M 99
17.-CEMETERIES, MORTUARIES, CREMATORIA.
The following cemeteries were opened during the year:-
New Kowloon Cemetery No. 2 (for the Little Sisters of the Poor).
New Kowloon Cemetery No. 3, Cheung Sha Wan.
The western portion of the Sham Wan Cemetery was closed during the year.
Appendix N shows the approximate burial space in the main cemeteries and the net available space on 31st December 1928.
Appendix O (i) shows the number of interments at the various cemeteries during the year 1928.
Appendix O (ii) shows the number of general exhumations carried out at the Public expense, and Appendix O (iii) shows the number of exhumations carried out by relatives of the deceased.
Appendix O (iv) gives particulars of cremations, bodies deposited in the Tung Wah Hospital Mortuary, and removals from the Colony before burial.
18.-BIRTHS AND DEATHS REGISTRATION.
The General Registration Office established by Ordinance No. 7 of 1896, as amended by Ordinance No. 26 of 1923, for registration of both births and deaths is situated at the Sanitary Department Head Office, Post Office Building.
At this office all non-Chinese births and deaths must be registered. Chinese are required to register in the district within which the birth or death occurred. A list of such district registries for births and deaths respectively is appended. Yaumati Nos. 2 and 7 Police Stations are available for registration of deaths on Sundays and Public Holidays only, when the General Registration Office is closed. The Head of the Sanitary Department is ex officio Registrar and has appointed the Police officers in charge of stations, the Inspector in charge of Kowloon Disinfecting Station and the principal clerks in charge of Dispensaries on the appended list as assistant registrars.
Death registration, being a necessary preliminary to burial, is almost universal but there is considerable ignorance of the law among Chinese as regards registering of births. As a proof of this it may be pointed out that the records of registered midwives show a total of 10,940 births, whereas only 9,309 births were actually registered during the year. Female births in particular are frequently not registered. This is no doubt due to the presence of a large fluctuating population wholly unaccustomed to the system.