ENG-1955 — Page 176

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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

those who are young or in their prime. The major problem with which public assistance agencies have to contend is the inadequate earnings of those who strive to maintain themselves by precarious and part-time work. As stated in Chapter 3, under-employment is a greater problem than unemployment. Many of the under-employed are inadequately housed, in need of better nutrition, and unable to provide medical attention for themselves and their families.

The sense of family obligation is very strong, but in areas such as squatter colonies, where poverty is common, welfare organizations have to step in to meet needs which are universal among the majority of their residents. The Catholic Welfare Committee of China, through nearly 100 centres in various parts of the Colony, the Lutheran World Federation through its 22 centres, and the Church World Service, dis- tributed food, clothing and medical supplies to the value of over $10,000,000.

The first two of these organizations, in their programmes of resettlement abroad, have resettled thousands of distressed foreigners from China, and have taken on the registration and interviewing of Chinese applicants for emigration to the United States under the Refugee Relief Act.

There are a number of voluntary organizations subsidized by the Government, concerned in the alleviation of distress. The Family Welfare Society is carrying out, from four branches in the urban areas, the rehabilitation of families by means of loans or grants to set them up in business. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul gives monetary grants for food, or for payment of school fees or medical expenses, and the Hong Kong War Memorial Fund assists with grants to various categories of people bereaved as a result of war.

Official programmes of public assistance operated by the Social Welfare Office include out-door relief, administered through 6 welfare centres, and in-door relief in 2 camps, at North Point and Morrison Hill. At the 6 centres an average of 2,570 free meals is distributed daily to the needy, drawn mainly from vulnerable categories, such as widows with dependent children, the physically-handicapped, and the aged.

Institutional care for approximately 1,000 old people who are without means of support is provided at four voluntary homes. The need for this is illustrated by the fact that the Poon Yeuk Ching Sheh Home, was filled to capacity within a month of opening.