24
without any payment, unless the Secretary for Chinese Affairs sees some grave objection in the interests of the mui-tsai to such restoration. For instance, he might refuse permission to restore a girl to the custody of a mother who was living an immoral life.
13. Section 11 provides that every mui-tsai shall, as hitherto, have the right to apply to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs, and that upon any such application the Secretary for Chinese Affairs may make any order which he may think fit regarding the custody, control, employment and conditions of employment of the mui-tsai.
14. Part III of the bill will not come into operation until such date as may be fixed by proclamation of the Governor in Council. This is provided in section 17.
15. Section 12 gives a wide power of making regulations.
16. Section 13 deals with the question of registration.
17. Sub-section (2) of section 13 provides that every person who has a mui-tsai in his employment in the Colony at the date of the coming into operation of Part III must register such mui-tsai within six months after that date.
18. Sub-section (2) of section 13 provide: that every person who at any time has in his employment a mui-tsai brought into the Colony after the date of the coming into operation of Part III must register such mui-tsai within two weeks after her arrival in the Colony.
19. Sub-section (3) of section 13 will enable the Secretary for Chinese Affairs to make it impossible for an undesirable employer to continue to employ any particular mui-tsai as a mui-tsai.
20. Section 14 provides that no person is to have in his enolovment an unregistere 1 mui-tsai. This of course is subject to the period allowed for registration. It is also subject to the provisions of section 9, referred to above in paragraphs 10 and 11.
21. Section 15 provides that no one is to have in his employment any feinale domestic servant under the age of 10 years unless such servant is a registered mui-tsai. This is intended to prevent evasion, as in the case of section 5.
22. Section 16 provides that every mui-tsai of or, over the age of 10 years be entitled to such wages as shall be prescribed.
23. Section 18 is the usual penalty clause.
shill
24. Section 19 provides that no prosecution under the Ordinance is to be com- menced without the consent of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs.
25. In my opinion this is an Ordinance to which His Excellency the Governor may properly assent in the name of His Majesty and on His behalf.
แ
Enclosure 3 in No. 13.
J. H. KEMP,
Attorney-General.
Extracts from Report of Proceedings in Hong Kong Legislative Council.
(28th December, 1922.)
THE FEMALE DOMESTIC SERVICE ORDINANCE.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL: Sir, I beg to move the first reading of a Bill intituled, An Ordinance to regulate certain forms of female domestic service.' This Bill is introduced on the instructions of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and is an attempt to deal with the much-discussed mui-tsai question-a question perhaps more discussed than understood. I say that because I think it is only fair to admit at the outset that much of the criticism-though not all—of the custom of employing mui-tsai is confused, ignorant and unsympathetic.
:
25
I think that the confusion of mind is largely due to the use of the term "slavery for what is not slavery at all. Mui-tsai are not slaves: the control of the employers is not recognised in any way by law the girls are members of the family, though humble members of it; and Chinese custom recognises certain obligations of the employer towards the mui-tsai. It is impossible, of course, to argue this point now, and I have no desire to do so, but perhaps I may be allowed to give one illustration that came under my notice the other day. In a recent murder case at the Criminal Sessions one of the witnesses was a little girl of about 13; she was bright, intelligent, well-clothed, obviously well-fed, and she gave her evidence clearly and intelligently except that she very nearly broke down two or three times in speaking of her mother, the murdered woman. It was only nearly at the end of the case for the Crown that we discovered what none of the police or Court officials had known till then-that the girl was not the daughter of the murdered woman at all, but a mui-tsai. She had referred to the woman throughout as her mother." I think that class of incident would rather surprise some of the critics of the custom. It would also surprise them to know that our Chinese servants-at any rate in some cases-apply the term mui-tsai to some European members of our households who have important and honourable duties in connection with the upbringing of our children. The fact that Chinese apply the term to persons of that class shows that the word cannot have for them the connotation of "slavery," as so many critics of the system think.
CC
<
The criticism, too, I am afraid, has often been ignorant. One well-known society of repute which considered it had a duty to go into the question and advise H.M. Government, wrote a formal letter in the belief that there were boy as well as girl mui-tsai—a surprising mistake. Two other societies in addressing themselves formally to the question talked about declaring mui-tsai illegal, evidently ignorant of the fact that mui-tsai is the name of a person and not of a thing. Mistakes of that kind are perhaps only surface mistakes, but I am afraid they do show the existence of a certain type of mind uncritical and rather apt to jump to conclusions without sufficient evidence.
I think that what is more important perhaps than confusion of mind or ignorance of details is lack of sympathy with an alien civilisation. Chinese civilisation has an ancient and an honourable record, and I, for one, think that in some respects it is superior to our own. I do not say that the custom of employing mui-tsai is one of those points. The social structure of that civilisation is very different from ours, and to embark on the task of changing that social structure, even in one detail, is one that may well cause even the boldest legislators to pause. It is recognised, therefore, that we must go slowly and carefully, and we are anxious to avoid doing any violence to sentiments and customs with which perhaps we are not in entire accord.
The custom of employing mui-tsai has grown up in the course of long years of adjustment to social and economic conditions and we realise that we incur certain dangers in attempting to deal with that custom. There is a danger that we may lose the quasi-parental control and responsibility which I am sure the better class of employer recognises. There is also the danger that we may increase the risks of neglect, kidnapping and prostitution. But when all allowances and apologies are made for ill-informed criticism, and while we acknowledge that the custom of employing mui-taai is by no means wholly bad and that many of the mui-tsai-I think the majority-are contented with their lot and are fairly well off, and while we recognise the dangers of this legislation, it cannot be denied that the system does lend itself to abuse, and grave abuse, in the hands of evil and unscrupulous persons. Hence this Bill.
The Bill is divided into four parts. Parts I and IV may be called formal or auxiliary. Part II is intended to come into force as soon as the Bill is passed and the Ordinance is gazetted. Part III is to be postponed and not to come into operation until proclaimed by the Governor-in-Council. Part II provides that hereafter no one is to take into his employment in the Colony any mui-tsai as a mui-tsai, and
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.