Sessional_Paper_1940 — Page 47

43

P

REPORT OF THE DAYLIGHT SAVING COMMITTEE.

HONG KONG, 23rd January, 1940.

SIR,

We were appointed under Government Notification 1171 of 12th December, 1939, to be members of a Committee to consider further the question of daylight saving.

2. Our terms of reference were as follows :-

Having regard to the facts that-

(1) the conservation of sterling exchange is very necessary to the suc-

cessful prosecution of the war with Germany;

(2) the coal used in the generation of the Colony's electric light supply is

largely purchased from countries outside the sterling group;

(3) the majority of the shops and many of the factories in Hong Kong are

open to a late hour of night;

to examine and report on the advisability of-

(a) adopting an official time for the Colony one hour, or part of one hour, in advance of the time of the 120th meridian East of Greenwich for the whole or for part of the year, and

(b) limiting by statute the number of hours per diem during which workers

in shops and factories may be employed.'

3. Hong Kong has already, in fact, a measure of daylight saving: standard time is twenty-three minutes in advance of local time. The Straits Settlements Daylight Saving Ordinance provides for an advance of only twenty minutes beyond the mean time of the 105th meridian. This standard time (the time of the 120th meridian East of Greenwich) was introduced to ensure the use of the same time by all the people in a large area, and this area or zone extends from Pakhoi to Korea and embraces the coast ports of China, Formosa, the Philippines and Western Australia. For Hong Kong to have a different time from these places would cause a certain inconvenience, which we do not regard as insuperable. We do, however, consider that no useful purpose would be served within our terms of reference by further extending daylight saving in Hong Kong for the simple reason that there is little or no daylight to save. The question of further time for recreation in the evening, besides not falling within our terms of reference, could be answered by an adjustment of office hours.

4. We append as Appendix I a memorandum and graphs prepared by Mr. Appendix I. B. D. Evans, who, as acting Director of the Royal Observatory, was a member of our Committee until Mr. Jeffries' return from leave. It will be seen that the latest time of sunrise is about 7 a.m..and that in comparison with, say, London there is comparatively little variation throughout the year. As a result local factories and workshops have established 7 a.m. as the opening hour; that is, work begins as soon as daylight permits.

"His Excellency,

Sir GEOFFRY ALEXANDER STAFFORD NORTHCOTE, K.C.M.G.,

&c..

&c..

&c.