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(d) The existing mui-tsai, whose numbers constantly fluctuate owing to the arrival of new families from China or the departure of Hong Kong families to China, are so numerous that it would be quite impossible to deal with them if they were taken away from their employers.
(e) To enforce drastic measures against the legal sense of the Chinese community would be to invite obstruction in a matter in which obstruction would be peculiarly easy and from a class peculiarly skilled in obstruction.
11. I have given instructions that all cases in which a mui-tsai is concerned and particularly any case of cruelty to a mui-tsai, shall be brought at once to the notice of the Colonial Secretary, in order that I may make personal inquiry into such cases. I shall explore further the proposal that there should be instituted in this Colony an organization similar to the Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Children in England and that in this connection female inspectors, appointed by the Hong Kong Government, might be employed. For the rest I am quite certain that it would be useless, and even detrimental to the cause in view, to attempt to advance ahead of public opinion in China itself, and I do not doubt that the spirit of reform, now wide-spread in China, will before very long address itself practically (and not merely on paper) to the modification of the mui-tsai system. Its disappearance is not, however, to be expected until there is a considerable improvement in economic conditions in China and a less reckless procreation of children among the poorest classes of the Chinese people.
Chinese characters for names in this despatch and its enclosures are given on a separate sheet.*
I have, etc.,
C. CLEMENTI,
Governor, etc.
*Not printed.
Extract from the
Enclosure 1 in No.
South China Morning Post," dated 11th April, 1927.
THE MUI-TSAI EVIL.
Resuscitation of Local Society.
Committee Formed.
After a considerable lapse of time, the Anti-Muit sai Society, formed several years ago for the purpose of combating some of the evils of the Chinese domestic service system in Hong Kong, held another general meeting at the Chinese Y.M.C.A. headquarters at Bridges Street on Saturday afternoon. The rainy weather kept many from attending, but there were a sufficient number of the thousand-odd members present for the purpose of carrying through some pressing matters.
A review of conditions since the local Ordinance came into force was given by the Chairman, who expressed dissatisfaction that much of its desired effectiveness had been lost through the apathy of those concerned, and he proposed a large committee of 37 with ample powers to go again into the subject and carry on with the actual work of the Society.
Dr. Yuen Shiu-chuen presided over the meeting, and supporting him were Mr. Ngan Kwan-yue (Hon. Chinese Secretary); Mr. C. G. Anderson (Hon. English Secretary); Mr. Lam Woo (Hon. Treasurer); Mrs. Ma Ying-piu, a well-known local Christian worker; Mr. Mak Mui-sang; Mr. Hung To-fei, Mr. Wong Kam-ying, etc. The Chairman in his opening address, after retracing the history of the movement, said that an annual meeting should have been called according to the original regula- tions, but the period through which they had been passing was exceptional, and many of the thousand-odd members of the Society had left Hong Kong, and in other ways made the work of the Hon. Secretaries difficult in keeping touch. How- ever, it was felt that if the movement was not to peter out, for want of popular attention to an evil which still existed in their midst, it was necessary to call another meeting.
Investigation.
Those members who were now present would be asked to elect a large and repre- scntative general committee of no fewer than 37, who would further investigate local conditions and maintain the desired contact with responsible Government officials.
The Chairman pointed to the "go-ahead" action of the Canton Government, which, as they all knew, had promulgated a law for the entire suppression of the mui-tsai form of domestic service, and had gone further than the Hong Kong Ordinance by striking at the very root of the evil. They were reminded that the evil still existed in Hong Kong, despite the Ordinance, by the cases which from time to time came up before the local courts. In one of these they had the glaring instance of a Chinese woman, a well-known member of society, being prosecuted for ill- treating her mui-tsai.
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