ENG-1955 — Page 167

Chapter 11: Social Welfare

Voluntary effort is closely interwoven with official action in the fabric of social welfare services in Hong Kong. There are approximately 100 voluntary organizations engaged in a wide range of activities, covering infant and child welfare, youth work, care of juvenile delinquents and discharged prisoners, moral welfare, public assistance, housing, care of the physically-handicapped, old people's welfare and com- munity development. These organizations work harmoniously and in close association with the Government's Social Welfare Office, an important department associated with the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs.

A few of the orphanages run by voluntary agencies have a history dating back a hundred years, and the duties of protection of women and children had for many years been carried out by the Secretary for Chinese Affairs. The establishment of the Social Welfare Office in 1947, just before social and economic changes far-reaching in their con- sequences were about to take place, came at an opportune

moment.

In 1948-9, as the National Government of China collapsed, hundreds of thousands of refugees entered the Colony, at a time when the more vulnerable categories in the population (such as the aged) were either unable or unwilling to return to their villages in China. This resulted in new social problems for which there could be no prospects of speedy solution. The influx of refugees not only caused the Colony to become grossly overcrowded, with probably one of the highest population densities in the world, but presented to the authorities serious fire and health risks from the illegal and unhygienic wooden squatter settlements. The majority of the immigrants, uprooted from ties of kin and community, have not found it easy to adapt themselves in their new environment. Most of them eke out an existence by casual work, whilst some of their weaker members further increase the problem of prostitution, which is already of considerable magnitude in this large seaport. The number of non-school children has been estimated at 60,000, constituting a con- siderable challenge to youth welfare organizations.