-3-
compensation, factory safety, paid holidays, severance pay and reduced hours of work. The legislation is backed up by a much
strengthened Inspectorate. Much remains to be done but much
has been achieved. The employment of children under 14 in industry has long been a problem and last November a large scale programme began to provide every child under 14 with an identity card complete with photograph. When that is complete, I hope we willbe able to say that that is one social problem of Hong Kong that has been solved. [Two key pieces of legislation have been
enacted this year:
(a) Protection of workers against acts of anti-union
discrimination;
(b) Severance pay for workers who become redundant or
are discharged through no fault of their own.
The average industrial daily wage of about £2 a day inHong Kong compares, for example,with 200 million people in India with a monthly wage of less than £2. But Hong Kong has also had its inflationary problems. The retail price index increased by 15 per cent in the year ending June 1974 and with wages relatively static, there has been a decline in real wages. Employment, however, has continued at a high level although there has been
some decline in employment over the past twelve months - a reduction of about 28,600 jobs in industry.
ILO Conventions
9.
There has also been interest in Hong Kong's adherence to ILO
Conventions. As at 1 June 1974, twenty Conventions had been declared fully applied to Hong Kong and ten had been declared applied with some modification. For purposes of comparison with ILO Member States in the area, thirty-one Conventions had been ratified by Japan, eighteen by the Philippines, eight by Malaysia, eight by Indonesia, and twenty-one by Singapore.
Crime is a major factor u. It Hong Kourys
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The 1,500 Mutual Aid Committees set up by the Hong Kong Government are an important element infighting the wave of vident
/crime