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ALINE K. WONG
the changing urban conditions in Hong Kong and in response to altered Government policies. Much of the earlier efforts of the Kaifongs were directed toward charity and relief and toward general cultural-recreational activities. In recent years, many Kaifongs have changed their attention in two directions: firstly, from passive welfare work to active community development; secondly, from information transmission to more active promotion of government policies. The trends in the development of different types of Kaifong activities since 1949 show that while the traditional welfare work of the Kaifongs (including the giving of regular and emergency relief, medical services, free education, free burial and funeral services) has remained static or even has begun to decline, the organization of women and youth in both recreational and educational activities, and the organization of community campaigns, etc. have developed rapidly since the early 1960s. Furthermore, the rapidly increasing volume of Kaifong petitions to the Government in the past seven years or so also points to the growing significance of the Kaifongs' political function.
In general, these changes in Kaifong functions can be attributed to two related causes: a) the financial difficulties of the Kaifongs, and b) the influence of Government policy. As community organisations the Kaifongs do not obtain any financial support from the government. In the early days, most of the Kaifongs derived their income from membership subscriptions and from private donations from their leaders and others. These form the two main sources for their income. Emergency operations such as relief after floods and fires were mostly financed by special fund-raising drives. While membership subscriptions are a constant source of income, private donations are not a dependable source. And as Kaifong membership grows, and as the demands for welfare services rise with the increase in urban population, the task of running the associations becomes more and more complicated. Structurally speaking, the Kaifongs become more complex and functionally more diverse. But as the Kaifongs have always operated on small or medium-sized budgets, the large part of which are devoted to meeting regular running and depreciation costs, what is left is only enough for small operations of various sorts. On the other hand, the Kaifong leaders are only amateurs in organizational management, besides