CO129-532-3 Mui Tsai system 4-12-1930 - 9-11-1931 — Page 85

3.

2.

105

Since the last of the prosecutions

mentioned in paragraphs 5 and 6 of my despatch under reference, there have been 14 prosecutions under the

ordinance; 4 for ill-treatment; 5 for bringing an

unregistered mui-tsai into the Colony; and 5 for keeping an unregistered mui-tsai.

4.

In the first case of ill-treatment the

magistrate discharged the defendant. In the second

case the defendant was fined $100. In the third the

charge of ill-treatment was dismissed, but the

defendant was fined $100 on the alternative charge of

assault; and in the fourth, a fine of $50 for assault

was similarly imposed. The girls concerned in the

first 3 cases have been handed back to their relatives, and the last is at present being cared for in the Po Leung Kuk while efforts are being made to trace her

relatives.

5.

Fines ranging from $20 to $10 were imposed in the 5 cases of bringing unregistered mui- tsai into the Colony mentioned in paragraph 3 above, genuine ignorance of the law being a factor common to them all. In one of these cases the girl expressed

a desire to leave her employer and return to her

In 3 relatives, and steps were taken to that end. others the girls concerned wished to return to China with their employers, since they could not remain with them in Hong Kong, and arrangements were accordingly made to see them out of the Colony. In the fifth case, Owing to the special circumstances that the girl was without relatives, had come to Hong Kong with her employer from Annam where they had lived for the last 8 years, and could not bear the thought of separation

from