Though the Society has all the time continued with its work, some years have elapsed and the much- disapproved of system continues unhampered. What is most regret- table is that the number of mui tsai, who have personally come to the Society giving reports of cruelty shows an increase.
In addition, every month there are letters addressed to the So- ciety informing us of many cases of ill-treatment of this class of unfortunate souls. Most of these letters fail to give the names and addresses of the inconsiderate master and mistress, thus the So- ciety has not been able to take any effective steps.
Now we have all come to the realisation that if we do not peti- tion the Government to enforce registration of mui tsai, the sys- tem will most certainly continue. In other words if the Society fails in carrying out this movement, our work of the past six or seven
years can be said to have been ruined and nothing, in fact, will have been done."
The Chairman next referred in some detail to the statement, made in March, 1923, by the spokesman of the London Colonial Office, in answer to a question in the House of Commons declaring that he had indicated to the then Governor of Hongkong that he wished that the nui tsai system be regulated with- in a year's time.
The Pros, and Cons.
The chairman then stated that objections to the registration of mui tsai were principally as fol- low's :
(1) It was feared by some that the men sent to visit houses to carry out registration would extort money or receive bribes from the masters of the mui tsai, but care- ful consideration would convince them that this supposition was not logical. Certainly they could not dispense with the whole mat- ter simply because a few members of the police force might be found to "squeeze" money from Chinese street hawkers. He believed that if registration were enforced for 12 years, the mui tsai system would vanish altogether.
to
(2) Other objections were, that undesirable characters may pose as policemen and enter houses, or that the investigators may inter- fere with the peace of homes. He continued.-According private estimates, there are about 10,000 mui tsai in Hongkong, and according to the investigation of some six years ago, there were in Hongkong and on the mainland a total of 8,653 mui tsai, of whom 5,758 were under the age of 14.
If the Government should en- force registration, in six years' time the 6,000 or more mui tsai now about 14 or 15 years old will be at a mature age. The majority" of them can be married, whilst the rest can earn their own living as free housemaids.
Another good factor in the re- gistration system is that quite a number of the owners will be will- ing to hand over their mui tsai to the Government's public ward or similar places under the super- vision of the Government. Fur- thermore, most of the parents of the mui tsai will be willing to take their daughters back provided they have the consent of the owners.
Other good points of the regis- tration will be:
(1) To obtain the exact number of mui tsai.
(2) To prevent secret buying and selling of girls.
(3) To decrease the kidnapping evil.
(4) To enable us to enforce the Domestic Servants Ordinance of 1923 and make this law more effective.
We hope to abolish the whole mui tsar system in 12 years, by providing that registered mui tsai will be given full freedom on reaching the age of 18.
Now it is clear why registration should be enforced. It is under- stood that to put this into effect will involve considerable work and time, but, gentlemen, the reward of our work will be the freedom of the thousands of young girls who are now under bond. It is therefore proposed to petition the Government, and we hope this will have the support of you all.”
Proposed Petition.
The proposed petition to the Government, and the proposed draft regulations governing the registration of mui tsai, were then announced, as follows:
Registration Regulations (mui
tsai).
(1) After the announcement of the registration law all mui tsai six should be registered within months' time.
(2) The deeds providing for the bondage of the girls should be ten- dered to and destroyed by the Secretary for Chinese Affairs, who in turn should give the master or mistress another form, giving him or her rights over the mui tsai.
(3) Both the master and the mui tsai should personally attend at the registration office during the registration, when it should be explained to the master that in future he would have to treat the girls as ordinary servants. Mean- while, it would give the mui tsai the opportunity to understand her future position, and the treat-1
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