CO129-542-10 Mui Tsai system- correspondence from private individuals 13-1-1933 - 11-12-1933 — Page 39

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which has long existed amongst the

Chinese. An immemorial social system estom

of this sort is not, as you can imagine,

easily or quickly eradicated from the

Chinese population of Hong Kong, but

in that Colony the Government has

abolished the servile status of

mui-tsai and has prohibited the

acquisition or introduction into the

Colony of a mui-tsai. The girls

who were formerly mui-tsai in Hong Kong

households have been registered and

are subject to inspection and super-

vision. They are required to be paid

wages and are free to leave their

employers if they wish to return to

their parents or if they are ill-treated.

Their status is now that of free, paid

domestic servants. The Hong Kong

Government does not believe

that any

serious abuses of the anti-mui -tsai

legislation could escape the notice of

its inspectors and the fact that such

cases