SS
Economic and Social Conditions
The British and Hong Kong Governments like to refer to the Colony's prosperity. Average income, it is claimed, is second only to Japan in the Far East. References are frequently made also to rises in the standard of living. Many observations could be made about these claims.
First, in a society with very poor social services, income is not necessarily an ac- curate guide to the standard of living. It would be difficult to argue that a worker in Hong Kong has a higher standard of living than, for example, a worker in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, even though example, a work in to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, even though the former's cash income might be greater (by the artificial measurement of converting it into another capitalist currency; this method also avoids comparison by the cost of living).
Secondly, Hong Kong probably has grosser inequalities of wealth than any society in the world. Since the upper incomes are so enormous, flat averages have even less meaning here than they usually do.
Thirdly, scrutiny of the Government's methods in compiling general statistics indicates that, at best, little attention is paid to the very poor in the Colony. 62
But the main criticism to be made is much more sweeping than the three points above. It is that Hong Kong is a rich territory which compiles a huge budget sur- plus each year, and yet stolidly refuses to spend this surplus to assist the local popu- lation. A report published in 1967 by a Government committee noted that at that time "developments in the field of social security . . . are conspicuous by their absence". Later on the report observed that: "A glance round south-east Asia and the far east will show that Hong Kong is conspicuous for its lack of progress in this direction" 63
In fiscal 1969-70 (a period of rapid expansion), actual government expenditure on selected items was as follows (in HK$):
Police Force
All forms of defence
Prisons
Social Welfare Dept.
160,247,697
87,925,483
20,869,303
19,204,686
The surplus for the same period was HK$618,670,000. Most of this surplus was sent to London to prop up the pound (see next section).
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The effects of such a budgetary policy are visible to anyone who visits Hong Kong, most noticeably in housing (see Box on facing page). In 1971 the Mongkok area of the Colony had a density of 400 612 people per square mile more than ten times the population density of Tokyo. There are at least half a million squatters living in appalling conditions. Another 12 million live in tenements, in many of which conditions may be even worse than they are for squatters. In December 1971, 50 people were found to be living in one flat 15 by 35 feet — i.e. with
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