Hong Kong
the lunar month. Taoist and Buddhist organisations help to meet welfare, educational and medical needs in Hong Kong directly, or by contributing to charitable organisations.
Though the Chinese may follow one or the other of these ways, or may combine them without any feeling of incongruity, Christianity in the Chinese world is nevertheless rooted deeply. The total Christian community-Protestant and Roman Catholic-is estimated at about 10 per cent of the population. Its roots go back indeed to the earliest days of the territory. St John's Cathedral was founded in 1842, and established as a Cathedral by Letters Patent from Queen Victoria in 1850. A representative of the London Missionary Society arrived at about the same time. St Andrew's Church celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in 1966. It is estimated there are now 600 churches and chapels in the territory.
The major world denominations are represented in Hong Kong in the Adventists, Anglicans, Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, and Pentecostals, etc., while Congregational and Presbyterian effort contributed to the Church of Christ in China. Most of these engage in educational work to some extent. The first Roman Catholic priests to arrive in Hong Kong were chaplains serving the Spiritual needs of British soldiers of the Catholic faith. In April 1841, Pope Gregory XVI established the Apostolic Prefecture of Hong Kong with Msgr Theodore Joset as the first prefect. There are at present 313 Catholic primary and secondary schools with an aggregate enrolment of more than 281,000 pupils.
The Muslim Community in Hong Kong numbers about 30,000 followers of Islam. The majority are Chinese, with the rest from Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Middle East. They gather for prayer at the Shelley Street Mosque on Hong Kong island and at the Nathan Road Mosque in Kowloon. The 8,000-strong Hindu community can trace its ties with Hong Kong back to early settlement; religious and social activities are centred around the Hindu Temple at Happy Valley.
The Sikhs, now numbering more than 2,000, first came to Hong Kong as members of the British Armed Forces. The Sikh Temple is in Wan Chai.
Hong Kong's Jewish community worships at a synagogue in Robinson Road constructed in 1901 on land given by Sir Jacob Sassoon and his family. Sir Jacob built the synagogue in memory of his mother Leah and it is therefore known as the Synagogue 'Ohel Leah'. The Jewish Recreation Club and the residential rabbi's apartment are on the same site. There are about 500 people in the congregation and they belong to families who originate from various parts of the world.
Hong Kong has a general standard of community health comparable with that of most advanced countries. The infant mortality rate is 12.6 for every 1,000 live births. A female born in Hong Kong can expect to live an average 76.7 years, while the life expectancy for males is 70 years. Cancer and heart discases are the main causes of death in Hong Kong, with the incidence and number of deaths from tuberculosis continuing to drop.
The Medical and Health Department provides primary health care services as well as hospital and specialist services for the population of Hong Kong. It undertakes the control of quarantinable and infectious diseases, the care of expectant mothers, infant welfare work and preventive measures against diseases in schools. It is also responsible for port and airport health work, social hygiene, industrial health, drug addiction treatment, tuberculosis control, health education and pathological, chemical and biochemical laboratory work. Under its current development programme, the Medical and Health Department is concentrating on widespread primary health care, more hospital beds, specialised treatment units, and increased rehabilitation facilities.
There are three types of hospitals in Hong Kong-government, government-assisted and private with a total of 22,400 beds, representing more than four beds per 1,000 people. Out-patient clinics are operated by the government, subsidised organisations and private agencies. The charge for a consultation at a government clinic is HK$3, including medicine, X-ray examinations and laboratory tests. Free services are offered at maternal and child health centres, tuberculosis and chest clinics, casualty departments, floating clinics and through the 'flying doctor' service. Patients in the general wards of government hospitals are charged HK$5 a day for diet, X-ray examinations, laboratory tests, drugs, surgery, and any other forms of special treatment required. Estimated government expenditure on medical and health services in the 1980-81 financial year was HK$1,491.8 million compared with HK$1,233.4 million in 1979-80.
Wages and conditions of work have steadily improved in Hong Kong. New items of labour legislation are regularly enacted to provide for higher standards in the safety, health and welfare of workers. The 1981 Census showed that 50.4 per cent of the population was engaged in production; 25.9 per cent in sales and service occupations; 12.2 per cent in clerical and related positions; 8.7 per cent in professional, administrative or managerial occupations; and 2.1 per cent in primary production.
The labour force in March 1981 was 2,503,804 and the unemployment rate was four per cent. 18.7 per cent of the employed population earned less than HK$1,000 a month, 49.6 per cent earned between HK$1,000 to HS$2,000 a month, 18.2 per cent earned between HK2,000 to HK$3,000 a month, 9.2 per cent earned between HK$3,000 and HK$4,000 while 4.3 per cent earned HK$5,000 and over.
The average employment income was HK$1,290 a month.
There is no legal minimum wage in Hong Kong. The wage level prevailing is essentially the result of interplay of the economic forces of supply and demand. The minimum age of employment was raised to 15 on September 1980.
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