in order to obtain an official marriage certificate that will be accepted everywhere as evidence of the marriage. Although under the Marriage Reform Ordinance Chinese customary and modern marriages celebrated in Hong Kong are declared or deemed to be valid and may be post- registered by the Registrar of Marriages, many who lack sufficient evidence to support an application for registration or whose marriage was celebrated outside the Colony are still remarrying under the Marriage Ordinance. During 1971-72, 4,196 marriages took place between parties already married by customary ceremonies of one kind or another. 25 of these remarriages were performed at licensed places of worship, the remainder at the Registries. The total of 4,196, amounting to 14.58% of the marriages between parties of Chinese race, was 1,486 more than that for 1970-71, a jump of 54.83%, which no doubt accounted in part for the continuing decline in the percentage of girls marrying under 21. The following is an analysis of the time lapse between the registered marriage and the previous customary marriage for these cases:
Within 1 year
496
Over 1 year but within 5 years 773
Total
Over 5 years
2,927
4,196
165. Of the 29,487 marriages registered, 28,784 were between parties of Chinese race; 313 marriages were between non-Chinese grooms and Chinese brides, and 82 between Chinese grooms and non-Chinese brides; the remaining 308 were between parties both of whom were non-Chinese. 214 widowers and 120 widows remarried. 393 of the parties married were divorced persons, and in accordance with the normal practice of the Registry the divorce documents were carefully scrutinized before the marriage was permitted to take place.
166. The relative conjugal conditions of bridegrooms and brides (excluding the same parties previously customarily married, and re- married under section 38(2) of the Ordinance) were as follows, with figures for 1970-71 shown in brackets for comparison:
Divorced Women
Total
24,827 (16,797)
Spinsters
Widows
Bachelors
24,690 (16,649)
44 (67)
93 (81)
Widowers
149 (135)
44 (56)
21 (21)
214 (212)
Divorced Men
189 ( 187)
32 (23)
29 (24)
250 ( 234)
Total
...
25,028 (16,971)
120 (146)
143 (126)
25,291 (17,243)
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