HISTORY
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Over the years, a comprehensive system of labour legislation has been built up for the protection of wages, rest days, statutory holidays, paid annual leave, maternity leave, sickness allowance, severance payment, end-of-year payment, long service payment, employees' compensation, industrial safety and occupational health. Continuous progress has been made in this respect with four items of new or amendment labour legislation having been enacted in the 1988-9 Legislative Council Session. A statutory Occupational Safety and Health Council has also been established to promote higher standards of safety and health for people at work in Hong Kong.
Public Records Office
Set up in 1972 as the central repository for official records, the Public Records Office is now one of the largest local sources of information for historical and other studies relating to Hong Kong. The office currently manages 11 000 linear metres of official records, about 4 000 photographs dating from the 1860s and an extensive collection of maps, local newspapers and official publications. The map collection has been further expanded during the year by the addition of 60 maps and plans of various historic sites in Hong Kong. Another significant addition is the private papers of Sir Cecil Clementi, Governor of Hong Kong from 1925 to 1930.
The Public Records Office provides a records management service to government departments and makes material available for reference and research to both local Fand overseas scholars, journalists, students, members of the public and staff of other
government departments.
Records of permanent value are held at the head office in Central District and at one of the two sub-offices at Wong Chuk Hang Road, Aberdeen. Non-current records, many of which will eventually be destroyed, are stored in the second sub-office.
The increasing awareness of Hong Kong internationally has resulted in further growth over the past year in the number of reference enquiries received by the office, and in the number of individuals conducting research on source materials held. In addition to the publication of a number of books based on these materials, records have been used in the production of television documentaries, films, exhibitions and articles for various newspapers and periodicals.
Owing to extensive loss and destruction of official records during the Japanese occupation, the bulk of the office's holdings dates from the resumption of British administration in 1945. The loss occasioned by the war has, however, been redeemed to some extent by the acquisition of microfilm copies of certain pre-war British government records relating to Hong Kong. The most significant of these are the despatches exchanged by the Governors of Hong Kong with London from 1842 to the end of 1952.
Public access to library materials, including the newspaper, map and photograph collections, is unrestricted, but formal approval is required for access to official records. In 1989, 350 applications for access to official records were received, and all of them were approved. Photocopying, microfilming and reading room facilities are available.
Archaeological Background
Archaeological studies in Hong Kong, which began in the 1920s, have uncovered ancient artefacts and other evidence of human activity at numerous sites along the winding shoreline, testifying to events which span more than 6 000 years. The interpretation of these events is still a matter of controversy. Archaeologically, Hong Kong is but a tiny part of