SOCIAL WELFARE.
The re-establishment of the Hong Kong dollar and the consequent worthlessness of the yen presented the Military Administration in September, 1945, with a situation in which ninety per cent. of the population had no money and little immediate prospect of obtaining any. Amongst the emergency measures adopted to meet this situation was the allocation of $150,000 to provide free food for the destitute, and the inauguration of a large-scale public relief work programme whereby between thirty and forty thousand unskilled labourers were employed daily in clearing and cleaning the city streets.
The subsequent relief programme centred in a system of free rice distribution through kitchens in all areas of the Colony whereby about 25,000 destitute persons were fed each day. These figures were never substantially reduced through- out the period of the Military Administration, and in March it was estimated that some 22,000 persons were in receipt of this first-line relief. At the same time some 2,000 basic rations were being issued daily to the staffs and inmates of charitable institutions and orphanages. A further 3,000 per- sons were provided for from a depot organized by the Relief Department, where rice and army rations were issued to needy persons, either free or on partial repayment.
Centres were opened where destitutes, mostly non-Chinese, were accommodated and fed. The first of these was Rosary Hill, taken over from the International Red Cross and admin- istered by the British Red Cross. Subsequently four more centres were opened, where approximately 820 persons of all nationalities were provided for by representatives of the Salvation Army, British Red Cross, St. John Ambulance War Organisation and the Relief Section of the Military Adminis- tration. In these
In these centres a system of graded relief was introduced whereby the gradual independence of the inmates was stimulated and every possible assistance was afforded them in finding occupation and lodgings.
In February, 300 tons of used clothing were received from UNRRA and distributed over as wide a field as possible. Minor welfare organizations throughout the Colony were co- ordinated under the Bishop of Hong Kong and $30,000 was granted by the Administration to the Bishop's Social Welfare Council for distribution and for case work.
The Administration's relief obligations were not limited to the residents of the Colony at the time of the re-occupation. A constant stream of destitutes entered Hong Kong from Macao and China, and it is estimated that food, accommoda- tion or clothing were provided for some 10,000 persons in this category. In addition, temporary relief was extended to 2,300 UNRRA-sponsored repatriates bound from Australia, Manila and elsewhere for the interior of China. In January,