21
is that no new mui tsai shall be created
in,or imported into, Hong Kong, and that the
existing mai tsai who have all been registered
shall know that they are free to leave their
employers if they want to, and shall be paid
wages and properly treated.
In effect, the
in H. (Cong)
status of the registered mui tsai has had
taint
any suggestion of a servile tint removed, and
is now that of a free paid domestic worker.
2. In the circumstances, it seems
unnecessary to comment on the second paragraph
of your letter of 12th January. It is
sufficient to point out that since the enactment
of the Hong Kong Ordinance No. 1 of 1923,
it has quite definitely been illegal
for any employer to acquire a young girl
in Hong Kong as a mui tsai by making a
payment to her parents or guardians.
3. As regards the suggestion that
the registration of the existing mui tsai
has been defective because the number
registered is so much less than the figure of
10,000, which was an unofficial estimate
made