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special pass, Mr. Ng Choy need not carry a lantern, but if he does not do so, he is all the more likely to be stopped by the police.
It was humiliating for law-abiding Chinese to be placed in this position for, according to the letter writer, "there is no necessity for making the Chinese here generally exhibit these outward and visible signs that they belong to a dangerous and suspected class of the community, and I trust that Governor Hennessy will persist in his determination to introduce some modification in regard to this particular law."
There was grave doubt by some that the light and pass rule served any useful purpose. Its advocates regarded it as an effective measure to prevent crime. Opinion was divided and the law remained on the books for some twenty more years.
CHINESE CLOSE RANKS IN STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY
For all the discussion about "class legislation" in 1877 no change was made. The rumour that the regulation requiring Chinese to carry lights and passes at night was to be abolished was repudiated by Governor Hennessy. However, he instructed the police not to enforce the law too rigidly.
In 1895, under a new administration, there was a sudden campaign to strictly enforce the law. The Chinese alleged that the police acted with a heavy hand and that numerous law-abiding, respectable Chinese were treated in a humiliating manner, being herded together with all sorts of people and sometimes marched off to the police station in a crowd with their queues tied together.
Evidence indicates that Mr. Ho Tung, then aged about 33, might have been so treated. At any rate, he and Ho A-mei took the lead in protesting against the regulations.
Ho Tung had circulated a petition calling for their repeal. The issue was of such concern that an invitation went out to the whole Chinese community to attend a meeting at Tung Wah Hospital to discuss the matter and to support Ho Tung's petition. It was pre-arranged that Mr. Ho Tung should nominate Mr. Ho A-mei as