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Chapter 6.
PRODUCTION.
The main primary product of Hong Kong is fish. Agri- culture is limited by reason of the rugged and mountainous terrain and mineral resources are believed not to be great. Local industry includes shipbuilding, ship repairing, engineer- ing and a wide range of light industries, the main products of which are textiles, rubber goods, buttons, leather goods, cigarettes, matches, preserved ginger and confectionery, tinned goods, glass ware and paint. The majority of Hong Kong's working population is engaged in occupations connected with commerce rather than production but enterprise and capital are not lacking when an economic demand arises which can be satisfied by the expansion of local industry. The cost of all Hong Kong's products, both primary and industrial, has risen considerably as a result of the high post-war cost of living; the effect of this development cannot yet be assessed. FISHERIES.
Major reorganisation of the fishing industry in Hong Kong which had suffered very heavy casualties at the hands of the Japanese was undertaken at the end of the war against Japan.
During the period immediately following the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong at the end of 1941 the fishing industry came almost to a standstill. Few fishing junks put to sea, as the junk masters were unable to obtain enough rice to feed their crews, and in consequence many of the larger vessels left Hong Kong for the duration of the war. Others gave up fishing and took to conveying merchandise and rice but many of these were sunk during hostilities.
Effects of the War.
At the end of the war in the Pacific in August, 1945, the fishing fleet was in very poor condition. Few junks were sea-worthy and nearly all gear needed a complete overhaul. The fisherman and his family were dressed in rags and half- starved; their only money was worthless Japanese Yen; and the export trade, the mainstay of the industry, was at a standstill. A survey carried out in September, 1945, showed that in the village of Aberdeen alone there were more than 1,500 fisherfolk without boats and without means of liveli- hood. In other fishing centres the death rate from starvation had been very high indeed. This survey showed that there were 26,257 fisherfolk as compared with 77,451 in 1938. A survey of all the fishing vessels in the four main fishing villages of the Colony yielded a total of 2,424 vessels. These surveys were made possible because the Government provided a rehabilitation loan of $100,000 to the fisherfolk; this sum was lent at the rate of $4.00 per head, irrespective of age