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4. Both the owner and the mui-tsai must be present at the registration, and it should be the duty of the official in charge clearly to explain to the owner that hereafter the girl must be treated as an ordinary hired servant and to the girl her rights and future status in the household.
5. Wages must be fixed for the mui-tsai as follows: From 12 to 14 years old, 50 cents a month; from 15 to 17, $1 a month. All mui-tsai who have attained the age of 18 must report the fact to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs and have their registra- tion cancelled. They can then either make mutual arrangement with the owners to continue in their employment as free agents or seek employment elsewhere.
6. If a mui-tsai is leaving the Colony, or when she attains full age and freedom, the owner together with the nui-tsai must report the facts of the case to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs. In the event of marriage, the mui-tsai should be required to signify her willingness to such marriage to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs.
7. Any mui-tsai passing through the Colony, or staying temporarily in the Colony, whose residence here exceeds the period of two weeks must report, accompanied by the owner, to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs and obtain a certificate of identity. Mui-tsai who stay in Hong Kong for a period exceeding one month and who are under 18 years of age must be given into the charge of the Po Leung Kuk and dealt with in the same way as stipulated in clause 8.
8. All mui-tsai who have been ill-treated or who have not been registered or whose temporary stay in the colony has exceeded the prescribed period must be given their freedom, if they have attained the age of 18. Those who are under 18 must be en- trusted to the Po Leung Kuk which will advertise in the newspaper for the parents, if they are alive, otherwise the nearest kith and kin, to come and claim then. The Po Leung Kuk should execute this duty free for the mui-tsai's parents and nearest kith and kin.
Registration regulation for Adopted Daughters.
1. Parents of all adopted daughters in the Colony must register the name of the latter within six months after the promulgation of the law.
2. At the time of registration all deeds of adoption or deeds of gift must be sur- rendered to, and cancelled by, the Secretary for Chinese Affairs who, if satisfied, will in turn issue a certificate confirming that the girl is an adopted daughter.
3. Two copies of a photograph of every adopted daughter must be supplied by her foster parents at the time of registration, one of which is to be filed with the Chinese Secretariat and the other is to be affixed to the certificate issued by the Secretary for Chinese Affairs. And as an additional safeguard the adopted daughter will be required to place on the register as well as on the certificate her finger print. 4. The adopted daughter must be present during the registration and it should be the duty of the official in charge clearly to explain the status of the child to the foster parents so that the girl cannot be ill-treated in any way.
5. The parents of the adopted girl should provide her with an education similar to that given to their own children.
6. A heavy fine must be imposed on those who employ an adopted daughter as a mui-tsai and imprisonment if they employ or sell her for prostitution.
Appendix.
The Government should strictly enforce the law prohibiting the sale and purchase of human beings. Hereafter all sale and purchase under documents purporting to be deeds of sale or deeds of gift will be regarded as an infringement of this Ordinance and is punishable by imprisonment. All persons who act as middle-men or go-betweens for the sale and purchase of human beings will also be liable to heavy penalties.
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No. 19.
Telegram from the Secretary of State for the Colonies to the Governor of Hong Kong.
(Sent 20th April, 1929.)
[Answered by No. 20.]
Your despatch of 22nd February.* Mui-tsai. I should be glad of further information as complete as possible on following points by despatch as soon as you can furnish it.
1. Apparently a primary difficulty is to obtain evidence that particular girls are mui-tsai and to bring home to them their right of personal freedom. A proclamation advertising their rights was issued in 1922. Have any similar proclamations been issued sub- sequently? If not, would it be practicable to issue them regularly or even have notices permanently displayed?
2. How far is any system of registration possible whether covering all mui-tsai in the Colony or excluding those not domiciled in the Colony.
4. What is the legal position under the Ordinance of mui-tsai acquired elsewhere and imported since date of enactment of Ordinance whether their employers accompany them or are already resident in the Colony.
5. Should addition to s. 4 of Ordinance be enacted so as to provide that no mui-tsai may be brought into Colony for service in that capacity.
6. Can you obtain, e.g. through His Majesty's Consul-General, a copy of the regulations alleged to have been promulgated in Canton abolishing the system and a report on the practical results if any.
7. If importation of fresh mui-tsai cannot be prevented, is it to be understood that you consider effective abolition of the system in Hong Kong must wait until that importation ceases. If not, how can the institution be brought to an end earlier.
8. It was alleged in a leading article in the Hong Kong Morning Post of 6th February, 1929, that the Secretary for Chinese Affairs assists in the recovery of the purchase price in cases of mui-tsai who have run away.
I shall be glad of your observations on this and other allegations in the same article.
9. It is constantly alleged that mui-tsai are a regular source of recruitment for prostitution. Can any further safeguards against this be introduced ?
* No. 18.