CO129-514-2 Mui Tsai system- suggested regulations and possible abolition 9-1-1929 - 16-5-1929 — Page 58

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4.What is the legal

position under the

Ordinance of muitsai

acquired elsewhere and imported since date of

of Ordinance enactment/whether their

employers accompany them or are already resident in the Colony?

5.Should addition to

Section 4 of the

Ordinance be enacted so

as to provide that no

muitsai may be brought

into the Colony for

service in that capacity?

usually satisfied with her situation,

and the child herself is usually

content with her position and quite

prepared to co-operate in any

deception necessary to avoid registration

(g) It would be very difficult to secure persons qualified to make the

necessary inquisition.

(Para 14.) The Governor is advised that

Sections 4 and 5 of the Ordinance

apply to acquisition within the Colony.

It is impossible to make acquisition

in China an offence. Sections 6 to 11

of the Ordinance apply to all muitsai

within the Colony, wherever and when-

ever acquired. If Part III of the

Ordinance were brought into force,

registration would be required of all

muitsai, whenever entering the Colony.

(Para 7)

The Governor fears that such a

condition, if made, would be completely

ineffective. It would be quite impossible to detect muitsai on arrival in the Colony, except by accident; and after arrival in the Colony the inquisition necessary for detection of a newly arrived muitsai would be as

difficult as in the case of those who

had been resident here for years.

Such a provision, if enacted, would

almost certainly be a dead letter.