CO129-629-8 Social policy 1-12-1949 - 31-12-1951 — Page 33

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people of Hong Kong as a whole may perhaps take a long time to develop any common desire to improve their own welfare as a single community. But the Kaifong Welfare Associations are taking a big step towards developing a community feeling at least amongst the Chinese within their own districts. And, incidentally, once a substantial part of any community becomes effectively interested in the practical improvement of its own welfare it offers a far stronger resistance to the activities of criminals or political agents in its midst. It also gives real encouragement to the growth of a healthier society and of a more active and informed public opinion. When once people have genuinely co-operated in putting thought, service, time or money into improving their homes, they are not only less easily preyed on or exploited by undesirable characters, they are also more ready and more able to go on to still more constructive work. The fifteen urban Kaifong or Kaifong Welfare Associations can fairly claim to be doing this, and step by step to be making

very solid contributions to Hong Kong's social and community welfare.