156. Table XXXI gives the births registered in 1961, 1962 and 1963 by districts. This shows that while the number registered on Hong Kong Island in 1963 dropped by 1,359, there were increases of 2,348 in Kowloon and New Kowloon and of 2,369 in the New Territories, the latter being proportionately a higher increase.
157. On the Island, there were decreases of 667 at Shau Kei Wan, 209 at Queen Mary Hospital, 1,147 at Tung Wah Hospital and 508 at Tung Wah Eastern Hospital, and increases of 548 and 332 at Western and Aberdeen districts respectively. In Kowloon and New Kowloon there was a decline of 1,134 at Yau Ma Tei, but increases of 1,316 at the Kowloon Farm Road Registry and 733 at Kwong Wah Hospital. The increase at the Farm Road Registry would have been much larger but for the opening of the new Kwun Tong Registry on 1st May 1963, for the majority of the 1,441 births registered there would otherwise have been registered at Farm Road. The Farm Road increase and Kwun Tong registrations together total 2,757, and this overall increase is no doubt due to the continued rapid development of Kwun Tong and other parts of east New Kowloon.
158. In the New Territories, where the overall increase was 2,369, the most noteworthy changes were increases of 241 at Sheung Shui, 231 at Tai Po, 924 at Tsuen Wan, and 629 at Shap Pat Heung, and a drop of 84 at Kam Tin.
159. Of the 115,263 births registered in 1963 39 were registered as illegitimate, as compared with 30 in 1962. The births registered also included 70 foundlings.
160. 624 multiple births were registered in 1963, 618 of twins and 6 of triplets, producing altogether 1,254 liveborn babies.
Post Registration of Births
161. Owing to the absence of facilities for registration in the New Territories until 1932, very few births in the villages were registered before then. In that year facilities were provided for registration at various places in the New Territories, but a great many villagers still neglected to register the births of their children. Under modern conditions a birth certificate has, at least for the young, become practically essential, and for many years past there has been a constant flow of applications to post-register births in the New Territories. To deal with these, three mobile teams have been operating throughout the year, visiting outlying villages according to a regular programme and dealing with cases in
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