53
Water.
Some anxiety was entertained in regard to the water supply during the year. The Water Authority succeeded in delivering sufficient water of excellent chemical and bacterio- logical purity to the community, but it was necessary in the early autumn to restrict the hours during which a service was maintained from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Food.
3
A
The Colony's food supply also presented problems. rudimentary form of rice rationing was set up shortly after the liberation and a ration of one catty (1 lbs.) per day was distributed. It soon became impossible to maintain this ration in view of the world shortage of rice and the ration was reduced towards the end of December, 1945, to 17 ozs. It was not possible to extend the rationing scheme to any other commodities at that time for the reason that no supplies were available. A new and stricter system of rationing was intro- duced in January, 1946, which made provision for extension as supplies became available.
Even with extensive local purchases (which were sold retail at a loss to the revenue of about 35 cents per catty), it was not possible to maintain the rice ration and on 16th February it was reduced to 8 ozs. the cut being partly offset by a flour ration of 6 ozs., later cut to 4 ozs. in April. By the end of January the rapid growth of the population was again outrunning supplies and it became necessary to restrict new registration for rations to those who had lived in Hong Kong for at least seven years before the war.
In May the ration was reduced again to 7 ozs. of rice and 2 ozs. of flour. By this time rations of 2 lbs. of sugar per person, four to five tins of sweetened condensed milk and 4 lbs. of peanut oil had been added. At the end of May, the rice ration was lowered to 5 ozs. and the flour increased to 4 ozs. Apart from minor and momentary fluctuations (e.g. army biscuits were issued in lieu of half the rice ration for a few days in July), these rations were maintained to the end of the year. The price of rationed rice at the end of the year was 25 cents per catty as compared with about 7 cents in 1937.
The introduction of flour in the ration instead of rice was not popular; flour is more expensive in time and fuel to pre- pare and is not considered by those whose staple diet is rice to be as satisfying. But whatever disadvantages may have attended the shortage of rice, the nutritional state of the community as a whole was better than it had ever been during the whole decade 1936-1945. Serious degrees of malnutrition were rare and several surveys carried out through different sections of the community at varying age levels showed that the proportion of patients in hospital with beri-beri was less than one-tenth of the pre-war level.
54