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12. And finally there is the field of labour standards where improvements could be affected as a direct charge on industry and without fiscal impositions from the colonial Government at all. The Government have produced arguments in defence of the present state of affairs, mainly based on the need to remain competitive and the difficulty of enforcement. Nevertheless, by comparison with some of Hong Kong's Asian neighbours and commercial competitors, there appear to be some cause for criticism, namely:-
(a)
the absence of statutory minimum wages for low-paid occupations;
(b) the absence of limitations on the hours of work of males or of statutory provision for proper overtime rates;
(c) poor provision for statutory holidays with pay,
(6 out of 497, as compared with, say, 11 in Singapore, 13 in Taiwan and 12 in Indonesia.
There is no provision for paid vacation leave,
which exists in all the countries mentioned here;
(a) the provision of four rest days a month to manual workers and not, as required by the International Labour Convention, one rest day
per week.
13. Even Hong Kong's critics acknowledge the valuable role played by the Government's Department of Labour in ameliorating conditions in the Colony in recent years; but they remain unconvinced that more cannot be done and suspect that resistance to change is often encountered amongst the members of the Executive and Legislative Councils and among senior officials.
There appears to be some justification for this view;
RESISTANCE
behart de reher but, if so, it is encountered at a stage before there is an opportunity for public discussion.
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14. Further social progress in Hong Kong will depend on growing public support for the necessary legislation and acceptance of higher taxation. The normal method
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7386 D073815 140M 5/74 Cr.P.C. Gp.839/3
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