34
DOUGLAS W. SPARKS
had risen to 391,474 (1961 Census, 2:35; 1971 Census Main Report: 30-31). Most probably these figures substantially understate the total number of Teochiu, as suggested above.
This rapid increase in numbers was the result of large-scale immigration of refugees from China in the late 1940s and 1950s. Large numbers of these immigrants were peasants who brought little or nothing with them to Hong Kong. Many were unable to find work other than unskilled labouring jobs at wages that seem impossibly low today (the cost of living was also substantially lower) and were forced to build makeshift huts on whatever land they could occupy as squatters. Virtually all of the Teochiu that immigrated after World War II that I have spoken to made contact upon arrival in Hong Kong with friends, fellow villagers or kinsmen who initially provided food and lodging and later helped them find jobs and places to live.
Within squatter settlements Teochiu tended to reside in huts adjacent to other Teochiu, and there began to appear concentrations of Teochiu in particular settlements from one of the Teochiu districts in China or even from one village. This was a function of the tendency for new immigrants to live close to kinsmen, friends or friends of friends. Very substantial friendship networks were developed in these Teochiu "neighbourhoods" before many of these squatter areas were cleared and the residents moved to resettlement estates. Informants have stated that resettlement entailed a difficult adjustment period which was considerably eased by reciprocal assistance obtainable from long-established friendships and, for many, from extensive kinship networks. The Teochiu populations of resettlement estates with which I am familiar, primarily in Tsuen Wan, did not move into the massive housing estates friendless and without potential sources of assistance other than unknown and possibly unfriendly new neighbours. This is not to say that all Teochiu were equally involved in Teochiu networks or relying primarily on other Teochiu for assistance or friendship, nor that Teochiu solidarity was not internally fractured by conflict and division.
Many Teochiu continued to participate in Teochiu networks after resettlement because they found such participation to be effective in dealing with various kinds of problems and conflicts with other people, government officers, police, etc. This tendency to utilize Teochiu contacts and resources was, of course, partially
34
DOUGLAS W. SPARKS
had risen to 391,474 (1961 Census, 2:35; 1971 Census Main Re- port: 30-31). Most probably these figures substantially understate the total number of Teochiu, as suggested above.
This rapid increase in numbers was the result of large scale immigration of refugees from China in the late 1940s and 1950s. Large numbers of these immigrants were peasants who brought little or nothing with them to Hong Kong. Many were unable to find work other than unskilled labouring jobs at wages that seem impossibly low today (the cost of living was also substantially lower) and were forced to build makeshift huts on whatever land they could occupy as squatters. Virtually all of the Teochiu that immigrated after World War II that I have spoken to made contact upon arrival in Hong Kong with friends, fellow villagers or kins- men who initially provided food and lodging and later helped them find jobs and places to live.
Within squatter settlements Teochiu tended to reside in huts adjacent to other Teochiu, and there began to appear concentrations of Teochiu in particular settlements from one of the Teochiu dis- tricts in China or even from one village. This was a function of the tendency for new immigrants to live close to kinsmen, friends or friends of friends. Very substantial friendship networks were deve- loped in these Teochiu "neighbourhoods" before many of these squatter areas were cleared and the residents moved to resettlement estates. Informants have stated that resettlement entailed a difficult adjustment period which was considerably eased by reciprocal assistance obtainable from long established friendships and, for many, from extensive kinship networks. The Teochiu populations of resettlement estates with which I am familiar, primarily in Tsuen Wan, did not move into the massive housing estates friendless and without potential sources of assistance other than unknown and possibly unfriendly new neighbours. This is not to say that all Teochiu were equally involved in Teochiu networks or relying primarily on other Teochiu for assistance or friendship, nor that Teochiu solidarity was not internally fractured by conflict and divi- sion.
Many Teochiu continued to participate in Teochiu networks after resettlement because they found such participation to be effective in dealing with various kinds of problems and conflicts with other people, government officers, police, etc. This tendency to utilize Teochiu contacts and resources was, of course, partially
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