Social_Welfare_Annual_Report_1959-1960 — Page 7

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

WORLD REFUGEE YEAR

THE progress made in providing for the swollen population of Hong Kong and the scale and nature of future needs have been brought vividly to the notice of people overseas by the World Refugee Year appeal; this appeal had run three-quarters of its course by the end of March 1960, when the year covered by this Report closed. The development of social services continued to be a struggle against the tide of population growth; its strength is illustrated by the postwar estimates of 600,000 for 1945, 1,600,000 for the end of 1946, 2,500,000 for 1956, and over 3 millions by March 1960. More than a million people have entered Hong Kong from China since 1949 and immigra- tion continues; but even if this ceased entirely, the prevailing rate of natural increase of some 85,000, or about 3% per annum, poses a formidable challenge to the social services.

2. Great strides have been made in primary education, in medical and health services and in housing during the year. Progress in these fields necessarily affects the services provided by the Social Welfare Department, which are the subject of this Report. For instance, the prospect that most children between the age of six and twelve will in a few years' time find a place in primary schools is likely to bring a shift of emphasis in youth work towards children who have left primary school, cannot secure entry to secondary schools, and are still too young for regular employment; the development of medical and health services tends to underline the importance of rehabilitation and training for employment; that is of finding a place in the community for patients relieved of disease or handicap and a refuge for the chronic disabled, as soon as they have completed cure or treatment. Finally, the resettle- ment of squatter immigrants in large 'estates' of seven-storey tenements, each estate planned to house from 20,000 to 75,000 people in a highly compressed 'new town' with little cohesion or unity as yet, has presented a problem in practical community development.

3. It is in this last field that the World Refugee Year appeal has provided the Department and the voluntary welfare organizations,

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