TNAG-0189-FCO40-225-Chinese-marriages-in-Hong-Kong-1969 — Page 32

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of their children strikes an especially responsive chord in the majority of Chinese people. It should not be difficult to explain that the only way in which status can be clarified is through registration.

11. A further matter relevant to the public presentation of a system of marriage registration relates to the struggle with tradition. The Sub-Committee questions whether the authors of the Report are right to assume that there is advantage in trying to preserve old Chinese traditions in the matter of marriages. The implication of this question for the shape of future legislation is dealt with below in the discussion of the proposals regarding Registration, but it should be made clear to the public that while many aspects of Chinese tradition in the realm of marriage are perfectly acceptable, traditional legal forms of marriage, as legal forms, are archaic and quite unsuited for the modern world of which Hong Kong forms part. It seems clear that even on the basis of the proposals made in the Report (and the Sub-Committee's own proposals would go further in some respects) a completely new form of marriage is being created by legislation, a form in which validity will depend on registration. It seems highly doubtful if anything is to be gained by trying to conceal this fundamental fact from the public behind a smokescreen of tradition.

12. The Sub-Committee feels justified in giving the whole question of presentation an emphasis which, it is felt, is absent from the Report. Reference is made in New Recommendation No. 10 of the Report to the need for suitable presentation, and some useful suggestions are made in Annexure 1 of the Report, but the Sub-Committee is not convinced that they adequately describe the expenditure of effort which will undoubtedly be required on the part of the Government if the reforms are to be effective. In particular, a substantial and sustained publicity campaign will be needed to explain in detail the nature of the legislation, a campaign far more effective than those mounted in the past when questions of law reform have been raised for public discussion. The Sub- Committee feels that this requirement can hardly be stated too strongly, for the success or failure of the entire enterprise will largely turn on the extent to which it is understood by the community as a whole. Further, expenditure will have to be incurred, not only

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