7
immediate personal requirements (such as mosquito nets, bedding, clothing, etc.), 350 for winter requirements (such as:a padded gowm ir quilt) together with a monthly spending allowance of $60 per head.
this manner the estimated cost of providing relief loans for one student for the period July 1st 1942 to June 30th 1943 would be as follows:-
Travelling & Living Expenses up to
time of Admission to University Immediate Personal Requirements Winter Requirements
Monthly Allowance of 60 for 12
months
*1,000.00 500.00
350.00
720.00
$2.570.00
70
Travelling expenses have been getting progressively higher in recent months, and, whereas students escaping in the early summer were able to reach their destination with a loan of $500, many of those escaping in the late summer and autumn months have spent sums considerably in excess of £1000. To a certain extent this increased expenditure has been offset by the fact that students receiving pay from the Government for work undertaken during the war in liong kong have first repaid the loans received by them for travelling and living expenses before receiving any cash. Even so it is probable, with the larger number of students coming out (255 to date) than was originally anticipated (203), that it will be necessary to revise the earlier estimates in an upward direction. A revised estimate is presented in Appendix No.2 and a summary of expenditure to date in Appendix No.3.
It should be pointed out that the sixty dollars per month (equivalent to a sum of fifteen shillings) is a spending allowance only, for the purchase of personal requisites such as stationery, soap, extra food, etc. All these things have risen tremendously in price in recent months. A cake of carbolic soap now costs $19.00, à two-ounce bottle of ink costs $50.00 or more. A ruled note book which could formerly be purchased for the equivalent of two pence now costs as much as $30.00 (about 7/6). The purchasing value of an allowance of 60.00 is there- fore meagre in the extreme. The Chinese Ministry of Education makes monthly loan to all students of between $110.00 and $140.00 to cover bare expense of their food, without which the cost of relief would be considerably enhanced.
HONG KONG UNIVERSITY RELIF COMMITTEE. This Committee was called together during the latter part of June 1942 by Dr. Han Lih-wu, of the Sino-British Cultural Association and the British Boxer Indemnity Administration. The Committee consists of the following members, each of whom is representative of an organisation interested in long ong University Relief:-
Mr. Han Lih-wi
Dr. Foo Ping-shang Mr. Wu Tsuin-shen Dr. Liang Dapen Mr. Chen Pang-sien Mr. Yu Tsuin-hsien Mr. T. J. Fisher Frof. Gordon King Mr. Koh Nye- poh
Sino-British Cultural Association Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Education
Board of Overseas Affairs
National Relief Commission
Commission of Overseas Affairs British Embassy
Hong Kong University
Hong Kong University
In financial matters the Committee acts in an advisory capacity and at its first meeting on 25th June 1942 its functions were laid down as follows:-
(a) to advise regarding the nature of the relief
undertaken by the British Embassy for Mong
• Kong University members.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.