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Hong Kong
g
1964
A
_113°50'
LUNG KWU CHAU
CHAU
Nam Tau
114°00'
HONG KONG AND THE NEW TERRITORIES
114° 10°
K W AN G T U NG
Y
ON
Kowloon-Canton
PROVINCE
DISTRICT
Sham Chun
Lin Ma Hang
Lo Wu
an Kam To
TA KWU
LIN
1612
Chun Lok Ma Chau
Sheung Shui
San Tin
Kwu Tung
Farling
Shot
الله
Sheung
Mong/seng
Chuk Yuen
Lau Fau Shan
1877
Ha Tspen Ping
Shan
PAT HEUNG
Yuen Long
Kam Tin
Tuen Mun
San Hui
CASTLE PEAK
Lung Kwu Tan
·
+
1914
1660
Tai Lam Chung
Castle/Peak
Sham Tseng
SHA CHAU
MA WAN IS.
FON
1527
THE BROTHERS
CHEK LAP KOK
ISLAND
1527
114°20'
She Tau
Starling
Inlet
Crooked *Harbour
O CHAU
Lai ChWo
•Luk Keng
BAY
2102
• Wu Kau Tang
(TAP MUN
CHAU
1369
Shuen Wan
Plover
Tai Meicot
Tuk
Tolo Channel
Tai Po
Lai Chi Chong
Tolo Harbour
Tại Tan.
Sham Chung 1578
Sek Kong
AVMO
SHAP SZ HEUNG
GRASSY HILL
2138
Jubilee Reservoir
Sha Tin
Ma-Liu
Shui
Chek Keng
Tide Cove
MA ON SHAN
2305
Tai Mong Tsai
Pak Tam Chung
Sai Kung
suen Van
Kwai Chung
TSING
YI ISLAND
1889
Pak Sh
Ho Chung
Kau Sait
Port Shelter
Rennie's
Mill
SHARP PEAK
1534
Tai Long
HIGH ISLAND
Rocky Harbour
Hang Hau
SHELTER IS.
0
صحیح
BLUFF IS.
Junk Bay
JUNK IS.
Il'an
PENG CHAU
Shui Mun
KAU YI CHAU.
SUNSHINE
ISLAND
HEI LÍNG CHAU
Lamma Channel
HUNG CHAUS
STONEX CUTTERS IS.
GREEN
IS. Channel`
Yung Shue Wan
LAMMA ISLAND
1809
H
KOWLOON
Aberdeen
AP LEI
CHAU
amma Channel
Lienie Bax
Harbou
KON
1728
Tai Tam Reservoir
Deep
Repulse
Tong
Tai Tam Bay Stanley
Mun
Tung (sự
LANTAU ISLAND,
Mui Wo
SUNSET LÄK
Ngong g
LANTION RE
Pui
Mine Bay
Tai O
3064
Cheung Sha
Van
Shek Pik
Tong Fuk
Fan Lau
SOKO ISLANDS
SHEK KWU CHAU
113°50
ad
Compiled & Drawn by Crown Lands & Survey Office, Hong Kong, 1964.
Sok
HONG
KONG
香港中央
圖書館
CENTR
BRARY
114°10′
Clear Water Bay
STEEP ISLAND
Joss House Bay
LAM TE
ISLAND
Tathong
Big Wave
Bay Shek O
-
CAPE D'AGUILA,
ย
BASALT ISLAND
IN OROUP
PING CHAU
MILES 1
O
SCALE OF MILES
2
5 MILES
WAGLAN IS.
REFERENCE
BEAUFORT
ISLAND
ΡΟ ΤΟΙ
ISLAND
J
Railways Roads
Villages
Built-up Areas
Rivers & Streams, Reservoirs
Ferry Services
Heights
in Feet
2000
1000
Crown
right Reservek
HONG KONG 1964
HONG KONG GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS
are obtainable from
THE PRINTING DEPARTMENT
81-115, Java Road, North Point, and
THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS BUREAU Central Post Office, Hong Kong,
and from
THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE
54, Pall Mall, London, SW1
A list of current official publications will be sent on request and official publications are also included in a general Hong Kong Bibliography
HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORTS may also be obtained
from
HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, LONDON
IB
Throughout 1963 and the first half of 1964 Hong Kong suffered the worst drought ever known in the Colony. Levels in the reservoirs fell frighteningly low and homes were rationed to a four hour water supply every fourth day. Small wonder that when rain fell at last there was rejoicing-typified here by a little Chinese girl.
HONG
KONG
Hong Kong
Report for the Year 1964
HONG KONG
GOVERNMENT PRESS
1965
市政局公共圖書館UCPL
3 3288 02641908 7
CROWN COPYRIGHT RESERVED
First published: February 1965
URBAN COUNCIL PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Acc. No. 58292
Class.
HK 951.25
Author
HON
HKCr
Printed and Published by
THE GOVERNMENT PRINTER
at the Government Press, Java Road, North Point, Hong Kong
The Government of Hong Kong wishes to thank all those organizations and private individuals who have contributed textual matter to this Report. Particular acknowledgement is given to Professor S. G. Davis, PhD, MSc, FGS, of the University of Hong Kong for the chapter on Geography and to Mr G. B. Endacott, MA, BLitt, DipE, of the University for the History chapter.
All illustrations in this Report are the work of official photographers with the exception of the night view of Hong Kong by the Kodak Company and the pictures between pages 168 and 169 showing the bell-mouth spillway and overflow at Shek Pik reservoir which were taken by Mr M. I. Townsend, the Resident Engineer. Requests for permission to reproduce all other illustrations should be addressed to the Director of Information Services, Hong Kong.
CONTENTS
Chapter
PART I
1
REVIEW OF THE YEAR
PART II
2
EMPLOYMENT: Occupations-Wages and Conditions of Work Industrial Relations - Safety, Health and Welfare.
―
PUBLIC FINANCES: Revenue and Expenditure - Excise
3
Duties
Rates and Taxes.
4
CURRENCY AND BANKING
5
Page
3
19
32
39
Indus-
43
6
7
INDUSTRY AND TRADE: Pattern of Industry
trial Training and Productivity - External Trade- Restrictions on Hong Kong Exports-Trade Pro- motion - Trade and Industrial Organizations. PRIMARY PRODUCTION: Tenure and Use of Agricul- tural Land - Principal Crops - Vegetable Market- ing Organization Animal Industries- Forestry
Fishing Fish Marketing Organization - Co- operative Societies - Mining. EDUCATION: Primary, Secondary and Higher Educa- tion-Overseas Study-Adult Education-Teachers and Teacher Training Examinations - Adminis- tration.
8 HEALTH:
9
10
11
·
General Situation Cholera Tubercu- losis- Other Communicable Diseases Health Services Maternal and Child Health - Mental
-
Health-Hospitals - Specialist Services
Dental Services
―
·
Clinics
Medical Training - Environ- mental Health and the Urban Services.
LAND AND HOUSING: Land Tenure · - Land Sales
Surveys Town Planning - Building - Resettle- ment and Housing Squatter Clearances - Rent Control.
―
―
SOCIAL WELFARE: Community Development - Train- ing Child and Moral Welfare- The Probation Service Youth Welfare Assistance and Relief - The Handicapped.
-
LEGISLATION
62
80
95
115
135
143
viii
CONTENTS
Chapter
Page
12
LAW, ORDER AND RECORDS:
The Courts - Police
148
-
Narcotics - Traffic
-
The Preventive
13
14
15
Force Services
· The Prisons -- Fire Service · - Land and
Company Records - Birth, Death and Marriages. IMMIGRATION AND TOURISM
PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES: Water Supplies-- Buildings-Drainage-Port Works-Land Develop- ment - Public Utilities.
COMMUNICATIONS: Harbour and Marine Department - Civil Aviation - Kowloon-Canton Railway -- Roads and Car Parks - Public Transport - Postal Services - Telecommunications.
164
170
181
16
ROYAL OBSERVATORY: Meteorological Services - The
Year's Weather.
197
17
18
PRESS, BROADCASTING AND CINEMA: Newspapers and Circulations - Radio Hong Kong, Commercial Radio and Rediffusion - The Film Industry - Government Information Services-Public Enquiry Service.
LOCAL FORCES AND CIVIL DEFENCE SERVICES: Royal Hong Kong Defence Force - Essential Services
202
213
Corps.
19
RESEARCH:
versity
University of Hong Kong Chinese Uni- Government.
www.
217
20
RELIGION: Chinese Beliefs and Practices
Churches-Jewish, Islamic and Hindu Communities.
21 RECREATION: Sports and Amusements - Public Parks, Playgrounds and Swimming Pools Cinemas, Opera and Music Art Collections Libraries.
Christian
223
230
223
PART III
GEOGRAPHY
AND POPULATION: Topography and
241
Geology - Population Statistics and Groupings
Climate.
NATURAL HISTORY: Wild Life - Flora.
247
HISTORY
255
CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION:
Legislative Councils - Judiciary - Administration
- The Urban Council - The Public Service.
-
Executive and
269
24
25
2223
CONTENTS
The Welcome Rain
ILLUSTRATIONS
ix
Page
Frontispiece
Shopping
between 24-5
Industry
between 44-5
52-3
Night Scenes
Fisherfolk
Health
Works and Buildings
between 48-9
between
72-3
between 96-7
between 120-1
People in the News
between 140-1
148-9
The Government and Councils
between 144-5
Water Supplies
between 168-9
Typhoons
between 192-3
Festivals
Sport
Birds
between 216-7
between 240-1
between 260-1
Scenic Contrasts
between 264-5
Snakes
between 268-9
END-PAPER MAPS
Front:
Hong Kong and the New Territories
Back:
Plan of Victoria and Kowloon showing District Names
X
Appendix
I-III
IV-XI
XII
XIII-
XIX
XX- XXII
XXIII-
XXVI
APPENDICES
CONTENTS
EMPLOYMENT: By Groups and Industries - Fac- tories Registration Industrial and Occupa- tional Accidents.
PUBLIC FINANCES: Revenue and Expenditure Tables Assets and Liabilities - Public Debt Colonial Development and Welfare Schemes Development Loan Fund.
-
CURRENCY AND BANKING
TRADE: Classification by Commodity - Value of
Trade-Imports by Commodity and Source- Exports by Commodity and Market - Re- exports by Commodity and Market-Direction of Trade.
-
PRIMARY PRODUCTION: Marketing Organizations -Production Figures-Co-operative Societies.
EDUCATION: Schools and Enrolments - Exam-
inations and Awards Overseas Study - Expenditure.
Page
278
281
294
296
308
310
XXVII-
XXX
HEALTH: Vital Statistics - Infectious Diseases
-Hospital Beds - Medical Personnel.
314
XXXI-
XXXII
HOUSING AND LAND: Resettlement and Housing
Construction - Land Sales.
318
XXXIII- LAW AND ORDER: Crime Statistics-Court Cases
320
XXXV
Vehicle and Accident Statistics.
XXXVI
COMMUNICATIONS: Air, Sea, Rail and Road
324
Postal and Telecommunications.
XXXVII
WEATHER: Typhoons in Recent Years.
326
XXXVIII THE PRESS: Newspapers and Magazines Published
in Hong Kong.
327
XXXIX- COUNCILS: Membership of Executive, Legislative
328
XLI
and Urban Councils.
XLII
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
333
Part I
1
Review
Few years in Hong Kong have been entirely unremarkable. There have been times when our circumstances were such that mere endurance provoked admiration and wonder. Since then happily the Colony has won respect for less exciting achievements, or has made ordinary achievements exciting by their scale. By any of these standards 1964 was a remarkable year. A series of typhoons provided more excitement than any one needed and many tragic deaths. At the same time they brought a welcome end to the long drought. In the sphere of government there has been a change of Governor and an enlargement of the Legislative Council. There has been detailed examination of many of our basic social policies and bold new courses have been set, for example, in housing. Inevitably we remain preoccupied with our fundamental problems of providing enough homes and jobs and hospital beds and school places for our people. But, grim as these problems are, their solution need not be stark or austere and in Hong Kong the most massive problems have led us into our most exciting ventures. This is cer- tainly true in the physical sense where public projects of all kinds have set high standards of imaginative, yet practical design. It is equally true of the efforts to strengthen and expand the economic structure on which all this progress depends. They have led us this year into such relatively sophisticated exercises as legislating for firmer con- trol of banks and banking business and planning for a Productivity Council to maintain our competitive position in the international markets on which we depend. This latter development, which will involve a Productivity Centre from which our industries may draw advice, goes hand in hand with prospects of accelerated technical training at all levels; more opportunities for technological and technical training in government schools and institutions; and the offer of assistance to certain forms of craft training within industry. All this while Hong Kong has continued to grow; in population; in industrial enterprise; in new buildings; and even in actual size
4
REVIEW
as still more reclamations are pushed out into the sea. Quite coin- cidentally and almost without comment Hong Kong became this year by population, not by area, the largest colonial territory.
Above all, however, it is the weather which must dominate any recollection of 1964, establishing as it did several strangely con- tradictory records such as the wettest January for 40 years, the driest July and more typhoons than ever before in one year. When the year began we had already endured seven months of severely restricted water supply, three or four hours every fourth day, and were to endure another five before the reservoirs filled up. The local almanacs had been optimistic about an early end to the drought, since this was by Chinese reckoning the Year of the Dragon and the dragon besides presaging general prosperity has special powers over water. The year started well, with a very wet January, the wettest since 1925. But the next three months did not fulfil this promise and by the beginning of May total rainfall for the year had fallen far behind the average. On 4th May steps were taken to remind the dragon of what was expected, at the celebrations in the market town of Yuen Long to mark the birthday of the goddess Tin Hau. The goddess was born sixth daughter of a poor fisherman named Lin in a village in Fukien under the Sung Dynasty and it was said that in her youth she walked in the sky. Many miracles were attribut- ed to her after her death and she is believed to have control over the seas. Seafarers worship her in the hope that she will keep them from danger. At this year's Yuen Long celebrations it was not only fishermen but farmers who took the opportunity of seeking some supernatural intervention in the matter of the weather. No less than five ceremonial dragons, three of them 150 feet long were called in to assist.
But even before the dragons had shown their paces the heavens opened and to the delight of everyone the celebrations took place in drenching rain. After that May never looked back. There were thunderstorms a few days later and at the end of the month typhoon Viola arrived, breaking the drought and yet another record. She brought eleven and a half inches of rain, the heaviest fall in any day in May since 1891. Water poured into the reservoirs and even before the storm signals came down it was possible to announce that water restrictions could be eased at once and supply made available every other day.
REVIEW
5
Typhoon Viola was kindly in all her aspects, causing no deaths, and although 41 people were hurt most of the injuries were slight. The same cannot be said of the four typhoons which followed. They exhibited a ferocity and a variety which fully justified the observa- tion made by the Royal Society in 1879, when recommending the establishment of the Royal Observatory, that Hong Kong is 'favour- ably situated for the study of meteorology in general and typhoons in particular'. Once again we added to the list of pretty names which ever afterwards have a sinister echo for those who suffered by them. Ida killed five and drove thousands from their homes, Ruby killed 38 for certain and probably another six and brought misery to thousands more whose homes were destroyed and damaged, Sally killed nine and Dot 26.
Ruby was one of the worst typhoons in recent years and there was an immediate need for relief on a large scale for its victims. The Community Relief Trust Fund had been set up to meet just such a need. When Ruby struck the fund had a balance of $250,000, but this was clearly not enough to meet all the claims which would be made. The day after the typhoon, however, money began to come in. More than $300,000 were contributed in the first day in sums ranging from $10 to $100,000. The next day brought news of a government contribution of $200,000 and a gift from the British Government of £5,000. Even this was not enough to meet the very large claims now being made for urgent relief of hardship and a further government donation of $300,000 had to be made a few days later. The fund was almost exhausted when typhoon Dot struck and another $1 million was voted from public funds.
Money cannot measure the tragedy and distress which these typhoons brought to Hong Kong. For those whose only home is a boat a typhoon is a time of desperate and unrelieved anxiety. For others whose flimsy shelter is a squatter hut a typhoon adds another cruel burden. Yet despite the death and destruction which it brings there is something stimulating about the atmosphere of the city as a storm approaches. There is the suddenly noticed change in the appearance of the harbour, emptied of all the small craft which normally criss-cross it. The typhoon shelters filling up until they are black with tight-packed boats. Traffic dies away, the streets empty, and men of the Public Works Department come round to remove the roofs of the 'pagodas' under which the points
6
REVIEW
policemen stand. People retire to their own homes and to a non- stop commentary on the course of the storm on their radios and yet, in these unlikely circumstances, one has a stronger sense of involvement and sympathy than is common in this naturally self- absorbed society.
Finally, of course, the typhoons brought rain. At the end of May we had switched from every fourth day to every other day. Two weeks later we were revelling in four hours supply every day and three weeks after that eight hours. Now at last we were beginning to benefit from the new Shek Pik reservoir. Although it was opened in the previous year it had not yet held more than a fraction of the five thousand million gallons it is able to store. But now it was filling up and in August we established yet another record: more water in our reservoirs than we had ever stored before or ever could have. By the 17th Shek Pik itself was up to 60 per cent of capacity and three other reservoirs were overflowing. On 1st September we returned to the unimagined luxury of water round the clock, though with dire warnings about it being a trial period, and watching the situation carefully. But typhoon Ruby settled the matter altogether. The storage figure shot up to a dizzy 15,000 million gallons and on 11th September it was officially stated that 'all reservoirs are now full to the brim'. Only those who have gazed disconsolately at the grass growing in the bottom of empty reservoirs could know what that meant to Hong Kong and it became a regular week-end pastime to drive out to one or other of the more accessible reservoirs just to enjoy the sight of all that lovely water.
So, after all our troubles, we entered the 1964-5 dry season better off for water than ever before and with the anticipation of yet another source of water to augment our own supplies next year. This is the 15,000 million gallons a year from the East River which we are to buy at just over $1 a 1,000 gallons under an agreement signed with the People's Council of Kwangtung Province in April. The water will actually be drawn from the Shum Chun reservoir, just across the border, and work has been going on since the agree- ment was signed on the system of pumps and open waterways by which it will be brought there from the East River. In acknowledging the helpful co-operation of the Kwangtung authorities Hong Kong also recalled the facilities that had enabled us throughout the emergency to bring water by tanker from the Pearl River. Hong
REVIEW
7
Kong's 'water-lift' is almost an epic in itself. It began in June 1963 and ended exactly a year later. In that time a total of 23 ships. made 1,371 round trips to the Pearl River and brought to Hong Kong 4,287,949,792 gallons of water without which we could have barely survived.
It is one of the hard facts of life that when some new ordeal appears, such as the prolonged drought, old problems do not politely stand aside so that we can direct all our attention to the newcomer. Throughout the water emergency there was no relief from the other pressures which our swollen population puts upon scarce resources. There could not, for example, be any slackening of the housing and resettlement programmes. There was, however, a need to re-examine the scale of our effort in this field and to make sure that our current programme was capable of meeting not only the statistical facts of the situation but its human needs as well. The public housing programme would do credit to a territory in much more comfortable circumstances. More than 900,000 people live in homes provided wholly or partly from government funds. But despite the achievements of the resettlement programme, which alone has provided homes for more than 600,000 people, there has been concern over the continued spread of squatting with its attendant problems of control. It was also necessary to determine whether present policies took proper account of new factors in the situation. At the end of ten years we still appear to have perhaps twice as many unhoused squatters as we started with. They have come not only as entirely new immigrants, but forced out of old tenement accommodation during the process of re-development or as a result of fires or house collapses. While the resettlement programme has always made provision for compassionate cases there was simply no place in the process for many of these new squatters. It is in the light of these new circumstances that the squatter, resettlement and low-cost housing programmes have now been re-examined.
The result is a revised policy involving a greatly increased building programme, new criteria for admission to Resettlement and Govern- ment Low-Cost Housing accommodation and new arrangements for those who are not yet eligible.
The rate of building both Resettlement and the newer Govern- ment Low-Cost Housing is to be stepped up very considerably. Building programmes for the next six years are designed to house
8
REVIEW
1,070,000 people at an estimated cost of $963 million. For technical planning purposes 10-year targets have been set which raise the combined figure to 2,290,000 by 1974. The estimated cost of reaching these targets is a staggering $2,000,000,000. The maintenance of these programmes will depend on our ability to pay for them and their projection forward will be subject to annual review, but they have been worked out as realistically as possible. The same realism has been applied to the question of who should have first claim upon the new resettlement accommodation, so as to meet cases of urgent need and at the same time maintain the momentum of the overall building programme by clearing areas needed for re-development. The new policy also deals with those who have no homes but whose priority for permanent resettlement accom- modation is low. Since they cannot be allowed merely to drift into illegal squatting, they will now be able to build their huts under licence in properly administered areas set aside for the purpose.
Not only is the scale of resettlement building being improved but also the quality of the accommodation itself. The blocks now going up on all new estates are a far cry from the basic designs with which the squatter problem was first assaulted. Without sacrificing economy of land-an increase in height to either eight or 16 storeys takes care of that-the new accommodation gives a much greater degree of privacy. Taken together with the flats in the Government Low-Cost Housing estates, and the even more attractive accommodation offered by the Housing Authority, government or government-aided housing is now being provided to meet a broad range of need and income.
During the year our medical, educational and social welfare services have all been subjected to scrutiny. In February a White Paper on the development of medical services was tabled at the Legislative Council and accepted as a guide for the future. As in the case of housing this involved a realistic appraisal of the needs of the community in the light of our ability to pay for what we want. It proceeded from an assumption that half our population are unable to afford unsubsidized out-patient treatment and as many as 80 per cent cannot afford hospital care unless it is wholly or partly subsidized. The White Paper therefore sets out plans for augmented clinic and hospital services over the next eight years designed to meet the most urgent medical and health needs. The
REVIEW
9
limitations were candidly stated: we cannot yet plan for medical services equal to those now provided in western countries. If we had the money it would still be physically impossible to achieve such a standard by 1972. Even so these plans, if we can implement them, will cost about $380 million in capital expenditure and will raise recurrent expenditure on medical and health services to at least $250 million a year by the end of the period.
The re-examination of our educational system has been more protracted, perhaps because our situation is very special. Housing and health are not simple matters either, but the basic objectives are clear and there are obvious standards. 'More and better educa- tion' is not a very precise objective anywhere and in Hong Kong it is almost meaningless unless it has come to terms with tradition on the one hand and the facts of our economic life on the other. Steps to make the most of our available school places had been taken in 1963 when the structure of our primary and secondary systems was reorganized to provide five years of primary schooling between the ages of seven and 11 and at least two more years of secondary schooling for those who are not going on for a full secondary education. The report of the Education Commission, which was published in January, was a study of the kind of education we get for our money as well as the amount and how this pattern might be shaped to provide the best value in education for the community. This expert report, the work of two senior local govern- ment officers from England, included a balanced appreciation of the difficulties which face educational development in Hong Kong. They observed, for example, that although the traditional Chinese desire for learning is so strong in Hong Kong it is often a desire for academic success and that in their ambitions for their children parents may not be taking sufficient account of the opportunities which, in an increasingly industrial society, lie in skilled manual work. In a further comment upon tradition and parental desire for examination success they question its effect upon education in the wider sense of producing young men and women who will be happy and useful citizens of their society.
On the day that this expert report was published it was announced that a special Working Party had been appointed to advise on the extent to which its multifarious recommendations should be adopted and the manner and timing of their introduction. This group met
10
REVIEW
almost every week throughout the year for the examination of something like 120 individual recommendations and their report was expected to be available in the beginning of 1965.
The fourth of our social services to come under close examination with a view to framing new policies has been social welfare. In November a White Paper on aims and policy was tabled at the Legislative Council and published in English and Chinese. This paper proposed guide-lines for the development of social welfare programmes in keeping with our situation: while we should continue to provide minimum public assistance to those who could not fend for themselves, the basis of our policy should be to help individuals or groups to overcome difficulties and handicaps which prevent them from attaining their full potential. It paid special attention to the part played by voluntary organizations in Hong Kong and was commended to them for study and comment.
In all four of these documents targets have been proposed which it should be within our means to reach. Each of them has inserted the further condition that these targets must be regularly recon- sidered in the light of our changing economic circumstances. It is not always money that limits the expansion of our social services. Money cannot be turned into houses or trained teachers or hospitals by the touch of a magic wand. There are limitations to other resources too. For instance, our housing problem has often been affected by factors, such as the difficulty and delay in the clearance of land, which hold up programmes, leave large sums unexpended in the public works budget and contribute to annual surpluses of revenue over expenditure. Those very surpluses often seem to lead to a vicious circle of misunderstanding with the assumption that any lag in our building programme can be made up simply by heavier spending. Budget surpluses are very comfortable and our ability to finance capital expenditure from recurrent income has been one of the most remarkable features of the past few years. But in the long term with ever increasing recurrent commitments it will not be quite so true to say that money will not be a limiting factor. More money for a particular service will mean less for another and priorities will have to be more sharply delineated. Future resources and needs must be reconciled so as to shape public services in such a way that they can be provided to reach as many as possible at costs we can afford to maintain.
REVIEW
11
Behind all these calculations of how much we will be able to afford ten years from now, or even next year, lies the question of our ability to expand industrial production and exports. Currently the outlook is good. There is every indication that in 1964 we shall again record an increase, from an already very high level, of 15 per cent in the value of our domestic exports. To the extent that we can improve quality and productivity and diversify both our products and our markets the maintenance of this standard depends upon our own efforts. But it depends also upon the movement of international trade and the protective actions taken from time to time by some of our best customers. Such an action was the im- position in Britain of the 15 per cent surcharge on manufactured imports. It is still too early to assess the impact of the surcharge upon our export performance but the effect is bound to be sub- stantial.
During the year our social services have been subjected in one way or another to vigorous examination in public and develop- ments of policy owe a great deal to the advice of people who are quite unconnected with the government service. The report on the development of medical and health services was endorsed by the Medical Advisory Board before being tabled at the Legislative Council. That board comprises the Director of Medical and Health Services as chairman, two of his officers (one of whom is also vice-chairman of the Urban Council), a medical officer from the armed forces and ten other unofficial members representing both the medical profession and the public. The report on education, having been prepared by two outside experts, has since been under the scrutiny of a Working Party, under the chairmanship of the Director of Education, which contains four officials and seven unofficials.
The review of resettlement policy followed closely, on most major issues, the recommendations of a Working Party under the chairmanship of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs. Of the eight other members four were senior government officers and four were unofficial members, two appointed and two elected, of the Urban Council. The policy statement on social welfare was endorsed by the Social Welfare Advisory Committee on which, apart from the chairman who is the Director of Social Welfare, all the members are unofficial and bring to the committee a wide experience in
12
REVIEW
voluntary social welfare and other public work. The availability of people from all walks of life, able and willing to give time and effort to public service in this way is one of the most heartening aspects of our community life. It extends in the one direction to membership of the many boards set up by Government to provide advice over a broad field of administration and in the other to a very great amount of entirely voluntary and charitable work which is nevertheless well integrated with official policy. Such institutions as the Tung Wah Hospitals and the Po Leung Kuk with their long histories of charitable endeavour are regarded not as mere charities, but rather as expressions of communal responsibility. This sense of responsibility is a natural extension of the Chinese family system and despite the strains of our present circumstances is strongly evident in many other organizations. Such are the Kai Fong Welfare Associations of Hong Kong which celebrated their eleventh an- niversary this year.
Kai Fong groups were originally neighbourhood organizations providing assistance and mutual help in sickness or misfortune. The Kai Fong tradition in Hong Kong is strong, and there has been a neighbourhood association in the Stanley district for well over 100 years, while the residents of another district founded a Kai Fong association more than 50 years ago. In the early days of their post-war development, the associations concentrated on material help to the needy and the many great squatter fires monopolized their attention for a time. But this phase passed and their activities spread to all aspects of community life. A peculiar service, which only the Kai Fongs can render because of their roots among the people, is arbitration in family quarrels. Many Chinese people, who would shun a government officer or agency, will enthusiastically seek the help of a Kai Fong in the event of a dispute, and experience has proved that the confidence they place in the Kai Fongs is well founded. Clansmen's and district associations formed by people with a common ancestral home or surname form other useful bridges between Government and various local communities.
Through this network of individuals and groups there is available to Government a wealth of experience and advice in addition to the formal machinery for debate in the Legislative Council. Indeed when he tabled the policy statement on social welfare, the Colonial Secretary specifically invited public comment as a prelude to a
REVIEW
13
debate in the Council. The review of resettlement policy was similarly aired. It was introduced to the Legislative Council by the Colonial Secretary in the form of a resolution for its adoption as a general guide to future policy which was then debated at a resumed meeting two weeks later.
That debate included speeches by five new members appointed to enlarge the unofficial representation on the Council, a step which had been foreshadowed earlier in the year. The Council, increased in size to 25 by the addition of five unofficial and three official seats, now comprises 13 unofficial and 12 official members. The increase was intended to spread the heavy load which falls on unofficial members and at the same time to bring on to the Council people who, while nominated as individuals, might nevertheless represent the views of a wider cross-section of the community. It was also announced that there would be an increase of unofficial representation on the Urban Council. That Council currently con- sists of five official members, including its chairman and 16 ordinary members of whom eight are elected and eight appointed. Four new unofficial members are to be added in April 1965, two appointed and two elected.
The announcement of these changes was one of the last official acts of Sir Robert Black who retired from the governorship of Hong Kong on 1st April. Sir Robert had been Governor since January 1958 and his term of office had been extended following representations by unofficial members of both the Executive and Legislative Councils. At a dinner given in his honour a few days before he left, the Chinese community presented Sir Robert with a eulogy in Chinese verse which referred to 'a character as pure as jade'.
Like his predecessor, the new Governor had seen previous service in Hong Kong before he returned as Governor. Sir David Trench had been Deputy Colonial Secretary when he left on appointment as High Commissioner, Western Pacific in 1961.
Many thousands of people participated for the first time in the ceremonies which attended the arrival of the new Governor. The solemn but colourful ceremony of swearing-in was held in the concert hall of the City Hall instead of in the Legislative Council Chamber as on previous occasions. In consequence a much larger
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REVIEW
number of people were able to watch the ceremony and many more followed the live television and radio broadcasts.
The year has not been all formality and great issues. Hong Kong has helped to solve its fundamental problems by becoming a thriving manufacturing and trading metropolis and in the process has acquired appropriate standards and ambitions. In the field of housing, for example, while the paramount need is for massive cheap housing development, our society now numbers very many people in the middle income ranges who have their own special needs. Recognition of this led to the formation of a mortgage loan corporation to finance approved home buying for the $900 to $2,000 a month income group. Capital and loan finance of £1 million will be put up by the Commonwealth Development Corpora- tion and a similar sum by the Government. Other funds will come from local banks.
A traffic problem sometimes seems to be one of the status symbols of a developed society. By world standards our traffic jams may be little more than local irritations but there is quite enough to keep two advisory committees, on traffic and passenger transport, extremely busy. On the advice of the latter committee Government has engaged the services of experts from the Road Research Laboratory in Britain to conduct a full passenger transport survey as a firm basis for future planning. It began in August and will cost nearly $2.5 million. The constriction of traffic is, of course, more than a mere irritation. In a business community like ours it can be extremely wasteful. But even if we could devote to the solution of traffic problems a higher priority than our other pre- occupations will permit, we have less room than anyone else in the world to indulge in the easy solutions. Mile-wide clover-leaves are not for us but our planners are nevertheless producing some remark- able layouts for those areas in which there is still room to manoeuvre. In September the traffic engineers unveiled plans to ease congestion in the Central District on Hong Kong Island with a complex of new roads and no less than seven fly-overs. Even bolder planning is associated with the ambitious scheme for the re-development of the former naval dockyard land in the Central District. The return of this land to public use has opened up new possibilities for development and the intention is that the whole area, which is more than 13 acres, should be treated as a whole. Tenders have
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15
therefore been invited for the lease of the area in one or two lots. This means a development project equal in scale to anything else in the world and an investment in buildings of the order of some $200 million. A main feature of the scheme is the segregation of traffic and pedestrians and the developers will have to provide for this on the lines of a podium structure consisting of an open pedes- trian deck about 18 feet above the ground, a mezzanine and a ground floor. Government itself will pay $12 million towards the cost of this podium construction and will maintain and administer it as a public thoroughfare and a two-storey car park for 2,400 cars. Then a new traffic link across our harbour has long been canvassed. In 1956 Government was expertly advised against a bridge and announced at the same time that while a tunnel might be feasible it did not justify subsidy by the taxpayer. There the matter rested until recently a development company put up proposals for a tunnel which are now the subject of negotiation.
If traffic congestion and spectacular schemes for its relief denote the modern society then so does television. In this respect Hong Kong has been ahead of the trend. The first television station in any British colony was opened here in 1957. This provides a wired service, now on two channels. In November a new Television Ordin- ance made provision for the licensing of a wireless television station as well. This station will also be required to broadcast two pro- grammes, one in English and one in Chinese. The ordinance has been so framed as to ensure that the company which eventually obtains the licence for this new station will be British owned and Hong Kong based. Nevertheless it is already clear, as in the case of the central re-development scheme, that these projects of ours excite great interest throughout the world.
This is as we would like it. We need the understanding and sympathy of the world for our massive problems and we welcome any appreciation of the efforts we are making to solve them. But we want people to see us as more than just a piece of social engineer- ing. Hong Kong is a good deal more than that. However many times the word 'problem' has been mentioned in this review and throughout this volume we do not think of ourselves exclusively as a problem and frankly we do not look like a problem. We look like a community with a very great deal to do in a hurry.
URBAN COUNCIL PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Part II
2
Employment
Of nearly a million and a half people at work in Hong Kong more than half a million are engaged in the manufacturing industries. This is the picture obtained from a projection of the figures returned in the 1961 census. At that time 1,211,999 people were described as 'economically active' and 1,191,099 claimed to be employed.
The general picture in 1961 was that just over half these workers were in construction, manufacturing, mining, quarrying and the utilities. Another 22 per cent provided various types of services, 11 per cent were employed in commerce while agriculture, forestry and fishing engaged seven per cent as did communications. At the same census 57,400 people were counted as employers. There is no reason to believe that the occupational pattern has changed significantly since then so that present day figures would be manu- facturing 578,550, services 323,350, commerce 159,500, construction 121,800, farming and fishing 107,300, communications 105,850, public utilities 23,200, mining and quarrying 10,150 with some 20,300 in various other forms of employment.
This projection although merely an estimate gives a broader picture than is available from actual statistics available in the Labour Department since the latter are confined to voluntary returns from registered and recorded factories and undertakings. As such they do not include out-workers or people employed in cottage industries, the construction industry or agriculture and fishing.
These returns to the Labour Department show that the number of people directly employed in registered and recorded factories reached a total of 350,174, a decrease of 4,220 from 1963. Those engaged in weaving, spinning, knitting and the manufacture of garments and made-up textile goods accounted for a total of 148,264 and remained the largest section of the labour force. The plastics industry, in which a large number of out-workers are known to be employed, continued its expansion as the second largest employer.
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EMPLOYMENT
There still continued to be a shortage of premises for the small manufacturers of limited means, although the construction of industrial buildings continued, particularly at the San Po Kong, Kwun Tong and Tsuen Wan industrial areas. The total number of registered and recorded factories at the end of the year was 8,215 many being small concerns. The tables at Appendix I shows the development in the main industrial groups and selected industries.
In the absence of comprehensive statistics on employment no accurate estimate can be made of unemployment. In 1961 some 16,000 people between the ages of 15 and 64 described themselves as unemployed and another 5,000 said they were seeking jobs. On the other hand a survey in the middle of this year recorded more than 21,000 vacancies in industry, mostly in some twelve hundred factories in the garments, textiles and plastics industries. These two sets of figures tend to confirm the assumption that some persons describing themselves as unemployed might have been actually receiving income from casual or indirect employment and that the picture was one of fluctuation between one industry and another or one area and another.
As many countries maintain strict control over the entry of Chinese, the scope for employment of Hong Kong Chinese overseas is comparatively limited. The Colony itself has a good labour market and unless terms for overseas employment are particularly attractive, it is not easy to recruit workers for such employment. The principal sources of overseas employment are Sabah, Brunei and Sarawak, where skilled and semi-skilled workers are in great demand in the construction industry and the oil fields. Another outlet is in Nauru and Ocean Islands for which the British Phosphate Commissioners continue to recruit Hong Kong workers. Singapore continued to attract more fishermen and a number of enamel workers went to Ceylon. Chinese-style restaurants in Britain and other countries provided employment for many waiters and cooks at attractive wages. Except for employment in Britain all emigrant manual workers held contracts of service drawn up in accordance with international labour conventions and approved by the Labour Department who explain the terms of their contracts to workers before they leave. During the year 1,768 such contracts were approv- ed, compared with 1,638 in 1963.
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21
Under the Commonwealth Immigrants Act, a Hong Kong Chinese or a Commonwealth citizen able to claim British nationality by birth and who wishes to go to Britain to work must, if he has not found a prospective employer there, apply to the Ministry of Labour in Britain for a voucher before entry can be considered. The Labour Department undertakes to forward such applications. During the year 50 applications were received and 13 vouchers were issued. At the request of the Ministry of Labour 724 vouchers for which prospective employers had made direct applications on behalf of workers whom they had engaged were distributed.
To meet the apparent shortage of labour, the Labour Department set up an Employment Information Service in August. Initially the service was limited to providing enquirers with names and addresses of factories which had reported vacancies in the enquirer's trade, but in November the service was extended so that it more nearly resembled a placement service. 1,399 people have made use of the service. Industrial vacancy lists were also supplied to 14 voluntary agencies which are members of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service and are engaged in placement work. An interesting private endeavour to overcome shortage of labour has been started by two cotton spinning concerns which have each set up as part of the factory organization secondary schools which workers can attend free of charge after working hours.
A committee appointed by the Governor to examine the question of seamen's recruitment has recommended that a Seamen's Recruit- ing Office should be established as a part of the Marine Department. Direct engagement through company crew departments would continue to be permitted under careful control. Government has accepted the recommendations in principal and it is hoped that the Seamen's Recruiting Office will come into operation during 1965.
WAGES AND CONDITIONS OF WORK
Most semi-skilled and unskilled workers in manufacturing industry are on daily rates of pay although piece rates are also paid. While there is no discrimination against women in the rates of pay for piece work they are generally paid less than men when engaged on a time basis. Wages may be calculated on an hourly, daily or monthly basis and are customarily paid weekly or fort- nightly.
22
EMPLOYMENT
The wave of wage demands which in 1963 brought substantial increases to workers in transport and utilities, shipyards, construc- tion and some manufacturing industries abated somewhat from the beginning of this year. Among several claims settled during the year were those from the sizeable Hong Kong and Kowloon Teahouse Workers General Union which gave about 12,000 teahouse workers, rises ranging from $28 to $35 a month. A series of meetings between employers and workers had followed the original demands which were for $60 for the larger teahouses and $50 for smaller establishments. The final settlement was reached after three meetings under the auspices of the Industrial Relations Section of the Labour Department and the agreement between the parties was signed in the presence of a Labour Officer.
The range of daily wages for the manufacturing industry is now $8.6 to $26 for skilled workers, $5.3 to $14.5 for semi-skilled, and $4.8 to $9.5 for unskilled. Many employers provide their workers with free accommodation, subsidized meals or food allowances, good attendance bonuses and paid rest days as well as a Chinese New Year Bonus of one month's pay.
Towards the end of March, the Armed Services granted a wage increase of 10 per cent to 29 per cent, according to grades, to their industrial employees with retrospective effect to 1st July 1963. These increases were aimed at bringing the wage level of the locally engaged industrial staff of the Services departments into line with those of workers in the utility companies who received increases in 1963.
In May government officers received an award of five per cent of salary retrospective to 1st July 1963. An allowance of two per cent of salary for each dependent child up to a maximum of three was also granted. This was an interim award and a Salaries Com- mission is to be appointed in 1965 to review salaries in the light of the Consumer Price Index which should be available then. Minor and unskilled government staff who had received increases of between 11 and 14 per cent in 1963 were not included in these interim awards but at the end of the year they were awarded further increases equivalent to 15 per cent of their existing wages.
The wages of some lower paid government staff are related to the Retail Price Index by means of a cost of living allowance based upon it and some private employers also make use of these
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scales which are published monthly by the Labour Department. This index is calculated on the basis of a survey carried out in 1948. A base of 100 fixed for March 1947 is used and the index normally shows month by month fluctuations reflecting, for exam- ple, the rise in commodity prices before Chinese New Year or as a result of typhoons affecting fish and vegetable prices. During this year the index fluctuated between 124 and 133 with an average of 126.
A new Consumer Price Index to reflect expenditure patterns over a wider range of the community will be based on a survey of household expenditure which was completed in August. Nearly 3,000 households took part in the survey and an examination of their budgets will show the relative importance of different kinds of commodities and services over a period of twelve months so as to provide a weighing basis for the price index.
The Factories and Undertakings Ordinance is the basis for control of hours and conditions of work in industry. There are no legal restrictions on the hours of work for men. Most of those in industry work ten hours a day or less, while government employees and those in concerns operating on western lines work eight hours. Regulations made under the ordinance provide for maximum daily hours, limited overtime, weekly rest days and rest periods for women and young people. The Industrial Employment (Holidays with Pay and Sickness Allowance) Ordinance provides for six annual holidays to be given to workers in industrial establishments, and for sickness allowance up to 12 days a year.
Young people between the ages of 14 and 16 may work only eight hours a day, with a break of one hour after five hours' con- tinuous work. Children under the age of 14 are prohibited from working in industry, and no woman or young person is allowed to work at night or underground. Restrictions on the hours of work for women, introduced on 1st January 1959, have resulted in a decrease in the number of hours worked by men employed in the same concerns. By the end of 1964, cotton spinning, cotton weaving and silk weaving mills had introduced a system of three eight-hour daily shifts and it was estimated that 23,341 men and 20,885 women were working eight hours a day. A rest period of one hour a day is customary throughout industry, but when working hours exceed eight a day, the rest period may be prolonged to as
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much as three hours. Except where continuous production demands a rotation of rest days, which are usually unpaid, Sunday is the most common rest day. Many male industrial workers do not have a rest day but it is customary to grant unpaid leave on request.
LABOUR ADMINISTRATION
The expansion of industry has necessitated a growth of the Labour Department itself. In 1947 the department had a staff of 23 officers but by the end of 1964 the establishment had risen to 183. The Labour Department, in conjunction with the Registry of Trade Unions, is primarily responsible for carrying out Govern- ment's labour policy and the Commissioner of Labour is the principal adviser to the Government on labour and industrial relations. The Commissioner is ex officio chairman of the Labour Advisory Board, on which both labour and management are represented, chairman of the Standing Committee on Technical Education and Vocational Training, and a member of both the Radiation Board and the Port Committee. He is concurrently Commissioner of Mines.
All labour legislation is initiated in the department which also ensures that Hong Kong's obligations under international labour conventions are observed. The registration of industrial under- takings followed by regular inspections is the basis for ensuring safe and healthy working conditions. The department conciliates in disputes between management and labour and offers advice on the establishment of appropriate machinery for joint consultation or negotiation. Trade unions are guided in their formation and classes are organized to assist union officials in accountancy and administration. Largely through the investigations of the factory and labour inspectorates and the health visitors, the department administers legislation governing workmen's compensation and the working conditions of women and young persons employed in industry. The department also provides training in supervisory techniques. Special protection is given to emigrant labour. Industrial safety is promoted through safety committees, talks by department staff and by means of films, posters and pamphlets.
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
With the exception of a small neutral and independent segment, workers' unions are either affiliated to, or associated with, one
Despite the great number of conventional shops, thousands of hawker stalls have made their appearance in recent years and prove by their continued existence that there is business enough for all-at competitive prices. Much of their custom comes from Chinese housewives who insist on buying all food fresh twice a day.
The thousands of fruit stalls that line the sidestreets of Hong Kong make a succulent sight. As every stall owner knows, however, appearances are not everything and the fruit will have to be really good to withstand the scrutiny of shopping house- wives. And after the scrutiny will come the bargaining, cent by individual cent.
小球部四十八
72
***B+BK
++
PUBLIC
Often it seems that half the population of Hong Kong is in business selling some- thing or other to the other half. The little open-fronted shops are everywhere, street after street of them. As would be expected, rice shops are numerous, their grain laid out in barrels for inspection and priced according to its origin and grade.
This carpenter's shop offers an unusual blend of the strictly utilitarian and the spiritual-washboards and family altars. The big advantage of such shops is that they can usually produce exactly what is wanted, even when their only instructions consist of a set of crude drawings accompanied by half a dozen Cantonese words.
TML
%
EMPLOYMENT
25
of two local federations which bear allegiance to opposing political groups. Divided politically, and further separated by differences in dialect, the number of unions has grown beyond practical needs, and divergent loyalties have prevented those with common in- terests from amalgamating into effective organizations. General ignorance of trade union movement principles, despite continued efforts at trade union education, makes it difficult to improve this
structure.
The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions supports the Chinese People's Republic. Most of the members of its 63 affiliated unions are concentrated in shipyards, textile mills and public utilities, or are seafarers. A further 28 unions, nominally inde- pendent, are friendly with the federation and participate in its activities. The foundation stone of its ten-storey workers' club building was laid in January and the building completed in time for the October 1st celebrations. It was reported that a fund-raising campaign, started in 1958, had raised a sum of two million dollars towards the cost of the building project. The federation has also set up a committee to raise $500,000 to finance the schools for workers' children and to acquire by stages, self-owned school premises.
The other trade union federation, the Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council, sympathizes with the policies of the Taiwan authorities. Most of the members of its 62 affiliated unions and of the 46 nominally independent unions, which generally support the TUC, are employed in the catering and building trades. Although the number of unions sympathetic to it far exceed those adhering to the FTU, both the declared and estimated paid-up membership figures are in fact lower than those in the other group. The TUC is affiliated to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. The TUC organized a seminar on secretarial administration for secretaries and paid clerks of affiliated trade unions, and in addition organized one simple and one advanced training course in trade union education.
When the Rt Hon Arthur Bottomley, now Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, visited Hong Kong in January, the TUC presented him with a five-point memorandum requesting the introduction of a minimum wage law, the construction of a new price index, the granting of subsidies to union-operated schools
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EMPLOYMENT
for workers' children, exemption of trade union operated clinics from the provisions of the Medical Clinics Ordinance, and the grant of land at a cheap rate for the construction of a union-operated secondary school.
There are 39 independent unions, a number of which continued to make improvements in their internal administration and in the services offered to their members.
The Fifth Trade Union Leadership Course organized by the Labour Department in April was attended by 23 principal officers from 20 unions. Other instruction included four lectures on in- dustrial safety, one class in trade union administration, two classes in simple trade union accounting, one class in advanced accounting and a course for women officers of trade unions.
The Labour Department prepared and issued a booklet printed in both English and Chinese on How to Strengthen Trade Unions in the Trade Union Education series. A leaflet in Chinese entitled A Trade Union Should Protect the Interest of its Members has been added to the series How to Make Your Union Effective. During the year, two trade unionists attended the Industrial Relations Course at the Ministry of Labour in London while four others and one officer from the Labour Department attended the Asian Labour Leadership Institutes organized by the Asian Labour Education Centre in Manila.
Among industrial disputes not connected with wage demands were those in the Hong Kong Tramways Limited over retirement remuneration, in the Hong Kong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company Limited over the dismissal of a crane operator and in the Hsin Chong - Kumagai-Gosho, one of the major contractors in the Plover Cove water scheme, over the dismissal of two workers. There were also a number of disputes in rapid succession in several cutlery factories over working arrangements in their polishing sections.
Taking disputes over wage demands into account the conciliation section of the Labour Department dealt with 1,861 disputes of which 222 involved large wage claims, compared with 182 for last year. There were another 1,639 minor disputes compared with 1,573. Altogether there were 16 strikes and the number of man- hours lost in all disputes was 46,581 which represents a substantial decrease from the figure of 87,199 in 1963.
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LEGISLATION
The Workmen's Compensation (Amendment) Ordinance, 1964, became law on 4th June and was brought into effect by proclama- tion on 2nd October. It widens the scope of the existing 1953 Ordinance by providing compensation for incapacity or death arising out of occupational diseases connected with various trades and processes. Under the new legislation a worker, or his dependants in the case of death, is entitled to compensation to the same extent as if he had sustained an industrial or occupational accident, if he is incapacitated by a scheduled occupational disease and if the disease is due to the nature of any occupation in which he was employed at any time within the twelve months immediately prior to his incapacity or death.
New legislation introduced into the Legislative Council towards the end of the year included the Contracts for Overseas Employment Bill and amendments to the Employers and Servants Ordinance of 1961, and the Employment of Young Persons and Children at Sea Ordinance, 1933, all of which are designed to give legislative effect to Hong Kong's obligations under international labour conventions. The drafting of regulations relating to safety and health in building operations is also in hand. Recommendations on the apprenticeship system by a Sub-Committee of the Standing Committee on Technical Education and Vocational Training are under consideration by Government.
SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELFARE
The protection of workers against any health hazards arising in their workplaces and the detection and prevention of occupational diseases are the particular duty of the Industrial Health Section of the Labour Department which also has an important secondary role in solving the attendant medical and social problems of per- sons injured in occupational accidents. Health control of working environment is maintained by routine inspection of selected in- dustrial undertakings, supported by field surveys and atmospheric monitoring where necessary. Atmospheric dust, fumes and gases are monitored to record temperature, humidity and air velocities, and to measure levels of radioactivity.
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EMPLOYMENT
During the year notification of known and suspected cases of specific occupational disease by medical practitioners and govern- ment medical officers became compulsory under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Notification of Occupational Diseases) Regulations thus marking progressive development in the functions of occupational health services of the Labour Department.
Periodic physical examinations, blood tests, and urine examina- tions were carried out on lead workers and workers handling radioactive substances or X-ray apparatus. Chest X-ray examina- tions are given to selected groups of workers in dusty trades where a pneumoconiosis hazard is known to exist.
The chief causes of sickness absenteeism in Hong Kong appears to be respiratory tract infection and gastro-intestinal upsets. During the year one health visitor returned from the United Kingdom after completing specific training in occupational health nursing, and her duties include advising factory management and nurses about occupational hazards, as well as keeping a close watch on sanitary and washing facilities and general standards of hygiene in workplaces. One laboratory technician is now in the United Kingdom studying occupational health. Three other health visitors are engaged in case work on occupational accidents. The medical centre of the Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation at Kwun Tong has been found to be of great usefulness in the treatment of injured workers. Here, workers suffering temporary or permanent incapacity through occupational accidents, receive physiotherapy, occupational therapy and vocational training. Assistance and advice are given by the Labour Department in all workmen's compensation cases. Most claims are settled by amicable agreement approved by the department. Fatal cases are dealt with by the courts and free legal aid is provided where necessary. During the year $2,605,326.72 was paid to injured workmen, and dependants in 169 fatal cases were awarded a total of $1,140,901.70. Under the new legislation one case of occupational disease was notified.
The provision of adequate first-aid arrangements in factories is encouraged, and first-aid training classes for industrial workers are organized in conjunction with the St John Ambulance Association. Since the inauguration of these classes in 1956, a total of 979 workers have obtained first-aid certificates. The need for first-aid rooms for clinics is now recognized by local industry, and the larger
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29
concerns provide them. Under the Industrial Employment (Holidays with Pay and Sickness Allowance) Ordinance, 1962, applications from industrial undertakings for recognition of medical treatment schemes are considered.
The importance of staff welfare is recognized by many employers who provide more comprehensive facilities than are required by legislation. First-aid equipment and drinking water must be provided if a factory is to be registered, and where appropriate, the depart- ment strongly recommends the inclusion of dining and rest rooms in plans for new factories. Many of the larger concerns have clinics and free medical treatment is sometimes given to both employees and their families. Some firms employ full-time welfare officers while others organize film and opera shows and provide facilities for football, basketball and swimming. Adult education is sometimes arranged with free or subsidized tuition for employees' children. There are also voluntary organizations providing hostels and playgrounds specifically for industrial workers.
Government employs apprentices in the workshops of the Public Works Department, the Printing Department and the Kowloon- Canton Railway who must sign indentures and attend technical classes. Several large firms also employ apprentices who are encour- aged to attend technical classes, the tuition fees often being paid by the employers. Several of the larger spinning and weaving mills operate apprenticeship schemes for mechanics or junior engineers, and arrange classes on their own premises in both technical and general subjects.
NEW TERRITORIES
Owing to the rapid urbanization and development of recent years farming and fishing no longer employ the majority of the New Territories population. The 1961 census showed that only about 30 per cent of the working population were employed in these industries as against 30 per cent in manufacturing, eight per cent in commerce and 20 per cent in transport and service industries. Since then the proportion employed in agriculture has probably decreased still further as industry has expanded and as a result of changing conditions in agriculture.
Apart from some traditional trades in the main market towns and some prewar textile factories in Tsuen Wan, industry in the New
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EMPLOYMENT
Territories is a recent development. In December 1964 the Labour Department recorded 653 factories in the New Territories with a total labour force of 49,959. The bulk of the industrial population is concentrated in the new town of Tsuen Wan, which is being built up as a balanced community to include factories, housing, recreational facilities and services. This town contains many modern textile factories as well as others producing metal, enamelware, plastic and many other products, including a resettlement factory specially constructed for the local cottage industry of silk weaving. Boat building yards from the urban area are being moved to nearby Tsing Yi Island. Castle Peak in the Yuen Long District, chosen as a site for a further new town, already contains a nucleus of industry including textile and metal factories; sawmills are also being resited here. In the Tai Po District there are textile factories in Sha Tin and a carpet factory at Tai Po, and tanneries and other miscellaneous industries near Shek Wu Hui. Mining and quarrying also employ a number of workers, the largest undertaking being the iron mine at Ma On Shan with a labour force of some 563.
Traditional village industries still provide a certain amount of employment in the old market towns of the New Territories such as Cheung Chau, Yuen Long, and Tai Po. Examples are the prepara- tion of salt-fish, fish-paste, beancurd, soya sauce and preserved fruits; the burning of coral and sea-shells for lime; brick manu- facture; boat-building and repairing. However the intensification of agriculture and the spread of industry have led to the rapid growth of these New Territories townships, where increasing num- bers of people are now employed in commerce, retail trade and hawking, and in transport and other services. Public and private building development is also taking place in the New Territories on an increasing scale, and employs a large labour force.
Since the foundation of Hong Kong over a century ago, New Territories people have emigrated abroad for employment, originally mainly as crew members on British and foreign ships. Some have settled down in foreign parts, many in America, but the majority return eventually to their native villages. In recent years, there has been a very marked movement of young men going to Britain to work in Chinese restaurants and at the present time there are believed to be about 2,000 Chinese restaurants in Britain employing something like 30,000 Hong Kong workers, the majority from the
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31
New Territories. Remittances from Britain are now an important factor in the economy of many New Territories villages. During 1964, for example, postal and money orders to the value of $24,076,719.00 were cashed at New Territories post offices; this does not include the amount remitted through banks, which is not known but is likely to be of the same order.
3
Public Finances
ALTHOUGH the approval of the Secretary of State for the Colonies is still required before decisions are made on certain major matters including currency and banking, the Colony in other respects has complete autonomy in financial affairs and the ultimate financial authority is the Legislative Council.
Hong Kong is financially self-supporting apart from the cost of its external defence to which a substantial and recently increased contribution is made. Since 1958 Hong Kong's contribution to British defence expenditure has been £1 million a year. In August it was announced that an additional £6 million would be offered over the next six years in the form of a contribution to the costs of the army and air force building programme in the Colony. Revenue from local sources meets the cost of all works and services. The Legislative Council is the sole taxing and spending authority. Apart from the Housing Authority, which has a certain measure of autonomy, there are no financially independent subordinate bodies similar to the local government authorities in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth territories. The revenue and expenditure figures therefore represent all the public income and all the public expenditure of the Colony excluding 'below the line' operations covering various funds.
A small deficit was returned in the first financial year after the war. Since then with the exception of 1959-60 when there was a deficit of some $45 million substantial surpluses have been accu- mulated. Comparative figures for the past four years are shown in Appendix VII. The accumulation of these surpluses in the varying economic conditions which the Colony has had to face since the war is a considerable achievement, particularly since it has been achieved after charging annually against current revenue all capital expenditure other than a comparatively small amount financed by borrowing. In 1961-2 capital expenditure totalled $329 million; in 1962-3 $430 million and in 1963-4 $544 million; this last figure
PUBLIC FINANCES
33
includes expenditure of $44 million for the operation of tankers in connection with the water shortage.
The principal reason for these results, which appear so favourable, is that during the last 13 years exceptionally rapid increases in population generated internal economic activity which raised the yield of taxation and other sources of revenue substantially without any appreciable increase in their rates. Annual revenue expanded in those 13 years from $291.7 million to $1,393.9 million. The rate of increase was affected by variations in such factors as the economic situation and inflows of capital, but the upward trend was con- tinuous. In expenditure there was inevitably a time-lag before Government could develop the public and social services necessary for the increased population. However, as these services were developed and the rate of their development has gradually accel- erated the margin between recurrent expenditure and recurrent revenue tended to narrow. For example, in 1952-3 recurrent expendi- ture absorbed only 50 per cent of the recurrent revenue but by 1959-60 the figure had risen to 82 per cent and in the latter year the surplus of revenue over expenditure could no longer finance all the capital expenditure. An overall deficit of $45.3 million thus occurred. Subsequent budgets anticipated further and substantial deficits but the picture now available suggests that the economic strength and resilience of the Colony was underestimated. While recurrent expenditure has continued at approximately the levels expected the proportion of the recurrent revenue absorbed in meeting this expenditure has fallen progressively and was only 65 per cent in 1963-4. This has been due mainly to an upsurge in recurrent revenue arising from the very active trading conditions which have prevailed in the Colony. At the same time capital expenditure, though rising substantially, was rather lower than originally forecast, and capital revenue, mainly from land sales, showed a marked increase.
From the comparative statement in Appendix VII it will be seen that a deficit of over $114 million is estimated for 1964-5, indicating that revenue will no longer be able to finance all capital expenditure. Such expenditure arises from Government's very heavy programme of non-recurrent public works, mainly for more schools, medical facilities and housing as well as for water supplies, roads and land development schemes. The estimated deficit may well prove to be
34
PUBLIC FINANCES
pessimistic but, even so, the possibility exists that money will have to be raised in succeeding years by loans and additional taxation if development in these fields is not to be curbed.
Revenue and expenditure for the last two years, with the estimates for this financial year are detailed and compared in Appendices IV and V. In 1963-4 the revenue of $1,394 million was $197 million more than the original estimate. The heads showing the largest excesses were Internal Revenue with $72 million (including $45 million on Earnings and Profits Tax and $11 million on Stamp Duties) and land sales with $48 million, but all the recurrent heads, with the exception of Water Revenue, which was down by $10 million on account of the severe rationing throughout the year, also recorded excesses. Expenditure for the year was $1,295 million against the estimate of $1,360 million, showing a saving of $65 million in spite of unforeseen additional expenditure of $50 million on the water emergency. The largest saving was $13 million under public works non-recurrent, the balance of $52 million being distributed in smaller amounts among the other heads, with all but six recording a saving.
At 31st March 1964 net available public assets were $900 million, of which $138 million was earmarked in a Revenue Equalization Fund as a reserve against future deficits on current account. There was, in addition, a Development Loan Fund of $340 million, used to finance social and economic development projects (see Appendix XI) of a self-liquidating nature. The greater part has been used for low-cost housing schemes. At 31st March 1964 outstanding commitments from funds allocated exceeded liquid assets of $15 million by $216 million. However in January 1964 an amend- ment to the Exchange Fund Ordinance (Chapter 66) was enacted to enable transfers to be made from the surplus balances in the Exchange Fund and in May a transfer of $150 million was made to the Development Loan Fund. This has made provision for the greater part of the outstanding commitments. According to normal government practice the Statement of Assets and Liabilities excludes the Public Debt of the Colony from the Liabilities. The debt at 31st March 1964 was equivalent to approximately $23 per head of population. Indebtedness decreased by $3.8 million during the year owing mainly to the repayment of $3.2 million of the United Kingdom's interest-free loan of £3 million for the development
PUBLIC FINANCES
35
of Kai Tak Airport. This loan is repayable in 15 annual instal- ments; the first repayment was made on 1st October 1961. The Rehabilitation Loan, which was raised in 1947-8 to cover part of the cost of post-war reconstruction, is repayable in 1973-8; there is provision for a sinking fund which stood at $23 million on 31st March 1964.
Details of Public Debt and Colonial Development and Welfare schemes and grants are shown in Appendices IX and X.
EXCISE DUTIES
There is no general import tariff and only five groups of com- modities, namely alcoholic liquors, tobacco, hydrocarbon oils, table waters and methyl alcohol, whether imported or manufactured locally, are subject to excise duty. All firms engaged in the import, export, manufacture, or sale of dutiable commodities must be licensed.
The rates of duty are, in general, low. A preferential rate of duty for liquor of Commonwealth origin is at present levied at between 66 per cent and 89 per cent of the rate for non-Commonwealth liquor; locally-produced beer enjoys a further preferential margin over Commonwealth beer. Duty on all types of liquor ranges from $1.60 per gallon on locally brewed beer to $73 a gallon for liquors and spirits of non-Commonwealth origin.
The scale of duties on imported tobacco ranges from $2.50 a pound for Chinese prepared tobacco to $9.25 a pound on non- Commonwealth cigars. Preferential rates are granted for unmanufac- tured tobacco of Commonwealth origin and to cigars, cigarettes and pipe tobacco of Commonwealth origin or manufacture. The duty rates on tobacco were raised at the end of February 1964 to compensate the loss of duty incurred as a result of a change in the method of assessing duty on imported cigarettes introduced by the new Dutiable Commodities Ordinance.
The duties on motor spirits and other light or heavy oils are $1.50 and 10 cents a gallon respectively. The general rate of duty on diesel oils for road vehicles is $1 per gallon although public omnibus operators and marine and industrial users pay much reduced rates.
36
PUBLIC FINANCES
The rates of duty on table waters and methyl alcohol are 48 cents and $7.50 per gallon respectively.
RATES
Rates are levied on the basis of the annual letting value of land or a building held or occupied as a distinct or separate tenancy. The valuation list covers the rating areas of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Kowloon and part of the New Territories. In Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Kowloon rates are charged, with a few exceptions, at 17 per cent per annum of rateable value. In the New Territories the charge is 11 per cent. The valuation list is prepared by the Commissioner of Rating and Valuation and is frequently revised to bring it up-to-date. Revenue from rates has more than trebled over the last nine years. The estimate for 1964-5 is $156,100,000.
There are few exemptions. Premises used for educational, chari- table and welfare purposes are rated, but most of the bodies running these establishments receive back the amount of rates paid in the form either of direct subventions or contributions toward rates.
INTERNAL REVENUE
Income was first subjected to direct taxation in Hong Kong in 1940 as a temporary war-time measure and no attempt was made to collect tax after the liberation of the Colony, although the ordin- ance was not repealed until 1947. However a new source of revenue was by then essential and it was decided to impose a direct tax on incomes as a permanent measure. Under the Inland Revenue Ordin- ance, 1947, tax is charged only on income or profits arising in or derived from the Colony. No tax is charged on income or profits arising outside the Colony whether remitted here or not. The ordinance aims at simplicity and to this end charges tax generally at source and at a flat rate rather than in the hands of the eventual recipient on a sliding scale. Thus there is no need to ascertain the total income of each individual.
Incomes and profits are grouped in four categories, each of which is subject to a separate tax, namely, Property Tax, Salaries Tax, Profits Tax and Interest Tax. A fifth and aggregate tax known as Personal Assessment is chargeable upon persons who so elect.
PUBLIC FINANCES
37
In that case the individual's income otherwise chargeable to the four separate taxes is aggregated in a single sum which is reduced by personal allowances and charged on a sliding scale. The privilege of election is not available to non-residents.
The standard rate of tax has stood at 12 per cent since 1950. Business profits, interest received from loans, and the interest element of purchased annuities are charged to tax at the full standard rate. However where the profits of a non-corporate business are below $7,000 for any year no tax is charged and tax chargeable on such businesses is restricted to one-half of the amount by which the profits exceed $7,000. Property Tax is charged on the net rateable value of any land or building in the Colony with the exception of those situated in the New Territories and those wholly occupied by the owner as his residence. The standard rate is charged except for rent-controlled property. Salaries Tax is charged on the total income from employment reduced by allowances which are at present: for the taxpayer, $7,000; for his wife, $7,000; and from $2,000 for each of the first two children down to $200 for the ninth child. Premiums paid for life insurance are allowed to an amount not exceeding one-sixth of the amount by which the income exceeds $7,000. Tax is charged on a scale which begins at one-fifth of the standard rate on the first $5,000 of the net income and rises by one-fifth of the standard rate on each subsequent $5,000 until, at $45,000, the maximum of twice the standard rate is reached. The total Salaries Tax payable by any individual is restricted to an amount not exceeding the standard rate on his gross salary.
It is estimated that the revenue from Earnings and Profits Tax during the financial year 1964-5 will be $306 million.
Estate Duty generally follows the lines of the British tax of the same name. Duty is assessed only on that part of an estate which is in Hong Kong. The rates of duty range from two per cent on estates valued between $100,000 and $200,000 to 40 per cent on estates over $15 million. Yield for the year ending on 31st March 1965 is estimated at $23 million.
Stamp Duty is modelled on the British pattern and fixed duties are charged on various documents. The lowest is 15 cents on bills of lading and receipts and the highest $20 on deeds. Ad valorem duty on various other documents ranges from 15 cents on $500
8888
38
PUBLIC FINANCES
to $2 on $100. A special duty at the rate of three per cent is payable on the first conveyance of any parcel of land after September 1948. The estimated yield from Stamp Duty during the current financial year is $70 million.
Substantial revenue accrues from Entertainments, Dance Halls and Bets and Sweeps Taxes and it is estimated they will yield $52 million during the current year. Entertainments Tax is charged on the price of admission to places of entertainment, the rate varying with the amount charged but averaging about 22 per cent. Certain types of entertainment given for charitable or educational purposes are taxed at a lower rate or may be exempt. Public Dance Halls Tax is a levy of 10 per cent on all dance halls charges. Bets and Sweeps Tax imposes 7 per cent on totalizator receipts and 25 per cent on cash sweepstake receipts.
Every business carried on in the Colony, except one which is not carried on for the purpose of gain or one which is carried on by a charitable institution, must be registered and pay annually a registra- tion fee of $25. Where the business is very small the Commissioner ·· may exempt it from the fee. These fees are expected to yield approx- imately $3 million.
4
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4
Currency and Banking
WHEN Hong Kong was founded in 1841, China's currency was based on uncoined silver. The normal unit for foreign trade through- out the Far East was the Spanish or Mexican silver dollar. By a proclamation of 1842, Mexican or 'other Republican dollars' were declared to be on the Colony's legal tender although government accounts were kept in sterling until 1862. There were several unsuccessful attempts to change the monetary basis from silver to gold.
A mint was set up in 1866 and produced a Hong Kong equivalent of the Mexican dollar but the new coin was unpopular and the mint closed down two years later. The machinery was sold to establish the first modern mint in Japan.
An Order of the Queen in Council, dated 2nd February 1895 authorized the minting in India of a British trade dollar, equivalent to the Mexican dollar. In Hong Kong this gradually replaced the Mexican dollar although the latter still remained both legal tender and the standard by which other dollars were judged. The sterling or gold value of the dollar varied with the price of silver. This gave Hong Kong a variable exchange relationship with London and the world at large but a reasonably stable one with China.
In 1845 the Oriental Bank issued the first bank notes in the Colony, and the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation followed suit. Although not legal tender, these notes increasingly became the customary means of payment because of the inconvenience of dealing with large amounts of silver. By 1890 they had become established by convention as practically the sole medium of exchange apart from subsidiary coinage. An ordinance of 1895 restricted the issue of banknotes to specifically authorized banks-the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China (now the Chartered Bank). By then the Oriental Bank
40
CURRENCY AND BANKING
had closed its doors and the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India had been reorganized. In 1911 this reorganized Mercantile Bank of India (now the Mercantile Bank Limited) was added to the list of authorized note-issuing banks.
The rising price of silver from 1931 onwards forced China to abandon the silver standard in 1935. Hong Kong followed. The Currency Ordinance of that year, later renamed the Exchange Fund Ordinance, set up an exchange fund to which note-issuing banks were obliged to surrender all silver previously held by them against their note issues in exchange for certificates of indebtedness. The certificates, which are non-interest-bearing and are issued and redeemed at the discretion of the Financial Secretary, became the legal backing for the notes issued by the note-issuing banks, apart from their fiduciary issues. The silver surrendered by the banks was used to set up an exchange fund, which in practice keeps its assets in sterling and operates in a similar manner to traditional Colonial Currency Boards. The Ordinance also made the banknotes legal tender.
At the same time Government undertook to issue one-dollar currency notes to replace the silver dollars in circulation. In 1960, because of the heavy expense of keeping clean notes in circulation, a dollar coin of cupro-nickel and about the same size as a British florin was re-introduced. Stocks are sufficient to replace all notes issued but, although banks have been asked to withdraw all notes received in the course of business, many still remain unredeemed although few appear to be in active circulation. The dollar notes and coins are backed by Security Funds which maintain their assets partly in sterling and partly in Hong Kong dollar bank accounts. The Government also issues subsidiary coins of the value of 5 cents, 10 cents, and 50 cents and notes of the value of 1 cent.
Since 1935 the value of the Hong Kong dollar has been main- tained at approximately 1/3d sterling. Banks may deal with the public at a few points on either side of this rate, both to allow for a profit margin and, to a slight extent, to meet fluctuations in demand and supply.
The total currency in nominal circulation at 31st December 1964 was:
CURRENCY AND BANKING
Bank note issue
Government $1 note issue
Government $1 coin issue
Subsidiary coins and notes
...
$1,296,486,225.00
$
17,174,487.00
$ 41,884,136.00
$ 43,946,565.00
41
The Colony has been a part of the sterling area since August 1941. Exchange Control is administered under powers conferred by the Defence (Finance) Regulations, 1940. The system of control is based on that in force in the United Kingdom, with some modifi- cations made necessary by the position of Hong Kong as an entrepôt.
BANKING
The Banking Ordinance, 1948, provides that no institution may engage in banking without obtaining a licence from the Governor in Council and that each bank must publish an annual balance sheet. At the end of 1964 88 licences had been approved and 50 banks were also authorized to deal in foreign exchange. Many of these banks have branches or correspondents throughout the world and are thus able to offer comprehensive banking facilities. There are at present 20 full members of the Clearing House which also act as agents for 49 sub-members. Monthly clearings during the year averaged $3,489,637,860.96. Banking activities continued to expand; three new banks were licensed while some additional branches of existing banks were opened. The table at Appendix XII illustrates the rapidity of expansion between December 1955 and December 1964. Total deposits reached $6,568 million and at the same date, loans and advances to commerce and industry totalled $4,586 million.
This expansion, and the difficulties in which one local bank found itself in 1961, led the Banking Advisory Committee to rec- ommend the revision of the Banking Ordinance to provide more adequately for the supervision of banking operations. Mr H. J. Tomkins of the Bank of England spent some time in Hong Kong in the early part of 1962. His report on the banking system, published in April 1962, contained a full discussion of the situation together with recommendations for a new banking ordinance. These were circulated to interested parties whose comments were considered by the Banking Advisory Committee before drafting began. A new bill to provide for the proper protection of the interests of depositors and for the adequate inspection of banks was read for the first
42
CURRENCY AND BANKING
time in June 1963. This attracted further comment from banking interests and the accounting profession and, following resolution of the many points raised, it was decided to withdraw it and present a new bill which was finally passed on 14th October 1964. This Banking Ordinance came into force by proclamation on 1st Decem- ber. A Commissioner of Banking was appointed earlier in the year in anticipation of a provision in the Ordinance for such an office. He will exercise general supervision and control over the carrying out of the provisions of the Ordinance.
!
5
Industry and Trade
HONG KONG is now firmly established as an industrial economy based upon exports rather than a domestic market, while remaining basically a tariff-free port. The change from entrepôt status has taken place over the past 15 years. Industry is not, of course, new to the Colony. By the turn of the century, as a natural adjunct of port activities, ship-building and ship-breaking industries had developed. Some light industries were established before 1939. Industrial development on a significant scale did not take place until political changes in China, the Korean war and consequent trade restrictions signalled the end of the entrepôt trade as a basis for the economy of the Colony and the simultaneous arrival of refugees from the mainland brought in additional man-power and in some cases technical knowledge and capital. As a result, the slack in the entrepôt trade was taken up by an increase in the manufacture and export of cotton textiles, a development which proved to be the foundation for subsequent light industrial expan- sion.
United States regulations prohibiting expenditure on Chinese manufactures provided another stimulus to develop new Chinese- type products in Hong Kong for the American market under administratively complicated procedures designed by the Commerce and Industry Department in association with the United States authorities to prevent substitution of Chinese goods. The effect was to draw the attention of manufacturers and exporters to the potentialities of the American market in those sectors not covered by the Foreign Assets Regulations, and within the scope of the Regulations to develop the market there for goods, such as cotton clothing, never exported hitherto by China and which Hong Kong manufacturers and exporters might not otherwise have made efforts to develop.
Hong Kong's industrial economy derives therefore from various circumstances, few of which would have appeared favourable to
44
INDUSTRY AND TRADE
such a development. But with these circumstances, all of them outside the Colony's control, some of them fortuitous, there must be considered the political stability of the territory and the official policies which have encouraged enterprise. There has been a stead- fast policy of refusing to surrender to occasional protectionist pressure, demands for subsidies to industry, or retaliation against other countries' restrictive actions. Widespread skill in merchan- dising techniques inherited from the entrepôt era and highly develop- ed banking, insurance and shipping systems have made this policy practicable and successful. For Hong Kong the only industries worth having are those whose products can be sold in the domestic market without protection or which can be exported without subsidy. Hong Kong has therefore remained true to the traditions established when it was an entrepôt, i.e., no tariffs other than those which are designed solely to produce revenue, and free ingress for other goods from any quarter of the globe.
In matters affecting internal and external trade, the Director of Commerce and Industry is consulted and tenders his advice. after consulting the Trade and Industry Advisory Board, a body of unofficial senior representatives of commerce, industry, banking, etc nominated by the Governor, of which the Director is chairman and which meets regularly once a month and on occasion more frequently. A more specialized board, the Cotton Advisory Board, first appointed in 1961, is consulted on matters affecting the cotton textile industry.
INDUSTRY
The general facility with which industry may be established and conducted in Hong Kong has attracted investors. While most industrialists are Hong Kong residents of Chinese race, and the greater part of their capital resources have been self-generated, overseas interests-American, Australian, British, Japanese--have to an increasing extent entered into licensing arrangements with Hong Kong firms and into other forms of industrial co-operation. The variety of goods produced in Hong Kong is now considerable. In general, while heavy industry such as ship-building and ship- breaking continues to be important, the Colony has become best known for the competitive price and range of the products of its light industries, and their rapidly improving quality.
Something like 11⁄2 million people are at work in Hong Kong. On the industrial front the products they make range from the lightest to the heaviest-from tea- spoons to ocean liners. One of the oldest light industries is the manufacture of vacuum flasks and jars, which are now exported in many sizes to 102 countries.
(
Hong Kong dolls have become justly famous the world over. A skilled operative (above) removes each head from its mould and inflates it with compressed air in a matter of seconds. The hair, golden and life-like, is sewn on to the skull by specially designed machinery and each head then has an individual grooming (below).
INDUSTRY AND TRADE
45
The textile industry not only dominates Hong Kong's economy, accounting for 52 per cent of its domestic exports and employing 42 per cent of its industrial labour force, but is also a significant factor in international trade in textiles. In all sectors the manu- facture and processing of cotton goods predominates. The cotton spinning mills, operating over 695,000 spindles, are among the most up-to-date in the world. Cotton yarn counts range from tens to sixties carded and combed in single or multiple threads. Production of all counts in 1964 was estimated at approximately 256 million lbs, the greater part of which was consumed by local weavers. In the piecegoods weaving section, which has a capacity of 19,872 looms, grey cotton drill, canvas, shirting, poplins, ginghams and other bleached and dyed cloth and prints are the main items. Production of cotton piecegoods in 1964 was estimated to be approximately 560 million square yards. Much of this was exported, but there is an increasing tendency for garment manufacturers to use domestic materials.
The use of fibres other than cotton and new-processes in the finishing and garment industries are assuming growing significance. During the year two leading textile concerns began to spin polyester/ cotton and polyester/viscose yarn for weaving into shirting and other fabrics for which there is now a more rapid growth in demand than for equivalent cotton products. There was further development of the Colony's woollen and worsted spinning industry; its pro- duction goes mostly to the domestic knitting industry, although some is woven into piecegoods. Other woven products include silk and rayon brocade of traditional Chinese design, tapes, military web- bing, lace, mosquito netting, carpets and rugs. The dyeing, printing and finishing industry has concentrated on such developments as multi-colour screen and roll printing, pre-shrinking by several processes under licence, and polymerizing for the production of drip-dry fabrics.
The manufacture of garments remains the largest sector with- in the industry, employing 59,000 workers. An almost unlimited range and variety of clothing, from high fashion dresses to cotton singlets, are produced for export all over the world. Embroidered blouses, underwear and night-wear, silk and brocade and evening coats have world-wide popularity. Custom and mail order tailoring, principally of men's suits, has rapidly developed in recent years
46
INDUSTRY AND TRADE
into an important branch of industry. The Colony's knitting mills produce towels, tee-shirts, underwear and night-wear, swimsuits, gloves, socks and stockings in cotton, silk, wool and other fabrics. Production and export of knitted woollen and acrilic knitwear, especially for women, has shown phenomenal growth in recent years. From a total of $862 million in 1961, the value of exports of clothing has risen to $1,619 million in 1964, produced by some 1,070 factories.
OTHER LIGHT INDUSTRIES
In the ever-widening range of light industry the most prominent, apart from textiles, is the manufacture of plastic articles. Skill in the cutting of moulds and dies and ability to meet short orders has resulted in increased exports of a very wide variety of products which, besides artificial flowers, toys and dolls, include more recently household furniture of polypropylene, plastic articles and PVC-coated fabric. The industry manufactured exports worth some $613 million during the year.
There has been spectacular growth in the electronics industry. The manufacture or assembly of transistor radios commenced only in 1959 but since then exports of transistor radios have at least doubled in volume each year to reach a total of 3.9 million sets worth $95 million in 1964. The industry exports to 67 countries but its principal markets are Britain and the United States. The manufacture of electronic component parts has also made great progress. Silicon planar transistors, condensers, trans- formers and capacitors are now produced and exported, and the assembly of television sets has commenced on an experimental basis.
While the two industries singled out above illustrate some of the factors behind Hong Kong's striking industrial development, light industries of many varieties have continued to make steady, and in some cases spectacular, progress. These include the manu- facture of air-conditioners, aluminiumware, clocks and watches, cordage, electrical appliances and equipment, enamelware, food and beverages, footwear, light metal products, optical equipment, paint, vacuum flasks and furniture and furnishings.
INDUSTRY AND TRADE
47
HEAVY INDUSTRIES
Hong Kong shipyards can build ocean-going vessels of up to 10,000 tons dead weight and can also construct and instal their engines. At the other end of the scale, pleasure craft and utility vessels of all kinds, including ocean-going yachts, vehicular and passenger ferries, sloops, cruisers, speedboats of wood and fibre glass, yawls and steel lighters, are regularly produced for local use and for export. The traditional Chinese junk, slightly modified from the basic design used for many centuries, has also been exported as a comfortable and stable pleasure-craft.
The Colony has been among the world's leading centres for ship-breaking for a number of years, although activity in the in- dustry has not completely recovered from the 1962 depression. Much of the scrap obtained is used in rolling mills which produce an estimated 17,000 long-tons a month of mild steel bars, window sections, channels and other metal products used in building con- struction. This represents a large part of the requirements of the Colony's building industry, and in addition a considerable quantity of rods and bars is shipped abroad, principally to south-east Asian countries. Several rolling mills produce brass and aluminium sheets and circles, most of which are used for the manufacture of con- sumer goods. The growth of the steel-rolling industry highlights an important feature of the present state of development of heavy industry in Hong Kong. Separation from its principal markets is among the factors which have produced a concentration of re- sources on light industry, while heavy industry has developed only where a domestic market was available. Two new industrial ventures illustrate this point. The demands of the construction industry have prompted the establishment of one factory to manu- facture spiral welded pipes of all dimensions, and another to produce extruded aluminium door and window frames, both developments of potential significance for the future.
In similar fashion, the expansion of light industry has stimulated the manufacture of machinery and parts. Built originally for do- mestic industry, Hong Kong-made machine tools are now exported to over 76 countries. Of particular importance are plastic blow moulding and injection moulding machines, power presses, lathes and planing machines.
48
INDUSTRY AND TRADE
Aircraft engineering is another important industry; one large establishment provides maintenance and repair facilities for most airlines using Hong Kong Airport. Facilities are available for complete airframe and engine overhaul, and work has been received from 38 countries as far afield as Australia and Canada. The Colony also manufactures much of its requirements for cement, most of the raw materials being imported.
LAND FOR INDUSTRY
Government land development programmes include the zoning of land for industrial use. Large scale reclamation schemes are being carried out at several places. The most advanced was begun at Kwun Tong in 1955 and by the end of 1964 250 acres had been reclaimed. When completed the scheme will provide 641.3 acres, of which 153.9 acres are designed solely for industrial use, the rest being for commercial and residential use and other services. At the end of the year 197 factories were already operating, em- ploying 25,336 workers or 7 per cent of the industrial work force.
A scheme of equal importance is that at Kwai Chung, near the industrial town of Tsuen Wan, which will ultimately provide 6,130 acres of land, of which 986 acres will be for industrial development.
Resiting of the ship-breaking and steel-rolling industries at Junk Bay began in 1963. Sites totalling 1.7 million square feet are under development.
During 1964 many more small sites for industrial development were auctioned than hitherto. Purchasers of industrial land leases in the development areas of Kwun Tong and Kwai Chung can pay the purchase price by instalments over 20 years, and since 1963 purchasers of industrial land elsewhere can pay in four equal interest-free instalments, spread over two years.
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING AND PRODUCTIVITY
The rapid expansion of industry has created a demand for trained personnel at all levels. At managerial level the Hong Kong Man- agement Association, sponsored in 1960 by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, provides courses to suit the particular
INDUSTRY AND TRADE
49
circumstances of Hong Kong and covering general, office, per- sonnel, financial, production and marketing management. The Technical College includes management studies in its full-time diploma course in management subjects and work study, and also offers courses in plant layout, handling of materials, produc- tion planning and control, quality control, work study and allied subjects for those engaged in production work.
New measures have also been taken to meet the equally pressing demand for skilled supervisors, artisans and operatives. They include the appointment of an industrial training advisory committee to assess and review the need for skilled craftsmen, production workers and technicians, and to advise Government on training schemes.
To encourage development of facilities for operative training within particular industries the Government has also announced that it is prepared to make land available free of premium for suitable non-profit-making projects.
The introduction of new methods through industrial training programmes for both management and labour is to be co-ordinated and expanded by the establishment of a Productivity Centre under the direction of a Productivity Council. The Council will include representatives of official, management, labour, academic and pro- fessional interests, with an official chairman; an executive director responsible to the Council will have charge of the centre. Govern- ment has accepted, in principle, the provision of a sum in the region of $12.5 million to cover the first five years' expenditure on its establishment. The centre when fully developed will provide training for specialists, managers and supervisors, a managerial consultancy service, technical assistance and a specialist library, and will facilitate liaison between local and overseas organizations. Hong Kong is one of the nine-member countries of the Asian Productivity Organization which has as its object co-operation among Asian countries to raise productivity. Hong Kong was represented at the Workshop Meeting of directors in March and at the annual meeting of the governing body in December, and various Hong Kong nominees have attended courses of different kinds.
EXTERNAL TRADE
The total value of Hong Kong's external trade, including imports, domestic exports and re-exports, during the year amounted to
50
INDUSTRY AND TRADE
$14,647 million, representing an increase of $2,244 million or 18 per cent over 1963. Imports and domestic exports again rose considerably in value and this rise was matched in percentage by re-exports. The volume of Hong Kong trade as measured by cargo tonnage by all means of transport rose by 1 million tons during the year. Trade statistics including a breakdown by countries and commodities and comparisons with previous years are con- tained in Appendices XIII to XIX.
Imports in 1964 were valued at $8,706 million, an increase of 17 per cent. Although domestic supplies of agricultural produce and fish are substantial, most of the Colony's foodstuffs have to be imported. Food was therefore the principal import representing 23 per cent of all imports and being worth $2,012 million, an increase of 16 per cent over the previous year. The chief food imports were rice, live animals, fruits and vegetables, dairy prod- ucts, sugar preparations, fish and fish preparations. Raw mate- rials and semi-manufactured goods imported for use by industry included textile yarn and fabrics, raw cotton, base metals and plastic moulding materials. Capital goods such as machinery and transport equipment, and mineral fuels and lubricants were also imported in large quantities.
The sources of imports are determined by proximity, prices, speed of delivery and by traditional trade relationships. China was the Colony's principal supplier, providing 22.6 per cent by value of all imports and 52 per cent of the Colony's food imports. Imports from China also included textile yarn and fabrics. The value of goods imported from China increased by 32 per cent compared with 1963. Imports from Japan, the second largest supplier, increased markedly to reach 17 per cent of imports from all sources. Textile goods represented 38 per cent of imports from Japan, but other goods included in the total were machinery, base metals, chemicals and many manufactured articles. Imports from the United States increased over the previous year, while those from Britain showed a decline. The principal imports from the United States were textile fibres, raw cotton, tobacco, machinery, plastic materials and fruits. The imports from Britain consisted mainly of machinery, wool textiles and motor vehicles.
The value of domestic exports increased by 15.6 per cent to reach a new record annual total of $4,428 million. They are still
INDUSTRY AND TRADE
51
concentrated heavily on the products of the textile and garment manufacturing industries to the extent of 52 per cent by value. Exports of plastic goods made up a further 13.8 per cent.
The direction of Hong Kong's export trade is influenced by such factors as the advantages of preference in Britain and several smaller Commonwealth markets. There is at the same time a trend towards outlets in more developed countries as protectionist measures in the other traditional markets in Asia and Africa became more wide-ranging or are intensified. During the year 49 per cent of all domestic exports went to two markets, the United States and Britain, in roughly equal proportions. The United States remains the largest market, taking 27 per cent by value, and in- creasing her purchases by 254 million, or 26 per cent. The value of goods sent to Britain was $968 million (22 per cent of all domestic exports) an increase of $105 million or, 12 per cent. A market of increasing importance was West Germany to which, largely as a result of exports of woollen knitwear, goods worth $294 million were sent during the year. Malaysia remained, however, the third largest market for Hong Kong goods, taking $330 million, although this total seems likely to decline in future. Other important markets were Japan, Canada and Australia, but domestic exports were also sent to practically every country in the world.
The entrepôt trade is still considerable. The value of re-exports totalled $1,513 million in 1964, an increase of 30 per cent over the previous year. Malaysia remains the leading customer but Indonesia showed a sharp temporary increase in purchases during the year to take second place, followed by Japan and China. The principal commodities in this trade were gems and jewellery, textile, medicinal and pharmaceutical products, sugar and sugar preparations.
RESTRICTIONS ON TRADE
Hong Kong faces increasing obstacles to the free flow of its exports. The most important was the British Government's deci- sion in October to impose a 15 per cent surcharge on all imports, except foodstuffs and raw materials. It will take time for the effects to show in Hong Kong but in principle this action affects over 99 per cent of the Colony's exports to a market which takes some
52
INDUSTRY AND TRADE
23 per cent of all domestic exports. By the end of the year there had been a sharp reduction in forward orders. The Commerce and Industry Department combined with leading trade and in- dustrial associations to conduct surveys to ascertain the immediate and likely long-term domestic implications of the surcharge.
For Hong Kong there was also disappointment over the once- promising prospects of widespread liberalization of world trade flowing from the Kennedy Round of negotiations under the GATT. The Colony was represented by an observer at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development earlier in the year. Although it has achieved a substantial measure of growth in the light in- dustrial field, it shares the needs and aspirations of all developing countries. The Colony also participated in negotiations in Geneva with the United States under Article XXVIII of the GATT re- garding compensation for administrative adjustments to United States tariff schedules.
The importance of Hong Kong's textile exports both as a factor in international trade and in the Colony's own economy gives special significance to frequent international negotiations on the subject. Exports of cotton textiles to four countries were under restraint during the year as a result of invocation by Hong Kong's trading partners of the provisions of the GATT Long-Term Textile Arrangement. United States restrictions covered 36 categories comprising 97 per cent of the Colony's exports for the second year of the Arrangement as a result of protracted negotiations during 1963. Lengthy negotiations again preceded agreement on the level of exports during the third year of the Arrangement beginning 1st October 1964. The agreement finally concluded involves controls over an even wider range of textile categories representing over 98 per cent of the Colony's exports to the United States. It includes an acceptable growth rate and solutions to a number of difficult classification problems. In June Canada, which had previously invoked the Arrangement in respect of six garment categories, requested restraints on a further 32 categories covering the whole range of cotton piecegoods and one other garment category. Subsequent negotiations reduced the list of fabric categories to six. Agreement on restraint levels for these and the seven garment categories, together with a growth factor, was reached before the start of the third Long-Term Arrangement year. Restrictions on
The textile and garment industries together remain the Colony's largest employer. Modern factories offer ideal conditions and the dexterity of garment workers (above) has been instrumental in enabling Hong Kong goods to be put on world markets at competitive prices. Workers of both sexes have shown themselves easily adaptable to the most skilled work, such as telephone exchange maintenance (below).
X
港
KNEILIN
The men who build ships, like those who sail them, belong to a special breed. Hong Kong shipyards build ocean-going vessels of up to 10,000 tons dead-weight and also construct and install their engines. Throughout the world the vessels are known for their economic construction costs and high quality workmanship.
INDUSTRY AND TRADE.
53
cotton night-wear exported to the Federal Republic of Germany were negotiated at a reasonable level with a 10 per cent growth factor.
Restraint on exports of cotton woven night-wear and cotton woven shirts (except dress shirts) to Norway were continued under a five-year bilateral agreement entered into in 1962.
Outside the Long-Term Cotton Textile Arrangement, Hong Kong's exports of cotton yarn, cotton piecegoods and clothing to Britain have been limited, under an undertaking originally entered into in 1959 but revised in 1962 and extended to 31st December 1965, to a maximum equivalent to 185 million square yards in terms of cloth and 6.3 million pounds of yarn. Within this overall quota there are four broad divisions, now sub-divided into 34 product categories, each of which may be subject to a separate restraint level. By agreement formalized early in the year exports under 19 of these categories were limited to what has been effectively little more than notional restraint during 1964, with markedly tighter restraint levels in a number of categories for 1965. The undertaking provides for a six-month carry over, and also includes a provision for a supplementary quota to Hong Kong (and to India and Pakistan) if it can be shown that these countries have lost ground to unrestricted non-Commonwealth suppliers during the period of the undertaking. In July, the supplementary quota provisions were exchanged on a once-for-all basis for an additional quota in the case of Hong Kong of 14.5 million square yards to be used during 1964 and 1965.
The undertaking with Britain has restricted expansion of the textile industry in the last few years, but has had a beneficial side effect of encouraging better quality goods which has partly com- pensated for this. This effect has been assisted by a scheme whereby quotas for made-ups and garments are issued on the basis of com- petitive applications which have regard to high Hong Kong cost content rather than past performance.
Pressure during the year for restrictions was not confined to cotton textiles. At the end of 1963 it became clear that the increase in woollen knitwear exports to the German Federal Republic was causing alarm in that country's industry, and a request for restraint was received from the German Government. Following inter- governmental consultations and a visit by a delegation from the
54
INDUSTRY AND TRADE
Hong Kong industry to Germany for discussion with industrialists there, the request for restraint was withdrawn in favour of a system of forward reporting of export orders. The Federal Government undertook to permit entry of goods so reported. The system is similar to that used for cotton textile exports in certain categories to the United States. This arrangement was possible as the rate of increase of exports showed signs of declining.
In other products than textiles restrictions again outnumbered measures for liberalization. Increases in duty to protect new in- dustries in Malaysia and non-discriminatory import restrictions for a similar purpose in Nigeria slowed exports to those countries. Additional discriminatory import licensing by Nigeria and by Spain led to official representations to the respective governments without, however, altogether satisfactory results. Representations were again made to the South African Government regarding the long-standing issue of anti-dumping duties on Hong Kong products which are regarded as unjustified in themselves and in the method by which they are calculated.
DOCUMENTATION OF EXPORTS
Import and export licensing formalities have always been kept to a minimum consistent with Hong Kong's international obliga- tions. Nevertheless complex procedures have had to be established to ensure that Hong Kong's responsibilities in respect of restraints on cotton textile exports are met.
With the growth in the export of Hong Kong products, cer- tification of Hong Kong origin has also become increasingly im- portant. Since Hong Kong has practically no raw materials, the origin of goods manufactured by its factories is established by the work carried out in transforming imported raw materials into entirely new products. The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, the Indian Chamber of Commerce, the Chinese Manufacturers' Association and the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce issue certificates of Hong Kong origin which are acceptable in varying degrees overseas. Many overseas authorities, however, require imports of Hong Kong products to be covered by certificates of origin issued by the Commerce and Industry Department.
INDUSTRY AND TRADE
55
The department also issues certificates to enable Hong Kong products to claim preferential rates of duty on entry into Britain and those Commonwealth territories which grant preference to Hong Kong. Commonwealth preference certificates indicate the Commonwealth content in the goods covered and are issued against either specific undertakings to use certain Commonwealth raw materials or detailed cost statements prepared by public account- ants approved for the purpose. During the year exports of goods certified by the Commerce and Industry Department to be of Hong Kong origin were valued at $1,179 million. Exports to Commonwealth territories, including Britain, covered by Com- monwealth preference certificates were valued at $1,207 million.
United States law prohibits the importation from Hong Kong of a wide range of goods presumed to originate in the People's Republic of China or in North Korea unless evidence is produced to the contrary. The Commerce and Industry Department keeps under continuous revision procedures to establish this evidence. During the year, 'presumptive' goods valued at $616 million were exported to the United States and its dependencies under comprehensive certificates of origin issued solely for this purpose.
TRADE PROMOTION
Until recently export trade promotion was largely carried out by the Commerce and Industry Department acting on the advice of the Trade and Industry Advisory Board. The active interest of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and the Federa- tion of Hong Kong Industries in creating a favourable climate of opinion towards Hong Kong industry and its products, led to the provision in 1962 of public funds, for an experimental period of two years, to finance activities of this kind, and the two associa- tions formed a Public Relations Joint Committee for planning purposes. To avoid duplication of effort a Commercial Public Relations Co-ordinating Committee was appointed at the same time, under the chairmanship of the Director of Commerce and Industry, with a membership comprising the Chairmen of the two associations principally concerned, the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Tourist Association and the Director of Informa- tion Services. This committee was also called upon to make
56
INDUSTRY AND TRADE
recommendations on the future organization of commercial public relations activities and its report was submitted in September.
The Commerce and Industry Department's export promotion programme for 1964 included participation in the Milan Interna- tional Samples Fair in April and in the Seventh United States World Trade Fair in San Francisco in September. Participation at Milan included a pavilion in the centre of the fairground dis- playing representative Hong Kong products and enlivened by craftsmen and women working in ivory, on carpet weaving and on embroidery, together with an exhibit by the Hong Kong Tourist Association. As a complementary feature, the department rented a commercial information office in the International Trade Centre, where delegates were able to answer business enquiries in detail and discuss with visitors the prospects of joint industrial enter- prises. Five commercial firms rented display space and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation had an office opposite the Hong Kong pavilion. A delegation of 13, led by the Honourable J. D. Clague, a member of Executive Council, recorded a total of 647 business enquiries and distributed large quantities of literature about Hong Kong. Over four million visitors attended the fair, a large percentage of whom came to the Hong Kong pavilion.
Hong Kong's participation in the San Francisco fair was planned jointly by the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, the Chinese Manufacturers' Association and the Commerce and Industry Department. The exhibit was primarily commercial, the department's role being to administer and co-ordinate. The stand provided space for 30 independent exhibits by Hong Kong firms and organizations, manned by their own representatives, together with space for an administration office and a display of selected home furnishings. In the centre of the main stand was a 30-foot sailing junk. Most of Hong Kong's principal products were represented in the commercial display and other exhibitors included the Tourist Association, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. A delegation of seven was led by the Honourable F. S. Li, a member of Legislative Council. In terms of public relations, Hong Kong's participation was an undoubted success. Excellent publicity through the media of press, radio and television was achieved, and almost all the 250,000
INDUSTRY AND TRADE
57
visitors to the fair passed through the Hong Kong stand. Commer- cial exhibitors recorded nearly 11,000 trade enquiries and some of them received substantial orders.
The Display Centre of Hong Kong Products in the City Hall was visited by 9,328 people during the year and enquiries recorded by the staff included 11,668 from overseas visitors and from resident businessmen. 312 appointments with suppliers were made for overseas visitors. These figures are considerably higher than corresponding figures for 1963 and reflects the increasing use of the Centre as its existence has become more widely known.
Promotional publicity is also provided by the annual Commerce, Industry and Finance Directory and the monthly Trade Bulletin which are published by the Commerce and Industry Department. The Directory is a comprehensive guide to Hong Kong business in its economic and administrative setting. The Trade Bulletin described Hong Kong's products in magazine form and each month features different aspects of the commercial and industrial scene. Both are distributed free overseas.
In October an expert from the British Board of Trade arrived to advise on the organization of an export credit insurance scheme and was attached to the Department of Commerce and Industry for two months.
The activities of the Public Relations Joint Committee were centred on Europe and the United States. The Committee ap- pointed representatives to be based initially in Brussels and New York with the tasks of fostering of Hong Kong's image as a devel- oping industrial centre and encouraging trade with an investment in the Colony. Mr H. D. M. Barton, formerly Chairman of Jardine Matheson and Company Limited, was appointed as the Committee's first representative in Europe and Mr K. T. Woo, former Hong Kong newspaper editor, as their first representative in New York. The Committee established a small secretariat as a necessary corollary to this important step. During the year Mr Barton paid visits to many centres in the Common Market countries and made an extended visit to Scandinavia in October. Mr Woo visited several American cities, including San Francisco at the time of the trade fair. In support of its representatives the Committee retains public relations consultants in Europe and legal consultants
58
INDUSTRY AND TRADE
in the United States. In April and May, with co-operation from the Swedish East Asia Company Limited, the Committee organized a floating display of Hong Kong products on board the mv Ceylon, calling at Genoa, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Gothenburg and Copenhagen, the first venture of this kind ever attempted by Hong Kong.
The 22nd Annual Exhibition of Hong Kong products, sponsored by the Chinese Manufacturers' Association, displayed the goods of 178 participating firms, ranging from honey to air-conditioners. The layout was on a more ambitious scale than previously and many of the exhibits gave evidence of the improved quality and design of Hong Kong's manufactures today. The Chinese Manu- facturers' Association has also provided space in its new head- quarters building for a permanent exhibit of products manufactured by member firms.
A
ADMINISTRATION
The Commerce and Industry Department is concerned with all matters affecting trade and industry except labour. Its four divisions cover Trade Development, Export Promotion, Textiles and Certi- fication, and Controls.
The Development Division keeps a watch on measures adopted by overseas countries which may affect Hong Kong and studies the activities of international institutions concerned with trade, collecting, analysing and presenting information on these matters for the benefit of merchants and manufacturers. The division also provides liaison between industry and other government departments, answers trade and industrial enquiries from overseas, and deals with specific industrial problems as and when they arise. The Statistical Branch of the division publishes monthly commodity- by-country trade statistics compiled from declarations filed with the department by importers and exporters. The branch also pro- vides general statistical services throughout Government.
The Export Promotion Division, which was given separate divisional status this year, is responsible for executing the pro- gramme of trade promotional activities undertaken with public funds on the advice of the Trade and Industry Advisory Board. It administers the Display Centre, mediates in commercial disputes,
:
INDUSTRY AND TRADE
ང ཆང་
59
and arranges for the reception of overseas trade missions and business visitors. The division publishes and distributes the annual Commerce, Industry and Finance Directory and the Trade Bul- letin, and publishes or assists in the preparation of other trade promotional literature from time to time.
The Textile and Certification Division is concerned with the calculation and allocation of quotas for markets restricted because of the operation of the Long-Term Cotton Textile Arrangement, and for their control through export licensing. It also operates certification of origin and Commonwealth preference procedures.
The Controls Division deals with trade licences other than for textiles and with dutiable commodities. It administers the Preventive Service which is a uniformed and disciplined service with powers similar to those normally exercised by customs and excise services for the protection of revenue. Their part in the control of narcotics traffic is described in chapter 12. The Preventive Service is also responsible for enforcing trade controls and for inspecting factories and goods in connection with the export of Hong Kong products under certificates of origin and Commonwealth preference certi- ficates. The Chief Preventive Officer commands a force of 9 gazetted officers, 244 inspectors and 369 rank and file.
The Commerce and Industry Department is responsible for two overseas offices; the Hong Kong Government Office in London is situated at 54-58 Pall Mall, SW1; the Hong Kong Government Trade Representative in Australia has his office in Kembla Building, Margaret Street, Sydney.
TRADE AND INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS
The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce is the oldest chamber, founded in 1861. The chamber now has a membership of over 1,150 representing all branches of commerce and industry. Membership is open to firms and persons of all races and nationa- lities interested in the trade of Hong Kong. The chamber is repre- sented on a number of important Government boards and commit- tees. It is an organizing member of the British National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Federation of Commonwealth Chambers of Commerce.
60
INDUSTRY AND TRADE
Other active chambers and associations include the Hong Kong Junior Chamber of Commerce, which takes an active part in local civic affairs, the Indian Chamber of Commerce, the Hong Kong Exporters' Association and the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce.
The Federation of Hong Kong Industries, established by ordin- ance in 1960, devotes its efforts towards promoting the interests of Hong Kong industry as a whole and its membership includes all industries, many nationalities and enterprises both big and small. In the promotion of internationally accepted standards for locally manufactured goods, the Federation has been responsible for launching a Textile Testing Service in consultation with the Retail Trading-Standards Association in Britain; the British Stand- ards Institute Advisory Committee has also been established, and a Standards Committee to promote the standards of other industrially advanced countries. In the field of technical education, the Federation has taken the initiative in formulating with industry, Government and an international organization, plans for the establishment of a Wool School in Hong Kong.
Established in 1934, the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong has a membership of over 1,500 factories. Member firms own factories of all sizes and most sectors of the Colony's industries are represented in the Association. It has played an important role in the industrial development of Hong Kong.
OVERSEAS REPRESENTATION
Among Commonwealth countries, India is represented in Hong Kong by a Commissioner, and Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Pakistan and Ceylon (honorary) by Trade Commissioners. Consulates-General are maintained by Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cambodia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Portugal, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Arab Republic, the United States, Uruguay and Vietnam. Consulates are maintained by Laos, Sweden and Venezuela. The consular representatives of Finland, Mexico, Poland, Spain and Turkey are resident in London and have jurisdiction extending to Hong Kong. Austria, Bolivia, Burma,
INDUSTRY AND TRADE
61
Costa Rica, Denmark, El Salvador, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, the Irish Republic, Israel, Mexico, Monaco, Nicaragua and Spain have honorary consular representation in Hong Kong. In addition, Austria, Denmark, France, Italy, the Republic of South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam have resident Trade Com- missioners.
6
Primary Production
It is frequently and properly said that Hong Kong has no natural resources and that the people depend for their livelihood on selling the products of their manufacturing industry. The 1961 census showed just under ninety thousand people as directly employed in farming and fishing, and another ten thousand in mining and quarrying. Yet little more than five per cent of Hong Kong is actually built up and Hong Kong's industrial explosion, however dramatic, has by no means overwhelmed the traditional life of the farmer and the fisherman. Indeed the vigour of the farming and fishing industries is best demonstrated by the way in which they too are adapting to changed conditions.
The population influx of the nineteen fifties had its effect upon the country-side as well as the city. While the growth of the urban population created new demands for the produce of the farms new people and new methods were moving in to meet them. There has been a steady reduction in the number of people growing rice on their own land and an increase in the number of recent im- migrants renting land for intensive vegetable production or poultry farming. At the same time rice farmers have been encouraged to diversify by vegetable planting even after the harvesting of a second rice crop. These trends, and parallel improvements in the fishing industry, are in line with government policy which is to stimulate the production of food where this is compatible with the best use of the resources of land or sea.
AGRICULTURAL LAND IN THE NEW TERRITORIES
The scarcest resource is indeed land itself and many of the agricul- tural developments of recent years have been stimulated by the extreme pressure on land. Almost all of the cultivated land in Hong Kong is in the New Territories and the changes being made in land use are further affected by the special circumstances of land tenure there. When the New Territories became part of the
PRIMARY PRODUCTION
63
Colony in July 1899 agricultural land was surveyed and in 1900 land courts were set up to hear the inhabitants' claims to tenure of their land. In 1905 the titles of 354,277 lots, comprising about 40,738 acres of agricultural land were confirmed by Government. Because they were too small and scattered to be given individual titles, these lots were recorded in Block Crown Leases for each of the 566 Demarcation Districts in the New Territories, and are known as Old Schedule Lots.
Crown rents, replacing the old Chinese Imperial land tax, were fixed at the time of the lease and later confirmed by proclamation. They have progressively declined in value so that in some cases they are now scarcely worth the trouble of collecting.
On 4th March 1904, all land not claimed at the time of the lease was proclaimed to be Crown land, leases of which could be sold at public auction in line with the procedure in Hong Kong and Kowloon. It has always been recognized, however, that most villages have certain prescriptive rights over the land around them where they graze their cattle, cut grass, and bury their dead and in the more rural parts of the New Territories Crown land is not put up for auction until the nearest villages have been given the opportunity to object. New Territories lands acquired by auction are known as new Grant Lots.
The pattern in 1905, which largely continued until the expansion of the New Territories population in the nineteen fifties, was of small owners holding about an acre and cultivating their own land. In certain areas, however, such as Yuen Long, much of the best agricultural land was and is still owned by clans established for hundreds of years. By tradition a proportion of the rent raised from clan land is set aside by the clans themselves for the upkeep of ancestral halls, religious observances, clan welfare and the maintenance of schools. Such land may not be disposed of without the consent of the clan members (sometimes numbering many hundreds) and the permission of the District Officer.
With the population increase however a marked change has occurred. According to the 1961 census, only just over 50 per cent of the New Territories farmers now farm their own or clan land. These owner cultivators, the majority still growing rice, are con- centrated in the Hakka areas on the eastern side of the New Terri- tories, particularly the Sai Kung and Sha Tau Kok peninsulas.
64
PRIMARY PRODUCTION
Many of the remaining farmers, often Cantonese or Chiu Chow immigrants, rent their land from the original owners, and this pattern is particularly marked among vegetable and poultry farmers in the Yuen Long and Fanling areas. Vegetable holdings are ex- tremely small, usually less than one acre.
Rents of rice land in the New Territories are customarily reckoned in rice itself. An average annual rent for two-crop rice land would be about 1,600 pounds of paddy an acre, or about 40 per cent of the total annual yield from two crops. Rents for vegetable land are, however, usually reckoned in cash. Rent for the very best vegetable land, with water supply and road access, would be about one-sixth of the annual crop value, but heavier costs of labour, fertilizers etc have to be taken into account. Leases for both types of land are generally for a period of 10 to 15 years, but rentals are often reassessed annually. Formal written leases are seldom entered into and the arrangements between landlord and tenant are often merely oral.
Crown land can also be cultivated on a temporary basis by means of a Crown land permit, and some quite large farms are held by this means. The permit is normally renewed from year to year until the land is required for permanent development. If at the end of 10 years it appears that the land will not be required, the permittee may apply to Government for the grant of a lease.
Natural topography largely decides the use which can be made of land in Hong Kong. From a farmer's viewpoint all the readily cultivable land is already being exploited and what is left, apart from land alienated to industrial and urban use, is marginal. Pressure comes on the land from two directions-the continued and steady demand for land for industry and housing, and the need to meet the growing needs of the rural community. It is important to remember that 81.4 per cent of the total area of the territory is marginal land, in differing degrees of sub-grade character. The arable land and fresh ponds already exploited comprise only 13.1 per cent of the total area and the expanding urban areas (the remaining 5.5 per cent) tend to encroach more directly on arable rather than on marginal land. It is necessary to preserve proper balance between these conflicting needs and, where possible, land is reclaimed from the sea for industry, as at Tsuen Wan. On the other hand market towns such as Castle Peak, Yuen Long, Shek Wu Hui, Tai Po and
PRIMARY PRODUCTION
65
Sha Tin must expand and it is unavoidable that fields will be lost to agriculture, or at least that agriculture in such areas will be confined to market gardens. This trend is, however, being offset by more intensive production and by development of marginal land.
The afforestation policy is to replace the woodlands which were largely stripped during the war not only to safeguard water catch- ments and ensure soil conservation, but also to take advantage of the opportunities it affords to make best use of the land. There are many limiting factors to the extension of arable land, but they can be overcome in some areas and much more attention is now paid to the principles of multiple land use in order to exploit under- developed areas. The establishment of pure forests tends to be restricted to areas incapable of more intensive development.
There has been a continuing study of land use since the Agriculture and Fisheries Department began a survey in 1953. Much work has been done by independent researchers. The general picture of land use today is indicated by the following table:
Class
Approximate Percentage
(i) Built-up (urban areas)
(ii) Steep country
area
(square miles)
of whole
22.5
5.5
111
28.0
Remarks
Includes roads and railways.
Rocky, precipitous hill- sides incapable of plant
establishment.
(iii) Woodlands
23
5.8
Natural and established woodlands.
(iv) Grass and scrub lands
164
41.2
Natural grass and scrub.
(v) Eroded lands
20
5.0
Stripped of cover. Granite
(vi) Swamp and mangrove
lands
5.5
1.4
(vii) Fish Ponds
2
0.5
country. Capable of re- generation.
Capable of reclamation.
Fresh and brackish water fish farming.
(viii) Arable
50.5
12.6
Includes
orchards
and
market gardens.
POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION
The Agriculture and Fisheries Department concerns itself with optimum land utilization and provides technical, extension and advisory services to farmers; it also deals with the fishermen on the
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PRIMARY PRODUCTION
waters of the territory and the administrative organization of co-operative societies of all types. The conservation of water and soil, through afforestation of bare, eroded hill-sides and catchment areas is important. Afforestation is largely undertaken by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department and private afforestation is still relatively unimportant. The New Territories Administration is responsible for land tenure and certain aspects of land development in the New Territories.
In seeking to increase production and improve the economic status of individual farmers the Agriculture and Fisheries Depart- ment encourages diversified production to mitigate the effects of seasonal market 'gluts' and trade recessions.
Loans are available to farmers through the Kadoorie Agricul- tural Aid Loan Fund, started in 1955 by Government and Messrs Lawrence and Horace Kadoorie. The fund is administered by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, whose Director is the chairman and trustee. Loans are also available for farmers through the J. E. Joseph Trust Fund and through the Vegetable Marketing Organization Loan Fund. The Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Associa- tion, a philanthropic organization also founded by the Kadoorie brothers, gives free grants to members of the farming community who cannot find enough capital on their own. The general policy of the association is to help those who are prepared to help them- selves, and, although not a government sponsored organization, it works closely with the Agriculture and Fisheries Department which offers technical assistance and advice to it and similar organi- zations concerned with the rural community.
In the rural education programme this year some 450 farmers attended discussion groups, led by professional and technical ex- perts from the Agriculture and Fisheries Department. A restricted programme of formal training was also carried out in which more than 293 farmers and farmers' sons received vocational training in a wide variety of subjects. Farmers also visited government ex- perimental stations and farming projects.
Paddy cultivation was formerly the most important aspect of agriculture in the New Territories but there is now a steady in- crease in market gardening, and pig and poultry production. Most of this has been at the expense of rice growing land but there is also some development of marginal land. In addition more than
.
PRIMARY PRODUCTION
67
40 per cent of the two-crop paddy land is now used for winter season catch crops. Most of this land formerly remained fallow.
The area of land under permanent vegetable cultivation has steadily increased from 2,254 acres in 1954 to 8,240 acres in 1964. Six to eight crops of vegetables are harvested annually from in- tensively cultivated land. The main crops are white cabbage, flower- ing cabbage, turnip, leaf mustard, Chinese kale, Chinese lettuce, tomato, water spinach, string bean, watercress, cucumber and Chinese gourd. Other vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage, and carrots are produced in great quantity during the cooler months and quality is excellent. This intensive production of vegetables takes place on both fertile and comparatively infertile land and is made possible by heavy dressings of manure. The traditional use of nightsoil is being replaced or supplemented by pig and poultry manure, peanut cake, duck feathers, bone meal and com- post. The use of artificial fertilizers is increasing, usually in addition to organic manures. The wide-spread use of insecticides is an important feature of farming, as is the increasing use of selected crop varieties.
Sweet potatoes are grown both for human consumption (the tubers), and for pigfeed (the vines). Some 2,500 acres of drier lands are double cropped, chiefly for tubers; and a catch crop of sweet potatoes is also grown on over 3,000 acres following the second paddy harvest. With an average yield of three tons an acre for each crop, and an average market price of $300 a ton this represents an annual value of over $8 million. About 1,130 acres of other field crops, such as peanut, millet, soy bean and sugar-cane are cultivated mainly for local consumption. Fruit production, although not yet substantial, is expanding and includes wong pei, lung ngan, lemon, orange, tangerine, Japanese apricot, guava, papaya, lychees and pineapple. Accurate statistics are not available, but approxi- mately 29,000 cwts of assorted fruits, valued at over $1.5 million, were harvested during the year. There is a small but useful export trade in some fruit and field crops to overseas Chinese. The water chestnut crop in particular has greatly improved in quality in recent years and a larger proportion is now being exported as 'first grade'.
Since 1954 the area of land under two-crop paddy has fallen from 20,191 to 14,020 acres; a further 2,510 acres are used for
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one-crop paddy in brackish water. Due to drought there was a fall in paddy production in 1964 and, with a milling average of 68 per cent, the estimated crop was 8,210 metric tons of polished rice; at an average wholesale price of $54 a picul the crop was valued at $7,360,000. In a normal year the average yield of paddy from an acre of two-crop land is about 1.3 metric tons, but with seed of approved varieties, good irrigation and the use of fertilizers, production may reach 1.8 metric tons on average land, and over two metric tons on better soils. The first crop is sown into the nurseries in early March, transplanted in April and harvested in June and July. Second crop seedlings are nursed in June for planting out by the end of July and the crop is harvested during October and early November.
Farmers are making more use of varieties recommended by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department as resistant to blast, the disease of paddy caused by the fungus Piricularia Oryzae. The department also selects seeds within varieties and a limited amount of such improved seed is distributed to selected growers each year to be multiplied by them for further distribution. Traditionally the manurial treatment of rice consists of adding only very small dressings of dry animal manure; but the use of balanced artificial fertilizers is becoming increasingly important.
VEGETABLE MARKETING ORGANIZATION
Almost all the vegetables grown in Hong Kong are sold through a marketing scheme which was set up in 1946 on the lines of the successful fish marketing scheme. The present Vegetable Marketing Organization operates under the Agricultural Products (Marketing) Ordinance, 1952 which provides for the appointment of a Director of Marketing (the Director, Agriculture and Fisheries Department) who is made a corporation sole with power to acquire and dispose of property and use the assets of the organization for the develop- ment and encouragement of vegetable farming. It provides also for a Marketing Advisory Board composed of unofficials to assist the organization. The controls imposed by the ordinance, however, apply only to the New Territories and Kowloon area, for there is little vegetable cultivation on Hong Kong Island.
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The organization has established depots in the main vegetable cultivation areas of the New Territories. From these depots the majority of which are now operated by vegetable marketing co- operative societies, vegetables are collected daily by the organiza- tion's transport fleet taken to a central wholesale market in Kowloon where two sales are held every day. The sales are conducted by the organization. Reprovisioning of the Kowloon wholesale vegetable market on a larger, reclaimed site in Cheung Sha Wan has now started. Like the adjoining wholesale fish market, this will be financed jointly by the Colonial Development and Welfare Fund and the marketing organization.
The organization is a non-profit-making concern and finds its revenue from a 10 per cent commission on the sales in the Kowloon Wholesale Vegetable Market. Vegetables are sold in the market by the organization but with considerable practical assistance given by the vegetable marketing co-operative societies which now handle 76 per cent of local production. Thirty per cent of this commission is therefore refunded to the marketing co-operative societies in recognition of the marketing responsibilities they assume in respect of their own produce. Sales are by negotiation rather than auction since on a normal day some 20,000 separate lots may be sold to nearly 3,000 buyers. The number of lots rises to nearly 30,000 a day in the main season, making sales by auction im- practicable.
With production during the year affected by typhoons there was an increase of 18 per cent in the average annual wholesale price, while the quantity marketed decreased by 20 per cent. A quantity of imported vegetables also passed through the market.
Cheap credit is an important service of the organization. Farmers may obtain loans, through the Director of Marketing, from the Vegetable Marketing Organization Loan Fund. Since the estab- lishment of this fund farmers have received 12,532 loans totalling $4,277,752. It is Government's declared policy that the organiza- tion should one day be run by the farmers themselves as a co- operative enterprise. As a move toward this end the salesmen of individual vegetable marketing co-operative societies have been authorized under the Agricultural Products (Marketing) Ordinance as market salesmen.
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ANIMAL INDUSTRIES
Since there is insufficient land for extensive grazing, pigs and poultry are the principal feed animals reared in the Colony and cattle are mainly used for draught purposes.
The pigs of Hong Kong are mostly crosses of local animals with exotic stock, and pure strains of the Chinese type are becoming less common. The Agriculture and Fisheries Department maintains the main herds of pure exotic strains-Berkshire, Mid-White, Large-White and Large-Black--and also herds of two Chinese strains for distribution to improve the Colony's pig stock, as well as for experimental purposes. Pig-keeping in the villages often follows traditional practice, but an overall improvement in manage- ment is taking place as a result of extension and advisory services. During the year the pig artificial insemination service was further expanded and over 3,422 sows were inseminated with a total concep- tion rate of 89.11 per cent and a first service conception rate of 74.56 per cent. In 1953 only 64,000 pigs of local origin were slaughtered in local abattoirs, compared with some 440,000 in 1964. The 1964 figure represented more than 20 per cent of the total number of pigs slaughtered. The value of pig production during the year amounted to some $48 million.
Many of the larger poultry farmers are now producing their own hatching eggs and this is important in helping to stabilize the industry which produced $32 million worth of poultry this year. In wetter areas ducks and geese are raised for home con- sumption and for export. The rearing of ducks and geese for the local market has become increasingly important in recent years and was worth about $8 million this year. Pigeon-keeping is now a thriving industry and prices in 1964 averaged $7 for a pair of squabs. The total value of squabs marketed during the year was estimated at $1,575,000. The most popular types of table birds are the White or Blue King crossed with the Homer.
Local brown cattle and buffaloes are kept for work purposes and surplus stock is sold for slaughter. The Chinese brown cattle are particularly well suited to the local environment and manage- ment. The dairy cattle in Hong Kong are mainly Friesians and are kept in isolation on one large farm on Hong Kong Island and in smaller farm groups on the outskirts of Kowloon and in the New
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Territories. All dairy animals are regularly tested and must pass the single intradermal (comparative) test for tuberculosis. During 1964 the milk production was about 11.5 million pounds of milk, valued at $0.65 a pound.
The Colony continued to be free from rabies and rinderpest. The incidence of foot and mouth disease was not serious, though there were some 265 outbreaks of a mild type in both cattle and pigs. About 3,500 cattle and pigs were inoculated against foot and mouth disease types 'O' and 'A', 31,000 pigs against swine fever and some 6,000 cattle against rinderpest, with locally produced vaccine. In all 12,464,000 doses of Ranikhet vaccine and 2,410,800 doses of intranasal-drop vaccine were used for the prevention of Newcastle disease in poultry.
FORESTRY
The Agriculture and Fisheries Department is responsible for forestry generally, and for the direct afforestation of water catch- ment areas, protection of vegetation on Crown lands, assistance to village forestry and amenity planting in catchment areas. Hill-sides are predominantly grass covered, with a thicker cover of shrubs in some places and patches of scrub forest in remoter and less acces- sible areas. Thickly-wooded areas also occur where the vegetation has been protected against cutting and fire, as on Hong Kong Island and around villages. Villagers cut grass for fuel and this practice, combined with the prevalent hill fires of the dry season, has brought about the more or less complete destruction of vegeta- tion, followed by soil erosion, in many parts of the Colony. Villagers often have forestry lots on the lower hill slopes, but the trees, mostly pine, are generally so scattered and lopped that they rarely alter the barren aspect of the land.
Government afforestation areas are mostly co-extensive with the water catchment areas, the main ones being the mountainous area from Tai Po in the east to Castle Peak in the west, the catchments of the Kowloon reservoirs, the Shek Pik reservoir catchments and almost the whole of the Shap Long peninsula on Lantau Island, a total of 29,000 acres. So far almost 12,140 acres have been planted. The main species is pine (Pinus massoniana), followed by Brisbane box (Tristania conferta). Experimental plots have been laid out with other species, some of which are now being planted more
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widely. Eucalyptus and American Pinus species (P taeda and P elliottii), are among the most promising. The department main- tains nurseries in the New Territories, most seedlings now being raised in polythene tubes, instead of in open nursery beds.
Planting usually starts in spring and continues until June or July. Trees planted after July usually have too short a period to become well established before the onset of the dry season. Unseasonal rains this January made possible an exceptionally early start and 103 acres were planted in the first quarter of the year. Favourable weather continued in June and a total of 230 acres were planted for the year. Another 296,000 trees were replanted, mostly in plantations destroyed by fire in the previous year. There is a con- stant threat of fire during the dry season and careful precautions have to be taken with lookouts placed strategically on hills and connected by field telephone to control points where men, equip- ment and transport stand by.
FISHING
Marine fish is one of Hong Kong's main primary products and the fishing fleet is the largest of any port in the Commonwealth. The number of fishermen at the 1961 census was over 40,000 and there is a fleet of nearly 10,000 vessels. Government's aim is to foster orderly expansion and development of the fishing industry, to increase supplies of fish and to improve the economic status of those engaged in the industry.
In July 1964, the two departments responsible for the welfare of the Colony's primary industries-namely the Co-operative Develop- ment and Fisheries Department and the Agriculture and Forestry Department-were amalgamated to form the Agriculture and Fisheries Department. Within the new department a Fisheries Service was formed consisting of five main divisions: Extension, Research, Co-operation (including Marketing and Credit) and Education.
Extension work includes investigations into and demonstrations of fishing methods, craft and fishing gear; the introduction of new fishing techniques; the promotion and sound development of a mechanization programme; the training of fishermen for certificates of competency as masters and engineers; the instruction of local
L
Hong Kong's fisherfolk are a sturdy, independent community. While always ready to take advantage of any development that will help improve their standard of living, they still tend to keep themselves aloof from land dwellers and encourage their children to seek their livelihood from the sea after being educated ashore.
3
In every harbour and cove around the Colony's shores the fishermen are to be found. More than 80,000 regularly go to sea. Their fishing methods vary, but as with fishermen everywhere there is always plenty of work for all hands. Those shown here are repairing nets on an island in Tolo Harbour before putting to sea.
4+
}
Nothing has done more to help the fishing community than the Fish Marketing Organization, which was set up to guarantee fair prices for their catches. The organization, a non-profit-making concern, runs five wholesale markets and has its own land and sea transport. This picture shows fish being sorted at Aberdeen.
When a fisherman marries he normally takes a bride from another fisher family, a girl who will be able to help him in his work at sea while they raise a family. This wedding took place at Aberdeen and the bridal pair are seen handing scented towels to their guests, all of whom were of course life-long fisherfolk themselves.
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fishermen in navigation and certain duties in connection with the culture of pearls. A modified junk-type mechanized fishing vessel, the Yuen Ling, is used for general inshore demonstration work and to experiment with new equipment. Over-fishing and the conservation of fish resources are current problems and legisla- tion provides for comprehensive protection measures, particularly against the use of explosives and toxic substances.
Modification of traditional junk design to meet modern require- ments is encouraged. A number of shrimp trawlers have been modified and several large Kwong Sun type deep-sea trawlers are now operating whose design includes radical departures from the usual junk layout. Some of the latest deep-sea pair trawlers are designed for easy conversion to single boat stern-otter trawling. The skipper/owners of two new wooden shrimp otter trawling boats, constructed in Hong Kong junk building yards for service in Sabah, were assisted with technical advice. Successful fishing trials were subsequently carried out in Hong Kong waters and these two boats have stimulated much interest among the local fishermen. A prototype mechanical line hauler was designed by the Fisheries Service and constructed at very reasonable cost; this worked well and it is hoped that the long-line fishermen, who now haul their lines by hand, will adopt this labour-saving device. The fish-holds of a pair of wooden distant-water junk trawlers were installed with thermal insulation and better storage facilities with a view to improving the quality of the fish landed, prolonging fishing voyages and reducing the amount of ice used. The modest financial investment entailed is being recovered quickly and applications for loans have been received from other fishermen who wish to improve the fish-holds of their boats in the same manner.
The department administers the Fisheries Development Loan Fund, which is allotted specifically for the development of the Colony's middle and distant water fleet, for which it has a capital of $5 million. There is close co-operation with the Fish Marketing Organization which administers two other funds and investigates applications for loans from all three. Together they provide capital of over $8 million for the development of the industry.
The fisheries research station undertakes biological and ocean- ographical investigation of the Continental Shelf from Formosa to the Gulf of Tonkin, using the research trawler Cape St Mary of 240
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tons, a gift from Her Majesty's Government. This year her cruises in the South China Sea have included surveys of previously untried fishing grounds. In the course of a cruise to Sabah fishing grounds on the Continental Shelf and in the deeper waters between Sabah and Vietnam were explored and several new species of fish and crustacea previously unknown to science were found. Research into the culture and production of spherical and blister pearls yielded encouraging results this year and in the field of fisheries economics an expert from the Fisheries Laboratory, Lowestoft, England, visited the Colony to assist in the organization and proces- sing of data obtained from the fishing industry.
The fishing fleet consists of nearly 9,400 fishing junks of various sizes and designs and six Japanese-type trawlers all of which are British registered. The fishing population consists chiefly of Tanka people, and the main fishing centres are Aberdeen and Shau Kei Wan on Hong Kong Island, and Castle Peak, Tai Po and the Tolo Channel area, Sha Tau Kok, Sai Kung, Tai O and Cheung Chau in the New Territories. Junks are built locally from imported timber, China fir being the most popular material though shortages have led to the increased use of teak and yacal. Most of the fleet is owner-operated, while the rest are directed by fish dealers and fishing companies. More and more vessels are being mechanized each year and the mechanized fleet now totals 6,168.
Purse seiners, gill-netters, shrimp trawlers and other inshore vessels operate mainly to the south of the Colony inside the 20 fathom line. A number of the more adventurous owners of medium size mechanized boats have commenced fishing around Taya Island about 220 miles south-west of Hong Kong. The larger junk-type trawlers and long liners have gradually extended their operations and now work mainly in 30-70 fathoms along the coast of Kwangtung, although a few of the larger mechanized boats are now fishing in the Gulf of Tonkin (some 500 miles away) where previously only company-operated trawlers fished. Some of the deep-sea vessels still depend on sail and their activities are severely curtailed during the typhoon season from June to October. The restrictions imposed by the Chinese People's Government in 1958, requiring fishermen based on Hong Kong who sail in Chinese inshore waters to land a quota of their catch in China are still in force.
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175
Landings by the local fishing fleet in 1964 were generally good although the activities of the fleet were badly affected by successive typhoons and threats of strong winds late in the year.
OYSTERS, PEARLS AND POND FISH
Edible oysters have been cultivated in the waters of the Colony for some 700 years. The principal area of cultivation is Deep Bay where 189 tons of fresh oyster meat, valued at approximately $789,000 were produced from 6,060 acres along the New Terri- tories' shores of the Bay. Some of this was processed into dried meat or oyster juice and exported to markets overseas. After several years of poor yields, the production this year was particularly low-the oyster beds having suffered typhoon damage and being adversely affected by the prolonged drought.
Four commercial pearling companies operate on sites surveyed and licensed by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department. Three of the sites are in the Tolo Channel and Double Haven areas and one in Port Shelter. It is still too early to judge the success of their activity. To assist research into the requirements of this infant industry a small pearl culture research station has been constructed at Kat O in Mirs Bay.
Fish ponds are still increasing and now cover 1,360 acres mostly along the Deep Bay coastline, near Yuen Long. The most important species reared is grey mullet which requires water with a salinity above 0.1 per cent. Fry are found in local coastal waters, in February and March, and the supply in 1964 was sufficient to meet local requirements, more than five million being collected. Fry of four other important species, silver carp, grass carp, big head and mud carp, were obtained from China between May and August, about five million being imported. Common carp and edible goldfish are bred locally and, respectively some 180,000 and 100,000 fry were raised to meet trade requirements. Edible goldfish require fresh water (less than 0.4 per cent salinity), and common carp tolerate up to one per cent salinity. Total pond fish production, for the year, was estimated at 320 tons, valued at some $1.3 million, which represented about 1.5 per cent of the local consumption of pond fish. Fry of various species re-exported during the year totalled 5.3 million.
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FISH MARKETING ORGANIZATION
The present Fish Marketing Organization grew out of the steps taken to rehabilitate the fishing fleet at the end of the Pacific War. Interest-free loans and grants were made and a fish marketing scheme was introduced with the long-term object of developing the industry on a sound economic footing. From this beginning developed the present non-government trading organization con- trolled by a civil servant, now the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries.
The organization is a non-profit-making concern which finds its revenue and pays its expenses from a six per cent commission on all the sales in its wholesale markets. It operates under the Marine Fish (Marketing) Ordinance, 1956 which provides among other things for a Fish Marketing Advisory Board composed of un- officials to assist the organization.
The organization runs five wholesale fish markets at Aberdeen and Shau Kei Wan on Hong Kong Island, Yau Ma Tei in Kowloon and Tai Po and Sha Tau Kok in the New Territories. Six fish- collecting depots have been set up in other fishing centres and the organization provides sea and land transport from these to the wholesale markets. The depots also serve as liaison offices for the organization.
At the wholesale markets, fish is sorted, weighed, and sold by public auction to licensed retailers. Fishermen may collect the proceeds from their sales directly the sale has taken place or, if asked to do so, the organization will send the money back to the depot which serves their areas. A further service is the transporta- tion of fish to buyers' establishments in the urban areas.
There were no significant changes this year in quantities or prices of fresh and salt or dried marine fish. The embargo on the importa- tion of salt and dried fish from the Colony imposed by the Chinese People's Government in 1950 remains in force and exporters seeking other outlets have met with little success in the face of increasing competition from other countries in the region. During the year 13,843 piculs of salt and dried fish were exported.
The provision of cheap credit is one of the most important services offered by the Fish Marketing Organization to local fishermen. The organization's revolving loan fund, established in
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1946, has made 6,606 loans totalling $17,920,600. Of this, some $15,383,769 had been repaid at the end of the year. The fund's ceiling was stabilized at $3 million in 1963. In 1957 the Co-operative for American Relief Everywhere donated $31,000 to form a revolving loan fund for shrimp fishermen, which was increased to $92,400 by a further donation in 1962. This fund is administered by the organization and loans totalling $265,890 have been made; repay- ments total $224,099.
A further important side to the organization's development programme is the provision of primary schooling facilities for the children of fishermen. Eleven schools have been established by the organization and approximately 2,500 fishermen's children were receiving education at these schools with a further 900 attending other schools (including secondary) on scholarships provided by the organization. All Fish Marketing Organization schools have advisory committees composed of leaders of the fishing com- munities served by the schools. In recognition of the importance of vocational training, a secondary modern school is about to be built at Aberdeen. It is intended that at this school fishermen's children will be able to continue their general education beyond the primary level and at the same time receive instruction in voca- tional subjects geared to the requirements of a modern fishing industry. Adult education classes are also conducted in a number of fishing villages.
The organization may one day be run by the fishermen themselves as a co-operative enterprise, but lack of education is a problem that only time can solve. As it is the success of the organization has attracted world-wide interest and many overseas visitors and students come to study its operations.
CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES
Since the establishment in 1950 of a Registrar of Co-operative Societies, the co-operative movement has made rapid progress. It is being accepted by a growing number of people, particularly peasant farmers, and fishermen, as a sound and democratic way of improving their lot. An important development has been the growth in the number of co-operative building societies, which are at present formed, with one exception, of local pensionable officers
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of the Civil Service and established with funds loaned by Govern- ment. Another development of interest is the increasing appreciation by rural communities of the improvements they may make in their way of life by co-operation and the formation of 'Better Living Societies'. Several of these societies have successfully completed water supply and housing schemes, as well as community centres for their members.
A further source of credit to farmers who are members of co- operative societies is the J. E. Joseph Trust Fund. The fund is administered by the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries as Registrar of Co-operative Societies, and since its establishment in 1954 some 40,000 loans totalling $15 million have been issued. A large number of societies operate their own revolving loan fund schemes which are steadily growing in size and effectiveness. The best examples can be found in fishermen's co-operative societies, 62 of which operate revolving loan funds with a total capital of some $1 million and a turnover of $200,000 a year. Yet a further source of credit is the World Refugee Year Loan Fund for Co- operative Societies with a capital of over $450,000. The fund is designed to provide loans for a wide variety of purposes of social or economic benefit to societies and their members. Up to the end of 1964 loans totalling $60,700,000 had been issued from this
source.
During the year four new co-operative societies were registered bringing the total on the register to 388. At present there are 15 different types of societies. A table showing the number of societies in being at 31st December 1964 with details of their membership, share capital, deposits and reserve funds will be found in Appen- dix XXII.
MINING
There is some mining in Hong Kong but with the exception of iron ore at Ma On Shan these are relatively small scale operations. Wolframite and graphite are mined underground and kaolin, feldspar and quartz by opencast methods and total annual produc- tion is about $800,000. All the feldspar and quartz and some of the kaolin is used in local industry.
There was little interest in wolframite during the year as the market price remained low and only one mine was in production.
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Prospectors for iron ore and graphite made no discoveries of any economic importance. Iron ore from the mine at Ma On Shan is taken by tunnel to an ore dressing plant on the waterfront with a capacity of 850 tons a day. Concentrates are taken by barge to ocean-going ships. This mine produces some $5 million worth of ore a year.
The ownership and control of all minerals is vested in the Crown under the Mining Ordinance, 1954. The Commissioner of Mines is empowered to issue prospecting and mining licences, and the Land Officer to issue mining leases. Prospecting licences are valid for periods of six months, renewable up to a maximum of five years. At the end of 1964, there were three mining leases, 15 mining licences, and two prospecting licences valid for different areas throughout the territory. They were mainly controlled by individuals or small mining companies.
The Superintendent of Mines grants mine blasting certificates and examines export licences for minerals mined locally. He also assesses royalties on mineral sales, at a rate of five per cent of value.
7
Education
A DAILY phenomenon in Hong Kong is the surge of activity as more than three quarters of a million students stream in or out of their schools. With ground space at a premium, schoolbuildings must be used to capacity and may be occupied continuously in two sessions from eight a.m. until six p.m. In the evening too, the same schools may serve more children in an early evening session, or be used for evening classes or as adult recreation and training centres. By the end of September enrolment in primary schools alone was 596,971, which is 24,548 more than in 1963, while enrol- ment in all types of secondary schools had increased by 17,042 to 177,680. Altogether there are 854,279 pupils enrolled at all schools, colleges and education centres, 43,647 more than in 1963. Detailed figures are given in Appendix XXIII.
The pattern of educational development has been under intensive study beginning with the visit of an Education Commission to Hong Kong in 1963. The report by Mr R. M. Marsh, MA, County Education Officer of Hampshire County Council and Mr J. R. Sampson, FSAA, FIMTA, County Treasurer of the same council was tabled at the Legislative Council in January 1964 and put on general sale in English and Chinese. A Working Party, with strong unofficial representation, was appointed to examine the recom- mendations and to make specific proposals for their implementa- tion or adjustment, where necessary, having regard to both the education and financial implications.
PRIMARY EDUCATION
Most primary schools are Chinese with Cantonese as the medium of instruction. In September 1963, a new five-year course of primary education, beginning at the age of seven years, was introduced in government and aided primary schools. This will gradually replace the existing six-year course. English is studied as a second language, beginning in the second year. It is intended that at least one and,
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as soon as practicable, two years of secondary education should be made available after the five-year primary course in order that pupils may continue their schooling up to the age of 14, which is the statutory minimum age for industrial employment. This new system is optional for private schools.
During the transitional period, on completion of the six-year primary course, those pupils who are unable to gain admission to a full secondary course by the Secondary School Entrance Examina- tion, are offered a seventh year of education in Special Form I classes in government and aided schools, provided they are under 14 years of age.
Five government primary schools cater for children whose nor- mal language is English.
The total primary day school enrolment in September was 548,195, which is 95 per cent of the estimated number of children in the age group of 6-11 years inclusive, and 115.7 per cent of the age group 7-11 years inclusive. In addition, 48,776 pupils were attending pri- mary night schools and special afternoon classes.
It would appear, therefore, that a place in a government, aided or private primary school has been provided for every child of primary age. However, many of the enrolled primary school children are either over-age, or remain in school for a longer period than that prescribed for the primary school course. It is still possible for a child of primary school age to experience considerable difficulty in finding a school place and further expansion is necessary.
During the year 53 primary school buildings and extensions were built, providing 33,930 additional places.
There are no government kindergarten schools, but there is an increasing demand for this type of education for children aged from four to seven. Kindergarten schools are registered with the Education Department and the enrolment increased from 37,711 to 39,642 in September 1964.
Eighteen special schools cater for the blind, the deaf and the physically handicapped. The special education section of the inspec- torate provides training courses for teachers in these fields, and works in co-operation with voluntary bodies and other government departments in developing services and facilities for handicapped children. A pre-school testing centre for young deaf children is planned.
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SECONDARY EDUCATION
There are at present four types of secondary schools of which the Anglo-Chinese grammar schools, using English as the language of instruction, have the largest enrolment. Chinese middle schools use Chinese as the medium of instruction and existing secondary modern schools are in process of being absorbed into the secondary technical school system.
The 148 Anglo-Chinese grammar schools have 94,625 pupils. They offer a five-year course in the normal academic subjects leading to the Hong Kong English School Certificate Examination. Instruc- tion is in English and Chinese is taught as a second language. This type of secondary education is in demand because a good knowledge of spoken and written English is desirable, if not essential, for entry to the professions, government service and commerce.
Successful school certificate candidates may go on to the matricula- tion examinations of the University of Hong Kong, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong or the general certificate of education (University of London) at ordinary and advanced levels, after another two sixth form years. In addition there are 26,134 pupils attending tutorial or evening classes where instruction in secondary level subjects, mainly English language, is offered.
The 105 Chinese middle schools accommodate 44,349 pupils and offer a six-year course in the normal academic subjects leading to the Hong Kong Chinese School Certificate Examination. Instruc- tion is in Chinese and English is taught as a second language. The course has been re-organized and most of the schools have embarked on a new course which will enable their students to take the school certificate examination in five years. For those who pass in the Chinese School Certificate Examination higher education is available at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the teacher training colleges, and the Technical College.
Secondary technical schools give a five-year course in English with Chinese taught as a second language. Like the Anglo-Chinese grammar schools, they prepare their pupils for the English School Certificate Examination and successful candidates usually continue their studies at the Technical College. There are six government and four subsidized secondary technical schools with an enrolment of 4,720 pupils. Eighteen private technical schools, with an enrolment
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of 2,874 pupils, mainly give trade training. The conversion of all government secondary modern schools to secondary technical schools will be completed by the end of July 1965. The number of pupils remaining in government secondary modern classes is 1,580 and there are 833 pupils in a subsidized secondary modern school.
There has been a steady expansion at the secondary level and enrolment figures for full-time secondary day schools have increased from 112,705 in September 1962, to 134,678 in September 1963, and to 150,026 in September 1964. During the school year 12 secondary school buildings and extensions were built, providing 9,745 additional places.
HIGHER EDUCATION
The University of Hong Kong was established in 1911 with endowments which have been added to since and a grant of land from Government which also makes substantial recurrent and non-recurrent grants. In 1963-4 government capital grants totalled $6,976,552 and recurrent grants $12,574,000 towards a total recurrent expenditure of $16,926,810.
There are faculties of arts, science, medicine and engineering and architecture, enrolment being 866, 318, 430 and 318 respectively. The Institute of Oriental Studies has 57 language students, the education diploma and certificate courses 75 and the social study courses 26. Of this total of 2,090 students, 166 are part-time, 18 external and 693 are women. Most of the undergraduates are Hong Kong Chinese, but many other nationalities are represented, partic- ularly from south-east Asia.
In May 3,670 candidates entered for Ordinary and Advanced Level subjects in the University's Matriculation Examination, of whom 939 fulfilled minimum requirements for entry. A total of 535 undergraduate places was available for new students in the current academic year.
The University's development programme will bring the total undergraduate body up to about 1,850 by 1965-6. Meanwhile with government support the University has embarked on a pilot scheme providing a full law degree curriculum. This scheme, at present conducted under the aegis of the Department of Extra-Mural
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Studies, may lead to the formation of a full professional faculty if it proves successful.
The total number of full-time teaching posts (including demon- stratorships and tutorships) during the year 1964-5 was 258. In addition, the Language School of the Institute of Oriental Studies had 19 full-time instructors.
All the University's degrees in professional subjects (medicine, architecture, and civil, electrical and mechanical engineering) are on the same professional footing as those of universities in Britain.
In November Sir Lindsay Ride, CBE, ED, LLD, who had been Vice-Chancellor since 1949, retired. Mr W. C. G. Knowles, formerly Treasurer of the University, was appointed as Sir Lindsay's tem- porary successor pending a permanent appointment.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong was inaugurated in 1963 as a federal university in which the principal language of instruction is Chinese. It has its origin in three colleges, New Asia, Chung Chi, and United College, which in 1957 formed a joint council with the object of securing government recognition. In 1959 Government agreed to provide financial support to the three colleges and sought the advice of Mr J. S. Fulton (now Sir John), Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex, on their development. In 1962, a com- mission was formed, under his chairmanship, to consider and determine whether and how a new Chinese university should be created. In February 1963 the Fulton Commission recommended the establishment of a new university and the award of degrees on examinations to be held in the summer of 1964. Events thereafter moved swiftly. A provisional council was first set up and in October 1963 Dr C. T. Yung, President of Chung Chi College, was appointed the first Pro-Vice-Chancellor. In February 1964 Dr Li Choh-ming, Professor of Business Administration at the University of California at Berkeley and a member of the Fulton Commission, assumed duty as Vice-Chancellor.
Physical planning of the new university began as soon as Govern- ment accepted the Fulton Commission's recommendations. An extensive site has been reserved at Ma Liu Shui in the New Terri- tories adjoining the present site of Chung Chi College. In due course the administration of the university, now accommodated in a city office, and the other two colleges will move out to this site.
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The new university has as yet no endowments or funds of any kind. The colleges are in receipt of certain small endowments and grants from outside sources, but apart from tuition fees, which are at a comparatively low level, government grants provide the main source of income.
The university has at present three faculties: arts, science, and commerce and social science. The total number of students in all three colleges in 1963-4 was 1,368. In October 1964 the total had risen to 1,696, and the undergraduate and graduate enrolment in each faculty was 828, 562 and 306 respectively. In the matricula- tion examination held in the summer of 1964 a total of 2,645 can- didates sat and 1,007 passed. The total number of first-year students in the current academic year is 507.
In September the Governor presided at a congregation for the installation of the Vice-Chancellor and conferred the honorary degrees of LLD on Sir Robert Black (in absentia), former Governor of Hong Kong, Sir John Fulton, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex, Dr Clark Kerr, President of the University of California, the Hon C. Y. Kwan, and the Hon R. C. Lee, members of the Executive Council.
The Technical College has a total enrolment of 11,066 students, comprising 1,121 full-time, 281 part-time day and 9,664 evening students. The college has seven departments: building, surveying, and structural engineering; commerce; electrical and telecommunica- tions engineering; mechanical and production engineering; textile industries; navigation; and mathematics and science. These provide full-time course leading to the college's own higher and ordinary diplomas and to the associate membership examinations of many British professional institutions, a number of which have granted exemption from certain parts of their examinations to students in the higher diploma courses. The academic standard required for entry to full-time classes is a Hong Kong School Certificate with passes in specified subjects. Applicants outnumber the places available by about seven to one. Instruction is in English for the majority of the courses.
Part-time day and evening courses leading to college certificates, and to the City and Guilds of London Institute and other qualifica- tions, provide instruction in a wide range of technical subjects including design and work study. A two-year part-time in-service
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course for training teachers of technical subjects is also offered. The mechanical and production engineering department operates a productivity centre which provides short courses in such subjects as materials handling, plant layout, work study, quality control and production planning and control with Cantonese as the language of instruction. Since its inception in 1961, 18 productivity courses have been offered to over 267 managerial and supervisory staff from local factories, representing some 15 different industries.
The 'Abraham Lincoln Workshop', built with a donation of US$250,000 from the United States Government, was opened in November. The new building provides additional workshops for instruction in bricklaying, plastering, plumbing, carpentry and joinery, fitting and turning, welding, sheetmetal working, automobile servicing and electrical installation. There is also a design and drawing office and an electrical machine repair shop. These new shops are available for craft courses in a variety of trades, and have made possible the introduction of a pilot scheme for pre- apprenticeship training for building, electrical and mechanical trades.
A two-storey library and reading room for staff and students, built with the assistance of a donation from the Imperial Chemical Industries (China) Limited was completed in September.
Firms in Britain continue to offer practical training to students in their first year and offers were accepted by 26 students this year. Students are also being trained in Australia and the Federal Republic of Germany.
FURTHER EDUCATION OVERSEAS
The Students' Branch of the Ministry of Overseas Development and the Hong Kong Students' Office in London are responsible for placing students in universities and other institutions of higher education in Britain. The Hong Kong Students' Office also arranges for students to be met and accommodated on arrival and advises students on educational and personal problems. The British Council gives advice and help to students both before leaving Hong Kong and in Britain. There are 2,261 Hong Kong students in Britain and a table in Appendix XXV shows the main categories of their courses. The numbers of Hong Kong students known to have left for the
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United States, Canada and Australia for further studies are 816, 267 and 196 respectively.
Government maintains Hong Kong House in London as a residential and social centre for Hong Kong students in Britain under the control of a board of governors appointed by and respon- sible to the Government. It accommodates some 80 students and serves as a focal point and meeting place for many more.
ADULT EDUCATION
Adult education is provided by the Education Department in the Evening Institute (enrolment 16,705), the Technical College Evening Department (9,664), the Evening School of Higher Chinese Studies (355) and in 12 Adult Education and Recreation Centres (39,686). The Evening Institute offers different types of courses designed to make up education deficiencies and improve employ- ment prospects. There are English classes ranging from elementary level to post-school certificate standards; teachers' classes for art, music, handwork, woodwork, domestic science and the teaching of English; rural literacy classes with emphasis on learning the '3-Rs'; post-primary extension classes providing an additional three years training with a practical bias for those who do not expect to receive further education at the secondary school level; and secondary school classes leading to the two school certificate examinations. General background education classes provide ele- mentary education with special reference to adult needs and interests; practical background education classes give opportunity for adults to learn woodwork, housecraft, sewing and knitting. The total number of classes is 624 held in 67 locations in the urban and rural areas.
The Evening School of Higher Chinese Studies offers to holders of Chinese or English School Certificates a three-year course in general arts, leading to a diploma issued by the Education Depart- ment. Subjects include Chinese literature, philosophy, sociology, English language and literature. Most of the students are teachers in the day time.
Education and recreation are combined at the 12 Adult Education and Recreation Centres which provide a wide variety of recreational, cultural and creative activities for developing a civic sense and personal fulfilment in communal activities. These range from music
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appreciation and physical education to group study of photography, Chinese boxing and dramatics. Civics talks are well attended and always arouse enthusiastic discussion.
The Department of Extra-Mural Studies of the University of Hong Kong provides about 200 courses for students. Some of the courses are conducted in Cantonese and Mandarin, though the majority are in English. Subjects vary from Oriental Studies and a full range of liberal arts and language topics to economics, law and commercial subjects and include a rapidly growing section of vocational and professional courses leading to a number of qualifica- tions including the LLB of London University.
TEACHERS AND TEACHER TRAINING
In March there were 24,329 full-time and part-time teachers employed in registered day schools, of whom 6,685 were university graduates and 10,425 trained non-graduates. Another 4,588 teachers were engaged in tutorial, evening and special afternoon classes, and 100 were in special schools. At the end of the 1963-4 school year the ratio of pupils to teachers in all types of schools was 28:1. School classes are planned to have a maximum of 45 pupils in primary classes and 40 in secondary classes. Registered teachers must have a university degree, a certificate in a special subject, or a teaching certificate.
Most teacher training is carried out by the Education Depart- ment's three colleges, Northcote Training College, Grantham Training College and Sir Robert Black Training College. All three provide in the first place a full-time one year course for students from secondary schools who may obtain a primary teacher's cer- tificate after two years of satisfactory teaching. Instruction in these courses is in Chinese. Grantham College has now started, for a limited number of trainees, a two-year Chinese course and at Northcote College there is a two-year course in which instruction in subjects other than Chinese language is given in English. A special one-year course for diploma holders from the colleges which now form the Chinese University is designed mainly for training teachers for Chinese middle schools. These courses qualify teachers for upper primary and lower secondary classes. The two- year course is recognized in Britain for employment under the Burnham Salary Scale.
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The colleges also organize in-service courses of training for unqualified teachers. These are part-time evening courses, either in Chinese or in English, of two years' duration. Successful students are awarded a certificate granting qualified teacher status.
Teacher training courses are free of charge and in the full-time courses maintenance grants may be made in cases of need. In September there were 224 students in the two-year course, 45 in the special one-year course, 639 in the one-year course, and 1,394 in the in-service training courses.
The Department of Education of the University of Hong Kong offers a one-year full-time and a two-year part-time course to graduates, leading to a Diploma or Certificate in Education in which 76 students are currently enrolled.
EXAMINATIONS
There are five local school examinations, three conducted by the Education Department, one by the University of Hong Kong and one by the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
The Secondary School Entrance Examination is a competitive examination to select pupils for places in government and aided secondary schools and for subsidized places in private secondary schools. It is conducted by the Education Department and an examination committee is appointed to advise the Director on general policy. All primary schools are invited to participate. Entrance from each school is limited to 60 per cent of its primary six pupils, but this percentage may be increased up to 100 per cent where justified by previous examination results. Scholarships for a full secondary school course are awarded on the results of the examination.
The Hong Kong English School Certificate Examination is con- ducted by a syndicate of representatives of participating schools and the Education Department. New regulations and syllabuses have been approved and the aim is that the standard of pass with credit (Grade 3) in individual subjects should be equivalent to ordinary level standards in the general certificate of education examinations. In due course it is hoped that recognition of this equivalence may be granted by overseas examining bodies.
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The Hong Kong Chinese School Certificate Examination is con- ducted by a similar syndicate and is primarily intended as a test of general scholastic attainment in the Chinese middle school course. The requirements for the award of a school certificate are similar to those for the English School Certificate with the exception that Chinese is the compulsory subject instead of English. The status of the Chinese School Certificate is similar to that of the English Certificate. The number of candidates increased from 2,761 in 1963 to 3,004 in 1964 and the number of participating schools from 55 to 57.
The University of Hong Kong conducts its own matriculation examination at ordinary and advanced levels, the standards of which are similar to those of the general certificate of education examinations. The University has stated that it will cease to examine at ordinary level after the 1965 examination. Proposals for the future of advanced level examinations are under consideration.
Entry to the matriculation examination of the Chinese University of Hong Kong is normally restricted to candidates who have gained passes in the required number of subjects in an approved qualifying examination such as the English or Chinese School Certificate Examinations, or the Cambridge School Certificate Examination. Pupils who are about to complete an approved course in a Chinese middle school and are specially recommended by their principals may enter for the examination. Passes in at least five subjects, including Chinese and English languages, are normally required for entry to the university, and there are additional requirements for admission to various undergraduate courses.
The Education Department provides a local secretary for various examining bodies in Britain and so makes available to students in Hong Kong many overseas examinations at standards com- parable with those in Britain. Of these examinations, the GCE examination is open to both school and private candidates who hold a school certificate of the required standard, and to private candidates of 25 years of age or over who are required to pass this examination as a pre-requisite to entering for a professional or university examination. London University Degree examinations are also conducted annually in May and June. Appendix XXIV shows the more important examinations held in Hong Kong and the number of candidates entering for them.
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OVERSEAS SCHOLARSHIPS AND BURSARIES
In addition to the awards listed in Appendix XXIV, ten scholar- ships for post-graduate studies at British educational institutions were awarded by the British Government under the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan. Under the same scheme two scholarships were awarded by Canada, one by Malaysia, one by New Zealand and one by Pakistan, and two others were offered by Australia for courses beginning in 1965. Hong Kong contributes to the Plan by awarding annually to graduates from other parts of the Commonwealth two scholarships tenable at the University of Hong Kong; of the two scholarships offered in 1964, one was accepted. Seven departmental scholarships for training in Britain were awarded to officers of the Education Department. Ten British Council scholarships were awarded to Hong Kong candidates for studies and visits in Britain. The Federation of British Industries granted one scholarship for a two-year course in practical training in an engineering firm in Britain. Three scholarships were awarded by the Sino-British Fellowship Trust to Hong Kong candidates.
Two awards were made by the Government of New Zealand, under the Mutual Aid Programme of the Commonwealth Education Scheme, for a two-term attachment in New Zealand, and four out of the six nominees from Hong Kong for Canadian Aid Programme Scholarships were granted awards. Three awards were made to Hong Kong candidates by the United States Government, under the Teacher Development Programme.
ADMINISTRATION
The Director of Education has general control over education in the Colony. He registers schools, managers of schools, and teachers, and ensures that school buildings are adequately main- tained and that the general administration, conduct and efficiency of schools and teachers are satisfactory. He controls directly all government schools; almost all others are subject to the provisions of the Education Ordinance with the exception of schools for children of members of HM Forces. The Board of Education is a statutory body 'with power to advise the Governor upon educational matters', which Government normally consults on all matters of educational importance. The chairman is the Director of Education.
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All other members are unofficial. The board met four times during
the year.
Government itself operates 102 primary and 18 secondary schools, built, equipped and operated from government funds. Financial aid in one form or another is also provided to three other types of schools: grant-in-aid, subsidized and private. The first two receive grants to make up deficiencies between approved income and expenditure. Private schools may also receive assistance by way of grants of land or by loan.
Grant schools, of which there are 22, mainly give secondary education and Government, under the Grant Code, may cover approved expenditure such as salaries and leave pay. Alternatively a block grant may be made. Grants of up to 50 per cent may also be made to meet the cost of new building, equipment and major repairs and interest-free loans may be made for approved new building projects.
Subsidized schools are mainly primary schools operating under the Subsidy Code. This, also, is on a deficiency basis enabling the schools to keep their fees low and to pay teachers the same salaries as government and grant school teachers of the same grade. The schools are assisted when necessary by free grants of land and building subsidies, and are eligible for interest-free loans for new buildings if their sponsoring bodies are incorporated. There are 230 subsidized schools in urban areas and 291 in the New Territories.
Private schools range from kindergarten through primary and secondary to post-secondary and fees are generally much higher than in government or aided schools. Non-profit-making private schools are eligible to receive grants of land. Additional measures of assistance were introduced in 1960. The period of repayment of loans was extended to 21 years, subject to interest being charged at 34 per cent per annum. Schools already in receipt of interest-free loans repayable over 11 years were given the choice of adopting these new terms for the outstanding balance of their loans. Recurrent financial help is also given to selected non-profit-making schools in the form of assistance towards the payment of the salaries of qualified teachers and an allowance based on the number of class- rooms in use. Students in some private secondary schools have also been assisted by payment of the difference between the approved fee of the school and the fee that would be charged in a comparable
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government school. Some 5,159 students now receive awards of this nature. There are 1,544 private schools.
Expenditure by the Education Department from August 1963 to July 1964 is summarized in Appendix XXVI. In government and government-aided primary schools, fees are kept as low as possible and 10 per cent of all places are reserved for the free education of poor children. In government and aided secondary schools between 30 per cent and 45 per cent of the places are free.
VOLUNTARY EDUCATION AND WELFARE WORK
Missions of various denominations, charitable bodies and Kai Fong Welfare Associations organize grant-in-aid and subsidized schools, and sponsor boards of management for non-profit-making schools. Kai Fongs also provide free education for poor children. The British Red Cross Society organizes hospital schools for crippled children. Schools for the deaf, for the blind and for lepers, orphan- ages, and homes for maladjusted children are all provided by various welfare organizations while the Po Leung Kuk provides free schooling for homeless young women and children in its care.
MUSIC AND ART IN THE SCHOOLS
The Schools Music Association, which has a membership of 3,898 this year presented 11 concerts by local and visiting artists to its student-members. The Annual Schools Musical Festival was held in February and attracted a record of 4,917 entries. With over 300 classes the festival ranks as the largest of its kind in the world.
The practical examinations of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music were held from September to December. The number of entries rose to 3,578, maintaining the Colony's distinc- tion of having the second highest number of candidates throughout the 32 countries of the British Commonwealth served by the Board. There was a total of 1,253 candidates for the theory examinations, and the practical and theory examinations of the Trinity College of Music attracted 40 entries.
During the year, collections of paintings by Hong Kong school children were sent overseas for exhibition. These included the Council on World Tensions international project in Bombay, in
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co-operation with UNESCO, the UNICEF international children's art exhibit in Canada and a special exhibit in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The Education Department art section's picture loan collection has continued to expand, and 91 schools now participate in this scheme.
EDUCATION CONFERENCES
A residential conference on the teaching of English as a second language was held in August for the third year in succession at Chung Chi College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The conference was again organized under the chairmanship of Professor B. Hensman, head of the Department of English at the college. Amongst those taking part were Mr W. Wells, Director of Education Bi-National Centre, Saigon, Miss M. E. Platon, British Council Language Officer, Bangkok, Mr R. Hemphill, Co- Director of the Philippine Centre for Language Study, Philippines, and Miss B. Sutherland, of the Ford Foundation, Indonesia. The British Council and the Asia Foundation again gave generous assistance in bringing participants to Hong Kong. Lectures were given by visiting and local specialists in English Language teaching and discussions were held in groups and open forum. Overseas delegates attended from Brunei, Singapore and Taiwan. An im- portant feature of the conference was a book exhibition, organized with the co-operation of the British Council, the United States Information Service and local and overseas publishers. A report on the conference is in preparation.
8
Health
GENERALLY speaking the health of the population continued to be good against a background of overcrowding and despite very severe water restrictions carrying over into the first half of the year. There was no epidemic of severe proportions. A recurrence of cholera caused four deaths but involved only 34 cases altogether.
Notifications of poliomyelitis and associated deaths remained low as a result of the continued oral anti-poliomyelitis vaccine campaign. For the fifth year in succession there was a further marked drop in notifications of diphtheria.
The toll of accidents at work, on the streets and in the home which required treatment in casualty departments and admission to hospital continued to rise. The mortality pattern shows fewer deaths from the communicable diseases and more from diseases of later life, particularly neoplasms and cerebro-vascular accidents.
Tuberculosis remained the most important health problem in the Colony, accounting for more sickness and deaths than all other communicable diseases put together.
With the opening of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the com- pletion of the last major phase of the redevelopment of the Kwong Wah Hospital, there was a marked easing of pressure on hospital facilities in Kowloon. However pressure on Hong Kong Island hospitals remained severe, particularly the Queen Mary Hospital where wide-spread use of camp-beds in wards and on verandahs is still necessary.
One of the main events of the year was the opening of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Jockey Club Institute of Radiology in June, which offers most modern methods of radiodiagnosis and of radio- therapy. Two more generous donations by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club made possible the opening of a health centre at Kwun Tong, providing general out-patient and maternity and child health facilities for this rapidly expanding industrial area of Kowloon,
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and of a polyclinic at Shau Kei Wan which, apart from general out-patient and maternity and child health sections, also incor- porates a chest clinic and a dental section.
The Li Po-chun Health Centre, erected with the aid of a generous donation by the late Mr Li Po-chun, was opened in the Mong Kok area of Kowloon and a Maternity and Child Health Centre adjoining the Li Kee Memorial Dispensary for which funds were contributed jointly by Government and by the Lions Clubs of Hong Kong, was opened in a densely-populated area close to the old walled city of Kowloon.
During the year live births showed a decrease from the figure recorded in 1963. A total of 108,519 live births were registered as against 115,263 in 1963 and the live birth rate fell from 32.1 to 29.4 per 1,000 of population. The crude death rate dropped to 4.9 per 1,000 and there was a reproductive increase of 90,406 persons during the year. A table showing the principal statistics and rates over the ten-year period 1955 to 1964 is at Appendix XXVII.
The infant mortality rate dropped to 26.4 per 1,000 live births, the neonatal mortality rate was 16.6 per 1,000 live births and the still-birth rate was 13.5 per 1,000 total births. There were only 42 maternal deaths and the maternal mortality rate was 0.38 per 1,000 total births.
ADMINISTRATION
Statutory responsibility for administration of the services which safeguard public health in Hong Kong rests with the Director of Medical and Health Services, the Urban Council, the Director of Urban Services, the Commissioner of Labour and the District Commissioner, New Territories. The Medical and Health Depart- ment provides hospital and clinic facilities throughout both urban and rural areas, maintains maternal and child health, school health and port health services and is responsible for measures to control epidemic and endemic disease. In addition, doctors are seconded to the Urban Services Department, the Industrial Health Section of the Labour Department, the Criminal Investigation Branch of the Police Force and HM Prisons.
The estimated expenditure of the Medical and Health Department for the financial year 1964-5 was $93,400,300. To this should be added medical subventions, totalling $32,418,400, to the Tung
An outstanding feature of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kowloon is the Radio- logical Institute, one of the best equipped in the world, built with a gift of $6 million from the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club. The betatron shown here is the only one in the Far East and operates at between five and 35 million electron volts.
Like the betatron, the linear accelerator (above) is used largely to treat cancer, but is also used on some benign diseases. The diagnostic X-ray machine (below) is used mainly to study blood circulation in various parts of the body, including the brain and the chambers of the heart. It is equipped with rapid film changers, image intensifier and television. The radiological institute is a self-contained unit.
TO
A modern tomography X-ray diagnostic machine (above) is used for X-raying pre-selected layers of the body, as opposed to X-raying right through the body. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (seen by night, below) cost over $71 million to construct. It is the largest general hospital in the Commonwealth, with 1,338 beds. It has 31 surgical and 21 medical wards (10 for children), and 22 operating theatres.
1}
POST OFFICE
In recent years cholera has made sporadic appearances in the Colony-and each time the disease has been contained by massive inoculation campaigns. Because of drought conditions, the cholera risk this year was especially serious, and more than 2,250,000 were inoculated. Subsequently only 26 cholera cases were notified.
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Wah Group of Hospitals, the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital, the Hong Kong Anti-Tuberculosis Association, the Grantham Hospital, the Mission to Lepers Hong Kong Auxiliary, the Pok Oi Hospital and other organizations. The combined estimated expenditure of the Medical and Health Department and the medical subventions represents 8.41 per cent of the Colony's total estimated expenditure of $1,496,032,510. Estimated capital expenditure for the Medical and Health Department was $12,776,500.
There are five statutory bodies dealing with the registration of medical practitioners, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, and midwives. The Hong Kong Medical Council is responsible for the registration of medical practitioners and has disciplinary responsibilities under the Medical Registration Ordinance, 1957; it is not an examining body. The Dental Council, Pharmacy Board, Nurses Board and Midwives Board all maintain registers, regulate training, hold examinations leading to registration or enrolment and have dis- ciplinary powers.
COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
Following the outbreaks of cholera in the previous three years, and with the continuing incidence of the disease in nearby countries, special preventive measures were taken throughout the year. Quarantine restrictions were maintained in respect of various neighbouring countries declared infected. Bacteriological investiga- tion was carried out of all specimens sent to government laboratories from cases of gastro-enteritis and there was daily sampling of nightsoil and routine sampling of seawater, well water and foodstuffs liable to be sources of transmission of the vibrio. A mass immuniza- tion campaign against cholera commenced in April.
Thirty-four cases of cholera with four deaths occurred during the year. The first case was a completely sporadic one, notified on 19th February; there were no more cases at that time and the Colony was declared free from infection on 29th February. A further cases was notified on 30th April, and subsequently 32 more cases were reported, the last one on 30th June. The Colony was declared free from infection on 11th July.
Most of the patients came from tenements, resettlement estates and squatter areas, and no cases occurred amongst the boat-dwellers. One case, notified on 12th May, was traced to a food handler in a
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restaurant in Hong Kong who was a symptomless excretor of vibrios. A short but severe outbreak in Kowloon commenced on 13th May and was traced to a contaminated well in a restaurant; this well appeared to have been infected by an employee of the restaurant who had experienced a very mild attack of gastro- enteritis and who was subsequently found to be excreting vibrios. This water-borne outbreak was definitely responsible for the occur- rence of 14 cases and three others were probably associated with it; all four deaths occurred amongst this group.
The Chatham Road Quarantine Centre was used for the isolation of contacts. Among a total of 385 contacts accommodated at the centre, 27 symptomless carriers were found; in addition, four other carriers were isolated at the Sai Ying Pun Hospital. Members of the Auxiliary Medical Service assisted the Medical and Health Department in the establishment and administration of the quar- antine centre.
The usual environmental measures were applied, including increased chlorination of the public water supply and of all wells and vigorous inspection of public eating-places and food premises, markets and hawkers. Particular attention was paid to the collection and disposal of nightsoil and to its sampling for pathological examination. The inoculation campaign continued and a total of 2,406,623 doses of vaccine had been given by the end of the year. The outbreak in Kowloon stimulated heavy demand and in one day alone 131,000 people were inoculated.
Routine sampling of foodstuffs, such as shellfish, fresh-water fish, and fruits all proved negative. However, routine investigation of the homes of each patient proved of some interest. Seventeen of the homes, exactly fifty per cent, showed widespread dissemina- tion of the vibrio; places most commonly found infected were the latrine-pans, drainage outlets, dustbins and food chopping-blocks.
Tuberculosis remains the principal community health problem in the Colony. Many thousands of unselected examinations carried out each year show that approximately two per cent of the adult population is in need of treatment for the disease, with a smaller percentage of active tuberculosis occurring below the age of 15. There is ample evidence that tuberculosis in infancy and early childhood is now relatively rare by 1951 standards, that the peak
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prevalence is in middle and later life and that most of the more intractable clinical problems occur above the age of 45.
The mortality rate has fallen from 208 per 100,000 in 1951 to 39.03 in 1964, and the change in age distribution has continued. In 1951 more than one-third of the deaths occurred below the age of five. Today the proportion has fallen to 4.09 per cent, while above the age of 45 the proportion has risen from one-fifth to more than half, with a male preponderance of over two to one.
In the field of prevention, improved economic conditions are having some effect but, while health education in the home, contact examinations, and X-ray surveys are proceeding, the principal specific measure aimed at tuberculosis prevention is the BCG vaccination campaign with emphasis on the vaccination of newborn babies.
During the year, 86.4 per cent of babies born in the Colony received BCG vaccination within 48 hours of birth. The vaccine is issued free to all doctors, midwives and hospitals. Through the Government Tuberculosis Service all children under the age of three who are contacts of known adult cases are given prophylactic INAH for a period of twelve months if there is a tuberculin sen- sitivity reaction not due to BCG vaccination. The School Health Service offers tuberculin testing and BCG vaccination where in- dicated to all school children. Toddlers attending the maternal and child health centres are also tuberculin tested and vaccinated when
necessary.
The tuberculosis control programme is a combined effort and the principal bodies participating are the Government Tuberculosis Service, which maintains Colony-wide facilities for diagnosis and ambulatory chemotherapy, the Hong Kong Anti-Tuberculosis Association and the Junk Bay Medical Relief Council. Certain other organizations, both charitable and private, also provide treatment facilities.
There are 1,728 beds available in the Colony specifically for the treatment of tuberculosis, of which 1,686 are in government-assisted hospitals managed by the Hong Kong Anti-Tuberculosis Association, the Junk Bay Medical Relief Council and the Tung Wah Hospitals Medical Committee; the remaining 42 beds are in the Government St John's Hospital on Cheung Chau Island. A total of 1,705 patients
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were admitted to hospital for treatment during the year. Among patients who accept admission for treatment the level of co-operation is excellent, there being only a very small proportion of discharges against medical advice.
A rehabilitation scheme, which was started by the Lutheran World Service as a pilot project, has proved very successful and has become a permanent part of the overall treatment programme. The Government Tuberculosis Service operates full-time and part-time clinics in all areas where the distribution of the population warrants such activities. All diagnosis and treatment is free. There are five full-time chest clinics equipped with radiological facilities and treatment is available at these and at sixteen subsidiary centres. Treatment sessions are held in the evening at the five main centres for patients who cannot attend during the day.
Once a diagnosis of active tuberculosis has been made, a regime of ambulatory chemotherapy is instituted. The standard treatment is intensive for the first six months, after which each case is reviewed. Those who respond satisfactorily are placed on a less intensive regime, while those who remain infectious are admitted to hospital for investigation into the resistance of the organism and for treat- ment. In this way large numbers of active cases are rendered sputum negative and can live at home and remain at work without danger to others. All family contacts of such cases are investigated and all necessary action is taken. Cases in need of hospital treatment for pulmonary or orthopaedic tuberculosis are assessed for priority of admission as beds become available. Almoners attached to the Tuberculosis Service maintain social histories and operate a tuber- culosis assistance fund for those in need of financial or material aid while under treatment. There is a staff of tuberculosis workers who undertake home visiting, health education, clinic duties and contact tracing. They also investigate the circumstances of those defaulting from treatment.
During the year a total of 24,606 patients received continuous anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy on an ambulatory basis at govern- ment clinics, of which 765 were on reserve anti-tuberculosis drugs. A total of 1,251,534 attendances were recorded. Case finding by means of X-ray surveys is carried out by Government. There is an annual X-ray survey of all government servants and free surveys are carried out, on request, in schools and in industrial or
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commercial concerns. Certain conditions regarding sick leave and re-employment of proved cases are required of employers who wish to avail themselves of the survey facilities.
Most of the hospital treatment for cases referred from the Govern- ment Tuberculosis Service is undertaken in the non-profit-making Grantham Hospital operated by the Hong Kong Anti-Tuberculosis Association. The hospital has 613 beds, 576 of which are maintained by Government on a daily fee-paying basis.
At the Ruttonjee Sanatorium and Freni Memorial Convalescent Home, with a total of 343 beds, some patients are admitted direct while others are admitted through the Government Tuberculosis Service. Treatment in these hospitals is free. Many beds are main- tained by organizations in Hong Kong and patients sponsored for these beds have a certain priority of admission. The hospital is staff- ed by the St Columban Order of Sisters and the consultant services are supplied by the professional units of the University of Hong Kong. An annual recurrent subvention is made by Government.
The Anti-Tuberculosis Association also maintains at its head- quarters a BCG clinic, a follow-up clinic and a health education section. The policy of the Association is formulated by a board, and the hospitals are managed by the Grantham Hospital and Ruttonjee Sanatorium Management Boards respectively. Both hospitals offer approved training courses leading to the British Tuberculosis Association Certificate in Tuberculosis Nursing.
The Haven of Hope Sanatorium managed by an executive com- mittee of the Junk Bay Medical Relief Council now has accom- modation for 230 cases of tuberculosis. Government maintains 80 beds by means of an annual subvention for the treatment of tuberculosis among villagers in the New Territories and the re- mainder of the beds are sponsored by voluntary and missionary bodies, which pay annual maintenance costs or guarantee the daily cost of maintenance of the patients they sponsor. In addition, there are two other units-one for rehabilitation prior to resettlement and the other an observation centre for child contacts who have a positive tuberculin test.
The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals maintains a varying number of beds for the treatment of more chronic forms of tuberculosis. Other institutions receiving support from Government which
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admit cases of tuberculous infection are the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital, the Sandy Bay Convalescent Home and the Hei Ling Chau Leprosarium.
Free clinics are maintained in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories for the diagnosis, treatment and surveillance of venereal diseases. Despite strict epidemiological control by contact tracing, follow-up of defaulters and free ante-natal blood tests, the incidence of primary syphilis has continued to rise steadily during the last four years, although the prevalence rate is not high when compared to that in other countries. Latent and late syphilis are steadily decreasing, while gonorrhoea has stayed at a com- paratively unchanged level and the incidence of chancroid and lymphogranuloma remains very low.
Sixteen outpatient sessions are held weekly through the Colony solely for the diagnosis and treatment of leprosy. In addition, sessions are held at social hygiene centres in conjunction with the dermatology and venereal disease clinics. Immigrants from China, many of whom show severe deformities, make up a large proportion of new cases presenting at clinics for the first time. There is provision for the fitting of surgical appliances for cases with limb deformities. Prejudices against employment or rehabilitation of the cured leprosy patients are gradually but steadily disappearing and wide- spread publicity is leading to a more humane and progressive approach to the problem by the community.
The Hong Kong Auxiliary of the Mission to Lepers, with the aid of a government subvention, maintains 540 beds at the Hei Ling Chau Leprosarium to which infectious cases are admitted voluntarily. In addition, a small number of patients requiring surgical reconstructive operations are accepted.
Malaria continues to be endemic but is restricted mainly to certain parts of the uncontrolled rural areas, the majority of cases during the year being reported from the Sai Kung district of the New Territories.
The important carriers of malaria are Anopheles minimus, found breeding in hill streams, seepages and irrigation ditches, and A. jeyporiensis var. candidiensis which breeds in rice cultivation, fallow rice fields, pools in rice stubble and water flowing through grass. Other anopheline species found in the Colony play little or no
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part in malaria transmission. Plasmodium vivax is the predominant parasite responsible for the infection.
Malaria control in the urban areas is based chiefly on anti-larval measures consisting of draining and clearing streams, ditching and oiling. Anti-malaria oil continued to be employed as the main larvicide, but malathion, diazinon or BHC were used on a limited scale in areas where the application of oil is not suitable. These anti-larval operations against anopheline breeding afford protection from the infection to approximately 80 per cent of the population. None of the few cases appearing in the urban areas during the year could be attributed to breakdown of these control measures. In the remainder of the New Territories, the background of which is essentially rural, the adoption of either anti-larval or anti-adult measures is not feasible at present and chemoprophylaxis remains the main protection.
A continuous immunization campaign against diphtheria has been in progress since 1959 interrupted only by the need for anti- poliomyelitis and cholera inoculation drives. House-to-house visits are conducted in resettlement estates or other crowded areas, and teams of inoculators visit squatters both on hillsides and on rooftops. Every effort is made to inform parents of the dangers of the disease and of facilities available for the protection of their children.
As a result there has been a steady fall in the incidence of the disease, from a total of 2,087 cases in 1959 to 699 in 1964. The case fatality rate fell from 9.9 per cent in 1963 to 5.4 per cent this year; most deaths occur in non-immunized children who present with advanced laryngeal or pulmonary complications, due to delay in seeking proper medical attention.
A late outbreak of enteric fever brought figures for the year up to about the same as 1963. Free inoculation is available and the usual control measures are enforced with special attention to the detection of carriers amongst food handlers.
Since the mass anti-poliomyelitis campaign, using Sabin-type oral vaccine in the first quarter of 1963, free oral vaccine has been offered at all maternal and child health centres and by inoculation teams engaged in certain other campaigns. The incidence of the disease remained low, a total of 37 cases and three deaths being
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notified as compared with 363 cases and 52 deaths in the year immediately preceeding the mass campaign.
In recent years there has been a gradual increase, associated with the increasing numbers of the population at risk, in both amoebiasis and bacillary dysentery. The mortality remains low.
Measles infection is most prevalent during the cooler months and is known to be a widespread but generally mild disease. The high case fatality amongst notified cases reflects the incompleteness of notification, and this mortality is mainly due to bronchopneumonia encountered too late for treatment to be effective.
HEALTH SERVICES
The Port Health Service enforces International Sanitary Regula- tions, as embodied in the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance and Prevention of the Spread of Infectious Diseases Regulation, 1955. The service collects and distributes information on notifiable diseases, provides inoculation and vaccination facilities for travellers and transmits medical advice by radio to ships at sea. Epidemiological information is regularly exchanged with the World Health Organization in Geneva, the Western Pacific Regional Office in Manila and with ports and airports in other countries. Passengers arriving by land, sea and air are medically examined as necessary and quarantine measures enforced against travellers from infected ports and airports.
The Port Health Service is responsible for sanitary control of the port and airport and these areas were kept free from Aedes aegypti throughout the year. There is regular supervision of the purity of water supplied by dock hydrants and water boats, and of the airport catering service. Ships are inspected to determine the extent of rat infestation and international deratting certificates issued. The dock area and airport are included in the rodent control scheme for the Colony and returns of rats destroyed and bacteriological examinations for plague are submitted weekly to the World Health Organization's international quarantine service.
MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH
Most babies are born in hospital maternity wards or in maternity homes, slightly more of them in the latter. Confinements at home,
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attended by government or private midwives, are less than five per cent of the total.
The Government Midwifery Service now has 31 district centres, four of which provide a domiciliary service. There are another 179 registered midwives practising privately from 105 maternity and nursing homes. Registered maternity homes are inspected regularly by the Supervisor of Midwives and her staff to ensure that conditions of registration are observed and that a sufficiently high standard is practised by registered midwives not working under the direct supervision of a doctor. Refresher courses are arranged by Government for private midwives.
The Maternal and Child Health Service offers free maternal and child care at 33 centres, 15 of which are full-time. Clinics are held for infant welfare and for children between two and five years old. Ante-natal and post-natal sessions are also held at these centres. When necessary babies attending the clinics are visited at home and health visitors also go to the homes of new-born babies whose names appear in the monthly birth returns. Health education forms a most important part of this work and includes practical demonstra- tions, talks, film shows and individual advice to mothers. Immuniza- tion against smallpox, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and poliomy- elitis is offered at all centres.
The School Health Service, which had been in existence since 1927, was revised drastically this year. Since the treatment scheme maintained previously by Government for school children could not be expanded to cope with the great numbers of school children a new School Medical Service, separate from the School Health Service and staffed by private practitioners, was inaugurated in September. This service, under the guidance of the School Medical Service Board, provides medical examination and treatment at a per capita fee, shared equally by participants and by Government; schools choose a doctor from a panel of private practitioners who have offered their services. The general health service for schools continues as a government responsibility concerned with the sanitary condition of school premises, the control of communi- cable disease and the health education of children, teachers and parents.
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MENTAL HEALTH
The Castle Peak Hospital, accommodating 1,290 patients, is the main treatment centre for all psychiatric in-patients. Out-patient treatment is available on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon and the New Territories and day-patients are also treated in the Psychiatric Centre on Hong Kong Island. A Psychiatric Observation Unit is operated in the Victoria Remand Prison.
Castle Peak Hospital has also been treating male drug addicts during the period of acute withdrawal. With the development of facilities by the Society for the Aid and Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts on Shek Kwu Chau it is expected that the treatment of addiction from the initial stages onwards will now be undertaken there.
HOSPITALS
There are 11,989 hospital beds (see Appendix XXIX) available in Hong Kong for all purposes. This figure includes maternity and nursing homes but not institutions maintained by the Armed Forces. Of these beds, 10,037 are in government hospitals and institutions and in government-assisted hospitals, while the remain- ing 1,952 are provided by private agencies. Apart from beds assigned to the care of the mentally ill and the treatment of tuberculosis and infectious diseases, there are 8,440 beds available for all general purposes, including maternity. This gives a ratio of 2.28 beds per thousand of the population. The figures quoted are based on the normal bed capacities of the various hospitals, but in many cases the actual occupancy is much higher as camp beds are used exten- sively whenever the need arises.
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the largest acute general hospital in the British Commonwealth, was in full operation by the end of January 1964. It accommodates 1,338 beds with all necessary ancillary and specialist services, and serves as the acute emergency hospital for Kowloon and the New Territories. Although the hospital appears as a single unit, it has been designed as two separate thirteen-storey 'ward-stacks' joined on the lower three floors by administrative areas.
With the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in full operation the Kowloon Hospital was closed early in the year for renovation. When re-opened it will be used mainly as a subsidiary to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital
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for patients requiring convalescent care and rehabilitation but certain wards will be allocated for the care of tuberculosis patients. On Hong Kong Island Government maintains another large general hospital, the Queen Mary, which performs the same functions for that area as the Queen Elizabeth Hospital does for Kowloon. This hospital is also the teaching hospital for the Medical Faculty of the University of Hong Kong.
Other government hospitals are maintained chiefly for specialized purposes. Apart from the mental hospital these include two infec- tious disease hospitals (one of which accommodates convalescent patients from the two acute emergency hospitals), a maternity hospital of 200 beds where the teaching of medical students and the training of midwives is carried out and a small hospital for the treatment of skin and venereal diseases in women and children. Two smaller general hospitals are also maintained, one on Cheung Chau Island and the other on Lantau Island. Small hospitals are also maintained in the Colony's prisons, and maternity beds for normal midwifery are provided in many government clinics and dispensaries.
The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals is an entirely Chinese charitable organization founded 94 years ago and managed by a Board of Directors elected annually. It operates three general hospitals, the Tung Wah, the Tung Wah Eastern, and the Kwong Wah, and also an infirmary of 270 beds at Sandy Bay. These hospitals, which receive a large government subvention, provide a valuable con- tribution to the Colony's medical facilities and are gradually being modernized and expanded. A new infirmary is being built in the Wong Tai Sin area of Kowloon with a donation of A£120,000 from the Australian World Refugee Year Fund and subsidized by government grant. The first phase of the project, to provide 210 infirmary beds, is expected to be completed early in 1965. During the past few years the Kwong Wah Hospital has been rebuilt in phases at a cost of $34,111,000 and, on the completion of the final phase early in 1965, will be a modern general hospital of 1,401 beds. In addition to its medical work, the Tung Wah Board of Directors provides extensive educational facilities and relief for the poor and needy of the Colony.
Another long-established Chinese charitable organization oper- ates, with the assistance of government subvention, the 118-bed
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Pok Oi Hospital near Yuen Long in the New Territories. There are also the hospitals operated by the Hong Kong Anti-Tuberculosis Association and a number of general hospitals maintained by missionary and other charitable organizations. Six of these are run by the Catholic Church including the new 454-bed Caritas Medical Centre in the densely populated So Uk district which was opened by the Governor on 17th December. Two hospitals are maintained by the Protestant Churches. The Hei Ling Chau Leprosarium provides medical care and rehabilitation for 540 patients and the Haven of Hope Sanatorium accommodates 230 tuberculosis patients and has plans for expansion. Several of these institutions receive substantial financial assistance from Govern- ment, while others are supported, in varying degrees by fees, volun- tary donations and grants from missionary funds. In some cases, where a proportion of low-cost or free beds is maintained, and where any excess of income over expenditure is used for hospital development, land is granted without premium and rates are refunded through government subvention.
SPECIALIST SERVICES
In government hospitals there are clinical specialists in anaes- thetics; chest surgery; dentistry; ear, nose and throat diseases; eye diseases; general medicine; general surgery; neuro-surgery; obstetrics and gynaecology; orthopaedic surgery; psychiatry; pathology; radiodiagnosis and radiotherapy. There are also the specialist clinics for tuberculosis and social hygiene. The Malaria Bureau, the Government Chemist's laboratory, and the Forensic Pathology laboratory also provide specialist services.
The Government Institute of Pathology maintains clinical pa- thology and public health laboratory services.
There are blood banks at the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth Hospitals and the Hong Kong Branch of the British Red Cross Society operates a blood-collecting centre for the voluntary donation of blood. The Institute of Pathology carries out laboratory work for the blood banks. The Government Chemist is responsible for the work of an analytical laboratory which undertakes a wide range of investigations concerned with food, water supplies, nar- cotics, medico-legal work as well as a considerable amount of non-medical investigation.
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OUT-PATIENT CLINICS SERVICE
To meet the increasing demand for treatment by modern Western medicine, the out-patient services provided by Government, by subsidized organizations and by private agencies are developing steadily. Many charitable and missionary clinics provide treatment either free or at a nominal cost. Numerous organizations, partic- ularly the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, have taken an active interest in medical and health problems. A large number of out- patient clinics are supported by Kaifong, District and Clansmen's Associations; industrial and commercial concerns and trade unions also operate clinics for their members.
During recent years, however, there has been concern over the rapid multiplication of private clinics. Many were staffed by persons who possessed, or claimed, qualifications not registrable in Hong Kong and a number were operated for profit rather than service. To control this situation, the Medical Clinics Ordinance was en- acted in September 1963 and brought into force on 1st January 1964. It makes provision for the registration, control and inspection of clinics, and the Registrar of Clinics, who is the Director of Medical and Health Services, is empowered at his discretion to register those which were in existence at the date of enactment of the Ordinance even though they were not in the charge of a registered medical practitioner; this power is for a period of three years only. By the end of the year, 701 applications for registration had been received, of which 433 had been granted, 266 refused and two were still under consideration.
Four new government clinics have been opened and Government now maintains forty out-patient clinics. Specialist facilities are available in the major centres in the urban areas and, in the New Territories, the same facilities are provided by visiting teams from Hong Kong and Kowloon. Mobile dispensaries and floating clinics bring medical services to the more remote areas of the New Terri- tories, especially the isolated villages on the eastern and western coasts. A helicopter takes doctors and nurses to the more inacces- sible areas.
DENTAL SERVICES
Until September 1964 the Government Dental Service had operated, in two divisions, a General Dental Service and a School
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Dental Service on a restricted scale. However, with the introduc- tion of the new School Medical Service, the School Dental Service was discontinued as expansion to care comprehensively for the whole school population was not practicable.
The general dental service undertakes complete dental care for all monthly-paid government officers and their families and a limited treatment programme for in-patients of government hos- pitals, prisoners and inmates of training centres. The service also provides emergency treatment for the general public at certain clinics. There are 28 government dental clinics and a mobile unit serving the New Territories.
Fluoridation of Hong Kong's urban water supply began in 1961, and most of the population now receives water which has been treated with sodium fluoride or sodium silico-fluoride as a preven- tive of dental caries. The rate of enrichment is 0.7 parts of fluoride per million in summer and 0.9 parts per million during the winter. Many voluntary bodies and welfare organizations, particularly the Hong Kong Dental Society and the St John Ambulance Brigade, maintain free or low-cost dental clinics and many dentists give their services free. The Church World Service and Lutheran World Service each operate a fully-equipped mobile dental clinic.
TRAINING
The University of Hong Kong confers the degrees of MB, BS which have been recognized for registration by the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom since 1911. Post-graduate clinical training is available in the Colony for higher qualifications awarded by most of the examining bodies in Great Britain. The Panel for Post-graduate Medical Education, consisting of University and government staff members, supervises this training. Due mainly to this programme over two-thirds of the specialist appointments in the Medical and Health Department are now held by locally- recruited staff. Facilities at the University and at the Queen Mary Hospital are now being expanded to increase the number of graduates from fifty to eighty a year.
Hong Kong has no local facilities for training in dentistry but a government dental scholarship scheme each year enables a number of students from Hong Kong to study dentistry overseas and ultimately to qualify as dental surgeons.
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There are three Government Hospital Schools of Nursing; Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary are general schools and Castle Peak is a Psychiatric Nursing School. Training is in English at these schools but there are approved schools at the Tung Wah Hospitals, the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital and the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital, in all of which the medium of instruction is Cantonese. Examinations are held by the Hong Kong Nursing Board and there is full reciprocity of registration between the Hong Kong Board and the General Nursing Council of England and Wales.
Most female nurses on completion of their general nursing training take a midwifery course of one year, which qualifies them for entry to the examinations held by the Hong Kong Midwives Board. The course is conducted in English at government hospitals and in Cantonese at the other approved schools. For student mid- wives who are not registered nurses a two-year course of training at the Tsan Yuk Maternity Hospital, and to a limited extent at the other approved training schools, is accepted by the Midwives Board for entry to the examinations. Due to the limited scope of domiciliary midwifery, adequate practical training in this aspect cannot be given. Full reciprocity of registration with the Central Midwives Board of England and Wales is therefore not possible in present circumstances.
The Examination Board in Hong Kong of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health conducts examinations for the health visitor's certificate, the public health inspector's certificate, and the tropical hygiene certificate. A course for the health visitor's certificate is conducted by the Medical and Health Department, while training for the public health inspector's certificate and the tropical hygiene certificate is carried out within the Urban Services Department.
URBAN SERVICES
The Urban Council has statutory obligations in the urban area for environmental sanitation and hygiene, the public health control of food, the enactment, subject to the approval of the Legislative Council, of by-laws relating to public health and hygiene, and their enforcement, and the maintenance of certain places of public recreation, principally parks, playgrounds and bathing beaches.
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The Council derives its main powers from the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance, 1960 and legislation is enforced through the Urban Services Department. The Director of Urban Services is directly responsible for similar public health measures in the New Territories with the exception of certain licensing powers retained by the District Commissioner. The department is organized into three main divisions, one dealing with cleansing, conservancy, cemeteries and crematoria, one with food and general hygiene, and the other with hawkers, markets, slaughterhouses and public amen- ities. The professional establishment of the department includes health officers seconded from the Medical and Health Department and 312 health inspectors.
The hygiene division is responsible for standards of environ- mental hygiene and also assists the Medical and Health Department in the control of infectious diseases.
Domestic hygiene is encouraged by a system of regular house inspection by the district health organization. During these inspec- tions, nuisances can be detected and action taken for their abate- ment. Another important aspect of work of the district health staff is the hygienic control of food premises. Restaurants, cooked food stalls, food factories and other places where food is handled are inspected weekly to make sure that they are kept clean and operated hygienically. The district health inspectors also investigate cases of infectious diseases, trace sources of infection and contacts, disinfect premises and advise on precautionary measures.
Eight food inspectors are employed on food sampling and other food hygiene duties in Hong Kong and Kowloon. Particular atten- tion is paid to food factories, especially frozen confection and milk factories, from which samples are taken regularly, and to the prevention of the sale of diseased meat. The inspectors are also responsible for inspecting imported vegetables and fruit, and meat and poultry covered by the Imported Meat and Poultry Regulations.
The Health Education Select Committee of the Urban Council organized publicity campaigns on many aspects of environmental hygiene throughout the urban areas. Kaifong associations co- operated in education on environmental hygiene as well as in immunization campaigns. Many of these associations run their own health committees and take a lively and practical interest
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in the health problems of their respective districts. The associations again combined to organize a Health Education Exhibition in July in which major health problems were emphasized.
An annual event is the oratorical and song contest among school children, planned jointly by the Urban Council and the Junior Chamber of Commerce. The theme this year was smoking. Food hygiene courses for restaurant and hotel staff have been widened in scope.
The supervision of slaughterhouses and shops and markets selling fresh food provides another means of controlling health conditions. It is hoped that the difficulty of maintaining high standards in the present old and inadequate slaughterhouses will be relieved by the two new buildings on which work is soon to begin. In the sale of fresh meat fish and poultry to the housewife market stall-holders appear to be meeting increased competition from fresh provision shops. One result is that about three per cent of the stalls in public markets were vacant at the end of the year and the future construction programme is being reconsidered in the light of this and other developments.
Street hawking is a feature of Hong Kong in which as many as 100,000 people may be engaged full or part-time. It can also be a health problem as well causing congestion and obstruction in narrow streets. Measures to meet these problems are enforced by the Hawker Control Force which was established in 1960 and now has an establishment of 385. In the interests of health the sale of fresh meat or fish by street hawkers is prohibited. The great majority of hawkers sell vegetables and are concentrated in certain areas, often around markets or new fresh provision shops. In some of these streets the congestion can be very serious, hindering cleansing operations as well as obstructing pedestrians and traffic. Occasionally the only relief may be by moving hawker sites entirely to more suitable streets. In dealing with these problems the Hawker Control Force endeavours to achieve results by education and persuasion with legal action as a last resort.
Street cleaning and refuse collecting is a major task, made more difficult during the year by typhoons and staff shortages. About 1,400 tons of refuse are collected every day and dumped in a reclama- tion at Gin Drinker's Bay in the New Territories. Work has now begun on one of two new incinerators which will eventually replace
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this method of refuse disposal and the possibility of still more incinerators is being investigated. Some 4,500 workers are employed in street cleaning and refuse collection and nearly another 1,000 in nightsoil collection from the diminishing number of buildings not yet provided with flushing sanitation.
The Pest Control Section of the Department is principally con- cerned with the control of pests of significance to public health, such as rats, mice, cockroaches, fleas, bed-bugs, ants and wasps; in the New Territories it also renders advice on and carries out measures for control of flies and mosquitoes.
9
Land and Housing
ALL land in Hong Kong is owned by the Crown. In the early days of the Colony, Crown leases were granted for 75, 99 or 999 years. Nowadays, except in the New Territories, they are granted for 75 years, renewable for a further 75 years at a re-assessed Crown rent. Crown leases for New Territories land are now normally granted for a period of 99 years less three days from 1st July 1898 and therefore terminate three days before the expiry of the period of the lease from China.
Land administration in Hong Kong and Kowloon is the re- sponsibility of the Director of Public Works, who is also Building Authority and Chairman of the Town Planning Board. The Director also deals with that part of the New Territories between Boundary Street and the Kowloon hills which is called New Kowloon. The District Commissioner is responsible for land administration throughout the rest of the New Territories. All Crown land grants and all private land transactions are recorded for Hong Kong and Kowloon in the Registrar General's Department and for the New Territories (with the exception of certain inland lots), in the District Offices. The inland lots in the New Territories cover the majority of the built-up part of New Kowloon and deeds relating to them are recorded with the Registrar General. The principal laws on the development and use of land are contained in the Buildings Ordinance, the Town Planning Ordinance and the New Territories Ordinance.
The Government's basic policy is to sell leases to the highest bidder at public auction; all land available to the general public for commercial and industrial purposes and for residential sites is sold in this way. Land for special housing projects, for public utilities, schools, clinics and approved charitable purposes is usually granted by private treaty. The premium charged in such cases varies from nothing for non-profit-making schools up to the full market value for public utilities, the latter being payable by instalments.
URBAN COUNCIL PUBLIC LIBRARIES
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To ensure that scarce land is put to the best possible use, all sales or grants are subject to a covenant in which the lessee under- takes to develop up to a certain rateable value within a specified period, the amount he must spend depending on the location and the type of development allowed. In addition to the covenant, new leases contain clauses controlling the use to which land may be put, to accord with town planning. They also provide for the annual payment of Crown rent.
Sale by public auction ensures, by and large, that the person best able to develop the land in accordance with the terms of the lease obtains the right to do so and that the community receives the maximum return in cash. As the rent reserved in the lease is low, this policy does not, generally speaking, enable Government to obtain direct financial gain from any later increase in the value of the land after it has been sold. For this reason the very large increase in land value in recent years has resulted in relatively little increase in recurrent revenue from land, since most of the Colony's more valuable land is held on long leases.
In the earlier part of this century the leases of lots lying in the better residential district of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon often included restrictions on the type and height of buildings. These restrictions have served their purpose well, but the demands of an increasing population now require more intensive development. It has therefore become the practice for these conditions to be modified in accordance with standard zoning schedules which preserve the amenities of the district while allowing more intensive development. Modifications of this sort are subject to the payment of a premium.
In recent years groups of 75-year Crown leases granted in the Colony's early days, chiefly in Kowloon, have been expiring. Terms and conditions for new leases have already been agreed in a large number of cases. Premiums for the new leases may, subject to certain conditions, be paid either in a lump sum or by instalments over an agreed number of years, most lessees preferring the latter method. Terms announced in 1960 provide for a maximum of 21 annual instalments and interest of 10 per cent. On regrant, the boundaries of these lots are adjusted to conform with street im- provement lines, etc and where land is needed for major replanning schemes, the leases will not be regranted. In these latter cases the
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Government has announced its intention to pay ex gratia com- pensation for buildings. For churches and temples already on non-renewable leases new leases may be granted free of premium.
An increasing number of 75-year renewable leases are also falling due for renewal. In these cases, under the terms announced in 1963, the Crown lessee of an underdeveloped lot has the alternative of renewing either at a Crown rent based on the full rental value of the land without added lease covenants, or, if the lessee is prepared to accept a covenant limiting the development on the lot to that existing at the time of renewal, at a lower Crown rent.
With the increasing need to seek sites for major schemes in the New Territories outline development plans have been prepared or are under preparation for expanding existing market towns and building new towns in those areas best suited to industry and high density housing: Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung, Yuen Long, Tai Po, Shek Wu Hui, Castle Peak, Sha Tin and Junk Bay. However, most of these development areas contain a high proportion of leased agricultural land and there is not enough Crown land to serve public purposes. As development proceeds, Crown lessees are invited to surrender agricultural and village or rural building land in exchange for a regrant of building land, with boundaries con- forming to the development layout. Within layout areas these exchanges are normally negotiated on a foot-for-foot basis for building land surrendered, and a five feet for two feet basis for the agricultural land surrendered, with a premium payable equal to the difference in value between the land surrendered and that regranted. This system has proved acceptable to landowners and has been further eased by the issue of letters entitling the landowner who voluntarily surrenders land at the time when it is required for a public purpose to a future grant of land when this becomes available.
Outside declared development areas, buildings on agricultural land are normally restricted to extensions to existing villages or to agricultural structures. Land required for road improvements, water pipelines, etc is normally resumed against cash compensation.
LAND SALES
Auction sales of Crown land in the urban area take place almost every week. Sales during the financial year 1963-4 totalled 247, five less than the year before.
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There has been a marked rise in the prices obtained for industrial land. A very sharp and sudden increase became apparent in January, with the result that the average price obtained for industrial land in Kwun Tong rose by about 49 per cent whilst that sold at San Po Kong showed an even higher increase of over 60 per cent. This increase may have been partly stimulated by new arrangements made during the year for the payment by four instalments of pre- miums for industrial sales outside certain special development areas where premiums were already payable by instalments. Sites for mixed commercial and residential use in several commercial districts also commanded high prices.
Reduced demand for low density residential development has been reflected for the second year in lower prices and less com- petition for land sold for low density housing purposes in various urban districts. There have also been fewer applications for modifica- tion of leases which would permit more intensive development of this kind, all suggesting that the demand for more expensive apart- ments has been largely satisfied.
In August, tenders were invited for 99-year leases of 17 lots in the former Naval dockyard to be sold in either one or two parcels. The development imposed by the Conditions of Sale includes a podium structure with a pedestrian deck and car parking for 2,400 cars. The podium will cover a total area of 617,285 square feet (14.17 acres), and buildings above podium level will have a total covered area of 309,310 square feet (7.1 acres); $200,000,000 is required to be spent on building works by the end of 1973. Crown rent will total $73,000 per annum.
Sales in the New Territories during 1964 included 8.2 acres of land for sawmills at Castle Peak, 18.2 acres for boat yards and other land for general industrial purposes at Tsing Yi and Ngai Ying Chau, and 17.6 acres for ship-breaking at Junk Bay.
Revenue from land transactions in Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Kowloon during the financial year 1963-4 came to about $124,065,000 from sales by public auction; $7,056,000 from private treaty sales; $25,595,000 from modifications of lease conditions, extensions and exchanges; and $37,045,000 from regrants of expired 75 years leases; totalling $193,761,000. Revenue from land transactions in the New Territories during the same period was
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$13,397,000. Where it is not possible to dispose of land immediately, because either public utilities and other services are not yet available or the site has been set aside for some future purposes, the land is rarely left vacant but may be occupied on a temporary annual permit. The 1963-4 revenue from these permits was $7,209,312 in the urban area and $953,936 in the New Territories. As per- manent development expands, it is necessary to cancel permits and the number of such in the urban area and in the more developed parts of the New Territories decreases year by year. Revenue amounting to $2,807,589 was derived from short-term lettings of land and buildings.
SURVEYS
All surveys in Hong Kong are plotted on the Colony grid which is a Cassini plane rectangular one with a false origin south-west of the Colony. Urban Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Kowloon are surveyed at the large scale of 1/600 (50 feet to 1 inch) because of the congested and crowded conditions in the built-up
areas.
To cope with development in the New Territories and pinpoint individual land holdings a wide coverage of up-to-date survey sheets on a scale of 100 feet to an inch is being completed. Most of the Colony is being mapped from air photos by Hunting Surveys Limited, the Crown Lands and Survey Office providing the ground control and field checks on photo plots. These surveys form the basis for plans at other scales for planning, land records and other purposes which are compiled from photographic reductions. In addition, a small-scale air survey is being carried out to form a basis for revising the 1:25,000 scale maps of the Colony.
TOWN PLANNING
Town planning in Hong Kong includes the development of new industrial townships, the re-development of out-of-date urban localities and the gradual expansion of the urban areas. The basic aim, therefore, is to provide a framework within which public and private development may progress together; to ensure that adequate provision is made for industry and housing, for open space, public buildings, communications and other necessary social services; and to control the use and stimulate the development of land.
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Since 1953, plans have been prepared for 38 planning districts in the urban areas. In addition many large-scale layout plans have been drawn up covering small portions of the urban areas and the New Territories. These plans are used as a guide in the sale of Crown land and the re-development of private land, but have no statutory effect except where approved in accordance with the Town Planning Ordinance.
The Town Planning Board consists of six official and three unofficial members and operates under the Town Planning Ordin- ance. The board has, to date, published outline development and layout plans for 15 districts, 14 of which have been approved by the Governor in Council and one rejected. Approved plans cover the following areas: Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau, North Point, Chai Wan, Yau Ma Tei, Hung Hom, Ma Tau Kok, Kwun Tong Tsai Wan, Ngau Tau Kok, Fung Wong Village, Cha Kwo Ling, north-east Kowloon, Sha Tin, the Central District of Victoria and Tsuen Wan and district. Plans of North Point, Chai Wan, Sha Tin and Ngau Tau Kok and the Central District of Victoria are at present under statutory revision. The board has also been instruct- ed to prepare plans in respect of Tsim Sha Tsui at the tip of the Kowloon Peninsula and Castle Peak in the New Territories; publica- tion of these is expected early in 1965.
BUILDINGS
In 1963 private building developers initiated a phenomenal number of schemes with intensities of development which new legislation was about to restrict: as a result the value of com- pleted buildings in 1964 reached the unprecedented figure of $838.4 million in spite of unusually bad summer weather. The number of approvals granted for new building proposals during 1964 (1,031) was, as expected, lower than in 1963. Most of this development is in residential building. The structure almost universally used continues to be the reinforced-concrete frame with floor slabs cast in situ, but the most modern finishes and mechanical installations are fitted.
Some idea of the tremendous activity in the building industry can be gained from the fact that during the year 21,179 submissions
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and re-submissions of building works of all kinds were received by the Building Authority and a total of 12,637 approval permits were issued.
In spite of the hectic re-development of recent years there are still very many pre-war buildings in the Colony. Deterioration of some of them has been accelerated by the effects of neglect during the war, by the high winds and torrential rains of most summers and by the overcrowding resulting from the huge increase in the population. Sudden collapse of buildings in this condition is an ever-present danger accentuated by the vibration of piling and the encroachments of other foundation works, such as excava- tion, on adjoining sites. Because of this the powers of the Building Authority were extended in September to allow close control and, if necessary, prohibition of building work which might endanger adjoining property.
The effect of this legislation has been to bring increasingly to light the condition of old buildings, with the result that the number of closure orders obtained by the Building Authority and con- sequently the number of persons dispossessed has greatly increased. The figure for this year was 34,726. The circumstances of these people were considered when policy on squatter control, resettlement and low-cost housing was reviewed and arrangements have been made for them which are detailed later in this chapter.
Other new legislation empowers the Building Authority to require a certificate from the Director of Fire Services in relation to the installation of fire-service equipment, before giving his approval to plans; minor alterations in the Building Regulations have also been made so that plumbing in all new buildings will be suitable for the use of salt water, which is expected eventually to become normal for new flushing-water supplies.
RESETTLEMENT AND HOUSING
Housing provided directly by Government ranges from resettle- ment accommodation which meets urgent needs of the lowest income groups, though low-cost housing flats for those with less than $400 a month to the flats built by the Housing Authority for families with incomes between $400 and $900 a month. Assistance above this level, for the $900 to $2,000 a month wage earner, will
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be provided by the Mortgage Corporation formed at the end of the year with government support.
Hong Kong's resettlement estates have attracted world-wide attention. Hundreds of thousands of people are being provided with housing by a low-cost building programme which, for speed and imagination, has few if any parallels. By the end of 1964, the Govern- ment of Hong Kong had become, through this programme, the direct landlord of about 701,600 people or 19 per cent of the popula- tion and new programmes aim to provide space for 900,000 adults in the next six years. New blocks are being built at the rate roughly one every 10 days.
The resettlement programme was begun to cope with the housing problems created by the phenomenal growth in population since the war. Conventional housing was quite inadequate and new- comers therefore found homes by building shelters or huts of any materials, on any piece of vacant land. These squatter huts rapidly spread over the urban areas of Hong Kong and Kowloon. In many places there were colonies of squatters, some of 40,000 or more, living together in a closely-packed mass, with their own shops and schools, and even factories and workshops. Sanitation was primitive or non-existent; there were frequent fires and a constant threat of epidemic disease. Moreover, the presence of these squatters on the land made it impossible to solve the very problems to which their presence had given rise. The houses, schools and hospitals needed for this swollen population could not be put in hand because the land required for their construction was often occupied by squatters.
The first attempt to solve the squatter problem was made in 1948 when people occupying land in the centre of the city were moved to more outlying areas, which it was then thought would not need to be re-developed for some time. Later, 'approved resettle- ment areas' were established where dwellings were required to be built of stone or other fire-proof materials to an approved pattern. The disadvantage was that these areas reproduced many of the unsatisfactory features of the squatter settlements while the majority of squatters were too poor to be able to build or purchase the type of cottage required. This difficulty was partly overcome by the construction of cottages by welfare organizations which rented them to approved settlers, either direct or through Government,
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or accepted payment for them by instalments. But the fundamental objection remained that this form of resettlement was uneconomic in both land and money and could not be used on a scale which would make any real impact on the squatter problem as a whole.
In 1954, after a disastrous squatter fire at Shek Kip Mei in which 53,000 people lost their homes, there was a drastic change in policy. A Resettlement Department was set up to co-ordinate the duties of squatter control and clearance which had previously been under- taken by several different departments. Government funds were then provided to build multi-storey accommodation blocks into which squatters could be resettled. These blocks, designed and built by the Public Works Department, were kept as simple as possible so that they could be put up quickly and then let at rents which the squatters could afford.
Basically each new building was in the form of an 'H' with com- munal washing and latrine facilities on each of the seven floors. Individual rooms varied in size from just under 100 square feet to just over 300 square feet, with the majority of 120 square feet designed to house a family of four or five adults. Twenty-four square feet for an adult was taken as the minimum requirement for health and comfort. With minor modifications, though with an improved external appearance, multi-storey resettlement accom- modation of this type had, by the end of 1964, been built to house 596,655 adults in 17 estates at a total capital cost of $404 million.
To ensure that economical use was made of the available space, rooms were allocated according to the size of the family rather than the rent they could afford. Rents were fixed at the lowest possible level to cover reimbursement of the capital cost of the building over 40 years (at 34 per cent per annum compound interest) plus an element for management and land costs. The rent of a standard 120 square feet room was fixed at $14 a month. No charge was made for the communal water supply but electricity, if it was installed at a tenant's request, was at his own expense; communal lighting was provided by Government.
Not all resettlement accommodation is of the same uniform standard. Some families in squatter areas lived in structures of a much higher standard than the average. To provide these people with better accommodation, self-contained flats with private bal- conies, kitchens, lavatories and showers were constructed in a
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number of blocks at a monthly rental of $45 a month for a flat of 240 square feet and $65 a month for one of 360 square feet. More recently, the new H-blocks have been modified to provide larger rooms on the ends of each floor with private balconies and their own water supply. These rooms are let at a rent of $45 a month to families cleared from better than average structures.
The original H-block has now been abandoned in favour of a new design of resettlement building. The new blocks, of either eight or 16 storeys in height, differ fundamentally in that access to domestic rooms lies from a central corridor on each floor instead of from external common balconies running along each side of the building. This new design also makes it possible to provide each room in a block with a private balcony. Other important advances in living standards in these blocks include refuse chutes, the installation of electrical power and light points in domestic rooms and the alloca- tion of private lavatories in place of the former communal latrines and wash-houses. The new blocks will cost more but they are an advance upon providing only basic requirements. More intensive land use and the adaptability of the new design to irregularly shaped sites will greatly assist in speeding up the rate of resettlement.
The monthly rent for a standard domestic room of 129 square feet in the new Mark III type of block is $30, composed of $23 basic rent, with elements for rating and water charges. Despite the slightly higher rents for this better accommodation the number of tenants failing to pay their rent is still extremely small. Out of a total of $28,900,000 due in rents for the year, only about 0.002 per cent had to be written off as irrecoverable arrears.
The resettlement estates are virtually townships (the population of Wong Tai Sin Estate, for instance, is now 81,000 persons) and other community needs must be provided for. Ground floor rooms are set aside to be let as shops or workshops generally to settlers who operated similar businesses in the clearance area. Shops of 240 square feet are divided into four grades and pay $200, $150, $115 or $80 a month rent according to locality. The rents include rates and are subject to annual review. Some shop spaces are used by government departments and private welfare organizations as schools, clinics or nurseries. Even rooftops are put to use and in the estates so far constructed most of them have been allocated to established voluntary agencies who operate schools or children's
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clubs under the guidance of the Education or Social Welfare Depart- ments. A community centre was built in the Wong Tai Sin estate in 1960 with funds provided by the United States Government and another centre was opened in Kwun Tong estate in 1964. A new community centre was also provided in 1963 by the Methodist Mission in the Chai Wan area, where there are both a cottage area and a resettlement estate.
Provision has also had to be made for the small factories which have always operated in squatter areas, more and more of which were revealed as clearance operations advanced. So that those who were resettled could continue their livelihoods multi-storey factory blocks were built. With the passage of time, it also became necessary to recover land for more intensive development formerly occupied by factories on annual permits. These undertakings are generally more substantial than 'squatter' factories and workshops but, when their permits are cancelled, the owners also have difficulty in finding alternative accommodations. It has therefore been the practice for some years to offer resettlement also to the operators of such concerns when their permits are cancelled to enable the land on which they stand to be developed, and it is largely on their account that in 1964 Government made substantial increase in the maximum floor area qualifying for resettlement. Because of the need to use a simple design in order to keep construction costs, and therefore rents, as low as possible, a number of trades cannot be accommodated and some factories therefore can be resettled only if the owners are willing to change their trades.
The factory blocks have industrial working space in units of 198 square feet in the older five-storey blocks, the first of which was completed in 1957, and 256 square feet in the revised seven-storey design first built in 1962. There are at present 12 resettlement flatted factories, containing a total of 733,370 square feet of net working space, mostly situated in or near existing resettlement estates, and one single storey annexe building. Rents are calculated to provide a return on capital within 21 years at five per cent per annum compound interest. They vary from $75 a month for a ground floor unit to $45 a month for one on a top floor in the older factories, and from $120 to $65 in the new factories, in each case inclusive of rates. In administering these factory tenancies the Resettlement Department checks machinery, and electrical and floor loading and
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to secure satisfactory working conditions and safety from fire and other hazards, there is continuous liaison with the Labour and Fire Services Departments.
There still remain 14 of the old cottage resettlement areas in various parts of the urban area and New Territories, but the number of occupants is dwindling as clearance for development goes on and they are resettled in multi-storey accommodation. In 1964, large sections of one cottage area were cleared for housing develop- ment and schools, and part of another to make way for a service reservoir. A total of 1,207 structures in five cottage areas were demolished in 1964, and 11,415 occupants were resettled. Approxi- mately 18 acres of land were freed in this way. However, in the remoter cottage areas, existing wooden structures are sometimes replaced with stone buildings. Several of the remaining cottage areas still contain many small factories, shops and workshops, together with schools, clinics and welfare centres of various types, which are largely provided by voluntary agencies who continue to add generously to such facilities year by year.
At the beginning of the year Rennie's Mill Village was also constituted as a regular cottage resettlement area. This settlement on the shore of Junk Bay originated in 1950 with a group of ex- nationalist soldiers. In time many of them moved away and with new immigrants a permanent settlement of some 8,000 people developed, many living in stone cottages constructed with the assistance of welfare organizations. Since the Resettlement Depart- ment first took over its administration in 1961 many improvements have been made, including better drainage and sanitary facilities, the surfacing of access roads and the installation of a mains water supply; a police station, temporary fire station and resettlement offices have also been completed. Now as a fully constituted cottage resettlement area quarterly permit fees for all structures have been collected as elsewhere.
SQUATTER CLEARANCES
During the year, 46,659 people were cleared from land required for development and all genuine occupants resettled. In the 1964 clearances, 77 acres of land were freed. With the scarcity of land in the urban area, it is becoming increasingly necessary to
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clear areas further afield for sites for new resettlement estates in the outskirts of Kowloon, at Aberdeen on the Island or in the New Territories. A new estate is also being formed at Yuen Long in the New Territories, for resettling squatters cleared locally.
Reclamation schemes are reducing the number of sheltered anchorages and it has been found necessary to resettle boat squatters to relieve congestion. During the year 12,273 boat squatters were resettled. The main aims are to preserve the maximum available space in typhoon shelters for fishing and other working craft and to reduce the serious health risk which these static boats constitute.
Cultivators in the urban area who opened up their cultivation before October 1954 and who lose their land and livelihood through clearance for development are given monetary compensation. During the year $638,943 were paid to cultivators against the clearance of 22 acres of cultivation.
New squatting is contained as far as possible; huts built before 1954 (or 1956 in the case of rooftops) are tolerated but new squatting is forbidden. Annual surveys are made to determine the number of people living in these tolerated structures. The 1964 survey indicated 504,571 squatters in the urban areas surveyed, including 64,765 on rooftops and a further 38,769 in Tsuen Wan District. Squatters in unsurveyed areas are thought to number some 60,000. New unauthorized huts and unauthorized extensions to existing huts are demolished; during 1964 16,396 such demolitions took place; 11,846 rooftop squatters and pavement huts squatters were resited when tenements were demolished for redevelopment during 1964. Another 28,628 dispossessed tenants from 384 dangerous buildings were allocated sites on which to build temporary structures pending resettlement into new estates.
The increasing number of tenants evicted from dangerous pre-war buildings was one of the factors taken into account in the re-examina- tion of resettlement policy this year. While the law already provides for compensation in most cases there was no automatic entitlement to resettlement. The 'Review of Policies for Squatter Control, Resettlement and Low-Cost Housing' adopted by the Legislative Council as a guide to future policy put the former tenants of those buildings at the head of a priority list for resettlement. To avail themselves of this priority they will pay a lump sum as an advance on their resettlement rent, the sum having been fixed in the light
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of the compensation they are likely to have received. This rent advance will be returned to them in the form of a reduced rent over the first ten years of their tenancy.
The revised resettlement policy also gives priority for accommoda- tion to compassionate cases and victims of natural disasters, to people living in areas needed for re-development, tenants of over- crowded rooms in existing resettlement estates and to pavement dwellers. Associated with these changes are the new building pro- grammes and arrangements for those who do not have any priority for accommodation.
The building programmes embrace both resettlement building itself and the programme of Government Low-cost Housing. This is a recently initiated programme of accommodation similar in design to the latest improved resettlement blocks and is administered by the Housing Authority. These programmes are calculated on the basis of units representing space for one adult. The new building programme for resettlement covers the six years to 1970 during which 900,000 should be provided at a cost of $766,000,000. This figure is covered by items already in the public works programme and sites have already been reserved. As an aid to planning a ten- year technical planning target has also been adopted for the provi- sion of 1,900,000 units by 1974 at a cost of $1,691,000,000. Annual reviews will ensure that both the programmes and the planning targets are within our resources, that they are continuing to meet the needs of the Colony and that they are kept six and ten years in advance respectively. The revised policy finally makes new arrangements for homeless people, who do not qualify at the time for resettlement, to erect their huts under licence in more remote areas where they will be free from disturbance.
The New Territories Administration is responsible for the control of squatters in the New Territories, with the exception of the Tsuen Wan District where control has been transferred to the Resettlement Department. The more accessible parts of the New Territories are regularly patrolled and are divided into prohibited and non- prohibited areas. In prohibited areas such as the margins of roads, development areas, and land exposed to flooding, no new domestic huts are allowed. In non-prohibited areas temporary structures may be built with a permit from the District Office. As outside Tsuen Wan there are no resettlement estates in the New Territories,
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when existing structures have to be cleared from areas required for road widening, water supply pipelines or other development, the occupants are normally given assistance in the form of building materials and rice to enable them to rebuild their huts on suitable sites elsewhere. An exception is Tsuen Wan, where during 1964 9,233 persons cleared from areas required for development were resettled direct into standard resettlement blocks in the Tai Wo Hau and Kwai Chung Central resettlement estates.
HOUSING
Private enterprise has provided new accommodation for about 827,897 people during the past nine years, but a large number of these people are those who have had to be re-housed as a result of old buildings being demolished. At the end of 1964 rated domestic accommodation in the urban areas (excluding resettlement estates) comprised 112,650 tenement floors, 28,857 small flats, 14,204 large flats, 964 houses and 26,588 low-cost housing units. Domestic accommodation predominates in all new building projects.
The Government Low-cost Housing programme, introduced in 1962, which is designed to provide accommodation for people who earn less than $400 a month and who are living in insanitary or overcrowded conditions, has made considerable progress. At the end of the year five low-cost housing estates, to provide accommoda- tion for 54,828 people in 11,754 flats, were either fully completed or nearing completion and work on two additional estates had already been started. The original programme was to house 20,000 people a year but this has been considerably increased by the revised policy which laid down new building programmes for low-cost housing as well as resettlement building. These aim at 170,000 new units of this type over the next six years with a technical planning target of 290,000 by 1974. The costs are estimated at $197,000,000 and $353,000,000 respectively.
Apart from these two government programmes the Hong Kong Housing Authority, a statutory body created in 1954, provides the largest housing programme for people in need of low-cost housing. The Authority itself consists of all members of the Urban Council, ex officio, and certain other members appointed by the Governor. The Ordinance constituting the Authority gives it wide powers in
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relation to housing. It plans, constructs and manages its own estates, which are designed for those with family incomes ranging from $400 to $900 a month. Under this programme the Authority had housed 128,300 people in 21,200 flats in seven completed estates at the end of the year. In a new estate at Pok Fu Lam on the Island and in the second phase of an existing estate at Kwun Tong on the mainland, 8,700 flats to house a further 57,800 people are to be built. The former is the largest project so far undertaken by the Authority. Covering an area of just over 24 acres the estate will house some 50,200 people in 7,400 flats at a cost of $83,000,000. Four schools, kindergartens, a town centre with 50 shops, medical and dental clinics, a post office, party rooms and other amenities are to be included.
The Authority's approved schemes will provide housing for a total of 186,180 people in 29,916 flats at a capital cost of $287 million, $230 million financed by government loans and $57 million through self-financing. At the end of 1964 the Authority has spent over $201 million and its rent roll has reached $22.5 million. Sites for the Authority's estates are provided by Government at one- third of the estimated market value, and rents are calculated on the basis of estimated working expenses and amortization of capital expenditure on buildings and land at five per cent over 40 years. On this basis the Authority is required to balance its budget.
A revised ten-year progressive building programme adopted this year, is designed to provide 53,000 flats for 326,000 people. The programme is subject to annual review and is dependent on still further government loans being made available.
Housing built by the Authority consists of multi-storey blocks of self-contained flats in large estates with provision for shops, clinics, schools and kindergartens. Playgrounds and other amenities are provided and a high standard of planning and construction is maintained. Rents for the Authority's flats range from $48 a month for a four-person flat to $139 a month for a 14-person flat. Selection of tenants is carried out on the basis of housing need, a points system being operated.
In 1962 the Authority undertook, at Government's request, to manage all the properties built under the Government Low-Cost Housing programme. Like the Authority's estates, these estates consist of multi-storey blocks of flats each containing a living-room,
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private balcony, cooking place and a water point, but whereas the Authority's flats have their own toilet and shower these share toilet facilities between two flats. Management of these properties is carried out by the Authority on a non-profit basis, the costs being paid by Government and rents credited to government funds. Rents range from $35 a month for a four-person room to $80 for a 10-person room.
Maintenance and management of the Authority's and Govern- ment Low-Cost Housing estates is of a high standard and includes rent collection and supervision by trained housing managers, maintenance officers and assistants. The staff of the Authority are all government servants working in the Housing Division of the Urban Services Department under the direction of the Com- missioner for Housing. The Authority reimburses to Government all staff salaries, plus a percentage surcharge calculated to meet indirect staff costs such as pensions, housing and medical treatment.
A number of voluntary organizations have built housing for lower and middle income groups during recent years. The largest of these is the Hong Kong Housing Society, a pioneer in the field of low-cost housing in the Colony. The Society has now housed some 51,661 people in 8,428 flats on nine estates in different parts of the Colony. The rents of these flats are $37 a month for a small room with communal facilities and a maximum of $165 a month for a larger room with adjoining kitchen, toilet and balcony. The estates are well laid out with playgrounds and gardens.
During 1964 the Society housed 6,822 people in 1,069 flats. At the close of the year, 8,909 additional flats, to provide accommodation for 56,100 people, were under construction. The Society's programme for the next five years is to provide a further 8,937 flats for 55,892 people. Funds for the Society's schemes are normally provided by Government at low interest rates. The Society also operates a loan scheme under which firms lend money to cover the cost of con- structing flats, and in return are given a lease of accommodation for nominated employees. These loans are interest free and repayable over 20 years.
Other voluntary organizations providing accommodation include the Hong Kong Settlers Housing Corporation. This corporation manages a number of buildings and, with a government loan, is constructing seven blocks of multi-storey buildings with between
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1,300 to 1,400 flats to accommodate approximately 7,000 people. Two of these blocks were completed before the end of the year.
Since 1950 land has been made available by Government at one-third of its estimated value to encourage non-profit-making housing projects like these, and under this arrangement many large industrial concerns and employers provide flats or dormitory-type accommodation for their employees.
The Government helps its junior local staff by reserving for them 15 per cent of all domestic accommodation in Government Low- Cost Housing estates. Rents and other conditions of tenancy are the same as those for members of the public. In 1952 a scheme was started by which local civil servants on the pensionable establish- ment have been encouraged to form co-operative building societies through which they could receive loans from Government to buy land and build flats. Under this scheme 204 societies with 4,077 members have received loans and, of these, 173 societies with 3,465 members have already completed their buildings. Government has now reviewed the scheme. Further loans will be made to 60 groups who had already applied but thereafter a new scheme will be im- plemented under which the development of sites and construction of multi-storey blocks of flats would be carried out by Government itself, thus ensuring the most economical and practical use of funds available. Funds for the new scheme will become available in April 1966. Ten per cent of these funds will be reserved for building co-operatives organized on existing lines by groups of senior officers. Government also provides accommodation for its overseas staff and for many of its local staff, including police and fire service officers, nurses and resident staff on government installations.
In partnership with the Commonwealth Development Corporation and interested local banks, Government has set up this year a mortgage loan corporation, the Hong Kong Building and Loan Agency Limited, for the purpose of making loans to private in- dividuals for the purchase of their own homes. The loan corporation will be run as a commercial concern without government subsidy, loans will only be made to owner-occupiers of the property financed, and the qualifying limits of borrowers' income will initially be in the range of $900 to $2,000 a month. Loans will be limited to a percentage of the assessed value of the flat purchased with an overall limit of $40,000.
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RENT CONTROL
Rent control instituted by proclamation immediately after the war was embodied in the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance in 1947. This restricted rent by reference to pre-war figures and at the same time freed new and substantially reconstructed buildings from control. Thus, the broad distinction between controlled and uncontrolled premises lies in whether they are pre-war or post-war buildings. The 1947 Ordinance allowed increases beyond standard rent of 30 per cent in the case of domestic premises and 45 per cent for business premises; the 45 per cent became 100 per cent in 1949 and, through further amending legislation in 1953, the 30 per cent rose to 55 per cent while the 100 per cent advanced in two stages to 150 per cent. These increases, 55 per cent for domestic premises and 150 per cent for business premises, still stand.
Redevelopment of old buildings is covered by an important provision in the ordinance whereby premises may be excluded from its operation. This power rests with the Governor in Council and, in relation to particular premises, can be exercised only after a recommendation from a tenancy tribunal. Tribunals follow the criterion of public interest and award compensation to tenants in relation to the hardship which dispossession will cause them; such compensation recommended by the Tenancy Tribunals during the year was $98,166,305. This large sum must be viewed in relation to the enhanced value of the land arising from the acquired freedom to rebuild. In 1954-5, 4,778 ordinary cases were filed and 377 exclusion cases and in 1963-4, 806 ordinary cases and 7,577 exclu- sion cases. This change in the nature of the work reflects the exten- sive re-development of pre-war protected properties.
Since 1953, two tenancy enquiry bureaux have operated within the framework of the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs to help the machinery of the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance work smoothly. The principal statutory duties placed on these bureaux are to pro- vide tenancy tribunals with factual information whenever applica- tion is made by a landlord for exclusion from control, or by a tenant for the reduction of rent.
The Tenancy (Prolonged Duration) Ordinance of 1952 gave limited security of tenure to certain tenants of new buildings who entered into verbal tenancy agreements often involving quite
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substantial lump sum payments. In 1963, the three-year security under this ordinance was extended to five years for new tenancies commencing after 1st July 1963. Increases in rents in 1961 and in the early part of 1962 resulted in the enactment of the Tenancy (Notice of Termination) Ordinance which came into force on 14th April 1962. Because many tenancies are monthly on a word of mouth basis, this ordinance (with certain exceptions) extended the period required for termination of domestic and business tenancies to six months' written notice. The Ordinance was amended in October 1962 so that tenancies affected by it enjoyed general security of tenure up to 30th June 1963. Domestic tenancies were given further security of tenure for two years from 1st July 1963 following enact- ment of the 1963 Rent Increases (Domestic Premises) Control Ordinance, but for business premises general security of tenure, apart from the obligatory six months' notice of termination, ended on 30th June 1963.
The 1963 Rent Increases (Domestic Premises) Control Ordinance deals with rent increase control rather than rent control and does not apply to initial lettings. Landlords and tenants are also free to agree to any increase in rent but such agreements require endorse- ment by the Commissioner of Rating and Valuation. No increase in rent is allowed, other than by agreement, in the two years following commencement of a tenancy or in the two years after an increase in rent; and, where rent is increased, security of tenure for two years (subject to ordinary tenancy requirements being met) is assured. The ordinance is due to expire on 30th June 1965 but at the end of this year Government announced its intention of introducing legislation to extend its life for a further two years. Under the ordinance increases are generally limited to not more than 10 per cent of the existing rent except in the special circumstances of particular tenancies. Applications for certificates of increase are made to the Commissioner of Rating and Valuation who has wide powers under this ordinance, as well as the right to consult the Rent Increases Advisory Panel. During 1964 the Commissioner received some 3,450 applications of which about 21 per cent were in respect of agreed increases, 64 per cent for increases in rent of not more than 10 per cent and six per cent for increases exceeding 10 per cent.
10
Social Welfare
THE experience of Hong Kong since the war has been the experience of rapid change: change in both the economic and the social struc- tures which form the basis of our community. As Hong Kong moves from being a small trading centre to a thriving industrial city, new living and work patterns often disrupt traditional values and habits. The traditional family system with its strong sense of responsibility for its less fortunate members is tending to break down, and people who now find themselves without the support of their family have to depend more and more on what may seem an impersonal community. The scarcity of land, the heavy con- centration of people into a very restricted area and the creation of new towns are principal factors in the creation of a new way of life which means keen competition for the essentials of existence and brings with it unaccustomed tensions and pressures for the individual.
The many stresses of this increasingly modern society present a challenge and demand a more intense effort to expand and improve the social services, particularly now in the growing field of social welfare. The Social Welfare Department's objective, therefore, is to study and assess social problems, both actual and potential, and to propose measures to deal with them within the limits of the Government's resources. One of the social work methods aimed at such an objective is 'community development'.
The meaning of community development as applied to urban areas and particularly to Hong Kong was recently stated to be a conscious and deliberate effort aimed at helping communities to recognize their needs and to assume increasing responsibility for solving their problems, thereby increasing their capacities to par- ticipate fully in the life of the total community. Its objective is to stimulate and enable the people to organize themselves, to develop local leadership and to mobilize community resources for the improvement of living conditions with the assistance of Government or voluntary agencies working in partnership.
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An encouraging beginning has already been made in the com- munity and social centres in Hong Kong, which provide a focus for work in this field. Social workers in the department are directed to work outwards from each centre, forging social links with the residents. They also give judicious support, without control or condescension, to neighbourhood groups which are already providing their members with a sense of belonging and an awareness of the larger community to which the group itself belongs.
There are now three community centres: the first centre at Wong Tai Sin is nearly five years old; the second was completed a year later in the rapidly growing industrial town of Tsuen Wan; while the third and latest centre was opened in Kwun Tong in February this year. In addition there are two social centres, one in the old Tsan Yuk Hospital building in the heart of the slums on Hong Kong Island and one at Sheung Shui, a largely rebuilt town in the New Territories. At each of these centres there is a range of welfare services including day nurseries, vocational training classes, case- work services, libraries, and group activities including, amongst much else, youth clubs, interest groups in photography, Chinese opera, music, judo, Chinese boxing and calligraphy.
TRAINING
There is little prospect of success in this task without adequately trained social work staff. Recommendations in the report of the Social Work Training Consultants are being considered by the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University and the Govern- ment. One of the main recommendations, the establishment of a Chair of Social Studies at the University of Hong Kong, has already been accepted, while the Chinese University has created and filled a Chair of Social Work. The Advisory Committee on Social Work Training advises on the promotion and co-ordination of training for social workers in Hong Kong at all levels. Another important committee manages the Social Work Training Fund which has so far granted $190,770 towards university courses and other training.
The University of Hong Kong provides a two-year course leading to a Certificate in Social Studies and a one-year post graduate course leading to a Diploma (during the year 13 students completed their courses and 26 are enrolled in the current year). At the Chinese
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University a four-year undergraduate course with social work major leads to a BA degree or a diploma; the first degrees were awarded in September. To encourage professional training in this field, the Government has been providing bursaries for students enrolled in the courses at the University of Hong Kong. The total value of those awarded during 1964 was $94,500 and 29 students benefited. Three different in-service training courses are conducted by the Training Unit of the Social Welfare Department for staff employed by both Government and voluntary agencies. The keen interest of voluntary agencies is shown by enrolment during the year of 136 trainees, employed by 43 different agencies. Opportunities for study abroad, often in specialized fields, are sometimes open to social workers; during the year 18 members of the Social Welfare Department were taking higher training overseas, mainly in Britain and Canada; and the Social Work Training Fund has begun to assist voluntary agencies in the same direction.
CHILD WELFARE
As more women are attracted into industry there has been a rising demand for day care services for children below school age. During the year seven new nurseries and four play centres were opened, providing a total of 9,500 places in day care centres as compared with some 5,000 last year. In contrast, institutional care is now needed only to replace home or day care when the latter is not feasible. In the past five years three residential homes for children were closed, while the premises of several others were converted into day nurseries. Homes are now being used more and more for short-term care, with every effort being made towards the early return of the children to their own families, or their entry into new families through adoption. Residential institutions for babies and children continue to provide some 3,000 places for orphans or children whose parents have failed, temporarily or permanently, to provide care at home; there are now 19 such homes, ranging in capacity from over 800 to less than ten.
A new venture has begun with the opening of the Children's Reception Centre, which serves as a transit home for any child who needs care and protection. Eighty young children can be placed for initial care and detailed observation and assessment for a few months in this government-run home while their future is planned.
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During the year 178 were admitted and 138 were discharged, of whom 15 were adopted into families either in Hong Kong or abroad. The number of babies abandoned has dropped to 91 as compared with 126 last year while adoptions both locally and overseas have decreased from 336 in 1963 to 226 in 1964. Two international welfare agencies have been responsible for processing adoption abroad. Other services such as school fees, cash grants, clothing and equipment were provided on an increased scale for needy children by a number of voluntary agencies; during the year more than 40,000 children have benefited in this way.
MORAL WELFARE
In the field of moral welfare the Social Welfare Department endeavours to rehabilitate young prostitutes, dance hostesses and bar girls, and to give care and advice to unmarried mothers and girls in moral danger or victims of sexual assault. The department provides a counselling service and vocational training while in- stitutional care and training are offered in two voluntary institutions, Pelletier Hall and the Po Leung Kuk. Vocational training is also available in various domestic skills at two day centres, of which one was opened during the year.
THE PROBATION SERVICE
Probation officers who have in the past been chiefly concerned with the task of supervising offenders on probation, are now being more frequently called upon to make social enquiries for the courts as a general aid to sentencing. During the year the total caseload reached over one thousand (for the first time), and in the ratio of approximately three adults to two juveniles.
The juvenile correctional institutions at present consist of a combined remand and probation home for 160 boys, a similar home for 50 girls, and a reformatory school for 150 boys. There are plans for a probation hostel at Kwun Tong for young offenders aged between 16 and 21 and for a second reformatory school.
Valuable voluntary services on the preventive and positive side are also offered by the Juvenile Care Centre and the Society of Boys' Centres for residential training of those who need to over- come behaviour and other difficulties. The Discharged Prisoners'
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Aid Society assists in finding jobs and providing temporary accom- modation and material assistance for discharged prisoners.
YOUTH WELFARE
Additional opportunities and outlets for the energies of young people are needed and effort has been devoted during the year to stimulating new and improved services for young people between 14 and 19 years of age. Youth groups of varying sizes are organized at the various community and social centres as well as in ground floor or rooftop premises of resettlement estates, while youth hostels and camps are provided in the New Territories where young people can enjoy a day or more of healthy recreation and outdoor activity.
The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups has started many youth activities both in the urban and rural areas. Apart from its youth centres the Federation operates, in collaboration with the Education and Social Welfare Departments, a training and recrea- tion centre at Tsuen Wan where 50 boys and girls at a time can enjoy outdoor pursuits and training. The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme continues to attract numbers of young people to use their own initiative and imagination in circumstances calling for independent thought and quick action. Organizations such as the YWCA, YMCA, Scouts, Guides, Boys' and Girls' Club Associa- tion and the Hong Kong Sea School, provide a wide range of activities for the many interests of youth. The task of co-ordinating and promoting all these activities has for many years been the function of the Hong Kong Conference of Youth Organizations, a consultative body made up of 22 voluntary youth agencies and three government departments. The Conference also runs a camp at Silver Mine Bay giving a week's holiday to some 3,500 children
a year.
ASSISTANCE AND RELIEF
More intensive casework, aimed at rehabilitating and restoring destitutes and others to full or partial economic independence; strict application of present standards of entitlement; and relative improvement in the economic and employment conditions for fit young people in the Colony are all factors that contributed to a further decrease in relief expenditure during the year. The number
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of families on relief at the end of the year was 2,234 as against 2,970 at the same time last year, a decrease of 25 per cent. A number of voluntary agencies, including the Co-operative for American Relief Everywhere, Catholic Relief Services, Church World Service, Lutheran World Service and the Seventh Day Adventist Welfare Service operate supplementary feeding schemes in which surplus American foodstuff in large quantity is converted into noodles or milk.
While the scale of public assistance fell, the demand for emergency relief rose to record heights during the year. As a result of five typhoons in quick succession 29,000 people were registered for relief food, clothing and accommodation. Further help for these unfortunate people came in donations to the Community Relief Trust Fund which totalled $3,287,983 of which $2,571,872 was distributed to typhoon victims. Fires, house collapses, landslides and floods brought suffering and hardship to another 9,300. During the same period there were 160 closure orders imposed against dangerous buildings, resulting in the occupants having to move out at short notice; they had in most cases to be found temporary accommodation by the Social Welfare Department.
Immediately after news of a disaster is received, an emergency relief team is despatched to the affected area to register the victims and within few hours a hot meal is served and free feeding con- tinues twice a day for a maximum of a month; grants from the Community Relief Trust Fund are given in certain cases very soon after the disaster. During the year nearly 62,500 victims of natural disasters were registered and over 814,000 meals were provided. The co-operation of voluntary agencies remained invaluable in such times of emergency. The British Red Cross Society, Catholic Relief Services, CARE, Church World Service, the Kai Fong associations, Lutheran World Service and the Salvation Army are among the most active in providing cash grants, blankets, used clothing, food parcels and cooking utensils.
THE HANDICAPPED
As in public assistance and other welfare activities, so in providing for the handicapped more emphasis is being placed on individual training and rehabilitation rather than on mass relief and institution care. A new rehabilitation centre of the Social Welfare Department
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has been completed at Aberdeen, with expanded and improved facilities for social and vocational training for a maximum capacity of six hundred. Its facilities, provided in co-operation with the new Surgical Appliance Centre of the Medical and Health Depart- ment, include instruction in practical modern trades like printing and light mechanics. The aim is to have a single process of rehabilita- tion, from initial medical treatment through vocational training to final resettlement in employment and self-reliance. The total number of handicapped people registered with the Social Welfare Depart- ment including 4,802 physically handicapped, 4,221 blind, 2,091 deaf, and 1,119 mentally defective, continued to rise, and at the end of the year exceeded 12,200.
Voluntary agencies were the pioneers in this, as in so many other fields. The factory for the blind run by the Hong Kong Society for the Blind employs 135 workers in machine sewing, broom, brush and button making, crate and box construction and mending, and chalk-making. Clubs are operated by Government for nearly 80 blind persons, to assist them to adjust initially to their handicap. For blind children, there are two schools run by voluntary agencies which provide residential care and training. Almost a hundred deaf children are now in school and another 170 at clubs operated by Government. Progress is also being maintained in carrying out the recommendations made by Dr L. T. Hilliard in his 1960 Report on the problem of mental deficiency in Hong Kong. There are three day centres for 100 mentally retarded children and the Aberdeen Rehabilitation Centre has a specially designed block for 60 mentally defective children. The British Commonwealth Save the Children Fund has shown welcome initiative in opening a play centre for 50 mentally retarded children aged four to eight.
Although the sense of obligation towards the aged still remains strong in the community, the continuing impact of urban industrial conditions on the family system is bound to result in a greater need in future for accommodation in homes for the aged; accom- modation available in voluntary homes remained at about 1,600.
CONCLUSION
In the endeavour to expand and improve social services Hong Kong is fortunate in having many local and international welfare
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and religious organizations which contribute generously in work and resources in many forms of social service. The Hong Kong Council of Social Service has the very important functions and aims of preventing duplication, co-ordinating services, planning for future needs and interpreting these needs to the public; its new director arrived in September.
The Government and the Social Welfare Department are also fortunate in having the advice of a strong and helpful unofficial Social Welfare Advisory Committee to give guidance and prompting on welfare questions. This committee advised in the preparation of a policy statement published in draft in November as a White Paper entitled 'Aims and Policy for Social Welfare in Hong Kong' which led to much public discussion and will be debated by the Legislative Council early in 1965.
11
Legislation
DURING the year 36 ordinances and a considerable volume of subsidiary legislation were enacted. Although the majority of this legislation amended existing laws it did at the same time reflect new conditions and situations resulting from the development of the Colony. This is particularly true of the group of legislation in the field of public safety as it is affected by industrial and building development.
The Fire Services (Amendment) Ordinance, 1964, is intended to facilitate as far as possible the prevention of fires and to minimize damage to life and property if a fire does occur. It empowers the Director of Fire Services or any authorized officer to enter and inspect premises in order to obtain information necessary for fire-fighting purposes and to ascertain if any fire hazard exists therein. The person responsible for a fire hazard, or the owner or occupier of the premises in which it exists, can by notice be required to abate the hazard and to prevent its recurrence. If he fails to do so, a magistrate is empowered in certain circumstances to prohibit the premises being used for human habitation or for the storage of certain goods, until the hazard is abated. In certain circumstances the Director may abate the hazard himself.
The Buildings (Amendment) Ordinance, 1964, gives powers to ensure that new buildings are equipped with minimum fire service installations. The Building Authority is empowered to refuse to approve plans or to issue occupation permits, if the plans do not show or the buildings do not contain installations and equipment approved by the Director of Fire Services, or if they are not in good working order.
The Buildings (Amendment) (No 2) Ordinance, 1964, gives special powers to prevent the collapse of adjoining buildings, where demoli- tion work or building work involving piling or excavation is being carried out. The Building Authority is empowered to refuse consent to the commencement of such work or, in the case of demolition
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work, to refuse consent until adequate precautions have been taken for the safety of adjoining buildings. The Building Authority may also prescribe conditions subject to which work may be carried out. The erection of shoring for adjoining buildings is also authorized, where necessary for the purpose of satisfying the Building Authority that adequate precautions have been taken or of complying with conditions. Anyone who suffers loss or damage by reason of the erection of shoring can recover compensation from the developer. The Dangerous Goods (General) Regulations, 1964, the Dangerous Goods (Classification) Regulations, 1964, and the Dangerous Goods (Shipping) Regulations, 1964, comprise a complete revision and replacement of the existing law on this subject. They cover the possession, storage, conveyance and packing of dangerous goods. Such goods are classified comprehensively according to their nature and properties, and ships carrying such goods are controlled accord- ing to three different types or classifications. The Dangerous Goods (Amendment) Ordinance, 1964, was enacted to simplify in certain respects the administration of this body of subordinate legislation.
The Workmen's Compensation (Amendment) Ordinance, 1964, ex- tends the scope of the principal ordinance to certain occupational diseases.
Entirely new ground is broken by the Television Ordinance, 1964, which provides for the statutory control of commercial television broadcasting. The first licence to be granted will be for a term of 15 years, subject to renewal every five years, and for the first five years the licencee will have an exclusive franchise. The licence is required to be under the management of British subjects resident in the Colony, and no competitor, supplier of broadcasting material or advertising agent may have a controlling interest in the company. There is to be one English and one Chinese language programme broadcast for at least five hours each day. These services may be required to include news bulletins, announcements of public interest and programmes for schools. They must contain a proper balance in the subject matter and a high general standard of quality. A Television Authority is established, to administer the ordinance and to secure technical efficiency and proper standards of pro- grammes.
The Legal Practitioners Ordinance, 1964, replaces the existing legislation with a comprehensive ordinance providing for the
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admission of solicitors, barristers and notaries public and for the regulation of their professional practice.
Previous provisions laying down the formalities and prescribing the fees for persons seeking to be admitted are re-enacted by the ordinance, and by the Admission and Registration Rules, 1964, and the Legal Practitioners (Fees) Rules, 1964. Similarly, every solicitor or barrister in practice is required to be in possession of an annual practising certificate issued under the Practising Certificates Rules, 1964. In addition it is intended, when section 8 of the ordinance and the Accountant's Certificate Rules, 1964, are brought into operation, that every solicitor shall be required to produce, in connection with his accounts, a certificate issued by an accountant under those rules. The ordinance re-enacts the privileges of solicitors and barristers, and prohibits unqualified persons acting as such. It also repeats provisions for the remuneration of solicitors, and basic rules of conduct for solicitors are laid down by the ordinance and the Solicitors' Practice Rules, 1964. The keeping of registers of clerks and interpreters employed by solicitors are also required. The ordinance also makes provision for the taking by solicitors of articled clerks, and the Students Rules, 1964, lay down conditions with which a student must comply. Provision is also made for enquiry into the professional conduct of solicitors and barristers, and for investigating the conduct of articled clerks and solicitors' employees.
Following the recommendations contained in the Report on the Hong Kong Banking Business by Mr H. J. Tomkins, the Banking Ordinance, 1964, was enacted to replace the old Banking Ordinance, Chapter 155. The report expressed concern about some potentially dangerous features in the banking methods of some banks, partic- ularly in regard to the lack of adequate protection of the interests of depositors. The essence of banking should be the acceptance from the general public of deposits repayable on demand on current or savings accounts and the making of short term loans to customers, and it is banking of this kind that this ordinance is designed prin- cipally to regulate. Thus, the use of the title 'bank' is restricted by the ordinance to those organizations which are able and willing to comply with the conditions laid down in the ordinance. The main features of the ordinance are sixfold but certain relaxations are allowed in the case of existing unincorporated banks. First,
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the requirement, existing since 1960 in the case of banks licensed since then, that each bank should have a minimum capital of $5 million is extended to all banks and there is added to this a requirement that each bank should build up open reserves of an equal amount to provide a 'cushion' to protect the bank's customers against possible losses. The ordinance also contains a series of restrictions on the activities of banks designed to avoid the risks inherent in a bank becoming over-committed to any one customer, being 'milked' by its proprietors, directors or staff, undertaking trading risks on its own account or tying up too great a proportion of its fund in illiquid and speculative transactions. Other features are detailed provisions designed to ensure that sufficient liquid assets are always available to banks to meet day-to-day variations in net receipts and withdrawals, and provision is also made to secure the proper auditing of bankers' books and the proper publica- tion of annual balance sheets. Full reporting, monthly and quarterly, to the Financial Secretary is also required in order to make it possible for the Banking Commissioner, appointed pursuant to the ordinance, to discharge his supervisory duties and, where necessary, to conduct detailed inspection. Finally, provision is made for the appointment by the Financial Secretary of an adviser to a bank or, if need be, for the Banking Commissioner himself to assume control of a bank in the event of inspection revealing an unsatisfactory state of affairs. A banking licence is, under the ordinance, necessary before a company can carry on banking business, and the ultimate sanction against a bank would, of course, be the withdrawal of its licence. Further, in certain circumstances a bank may be com- pulsorily wound up. There is also provision that, in the event of various contraventions of the ordinance, the directors and managers of the offending bank are guilty of offences instead of the bank itself.
The School Medical Service Board Incorporation Ordinance, 1964, makes provision for the incorporation of a statutory Board to operate a scheme to provide inexpensive medical treatment for the pupils of schools in the Colony.
The Larceny (Amendment) Ordinance, 1964, amends the Larceny Ordinance so as to reduce the number of technical defences available to persons accused of certain types of frauds. In particular the offences of obtaining goods by false pretences and of obtaining
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credit by fraud are consolidated in a new section. Under the new section the meaning of false pretences is extended to include false pretences relating to the future and false representations of inten- tion or opinion. Provision is also made whereby the burden of proof is shifted onto the defendant in cases involving the passing of cheques or bills of exchange which are subsequently dishonoured.
12
Law, Order and Records
THE Courts of Justice in Hong Kong are the Full Court, the Supreme Court, the District Court, the Magistrate's Court and the Tenancy Tribunal. The rapid changes in the social and economic structure of the Colony and in the size and distribution of the population have necessitated the creation of additional courts. In 1964, the Judiciary consisted of the Chief Justice and five puisne judges, six district judges, 28 magistrates and the Tenancy Tribunal. District judges sit in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories; and magistrates sit at the Central Magistracy, Causeway Bay, South Kowloon, North Kowloon, and Fanling and Tsuen Wan in the New Territories. New magistracies in the Western District of Hong Kong Island, Tsim Sha Tsui and Kwun Tong on the mainland are expected to be opened early in 1965. In addition to the regular Magistrates' Courts on Hong Kong Island, there is a Justice of the Peace Court composed of two justices of the peace sitting together four afternoons a week. One of the justices is usually a solicitor. The Tenancy Tribunal deals with matters arising under the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance and their work is described in chapter 9.
The magistrates may exercise criminal jurisdiction over a wide range of indictable offences as well as summary offences; but in the case of indictable offences their powers of punishment are restricted generally to a maximum of two years imprisonment or $2,000 fine for any one offence unless the law in regard to any particular offence prescribes that they may award some higher penalty. When trying two or three offences together, cumulative sentences of imprison- ment imposed by them may not exceed three years. The substantial increase in the number of cases dealt with by the magistrates during 1964 was partly due to the greater number of traffic offences.
The magistrates hold preliminary enquiries to decide whether persons accused of the most serious offences should be committed to trial at the criminal sessions of the Supreme Court. They also transfer various cases of a serious nature to the District Court on the
A personality well known in the world of Chinese art is Professor Chao Shao-an, who was born in Canton in 1904. His work was first brought to international attention in 1923 and since then has been shown in Paris, London, Moscow, Tokyo and Lisbon. More recently he made a successful lecture tour of the United States.
Cheung Yee, a young Hong Kong sculptor who works in wood, stone and metals, attracted considerable attention and an equal amount of praise with his exhibition at the City Hall in October. Cheung Yee (pointing, right) is seen here with his favourite creation, called 'Twins'. Others are called 'Lost Paradise' and 'Tomorrow'.
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application of the Attorney General. The civil jurisdiction of these courts is not extensive, but they exercise a limited jurisdiction in domestic matters chiefly under the Infants Custody Ordinance and Separation and Maintenance Orders Ordinance, and perform important functions under a number of other Ordinances, including the Magistrates (Coroners Powers) Ordinance.
The District Court, established in 1953, took over the summary jurisdiction previously exercised by the Supreme Court and gave to the public a simpler and shorter method of bringing to trial civil disputes in which the value of the subject matter was under $5,000. The large increase in the work of this court, particularly in Kowloon, reflects the Colony's industrial growth and population expansion. Trial in both civil and criminal proceedings in the District Court is by judge alone and there is a general limitation of five years on a District Judge's power to award a sentence of imprisonment. The District Court has also an appellate jurisdiction in stamp appeals, rating appeals and appeals from the Tenancy Tribunal.
The Supreme Court's civil jurisdiction is similar to that of the King's Bench and Chancery Division of the English High Court. It also exercises jurisdiction in probate, divorce, admiralty, lunacy, bankruptcy and company-winding-up matters. The most serious criminal offences are tried by a judge of the Supreme Court sitting with a jury of seven. (A summary of cases heard and dealt with in the courts for the year 1960-4 will be found in Appendix XXXIV).
The highest court in Hong Kong is the Full Court. It sits as occasion requires and is constituted of two or more judges of the Supreme Court as the Chief Justice directs. The Chief Justice usually presides over this court which hears appeals from the Supreme Court and the District Court and has jurisdiction cor- responding roughly to that of the Court of Appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeal and the Divisional Court of the Queen's Bench Division. Final appeals from Hong Kong go to the Judicial Com- mittee of the Privy Council in London.
POLICE FORCE
Although serious crime has increased during 1964 Hong Kong has fortunately not experienced a marked increase in serious crime during the past few years. From 1961 to 1963, in fact, serious crime
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has decreased. Moreover if Hong Kong's serious crime figures are related to population and the very large increase since 1959, the incidence of crime has actually been reduced by almost a half.
The most prevalent offences have been those against property, among which burglaries, breakings, robberies and larcenies from the person, have shown an increase. (Crime statistics are shown at Appendix XXXIII). The majority of these offences are committed either by small groups of habitual criminals, the majority of whom are known to the police, or by persons in the lowest social and economic circumstances who are also frequently addicted to nar- cotics.
The great majority of all crime in Hong Kong derives in one way or another from narcotics. It is impossible to say by how much a reduction of drug addiction would reduce the general crime rate but it would certainly make a real difference. The whole field of drug addiction, from law enforcement to public education and medical treatment was discussed at a week-long seminar in Octo- ber. The seminar was sponsored by the Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society and attended by representatives of many voluntary agencies whose work involves them with drug addicts or the social con- sequences of addiction. Senior officers of eight government depart- ments concerned with various aspects of action against narcotics traffic and drug addiction also took part in the seminar. The entirely free exchange of information and opinions which took place at these meetings led to a number of constructive recommendations for future action including improved co-ordination of all the agencies involved. The resolutions and recommendations of the seminar have been referred to Government's Narcotics Advisory Committee, a body which meets regularly to review policy and which consists of unofficial members of the Executive and Legislative Councils under the chairmanship of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs who had attended the seminar in that capacity. Among the subjects which the committee are studying and which were also discussed at the seminar is the adequacy of legal powers and penalties.
Police action against narcotics during the year was relatively suc- cessful. The amount of drugs seized was encouraging, and is estimated to have deprived traffickers of $3,401,600 income, so this, coupled with several successful prosecutions against large drug peddling syndi- cates, and the breaking up of five clandestine laboratories, although
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not having an immediate effect on the retail price of drugs, has made drug trafficking a little more difficult and less profitable.
The increase in crime committed by juveniles is another disturbing feature. Not only is there an increase in the number of juveniles prosecuted but the percentage in relation to prosecutions of all age groups has also risen. Their main offences are assaults, demanding with menaces, and minor larcenies. In many cases small gangs have picked as their victims children younger than themselves. The Juvenile Liaison Sections formed in 1963 have completed a certain amount of useful research into juvenile crime and the structure of the gangs to which many of these offenders belong. Facts about the home conditions, family finances, and educational standard of arrested juveniles shows that the majority come from unsatisfactory homes. More than 60 per cent are from homes where the total monthly income is less than $300. A similar per- centage were not at school or were unemployed. Only two per cent come from homes where the income was over $1,000 a month. Very few girls have been arrested.
A matter of concern is that these young offenders should not graduate to more serious crime and fall under the influence of triad societies. Preventive measures include the discretionary power to place first offenders under the age of 14 under the supervision of the Juvenile Liaison Section. Homes are visited and parents are encouraged to take responsibility for their children.
In November Government formed an inter-departmental fact- finding committee to examine statistics on crimes of violence committed by juveniles and young people. This committee is to advise whether present legislation enables the courts to deal ade- quately with such crimes.
Triad activity, already mentioned as a potential influence upon young criminals, remains an ever present threat to the community as a whole. The sustained efforts of the police, directed through the specialized techniques of the Triad Society Bureau, have reduced the ability of the triads to organize concerted defiance of the law. But triad societies remain, even if they have abandoned much of their organization and ritual, and flourish upon every form of vice. Not the least of their powers is the hold they retain upon the public mind and there can be no relaxation of the measures to eradicate them.
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In its work of prevention and detection the Criminal Investiga- tion Department of the police force, to which is allocated some 10 per cent of the police establishment, makes use of specialist officers and modern scientific aids. Specialized divisions include a forensic laboratory, identification, anti-corruption and commercial crime bureaux as well as the narcotics and triad bureaux already referred to.
The largest section of the police force is the uniformed branch which has a strength of 8,217 officers and men, supported by 1,277 senior civilian, clerical and minor grade staff. The branch is deployed in the three territorial districts of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories with an Assistant Commissioner in charge of each. The two routine functions are the maintenance of patrols and the manning of report rooms in all police stations. The branch also provides the emergency units, one in each district, which are available at immediate notice to deal with any incident requiring more manpower than beat constables in the area can provide. The emergency units also carry out mobile patrols in radio-equipped cars and answer '999' calls. The uniformed branch mans police posts at the frontier, patrols outlying villages, deals with the special crowd-control problems which occur at race meetings and football matches, controls and inspects licensed premises, supports the hawker control force, and gives advice and assistance generally to the public. Finally the uniformed branch is trained to act if necessary as an internal security force.
The Special Branch is responsible for preventing and detecting subversive activities and for supplying the intelligence necessary for the maintenance of internal security.
For the second year running there has been a decline in the number of people entering, or trying to enter, the Colony illegally. The main route is still from Macau by sea, and the number of would-be immigrants waiting in Macau for the opportunity of an illegal passage is always considerable. Although the number of persons arrested attempting to enter the Colony this year shows a decrease, the number of persons arrested, charged and convicted for aiding and abetting such illegal entry has shown a marked increase.
The Anti-Illegal Immigration Branch has remained on a super- numerary establishment and its future permanent form is still
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undecided. The additional sea-patrols started in 1962 have con- tinued throughout 1964 and the Royal Navy have regularly given assistance to the branch.
TRAFFIC
There are now 155.8 vehicles to every mile of road. In 1964 for the first time new vehicle registrations exceeded 10,000. The actual number was 11,666 bringing the total to 84,634. (Other vehicle statistics are at Appendix XXXV). The maintenance of reasonable traffic flow and the avoidance of congestion is the task of the Traffic Branch of the police force. Widespread building development and associated road works add to the difficulty created by sheer density of traffic. Highways must be kept clear of obstruction from hawkers, shopkeepers and construction sites while the prevention of jay- walking and proper use of crossings have been a constant task of the Traffic Branch assisted by the uniformed branch.
Education must play a great part in all efforts to cope with this situation and it has been a main concern of the branch. The Road Safety Section visits schools and youth groups for talks, film-shows and demonstration and a new scheme, sponsored by the Road Safety Association and assisted by the police, to establish School Safety Patrols has had a successful beginning. Senior pupils are trained by officers of the branch to supervise road crossings near their schools and generally to inculcate a sense of road safety among their juniors.
Vehicle inspection, by officers of the Traffic Branch, as a safety measure is an increasing commitment. Although the majority of vehicles in the Colony are well maintained and less than two per cent of all traffic accidents are attributable to vehicle defects, a special problem has been presented by the operators of goods vehicles and lorries, most of whom run small two-vehicle businesses without garage or maintenance facilities. Inadequate maintenance, particularly of diesel lorries, causes a public nuisance. Much more serious, however, is the likelihood of major mechanical faults which can cause serious accidents and special efforts have been made by the branch to improve the conditions of this class of vehicle.
The intermediate driving test, introduced last year to reduce the waste of examination time, is proving worth-while. Unfortunately the benefits in terms of quicker issue of licences for proficient
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candidates were largely offset by the increase in the number of first applications.
The Communications and Transport Branch of the force is respon- sible for the planning, installation and maintenance of telephone, teleprinter and radio communications systems and the operation of transport. The force has a total of 468 radio stations and 15 radar installations. The radio networks are planned on a district and divisional basis and include communications with mobile land units, marine craft, foot patrols and helicopters. The police transport fleet now exceeds 500 vehicles including scooters and buses.
There are 378 women police of all ranks. They work with the uniformed branch divisions in all three districts and are attached to all other specialist branches of the force. Women police serving with Juvenile Liaison Sections have proved themselves particularly capable in dealing with the younger children referred to them.
MANPOWER AND TRAINING
The strength of the regular force at the end of the year excluding women police was 105 gazetted officers, 793 junior officers and 8,582 non-commissioned officers and constables.
Recruitment of inspectors has been satisfactory and at the end of the year there were 14 vacancies. At the same time vacancies in senior posts which are required to be filled by promotion, ultimately resulting in inspector vacancies, were 23.
Recruitment of constables has been poor despite intensified advertising and publicity. At the beginning of the year the difference between establishment and strength of other ranks was 318; at the end of the year it was 599. The pay increase awarded during 1962 stimulated recruiting for a time but the momentum has not been maintained. At the end of 1964 further temporary allowances for the rank and file were approved and will take effect at the begin- ning of 1965.
Probationary inspectors are recruited both locally and in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Constables are recruited locally. Upon enlistment all ranks take a six months' course of initial training in the Police Training School. The curriculum includes lectures on public relations, civics, the principles of law and legal procedures, court procedure, police and government
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regulations, drill, musketry, physical training, self-defence, riot drill, life-saving and first aid. The course is designed not only to train the men in police duties but also to broaden their general outlook and fit them for responsibility. Probationary inspectors recruited overseas receive instruction in Cantonese at the Govern- ment Language School. Constables are taught elementary English at the training school. Thereafter during their service both inspectors and constables return at intervals for further training throughout their service. The training school also provides traffic and CID courses, NCO training courses and instructors' courses for its own staff. In addition many hundreds of officers each year undergo training in internal security work at the Police Training Contingent in the New Territories.
The seventh annual study course on the social and psychological background of crime was held at the University of Hong Kong in December. The theme of the course was narcotics and crime and students included senior police, army and prison officers and a number of social welfare workers. Each year a number of officers take courses at the police colleges at Bramshill and Tullialin Castle, at the Metropolitan Police Training School, Hendon or at other training centres in Britain. During the year six overseas officers and five local officers attended such courses.
The Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force supports and reinforces the regular police in emergencies of all kinds. Its strength of 1,674 men is made up of 24 gazetted officers, 95 junior officers and 1,555 non-commissioned officers and police constables. It is commanded by the Commissioner of Police, assisted by the Commandant, who is an Auxiliary Assistant Commissioner.
The Auxiliary Police Force has been purely voluntary since 1961 and has established itself as a very active and viable unit.
When mobilized the auxiliaries are completely integrated with the regular force and each of the nine auxiliary land divisions operates as part of its parent division. Auxiliary emergency units operate in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon districts in support of their regular colleagues, and marine auxiliaries assist in manning craft of the marine division. The duties of the force are varied. The helicopter observer squadron, a sub-unit of marine division, has no regular counterpart and the duties and training of this unit are carried out by auxiliary police personnel themselves, with the assistance of the
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Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force. The auxiliaries also supply staff officers and communications personnel at Colony, district and divi- sional headquarters in emergencies. Newly recruited auxiliary con- stables are given basic part-time training in law, drill and weapons. Thereafter they are required to undertake 14 days annual training and a minimum of 60 hours instruction.
PRISONS
Hong Kong's prison system with its emphasis upon open institu- tions and the special interest of its work with drug addicts has attracted world-wide attention. The Colony has now been selected by the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute as the most suitable place for field work training.
Of the institutions under the control of the Commissioner of Prisons only three, Stanley Prison, Victoria Prison and the prison for women at Lai Chi Kok are security prisons. The others, includ- ing the institution for drug addicts and three training centres for young offenders are all open.
The open prison policy is being further developed. There is already one open prison at Chi Ma Wan on Lantau and in November work began on another at Tong Fuk. There are also plans for an open camp at Luk Keng, near Sha Tau Kok in the New Territories. Out of a prison population of 5,800 about 3,400 are at present in Stanley Prison, the rest in open institutions. The completion of Tong Fuk and Luk Keng would raise the open prison population to 3,600 and bring the number at Stanley down to its proper level. The aim is that in future all short sentence prisoners should go automatically to open institutions. The open prison system, which is easier to administer in some ways calls for versatility on the part of the staff, but constructive work pays dividends in the help it gives prisoners to rehabilitate themselves upon their return to society. The third training centre was opened during the year at Shek Pik on Lantau Island and occupies bungalows vacated by the engineers who built the Shek Pik dam. It is hoped that with three training centres in full operation the 'young prisoner' classification will practically disappear.
With the high percentage of crime deriving from narcotics, addiction is clearly the Prisons Department's most serious problem.
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All people sent to prison, who are also drug addicts receive treat- ment. If they are first offenders sentenced to more than four months they go to the institution at Tai Lam in the New Territories. There, after withdrawal, they take part in a rehabilitation programme based on an open air life, good food and constructive work. The effect on the individual addict is dramatic and statistics on the programme are most encouraging. This rehabilitation is supple- mented by a research programme which is beginning to provide an insight into the background of convicted addicts and the im- pulses which lead to narcotics addiction.
FIRE SERVICES
All the features of Hong Kong's recent development-rapid industrialization, massive multi-storey building programmes, over- crowding in old buildings and wide-spread squatting in wooden shacks-combine to create intense fire hazards. The facts of geog- raphy do not make the matter easier. Hong Kong's fire defence must not only be self-reliant but it is also divided by the harbour into two largely self-dependent forces.
Overall co-ordination of fire defence is maintained by a fire service headquarters responsible for planning, research, training and equipment as well as the deployment of resources. The head- quarters also control the fire service engineering workshops, which not only provide maintenance and repair facilities for all equipment, but manufacture numerous items of equipment peculiar to the operational needs of the Colony.
The Hong Kong Island fire district also covers the out-lying islands, and is responsible for fire fighting operations in the harbour. The mainland district stretches from Kowloon to the Chinese border. Districts are divided into operational divisions and each district also includes a search and rescue division. These are organized to meet the problems created by multi-storey development and the ever-increasing demands on fire appliances for rescue duties such as landslides, building collapses, major accidents and persons in peril on both land and water. An average of 600 persons annually are rescued by the Fire Service from such predicaments. The creation of these divisions greatly reduces the dissipation of fire fighting resources on incidents not involving fire, and facilitates the simulta- neous conduct of rescue and fire fighting operations at major fires.
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The continued growth of the Colony with its associated fire fighting problems has been anticipated by the planned development and disposal of resources which should be completed early in 1970. A total of 26 strategically sited fire stations will be established to maintain a six-minute time response to all incidents in the urban areas. Twenty-two of these stations will be multi-storey buildings occupying a minimum site area, and housing two major fire appli- ances with accommodation for approximately 55 Fire Services families. These satellite stations will be located between existing major fire stations which will provide training and relief facilities.
The Fire Prevention Bureau is constituted as one of the three major commands of the Fire Services. Each year it conducts some 15,000 building inspections and advises on approximately 1,500 plans for new building schemes. The Fire Services in general and the Fire Prevention Bureau in particular, is responsible for the administration of the Dangerous Goods Ordinance, the Fire Hazards Abatement Ordinance, the storage of timber and, through the Police, Labour and Education departments, for the fire security in places of public assembly, factories and industrial undertakings, and schools respectively. The Dangerous Goods Ordinance covers some 364 different types of dangerous commodities (excluding ex- plosives) and involves the annual licensing of about 6,000 premises. The Fire Prevention Bureau has also conducted more than 30 fire prevention courses and lectures for people from all walks of life as well as a series for industrial supervisors sponsored by the Feder- ation of Hong Kong Industries and conducted jointly with the Labour Department. Officers of the Fire Prevention Bureau serve as lecturers at the Hong Kong University Architectural Faculty and at the Hong Kong Technical College for building students.
The Colony's Ambulance Service is maintained by the Fire Services. No charges are made for the use of an ambulance in an emergency, but a nominal charge is made for the removal of non- urgent cases.
The Fire Boat Fleet is used not only for marine fires, but in fighting land fires involving waterfront warehouses, or for supplying water to land based appliances for inland fires. The Fire Boat Fleet consists of the Alexander Grantham, an ocean-going vessel of 503 tons, Fire Boat No 2 which is a vessel of 112 tons and two
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light fire boats. Plans are in train for augmenting this fleet by four more light fire boats.
The strength of the service is 1,861 of whom 176 are officers, 60 of the latter being expatriates and 116 local officers. Promotion to the higher posts is open to all members of the service.
THE PREVENTIVE SERVICE
The Preventive Service of the Commerce and Industry Department is responsible for suppressing the illicit import and export of narcotics by land, sea or air; the special section responsible for this work absorbing approximately one-third of the total strength of the service. A close liaison on all aspects of narcotics suppression is maintained with the Police Narcotics Bureau.
Preventive Service officers board all vessels arriving in Hong Kong from ports from which drugs are suspected of being smuggled. They remain on board whilst the vessels are in the Colony's waters, to prevent drugs being smuggled ashore. Regular searches are made of these and other ships.
In 1964 a total of 998 ships were guarded throughout their stay in the harbour, 1,204 were searched, and 116 seizures were made of narcotics on ships. The estimated value of narcotics seized by the Preventive Service from all sources in 1964 was $2,086,640. At the airport, the Preventive Service searches incoming aircraft, goods and baggage, particularly those arriving from or which have passed in transit through known sources of narcotics.
RECORDS
The Registrar General's Department comprises the Land Office, the Registries of Births and Deaths, Marriages, Companies, Trade Marks and Patents, the Offices of the Official Receiver in Bankruptcy and Companies Winding-up, the Official Trustee, the Judicial Trus- tee, and the Official Solicitor in Lunacy.
The Land Office is a public office for the registration of deeds and other instruments affecting land. The system of registration is broadly similar to that in the Yorkshire Deeds Registries in England. The Land Registration Ordinance provides that all deeds and instruments registered under it shall have priority according to
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their respective dates of registration, and also that deeds and in- struments not registered (other than bona fide leases at rack rent for any term not exceeding three years) shall be absolutely null and void as against any subsequent bona fide purchaser or mortgagee for valuable consideration. Registration is therefore essential to the protection of title, but does not guarantee it. The Land Office also advises the Government on matters relating to land and undertakes government conveyancing.
Land Office statistics for the year were not influenced by the reduced tempo of new building work towards the end of the year, for instruments registered during the year stemmed from the more active conditions prevailing earlier. The number of instruments registered reached the record total of 46,740 as against last year's total of 35,880. The total of considerations recorded was $3,341,855,066 including $863,787,924 passing on sales of flats. A total of $1,373,563,554 was advanced on mortgages of land at an average rate of about 12 per cent per annum. At the end of the year the Land Office card index of property owners contained the names of over 90,694 people, some owning several properties, others being merely co-owners of a small flat.
Control over the sales of units in uncompleted buildings was continued in those cases where the conditions under which the land was held gave the necessary power.
The Companies Registry keeps records of all companies incor- porated in Hong Kong and also of all foreign corporations which have established a place of business in the Colony. Local companies are incorporated under the Companies Ordinance, which is based on the (now superseded) Companies Act, 1929, of Great Britain. On incorporation a company pays a registration fee of $100 plus $2 for every $1,000 of nominal capital. There was a new record total of 1,439 company registrations during the year. This was 190 more than the previous record established in 1963. The nominal capital of the new companies registered during 1964 totalled $1,345,333,640 an increase of 66 per cent over the corresponding figure for the previous year. Of the new companies 38 had a nominal share capital of $5 million or over. At the end of the year there were 8,364 local companies on the register compared with 7,046 in 1963.
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Companies incorporated outside the Colony are required to register certain documents with the Companies Registry within one month of establishing a place of business in Hong Kong. Only small filing fees are payable in such cases. During the year 56 foreign companies were registered, and 23 ceased to operate. By the end of the year there were 544 foreign companies registered as compared with 511 in 1963. Usually for tax reasons, many foreign companies incorporate subsidiaries in Hong Kong in preference to operating a branch office.
Local and foreign insurance companies which wish to transact life, fire or marine insurance business in Hong Kong must comply with the provisions of the Life Insurance and Fire and Marine Insurance Companies Ordinances respectively. In addition to the filing of annual accounts, these Ordinances require deposits to be made with the Registrar of Companies unless the company qualifies for exemption by complying with the Insurance Companies Act, 1958, in Great Britain, or-in the case of fire and marine insurance- by maintaining similar deposits elsewhere in the Commonwealth. An immense amount of insurance business is transacted annually, and altogether there are 206 companies engaged in it. The approval of the Governor in Council must be obtained for transacting motor vehicle third party insurance business.
Trade marks are registered under the Trade Marks Ordinance, 1954, which is based on the Trade Marks Act, 1938, of the United Kingdom. During the year 2,070 applications for registration were received and 1,429 (including many made in previous years) were accepted and allowed to proceed to advertisement. A total of 1,408 marks were registered, the principal countries of origin being: Hong Kong 344, United States of America 303, United Kingdom 241, Japan 125, Germany 125, Switzerland 49, Australia 45, Italy 37, Netherlands 26, China 21 and France 20. The total number of marks on the register on 31st December 1964 was 19,973.
1
Hong Kong law does not provide for the original grant of patents, but patents registered in the United Kingdom are registrable. The grantee of a United Kingdom patent may, within five years from the date of its issue, apply to have it registered in Hong Kong. Registration confers the same rights as though the patent had been issued in the United Kingdom with an extension to Hong Kong;
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249 patents were registered during the year as compared with 163 in 1963.
During the year the court made 10 receiving orders, one order for the administration in bankruptcy of the estates of deceased debtors, and nine orders for the compulsory winding up of companies. These cases represent only a small fraction of the number of business failures. Few Chinese businessmen care to submit debtors' petitions and creditors' petitions are kept down partly because creditors are disinclined to incur costs incidental to a petition, and partly because the court has power to dismiss a petition where it is not satisfied that the assets are sufficient to pay a 15 per cent dividend to un- secured creditors. As for companies, business failures are usually followed by voluntary liquidations, or the company is simply left to be struck off the register. During the year 60 companies were dissolved by voluntary liquidation and 79 by being struck off the register.
MARRIAGES
All marriages, except non-Christian customary marriages, are governed by the Marriage Ordinance. Under this, notice of an intended marriage must be given to the Registrar at least 15 clear days before the date of the marriage. The Registrar has discretion to reduce this period in special circumstances, and in exceptional circumstances the Governor may grant a special licence dispensing with notice altogether. Marriages may take place either at places of public worship licensed for the celebration of marriages or at a marriage registry. All marriage records are maintained at the principal marriage registry at the City Hall. During the year 11,578 marriages were performed in the marriage registries and sub- registries, and 1,409 at licensed places of worship. The total was 1,189 more than in 1963.
The Marriage Ordinance does not apply to non-Christian cus- tomary marriages duly celebrated according to the personal law and religion of the parties, and such marriages do not require to be registered. No statistics of such marriages are therefore available, but it is thought that there are still as many unregistered marriages as there are registered ones. The position with regard to unregistered marriages is far from satisfactory. The great majority are of doubtful validity, since they are contracted not in accordance with the full
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traditional forms prescribed by Chinese custom, but in supposed conformity with Articles 980 to 988 of the pre-war civil code of China. This unsatisfactory situation and the best means of remedying it are still under consideration by Government.
The registration of births and deaths is compulsory. Facilities are provided at 18 registries while, in the outlying areas and islands, births are registered at local rural committee offices by District Registrars during regular visits, and deaths are registered at local police stations.
A birth which has not been registered within one year after the date of birth may be post-registered with the consent of the Registrar. Most of these post-registration cases are in respect of adults and older children born in the New Territories where facilities for registration were not available until 1932, and, when provided, were not fully used until recent years. Since a birth certificate is now essential for many purposes including entering into a school and obtaining a passport for overseas employment, there was a constant flow of some 500 applications each month, mostly from villagers in the New Territories, where four mobile post-registration teams were in operation.
The Births and Deaths Registry is responsible for the compilation of the Colony's vital statistics. There were only 16 illegitimate children registered without the name of the father in the birth entry.
An Adopted Children Register is maintained at the General Register Office under the Adoption Ordinance, 1956. During the year 111 adoptions were registered as compared with 145 in 1963.
13
Immigration and Tourism
SINCE the Immigration Department was established as an inde pendent organization three years ago there has been a considerable expansion of the facilities for the issue of travel documents and procedures for immigration clearance have been improved. Large increases in staff have been approved for the Harbour and Airport Sections to cope with the steadily increasing volume of traffic, particularly the tourist trade.
The demand for travel facilities increases each year and is prin- cipally reflected in the work of the Chinese Section of the department.
Illegal immigration still continues, though on a much diminished scale. The many thousands who entered the Colony illegally in 1962 have been absorbed into the population and are now asking for dependants who remained behind in China to join them in Hong Kong. In addition, the children of the large numbers of Chinese who entered Hong Kong in 1948 and 1949 are now old enough to need their own travel documents. Children at school in China and Macau were permitted to visit their parents and other relatives in Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year and summer holidays. The special permit system introduced last year was used again.
The volume of business in the British Section has now returned to normal after the temporary slump which followed the passage of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act in 1962 under which Com- monwealth citizens had to obtain work permits before emigrating to Britain. Chinese residents wishing to visit Britain for purposes other than employment are issued with Entry Certificates by the department. There has been a considerable increase in the number of applications for naturalization as British subjects, but a revised processing system has considerably shortened the waiting period.
Once again there has been an increase in the number of aliens in Hong Kong mostly employed in foreign business-houses. The largest group consists of citizens of the United States numbering
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3,403, followed by 1,578 Japanese, 485 Dutch, and 656 Filipinos. On 31st December 1964 there were altogether 12,592 alien residents. During the year 807 non-Chinese refugees from China, principally White Russians, entered Hong Kong. 459 left under the sponsor- ship of the United Nations for settlement in other countries, but at the end of the year there were still 445 refugees in Hong Kong awaiting repatriation.
The Director of Immigration processes travel applications, and deals with citizenship problems, on behalf of those Commonwealth countries not otherwise represented in Hong Kong and the number of visa applications for these overseas territories increased during the year.
Traffic to and from Macau created many difficulties for the Harbour Section, especially at week-ends and on public holidays, but procedures have been improved and additional channels opened to speed the flow of passengers. The operation of hydrofoils has considerably stimulated the tourist trade, as they make it possible, for the first time, to pay a short day trip to Macau without the necessity to stay overnight. Large passenger-carrying ships have presented little difficulty, and immigration clearance of most of these vessels is completed by the time they arrive at their berths.
At the request of the Port Executive Committee night immigration clearance facilities have been brought into force, primarily for the benefit of cargo ships. Clearance facilities in the Eastern Quarantine Anchorage can now be made available 24 hours a day. In the Western Quarantine Anchorage they are available between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
The sub-offices of the department have been very busy throughout the year, and approval in principle has now been given for the opening of a new sub-office in Sham Shui Po in 1965. Surveys are being conducted to determine the relative need for additional sub- offices in other parts of Kowloon. In July a mobile office came into use for the New Territories.
The total recorded movement during the year was 3,388,117 comprising 1,694,599 arrivals and 1,693,518 departures. This com- pares with the total of 2,594,964 in 1963. The main lines of move- ment have been, as usual, between Hong Kong and China, and Hong Kong and Macau.
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Hong Kong has shared in the world-wide expansion of popular tourism to become one of the major tourist centres of the Far East. At the same time tourism has become one of the Colony's major industries.
In the great area of the Pacific and the Far East (excluding Hawaii) only Japan attracts more tourists than Hong Kong and the two normally account for more tourists than all the other countries in the area put together. It is impossible to be precise about the earnings of the tourist industry but it certainly plays a valuable part in Hong Kong's economy. A 1962 survey estimated that tourists were spending well over $2,000 each in the Colony. On this basis tourism would most certainly be one of Hong Kong's biggest industries.
Although Hong Kong has been an attraction to travellers for a number of years, the decision to develop the tourist industry was only made in 1958. There were approximately 43,500 visitors to the Colony in 1957; thereafter the figures rose as follows: 1958 (103,058), 1959 (138,561), 1960 (163,661), 1961 (220,884), 1962 (253,016), 1963 (315,665). The 1964 figure is expected to be about 25 per cent over 1963, or approximately 370,000.
This remarkable development can be attributed fairly simply to the improvement in facilities for the tourist as a traveller, the simultaneous improvement in hotel accommodation and other amenities for the visitor in Hong Kong and the extent to which these improvements and the general attractions of Hong Kong have been exploited by promotion.
There has been rapid and imaginative development of the ar- rangements for handling the incoming visitor both at the new airport and at the sea terminal. Although the latter is only a temporary building it provides facilities of a high standard. The permanent ocean terminal now under construction will make a significant further contribution to these facilities.
The building, modification and extension of hotels in Hong Kong in the past seven years demonstrates the initiative of private enter- prises in grasping the opportunities of this industry. In 1957, there were approximately 1,300 rooms and by the end of 1964 there were 6,244 rooms.
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Hong Kong can offer varied entertainment to the visitor from overseas. There is racing in the season (October-May), golf and tennis, safe beaches for swimming and facilities for skin diving and water-skiing. Sight-seeing, on foot in the city, by sampan among the boat-people in the typhoon shelters or further afield is a favourite attraction for the visitor. Improved transport facil- ities such as air-conditioned cars and coaches have led to an in- crease in business for this section of the industry. A drive round the New Territories or a launch trip to one of the outlying islands provides a surprising contrast to the life of the city.
Almost every style of Chinese food, and they are numerous, is available in Hong Kong. Most hotels offer the simpler forms of Chinese cooking as an introduction but for the really adventurous gourmet the city's hundreds of restaurants are a treat which cannot be equalled anywhere in the world.
Shopping however fills most of the visitor's time in Hong Kong. Although there has been a tendency for prices of popular com- modities to rise bargains are still plentiful.
The Hong Kong Tourist Association came into active existence in the early part of 1958. It is mainly financed by a government subvention, supplemented by small fees charged to its members. The objects of the Association are to increase the number of visitors, to promote the development of the Colony as a holiday resort and the improvement of facilities for visitors, to secure overseas publicity, to co-ordinate the activities of those engaged in the tourist trade, and to make appropriate recommendations to the Governor.
The promotional programme includes a regulated supply of brochures, guide books, posters, display material and up-to-date information directed to leading travel agents, carriers and promoters of travel in all the main areas of the world where international travel is generated. At the end of 1954 the Association was dis- tributing promotional material in 93 countries. This effort is sup- ported by an advertising programme in newspapers, periodicals and trade publications. Up to the present time, the main focus of advertising has been in the North American continent, Australia and, to a lesser degree, the United Kingdom and Europe.
So that quick and efficient factual information can be given to travellers and potential travellers, the Hong Kong Tourist
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Association now has representation in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and Dallas, as well as in Minneapolis, Chicago and Los Angeles through the Association's public relation consultants. The Tourist Association also has its own branch office in Sydney for coverage of Australia and New Zealand, and a representative's office in London to maintain contact with the travel industry of the United Kingdom and Europe.
The Tourist Association makes use of film material and also participates in selected trade and travel fairs and exhibitions, usually in co-operation with the Department of Commerce and Industry and other government departments. The Colony was strongly represented at the 34th Annual Travel Congress of the American Society of Travel Agents in Miami.
Promotion and publicity on behalf of the tourist industry is backed by careful research in each market. During 1964, as a result of a survey commissioned by the Association on the existing and potential travel market in the United Kingdom and Europe, the London firm of travel marketing specialists, Curtis Greensted Associates Limited, was appointed to be the Association's repre- sentatives for the United Kingdom and Europe, to promote tourism to Hong Kong. Other research projects include a survey next year of the possibilities of establishing a resort area in Hong Kong as an additional tourist attraction. This survey, already commissioned, will be carried out by a London firm of specialists, Transport and Tourism Technicians Limited. A study will also be made next year by an American consultant of the economic feasibility of building an aquarium or oceanarium in Hong Kong.
Public relations activities by the Association in Hong Kong included assisting visiting travel journalists, travel agents and tour operators and many other professional promoters. The Tourist Association's Travel Bulletin and news letter News Views and News from Hong Kong are mailed to overseas and local contacts at regular intervals. Radio Hong Kong's programme, The Pearl In Your Hand, is designed especially for tourists. This production contains much information about where Hong Kong goods can be pur- chased and tips on how to chose wisely among the variety of goods which can be obtained in the Colony. Details of interesting walks in the Colony are also given and a free map and shopping guide is sent to listeners on request. The Pearl In Your Hand receives
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a large volume of mail and this is dealt with in conjunction with the Tourist Association.
The rapid increase in the number of hotels in the Colony has brought about a demand for trained staff and personnel. A training school for hotel staff was set up in 1963 by the Hong Kong Hotels Association assisted by the Government and the International Rescue Committee, which contributes the necessary funds. It con- tinues to do good work supplying new staff to the increasing number of hotels. The Hong Kong Tourist Association conducts oral and written examinations for guides and those who qualify are entitled to a badge and identity card.
In order to fulfil its role in the realm of international travel and tourism, Hong Kong is a member of the international Union of Official Travel Organizations, the Pacific Area Travel Association, the British Travel and Holidays Association, and the American Society of Travel Agents.
IUOTO, with headquarters in Geneva, is officially recognized by the United Nations. The Pacific Area Travel Association was founded to promote travel to and within the area of the Pacific and south-east Asia and its work and influence is expanding rapidly each year. The Association's 1962 annual conference was held in Hong Kong.
The American Society of Travel Agents, ASTA, is the world's largest organization of its kind. Travel agents from America and many other countries make up its membership of over 3,000 and its annual conference, because of its international nature, is aptly called World Travel Congress. Many countries are anxious to play host to this powerful and influential body whose annual conferences are held alternately in the United States and abroad. Hong Kong made a bid three years ago, and it is a measure of growing popularity as a tourist resort that ASTA decided, early in 1964, to hold its 1965 meeting, the 35th ASTA World Travel Congress, here from 19th to 25th September.
14
Public Works and Utilities
THE programme of public works, from the building of resettlement estates, schools and hospitals to the construction of roads, drains and reservoirs is Hong Kong's biggest single financial commitment. Expenditure for the Public Works Department accounts for about 45 per cent of the total government expenditure in a year. In the 1964-5 estimate capital expenditure alone on public works is set at nearly $563 million. More than a quarter of that sum is devoted to the provision of water supplies, including work on new reser- voir projects and the remaining expenses of the water emergency.
The water emergency, which had severely restricted water supply to only four hours every fourth day since June 1963 had involved a number of expedients including the importation of water by tankers from the Pearl River in China. This operation which ter- minated on 14th June was undoubtedly the most important emer- gency measure taken to maintain the Colony's water supply during the extreme shortage. The tanker shuttle service for the period January to 14th June completed 768 round trips and brought in 2,436 million gallons. The whole operation involved 1,371 round trips when 4,288 million gallons or approximately 19,000,000 long- tons of water, which amounted to almost one-third of the total consumption during the period, were lifted. The cost of this operation was naturally high and although all accounts are not yet to hand, it is estimated that the total cost will amount to $67 million.
During 1963 the Chinese Authorities had been approached on the possibility of extracting water from the East River, some 45 miles north of the border. In January of this year the Chinese Authorities advised that they had examined alternative proposals and had come to the conclusion that the provision of dams and attendant pumps at various places along a tributary of the East River was the most satisfactory and economical way of extracting water from the East River, the water to be raised in stages into a
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holding reservoir from which it would be discharged by gravity into the Shum Chun reservoir.
Two meetings were held with the authorities in Canton and an agreement was finally signed on 22nd April 1964. This agreement will come into force as from 1st March 1965 when the existing agreement under which Hong Kong buys 5,000 million gallons a year from Shum Chun will be deemed to have been superceded. Under the new agreement, Hong Kong is guaranteed a supply of 15,000 million gallons of water per year at a price of approximately $1.06 per thousand gallons.
During the period of unrestricted supply from 28th August con- sumption averaged 106.8 million gallons a day with a maximum of 126.74 million gallons on 14th October compared with a previous daily record of 112.02 million gallons on 10th October 1962.
The completion of the Shek Pik dam in November 1963 had brought the number of storage reservoirs in the Colony to 15 with a total capacity of 15,868 million gallons. This year the Shek Pik catchwaters were completed and commissioning tests were successfully carried out on the pumps at Pui O and Sandy Bay. Good progress was also made on the reception reservoirs at Mt Davis and Kennedy Town and all the trunk mains to distribute the Shek Pik water were completed.
Because of the weather progress on the Plover Cove scheme was disappointing. Stage I of this scheme consists of pumping stations at Tai Po Tau and Sha Tin, an eight-mile combined collection and delivery tunnel from Tai Po Tau to Sha Tin, a 900 million gallon reservoir in the Shing Mun valley below the Jubilee Reservoir, an 80 million-gallon-a-day filtration plant at Sha Tin, and two 48- inch and one 54-inch steel trunk mains through the new Lion Rock Tunnel to reception reservoirs on the south side of Beacon Hill from which the water will be distributed. Work was substan- tially completed on all projects except the tunnel between Tai Po Tau and Sha Tin which was behind schedule, but it is expected that it will be completed in time.
Stage II of the Plover Cove scheme comprises the construction of a 1 mile long dam and two subsidiary dams to convert a sea inlet into a 30,000 million gallon fresh water reservoir and the construction of collection and delivery tunnels. Reasonable progress was made on the dam and the tunnels.
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Ancillary work required to receive water from the East River scheme made satisfactory progress. Additional pumps were in- stalled at Muk Wu and a second 48-inch pipeline was laid from the border to the River Indus.
Satisfactory progress was made on the scheme for extracting up to 200 million gallons a day from the River Indus during flood conditions. The pumping station was substantially completed and equipment is being installed. Twin 54-inch pipelines from the pumping station to link in with Plover Cove project at Tai Po Tau have been completed.
An interesting feature of the Plover Cove and the River Indus schemes is the provision of three inflatable dams in stream courses. These dams consist of neoprene-coated nylon envelopes inflated by combined air and water pressure which enable water to be im- pounded as required, but are so arranged as to deflate during periods of excess flows and thus reduce flooding of the surrounding countryside. These dams were recently developed in the United States and this is the first time that they have been used outside America.
Other projects to augment general water resources made satis- factory progress. Work began on a scheme to collect additional water from the north side of Lantau and deliver it through tunnels to the Shek Pik reservoir. Model tests were carried out to decide on the modifications required to be made to the existing overflow arrangements at the reservoir. The possibility of large-scale flood pumping from the Yuen Long valley is also being investigated.
A Water Resources Survey Team has been formed jointly by staff of the Waterworks and Consultants. It will investigate addi- tional natural resources and also report on the possibilities and economics of desalination. The study is expected to take at least three years before the final report is ready but significant and useful information will be obtained before then and interim reports made. It is proposed to distill sea water using waste heat from a large refuse-incinerator being constructed in Kowloon; the output will be between two and three million gallons a day and tenders have been sought for suitable plant. A report was received from con- sultants on the possibility of desalination in conjunction with the two power companies and negotiations on management and land were still proceeding with one of the companies.
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In addition to these specific projects there is a continuous pro- gramme of mainlaying and service reservoir construction to meet the needs of new development. This also includes the provision of salt-water for flushing in new development areas. The needs of expanding New Territories towns are also being met. A scheme has been prepared to provide filtered water from the Plover Cove scheme to Tai Po and Sheung Shui. A contract was let for the site formation of the filter site and quotations were invited for a six million gallon a day filtration plant. Improvements were also carried out on the traditional irrigation systems of the New Terri- tories, and new works were constructed to improve the supplies. During the year 44,000 feet of irrigation channels were lined with concrete to reduce seepage and 800 feet of new channel and 56 diversion dams were constructed.
The quality of the water supplied was maintained at the same high standard as in previous years and the few sub-standard samples were traced to violations of the Waterworks Ordinance or to the carelessness of consumers. Though cholera was again present in the Colony, no case could be attributed to the disease being borne by the water supplied by the Waterworks.
BUILDINGS
The programme of public building, meeting urgent needs and reflecting the general building boom, continued unabated this year. A large number of public buildings of various sizes and types were completed and construction was in progress on many others. For the first time the provision of funds in one year for expenditure on new government buildings exceeded $200 million; as in pre- vious years the programme was helped forward by the work of private architects and private quantity surveyors. Because of the heavy rains following a long period of exceptionally low rainfall, a number of difficulties occurred in site works; building costs continued to rise mainly because of the rising labour rates.
The programme of Government Resettlement and Low-Cost Housing progressed vigorously and during the year 104 eight-storey resettlement blocks providing domestic rooms for over 130,000 people were completed. Four flatted factories at San Po Kong and Cheung Sha Wan were under construction providing a total
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of 408,000 square feet of working space in 1,594 units. In addi- tion, at the end of the year, a total of 33 Mark III (eight storeys) and 29 Mark IV (16 storeys) blocks were in the course of con- struction at seven estates in Kowloon, at the new developments round Kwun Tong and Kwai Chung, and on the Island.
In the government low-cost housing programme, work on three estates was finished with the completion of 19 more blocks. Work at another estate was still proceeding and 11 blocks were com- pleted there, making the total number of blocks finished during the year 30, which provided accommodation for about 30,000 people. At the end of the year, construction work was in progress at three Kowloon estates on a further 16 blocks.
Three secondary schools were completed, one on the Island, one in Kowloon, and one in Tsuen Wan in the New Territories. Each contained 24 classrooms, five special classrooms, four laboratories, assembly hall and ancillary accommodation while additional work- shops and a library were opened at the Technical College. Clinics were completed at Kwun Tong, Tai Kok Tsui and Kowloon City. Work for the Police Force included stations at Wong Tai Sin and Kwun Tong and 669 married quarters at North Point with an adjacent primary school. Two beach buildings were completed for the Urban Services Department at Stanley and Repulse Bay in addition to four latrines and bathhouses and a number of small parks and gardens, the largest being in Tsuen Wan. Other work finished during the year included the multi-storey car park at Tsim Sha Tsui, several small post offices and a sorting centre on the Central Reclamation, 207 quarters at Pipers Hill, Wylie Road and Ede Road for government officers and 90 quarters for the Preventive Service at Hung Hom.
New buildings under construction at the end of the year included an open prison for 1,000 at Tong Fuk on Lantau Island, three schools, major alterations to Kowloon Hospital, additional operat- ing theatres, professorial suites and quarters at Queen Mary Hos- pital, two clinics, a police station and a district office at Yuen Long, two depots for the Urban Services Department, fire stations at Shau Kei Wan and in Western District, Marine Police bases at Aberdeen, Tai Lam Chung and Tai Po Kau, Police rank and file married quarters at Wong Tai Sin and Kennedy Town, a new Central Post Office and departmental offices in Kowloon, a magistracy in the
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Western District, an extension to the Public Works Department depot at Caroline Hill and a block of service flats in Hong Kong. Designs and detailed drawings for some 67 projects were in hand at the end of the year; among them a hospital for some 1,300 beds at Lai Chi Kok, a new office building of 200,000 square feet floor area, two large abattoirs, a Fire Services Training School and a depot for the Police Training Contingent.
DRAINAGE
All the urban areas and nearly all the newly developed towns have water-borne sewerage systems. As many of the sewers in the urban areas were constructed 50 or more years ago, their capacity is no longer adequate to serve the large blocks of flats now being erected in place of much smaller buildings. The Public Works Department has commenced a rapid programme to replace them with larger mains so as to cope with the rapid rate of re-development of the urban areas. The nuisance from sewer outfalls at the seawalls is steadily being eliminated by intercepting sewers where the sewage is screened before discharging into the sea through deep submarine outfalls. Of the five schemes for the Kowloon peninsular, the Yau Ma Tei scheme is in complete operation, Kowloon south and Kowloon east schemes are in partial operation and the remaining two are in an advanced stage. Work on three of the five schemes on the Island was started and two of these three, Wan Chai and North Point, are in partial operation while the intercepting sewers in the Central scheme are almost complete. Treatment and sewage disposal schemes were under investigation for Tsuen Wan, Yuen Long and Shek Wu Hui.
Extensive systems of culverts for surface drainage of the heavy summer rainfall have been constructed at resettlement estates and in new towns and work has progressed on flood control schemes in the New Territories. Improvements to the sewerage and drainage systems of small communities in outlying areas have been undertaken this year.
PORT WORKS
The year's typhoons caused fairly wide-spread damage to harbour installations, the New Territories and islands bearing the main brunt. The estimated cost of repairs to 88 piers, 26 seawalls, 19
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causeways or breakwaters and seven beacons or dolphins was $1 million. As a result other port works were held up.
On Hong Kong Island, work has continued on the Central Reclamation scheme. The new pier for the Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry Company's Inner Harbour Services and the General Post Office piers were completed and brought into use, while the new public pier to replace Blake Pier is near completion. Work began on the new Outer Harbour Services Ferry Pier, the Government Pier and the final sections of the seawalls with the provision of 40 pumphouses. Restricted reclamation continued and about five acres in all were reclaimed. The new vehicle ferry piers at North Point and Ma Tau Kok were completed.
The first stage of the large development scheme for Aberdeen continued at the western end of Aberdeen Harbour and included the construction of a seawall with subsequent reclamation of about six acres and the construction of a breakwater to provide pro- tection against typhoons. At Brick Hill, the construction of a Marine Police pier incorporating a salt-water pumphouse and a 1,600 foot-long access road was commenced. The pumping station will provide salt water for flushing purposes to the proposed develop- ment in the Aberdeen area.
Foundation and building works of the Colony's first large scale refuse disposal incinerator were started at Kennedy Town early in the year and it is expected that the plant will be in operation in 1965. The completed plant will consist of four units each with a capacity of 250 tons of refuse a day. There is provision for utilizing the waste heat to produce electricity and steam for an adjacent abattoir. Work also started nearby on the construction of a pump- house which will provide a cooling system for the incinerator plant and a salt-water flushing supply for the Western District of Hong Kong.
Major reclamations in progress on the Island include the rec- lamation of approximately 41 acres at Sandy Bay, of which about half has been completed. About 52 acres of a planned figure of about 85 acres have already been reclaimed of the main public dump on the Island at Chai Wan. Restricted dumping was begun at Wan Chai pending approval of an overall scheme involving the reclamation of some 90 acres off Gloucester Road.
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In Kowloon, work was started on the construction of 1,700 feet of seawall and 500 feet of breakwater for the Sam Ka Tsuen Rec- lamation; this project will provide an area of about 19 acres for light industry and offensive trades as well as a temporary anchorage for minor craft. Work was started on the first stage of reclamation of Kowloon Bay, which comprises the construction of a 3,100-foot- long seawall and the reclamation of about 68 acres of land from the sea to the north-east of Kai Tak runway. At To Kwa Wan the construction of the 1,800-foot-long seawall and reclamation of 17 acres, enclosing Hoi Sam Island and its temple, were completed. At Hung Hom another 2,000 feet of seawall was completed and work on a further extension of 1,200 feet of seawall closing the gap on the south of the reclamation was started; on completion, the land reclaimed will be available for the new railway station and marshalling yards.
In the New Territories three dolphins and six cat-walks were built at Gin Drinker's Bay to enable barges to unload refuse from outside the rock bund surrounding the refuse dump. A new concrete pier for police launches was built at Tsim Bei Tsui. Navigation beacons were installed at Bush Reef, Shek Kok Tsui and Cheung Chau and were under construction at Silver Mine Bay, Douglas Rock, Datum Rock, Yau Tau, Loo Foo Fat, Nga Ying Pai and Cha Am Pai. Work began on dredging Tai O Creek to provide a much needed typhoon shelter in the western Colony waters for the fishing fleet based at Lantau Island.
The Material Testing Laboratory, operated by the Port Works Division of the Public Works Department, carried out approximately 34,000 tests on various building materials, about 12,300 of them for private firms.
LAND DEVELOPMENT
Progress at the two new towns at Kwun Tong and Tsuen Wan/ Kwai Chung included site formation of a further 83 acres, including 16 acres of reclamation at Kwun Tong. The reclamation there is now finished apart from two small areas which cannot be filled until a salt-water pump house has been rebuilt and other engineering works completed. Filling has commenced in the adjacent Kowloon Bay, where further sites for industry are being formed. The number of established factories at Kwun Tong increased to 194 whilst the
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population rose to 150,000. At Tsuen Wan and Kwai Chung 115 acres of hillside terraces and reclamation were formed in the scheme being carried out under consulting engineers, while other contracts under the control of the Public Works Department produced a further 41 acres of formed sites which will be used for the con- struction of resettlement and low-cost housing.
In Kowloon, site formation schemes for schools and medium- density housing at Họ Man Tin and high-class housing in the Lung Cheung Road area progressed satisfactorily and 10 acres were formed at Yau Tong for a resettlement estate. Another scheme which envisages the forming of further land in the Kowloon foot- hills for high-class housing and for institutional, community, and government use was approved and construction work was about to start. Engineering reports were prepared on the feasibility of creating two more large new towns in the New Territories at Castle Peak and Sha Tin. On Hong Kong Island, two site formation schemes at Aberdeen produced some 30 acres of land for resettle- ment estates.
PUBLIC UTILITIES
The Hongkong Electric Company Limited supplies electricity to the islands of Hong Kong and Lamma from its power station at North Point. The installed generating capacity of the power station at the end of 1964 was 225 MW. During the year the maximum demand on the station increased by 6.3 per cent to 159.4 MW. A two 60 MW generating station extension is due for commis- sioning in the spring of 1966.
The primary and secondary transmission systems operate at 66 kV and at 33 kV and 22 kV respectively. The primary distribution system operates at 11 kV and 6.6 kV and the secondary distribution system operates at 346 volts three phase and 200 volts, single phase. The work of changing the 6.6 kV system to 11 kV operation is well in hand and when this has been completed, transmission at 22 kV will cease. The frequency is stabilized at 50 cycles per second.
The amount of electricity generated during 1964 was 739.4 m.kWh, an increase of 11.4 per cent over the previous year. The number of consumers increased by 6.2 per cent to 125,403 during 1964 and sales of electricity amounted to 647.4 m.kWh made up of 158.4
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m.kWh lighting, 5.2 m.kWh public lighting, 139.9 m.kWh bulk power and 343.8 m.kWh domestic and commercial power.
Charges for electricity range from 28 cents to 15.4 cents a unit for lighting and 12 cents to 11.4 cents a unit for power. These rates are subject to a variable fuel surcharge which at the end of the year was four per cent. Special rates are quoted for the bulk supply of industrial power.
China Light and Power Company Limited supplies electricity to Kowloon and the New Territories, including Lantau and a number of outlying islands. The generating station is at Hok Yuen, along- side the harbour facing Kowloon Bay, and a further 60 MW turbo-alternator and associated boiler were commissioned there during the year, giving a total installed capacity of 362.5 MW. The maximum demand reached 297 MW-an increase of 20.24 per cent.
One more turbo-alternator in course of erection will complete 'B' station and work is already well advanced on 'C' station at the same site with plans drawn up to provide 662.5 MW of total installed capacity at Hok Yuen.
The 66 kV oil-filled cable system operating at 33 kV was con- siderably extended during the year and now supplies Sha Tin treatment works by cables through the railway tunnel, Tai Po and Tai Po Tau pumping station. 132 kV cables supply Kwun Tong but operation is at 33 kV until early 1966. Supplies for Sham Shui Po and Tsuen Wan are scheduled to be made at 66 kV in the coming
year.
Under the company's subsidized electrification scheme, an addi- tional 114 villages were given overhead supply during the year ended 30th September 1964 bringing the total of villages then connected to 368.
At 30th September 1964 there were 288,537 consumers, a 19.7 per cent increase, 1,583 m.kWh had been generated and 1,347.3 million sold, increases of 17.9 per cent and 16.18 per cent respec- tively. Units sold were made up of 243.5 m.kWh lighting, 7.6 m.kWh public lighting, 498 m.kWh ordinary power and 598.2 m.kWh bulk power supplies. Charges for electricity a unit are lighting 29 cents, ordinary power 14 cents, domestic cooking 13 cents, with discounts granted for large consumption and special rates quoted for bulk supplies. The normal supply is 50 cycles, AC, 200 volts single
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phase or 346 volts three phase with 6.6 kV or 11 kV available for industrial users, if required.
In November Government approved a project for the formation of a new joint electricity generating company by the China Light and Power Company Limited and Esso Standard Eastern. It is initially planned to have a capacity of 720 megawatts additional to China Light's existing installations, at a capital cost of approx- imately $500 million. The electricity generated is to be distributed through China Light's system and the fuel oil requirements of China Light and of the new company are to be supplied by Esso at market prices. Government's approval is subject to the accept- ance jointly by China Light and the new company of the normal statutory obligations of a public utility franchise. A scheme of financial control to apply to the operations of China Light and the new company has been agreed between Government and the companies. Its objects are to limit the companies' disposable profits to a reasonable return on their equity capital while providing adequate incentives towards efficiency and expansion; and in partic- ular to ensure that the benefits from any capital for expansion which is obtained from additional profits accrue primarily to the consumer.
The Cheung Chau Electric Company Limited supplies electricity to the island of Cheung Chau which contains some small industries and a population of fisherfolk who originally founded the company as a community project in 1913. Since taken over by commercial interests, the company now operates an electricity supply on a 50 cycle, three-phase, four-wire system of 200/346 volts for domestic, commercial and industrial purposes.
The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited supplies gas to domestic, commercial and industrial consumers in all urban areas. Supply is also available for the whole of the Peak area on the Island and in the industrial community of Tsuen Wan.
The gas, sold in therms, has a heating value of 455 British thermal units a cubic foot in the urban areas and 650 British thermal units a cubic foot in Tsuen Wan. There is a monthly minimum 'standing charge' of $10.60 ($24.10 for meters of a rated capacity over 1,000 cubic feet an hour) which covers the cost of the first three therms used. Gas used in excess of three therms is charged on a scale ranging from $2.86 to $2.30 a therm depending on the quantity.
15
Communications
TODAY as always Hong Kong relies upon an efficient system of communications. When the Colony lived largely by entrepôt trade its position on the China Coast was of the greatest importance. In the changing conditions of today, with the emphasis on industrial production and export that position, as the focus of so many of the communications routes of eastern Asia, is still of vital importance. As an industrial city Hong Kong lives by the efficiency of the systems by which people and goods are moved to and from the port and airport and to and from homes and work places within the city itself, as much as by its telephone, postal and telecommu- nication links with the rest of the world.
The Port of Victoria is a fine natural harbour with all the additional facilities required by modern ship operators. Berths at government buoys or at private wharves and piers permit a con- tinual flow of shipping through the port with a minimum of delay, while modern cargo handling equipment ensures the rapid turn round vital to shipping economy. Chinese crews have an excellent reputation for hard work and ability, and may be engaged for an entire ship, or for individual shipboard departments. All the ancillary services essential to the efficient day-to-day running of a ship can be provided at short notice by ship contractors, repairers and chandlers specializing in maintenance and painting, victualling, watering and refuelling. Regular and frequent services are main- tained by many well-known and old-established shipping lines, some 20 companies providing regular sailings to Europe and a similar number to the North American continent. There are also regular services to Australian, New Zealand, South American, South African and Asian ports.
The Director of Marine administers the ports of the Colony and his department co-operates closely with shipping and commercial interests through the Port Committee and the Port Executive
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Committee to ensure that facilities and services keep pace with the changing needs of Hong Kong and of the shipping companies. A comprehensive system of navigational aids covers the harbour and approaches and allows entry to the port by day or by night and in all weathers. The depths in the eastern approaches are 36 feet through Lei Yue Mun and in the west 28 feet through Sulphur Channel or south of Stonecutters Island. Although pilotage is not compulsory, it is recommended owing to the density of traffic and the constant reclamation and harbour works.
Quarantine and immigration formalities are carried out at the eastern or western quarantine anchorages. The inward night clear- ance scheme has been extended this year. Radio pratique may also be granted in certain cases, and this arrangement, apart from reducing the number of movements within the busy part of the harbour, is popular with passengers and consignees for it means that disembarkation and cargo work can begin immediately a ship is berthed.
Signal stations on Waglan Island and other points in the harbour and approaches are continuously manned. All movements are reported to the Port Control Office whose staff is available at all times to deal with emergencies and queries. The signal stations are in communication by radio telephone with Marine and Port Health launches, while Police, Immigration, Fire Services and Commerce and Industry launches have their own individual circuits. Vessels at buoys and wharves may hire radio telephones com- mercially to link up with the public telephone services. A fleet of fire-floats, manned by the Fire Services Department, includes the Alexander Grantham, which is one of the biggest and most modern fire-floats in the world.
The Marine Department maintains 62 moorings for ocean-going vessels. Of these, 36 are classified as suitable for the use of vessels up to 600 feet in length and 26 for vessels up to 450 feet in length. Under typhoon conditions 30 buoys are available for vessels up to 600 feet and eight for vessels up to 370 feet. As part of continuous port improvement schemes additional navigation aids were brought into operation during the year and the expansion scheme for the western harbour continued. Commercial wharves can accommodate vessels up to 750 feet in length with a draught of up to 32 feet. Construction of the new ocean terminal continued satisfactorily
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throughout the year; meanwhile the temporary terminal at Navy Street functions successfully. The new terminal comprising a rein- forced concrete pier, 1,250 feet long, 250 feet wide, with a three- storey building for passenger reception, cargo handling, car parking and restaurants, is being built with the assistance of substantial grants and loans from Government.
An increased movement of shipping has again been recorded with a consequent strain on storage facilities. Although transhipment cargo was at a lower level than last year the volume of imports and exports remained high. Details of vessels entered and cleared during the year, together with figures of cargo loaded and discharged, are in Appendix XXXVI which also shows the number of passen- gers, including emigrants, who landed and embarked during the year. The wharf and godown companies are estimated to have a total storage space of well over 1,000,000 tons, catering for the storage and transhipment of all types of refrigerated, dangerous and ordinary goods. This year saw the completion of two modern multi-storey godowns equipped for mechanical handling, one in Kowloon and the other at North Point. Two new cranes have been added to the wharf at North Point to facilitate direct discharging from hold to godown.
Most cargo handled in Hong Kong is at some stage or another transported by lighter. There are more than 2,000 of these lighters and junks and more than 500 of them are mechanically propelled. Mechanical lighters are particularly suited for the handling and transport of parcels of cargo and their numbers are constantly increasing. Bunkering services are provided at the four major oil wharves or by lighter, although the Mobil oil jetty at Lai Chi Kok was severely damaged in September by a drifting ship in typhoon Ruby. A temporary berth has been provided with the use of harbour moorings on loan from the Marine Department. Fresh water is also available, and the restrictions which the drought had imposed on the supply of fresh water to shipping were removed when con- ditions improved in May.
Officers of the Mercantile Marine Office supervise the engagement and discharge of seamen serving in British ships and also the crews of those ships whose countries have no consular representation in Hong Kong. Some 26,000 Hong Kong seamen are regularly em- ployed in a sea-going capacity in ships under many different national
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flags. A Port Welfare Committee ministers to needs of crews of visiting ships, co-operating with religious and other organizations devoted to this work. This committee administers the Merchant Navy Sports Club in Kowloon. In 1964 $258,580 partly donated privately and partly by a government subvention was made available for port welfare purposes. The dockyards undertake in addition to new construction, repair work and conversions, and the surveys necessary under the international maritime safety conventions and other laws. The Hong Kong Registry of shipping lists over 520 vessels under the British flag, totalling some 835,000 gross register tons, of which 149 ships are of over 500 tons gross.
Vast numbers of small craft operating in the harbour create special problems. There are over 20,000 of them and more than 7,500 are mechanized. The person in charge of any mechanized craft must have a local certificate of competency as master or engineer. The standard of examinations is continually being raised which helps to improve handling and safety precautions in small craft and accounts in part at least for the remarkably low accident rate.
In the thriving trade with Macau and adjacent Chinese ports cargoes are carried mainly in towed lighters or junks. The principal imports in this trade consisted of building materials, vegetables and fruits, sea products and foodstuffs while the chief exports are fertilizer and foodstuffs. Trade within Colony waters includes sand for building purposes which is brought in from outlying districts while outward cargoes from the harbour area mainly comprise building materials, cotton bales, dangerous goods and foodstuffs.
The shipbreaking industry remained stable during the year. Twenty-four ships totalling 159,283 gross tons which had out-lived their usefulness were broken up. Laid-up shipping continued to use the Colony waters, but less so than in previous years.
The series of typhoons during the year caused damage to shipping. In Viola the first, five ships ran aground. During the passage of Ida in August four vessels broke adrift from their moorings and three of them later went aground. The most destructive typhoon of the year was Ruby which struck the Colony on 5th September and caused 16 vessels to run aground and three to sink, two unfortunately with loss of life. The survivors from one of the sunken ships were rescued, under adverse conditions of sea and wind, by the Royal
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Fleet Auxiliary tug Encore whilst the crews from other stranded vessels were, in several cases, saved by the Police and Fire Services. In typhoon Dot seven ships broke adrift from moorings, two vessels grounding and several colliding at the height of the storm.
The cumulative effect of typhoons following closely upon each other was severe interruption to the normally smooth flow of shipping in and out of the port. The heaviest congestion was expe- rienced during September when three storms in quick succession disrupted departure estimates and caused the greatest accumulation of shipping in post-war years. On 19th September there were 140 ships in the port. By careful planning, the use of special anchorages and the allocation of buoys on a 'first come-first served' basis, delays were reduced to a minimum. There was similar but less severe congestion following typhoon Dot in October which was dealt with in the same way.
CIVIL AVIATION
The development of civil aviation, with the reduction to a few hours of travelling time from Europe and the Americas has made a significant contribution to the Colony's life and economy.
After the war it became apparent that existing airport facilities would soon be inadequate and a decision was made to develop the site on the north shore of Kowloon Bay by extensive reclama- tion. Work on the project started in 1956 and in a truly remarkable feat of engineering, a promontory 7,800 feet long and 800 feet wide was pushed out into Kowloon Bay. Direct approaches to the runway from the south-east can be made through a gap in the hills, while the extensive removal of hills has provided a safe, gently curving approach from the opposite direction.
The new runway, 8,340 feet long and stressed to take aircraft weighing up to 400,000 pounds, was opened in 1958. It is suitable for use by the most modern types of aircraft now flying or currently envisaged. The latest navigational and approach aids have been installed and an instrument landing system, surveillance radar, precision approach radar and VOR beacons contribute greatly to the safety and regularity of air services to the Colony. Modern airport and approach lighting have made safe night operations possible in spite of the surrounding hills.
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A new terminal building, one of the most advanced in the Far East, came into use in November 1962. It operates on a 'two level' system; arriving and departing passengers are dealt with on different floors. The building has been planned to eliminate irritating delays for the traveller. It includes shops, bars, a restaurant and a spacious observation platform offering a clear view of arriving and departing aircraft. An extension to the building was opened this year. Imme- diately in front of the terminal is a parking apron for 11 large aircraft. It has a hydrant refuelling system controlled from a cen- tralized fuel farm. The former terminal building has now been returned to its original purpose for the storage of air freight.
The Director of Civil Aviation supervises all aspects of civil aviation in the Colony and co-ordinates plans for its development. Full operational services are provided, including air traffic control, telecommunications, air sea rescue, airport fire service, aeronautical information service, aircraft registration and certification of air- worthiness, personnel licensing and, in conjunction with the Royal Observatory, an aeronautical meteorological service.
Although opportunities for private flying are somewhat limited two flying clubs have recently been formed. The Hong Kong Flying Club uses a Beechcraft Musketeer aircraft, and the Aero Club of Hong Kong an Auster Aiglet and a Stinson 15. The Far East Flying Training School, established in 1934, offers full-time courses of training in aeronautical engineering and electronics.
The Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited provides maintenance, overhaul and repair facilities at the airport for a wide range of aircraft, including the latest jet airliners. Their two hangars can accommodate the largest aircraft likely to operate into Hong Kong within the next decade.
Two local airlines operate aircraft registered in the Colony. Cathay Pacific Airways routes extend to India, Japan, Malaya, Sabah, the Philippines and Indonesia, using Convair 880 and Lockheed Electra aircraft. Macau Air Transport Company Limited flies a Piaggio P136 amphibious aircraft to nearby Macau. Some 185 scheduled services arrive each week at Hong Kong Airport, operated by 19 international airlines, in addition to numerous charter and non-scheduled flights. A record was created on 25th October when 5,648 passengers passed through the airport, many of them returning from the Tokyo Olympic Games.
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The volume of air traffic continued to increase steadily during the year and passenger, freight and mail figures showed increases of some 21 per cent, 25 per cent and 8 per cent respectively over the preceding year.
KOWLOON-CANTON RAILWAY
The British Section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway runs from Tsim Sha Tsui station at the southern tip of the Kowloon peninsula to Lo Wu at the Chinese frontier beyond which it joins the Chinese railway system. Since 1949 passengers have had to change trains at the border between the Colony and China and walk the 300 yards from Lo Wu station to Sham Chun on the other side. Mail and goods traffic in wagon loads, however, travel through without transhipment.
There are 17 daily passenger trains each way on the British section and an average of three goods trains each day. Passenger traffic is normally heavy at week-ends and public holidays, especially in winter time. Special trains are often run between the Kowloon terminus and Sha Tin station which is a popular picnic resort. The running time, including stops, between Tsim Sha Tsui and Lo Wu is about one hour.
The number of passenger journeys now exceeds eight million a year and the greatest number of passengers carried in a single day during the year, was 117,272. This was on 4th April (the Ching Ming Festival) when many passengers went to visit their ancestors' graves in Wo Hop Shek Cemetery at Fanling and Sandy Ridge at Lo Wu.
Fares for third class travel are generally slightly higher than bus fares. Quarterly and monthly tickets are available at cheap rates.
Rolling stock in the British section comprises eight diesel-electric locomotives, one rail-bus, 71 passenger coaches and 204 goods
wagons.
A new terminal station at Hung Hom is being planned to supersede the existing terminus at Tsim Sha Tsui. The new terminus, which will include a passenger station and a railway goods yard, will occupy 32 acres of reclaimed land and consideration is being given to the possibility of developing above this area commercial and residential buildings, ferry concourse and car parks. New railway
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workshops are also being planned near Sha Tin in the New Territories.
ROADS
There are 542 miles of roads maintained by Government; 193 miles on Hong Kong Island, 147 miles in Kowloon and 202 miles in the New Territories. Traffic congestion is increasing, although it has not yet become as serious as in some western cities, and large programmes of road construction, improvements, and maintenance have been necessary. Major road projects during the year cost $25.6 million and $11.9 million was spent on improvements and main-
tenance.
On Hong Kong Island, a new traffic route between the Mid-levels and the Central District was completed to relieve pressure on Garden Road. This project entailed the construction of a 200-foot flyover and a linked traffic light system. Congestion in Garden Road and the Central District around the Cricket Club will be further relieved by a comprehensive scheme which includes the construction of a completely new road parallel to Garden Road and no less than seven flyovers. As a first stage of this major project, work was started on a 960-foot flyover along Harcourt Road and the new road between Harcourt Road and Queen's Road East.
In Kowloon, only one short section remains to be completed of the re-construction of Nathan Road, the major traffic artery. Work on this last section is expected to start in 1965. The com- pletion of the additional carriage-way on the Castle Peak Road near Lai Chi Kok Hospital eased traffic conditions on this important route out of Kowloon to the western side of the New Territories. Work on the new Tai Po Road-Castle Peak Road Link Road is in hand and on completion in 1966 it will enable traffic from Eastern Kowloon to bypass the densely-populated and industrial north- western areas.
Work has started on the flyover to carry traffic on Nairn Road over the roundabout at the Argyle Street/Waterloo Road junction. This project forms part of the main traffic route planned from Tsim Sha Tsui to Lion Rock Tunnel. Work also started on the two-mile long tunnel approach road to connect the northern portal of the Lion Rock Tunnel with Tai Po Road at Sha Tin. The tunnel itself is expected to be open for traffic at the end of 1966.
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Improvements to the primary road network in the New Ter- ritories included several sections of dual-carriageway on Castle Peak Road. A number of rural feeder roads were widened and improved.
A new Waterfront Road linking the Central District of Hong Kong with North Point reached an advanced stage of planning; it includes provision for connections to a possible cross-harbour tunnel. The improvement and extension of street lighting included the installation of glare-free cutoff-type lamps in Nathan Road which were the first of their kind in the Colony.
Typhoons caused a large number of road blockages from fallen scaffoldings and trees, landslides and flooding. Several serious washouts occurred while roads in the Kwun Tong resettlement estate were blocked by a large slide of mud washed down from a site formation scheme. Total damage to roads was estimated at $3 million and although complete repair would take several months, roads were generally opened to traffic soon after being blocked. Progress on most new works was held up by the typhoons.
The Government Quarry on the mainland closed in June and an existing quarry at Diamond Hill was taken over for production of high quality aggregate for road-making materials; modern quar- rying, crushing and mixing plant is being installed. The Government Quarry on Hong Kong Island is also to be improved by the use of deep-drilling equipment.
CAR PARKS AND METERED ZONES
The new multi-storey car park in Tsim Sha Tsui, the first in Kowloon and the largest so far in the Colony, was completed in December. Apart from accommodation for 912 cars on eight floors, the ground and mezzanine floors are to be used for shops, and the top floor for the district telephone exchange. The Urban Council now manage four multi-storey and three temporary parks with a combined capacity for 3,161 cars. All were well pat- ronized during the year, and facilities were often taxed to the limit. An average of 2,762 cars each day used the parks. At the multi-storey car parks, the charges are calculated on an hourly basis and range from a (day-time) minimum of a dollar up to $7.20 for 24 hours (week-days); the charges at the temporary parks
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are a dollar for the morning or afternoon and $2 for the whole day. In addition, a monthly parking pass, valid at both types of car park, can be obtained at a cost of $60.
As a further measure to relieve congestion and regulate parking in the urban areas 3,300 parking meters are in use. Another 1,200 are due to be installed early next year. Metered charges range from 50 cents for half an hour, for short-term parking, to 50 cents for two hours at long-term meters.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Public transport in Hong Kong, with the single exception of the railway, is operated by private enterprise, but the Government retains powers designed to ensure efficient operation. There are five major public transport companies which operate under ordin- ances granting monopoly rights but requiring the provision of adequate services.
On Hong Kong Island two public transport companies have exclusive franchises to operate bus and tram services. In Kowloon and the New Territories another company has the exclusive bus franchise. Taxis are licensed for both urban areas and the New Territories. This year Government decided to open the way for new companies to enter the taxi business. Additional licences, which hitherto had been allocated on a quota system to existing companies, were put out to public tender. Hire cars and sight- seeing coaches are also licensed and there is no restriction on the licensing of goods vehicles. Two large ferry companies have mo- nopolies to operate services on specified routes across the harbour. Other minor cross harbour services operate under licence.
During the year 1,009 million people travelled on urban transport services, including the bus services on both sides of the harbour, trams on the island and cross harbour ferries. This was an increase of five per cent over 1963. In the New Territories 83 million pas- sengers were carried on buses, trains and ferries, an increase of 16.3 per cent.
The Advisory Committee on Public Transport, formed in 1961, has built up considerable experience and a body of research material from which it is able to make informed assessments of transport problems and to offer constructive advice to Government on the
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one hand and the transport companies on the other with regard to the planning of their services to meet present and future needs. In August an officer from the Road Research Laboratory of the Department of Scientific and Research in Britain arrived to head a unit which is conducting a full scale survey of passenger transport.
An important function of the committee, which comprises an unofficial chairman and an equal number of official and unofficial members, is to provide a channel for the expression of public opinion about passenger transport services.
Bus services in Kowloon and the New Territories are operated by the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited. At the end of 1964, their fleet totalled 946 vehicles, comprising 465 double-deck buses, 474 single-deck buses, and seven tour coaches, after the addition during the year of 84 buses (40 double-deck and 44 single- deck). Passenger carrying capacity was 62,056. During the year orders for 100 double-deck and 35 single-deck buses were placed. Early in the year a decision was taken to equip all double-deck buses with power operated doors, and conversion of 316 of the 465 double-deck buses was accomplished by the end of 1964.
During the year 546.7 million passengers were carried and 40.3 million miles were covered by the company's buses, increases of 31.6 and 6.13 per cent over the previous year. At the end of the year, the company was operating a total of 64 routes (38 in Kowloon, 25 in the New Territories and one on Lantau Island). This was an increase of two routes over the previous year. With the addi- tional new buses many existing services were also improved by increased frequencies and extended hours of service.
Bus services on Hong Kong Island are run by the China Motor Bus Company Limited which has 394 vehicles, comprising 335 single-deck, 56 double-deck buses and three public cars. The total passenger carrying capacity of buses was 22,505. In 1964 they carried 158.7 million passengers and covered 15.3 million miles, an increase of 11 and seven per cent respectively over last year. Orders for 80 more buses were placed during the year. A new depot, opened in 1963, is in operation at North Point and work has commenced on a new garage at Chai Wan. The company was operating a total of 31 routes at the end of the year including two holiday services and three special services on race days.
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Within the urban areas both bus companies charge two fares. The lower fare is 10 cents and the length of this stage is roughly one mile. Travel exceeding this distance within the urban area costs 20 cents for any distance which may be up to seven miles. There is provision for school children's and other concessionary fares.
Hong Kong Tramways Limited operate an electric tramway service on the Island. The track, the gauge of which is 3 feet, runs between Kennedy Town and Shau Kei Wan, with a branch line around the race course in Happy Valley. All routes pass through the city of Victoria. The tramcars are four-wheeled double-deckers, with single staircases, and are designed for single-ended working, the termini having turning circles. The operating current is 500 volts direct.
The average daily service of cars run in 1964 was 152. This gave a car every two minutes in each direction on all routes. Through the city area the minimum frequency was a car every 31 seconds in each direction. The number of passengers carried was 183 million, a decrease of eight million or 4.2 per cent on 1963.
Fares are charged at a flat rate for any distance over any route and are 20 cents first class and 10 cents third class, the maximum length of a route being 64 miles. The company also issues monthly and concessionary tickets.
The Peak Tramways Company Limited runs a funicular railway service up the Peak. The present haulage system is the mining type and has been in use since 1925. The tramcars are drawn along the track by nearly two miles of steel cable and carried 2.1 million passengers during the year. The tramway climbs up to an altitude of 1,305 feet above sea level and the steepest part of the track has a gradient of one in two. It is reputed to be the steepest funic- ular railway in the world using a steel wire rope as its sole means of haulage.
Taxis are licensed for specific use on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon or the New Territories and conditions and fares vary with each area.
On the Island fares are $1.50 for the first mile and 20 cents for every fifth or 25 cents for every quarter of a mile thereafter. The number of taxis at the end of the year remained at 680. In Kowloon the fare is $1 for the first mile and 20 cents for
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every quarter mile thereafter. At the end of the year 670 taxis were registered for Kowloon, there being no new registration during the year. Under the new tender system 550 licences (350) in Kowloon and 200 on the Island) will be issued during 1965. Taxis licensed for the New Territories may transport passengers to any place in Kowloon, but may pick up passengers in Kowloon for destinations in the New Territories only at special taxi stands. They may not operate internally in Kowloon. There are 582 taxis licensed to operate in the New Territories, an increase of six per cent over 1963.
Public omnibuses operate certain transport services excluded from the monopolies of the major bus companies. These include coaches for sightseeing tours, those provided by hotels for their guests and those used for certain school-bus services. At the end of the year there were 106 public omnibuses licensed by the Com- missioner of Police. Public cars operate under similar franchise and differ only in that they seat a maximum of nine passengers. At the end of the year there were 445 public cars licensed. No scale of fees is laid down for the hire of public cars or omnibuses. Legislation during the year simplified the classification of hired and public vehicles so as to extend their range of uses.
FERRY SERVICES
The Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry Company Limited operates a fleet of 65 diesel-engined ferries. There are 10 routes inside the harbour between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. There are also three vehicle ferry services across the harbour, one of which is a combined passenger vehicle service. A new service linking North Point and Kowloon City is expected to be introduced early in the next year.
Ferries to outlying districts call at Ma Wan, Castle Peak, Tung Chung, Sha Lo Wan and Tai O; Peng Chau, Silver Mine Bay, Chi Ma Wan and Cheung Chau; Tsing Yi Island and Tsuen Wan, and Sok Kwu Wan and Yung Shue Wan on Lamma Island. The service to Yung Shue Wan commenced in May 1964. There is also a service from Tai Po Kau to Tap Mun in Tolo Harbour.
During 1964 138 million passengers and 3.6 million vehicles were carried, an increase of 14.2 per cent and 20.2 per cent re- spectively over 1963.
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The company has a depot with three slipways and a building berth for the servicing and construction of ferries. A new, single- ended vessel, the Man Loy went into service this year in the dual role of cruise ship and ferry. She is 141 feet in length overall and 27 feet in breadth, and can carry 620 passengers. Two new double- ended ferries also came into service, each 146 feet in length overall and 27 feet in breadth moulded, with a carrying capacity of 734 persons. Two similar ferries are under construction.
The Star Ferry Company Limited is authorized by ordinance to run a passenger ferry service across the narrowest part of the harbour between Victoria City on Hong Kong Island and Tsim Sha Tsui on the southern tip of the Kowloon peninsula. The company now has 12 vessels in service supplying a total passenger carrying capacity of 6,682.
The 'Star' ferries run 21 hours a day until 3 a.m. and during peak periods a ferry leaves from each side of the harbour every two-and-a-half minutes on the seven minute journey. During 1964 50.6 million passengers were carried, an increase of 2.9 per cent over 1963. On several days more than 170,000 people were carried.
POSTAL SERVICES
Postal activity in Hong Kong is on the scale which would be expected of a commercial and industrial community of its size. One hundred million letters, cards and packets are posted every year and a similar number delivered. Another million parcels are despatched each year. Postal statistics are given at Appendix XXXVI.
Six new post offices were opened, and one was closed in the Colony in 1964, bringing the total to 40. One of the new offices is on the island, three are in Kowloon, including one in the Shek Kip Mei resettlement estate. Two offices were opened in the New Territories, one at San Tin, a rural area to the north-west and the other in the resettlement estate at Kwai Chung near Tsuen Wan. Construction of the new Kowloon Central Post Office commenced in April 1964 and is expected to be completed in two years' time.
Normal post office counter business such as the sale of stamps, handling of foreign parcels, registration of mail, sale of money
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orders, postal orders and wireless licences is done at most of the offices in the Colony. There are also a number of special postal services used mainly by business houses, such as business reply, cash on delivery, private boxes, private bags and pre-paid postage services, including postage franking machines. There are two mail deliveries a day (excluding Sundays) in all but the most remote rural areas. In the more isolated parts, including most of the islands, mail is distributed by an authorized agent who is paid a monthly fee by the department.
A Postal Training School was opened during the year in order to train recruits in sorting office and counter duties.
Direct communication is maintained with as many foreign post offices as possible so that when there is sufficient correspondence, direct despatches can be made, thus speeding up the transmission of letters or parcels. The thousands of mail bags handled daily by the Post Office are conveyed to and from ships and across the harbour by launch. The train service between Kowloon and Lo Wu remains the main link for mails to and from the People's Republic of China.
A considerable amount of transit mail was received from various other countries for re-despatch to Indonesia during 1964. Prior to this these mails had travelled either in direct ships or via Singapore. A new service to Macau was introduced on 22nd April 1964 when the hydrofoils commenced carrying first class mails.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
The Telecommunications Division of the Post Office licenses and inspects installations, investigates interference and monitors trans- missions for compliance with the terms of licences. The division also acts as adviser to government departments on telecommunica- tion matters.
The shore-end of SEACOM, the South East Asia Common- wealth Cable, was received at Deep Water Bay in November. With COMPAC, the Commonwealth Pacific Cable, already in operation through Sydney, telegraph, telex and telephone services with the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada and the United States have very much improved. With the advent of SEACOM, it is expected that there will be a marked increase in the use of these services, especially telex and telephone.
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A new telephone service was established with Bahamas, and schedules were extended to meet increased demands for service with Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, the United States and the Philippines.
New telex services were also established with Aden, Bahrain, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Surinam and Uruguay. A direct Hongkong-Karachi telex circuit was opened for both local and relay service. A semi-automatic telex exchange was set up, and incoming calls from all countries are now automatically connected. Facsimile or phototelegram service was instituted with Seoul and Taiwan.
Engineering services provided by Cable and Wireless Limited to the Government at Radio Hong Kong, Hong Kong Airport, the Royal Observatory and various other departments, were efficiently and satisfactorily performed. A comparatively recent commitment at the City Hall involves the maintenance of the sound equipment in the two theatres and the simultaneous interpretation equipment for international conferences.
A fully automatic telephone service throughout the Colony is provided by the Hong Kong Telephone Company Limited, a public company operating under a franchise.
Demand continues to be greater than supply and shows a con- tinual rise. The company recently sought the services of the British Post Office Consultative Services' Department whose representatives visited the Colony and submitted a report covering the telephone development for the next 15 years. This report has been accepted in principle and plans are in hand for its early implementation.
In September Government appointed an Advisory Committee on Telephone Services to keep under review the operation, im- provement and expansion of telephone services and to examine complaints and suggestions from the public. The committee, which will make recommendations to the Governor in Council, is chaired by an unofficial Legislative Councillor and includes four other unofficial members together with the Postmaster General and one other official member.
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Royal Observatory
THE Royal Observatory provides all meteorological information within the Colony and is also part of a world-wide network of meteorological services. Weather forecasts and information are supplied to the public, government departments, shipping, aviation and the armed forces by a central forecast office. Meteorological observations are made at the observatory itself in Kowloon, the airport and six other points throughout the Colony, and upper air soundings at the radiosonde station on a hill near the observatory where balloons carrying special reflectors are released every six hours and tracked by wind-finding radar. One balloon each day carries a radiosonde transmitter which transmits back the pressure, temperature and humidity at all levels through which the bal- loon ascends. Numerous rain-gauges are operated throughout the Colony by government employees and private individuals on behalf of the observatory.
At the airport pilots leaving Hong Kong are briefed and provid- ed with written forecasts and information is also exchanged with other weather centres and radioed to aircraft in flight. Special weather bulletins are broadcast for shipping and for local fishermen. Liaison officers visit merchant and Royal Navy ships in port to check their barometers and other meteorological instruments, to supply daily weather charts and to assist in other ways. About 60 ships are supplied with instruments by the observatory to enable them to make weather observations which are then plotted and analysed at the observatory and also rebroadcast to other centres. After being checked against the ships' original log books the observations are punched on to Hollerith cards for clima- tological purposes.
One of the most important functions of the central forecast office is to issue warnings of tropical cyclones. Whenever a tropical depression, tropical storm or typhoon is located within the region bounded by the latitudes 10° and 30° north and the longitudes
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105° and 125° east, six-hourly and often three-hourly non-local warnings are issued. These include information on the storm's intensity and expected development, the position and movement of its centre and the forecast position for 24 hours ahead. Reliable reports from ships and reconnaissance aircraft help to locate the storms accurately. When the Colony itself is threatened the local storm warning system is brought into use and warnings are widely distributed by means of visual signals, telephones and radio. While gale signals are hoisted, statements are issued every hour and broad- cast at frequent intervals.
Time signals from the observatory are broadcast by Radio Hong Kong and included in special broadcasts for shipping. A visual time signal is flashed from the observatory signal mast from 8.55 p.m. until 9.00 p.m.
The observatory operates 12 seismometers, distributing weekly and monthly reports, and also participates in the Pacific Tidal Wave Warning Service. Hong Kong lies some distance away from the circum-Pacific seismic belt and serious earthquakes are almost unknown. However in most years a few tremors can just be felt by people in favourable locations. During 1964 there were six of these. The general level of radioactivity in the Colony is monitored by routine measurements of the beta-activity of fallout, airborne particles near the ground, rainfall and ordinary tap water.
THE YEAR'S WEATHER
In 1964 a record number of five typhoons caused gales in Hong Kong. In addition there were five other storms for which local storm signals were hoisted. Local storm signals were hoisted for a record total of 570 hours during the year. This compares with the previous record year, 1960, when signals were hoisted for 432 hours to warn of nine storms. Apart from the typhoons, the weather during the year showed few departures from normal.
At the beginning of the year the Colony was desperately short of water and January 1964 was welcomed as the first month for more than a year in which rainfall was above average. A violent cold front on 23rd January caused thunder-storms and sudden squalls which capsized five trawlers. The water emergency con- tinued however as February, March and April were all comparatively
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dry. February was colder than usual and some frost was reported in the New Territories. March and April were generally dry, warm and sunny. May was also comparatively warm and sunny but typhoon Viola brought nearly 12 inches which is more than the normal rainfall for the whole of May. Typhoon Viola is only the second storm in 80 years to cause gales in Hong Kong in May, the previous storm being typhoon Alice in 1961. Moving towards the north-north-west, typhoon Viola passed about 50 miles west-south- west of Hong Kong at 9 a.m. on 28th May. There were three hours of gales at the observatory and five ships went aground. There were no fatalities.
June was a fairly normal month but although some rain was recorded on 28 days out of 30 the total rainfall was well below normal. Typhoon Winnie caused considerable damage in Manila on 30th June and then moved west-north-west across the China Sea. It passed about 260 miles south of Hong Kong on 1st July causing strong winds but no gales. In spite of typhoon Winnie, which caused nearly two inches of rain, the rainfall in July was the lowest of any July on record. The highest temperature of the year 33.9°C, was recorded on 7th August during the approach of typhoon Ida which passed about 55 miles south-south-west of Hong Kong on a north-westerly track just before midnight on 8th-9th August. There were only two hours of gales but the per- sistent rain caused about 20,000 cubic yards of mud to slide down a hillside and pile up around a newly built resettlement estate. The five known deaths were all caused by this avalanche of mud, and more heavy rainfall during the latter half of August caused further landslides. However the heavy rain brought a welcome end to the water emergency and Hong Kong received a 24-hour supply of water on 1st September.
Local storm signals were displayed for a record 14 days during September to warn of typhoons Ruby, Sally, Tilda and Billie. Ruby was probably the second most severe typhoon to affect Hong Kong since the war. It passed about 15 miles south-west of the observatory at 1.50 p.m. on 5th September, moving towards the west-north-west. It was fortunate that the time of passage did not coincide with normal high tide. However, sustained hurricane force winds caused widespread damage throughout the Colony. Three ships were sunk and 12 grounded. Casualty figures included 38 dead and six missing.
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Altogether 1,336 squatter huts and 400 fishing boats were damaged or destroyed. Winds exceeded hurricane force for nearly three and a half hours at one spot. Gusts of 145 knots were recorded at Tate's Cairn and 122 knots at the observatory. As the centre passed, the winds changed direction rather suddenly from north-east to south- south-east.
The Urban Services were still clearing an estimated 10,000 tons of debris from the streets, as typhoon Sally approached the Colony on a course very similar to Ruby's. It altered course slightly and much of its energy was spent on the coast to the east of Hong Kong. The centre passed about 30 miles north-east of Hong Kong at about 11 p.m. on 10th September, and although there was serious damage in Kwangtung, gales only lasted for 40 minutes at the observatory and the only serious damage was caused by the heavy rain. A single large boulder, loosened by rain, rolled down a hill- side near Shau Kei Wan and crushed two squatter huts causing seven out of the nine known fatalities.
There were only three fine days before typhoon Tilda began to threaten the Colony on 15th September. Tilda moved very slowly along a most unusual looped track and although it caused no damage in Hong Kong, local storm signals were hoisted for a record 161 hours, and the unloading of ships was seriously disrupted. Typhoon Tilda was closely followed by typhoon Anita on 27th September, Billie on 30th September and Clara on 7th October. None of these caused any damage although strong winds caused further delays to shipping.
On 9th October typhoon Dot moved westwards across the Philippines and at first it seemed to be following the same track as typhoons Billie and Clara. However, on 11th October when Dot was just about to pass Hong Kong, it turned northwards and headed straight for the Colony. The centre passed about 20 miles east of the observatory at 6.30 a.m. on 13th October. Typhoon Dot was travelling rather more slowly than the other storms so that both gales and heavy rain lasted for a comparatively long time. Winds were not as violent as in typhoon Ruby and only two ships went aground but there was much more rain. Many roads were blocked and numerous landslides and house collapses killed at least 26 people.
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Tropical storm Georgia moved westward across the China Sea to the south of Hong Kong and caused some rain on 23rd October. Pressure rose rapidly behind Georgia and there were strong mon- soon winds later in the day. The strong monsoon signal, the black ball, was hoisted for 37 hours.
The last two months of the year were generally dry and sunny. The mean relative humidity during November was only 59 per cent which is the third lowest on record. The black ball was hoisted once more on 17th December when there were strong northerly winds in the harbour. The year's rainfall, 95.75 inches, was 10.37 inches more than the average.
17
Press, Broadcasting and Cinema
WHILE many cities bewail the contraction of newspaper ownership to one or two groups, or even a monopoly, Hong Kong supports no less than 46 daily newspapers and another 26 published once or twice a week. This allows for an astonishing range of political expression, intellectual content, editorial style, and ownership.
While some papers are owned by substantial and well established groups there is always the opportunity in Hong Kong for an ambi- tious journalist to set up on his own. Not only is it possible to start a newspaper on a relatively small capital but the legal for- malities are few and simple. Newspapers published in the Colony must be registered with the Secretary for Chinese Affairs at an annual fee of $100. In addition a surety of $10,000 must be deposited although suitable guarantees of this sum are accepted. This accounts not only for some of the variety but also for a small but constant change on the newspaper scene as small ventures fall by the way and others appear to take their place.
The casualties during 1964 have included two of the three new papers which attempted to combine the English and Chinese lan- guages on the same page. Only one of these novel enterprises has survived. However, several other newspapers have been started and the total number of dailies, despite these changes, is only one less than a year ago.
The most striking changes have been in the circulations rather than the number of separate publications. Accurate circulation figures are hard to come by since by no means all newspapers publish audited figures. However the total newspaper circulation of morning and evening newspapers appears now to be in excess of 900,000 copies a day. This figure represents a sizeable increase on previous figures, even allowing for underestimating in earlier years and must be attributed to the growing population and, of course, the steadily rising educational standards. One morning newspaper established only two years ago has established a steady
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circulation of more than 60,000. These overall circulation figures represent a sale of newspapers at the rate of 25 for every hundred of population. This compares with an International Press Institute figure of 40 for every hundred people in Japan but only one for every hundred throughout Asia as a whole and excluding China.
The pattern now is of two big newspapers, one morning and one afternoon, with circulations well above 100,000 a day each. Another two or three papers between 50,000 and 100,000 and a large group of perhaps ten newspapers with circulations in the thirty thousands. The rest of the 46 come below that figure and it proves possible for newspapers to survive with circulations as low as 3,000 copies a day.
Generally regarded as the Colony's leading Chinese newspapers are the Wah Kiu Yat Po (Overseas Chinese Daily News), Sing Tao (Island Star), and Kung Sheung (Industrial and Commercial). The first two of these charge 20 cents a copy, all other Chinese papers in Hong Kong sell for a mere 10 cents which makes news a rea- sonably priced commodity by any standards.
Of these newspapers the Wah Kiu Yat Po is the oldest having been published since June 1925 with Kung Sheung commencing one month later in the same year. Sing Tao dates from 1938. All of them are antedated by earlier newspapers not now in circulation. One of these began publication in 1873 and a version of it only ceased a short while ago. At least one other Chinese newspaper was being published before that date.
Newspapers like these are exceedingly comprehensive and even those aiming for the most popular taste carry a great deal of foreign news for which they rely on the international news agencies. The larger papers regularly run to 24 or 28 pages a day.
Hong Kong also supports three English-language newspapers. The South China Morning Post and its afternoon companion the China Mail, and the Hong Kong Tiger Standard published by the same group as the Sing Tao newspapers. Both dailies publish Sunday editions. Publication of a new 'tabloid' evening paper, The Star, has been announced for March 1965.
Both Chinese and English-language newspapers are represented on the Newspaper Society of Hong Kong which manages, despite their diversity, to represent the common interests of its members.
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There is also a thriving periodical press in both languages and international recognition came this year to one of Hong Kong's leading magazines when the editor and managing editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review shared the Magsaysay award for their significant contribution to this field of journalism with its very special importance in Asia.
Hong Kong continues to be a base for the operations of all the important news agencies and many international magazines, news- papers, radio and television networks. More than fifty of these staff correspondents are members of the Foreign Correspondents Club which serves as a meeting place as well as to represent their common interests.
There are three sound broadcasting systems in the Colony and a wired television service. An ordinance to authorize wireless television was passed in November this year. This will be a com- mercial service and the licensee will be appointed on the basis of a tender.
A diversity of radio transmission is only to be expected in a place where the pocket transistor has taken a firm grip. Farmers ploughing rice fields behind water buffalo listen to opera, bus conductors tuck them into tunic pockets to catch the latest foot- ball score. In fact the gap between the number of radio licences, 142,181, and the obviously greater number of sets in existence is a current problem.
There is certainly plenty to listen to. The three stations are on the air for seventeen hours daily-and longer still when typhoons threaten at which times the stations stay open until the danger has passed.
The content of broadcasting varies somewhat with each station, depending to some extent on the basis of their revenue and the degree to which they depend on advertising.
RADIO HONG KONG
Radio Hong Kong is a government department and carries no advertising. It is the longest established radio station in the Colony, and in fact one of the oldest of colonial broadcasting stations having begun operations in 1928. The station broadcasts both
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Chinese and English programmes on medium wave and VHF/FM. The Chinese service is also carried on short wave, principally for the benefit of the fishing fleets. The medium wave transmitters are at Hung Hom in Kowloon and the FM mast is on the summit of Mount Gough. Since 1951 Radio Hong Kong's studios and engineering services have been housed in Mercury House, the far eastern headquarters of Cable and Wireless Limited. An intended move to a building in the former naval base this year was tem- porarily frustrated when the fabric of the building was found to be unsound. Plans are now in hand for an entirely new site.
The principal language of the Chinese programmes is Cantonese although news bulletins and important announcements are also broadcast in Kuoyu, Chiuchow and Hakka. Educational material has become a feature of the Chinese service during recent years and these programmes, often related to specially issued text books command considerable attention among student listeners. Musical tastes among Chinese listeners range all the way from classical opera to modern Chinese and western songs favoured by younger listeners.
Regular news bulletins covering local and regional as well as world news are supplemented by the relay of BBC services in Kuoyu and Cantonese. A news magazine, 'Topical Events', is broadcast each weekday evening to give a background to local news. There is a big public for Radio Hong Kong's outside broadcasts, especially those from the race track and football matches. For the 18th Olympiad the station sent commentators to Tokyo and daily reports in Cantonese and Kuoyu were sent back each day for re-broadcast. This operation was carried out in conjunction with Radio Australia which used the broadcasts for the Chinese Overseas Service.
Radio Hong Kong's English programmes serve not only Euro- peans living in the Colony but the growing number of English- speaking Chinese. They include a high proportion of classical music and talks. Frequent discussion programmes are broadcast and current events are also covered in a daily news magazine.
Radio Hong Kong has now joined the Asian Broadcasting Union as an Associate Member and the director attended the first meeting of the Union, which was held in Sydney in November.
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COMMERCIAL RADIO
The Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Company transmits two Chinese services and one English. The second Chinese service which went on the air in 1963 met initial difficulties as a result of interference on its frequency but test transmissions conducted on an alternative frequency have proved satisfactory. It is now hoped that this alternative frequency will be permanently allocated to the service. Commercial Radio's Chinese programmes cover a wide range, from dramas and variety shows to music and opera. It has a particularly strong following for its serialized dramas which are often adapted for subsequent films. Among other in- teresting programmes is the 'Market Report' which not only offers retail prices to housewives but has expanded to include wholesale prices and other information for restaurateurs and others in the food business. The second Chinese service has made possible the introduction of a number of adult education programmes on subjects ranging from the Confucian Analects to a series of talks on Commercial Practice broadcast in conjunction with the Junior Chamber of Commerce.
The English Service of Commercial Radio also undertakes some educational broadcasting. This year a 15-week series on the English language was broadcast, based on the texts of books recommended for study by the Education Department. The service describes its general listening policy as 'middle of the road'. Classical music takes 10 per cent of programme time, the spoken word has been increased to 21 per cent, including news broadcasts, and other music accounts for the remaining 69 per cent of programme time.
This increase in the spoken word content of their programmes reflects to a large extent the greater efforts being made by all the stations to report the events of the day by direct interview so that the man with the tape-recorder has become as much a feature of press conferences in Hong Kong as the reporter with his note- book. Commercial Radio's English service now broadcasts inter- views with prominent citizens and visitors twice a night. Big local broadcasts during the year included top flight entertainers, popular singers, and classical orchestras direct from the City Hall while the station also sent its team to Tokyo for the Olympic Games. They broadcast live reports to Hong Kong throughout the games
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with results, commentaries and of course special attention to the Hong Kong participants.
REDIFFUSION
Wired sound and television are supplied by Rediffusion (Hong Kong) Limited, a locally controlled subsidiary of the organization which operates in Britain and in many other Commonwealth countries. The wired sound service is distributed to practically all the urban areas and to many outlying villages in the islands and New Territories by more than 1,000 miles of main trunk lines and another 3,000 miles of installation cabling. At the end of the year there were 37,003 subscribers to these sound services. Rental for a speaker is $10 a month, giving a choice of three programmes. Just less than a quarter of Rediffusion sound programmes are commercially sponsored. The two Chinese programmes are each broadcast for seventeen hours daily, offering news, music and other programmes in a variety of dialects. The English service broadcasts between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily.
Hong Kong was the first British Colony to operate a television service and the Rediffusion network now has two channels and by the end of the year 36,535 subscribers. The television services carry advertising and a number of shows on both channels are commercially sponsored. The two channels provide some 75 hours of viewing each week. The original service was opened in May 1957 and the new Chinese channel in September 1963. While both channels carry popular filmed shows from Britain and America the Chinese programme in particular includes many live shows from the fully equipped studios at Rediffusion House. Quiz shows are especially popular but live opera performances, variety shows and interviews are also shown. In television as well as in radio the outside broadcast is playing its part in creating among viewers a greater understanding of current events in the Colony and almost every day Rediffusion's cameras are out covering local events and incidents.
The rental fee for a television set is $55 a month which includes the receiver itself and its maintenance. Subscribers with their own receivers pay $25 to cover the programme fee, licence and main- tenance. The network is now reaching out from the urban areas
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to Kwun Tong, Tsuen Wan, and Sha Tin in the New Territories and further developments are under consideration.
FILM INDUSTRY
Although accurate figures for the purposes of comparison are hard to establish it may well be that Hong Kong is the world's largest film producing centre. The best figures available for the year 1963 show that Hong Kong film companies produced a total of 310 feature films, compared with 271 made in India, 225 in Japan and 155 made by United States film companies. It is possible, however, that Hong Kong may not be able to hold the first place this year as the number of films produced is down to 238, partly as a result of typhoons which held up several productions during the summer. Nevertheless it is obvious that Hong Kong holds a major position in the film world, and one that may soon be more and more appreciated in the west although all of these films are at present made with an entirely Chinese audience in mind. Many of this enormous number of productions are the work of small studios on low budgets but the industry has its moguls and its extravaganzas in full colour and wide screen. It was in one of these-Lady General Hua Mu-lan from the Shaw Brothers Studio- that Miss Ivy Ling Po won the title of Best Actress of the Year at the Asian Film Festival this year. Two other Hong Kong films, starring the late Miss Lin Dai, were shown at a San Francisco cinema during the trade fair in which Hong Kong participated. At times there were queues a block long to see these films and the cinema owner reported that by no means all of them were Chinese.
Hong Kong continues to be a favourite setting for film companies from abroad, although not always as itself. The streets, waterways and country-side of the Colony appear regularly on the screens of the world disguised as not merely China but half a dozen other Asian locations as well since in Hong Kong the film maker finds not just the authentic background that he seeks but the modern services and the skilled technicians equally necessary for his purpose. Even when Hong Kong appears as, ostensibly, itself it may seem to be disguised since the Colony provides a popular background for entertainment on the lighter side, liberally sprinkled with drug- runners, spies and gangsters more sinister than anything in police files. These occasional extravagances can be taken lightly since
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the real problems of the Colony and the way in which they are being tackled attract the serious attention of documentary film makers from all over the world.
Films for public exhibition within Hong Kong are subject to the provisions of the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance which requires that they must be viewed by a Panel of Censors. This year the panel viewed 3,300 films.
GOVERNMENT INFORMATION SERVICES
The Government Information Services are more or less closely connected with all of the activities dealt with in this chapter since their task is the communication of official information through the press, radio, television and the cinema. Within Hong Kong it is their duty to provide information on the decisions and actions of Government to the community at all levels. The department uses the same means abroad to establish an understanding of Hong Kong particularly in those countries and amongst those people who are in a position to affect the Colony's fortunes.
Within the Colony the department's strongest links are naturally with the newspapers and in fact the press division is the department's largest single unit. The basis of the press division's service to news- papers is the Daily Information Bulletin published each evening in Chinese and English and distributed within Hong Kong to more than 100 newspapers, correspondents and agencies. This bulletin contains an average of twelve items ranging over the whole field of public activity and is supplemented by the issue of urgent news items from official sources such as police bulletins and fire alarms. For this purpose the department's teleprinter link to 31 subscribers proves invaluable, particularly to evening newspapers with early deadlines.
Mere figures are little guide to the quality of an official information service but it is estimated that throughout this year the department issued an average of 600 items a month. This does not take into account the service provided during typhoons. In a severe storm when movement for the public, and even for reporters, may be difficult the department's direct links with police stations, fire stations, hospitals and other key points provides a steady flow of news which might otherwise not be available. This, together
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with the latest situation reports from the Royal Observatory is passed out immediately on the teleprinters and sometimes amounts to a continuous service for 24 or 36 hours.
The press, however, will tend to judge an information service, not by the material which it issues of its own choice, but by the freedom, and alacrity with which it provides information sought by the press. As the channel of information between the press and some thirty separate departments the Government Information Services deal with a score or more questions a day ranging from simple factual or statistical matters to more complicated requests for policy statements. In the belief that the journalist is best satisfied with what he sees and hears for himself the department arranges on the spot visits to places of news interest and encourages direct interviews between journalists and government officers wherever possible; it arranged some 140 during this year. When the occasion merits it a full scale press conference is held at which new projects can be described or government policies of major interest outlined by the officers concerned.
The facilities of press coverage, always most willingly given by Hong Kong newspapers, are very fully used in the various civic campaigns held during any year whether they be in the fields of public health, road safety or for such particular endeavours as an increase in the rate of police recruiting. Campaigns of this sort will inevitably involve the department's publicity divisions staffed by specialists in film-making, photography, poster design and the production of books and leaflets. Typical campaigns which involve the services of most or all of these specialists are those undertaken on behalf of the Urban Council and Urban Services Department to improve cleanliness in food handling among restaurant workers or to eliminate the mosquito nuisance.
The work of the publicity divisions as well as of the press division is also directed abroad. The full Daily Information Bulletin, or a summarized weekly version is supplied to information offices and other outlets throughout the world. In particular the information officer at the Hong Kong Government Office in London receives all the department's press and publicity material.
Publicity work has had to be geared more and more to the Colony's export efforts and many productions during the year have been
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specifically related to trade promotion. The range of publications on local products was increased, for example, with the addition of a comprehensive booklet on industry. This full colour production, 'Opportunity Hong Kong', has become literally a best-seller, already running through three printings and 35,000 copies.
The aim, a balanced view of Hong Kong, its achievements and the sizeable problems yet unsolved, is also sought by the supply of feature material and photographs to newspapers and magazines all over the world and even more importantly, by the facilities afforded to their representatives when they visit the Colony to see these things for themselves.
Both aspects of overseas publicity are typified by the films under production during the year in the department's film unit. 'A Race Against People', is a story of the resettlement programme designed to supply background for an appreciation of the Colony's social problems and the means being taken to overcome them. For a more specific purpose the unit also made a film of Hong Kong's industrial and commercial potential to be shown as part of the trade promotion programme.
Films have long been a feature of the internal publicity programme and with the arrival of a mobile cinema shows with a judicious mixture of entertainment and education are now being given to large and enthusiastic audiences at resettlement estates. Another innovation equally well patronized was the promotion at the City Hall of a series of free Sunday afternoon showings of documentaries of special interest or merit. Once again the opportunity was taken to include in a programme of entertainment some items of a mildly instructional nature.
Although in its everyday work the department is primarily concerned with publicizing the affairs of Hong Kong, everything possible is done to promote knowledge of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, and maximum use is made of material supplied by the Central Office of Information, London, for this purpose. The department's film loan library of 16 mm colour and black- and-white films now numbers 681, mostly supplied by the Central Office of Information although more than 34 were produced in Hong Kong. During the year about 3,300 films were issued for exhibition by clubs, schools and other institutions and approximately
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165 films, comprising a regular weekly news magazine from Britain and documentaries, were supplied to Rediffusion's television circuit for local showing.
PUBLIC ENQUIRY SERVICE
However comprehensive or efficient the techniques of mass communication they cannot hope to answer for each individual the questions of his or her personal situation as it is affected by the actions and policies of Government. It was to meet this special need that the Public Enquiry Service was set up and has proved its great value as a link between officialdom, with its inevitable anonymity and its generalizations, and the general public as in- dividuals. At conveniently situated public counters any member of the public can sit down before a sympathetic and well-informed listener who will help them to discover how this or that piece of legislation affects them personally. Each member of the staff speaks English, Cantonese and a number of other dialects. To meet the demand for this service a third counter was opened at the end of the year in Wan Chai to supplement the original offices in the Central District and in Kowloon. On an average the service handles 10,500 enquiries in a normal month. However, when typhoons affect the Colony these figures are entirely overwhelmed. At such times the service is continuously manned and the telephones ring almost incessantly with questions about the weather position, the availability of public transport and other services and the post- ponement of public functions.
18
Local Forces and Civil Defence Services
THE Colony's auxiliary defence services consist of the Royal Hong Kong Defence Force, the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force and the Essential Services Corps. The Auxiliary Police Force is dealt with in chapter 12. The Essential Services Corps is split for admin- istrative and practical purposes into four autonomous services: the units of the Essential Services Corps proper, the Auxiliary Medical Service, the Civil Aid Services and the Auxiliary Fire Service.
All these services are paid for almost entirely from funds voted each year by the Legislative Council. Except for small administra- tive and training staffs they are manned entirely by volunteers training in the evenings or at the week-ends and in some cases for up to 15 days at sea or at annual camps. Service in the auxiliary defence units is a considerable commitment for the individuals concerned and also for their employers, who are generally most co-operative in releasing members of their staff for these duties.
Training obligations vary from service to service. The maximum is in those units whose members must every year attend at least 60 hours of instructional parades, six full days' training and a training period at camp. An allowance to cover out-of-pocket expenses is granted for attendance at instructional parades, while for a full day's training and for attending camp, officers and mem- bers receive a higher daily rate of pay.
The principal units of the Royal Hong Kong Defence Force are the Hong Kong Royal Naval Reserve, the Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers), and the Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force. Each major unit deals direct with Government and with its regular parent Service.
The Hong Kong Royal Naval Reserve comprises some forty officers and one hundred and sixty men, whose sea-going training is carried out in two Inshore Minesweepers, based in the Royal Naval Base HMS Tamar, which are on loan from the Admiralty
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Board and are operated and maintained by the Hong Kong Govern-
ment.
The Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers) is a reconnaissance regiment comprising a regimental headquarters, two Land Rover reconnaissance squadrons, one 'Ferret' Scout car reconnaissance squadron, a mobile infantry company, a home guard company and an intelligence platoon. The Regiment is about 700 strong and operates in its reconnaissance role with the Regular Army units in the Colony. It also plays its part in internal security exercises held by the Police and the Regular Army.
The Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force operates Westland Widgeon helicopters and Auster observation aircraft. During the year almost all government departments used the helicopters for flights to all parts of the Colony, including the regular Saturday morning 'Flying Doctor' service for the Medical and Health Department. Training of student pilots formed a large part of the commitment of the Auster Flight, and training in the internal security role, with the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Observer Squadron, featured prom- inently in the year's activities for both types of aircraft.
There are also two women's services: the Hong Kong Women's Auxiliary Royal Naval Reserve and the Hong Kong Women's Auxiliary Army Corps.
Volunteer service in Hong Kong began with the formation on 30th May 1854, of the Hong Kong Volunteers. In 1878 they were renamed the Hong Kong Volunteer Corps and in 1917 the Hong Kong Defence Corps. In 1920 the title was again changed to the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps. The Corps was mobilized, about 1,400 strong, to meet the Japanese attack on the Colony on 8th December 1941 and fought with the regular forces against overwhelming odds until ordered to surrender on 25th December 1941. In 1956 their action was vividly recalled when part of the old Colours of the Corps, which had been buried in December 1941, to avoid capture by the Japanese, was discovered by workmen excavating a building site on Garden Road. The officers who had hidden the Colours had died in captivity, leaving no record of where the Colours might be found. The remnants of the old Colours were paraded at the Annual Review of the Defence Force in March 1958, and were afterwards laid up in St John's Cathedral. Decora- tions were conferred upon 15 members of the Corps for their
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gallantry in battle and for later escapes from Japanese prison camps in Hong Kong, while 18 were mentioned in despatches.
After the war the Corps was reconstituted on 1st March 1949, as the Hong Kong Defence Force. Two years later, His late Majesty King George VI granted the title 'Royal' in recognition of the part played by the Force's forerunner, the Volunteer Defence Corps, in 1941. In March 1957, Her Majesty the Queen awarded the Battle Honour 'Hong Kong' to the Royal Hong Kong Defence Corps, and this Honour is now emblazoned on the Regimental Colour.
ESSENTIAL SERVICES
The Essential Services Corps proper consists of about sixty units, each responsible for maintaining an essential service such as the supply of electricity, water, communications, etc during an emergency. The authorized strength of the Corps is about 12,000 and actual strength is about 8,000. Each unit is principally staffed by persons of that service who have undertaken voluntarily to continue to serve under emergency conditions. When called out for service, members are subject to certain obligations but also become entitled to certain benefits and privileges such as pay, pension in cases of death or injury. In recent years the Commissioner has been a prominent member of the business community, with a government officer as Assistant Commissioner. This policy has now been changed, and a full-time government servant was appointed Commissioner in February.
The Auxiliary Medical Service is organized to provide first aid, reinforce government and private medical establishments, and provide an augmented ambulance service in an emergency. It is built around the Medical and Health Department, the St John Ambulance Brigade and other members of the medical and nursing professions, but many people with no previous training in nursing or first aid have also been enrolled and trained to act as auxiliary nurses in hospitals or as first aid workers in the field. The service has over 5,000 members.
The Civil Aid Services are responsible for all the civil defence functions not covered by the other emergency services. They consist of over 5,000 volunteers from all walks of life, who train to be of the most practical use in emergencies, of which the most frequent
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LOCAL FORCES
are typhoons, floods and house-collapses. It includes units specializ- ing in fire-prevention and fire-fighting, civil defence, first aid, heavy rescue and communications, and a despatch service equipped with motor scooters. Most members train part-time but there are full- time courses for instructors and specialists.
At all times members voluntarily turn out to assist the community when the need arises and provide uniformed members to help local Kai Fong and welfare associations when requested.
The Auxiliary Fire Service has 683 volunteer members who augment the professional fire services in major fires and other emergencies. They are attached to regional fire stations in units. of 16 for training and operational duties, and eight units are also posted to New Territories District Fire Headquarters as a Reserve Force for special water relay duties and emergency rescue. They man their own appliances at week-ends, as well as doing two hours a week training with regular appliances and equipment.
Apart from training to meet emergencies and assisting at major disasters, there are many instances every year of members of all the auxiliary services giving help and first aid, in an individual capacity, at all kinds of accidents and incidents.
The Dragon Boat Festival, believed to have originated in China more than 2,000 years ago, is one of the six big festivals held in Hong Kong each year. Each of the boats has an ornate dragon's head, each dragon holding in its mouth a wooden 'pearl". At the other end a brightly coloured, fluted dragon's tail rises from the water.
The dragon boats, sleek craft between 80 and 100 feet in length, are rowed by crews of husky Chinese fishermen who go into strenuous training a month before the event and pray to their temple gods for victory. The rowers thrash the water with small paddles, taking their time from a drummer who stands up in the craft.
順
The races are rowed over 600 to 800 yards and each heat takes the form of a dash. Since the dragon boats have very little freeboard, speed is essential to give them stability. The winners of the finals receive a set of honorific banners and an eight- course banquet. When not in use, dragon boats are laid up at fishermen's temples.
Not all of Hong Kong's festivals have the exuberance of the dragon boat races. The Ghost Festival, held on the 14th day of the seventh moon, is a time of remem- brance for the souls of the dead. The priest shown in this picture is singing prayers urging the spirits to rest for ever in peace. Offerings are also made to the spirits.
19
Research
THE University of Hong Kong carried out various research projects during the year.
In the Department of Economics and Political Science, the first official and comprehensive study of the national income of Hong Kong was completed by Mr E. R. Chang under the Govern- ment Fellowship in Economic Statistics established for this purpose. Other research on social and economic problems of east and south- east Asia continued.
The Department of Chinese and the Institute of Oriental Studies conducted research during the year into such subjects as Chinese genealogies and records, Brahmanic influences in Chinese tradition and the compilation of an Oracle Bones Phrase Dictionary. Among publications during the year were works on Chinese history and folk songs while a new Biography of Hung Hsiu-ch'uan will soon be ready for publication.
During the year the Hong Kong Council for Educational Research published the results of works on statistical research methods in education and psychology; the attainment and ability of primary school pupils; the educational, psychological, sociological, and physical aspects of school failure; and the education of handicapped children. A study in guidance and counselling was continued as well as projects in the fields of educational planning and the teaching of English as a foreign language.
Two programmes in language work were begun, the first to try to determine the limits of acceptability of the English of non-native speakers with the help of speech spectrographic analysis; the second to attempt to develop a self-monitoring language laboratory.
The Department of Geography and Geology continued its major research interest in land use in the New Territories. Final-year students began collective work on industrial and architectural land use in association with the Planning Unit of the Government Public Works Department. Other research projects included studies
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of pH and salinity values in fresh-water fish culture; settlement patterns and population changes in Hakka villages; rice soil classification with special reference to hydraulic conductivity and salinity factors; and the analysis of conditions controlling the economic geography of China. Work also continued on the petrology of the igneous rocks of Hong Kong; the eutectic fusion points of local clay mixtures; structural fracturing and faulting of the Kowloon Peninsula; and a preliminary investigation of ground water resources. The University archaeological team continued throughout the year their studies of local sites.
Projects in the Department of History included work in the fields of Chinese, Japanese and south-east Asian history. The main subjects of research were the history of Chinese relations with Yunnan during the Tang period and the ethnic problems connected with the State of Nanchao; Chinese and Indian in- fluences on early south-east Asian government systems; British policy in Borneo in the late nineteenth century; documentary sources illustrating China's external relations in the late Ching period; British policy in China between 1894 and 1902; the role of the dominions in Anglo-Japanese relations; the early history of the Communist movement in China; modern Sino-Japanese relations; and aspects of south-east Asian history since 1870.
The Department of Modern Languages carried out research and published books and articles in two main fields: dialectology and 'creolization' in Asia; and the modern French novel, with special reference to novels with an Asian setting.
In the Department of Philosophy research continued on the foundations of the social sciences and on problems of bilingualism. Studies on the sociology of the cinema and on the foundations of psychology were conducted, as were comparative studies in the psychology of personality.
The Institute of Modern Asian Studies, established in April 1960 to serve as a focus and centre of information for all work in the University in this field undertook research during the year in China's economic development with particular emphasis on the role of Soviet aid and such basic industries as steel, power and petroleum. In addition, the Institute brings out an annual publication, Con- temporary China, which contains, in part, research findings of its staff members.
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New research programmes, as well as projects begun in previous years, were conducted in the Faculty of Science. In the Department of Botany studies of the ecology of soil fungi in Hong Kong were continued as well as the survey of the air spora in relation to climatic conditions. The Department of Physics continued research on the ionosphere using the Faraday rotation of signals from earth satellites. The work on cosmic ray intensities using a counter telescope reached the end of the first phase. Marine physics research commenced on the sediments of the inshore waters near Hong Kong. An 'asdic' system was used to produce acoustic maps of the sea bed. The results to date are most promising and reveal interesting geophysical features.
The Department of Zoology conducted research along several lines. A team of workers carried out research into various aspects of form and function of the adrenal gland of vertebrates. Other investigations were continued with the collaboration of members of St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School, London, involving long-term study of the breeding cycles of snakes and mammals obtainable in Hong Kong. A programme of research into the parasites of local mammals was conducted in collaboration with the Bishop Museum of Honolulu and a survey of the mammals of Hong Kong was also carried out.
In the Faculty of Medicine research programmes included the pattern of growth and development of Chinese children and youth by cross-sectional and longitudinal (serial) studies, and the relation- ship of the human body to its environment in the Department of Anatomy. About 10,000 children from birth to 18 years of age were studied in detail and followed in the past three years-children of school age in 16 schools and two institutions, and infants and pre-school children in Harcourt Maternal and Child Health Centre. The aims of this major research undertaking are to establish, on a valid mathematical basis, the standards of the growth and develop- ment of Chinese children at each age level, the standards and range of the velocity of growth, the pattern of growth and development of the Chinese, height for skeletal maturity status-a more reliable and meaningful method of assessment than the conventional height for age standards, the changes of body proportion during the growing period, and the prediction of adult size from size in children. All these aspects of the growth and development of the Chinese
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have not been studied before, but are important and urgently needed for their application to human biology in the areas of public health, medicine, and education. Ecological investigations in the year included socio-economic effects on growth and development, and climatic effects on conception, birth weight, and menarche. The Department was also contractor for one year (August 1963 - August 1964) of a large grant from the US Department of Agriculture for a research programme on the effects of diet supplements on child growth in the 'Children's Garden' at Wu Kwai Sha, New Territories.
In the Department of Biochemistry research was carried out on the effects of morphine and other drugs on the hormonal control of metabolism; the medical application of locally-found plant alkaloids and the cellular mechanisms involved; comparative aspects of metabolism in relation to biochemical evolution; and biochemical ceiteria of the aging process. In the Department of Pathology, work continued on diseases of the liver and biliary passages common here such as fluke infection and cholangeitis. Research projects in the Department of Physiology included the adaptation to changes in environmental temperature, metabolic changes in thiamine deficiency, toxic action of fish poison, and heroin addiction.
The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology completed studies on the morphology of the Chinese female pelvis (results showing that the majority of the Chinese female pelves are favourable in shape and adequate in size) and on neonatal jaundice in the Chinese, many of such cases being found to be due to ABO isoimmunization and glucose-6-phosphate Dehydrogenase deficiency.
In the Department of Civil Engineering work was centred on the design and construction of high buildings. At the request of the Government an investigation and survey was begun to determine the cause of serious settlement of several buildings in the Mong Kok area of Kowloon, and the extent of damage resulting from this settlement. An experimental investigation on concrete mix design using local aggregates was successfully completed.
The Department of Mechanical Engineering undertook for the Government a series of hydraulic calibration tests on scale models of the spillways of Aberdeen Lower, Kowloon Byewash and Tai
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Tam Tuk Reservoirs, as well as the spillway of Tai Po Yu Weir, Plover Cove.
A study of Hong Kong's agricultural products was begun this year as the first major international research project of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The University signed a contract with the Economic Research Service and the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States Department of Agriculture to conduct a study and make a projection of Hong Kong's demand and supply for agricultural products in the next 15 years. The object of the study is to assess future demands and supply in view of the long-term trends in local development and the world demand for Hong Kong's exports.
GOVERNMENT
The main emphasis in research by the Medical and Health Depart- ment remained on poliomyelitis and cholera. Further studies were undertaken by the government virus unit on serological response both to the continuing poliomyelitis vaccination campaign and to alternative schedules of administration of the vaccine. In addition sampling of nightsoil was carried out to detect the circulation of both wild and vaccine virus. The virus unit also conducted a survey of respiratory infections in children which indicated that respiratory syncytial virus is an important agent in such infections in children under the age of one year.
In the case of cholera, research continued into various aspects of the carrier state including the dissemination and prevalence of cholera vibrios in nightsoil, and preliminary work was under- taken into the mutation characteristics of the organism.
In the meteorological calendar January 1964 was the beginning of the International Years of the Quiet Sun when sunspot activity was at a minimum. The International Geophysical Year in 1957-8 occurred at a time of high sunspot activity and throughout the world many of the extra observations made in 1957-8 were repeated during 1964 in order to investigate the meteorological effects of sunspot activity. The Royal Observatory used extra large balloons on internationally selected days and made many special upper-air soundings to over 100,000 feet. Measurements of solar radiation were improved and a complete reassessment of the records made during the International Geophysical Year period was undertaken.
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Investigations were made into the accuracy of upper wind forecasts prepared at the Royal Observatory and also into the accuracy of prognostic upper-air charts prepared by various methods. Mean upper wind charts of south-east Asia were prepared for different levels.
Variations of sea temperature and also the relation between wave height and wind force were studied. Some progress was made in the forecasting of typhoon movement and operational tests of various objective methods continued.
The energy distribution of typhoon gusts of different periods was investigated and an electronic computer was used to establish a relationship between wind maxima, averaged over different intervals of time.
20
Religion
A BRIEF account of religious practices in Hong Kong must embrace such diversities as traditional Chinese beliefs, Taoism, the religious aspects of Confucian teaching, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and a kaleidoscope of Christian sects. In seeking one idiom to express all this it is easy to be misled by the entirely different appearances of religious observance, particularly between the traditional Chinese practices and those of the Christian churches, and even to assume a relative lack of religion in Chinese life.
Hong Kong's business centre may not have as many temples as there are Wren churches in the City of London. On the other hand there are likely to be at least as many signs of religion in the average Chinese home, or business, as in its western counterpart.
Over large areas of the predominantly Chinese city every other shop will have its 'God Shelf' and many homes their ancestral shrines. Whether the devotion before such symbols is intense or perfunctory there is an unmistakably religious element in Chinese culture. It may find expression in traditional ancestral ceremonies encouraged by Confucius or through a wide variety of Taoist rituals.
There has been a notable revival of Buddhism and Taoism in recent years mainly due to the immigration of Buddhists from China. Buddhism appears to have more followers in Hong Kong but both maintain a strong hold among the older Chinese and are far from dying out amongst the younger people. The Hong Kong Buddhist Association is their main organization in the Colony and recently a Taoist Association has been formed.
Religious studies in both ways of life are conducted in a large number of monasteries and nunneries, and in hermitages built in secluded places where a dozen or more inmates may reside and devote themselves to quiet meditation. Because of their accessibil- ity, hermitages at Sha Tin and Tsuen Wan are popular with people living in the urban areas. However, the better known monasteries
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are situated in the more remote and scenically pleasing parts of the New Territories. Thus the Buddhist Po Lin monastery at Ngong Ping on Lantau Island is reputed to have the best view of the sunrise and is much visited at week-ends and holidays.
Sight-seers as well as devotees are attracted to other Buddhist and Taoist monasteries in the New Territories such as Castle Peak, Tung Po Tor, Yuen Yuen Hok Yuen and Sai Lam. At To Fung Shan, a hill in Sha Tin, there is a Christian Study Centre on Chinese religion and culture which engages in study and discussions of issues and problems in the Chinese religious world and where the work of the Christian Mission to Buddhists has been carried on for many years. There is also a unique organization, the Hong Kong Red Swastika Society, which seeks to cultivates together under one roof Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Mohammedanism and Confucianism. To meet the demand of the urban population, Buddhist Ching She (places for spiritual cultivation), Fat Tong (Buddha Halls) and To Yuen (places for Taoist worship) have been opened in flats in residential areas. Sutras are also expounded under the auspices of various Buddhist institutions in the urban areas.
As places of public worship, the temples play an important part in Chinese religious life; it is estimated that worshippers of one major deity (Tin Hau) number no less than 250,000. The temples generally house and are named after one major deity, but other subsidiary deities may sometimes be found in the same temple. The subsidiary deities of one temple may, however, be the major ones of another. Almost all of them are sea gods and goddesses, reflecting Hong Kong's origin as a fishing port. It is difficult to classify these deities according to religions or ways of life. Except for Kwun Yam, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, the majority of them are deified mortals who, as a result of their performance of true or mythical feats, have been traditionally worshipped. The better known ones are Tin Hau (Goddess of Heaven and protectress of seafarers), Kwan Tai (God of War and the source of righteous- ness), Hung Shing (God of the South Seas and a weather prophet), Pak Tai (Lord of the North and local patron of the island of Cheung Chau), and Lo Ban Sin Shi (patron of masons and building contractors).
Perhaps the oldest, and certainly one of the most popular, of the Hong Kong temples is the one dedicated to Tin Hau at Causeway
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Bay. Other Tin Hau temples are found near the entrances to most fishing harbours, and the best known of these is the one at Fat Tong Mun, Joss House Bay. Many of these Tin Hau temples are now some distance inland, as a result of reclamations made since they were originally established close to the shore.
Dedicated to the Gods of Literacy and Martial Valour, the Man Mo temple in Hollywood Road is equally famous; it is under the control of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. In recent years, by far the most popular Taoist temples have been the Sik Sik Yuen at Wong Tai Sin in New Kowloon and the Che Kung temple in Sha Tin. In the New Territories, where traditional clan organiza- tion has been preserved to a much greater extent than in the urban areas, many villages have an ancestral hall where the ancestral tablets of the clan are kept and venerated. In such villages, the inhabitants often all belong to the same clan and the hall is the centre of both the religious and the secular life of the village. Animism, in the form of shrines dedicated at the foot of certain rocks and trees where spirits are believed to dwell, is also to be found in the New Territories, particularly amongst Hakka villagers.
The Chinese as a whole observe five major festivals of the Chinese calendar. The first and the most important is the Lunar New Year, welcomed in Hong Kong in the traditional manner with a deafen- ing barrage of firecrackers. It is a common belief that the mass discharge of firecrackers on this occasion will dispel evil spirits and bad luck and usher in a happy new year. The customary ex- changes of gifts and visits to relatives and friends are also widely observed. During the Ching Ming Festival, which falls in the Spring, visits are paid to the graves of the family ancestors. The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth moon of the lunar calendar and dragon boat races are held at different places throughout the Colony. The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, when gifts of mooncakes are exchanged among relatives and friends. The ninth day of the ninth moon is Chung Yeung, when large crowds climb Victoria Peak and other hills in imitation of a Chinese family of old who escaped death and misfortune by fleeing to the top of a high moun- tain. This is also a time for refurbishing family graves.
The fact that Chinese may follow one or the other of these ways, or may combine them without any feeling of incongruity, has
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often meant that Christianity with its exclusive claims has been politely ignored in the Chinese world; but it is nevertheless rooted deeply and growing rapidly in Hong Kong.
Its roots go back indeed to the earliest days of the Colony: St John's Cathedral was founded in 1842, and established as a Cathedral by Letters Patent from Queen Victoria in 1850: the representative of the London Missionary Society arrived at about the same time: several of the big Chinese churches are within a few years of celebrating their centenary. This rapid growth con- tinues. A statistical survey recently showed that the Protestant churches had increased in the eight years since 1955 by 111 per cent; whilst the movement out into the new estates and satellite towns is pursued with resolution and devotion.
The year under review started with deeply moving signs of in- creasing sympathy and understanding between the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, when, during the Week of Prayer for Church Unity, Catholic priests attended the three united services, and representative Protestant church leaders were welcomed at the special mass at the Roman Catholic Cathedral.
But the first impression of Hong Kong's church life might well be of almost bewildering variety and energy rather than ordered unity. The contrasts are striking. The introduction of 'beat' music into a church service, which led to much correspondence in the English press, is offset by a Service of Choral Praise in co-operation with Chung Chi College, when all of the ten anthems sung were set to Chinese music. The efforts to serve people in their need, through clinic, feeding-programme and social welfare centre, are balanced by efforts to deepen the spiritual life, such as the annual 'Keswick' in English and the Pui-Ling meetings in Chinese, both held during the summer. The churches, already committed to educational work from primary to university level, are now extend- ing their efforts into the field of practical training of which the new Kei Hip School at Wong Tai Sin, operated by the Church of Christ in China and the Holy Carpenter Centre in Hung Hom are examples.
The habit of co-operation is growing and is presented here in two groupings, not mutually exclusive and now, happily, on good terms. These are first, the Chinese Christian Churches Union,
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already forty years old, membership of which is on a congrega- tional basis; and secondly, the Hong Kong Christian Council, whose membership is by denomination. The Chinese Christian Churches Union now represents 79 member-churches and offers regular opportunities for discussion and joint action. During 1964 it has built and opened a very large Home for the Aged at Shatin Pass Road, Wong Tai Sin; and has started to publish a weekly newspaper on Christian news and comment. The Hong Kong Christian Council has a membership of nineteen major church denominations and christian organizations (such as the Salvation Army, the YMCA and the YWCA). It exists to bring the member bodies into closer association in Hong Kong and to strengthen the links with the world-wide church. It is itself a member of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches, and a member of the East Asia Christian Conference. There has been slow development during the year in respect of the Christian Council's two big projects, the Christian Centre and the United Christian Hospital.
The major world denominations are represented in Hong Kong in the Adventists, Anglicans, Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, and Pentecostals, etc, with Congregational and Presbyterian effort con- tributed to the Church of Christ in China. Most of these are engaging in educational work to some extent, with the Anglicans taking the lead in numbers with over 45,000 primary students in their schools. Other groups working in Hong Kong include the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), which is conducting mission work here. There is also a Christian Science Church on the island. There are small number of Russian Orthodox believers in the Colony, some of whom have their own church.
The Roman Catholic Church in Hong Kong also dates back to the beginning of the Colony. The first priests to arrive were chaplains serving the spiritual needs of British soldiers of the Catholic faith. On 22nd April 1841, Pope Gregory XVI established the Apostolic Prefecture of Hong Kong with Msgr Theodore Joset as the first Prefect. He laid the foundations of the future by building a permanent church to replace a mat shed mission, establishing a seminary to train Chinese priests, and bringing in religious sisters- Congregation of St Paul de Chartres being the first-to start schools and welfare institutions.
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In 1867, the Prefecture of Hong Kong was entrusted by the Holy See to the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions (PIME), whose Fathers have worked in the Colony since. The first Bishop, Msgr Timoleon Raimondi, was consecrated in 1874 when the Pre- fecture was raised to an Apostolic Vicariat. Under Bishop Raimondi, the work of the Church was extended in the New Territories and in South China proper as far as Waichow. He built St Joseph's Church on Garden Road and the present Cathedral on Caine Road, and brought to Hong Kong the La Salle Brothers who established St Joseph's College in 1875. The Catholic Centre was established after the Second World War and now houses the Catholic Press Bureau with its three weekly newspapers, the Catholic Truth Society, the Catholic Club, a lending library, a book centre and a chapel.
On 11th April 1946, the Vicariat of Hong Kong was raised to the status of a diocese by Pope Pius XII, with Msgr Henry Valtorta, PIME, as the first Diocesan Bishop. Bishop Valtorta was succeeded by Msgr Lawrence Bianchi, PIME, in 1951. Under Bishop Bianchi's administration, the Catholic population has risen from some 43,000 to 220,000 today, over 90 per cent of them Chinese, spread out in 24 parishes on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon and in 14 rural districts of the New Territories. Chinese and non-Chinese active in pastoral, educational and welfare work in Hong Kong include 325 priests, 130 Religious Brothers and 700 Religious Sisters representing 33 Orders and Congregations and 30 nationalities. Simultaneously with spiritual service, the Catholic Church has since the war notably expanded its educational and social activities. There are at present 192 Catholic primary and secondary schools. with an aggregated enrolment of 132,000 pupils.
Hong Kong's Jewish community worship at the synagogue in Robinson Road which was constructed in 1901 on land given by Mr Joseph Sassoon and his family. Mr Sassoon built the synagogue in memory of his mother Leah and it is therefore known as the Synagogue 'Ohel Leah'. The Jewish Recreation Club and the resident rabbi's apartments are on the same site. There are about 300 people in the congregation and they belong to families who originally came from the United Kingdom, China, India, Eastern and Western Europe, and the United States as well as people born in Hong Kong.
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There are about 5,000 followers of Islam in Hong Kong, most of them Chinese who have come to the Colony during the past ten years. The other members of the Muslim community are mainly Pakistanis, Malaysians, Persians and people from neighbouring regions. They gather for prayers at the Shelley Street Mosque on Hong Kong Island and the Nathan Road Mosque in Kowloon. The Shelley Street Mosque dates back to the early days of the Islamic faith in Hong Kong in the 1880's. The mosque in Kowloon was originally built for the use of Moslem troops in the former Indian Army and is situated on land at present within the bound- aries of Whitfield Barracks. Two places have been set aside by the Government as burial grounds for the Muslim community. One is at Happy Valley and the other at the new Cape Collinson Cemetery, Chai Wan. The latter contains a beautifully designed mosque built by Government.
A board of trustees, comprising representatives of the various groups within the Muslim community, is the co-ordinating body of all religious affairs and is also responsible for looking after the mosques and the cemeteries. Much charitable work among the Muslim community is being done by a welfare committee set up in recent years by a group of public-spirited women.
The Hindu community numbers more than 3,500 and their religious and social activities centre round the temple in Happy Valley. The community has been associated with Hong Kong since earliest times and the temple itself is considered to be one of the finest in the Far East. In addition to visits by Saints, Swamis and learned men who give spiritual lectures, a number of festivals are observed, the more important being the Holy Festival, the Birth of Lord Krishna, Shivaratri, Dessahara and Deewali. The Hindu Association of Hong Kong is responsible for the upkeep of the temple which is also used for meditation periods, for yoga classes and the teaching of Hindi.
21
Recreation
Most of this book is naturally a record of work, a story of people building and manufacturing and trading. This chapter is about these same people in their leisure time. The variety of Hong Kong's leisure pastimes and the energy with which they are pursued would suggest that Hong Kong people play as hard as they work. This is certainly true of one of their favourite pastimes, at least among the older generation-mahjong. In hundreds of back-streets, in shops and small businesses where family and employees live and eat together it seems that no sooner are the shutters drawn at the end of the day than the clatter of the tiles begins, the enjoyment of the game being in a direct ratio to the amount of noise generated.
But perhaps mahjong, being noisy, only seems to be a major amusement because more and more the young people of Hong Kong are spending their leisure time in sports and recreation which are common to youth the world over.
High on the list of popular sports must come swimming and walking which account for the two biggest sporting events of the year if only because the sea is there for everyone and so is the road. At the annual cross-harbour race this year a record number of 492 youngsters leaped into the water at Kowloon Public Pier to swim the 1,600 yards to Queen's Pier on Hong Kong Island. No less than 292 men and 16 women toiled round 40 miles of island roads in a blazing hot July sun for the annual 'Walkathon' organized by a local newspaper group. Not surprisingly therefore two swimmers and a walker went to Tokyo to represent Hong Kong at the Olympic Games, including So Kam-tong the young Urban Services parks' attendant who had won the walk round the island, Robert Loh winner of the cross-harbour race and Li Hon-yu who was second in the women's section.
Almost every sport known and every team game is played in Hong Kong but by far the greatest following is for association football. Fans turn up twenty thousand strong at the Government
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Stadium and ten thousand strong at the nearby South China Athletic Stadium for big matches and football in Hong Kong has all the partisan fervour, and not a few of the troubles, of football anywhere. Hockey also is played with skill by people of all nationalities in Hong Kong, including women, and a Hong Kong hockey team won a trip to the Tokyo Olympics.
Hong Kong's participation in the Olympics, even if somewhat tentative, will undoubtedly have stimulated interest in competitive sport. The Colony was dramatically associated in a different way with the games when the Olympic Torch passed through on its way from Greece. The flame, due to stay one night, was delayed a further day by a typhoon and thousands turned out to line the streets for its arrival and to see the ceremonies in which it was received by the Governor at the City Hall.
The organization of Hong Kong's entry in the 1964 Games and all the other ceremonies connected with it was the work of an Urban Councillor, Mr A. de O. Sales, who is also Chairman of the Olympic Committee of Hong Kong. Altogether fifty-one athletes and Officials went to Tokyo including cyclists, rifle marksmen, boxers, yachtsmen and an athletics team, and if they brought back no medals they were certainly not disgraced. Indeed their very parti- cipation, and the standards they did achieve in international com- petition are remarkable for so small a territory with so few advan- tages in this field.
Very many of those who shine in competitive sport in Hong Kong are members of sports and athletics clubs which are privately run by their members and whose only assistance from public funds may have consisted of the short-term lease of land on special terms. But for most people the opportunities to indulge in sports which require special facilities, or even to stroll in a park, must depend on the provision of these amenities by Government.
The management of parks, playgrounds and other amenities in the urban area is vested in the Urban Council, working through the Urban Services Department. In the New Territories, these functions are the responsibility of the Urban Services Department working in consultation with the District Commissioner.
Within the framework of the many competing demands for land in the built-up areas, further substantial progress was made during
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the year in the development of various sites as play and sports ground and gardens. The Urban Services Department now looks after 155 areas of parks, playgrounds and gardens covering 343.18 acres, together with two Olympic standard swimming pools and 30 public bathing beaches.
They range from large areas like Victoria Park, the Botanic Gardens, Fa Hui Park and Kowloon Tsai Park to many smaller playgrounds, gardens and plots scattered throughout the Colony. In the urban areas they provide recreational facilities which include 15 pitches for soccer, hockey and rugby; 33 mini-soccer pitches; 103 courts for basketball, volleyball and badminton; 22 tennis courts; two squash courts; two bowling greens; two running tracks; two bandstands; three model boat pools; a roller skating rink; 56 children's playgrounds and six children's libraries.
Among projects completed during the year was the Kowloon Tsai Swimming Pool for which the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club donated $2 million. The pool was officially opened by His Excel- lency the Governor in June and from the first day has proved extremely popular with the people of Kowloon. During its first five months it was used by 320,332 people of whom 154,636 were children. The five acre Choi Hung Road Playground in San Po Kong was also completed and opened by Mrs E. Elliott, a member of the Urban Council in July. Its facilities include a floodlit soccer pitch, five ball games pitches, changing facilities, a refreshment kiosk, a children's playground with a library and a rest garden.
The 12 public bathing beaches in the urban area are always popular and it is estimated that over one million people visited them during the swimming season. Apart from the regular beach service provided by the 80 life guards and supporting staff of the Urban Services Department, the St John's Ambulance Brigade and the Hong Kong Life Guard Club send their members to the beaches at week-ends and on public holidays.
In the New Territories, the Urban Services Department now looks after 22 parks, playgrounds and rest gardens covering an area of 172 acres. Work on the four acre Sha Tsui Road Playground in Tsuen Wan was nearing completion; this comprises two floodlit hard-surfaced mini-soccer pitches, changing facilities and a sub- stantial rest garden. In addition three tennis courts are under con- struction at the playground.
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In a city so inexorably built-up and so densely populated the sight of a green leaf may be almost a rest in itself so that where there may not be room for a park or even a garden a tree will be welcome. With this in mind the department carried on this year its increased programme of planting trees and shrubs in city streets.
ENTERTAINMENT AND THE ARTS
It has been said unkindly that Hong Kong had little time for culture and it would not have been surprising if an inevitable pre- occupation with making a living had left little time for other pursuits. This is, however, one of those generalizations which are repeated long after they have ceased to be true if they ever were.
On any day in Hong Kong now there is a creditable diary of first class entertainment, exhibitions of the graphic arts and above all evidence of lively participation in the performing arts. Of course, the cinema continues to provide the major entertainment. Elsewhere cinemas are being turned into bowling alleys and bingo parlours. In Hong Kong big new cinemas are being built in the city centre and to serve the new towns. There are now 81, most of them air- conditioned and well equipped. The public taste is for spectacle and colour, whether the film be from the west or a locally made Chinese drama. Of the Chinese films the large majority are based upon historical novels or legend and many employ the conventions of Chinese opera.
Live performances of Chinese opera are giving way as elsewhere to the cinema, and to a lesser extent television, but the arrival of the travelling troupe to perform Cantonese opera in a country courtyard or on the quayside of a fishing village is still a great event for those cut off from more sophisticated entertainment. Other forms of Chinese opera played more occasionally are well attended by knowledgeable and critical audiences.
Undoubtedly the greatest stimulus to the performance and enjoyment of live entertainment of every kind has been the City Hall which, since its opening in early 1962, has become a focus for artistic endeavour in the Colony.
The 1,500 seat concert hall comes into its own for such occasions as the visit in November of the London Symphony Orchestra who gave three concerts under conductors Colin Davis and Istvan
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Kertesz, or the tremendously popular performances by the Vienna Boys Choir. In the same hall pianist Arthur Rubinstein played to enthusiastic capacity audiences.
At the same time it is an exhilarating experience for local musical groups to play there. Among the most popular local performances have been the series of concerts organized jointly by the City Hall and Radio Hong Kong which has given equal weight to Chinese and western music. The majority of the audience at these concerts, where admission charges are only 50 cents and $1, have been students and young people.
The concert hall never seems more alive than during the annual Schools Music Festival when it is only one of several halls throughout the city ringing with the voices of well-trained young choirs and soloists. This year there were more than 4,900 entries in the festival and altogether some 24,000 students took part.
The existence of this fine hall, whose acoustic qualities have won praise from leading world musicians, helps in itself to draw to Hong Kong the top performers in their field. This year saw visits from such diverse, and high calibre performers as the Dave Brubeck quartet, Ella Fitzgerald, Pat Boone, and Zizi Jeanmaire and the French Ballet.
Visiting theatrical players have been fewer than musicians, but this scarcity is quite off-set by the vigorous amateur theatre which flourishes in Hong Kong and which has made regular use again this year of the 470-seat City Hall theatre. Plays staged by Chinese amateur groups included a Cantonese version of The Merchant of Venice by the Drama Group of United College, Chinese University of Hong Kong to celebrate the Shakespeare Quatercentenary. This was the first time that a Shakespearean play had been presented in Cantonese with the players in ancient Chinese costumes. Also in celebration of the Quatercentenary was a joint production of Twelfth Night by the Stage Club and Garrison Players. The theatre, which is also equipped as a modern cinema, was used for perform- ances of a series of Shakespeare films on the same occasion. This cinema is also the home of Hong Kong's successful film society, Studio One.
The traditional painting of China continues to be an admired art form in Hong Kong and an established teacher is not only a
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respected but maybe a prosperous man. Courses in this and other forms of traditional art, including for example the carving of Chinese seals, were a feature of extra-mural courses run by both the Univer- sity of Hong Kong and the New Asia College of the new Chinese University this year. Exhibitions of painting, both traditional Chinese and western are taking place every day somewhere in the city. Hotels have led the way by using the walls of some of their public rooms for the display of new works and there is at least one successful commercial gallery in Kowloon, but undeniably the City Hall has become the major centre for the exhibition of art.
Any doubts about Hong Kong's interest in art would be dispelled by the sight of the City Hall's high block on a Saturday afternoon when it literally swarms with people devouring exhibitions of painting, sculpture, and photography. Setting the pace is the City Hall's own art gallery which staged shows of the Turner Water- colours from the British Museum and the works of nine modern British sculptors, both arranged by the British Council, as well as an exhibition of contemporary Indian painting. The British sculptures, some of which were set out in the City Hall garden were a novel experience for Hong Kong and an interesting com- parison with a subsequent exhibition by a modern local sculptor, Cheung Yee, whose work is illustrated in this volume.
The City Hall has become literally the home of many cultural organizations in Hong Kong since its committee and lecture rooms are the only meeting places many of them have. Notable among these are the photographic societies which abound in Hong Kong where photography is a highly developed art in which a very great number of people can afford to indulge. There are at least five important amateur photographic societies in Hong Kong and it is some measure of their standards that one of them, the Photographic Society of Hong Kong, was able to record this year that its members had taken all the first ten places in the Photographic Society of America's list of salon exhibitors.
GOVERNMENT COLLECTIONS
The City Hall also houses important reference collections and a lending and reference library. From the City Hall Museum col- lection of prints, paintings and photographs material was drawn
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for the exhibition 'A Century of Hong Kong 1845-1945' which ran for 15 weeks.
The Government Collections of pictorial material consist of the Ho Tung Collection, the Chater Collection, and the Law and Sayer Collections. They contain more than 700 items including paintings, prints, engravings and photographs. They illustrate the growth and development of Hong Kong, and life in the Colony, Macau and the China Coast area during the eighteenth and nine- teenth centuries. Space within the City Hall does not allow for the permanent display of all this material but exhibitions under different titles and subjects are arranged from time to time. Thus this material is used for comparative, historic and artistic purposes. The Henry Yeung Collection of Chinese Ceramics forms the basis of the Museum's Collection of Chinese Antiquities. This collection comprises 166 pieces, and consists of some fine grave pottery of the Han Dynasty, a series of early bronze mirrors, and outstanding pieces of Ming porcelain. Throughout the year the collection of Chinese antiquities consisting of ceramics, sculpture, painting, textiles and bronze continued to grow. A number of paintings and sculptures had also been added to the collection of works by local artists.
A selection from the Maglioni Collection of archaeological material which was donated to the Government by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong in 1954, was exhibited in the City Hall Museum towards the end of the year. The rest of the archaeo- logical and book collection are at present on loan to the University where they are available to scholars and research students.
The City Hall Library now possesses a collection of approximately 160,000 items. About 60,000 books, of which one quarter are for children, are housed in the Library's lending departments, and consist of roughly equal numbers of books in Chinese and English. The lending department also contains a small music collection of about 1,500 items. The reference department houses some 15,000 volumes, together with the nuclei of map and picture collections; again about half the books are in Chinese. The remaining 73,500 volumes are all in Chinese, mostly classics. Although they do not yet appear in the Library's catalogues, the work of cataloguing them is going ahead, and they are meanwhile available on special request. Most of the uncatalogued books are from the Kotewall
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collection, a gift to Government consisting of 14,825 volumes, and the Hok Hoi Library of 34,415 volumes on permanent loan to Government. The Library also possesses the complete National Library of Peking on 8,000 rolls of microfilm and microfilms of the Times from 1900 to 1958.
The Colonial Secretariat Library houses 8,645 volumes. These include many government publications; books written especially about Hong Kong, including publications by local authors, reference books on such subjects as public administration, sociology, econom- ics and political science; and standard works on the history of the Commonwealth and of the countries of south-east Asia. Apart from being a departmental reference library, it is a useful source for research workers in matters concerning Hong Kong and is available to members of the public.
•
BRITISH COUNCIL
The British Council continued to make a valuable contribution to the cultural life of Hong Kong and during 1964 several British specialists came to the Colony under the auspices of the Council including Mr Robert Speaight, the actor and author and Dr Muriel Bradbrook of Cambridge University in connection with the Shake- speare Quatercentenary.
The City Hall Art Gallery was provided with large displays of photographs on Kew Gardens and Shakespeare in the Theatre together with the major exhibitions of British works of art in the original already referred to.
Dr C. M. Li, Vice-Chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, was a guest of the British Council in England for a short while and other visitors to Britain for whom the Council had responsibility were the Architect of the Chinese University, the Curator of the City Hall Art Gallery, the Principal of the Hong Kong University Language School, as well as an Inspector of Schools' Music and a member of the Department of Geography at the University of Hong Kong.
During the year the libraries of the three Foundation Colleges of the Chinese University were assisted by a major presentation of books and periodicals to the value of £3,250. The two Council libraries in Victoria and Kowloon together contained a book stock
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of approximately 22,000 volumes with annual loans of 76,000 books. Each library and reading room has some 70 British periodicals and newspapers available. In November an exhibition of University paperbacks was held in the Kowloon library. The Victoria library of films and music and speech records was extensively used.
Local cultural bodies received assistance of various kinds from the Council, notably the Schools' Youth Orchestra, the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, the Hong Kong Stage Club and the Music Society.
Part III
IV
1
The Olympic Torch came to Hong Kong in September on its way to the Games in Japan and was delayed 24 hours by Typhoon Ruby. Despite steady rain, thousands gathered to see the Torch carried across the harbour on a launch, on its way to the City Hall. A flame lit from the Torch burnt throughout the typhoon.
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"Why do they do it? That is the question most commonly asked about the annual walk round Hong Kong Island. Perhaps an adequate answer can be supplied only by someone who has done it. Only a competitor who has completed the 42 gruelling miles can know the satisfaction which no amount of exhaustion can take away.
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When it's 92 in the shade there's only one place to be-in the water. And that's where you'll find many thousands of Hong Kong people. The Kowloon Tsai Swim- ming Pool, built with a donation of $2 million from the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, is a favourite spot for many thousands living on the Kowloon peninsula.
The Kowloon Tsai pool is a complex of three units: main pool, children's pool and paddling pool. Together they can accommodate 780 bathers. Surrounding the pool is the Kowloon Tsai Park, which when completed will have a football field, running track, tennis and basketball courts, a children's playground and library.
..
Opening the pool, the Governor, Sir David Trench, said: 'In our overcrowded environment the proper provision of such facilities, especially for our young people, is a matter for deep concern. This pool is not, of course, the complete answer to our needs and further pools are projected, in particular one at Cheung Sha Wan'.
The Governor went on to say that there had been a shift in approach towards the provision of swimming pools. 'The Victoria Park pool and this new pool are up to Olympic standards,' said Sir David. 'Further pools are likely to be more utilitarian, less costly, but possibly somewhat more frequent in their completion.'
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UKAR
The roads are invariably crowded at week-ends. So are places of entertainment. But there's plenty of room afloat and that is why more and more people are starting to 'mess about in boats'. Whether cabin cruiser or rakish yacht, a man's boat soon becomes part of his way of life, involving his family and his friends alike.
The devotees of golf in Hong Kong are well known for the seriousness with which they take the game, and championship matches at Fanling (above) are closely followed by those who want to improve their performance. Football (below) is immensely popular and players are never short of well meant advice from spectators.
22
Geography and Population
THIS chapter, and those which follow on the history of the Colony and its system of government, present a background against which the detailed descriptions in other chapters of the Report may be viewed.
The Colony of Hong Kong is on the south-east coast of China, adjoining the province of Kwangtung. It is just inside the tropics, being less than 100 miles south of the tropic of Cancer, and lies between latitudes 22°9′ and 22°37′N and longitudes 113°52′ and 114°30′E. The twin cities of Victoria on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon on the mainland stand on either side of the harbour, and are about 90 miles south-east of Canton and 40 miles east of Portuguese Macau. The jet age has brought the Colony to within less than 24 hours of Britain, while the shortest air route across Eurasia between London and Hong Kong is 5,965 miles.
The total land area of the Colony is 3984 square miles of which Hong Kong Island itself, together with a number of small adjacent islands comprise 29 square miles and Kowloon and Stonecutters Island another 32 square miles. The New Territories which consist of a substantial section of the mainland and more than 30 islands have a total area of 3654 square miles.
TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY
Hong Kong is part of a series of intruded domes of granitic rocks which cover south-east China. There are only small areas of sedimentary rocks in the Colony. The age relationships of the major groups of rocks are associated with the intrusions and moun- tain building of the Jurasside, Laramide and Alpine revolutions. These intrusions made the conditions favourable for the forma- tion of minerals of some importance. Galena, silver, wolframite, molybdenite, pyrite, magnetite, hematite, cassiterite, gold, sphalerite, graphite, fluorspar, quartz, beryl, felspar and kaolinite have all been found. The general structure of the region is that of a plunging
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monocline which strikes north-east to south-west and is parallel in trend with the China coast. Its axis passes almost exactly through the centre of Hong Kong and is marked by a depression which is the Tolo Channel. The area consists of many rugged and irregular islands with deeply dissected peninsulas. The general appearance is that of an upland terrain which the sea has invaded. The uplands and mountains are eroded remnants of rock formations. Weathering is almost entirely caused by chemical action, helped by the alterna- tion of wet and dry seasons. As a result decay to a laterised rock mantle is common, often to depths of more than 100 feet.
The highest peaks and the most prominent ranges of hills are composed of either porphyries or volcanics. These are in contrast to the granite hills which generally occur at lower elevations but have well-etched peaks and sharp ridge lines. The plains are all recent alluvial deposits. Erosion benches can be found marking former sea levels up to 400 feet or more, which demonstrate the rise and fall of the whole region within recent geological times. Borings in the harbour have revealed submerged weathered rock surfaces overlain by peat deposits. The highest peaks, such as Lantau, Sunset and Tai Mo Shan, are all about 3,000 feet high and are composed of resistant, fine-grained crystalline rocks. By contrast the Kowloon Hills are composed of coarse-grained granite and have lower elevations, varying from 800 to 1,200 feet. The age of this granite has recently been determined by the Rubidium- Strontium method as approximately 134 million years. Thus it belongs to the Upper Jurrassic (Portlandian) period.
Only the soil of the flat agricultural alluvial districts around Yuen Long in the Deep Bay area has any depth. Elsewhere in the Colony the soil cover is usually thin, sometimes no more than two or three inches. In general the natural residual soils are acid and of low fertility, needing the addition of lime, potash and superphosphates. The predominating crystalline character of the rock formations makes them unsuitable as acquifers for under- ground storage and this makes it necessary to concentrate on the collection of surface water for water supplies. The highly variable and erratic rainfall regime of the area alone accounts for many of the water shortages. In 1963, for instance, the total rainfall was only 35.48 inches, compared with the yearly average of 85 inches. In order to husband and conserve water reserves it has been necessary
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to apply restrictions on its use during dry seasons for some part of every year since 1934. At the same time a programme of reservoir construction has raised storage capacity to 15,858 million gallons. A new source of supply from the East River in Kwangtung has been negotiated with the authorities there. This supply is due to begin in 1965.
Hong Kong lies in the frost-free double cropping rice zone of east Asia. Market garden cropping, including the cultivation of cut- flowers for the urban and suburban markets, is becoming increasingly important. Vegetables are grown throughout the year, but most particularly during the cooler months which form the main vegetable season. The upland areas, which are predominantly grass covered and in several places severely eroded, tend to have highly leached acid soils. Land utilization of these areas is principally through afforestation, vigorously pursued since 1945.
POPULATION
The total population at the end of 1964 was estimated to be 3,739,900. On the basis of language and place of origin, about 98 per cent could be described as Chinese. This estimate is based on a census of population taken in 1961 and subsequently adjusted for births, deaths, and migration.
The 1961 census found the total population to be 3,133,131, including 3,483 transients. It had increased by over 24 millions since the last census taken in 1931. The plan to hold a census in 1941 was abandoned. An unofficial count by air-raid wardens in that year, before the Japanese attack on Hong Kong, put the population at about 1,600,000. This number was greatly reduced during the occupation and the total population was estimated to be less than 600,000 when the Colony was liberated in August 1945. The population grew rapidly with the end of hostilities and an assessment in September 1949 put the total at 1,857,000.
During 1964, the population increased by 97,400 to reach the estimated total of 3,739,900. Of this increase, 90,406 was due to the excess of registered births over registered deaths and 6,994 represented the estimated net balance of migration. The number of registered births was 108,519 in 1964 compared with 115,263 in 1963 and registered deaths numbered 18,113 compared with
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19,748 in 1963. These figures yield for 1964 a crude birth rate of 29.4 per mille and a crude death rate of 4.9 per mille, on a mid-year population of 3,692,200.
The total number, excluding transients, claiming, at the time of the 1961 census, to originate from Commonwealth countries outside Hong Kong was 33,140 of whom 27,936 resided in the urban area. The census questions did not include nationality but the figure provided by the Aliens' Registration Office for non-Chinese alien residents (excluding visitors staying for periods less than three months and excluding children under 16 years old) at the end of 1964 totalled 12,592 of whom the largest groups were American (3,403), Portuguese (2,138), Japanese (1,578), Filipino (656), Dutch (485), French (400), Italian (396) and German (460).
Approximately half of the urban population is now of Hong Kong birth. Most of these and the greater part of the immigrant population originated from Kwangtung province. Other elements in the urban population include a Fukien community and numbers of overseas Chinese whose families originally came from Kwangtung and Fukien.
The indigenous population of the New Territories consists of four main groups-Cantonese, Hakka, Tanka, and Hoklo. They show differences in physical appearance, dress, organization, and customs. The Cantonese and Hakka groups are traditionally land-dwellers whereas the Tanka and Hoklo groups are traditionally boat-dwellers. The latter two are probably of non-Chinese origin but all these groups now regard themselves as Chinese. The usual village community consists of a single clan but two and three clan villages are common and multi-clan villages also occur. By custom, men are compelled to marry outside their own clan but it is believed that no intermarriage occurs between land and boat-dwellers.
The Cantonese who form the majority community occupy the best part of the two principal plains in the north-western section of the New Territories and own a good deal of the most fertile valley land in other areas. The oldest villages, those of the Tang clan in Yuen Long District, have a history of continuous settlement since the late eleventh century. The Hakka (this is their own word for themselves, meaning strangers) began to enter this region at about the same time as the first Cantonese or possibly even before. The latter were the more successful settlers and, in areas where
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both groups live side by side, the Hakka are always found upstream, along foothills, and generally on the poorer land. After a period of subservience to powerful Cantonese families, the balance was restored by heavy immigration. Relations between Hakka and Cantonese having endured a period of strife are now peaceful. Intermarriage is not uncommon and the two groups share some villages. The Tanka comprise a majority of boat-dwellers and they seldom settle ashore. They have been in the region since time unknown and are the principal seafaring people of South China, owning large sea-going junks and engaging in deep-sea fishing. They speak their own distinctive dialect of Cantonese. The Hoklo resemble the Tanka in many respects and like them have been in the area since time unknown. They too are boat-dwellers but are less numerous than the Tanka and are mostly found in eastern waters. A few communities of Hoklo have lived ashore for several generations. The influx of people into the New Territories from China has been so great that only in the Sai Kung District is the truly indigenous population still in the majority. The newcomers are mostly from the Kwangtung Province and, where they are not from Kwangtung, they usually become assimilated to the Cantonese.
CLIMATE
The climate of Hong Kong is governed by the monsoons and although the Colony lies within the tropics it enjoys a variety of weather from season to season unusual for tropical countries. The winter monsoon blows from the north or north-east and nor- mally begins during September. It prevails from October until mid-March, but can persist until May. Early winter is the most pleasant time of the year, when the weather is generally dry and sunny with mean daily temperatures about 21°C to 24°C. After the New Year the sky is more often cloudy, though rainfall remains slight; frequently the days are overcast and dull with chilly winds. Coastal fogs occur from time to time in early spring-during breaks in the monsoon-when warm south-easterly winds may temporarily displace the cool north-easterlies.
The summer monsoon blows from the south or south-west and although it can occur from mid-April until September it is not as persistent as the north-east monsoon of winter. During this part of the year the weather is almost continuously hot and humid,
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and is often cloudy and showery with occasional thunderstorms. Summer is the rainy season. The annual rainfall as measured at the Royal Observatory has varied between 35 inches (in 1963) and 120 inches (in 1889) but the mean value is 85 inches. On average the six dry months from October to March yield about 12 inches as compared with 73 inches spread over the six wet months. There is a marked diurnal variation of rainfall in summer with a maximum in the morning, and there are appreciable differences in the rainfall in different parts of the Colony. The wettest areas are the moun- tainous regions particularly around Tai Mo Shan and on Lantau Island.
The mean daily temperature ranges from about 14°C in February to over 28°C in July and the average for the year is 22°C. During the hottest month, July, the mean maximum temperature is 31°C but the summer temperature often exceeds 32°C. February is the coldest month with a mean minimum temperature of 13°C but the temperature can be expected to fall to 7°C in most years. Tem- peratures above 35°C or below 4°C are rarely recorded at the Observatory although greater extremes occur in the New Territories. Ice occasionally forms on high ground. Afternoon temperatures are usually about 5°C higher than those during the coldest part of the night. The mean relative humidity exceeds 80 per cent from mid-February until early September. November is the least humid month with a mean relative humidity of 69 per cent, but the lowest reading of 10 per cent was recorded in January. The average daily duration of bright sunshine ranges from three hours in March to over seven hours in mid-July and late October.
Gales caused by tropical cyclones may be expected in any of the months from May to November but they are most likely from July to September. The passage of these cyclones several times a year at varying distances from Hong Kong brings spells of bad weather with strong winds and heavy rain. Gales are experienced once a year on average, and less frequently the centre of a mature typhoon passes sufficiently close to the Colony to produce winds. of hurricane force when damage and loss of life may occur.
23
Natural History
It is easy for a visitor to miss altogether the delights of Hong Kong's countryside, so overpowering is the impact of the city life. Even residents can forget, in the bustle of their daily business, that on their doorsteps lie peaceful farming areas, empty hills or quiet woodland walks. On Hong Kong Island a drive of thirty minutes is sufficient to reach the catchment area of the Tai Tam Reservoir with many miles of interesting paths. Here as in the much wider area of the New Territories within easy reach of Kowloon there is a surprising abundance of wild life when one considers the tre- mendous encroachments of urbanization on the Hong Kong scale and the changes in natural environment which have been brought about.
WILD LIFE
Whilst several species of wild mammals were formerly either rare residents or merely occasional visitors from across the Colony's borders, and no longer occur, the few which remain are seriously threatened by the rapid post-war development and population increase. Those which no longer exist are the South China Red Fox, Dhole or Indian Wild Dog, Large Chinese Civet, Crab-eating Mongoose, Leopard and South China Tiger. Species now rarely seen include the Rhesus Monkey, Chinese Pangolin or Scaly Ant- eater, Eastern Chinese Otter, Chinese Leopard Cat and Wild Boar. It is not known whether the few remaining Rhesus Monkeys in the woods in the Tai Tam area of Hong Kong Island and in the Kowloon reservoir area are surviving remnants of the original wild stock, or the descendants of escaped or released specimens.
Fortunately, the Barking Deer (Reeves' Muntjac) is not uncom- mon in the wooded hillsides on Hong Kong Island. Being largely nocturnal it is seldom seen, although its characteristic bark is familiar to residents on The Peak. Other indigenous mammals still to be found, though nowhere common, are the Chinese Ferret-Badger, Small Indian Civet and Masked Palm Civet.
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Rodents deserving special mention are the Chinese or Crestless Himalayan Porcupine, the Smaller Bandicoot Rat, and an attrac- tive little animal called the Eastern Spiny-haired Rat which is bright yellowish-brown above and pure white on the belly. All three are entirely 'wild' (non-domestic) species, occurring both on Hong Kong Island and in the New Territories. The insectivores are represented in Hong Kong by only two species: the well-known and comparatively large House Shrew and the small Grey Shrew which until 1962 had not been previously identified in the Colony. There are eight species of bats on record, though only six of these have been seen in recent years.
Cetaceans so far known from within or near Hong Kong waters are the Common Rorqual or Finback Whale, the Pygmy Sperm Whale, the Black Finless Porpoise and the Common Dolphin. It is of interest to note that in June two Pygmy Sperm Whales were stranded on the beach at Shek O. In spite of repeated attempts to turn them out to sea, they returned to shore each time and eventually died. Although widely distributed, the Pygmy Sperm Whale is a rare and little-known species.
There is ample opportunity in Hong Kong for either serious study or simple enjoyment of the Colony's bird life. Including both resident and migratory birds, nearly 350 species in more than 60 different families have so far been recorded in the Colony. They provide considerable variety of form and occur in a wide range of habitats. Some of the families represented are those containing the Grebes, Bitterns and Herons, Ducks and Geese, Hawks and Eagles, Falcons, Crakes and Rails, Plovers and other waders, Snipe and Sandpipers, Gulls and Terns, Doves, Cuckoos, Owls, Nightjars, Swifts, Kingfishers, Swallows and Martins, Shrikes, Drongos, Starlings and Mynahs, Crows, Cuckoo-shrikes and Minivets, Bulbuls, Babblers, Flycatchers, Warblers, Thrushes, Pipits and Wagtails, Finches and Buntings, and Sparrows and Munias.
Birds of especial interest recorded in 1964 include three Black Vultures at the beginning of the year, and a Bulwer's Petrel seen at Repulse Bay during typhoon Viola late in May. Also of interest is the fact that at least seven or possibly eight of the nine species of Eagles known to have occurred in the Colony were seen. A pair of White-bellied Sea Eagles are known to have bred here and raised two young.
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Snakes, lizards and frogs are all well represented in Hong Kong. There are also various species of terrapins and turtles, the Common Indian Toad, and the Hong Kong Newt. There is a strong Indian element in this section of the local fauna, although several species are so far known only from Hong Kong. Most of the common snakes are harmless and death from snake-bite is extremely rare. Apart from certain rear-fanged species, not dangerous to man, the venomous land snakes are the Banded Krait, the Many-banded Krait, MacClelland's Coral Snake, the Chinese Cobra, the Hamad- ryad (King Cobra) and the White-lipped Pit Viper commonly called Bamboo Snake. The several species of sea snakes found in the waters around Hong Kong are all venomous, but fortunately these do not attack bathers. The White-lipped Pit Viper or 'Bamboo Snake' and the Indian Python have become scarce in recent years.
The most attractive insects are the butterflies, of which almost 200 species belonging to nine families have been found in Hong Kong. The beautiful and predominantly tropical butterflies, popu- larly known as 'swallow-tails', are often seen on country walks. Of the many moths, two deserve special mention on account of their large size and attractive colouring. One, the magnificent Atlas Moth, has a wing-span of from seven to ten inches, and is one of the largest moths in the world. The other is the Moon Moth, soft silvery green in colour, with a wing-span of from four to six inches and swallow-tailed wings.
Several species of cicadas are well-known during spring and summer for the incessant song of the males in their brief adult stage. Very little is known about the immature nymphal stage of these remarkable insects, which spend years below the surface of the ground. A spectacularly large insect living in ponds is the Giant Water Bug, over three inches in length, which feeds on small fish, frogs, and other aquatic creatures. Of the terrestrial molluscs, the Giant African Snail is a familiar crop pest commonly found among vegetation.
The fish of Hong Kong are of extraordinary diversity and hundreds of different species pass through the markets. Situated just south of the Tropic of Cancer and flanked to the west by the Pearl River, which brings down enormous quantities of food and nutrients from China, the waters of the Colony support a great variety of both tropical and temperate water fishes, many of which give rise to
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major fisheries on their seasonal breeding or feeding migrations. In the summer months during recent years large sharks and manta rays have been particularly abundant and have on occasion caused both welcome and unwelcome excitement among fishermen, swim- mers and yachtsmen. Infrequent incursions of oceanic water from the south bring with them during the summer such varieties as flying fish and the beautiful but deadly Portuguese Man O' War, with its striking purple and red float and long stinging tentacles. Occasional individual rarities turn up. In August fishermen at Tai Tam found a twelve feet long sailfish stranded in shallow waters. The fish had a broken spear and appeared to be dying from starva- tion. The invertebrate fauna of the Colony are as diverse in form and colour as the fish. Hidden from sight to all except divers is a profusion of corals, sea-fans, sea-lilies and many other beautiful marine animals.
FLORA
It is not possible to make any distinction between the trees of Hong Kong and those of neighbouring southern China. The prin- cipal trees in the Colony are pine, Chinese banyan and camphor. A large number of others have been added since the area came under British administration, the most common being casuarina, eucalyptus and flamboyant. The traditional Chinese belief that the disposition of buildings, graves, trees, water and mountains may affect a person's fortune and destiny has done much to preserve fine groves of trees, mostly camphor, banyans and clumps of bamboo around many farms and villages in the New Territories. Some of the mountain slopes, from a distance, seem bare of any plant covering except grass, but on closer observation it can be seen that the water courses are marked by narrow bands of low shrubby growth and scattered trees.
The principal locally-grown fruits include lychee, lung ngan, wong pei, loquat, pomelo, tangerine, banana, papaya, pineapple, custard apple, guava and Chinese varieties of plum and pear. The Portuguese originally introduced the papaya, the pineapple, the custard apple and the guava from South America some time after the foundation of Macau. The tangerine on the other hand is a native of South China which was introduced to the west in the seventeenth century when the Portuguese transplanted it to Tangier, then under their control.
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251
The flora of the Colony is tropical, although at about the northern limit of tropical flora. Alternation between hot humid summers and cool dry winters causes tropical plants to lie dormant during winter and encourages the development of large flowers borne at definite seasons of the year. As a result of this a genus tends to produce a greater wealth of flowers of large size in Hong Kong than it does in other equatorial countries.
Hong Kong is famous for its great variety of flowering plants, many of which are exceptional for the beauty or fragrance of their blossoms. As might be expected most species flower during spring and early summer. Some are easy to place in their correct families- for example, the common wild gordonia looks like, and is related to, the camellia, and the wild roses are unmistakably roses. But most are not so easy to name. They include a magnolia, a michelia with large white flowers, a rhodoleia with groups of rose-madder coloured petals surrounded by golden bracts, an illicium with cherry pink flowers and star-shape fruits, and a Tutcheria with large camellia-like flowers, white tinged with gold bearing masses of tangerine orange stamens. This latter is a tall tree with glossy foliage, described as a distinct genus in 1908 in honour of W. J. Tutcher, former Superintendent of the then Botanical and Forestry Department. A local styrax with fragrant flowers is reminiscent of the halesia, the American snowdrop tree. Six species of rhododendron grow wild in the Colony. Of these the red one is extremely abundant, while another with large pale pink flowers is so rare that it is known to exist only on one shoulder of Victoria Peak. The heather family is represented by a very lovely enkianthus which bears beautiful pink bells in early spring at the time of the Chinese New Year. Flowering at the same time is a litsea with small creamy white and exceedingly fragrant flowers borne in profusion on leafless branches.
The Bauhinia Blakeana, named after a former Governor, Sir Henry Blake, and discovered in 1908 by the Fathers of the French Foreign Missions at Pok Fu Lam, is among the finest of the bauhinia genus anywhere in the world. Its origin is unknown and it is a sterile hybrid, never producing seed. Another related species is Bauhinia glauca, climbing by means of tendrils, with bunches of pink flowers of sufficient beauty to merit cultivation as a covering for trellises and porches.
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There are several species of camellia growing wild on the island and the mainland. All but one have white flowers; the one with red flowers is known only on Hong Kong Island and grows in the Peak district. It is Camellia Hongkongensis, a small tree up to 40 feet in height which comes into flower in November and continues until the middle of March. A new and distinct camellia was dis- covered in 1955 and named Camellia Granthamiana in honour of the then Governor, Sir Alexander Grantham. Only one tree has so far been found, on the edge of a wooded ravine near the Jubilee reservoir, bearing handsome white flowers 54 inches across, with a dense cluster of golden stamens in the centre. From this solitary tree numerous seeds and grafts have been distributed to many botanical and horticultural institutions abroad.
Many local shrubs and a few herbs have very beautiful fruits in striking colours. The ardisia, the chloranthus and several wild hollies have brilliant red berries. The large orange-like fruits of melodinus, the smaller fruits of strychnos, the wild kamquat and the winged fruits of the gardenia are orange in colour. Numerous yellow fruits with elusive names abound the hillsides, one of which is the maesa. There are many inconspicuous green fruits and berries, one of which is the mussaenda or Buddha's Lamp. Many berries are black with a bluish waxy cuticle, but probably the only true blue is that of the dichroa, a well-known medicinal plant. Several species of callicarpa and dianella bear purplish fruits, while those of the raphiolepis, the so-called Hong Kong Hawthorn, the wild jasmine and the wild persimmon are black. The remarkable star-like fruit of the sterculia turns crimson in late summer and splits open to disclose jet black seeds. At a distance, these open fruits look like large red flowers.
There are several very poisonous plants which should be better known to the general public. These include two species of strychnos which have very brightly coloured fruits resembling small oranges, a species of strophanthus which has conspicuous fruits unmistakable because of their large size and horn-like shape, and a species of gelsemium which is the most poisonous of local plants. The latter is a climber with dense terminal clusters of yellow flowers each about half an inch in diameter, blooming towards the end of the year. All parts of the plant contain the alkaloid gelsemidine, which is a spinal poison. It is said that as little as 12 grammes of leaf
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253
constitute a fatal dose and that death follows within a few hours. It is sometimes used by country people to commit suicide. Wild edible fruits include a wild jack-fruit, artocarpus, the fruit of the rose-myrtle, wild bananas and raspberries. Several species of per- simmon are wild, but their fruits are too astringent to be eaten
raw.
There are numerous plants which closely resemble their European relatives. Old Man's Beard, the common clematis of English hedge- rows, has five close relatives in Hong Kong. There are four wild violets but they are scentless, like the English dog violet. The English honey-suckle has five relatives whose Cantonese name is kam ngan fa (gold and silver flower) because of their change in colour from white to yellow.
More than 70 species of native orchids are recorded in the flora. Most of the epiphytic species possess small flowers which are not of particular interest to the horticulturist. Some of the ground orchids are very beautiful and have long been cultivated in other countries. Probably the best known of the local species is the Nun orchid, bearing flowers four inches across with white petals and a purple lip. Other noteworthy species are the white Susanna orchid, the yellow Buttercup orchid, the pink Bamboo orchid and the purple Lady's Slipper orchid.
There is a fine wild iris, Iris speculatrix, further south than any other true iris. Its violet flower, from two and a half to three inches in diameter, is tinged with bright orange and blooms from the middle of March to the end of April. A wild lily, Lilium Brownii, appears in June with its trumpet flowers up to seven inches in length, white and sometimes purple-streaked. A wild crinum with long sword-like leaves and bunches of white flowers is found by the sea, and also the belamcanda, one of the iris family, with red- dotted orange-yellow flowers. The Chinese Bell-flower, Platycodon, is very widely distributed in eastern Asia, being abundant as far north as Manchuria and as far south as Hong Kong. This lovely violet giant harebell is common on grassy slopes on the south side of Hong Kong Island. It is a perennial plant with thick fleshy root stock valued for medicinal purposes and was introduced into cultivation in England as far back as the seventeenth century.
In damp ravines may be found the chirita, several begonias, a fragrant-leaved rush, stag's horn mosses, giant aroids, tree-ferns
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and countless kinds of smaller ferns, including maidenhair and the local Royal ferns. On hillsides, English bracken, a cosmopolitan plant, may be seen growing together with the so-called Hong Kong Bracken, a gleichenia, and a fragrant-leaved myrtle called baeckea. Plants recorded for the first time the past year were Gomphrena celosioides and Ambrosia maritima, found in Kowloon, and Andro- graphis paniculata and Cerastium triviale, found on Lantau Island. The Colonial Herbarium, which provided the foundation for the work of Dunn and Tutcher's Flora of Kwangtung and Hong Kong, has been added to considerably since that book was produced and at present over 29,000 specimens are preserved. Interest in local fauna and flora is fostered by The Hong Kong Natural History Society-founded in 1949 as The Hong Kong Biological Circle- whose aims are to '. . . . facilitate and encourage the study of natural history in general and in particular that of the Colony of Hong Kong.' The activities of this society include both indoor meetings and field outings. Another society is the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society, founded in 1957 for the study of local bird life. This society holds approximately twelve field outings each year.
The Wild Birds and Wild Mammals Protection Ordinance, 1954, provides for the conservation of all wild birds and various mammals now rare or in danger of becoming rare. It also prohibits the trapping or poisoning of any bird or mammal, except rodents. Game birds may be shot only in season. There are eight wild life sanctuaries, one of which is the whole of Hong Kong Island. Both Game Wardens and Honorary Game Wardens are appointed by the Governor to assist in carrying out the provisions of this Ordinance. By regula- tions made under the Forestry Ordinance special protection is also given to certain plants including camellias, enkianthus, magnolias, orchids, and azaleas.
24
History
Hong Kong-'a barren island with hardly a house upon it'
Lord Palmerston 1841
ARCHAEOLOGICAL investigation has shown that Hong Kong was inhabited from primitive times, but it has failed to reveal evidence of the existence of any previous centre of population. All that it would be safe to conclude is that in the early migration of peoples along the Pacific coast, an island with a water supply and some cultivable land would naturally attract permanent or temporary settlement. Up to the nineteenth century Hong Kong remained sparsely populated. Small villages maintained themselves by fishing, by cultivation of the scanty soil available, and by casual preying on coastal shipping. The fishing ports of Shau Kei Wan and Shek Pai Wan (Aberdeen) were noted as the haunts of pirates from the time of the Mongol Dynasty.
The Kwangtung area of the Chinese mainland was first brought under the suzerainty of China between 221 and 214 BC, but even after its conquest by the Han Emperor Wu Ti in 111 BC, it remained for some centuries a frontier area. The Lei Cheng Uk Tomb, which was discovered in Kowloon in 1955, probably dates from before the Tang Dynasty (620-907) and is evidence of Chinese penetration, although Chinese migration on a large scale did not come until the Sung Dynasty (960-1279). The oldest villages in the New Territories, those belonging to the Tang Clan, have a continuous history dating back to the eleventh century, and other villages date from the Yuan Dynasty (1280-1368). Hakka and Cantonese, the two main Chinese groups, probably settled in the area over the same period.
In 1278, Ti Ping, the Sung Emperor, was driven by the invading Mongols to Kowloon and died there. A small hill crowned with a
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HISTORY
prominent boulder bearing the characters Sung Wong Toi* (Sung Emperor Stone) was held sacred to his memory until the hill was demolished in 1943, during the Japanese occupation, to make room for an expansion of the airport. His brother, the last Sung boy Emperor, met with final defeat in an attempted stand in the New Territories and he and his ministers fled to Ngai Shan further south, but some of his followers found refuge in Lantau where their descendants are still to be found.
The maritime relations between China and the West were at first dominated by Arab and Near Eastern traders who formed a con- siderable community at Canton from the seventh century onwards, but Chinese traders also penetrated to the Indian Ocean from the eleventh century. The Portuguese formed the spear-head of European maritime contacts with China. Jorge Alvarez reached China by sea in 1513, the first European to do so; the earliest Portuguese traders followed in 1517 and 40 years later, in 1557, they established them- selves at Macau, partly in return for assistance in the suppression of piracy. For nearly 300 years, through many vicissitudes, and against the main current of Chinese official opinion which was not interested in commercial or cultural contacts, Macau provided the one reliable point of contact between China and the West.
The first Englishman to attempt to trade with China was John Weddell in 1637. He found Portuguese influence against him and tried to force his way up to Canton and not surprisingly his venture ended in complete failure. Later attempts were similarly unsuccessful, the first English ship to trade peaceably with the Chinese being the East India Company ship Macclesfield in 1699. The company sent ships to Canton each year thereafter, and in 1715 decided to establish permanent commercial relations and set up a 'factory', as it was known, outside the town. Attempts to extend the trade to Amoy, Ningpo and Tamsui failed and in 1757 trade with the West was confined to Canton by Imperial edict, and placed under the direct control of an Imperial official called the Hoppo. In addition, a guild of Chinese merchants called the Hong Merchants or Co-hong was given a monopoly of western trade by a similar edict in 1755. Many other European nations sent traders to Canton,
* The stone bearing these characters has now been erected in a small public
park near the original site.
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but in the second half of the eighteenth century the British gradually secured a dominant share of the trade mainly as a result of growing control in India, and the lead in Sino-western relations therefore naturally fell to Britain.
The trade was lucrative and yet there were grievances. Residence at Canton was confined to the trading season and hedged with personal restrictions which confined the traders to the factory area, denied them access to the city and placed them in the hands of the Co-hong in their dealings with officials for the fixing of prices and the levying of port dues. The westerners were regarded as bar- barian, yet there was mutual trust which enabled written commercial contracts to be dispensed with.
The British made unavailing efforts to improve conditions at Canton by diplomatic means after appeals to the provincial officials there had failed. In 1793 Lord Macartney, fresh from his successful mission to Russia, was sent to Peking as ambassador, ostensibly to congratulate the Emperor, but chiefly to secure commercial concessions at Canton or else to acquire an island where the British could reside under their own law and government. He was hospitably received in Peking and created a favourable impression, but all his requests were refused. In 1816 a second embassy under Lord Amherst failed even more completely, Amherst being ordered to leave Peking without even seeing the Emperor.
The East India Company held a monopoly of British trade with China, but in the late eighteenth century the company began to concentrate on the valuable tea trade. At the same time licensed private traders engaged in what was termed the 'country trade' between India and China. By acting as representatives of foreign states these private traders overcame the reluctance of the company to allow them to reside in Canton and Macau. Thus an enlarged British community developed, strongly favouring the new free trade ideas then being discussed in England and clamouring for the abolition of the East India Company's now nominal monopoly. Abolition was, in fact, effected by Parliamentary action in 1833.
To replace the company's control, Lord Napier was sent out in 1834 as Chief Superintendent of Trade, with strict instructions to pursue a conciliatory policy towards the Chinese. But his position was weak, because he had no power to negotiate and no means of
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controlling his compatriots. He went to Canton without seeking the required permit and tried to deal with the Canton officials direct, thus disobeying the rule that required all communications with the officials to be made through the Co-hong. After a few weeks of impasse Napier retired to Macau, a sick man, and died there 10 days later. Meanwhile official Chinese opinion was becom- ing alarmed over the financial and moral consequences of the increased popularity of opium smoking, which had led to opium becoming the staple of the trade with India despite a Chinese prohibition on its importation. After much debate among the Mandarin officials the Emperor appointed Lin Tse-hsu as Special Commissioner, with orders to stamp out the opium trade. Lin took strong action and within a week of his arrival at Canton, in March 1839, he had surrounded the foreign factories with an armed force. He allowed no Europeans to leave, stopped supplies of food and water, and demanded the surrender of all opium for destruction. All opium dealers and masters of ships arriving at the port were called on to sign a bond against the import of opium on pain of death.
Captain Charles Elliot, RN, who had become Superintendent of Trade in 1836, ordered his countrymen to surrender the opium, despite the fact that much of it was owned by firms in India for whom the local merchants were agents. But Elliot refused to allow anyone to sign the bond and, much to Lin's annoyance, all British trade was stopped until the British Government could decide its policy. After a siege of six weeks the British community were allowed to leave for Macau. Lin threatened to drive them from the coast and, when the Portuguese Governor warned Elliot that he could no longer be responsible for their safety, the whole British community took temporary refuge in the harbour at Hong Kong. The Chinese then attempted to prevent local supplies of food reaching the ships and after several incidents in and around Hong Kong waters the relations between Lin and Elliot broke down completely.
Lord Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary, supported by commer- cial interests in Parliament, decided that the time had come for a settlement in relations between Britain and China. He demanded either a commercial treaty which would put commercial relations on a satisfactory footing, or the cession of a small island where the
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British community could live free from the pressure Lin had used. An expeditionary force arrived in June 1840 with orders to support these demands by enforcing measures against China's economy. Negotiations between Elliot, the British plenipotentiary, and Keshen, a Manchu commissioner who had replaced Lin after his exile in disgrace, resulted in agreement over the preliminaries of a treaty-the Convention of Chuenpi-on 20th January 1841. By it, Hong Kong was to be ceded. The island was formally occupied by a naval party on the 26th January 1841, and a few days later Elliot proclaimed it a British Colony.
THE ISLAND COLONY, 1841-60
Neither side accepted the Chuenpi terms. The cession of an island aroused shame and anger among the Cantonese, and the strength of the war party at Court forced the Emperor to continue hostilities. The unfortunate Keshen was arrested and sent to Peking in chains. Palmerston was in any case dissatisfied with Hong Kong, which he contemptuously described as a 'barren island with hardly a house upon it', and refused to accept it as the island station which was to be demanded as an alternative to a commercial treaty. Elliot's successor, Sir Henry Pottinger, who arrived at Macau in August 1841, renewed hostilities with resolution and by the following August, when British troops were threatening to assault Nanking, brought the war to a close by the Treaty of Nanking. Under it Hong Kong was ceded to the British Crown, 'it being obviously necessary and desirable that British subjects should have some port whereat they may careen and refit their ships. and four additional ports on the mainland were opened to trade.
?
Pottinger visited Hong Kong Island during the winter of 1841-2 and found so much evidence of progress since its occupation that he determined to retain it in spite of Palmerston's strictures. In June 1843, after the Treaty had been ratified by both countries, Hong Kong was declared a British Colony, and the name 'Victoria' was conferred upon the settlement; the main thoroughfare on the northern side of the island facing the harbour was named 'Queen's Road'. Hong Kong was declared a free port and by the Supple- mentary Treaty of the Bogue in October 1843 the Chinese were
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allowed free access to the island for purposes of trade. Indeed, British policy of welcoming all-comers to the Colony and of not seeking any exclusive commercial privileges accorded with the Colony's economic interests.
The early years of the infant Colony were marked by a series of misfortunes. In 1841 it was struck by two typhoons and the Chinese market area was burnt down twice. Virulent fever, probably malaria, decimated the Europeans and at one point troops were withdrawn to the safety of ships in the harbour, while build- ings in Happy Valley had to be abandoned. An early estimate put the local Chinese population at some 4,000, with a further 2,000 living afloat. The first report on population in June 1845 gave the total as 23,817, of whom 595 were Europeans and 362 Indians.
At first the Colony did not fulfil the sanguine hopes that had been formed and instead of becoming a great emporium, as had been predicted, trade developed between Britain and the new Treaty Ports direct, particularly Shanghai which was commercially more advantageously situated than Hong Kong. In 1847 a Parlia- mentary Committee of Enquiry into the China trade went so far as to express doubts that Hong Kong would ever develop into an important commercial centre and recommended economies in its administration.
Shortly after Hong Kong's foundation a great wave of Chinese emigration took place, mainly to south-east Asia and the countries bordering the Pacific. In 1849, when gold was discovered in California, there was a rush of Chinese to Kam Shan (Golden Mountains) which has remained the vernacular name for San Francisco. In 1851 there was a similar rush to Australia and San Kam Shan (New Golden Mountains) has remained the Chinese name for Sydney. In addition there was emigration of labour under contract to the sugar plantations of Central and Southern America. To check the many abuses connected with this migration the British Government passed the Chinese Passengers Act of 1852, prescribing reasonable standards of food, space and medical atten- tion. This tended to drive the coolie trade to other ports, but Hong Kong prospered as the centre of an important passenger traffic.
Hong Kong's first aviary was established nearly half a century ago. The aviary was restored in 1948 and is now acknowledged as one of the finest in Asia. It contains over 200 species from all parts of the world, including (inset) Mandarin Ducks (Aix Galericulata) which can be found in Manchuria, Japan, China and Taiwan.
The aviary is being extended and will contain large species such as peafowl, cranes and storks. Shown here are (left) a Scarlet Cock of the Rock (Rupicola Peruviana). The pair (below left) are White-eared Brown Fruit Doves(Phapitre- ron Leucotis), from the Philippines. Below is a Cockatiel (Leptolophus Hollandicus).
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The Tai Ping Rebellion, which began in 1850 and spread over South China, created unsettled conditions on the mainland resulting in thousands seeking refuge in the Colony. By 1861 the population had risen to 119,321, of whom 116,335 were Chinese. This pattern was to be repeated and is significant among the factors which have made Hong Kong a predominantly Chinese community.
EXTENSIONS TO THE COLONY, 1860-99
The Treaties of Tientsin at the conclusion of the Second Anglo- Chinese War of 1856-8, gave Britain and France the privilege of diplomatic representation at Peking. However, the first British envoy, Sir Frederick Bruce, who had served as Colonial Secretary in Hong Kong in 1844-5, was met by armed Chinese opposition at Taku Bar on his way to the Chinese capital. In the ensuing hostilities, Kowloon peninsula was occupied and used as a camp for the British forces and Sir Harry Parkes at Canton secured from the Viceroy there the perpetual lease of the peninsula as far as Boundary Street, including Stonecutters Island. The Con- vention of Peking, 1860, converted the lease into an outright cession.
The naval and military authorities claimed the whole of the newly acquired area and it was only after some four years of strenuous advocacy of the Colony's interests that the Governor, Sir Hercules Robinson, was able to confine the Services to specified areas, subject to their right to occupy additional areas in case of military emergency. Under these circumstances the development of Kowloon as a residential area and commercial port was seriously hindered. Land values remained low and the necessary reclamations proceeded slowly because incentive was lacking. The development of Kowloon had to wait until population pressures of the twentieth century forced the pace.
By the Convention of Peking of 1898, negotiated with China because of rivalry between the western powers over concessions in China and because of fear of French and Russian ambitions in the Far East following the alliance of these two powers in 1893, Hong Kong's boundaries were again extended by a 99-year lease of the mainland north of Kowloon, together with some 235 islands in the vicinity. This extension soon acquired the name New Territories. The British take-over in April 1899 met with some
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initial ill-organized armed opposition, but Sir Henry Blake based the administration on the maintenance of Chinese law and custom, in co-operation with village committees and headmen, and by extensive visits to the villages to explain his policy in person he was able to build up confidence. Steps were taken to improve economic conditions and check widespread malaria, so that the population has gradually increased from about 100,000 to nearly half a million as shown by the 1961 Census.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE COLONY UP TO 1941
The history of Hong Kong is one of steady expansion in trade and population, and of consequent material and social improve- ments. The old traditional practice of European and Chinese com- munities living apart continued in Hong Kong and was accepted. Each pursued his own way of life largely independent of the other. Until the Chinese had more opportunities for western education there could be little Chinese participation in government, western commerce or the professions. There have been, however, Chinese members of the Legislative Council since 1880 (when Ng Choy, who was the first Chinese to be called to the English bar, was appointed) and of the Executive Council since 1926.
In education, the first grants from public funds were those given to the Chinese vernacular schools in 1847 and administered by an education committee. The earliest schools were founded by missionary bodies, who have received grants or subsidies since 1873 and have conducted their schools mainly on western lines. A demand for higher education and professional training followed and in 1887 the College of Medicine for the Chinese was founded by Dr Patrick Manson, Dr James Cantlie and Dr Ho Kai, with the assistance of the London Missionary Society. One of its first graduates was Sun Yat-sen, later to become the founder of the Chinese Republic.
Undoubtedly the main educational advance was the founding in 1911 of the University of Hong Kong, which took over the work of the Hong Kong College of Medicine and the Technical Institute as the basis of its faculties of medicine and engineering. The University was made possible by the enthusiasm of Sir Frederick Lugard, the Governor, and the generosity of Sir Hormusjee Mody
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who met the entire cost of the main building. With the aid of subsequent benefactors and increasing government support the University has steadily developed traditions suited to its unique position as an English-speaking University in a Chinese environ- ment. It soon attracted students from the mainland and south- east Asia, and won for itself the loyalty of the local community.
The special needs of the Chinese population received early con- sideration. Originally it was intended to let them live under their own law administered by Chinese officials, but this idea was found to be impracticable and was abandoned. Instead, the ideal of equality for all races under the law became the guiding principle, and the revised Governor's Instructions of 1865 forbade him to agree to any ordinance 'whereby persons of African or Asiatic birth may be subjected to any disabilities or restrictions to which persons of European birth or descent are not also subjected.' The protection of Chinese interests was the duty of the Registrar- General, a post created in 1845. His responsibilities grew, com- mensurate with the influence of the Chinese community until, in 1913, his post was re-named Secretary for Chinese Affairs. The Tung Wah, a charitable Chinese institution founded in 1870 to run hospitals and generally care for the indigent Chinese, also became an important body representative of responsible Chinese opinion.
The Colony's earliest hospitals were run by missionary bodies, the first government medical officer being appointed in 1847 to treat prisoners in the gaol and the police. He opened a small make- shift hospital the following year which served until 1859 when a Government Civil Hospital was opened. This was destroyed by the 1874 typhoon and adjoining buildings had to be requisitioned. On this site now stand the modern Tsan Yuk Maternity Hospital and the Sai Ying Pun Jockey Club Clinic. The Kowloon Govern- ment Hospital was opened in 1925 and the Queen Mary Hospital, one of the largest and most up-to-date in Asia, in 1937. Both these government hospitals have been eclipsed in size by the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kowloon.
The entry of the Chinese into Hong Kong in large numbers was unforeseen and naturally little provision was made for it. A narrow strip of comparatively level ground along the foreshore was at first the only available land for building and Queen's Road approxi- mately follows the line of the original settlement. Expansion could
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only take place on the slopes of the Peak-as for example Stanley Street, Wellington Street and Caine Road, once a very fashionable area-or by reclamation from the sea. By 1880 the city, particularly its Chinese quarters in Tai Ping Shan, Sai Ying Pun and Wan Chai, had become seriously over-crowded and insanitary. It was this which led to the development of the Peak as a residential area, particularly after 1888 when the Peak Tramway was built.
As a result of complaints from the military about the sanitary condition of Hong Kong, Osbert Chadwick, a sanitary engineer, was sent out by the home government. A Sanitary Board was set up in 1883 to which nominated unofficials were added in 1886 and two elected representatives of the ratepayers in 1887. It could bring about little improvement because of Chinese opposition to western ideas of sanitation and to any interference with their way of life. There was also opposition to the cost of sanitary improve- ments on the part of the community, already burdened by a costly programme of public works and by defence expenditure at a time when the dollar was falling in value. The result of this neglect was an outbreak of the plague in 1894. Two Japanese doctors who came to investigate, Professor Vitasato and Dr Aoyama, claimed to be the first to isolate the plague bacillus and to demonstrate that it was carried by rats. Even then there was considerable opposition to house-cleansing and measures against rat-infestation, and annual visitations of the plague continued until about 1927. The Sanitary Board continued until 1935, when its functions were broadened and taken over by an Urban Council.
The earliest reclamation was the filling of a small creek in 1851, to make what is now Bonham Strand. Bowrington (1859) and Kennedy Town (1877) were built partly on reclaimed land. The most important reclamation was that in the Central district, begun in 1890 and completed in 1904, which added Chater Road, Connaught Road and Des Voeux Road to the city. Large reclama- tions were made in the Wan Chai area in the years 1921-9.
Increasing urbanization led also to the problem of water, and the start of a century-long race between water supply and popula- tion demand. Prior to 1941 successive water schemes were inaugu- rated at Pok Fu Lam (1864), Tai Tam (1889), Wong Nai Chung
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(1899), Tai Tam Tuk (1917) and the Jubilee reservoir in the Shing Mun Valley in 1935.
THE CHINESE REVOLUTION AND TWO WORLD WARS
The Chinese Revolution of 1911 overthrew the Manchu Dynasty. There followed a long period of unrest in China and again large numbers of refugees found shelter in the Colony. One of its leaders, Sun Yat-sen, who headed the Kuomintang republican group centred in Canton, had been deeply influenced by the British institutions he had seen while a student in Hong Kong. Chinese participation in the first world war was followed by strong nationalist and anti- foreign sentiment, inspired both by disappointment over their failure at the Versailles peace conference to regain the German concessions in Shantung and by the post-war radicalism of the Kuomintang. The Chinese wanted to abolish all foreign treaty privileges in China. Foreign goods were boycotted and unrest spread to Hong Kong where a seamen's strike in 1922 was followed by a serious general strike in 1925-6 under pressure from Canton. This petered out, but not before considerable disruption of the life of the Colony. Britain, as the holder of the largest foreign stake in China, was the main target of this anti-foreign sentiment, but Japan soon replaced her in this position.
Japanese plans for political aggrandizement in the Far East became apparent when she seized the opportunity of the first world war to present her 'twenty one demands' to China early in 1915. In 1931 Japan occupied Manchuria and her attempt to detach China's northern provinces led to open war in 1937. Canton fell to the Japanese in 1938, resulting in a mass flight of refugees to Hong Kong. It was estimated that some 100,000 entered in 1937, 500,000 in 1938 and 150,000 in 1939, bringing the population at the outbreak of war to an estimated 1,600,000. It was thought that at the height of the influx about half a million were sleeping in the
streets.
The outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939 gave Japan the advantage of being able to extend her ambitions over the whole of east and south-east Asia, and the position of the Colony became precarious. On 8th December 1941, the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbour, the Japanese attacked from the mainland,
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and subsequently the British were forced to retire from the New Territories and Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. The Japanese crossed the harbour at Lei Yue Mun on the night of the 18th- 19th December and after a week of stubborn resistance on the island the defenders, who included the local Volunteer Corps, were overwhelmed and the Colony surrendered on Christmas Day. The Japanese occupation lasted three years and seven months.
British civilians were interned at Stanley while the Chinese population and neutrals had to suffer steadily deteriorating con- ditions. Trade virtually disappeared, the currency lost its value, food supply was disrupted and government services and public utilities were seriously impaired. Many moved to Macau, the Portuguese Colony hospitably opening its doors to them. Towards the later part of the occupation the Japanese sought to ease the food problem by organizing mass deportations. In the face of increasing oppression the bulk of the community remained loyal to the allied cause; Chinese guerillas operated in the New Terri- tories and allied personnel escaping were assisted by the rural population.
Soon after the news of the Japanese surrender was received a provisional government was set up by the Colonial Secretary, Mr (later Sir) F. Gimson, until Rear Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt arrived with units of the British Pacific Fleet to establish a temporary military government. Civil government was formally restored on 1st May 1946, when Sir Mark Young resumed his interrupted governorship.
THE POST-WAR YEARS
From the moment of liberation Hong Kong began a spectacular recovery. The Chinese returned at a rate approaching 100,000 a month and the population, which by August 1945 had been reduced to about 600,000, rose by the end of 1947 to an estimated 1,800,000. Then in the period 1948-9, as the forces of the Chinese Nationalist Government began to face defeat in civil war at the hands of the Communists, the Colony received an influx of people unparalleled in its history. About three quarters of a million, mainly from Kwangtung province, Shanghai and other commercial centres, entered the Colony during 1949 and the spring of 1950. By the end of 1950 the population was estimated to be 2,360,000. Since
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267
then it has continued to rise. A census taken in 1961 showed a population figure of 3,133,131.
Intense and unprecedented development has accompanied the growth of population. One of the most striking features of the post-war years has been the steadily increasing part which the Government has played, directly or indirectly, in the provision of housing and other forms of social services for the poorer sections of the community. Low-cost housing schemes and multi-storied resettlement estates have called for a heavy investment of public funds; schools, colleges, clinics, hospitals and other essential facilities have been provided on a scale unprecedented in the Colony's history. Despite the substantial progress made, however, the demand continues and is still far from being satisfied.
Private building on a wide scale has transformed and modernized much of the urban areas and the more accessible parts of the New Territories. In Kowloon and Tsuen Wan particularly, industrialists have opened many large modern factories producing a wide range of goods for export to all parts of the world. To meet the demand for land for industry and housing the Government has continued to carry out many new reclamation schemes, principally in the Central district, Causeway Bay and at various points on the northern shores of the harbour. The investigation of new areas for develop- ment is constantly in hand. Impressive schemes to improve the water supply were completed at Tai Lam Chung in 1957, and at Shek Pik in 1963; a start has been made with the Plover Cove scheme which will treble the amount of water available.
The spectacular growth of new factories and workshops, coupled with the Colony's need to keep pace with world-wide advances in production, management and marketing techniques, have been accompanied by higher standards of factory inspection, new labour legislation, and constantly increasing official concern with trade promotion, and technical and vocational training.
The Government has embarked on a large-scale reconstruction of the Colony's road network; more rigorous traffic controls have been introduced in the face of enlarged public transport services and the big increase in the number of private cars. The railway has changed from steam to diesel-electric traction. A new airport capable of meeting the needs of the biggest aircraft in service has
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HISTORY
been completed and is in full operation, a new $16 million terminal having been opened in November 1962. Airline passengers, many of them tourists from overseas, have in turn created a demand for more and better hotel accommodation, and for sight-seeing and shopping facilities, and night-time entertainment.
Postal and telecommunication services have set new records in the traffic handled. Broadcasting, wired and wireless, has developed as a principal part of the Colony's entertainment, and wired televi- sion supplements the many modern cinemas. Parks, playgrounds and well-supervised bathing beaches are only a few of the outdoor amenities which the public at large enjoy.
An increased, and ever increasing, tempo is apparent in every aspect of Hong Kong's daily life. But it is the growth of local industry, which came into being to replace the traditional entrepôt trade of the Colony, which has been the most significant feature-- after population growth-in the Colony's history in the post-war years.
Most of the common snakes found in Hong Kong are harmless, and death from snake-bite is extremely rare. However the White-lipped Pit Viper (commonly called the Bamboo Snake-above) and the Many-banded Krait (below) are venomous. The several species of sea snakes found in waters around Hong Kong are venomous.
2
The Hamadryad (or King Cobra-above), occasionally found in Hong Kong, is the world's longest venomous snake. It feeds almost exclusively on other snakes. The
Chinese Cobra (below) is fairly common in Hong Kong. It is active both by day and
by night, and feeds chiefly on rodents, toads and frogs, and sometimes on birds.
宅
25
Constitution and Administration
THE principal features of the constitution are prescribed in Letters Patent which provide for a Governor, an Executive Council, and a Legislative Council. Royal Instructions to the Governor, supple- mented by further Instructions from the Sovereign conveyed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, prescribe the membership of the Executive and Legislative Councils.
The Executive Council, which is presided over by the Governor, consists of five ex officio and seven nominated members. The ex officio members are the Commander, British Forces, the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney General, the Secretary for Chinese Affairs, and the Financial Secretary, and there is one nominated official member. The six unofficials at present include three Chinese members and one Portuguese member.
The main function of the Executive Council is to advise the Governor, who must consult its members on all important matters. The responsibility for deciding which questions should come before the Council, and for taking action afterwards, rests with the Governor, who is required to report his reasons fully to the Secretary of State if he acts in opposition to the advice given by members. The Governor in Council (i.e. Executive Council) is also given power under numerous ordinances to make subsidiary legislation by way of rules, regulations and orders. A further function of the Council is to consider appeals and petitions under certain ordinances.
The same five ex officio members of the Executive Council also serve on the Legislative Council, of which the Governor is also the President. In addition, there are seven other official members and 13 unofficial members nominated by the Governor who at present include nine Chinese members and one Indian member.
The laws of the Colony are enacted by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council, which controls. finance and expenditure through its Standing Finance Committee,
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on which all the unofficial members sit. Procedure in the Legislative Council is based on that of the House of Commons. The member- ship of the Executive and Legislative Councils are given in Appen- dices XXXIX and XL.
JUDICIARY
Under powers conferred on the Governor by the Letters Patent, the Chief Justice, Senior Puisne Judge and Puisne Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by Letters Patent on instructions from the Sovereign given through, and on the recommendation of, the Secretary of State. District Judges and magistrates are appointed by the Governor by warrant or other instrument under the Public Seal. The qualifications of judges and district judges are prescribed by the Supreme Court and District Court Ordinances.
The function of the judiciary is to try all public and private prosecutions and to determine civil disputes either between indi- viduals or between individuals and the Government. The principle of English Constitutional Law, that in the performance of all judicial acts the judiciary are completely independent of the Executive and Legislative organs of Government, is followed in Hong Kong. They take no part in the formulation of policy or in the enactment of the Laws. Their function is to follow and apply the law, but in the interpretation of statutes and in applying decided cases they make new case law.
The principles of English Common Law and Equity and the Statutes of England as they existed in that country on 5th April 1843, except where they are inapplicable to local circumstances, are the foundation of Hong Kong's legal system. They have been extended and modified by the application to the Colony of certain later enactments of the United Kingdom Parliament and by the Ordinances and other enactments of the Hong Kong Legislature.
The Statute Laws of the Colony are consolidated and revised periodically. The current edition was published in 1951. A new edition is in course of preparation.
ADMINISTRATION
Under the general direction of the Colonial Secretary, the administrative functions of the Government are discharged by
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some 30 departments, all the officers of which are members of the Civil Service. A list of these departments is given in Appendix V.
The Colonial Secretariat, under the general administrative con- trol of the Deputy Colonial Secretary, co-ordinates the work of departments and makes, or transmits from the Governor, the Governor in Council, or the Colonial Secretary, all general policy decisions. The Financial Secretary is responsible for financial and economic policy and the Defence Secretary advises on defence, co-ordinates the work of the local forces and acts as the main channel of communication between Government and Her Majesty's Armed Forces stationed in the Colony. The Secretariat includes a Political Adviser seconded from the Foreign Office.
The Government's principal legal adviser is the Attorney General, who is the head of the Legal Department and is also responsible for drafting legislation and for instituting and conducting public prosecutions.
The Secretary for Chinese Affairs is the Governor's principal adviser on all matters connected with the Chinese population. He is also specifically charged with the responsibility of maintaining direct channels of communication between Government and all levels of Chinese society in urban Hong Kong. In addition, with the assistance of his department, the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs, he discharges a number of statutory duties including the chairman- ship of certain boards and committees (which are for the most part Chinese in composition), administration of the District Watch Force and Tenancy Inquiry Bureaux, and a variety of licensing and registration duties. Other traditional responsibilities include those of arbitration in domestic or tenancy disputes, and the provi- sion of his good offices should there be any major misunderstanding between another department and some section of the Chinese public on other than purely professional or technical matters. He also has the important duty of providing direct liaison with villagers in semi-rural areas on Hong Kong Island and in New Kowloon.
The Urban Council consists of 22 members: five ex officio mem- bers, 16 ordinary members, of whom eight are elected and eight are appointed by the Governor, and one temporary additional ex officio member. Of the ex officio members the Director of Urban Services Department sits as Chairman of the Council, the Deputy
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Director of Medical and Health Services as vice-chairman and the others include the Director of Public Works, the Secretary for Chinese Affairs and the Director of Social Welfare, with the Com- missioner for Resettlement sitting as the additional member. The term of office of the ordinary members is four years. The Council meets monthly to transact formal business, but most of its business is dealt with by 17 select committees, which meet at frequent intervals; with only one exception these committees are chaired by unofficial members, and without exception the unofficial members are in the Majority.
The membership of the Urban Council is given at Appendix XLI. The responsibilities of the Urban Council, that are carried out through the Urban Services Department, cover the fields of envi- ronmental hygiene, sanitation and public amenities in the urban areas. The Council is also the competent authority for the man- agement of resettlement areas and estates.
A notable feature of the administration is the prominent part played by unofficial advice tendered through committees and boards appointed to advise the Governor or Heads of Departments. There are more than sixty such committees covering a broad field of public administration from education to aviation and legal aid to vegetable marketing. Membership of these committees varies according to requirement but common features of a great many of them is their largely unofficial composition and their wide spread of experience and qualifications. All the principal fields of public administration are so covered, including for example medical serv- ices, social welfare, education, public transport, trade and industry, labour and port administration. These boards and committees perform an invaluable function in enabling a considerable number of unofficials to play an active part in the formulation of policy, and in establishing and maintaining contact between government departments and the public. In recent years a new development has been the formation of advisory committees under unofficial chairmen, and with both official and unofficial membership, to advise Government on matters of considerable public controversy. Examples of these are the Advisory Committee on Public Transport and the recently appointed Advisory Committee on Telephone Services.
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NEW TERRITORIES ADMINISTRATION
273
The New Territories are divided into four administrative districts, each under a District Officer who has a staff of between 100 and 180, depending on the size of the district. The Tai Po District with an area of 123 square miles and a population of some 200,000 covers the north-east of the New Territories with its District Office at Tai Po Market. The Yuen Long District with an area of 86 square miles and a population of some 200,000 includes the large flat agricultural plain in the north-west, and has its District Office at Ping Shan. The Tsuen Wan District has an area of 26 square miles and a population of 160,000 and includes the rapidly growing industrial complex of Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi Island, as well as Ma Wan Island and the northern tip of Lantau Island; its District Office is in Tsuen Wan itself. The Sai Kung area east of Kai Tak airport, the remainder of Lantau Island, Cheung Chau, Lamma and all the other islands to the west and south of Hong Kong covering some 130 square miles with a scattered population of about 65,000 are administered from the District Office South in Kowloon.
A District Commissioner co-ordinates the overall administration of the New Territories from an office in North Kowloon. He is assisted by a Deputy District Commissioner and a headquarters staff which, including the Cadastral Survey staff, totals 109.
The District Officers are concerned with every aspect of govern- ment activity in their districts and act as the principal links between Government and the local inhabitants. Their responsibilities include arbitration in all kinds of village and personal disputes, including family and matrimonial cases. They control the utilization and sale of Crown land, and administer the grant of temporary structure permits. District Officers have an allocation of funds from the New Territories local public works vote, which pays for materials to help villagers improve irrigation and water supplies, build paths and small bridges and carry out a wide variety of other minor works to improve the amenities of the villages.
For local representation each of the 625 villages in the New Territories has one or more village representatives making a total of about 900. Villages are in turn grouped under Rural Committees, of which there are 27 covering the entire New Territories. Each Rural Committee has an executive committee which is usually
274
CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION
elected by secret ballot every two years by village representatives. The Rural Committees execute minor works and carry out certain tasks on behalf of Government; they receive a small monthly sub- vention to cover routine expenses. Within its own area each Rural Committee acts as the spokesman for local public opinion, arbitrates in clan and family disputes, and generally provides a bridge between the New Territories Administration and the people.
The chairmen and vice-chairmen of the 27 Rural Committees, together with the unofficial New Territories Justices of the Peace, and 21 Special Councillors elected every two years, form the Full Council of the New Territories Heung Yee Kuk, whose title may be translated into English as 'Rural Consultative Council'. The Kuk serves as a forum where leaders of New Territories opinion have gathered since it was constituted in 1926, and from which (except during the period from August 1958 to December 1959 when official recognition of the representative status of the Kuk was withdrawn because of internal dissension) Government has sought advice on New Territories affairs. Under the constitution established by the Heung Yee Kuk Ordinance, 1959, the Kuk also has an Executive Committee, which meets monthly and consists of the chairmen of Rural Committees, the unofficial New Ter- ritories Justices of the Peace, and 15 ordinary members elected every two years by the Full Council. The Full Council also elects the chairman and two vice-chairmen of the Kuk, through whom close and constant contact is maintained with the District Com- missioner. Elections to the Heung Yee Kuk were held during April 1964 under the supervision of the District Commissioner as Return- ing Officer.
THE PUBLIC SERVICE
On 1st April 1964 the establishment of the Public Service totalled 63,793, an increase of 3,496 over the previous year. The estimated expenditure on salaries for the financial year 1964-5 is about $460 million which accounts for approximately 53 per cent of the estimated recurrent expenditure or 31 per cent of the total estimated expenditure for the year. The Service has expanded very rapidly since 1949 when the total establishment was about 17,500. The Establishment Sub-Committee of Finance Committee continued to examine all departmental requests for extra staff, to ensure that
CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION
275
expansion in the Public Service is limited to the provision of essen- tial, as opposed to simply desirable, activities.
The growth has been accompanied by a determined effort to fill as many posts as possible with local candidates, particularly in more senior grades. Between 1963 and 1964 the percentage of administrative and professional posts filled by local officers in- creased from 43.8 per cent to 46.3 per cent. In 1959 it was 37.8 per cent. Over the Service as a whole, the percentage of overseas officers is 2.9 per cent. Training of local staff forms an important part of the programme. The Training Unit ran a total of 42 courses cen- trally during the year ending 31st March 1964; and 109 local officers were sent overseas during the year to obtain professional qualifica- tions or training.
The Public Services Commission continued to play a valuable part in maintaining standards in the Public Service, by advising on the qualifications to be prescribed for various posts and on the selection of candidates for appointment; the Commission also takes an active part in ensuring a high standard of efficiency by advising on the passage of the efficiency bars which occur at various points in the salary scales of all officers serving on time scales who come within the purview of the Commission. Since 1961 these have not included the more junior posts, appointments to which are no longer referred to the Commission. A Selection Board in London deals with applications from persons of Hong Kong origin studying or working in the United Kingdom. Encouraging results are being achieved and free passages are provided for successful candidates and their families to return to Hong Kong to take up appointment.
BAN COUNCIL PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Appendices
278
Appendia
Industrial undertakings and persons employed
United Nations
standard
industrial
classification
in main industrial groups
Industry
(Chapter 2
I
Employment)
Industrial undertakings and persons employed in selected industries in some main industrial groups
industrial
classification
Industry
Industrial undertakings
279
Industrial undertakings
numbers
1963
1964
1963
Persons employed
1964
United Nations
standard
Persons employed
numbers
12
14
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
31
2 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3
Metal mining
2
2
585
528
1963
1964
1963
1964
23
Manufacture of textiles
Clay pits and quarrying
65
65
1,633
1,680
Cotton spinning...
33
34
19,574 21,053
Non-metallic mining
8
7
80
42
Wool spinning
7
7
1,911 2,049
Food manufacture...
482
467
10,251
9,652
Beverages
25
24
2,120
2,064
Tobacco manufacture
6
1,800 1,490
24
Cotton weaving
Finishing
Knitting
Cordage, rope and twine
Footwear and wearing apparel
249
252
26,289
28,227
168
162
5,534
5,533
399
398
21,527
23,312
27
24
587
503
Manufacture of textiles
1,101 1,094
82,555 86,855
Footwear except rubber footwear
77
63
1,555
1,806
Wearing apparel except footwear
1,021
945
62,924
58,361
Footwear and wearing apparel
1,152
1,065
66,003 61,409
Made-up textile goods except wearing
apparel
Manufacture of wood and cork
269
281
4,410
4,284
34
54
57
1,624
1,242
31
Chemicals and chemical products
Manufacture of furniture...
242
251 4,135
3,951
Medicines
36
34
802
823
Cosmetics
6
6
209
Paper
152
145
2,523
166
2,656
Paints and lacquers
11
11
825
859
Printing and publishing
775
776
13,424
13,315
Matches
1
1
278
265
34
Basic metal industries
Leather and leather products
26
25
427
293
Rolling mills
22
22
24
24
2,028
2,066
30
Rubber products
183
181
***
9,294
9,440
35
Metal products
Chemicals and chemical products
122
118
3,446
3,502
32
Products of petroleum and coal ...
3
2
23
23
33
Non-metallic mineral products
102
98
2,576
2,501
Tin cans
Enamelware
Vacuum flasks
Electro-plating
Needles
34
35
36
Basic metal industries
Metal products
Manufacture of machinery
115
130
3,794
3,902
Hurricane lamps
Hand torch cases
*
1,000
1,013 33,392
32,763
Pressure stoves and lanterns
སྦྲཀི་༥རཽཅི
40
56
1,235
1,155
18
19
4,033
3,244
8
7 1,192
1,184
106
106
1,514
1,250
5
6
792
818
2
2
280
314
45
44
6,895
5,891
27
27
2,066
1,891
472
452
6,996
5,691
Wrist watch bands
76
2,260
3,299
37
37
Electrical apparatus
201
196
12,484 13,688
Electrical apparatus
Hand torch bulbs
50
49
3,121
3,202
38
Transport equipment
120
123
15,026 14,286
Torch batteries
14
14
2,185
1,640
39
Miscellaneous manufacturing industries...
1,441
1,425
51,503
38
50,542
Transport equipment
Shipbuilding and repairing
28
51
Electricity and gas
7
7
3,463
3,717
Shipbreaking
61
Wholesale and retail trade
7
8
762
741
Aircraft repair
892
22
29
9,683
9,287
8 1,356
649
1,251
1,279
39
Miscellaneous manufacturing industries
71
Transport
22
21
-
10,078
10,319
Artificial pearls
72
Storage and warehousing...
23
21
4,411
4,304
73
Telephones...
1
1
2,496
2,845
84
Motion picture industry
12
11
1,277 1,243
85
Laundry and dry cleaning
:
212
200
3,427
2,448
71
Totals
8,348
8,215 354,394 350,174
Buttons
---
Bakelite ware
Plastic ware Plastic flowers Fountain pens
Transport
Tramways
Motor buses
888
36
36
30
2288
26
1,833
1,285
32
1,105
914
969
1,211
825
845
25,086
26,853
342
318
16,991
15,175
8
7
208
248
13
1
1,622
1,612
3
3
8,168
8,521
280
Appendix II
(Chapter 2: Employment)
Factory registrations and inspections, 1964
943
Applications received for registration
Registration certificates issued
976
...
Applications refused (premises unsuitable)
2
Applications withdrawn
80
...
Factories closed and Registration Certificates surrendered
476
...
Places of employment registered at 31st December *Factories 'recorded' at 31st December
5,026
3,189
Routine visits by inspectorate for enforcement of safety, health and
welfare provisions
29,559
Inspections in connection with industrial or occupational accidents
and workmen's compensation ...
1,131
•
Visits for wage and employment enquiries
...
10,189
Visits about employment of women and young persons
...
16,797
Night visits to enforce regulations on employing women and young
persons at prohibited hours
9,278
* Undertakings which cannot be registered, but are kept under observation because 15-19 workers or women and young persons employed, or for industrial health and safety reasons.
Appendix III
(Chapter 2: Employment)
Industrial and occupational accidents, 1964
Persons involved
Deaths
Persons injured in registrable workplaces
Deaths in registrable workplaces
Total accidents reported and investigated
(1963 total 9,847)
Accident rate per 1,000 industrial workers
(1963 rate 17.00)
Fatality rate per 1,000 industrial workers
(1963 rate 0.172)
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
...
9,853
169
5,426
48
9,853
15.46
0.136
* An accident involving two or more persons is recorded as a separate accident for each
person involved.
Appendix IV
(Chapter 3: Public Finances)
Revenue
281
1962-3
1963-4
1964-5
Head of Revenue
Actual
$
Estimated
Actual
Estimated
$
$
1. Duties
2. Rates
3. Internal Revenue
4. Licences and Franchises
5.
Fines and Forfeitures
6. Fees of Court or Office ...
7. Water Revenue
199,944,345 203,400,000 225,494,014 237,500,000
128,454,527 141,050,000 144,775,102 156,100,000
348,827,301 346,400,000 418,211,533 424,100,000
58,029,880 60,771,000 69,510,365 *68,698,000
97,631,265
6,900,823 4,760,000 10,642,609 5,950,000
93,689,000 112,018,598 *93,190,500
24,375,926 25,560,000 15,458,789 19,912,000
8. Post Office
9. Kai Tak Airport and Air Services
10. Kowloon-Canton Railway
79,367,774
69,149,000
75,029,061 71,113,000
18,874,000
9,721,779
9,450,000 10,771,123 9,823,000
11. Revenue from Lands, Interest,
Rents, etc
87,246,918 91,399,000 107,481,791 *112,216,000
12. Land Sales
13. Colonial Development and
Welfare Grants
14. World Refugee Year Grants
15. Contributions Towards Projects
1,040,500,538 1,045,628,000 1,189,392,985 1,217,476,500
208,101,944 146,410,000 194,836,576 154,500,000
46,233
13,000
302,667 1,568,200
55,113 3,449,000 1,914,031 3,513,000
4,360,755 1,565,000 7,425,063 4,638,000
Total Revenue
1,253,064,583 1,197,065,000 1,393,871,322 1,381,695,700
* Certain revenue now credited under Head 9.
282
Expenditure
Appendia
(Chapter 3: Publia
V
Finances)
Expenditure
283
Head of Expenditure
1962-3
Actual $
1963-4
Estimated
$
Actual
$
1964-5 Estimated
Head of Expenditure
$
21.
HE the Governor's Establishment
503,692
516,700
509,165
583,900
51. Pensions
22. Agriculture and Forestry
Department
23. Audit Department
24.
Civil Aviation Department
6,063,490 7,643,900
1,165,384 1,251,000 7,540,439 11,148,400
6,579,772 1,199,241 1,287,600
7,325,407 11,485,300
7,953,700
52.
53.
Police Force: Hong Kong Police Police Force: Auxiliary Police...
54.
Post Office
25.
Colonial Secretariat and
Legislature
55.
Printing Department
26. Commerce and Industry
Department
...
27. Co-operative Development and Fisheries Department
5,859,575 6,559,400
10,467,376 11,639,800
2,028,781
6,406,316 7,834,600
11,200,623 13,751,100
2,702,400 2,199,604
56.
Prisons Department
57. Public Debt
58.
Public Enquiry Service ...
2,739,800
59.
Public Services Commission
253,205
41,423
1962-3
Estimated Actual
$
$
24,272,863 26,332,000 25,316,449 27,433,000 68,803,505 80,630,400 75,854,596 85,743,800 1,169,118 1,456,400 1,297,821 1,453,300 34,513,147 38,568,800 37,126,120 40,989,300 3,990,745 4,897,200 4,651,355 5,416,000 12,180,865 13,571,500 12,258,573 13,767,600
5,913,730 5,907,310 5,905,243
276,800
40,300
1963-4
Actual
$
1964-5
Estimated
5,900,310
226,510
355,300
39,938
42,600
28. Defence: Hong Kong Regiment
(The Volunteers)
60.
Public Works Department
44,948,189
2,585,959
2,423,100 1,827,954
2,797,000
61. Public Works Recurrent
45,302,744
52,537,000 51,351,811 60,568,400 48,415,000 41,145,372 52,486,000
RHKDF Headquarters ...
62.
29.
Defence: Hong Kong Royal
Naval Reserve...
1,040,329
1,076,100 1,214,174
1,077,800
63.
Public Works Non-Recurrent
Radio Hong Kong
378,096,090 509,219,000 496,070,374 562,877,100
3,535,032
3,934,500 3,594,891 4,408,600
30. Defence: Hong Kong Auxiliary
Air Force
64.
Rating and Valuation
480,409
579,100
496,698
540,100
Department
1,422,976
1,583,200 1,473,073
1,792,300
31. Defence: Essential Services
Corps and
65.
Registrar General's Department
2,323,982
121,213
179,500
122,104
187,900
66.
Registry of Trade Unions
249,515
Directorate of Manpower
67.
Resettlement Department
11,554,640
32. Defence: Auxiliary Fire Service
419,674
517,500
512,826
579,100
68.
Royal Observatory
33. Defence: Auxiliary Medical
Service ...
...
1,290,050
1,536,000
1,604,658 1,459,300
69.
Secretariat for Chinese Affairs...
3,044,500 277,400
15,726,400 2,349,830 2,664,200
1,414,682 1,658,900
2,690,289
272,540
14,257,317
2,474,776 2,900,500 1,524,085 1,691,900
3,152,600
281,400
19,932,400
34. Defence: Civil Aid Services
1,968,820
2,212,700 1,747,397 2,155,900
70.
Social Welfare Department
35. Defence: Registration of Persons
Office
71.
Stores Department
1,484,957
1,646,000 1,557,332 1,713,400
72.
Subventions: Education
36. Defence: Miscellaneous
Measures
73.
37. Education Department
38. Fire Services Department
39. Immigration Department 40.
41. Inland Revenue Department 42. Judiciary
Information Services Department
43. Kowloon-Canton Railway
44. Labour Department: Labour
Division
2,096,174
45. Labour Department: Mines
Division
46. Legal Department
47.
Marine Department
48.
49.
Medical and Health Department Miscellaneous Services ...
50. New Territories Administration
22,438,229 25,435,000 24,560,706 24,833,300 53,950,351 64,381,700 59,015,386 68,649,500
11,166,046 15,295,600 14,455,910 17,520,100 2,197,074 3,090,600 2,609,557 3,344,800 2,162,304 2,820,600 2,321,468 3,007,000 4,449,261 5,024,400 4,793,207 5,538,300 4,689,123 5,726,200 5,181,827 6,019,400 15,370,793 6,457,700 4,868,250 5,255,900
2,483,000 2,102,578 2,723,100
138,777 261,100 227,332 307,800 1,320,470 1,686,300 1,640,788 1,891,500 12,901,401 14,696,100 17,739,188 18,769,800 68,541,015 83,409,800 76,893,619 93,400,300 21,763,596 23,690,200 21,597,596 22,744,200 8,081,975 9,338,800 8,452,977 9,715,900
74.
75.
76.
Subventions: Medical
Subventions: Social Welfare
Subventions: Miscellaneous
Treasury
---
77.
Urban Services Department
and Urban Council
78.
Urban Services Department:
City Hall
...
79.
Urban Services Department:
Housing Division
80.
Urban Services Department: New Territories Division
Census Department
81. Colonial Development and Welfare Schemes
82.
World Refugee Year Schemes
109,119
87,429
Total Expenditure ...
8,182,189 9,092,600 7,168,871 9,056,000 15,558,934 15,476,800 23,848,618 20,973,700
95,560,530 113,068,400 108,721,402 123,286,500
26,386,405 29,295,000 27,764,694 32,418,400 4,032,282 4,743,000 4,329,171 5,693,500
4,499,479 5,599,800 5,840,511 9,395,800 2,923,142 3,258,800 3,047,486 3,521,600
33,079,388 38,696,900 35,844,313 42,323,200
1,248,387 1,772,700 1,441,417 2,012,500
2,006,488 4,348,600 2,872,992 4,980,600
2,926,584 4,116,800 3,638,943 4,946,500
52,725
1,113,079,551 1,355,638,910 1,293,013,211 1,489,668,110
35,200 302,907 1,582,700 4,366,400 2,056,723 4,781,700
1,113,276,099 1,360,040,510 1,295,372,841 1,496,032,510
284
LIABILITIES
Appendix
(Chapter 3: Public
Statement of Assets and
VI
Finances)
Liabilities as at 31st March 1964
ASSETS
285
DEPOSITS:
Contributions towards Building Projects
Control of Publications
$ 8,194,243.43
CASH:
In Hand: Treasury
930,000.00
Other Government Departments
Government Servants
2,184,144.32
Crown Agents (£603.0.6)
$ 7,565,858.12
63,791.51
9,648.40
$ 7,639,298.03
Miscellaneous
44,504,003.05
At Bank: Treasury
...
90,290,550.87
Public Works Department-Private Works Account
5,693,076.03
Other Government Departments
3,206,882.08
93,497,432.95
Water Deposits
15,900,205.11
Joint Consolidated Fund (£866,000.0.0)
77,405,671.94
13,856,000.00
114,992,730.98
Other Administrations
FIXED DEPOSITS
Colonial Development and Welfare Schemes
SUSPENSE-Kowloon-Canton Railway
64,540.65
121,891.01
:
388,453,798.12
$503,446,529.10
$ 77,592,103.60
IMPRESTS
433,138.18
30,124.47
SPECIAL FUNDS:
World Refugee Year Loan Fund for Co-operative Societies
REVENUE EQUALIZATION FUND
SPECIAL FUNDS:
World Refugee Year Loan Fund for Co-operative Societies--
Fixed Deposits
472,087.55
INVESTMENTS:
138,024,760.94
On account of Surplus Balances:
GENERAL REVENUE BALANCE:
Balance 1st April 1963
659,147,072.82
Add Surplus from 1st April 1963 to 31st March 1964
98,498,481,55
Federation of Malaya 44% Stock 1964-74 (M$4,868,750.00)...
Federation of Malaya 4% Stock 1965-75 (M$6,237,625.00) ...
Hong Kong Government 34% Dollar Loan 1940
Sterling Investments (£22,814,733.11.2)
757,645,554.37
Add Appreciation on Investments ...
4,044,021.24 761,689,575.61
CURRENT ACCOUNT-Postmaster General
ADVANCES:
Total
$977,808,652.17
Personal
Miscellaneous...
Other Administrations
British Technical Assistance Fund
Development Loan Fund
450,000.00
9,088,333.33
11,643,566.67
430,995.00
365,035,736.93
386,198,631.93
5,751,608.57
$4,868,093.57
1,647,584.25
6,515,677.82
462,902.57
50,164.00
74,500,000.00
81,528,744.39
Total
$977,808,652.17
Notes:
Government holds 16,290 shares at a nominal value of at a nominal value of 500 YEN per share in Helm There is a contingent liability of $184,416.40 in respect
$100 per share in Associated Properties Limited and 1,470 shares Brothers Limited (Yokohama).
of a Guarantee made by the Hong Kong Government.
286
Appendix
VII
(Chapter 3: Public
Comparative Statement of Recurrent
Finances)
and Capital Income and Expenditure
Recurrent
Actual 1960-1 $
Actual 1961-2 $
Actual 1962-3 $
Actual 1963-4 $
Estimate 1964-5 $
Recurrent Revenue
771,412,163 911,129,114 1,006,022,192 1,155,635,125 1,191,286,500
Personal Emoluments
Pensions
287
Actual 1960-1
Actual
Actual
1961-2 $
1962-3 $
Actual 1963-4 $
Estimate 1964-5
285,661,843 309,258,443 335,587,787 378,174,802 432,815,900
23,071,667 22,958,456 24,272,863 25,316,449 27,433,000
Departmental Recurrent
Expenditure (Excluding Unallocated Stores)
Recurrent Subventions
Public Works Recurrent
Miscellaneous Recurrent
Expenditure
***
---
107,634,594 108,330,597 120,834,568 131,522,685 160,681,700
80,509,254 98,250,294 115,655,765 130,140,557 148,690,500
34,036,228 40,210,444 45,302,744 41,145,372 52,486,000
771,412,163 911,129,114 1,006,022,192 1,155,635,125 1,191,286,500
36,951,642 45,542,617 41,206,638 44,861,790 47,574,810
567,865,228 624,550,851 682,860,365 751,161,655 869,681,910
Transfer to Capital Revenue 189,610,433 209,335,620 183,373,342 305,974,988 321,604,590
Surplus
13,936,502 77,242,643 139,788,485 98,498,482
771,412,163
911,129,114 1,006,022,192 1,155,635,125 1,191,286,500
Capital
Estate Duty...
11,658,702 16,779,914 24,574,425 22,545,650 16,000,000
Departmental Special
Expenditure
Excess Stamp Duty (3%
on Assignments)
5,742,513
7,794,738
8,220,129 10,857,891
10,000,000
Private Contributions
towards Government Schemes
Capital Subventions
Public Debt (excluding
interest)
10,526,177
12,407,325
19,579,838 26,921,480 16,567,751 26,302,400
15,244,649 14,822,931 16,515,220 22,103,700
1,051,000
4,252,000
Loan Repayments
Land Sales
1,563,360
80,000
62,537,355
523,511 4,360,755 7,425,063
80,000 1,683,793
354,319
90,274,650 208,101,944 194,836,576
4,638,000
190,000
154,500,000
Public Works Non-
recurrent ...
239,066,044
4,251,000
281,560,376 378,096,090 *496,070,374 562,877,100
4,252,000
4,252,000
Colonial Development and
Welfare Schemes
48,545
485,737
109,119
302,907
1,582,700
Colonial Development and
Welfare Grants
World Refugee Year Grants
35,555
1,980,483
309,197
3,556,756
46,233
55,113
302,667
1,914,031
1,568,200
3,513,000
Miscellaneous Capital
Expenditure
12,590,790
2,093,787
4,656,917
2,949,755
1,651,000
Loans from United
World Refugee Year
Schemes
1,980,483
3,556,756
87,429
2,056,723
Kingdom Government ...
4,224,000
4,781,700
Unallocated Stores
87,821,968 119,318,766 247,042,392 238,236,197
190,409,200
Accounts...
Cr. 247,963
1,882,243
1,469,768
5,496,455
2,800,000
Contribution from
Recurrent Revenue
189,610,433 209,335,620 183,373,342 305,974,988
321,604,590
Transfers to Development
Loan Fund, etc ...
10,000
Deficit
114,336,810
277,432,401
328,654,386
430,415,734
544,211,185
626,350,600
277,432,401
328,654,386 430,415,734 544,211,185 626,350,600
* Expenditure in 1963-4 included $43,722,059 for the
operation of tankers in connection with the water shortage.
288
Appendix VIII
(Chapter 3: Public Finances)
Revenue from Duties and Licence Fees
1. Tobacco
2. Hydrocarbon Oil
:
1961-2
1962-3
1963-4
Actual
Actual
Actual
1964-5 Estimate
Revenue
Revenue
Revenue
$
$
$
$
77,122,064 84,993,497
93,314,242 101,500,000
51,999,337 58,320,916
65,227,152 68,000,000
42,534,669
51,604,171 61,505,510 62,500,000
3. Liquor
4. Table Waters
5. Methyl Alcohol
4,127,983 5,009,435 5,414,096 5,500,000
15,251
16,326
33,014
Licence fees under Dutiable
Commodities Ordinance
175,799,304 199,944,345 225,494,014 237,500,000
1,841,715
1,955,194 2,790,098 3,210,000
Appendix IX
(Chapter 3: Public Finance)
Public Debt of the Colony at 31st March 1964
31% Dollar Loan 1940
31% Rehabilitation Loan 1947--8
...
:
:
:
Kai Tak Airport Development Loan
Colonial Development and Welfare Fund Loan
...
:
:
$
944,000.00
46,666,000.00
38,400,000.00
269,600.00
86,279,600.00
:
:
289
Appendix X
(Chapter 3: Public Finances)
Colonial Development and Welfare
Details of locally administered Schemes in progress during 1964 towards which grants are made by the United Kingdom Government.
Estimated Expenditure
Scheme Number
Title
Maximum
grant available
CD & W Share of estimated
up to
31st December 1964
total expenditure
Total
CD & W Share
£
%
£
£
Development Schemes
D 2539
Development Schemes in the
New Territories
Item 1-Construction of Road on
South Lantau...
59,850
123
42
137,386
57,702
2-Construction of Feeder
Roads
71,858
45
158,271
71,222
3-Construction of Piers
25,500
85
26,840
22,814
4- Irrigation Schemes
102,000
85
119,960
101,966
5-Survey Party
4,292
85
4,557
3,874
D 3271
Construction of New Library and
Students' Union at the University
of Hong Kong
D 4115
Aeronautical Telecommunications...
200,000
78
256,962
200,000
(max)
21,200
59
36,481
21,200
(max)
D 4745
Construction of New Pre-clinical
Building for the University
of Hong Kong
78,125
28
250,000
70,000
D 4909
Construction of 48 Staff Flats for the University of Hong Kong
20,000
9
250,000
20,000
(max)
D 5250
Kowloon Wholesale Fish and
Vegetable Markets
140,000
51.85
165,513
85,822
(approx)
D 5365
Extension to University Hall for
University of Hong Kong
101,875
62
194
120
D 5366
Purchase of equipment for Marine
Physics research at the University of Hong Kong
12,500
100
12,500
12,500
D 5639
Erection of a Medical Library and
Student Centre for the University of Hong Kong
10,000
13.3
50,000
6,650,
£847,200
£1,468,664 £673,870
290
Housing Loans:
DETAILS
LOAN PROJECTS
1. Housing Authority*
2. Hong Kong Housing Society:
(a) Completed Schemes
(b) Shau Kei Wan Scheme
(c) Aberdeen Scheme
(d) Healthy Village Scheme Extension
(e) Kwun Tong Scheme Extension
(f) Tsuen Wan Scheme II
(g) Tsuen Wan Scheme III
Unallocated
Ma Tau Chung Scheme
(j) Kwun Tong Scheme 2nd Extension
3. Local Government Officers
4.
Shek Wu Hui Building Loans ...
5. Hong Kong Settlers Housing Corporation, Limited
Appendix
(Chapter 3: Public
Development
Statement of Approved
XI
Finances)
Loan Fund
Projects and Loans Made
Educational Loans
Medical Loans:
1. The Hong Kong Anti-Tuberculosis Association
2. The Mother Superioress of the Daughters of Charity of the Canossian Institute
:
Miscellaneous Loans:
1. Hong Kong Football Club
2. South China Athletic Association
3. Kowloon-Canton Railway Athletic and Social Club:
(a) First Loan
(b) Second Loan
4.
Good Shepherd Sisters
5.
Operation Feedbag
6.
Hong Kong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company Limited:
Ocean Terminal
Fisheries Loans*
Reclamations:
Loan Projects Total
OTHER PROJECTS
1. Kwun Tong Reclamation Stages I and II
Grand Total...
:
:
Note:
* These loans constitute revolving funds and are
Allocation
of
Funds $
Total Expenditure to 31.3.64 $
291
Total Repayments to 31.3.64 $
Balances at 31.3.64
$
230,000,000
166,210,170.00
166,210,170.00
35,018,214
35,018,212.04
1,780,140.17
33,238,071.87
16,500,000
12,500,000.00
12,500,000.00
8,000,000
6,000,000.00
6,000,000.00
6,500,000
6,500,000.00
6,500,000.00
7,000,000
5,000,000.00
5,000,000.00
9,000,000
3,000,000.00
3,000,000.00
6,500,000
3,750,000.00
3,750,000.00
9,000,000
3,500,000.00
3,500,000.00
15,000,000
10,500,000
3,000,000.00
3,000,000.00
10,000,000
184,000,000
111,920,931.22
210,000
10,000,000
210,000.00 3,500,000.00
8,383,730.12 100,863.98
103,537,201.10
109,136.02
3,500,000.00
557,228,214
360,109,313.26
52,000,000
40,196,806.20
10,264,734.27
10,665,986.24
349,844,578.99
29,530,819.96
3,750,000
3,750,000.00
555,560.00
3,194,440.00
2,000,000
2,000,000.00
339,266.03
1,660,733.97
5,750,000
5,750,000.00
894,826.03
4,855,173.97
550,000
550,000.00
308,581.01
600,000
600,000.00
240,411.72
241,418.99 359,588.28
11,092
11,092.00
3,438
3,437.50
11,092.00 3,437.50
=
121,844
1,000,000
121,843.15 500,000.00
100,000.00
21,843.15 500,000.00
22,400,000
3,657,000.00
3,657,000.00
24,686,374
5,443,372.65
663,522.23
4,779,850.42
5,000,000
644,664,588
2,163,323.78
2,163,323.78
413,662,815.89
22,489,068.77
391,173,747.12
8,313,000
652,977,588
8,289,237.32
421,952,053.21
therefore shown net after the deduction of repayments.
22,489,068.77
8,289,237.32
399,462,984.44
292
Appendix
(Chapter 3: Publie
Development
Balance Sheet as at
XI-Contd
Finances)
Loan Fund
31st March 1964
LIABILITIES
293
$ 8,289,237.32
$349,844,578.99
29,530,819.96 4,855,173.97
4,779,850.42
2,163,323.78 391,173,747.12
:
13,315,089.28
339,662,623.50
243,835.13 $339,906,458.63
74,500,000.00
$414,406,458.63
Kwun Tong Reclamation: Cost
Loan Projects:
Housing Loans
Educational Loans
Medical Loans
Miscellaneous Loans...
Fisheries Loans
Investments
Cash:
In Hand and in Transit
Crown Agents (£684.5.4)
At Bank
Joint Consolidated Fund (£19,000.0.0)
ASSETS
::
:
:
Balance as at 1st April 1963 (including proceeds of land sales
Kwun Tong Reclamation, $63,656,387.52)
$314,026,125.59
Proceeds of Land Sales, Kwun Tong Reclamation, 1st April 1963
to 31st March 1964
12,321,408.63
Fund Account:
Revenue Account
:
T:..
:
:
Add:
Appreciation on Investments
Deposits-Hong Kong Government
FA
Summary of Receipts and
Payments for 1963-4
1. Receipts:
Loan repayments
Interest on Loans
Interest on Investments and Balances
Interest on Land sales premiums
*
Land sales premiums, Kwun Tong Reclamation
Proceeds of Former Enemy Property
LESS
2. Payments:
Loans
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
Interest paid
Kwun Tong reclamation-expenditure
3. DEFICIT met from the Fund's Balances
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
::
:
::
:
:
:
:
15,446.00
10,948.27
13,843,385.00
769,694.92
304,000.00
:
:
1,100,089.19
$414,406,458.63
$ 6,884,443.71
12,535,250.30
801,382.14
1,506,432.52
12,321,408.63
67,476.66
$34,116,393.96
76,329,546.21
1,595,452.34
2,140.27
77,927,138.82
$43,810,744.86
294
Appendix
(Chapter 4: Currency
Currency and
Currency in Circulation
XII
and Banking)
Banking Statistics and Bank Deposits
295
Date
Number of reporting banks
Notes and coins in circulation
(HK$ million)
Deposits (HK$ million)
Index of Deposits
31st December 1955=100
Total
Demand
Time
Savings
Total
Demand
Time
Savings
31.12.1955
31.12.1956
34
771.7
1,137
852
152
133
100
100
100
100
34
783.3
1,267
928
173
166
111
109
114
125
31.12.1957
31.12.1958
31.12.1959
31.12.1960
31.12.1961
35
812.6
1,412
955
267
190
124
112
176
143
36
827.6
1,583
988
351
244
139
116
231
183
41
896.2
2,056
1,205
482
369
181
141
317
277
47
984.0
2,682
1,393
752
537
236
163
495
404
59
1,026.7
3,367
1,470
1,234
663
296
173
812
498
31.12.1962
31.12.1963
31.12.1964
63
1,123.7
4,311
1,664
1,768
879
379
195
1,163
661
67
1,229.8
5,425
1,997
2,283
1,145
477
234
1,502
861
:
69
1,399.5
6,568
2,237
2,810
1,521
578
263
1,849 1,144
Date
31.12.1955
31.12.1956
31.12.1957
31.12.1958
31.12.1959
31.12.1960
31.12.1961
31.12.1962
31.12.1963
31.12.1964
:
:
Banking
Assets
Number of reporting banks
Cash (i.e. legal tender notes and
coins in hand) (HK$ million)
NET balances with other banks (including Head
Offices or Branches outside Hong Kong)
& other short
Loans and Advances (HK$ million)
:
:
:
Investments (HK$ million)
Index of Loans and Advances 31st December 1955--100
*Liquidity Ratio' (i.e. cash and net balances with other banks expressed as percentage of total deposits)
term claims (HK$ million)
3344
144
12.7%
459
40.4%
632
55.6%
96
8.4%
100
53.3%
34
97
7.7%
541
42.7%
769
60.7%
98
7.7%
122
50.4%
35
118
8.4%
578
40.9%
865
61.3%
101
7.2%
137
49.3%
36
84
5.3%
730
46.1%
919
58.1%
121
7.6%
145
51.4%
==
41
86
4.2%
775
37.7%
1,373
66.8%
133
6.5%
217
41.9%
47
136
5.1%
930
34.6%
1,720
64.1%
166
6.2%
272
39.7%
59
114
3.4%
1,041
30.9%
2,334
69.3%
232
6.9%
369
34.3%
63
162
3.8%
1,482
34.4%
2,849
66.1%
191
4.4%
451
38.1%
67
201
3.7%
1,831
33.8%
3,642
67.1%
187
3.4%
576
37.5%
69
238
3.6%
1,577
24.0%
4,586
69.8%
271
4.1%
726
27.6%
Figures in Italics=
percentage of total deposits.
296
Appendix
(Chapter 5: Industry
Composition of Trade Classified by Sections
Trade Classification:
XIII
and Trade)
and Divisions of the Standard International
1962, 1963 and 1964
297
1962
IMPORTS 1963
Cereals and cereal preparations
Food
Live animals
Meat and meat preparations
Dairy products and eggs
Fish and fish preparations
Fruits and vegetables
Sugar, sugar preparations and honey
$
$
1964 $
1962
$
EXPORTS 1963 $
1964 $
1962 $
RE-EXPORTS 1963 $
1964
$
260,438,432
314,065,119
377,095,759
23,000
5,002,268
4,408,440
3,922,600
86,553,279
89,732,917
135,313,655
1,604,062
148,438,174
168,293,125
184,505,366
265,667
1,919,513 248,523
2,023,536
2,678,778
3,188,018
5,750,739
216,414
7,553,171
8,834,516
11,380,120
111,359,724
127,087,028
180,627,518
22,983,493
44,737,916
34,055,905
22,488,409
25,365,535
33,361,306
463,270,264
444,827,997
431,240,932
21,226,652
20,230,033
20,798,018
60,751,059
34,575,599
52,320,972
287,046,415
304,444,372
340,664,539
26,398,749
24,065,207
24,486,974
80,000,571
72,572,815
56,300,267
111,501,833
159,992,661
186,648,962
21,691,749
35,855,327
48,940,889
Coffee, tea, cocoa, spices, and manufactures
44,338,610
74,094,830
79,186,938
thereof
57,197,661
58,205,705
Feeding stuff for animals (not including
101,559,553
1,368,452
1,346,980
1,164,860
23,880,418
25,325,027
66,026,010
unmilled cereals)
34,343,918
28,905,501
Miscellaneous food preparations...
25,137,297
592,284
2,195,843
2,402,593
3,251,971
4,203,157
2,650,339
49,217,527
38,310,521
49,701,221
25,245,098
25,671,470
26,340,656
9,476,274
7,343,742
9,501,044
1,609,367,227
1,733,864,946
Beverages and tobacco
Beverages
2,012,494,802
120,399,206
156,270,812
160,429,845
259,421,529
259,911,679
320,400,335
39,976,571
48,573,014
59,768,110
2,532,956
2,341,805
2,437,295
6,080,929
6,861,010
5,201,905
Tobacco and tobacco manufactures
108,643,838
122,732,159
129,917,989
44,831,486
57,974,590
56,137,535
6,254,009
5,736,138
5,250,025
148,620,409
Crude materials, inedible, except fuels
171,305,173
189,686,099
47,364,442
60,316,395
58,574,830
12,334,938
12,597,148
10,451,930
Hides, skins and fur skins, undressed
4,509,074
5,884,571
9,330,836
3,118,410
2,214,889
2,565,159
2,854,114
3,252,253
6,806,340
Oil-seeds, oil nuts and oil kernels
41,320,595
39,204,907
31,124,319
24,321,428
19,587,220
15,426,204
Crude rubber, including synthetic and reclaimed
21,227,197
32,042,352
34,997,277
115,387
22,940
1,291,357
2,006,365
27,214,474
Wood, lumber and cork
84,885,424
86,572,775
Pulp and waste paper
83,033,727
6,414,625
3,920,863
4,460,130
5,202,331
5,374,727
7,796,174
1,703,586
1,327,295
1,006,101
2,261,079
1,875,848
3,371,329
984,161
1,214,747
1,340,134
Textile fibres and waste
437,027,015
502,776,619
Crude fertilizers and crude minerals, excluding
564,436,018
10,613,923
10,651,101
11,458,250
23,475,767
19,744,978
18,579,091
coal, petroleum and precious stones
11,994,411
12,306,597
Metalliferous ores and metal scrap
14,118,698
1,528,473
1,786,734
1,291,068
1,277,723
2,106,199
2,614,343
23,182,362
15,569,082
Animal and vegetable crude materials, inedible,
22,272,153
46,178,418
51,031,205
59,124,498
2,903,272
248,859
214,430
not elsewhere specified...
121,909,549
124,399,654
146,269,642
14,595,507
13,520,781
20,156,936
83,888,495
73,593,969
80,147,330
747,759,213
820,083,852
906,588,771
84,825,822
85,024,361
102,427,370
146,198,648
127,129,317
160,138,520
Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials
Coal, coke and briquettes
15,716,884
6,900
Petroleum and petroleum products
Gas, natural and manufactured
235,402,310
261,455,153
245,026,281
Electric energy
1,231,993
5,020
11,306
9,804,532
13,527,029
548,033 19,132,005 107,162
235,402,310
261,455,153
Animal and vegetable oils and fats
261,975,158
5,020
11,306
Animal oils and fats
885,460
Fixed vegetable oils and fats
Animal and vegetable oils and fats, processed,
95,972,815
63,434,764
69,511,256
3,907,529
4,071,436
and waxes of animal or vegetable origin
1,149,525
95,972,815
63,434,764
71,546,241
3,907,529
4,071,436
Chemicals
Chemical elements and compounds
104,683,311
96,563,836
Mineral tar and crude chemicals from coal,
104,302,725
4,878,712
3,734,571
6,900
80,522 3,771,827
8,806
3,861,155
2,866,465
9,804,532
13,527,029
19,787,200
17,196,154
16,904,365
29,636 10,889,510
394,709
petroleum and natural gas
1,206,368
Dyeing, tanning and colouring materials
68,125,482
Medicinal and pharmaceutical products
111,929,918
941,786 68,480,624 108,514,610
871,790
Essential oils and perfume materials; toilet,
81,000,810 105,615,855
18,260,336
17,713,095
18,393,761
17,222,053
16,615,756
17,292,671
17,196,154
30,071,667
1,109 31,107,086 62,626,654
16,904,365
11,313,855
15,080,688
14,546,941
14,805
27,368,111
30,855,504
93,502,046
70,762,889
polishing and cleansing preparations
50,548,157
55,602,407
66,473,247
5,214,445
5,990,107
6,348,847
7,926,222
11,724,119
13,201,879
Fertilizers, manufactured
11,824,103
28,399,622
2,328,982
8,770,494
Explosives and pyrotechnic products
27,646,773
63,101
17,828,297
1,386,845
16,143,157
Plastic materials, regenerated cellulose and
artificial resins
209,660,291
215,074,054
260,444,857
11,355,721
Chemical materials, and products, not elsewhere
8,032,869
3,967,462
36,193,541
36,114,202
20,456,502
specified
31,502,190
1,377,390
9,249,931
557,977,630
573,576,939
670,368,753
56,931,267
52,086,398
51,633,441
176,696,683
211,450,744
175,279,904
298
Appendix
(Chapter 5: Industry
Composition of Trade Classified by Sections
Trade Classification:
XIII-Contd
and Trade)
and Divisions of the Standard International
1962, 1963 and 1964
Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material
Leather, leather manufactures, not elsewhere
specified, and dressed furs
...
299
1962
IMPORTS 1963
$
$
1964 $
1962
EXPORTS 1963
$
$
1964 $
1962
RE-EXPORTS 1963
1964
$
$
$
28,951,279
29,833,535
32,574,220
1,214,551
1,615,834
1,562,568
1,802,289
2,495,340
4,665,252
Rubber manufactures, not elsewhere specified. Wood and cork manufactures (excluding
furniture)
20,754,324
23,835,007
31,881,954
1,114,916
1,183,828
988,035
1,599,012
2,010,291
4,007,338
27,276,907
37,798,722
39,007,790
7,564,125
13,933,577
11,707,401
2,187,412
1,776,420
2,509,687
Paper, paperboard and manufactures thereof
155,175,835
166,855,515
203,989,756
11,441,756
10,095,191
8,705,588
19,423,658
18,075,072
19,439,394
Textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles and related
products
966,223,820
1,141,381,563
1,403,060,637
590,265,378
648,329,921
706,738,472
117,647,586
141,355,870
203,886,283
Non-metallic mineral manufactures, not else-
where specified
426,314,644
496,101,568
404,523,260
27,833,178
33,442,170
34,116,427
99,475,802
140,933,528
135,331,153
Iron and steel
281,960,171
Non-ferrous metals
344,502,077 {
308,581,920
31,205,539
30,661,931
35,687,152
135,972,913
Manufactures of metals, not elsewhere specified
80,066,560
1,986,723,540
82,600,495
2,322,908,482
118,064,829
135,346,356
140,909,531
11,241,911 145,902,491
}
21,702,719
27,791,026 {
13,839,814
41,046,889
7,173,607
5,774,923
20,162,353
2,677,657,279
805,442,191
885,197,204
952,168,432
271,012,085
340,212,380
444,888,163
Machinery and transport equipment
Machinery other than electric
292,334,574
344,309,680
424,442,710
17,250,314
20,992,965
24,421,292
28,810,644
23,325,634
31,922,044
Electric machinery, apparatus and appliances
245,392,394
344,602,170
409,349,791
106,410,216
152,654,234
186,305,551
21,955,882
19,498,468
23,439,825
Transport equipment
173,145,028
166,194,442
190,512,569
27,516,349
22,368,526
14,855,417
13,039,809
12,057,822
16,638,942
710,871,996
855,106,292 1,024,305,070
151,176,879
196,015,725
225,582,260
63,806,335
54,881,924
72,000,811
Miscellaneous manufactured articles
Sanitary, plumbing, heating and lighting fixtures
and fittings
20,838,797
25,414,324
26,652,384
68,532,864
75,458,846
94,772,491
1,066,268
995,504
1,295,194
Furniture and fixtures
7,337,665
11,109,759
16,098,411
45,847,520
41,401,351
39,806,423
1,719,040
1,429,336
1,083,964
Travel goods, handbags and similar articles
4,884,391
5,971,210
10,561,993
31,499,030
29,136,086
38,715,522
254,384
205,607
490,842
Clothing
99,231,510
116,538,218
179,858,404
1,147,417,895
1,382,875,445
1,619,692,385
10,764,177
Footwear
21,342,595
23,020,032
40,712,936
129,459,287
146,334,064
174,593,580
1,001,208
12,103,472 652,870
21,981,260
1,182,905
Professional, scientific and controlling instru-
ments; photographic and optical goods, watches and clocks
214,211,934
209,546,346
221,201,688
26,380,662
29,511,742
24,224,278
46,127,850
52,172,823
49,560,637
Miscellaneous manufactured articles, not else-
where specified
175,638,731
199,158,747
218,318,753
543,485,623
590,758,636
713,404,569
575,393,108 668,549,229
2,024,530,366 2,373,266,763 2,856,671,403
864,866,724
42,785,722
40,634,097
48,793,459
103,817,649
108,193,709
124,388,261
Commodities and transactions not classified according
to kind and transactions in gold and coin Commodities and transactions not classified
according to kind
21,059,672
Transactions in gold and current coin
201,625,280
Current notes
26,205,109
248,890,061
19,444,471 245,111,500 84,137,772
348,693,743
22,529,885 156,079,364
*
178,609,249
22,823,794
18,771,237
16,264,443
22,823,794
18,771,237
16,264,443
9,732,569 205,457,930 41,860,480
257,050,979
15,386,705 244,565,840 15,281,233
275,233,778
17,302,841 156,829,500
*
174,132,341
GRAND TOTAL
6,885,070,824 7,741,187,980
8,706,635,991
3,317,406,516
3,831,031,637 4,427,620,079
1,317,240,532
1,420,042,073
1,512,781,320
*Not classified
in 1964.
300
Imports. Exports Re-exports Total trade
1964 1963
Appendix XIV
(Chapter 5: Industry and Trade)
Trade
Value of Hong Kong's Merchandise Trade
% increase or decrease
1964
$ million
1963
$ million
8,551
7,412
4,428
3,831
+15% +16%
1,356
1,160
+17
14,335
12,403
+16%
Cargo Tonnages
Appendix XV
(Chapter 5: Industry and Trade) Imports: Commodity Pattern
1964 total value $8,551 million
11.7 million tons
10.7 million tons
% of total imports in 1964
31%
Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material
Food
Machinery and transport equipment
Crude materials, inedible, except fuels Miscellaneous manufactured articles Chemicals
...
24
12%
110
8
8%
1964
1963
% increase or decrease
$ million
$ million
Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material
2,678
2,323
Textile yarn, fabrics and made-up articles
1,403
1,141
+ 15% +23°
Non-metallic mineral manufactures
405
496
18
Iron and steel
309
261
+189
Paper, paperboard and manufactures thereof
204
167
+22
Non-ferrous metals...
136
84
+629
Manufactures of matals, n.e.s.
118
83
+43
Food
2,012
1,734
+ 16%
Cereals and cereal preparations
431
445
3%
Live animals, chiefly for food
377
314
+ 20%
Fruits and vegetables
341
304
129
Sugar, sugar preparations and honey
187
160
+173
Dairy products and eggs
185
168
10
Fish and fish preparations
181
127
42
Machinery and transport equipment
1,024
855
Non-electric machinery
424
344
+23
Electric machinery
409
345
+19
Transport equipment
191
166
+15
Crude materials, inedible, except fuels
907
820
+ 11%
Textile fibres
564
503
+12%
Animal and vegetable crude materials
146
124
+18
Wood, lumber and cork
83
87
4
Miscellaneous manufactured articles
713
591
+ 21%
Scientific and controlling instruments, photographic
and optical goods, watches and clocks
221
210
+ 6%
Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s.
218
199
+ 17%
Clothing
180
117
+ 54%
Chemicals
...
670
574
+ 17%
Plastic materials, regenerated cellulose and artificial resins Medicinal and pharmaceutical products
260
106
109
Chemical elements and compounds
104
97
Dyeing, tanning and colouring materials...
81
68
++1
Appendix XVI
(Chapter 5: Industry and Trade)
Imports: Principal Sources
1964 total value $8,551 million
301
China
By country
% of total imports in 1964
By British Commonwealth and Continent
% of total Imports in
1964
23%
British Commonwealth
22%
Japan
...
18%
Asia
57%
USA
***
11%
Western Europe (including
United Kingdom)
21%
United Kingdom
10%
North America
13%
Thailand
3%
1964
1963
% increase
or decrease
million
million
China
1,970
1,487
+ 32%
Textile yarn, fabrics and made-up articles
402
323
+ 24%
Live animals, chiefly for food
Fruits and vegetables
...
Cereals and cereal preparations
Sugar, sugar preparations and honey
308
222
+ 38%
159
123
+ 29%
118
98
+ 20%
112
69
+ 62%
Fish and fish preparations ...
107
64
...
+ 68%
Non-metallic mineral manufactures
94
70
+ 35%
Dairy products and eggs
94
88
+ 6%
Japan
1,549
1,239
+ 25%
Textile yarn,
fabrics and made-up articles
541
446
+ 21%
Electric machinery
155
120
+ 29%
Iron and steel
153
118
+ 30%
Non-electric machinery
91
59
+ 54%
Non-metallic mineral manufactures
73
45
+ 63%
Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s.
64
62
+ 3%
USA
983
784
+ 25%
Textile fibres
109
63
+ 74%
Non-electric machinery
98
78
+ 25%
Plastic materials, regenerated cellulose and artificial resins
93
―
I
Tobacco and tobacco manufactures
85
79
+ 7%
Fruits and vegetables
75
61
+ 22%
United Kingdom
838
860
3%
Electric machinery
153
168
Textile yarn, fabrics and made-up articles
115
108
Transport equipment
90
104
Non-electric machinery
82
93
+ 11
9%
+ 6%
13%
12%
Thailand
267
266
Cereals and cereal preparations
175
187
A
Live animals, chiefly for food
365
32
7% + 10%
302
303
Commodity Pattern
1964 total value $4,428 million
Appendix
(Chapter 5: Industry Domestic
% of all exports in
XVII
and Trade)
Exports
% of all
1964
By country
exports in
1964
Principal Markets
1964 total value $4,428 million
By British Commonwealth and Continent
% of all exports in
1964
Clothing
37%
USA
28%
British Commonwealth
42%
Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s.
20%
United Kingdom
22%
Western Europe (including
Textile yarn, fabrics and made-up articles
16%
German Federal Republic
7%
United Kingdom)
36%
Singapore
3%
North America
30%
Electric machinery
Footwear
4%
4%
Manufactures of metals
3%
% increase
1964
1963
Japan
Canada Australia Malaya Thailand
3%
Asia
16%
3%
Africa
6%
3%
2%
2%
or decrease
$ million
$ million
1964
1963
% increase
or decrease
Clothing...
1,620
1,383
+ 17%
$ million
$ million
Jackets, jumpers, sweaters, cardigans and pullovers, knit
or made of knitted fabrics
Shirts, other than knitted
Slacks, shorts, jeans, trousers, overalls and pinafores,
other than knitted
Gloves and mittens of all materials
Children's outergarments, other than knitted
Underwear and nightwear, other than knitted
Underwear and nightwear, knit or made of knitted fabrics
Shirts, knit or made of knitted fabrics
Blouses and jumpers, other than knitted, not embroidered,
women's wear
Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s.
Artificial flowers, foliage or fruit
Plastic toys and dolls
Rattan articles (not furniture, excluding plastic coated)..
Plastic coated rattan articles, not furniture
Imitation jewellery other than watch band
Textile yarn, fabrics and made-up articles
Cotton grey sheeting
Cotton grey drills
Cotton towels, not dish towels, not embroidered
Cotton fabrics, other than grey, n.e.s.
Cotton poplin and broadcloth, other than grey...
Cotton grey twill and sateen
Electric machinery
Transistor radio
USA
1,227
974
+ 26%
337
259
+ 30%
247
211
+ 17%
Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s. Clothing
479
327
+ 47%
432
356
+ 21%
271
243
...
Footwear
175
Footwear of textile materials with rubber soles
Plastic footwear
Other
Manufactures of metals
Household utensils of iron and steel, enamelled
Cigarettes
Electric torches
Refined sugar
Iron and steel bars and rounds
Hand-bags wallets purses and similar articles of all
materials
Steel scrap
146
::
KN NA** ** ASN 68 PHWANCÈ THAN 8 - AJHERO
220
5%
Textile yarn, fabrics and made-up articles Electric machinery
111
116
5%
73
37
108
+16%
+ 94%
46
+104
United Kingdom
968
864
+ 12%
101
19
Clothing
447
403
72
Textile yarn, fabrics and made-up articles
203
201
52
+ 21%
Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s. Footwear
124
57
+ 7%
Electric machinery
669
+ 29%
German Federal Republic
294
216
+ 25
Clothing
241
171
+ 42
22
+
6
29
+5079 +4%
Textile yarn, fabrics and made-up articles Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s. Footwear
Singapore
152
...
648
+ 9%
97
60
39
58
36
33
9 49622M
Textile yarn, fabrics and made-up articles Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s. Clothing
Japan
118
Metalliferous ores and metal scrap
Fish and fish preparations.
Non-metallic mineral manufactures
153
+ 22%
Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s.
68
+ 39%
Canada ...
116
146
+ 19%
Clothing
56
+ 10%
Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s.
19
+151%
Australia
113
141
+ 4%
59
- 19%
Textile yarn, fabrics and made-up articles Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s. Clothing
NN NWAY
57
4
46
+
3%
33
+ 40%
28
+ 3%
yarn,
Clothing
20
+ 31%
21
+ 22%
Malaya
Sugar, sugar preparations and honey Textile fabrics and made-up articles
Thailand
Textile yarn, fabrics and made-up articles Iron and steel
109
:
88 27I2° 2728 and 278 27 8 222
217
121
270
958 7 11 292 29 **DE RAFA DAE
+ 11%
+19
88
63
48
+411 + 37% + 3%
+ 35%
179
12
8
+ 35% +17% + 57°
46
2% + 4%
14
12
85
31
5% 1% + 36%
32
+ 32%
19
+ 71%
84
34
+ 33% + 46%
17
+ 51%
11
26%
60%
23
17o
42
59
72%
77
18
17
+ 18% + 42% + 36
304
305
Commodity Pattern
1964 total value $1,356 million
Appendix
(Chapter 5: Industry
Re-exports
% of all re-exports in
XVIII
and Trade)
1964
Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material Food
Chemicals
Crude materials, inedible, except fuels Miscellaneous manufactured articles
Machinery and transport equipment
33%
24%
By country
Indonesia Japan Singapore
% of all re-exports in
1964
Principal Markets
1964 total value $1,356 million
By British Commonwealth and Continent
% of all re-exports in
1964
15%
British Commonwealth
31%
15%
Asia
76%
14%
Western Europe (including
13%
Macau
5%
United Kingdom)
10%
12%
Malaya
5%
North America
4%
9%
United Kingdom
4%
Australasia and Oceania
4%
5%
Formosa
4%
China
3%
USA
3%
1964
% increase
1963
% increase
or decrease
1964
1963
or decrease
$ million $ million
$ million
$ million
Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material
Textile yarn, fabrics and made-up articles Non-metallic mineral manufactures
Non-ferrous metals
Manufactures of metals
-
Paper, paperboard and manufactures thereof
Food
Sugar, sugar preparations and honey
Coffee, tea, cocoa, spices and manufactures thereof
Fruits and vegetables
Cereals and cereal preparations
Fish and fish preparations...
Chemicals
Medicinal and pharmaceutical products
Dyeing, tanning and colouring materials
:
Plastic materials, regenerated cellulose and artificial resins Explosives and pyrotechnic products
Chemicals materials and products, n.e.s.
Crude materials, inedible, except fuels
Animal and vegetable crude materials, inedible
Crude rubber, including synthetic and reclaimed Textile fibres
Oil-seeds, oil nuts and oil kernels
Miscellaneous manufactured articles ...
Scientific and controlling instruments, photographic and
optical goods, watches and clocks Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s. Clothing
...
Machinery and transport equipment
Non-electric machinery
Electric machinery
Transport equipment
:
445
340
+ 31%
Indonesia
207
44
-+-366%
204
141
+ 44%
135
141
-
4%
Textile yarn, fabrics and made-up articles Cereals and cereal preparations
91
23
+292%
34
4
+656%
41
20
+102%
Japan
199
185
+ 7%
129 228*** RF729° 88NAY * 2*~ ~*25
6
+228%
Non-metallic mineral manufactures
41
18
+ 8%
Miscellaneous manufactured articles, n.e.s.
19
Fish and fish preparation
18
Fruits and vegetables
13
260
+ 23%
Coffee, tea, cocoa, spices and manufactures thereof
74
+ 7%
25
+161%
Singapore
188
73
Sugar, sugar preparations and honey
22%
35
+ 51%
25
+ 32%
Coffee, tea, cocoa, spices and manufactures thereof Animal and vegetable crude materials, inedible Fruits and vegetables
211
17%
94
24%
Macau
Petroleum and petroleum products
Dairy products and eggs
27
+ 13%
Textile yarn, fabrics and made-up articles
Live animals, chiefly for food
36
+ 27%
Malaya
Sugar, sugar preparations and honey
United Kingdom
127
222223 22 222
+ 26%
Non-ferrous metals
74
+ 9% +1,256%
6%
- 21%
52
41
12
+ 82%
55
+ 31%
23
+ 37%
19
+ 20%
12
+ 38%
-
20
20
108
+ 15%
5%
+ 20%
Commodities and transactions not classified according to
kind
Non-metallic mineral manufactures
Formosa
Dyeing, tanning and colouring materials...
Animal and vegetable crude materials, inedible...
Plastic materials, regenerated cellulose and artificial resins Medicinal and pharmaceutical products ...
China
Animal and vegetable crude materials, inedible Textile yarn, fabrics and made-up articles Textile fibres
USA
Non-metallic mineral manufactures
Explosives and pyrotechnic products
FARIN 82222 ***** mana = ibinin A awon omo
36
+ 14%
11
+78
11
+62
20
36
12
6
+95
21
64
63
+ 2%
+ 33
3
4
63
19
213 43
+ 22%
11%
70%
- 57%
55
29
43 11
+ 27% +147%
11
8
13
43%
55
50
6
+ 8% + 31%
25%
4
+ 16%
47
62
24%
8
+ 71% + 81
+ 26%
46
42
+ 10%
33
26
+ 26%
7
6
+ 14%
306
Imports
The principal countries from which goods were imported into Hong Kong are shown below, with total values for the past two years:
Appendix
XIX
(Chapter 5: Industry
and Trade)
Direction
of Trade
Domestic
Exports
The principal markets during the past two years
for the Colony's exports were as follows:
307
Re-exports
The principal markets for the Colony's re-exports during the past two years were as follows:
1963
$
1964 $
China
Japan
USA
United Kingdom
Malaya and Singapore ..
Thailand ...
German Fed Rep
Australia...
Formosa
Pakistan
Italy
Switzerland
Netherlands
1,486,917,103 1,969,979,114 1,239,199,711 1,549,335,852 784,395,139 983,014,577 859,853,578(1) 838,275,696
197,270,341(4) 278,769,257
266,198,002 267,389,360 193,634,369 246,783,166 193,089,896 229,482,597 172,190,076 178,466,248 174,377,421 177,360,029 166,607,310(6) 173,827,933 120,173,203 164,915,880
USA
United Kingdom German Fed Rep Malaya and Singapore Japan Canada
Australia ...
...
United Kingdom
Formosa
Thailand
China
Sweden
Sabah
New Zealand
Philippines
Thailand
Netherlands
Australia
South Africa
Cambodia
Canada
...
Belgium Brazil
South Africa
France
Indonesia
South Korea
Cambodia
Tanganyika
131,500,912 137,076,405
97,480,374 118,502,603 151,502,074(5)
69,808,807
Indonesia
Nigeria
South Korea
1963
1964 $
$
973,750,263 1,227,243,953 863,837,286(1) 968,430,484 217,262,240 294,147,065 269,941,007(4) 260,409,850 120,563,085 118,489,922 85,275,478 115,895,828 84,350,898 112,508,611 91,026,987 76,944,998 64,346,058 77,972,859 67,221,839(4) 58,655,787 54,661,472(3) 58,113,212 43,925,893 57,170,348 51,643,316(2) 56,393,195 42,461,555 53,135,804 50,039,771 64,491,957
Malaya and Singapore .
Indonesia
Japan
Macau
USA
1963 $
212,538,403(4) 251,152,256 44,463,034 207,144,243
185,273,385 199,064,565 63,105,653 64,131,024 43,202,912(1) 55,023,697
1964
50,477,014
54,628,535
61,821,863
46,707,913
31,976,159
37,093,597 46,490,854
40,250,196
33,053,701 35,793,518
43,893,022 27,993,530
43,662,103 22,944,810
17,263,096
21,701,486
95,312,680
Italy
34,898,881
41,527,219
Italy
13,189,576
20,969,538
Denmark and Greenland
72,926,044
23,795,212
36,843,703
Belgium
29,567,628(5)
19,795,609
Macau
73,076,930(2)
24,302,833
25,291,280
71,617,369
US Oceania
28,667,314
24,918,274
59,751,357
71,538,919
US Oceania
Sabah
18,876,698
17,675,513
14,228,192(4) 15,618,679
Aden
21,342,860 24,805,511
56,819,464
71,325,020
Sarawak
17,861,501(4) 14,563,943
Norway
22,676,948
24,508,745
Macau
India
Sabah
Sweden
Iran
Israel
Other Countries...
Total
49,264,168 56,973,253 71,563,608 52,225,148 49,104,020 52,091,622 51,270,155 51,005,628
47,813,632
32,006,864(4) 42,761,740 30,502,203 41,330,514 48,126,885 40,184,610 73,822,452 32,694,917 464,618,654 435,576,643
7,411,938,708 8,550,556,627
Venezuela Philippines
18,979,280
24,236,759
22,773,444
24,191,368
South Vietnam
Canada
12,904,851
14,199,163
11,794,702 12,304,880
Ghana Switzerland
23,537,687
23,743,264
Burma
12,638,992 10,097,153
14,797,804(6) 23,685,211
North Vietnam
10,813,616
9,130,221
49,813,803
Panama
Belgium
Kenya
18,572,585 21,945,260 19,275,242 14,326,460(5) 26,037,334 18,964,466
Israel
***
15,120,357
9,060,775
German Fed Rep
10,006,869
8,833,071
Pakistan
10,257,919
8,595,850
-
Papua and New Guinea Saudi Arabia and Yemen France
Other Countries...
16,223,741
18,750,440
Aden
14,634,161
17,864,480
4,533,442
8,184,863
11,450,281
17,646,710
Switzerland
6,307,781(6) 7,494,037
413,337,467
439,788,471
Other Countries...
104,268,934
106,401,898
Total
Total
Notes: (1) Includes the statistics for the Channel Islands in 1963.
(2) Includes the statistics for South-West Africa, Basutoland,
Bechuanaland, Swaziland in 1963.
(3) Includes the statistics
(4) Constituent States of
3,831,031,637 4,427,620,079
for Cook Islands and Western Samoa in 1963. Malaysia.
1,160,195,000 1,355,951,820
(5) Includes the statistics for Luxembourg. (6) Includes the statistics for Liechtenstein.
308
Appendix XX
(Chapter 6: Primary Production)
Marketing Organization Statistics
Fisheries Products sold through Wholesale Markets
Quantities and Values
Value $
1960
1961
1962
1963 1964
...
...
...
...
Piculs
Tons
793,450
47,229
53,904,468
854,340
50,854
65,125,145
939,179
55,904
66,154,395
965,279
57,457
64,895,976
859,203
51,143
58,441,541
Average Annual Wholesale Prices
(in cents per catty)
1960 1961
1962
1963 1964
Locally-produced
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
...
...
Imported
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
Fresh Fish
$0.69
.78
.69
.67
.67
Salt/Dried Fish
$0.47
.52
.62
.59
.76
Vegetables sold through Marketing Organization
Piculs
Tons
Value $
1,498,199
89,178
37,081,053
1,540,101
91,673
39,928,132
1,589,320
94,602
34,834,157
*
1,458,134
86,794
32,406,615
1,169,834
69,633
30,667,851
132,028
7,859
2,085,664
120,499
7,172
2,057,876
158,354
9,426
2,577,997
165,454
9,848
3,114,946
216,556
12,890
4,894,974
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
...
...
Average Annual Wholesale Prices
(in cents per catty)
Locally Produced
Imported
$0.25
.26
.22
.22
.26
22222
$0.16
.17
.16
.19
.22
Appendix XXI
Production of Minerals 1964
Mineral
Feldspar
Graphite 80% fixed carbon
Graphite 50% fixed carbon
Iron ore
Kaolin Quartz
Production in long tons
Value in $
1,556.33
54,471
617.00
83,912
93.00
114,373.79
5,042.99 1,648.58
3,255
5,146,820
642,981
29,674
Appendix XXII
(Chapter 6: Primary Production)
Co-operative Societies
as at 31st December 1964
309
Type of Society
Member- Paid-up
Loans
Loans*
Reserve
No
share
ship
capital $
granted
repaid
Deposits
Fund
$
$
$
Agricultural Credit
10
342
14,270
77,417
81,276
1,471 10,160
Apartment Owners'
1
72
3,600
Better Living ...
12
864 10,200
18,000
970
11,713 4,388
Building
207
4,141 1,305,500 10,819,857† 3,309,413
214,312
Credit & Consumers...
9
2,196
15,575
73,315
Federations
6
117 12,000
53,100
1,937
45,759
Fish Pond
1
118
590
Fishermen's Credit &
Housing
2
105
515
82,033 100,143
15,867 3,604
Fishermen's Credit &
Marketing
3
34353
10,650
2,000
15,833
6,034 7,877
Fishermen's Thrift
3
78
1,290
18,108 690
Fishermen's Thrift &
Loan
54
1,600 19,985 2,802,368 2,362,486
810,323 105,275
2
124
46
Irrigation
Pig Raising
Salaried Workers'
Thrift & Loan
5
898
4,635 388,163
353,482
98,667 32,447
Vegetable Marketing... 27
9,351 100,792 932,391
883,132 67,506 181,983
Total
388 22,094 1,618,742 16,232,461
8,252,008 1,042,483 773,280
1,255
2,045 117,885 1,057,132
1,143,336
12,794 93,470
* Including repayment of loans issued during previous years.
† Loans made by Treasury direct.
310
Government
Grant
Subsidized
Private
...
Special Afternoon
Classes
Special Education
:
Appendix XXIII
(Chapter 7: Education)
Categories of Schools
Number of Schools
Total Enrolment
(As at September 1964) (As at September 1964)
Number of Teachers (As at March 1964)
4,550
127
126,498
22
20,425
830
521
262,634
7,388
1,544
439,007
15,996
-
4,624
291
13
1,091
100
2,227
854,279
29,155
Kindergarten
Primary ...
Enrolments
(Figures are shown as at 30th September 1964, with
the previous year's figures in brackets)
Secondary
Post-Secondary
Adult Education
Special Education
:
:
:
...
Enrolment
39,642
( 37,711)
596,971
(572,423)
177,680
(160,638)
5,926
( 18,117)
32,969
( 24,506)
1,091
(1,038)
854,279 (810,632)
New Buildings, Classrooms and Places
1st October 1963-30th September 1964
Number of Schools and Extensions
Increase in Number of Classrooms
Primary
Secondary
Primary
Increase in Number of Places
Secondary
Government
Aided
5
30
84
2,700
3,160
Private
33
53
223
55
20,205
2,150
7
122
109
11,025
4,435
65
375
248
33,930
9,745
Appendix XXIV
(Chapter 7: Education) Educational Statistics
Overseas Examinations 1964
311
Number of Entries
Examinations
1962
1963
1964
London Chamber of Commerce Examinations
3,565
4,103
4,425
Pitman's Shorthand Examination
General Certificate of Education Examination
454
435
434
Pitman's Typewriting (Intermediate) Examination
14
23
21
3,589
4,935
5,825
University of London External Degree Examination
41
49
63
Chartered Institute of Secretaries Examination
65
72
45
Institute of Book-keepers Examination
188
80
34
Association of International Accountants Examination
176
225
129
Association of Certified and Corporate Accountants Examination
118
122
38
British Institute of Management Examination
2
1
1
Institute of Fire Engineers Examination
14
40
51
British Federation of Master Printers Examination
5
12
8
Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English Examination
29
45
24
Cambridge Lower Certificate in English Examination
45
57
40
National Gregg Shorthand Examination
78
53
Society of Engineers Graduateship Examination
1
2
British Association of Accountants and Auditors Examination
1
1
College of Preceptors Examination
3
3
27618
Birmingham University Accounting I Examination
Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers Examination
6
6
12
London School of Economics Examination
1
1
Gemmological Association Examination
3
3
3
Institute of Export Examination
1
1
Swinburne Technical College Diploma Examination
1
1
University of Melbourne Matriculation English Examination
2
Total
8,399
10,271
11,178
New Awards made by Government during 1964
Type
Tenable at
Number Awarded
Total Value ($ per annum)
Government Scholarships
University of Hong Kong
20
39,900
Government Bursaries
University of Hong Kong
63
179,400
Government Teaching
University of Hong Kong
8
13,200
Bursaries for Diploma in Education Course Government Scholarships Government Bursaries
Maintenance Grants
Chinese University of Hong Kong
18
30,000
Chinese University of Hong Kong
46
78,800
'Anglo-Chinese Secondary Schools
261
129,900
Teacher Training Colleges
667
907,200
Total
1,083 1,378,400
Note: In addition to the above, recurrent awards totalling approximately $886,000 were
granted by Government during 1964, making a total of over $2,260,000.
312
Appendix XXV
(Chapter 7: Education)
Hong Kong Students pursuing Further Studies in Britain in September 1964
Number of Hong Kong students arriving in Britain:
1960-1
...
1961-2
1962-3
1963-4
Distribution by courses of Hong Kong Students in Britain:
Arts
Architecture
Education
Economics
Commerce
Engineering Accountancy
Dentistry
Medicine
GCE
Law
Science
Textiles
Course
434
479
568
...
750
September 1963
September
1964
24
26
48
43
64
33
18
13
13
25
243
237
25
25
3
4
137
113
260
357
89
100
68
80
6
9
22
35
12
10
3
28
31
483
417
266
302
1,809
1,863
288
398
2,097
2,261
:
::
::
⠀
:
::
::
:
::
:
:
::
:
Total
::
:
::
⠀
:
::
:
...
Secretarial
Social Science
Meteorology
Music
Nursing
Others
...
Schoolchildren
Total
:
:
:
Appendix XXVI
(Chapter 7: Education)
Actual Expenditure on Education
1st August 1963-31st July 1964
313
(A) Recurrent Expenditure:
(1) Personal emoluments
(2) Other Charges
(3) Maintenance and Repairs of School Buildings (Public Works Department)
Total $
$51,748,901
8,721,955
934,153
61,405,009
(B) Capital Expenditure:
(1) Equipment and Furniture for
(2) New school buildings, including
Government schools and Headquarters $ 196,088
furniture and equipment (Public Works Department)
***
(C) Grants and Subsidies (including Post-
Secondary Colleges):
12,235,471
12,431,559
(1) Recurrent
(2) Capital
(D) Grants to Hong Kong University
(E) Grants to Chinese University of Hong Kong.
$87,805,226
7,363,835 95,169,061
19,020,727
1,692,422
$189,718,778
(F) Expenditure by Other Departments:
(1) Medical and Health Department
(2) Kowloon-Canton Railway
(3) Agriculture and Fisheries Department ...
:
:
$ 1,756,125
312,704
193,538
$ 2,262,367
314
Appendix XXVII
(Chapter 8: Health)
Vital Statistics-Hong Kong
1955-1964
Infant
Estimated Registered Live
Year
mid-year live birth population births rate
Registered
Crude
mortality
Neonatal Maternal mortality
mortality
rate
death
deaths
(per 1,000
rate (per 1,000
rate
live
live
births)
births)
rate (per 1,000 total births)
1955
-
2,340,000 90,511 38.7
19,080
8.2
66.4
23.1
1.17
1956
***
2,440,000 96,746 39.7
19,295
7.9
60.9
24.2
0.90
1957
2,583,000
97,834 37.9
19,365
7.5
55.6
23.8
1.06
1958
2,748,000
106,624 38.8
20,554
7.5
54.3
23.4
0.85
1959
2,857,000
104,579 36.6
20,250
7.1
48.3
21.3
0.73
1960
2,981,000 110,667 37.1
19,146
6.4
41.5
20.9
0.49
1961
3,177,700 108,726 34.2
18,738
5.9
37.7
21.0
0.45
1962
3,400,300 111,905 32.8
20,324
5.9
36.9
21.2
0.48
1963
3,592,100
115,263 32.1
19,748 5.5
32.9
18.9
0.29
1964
. 3,692,200 108,519
29.4 18,113
4.9
26.4
16.6
0.38
Tuberculosis Statistics
Year
Estimated mid-year population
TB death
rate per 100,000
% TB deaths under 5
years
% TB deaths of total death
Total number of TB beds
Under treatment Government clinics
1954
2,277,000
126.3
31.2
14.9
971
3,624
1959
2,857,000
76.2
19.2
10.7
1,846
25,090
1964
3,692,200
39.03
4.09
7.9
1,728
24,606
Appendix XXVIII
(Chapter 8: Health)
Infectious Diseases Notified
Cases and Deaths 1960-1964
315
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
Cases Deaths Cases Deaths Cases Deaths Cases Deaths Cases Deaths
Cholera
130
15
11
1
115
4
34
4
Amoebic
dysentery
334
9
215
12
195
9
241
12
209
21
Bacillary
dysentery
(including
unspecified
dysentery)
678
10
742
8 795
13
802
(A)
3
680
8
Cerebro-spinal
meningitis
30
21
36
26
50
35
35
50
24
24
38
19
Chickenpox
304
1
498
7
707
1,199
3
718
www
Diphtheria
1,450
95
1,334
109
1,022 102
871
888
86
699
38
Enteric fever
(typhoid and
paratyphoid)
773
30
242
Malaria
833
|
Measles
710 192
1,727 435 2,317 326 3,416 405 1,218
30
742
24
826
21
1,038
28
882
20
812
1
794
A
377
1
180
1
73
*Ophthalmic
neonatorum
254
I
250
310
I
240
232
Poliomyelitis
148
23
184
39
363
52
53
37
3
Puerperal fever
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
Scarlet fever
17
1
29
19
18
1
12
...
Tuberculosis
P
12,425 2,085 12,584 1,907 14,263 1,881 13,031 1,762 12,557 1,441
Typhus (mite-
borne)
Whooping cough
Total ...
†Influenza
48
1
47
1
98
―
61
106
18,005 2,467 19,333 2,586 21,773 2,447 21,515 2,334 17,603 1,630
5,727 26 6,223 39
6,374 39 4,433 22 2,473 16
Remarks: * Notifiable since June 1958.
† Voluntary notifications.
The above table omits rabies, smallpox, plague, epidemic louse-borne typhus, yellow fever and relapsing fever-no case of any of which was reported during the year.
316
Appendix XXIX
(Chapter 8: Health)
Number of Hospital Beds in Hong Kong-1964
Institutions
GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS AND DISPENSARIES
Number of Hospital beds
A. Hospitals
Queen Mary
Queen Elizabeth
*Kowloon
Castle Peak
B.
Mental Day Sai Ying Pun Tsan Yuk Lai Chi Kok
Wan Chai
St John
South Lantau
4 Prison Hospitals Dispensaries Aberdeen Eastern
Anne Black
Kennedy Town
Shau Kei Wan
Stanley
Hung Hom
Kwun Tong Health Centre
Li Po Chun Health Centre...
Robert Black Health Centre
Wan Tau Hom
Tai Po
Yuen Long
Sha Tau Kok
Shek Wu Hui
Ho Tung Sai Kung
Tai O
San Hui
632 1,388
172
1,119
12
88
200
473
30
100
15
203
4,432
27
24
11
5
26
6
14
20
26
26
24
27
7
29
13
7
19
Sha Tin
Silver Mine Bay
Maurine Grantham
North Lamma
Peng Chau
Shek Pik First Aid Post
Kam Tin
GOVERNMENT-ASSISTED HOSPITALS
Tung Wah
Tung Wah Eastern
Kwong Wah
Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole
Ruttonjee Sanatorium
Grantham
Pok Oi
7
384
673
338
1,401
304
348
613
118
Hei Ling Chau Leprosarium
540
†Haven of Hope TB Sanatorium
203
Sandy Bay Convalescent Home
106
Maryknoll Mission
80
Hong Kong Society of Rehabilitation Medical Rehabilitation Centre...
40
Caritas Medical Centre
...
457
5,221
PRIVATE HOSPITALS
Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital
316
Precious Blood
106
St Teresa's
274
Canossa
St Paul's
Hong Kong Central
200
190
120
Matilda and War Memorial
52
Fanling
52
Children's Convalescent Home, Cheung Chau
34
Baptist Hospital
52
1,396
PRIVATE MATERNITY HOMES
438
PRIVATE NURSING HOMES
118
GRAND TOTAL
11,989
* Owing to renovations, Kowloon Hospital was not fully functional at the end of the year. ↑ Including beds of Nanson TB Rehabilitation Centre.
317
Appendix XXX
(Chapter 8: Health)
Professional Medical Personnel
Registered Medical Practitioners (including 325 Government Medical Officers) Provisionally registered Medical Practitioners
Government Medical Officers (including 29 seconded to Tung Wah Group, etc)
1,276
110
515
Registered Dentists
426
***
...
Government Dental Surgeons
48
Registered Pharmacists (excluding Government Pharmacists)
100
Government Pharmacists
15
Registered Nurses (excluding Government Nurses)
1,525
Government Nurses
1,070
Registered Male Nurses (excluding Government Male Nurse)
20
Government Male Nurses
127
Registered Midwives (excluding Government Midwives) .
1,430
Government Midwives
Government Male Nurses (Psychiatric)
Government Female Nurses (Psychiatric)
175
55
28
Students or Probationers in Training
as at 31st December 1964
Number who
Length 1st
of Course
year
2nd 3rd 4th year year year year
5th successfully
completed
training during year
Radiographer
Probationer Assistant
Probationer Assistant Physiotherapist
Student Dispenser
Student Laboratory Assistant
Student Medical Laboratory Technician
(Diagnostic)
4
(Therapy)
4
4
4
**
{
3
4 3
101
7
12
21
2
63
12
2
6
2
2
4
1
Student Male Nurse
220
4 22 14
36 31
T=
14
12
11
10
1
25
Student Nurse
4 177 161 119
94
91
***
Student Male Nurse (Psychiatry)
3 16
222
9
*
10+
Student Nurse (Psychiatry)
3
6
9
7
1
4
Student Midwife (Registered Nurse)
1 101
-
89
Student Midwife
2
26
29
23
Student Health Visitor
1
10
9
Anti-Tuberculosis Worker
1
7
Almoner
1
2
Student Assistant Orthopaedic Appliance
Technician
2
2 1
2
* Including 1 Prison Officer seconded for training.
† Including 2 Prison Officers seconded.
318
Appendix XXXI
(Chapter 9: Land and Housing)
Resettlement Estate Statistics
A. Population
1st January 1964 31st December 1964
Cottage Areas (one storey
buildings)...
74,435
74,734
Multi-storey Estates (6- 7- and
8-storey buildings)
530,319
626,865
604,754
701,599
B. Premises of various types on 31st December 1964
(The numbers on 31st December 1963 are shown in brackets)
Domestic cottages and huts
...
:
Cottage Areas Multi-storey Estates
12,420 (11,302)
:
:
469 (469)
2,293 (2,140)
115,203 (94,958)
361 (195)
4,547 (3,984)
6 (
6)
395 ( 370)
57 ( 33)
1,085 ( 977)
31 (
25)
981 (846)
33 (
39 (
23)
226 (200)
30)
141 (131)
Self-contained flats
End bay flats
Domestic rooms
Shops of various kinds
Restaurants (general and light
refreshment)
Workshops
Factories
•
:
.:.
:..
:
:
Schools
Clinics and Welfare Centres
Appendix XXXII
(Chapter 9: Land and Housing)
Housing Provided in 1964
319
tenement floors
8,555
Private, in categories of rated dwellings
flats and units
1,418
Government quarters
...
1,051 units
Government low-cost housing Resettlement (104 new blocks) Co-operative societies
Housing Society
Housing Authority
...
6,900 flats
22,000 units
349 flats
1,069 flats
...
5,685 flats
Domestic accommodation
...
:
Premiums received on sales of Crown Land from 1851 to 1963-4
The system of disposing of leasehold land by public auction for a premium began in 1851 in accordance with the Secretary of State's Despatch No 222 of 2nd January 1851. Where premiums are payable by instalments, only the amounts actually received have been
Period
1851 - 1860
-
1861 - 1870
1871
1880
- 1890
:
included in the annual totals.
Total
262,839.00 477,908.14
1881
1891 - 1900
1901 - 1910
:
:
:
:
:
.:.
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
1911 - 1920
1921 - 1930
T:
1931 - 1941 (25.12.41) 1946-7 1955-6 (10 years)
―
1956-7 - 1960-1 (5 years)
1961 - 1962 (1 year)
1962
1963
-
1963 (1 year)
1964 (1 year)
...
***
Grand Total ...
125,097.53
856,160.12 2,501,053.65
2,839,324.49
2,715,724.38
17,053,140.35
12,936,727.68
:
67,617,711.64
177,375,655.35
107,225,301.38
234,402,780.18
207,157,985.13
$833,647,409.02
320
Appendix
(Chapter 12: Law,
Serious Crime
XXXIII
Order and Records)
in the Year 1964
321
Number of Cases Reported
Number of Persons
Number of Cases
Number of Persons
Prosecuted
Crime
Reported
1964
1963
1964
Crime
1964
1963
Prosecuted 1964
Under
16 years
16 years
and over
Under 16 years
16 years
and over
Against Public Order
Perjury
...
Escape and Rescue
Unlawful Society
Other Offences against Lawful
246
22200
25
5
14
111
Forgery and Coinage
156
184
45
132
111
1
120
Bribery and Corruption
27
75
21
52
43
3
32
Possession of Arms and Ammunition...
24
15
17
212
1
244
Conspiracy
13
12
33
...
Authority
:
:
242
30
20
Breach of Deportation
58
45
57
20
Other Serious Crime
315
330
172
Total
479
401
19
527
Total
593
661
345
Rape and Indecent Assault
163
130
24
Other Sexual Offences ...
95
63
1
3235
67
(Percentages of Serious Crime detected, other than narcotics: 1963-71.8%, 1964-68.1%).
Total
258
193
25
119
Narcotics Offences
Murder and Manslaughter
Attempted Murder
27
42
25
+
36
Manufacturing Dangerous Drugs
5
8
4
Importing Dangerous Drugs
38
Abortion
Serious Assaults
Kidnapping
Criminal Intimidation
Other Offences against the Person
Total
Robbery with Firearms
941
633
32
32
92
781
Dealing in Dangerous Drugs
267
932
10
9
13
20
70
4
296
2
Opium
2
6
27
13
2
23
Possession of Opium
1,304
1,531
576
112
121
26
Possession of Equipment
344
387
113
:
1,134
802
188
Keeping a divan
125
102
121
98
878
Smoking Opium
3,878
3,752
3,765
Other Opium Offences...
12
11
6
1
Other Robberies
230
152
...
21
Heroin
76
120
Demanding with Menaces
177
128
39
55
Possession of Heroin
9,042
9,139
20
Burglary and Breaking Offences
1,040
828
26
281
Possession of Equipment
116
131
Larceny from Person
944
924
105
388
Keeping a divan
11
11
Other Larcenies
8,303
7,368
881
2,246
Smoking Heroin
2,094
Embezzlement and Fraudulent
Other Heroin offences
44
1,955 30
21191
7,596
32
10
6
1,884
12
Conversion
259
100
427
3
67
Fraud and False Pretences
588
600
15
203
Other Dangerous Drugs
Receiving Stolen Property
121
111
16
38
Possession
2,870
2,025
Malicious Injuries to Property
252
155
32
125
Smoking
9
34
133
1
Unlawful Possession
388
478
41
293
Other Offences
2
5
Possession of Unlawful Instrument
338
158
14
82
Loitering and Trespass
613
387
24
553
Total
13,253
11,717 1,272
4,451
Total
Grand Total
:
20,161
19,206
30
14,574
35,878
32,980 1,448
20,894
322
Appendix XXXIV
(Chapter 12: Law, Order and Records)
Cases in the Supreme Court, District Court and Tenancy Tribunal 1960-4
Supreme Court
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
Civil appeals
17
27
33
46
40
Criminal appeal
622
419
453
488
575
Original jurisdiction
682
943
1,271
1,351
1,605
Miscellaneous proceedings
314
354
449
445
514
Adoptions...
173
176
176
139
125
Divorce
68
63
67
58
71
Criminal sessions...
30
73
57
61
53
Admiralty jurisdiction
9
8
29
20
37
Probate grants
580
604
720
930
890
Lunacy
12
12
14
1
3
Bankruptcy
10
14
9
17
15
Company winding-up
4
8
9
12
15
Total
2,521
2,701
3,287
3,568
3,943
District Court
Criminal jurisdiction
309
323
242
245
205
Civil jurisdiction ...
5,253
6,921
8,870
8,239
7,726
Workmen's Compensation
117
169
159
142
226
Distress for rent
789
827
809
789
679
Total
6,468
8,240
10,080
9,424
8,836
Tenancy Tribunal
Ordinary cases
1,015
891
917
846
746
Exemption cases
226
561
592
1,036
495
Demolished Building cases
260
Total
1,241
1,452
1,509
1,882
1,501
Work in the Magistracies for the Years 1960-4
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
Total number of summary matters
(charges, summonses and appli-
cations, etc)
144,585
124,920
Total number of adult defendants...
142,827
121,206
159,141 237,325 150,486 239,692
292,347
281,189
Total number of adult defendants
convicted
...
130,165
113,075
143,231
226,575
270,002
Total number of juvenile defendants
4,303
3,378
4,561
5,075
9,829
Total number of juvenile defendants
convicted
4,112
3,094
4,383
4,988
9,760
Total number of charge sheets
issued
49,119
40,994
53,709
86,012
118,183
Total number of summonses issued
86,480
74,619
95,430
142,918
162,662
Total number of miscellaneous
proceedings issued
4,197
3,887
3,662
5,434
5,838
Appendix XXXV
(Chapter 12: Law, Order and Records)
Traffic
Comparative figures for the last six years are as below:
Accidents
Fatal
:
Serious injury
Slight injury...
Damage only
:
:
:
:
323
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
174
183
207
270
265
263
1,229 1,709
1,820 2,238
2,248
2,581
4,969
5,201 5,215
5,782
6,437
6,348
8,987
7,605
7,664
7,587
5,264
2,626
15,359 14,698 14,906 15,877 14,214
11,818
Number of Registered Vehicles, Licensed Drivers, Provisional (Learner) Licences issued and Driving Tests conducted
Number of registered vehicles
Number of licensed drivers
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963 1964
39,629 47,232 54,152 61,482 71,415 83,091*
104,288 118,310 120,418 130,512 144,667 160,152
Provisional licences issued .....
28,457 20,375 26,344 20,848
24,310 38,810
Driving tests conducted
22,137 73,621 59,509 75,404 67,369 97,088†
* This number does not include 808 rickshaws, and 735 pedal tricycles.
†This number includes written test, the number of practical test conducted is 57,713.
324
Appendix XXXVI
(Chapter 15
Communication
Communications)
Statistics
for the year ending
31st December 1964
325
Marine
Mechanized
vessels under
11,885
1,805,648 266,960
Vehicles
The number of vehicles registered in the Colony on the 31st December 1964 was 84,634. This represented an overall increase of 11,666 over 1963. There is now a density of 155.8 vehicles for every mile of roadway.
Private cars (including 39 on Lantau Island)
Motor cycles (including scooters and two on Lantau Island)
Ocean-
going
River steamers
Water tankers
Junks
80 tons
Vessels entered
6,150
3,589
764
5,147
Tonnage entered
19,703,947
1,892,253 5,765,461
Taxis
Passengers landed Cargo tons landed
Vessels cleared
...
866,285
Buses
6,167
9,983 3,597
Tonnage cleared
19,706,078
Passengers embarked..
Cargo tons loaded
37,065*
2,275,194
34,231 7,131,333
1,484,964 166,193
769
11,773 5,167 1,892,203 5,794,728 1,621,306 267,077
856,038
11,681
* Includes 3,052 Emigrants.
...
Goods vehicles (including 77 on Lantau Island) Dual purpose vehicles (Private car/Goods vehicle) Public cars
Crown vehicles
Rickshaws
Tricycles
Trailers
151,900 2,000
Chairs
Total
Postal Traffic
51,073
9,173
1,932
1,525
15,653
1,278
445
1,973
808
735
39
84,634
Kowloon-Canton Railway, British Section
Length of line...
Main line-22 miles
Total length of line-35 miles
1964
8,758,494
1963
Passengers carried
Passenger kilometres
Freight carried
Total revenue
Net operating revenue
Capital expenditure
...
Passenger Aircraft
Passengers
Freight (kilos)
Mail (kilos)
...
1963
1964
Number of post offices
35
40
Total revenue
$75 m
$78 m
Value of remittance business (money orders and
postal orders issued and paid)
$47 m
$53 m
Wireless licences issued
144,922
142,181
Tons of mail by air (despatched)
1,107
1,131
Bags conveyed by Kowloon-Canton Railway
511,382
485,335
7,932,442
168,374,329
145,579,219
Telegraph and Radio Traffic
670,441.89
462,262.42
1963
•
$12,656,128.80
$11,427,350.27
$ 5,436,669.84 $ 5,502,448.41
Telegrams accepted for transmission
1,084,173
1964 1,206,520
Telegrams delivered
1,300,926
1,455,416
Telegrams handed in transit
766,473
739,108
•
$ 1,159,228.53 $ 2,864,114.52
Telex calls-Outward minutes
258,926
366,256
Telex calls-Inward minutes
300,527
411,805
Telex calls-Relayed minutes.
56,302
74,441
Air Traffic
Overseas Radiotelephone calls-Outward minutes... Overseas Radiotelephone calls-Inward minutes
481,930
626,056
681,871
825,337
Radio Pictures-Transmitted
210
169
In
9,357
390,058 2,936,482 831,539
Out
Radio Pictures-Received
6,183
8,660
Harbourphone calls
9,355
393,193 7,360,732
1,149,554
355,603
416,161
Press Broadcasts and Reception Services-Number
of hours
26,761
31,842
Meteorological Broadcasts and Reception Services
Number of hours
*
...
76,244
78,560
Inland Telegrams
...
5,081
6,444
326
Appendix XXXVII
(Chapter 16: Royal Observatory)
Comparison of Storms that gave rise to Persistent Gales in Hong Kong
in the 12 Years 1953-1964
WIND
Maximum
Number of
Date and Time of Occurrence of
Mean
Name of
Maxi- Hours for
Associated
Maximum Wind
Storm
Hourly
mum
which
Sequence
Minimum
(HK St T)
Velocity
Gust
Speed
(Speed in
(Knots) Exceeded
of Direction*
Pressure
(Millibars)
Rainfall† (Inches)
Knots)
33 Knots
Day Hr
1953 Sept 18 19
Typhoon NE 42
'Susan'
75
8
N veered to
ESE
994.7
8.83
1954 Aug 29 14
Typhoon ENE 47
87
12
NNE veered
992.4
1.44
'Ida'
to ESE
Nov 6 13
Typhoon E 47
'Pamela'
84
и
NNE veered
997.1
2.74
4
to SE
1957 Sept 22 17
Typhoon NNE 59
'Gloria'
101
14
N veered to
984.3
11.09
SE
1960 June 9 02
Typhoon SSE
59
50
103
19
ENE veered
973.8
16.83
'Mary'
to SW
1961 May 19 11
Typhoon ESE 43
89
6
ENE veered
981.1
3.76
'Alice'
to SW
Sept 10 03
Severe
W 35
64
1
NNE backed
986.1
8.33
Tropical
to SW
Storm
'Olga'
1962 Sept 1 09
Typhoon N 68
'Wanda'
140
8
NNW backed
953.2
10.52
to NW and
then veered
to S
1964 May 28 03
Typhoon ESE 35
82
3
ENE veered
991.9
11.83
&
'Viola'
to SSW
06
Aug 8 20
Typhoon NE 42
'Ida'
112
2
NNE veered
972.0
4.80
to SSE
Sept 5 13
Typhoon ESE 58
'Ruby'
122
6
N veered to
968.2
7.54
SW
Sept 10 22 Typhoon WSW 35
'Sally'
56
1
NNW backed
to SW
989.1
6.13
Oct 13 04 Typhoon N 46
94
8
'Dot'
N backed to
SW
977.3
13.04
* Sequence of wind direction during the time the speed exceeded 21 knots.
† In this table the rainfall is taken from the hoisting of local signals until 24 hours after the
last non local warning is effective.
NB: The above information is based on observations made at the Royal Observatory, Hong
Hong.
327
Daily
Appendix XXXVIII
(Chapter 17: Press, Broadcasting and Cinema) Some Leading Newspapers and Magazines
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
South China Morning Post
Hong Kong Tiger Standard
(including Sundays)
China Mail
Daily Commodity Quotations
(bilingual)
Weekly
Sunday Post-Herald
Far Eastern Economic Review Sunday Examiner
Asia Magazine Hong Kong American
Daily (Morning Papers)
Wah Kiu Yat Po Sing Tao Jih Pao Fai Po (Express)
Kung Sheung Yat Po
Hong Kong Shih Pao
(Hong Kong Times)
Sing Pao
Ta Kung Pao
Wen Wei Po
Chiu Yin Pao
Sin Sang Yat Po
Monthly
Trade Bulletin
Young Hong Kong
Every two months
Hong Kong and Far East Builder
Quarterly
Far East Engineer
CHINESE LANGUAGE
(Gentlemen Daily News)
Hong Kong Sheung Po
(Hong Kong Commercial Daily)
Hung Look Yat Po
Ching Po Daily
Tin Tin Yat Po
Ming Tang Yat Po
Alternate Days
Tien Wen Tai (Observatory Review)
Weekly
Kung Kao Pao
Tung Fung (East Pictorial)
Chau Mut Pao (Week-end News) Sinwen Tienti (Newsdom)
Chinese Student Weekly Economic Bulletin
Every 10 days
Kar Ting Sang Wood
(Home Life Journal)
Ming Pao
Hong Kong Daily News
Wah Sing Pao
Universal Daily News
Daily (Evening Papers)
Wah Kiu Man Po
Sing Tao Man Po
Kung Sheung Man Po
Hsin Wan Pao (New Evening Post)
Chun Pao (Truth Daily)
New Life Evening Post
Seng Weng Evening News
Cheng Wu Pao
Hong Kong Evening News Nam Wah Man Pao South East Evening Post
Fortnightly
Children's Paradise
Monthly
Cosmorama Magazine
Yah Chow (Asia Pictorial) Sing Tao Pictorial Woman Today
328
Type of appointment
Ex officio
"
""
"
Appendix
(Chapter 25: Constitution
Executive
Names of members
on 1st January 1965
Remarks
XXXIX
and Administration)
Council
Type of appointment
Names of members on 1st January 1965
Remarks
Nominated
Sir
(Presided over by the Governor)
OFFICIAL MEMBERS:
His Excellency Lieutenant-General
Sir Denis Stuart Scott O'CONNOR, KBE, CB
(Commander British Forces)
Succeeded
Lieutenant-General Richard Walter CRADDOCK, KBE, CB, DSO on 18th June 1964
Brigadier Thomas HADDON, CBE appointed to act as Senior Military Officer from 6th May to 17th June 1964
The Honourable Edmund Brinsley
TEESDALE, CMG, MC
(Colonial Secretary)
Mr Geoffrey Cadzow HAMILTON appoint- ed to act as Colonial Secretary from 1st April to 13th April when Mr TEESDALE assumed the office of OAG and from 20th to 24th August 1964
The Honourable Maurice HEENAN, QC Mr Denys Tudor Emil ROBERTS, OBE
(Attorney General)
appointed to act as Attorney General from 15th July 1963 to 29th January 1964
""
*
329
OFFICIAL MEMBERS:-Contd
The Honourable Patrick Cardinall
Mason SEDGWICK
(Commissioner of Labour)
Mr David Ronald HOLMES, CBE, MC, ED appointed provisionally in the place of Mr SEDGWICK from 1st March to 30th April, from 1st August to 1st September and from 16th September to 15th October 1964
UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS:
Dr the Honourable Alberto Maria
RODRIGUES, CBE, ED
The Honourable Richard Charles LEE,
CBE
The Honourable KWAN Cho-yiu, CBE
""
The Honourable John Crichton
MCDOUALL
(Secretary for Chinese Affairs)
The Honourable John James
COWPERTHWAITE, CMG, OBE (Financial Secretary)
Mr Patrick Cardinall Mason SEDGWICK appointed to act as Secretary for Chinese Affairs from 1st March to 30th April and from 21st July to 1st September 1964
Mr Michael Denys Arthur CLINTON, GM appointed to act as Financial Secretary from 2nd to 9th May, from 30th August to 12th September and from 21st September to 14th November 1964
""
The Honourable John Douglas CLAGUE, Mr Sidney Samuel GORDON appointed
CBE, MC, TD
provisionally during the absence of Mr CLAGUE from 9th December 1963 to 21st January 1964, from 2nd to 17th March and from 10th April to 9th May 1964
The Honourable FUNG Ping-fan, OBE
The Honourable William Charles
Goddard KNOWLES, CBE
Mr Sidney Samuel GORDON appointed provisionally during the absence of Mr KNOWLES from 6th October to 25th October 1964
330
Type of appointment
Appendix
XL
(Chapter 25: Constitution
and Administration)
Names of members
on 1st January 1965
Remarks
Legislative
Council
Type of appointment
Names of members on 1st January 1965
Remarks
OFFICIAL MEMBERS:-Contd
331
The Honourable Patrick Cardinall
Mason SEDGWICK
(Commissioner of Labour)
Mr Kenneth Wallis Joseph TOPLEY appointed provisionally during the absence of Mr SEDGWICK from 16th September to 15th October 1964
The Honourable David Ronald HOLMES, Mr Terence Dare SORBY appointed
CBE, MC, ED
(Director of Commerce and Industry)
The Honourable James Tinker
WAKEFIELD
(District Commissioner, New
Territories)
provisionally during the absence of Mr HOLMES from 1st to 31st July 1964
UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS:
The Honourable Dhun Jehangir
RUTTONJEE, CBE
""
The Honourable FUNG Ping-fan, OBE
""
The Honourable Richard Charles LEE,
CBE
Ex officio
"
""
"
"
Nominated
""
"
PRESIDENT:
His Excellency the Governor,
Sir David Clive Crosbie TRENCH, KCMG, MC
OFFICIAL MEMBERS:
His Excellency Lieutenant-General
Sir Denis Stuart Scott O'CONNOR, KBE, CB
(Commander British Forces)
The Honourable Edmund Brinsley
TEESDALE, CMG, MC (Colonial Secretary)
Mr E. B. TEESDALE, CMG, MC assumed the office of OAG when Sir Robert Brown BLACK, GCMG, OBE, left the Colony on retirement on 1st April 1964 Sir David TRENCH, KCMG, MC assumed the office of Governor on 14th April 1964
Succeeded
Sir
Lieutenant-General Richard Walter CRADDOCK, KBE, CB, DSO on 18th June 1964
Brigadier Thomas HADDON, CBE appointed to act as Senior Military Officer from 6th May to 17th June 1964
Mr Geoffrey Cadzow HAMILTON appoint- ed to act as Colonial Secretary from 1st April to 13th April when Mr TEESDALE assumed the office of OAG and from 20th to 24th August 1964
The Honourable Maurice HEENAN, QC Mr Denys Tudor Emil ROBERTS, OBE
(Attorney General)
The Honourable John Crichton
MCDOUALL
(Secretary for Chinese Affairs)
The Honourable John James
COWPERTHWAITE, CMG, OBE (Financial Secretary)
The Honourable Kenneth Strathmore
KINGHORN
(Director of Urban Services)
The Honourable Alec Michael John
WRIGHT
(Director of Public Works)
Dr the Honourable TENG Pin-hui, OBE
(Director of Medical and Health
Services)
appointed to act as Attorney General from 15th July 1963 to 29th January 1964
Mr P. C. M. SEDGWICK appointed to act as Secretary for Chinese Affairs from 1st March to 30th April and from 21st July to 1st September 1964
Mr Michael Denys Arthur CLINTON, GM appointed to act as Financial Secretary from 2nd to 9th May, from 30th August to 12th September and from 21st September to 14th November 1964
Mr James Jeavons ROBSON appointed provisionally during the absence of Mr WRIGHT from 27th March to 6th October 1964
The Honourable William David GREGG Mr Kenneth John ATTWELL appointed
(Director of Education)
provisionally during the absence of Mr GREGG from 17th August to 8th September 1964
Nominated
""
The Honourable KWAN Cho-yiu, CBE
The Honourable KAN Yuet-keung, OBE
The Honourable Sidney Samuel
GORDON
The Honourable Li Fook-shu, OBE
"
"9
The Honourable FUNG Hon-chu
The Honourable TANG Ping-yuan
The Honourable TSE Yu-chuen, OBE
The Honourable Kenneth Albert
WATSON, OBE
Mr SZETO Wai appointed provisionally during the absence of Mr KAN from 29th September to 14th October 1964
Mr James DICKSON LEACH, OBE appointed provisionally during the absence of Mr GORDON from 18th July to 16th September 1964
Mr SZETO Wai appointed provisionally during the absence of Mr Lr from 17th August to 28th September 1964
Mr SZETO Wai appointed provisionally during the absence of Mr TANG from 19th October to 4th December 1964
The Honourable Woo Pak-chuen, OBE
""
The Honourable George Ronald Ross
"
Succeeded Mr William Charles Goddard
KNOWLES, CBE on 1st July 1964
332
Appendix XLI
(Chapter 25: Constitution and Administration)
Urban Council
Type of appointment
Names of members
on 1st January 1965
Remarks
Ex officio
""
""
""
Elected
"
CHAIRMAN:
The Honourable Kenneth Strathmore
KINGHORN
(Director of Urban Services)
OFFICIAL MEMBERS:
Dr Anthony Henry Reginald COOMBES,
MBE
(Deputy Director of Medical and
Health Services, Vice-Chairman) The Honourable John Crichton
MCDOUALL
(Secretary for Chinese Affairs)
The Honourable Alec Michael John
WRIGHT
(Director of Public Works)
Mr David Whinfield Barclay BARON
(Director of Social Welfare)
Mr Dermont Campbell BARTY, OBE (Commissioner for Resettlement)
UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS:
Mr Brook Antony BERNACCHI, QC
Dr Raymond Harry Shoon LEE, OBE
Mr Li Yiu-bor
Mr Patrick Cardinall Mason SEDGWICK acted as Secretary for Chinese Affairs from 1st March to 30th April and from 21st July to 1st September 1964
Mr James Jeavons ROBSON acted as Director of Public Works from 27th March to 6th October 1964
"
Dr Woo Pak-foo
""
Mr Hilton CHEONG-LEEN
**
Mr CHEUNG Wing-in
Mrs Elsie ELLIOTT
""
""
Mr Solomon RAFEEK, BEM
Nominated Mr Arnaldo de Oliveira SALES, OBE
""
The Honourable Kenneth Albert
WATSON, OBE
""
Mr John Louis MARDEN
"
The Honourable FUNG Hon-chu
""
| Mr Wilfred Sien-bing WONG
Mr Wilson Tze-sum WANG
""
Mr Lo Kwee-seong
""
*
Mrs Ellen Li Shu-pui, OBE
|Elected on 25th June 1964
Appointed on 1st April 1964
į
i
333
Appendix XLII
Weights and Measures
The weights and measures used in the Colony consist of the standards in use in the United Kingdom, and also the Chinese weights and measures given with their British and Metric equivalents in the table below:
Length*
UNIT
1 fan
1 tsun (Chinese inch).....
1 chek (Chinese foot)...
1 cheung
1 lei (Chinese mile)
...
Area
1 dau chung
1 mow
Weight
1 fan
1 tsin or mace...
1 leung or tael...
1 kan or catty...
1 tam or picul...
EQUIVALENTS
Domestic
British
Metric
0.146 in
3.715 mm
10 fan
1.463 in
3.715 cm
•
10 tsun
14.625 in
37.15
cm
10 chek
4.063 yd
3.715 m
706-745 yd
646-681 m
:
:
:
:
:
:
806.7
sq yd
.6745 hec
1,008
sq yd
.8431 hec
0.013 oz
3.78
dg
10 fan
0.133 oz
3.78
g
10 tsin
1.333 oz
37.8
g
16 tael
1.333 lb
604.8
g
100 catty
133.333 lb
60.48
kg
* Values vary in practice. The statutory equivalent of the chek (foot) is 148 in but the chek varies according to the trade in which it is used from 148 in to 114 in the commonest equivalent being 14.14 in.
Index
Aberdeen, 120
Index
Aberdeen Rehabilitation Centre, 141 Abraham Lincoln Workshop, 86 Accidents, Industrial, 27, 28, 95, 280 Administration, Government, 270-5 Adoption, 138, 163
Advisory Committee on Public
Transport, 190, 191
Advisory Committee on Telephone
Services, 196
Aero Club of Hong Kong, 186 Agriculture, 65-71 Agriculture and Fisheries
Department, 65-75 Aircraft Engineering, 48, 186 Airport, 104, 185, 186, 267, 268 Air Traffic, 186, 187
Alexander Grantham, The, 158 Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole
Hospital, 97, 102
Aliens, 164, 165, 244 Ambulance Service, 158
American Society of Travel Agents,
168, 169
Amherst, Lord, 257
Anglican church, 226, 227
Anglo-Chinese War, 258, 261 Animal industries, 70, 71 Ap Lei Chau Island, 120 Appeal Courts, 149 Apprentices, 27
Art collections, 236 Art in Schools, 93
Arts, The, 234-5
Asian Broadcasting Union, 205
Asian Film Festival, 208
Asian Productivity Organization, 49
Assets and liabilities, 284-5
Athletics, 231
Attorney General, 271
Australia, 86, 107
Auxiliary Defence Services, 213-5 Auxiliary Fire Service, 216 Auxiliary Medical Service, 215 Aviation, 185-7
Banking, 41, 42
Banking Commission, 42 Banking Legislation, 145, 146 Banknotes, 39-41
Bankruptcies and liquidations, 149 Baptist Church and hospital, 227 Barton, H. D. M., 57
Bathhouses, 174
Bathing and beaches, 167, 232 Bauhinia Blakeana, 251 BBC, 205
BCG vaccine, 99, 101 Bets and sweeps tax, 38 Bianchi, Msgr Lawrence, 228 Birds, 248, between 260-1 Birth rate, 96
Birth and death registration, 163 Black, Sir Robert, 13, 85 Black, Sir Robert, College, 88 Blake, Sir Henry, 262 Blood banks, 108
Bogue, The Treaty of, 259 Books, 236, 237-8
Botanic Gardens, 232
Botany, 250-4
Bottomley, Rt Hon Arthur, 25 'Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association,
139
Boy Scouts and Girl Guides
Association, 139
British-
Commonwealth Save the
Children Fund, 141 Council, 91, 94, 237, 238 Phosphate Commission, 20
Red Cross Society, 93, 108, 140 Travel and Holiday Association,
169
Broadcasting, 204-7
broadcasting, Commercial, 206 Broadcasting Engineering Services,
196, 205
broadcasting, Government, 204-5 Broadcast Receiving Licences, 204 Bruce, Sir Frederick, 261
Buddhism, 223, 224
Buildings,
Authority, 121
construction, 19, 120-1, 173-5 Legislation, 121, 143, 144 Plans for, 120-1, 143, 160 Research, 220
Buildings Ordinance, 121, 143 Bursaries, 91, 311 Bus services, 190-1
Business registration, 38, 160, 161 Butterflies and moths, 249
Cable and Wireless Ltd, 196, 205 Canada, 52, 91
Canton, 171
Cantonese, 244, 245, 255 Cape St Mary, The, 73
Capital Income and Expenditure,
Recurrent, 286-7
Car Parks, Multi-storey and metered
zones, 174, 189
CARE (Co-operative for American
Relief Everywhere, Inc), 140
Cargo storage, 183
Cargo tonnages, 183, 324 Caritas, 108
Castle Peak, 30, 64, 117 Castle Peak Hospital, 106 Cathay Pacific Airways, 186 Catholic Centre, 228 Catholic hospitals, 108
Catholic Relief Services, 140 Catholic Truth Society, 228 Cattle, 70, 71
Cemeteries and Crematoria, 112 Census, 19, 243
Central District Re-development,
14-5, 118, 120
Central Office of Information, 211
Certificates of Origin, 54, 55 Chai Wan, 120
Chang, E. R., 217
Chartered Bank, 39
Chatham Road Centre, 98 Chemist, Government, 97, 108
Cheung Chau Electric Co Ltd, 180 Child welfare, 137, 138 Children abandoned, 138 Children's Reception Centre, 137 Chi Ma Wan Prison, 156 China, 43, 55, 165
China Light and Power Co Ltd, 179,
180
China Mail, 203
China Motor Bus Co Ltd, 191, 192 Chinese Affairs, Secretary for, 11,
150, 263, 269, 271
Chinese Churches' Union, 226, 227 Chinese General Chamber of
Commerce, 60
Chinese Manufacturers' Association,
Chinese Middle Schools, 82
56, 58, 60
Chinese New Year Bonus, 22
Chinese Opera, 233
Chinese People's Republic, 74
Chinese University, 82, 84, 85, 136,
137, 221
Ching Ming, 187, 225
Chiuchow, 205
Cholera, 97, 98, 221
Christian Science Church, 227 Christian Study Centre, 224
Christians, 226-8
Chuenpi, Convention of, 259 Chung Chi College, 84, 226 Chung Yeung Festival, 225 Church of Christ in China, 226 Church World Service, 110, 140 Churches, 117, 226-8 Cinemas, 233 City Hall, 233-7 Civil-
Aid Service, 215
Aviation, 185-187
Engineering, 170-178
56
Service, 271
Clague, Hon J. D.,
Clan land, 63
Clansmen's associations, 12, 109
Cleansing, 113, 114
Climate, 243, 245-6
Clinics, 109, 174
Clinics, Floating, 109
Coinage, 39-41
Collections, Government art, 235-7
Colonial Development and Welfare,
35
Colonial Secretariat, 271
Colonial Secretary, 269
337
Commerce and Industry Department,
44
Commerce, Industry, Finance
Directory, 57, 59
Commercial public relations, 55 Commercial Radio, 206
Commonwealth Cable System, 195 Commonwealth Development
Corporation, 14
Commonwealth Education Scheme,
91
Commonwealth Immigrants Act, 21,
164
Commonwealth Preference, 35, 55 Communicable diseases, 97-104 Communications, 181-96
Community centres and development,
135, 136
Community Relief Trust Fund, 5, 140 COMPAC, 195
Companies Registry, 160, 161
Concerts, 234
Confucius, 223
Conservancy, 112
Constitution, 269 Consular corps, 60-1
Consumer Price Index, 22, 23
Conventions of Peking, 261 Co-operative Development and
Fisheries Department, 72 Co-operative Societies, 77-8, 309 Cottage resettlement, 126
338
Cotton Advisory Board, 44 Cotton Textiles, 45-6 Courts, 148-9 Crime, 150-1
Crops, 66-8
Cross-harbour race, 230 Crown land, 62-4, 115-9 Crown Leases, 63
Currency and Banking, 39-42 Curtis Greensted Associates
Limited, 168
Dance halls tax, 38
Dangerous Goods Legislation, 144 Day nurseries, 137
Deaf, schools for, 93
Death rate, 96
Deer, Barking, 246 Defence, 32, 271
Defence Expenditure, 32
Defence (Finance) Regulations, 41 Delinquency, 151 Dental Council, 97 Dental Services, 109-10 Development areas, 117
Development Loan Fund, 34, 292-3 Diphtheria, 103
Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society,
138, 150
Diseases, 97-104
Display Centre of HK Products, 57 District Courts, 149
District health work, 105, 111
District Watch Force, 271
Diversification of industry, 46 Divorce, 149
Dockyard development scheme, 14,
118
Doctors, 110, 317
Dollar coins, 39-41
Dragons, 4
Dragon Boat Festival, between
216-7, 225
Drainage, 175
Drama, 234
Driving licences, 153, 323
Drug Addiction, 106, 150, 155, 156,
157, 159, 320-1
Ducks and geese, 70
Duke of Edinburgh's Award
Scheme, 139
Dutiable Commodities Ordinance,
35
Duties and licence fees, revenue, 281
duties, Excise, 35-6
Dysentery, 104
Earnings and profits tax, 34 Earthquakes, 198
East India Company, 256, 257 East River, 6, 170, 171
Economic Statistics, Government
Fellowship, 217 Education, 80-94
Adult, 87-8
Board of, 91, 92 Commission, 9, 80
Conference and Exhibition, 94 Deaf children, of, 81, 93 Examinations, 82, 89-90 Expenditure, 313
Extra-Mural Studies, 83, 88 Higher, 83-6
music and art, 93, 94
number of schools and pupils,
80-3, 310
overseas, 86, 87
Primary, 80, 81
recreation centres, 87
research into, 217
Scholarships and Bursaries, 91 School Health Service, 105 Secondary, 82-3
Voluntary, 93
Working Party, 9, 80
Educational Broadcasting, 205, 206 Electricity, 178-80 Elliot, Capt C., 258, 259 Employment, 19
Holidays with Pay, 23 Information Service, 21 migration for, 20 New Territories, 29-31 Strikes, 26
wages and conditions of, 21-4 working hours, 23
'Encore', Royal Fleet Auxiliary tug,
185
Enteric fever, 103
Entertainment, 233-4
Entertainment tax, 38
Entrepôt trade, 43, 44
Essential Services Corps, 215-6
Esso Standard Eastern, 180 Estate duty, 37
Evening institutes, 87
Evening School of Higher Chinese
Studies, 87
Examinations, external, 90
Exchange control, 41
Exchange Fund, 34
Excise duties, 35, 36
Executive Council, 269
Expenditure, Government, 33, 34,
282-3
Exports, 11, 49-51
Extensions to the Colony, 261-2
Extra-Mural Studies, 88
339
Factories and industrial undertakings,
19, 20, 278-9
Factory registration and inspection,
27, 280
Far Eastern Economic Review, 204 Far East Flying Training School, 186 Farming, 62-71
Federation of British Industries, 91 Federation of Hong Kong
Industries, 54-5, 56 Federation of Youth Groups, 139 Ferries, 193, 194
Festivals, Chinese, between 216-7,
225
Film censorship, 209 Film industry, 208, 209 films, Government, 211 Finance, Education, 313 finance, Health, 96-7 finances, Public, 10, 32-8 Financial Secretary, 260 Fire boats, 158, 182 fire prevention, 158 Fire Services, 157-9
Legislation, 143
Fish, 249, 250
Fry, 75
Marine, 72-5
Marketing Advisory Board, 76 Marketing Organization, 76, 308 Pond Culture, 75 Salt-dried, 76
fisherfolk, Training and education
of, 77
Fisheries,
administration, 72
Development Loan Fund, 73 Research station, 73, 74
Fishing, 62, 72-7
Flatted factories, 125
Flowers, 250-4
Fluoridation, 110
Food inspection, 112, 113
Football, 230, 231
Foot and mouth disease, 71
Forces, Local, 213-6
Foreign Assets Control Regulations
(US), 43
Foreign Correspondents' Club, 204 Forestry, 71-2
Fruit, 67
Fukien, 244
Full Court, 149
Fulton, Sir John, 84, 85 Funicular railway, 192
Garment industry, 45, 46 Garrison Players, 234 Gas, 180
GATT, 52
General health, 95-6 Geography, 240-6 Geology, 241-3
Germany, Federal Republic, 53, 54, 86 Gin Drinker's Bay, 113
Golf, 167
Governor, new appointment, 3 Governor's Inauguration, 13 Governor in Council, 269 Grantham College, 88 Grantham Hospital, 97, 101
Hakka, 63, 205, 244, 245, 255 Harbour Facilities, 181, 184 Harbourphone, 182
Haven of Hope Sanatorium, 101, 108
Hawker Control Force, 113
Hawkers, 113, 153
Health, 95-114
Dental Services, 109-10
Education, 112-3
Industrial, 27, 28
Inspectors, 112 Mental, 106
Out-patient services, 109
Specialist services, 108 Statistics, 314-5 training, 110, 111
Heavy industries, 47-49
Hei Ling Chau Leprosarium, 102 Hensman, Professor, 94
Herbarium, Government, 254 Heroin, 321 (See also Narcotics) Heung Yee Kuk, 274 Hilliard, Dr L. T., 141 Hindu Community, 229 Hire cars, 190 History, 255-68
Hockey, 231
Hoklo, 244, 245
Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering
Co Ltd, 186
Hong Kong Anti-Tuberculosis
Association, 97, 99, 101, 108 Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force, 214 Hong Kong Auxiliary of the
Mission to Lepers, 97
Hong Kong Biological Circle, 254 Hong Kong Bird Watching Society,
254
Hong Kong Buddhist and Taoist
Association, 223
Hong Kong and China Gas Co Ltd,
180
Hong Kong Christian Council, 227 Hong Kong College of Medicine, 262 Hong Kong Commercial
Broadcasting Co, 206
340
Hong Kong Conference of Youth
Organizations, 139
Hong Kong Council for Educational
Research, 217
Hong Kong Council of Social
Service, 21, 142
Hong Kong Dental Society, 110 Hongkong Electric Co Ltd, 178, 179 Hong Kong Exporters' Association,
60
Hong Kong Federation of Trade
Unions, 25
Hong Kong Federation of Youth
Groups, 139
Hong Kong Flying Club, 186 Hong Kong General Chamber of
Commerce, 54, 55, 56, 59 Hong Kong Government Office,
London, 59
Hong Kong Government Trade
Representative, Sydney, 59
Hong Kong Hotels Association, 169 Hong Kong House, London, 87 Hong Kong Housing Society, 131 Hong Kong Junior Chamber of
Commerce, 59
Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades
Union Council, 25
Hong Kong and Kowloon Wharf
and Godown Co Ltd, 26 Hong Kong Life Guard Club, 232 Hong Kong Management
Association, 48, 49
Hong Kong Medical Council, 97 Hong Kong Regiment, 214 Hong Kong Registry of Shipping,
184
Hong Kong Royal Naval Reserve,
213
Hong Kong Sanatorium and
Hospital, 111
Hong Kong Settlers' Housing
Corporation, 131
Hongkong and Shanghai Banking
Corporation, 39, 56
Hong Kong Society for the Blind, 141 Hong Kong Telephone Co Ltd, 196 Hong Kong Tiger Standard, 203 Hong Kong Tourist Association, 55,
56, 167
Hong Kong Tramways, Ltd, 192 Hong Kong Women's Auxiliary
Army Corps and Naval Reserve, 214 Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry Co
Ltd, 193, 194
Horse racing, 167
Hospitals, 95, 106-8, 174, 175, 316 Hotels, 166
23
Household, budgetary survey, Housing, 129-32, 178, 319
and Resettlement Working
Party, 11, 127-8 Authority, 32, 121, 129-31 Co-operatives, 132 Low-cost scheme, 7
Mortgage scheme, 14, 122, 132 Rents, 133, 134
Hung Hom, 120, 187 Hydrofoils, 165
Hygiene, Environmental and food,
111, 112
Immigration, 164, 165, 182
illegal, 151, 164
Imports, 50, 301, 306 Incinerators, 113, 114 Income tax, 36, 37, 281 Indonesia, 195 Indus River, 172 Industrial-
employment, 19, 20 health, 27, 28
investment, 44
management, 48, 49
relations, 22
safety, 24
undertakings, 19, 278-9 welfare, 28, 29
Industry, 19, 43-9 Infant Mortality, 96
Information Services Department,
55, 209-12
Inland Revenue, 36
Institute of Modern Asian Studies,
218
Institute of Pathology, 108 Insurance, 161
Interest tax, 36
Internal Public Transport, 190-4
Internal revenue, 36-8
International Confederation of Free
Trade Unions, 25
International Cotton Textile
Arrangement, 52
International Labour Association, 26 International Press Institute, 203
International Rescue Committee, 169 International Sanitary Regulations,
104
International Trade Negotiations,
51-4
Iron ore, 79
Islamic Community, 229
Japanese occupation, 266 Jardine, Matheson & Co Ltd, 57 Jewish Community, 228
341
Joseph Trust Fund, 78 Jubilee Reservoir, 171 Judicial Trustee, 159 Judiciary, 270
Junk Bay, 101, 117
Junk Bay Medical Relief Council, 99 Junk Building, 47
Justice, Courts of, 148, 149 Juvenile Care Centre, 138 Juvenile Crime, 151, 320-1
Juvenile Liaison Sections, 151, 154
Kadoorie Agricultural Aid
Association, and Loan Fund, 66 Kai Fong Welfare Associations, 12,
93, 109, 112, 140, 216 Kerr, Dr Clark, 85 Kindergarten schools, 81 Korea, 43 Kowloon, 261
Kowloon-Canton Railway, 187, 324 Kowloon Motor Bus Co (1933) Ltd,
191
Kung Sheung Yat Po, 203 Kuoyu, 205
Kwai Chung, 48, 71 Kwan, Hon C. Y., 85 Kwangtung, 241, 255 Kwong Sun, 73
Kwong Wah Hospital, 95, 107 Kwun Tong, 48, 95, 136, 189
Labour-
administration, 24
disputes and stoppages, 26 hours of work, 21-4
Lai Chi Kok Hospital, 175 Land, 115-20
Agricultural, 62-5
Arable, 64, 65
auctions, 116, 117
area, 65
Courts, 63
Crown, 63
Development, 118, 177, 178
for industry, 48
Office (Registrar General),
159-60
revenue, 118, 119 Sales, 319
surveys, 119
tenure, 115, 117
transactions, private, 159-60 utilization, 64, 65, 217
Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, 133
Language Teaching, 155
Lavatories, 174
Law and order, 148-63
Law courts, 148, 149
Law practice, 144, 145
Leases, Crown, 62-4, 115-9 Lee, Hon R. C., 85 Legislation, 143-7
Legislative Council, 3, 12, 32, 269 Lei Cheng Uk, 255 Lei Yue Mun, 182
Lepers, Mission to, 102 Leprosy, 93, 102, 108 Letters Patent, 269 Libraries, 236-8
Li Choh-ming, Professor, 84 Li, Hon F. S., 56 Li Hon-yu, 230
Li Po Chun, 96
Lighthouses, 176, 182
Lin Dai, 208 Lin Tse-hsu, 258
Ling Po, Ivy, 208
Lion Rock Tunnel, between 168-9,
188
Lions Club, 96
Liquidations, 162
Livestock, 70, 71
Loans, 66, 73, 77, 78
Loh, Robert, 230
London Missionary Society, 226, 262 London office, Hong Kong
Government, 59
London Symphony Orchestra, 233
Long Term Cotton Textile
Arrangement, 52-3
Lotteries, between 140-1 Lo Wu, 187
Lugard, Sir Frederick, 262 Luk Keng Prison, 156
Lunacy, Official Solicitor in, 159
Lutheran Church, 227
Lutheran World Service and
Federation, 100, 110, 140
Macartney, Lord, 257
Macau, 165, 184, 195, 241, 256 Macau Air Transport Co Ltd, 186
Magazines, 204, 327
Magistracies, 148
Magsaysay Award, 204
Mahjong, 230
Malaria, 102, 103
Malaysia, 54, 91
Mammals, 247, 248 Ma On Shan, 79
Marine Communications, 182 Marine Department, 181-5 Marine fauna, 249, 250 Marine police, 152
Market gardening, 62, 67
Marketing, 68-9, 76-7, 308
Marriages, 162, 163
•
342
Marsh, R. M., 80
Materials testing laboratory, 177 Maternal and child health, 104,
105
Matriculation, 90
Measles, 104
Measures and weights, 333 Medical-
Advisory Board, 11
Clinics Ordinance, 26, 109 finance, 96, 97 personnel, 317
research, 219, 220, 221 services, 8
training, 110, 111, 317 Mental Health, 106, 141 Mercantile Bank, 40
Mercantile Marine Office, 183 Meteorology, 197, 198, 326 Methodist Church, 227 Mid-Autumn festival, 225 Middle schools, 82
Midwives, 97, 105, 111
Migration for employment, 20-1 Milk, 70, 71 Minerals, 78-9, 308
Mines Department, 24 Mining, 19, 30, 78, 79, 308 Mohammedanism, 224, 229 Monasteries, 223, 224
Monkeys, 247
Moral Welfare, 138 Mormons, Church, 227
Mortgage loan scheme, 122, 132
Moths, 249
Muk Wu, 172
Museum, 235, 236
Music, 93, 233, 234
Music Society of Hong Kong, 238 Muslim community, 229
Nanking, Treaty of, 259 Napier, Lord, 257, 258
Narcotics, 106, 150, 155, 156, 157,
159, 320-1
Narcotics Advisory Committee,
150
National Income Study, 217
National Library of Peking, 237 Natural history, 247-54 Naval Dockyard, 14, 118 Navigation, 182
Nethersole Hospital, 102, 111 New Asia College, 84
New Kowloon, 115
News Agencies, 204
Newspapers, 202, 203, 327
Newspaper Society of Hong Kong,
203
New Territories-
Administration, 273-4 beaches, 231, 232 employment, 29-31 health services, 112 Heung Yee Kuk, 274 irrigation systems, 249
land tenure and utilization, 62-5 leasing of, 261
parks and playgrounds, 231-2 population, 244-5
public works, 173-4, 273 squatters, 127-9 taxis, 193
New Year Festival, 225 New Zealand, 91 Ngau Tau Kok, 120 Nigeria, 54
Northcote Training College, 88 North Point, 120
Note Security Funds, 40 Nurses, 111, 317
Nurses Board, 97, 111
Nylon Dams, 172
Occupational accidents, 28 Occupational diseases, 28, 280 Occupations, 19, 280 Ocean terminal, 182, 183 Official Receiver, 159 Official Trustee, 159 Old schedule lots, 63
Olympic Games 205, 206, 230, 231 Opera, 233
Opium, 258, 321 (See also Narcotics) Oriental Bank, 39
Overseas Development, Ministry of,
86
Overseas representation, 60, 61 Oyster farming, 75
Pacific Area Travel Association, 169 Pacific Tidal Warning Service, 198 Palmerston, Lord, 258,259 Pakistan, 91
Parkes, Sir Harry, 261 Parking, 140
Parks and playgrounds, 231, 232 Passenger Transport, Advisory
Committee, 14
Patents, 161, 162
Pathology, Institute of, 108 Peak Tramways, 192
Pearl culture, 75
Pearl River, 6, 170 Peking, Conventions of, 261 Pelletier Hall, 138
Pest Control, 114
Pharmacy Board, 7
Physically handicapped, 93, 140-1
Pigeons, 70
Pig-raising, 70
Pilotage, 182
Pirates, 255
Plague, 104, 264
Planning, 119-20 Plasticware, 46 Playgrounds, 231-2 Plays, 234
Plover Cove Scheme, 171 Po Leung Kuk, 12, 93, 138 Poisonous plants, 252-3 Pok Oi Hospital, 108 Police, 149-56
Anti-illegal immigration, 152 Auxiliaries, 155 CID, 152
Communications and
transport, 154 Emergency units, 152 Establishment, 154 Special Branch, 152 Traffic Branch, 153, 154 training, 154, 155 Women, 154 Poliomyelitis, 95, 103, 221 Political Adviser, 271 Pond fish production, 75 Population, 243-5, 266
New Territories, 244-5 non-Chinese aliens, 166, 244 Urban, 244
Port Executive Committee, 165,
181
Port health, 104
Welfare Committee, 184
works, 175-7
Postal Services, 194, 195
Post-secondary colleges, 84
Post-secondary education, 83-6
Pottinger, Sir H., 259
Poultry, 70
Presbyterian Church, 227 Press, 202-4, 327
Preventive Service, 159
Primary education, 80-1 Primary production, 62-79 Prisons, 156, 157 Privy Council, 149 Probation, 138
Productivity Council, 3, 49 Profits tax, 36 Property tax, 36
Prophylactic inoculations, 97-101,
103
Protection of fauna and flora, 254 Protestant churches, 108, 226, 227 Public Enquiry Service, 212
Public-
assistance, 139-40 debt, 34, 288
health administration, 111-4 latrines and bath houses, 174 Roads, 180-9
road transport services, 190-3 Service, 274-5
Services Commission, 275
Transport, 190-4
utilities, 178-80
works, 170-8
Works Department, 170
Publicity, local and overseas, 209-11
Quarantine, 97, 104, 165, 182 Quarrying 30, 189
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, 95, 106,
263
Queen Mary Hospital, 107, 174, 263
Rabies, 71
Radioactivity, measurements, 24, 27,
198
Radio Australia, 205
Radio, Commercial, 206 Radiography, 95
Radio Hong Kong, 204, 205 Radio news, 205 Radiotherapy, 95, 108 Railway, 187, 324
Rainfall, 245, 246 Rates, 36
Rating and Valuation Commissioner, 134
Rats, 104
Reclamations, 176, 177, 264
Records (Registrar General), 159-63 Recreation and Sport, 230-8
Red Cross, 93, 108, 140
Rediffusion (Hong Kong) Ltd, 207 Re-exports, 51, 296
Refugees 43, 265 (See also
Immigration, illegal)
Refuse collections, 113, 114 Registered and recorded factories,
19-20
Registrar of Co-operative Societies,
77
Registrar General, 159-63
Registration, Business, 38
Registry of Trade Unions, 24 Rehabilitation Loan, 35
Rehabilitation of Handicapped
Persons, 140, 141 Religion, 223-9 Rennie's Mill, 126 Rent controls, 133-4
Rent Increases Advisory Panel, 134
343
344
Rent Increases Control, 133, 134 Reptiles, 249
Rescue service, 157
Research, 217-22
Chinese University, 221 fisheries, 73-4
Medical and Health, 221
Meteorology, 221-2
Tourist, 168
University of Hong Kong,
217-20
Reservoirs, 4, between 168-9, 170-3
storage capacity, 171
Resettlement, 7, 121-9, 178
boat squatters, 127
cottage areas, 126 cultivators, 127
flatted factories, 125 shops and workshops, 124-5 squatter problem, 7-8, 122-9 statistics, 318 Residential densities, 123 Restaurant work in Britain, 30 Retail Price Index, 22 Revenue and Expenditure, 281 Revenue Equalization Fund, 34 Rice, 66-8
Ride, Sir Lindsay, 84 Rinderpest, 71 Road Safety, 153
Road Transport Services, 190-3 Roads, 14, 188, 189
Robinson, Sir Hercules, 261 Rodent control, 104, 114
Roman Catholic Cathedral, 226,
228
Roman Catholic Church, 108,
226-8
Roman Catholic schools, 228
Royal Asiatic Society, 238
Royal Hong Kong Defence Force,
213
Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, 95,
232
Royal Instructions, 269
Royal Navy, 153
Royal Observatory, 5, 197-201, 221,
222
Rural Committees, 273-4 Russian Orthodox Church, 227 Ruttonjee Sanatorium, 101
Sai Ying Pun Hospital, 263 Salaries Commission, 22 salaries tax, 36-7 Sales, A. de O., 230 Salt fish, 76
Salvation Army, 140 Sampson, J. R., 80
Sandy Bay Convalescent Home, 102 Sanitary services, 264
Sanitation, 111-4, 264, 272 Scavenging, 113-4
Scholarships and Bursaries, 91, 310
School(s)
Anglo-Chinese grammar, 82 blind for, 81, 141
categories, 310
Chinese middle, 82
crippled for, 81
deaf for, 81, 141
evening, 81, 87
fishermen's children, 77
Government, 81, 92
grant, 92
health service, 105, 110, 146
kindergarten, 81
music association festival, 93, 234 non-profit-making, 92
number of schools and pupils,
80-2, 310 primary, 80, 81
private, 81, 92-3 secondary, 82-3
secondary, modern, 83
special, 81
subsidized, 92
technical, 82-3
Sculpture, between 148-9, 235 SEACOM, 195
Sea School, Hong Kong, 139 Sea Terminal, 183
Seamen, recruiting, 183 Seamen's Recruiting office, 21 Secretariat for Chinese Affairs, 11,
150, 263, 269, 271
Seismology, 198
Seventh Day Adventist Welfare
Service, 140
Sewers, 175
Shanghai, 240
Sha Tin, 65, 117, 187
Shaw Brothers, 208 Shek Kip Mei, 123 Shek Kwu Chau, 106 Shek Pik, 6, 156, 172 Sheung Shui, 136 Shipbreaking, 47, 48, 184 Shipbuilding and repairing, 47 Shipping, 181-4, 324
Shum Chun Reservoir, 171 Silver currency, 39-42 Sing Tao newspapers, 203 Singapore, 195 Slaughterhouses, 113 Smoking, 113
Snakes, 219, 249, between 268-9
So Kam-tong, 230
345
Social-
welfare, 10, 135, 142
Welfare Advisory Committee,
11, 142
Welfare, Statement of Arms and
Policy, 10, 142
welfare training, 136, 147
Society for the Aid and
Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts,
106
Society of Boys' Centres, 138 Soil, 242
Sound Broadcasting, 204-7 South Africa, 54
South China Morning Post, 203 Spain, 54
Special Branch, 152
Specialist Health Services, 108 Sports and Recreation, 230-2,
between 240-1
Squatters, 5, 7, 200 squatter clearance, 126-9
Squatter Control, Resettlement and Low-Cost Housing, Review, 3, 7, 8, 127, 128
Stage Club, 234, 238
Stamp duty, 37
Standards Testing, 60
Stanley Prison, 156
'Star' Ferry, 194
'Star' newspaper, 203
St Columban Order of Sisters, 101 Steel rolling mills, 47 Sterling, 40
St John Ambulance Associations and
Brigade, 110, 232
St John's Cathedral, 226 St John's Hospital, 99 Stonecutters Island, 241 Street cleansing, 111-4 Strikes, 26
Students in Britain, 312 Sulphur Channel, 182 Sung Wong Toi, 256
Supreme Court, 149
Survey, air, 119
Sweeps taxes, 38
Swimming, 167, 230, 232, between
240-1
Swine fever, 71
Tai Lam Prison, 157
Tai Ping Rebellion, 261
Tai Po, 30, 64, 117
Tang clan, 244
Tanka, 244, 245
Tanker operation, 6, 7, 170, 171 Taoism, 223
Taxation, 36-8
Taxis, 190, 192, 193
Teachers and teacher-training,
88-9
Technical-
College, 49, 85, 86
education, 3, 24
Telecommunications, 195, 196 Telegraph and Radiotelephone
Services, 195-6
Telephones, 196
Television, 15, 144, 204, 207, 212 Telex, 196
Temples, 117
Tenancy Inquiry Bureaux, 133, 271 Tenancy Tribunals, 133
Tennis, 167, 232
Textiles, 19, 45, 46
Textile Testing Service, 60 Theatre, 234
Tientsin, Treaties of, 261 Tin Hau, 4, 224, 225 Tobacco, 35
Tokyo, 205, 206
Tong Fuk Prison, 156, 174
Topography, 241-3
Tourism, 167-9
Town Planning, 119-20
Trade
and Industry Advisory Board, 44 associations, 59, 60
Bulletin, 57, 59
Commissioners, 60, 61
fairs and exhibitions, 56, 57 Local, 184
Marks and Patents Registries,
161
missions, 56
promotion, 55-8, 211 restrictions, 51-4
statistics, 50, 51
Trade Union Leadership Course, 26 trade unions, 24-6 Traffic, 14, 153, 154 Traffic accidents, 153
Training
health, 110-1
overseas, 91
rural, 66
teachers, 88-9
unit (Civil Service), 275
Tramways, 192
Transistor radios, 46, 204
Transport, 181-94
Transport and Tourism Technicians
Ltd, 168
Travel documents, 164, 165 Treaties of Tientsin, 261 Treaty of Nanking, 259
Treaty Ports, 260
346
Tree planting, 233 Trench, Sir David, 13
Triad Societies, 151
Tsan Yuk Maternity Hospital, 111,
136, 263
Tsim Sha Tsui, 120, 187
Tsuen Wan, 48, 64, 119, 136 Tuberculosis, 71, 98-102
Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, 12,
97, 101, 107, 263
Typhoon shelters, between 190-1 Typhoons and tropical storms, 3-6, 69, 140, 184, 185, 189, 198-201, 248
Unemployment, 20-1 UNESCO, 94
United College, 84 United Nations, 165
United States, 43, 51, 52, 56, 91 United States Department of
Agriculture, 220, 221
United States Information Service,
94
University, Chinese, 82, 84, 85, 136,
137, 221
University of California, 85 University of Hong Kong, 83-4,
110, 136, 137, 217-21, 262 Urban-
Council, 111-4, 210, 231, 271,
272
population, 244
services, 200
174, 231, 272
Victoria-
Central District, 120 Park, 232
Vienna Boys Choir, 234 Vital statistics, 314
Vocational Training, 27, 83 Voluntary agencies, 135, 136, 137,
141, 142
Volunteers, The, 213-5
Wages, 22
Waglan Island, 182 Wah Kiu Yat Po, 203 'Walkathon', 230 Wan Chai, 264
Water Authority, 170-3 water purity, 173
water supplies, 170-3, 264, 267 water-front road, 189
waterworks, 173
Weather forecasts, 197, 198
Weddell, John, 256
Weights and measures, 333
Whales, 248
Whitfield Barracks, 229
Wild life protection, 254
Wireless licences, 204 Wong Tai Sin, 136
Woo, K. T., 57
Wool School, 60
Working hours, 23-4
Workmen's compensation, 27, 28, 144 World Council of Churches, 227 World Health Organization, 104
Services Department, 111-4, 210, World Refugee Year Loan Fund, 78
Utilities, Public, 178-80
X-ray examinations, 100
Vegetable(s)
Marketing Organization and
Co-operatives, 68, 69
production, 67-9
Vegetation, 65, 250-4
Vehicle ferries, 193-4
Vehicles and Drivers Licences, 153,
323, 325
Venereal diseases, 102
Yachting, 231, between 240-1
Yau Ma Tei, 120
YMCA, YWCA, 139
Youth Welfare, 139
Yuen Ling, 73
Yuen Long, 4, 64, 172 Yung, Dr C. T., 84
Zoology, 219
Printed and Published by S. Young, Government Printer, at the Government Press
Java Road, Hong Kong, February 1965
PLAN OF VICTORIA & KOWLOON SHOWING DISTRICT NAMES
SO UK
SHA TIN
PASS ROAD
LUNG
CHEUNG
ROAD
AREA
LAI CHI KOK
SHEK KIP MEI
CHEUNG SHA WAN
香
STONECUTTERS ISLAND
SHAM SHUI PO
KENNEDY
WESTERN DISTRICT
SAI YING PUN
TOWN-
MID LEVELS
HONGK
MOUNT DAVIS
DR
S. O
WONG TAI SIN
DIAMOND HILL
(AREA)
NGAU
(AREA)
NGAU CHI WAN
CONTOUR
SAN PO KONG
KOWLOON TONG
KOWLOON
CITY
H. K. AIRPORT
MONG KOK
HO MAN TIN
MA TAU KOK
YAU MA TEI
KING'S PARK
HUNG HON
TSIM SHA TSUI
KOWLOON
BAY
RUNWAY
NORTH POINT
CENTRAL DISTRICT,
VICTORIA
HARBOUR
PEAK
POK FU LAM
WAN CHAI
CAUSEWAY
BAY.
JORDAN VALLEY
NGAU TAU
KOK
KWUN TONG
QUARRY BAY
HAPPY
VALLEY
IC
YAU TONG
REI WAN
CHAI WAN
LEI YUE MUN
Approximate boundaries only are shown on this plan. Colours used have no significance other than to define the districts.
Crown
Copyright Reserved
TH
三香
九
年
港