In point of fact, however, the Commissioner has not up now seen fit to make use of this discretionary power to make special exemptions, although a recent request was submitted by the cotton spinning industry for such exemption. This industry endeavoured to strenghen its competitive position by improving the quality of its products through the use of woman workers on night shifts. The submission contained a statement of cogent reasons as will be detailed in a subsequent section of this memorandum.
As has been observed in a previous connection, the textile industries of Nationalist China, and also of Thailand have received special permission to employ women on night shifts. The former offers particularly keen competition to Hongkong's cotton mills, especially as wages paid there are on a level half as low as that ruling in Hongkong.
As to whether or not the Minister of Labour of Singapore will be prepared to grant such special permission to industry, one may take a queue from the Minister's statement made at the third reading of the amended labour ordinance in answer to the opposition to the introduction of the permissible clause. It was to the effect that, having regard to the resolve of government to speed up industrialization, it would be unrealistic to prohibit women from night work in those industries which are principally dependent upon exports.
IV.
Impact on the Competitive Position of Hongkong Industry
Hongkong has succeeded in transforming itself from a commercial into an industrial center in a brief period of a little more than a decade, and has in the process grown and prospered beyond all hope and prediction. This phenomenal success may largely be attributed to the fulfilment of two fundamental conditions, viz:-
(1) That the products of Hongkong industry, which are almost all destined for export to bring in earnings to meet the demand for vast outlays in public and private sectors, must excel in quality and be competitive in price on world markets, and
(2) That the elements essential to the creation of a favourable climate for domestic and foreign investment, of which one of the most basic is the adoption of labour legislation at once sane, workable and suited to local conditions, must be kept intact and unimpaired.
In this context it would seem that the continuance of. the policy of forbidding women to work at night is, at least for certain specific industries, conducive neither to the production of goods of superior quality at competitive price nor to the improvement of climate for capital investment.
Take the case of the cotton spinning industry as an illustration. It is a proven fact that women have a special aptitude for the type of work as is associated with spinning, especially at the stage of winding that involves nimble and speedy handwork in tying up broken ends of yarns. Performance in this respect by male workers is generally unsatisfactory, and as a result the yarn produced by night shifts often turns out to be defective and forms a prolific source of complaint. Moreover men's reluctance to stay long on the night job, which is understandable
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