HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1952
Except in the New Territories, buildings in the Colony are controlled by the provisions of the Buildings Ordinance. This was first enacted in 1903, and later revised in 1935. The work of redrafting this ordinance is now nearing completion.
Social Welfare
Before the war, social welfare work in Hong Kong was largely in the hands of voluntary associations and the Colony has always been fortunate in the number of organizations which have interested themselves in practical and constructive work in this field. The setting up, in 1947, of the Social Welfare Office of the Hong Kong Government did not create a ponderous official organization for the control of the voluntary associations which have served the Colony so well; on the contrary, as the link between Government and the voluntary organizations, this office serves to assist each to continue to play its full part in its particular sphere and to encourage all to achieve the necessary co-ordination by means of consultation and constant liaison.
During 1952 there was considerable expansion in the work undertaken by voluntary agencies as well as in official welfare work by the Social Welfare Office. Economic conditions deteriorated and poverty became more extensive. This factor, together with effective restrictions on travel to and from China, has within the last few years brought the Colony social problems which have either never previously existed, or have hitherto been insignificant. In the past, free travel in and out of the Colony increased the population in times of prosperity and led to a drop as trade declined and work became difficult to find. Today poverty is an insufficient reason to warrant return to the villages as in former
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