1
His Excellency
His Britannic Majesty's
Ambassador in China,
Chungking,
China.
send
77
The humble petition of Lau Wing Shum
and others, now residing in Kukong, China.
Respectfully showeth:
1.
That Your Petitioners, the undersigned, who are Chinese Civil Servants of the former Government of Hong Kong now resident in Kukong, have the honour to submit this humble petition with the request that it be forwarded, with such recommendations as Your Excellency may think fit to make, to the Right Honourable the Secre- tary of State for the Colonies for his favourable consideration.
2. That Your Petitioners beg to take this opportunity of expressing their sincere thanks to His Majesty's Government for the generous relief recently extended to them at either Kukong or Kweilin. At the same time they desire to point out with great deference that such relief is of but a temporary nature and will, in the majority of cases, enable Your Petitioners to maintain their live- lihood for only a few months. Under these circumstances they find no other alternative than to appeal for further financial aid to be afforded to them as early as possible.
3. That Your Petitioners therefore beg to submit the following four points for the consideration of His Majesty's Government.
I. That a monthly maintenance allowance proportionate to the scale of salaries prevailing on the 25th of December, 1941, may be granted to all officers concerned for the duration of the war of or until such time as the British Government is able to resume its functions in the colony of Hong Kong.
II. That the Hong Kong Pensions Ordinance and the Regulations made thereunder may be considered applicable to the present circugs- tancesunder which the services of the officers concerned have been
dispensed with, so that pensions and/or gratuities may be granted in accordance with the provisions laid down therein.
III.
That Your Petitioners are anxious to be notified of the Government's intentions as to the disposal of their contributions towards the Widows and Orphans Pensions Scheme.
IV.
That all the securities in cash deposited with the Government may now be released and refunded to all the officers concerned on substantiation of their claims.
4. That in support of the above submissions Your Petitioners beg to set forth the following facts:-
(a) That owing to the outbreak of hostilities in Hong Kong they have suffered heavy and irreparable losses and have since