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Chinese community. It had the full support of the Government. It does not interfere in any way with genuine Chinese religion. The objects of the legislation are three-fold:—
(a) It endeavours to prevent the exploitation of the ignorant by pseudo-religious and fraudulent charlatans who have greatly increased in number in recent years.
(b) It recovers for the benefit of the community the control over the funds of public temples which had been slipping into private hands.
(c) It prevents for the future the establishment of temples by private individuals as purely business speculations.
There are certain private temples, originally established by private individuals or particular families, which are managed honestly and unobjectionably, though of course the profits go to the private owners. All the known temples of this kind were included in a Schedule of exempted temples. One of them was the Tin Hau Temple, which was established 180 years ago by the Tai family. The main operative provisions of the Ordinance are as follows:-
(a) All Chinese temples have to be registered, and on registration, particulars have to be given of the funds of the temple and the application of its revenues.
(b) The properties and revenues of all Chinese temples, except those of the exempted temples, are placed under the control of a very strong Chinese committee, known as the Chinese Temples Committee, presided over by the Secretary for Chinese Affairs.
(c) To make this control effective, provision is made for vesting temples and temple properties, if necessary, in the new corporation sole created by Ordinance No. 3 of 1928, which has been referred to above.
(d) The revenues of all Chinese temples, except the exempted temples, are to be applied in the first instance to the maintenance of the temple properties and the due observance of the customary ceremonies, and any surplus may be transferred to a fund established by this Ordinance and known as the General Chinese Charities Fund, which may be applied to the purposes of any Chinese charity in the Colony. The fund is under the control of the Chinese Temples Committee.
Control of this kind and with these objects had been tried already and tried successfully, though not with the same machinery. One instance was that of the Man Mo Temple which was regulated by
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Chinese community. It had the full support of the Government. It does not interfere in any way with genuine Chinese religion. The objects of the legislation are three-fold:—
(a) It endeavours to prevent the exploitation of the ignorant by pseudo-religious and fraudulent charlatans who have greatly increased in number in recent years.
(b) It recovers for the benefit of the community the control over the funds of public temples which had been slipping into private hands.
(c) It prevents for the future the establishment of temples. by private individuals as purely business speculations.
There are certain private temples, originally established by private individuals or particular families, which are managed honestly and unobjectionably, though of course the profits go to the private owners. All the known temples of this kind were included in a Schedule of exempted temples. One of them was the Tin Hau Temple, which was established 180 years ago by the Tai family. The main operative provisions of the Ordinance are as follows:-
(a) All Chinese temples have to be registered, and on re- gistration, particulars have to be given of the funds of the temple and the application of its revenues.
(b) The properties and revenues of all Chinese temples, except those of the exempted temples, are placed under the control of a very strong Chinese committee, known as the Chinese Temples Committee, presided over by the Secretary for Chinese Affairs.
(c) To make this control effective, provision is made for vesting temples and temple properties, if necessary, in the new corporation sole created by Ordinance No. 3 of 1928, which has been referred to above.
(d) The revenues of all Chinese temples, except the exempted temples, are to be applied in the first instance to the maintenance of the temple properties and the due obser- vance of the customary ceremonies, and any surplus may be transferred to a fund established by this Ordinance and known as the General Chinese Charities Fund, which may be applied to the purposes of any Chinese charity in the Colony. The fund is under the control of the Chinese Temples Committee.
Control of this kind and with these objects had been tried already and tried successfully, though not with the same machinery. One instance was that of the Man Mo Temple which was regulated by
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