The Tung Wah Eastern hospital was opened by His Excellency Sir Cecil Clementi on the 27th November 1929, and since its official opening, radii blocks, by way of extension to the Hospital, have been added.
The Tung Wah Hospital Ordinance 1930 was passed on the 12th December of that year, and under this Ordinance the management of all the above mentioned three Hospitals is vested in the directors of the Tung Wah, the number of whom shall not be less than 18, and not more than 30, and at least 6 of whom shall be residents of Kowloon or New Kowloon. They are to be elected annually.
THE OBJECTS OF TUNG WAH
It may be mentioned that section 8 expressly provides that the election of directors shall be in accordance with the constitution of the hospital, and that in particular the rights and responsibilities of various societies and guilds in regard to the election shall remain unaffected. Section 4 sets out the objects of the Tung Wah, as follows:
(1) The maintenance of, chiefly as free hospitals, the Tung Wah itself, the Tung Wah Infectious Diseases Hospital, the Kwong Wah Hospital, and the Tung Wah Eastern Hospital.
(2) The management of the Yee Chong Mortuary and the Wing Pit Ting farewell pavilion (now including the Yat Pit Ting farewell pavilion).
(3) The management of the Man Mo Temple Fund.
(4) The payment of passages for Chinese destitutes and patients, the burial and reburial of Chinese, the collection and administration of funds for the relief of any special distress among the Chinese community of the Colony, and the promotion, execution, assistance or maintenance of any other charitable work among the Chinese community of the Colony.
(5) The promotion, execution, assistance or maintenance of any charitable work among Chinese outside the Colony which shall have been previously approved by the Secretary for Chinese Affairs.
CHAIRMAN - THE UNOFFICIAL MAYOR
Europeans in the Colony must have frequently heard of the Directors of the Tung Wah. In view of the responsibility of their work, and the honoured tradition of their office, they occupy a highly esteemed position in the Chinese community, and the Chairman for the time being may more or less be regarded as the unofficial mayor of the Chinese community. How are they elected? What is the procedure of the election? Well, the procedure is shortly as follows:
In the 8th moon of every year a notice is posted up outside the Hospital, and also in some public place near the old Fire Brigade Station, announcing the fact that the term of office of the directors would soon expire (i.e., the end of the year), and asking the Kai Fong to proceed to elect new representatives to serve. The language of the announcement, like so many other things connected with the Tung Wah, is strictly in accordance with precedent, and is couched in deprecatory terms as to the inability of the current directors to accomplish anything for the Hospital - however much such language may be at variance with the directors' achievements!