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(8) All Muitsai who have been ill-treated or who have not been registered or whose temporary stay in the Colony has exceeded the prescribed period must be given their freedom, if they have attained the age of 18. Those who are under 18 must be entrusted to the Po Leung Kuk which will ad- vertise in the newspaper for the parents, if they are alive, otherwise the nearest kith and kin, to come and claim them. The Po Leung Kuk should execute this duty free for the Muitsai's parents and nearest kith and kin.
Registration Regulation for Adopted Daughters :-
(1) Parents of all adopted daughters in the Colony must register the name of
the latter within six months after the promulgation of the law.
(2) At the time of registration all deeds of adoption or deeds of gift must be surrendered to, and cancelled by, the Secretary for Chinese Affairs who, if satisfied, will in turn issue a certificate confirming that the girl is an adopted daughter.
(3) Two copies of a photograph of every adopted daughter must be supplied by her foster parents at the time of registration, one of which is to he filed with the Chinese Secretariat and the other is to be affixed to the certificate issued by the Secretary for Chinese Affairs. And as an addi- tional safeguard the adopted daughter will be required to place on the register as well as on the certificate her finger print.
(4) The adopted daughter must be present during the registration and it should be the duty of the official in charge clearly to explain the status of the child to the foster parents so that the girl cannot be illtreated in any way. (5) The parents of the adopted girl should provide her with an education
similar to that given to their own children.
(6) A heavy fine must be imposed on those who employ an adopted daughter as a Muitsai and imprisonment if they employ or sell her for prostitu-
tion.
Appendix.
The Government should strictly enforce the law prohibiting the sale and purchase of human beings. Hereafter all sale and purchase under documents purporting to be deeds of sale or deeds of gift will be regarded as an infringement of this Ordinance and is punishable by imprisonment. All persons who act as middle men or go-betweens for the sale and purchase of human beings will also be liable to heavy penalties.
No. 19.
TELEGRAM FROM SECRETARY OF STATE TO GOVERNOR.
20th April, 1929.
Your despatch dated 22nd February, No. 91, mui-tsai. I should be glad of further information as complete as possible on the following points, by despatch as soon as you can furnish it.
1. Apparently a primary difficulty is to obtain evidence that particular girls are mui-tsai and to bring home to them their rights of personal freedom. A proclamation, advertising their rights, was issued in 1922. Have any similar proclamations been issued subsequently? If not, would it be practicable to issue them regularly or even have notices permanently displayed?
2. What are the objections in practice to any system of registration of mui-tsai?
3. How far is any system of registration possible, whether covering all mui-tsai in the Colony or excluding those not domiciled in the Colony?
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.