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to marry at an earlier age than used to be the case
before the war.
which
s no doubt increases the deterrent
effect of the stipulation that an Educational officer
in Hong Kong must remain unmarried for the first four years
of his service. (In this connection I have to inform you
that I have recently had under consideration a similar
stipulation in connection with appointments in the Educa-
tion Department in the Straits Settlements and the
Federated Malay States. After careful consideration I have
decided that I am not prepared to impose an absolute bar
on marriage after an officer's appointment to the Service,
as I regard such a condition as contrary to public policy
in the case of a male officer. In conformity with this
decision, while I have no objection in principle to restric-
ting recruitment to unmarried candidates, I cannot see my
way to do more than to warn any candidate who may be contem-
plating marriage that he would be ill advised to marry during
his first tour of service, unless he has private means.)
(5) General ignorance in regard to Hong Kong itself, the con-
ditions of life there etc., combined with a sense of the
remoteness of the Colony and of the prolonged absence from
home