94
To carry out this method satisfactorily required a sufficient number of enumerators to enable the city and other parts of the Colony to be divided up into sections or blocks which an enumerator could cover in a few hours. In 1911 an enumerator in the City of Victoria obtained the particulars in respect of 1,880 persons and in 1921 of 1,730 persons. In 1921 in Kowloon Peninsula the figure was 1,714 persons. These figures are very much larger than the corresponding figures elsewhere. In Malaya, for example, the following table gives the number of persons enumerated per enumerator in towns of over 30,000 inhabitants :—
Singapore
Penang
Malacca
Ipoh
Kuala Lumpur
1911
1921
558
597
555
609
529
619
571
419
819
609
Throughout Ceylon in 1921 one enumerator on an average obtained the parti- culars in respect of 290 persons only.
From these figures it is clear that previous censuses have been carried out in Hong Kong with roughly one-third of the number of enumerators which other Colonies would require for similar numbers, and it is not surprising, therefore, that Hong Kong's expenditure on Censuses has in the past been much less than else- where, but on this occasion shows an increase.
In dividing up the City of Victoria, the Kowloon Peninsula and other parts of the Colony into enumeration blocks or sections, the aim was that no block should contain more than 600 persons to be enumerated by one enumerator. This work was very ably done during the month of January by Senior Sanitary Inspector James Reid who was kindly lent for this duty by the Head of the Sanitary Depart- ment. The urban area from Kennedy Town to Shaukiwan was divided up into 745 enumeration blocks, the South of the Island into 16 areas, and Kowloon Peninsula into 430 blocks. One enumerator was appointed to each block and а Chief Enumerator or Supervisor was appointed on an average to every 35 blocks in Hong Kong and 45 blocks in Kowloon. Similarly, in the New Territories, where the work of supervision was done by the Police, there were 191 enumerators' areas in the Northern District and 81 in the Southern District.
No difficulties were experienced in recruiting the considerable number of enumerators and chief enumerators required. The chief enumerators were all per- manent Government servants; out of the 31 employed in Hong Kong and Kowloon, 23 were Sanitary Inspectors who were chosen on account of their intimate knowledge of the city, 5 were Public Works Department Overseers, and the remaining 3, from other departments, had commenced their service as Sanitary Inspectors. These Chief Enumerators, an innovation on this occasion, proved a most important connecting link between the Superintendent and the Enumerators. Of the Eumerators ap- pointed for Hong Kong and Kowloon, nearly 1,200 in number, about 350 were permanent Government servants. An invitation was issued to all Government ser- vants to volunteer for this work but the response, except from European Officers, was somewhat disappointing. A large number of European Officers volunteered and it was impossible to employ more than a small number of them. They set a fine example to other officers. Many more Chinese Government employees-clerks, school- masters, surveyors, draughtsmen and foremen-could have been usefully employed, as the permanent officer proved in most cases to be more conscientious and careful than the temporary enumerator engaged for the short period only. Many of these temporary men, however, did exceedingly well; they ranged from University undergraduates to office boys and liftmen and, with the help of the Chief Enumera- tors, they performed their duties most satisfactorily even although the period of instruction was much too short. In all cases the enumerators were appointed to blocks as near to their homes as possible; in many cases they enumerated the build- ing in which they themselves lived.