mountable, or such that legislation ought to be deferred, but rather to indicate lines of approach to the problem which appear to have been somewhat neglected by the authors of the Report.
9. That difficulties would arise in carrying out a reform of this kind cannot be doubted, for it is nothing less than a struggle with tradition. The length of time taken, and the problems encountered in implementing the Marriage Law of the Chinese People's Republic afford a good example. In the decade following promulgation of the law, a sustained effort, which included a number of vigorous mass campaigns had to be made to ensure general understanding of, and compliance with its terms. This experience in China, where political awareness and responsiveness to social change have been carefully fostered since 1949, suggests at first sight that considerable difficulty might be encountered in implementing marriage reforms in the less revolutionary atmosphere of the Colony, where social pressure is by no means all in the direction of Government policy. However, the situation of Hong Kong is different from that of China in some important respects. Whereas the difficulties in China were mostly met in the rural areas of the country, Hong Kong has a largely urban population, of a highly mobile and relatively sophisticated character. There is evidence, as the Report suggests, that the advantages of registered marriages are already understood among quite a large cross-section of the Chinese community, and it is believed that carefully devised publicity could do much to secure compliance with a general requirement that marriages be registered.
10. In particular, the Sub-Committee feels that the great advantages of registration of marriage, and the disadvantages of unregistered marriages, must be brought home to the public. The need to secure prompt and automatic recognition of marriages in China, Taiwan and foreign countries seems a particularly potent weapon for this
purpose, for many Chinese people in Hong Kong have a wish either to return to China at some time or to venture further afield. Even within Hong Kong, though, the advantages of clarity of status are quite appreciable. In particular, much ought to be made of the advantages for children if the marriage of their parents is registered, for it is believed that an appeal to the welfare
4
¡
!
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.