Social_Welfare_Annual_Report_1965-1966 — Page 54

The initiative in providing welfare services in Hong Kong was taken long ago by voluntary organizations, and there are many agencies that can point to a history of service since the nineteenth century. The government itself did not set up a Social Welfare Office until 1948 and it was not until 1958 that a separate Social Welfare Department came into being. Hong Kong has always had many Chinese organiza- tions anxious to contribute to the social services. It has been equally fortunate in the religious and welfare organizations which have con- tributed to its needs through money, goods, time, thought, prayer and service. The Social Welfare Department once again acknowledges these services to the community, without which most of the official welfare available would fail to meet the present needs of the people, to say nothing of the future. Effective social welfare services can be developed only through the combined efforts of government and voluntary organi- zations, with the same goals and mutual understanding. This concept lies behind much of the statement of aims and policy for social welfare which was finally approved after two days of debate in the Legislative Council in May and which attracted much public comment in press and private circles. The official policy for this department may be sum- marized as to ensure that basic social welfare services, whether official or voluntary, are available to those persons who are found, on inquiry by trained and skilled social workers, to be in need. Translation of this policy into a planned programme for the future is to be the subject of a joint exercise involving both the Social Welfare Department and the Hong Kong Council of Social Service to which reference is made below. Continued voluntary effort is essential if citizens are to have a sense of responsibility for the well-being of their fellows and if the social welfare services are to rise above the minimum level which public expenditure on the present basis can provide.

97 There are a hundred or so substantial voluntary welfare organiza- tions in Hong Kong devoted wholly or in part to providing welfare services. In addition to these, there are many purely Chinese organiza- tions, of which the kai fong associations and the Tung Wah group of hospitals are examples, which are dedicated to meeting social needs in the educational and medical fields, with which this report is not directly concerned. Various co-ordinating bodies exist to prevent duplication, to co-ordinate, to plan or to interpret to the public the need for such services. Caritas performs this function for the Catholic agencies; the Hong Kong Christian Welfare and Relief Council is active for the majority of the Protestant group, but the most comprehensive is the

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