The Morning Post
27TH YEAR.
HONGKONG
Nu, 6,630
Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first- fruits of all thine increase. Prov.
EDNESDAY, February 6, d29.
The Mui Tsai Problem.
Hongkong is on the pillory again for its tolerance of the mui tsai evil, and there is again scope for conventional indigna- tion.
we are
in
We regret, however, that, far from being reassured by the official defence set up in the House of Commons, embarrassed by its pathetic weakness. It is suggested that the large influx of Chinese families from the mainland may have included a considerable number of mui tsai! It is to laugh. The plain and reproach- ful fact is that the Ordinance of 1923 which, after the agitation of that period, was to check the practice of buying girls as slaves, has remained a dead letter. Part 1 of that Ordinance is devoted to the removal of the erroneous impression "that the payment of money to the parent or guardian or employer of a female child....may confer certain rights of property the child." Part 2 says that no person "shall hereafter take into his employment any mui tsai," nor "any female domestic servant under the age of ten years." Part 3 provides for re- gistration of mui tsai if the Government thinks fit. Part 4 provides penalties, etc. The Ordinance went into force when it was passed, but the require- ment to register mui tsai has never been proclaimed, nor has the purchase of mui tsai ceased. Mr. Amery, in reply to the of the House questions in Commons, said that there was no reason to believe that the authorities of Hongkong were not carefully watching any case of ill-treatment or any case i where a girl wished to leave the she was family with which living and live by herself. That is true, as far as it goes, but it does not go very far. Without registration, the mui tsai are unknown to Govern- ment; therefore Government can only deal with such cases of ill-treatment as are brought to its notice-naturally very few. The freedom enjoyed by mui! tsai is as doubtful as the protection. If a mui tsai anyone who shel-
runs away,
"
are
ters her is liable to be ar- rested and charged with har- bouring. Usually she is caught and sent to the Po Leung Kuk, the local "home.' Sometimes she is sent back to her owners, and sometimes to her parents, who, however, must refund the money they received for her. Not infrequently, if they are old enough, recalcitrant mui tsai are sold to brothels. "Obvious- ly," says Mr. Amery, "nothing could be more cruel than to drive these girls from the families with which thev living." That is perhaps obvious in London; it is not so clearly proved in Hongkong. It must be confessed at once that despite reform efforts the problem remains difficult and that the position of the Hong- kong Government is unenviable. This is a Chinese system, and the Chinese resist its abolition. Moreover, the policy of the British Government all over the world. has been to interfere as little as possible with native institutions. It can be argued that it is impossible to distin- guish between mui tsai and adopted children, that if these children were not mui tsai they would be strays, that many of them are happier in service than they were at home, and that if they were all released from bondage the Government would not know what to do with them. These arguments, reminiscent of the old American slave controversy, are, however, out of date. The Government, in the passing of the 1923 Ordinance, pledged itself to abolish the system gradually, and it has not honoured its pledge. Had it merely failed, its position would have been embarrassing enough, but it has not seriously tried. Even to-day, five years after the enactment of the Ordinance, it is still possible for the purchaser of a mui tsai (described, of course, as an adopted daughter), who may. run away, to go to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs, complain of having been cheated and receive assistance in re- covery of the purchase price, or otherwise. Even to-day, also, girls being sold into prostitution have Government "protection." For its prestige, if it could not abolish the system, the Govern- ment should at least have avoid- ed any seeming encouragement and perpetuation of it. After the last uproar it is remarkable that the Government should have left itself open to further attacks. Whether these girls are slaves or adopted children, whether ill-treated or well-treat- ed, the Government's duty is to protect them fully, and registration is the necessary first step. Better that the Ordinance, excepting Part 2, should be scrapped than that the Government should close its eyes and pretend no evil exists. If the system is a bad one it should be completely abolished
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