nethersole Hospital and the Hong Kong Anti-Tuberculosis Association's Ruttonjee Sanatorium are also partly financed by the Government and these provide approx- imately 1,350 beds. In addition various private and charitable hospitals provide another 800 beds, making a total of 3,900 beds in the whole Colony.
Anti-epidemic measures such as port health control, vaccination. and inoculation are the responsibility of the health division. This division is also responsible for the care of expectant and parturient mothers and for the neo-natal care of infants, inspection and treatment of school children, malaria control, a tuberculosis service, public health education, prevention and treatment of social diseases and the registration of births and deaths.
The pathological laboratories, one on each side of the harbour, the clinical laboratory at Queen Mary Hospital, the chemical and bio-chemical laboratories and public mortuaries are the responsibility of the investigation division.
Health Inspection
For health administration the Colony is divided into six areas. A Health Officer assisted by a staff of health inspectors is responsible in each area for health and sanitation. Health inspectors under the control of health officers are also posted to special duties connected with control of hawkers, anti-epidemic measures, scavenging and squatters.
54
Squatters continued to be a grave public health responsibility. An increase in enteric fever during the year was closely related to the squatter problem, and efforts were made to establish a degree of sanitary control in these settlements.
General Health
There
The general health in the Colony has remained good. has been no serious nutritional disease. During the summer months there was an increase in the number of cases of typhoid fever which reached a maximum of 129 in July. There was a further increase in the number of births and deaths registered but the ratio of births to deaths remained much the same as last year-3.3 to 1.
Maternity Services
In view of growing public demand the Medical Department's maternity services have been extended. Private maternity homes increased from 102 to 114 during the year and this together with the maternity beds in Government and private hospitals increased the number of beds in the Colony from 733 to 880. Only trained midwives registered with the Midwives Board are permitted to practise, and their number has risen during the year from 803 to 861. All private maternity homes must register with the Medical Department and they are subject to inspection by the Supervisor of Midwives.
The maternal mortality figure for the year was 1.7 which is an improvement on the 1949 figure of 2.12.
Child Health
The infant mortality rate for the year was 99.6 which was 0.2 higher than that for 1949. Facilities for treating sick children are provided at 16 clinics throughout the Colony and the number of children attending increased from 136,526 in 1949 to 190,913 in 1950.
Communicable Diseases
For the fourth year in succession the Colony has been free from any major epidemic. There has, however, been a general increase in morbidity particularly in intestinal diseases. This can almost certainly be ascribed to dense overcrowding and particularly to insanitary congestion in squatter communities.
The chief killing communicable diseases in order of importance
were:
Diseases
Cases
Chinese Non-Chinese
Total
Deaths
Fatality rate
1. Tuberculosis
9,039
28
9,067
3,263
36.0%
2. Enteric fever
893
14
907
160
17.6%
3. Diphtheria
515
9
524
135
25.7%
4. Malaria
403
99
502
89
17.7%
5. Bacillary Dysentery
138
115
253
14
5.5%
6. Amoebiasis
104
73
177
10
5.7%
Pneumonia and enteritis however caused more deaths than tuberculosis and are the leading causes of mortality. These diseases
are not notifiable.
55
Nutrition
1
Deaths from beriberi have shown a remarkable drop from 7,229 in 1940 to 312 in 1947, 140 in 1948, 100 in 1949, and 39 in 1950. This improvement is probably due to the mixed diet which the mass of the population was forced to eat due to shortage of rice during and following the war and to the increased wages paid to the lower wage groups in recent years.
Vital Statistics
Year
Births
Deaths
1946
31,098
16,653
1947
42,473
13,231
1948
47,475
13,434
1949
54,774
16,287
1950
60,600
18,465
Infant Mortality
As for the previous year, the death of infants under one year of age formed almost exactly one third of deaths for all ages.
Year
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
Pre-Natal Mortality
Died under 1 year of age
2,770
4,346
4,324
5,444
6,037
Mortality rate
89.1
102.3
91.1
99.4
99.6
The pre-natal mortality rate was 22.2 per 1,000 live births which is the lowest figure since 1946.
Year
Stillbirths
Stillbirth rate
1946
685
21.6
1947
1,348
30.8
1948
1,251
25.7
1949
1,321
23.5
1950
1,343
22.2
Neo-Natal Mortality
The numbers of deaths of children under 4 weeks have been as follows:
1946
Number of deaths
1,001
1947 1,463 1,433
1948
1949
1950
1,609
1,819
Neo-natal mortality rate
32.2
34.4
30.2
29.4
30.0
Notifiable Diseases
((
(a) 'Convention Diseases":
During the year 1 case of smallpox was reported but there is reason to doubt the diagnosis.
No case of yellow fever, plague,
cholera, or epidemic typhus was reported.
56
1 (b) Enteric fever:
During the summer there was a sharp rise in the number of cases of this disease, incidence of which has been steadily rising since 1946.
Year
Cases
Deaths
Mortality rate
1946
221
115
50%
1947
246
61
25%
1948
311
69
22.2%
1949
408
89
21.8%
1950
907
160
17.6%
The rise during 1950 was definitely associated with areas either congested, frequented by illegal food-hawkers or with overworked, inadequate or absent sanitary services. 98.5% of the cases were Chinese. The disease in Hong Kong is particularly fatal to male adults in the second or third decade of life.
(c) Dysenteries:
Both amoebiasis and bacillary dysentery showed an increase over previous years, there being 177 cases of amoebiasis with 10 deaths, a fatality rate of 5.7%, and 253 cases of bacillary dysentery with 14 deaths, giving a fatality rate of 5.5%. An additional 5 cases were reported but not specified as either amoebic or bacillary. Non-Chinese showed a greater susceptibility than Chinese.
(d) Diphtheria:
In
In spite of continued prophylactic immunization offered at infant welfare centres and schools, incidence of this disease has markedly increased. There have been 524 cases with 135 deaths, giving a mortality rate of 25.7%, as against 261 cases with 75 deaths, a case fatality of 28.7%, in 1949 during which the incidence was nearly double that of 1948. The mortality rate is distressingly high and affects mainly infants in the second and third year of life. nearly all cases the children are taken in the first instance to a Chinese herbalist and by the time they reach hospital they are severely toxic or asphyxiated. There is no evidence however that the disease in Hong Kong is unduly grave. Cases treated promptly show a high recovery rate and if the parents could be persuaded to apply to the hospital earlier, many lives could be saved. the sufferers were Chinese.
(e) Cerebrospinal Meningitis:
98% of
The incidence of this disease which fell in 1949 for the second year in succession has slightly increased again and shows a slightly higher mortality. There have been 49 cases with 26 deaths, a case fatality of 53%, as compared with 36 cases and 16 deaths, a case fatality of 44.4%, in 1949. The peak incidence was in October when 10 cases were reported. The incidence of the disease, however, has fallen markedly in recent years.
In 1946, 293 cases were reported with 85 deaths and 566 cases in 1947 with 137 deaths. In Hong Kong the disease affects the Chinese population almost exclusively.
57
(f) Measles:
There have been 453 cases with 64 deaths giving a mortality rate of 14%. An interesting feature during the current year is that this disease and pertussis flared up unexpectedly in the summer and early autumn. No general epidemic developed, however, and the disease has not been quite so prevalent as in former years. 12.8% of the sufferers were non-Chinese.
(g) Pertussis:
There has been a marked rise in incidence in 1950, 306 cases with 16 deaths being recorded, giving a case fatality of 5.2%. The peak period occurred in October but was preceded by an unexpected increase during July, August, and September, the time of year when the disease is normally less prevalent. The percentage of non- Chinese children affected was also relatively high particularly amongst the families of members of the armed Forces.
(h) Rabies:
11
The sharp outbreak of 1949 continued during the first half of 1950 but was brought under control by the middle of the year. human cases and 10 animal cases occurred. Hong Kong Island has been entirely free of rabies since January 1948.
(i) Puerperal fever:
10 cases of this disease were reported with 6 deaths, giving a 60% case mortality. In all cases the mother was ignorant and living under poor hygienic conditions. As usual, modern medical care was sought too late.
(i) Tuberculosis:
This disease continued to be the major problem amongst notifiable diseases. 9,067 cases were reported with 3,263 deaths, giving a case mortality rate of 36%. The increasing figures year by year probably reflect a growing confidence in modern medical help rather than a true increase in incidence.
Year
Cases
Deaths
Mortality rate
1946
2,801
1,818
64.9%
1947
4,855
1,863
38.4%
1948
6,279
1,961
31.2%
1949
7,510
2,611
34.7%
1950
9,067
3,263
36.0%
(k) Infantile paralysis:
This disease was more serious during 1950 than in any former year on record. There were 16 cases with 3 deaths. The non-Chinese population, particularly young female adults fairly recently arrived, appeared to be disproportionately susceptible. There were five European cases, with 2 deaths, compared with 11 Chinese cases with one death. All the Chinese were child cases, whereas four of the European sufferers were between 26 and 30 years old.
58
Sewage
Removal of excremental wastes from the majority of buildings is carried out by the pan-conservancy system and many hundreds of workers are employed for this purpose. The pilot scheme mentioned in last year's Report whereby specially-designed sterilized pails with water-tight lids were to be used for shifting sewage was introduced during the year; it proved to be an improvement on the method previously used and is to be extended to other areas. Specially constructed barges are used to transport sewage from the urban areas to be dumped at sea a few miles west of Hong Kong Island. With the increase in the incidence of typhoid fever during the summer the precautionary measure was taken of stopping the organized distribution of raw nightsoil to New Territories farmers.
HOUSING
Due to the increase in population and the consequent serious overcrowding in the Colony, the provision of housing has been one of the most serious problems facing the Government during the year. The slight decrease in population during the second part of the year made little difference to the housing situation, although it was reflected in a slight lowering of rents in urban areas and less demands for key money.
At the end of the year several housing projects were receiving assistance and encouragement from the Government. These included a project to build 400 flats for small families at North Point financed by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation for the Hong Kong Model Housing Society, the directors of which include repre- sentatives of the Government and of leading charitable organizations. This will cost $3,500,000, exclusive of the site which is to be provided by the Government, and at the end of the year plans were well advanced. A two million dollar pilot scheme for the construction of small flats is likely to be implemented through the Hong Kong Housing Society which has made a request, through the Government, for assistance from Colonial Development and Welfare funds; this project also envisages the establishment of an Improvement Trust to supervise the extension of housing in the Colony. Other small privately-financed schemes are assisted by the Government by being allowed Crown leases on special low terms.
Over the last five years there has been a rapid increase in the numbers of blocks of modern apartments, some of them buildings of 7 storeys and over, ranging from apartments comparable in luxury with any in Britain and America to small family flats compact in size and with every modern convenience. Even on the Peak several large blocks have been constructed, some by commercial firms which have in some cases combined their resources to provide accommoda- tion for their employees, and some by the Government for housing civil servants and their families.
Where high-standard accommodation in houses and apartments is concerned there is little or no difference between accommodation used by Europeans and Chinese. In the rural parts of Hong Kong Island, on Victoria Peak and in the mainland suburban area of Kowloon Tong there are large numbers of houses and bungalows of first-rate construction.
59
In the older residential districts of Kowloon, the lower levels of the Peak immediately above the Central and Western districts of Victoria, and in the Causeway Bay area there are large old houses, many of which to-day accommodate entire Chinese families with their numerous dependants who in some cases use each floor, or sections of each floor, as separate apartments for their own immediate families. Similar arrangements are made by many of the older Portuguese families resident in Kowloon.
The most thickly-populated areas are those consisting of accom- modation of a lower standard, occupied almost entirely by Chinese; Wanchai, the Central and Western districts of Victoria, and a large part of Kowloon consist of row upon row of 4-storey buildings, the ground floors of which are usually shops, while the upper floors are dwellings, each floor consisting of one large room subdivided into cubicles of approximately 64 sq., ft., in which an entire family may live, using a communal kitchen and latrine shared by three or four families. In many of the older buildings of this kind, there are no washing facilities, and the inhabitants are dependent upon public conveniences and bath-houses. Many of the defects in this type of housing are due to lack of controlling legislation in the latter part of the last century, when many of these houses were built. Public Health & Buildings Ordinance, 1903, was the first governmental attempt at improving standards, but of course the standards of those times fell far short of what would be considered appropriate to-day. Control is now maintained under the Buildings Ordinance, 1935, which laid down certain improvements in the lighting and ventilation of old buildings and the provision of yards, scavenging lanes, latrines and bathrooms. Since this date buildings erected to accommodate the lower income groups have shown a great improvement, and with the advance in ideas about housing this improvement can be expected
to continue.
The
Many of the Chinese who have taken refuge in Hong Kong during the last two years have been unable to obtain accommodation of any sort, and as a result colonies of squatters' shacks have been constructed. Since many of these are built of wood, packing cases, corrugated iron and sacking and are constructed extremely close to one another the dangers of fire and disease are great. Efforts to keep the centre of the city free from squatters' huts have been successful, and special sites have been provided in certain localities where squatters may build for themselves at a low cost huts of a standard design. The problem, however, remains acute.
Rural Housing
In the New Territories there are few houses of European type, the largest groups of these being along the Castle Peak Road and on Cheung Chau. Housing for the main population in the New Territories market towns is similar to that of the urban areas, and in most of these towns there is similar congestion of population.
Housing in villages varies considerably. Some villages are surrounded by a wall and moat and still retain heavy gates at their one entrance. The bolting of these gates and the maintenance of the outer walls have, however, lapsed with the increase of security in this area since British administration began.
60
In these villages the dwellings are built in rows of a dozen or so with the front of one row facing the back of another. The streets between are usually not more than six to eight feet wide, and the drainage is primitive. Latrines are erected apart from the dwellings, and are similar, though inferior, to those still found attached to some rural cottages in the United Kingdom. The houses are for the most part kept in reasonable repair and the structural design is never altered. Furnishings consist usually of trestle beds, perhaps a table, and a few small stools.
A typical village dwelling consists of one ground floor room, entrance being made through the front door-there is no back door- into a partially roofed-over space, one side of which is reserved for cooking, and the other side for storage of dried grass, the principal fuel. An inner door gives entrance to the single room, the rear portion of which is screened off with wooden partitions for use as a bedroom. Over this rear portion, raised some 8 feet above floor level, is a wooden platform or gallery used for storage or for extra sleeping accommodation. The roofing consists of rafters and tiles with no room-ceiling or chimney. There are few windows.
Village houses which have passed from father to son are rarely sublet by the owner, who pays generally about 50 cents a year Crown rent. These houses are constructed of locally made blue brick or roughly cut granite blocks, a tiled roof and, in recent years, cement floors. The less permanent houses in the poorer villages are built of sundried mud-brick faced with plaster; these houses deteriorate after a few years, the owner again rebuilding in similar style.
Village populations vary considerably; a small single-family village may consist of only about 30 people, while in the larger villages the population may be 2,000 or more.
New Buildings and Repairs
During 1950, 575 plans involving the construction of 1,182 buildings were submitted to the Director of Public Works for approval. These included 25 factories, 3 hotels, 4 restaurants, 13 schools, 5 churches,. 3 amusement parks, 2 hospitals and 88 godowns and stores, the rest being private houses. There were also 2,824 plans covering rehabilitations, alterations and additions, mostly to domestic property, 196 site developments and a large number of plans covering minor constructions such as garages and temporary buildings.
A total of 939 new buildings and 253 miscellaneous non-domestic buildings was completed during the year.
Town Planning
The Report of Sir Patrick Abercrombie published in September 1949 was considered in detail by a departmental committee under the chairmanship of the Acting Director of Public Works.
61
SOCIAL WELFARE
Hong Kong has always been fortunate in the large number of local voluntary organizations which have interested themselves in practical and constructive social welfare work. Unfortunately their effectiveness has been limited in the past by lack of combined effort. Official direction and control could of course have changed this, at least on the surface, but only by dampening voluntary initiative and through the growth of a ponderous supervisory Social Welfare Office. Instead, Hong Kong's official and voluntary social welfare services continued throughout 1950 to make progress in achieving genuine coordination, particularly in the fields of community development, youth work, and emergency relief undertakings. The principal voluntary organizations which took the lead in this development were the Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association, the Children's Play- grounds Association, and over a dozen Kaifong Welfare Associations. Other outstanding events during 1950 included a wholesale revision of the law for the protection of children, new developments in connexion with juvenile delinquency, and the institution of diploma and certificate courses in social science in the University.
Kaifong Associations
Kaifong Associations are not new to Hong Kong. They have aimed in the past at representing the interests of established residents in fairly well-defined urban districts, but the standing and effectiveness of these associations varied considerably. During the last twenty years many of them were moribund. In 1949 there was a new development in the appearance and rapid growth of Kaifong Welfare Associations which set out to gear certain of the old kaifong traditions to specific social welfare work. In 1950 these new asso- ciations grew still more numerous, and between them sponsored or opened free schools, organized free medical services, raised new St. John Ambulance divisions, provided further recreational facilities or opportunities for young people, started domestic science classes, organized local fire-prevention services, improved local street-lighting, and made lively representations to the Government on these and other matters such as local water-supplies, hawkers, market facilities and squatters. They furthermore played a most important part in organizing relief and rehabilitation work for the victims of several large fires.
By the end of the year there were three approved Kaifong Welfare Associations established in urban Kowloon and two more were being formed. The whole of Victoria was divided between nine similar associations, including one long established at Tai Hang, and there were others at Aberdeen, Aplichau, Stanley and several other smaller settlements on the south side of Hong Kong Island. The Stanley Land and Sea Citizens Association was one of the most enterprising and effective of all of them; it has had an unbroken existence for over a hundred years. All these associations, new and old, constituted a creative minority which was actively interested in furthering the practical welfare of the people of their districts. Membership is generally open to any adult, irrespective of race, who lives or has his principal place of business in the district. practice the movement has so far been entirely Chinese.
62
In
The
Government Social Welfare Office did not set out to sponsor or create artificially any of these associations; its role was purely to encourage any spontaneous and sensible local movements for the formation of one, to act as a link between association and Govern- ment, and to provide technical advice on social welfare.
Youth Work
In Hong Kong early economic and social maturity is forced upon. the great majority of the community. Hence youth welfare work has mainly been carried out for boys and girls between the ages of nine and sixteen. This work was suffering two years ago from lack of money, staff, premises, coordination, and sufficient knowledge of the needs of Hong Kong's young persons.
The Government increased its subventions through the Social Welfare Office to voluntary youth organizations, and some increases were made in the Social Welfare Officer's vote for youth work. Help was also given in the same direction by the General Chinese Charities Fund and, in their own districts, by a number of Kaifong Welfare Associations.
The principal defect used to lie in the lack of trained leaders in every branch of youth work. During 1950 a specialist Principal Youth Welfare Officer was appointed to the Social Welfare Office. Her duties included the building of cooperation with voluntary organizations, organizing club leaders' courses, and the development of the Government's own twelve boys' and girls' clubs which in due course were affiliated to the voluntary Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association. In all there were 46 other clubs affiliated to or run by that Association which, with official help, this year sent its field secretary to the United Kingdom for an intensive two-year course in youth work. Towards the end of the year the Girl Guides Association, with the help of a Government grant, was able to invite the former Guide Commissioner for Scotland to visit Hong Kong with a view to overhauling and intensifying the training of Girl Guides here.
The opening of a War Memorial Welfare Centre in Wanchai provided accommodation for five new clubs and a headquarters for the Boys' & Girls' Clubs Association. Under the management of the Children's Playgrounds Association this Centre brought about an excellent degree of practical cooperation between the five different voluntary organizations which it houses, and several others which use it from time to time.
During 1950 the Standing Conference of Youth Organizations, of which the Social Welfare Office and Education Department are full members, worked out a comprehensive policy for official and voluntary youth work. This was still being considered by the Government when the year ended.
The reorganization and expansion of the Probation Service, together with other reforms in connexion with institutional or other treatment for the social rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents, were started at the end of the year with the arrival of a fully-qualified Principal Probation Officer. At about the same time an experienced lady social worker left Hong Kong for England for an intensive preparatory course in moral welfare.
63
Relief Work and Vulnerable Groups
Throughout 1950 there continued to be severe poverty and desperate overcrowding, but exceedingly few signs of economic distress so acute as to result in outright starvation. Non-residential work for the relief of distress was carried on by many charitable or social organizations. Most of the assistance given was in the form of foodstuffs, clothing, free schooling, free repatriation, or outright grants of money. The Social Welfare Office also issued one free meal a day to destitute Hong Kong adults who were incapable of work and to any destitute Hong Kong child. The daily average attendance for all six welfare centres was slightly under 2,000, of which over 60% were children. Cooperative laundering, basket- work, gardening and poultry ventures were organized for groups of these destitutes. Three residential camps were also administered by the Social Welfare Office. Of these the one at North Point is a public assistance institution, that at Morrison Hill an experiment in community living, and the third a temporary camp at Rennie's Mills for seven thousand refugees, mostly from North China.
Residential care for nearly 2,000 deprived children was provided by fifteen orphanages, most of which were subsidized by the Government. An experienced Children's Officer was sent to the United Kingdom for two years' intensive study of child welfare, with the help of a Colonial Development and Welfare scholarship.
There are three Old Persons' Homes run respectively by a Buddhist, a Protestant and a Roman Catholic agency as well as several voluntary and official agencies from which a large number of old persons can obtain regular assistance. The Roman Catholics and the Lutherans maintain homes for blind unmarried women and girls. The School for the Deaf had forty Cantonese children, who were taught in Cantonese under the guidance of an exceptionally qualified Principal. Five of these organizations were subsidized through the Social Welfare Office.
Squatters
LI
There were some 330,000 squatters in and around urban Hong Kong. Two years ago the total number was estimated at 30,000. Unfortunately during the first few months of the new Chinese Government's rule in Kwangtung there was a further influx of refugees into Hong Kong, where the population density was already over 2,000 per acre in certain districts. The urban areas were soon ringed with a cordon of 250,000 squatters, and this number continued to grow. Most of them were impoverished refugees who scraped a living as best they could by jobbing, hawking, and generally taking in each other's washing. The very mass of them created a huge demand for goods and services which they themselves largely supplied, not infrequently by illegal methods. The proportion of adults employable for regular work was frequently as low as 5% and never rose above 20%. The Government has a systematic programme for clearing squatters from all urban areas and re-settling deserving families on approved sites. The policy has been successful and the fire, health, crime and social hazards caused by thousands of wood or matting shacks in open spaces, on empty building sites
64
and even on rooftops, have been kept under control. During 1950 alone 17,060 huts were demolished obliging a total of 106,748 persons to find other accommodation or else return to China; a third of the demolitions were of huts which squatters had attempted to re-build on sites already cleared. There were no riots or other public disturbances in connexion with any of this work which is handled firmly and reasonably by the officials concerned. The whole situation was under detailed review at the end of 1950.
Fires
Inevitably there were a number of serious fires in squatter settlements. There were two striking features common to all of these fires. The first was that, provided no tenement houses were involved, it was exceedingly rare for anyone to be killed. The second was the astonishing way in which most of the victims, having survived the fires, looked after themselves. Both these characteristics were illustrated by the Kowloon City squatter fire which burned down the huts of over 20,000 people in January 1950 without a single confirmed death. In spite of this enormous number rendered homeless relief measures were never needed for more than 5,000 of the victims, and the maximum number for whom temporary accommodation had to be found was as low as 800. On the night of the fire only nine homeless persons were discovered; all the rest had found temporary accommodation on their own.
After this disastrous fire Kaifong Welfare Associations and certain other Chinese charitable and commercial organizations joined together to plan and carry through, in cooperation with the Govern- ment, a full-scale scheme for immediate relief and for long-term rehabilitation of the victims. The long-term plans included the development of a cheap rehousing scheme in a valley in Homantin and at Lo Fu Ngam. The schemes were successful. Moreover the Management Committee encouraged the growth of a genuine com- munity desire which manifested itself for self-help and the ensuring of decent physical and social standards. This resulted in a striking contrast between this new Homantin village settlement and the surrounding hillocks of squatters' huts which were infested with aimless or undesirable characters.
65
{
VIII.
LEGISLATION.
During 1950 thirty-seven Ordinances were enacted and certain provisions of the Emergency (Principal) Regulations, 1949, made under the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, 1922, were brought into force. The legislation of the year has, in the main, been of an amending character designed to meet the requirements of general law revision. That work, which started in 1948, has proceeded as expeditiously as circumstances have permitted, and it is expected that the revised edition of the laws of the Colony, to be styled the Revised Edition, 1950, will be completed and in force early in 1951. Important examples of legislation enacted in furtherance of this objective were the Law Revision (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinances (Ordinances 9 and 24 of 1950), which effected amendment respectively to 52 and 77 distinct Ordinances. Another measure having a similar purpose was the Law Reform (Penalties Amend- ment) Ordinance, 1950, which amended simultaneously eighty-five Ordinances enacted between the years 1865 and 1940 for the main purpose of increasing maximum money penalties which had become inadequate or inappropriate to modern conditions.
The Interpretation Ordinance, 1950, was also enacted to repeal and replace the Interpretation Ordinance, 1911, which had itself frequently been amended during the intervening forty years. The new Ordinance effected a consolidation while reflecting, in definitions, the constitutional changes which have taken place within the Empire, and the many changes in terminology and in interpretation of expressions which have occurred over that period.
Persistent incidence of rabies in the Colony called for a review of the legislation available to assist the control and prevention of this disease. The Dogs Ordinance, 1927, which was a short Ordin- ance giving rather limited power to make regulations, was con- sequently repealed and the Dogs and Cats Ordinance, 1950, enacted. This Ordinance extended the ambit of control to cats because they also are liable to rabies. The Ordinance also increased the power to make regulations and conferred powers of search upon police officers, officers of the Sanitary Department and certain other authorized officers in the event of suspected contravention of the Ordinance and regulations made under it.
In 1949 the deportation of aliens sent to prison for specified terms or for specified offences was, subject to safeguards, rendered automatic by an amendment to the Deportation of Aliens Ordinance,
66
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
During the year
plans were
approved for
the construction
of 1,182
new buildings-
-in the
erection of
which widely
differing
methods of
construction
are used.
Photos: Francis Wu.
ко
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
B
Photo: Gainsborough Studio.
A handsome addition to the waterfront buildings is the new Electra House, opened in November; it includes the new premises of Radio Hong Kong.
PUB
The most notable change
in down-town
Victoria
has been the construc-
tion during the latter
part of the year of new bank building
a
situated adjacent to the Hongkong and Shang- hai Banking Corpora- tion's head offices and designed by the same architect. This photo-
graph shows the progress
made on the new build-
ing at the end of the
year.
contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work. due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
Photo: M.D.A. Clinton.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
Presumably the
City refuse is being used to make this reclamation at Kunton g on the mainland side of the harbour.
will one day present a more cheerful appearance, like the typical Kowloon market scene below.
Photo: Gainsborough Studio.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
1935. The Deportation of Aliens (Amendment) Ordinance, 1950, widened the list of offences for which automatic deportation can take place upon conviction, failing proof that the convict is not an alien. Juveniles sentenced to detention for similar offences were brought within the purview of automatic deportation because ex- perience had clearly shown that a large number of juvenile offenders, who have no connexion with the Colony and whose good behaviour no person in the Colony can be found to guarantee, almost invariably : commit further offences if they remain in the Colony after release from detention. In so doing they acerbate the acute problem which is presented by juvenile delinquency in the Colony.
Changed circumstances in the Far East since the war were belatedly reflected in 1950 by legislation dealing with the composi- tion of the Supreme Court. The Full Court of the Colony is a Court In the constituted by two or more judges of the Supreme Court. Full Court Ordinance, 1933, provision existed, of practical value in the past, which enabled the services of judges of His Britannic Majesty's Supreme Court for China being secured so as to sit in membership of the Full Court. On the abolition of that Court an alternative arrangement had to be made. Agreement accordingly was reached with the Government of Singapore whereby it will be possible for the Chief Justice of Singapore to sit as a member of the Full Court of this Colony should it not be possible to constitute a Full Court without including a judge who has been concerned in a The Full Court case under appeal as a judge of first instance.
(Amendment) Ordinance, 1950, was accordingly enacted to give effect to that arrangement. A companion measure, the Supreme Court (Amendment) Ordinance, 1950, was also passed in furtherance of a reciprocal arrangement enabling the Chief Justice of Hong Kong to be a member of the Court of Appeal and Court of Criminal Appeal of Singapore.
In recent years reorganization of the legal departments within the public service of the Colony has been proceeding. Before the war there were, in addition to the Attorney General's Department, a Crown Solicitor's Department and a Land Office. In adddition there were a number of duties such as those of Registrar of Com- panies, which were performed either by the Registrar of the Supreme Court or by a Crown Counsel or Assistant Crown Solicitor specially appointed for the purpose. In 1949 the Registrar General's Estab- lishment Ordinance authorized the office of Registrar General (a newly-created office) to exercise the powers and duties of the Land Officer, the Registrar of Companies, the Registrar of Trade Marks and Designs, the Registrar of Patents, the Registrar of Marriages, Official Receiver in Bankruptcy and Official Trustee. In 1950 the Legal Officers Ordinance united as the Legal Department the Attorney General's and Crown Solicitor's departments, and included all the professional officers within the amalgamated departments in a comprehensive definition of "legal officer". Any legal officer as so defined, whether he be a barrister or solicitor, is now empowered by that Ordinance to perform functions of either barrister or solicitor because it has been found that it is neither practicable nor economical to maintain within the Government service the precise division between the functions of a solicitor and barrister which obtains in private practice in Hong Kong.
67
Not only was the composition of the Supreme Court and of the Legal Department affected by legislation in 1950, but the civil ser- vice as a whole was affected by the enactment of the Public Services Commission Ordinance, 1950. That Ordinance makes provision for the appointment of a Public Services Commission which, subject to reservations in respect of the Judiciary, certain senior offices and the Police Force, will advise the Government on the selection and appointment of candidates for public service in Hong Kong and on the promotion of officers serving.
The need for the enactment of legislation consequent on the war and the enemy occupation of the Colony showed in 1950 a marked decline. Nevertheless, it was necessary to enact legislation (the Volunteer and Naval Volunteer Pensions Ordinance, 1950) to validate payments by way of pensions or other benefits to members or dependants of volunteers who served during the war in defence of the Colony. Two Ordinances passed in 1933 provided for the making of regulations for the payment of pensions, gratuities and other awards to members of the Volunteers when called out should casualties result. In fact such provision by regulation had not been made when war broke out. Consequently at the end of hostilities it was necessary to meet claims of Volunteers and their dependants to pensions, gratuities and other awards which had arisen by reason of the active service of the Volunteers and on the terms applicable to members of His Majesty's Forces in the United Kingdom.
As a consequence also of enemy occupation or of the sale of surplus stores after the war, considerable quantities of both Government and Ser- vice stores passed into the hands of the general public. As a result, difficulty has been experienced in the post-war years in prevention and investigation of thefts of such stores by the lack of conclusive evidence identifying stolen property as being in fact Government or Services property. The Public Stores Ordinance, 1950, was therefore enacted to minimize the difficulty by giving protection to the employment of identifying marks and guarding by heavy penalty against their removal or defacement.
Continuance during 1950 of disturbed conditions throughout the world, and in the Far East in particular, necessarily had reper- cussions on the maintenance of law and order within the Colony. In reinforcement, it was considered necessary during 1950 to bring into force some thirty-three regulations of the Emergency (Principal) Regulations, 1949, enacted under the Emergency Regulations Ordin- ance, 1922.
Among the regulations in force, regulation 116A is of principal importance. That regulation provides for the death penalty upon conviction on indictment for the unlawful use or at- tempted use of firearms or explosive substances, whether or not injury to person or property is in fact caused, and for the unlawful possession of bombs, grenades or mines. It is permissible to believe that this measure has had a beneficial result in that the tendency, which had become most pronounced, to carry or employ arms in furtherance of crime had at the close of the year diminished.
68
IX.
JUSTICE, RECORDS, POLICE AND PRISONS.
The Supreme Court
The Supreme Court consisted throughout the year of the Chief Justice and two Puisne Judges. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction similar to that of His Majesty's Courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas and Exchequer in England, the Judges having the power to hear and determine criminal and civil cases before a jury and to deliver convicts to gaol. The Judges also have jurisdiction in Probate, Divorce, Admiralty and Bankruptcy. It is also a Court of Equity with jurisdiction similar to that of the Court of Chancery in England, and has the same authority as the Lord High Chancellor of England to appoint and control guardians of infants and their estates and keepers of persons of unsound mind who are unable to govern themselves and their estates.
The practice of the English Courts is in force in the Colony, except where, being inapplicable to local circumstances, it has been modified by Hong Kong legislation. The civil procedure of the courts was codified by the Code of Civil Procedure, Ordinance No. 3 of 1901, which modified and in some instances excluded provisions The laws of England as made in the English Rules of Practice. they existed in that country on 5th April 1843 are in force in the Colony except where such laws are inapplicable to local circumstances or have been subject to local legislative modification.
Until November 1950 all civil claims above the sum of $1,000 were heard in the Court's Original Jurisdiction as well as all miscellaneous proceedings concerning questions arising on estates, Civil claims from appointments of trustees and company matters. $5 up to and including $1,000 were heard in the Court's Summary Jurisdiction by the Puisne Judge as were all matters arising out of distraints for non-payment of rent. In November, however, an amending Ordinance came into force which raised the monetary limit of actions from $1,000 to $5,000.
Cases in the Probate, Divorce, Admiralty and Bankruptcy Jurisdictions of the Court are usually heard by the Chief Justice. Indictable offences are first heard before magistrates and are com- mitted to the criminal sessions which are held once a month; these cases are usually divided between three judges.
69
A right of appeal exists in all these cases. Appeals are heard by a Full Court consisting of two or more judges. Under the Magistrates Ordinance, 1932, as amended by Ordinance No. 19 of 1935, any person aggrieved may appeal to a judge from the decision of a magistrate. This form of appeal is heard by a single judge who may reserve the appeal or any point in it for consideration by the Full Court, or may direct the appeal or the point to be argued before the Full Court.
986 Original Jurisdiction actions were instituted in 1950, nearly three times as many as in 1947 and 1948 and considerably higher than the number of actions brought in 1949. The number of Summary Jurisdiction actions also increased to 562 as compared with 439 in 1949.
The Assizes were formally opened on the 18th January 1950. A service was held at St. John's Cathedral, at which members of both branches of the legal profession were present, as well as prominent citizens and the heads of the Services. After the church ceremony, an address was delivered in the first Court by the Chief Justice, Sir Leslie Gibson.
During the year, the work of the Court in its criminal jurisdiction more than doubled that of 1949. In 1949, there were 158 convictions at the Sessions, a notable decrease over the figures for previous years, but in 1950 the number swelled to 402. Robbery, in its various forms, continued to present the most serious problem especially those in which firearms were used to achieve success. Legislation was therefore passed during the year which now makes it an offence punishable with death to use firearms in robberies.
The Lower Courts
There are three magistrate's courts on the Island and three in Kowloon, The latter hear cases from the whole mainland area south of the Kowloon hills. There is also a Justices of the Peace Court composed of 2 unofficial Justices of the Peace sitting together, one of whom is a solicitor. This court, which first began functioning in 1948, has considerably lightened the work of the magistrates in the hearing of cases, no less than 13,698 having been taken by them during 1950.
Civil Jurisdiction in the New Territories is exercised by the District Commissioner and his District Officers, who have powers similar to those of the Supreme Court. Most of the litigation concerns land. The respective District Officers each sit three days a week, on alternate days, as Magistrates at Yuen Long and Taipo. They also hear debts cases.
The Hong Kong and Kowloon Magistracies dealt with 167,976 prosecutions in which there were 154,503 convictions. Of these 45,208 were convictions against juveniles. Juvenile delinquency is not however as serious as might appear from this, since no less than 30,000 of the juvenile convictions were in connexion with offences which may be described as being of a quasi-criminal nature such as hawking without a licence, and obstruction.
70
PUBLIC RECORDS
The Registrar General's Department which was established under the Registrar General (Establishment) Ordinance, 1949, and has its offices on the ground floor of the Supreme Court Building, incorporates the Land Office and Deeds Registry where the Colony's records of title to land are maintained, the Registry of Marriages, the Companies Registry, the Trade Marks and Patents Registry, and the Offices of the Official Receiver in Bankruptcy and the Official Trustee.
Land Office
The principal function of the Land Office is the registration of instruments affecting land. Legally, it is a registry of deeds, not of title, but due to the form in which the records have been main- tained over a long period, great reliance is in practice placed on the accuracy of the land Registers, as showing the devolution of title.
All land in private ownership is held under lease from the Crown. The terms vary considerably. Originally, the normal term of lease was 999 years, and much of the most valuable land in Victoria is held on such leases. Except in New Kowloon and the New Territories, the normal term nowadays is 75 years, renewable for a further 75. In New Kowloon and the New Territories the normal term is 75 years from 1st July 1898, renewable for a further 24 years less the last three days, this limitation being required because these areas are merely held on lease from China for a period of 99 years expiring on 30th June 1997. In the last century, many leases of lots in Kowloon were issued for non-renewable terms of 75 years, and the first leases of this type, 31 in number with terms commencing in 1875, expired in 1950.
The large influx of population has resulted in a strong demand for land and houses, and this in turn has brought about a great increase in Land Office work. The total of 6,716 instruments registered in 1950 is slightly less than the record total of 6,868 for the previous year. Some idea of the value of the property involved may be gathered from the fact that the total of the considerations. expressed in instruments registered in the financial year 1949-50 was over $284,000,000. From the beginning of 1950 there was a gradual trend towards lower property values, and in the later months of the year this developed into a fairly steep decline. As is to be expected in a commercial community such as Hong Kong a vast amount of money is borrowed on mortgages of land. These are mostly at high rates of interest, the usual rate for private mortgages being between $15 and $17 per $1,000 per month, i.e. between 18% and 20% per annum.
In addition to the registration of instruments affecting land, the Land Office issues Crown leases (173 in 1950), and deals with sales, exchanges, surrenders and resumption of land.
Marriage Registry
Marriage in the Colony is governed by the provisions of the Marriage Ordinance, 1875, which applies to all marriages solemnized here except non-Christian customary marriages. Under this Or-
71
dinance formal notice in writing must be given at the Registry in every case, the marriage then taking place on the authority of the certificate of the Registrar of Marriages after the lapse of a 15 days period of notice prescribed by law, or upon a special licence issued by the Governor. The marriage may be solemnized in any church or place of worship which is licensed for that purpose, by any competent minister of the church, denomination or body to which such place of worship belongs, or it may take place as marriage in the Registry.
a civil
In recent years there has been increased appreciation amongst all classes of the Chinese community of the advantages of a properly recorded marriage celebrated in accordance with the formalities. prescribed by the Marriage Ordinance, and though the total of 2,022 marriages registered during the year shows some decrease as com- pared with the figure for the previous year, the proportion of Chinese marriages still remains very high, 1,733 of this total being between persons of Chinese race, of which 1,468 took place at the Registry and the remaining 265 in licensed places of worship. In the case of the marriage of Chinese, festival periods and other propitious dates according to the Chinese calendar feature as an important element in the selection of the day for the actual ceremony, and this of course results in considerable fluctuation in the number of marriages celebrated in the Colony from day to day, as many as 20 to 25 marriages being sometimes recorded in the Registry in one day.
Marriages of Chinese taking place at the Registry being often the prelude to more elaborate ceremonies prescribed by custom, a variety of ceremonial dress is often in evidence there, full European formal dress being adopted in some cases whilst others follow the colourful Chinese traditional style, the bride and women relatives being attired in elaborate gowns of red and black heavily embroidered in gold and silver, gold ornaments being worn in profusion.
Companies, Trade Marks and Patents
The Companies (Reconstruction of Records) Ordinance, 1947, makes provision for the reconstruction of the records of the Com- panies Office all of which were lost as a result of the war. About 500 companies have complied or were in the course of complying during the year with the provisions of this Ordinance.
1,364 new trade marks were registered during 1950, and 354 pre-war trade marks were re-registered pursuant to the provisions of the Trade Marks Register (Reconstruction) Ordinance, 1947, the total number of trade marks on the register at the end of the year being 6,656.
POLICE
The Hong Kong Police is probably unique in having to deal with an oversized population by far the greater part of which was until 1949 permitted to have free entry and egress at all points in the Colony; at the same time the amount of local manpower available for recruitment has always been limited. For this reason Cantonese
72
are recruited whose homes are not necessarily in the Colony, and reliance is also placed on recruiting men from Shantung Province · in North China, the principal reason for this being their superior physique. With a land frontier and a long and difficult coastal frontier including many islands, and with thousands of refugees living on a low margin of existence, the satisfactory state of law and order maintained and the high degree of prevention and detec- tion of crime reflect the greatest credit on the Police Force.
It has been calculated that for only one week during 1950 were the Police free from a state of extraordinary precautions or opera- tions. The upheavals caused by civil war and change of government in China brought to Hong Kong as a place of refuge a large number of unscrupulous men supplied with arms and well versed in their use. The change of government also created frontier problems, amongst which was the gradual disintegration of cooperation between the Chinese and British Police on duty at the frontier. This in its turn made the apprehension of criminals more difficult.
At the end of the year the Police Force strength was 4,164, consisting of 38 gazetted officers, an inspectorate of 386, of whom 238 were expatriates, 510 Shantung police, and 3,228 rank and file, the majority of whom were Cantonese but included a small number of Eurasians and 115 Indians. The Force was relieved of all but strictly police duties by a civilian staff of 768.
The Force consists of a headquarters, and two main branches, one the Uniformed Branch and the other dealing with criminal investigation. The Uniformed Branch operates throughout the Colony which is divided for police purposes into two territorial districts, subdivided into seven divisions. This branch also deals with traffic, communications and marine police work. In addition, there are certain task forces, such as emergency units, waterfront searching units, a Railway Police unit, a hawker squad and village penetration patrols.
The Marine Police has a fleet of 23 vessels ranging from ocean- going tugs to motor-boats, all fitted with radio telephone; close cooperation was maintained during the year with the Royal Navy.
The C.I.D. consists of the Detective Branch and the Special Branch, the former dealing with identifications, records and statistics, forensic laboratory work, commercial crime, corruption and homicide, the Special Branch being responsible for the prevention and detection of all activities subversive to peace and good order, as well as operating the Immigration Department and the Registry of Aliens and approved Societies.
Training and Education
All ranks on engagement undergo a period of training at the Police Training School, six months in the case of locally-recruited inspectorate and three months in the case of the rank and file. The syllabus includes law and police duties, first aid, drill and weapon training, including the use of tear smoke. Concentrated refresher courses are held for n.c.o.'s and there is a special course of training for Marine Police including signalling and seamanship. A total of 853 men passed out of the School during the year.
73
-
Literacy is a condition of recruitment into the Police Force, and a knowledge of Cantonese is compulsory for European and other non-Chinese members. Chinese members of the Force are taught basic English at the Training School, so that all recruits in passing out of the School have acquired at least some knowledge of English.
Traffic
The number of vehicles on the roads increased during the year from 14,551 to 16,028, excluding Service vehicles. Traffic problems have been aggravated by this increase and by the lack of adequate parking spaces, but one great improvement during the year was the creation of a silent zone in the centre of Victoria, in which no automobile is permitted to sound its claxon at any time of the day or night. Despite scepticism, this innovation was a great success, and was in fact an impressive display of public discipline and response in a city as congested as Hong Kong.
The number of accidents recorded, not unnaturally in the cir cumstances, has increased:-
Fatal accidents
1
1948
1949
1950
97
119
128
Serious accidents
474
611
601
Slight accidents -
1,945
2,780
2,961
Developments
Innovations included the recruitment of the first woman inspec- tor, the appointment of the first Police surgeon with expert forensic training, and the opening of a Police Laboratory.
Other innovations included the mechanization of C.I.D. and traffic statistics, installation of a single finger-print index and a technically-equipped ballistics bureau, the institution of breeding and training of police dogs, the design and procurement of four armoured cars, and the completion of a very full system of communications.
Crime
The total number of reports of all kinds recorded by the Police was 264,204 compared with 197,443 in 1949. Of the 1950 total, no fewer than 102,245 disclosed no offence after investigation, leaving 161,959 recorded offences, of which 12,462 were serious reports, as against 9,331 the year before, and 149,497 were miscellaneous offences as against 110,159.
The holding down of serious crime to this figure was only affected by tremendous efforts in preventive work. The detection in serious reports prosecuted and cleared rose from 3,864 to 5,574 raising the rate of detection from 41.46 to 44.72 which is the highest for the last five years.
PRISONS
During the year 20,090 persons (18,098 males, 1,992 females) were committed to the prisons of the Colony, as compared with '21,456 (18,253 males, 3,203 females) during 1949. Of this number
74
17,349 (15,740 males and 1,609 females) were sentenced to serve terms of imprisonment, of which 8,750 in respect of males and 1,006 in respect of females were for periods of under a month. In addition, 63 boys were admitted to the Reformatory as compared with 29 during 1949. The daily average population was 2,964 (2,738 males, 163 females and 63 reformatory boys). The approved accommodation is for a total of 2,341 persons.
The Prison buildings of the Colony consist of three main groups a prison for male offenders at Stanley with accommodation for 1,578 prisoners, the Victoria Prison with accommodation for 416 prisoners now used for remands, debtors, deportees and very short sentence prisoners, and a prison for women at Lai Chi Kok on the mainland with accommodation for 272 prisoners. There is also a Reformatory (Approved School) for boys under 16, with accommoda- tion for 75, which is at present under the control of the Commissioner of Prisons.
Stanley Prison, erected in 1937, is situated in rural surroundings and consists of a number of fine buildings so set out as to give a sense of space and light unusual in a penal institution. The emphasis in the post-war years has been on industrial training for long-term prisoners and manual labour for short-term prisoners. The growth of prison industries has been remarkable, and the production of good quality work continues to increase. The use of short-term prisoners on reclamation work has been successful, and the knowledge that a hard daily task awaits him is the best deterrent for the idler and loafer on the streets who might otherwise regard prison as a refuge.
All young persons (14-16) together with a selected group of boys over the age of 16 who have been committed to prison are removed from contact with adult offenders by taking them out of the prison early in the morning to work in huts outside the prison area. There are educational classes and instruction in simple trades. It is hoped in the near future to set up this training centre as a separate entity and to provide the Courts with an alternative to imprisonment for boys in their 'teens.
Victoria Prison was closed and abandoned when Stanley was opened in 1937, but it was soon realised that the herding of all prisoners, convicted and unconvicted, into Stanley was a mistake. Portions of the old gaol were therefore reopened in 1939, and the population has since steadily grown.
The Reformatory, which is the Colony's only "open" institution of this kind, is housed in buildings intended originally as food storage huts.
The huts are large, airy, somewhat bare and spartan and admirably suited for their purpose. They are situated in one of the healthiest spots in Hong Kong, on the slopes of Maryknoll overlooking Tai Tam Bay on one side and Stanley Bay on the other. A maximum of 100 boys can be accommodated, but the average population is in the neighbourhood of 70. There is a competent staff of schoolmasters and trade instructors. The boys are divided into progressive grades, but the community is treated as a whole and no attempt is made to impose the barriers of the "house" system. The happy and creative atmosphere of this camp has been the
75
subject of favourable comment by Visiting Justices and other members of the public, among whom the Reformatory has many friends.
Lai Chi Kok Female Prison is situated on the Kowloon water- front, directly below the Lai Chi Kok Hospital. The staff is entirely a local one, the only Europeans visiting the prison being senior officers on regular inspections. Discipline is strict, as is proper, but there is no severity nor is it required. The women are on the whole quiet, industrious and well-behaved. There are 24 cells, but the larger part of the accommodation is of dormitory type. There is instruction in domestic science and in suitable minor trades, including open-air work in the gardens.
During the year the standard of discipline among the prisoners has been very satisfactory and there has been no serious incident in any prison.
香港公共
NG KONG PUS
76
X.
PUBLIC UTILITIES.
Waterworks
The supply of water to the Colony is undertaken by the Public Works Department of the Government.
As there are no large rivers or underground sources of water in the Colony the population is entirely dependent for its water supply on rainwater falling from the Colony's many uplands into thirteen impounding reservoirs, which are usually filled during the summer when the south-west monsoon blows. As the rainfall for the rest of the year is low the storage necessary to provide water throughout the year for Hong Kong's large population is relatively heavy, the total capacity of the reservoirs being 5,970 million gallons. Of this amount only 2,362 million gallons can be stored on the Island, the remainder being held in the mainland area of the New Territories, chiefly in the Jubilee Reservoir at Shing Mun, which can contain 2,921 million gallons and is the largest reservoir in the Colony, its 275 foot dam being one of the tallest in the Empire. In addition to these works, there are 35 miles of catchwater channels running along the mid-levels of various hillsides to divert rainwater from its natural channels of fall into one or other of the reservoirs.
Slightly over 35% of the Island's consumption is supplied from the mainland reservoirs, the water being conveyed across the harbour in two 21" diameter submarine pipes. On account of the hilly nature of the Island a large proportion of the water has to be pumped and in some areas re-pumped, necessitating a number of pumps and service reservoirs. Most of the water supplied is both filtered and sterilized by chemical treatment and a satisfactory standard of purity is maintained. All water is supplied to consumers through meters, with a charge based on the total cost of provision including capital costs. Restrictions on the hours of supply have to be imposed during the greater part of the year to keep consumption within the available resources. The average daily consumption for the year was 33.65 million gallons; peak consumption reached 42.83 million gallons.
Electricity
Electricity on the Island of Hong Kong is supplied by the Hong Kong Electric Co., Ltd. The amount of electricity generated by this company in 1950 increased by 22% over the previous year's
77
output. This is due to the rise in population and the resultant large-scale building projects. The peak load has risen from 29,000 k.w. to 36,600 k.w. The supply is distributed at 6,600 volts, 3 phase, 50 cycles and 346/200 volts, 3 phase, 4 wire, 50 cycles.
The company's expansion programme has been held up by delays in shipment of plant, but during the year one 75,000/93,750 lb./hr. high pressure boiler was put into commission, the total steaming capacity now being 575,000 lb./hr.
The number of consumers at the end of the year was 53,474, an increase of 4,669 over the previous year. A total of 137,654,067 units was sold by the company during 1950, an increase of 28,404,259 over 1949.
Electricity in Kowloon and the New Territories is supplied by the China Light and Power Co., Ltd. The demand for electricity in the mainland part of the Colony has continued to increase especially for industrial use, and in the past year no less than 367 new factories were connected to the company's mains. Domestic consumption of current has also increased. Street lighting is now far ahead of the pre-war standard of lighting and improvements are still being made. Large-scale building operations during the past two years considerably increased the demands for electricity.
The total generating capacity of the power station continues to be 50,500 k.w. and the boiler plant capacity has been increased to 665,000 lbs. per hour.
Gas
Gas is supplied on both sides of the harbour by the Hong Kong and China Gas Co., Ltd., which was first established in the Colony in 1861. Work carried out on the plants in Hong Kong and Kowloon during the year has practically brought both works up to pre-war standard. Considerable progress has also been made in regard to enlarging and cleaning mains. The demand for gas is still increasing, the total output for 1950 being 25.75% above 1949.
Tramways
The electric tramway service is operated by Hong Kong Tram- ways Ltd.
The track extends from Kennedy Town to Shaukiwan passing through the city of Victoria. There is in addition a branch line which passes round the Race Course in Happy Valley. The tramcars are of the double-deck, single staircase type intended for single-ended working, the termini having turning circles. The gauge is 3′ 6′′ and the operating voltage is 500 volts direct current.
A daily service of 110 cars is operated, providing a car every two minutes or less in each direction. Through the city area in the centre of the system the minimum service provided is a car every forty seconds in each direction.
The Peak Tramway was opened for traffic in May 1888 and was then known as the Hong Kong High Level Tramway. With the lower terminus situated at the lower portion of Garden Road and
78
the Peak terminus at Victoria Gap, this means of transport has provided almost without interruption for over sixty years a reliable funicular service. Until motor roads were opened in 1924 it was the only means of transport to the Peak. The cars are operated by a modern electric haulage plant and incorporate safety features which make it possible for a car to come to a halt within eight feet on the steepest gradient of the track.
Traffic figures have for the second year in succession numbered over a million.
Bus Services
Bus services on the Island are maintained by the China Motor Bus Co., Ltd. operating a fleet of 144 vehicles. Total mileage run by buses on the Island was approximately 5.3 million and passengers carried were about 43.6 million.
Considerable improvement was made in the services operated by the Kowloon Motor Bus Co., Ltd., which operates the service in Kowloon and the mainland part of the New Territories.
The company's buses covered 13 million miles during the year compared with 11 million in 1949. The number of passengers carried in 1950, apart from season ticket holders, was 1234 million in comparison with 90 million in 1949 and 561 million in 1948. During the year the company added 59 buses to its fleet, including 49 double-decker buses. The bus fleet total was brought up to 250, as against 191 in 1949. Such has been the demand for transport on the mainland that the company has placed an order for thirty new double-decker and twenty single-decker buses for delivery early in
1951.
Ferries
The "Star" Ferry Co., Ltd., operates a passenger ferry service across the narrowest part of the harbour, a distance of approximately one mile, from a point in the centre of Victoria to Tsim Sha Tsui at the southern extremity of Kowloon peninsula. Six vessels are in service, and operate daily for 19 hours. A five-minute service is maintained during the day and a regular service is maintained till well past midnight. Approximately 37 million passengers were carried in 136,000 crossings during the year, as compared with 35 million passengers transported in 120,000 crossings in 1949, the average daily load being 105,000.
The Hong Kong and Yaumati Ferry Co., Ltd., with a fleet of over 30 modern vessels, operates a vehicular ferry service across the harbour, four cross-harbour passenger services, and three services to outlying islands and districts of the New Territories. During 1950 the company opened a new passenger ferry service between Shamshuipo and Wilmer Street in the western district of Victoria. Over 1,700,000 passengers were carried on this new service during its first three months. During its first year's operation the service between Wanchai and Tonnochy Road, opened in 1949, carried over 11 million passengers.
4
79
The first of three new steel diesel-driven combined vehicle and passenger ferry vessels of a completely different design from those used hitherto entered service in October. From December the vehicular ferry has been operating on a 9-minute service. During the year 65 million passengers and over 818,000 vehicles were carried, compared with 42 million and 680,000 respectively in 1949.
1
The Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock Co., Ltd. was at the end of the year completing the second of the new vehicular ferry vessels and expected to have the third ready for service by April 1951.
The Cheung Chau service has been further increased to 11 sailings per day on Sundays and holidays to cope with the traffic out to this attractive fishing centre with its fine bathing beaches. The service to Silver Mine Bay has also been increased to cope with the thousands of holidaymakers visiting its justly popular swimming beach, and two additional sailings are contemplated on the service on Sundays and holidays during the summer of 1951. These improved transport facilities are of considerable value to New Territories people. Throughout the year. increasing numbers of hikers have visited the Buddhist monastery at Ngong Ping between Tai O and Tung Chung and large numbers of people have used the ferry service to enable them to spend their holidays walking along the numerous hill tracks and paths on Lantao Island.
80
"
:
XI.
COMMUNICATIONS AND BROADCASTING.
Marine
The Colony possesses one of the most magnificent harbours in the world, having an area of some 17 square miles. It is surrounded by granite hills which rise to between two and three thousand feet and provide scenery reminiscent of the Western Highlands of Scotland. Its port facilities and handling rate are fully comparable with other first class ports of the world; vessels drawing up to 34 feet can enter by the eastern entrance and up to 24 feet by the western entrance.
During the year ending 31st March 1950 63,287 vessels of 27,350,520 net tons entered and cleared. This was a decrease of 3,528 vessels compared with the previous year but an increase of 4,310,394 net tons, and is explained by the fact that although there was an increase in ocean-going and river steamers there was a large decrease in junk traffic, due to the disturbed conditions in China with the attendant restriction on the free movement of goods. Of the total number of vessels which entered and cleared 35,248, of 26,396,355 net tons, were engaged in international trade and 28,039, of 954,165 net tons, were junks and launches engaged in local trade.
2,060,920 passengers landed or embarked during the year, which was 2,476 less than the previous year. Of these, approximately one half of the total were from international trade vessels and one half. from local trade.
The port is well equipped with aids to navigation and all lights have now been re-established. New modern electrical equipment providing a light visible from 21 miles together with a powerful diaphone fog signal has now been installed at Waglan Island, a powerful electric oscillator fog signal at Tathong Point, and an electric light at Green Island.
An experimental radar reflector beacon is fitted to the Lyemun turning lightbuoy and provision is being made to fit a radar reflector beacon on Tai Long Pai in Tathong Channel.
On the Kowloon side of the harbour there are 12 deep water berths with draughts up to 32 feet and adjoining godowns with a storage capacity of over 770.000 tons. The godowns are fitted with modern electric cranes and lifts.
81
On the island of Hong Kong there is a deep water berth 1,223 feet in length capable of accommodating vessels with up to 30 feet draught. Storage space for 20,000 tons measurement is available at this berth with 110,000 tons storage space in other godowns operated by the same company.
Government maintains for public hire 46 moorings, 17 "A" Class moorings suitable for vessels up to 600 feet in length and 29 "B" Class for vessels up to 450 feet in length. Of the "A" Class moorings seven are special typhoon moorings.
In addition to the signal station on Waglan Island covering the eastern approaches to the port, three harbour signal stations provide 24-hours ship-shore visual signals communications covering all the anchorages in the harbour and the western entrance.
The signal stations at Waglan and Green Island are fitted with radio telephone which enables first information on all ships sighted to be passed to the marine control tower for the Port authorities, owners and agents.
A recent survey of the shipbuilding, ship-repairing and marine engineering establishments in the Colony showed that there were some 207 different concerns engaged in this work.
These range from small privately-owned boatyards constructing junks and smaller fishing craft to large well-equipped modern establishments capable of constructing vessels up to 500 feet in length and undertaking all types of major overhaul repair including docking on vessels up to 700 feet in length.
The shipbuilding, ship repair and marine engineering establish- ments in the Colony have now been re-equipped and modernized and are well able to undertake major overhauls and repairs of all types, including the dry docking of vessels up to 750 feet in length, 88 foot beam with a maximum draught not exceeding 33 feet. Altogether there are seven graving docks and 6 patent slipways capable of handling vessels of 300 feet in length and upwards, and a large number of slipways for handling smaller vessels.
Regular communications by sea are available to most parts of the world. There are 21 shipping companies operating weekly. fortnightly or monthly services to the East and West coast ports of North America, and 8 companies with weekly or fortnightly services to China coast ports; fortnightly or weekly services are maintained by 19 companies to Japan, 9 to the Philippines, 4 to Australia, 5 to the United Kingdom, and 8 to other ports in Europe.
Civil Aviation
The airport of Hong Kong is at Kai Tak on the north shore of Kowloon Bay and only 15 minutes' drive from the hotel at the southern point of Kowloon peninsula where most of the airlines. have their booking offices and where many transit passengers stay. During the year much work has been done to improve the airfield and with the resurfacing and lengthening of the runways it is capable of taking aircraft such as the Canadair, Constellation and Douglas DC-6. The adjacent marine base is admirably suitable for flying boats but there are at present no scheduled services using this type of aircraft.
82
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
The largest ship launched during the year was the "Anshun
built by the Taikoo Dockyard and Engineering Company.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
""
Photos: Taikoo Docks.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please
contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
-
Merchandise arriving in Kowloon from overseas, or from China up through the Shatin valley-
KONG PU
IC LIBR
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
KIT
HON
Photos: Francis Wu.
-is brought over to Hong Kong island and finally reaches the shopping centre.
UB
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
香港
HONG KO
contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work. due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
!
1
1
ЛЕ
ד
The P. and O. liner Chusan, which made her maiden voyage in the autumn, is now the largest liner calling regularly at Hong Kong.
Photo: P. & O. S.N. Co., Ltd.
MES
The cessation of air communication with the China mainland had a marked effect on traffic figures and the number of passengers using the airport fell to one quarter of that of the previous year. The total was 32,000 arriving and 42,000 departing. To carry this traffic 440 aircraft on international flights arrived or departed each month. In addition there was much local flying and 200 movements a day were not unusual.
Two Hong Kong companies are at present operating_airlines, Hong Kong Airways which has regular flights to Japan via Formosa, and Cathay Pacific Airways which has extended its services to include flights to Singapore, Thailand, Burma, Indo-China, the Philippines and North Borneo. B.O.A.C. have five flights a week to the United Kingdom, the journey to London taking 45 hours, and in addition international services are run by Canadian, Australian, American, French, Norwegian, Philippine and two Thai airline companies. There are also three Hong Kong registered companies which have aircraft available for charter and several foreign com- panies which use the airport for non-scheduled flights, one of which has a frequent service to Formosa.
The Department of Civil Aviation administers the airport including air traffic control, telecommunications and safety services. The airport charges remained at the same level as in previous years and compare favourably with those of neighbouring territories. The revenue from aircraft landing and accommodation fees fell from over one million dollars in 1949 to half that sum in 1950. An Air Advisory Board considers matters of policy relating to civil aviation, and regional air routes are licensed by the Air Transport Licensing Authority. New legislation and regulations were introduced and a new system of aircrew licensing came into effect on 1st December. An important technical advance in communication between the airport and aircraft in flight was achieved by the installation of high frequency radio telephony which in due course may take the place of telegraphic communication.
Hong Kong remains an important centre for the maintenance and overhaul of aircraft and the two major engineering companies this year amalgamated into one known as the Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company, Limited. Among their customers are Indian, Pakistani, Burmese, Chinese, French and Indonesian aircraft owners in addition to the regular airlines. Other activities which have continued are the training of pilots and aeronautical engineers.
There was no accident within the Colony which caused injury to any passenger and no Hong Kong registered air transport aircraft met with any accident.
A survey of a site for a new airfield on the south shore of Deep Bay was completed and proved that a major airport conforming to international standards could be built.
Meteorological Services
The Royal Observatory was founded in 1883, primarily with the object of providing typhoon warnings for the Colony; this is still its most important function. Storm warning bulletins are distributed
83
by radio to shipping and aircraft whenever a tropical cyclone is located in the northern part of the China Sea or off the China coast. When the Colony itself is threatened by a typhoon, the local storm warning system is brought into use, and local warnings are distributed as widely as possible by means of visual signals, radio, telephone, and Rediffusion. During the year the international strong wind warning was added to the signal code, with the object of warning small craft of the onset of strong winds unconnected with typhoons.
The Observatory also provides all meteorological services for the general public, merchant shipping, civil aviation and the armed forces. The main forecasting office and aviation weather centre is located at Kai Tak airport, and is linked to the Observatory by teleprinter and telephone. As a great seaport and airport, Hong Kong is responsible for providing weather information and forecasts to ships and aircraft over a wide area around the Colony; most encouraging cooperation is shown by the crews of ships at sea and aircraft in flight who voluntarily transmit weather reports to the Observatory.
Weather forecasting is a task of considerable difficulty owing to the absence of weather information from the mainland of China and the scarcity of upper air observations over most of the Far East. Daily Radio-sonde observations, for determining the atmospheric conditions up to great heights in any weather, were carried out at the Observatory throughout the year, but until more extensive upper air information is available from the surrounding region the weather forecasts and storm warnings cannot be expected to be consistently accurate.
Equipment for providing a local time service was re-installed and brought into use during the year.
The Railway
Kowloon is the southern terminal of a railway system extending to Hankow and Shanghai with connexions from these cities to North China. The British Section of the line, which is owned by the Hong Kong Government, is operated between Kowloon and the frontier, a distance of 36 kilometres. Formerly through services were operated to Canton and points further north, but since October 14th 1949 when the Central People's Government took over the administration of Canton, through train services have been sus- pended. Since that date, all passengers have been obliged to change trains while a considerable proportion of goods traffic has been transhipped at the frontier. During the latter half of 1950, there was an improvement so far as goods traffic was concerned, wagon loads being permitted to operate through to Chinese territory without transhipment.
The total revenue for the year amounted to $10,550,499, operating expenditure being $3,812,422, leaving a net operating revenue of $6,738,077. Both gross and net revenue were the highest in the history of the line. Capital expenditure amounted to approximately $6,689,080. This expenditure was incurred in the provision of new rolling-stock and equipment, the principal items being 105 45-ton
84
covered wagons, a weigh-bridge and numerous new machines which arrived in the course of the year. Passengers carried numbered 6,254,358, an increase of 1,506,612 over 1949, while goods tonnage amounted to 342,963 tons, an increase of 299,666 tons.
The reasons for the large expansion in traffic were the partial blockade of the China coast by the Nationalists and the various difficulties experienced by shipping companies operating on the Pearl River in their negotiations with the Provincial Government in Canton. These difficulties resulted in the railway becoming the principal means of communication with not only Kwangtung but areas further north. Other important and contributory causes were a growth in the population of the Colony due to unsettled conditions in China, and extensive buying and selling of raw materials, both imports and exports, in the Colony by Chinese Government trading organiza- tions.
At the close of the year, the average number of trains per day over the British Section was 30 with special trains at week-ends. More coaches are urgently required and 22 are on order, but delivery cannot be completed until 1952. In the meanwhile, the lack of adequate passenger accommodation gives serious cause for concern as trains are very overcrowded and on occasion passengers have to be turned away. The position regarding goods wagons has greatly improved and when the balance of wagons of various types on order is received, there should be sufficient to deal with normal traffic requirements.
The rehabilitation of the railway workshops which suffered heavily by looting and damage during the war has almost been completed. Most of the new machinery and equipment ordered since the war had arrived and been installed by the end of the year, and the shops are now capable of carrying out all normal maintenance repairs required by the Railway and any additional work for other Government departments which may be required.
Other rehabilitation, such as arrears of maintenance of stations, buildings and bridges as a result of the war years, was completed during the year. Progress on the re-railing of the permanent way was however delayed owing to inability to obtain sleepers, but some 19,000 were eventually obtained from Thailand in the autumn.
Roads
There are approximately 426 miles of roads in the Colony, 181 miles being on the Island, 107 miles in Kowloon and 138 miles in the New Territories. About 90% of these roads are of modern metalled construction. The building and maintenance of roads are carried out by the Public Works Department and are subject to unusual topographical and climatic difficulties. Most of the Colony is hilly and the construction of a new road usually involves consider- able blasting operations, although fortunately the rock thus blasted is suitable for use as road metal. Heavy rain in the summer months generally causes damage to any road surface falling short of a high standard of maintenance, and a sum of $193,000 was spent in 1950 repairing damage of this kind.
85
Crushed stone is produced at two Government quarries and tarmacadam at a third. During the year the tarmacadam plant was converted to electrical operation resulting in a 30% increase of production. The reconstruction of sections of the main streets in the centre of the city was completed and the resurfacing of side streets continued. Queen's Road Central, between Pedder Street and Ice House Street, was raised to new levels and reconstructed in vibrated unreinforced concrete. In Kowloon the major reconstruction of bus routes was continued and an extensive programme of street repairs in residential districts completed. The number still remaining to be reconstructed is considerable, particularly in the Shamshuipo and Tai Kok Tsui districts.
The Lam Tsuen valley road, begun in 1949, was completed during the year and provides a direct link between Taipo and Kam Tin, via Sek Kong. Another new road through the hills from Sek Kong to Fanling was well advanced at the end of the year and work had started on a third from Tsun Wan to Sek Kong. When this network is completed communications in the New Territories will be greatly improved and access between the major centres of the rural popula- tion simplified, while the strain imposed by the dense traffic on the circular route round the Territories should be relieved.
The Post Office
With the maintenance of an inflated population, the volume of mail continued at a high level. Every expedient has been adopted to reduce handling and transmission time. Electrically operated stamp cancelling machines were installed in the General Post Office, Victoria and Central Post Office, Kowloon. 841 new Post Office boxes were installed. Direct despatches were inaugurated to Cuba, Jamaica, Mexico and Peru. Other postal administrations were requested to separate their mails for Hong Kong and Kowloon. Notwithstanding these measures, the volume of mail dealt with is still far beyond the facilities available to deal with it effectively. Minor structural alterations in the General Post Office are planned to improve working conditions for the staff.
The difficult situation with regard to the exchange of mails with China still continues. There were no sea-mails to Shanghai or Tientsin, mail to China being confined to the rail route from Kowloon to Canton. Throughout the year mail sent by this route has had to be transferred by hand at the Chinese frontier to trains operating on the Chinese section of the railway and vice versa, thus restricting the amount that can be exchanged.
The B.O.A.C. strike in the latter part of the year appeared at one time likely to dislocate Christmas traffic but in the event fast and frequent services were maintained to all points by foreign air carriers.
The number of bags of overseas mail posted or delivered in Hong Kong was 257,883, an increase of 21,466 bags over the 1949 figure. Much of this increase however was due to the fact that a considerable amount of mail was posted to correspondents in Hong Kong for reposting to China and this situation is reflected in the decrease of 39,782 bags of transit mail, 56,371 bags being handled in 1950.
86
Registered mail again increased from 1,705,207 items in 1949 to 2,246,133 in 1950. There were also very heavy increases in the Chinese Branch where correspondence dealt with increased from 8,946,269 items in 1949 to 10,190,754 in 1950, and in parcel traffic which showed an increase of 94,056 parcels handled, the figure for 1950 being 457,486. The sale of Postage and receipt stamps reached another all-time record at $17,048,110, an increase of $3,960,567 over the 1949 figure. Difficulties over payment of Money Orders in Pakistan was to a large extent responsible for a drop in Money Order business from $2,212,448 in 1949 to $1,130,626 in 1950, but Postal Order business continued to increase, the 1950 total of $521,963 representing an increase of $70,929 over 1949.
Christmas postings were again extremely heavy and it was necessary to authorize additional deliveries and late duty hours in order to keep clear.
Licensing
The Radio Licensing and Inspection Office, under the control of the Postmaster General, issues all types of radio licences ranging from domestic Broadcast Receiving Licences to amateur station licences and dealers' licences, and in addition conducts examinations for Certificates of Proficiency in radiotelegraphy and telephony. During the year the duty of survey and inspection of ships and aircraft radio apparatus, which had temporarily been carried on by Cable and Wireless Ltd., reverted to the Radio Licensing Section. Energetic measures continued to be taken against persons operating illegal radio-transmitting stations and unlicensed broadcast receivers, and many successful prosecutions were made.
The number of Broadcast Receiving Licences maintained a satisfactory level of over 44,000 of which over 90% are held by Chinese listeners.
Several more commercial firms-chiefly stevedoring concerns- took advantage of the facilities offered by the Private Business Wireless Licence and now maintain direct radiotelephone communi- cation between their offices and lighters on duty in the harbour.
Telecommunications
On 1st September, by agreement between the Government and Cable and Wireless Ltd., the transfer of certain telecommunication services formerly administered by the Government was effected. From that date the company purchased all relevant buildings and equipment and took over responsibility for the technical maintenance and development of meteorology, aeradio, ship-shore and broadcasting services. The company also absorbed 145 telecommunications em- ployees who accepted transfer on terms agreed to by the Government.
Cable and Wireless Ltd. has continued its policy of expansion. Besides the building of new central offices this has included the placing of large orders for re-equipping Aeradio Kai Tak with modern plant, the provision of a new radio receiving station at Mount Butler, an extensive building programme at Cape D'Aguilar transmitting site where additional high-powered transmitters were installed during the year, and the construction of houses for expatriate staff.
87
This expansion has enabled the company to open more radio- telephone circuits. Telephone services are now available to China, Macao, the Philippines, Formosa, Japan, U.S.A., Canada, the United Kingdom and other countries in Western Europe, Austràlia, Singapore and Malaya. In spite of these increased outlets the clearance of over four million forwarded and received messages during the year caused serious congestion in all channels, particularly those to the United Kingdom.
Electra House, the new Far East head office of Cable and Wireless, was formally opened by the Governor on 25th November. This eight-storey building now contains the Central Telegraph Office, ancillary departments previously housed in the G.P.O. Building, and the main telegram counter. Sub-counters are situated at Union Building and Western Market Post Office on the Island, and at the Peninsula Hotel and the airport on the mainland.
Two floors of Electra House have been designed to house new broadcasting studios and offices for Radio Hong Kong.
Telephones
The public telephone service is provided by the Hong Kong Telephone Co., Ltd. At the end of the year the total number of direct exchange lines working on the company's system was 20,706, and the number of extensions 9,301, a total of 30,007 stations compared with 27,732 at the beginning of the year.
The task of providing sufficient exchange apparatus and cables still lags behind the demand for new lines and additional telephone facilities, a position that is common to all telephone administrations throughout the world. Additional apparatus and cables have been ordered which, when received, will substantially improve the situation.
A sub-exchange was opened for service during the year to deal with the East side of the Island, and in the New Territories the company was arranging at the end of the year for the installation of automatic satellite exchanges at Yuen Long, Fanling and Shatin.
Preparations were also in hand to provide a telephone service to Cheung Chau linked to the company's service by radio-telephone.
Broadcasting
Radio Hong Kong is a Government sub-department under the control of the Postmaster General. Transmissions are made from two stations, ZBW (845 k/cs) which is an English-language station with regular weekly programmes in French and Portuguese, and ZEK (640 k/cs) from which broadcasts are made in Cantonese, Mandarin and Swatow dialect. Shortwave transmissions radiate from ZBW3 on a frequency of 9.525 megacycles, and programmes have been heard in such widely separated countries as Australia, the United States, Great Britain, Sweden, and Germany. Throughout 1950 the hours of transmission on weekdays remained constant in both the English and Chinese service-12.15 p.m. to 2 p.m. and
88
6 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. Where, however, a Chinese theatre perform- ance was being relayed by ZEK, the station remained on the air until midnight. On Sundays the English station opened at 10 a.m. to relay a religious service, and on all public holidays both English and Chinese sections put on a continuous programme from 8 a.m. to midnight. The sponsoring of programmes for the Forces, which was introduced in the autumn of 1949 to bridge the four-hour period between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, was discontinued at the end of April 1950, but the transmission of programmes at these times has been continued at Government
expense.
The Annual Report of 1949 expressed the hope that Radio Hong Kong would have moved to its new premises by March 1950. That hope was not realized. At the end of the year the new studios in Electra House had not been completed and a considerable amount of work still needed to be done before broadcasting could begin there. In May, the Programme Secretary, the Chinese Programme Secretary and his staff, and the News and Talks Editor, occupied their respective offices in Electra House, but throughout the year Radio Hong Kong's programme output had perforce to originate from the old and obsolete studios in Gloucester Building.
In the English service every endeavour was made to cater for all tastes, and much material of high quality was made available by the BBC Transcription Service. This was supplemented by transcribed programmes from the United Nations and the Voice of America. Special efforts were made at all times to introduce as many live broadcasts as possible. The Colony's leading musicians gave a number of broadcast recitals, and other programmes from the studios included plays, readings of poetry, book reviews, illustrated talks on music, and readings of short stories many of which were the work of local authors. One feature of special interest during the year was the starting of a British Council series of programmes consisting of live and recorded material illustrating British culture and way of life. The programmes also continued to include many items designed to interest listeners in the Forces.
Efforts were made to widen the scope of outside broadcasts on both the English and Chinese services. The departure of troops for Korea, an air display at Kai Tak, and the arrival of R.M.S. Chusan were among the features covered. Permanent broadcasting points have been arranged in various public grounds and football fields not only improving sports commentaries but making possible the reporting of ceremonies and other events taking place on the grounds in question. One of the most important of these was the Education Week, the activities of which were extensively broadcast by both stations.
One of the chief problems which continued to face the Chinese service was the extreme difficulty of obtaining Chinese gramophone records. As a result the programmes of ZEK contained a consider- ably higher proportion of live broadcasts than ZBW. These included plays, concerts, recitals, and talks by well-known story-tellers. Chinese opera relayed direct from the theatre continued to be a popular listening item.
89
1
Rediffusion
Rediffusion (H.K.) Ltd. holds a franchise granted in 1948 per- mitting the operation of a wire broadcasting system controlled from the company's studios in Hennessy Road and carried to subscribers through three amplifying stations, two on the Island and one in Kowloon, and nearly 400,000 route yards of wire. The wireless receiving station is situated at Shatin in the New Territories. There are two networks carrying an European and a Chinese programme, each being continuous from 7 a.m. to midnight. A switch on each receiver gives the subscriber a choice of either network. The programmes consist partly of relays from Radio Hong Kong, the B.B.C., Manila, Australia and elsewhere, and partly of recorded and live matter originated in the company's own studios. Approximately 10% of programme time is commercially sponsored. The fee charged to subscribers is $10 per month, and the company pays the Govern- ment a fee of $1 per month in respect of each subscriber. The popularity of the system may be assessed from the fact that in less than two years of operation the number of subscribers has risen from 1,000 on the opening date to over 40,000.
90
་་་་
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
CO
圖
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
་་་་
In religion,
as in all
else, the prominent
feature
is
diversity.
Photos:
St. John's Cathedral; Serge Vargassoff.
Shelley Street Mosque Francis Wu.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
Courtesy: Rector, Wah Yan College.
"A Lizard is No Dragon
>>
January 1950.
❖་་་
1
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
NG P
B
IC
Flagstaff House, the General's residence, with the harbour and Kowloon hills beyond, 1847. Engraving from a drawing by Lieut. Martin, R.N. in the Chater Collection.
I
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please
contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
Photo: Serge Vargassoff.
Rooftop figure, Temple of the Northern God, Cheung Chau.
XII.
RESEARCH.
Research carried out in the University of Hong Kong during the year has included the study of the therapeutic use of radioactive cobalt. This study has been made in connexion with a telecurie apparatus which it is proposed to install in the Queen Mary Hospital, which would thus be amongst the first hospitals in Asia to use large quantities of this isotope for the telecurie treatment of cancer. At the same time considerable progress has been made on research in connexion with the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, one of the commonest forms of cancer in Hong Kong.
The field covered by the University is extensive; it includes investigations into certain plant products of South-East Asia reputed to have medicinal or other value, the preparation of an official memoir of the geology of Hong Kong and the New Territories, research into the mode of production and the significance of the Korotkoff sounds, and the carrying out of specific studies on leprosy, tuberculosis and diseases of the liver.
In the economic field, a study of the prospects of industrialization in Eastern Asia has been in preparation for the Institute of Pacific Relations.
At the Royal Observatory, which is well suited geographically to undertake observations of tropical meteorology and geophysics, equipment is on order for the restoration of the seismological station which existed before the war, and studies of atmospheric pollution, rainfall intensity and evaporation are also planned. During the past year a paper entitled "A Statistical Survey of Hong Kong Rainfall" by L. Starbuck was published, and several other investiga- tions, mainly on problems connected with weather forecasting, have been completed or are in progress. A paper on "Hong Kong Typhoons" by G. S. P. Heywood was published in December.
For further details of research and research literature in Hong Kong the reader is directed to previous issues of the Colony's Annual Report.
91
XIII.
RELIGION.
Hong Kong forms part of the Anglican Diocese of Hong Kong and South China.
The building which is now St. John's Cathedral was built in 1847 and established as a Cathedral Church by Letters Patent from Queen Victoria in 1850.
During the year the oldest Anglican Chinese church, St. Stephen's Pokfulam, transferred from an earlier site in Hollywood Road to its present position in 1886, was completely renovated and a new church hall completed. All Saints' Homantin completed its original plan for a school and hall by adding two additional floors to the existing structure built in 1934, and Christchurch Kowloon Tong erected a school building to be used as a diocesan preparatory school.
The Roman Catholic Church in Hong Kong was originally under the administration of a Missionary with the ecclesiastical title of Prefect Apostolic. In 1874, as a result of the increasing number of adherents to the Roman Catholic faith, a Bishop was appointed to the territory with the title of Vicar Apostolic, and in 1946 the status of the Church was raised to that of a Diocese, extending into China.
The Union Church, which is among the first Christian foundations in Hong Kong, completed its new church hall in Kennedy Road in November 1949, and in June 1950 the foundation stone was laid at the Methodist Church in Kowloon for a new combined school, church hall and vocational. training centre.
All the Churches play a very full part in the educational, social and charitable work of the Colony.
The Colony is as varied in religion as it is in all other aspects of its life. The majority of the Chinese in Hong Kong adhere to their traditional family observances, but there is a well-organized Christian minority, of which about 20,000 are Protestants and 40,000 Catholics. The Colony is the seat of several Buddhist monasteries, the most important of which are in the western part of Lantao Island. The branch of Buddhism chiefly followed is the Mahayana, although on Lantao there are a small number of Hinayana institutions. Most of these monasteries are dependent for their upkeep upon charitable gifts and income earned from tourists and visitors using their rest houses. There are no large Taoist_monasteries.
92
The greater part (about 1,100) of the Indian population in Hong Kong is Muslim. The first mosque was built in 1850 on the present mosque site in Shelley Street; the existing construction dates from 1915 when the original mosque was entirely rebuilt. In 1870 the Muslims founded their own cemetery in Happy Valley, their dead having until then been buried in the Breezy Point area above the Western district of Victoria. A second mosque was built in 1896, in Nathan Road, Kowloon, but in 1902 was transferred to the care of the military authorities for use by Indian troops.
The Sikh community, numbering about 300, has had a temple in Hong Kong since the eighteen-seventies. The building was demolished during the Japanese occupation and has since been rebuilt; it is situated in Gap Road.
The Parsis were among the foreign communities who arrived with the British in 1841. They had in 1829 established a prayer- house and cemetery in Macao, and in 1859 they established their first cemetery in Hong Kong in Happy Valley. In 1874 they established a prayer-hall in Elgin Street, which was moved in the There is no Fire nineteen-thirties to a new site on Leighton Hill. Temple or Tower of Silence.
The Jews, whose community numbers about 150, were also established in Macao prior to the foundation of Hong Kong where they were among the earliest residents. Their cemetery, on the slopes of Happy Valley, was founded in 1855, and their religious services were originally held in premises rented in the Peel Street, Staunton Street area of the Central district of Victoria. In 1901 land was purchased by the community in Robinson Road and the present Synagogue constructed, the entire foundation being the gift of Sir Jacob Sassoon.
The Hindus have never had a temple in the Colony, but the community plans to construct one shortly in Happy Valley. Those Hindus from Sind and the Punjab who have to some extent been influenced by the teachings of Guru Nanak occasionally take part in observances at the Sikh temple; apart from this there is only private worship.
To cater for the needs of the Russian Orthodox congregation, which is about 100 strong, arrangements have been made for regular Russian Orthodox services to be held in the church hall of St. Andrew's Kowloon. There is also a congregation of similar size acknowledging the present Patriarch of Moscow; this congregation makes separate arrangements for its religious services.
93
XIV.
THE ARTS.
The most important artistic event of the year was the exhibition of the surviving pictures of the Chater Collection, held in October under the joint auspices of the Government and the British Council at the Council's Centre in Gloucester Building. The Chater Collection is the bequest of the late Sir Catchick Paul Chater, C.M.G., to the Government of Hong Kong. Chater, an Armenian born in Calcutta in 1846, first came to Hong Kong in 1864 as a bank assistant, but later resigned and started business on his own as an exchange and bill broker, in which occupation he amassed a considerable fortune. In 1886 he was appointed an unofficial member of the Legislative Council and subsequently served on the Executive Council. He was knighted in 1902, and after a life of constant activity aimed at the improvement of Hong Kong and the welfare of its population, died in 1926. Soon after his first arrival he developed an interest in the historical aspect of Chinese relations with the Western nations, particularly the British, and from this interest grew the extensive collection of porcelain, paintings, lithographs and prints which formerly adorned his house and which at his death was presented to the Government. Before the war the pictures were housed in Government House, the Secretariat, the University and other Gov- ernment buildings, but in 1941 the greater part of the pictures and all the porcelain were lost partly by looting and partly by seizure by the Japanese. A few pictures were salvaged from Government House by one of the Chinese contractors engaged by the Japanese to carry out renovations there in 1942, and others were bought from various small antique shops in the Central district of Victoria by a Portuguese resident who had a good knowledge of the Collection and was able to recognize pictures from it. These, together with a few more recovered from the University and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, as well as from private individuals, formed the 1950 Exhibition-a total of seventy pictures in all. Careful cleaning, restoration and reframing had been carried out, and the Collection was attractively presented. Although many of the most valuable pictures have been lost what remains is sufficient to give an authentic pictorial impression of Canton, Macao and Hong Kong in the first half of the XIX century. The exhibition attracted considerable publicity, and was attended by over 2,000 people in four days.
Earlier in the year the Government announced that it had purchased 165 pieces of porcelain, bronze and pottery from the collection of Mr. Henry Yeung, a resident of Kowloon, a part of whose collection was exhibited at the Fung Ping Shan Library in
94
the spring of 1949. Mr. Yeung had originally offered to present a large section of his collection to the Government on certain con- ditions, which included the founding of a Government Museum to house it. In the summer of 1949 the Government requested the assistance of the British Museum to advise on the collection, and Mr. Soame Jenyns of the Department of Oriental Antiquities flew out to Hong Kong and after examining the collection advised the Government to decline Mr. Yeung's offer and instead offer to purchase outright 165 selected pieces. Mr. Jenyns' advice was taken, and the Legislative Council approved the purchase of the pieces, which include some fine examples of Han dynasty tomb pottery, a superb collection of early bronze mirrors, and several valuable pieces of Sung and Ming porcelain which are now housed at the Fung Ping Shan Library, where they are available for study purposes.
The Sino-British Orchestra has continued to maintain a good standard of playing, and it has now reached the satisfactory position in public esteem where it is extremely difficult to get seats for one of its concerts without booking well in advance. The Stage Club, the Garrison Players and other amateur dramatic societies have presented plays throughout the year, but from the point of view of the Westerner with an interest in things Chinese probably the most interesting dramatic event of the year was the Wah Yan College production of "A Lizard is No Dragon". This play was another in the series started by Father Sheridan, S.J. and Mr. Wong Chin Wah, who have worked in collaboration to produce authentic Cantonese plays in the English language. All the proper Chinese dramatic conventions are observed in these productions, and even the songs, The plays, also in English, are set to melodies in Cantonese style. which are well acted and produced on the small stage of the Wah Yan College hall, are unique of their kind and among the most interesting and entertaining pieces of dramatic art to be seen in the Far East.
The
In October the British Council inaugurated a series of broadcasts over Radio Hong Kong with the idea of conveying to the Chinese public an idea of the British way of life, British points of view on subjects of mutual interest, and excerpts from British music. Council has also provided Radio Hong Kong with the scores of a number of chamber music works by contemporary British composers, with a view to stimulating local interest in this kind of music. Already several of these works have been performed, the most notable example being the performance of Edmund Rubbra's Second Violin and Piano Sonata, which was given by two Chinese artists.
The bi-centenary of the death of J. S. Bach was observed in the Colony; the Hong Kong Singers gave a Bach concert, which was attended by the Officer Administering the Government, at the Roof Garden of the Hong Kong Hotel, and Radio Hong Kong broadcast a play on the life of Bach, written specially for the occasion.
During April Mr. Edmund Blunden, the distinguished poet and essayist, spent several days in the Colony on his way from Tokyo to London, and lectured to the University on the subject of Falstaff. He also lectured at the British Council Centre where he read extracts from and commented on the English poets of the romantic revival.
95
སྐ
XV.
SPORT.
Sporting activities in the Colony continued unabated throughout 1950 in spite of the momentous political events which took place in the Far East. The most important development was the formation of the Amateur Athletic Federation of Hong Kong towards the end of the year.
Several organizations have already been admitted to this body which is an essential preliminary to the participation of the Colony in international sport..
Short histories of various clubs and associations were included in the 1949 Annual Report and where these have been already mentioned the 1950 Report deals only with the year under review.
ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL
There is no record when association football was first introduced in Hong Kong but it is believed that the game was being played in 1850. Towards the end of the century it is known that a competition was run but this was confined to teams from naval ships, the military garrison, and the Hong Kong Football Club, the only civilian football club then in existence. The Challenge Shield was won by H.M.S. Centurion about 1897.
In 1909 the Daily Press presented a cup for the Senior Division of the competition and Mr. Fred Ellis donated another cup for the Junior Division about the same time. Both the knock-out competition and the leagues were run under the auspices of the Hong Kong Football Club at that time.
In 1913 Mr. Eager of the Royal Naval Ordnance Depot formed the Hong Kong Football Association to which the full control of all league competitions was transferred. The competition for the Challenge Shield was later transferred from the control of the Hong Kong Football Club to this Association.
In 1914 civilian clubs took part in all competitions and further progress was made in the same year when two Chinese clubs, the Lam Liong and the Confucius Clubs, entered the Junior Division of the League. Three leading schools, St. Joseph's College, Queen's College, and the Diocesan Boys' School, also entered the Junior League competition with teams recruited from past and present members. Since that time more Chinese clubs have taken up football and six of them are now members of the Senior Division of the League.
96
The first interport match is believed to have taken place at the beginning of the present century when Hong Kong, represented by the Hong Kong Football Club, played Shanghai. Matches against Manila, Macao, and Saigon subsequently took place. The increasing popularity of the game is reflected in the number of spectators watching the matches. From mere handfuls at the beginning of the century attendances have increased to over 14,000 who watched the visiting Djurgardens team from Sweden play a representative team from Hong Kong during a visit to the Colony in 1950. This figure would have been exceeded if the accommodation at the ground had been greater.
HORSE RACING
During 1950 there were twenty-four race days which were attended by an increasing number of people. The full capacity of the stands has now almost been reached in spite of recent alterations and additions designed to improve the facilities for members and the public.
A new batch of ponies imported from Australia made its debut at the beginning of the year. Although they provided keen racing while pitted against each other they proved disappointingly inferior to those of previous seasons when they met on equal terms later in the year.
The outstanding pony of the year was Skymaster" which equalled, during the year, two course records, one for a distance of 1 mile 171 yards, previously established in 1941, and another for a distance of 14 mile, previously established in 1937.
A feature of the annual race meeting was the presence of Brigadier Mark Sykes who was invited to impart his knowledge and experience as one of the senior starters of the Jockey Club in the United Kingdom.
During the year riding school classes have been conducted to train young riders for racing and there have been some encouraging results.
SWIMMING
The spectacular and popular cross-harbour race was held by the Victoria Recreation Club in October and attracted a record number A of 405 entries, more than twice the number received before. certificate was awarded to each swimmer who finished the course and 380 qualified. The course is from the Railway Pier, Kowloon, to the praya-wall between Murray Pier and Murray Road on the Island, a distance of approximately 1,743 yards, but the conditions of wind, tide, and currents, and the hazards of moored ships make the race a difficult and lengthy task.
The annual swimming championships showed a marked improve- ment in the general standard of competitors. Several long-standing The lack of a proper records were broken during the meeting. swimming pool of dimensions which come up to international standard is a considerable handicap to the development of this sport.
97
SOFTBALL
Although softball is one of the latest sports introduced in the Colony it has won increased popularity and in 1950 there were over 700 players registered in the books of the Hong Kong Softball Association. Supporters of the game run into several thousands and are increasing each year. A total of 43 teams, both male and female, entered the various sections of the leagues sponsored by the Association. An innovation was the formation of the midget league for young players to train potential stars of the future.
A site, capable of holding two playing diamonds, was allocated to the Association in King's Park where it is hoped to build a permanent stadium. Plans have already been drawn up and for- warded for approval.
The visits of United States naval ships to the waters of the Colony provided opportunities for local teams to show their prowess. In addition representative matches were played against visiting teams from neighbouring ports.
BADMINTON
One of the most successful and memorable years in the history of this sport was recorded in 1950. Fourteen clubs, providing 36 teams, were affiliated to the Hong Kong Badminton Association and some close and exciting finishes in the league competitions took place. An innovation was the introduction of the schoolboys' events in the Colony championships.
In March 1950 Hong Kong was formally accepted as a full member of the International Badminton Federation. This will enable the Colony to enter for the Thomas Cup, open to all countries for international competition, and it is hoped that some day Hong Kong will emulate the feat of Malaya, the present holder.
98
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
Photo: J. 1'. BaPPAUL
H.M. The King graciously consented to become Patron of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club toward the close of the year
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
Basketball:
Racing:
South China Morning Post v. Cheung Chau. An exciting triple neck-and-neck finish at Happy Valley Race Course.
Photo: S.C.M.P.
Photo: Gainsborough Studio.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
H.E. the Governor was among the 14,000 spectators when the Swedish Djurgardens team played Hong Kong,
the year's highspot in association football.
405 swimmers took the plunge in the annual cross-harbour race.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
Photos: Wah Kiu Yat Po.
n
Winter
afternoon
1.
on
Cheung Chau.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
VB
Photo:
Dr. Khoo Keng-wah.
!
PART 111.
香港公共圖書及
HONG KON
VG KONG PUBLIC LIBRAR
1
香港公共圖書館
RIES
LIBRAR
NG KONG PUBLIC
1.
GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE.
Hong Kong lies just within the tropics, on the south-eastern coast of the Chinese Province of Kwangtung, and east of the Pearl River estuary. The Colony includes Hong Kong Island (32 square miles), on which is situated the capital city of Victoria, the ceded territory of Kowloon (34 square miles), Stonecutters Island (4 square mile) and the New Territories which consist of the remainder of the mountainous peninsula of Kowloon together with numerous islands (355 square miles) leased from China on 1st July 1898 for 99 years. The total area of the Colony is thus roughly 391 square miles, a large proportion of which is steep and unproductive hillside. The leased territories include also the waters of Deep Bay to the west and Mirs Bay to the east.
Hong Kong Island is eleven miles long from east to west and varies in width from two to five miles. It rises steeply from the northern shore to a range of treeless hills of volcanic rock of which the highest point is Victoria Peak (1,809 feet) near the western end. Between these hills and the harbour lies the city of Victoria. The oldest part of the urban area ran up the steep hillside for hundreds of yards in narrow stepped streets and terraces, but the modern town stands mostly on a strip of reclaimed land averaging 200-400 yards wide which extends 9 miles along the southern shore of the harbour from Sulphur Channel to Lyemun Pass.
Between the island and the mainland of Kowloon lies the harbour, a natural and almost landlocked anchorage about 17 square miles in area, and of a width varying from one to three miles. The entrance from the east is by a deep-water channel through Lyemun Pass, five to nine hundred yards wide. On the western side the harbour is protected by a group of islands pierced by channels of various depths. The largest of these islands is Lantao which is nearly twice the size of Hong Kong Island. This harbour, lying midway between the main ports of Haiphong in Indo-China and Shanghai at the mouth of the Yangtse River, has become the gateway to South China and has grown to be one of the greatest seaports in the world.
The ceded territory of Kowloon originally consisted of a number of low dry foothills running southward from the escarpment of the Kowloon hills in a V-shaped peninsula two miles long and nowhere
101
more than two miles wide. Most of these foothills have now been levelled and the spoil used to extend the area by reclamation. The town of Kowloon now covers the whole of this peninsula and a part of the leased territory to the north of it. It contains the Colony's main industrial area, one of the two principal commercial dockyards, wharves for ocean-going ships, and a large residential suburb. Its population in 1941 threatened to overtake that of Victoria. The terminus of the Kowloon-Canton Railway, which connects at Canton with the network of the Chinese railways, is at the extreme southern tip of the peninsula. The Unicorn range of hills, even more precipitous though less high than those on the island, forms a barrier between Kowloon and the remainder of the Kowloon Peninsula.
A large part of the New Territories, both islands and mainland, is steep and barren. Before the war considerable areas were afforested, but one of the unfortunate results of the occupation of the Colony by the Japanese was the felling of the vast majority of the trees for firewood, with the consequence that now only a few isolated woods remain, principally in the vicinity of villages. Systematic re-afforestation has been going on steadily since the end of the war. The highest point is the mountain called Taimoshan (3,141 feet) which lies seven miles north-west of Kowloon. To the north-west of this mountain and extending to the marshes on the verge of Deep Bay stretches the Colony's largest area of cultivable land. The eastern half of the New Territories mainland is covered by irregular mountain masses deeply indented by arms of the sea and narrow valleys. Wherever cultivation is made possible by the presence of flat land and water, villages exist and crops are raised. Intricate terracing brings the maximum of land under cultivation and the Chinese farmers, though ready to adopt any modern methods which are suited to local conditions and whose value has been demonstrated to them by practical tests, find in fact that there are few directions in which their traditional methods can be improved upon.
The New Territories include 75 adjacent islands many of which are uninhabited. Productive land is even scarcer
scarcer than on the mainland and the island population includes many fisherfolk living aboard their boats. Lantao, the largest island, is well watered, but the gradients are such that even the patient Chinese farmer has been able to secure only a few precarious footholds and there is little cultivation. Wild boar and barking deer abound among the well- wooded ravines and scrub-covered spurs of this lonely island. rest of the islands are much smaller, and range in character from the thickly-populated Cheung Chau with its large fishing community, soy factory and junk-building yards, and Ping Chau with its thriving match factory, to an island only 8 acres large (Ngai Ying Chau) until recently occupied by a single family.
Climate.
The
The climate is sub-tropical and is governed to a large extent by the monsoons, the winter being normally cool and dry and the summer hot and humid. The north-east monsoon sets in during October and persists until April. The early winter is the most pleasant time of the year, the weather being generally sunny and
102
the atmosphere dry. After the New Year the sky is more often clouded, though rainfall remains slight; in March and April long spells of dull overcast weather may occur. Warm south-easterly winds. may temporarily displace the cool north-east monsoon during this period, and under these conditions fog and low cloud are common. From May until September the air reaching Hong Kong has generally travelled from warm tropical seas to the east and south of the Colony; the weather is persistently hot and humid, and often cloudy and showery with occasional thunderstorms. The summer is the rainy season, three-quarters of the average annual rainfall of 84.26 inches (2140.4 mm.) falling during the period May to September.
The mean monthly temperature varies from 59°F in February to 82°F in July, the average for the year being 72°F. The temperature rarely rises above 95°F, or falls below 40°F. The mean relative humidity exceeds 80% from March until August, but in the early winter it may fall as low as 20%. The average monthly duration of sunshine ranges from 94 hours in March to 217 hours in October.
Hong Kong is liable to be affected by typhoons from July to October, although they are sometimes experienced before and after this period. Spells of bad weather, heavy rain and strong winds normally occur several times in each summer owing to the passage of typhoons or tropical storms at varying distances from the Colony. A typhoon whose centre passes over or near Hong Kong may be accompanied by winds of hurricane force, resulting in widespread damage; sixteen such disasters have occurred in the last 67 years, one of the worst being on 2nd September 1937 when the wind speed reached 145 knots in a gust, and 28 steamships were stranded in and around the harbour. Although the loss of life on such occasions is now minimized by an elaborate system of warnings, there are always a number of junks and small craft which fail to reach the typhoon shelters in time.
The mean temperature for 1950 was slightly above normal, accumulated rainfall being generally rather below normal. Records were broken in February and March when the maximum tem- peratures recorded at the Royal Observatory, 79-6°F. and 844°F. respectively, were the highest for those months since observations began in 1884. Being single observations, these two temperatures were not likely to produce as noticeable an effect for the general public as would, for example, a record-breaking mean temperature.
A slow-moving typhoon approached the Colony during the first week of October and gale force winds were experienced, but fortunately, just at the time it was beginning to constitute a real threat to Hong Kong, it began to fill up rapidly and move away westward towards Hainan.
On 24th November a tropical storm followed a very unusual course and approached the Colony from the SW. Strong south- easterly winds were experienced, but the storm was a small one and filled up rapidly after the centre had entered the coast a little to the west of Macao.
103
104
A burst of the NE monsoon, which gave strong NNE winds on 9th December, caused damage at the airport and in the harbour. Dangerous gusts are always a possibility during the winter months when the wind has a northerly direction, and on this occasion the maximum gust velocity recorded at Kai Tak was actually higher than any gust due to typhoon winds during the past three years.
香港公共圖書館
NG KONG PUBLIC LIBRAR
}
II.
HISTORY.
The area which now forms the Crown Colony of Hong Kong is first mentioned in Chinese histories as part of the territories of the Maan Tribes, who then inhabited the greater part of China south of the River Yangtse. About this early culture little is known, though pottery of the prehistoric period unearthed on the islands of Lamma and Lantao, south and west of Hong Kong Island, indicates the existence of trade with the South at a remote period. The Maan tribes of Kwangtung gradually accepted Chinese culture from the close of the Han dynasty (III century A.D.) onwards, and by the end of the Sung dynasty (XIII century A.D.) the local people, what- ever their racial origin, evidently regarded themselves as Chinese. The last Sung emperor, Ti-ping, in flight from the invading Mongols, made his capital at Kowloon on the mainland just opposite the Island of Hong Kong for a few months before his death in 1278, and a small hill crowned with prominent boulders was held sacred to his memory until 1943 when the Japanese demolished it.
The Arabs were already known in Canton in the VII century A.D., but European intercourse with China dates from the XVI century when expeditions from the maritime states of Europe- Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and England-penetrated into Far . Eastern waters in the hope of establishing a direct trade by sea with the Moluccas or Spice Islands. At the end of the century, Queen Elizabeth herself addressed a letter to the Emperor of China. Though this letter was probably never delivered it marks the begin- ning of official support for a whole series of adventurous attempts to share in the trade of the Eastern countries. At the beginning of the next century a monopoly of the East Indian trade was created in favour of "The Governor and merchants of London trading in the East Indies." An early trading station at Bantam in Java soon led to the extension of the sphere of action to Japan and China.
The Portuguese had already founded the settlement of Macao from Malacca. In 1681 the East India Company secured a house in Macao and a little later an approach was made to Canton itself.
By 1715 a regular seasonal trade had been commenced with a shore staff residing during the season in the Canton factories and, during the summer months, in the Company's premises at Macao. The French, Dutch and Americans were not long in following the Company's lead, and, by the end of the XVIII century, Englishmen trading on their own account were beginning to share the benefits of this precarious intercourse.
105
Two attempts had been made to establish normal official relations with China, by Lord Macartney in 1793 and by Lord Amherst in 1816; but these were rebuffed by the Manchu Court at Peking. The separate trends which British intercourse with China had hitherto taken the activity of the East India Company, whose monopoly expired in 1831, and the unsuccessful official missions-were united in 1834 by the arrival of Lord Napier in Canton as His Majesty's Chief Superintendent of Trade. Lord Napier's efforts at improving relations with the Chinese authorities failed and he died in Macao in October 1834. Captain Charles Elliot, R.N., succeeded him as Chief Superintendent and for five years negotiations were inter- mittently continued while the position of the British merchants became more and more difficult.
On January 20th 1841 Captain Elliot announced "the conclusion of preliminary arrangements between the Imperial commissioner and himself involving the cession of the island and harbour of Hong Kong to the British Crown." Hong Kong Island was then inhabited by a few fishermen, stonecutters and farmers and provided a notorious retreat for smugglers and pirates. He declared further that "Her Majesty's Government has sought for no privilege in China exclusively for the advantage of British ships and merchants" and he assured "the protection of the British flag to the subjects, citizens, and ships of foreign Powers that may resort to Her Majesty's possession." Hong Kong was formally occupied, and on January 29th Captain Elliot issued another proclamation declaring that Chinese resorting to the Colony "shall be governed according to the laws and customs of China, every description of torture excepted," being promised the free exercise of religious rites, social customs, and private rights.
The cession of Hong Kong was confirmed by the Treaty of Nanking on August 29th 1842 and the work of building up the new Colony began in earnest. In particular steps were taken to bring the Colony under its own laws, based on English law, putting an end to the temporary and informal arrangements made by Captain Elliot; though many aspects of Chinese domestic life continued to be regulated by Chinese customary law.
Early accounts of life in Hong Kong show that the early colonists had many obstacles to overcome. The new settlement was ravaged by fires, the houses levelled by typhoons, and the population decimated by fevers; yet the administration did not lose heart. Encouragement was given to merchants to build their business premises and residences, roads were laid down, and a town planning committee set to work. Markets and hospitals were built, churches for several denominations were provided, and schools established, all within the space of the first three years.
In spite of the community's efforts The Times on December 17th 1844 complained that "The place has nothing to recommend it, if we except the excellent harbour. The site of the new town of Victoria-named after Queen Victoria the Good-is most objection- able, there being scarcely level ground enough for the requisite buildings, and the high hills, which overhang the locality, shut out the southerly winds, and render the place exceedingly hot, close, and unhealthy."
106
PUBLI
contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyfight work. due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please This image is unavailable for access via the Network
ES
Hong Kong in 1845, showing on the left the house occupied by Sir Henry Pottinger (Governor 1843-4) before the first Government House was built. From a sepia drawing by E. Ashworth in the Chater Collection.
ADODG
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
Queen's Road Central in 1856.
Originally published by the Illustrated London News. 1857.
J
R
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
書
DING
•
Originally published by the Illustrated London News, 1857.
Murray Barracks and the city of Victoria in 1856.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
CO
The Chinese Pond Heron; an adult male.
Female upland Pipit on her nest, Taimoshan.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
Photos: J. C. E. Britt.
IES
Undeterred by these handicaps, the administration applied itself wholeheartedly to its task. At the first census, the population of Hong Kong did not exceed 3,650 villagers and fishermen living in some 20 villages and hamlets, including Stanley, Aberdeen, and Wongneichong, with about 2,000 Chinese living in boats in the harbour. Encouraged by prospects of work, Chinese labourers flocked into Hong Kong, and by April 1844 the population reached 19,000. The establishment of shipbuilding yards, eventually to grow into a major industry, dates from the Colony's earliest days.
No time was lost in linking up Hong Kong with Europe, and the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company established a monthly mail service in 1845. Commercial relations with several places were opened up, including Shanghai, Siam, and the United States of America, and the junk trade with China flourished.
The cultural needs of the community found expression in a variety of ways, but as early as 1847 the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society was founded dedicated to the study of cultural contacts between the East and the West.
Hong Kong provided a convenient port for the emigration of Chinese labourers to many places, mainly the Straits Settlements, Siam, and Java, and when news went round of the opening up of goldfields in California there was a rush of Chinese who went seeking the Golden Mountains" there and in other places. When gold was discovered in Australia not long afterwards thousands of Chinese rushed to the "New Golden Mountains," via Hong Kong. Over 30,000 Chinese emigrants made use of the facilities provided by Hong Kong in the year 1852 alone. The flow of remittances to China in later years from those who established new homes on the other side of the world has been of considerable help to the economy of China. In the same way the descendants of those early emigrants have made their way up in the world, and their contacts with their mother country are still maintained through Hong Kong.
With the spread of unrest in China following the incidence of the Taiping Rebellion in China, many thousands of Chinese flocked to Hong Kong, the first of many similar occurrences when Chinese in search of shelter have sought the safety and sanctuary of this Colony. The population rose by leaps and bounds and by 1855 was estimated at 72,000, and by 1861 at 120,000, taxing housing accom- modation and all the other amenities with which the city had been provided.
An early reclamation scheme (1851), on a part of which the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation building stands to-day, was found to be insufficient and was extended, while the city spread rapidly. New schools were established, to provide better educational facilities for the Chinese, among them the Anglo-Chinese College. More markets, better policing, the problem of water supply, additional hospitals, sanitation all pressed for attention and were tackled with energy and determination. Hong Kong rapidly took on the aspect of a modern town, and with the increasing importance of trade the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce was formed, in 1861.
107
The Convention of Peking of 1860 added the Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters' Island to the Crown Colony, and provision was made at Kowloon for accommodation for a part of the garrison. This was followed not long afterwards by the establishment of the Union Dock Company and the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company, the latter eventually absorbing the several smaller dock- yards in Hong Kong and expanding into one of the largest employers of labour in the Colony. The early development of Kowloon owes a great deal to this important enterprise.
An event which was to have far-reaching effects upon the relations of Europe and Asia was the opening of the Suez Canal (1869). The quickening of communications wrought changes in the commercial life of Hong Kong, shipping increased in volume from less than 2,000,000 tons in 1868 to over 5,000,000 tons within 10 years. Telegraphic cables were laid down to link Hong Kong with the rest of the world, and the Hong Kong Wharf and Godown Company was established (1871) to provide storage facilities for the greater volume of merchandise flowing through the Colony.
To provide additional free attention for Chinese sick the Tung Wah Hospital, managed by Chinese directors under Government supervision, was established, several other services for the Chinese poor being maintained under its auspices. In the same way the Po Leung Kuk was founded to cater to the welfare of Chinese girls. More schools were set up, some of them carried on by the Protestant or Catholic missions, others by the Government, scholarships being provided for worthy scholars. Provision was made to encourage Chinese students to acquire a knowledge of English, to equip themselves to take an increased part in the life of the Colony. Ng Choy, better known later as Wu Ting-fang, was the first Chinese to be admitted to the English Bar, setting a precedent which has since been followed by many others, who have come to take an important part in the life and activities of the community.
An important feature of colonization was the Gardens and Afforestation Department which procured seeds and plants from Australia and England, which resulted in "a general increase in the vegetative surroundings of the town, and that the increased attention given to the cultivation of trees along the public roads and around European dwellings on the hillsides had already done much to displace the pristine barrenness of the site on which the city was built by patches of beautiful shrubbery." In course of time several vegetables and flowers found their way into China through their introduction in Hong Kong.
The opening of Haiphong and Hanoi to trade with Hong Kong enlarged the scope of the Colony's commercial importance, as did the establishment by Chinese capital of the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company (1874). This was followed by the connexion of Hong Kong by cable to Canton, Macao, Shanghai, Foochow and other places. Further provision was made in Hong Kong, at the Praya East, for the expanding city, followed by extensive reclama- tions at Causeway Bay. Some interest in Kowloon took place, the Portuguese community taking a leading part in this enterprise. The
108
building of houses on the Peak commenced at this time adding to the residential areas and providing the Colony with a salubrious retreat during the hot season.
One of Hong Kong's most interesting contributions to Chinese progress may be said to be the Hong Kong College of Medicine, founded in 1887. Dr. James Cantlie was the fons et origo of this institution. His son relates in his biography of Sir James Cantlie that his father conceived the idea on the voyage out from England, and "the College of Medicine for the Chinese was the result." To this end a public meeting was convened in the City Hall on October 1st 1887. Major-General W. Gordon Cameron, C.B., the Officer Administering the Government, who presided, promoted the new venture by placing the College under the auspices of the Government of the Colony.
The Chinese students were carefully selected, and seven entered the College on its inauguration. "July 23, 1892, may well be called a day of triumph," Dr. Cantlie's wife wrote, "Hamish's great day for the College of Medicine for the Chinese, presenting of licences to practise by the Governor." It was to Hong Kong, therefore, and its College of Medicine, later to expand into the University of Hong Kong, that Dr. Sun Yat-sen was indebted for the opportunity to acquire the scholastic background which was to bear fruit in China in a momentous way.
The establishment of the Alice Memorial Hospital for Chinese, under the auspices of the London Missionary Society, also dates from this period. It was only one of many contributions by this worthy institution to the amelioration of the lot of poor and needy Chinese.
Another important institution inaugurated at this time (1889) was Queen's College which provided accommodation for 924 scholars, subsequently increased. This school has been the Alma mater of a large number of local boys who later in life were to distinguish themselves in Hong Kong and in other places.
The funicular tramway to the Peak opened up that desirable district in 1888, and extensive waterworks were carried out at Tytam, the original works at Pokfulam proving inadequate.
The period that followed is noteworthy principally for extensive reclamation work and roadbuilding, in the furtherance of which Sir Paul Chater took a leading part. Earnest endeavours by the authorities to promote interest among the Chinese to acquire more than a mere smattering of English have also to be recorded, in which connexion Sir Kai Ho Kai and E. R. Belilios figured prominently. Improvements in sanitation followed the outbreak of bubonic plague, when Dr. Kitasato, working in Hong Kong, succeeded in isolating the plague bacillus and it was found that the disease was transmitted by vermin.
Under the Convention of Peking, signed in 1898, the area known as the New Territories, including Mirs Bay and Deep Bay, was leased to Great Britain for a period of ninety-nine years. The Government of Hong Kong soon embarked upon a big programme
109
of works there. The Canton-Kowloon Railway was built, public health administration and antimalarial measures were prosecuted with determination, while Chinese and others were brought more closely into touch with the problems of government and social services. Sir Henry Blake identified himself with every aspect of the community's activities, which his successor, Sir Matthew Nathan, extended to Kowloon, where the road he laid down, called "Nathan's Folly by local wags, commemorates his confidence in the develop- of Kowloon and the expanse of country contiguous with it.
""
The development of the Colony progressed after that at a phenomenal rate. Chinese merchants began to break away from their ancient ways, taking a more prominent part in the com- mercial and industrial activities of the Colony. They established shipping lines, built wharves and warehouses, erected department stores, set up dockyards and factories of every kind, built theatres and invested heavily in real estate. They have formed banks and insurance companies on Western lines and established great import and export houses. Hong Kong has provided the opportunity for many Chinese and members of other races to fit into the rapidly expanding world economy of the twentieth century. Freedom of the port and freedom of entrance and egress for all persons of Chinese race were permitted in accordance with a policy which ensured for the Colony the role of entrepot both for the trade and for the labour of China's southern provinces.
The Government has marched ahead of needs, and thought has been taken for every feature of the Colony's amenities. Hospitals and schools abound, centres where social services are maintained, efficient policing and fire-fighting services, waterworks, port facilities, are all part of the steady and natural growth of the city. A network of motor roads was cut into the hills; Chinese, European and American airlines meet in the Colony's airport; public utilities are given every encouragement; industries are granted facilities; trade is promoted and helped; everything is done to serve the community in the fairest and most equitable manner.
But the influence of Hong Kong has been more profound than this. It showed thinking Chinese than the old world was giving place to the new, and there was a stirring among Chinese patriots that brought profound results. One of the outcomes of this, the "Hundred Days Reform," might have saved China much misery and pain, for Kang Yiu-wei had been inspired and he succeeded in influencing the Emperor to attempt the introduction of much needed reforms in China. The failure of the attempt led to the tribulations which brought the Manchu dynasty to its end, but it had its roots deep in the minds of the Chinese. In Hong Kong the revolutionaries found liberty and sanctuary based on justice and freedom of speech, while the Chinese newspapers of Hong Kong provided them with a vehicle for reaching the Chinese masses.
In great part this has come about because of the Anglo-Chinese schools in the Colony. The Government has taken the lead in promoting these schools, but the names of public-spirited men like Sir Ellis Kadoorie and Sir Robert Ho Tung fill a prominent place in the efforts made to provide the youth of Hong Kong with the
110
highest educational standards, English no less than Chinese. Schools for girls have prepared women for the greater part they have taken in community life.
It was in 1908 that H. N. Mody, later Sir Hormusjee Mody, offered to present the Colony with the entire cost of the main buildings of an University. Other enthusiastic supporters followed, many Chinese contributing substantial sums to promote the under- taking, notably Sir Robert Ho Tung whose munificent donations over a long period of years place the Colony very much in his debt. China's urgent need has been for physicians, and the University of Hong Kong has been in a position to contribute substantially to fill that need. In the preparation of nurses, also, Hong Kong has done a great deal, while the hospitals of the Colony have done much to promote the acceptance of Western medicine among the Chinese.
After Japan invaded China in 1937 the Colony became a refuge. for many Chinese and the population grew to over one and a half millions. Until the fall of Canton at the end of 1938 valuable supplies were able to reach China through Hong Kong. With the outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939 the position of the Colony became precarious, and on December 8th 1941 the blow fell. Powerful units of the Japanese Army, supported by the Japanese Air Force based on Canton, struck at the Colony. The first attempt of the Japanese to land on Hong Kong Island was repulsed on the night of December 15th-16th, but a second attempt on the night of the 18th-19th could not be held. After some bloody fighting on the Island, the Colony was surrendered to the Japanese forces on Christmas Day. The isolated brigade on Stanley peninsula held out for a further day before capitulating on superior orders.
Hong Kong remained in Japanese hands for over three and a half years.
The population fell from more than one and a half million to a third that number.
The Colony was liberated when units of the British Pacific entered the harbour on August 30th 1945, about two weeks after the capitulation of Japan. A brief period of military administration was followed by the re-establishment of civil government on May 1st 1946.
111
III.
FLORA AND FAUNA.
EIGHT HONG KONG TREES
Camphor, laichee, Chinese banyan and pine are the most common trees native to Hong Kong and the New Territories, but until its foundation as a British Colony the Island of Hong Kong had very few trees on it and must have resembled in this respect Lantao Island as it is to-day, where the only trees to be found are in small Due to sheltered valleys, near villages or Buddhist settlements. careful planting over a succession of years the Colony now boasts a wide variety of trees, although except in the case of such popular trees as casuarina and flamboyant there are not many specimens of each imported variety. It is difficult too to find out the correct names of many of the trees which are now to be seen on the Island. The following descriptions, accompanied in each case by a photograph, provide a simple lesson in Hong Kong tree recognition for the visitor to the Colony and for the confirmed walker who likes to know the names of the trees he passes.
1.
Burmese Rose-Wood (Pterocarpus Indicus)
This large, handsome tree with drooping.branches and blood- coloured latex, is a native of India. The tree growing in front of the Colonial Secretariat in Lower Albert Road is probably the largest tree in the Colony. It grows to a height of 60 feet with a rounded crown 50 feet in diameter and a trunk 12 feet in girth. The leaves are 6 to 12 inches long, and each leaf has 7 to 10 ovate, blunt or sharp-pointed leaflets 2 to 4 inches long. The flowers are yellow, sweetly scented, about half-an-inch long, and borne profusely on slender axillary and terminal branches. The rounded flat pods are about 1 inches in diameter. It is a valuable tree both for orna- mental planting and for its wood. Its timber which may be red, yellow or white, has a roselike odour, and is used extensively in the East for fine furniture.
2. Red Cotton Tree (Gossampinus Malabarica)
A large, deciduous tree, reaching to a height of 70 feet, with a straight central trunk extending through the crown with whorls of three to five branches at intervals of about 3 feet. The twigs are rather thick and stubby. Protruding from the bark of the trunk and main branches are large spines or thorns giving it a wart-like appearance making climbing difficult if not impossible. The leaves are compound with five to seven leaflets arranged like the fingers radiating from the palm of the hand. In Spring, the tree is often
112
a brilliant feature of the landscape, visible from considerable distance because of the abundance of large red flowers produced before the leaves appear. In the Colony parakeets may often be seen pecking at the flowers. The flowers are practically complete when they drop off. The fruit is a large pod filled with a soft silky or cotton-like mass. This cotton-like substance is used by the Chinese for stuffing pillows and cushions for chair seats and as a packing material. The dried flowers are much used locally as medicine to reduce inflam- mation. Although the wood is soft, the tree stands up reasonably well to typhoons; branches may be torn off in high winds but the tree makes new growth and quickly recovers.
3. Chinese Banyan (Ficus Retusa)
The Chinese Banyan is one of the most popular trees in the Colony. It is generally to be found growing along roadsides or near villages. It is of rather slow growth with a short thick gnarled trunk (as are also the branches of old specimens) and has a wide spreading, symmetrical dense foliaged crown. An interesting feature of this tree is the aerial roots which often grow from the trunk and These branches in great numbers, hanging down like a beard. occasionally reach the ground, take root and form thick supporting props for the branches. The leaves are 2 to 4 inches long, oval in shape, dark glossy green and short-stemmed. The minute flowers are borne inside small berries produced during April. At the tip of each berry is a hole through which an egg-bearing female wasp enters and dies after laying her eggs. These wasps are beneficial for they effect the pollination of flowers which would not occur without their help. Fruits develop with little change in size or shape except that they become dark red or white in colour.
4.
Siamese Cassia (Cassia Siamea)
The
A large evergreen tree, native of India, Ceylon and Malaya. It was introduced to this Colony over 80 years ago. A few specimens which have attained a height of about 50 feet are to be seen in the Protestant Cemetery in Happy Valley. It flowers in the late summer and for several weeks is very conspicuous and beautiful. flowers are yellow, about 14 inches in diameter, borne in terminal clusters along the branches. The leaves are divided into 12 pairs of dark green, obtuse leaflets, each about 2 inches long. The numerous long narrow pods are clustered and hang from one season to the next, becoming light grey. In its native country it is grown extensively for firewood and windbreaks.
5. The Hong Kong Bauhinia (Bauhinia Blakeana)
This medium-sized evergreen tree with long spreading and drooping branches is probably the most beautiful ornamental tree in the Colony. Its origin is unknown, and as it never produces seed it is possibly a sterile hybrid. The specific name was given in commemoration of Sir Henry Blake, Governor of Hong Kong 1898- 1903. When first discovered in 1908 only a few examples existed. Fortunately there are now many hundreds of this lovely tree on the Island. The only method of propagating this species is by cuttings. It may be easily recognised by its simple rounded leaves with a deep cleft dividing the apex. It has a long flowering period-from
113
92120
&
early November to the end of March. The fragrant flowers are very large, up to six inches in diameter, rich crimson-red and have five stamens.
6.
Candlenut Tree (Aleurites Moluccana)
The Candlenut tree, from Malaya, is a quick-growing tree with a spreading top and has now been introduced to most tropical countries. It is one of the best trees in the Colony for ornament and shade on account of its hardiness and adaptability as a street tree. The dark green leaves are 5-point maple-shaped on the young shoots, changing to 3-point triangular on the older shoots and branches. At flowering time, when the clusters of small white flowers are displayed, the immature leaves of the tree have frequently a whitish woolly covering which makes them look as if milk had been spilled on them. Because of this coating, the tree can be distinguished on the landscape at a considerable distance. The fruits are large and round, and an oil similar to Tung-oil is obtained from them. The inhabitants of Hainan and Polynesia use the oil as an illuminant. The wood is of use for fuel and the manufacture of wooden shoes.
7.
Large-leafed Banyan (Ficus Wrightiana)
A large wide-spreading tree, very similar in form and habit to the Chinese Banyan, but distinguished by its larger, somewhat more soft-textured leaves, which fall off during winter. The very long branchlets and young shoots are densely clothed and droop with the weight of foliage. The leaves are 4 to 6 inches long, with long tapering tips and rounded bases, light green when young but becoming darker with age.
During winter when the leaves have fallen, large buds develop at the ends of the twigs. The soft, light green leaves rapidly unfold in the early Spring when for several weeks the trees are of striking beauty. The reddish berry-like fruits are produced in great quantity and are sometimes eaten by villagers.
8. Spider Tree (Crataeva Religiosa)
This large handsome flowering tree which has been planted extensively over the Island and the New Territories is a native of South China. It is a deciduous tree which sheds its leaves in autumn, and flowers at the same time as the young leaves appear. The long-stalked leaves are composed of three leaflets which are about 3 inches long and the creamy white flowers are profusely produced in clusters covering the whole tree. The fruit is a large fleshy berry about the size of a small plum, but seeds seldom develop. It is commonly planted as a roadside tree on account of its abundance of flowers and its wide spreading crown which gives moderate shade in summer. The wood is light and soft, yellowish white at first, turning to pale brown, and is used for making furniture, models or musical instruments. In Formosa models of small fish are made from the wood of this tree and are used as lures for catching cuttlefish.
114
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
UBLIC
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
I.
Burmese Rose-Wood.
EIGHT HONG KONG TREES
2.
Red Cotton Tree.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
3.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
Chinese
Banyan.
4.
Siamese
Cassia.
5.
The Hong Kong
Bauhinia.
6.
Candlenut
Tree.
港
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
8.
Spider Tree.
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
NG KONG
RIES
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
7.
Large - leafed
Banyan.
HERONS IN THE NEW TERRITORIES
The large and cosmopolitan family of Ardeidae, which includes herons and egrets, has a number of handsome easily recognized species to be seen in the New Territories. The best way to catch a glimpse of these birds is to take a walk beside the creeks of Yuen Long toward the flat well-watered paddy land forming the southern shore of Deep Bay.
Herons are fairly large birds with long bills and legs, and in flight their characteristic attitude is with head drawn back and legs trailing behind. The slow regular beats of their broad rounded wings make their rate of progress seem slower than it really is.
Although they spend much of their time on the ground, they also perch freely on trees particularly in Spring at the time of communal nesting. On the marsh herons are often seen standing erect and motionless, frequently. on one leg, with head sunken between rounded shoulders. When alerted by suspicion the long neck is stretched upwards with only a slight curve.
When fishing the birds walk slowly and noiselessly along in shallow water with body held less upright than when at rest and with neck curved ready to seize its prey.
At other times a bird may stand motionless in shallow water waiting for a fish to pass within easy reach. Fish thus caught are invariably swallowed head first. Should the fish prove too large for the bird to manage, it is carried ashore and pecked at until lumps of a suitable size are freed. A wide range of food is taken including frogs, rats and even birds including young coot, moorhen, pheasant and domestic duckling.
An interesting feature of the Ardeidae is the presence of well- developed powder-down patches on the sides of rump and breast. These patches resemble a fluffy powder puff and their function appears to be water-proofing of feathers and the removal of fish slime. The bill is rubbed gently up and down in the patches until it is coated with powder when it is used for preening, being drawn over the feathers as if to spread the powder lightly.
Gregariousness is typical of the family, and when breeding in suitable localities they form colonies varying from half-a-dozen to many hundreds, mixed species nesting in harmony.
The number of breeding herons in the New Territories has recently declined due to the dwindling number of really isolated spots in the area. The commonest breeding variety to-day is the Chinese Pond Heron, easily recognized by his rich rufous head and neck with, on the male, a distinct crest of elongated feathers and the back, tail, wings and entire under parts pure white.
The Eastern Purple Heron with a wing span of five feet and at a short distance an almost black appearance as it flaps heavily above the reed beds, is another handsome bird of this family. At closer quarters the prominent streak of black from eye to upper breast and the purple maroon of breast and under parts can be seen.
115
The Purple Heron nests in Manchuria and others parts of North The China, only visiting the Colony during the colder months. Eastern Grey Heron, very similar to the common heron of Europe, is slightly larger than his purple relation and much lighter, appearing almost white on the upper parts when in flight. The very large bill is yellow-green, and so are the feet and legs. The crown and neck are white, the neck streaked with blue-grey; the upper parts are a dark grey, the under parts slightly lighter in colour.
THE UPLAND PIPIT
The most important addition made in 1950 to the birds, resident or migratory, seen and identified in Hong Kong is the Upland Pipit, Orcocorys sylvanus, which was found for the first time in July nesting on the upper slopes of Taimoshan. Mr. J. C. E. Britt, who discovered the nest, was able to take the photograph opposite page 107 which is believed to be the only photograph ever taken of a female upland pipit on her nest.
This comparatively rare bird is mentioned in Salim Ali's "Hill Birds of India" as a resident species in the Himalayas from the Afghan border to Nepal, usually found at altitudes between four or five thousand feet. Caldwell's "South China Birds" describes it as straying into China and breeding sparingly in Fukien Province on the grass-covered mountain at Kuliang near Foochow and on the heights above the Kushan monastery, its season being from April to August.
The Upland Pipit is about 7 inches in length. Its bill is dark. grey above and yellow below; the crown and entire upper parts are greyish ground colour broadly streaked lengthwise with brown, each feather edged with red, giving a dark fuscous appearance above. The tail is brown-edged with pale fuscous outer feathers white for half their length. It has a dull but prominent eye-stripe, its under parts are a dull yellow and each of its feathers is edged with black giving a streaked appearance.
Like other members of the pipit family it makes song flights into the `air followed by a quick parachuting glide down to earth. The call of the male is an oft- repeated 'chick-ree', a distinctive sound similar in timbre to the call of the curlew and audible over a long distance in hill country.
116
IV.
ADMINISTRATION.
The Government of Hong Kong derives its constitutional authority from Letters Patent and Royal Instructions issued from time to time and is administered by a Governor assisted by an Executive Council and a Legislative Council. The Executive Council,
which is consulted by the Governor on all important administrative matters, includes the senior Military Officer, the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney General, the Secretary for Chinese Affairs, the Financial Secretary (who are members ex-officio), and such other members, both official and unofficial, as may be appointed. At the end of 1950 there were six official members (including the five ex-officio members mentioned above) and six unofficial members, three of whom were Chinese.
The Legislative Council consists of not more than nine official members, including the same five ex-officio members listed above, and not more than eight unofficial members. At the end of 1950 there were eight official members and seven unofficial members. The procedure of this Council, with the advice and consent of which all legislation is enacted and by which all expenditure from public funds has to be approved, is based on that of the House of Commons. There are three standing Committees of the Legislative Council- the Finance Committee, the Law Committee and the Public Works Committee-and select committees are from time to time set up to advise on matters before the Council.
The English Common Law, together with such United Kingdom statutes as were in force on April 5th 1843 or have since that date been expressly made applicable to Hong Kong, forms the basis of the legal system, modified by Hong Kong Ordinances of which an edition revised to 1931 was published in 1938. A further revised edition of the laws is in course of preparation. The constitution of the Supreme Court of the Colony is set out in the Supreme Court Ordinance No. 3 of 1873. The law as to civil procedure was codified by Ordinance No. 3 of 1901. The Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act, 1890, regulates the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in Admiralty
cases.
The system of administration is briefly as follows:
Under the general direction of the Colonial Secretary the administrative functions of Government are discharged by some thirty departments, all the officers of which are members of the
117
Civil Service.
The Colonial Secretariat under the control of the Deputy Colonial Secretary coordinates the work of all the depart- ments and takes, or transmits from the Governor or Colonial Secretary, all general policy decisions.
The Government has a Public Relations Officer whose duties are to transmit news and explain government policy to the public and to keep Government informed of public opinion.
The Public Services Commission, which was appointed under the authority of the Public Services Commission Ordinance, 1950, with a view to improving the standard of efficiency of officers in the public service and ensuring that the claims of local candidates for appointment to the service receive full consideration, is responsible for advising the Governor on appointments and promotions to the great majority of vacancies on the pensionable Government establish-
ment.
During 1949 a six-month visit was paid by an Adviser on Organization and Methods who examined the organization and proce- dures of the Colonial Secretariat and the Public Works Department and reviewed various problems concerned with governmental method.
Trade, Finance and Development
Since 1938 the Financial Secretary has assumed a purely administrative function in the Colonial Secretariat and under his direction the Accountant-General is responsible for the public accounts, all of which are subject to the supervision of the Director of Audit. The assessment and collection of rates are the responsibility of the Commissioner of Rating and Valuation; and the collection of miscellaneous indirect taxation and of the direct taxation levied under the Inland Revenue Ordinance, 1947, and the Estate Duty Ordinance, 1932, are the responsibility of the Commissioner of Inland Revenue.
During 1950 the two former trade departments (Commerce and Industry, and Supplies and Distribution) were unified under a Director of Commerce and Industry who is responsible for Govern- ment bulk purchases of essential foodstuffs, price control, rationing, the collection of import and excise duties and the direction of preventive work. Procurement of Government requirements other than essential foodstuffs is the responsibility of the Controller of Stores. The control of enemy property and property abandoned during the war is in the hands of the Custodian of Property.
The four separate departments which dealt with agriculture, fisheries, forestry and public gardens have now been linked for administrative purposes into a single department under a Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
A new departure has been the setting up of a department to foster the development of cooperative societies. This department, under a Registrar of Cooperatives, is also in control of the Govern- ment Wholesale Fish and Vegetable Markets.
118
Social Services
The Secretary for Chinese Affairs is a senior administrative officer and has a wide and general responsibility in all matters affecting the Chinese community. The Commissioner of Labour is responsible for ensuring that the conditions in factories and work- shops, particularly with regard to health and safety, are in accordance with the requirements of existing legislation, for providing concilia- tion machinery for the settlement of disputes about wages and other terms of service, for the encouragement of modern trade unionism, and for the implementation of such International Labour Conventions as can be applied to the Colony. The Social Welfare Officer operates under the general direction of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs, and among his duties are included the protection of women and girls, the inspection of emigrant ships, the supervision of child and juvenile welfare and the general coordination of all welfare activities in the Colony.
The Director of Medical and Health Services, whose department is divided into the hospital, health and investigation divisions, assisted by the Head of the Sanitary Department is responsible for the general health of the Colony and for the provision of vital statistics. The Head of the Sanitary Department is ex-officio the Chairman of the Urban Council which has certain powers, subject to confirmation by the Legislative Council, to originate subsidiary legislation in matters concerning public health.
Education is in the hands of the Director of Education who controls government schools and supervises all private schools in the Colony.
Communications
The Director of Marine, the Director of Civil Aviation and the General Manager of the Kowloon-Canton Railway are responsible. for sea, air and rail traffic respectively while the Director of Public Works, in addition to his duties in connexion with the construction and maintenance of government buildings, the supervision of other buildings, waterworks, piers and government transport, is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the Colony's roads.
The Postmaster General is responsible for the collection and delivery of mail and also controls Radio Hong Kong. The Observatory is under the charge of the Director of the Royal Observatory.
Law and Order.
!
The Attorney General is the adviser to Government on all legal matters and is also the public prosecutor. The Registrar General is the officer responsible for the registration of companies, trade marks, marriages and land deals and is also the Official Receiver and Official Trustee. Watch and ward in the Colony is kept by the Commissioner of Police, while the Colony's prisons are the responsibility of the Commissioner of Prisons. The Chief Officer of the Fire Brigade has an efficient and up-to-date force under his command.
119
"
New Territories
The administration of the New Territories is in the charge of a District Commissioner, assisted by a District Officer for each of the three districts: Yuen Long in the west, Taipo in the north and east, and the Southern District. The District Officers for Yuen Long and Taipo each sit as Magistrates three days a week, on alternate days, and hear debt cases. Much of the time of District Officers is occupied in hearing disputes concerning land, in which sphere they have With the help of powers similar to those of the Supreme Court.
the Medical and Health Officer, the Department is responsible in the New Territories for much of the work done in the city by the Urban Council.
Other Departments
The Government Statistician is responsible for the production of any statistical matter required by any department of government.
The Commissioner of Registration is responsible for the registra- tion of persons and the issue of identity cards under the Registration of Persons Ordinance, 1949.
The Quartering Authority is responsible generally for the alloca- tion of accommodation within government and for the requisition of premises.
120
V.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
The weights and measures in use in the Colony consist of the standards in use in the United Kingdom and of the following Chinese weights and measures:-
1 fan (candareen)
1 ts'in (mace)
1 leung (tael)
1 kan (catty)
1 tam (picul)
1 ch'ek (foot)
|| || ||
.0133 ounces avoirdupois
.133 ounces avoirdupois
1.33
ounces avoirdupois 1.33 pounds avoirdupois 133.33
pounds avoirdupois
Statutory equivalent 14§ inches. The ch'ek is divided into 10 ts'un (inches) and each ts'un into ten fan or tenths.
In practice the equivalent length of a ch'ek varies according to the trade in which it is used from 14 inches to 11 inches, the commonest equivalent being 14.14 inches.
121
VI.
THE PRESS.
The major event in Hong Kong's press world during 1950 was the sale, in the latter part of the year, by Newspaper Enterprises Ltd., publishers of the China Mail and the Sunday Herald, of their rights in these newspapers to the proprietors of the South China Morning Post. While the China Mail retained its separate identity, the Sunday Herald was merged into the Sunday edition of the Post under the composite title of Sunday Post-Herald.
Thus the three houses publishing competing English newspapers in the Colony were reduced to two, the Hong Kong (Tiger) Standard, founded in 1949 by Mr. Aw Boon Haw, O.B.E. who owns a group of English and Chinese newspapers throughout South-East Asia, being the sole rival to the South China Morning Post group.
Although a newcomer, the Hong Kong Standard has maintained an excellent news service and, by reason of going to press at a later hour than other Hong Kong newspapers, it is frequently able to provide news ahead of its rivals.
Another useful newcomer is the trade journal Daily Commodity Quotations published every weekday. This is a bilingual paper in English and Chinese, giving up-to-date trade news. It started publication in 1948.
The earliest English newspaper in the Colony, the Hong Kong Register, was a development of the Canton Register, which was printed in Canton from about 1827, and was the first English paper to be produced in the Far East. A daily edition was being produced in Hong Kong in 1850, but three years later publication ceased.
The oldest publication still being produced in Hong Kong is the Government Gazette, which was started in 1841 in Macao for publishing such proclamations as the British authorities desired to issue to their merchants. When Hong Kong was ceded, printing presses were imported into the new Colony and a weekly newspaper entitled The Friend of China and the Hong Kong Gazette began publication on 17th March 1842. In 1845 the newly-founded China Mail became the vehicle for Government notifications and the name Hong Kong Gazette was dropped by the Friend of China which carried on until 1860 before ceasing publication. The first separately issued Government Gazette appeared on 24th September 1853, and the first Chinese issue of the Gazette on 1st March 1862.
122
The China Mail, which began as a four-page weekly on 20th February 1845, is still the oldest English newspaper in publication, although it is no longer a morning paper. Its new proprietors were at the end of the year producing three daily papers, the South China Morning Post every weekday morning, the Hong Kong Telegraph, a tabloid lunch-time paper published on weekdays from Monday to Friday, and the China Mail, now a weekday evening paper.
The South China Morning Post first appeared on 7th November 1903. The paper was originally founded with considerable support from among prominent local residents in sympathy with the Reform Movement in China. Originally situated in Connaught Road Central, its offices were moved first to Des Voeux Road and in 1913 to the present site in Wyndham Street where a new Morning Post Building was completed in 1926.
The Hong Kong Telegraph was first issued on 15th June 1881, changed hands on several occasions, and finally merged its interests with the South China Morning Post in 1916.
The most notable_English-language periodicals published in the Colony are the Far Eastern Economic Review, established in 1946, and a new monthly magazine Orient, first published in August 1950, specializing in Asian political and cultural affairs.
The leading newspapers of the Chinese press follow distinct political lines. The Wah Kiu Yat Po has a large morning circula- tion and also publishes an evening edition; its aim is to report news -independently and it is a generally reliable newspaper. Right wing papers giving reliable news include the Sing Tao Jih Pao, run by the proprietors of the Hong Kong Standard, and the Kung Sheung Daily News, both of which publish evening editions. The Sing Pao, with a circulation rivalling if not exceeding that of the Wah Kiu Yat Po, has little political significance and is largely a gossip paper.
The Hong Kong Times is an extreme right wing paper in Chinese, and the two left wing papers Wen Wei Pao and Ta Kung Pao follow the orthodox communist line, the greater part of their circulation being in South China where, by comparison with Chinese newspapers published in China, they open a somewhat wider window on world affairs.
There are altogether some 50 Chinese-language newspapers and periodicals published in the Colony but many of the smaller ones have only ephemeral lives, dying out and being replaced by others not unlike them, and thus popularly referred to as the mosquito press.
123
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Official Publications.
ADMINISTRATION REPORTS [until 1939.] Annual.
ANNUAL REPORT ON HONG KONG. Annual.
BLUE BOOK [until 1940.] Annual.
CIVIL SERVICE LIST. Annual.
COMMERCIAL GUIDE TO HONG KONG. Annual from 1949.
DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. Annual.
ESTIMATES OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE,
Annual.
EXTRACT OF METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. Monthly.
GOVERNMENT GAZETTE. Weekly, or more often as required.
HONG KONG HANSARD. Annual.
HONG KONG TRADE AND SHIPPING RETURNS. Annual.
HONG KONG TRADE AND SHIPPING RETURNS. Monthly.
METEOROLOGICAL RESULTS.
Annual.
ORDINANCES OF HONG KONG INCLUDING PROCLAMATIONS, REGULA-
TIONS, ORDERS IN COUNCIL, ETC. Annual.
SESSIONAL PAPERS.
Annual.
TYPHOON TRACKS. Annual.
BRITISH TRADE IN HONG KONG, 1896.
LIBE
CENSUS REPORTS OF HONG KONG. 1901, 1911, 1921, 1931, 1941.
FINANCIAL AND OTHER STATISTICS SHOWING DEVELOPMENT OF
HONG KONG. 1897-1926. Colonial Office, London.
HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL ABSTRACT OF THE COLONY OF HONG
KONG. Published in 1906, 1911, 1922, 1932.
METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION FOR AVIATION PURPOSES, Royal
Observatory, 1948.
METEOROLOGICAL RECORDS AND CLIMATOLOGICAL NOTES, 1884-1938,
Royal Observatory, 1939.
REPORT BY GOVERNOR OF HONG KONG ON THE MUI TSAI QUESTION,
1930.
SALARIES COMMISSION REPORT, 1947.
STORM WARNING SERVICE, Royal Observatory, 1949.
THE 1937 EDITION OF THE ORDINANCES AND REGULATIONS OF HONG KONG. Edited by the late J. A. Fraser, G.C., M.C., published 1938.
124
Periodicals.
ASIATIC REVIEW. Quarterly, London.
FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW. Weekly, Hong Kong.
HONG KONG CHAMBER OF COMMERCE REPORT. Annual.
HONG KONG DOLLAR DIRECTORY.
Annual.
JOURNAL OF THE HONG KONG FISHERIES RESEARCH STATION. Vol. I No. 1 February, No. 2 September, 1940, Vol. II No. 1 March, 1949. Printed by South China Morning Post, Hong Kong.
THE HONG KONG NATURALIST. Illustrated Quarterly. Vols. I-X Hong Kong, Newspaper Enterprise and South China Morning Post, 1930 to 1941.
GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY.
ABERCROMBIE, SIR PATRICK-Preliminary Planning Report, Hong Kong,
1949.
ANGIER, A. G.-The Far East Revisited, London, 1908.
ARNOLD, JULEAN-Commercial Handbook of China, Washington, 1919.
BALFOUR, S. F.-Hong Kong before the British. Being a local history of the region of Hong Kong and the New Territories before the British occupation, Shanghai, 1941.
BEACH, REV. W. R.-Visit of H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh to Hong Kong,
Hong Kong, 1869.
BENTHAM, G. B.-Flora Hongkongensis-London, 1861.
BERESFORD, LORD CHARLES-The Break-up of China, London, 1899.
BLAKE, SIR HENRY A.-China, London, 1909.
BLOCKADE OF THE PORT AND HARBOUR OF HONG KONG, London, 1875.
BOWEN, SIR GEORGE F.-Thirty Years of Colonial Government, London,
1889, 2 vols.
BOYCE, SIR L.-Report of the United Kingdom Trade Mission to China, 1946,
London, 1948..
BRAGA, J. P.-Sir C. P. Chater: The Grand Old Man of Hong Kong, Hong
Kong.
BREEN, M. J.-Hong Kong Trade Commission Inquiry, Sessional Paper No. 3
of 1935.
BRITISH DEPENDENCIES IN THE FAR EAST, 1945-1949, London, 1949.
BRUCE, M.-Hong Kong Illustrated in a Series of Views, London, 1849.
BUNBURY, REV. G. A.-Notes on Wild Life in Hong Kong and South China,
Hong Kong, 1909.
BUTTERS, H. R.-Report on Labour and Labour Conditions in Hong Kong,
Sessional Paper No. 3 of 1939.
CANTLIE, N. AND SEAVER, G.-Sir James Cantlie, London, 1939.
CARRINGTON, C. E.-The British Overseas, Cambridge, 1950.
CHATER, C. P.-The Praya Reclamation Scheme, Hong Kong, 1888.
CLAVERY, M. EDOUARD-Hong Kong: Le Passe et le Present, Paris, 1905.
CLAXTON, T. F.-Isotyphs showing Prevalence of Typhoons, Hong Kong Royal
Observatory, 1932.
The Climate of Hong Kong, 1884-1929 [Appendix to Hong Kong Observa- tions] Hong Kong Royal Observatory, 1931.
125
CLEMENTI, SIR CECIL-The Future of Hong Kong, 1936.
DAVIS, S. G.-Hong Kong in its Geographical Setting, London, 1949.
DES VOEUX, SIR G. W.-Report on the Condition and Prospects of Hong
Kong, Hong Kong, 1889.
My Colonial Service, London, 1903.
DILKE, SIR CHARLES-Greater Britain, With Additional Chapters on Hong
Kong, London, 1885.
DUNCAN, J.-Commercial Development of the Port of Hong Kong, 1924.
DUNN, S. T. AND TUTCHER, W. J.-Flora of Kwangtung and Hong Kong,
London, 1912.
EITEL, E. J.-Europe in Asia [History of Hong Kong], Hong Kong, 1895.
ENDACOTT, G. B. AND SHE, MRS. D. E.-The Diocese of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong, 1949.
"F.F."-Account of the Visit of the Duke and Duchess of Connaught, Hong
Kong, 1890.
FORSTER, L.-Echoes of Hong Kong and Beyond, Hong Kong, 1933.
FOX, MISS GRACE-British Admirals and Chinese Pirates
London, 1940.
GIBBS, L.-Common Hong Kong Ferns-Hong Kong, 1927.
[1832-1869],
GIVEN, SURGEON COMDR. D. H. C.-Malaria in Hong Kong and the Summer
Mosquito Pest in Hong Kong, 2 vols. Hong Kong, 1928.
GULL, E. M.-British Economic Interests in the Far East, London, 1943.
HEANLEY, C. M. AND SHELLSHEAR, J. L.-A Contribution to the Prehistory
of Hong Kong and the New Territories, Hanoi, 1932.
HERKLOTS, G. A. C.-1937: Flowering Shrubs and Trees-[First Twenty] Hong Kong, Newspaper Enterprise. [Second Twenty] South China Morning Post, 1938. Orchids, [First Twenty] Hong Kong, Newspaper Enterprise.
1941: Vegetable Cultivation in Hong Kong, South China Morning Post. edition 1947.
2nd
1946: The Birds of Hong Kong-Field Identification. Hong Kong, South China Morning Post.
1948: Food and Flowers. Hong Kong, South China Morning Post.
HERKLOTS, G. A. C. AND LIN, S. Y.-1940: Common Marine Food-Fishes of
Hong Kong. 2nd edition Enl. South China Morning Post.
HEWETT, E. A.-Brief History of the Hong Kong General Chamber of
Commerce, Hong Kong, 1911.
HEYWOOD, G. S. P.-Upper Temperatures and the Properties of Air Masses
Over Hong Kong [Appendix B. to Hong Kong Met. Results 1940], 1941. Hong Kong Typhoons, Royal Observatory, Hong Kong, 1950.
HINTON, W. J.-Hong Kong's Place in the British Empire, London, 1941.
HONG KONG: Events in Hong Kong and the Far East, 1875 to 1884, Hong
Kong, 1885.
HONG KONG: FIFTY YEARS OF PROGRESS-The Jubilee of Hong Kong as a British Crown Colony, being an Historical Sketch, Hong Kong, 1891.
HONG KONG: HANDBOOK TO HONG KONG, Hong Kong, 1893.
HONG KONG: A Guide to Hong Kong, with a Short Account of Canton and Macao, and embracing many chapters of interest relating to the Far East, Hong Kong, 1895.
126
HONG KONG ECONOMIC RESOURCES COMMITTEE: Factory, and Home
and Cottage Industries Sub-Committee Report, Hong Kong, 1920.
HURLEY, R. C.-Tourists' Guide to Hong Kong, with short trips to the
Mainland, Hong Kong, 1897.
Picturesque Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1925.
JEFFERIES, C. W.-Meteorological Records, 1884-1928 [Appendix to Hong
Kong Observations]. Hong Kong Royal Observatory, 1938.
KEETON, GEORGE W.-China, The Far East and The Future, London, 1949.
KERSHAW, J. C.-Butterflies of Hong Kong and South-East China, Hong
Kong, 1905.
MAYERS, W. F., DENNYS, N. B. AND KING, C.-The Treaty Ports of China
and Japan, London, 1867.
MEATH, EARL OF, CORNWELL LEGH, M. H. AND JACKSON, EDITH-- "Hong Kong and Wei-hai-wei" being Chapter XXVII of Vol. II of OUR EMPIRE PAST AND PRESENT, London, 1905.
MERCER, WILLIAM T.-Under the Peak: written during a lengthened
residence in the Colony of Hong Kong-London, 1869.
MIDDLETON SMITH, C. A.-The British in China and Far Eastern Trade,
London, 1920.
MILLS, LENNOX A.-British Rule in Eastern Asia. A Study of Contemporary Government and Economic Development in British Malaya and Hong Kong, London, 1942.
MITFORD, MAJOR-GENERAL R. C. W. REVELEY-Orient and Occident:
A Journey East from Lahore to Liverpool, London, 1888.
MODY, SIR H. N.-Souvenir to Commemorate the Laying of the Foundation
Stone of the Hong Kong University Building, Hong Kong, 1910. MONTGOMERY MARTIN, R.-China: Political, Commercial, and Social-
London, 1847.
NORTHCOTE, SIR GEOFFREY-Hong Kong: The Story of a Century, "The
Crown Colonist", London, January, 1941.
NORTON-KYSHE, J. W.-The History of the Laws and Courts of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong, 1898, 2 vols.
NUNN, J. H.-Analysis of Hong Kong Trade 1924 and 1930, Washington Bureau
of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Washington, 1931.
OWEN, SIR D. J.-Future Control and Development of the Port of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong, 1941.
PARTINGTON, T. B.-British Trade Possibilities in Hong Kong and South
China, in "United Empire", May 1921 pages 340-352.
PEPLOW, S. H. AND BARKER, M.-Hong Kong, Around and About, Hong
Kong, 1931.
RIDGEWAY, A. R.-Letters from Hong Kong and Macao, London, 1843. ROBERT, REV. LEON-La Greve Maritime de Hong Kong, in "Revue du
Pacifique", October 1922, pages 10-19.
SAYER, G. R.-Hong Kong: Birth, Adolescence and Coming of Age, Oxford.
1937.
SCHOFIELD, W.-Hong Kong's New Territory, "Asiatic Review", October, 1938. SELWYN-CLARKE, P. S.-Hong Kong Faces the Future, "Health Horizon",
July, 1946, pages 13-18.
Report on Medical and Health Conditions in Hongkong, 1st January 1942 to 31st August 1945, London 1946.
SKETCHLY, S. B. J.-Our Island, Hong Kong, 1896.
SMITH, REV. G.-A Narrative of an Exploratory Visit to each of the Consular Cities of China, and to the Island of Hong Kong and Chusan-London, 1847. Report on Hong Kong, more especially in reference to missionary facilities there, London, 1845.
STARBUCK, L.-Statistical Survey of Hong Kong Rainfall, Royal Observatory.
Hong Kong, 1950.
127
128
TARRANT, W.-Hong Kong Part I: 1839 to 1844, Canton, 1861.
THORBECKE, ELLEN-Hong Kong, Kelly and Walsh, Shanghai [no date]. TUTCHER, W. J.-Gardening for Hong Kong, Kelly and Walsh, Hong Kong,
1913.
UGLOW, W. L.-Geology and Mineral Resources of the Colony of Hong Kong,
Sessional Paper, 1926.
WILLIAMS, M. Y.-The Stratigraphy and Palaeontology of Hong Kong and the New Territories. [Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada. Third Series, Section IV, Vol. XXXVII, 1943, pages 93-117.]
WILLIAMS, M. Y. AND OTHERS-The Physiography and Igneous Geology of Hong Kong and the New Territories. [Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada. Third Series, Section IV, Vol. XXXIX, 1945, pages 91-119.] WINGROVE COCKE, G.-China: being "The Times" Special Correspondence
from China, London, 1858.
WOOD, A. E.-Report of the Committee regarding Marketing in the New
Territories, Sessional Paper No. 1 of 1934.
WOOD, WINIFRED A.-A Brief History of Hong Kong, South China Morning
Post, Hong Kong, 1940.
WOODWARD, A. R.-Report on the Water Supply of Hong Kong, Sessional
Paper No. 3 of 1937.
WOOLF, BELLA SIDNEY-Chips of China, Hong Kong, 1930.
WRIGHT, A. AND CARTWRIGHT, H. A.-Twentieth Century Impressions,
etc., London, 1908.
KI
HONG KO
!
書
GKONG PUBLIC LIBRA
LIBRARIES
129
No.
Year
APPENDIX I.
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT AND WELFARE SCHEMES ADMINISTERED LOCALLY.
Title
Grant
£
Loan
£
Amount spent from C. D. & W. funds up to 31.12.50
£
1947/48
D. 759
Visit of Town Planning Expert
1,250
D. 924
Reclamation at Aberdeen
50,000
1,250*
49,528
D. 925
Landing Facilities at Kennedy Town
10,000
6,849
61,250
57,627
1948/49
D. 994
D. 994
D.1060
D.1066
Village Agricultural Depots-Capital Village Agricultural Depots-Recurrent. Upper Air Reporting Station
9,000
592
9,375
9,375
{
25.780
Vegetable Marketing Scheme-Lorries.
9,375
9,375
4,270(G)
4,270(L)
2
9,375 (G)
9,375(L)
53.530
18,750
27.884
1949/50
D.1242
Irrigation in the New Territories
5,000
(interim)
D.1243
Piers in the New Territories
5,000
(interim)
D.1362
D.1435
Broadcasting Studios
15,625
Mechanization of Fishing Fleet
20,000
45,625
10,778
10.778
Research Schemes.
1946/47
1947/48
R. 94
Fisheries Research
R. 282
Fisheries Research Station
500
•
135,000
135.500
* Paid in London, but charged against Hong Kong's C.D. and W. allocation.
498
114
612
130
;
APPENDIX II.
SELECTED INDICES OF ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE.
The following index figures have been selected from Supplement No. 4 therefrom, to illustrate the economic position of the Colony at the end of 1950, majority of cases is the monthly average for 1947, and indices on this base compared with one another.
Reference
No. of
Relevant
Table
*
to the Government Gazette, or calculated as compared with 1947. The base in the (printed in heavy type) may therefore be
INDICES ON BASE
Base
Monthly Average
Monthly Average
1948
1949
Monthly Average
1950
11
Employees in
Registered
Factories &
Total Dec., 1947 (64,499 persons) 100
Dec., 1948
Dec., 1949
Dec., 1950
63,873 persons 99.0
81,566 persons
91,986 persons
126.5
142.6
Workshops
13
Factories
Registered
Monthly Average, 194'7 (43 factories)
24 factories
55.8
19 factories
44.2
100
↓
35
Tonnages of
Vegetables
Monthly Average, 1947 (1,413.5 tons
Marketed
37
Animals
Slaughtered
100
Monthly Average, '1947
(41,249 animals) 100
BR
1,582.2 tons
111.9
1,721.5 tons
121.8
2,451.7 tons
173.4
49,272 animals 119.5
als!
48,091 animals
47,738 animals
116.6
115.7
1
38
Production of Fluid Milk
Monthly Average, 1947 (32,544 gals.)
42,987 gals.
132.1
63,076 gals.
193.8
76,353 gals.
234.6
100
46
Tonnages of Fish Marketed
Monthly Average, 1947 (1,361.45 tons)
2,252.42 tons
165.4
2,813.60 tons
206.7
2,607.97 tons 191.6
100
Reference
No. of
Relevant
Table
Base
Monthly Average
1948
INDICES ON BASE
Monthly Average
1949
Monthly Average 19,50
126
Production of Cement
Monthly Average, 1947 (2,852 metric tons) 100
4,435 metric tons 155.5
4,889 metric tons 171.4
5,673 metric tons 198.9
166
Production of Electricity
Monthly Average, 1947 (8,831,844 k.w.h.) 100
12,526,000 k.w.h. 141.8
18,138,733 k.w.h. 205.4
24,458,527 k.w.h. 276.9
167
Gas Manufacture
& Distribution
Monthly Average, 1947 (18,361,959 cu. ft.)
23,955,708 cu. ft. 130.5
32,775,633 cu. ft. 178.4
40,951,217 cu. ft. 223.0
100
171
Railway: Upward
& Downward
Monthly Average, 1947 (71,420 persons)
103,060 persons 144.3
270,117 persons 378.2
521,263 persons 729.9
Passengers:-
100
(Local only)*
Goods:-
(Local only)
Monthly Average, 1947 (368,672 kgs.) 100
220,657 kgs.
59.9
2,380,579 kgs. 645.7
28,592,627 kgs. 7,755.6
131
* Note:-Through traffic to China ceased on the 15th October, 1949.
132
Reference
No. of
Base
INDICES ON BASE
Relevant
Table
181
Tonnage of
Shipping (over 60 tons net)
Monthly Average, 1947 (669,424 tons)
100
Monthly Average
Monthly Average
1948
1949
774,732 tons
115.7.
976,736 tons
145.9
Monthly Average
1950
976,504 tons
145.9
cleared
182
Passengers
arriving &
departing by
shipping (over 60 tons net)
Monthly Average, 1947
(98,225 persons)
120,430 persons 122.6
139,149 persons 141.7
143,897 persons
100
183
Foreign Trade
Conducted by
Junks &
Launches:-
Tonnages of
Cargo
Monthly Average, 1947
(45,456 tons)
100
36,499 tons
80.3
37,539 tons
82.6
40,948 tons
90.1
Tonnages of Vessels
Monthly Average, 1947 (200,990 tons)
229,722 tons
114.3
206,766 tons
102.9
201,678 tons
100.3
100
Number of Passengers
Monthly Average, 1947 (3,489 persons) 100
6,807 persons 195.1
6,975 persons 199.9
1,635 persons 46.9
184
Commercial
Cargo Tonnages,
Monthly Average, 1947 (237,451 tons)
297,763 tons
125.4
419,147 tons
176.5
522,650 tons 220.1
Ocean and
100
River Vessels
186
Arrivals of
Monthly Average, 1947
Aircraft at
(229 aircraft)
596 aircraft
260.3
1,062 aircraft 463.8
224 aircraft
97.8
Kai Tak
100
Reference
No. of
Relevant
Table
Base
INDICES ON BASE
Monthly Average
Monthly Average
1948
1949
Monthly Average
1950
211
Value of Imports Monthly Average, 1947
$173,128,218
$229,183,483
($129,160,121)
134.0
177.4
$315,638,471
244.4
100
212
Value of Exports Monthly Average, 1947
$131,894,976
$193,241,916
($101,402,797)
130.0
190.5
$309,629,364 305.3
100
133
229
Exports of
certain
commodities
manufactured in
Hong Kong*
(i) Preserved | Monthly Average, 1947
Ginger
excess of exports
$792,479
284.6
$844,488
303.3
$464,290
166.7
($278,453) over
imports
100
(ii) Preserves
Monthly Average, 1947
$385,726
(excl.
excess of exports
81.8
Ginger)
($471,264) over
$492,577
104.5
$413,839
87.8
1
imports
100
រ
(iii) Soy
Monthly Average, 1947
($78,738) over
imports
100
excess of exports
327.2
RIES
Note: These indices are not indices of production, but simply of the excess of exports over imports.
$257,611
$269,127
賻
341.8
$228,030
289.6
*
134
Reference
No. of
Relevant
Table
229
Exports of certain commodities
manufactured in Hong Kong
(contd.):
*
(iv) Boots &
Shoes
(Canvas
and
Base
GKON
Monthly Average, 1947
excess of exports
($826,262) over
INDICES ON BASE
Monthly Average
Monthly Average
1948
1949
Monthly Average
1950
$1,033,796
125.1
$1,284,500
155.5
$1,872,759
226.7
imports
Rubber)
(v) Electric
Torches &
100
Monthly Average, 1947
$1,721,549
excess of exports
118.9
$3,419,088
236.1
$2,914,344
197.2
Flashlight Batteries
($1,447,848) over
imports
100
(vi) Rattan
Monthly Average, 1947
$177,857
Furniture
excess of exports
112.8
$341,386
216.5
$691,594
438.5
($157,709) over
imports
100
(vii) Rope
Monthly Average, 1947
excess of exports
·
($82,242) over
imports
100
1
$96,193
$115.479
117.0
140.4
$278,322
338.4
* Note: These indices are not indices of production, but simply of the excess of exports over imports.
135
Reference
No. of
Relevant
Table
Base
Monthly Average
1948
INDICES ON BASE
Monthly Average
1949
Monthly Average
1950
229
Exports of certain
commodities
manufactured in
Hong Kong
(contd.):
(viii) Trunks
Monthly Average, 1947
$302,691
and
excess of exports
113.7
$333,078
125.1
$486,411
182.7
Suitcases
($266,258 over)
imports
100
(ix) Lamps
and
Monthly Average, 1947
$247,888
excess of exports
68.3
$251,084
69.2
$172,213
47.4
Lamp-
ware
($363,060) over
imports
100
(x) Hats and
Monthly Average, 1947
$220,927
Caps
excess of exports
213.2
$238,566
230.2
$391,128
377.4
(Foreign
Style)
($103,639) over
imports
100
*
(xi) Umbrellas Monthly Average, 1947
excess of exports
($248,409) over
imports
100
(i)-(xi)* Totals Monthly Average, 1947
excess of exports
($4,323,882) over
imports
100
$490,341
197.4
$403,818
162.6
$524,286
211.1
$5,727,058
132.5
$7,993,191
184.9
$8,437,216
195.1
Note: These indices are not indices of production, but simply of the excess of exports over imports.
136
Reference
No. of
Relevant
Table
· Base
INDICES ON BASE
Monthly Average
Monthly Average
Monthly Average
1948
1949
1950
233
Rice Received under
Monthly Average, 1947 (6,774.70 met, tons
9,164.39 met. tons 135.3
5,909.05 met. tons 87.2
11,691.86 met. tons 172.6
Allocation
100
239
Imports of
Cotton Piece Goods
Monthly Average, 1947 (4,895,493 yards) 100
6,682,076 yds. 136.5
6,321,213 yds. 129.1
9,502,289 yds. 194.1
240
Exports of
Cotton Piece Goods
Monthly Average, 1947 (7,281,106 yards) 100
11,025,049 yds. 151.4
9,245,253 yds. 126.9
11,866,358 yds. 163.0
241.
Imports of
Rayon and
Rayon
Monthly Average, 1947 (149,621 yards)
477,674 yds.
319.2
1,363,605 yds. 911.3
4,225,130 yds. 2,823.9
100
Mixtures
242
Imports of
Cotton Yarn
Monthly Average, 1947 (990,268 lbs.)
2,520,010 lbs. 254.4
2,136.885 lbs. 215.8
3,238,189 lbs. 327.0
100
244
Trade with
East Asia:
Imports from
Monthly Average, 1947
$28,786,472
South-East
Asia
($23,588,046)
100
122.0
$33,768,329
143.1
$74,243,489
314.8
Exports to
Monthly Average, 1947
$53,029,843
South-East
($39,420,509)
134.5
$49,731,122
126.1
$88,074,996
223.4
Asia
100
Reference
No. of
Relevant
Table
INDICES ON BASE
Base
Monthly Average
Monthly Average
1949
Monthly Average
1950
Imports from
Monthly Average, 1947
$39,357,248
North-East
Asia
($31,839,967)
100
123.6
$57,117,475
179.3
$75,011,747
235.6
Exports to
Monthly Average, 1947
$28,230,441
North-East
Asia
($22,239,874)
100
126.9
$59,039,544
265.4
$124,328,994
559.0
271
Food & Fuel-
Monthly Average, 1947
$13.0367
Costs of Selected
Commodities
($12.8461)
100
101.5
$14.1102
109.8
$13.8130
107.5
273
Retail Price
March, 1947
Index
100
December, 1948 92
December, 1949 112
December, 1950 108
291
Hong Kong
Monthly Average, 1947
Clearing House
Figures
($549,587,015)
100
$688,971,976 125.3
$917.138.568
167.0
$1,199,509,164 218.3
293
Bank Notes in
December, 1947
$769,154,069
$839.329.774
Circulation
($675,162,086)
(July-Dec.)
124.3
$803,279,384 118.9
100
113.9
323
Post Office
Monthly Average, 1947
$805,582
Revenue
($624,946)
100
128.9
$1,081,310
173.0
$1,420,696
227.3
137
138
Reference
No. of
Relevant
Table
APPENDIX III.
SUMMARY OF TOTAL FIGURES FOR THE YEARS, 1948, 1949 & 1950.
1948
1949
1950
11
Employees
in Registered
Factories
and
Workshops
63,873 persons
81,566 persons
91,986 persons
(Dec.)
(Dec.)
(Dec.)
13
Factories Registered
288
factories
228
factories
412
factories
35
Tonnages of Vegetables Marketed
18,986
tons
20,658
tons
29,421
tons
37
Animals Slaughtered
591,276
animals
557,092
animals
572,851
animals
38
Production of Fluid Milk
515,844 gallons
756,912
gallons
916,230
gallons
46
Tonnages of Fish Marketed
27,029
tons
33,763 tons
31,296
tons
126
Production of Cement
53,220
met. tons
58,668
met. tons
68,081
met, tons
166
Production of Electricity
150,312,000
k.w.h.
217,664,796
k.w.h.
293,502,322
k.w.h.
167
Gas Manufacture and Distribution
287,468,496
cu. ft.
393,307,600 cu. ft.
491,414,600
cu. ft.
171
Railway: Upward and Downward
Passengers:-
Local
Goods:-
Foreign
Local
1,236,720 persons 2,446,908
3,241,398 persons
6,255,161 persons
persons
1,510,080 persons
*
2,647,884 kgs.
28,566,947 kgs.
343,111,530 kgs.
Foreign
86,884,368 kgs.
14,712,230 kgs.
181
Tonnage of Shipping (over 60 tons net) cleared
9,296,784 tons
11,720,832 tons
11,718,046 tons
182
Passengers arriving and departing by shipping (over 60 tons net)
1,445,160 persons
1,669,685 persons
1,726,766 persons
183
Foreign Trade Conducted by Junks and
Launches:-
Tonnage of cargo
437,988 tons
Tonnage of Vessels
2,754,664
184
Number of Passengers
Commercial Cargo Tonnages, Ocean and
River Vessels
* Through traffic was suspended on 15th October, 1949.
81,684
tons
persons
450,481 tons 2,481,185 tons 83,704
491,372 tons
2,420,136
tons
persons
19,612
persons
3,573,156 tons
5,029,770 tons
6,271,795 tons
Reference
No. of
Relevant
Table
1948
1949
1
1950
186
Arrivals of Aircraft at Kai Tak
211
Value of Imports
212
Value of Exports
7,152 aircraft $2,077,538,616 $1,582,739,712
12,740 aircraft $2,750,201,801
$2,318,902,992
2,682 aircraft $3,787,661,653 $3,715,552,373
229
Export of Certain Commodities Manufactured in Hong Kong (Excess of Exports over
Imports):-
(i) Preserved Ginger
$9,509,749
$10,133,856
$5,571,485
(ii) Preserves (Excluding Ginger)
$4,628,712
$5,910,912
$4,966,066
(iii) Soy
$3,091,332
$3,229,524
$2,736,361
(iv) Boots and Shoes (Canvas and Rubber)
$12,405,522
$15,414,012
$22,473,113
(v) Electric Torches & Flashlight Batteries (vi) Rattan Furniture
$20,658,588
$41,029,056
$34,972,128
$2,134,284
• $4,096,632
$8,299,130
(vii) Rope
$1,154,316
$1,385,736
$3,339,864
(viii) Trunks and Suitcases
$3,632,292
$3,996,936
$5,836,929
(ix) Lamps and Lampware
(x) Hats and Caps (Foreign Style)
$2,974,656
$3,013,008
$2,066,560
$2,651,124
$2,862,780
$4,693,528
(xi) Umbrellas
$5,884,092
$4,845,792
(i)-(xi) Totals
$68,724,696
233
Rice Received under Allocation
109,973 met. tons
239
Imports of Cotton Piece Goods
80,184,912
yds.
240
Exports of Cotton Piece Goods
132,300,588
yds.
241
Imports of Rayon and Rayon Mixtures
5,732,088 yds.
242
Imports of Cotton Yarn
30,240,120 lbs.
244
Trade with East Asia:-
Exports to North-East Asia
$345,437,668
Imports from North-East Asia
$636.358,123
Exports to South-East Asia
$42,286,980
Imports from South-East Asia
291
323
Hong Kong Clearing House Figures Post Office Revenue
$338,765,298 $8,267,463,712
$9,666,984
yds.
142,396,295 yds.
16,363,261 yds.
50,701,560 yds.
25,642,617
lbs.
38,858,263
lbs.
$405,219,946
$890,921,866
$596,773,469
$685,409,705
$708,474,538
$11,005,662,816
$12,975,720
$95,918,244
70,909 met. tons 75,854,554 yds. 110,943,036
$6,291,433 $101,246,597
140,302 met. tons
114,027,471 yds.
$1,056,899,949
$900,140,968
$1,491,947,924
$14,394,109,970
$17,048,351
139
-
香港公共圖書館
NG KONG PUBLIC LIBRARI
+
1
:
香港
|
共圖書希
G KONG PUBLIC LIBRARIE
HONG KON
Xc7
港
共圖書希
This image is unavailable for access via the Network
due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please
contact library staff for a printed copy of the copyright work.
NG KONG PUBLIC LIBRARI
F
Ja
F
:
低港公共圖書館
NG KONG PUBLIC LIBRAR
HONG KONG
*
az
J
7:
BRIE
香港公
共圖書館
NG KONG PUBLIC LIBRAR
HONG KONG
:
息
港
V
共
局
圖
This image is unavailable for access via the Network due to copyright restrictions. To view the image, please contact library staff for a printed copy
the copyright work.
書館
NG KONG PUBLIC LIBRAR
: