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SECTION 4-APPLICATIONS FOR ASSISTANCE,
140 new applications for assistance were received during 1948, of which 101 proved eligible under the Ordinance ap were granted relief. Of this number 66 qualified under ine First Schedule and 35 under the Second Schedule.
2. The 39 cases which were refused grants either did not come within the terms of the Ordinance or for other reasons did not warrant help.
3. There are 12 beneficiaries from the Fund residing in other countries. Remittances are made to them by bank Demand Draft or Postal Money Order in the appropriate currency and the cost debited to the Fund in equivalent Hong Kong dollars.
4. In dealing with applications from persons now resident in the United Kingdom, the Committee is in no small measure indebted to the Vice-Chairman and Secretary of the China Association in London for his co-operation in supplying from time to time the required information with promptness and clarity.
5. With the amendment of the Ordinance to include "Dependent Parents" a number of new applications followed. Under our definition the applicant parent has to show that he or she was wholly or substantially dependent on the deceased or injured son. The applicant invariably claims that this was so and it is difficult to disprove such claims. The Committee has never been over-zealous in disputing them and has been generous in its interpretation of the word "dependent”.
6. The welfare of infant beneficiaries continues to be one of the chief concerns of the Committee; we are glad to report that their condition has in most cases improved since initial payments were made.
7. There have been exceptions. In some cases it has been found that grants made for the benefit and education of the children were mostly diverted towards the maintenance of their elders or guardians. The cases of two in particular, both girls, were at the Committee's request investigated by the Social Welfare Office in the S.C.A. As a result, and with the consent of the guardians, they were placed as boarders in an approved school, provision being made for their maintenance; this has already been justified by results.
8. As far as possible every endeavour is made to get the children into Government or approved schools. During the year a number of dependents of Hong Kong Volunteers received nts from the Treasury for payment of school fees, which, such cases, enables the Committee to make a corresponding reduction in grants from the Fund. However, there are several children in the Diocesan Schools in Kowloon who do not qualify for such official support, not being the children of volunteers, and in view of this the Committee approved in July a cash grant of $15,000.00 to the Schools' Board as a contribution to their education and maintenance.
9. In cases which the Committee feels deserving of assistane, but which do not qualify for relief under the Ordinance, resort has been made to a fund of £3,000 placed at the Committee's disposal by the Far Eastern Relief Committee in London.
12 applications were received under this category in 1948 and the sum of Hong Kong $12,560.50 distributed from this Fund.
SECTION 5: OBSERVATIONS.
The administration of the War Memorial Fund has been at times the subject of criticism by members of the public, either through the press or otherwise, mostly on the grounds of inequity. While the Committee welcomes such criticism it has not always been substantiated by facts.
2. It is possible that in the initial stages the Committee,
in its desire to expedite relief to war victims, made grants which later and fuller investigation shewed were over-generous and inequalities therefore crept in; but the circumstances of beneficiaries have meantime been subject to the closest scrutiny and by periodical revisions the Committee believes that a fair distribution of grants now exists.
3. It will be readily understood that rigorous application of a "means test", even if it was within the physical power of the Committee to make it, invariably gives rise to the feeling in the applicant that the sacrifices of the deceased relative are not fully appreciated.
4. There have been cases too of victimisation. The older and generally more ignorant recipients of relief have been charged excessively for such a service as writing a letter to the Committee in the English language. Particularly was this found to be the case with widows of Regular Army soldiers who
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