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been living a miserable life. There have been cases where members of the Service and their families have died from starvation or of The diseases due to lack of nourishment under the stress of War. majority of them remained unemployed for months and had to live on their meagre savings or loans from friends and relatives and the proceeds of sale of their belongings. They experienced great difficulties in raising money to make temporary provisions for the upkeep of their families remaining in Hong Kong and to meet travel- ling expenses to Kukong. The journey costs about $1,000 Chinese National Currency, equivalent to about HK$300 (the exchange rates for Chinese National currency in Hong Kong being much higher than those operating in the hinterland) per head and is most trying and dangerous. It takes over 15 days to travel from Hong Kong to Kukong.
(b) That most of Your Petitioners have families and dependents to support and cannot bear to leave them destitute in Hong Kong, hence the necessity for their evacuation which is exceedingly ex- pensive.
(c) That the cost of living in Kukong which is exorbitantly high, is continually keeping its upward trend. The rent problem is more difficult to solve due to the heavy influx of refugees from various war areas. In case of illness which is prevalent among their ramilies and themselves on account of the change of climate or of the poor sanitary conditions around the places in which they live, they have to bear extraordinarily heavy expenses for medical treatment. With all these burdens imposed on them they find them- selves absolutely helpless in a dilemma.
(a) That since they are entirely strange to this locality and lack business experience, they are unable to find any employment or to engage in business in spite of repeated attempts having been made.
(•)
That with regard to the termination of their services Your Petitioners further desire to state that when they first learned that they would get their back pay from the Relief Bureau in Kukong, they did not have the least idea that their services were going to be terminated after such payment. Many of them were given the im- Your pression that they would be offered employment upon arrival. Petitioners are most anxious to continue serving His Majesty's Government, but under the existing circumstances they fully appre-
ciate the practical difficulties in finding them suitable employment.
5. That it is therefore hoped that His Majesty's Government will do everything possible to ensure that Your Petitioners, who have been serving faithfully and conscientiously for such a long period, will not be left helpless in these hard and critical times. In view of the urgency of their appeal perhaps it is not too much for Your Petitioners to request that whatever relief measures His Majesty's Government may be pleased to adopt, be put into effect with the least possible delay.
Your Petitioners shall be ever grateful and as in duty bound will ever pray, etc., etc.