30. The Salvation Army, the Y.W.C.A. and Y.M.C.A. provided 'a home away from home' at their hostels for 800 young workers. The demand for hostel accommodation was less than in previous years, as private rooms were easier to obtain. This decline in demand is attribut- able to the higher wages now being paid to young workers.
31. The Lions-Y.M.C.A. Camp at Junk Bay provided 800 poor children with a ten day holiday in pleasant country by the sea, with plenty of good nourishing food; special week-end camps were organized for over 600 children from less poor families. 3,500 children from poor families living in squatter areas, crowded tenements and resettlement areas each enjoyed a week's holiday by the sea at Silvermine Bay Holiday Camp on Lantau Island, controlled by the Standing Conference of Youth Organizations (see paragraph 77). The Y.M.C.A. Swimming and Recreation Centre at Lai Chi Kok proved most popular and more than 1,000 young people were taught to swim.
32. The playgrounds attached to the War Memorial Welfare Centre and the Queen Elizabeth II Youth Centre were used extensively through- out every day of the year, whilst over 170,000 children used the two indoor stadia for training and games. A daily average of 4,000 at each playground watched miniature football or basketball matches played by young apprentices and shop assistants. Since the installation of flood lighting at the two playgrounds there has been a considerable increase in the number of matches played.
CHAPTER VII
MORAL WELFARE
33. The ubiquitous problem of prostitution affects large urban con- centrations throughout the world, and it is not surprising that it exists in Hong Kong, a major international sea and airport as well as a city of some 24 million inhabitants living in overcrowded conditions. Special economic and social circumstances have tended to force young girls to adopt this form of life as the only means of subsistence available to them; this aggravates the task of the Women's and Girls' Section of the Department, which is responsible for the welfare of young prostitutes, as well as of girls in need of care and protection and unmarried mothers.
34. The Protection of Women and Juveniles Ordinance contains extensive provisions designed to protect women and girls against ex- ploitation; enforcement is a matter primarily for the Police, who con-
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