ENG-1956 — Page 76

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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

There is a Standing Committee on Technical Education and Vocational Training, appointed in 1954, which met three times during the year.

NEW TERRITORIES

Although farming and fishing are the two principal occupations in the New Territories, the pattern of country life has been modified by factors common to other maritime areas of South China. Even before the New Territories became part of the Colony, Hong Kong's influence as a growing commercial city had begun to attract young men away from their villages in search of work either in town or overseas. Lamma Island, close to Hong Kong, was the first place to be affected, many of its young men becoming sea- men in British ships. In the first decade of this century many Hakka youngsters migrated to the West Indies, principally from the Sai Kung, Hang Hau and Sha Tau Kok areas. The Tung Chung valley, on Lantao Island, is another area from which large numbers have gone abroad as seamen or to settle in other countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States. The villages adjoining the northern border, notably San Tin and Lo Wu, provide the cooks and waiters for many Chinese restaurants in European ports.

Remittances from family members abroad or working in the urban area of the Colony thus came by the 'thirties to form a significant item in the economy of most New Terri- tories villages. In one or two instances they were even the largest single item in the economy of a village. One obvious result of the reduction in the farming population, following this movement abroad, was that hilly land formerly under cultivation was neglected, sea-walls and dykes protecting fields near the sea were not properly repaired, and agriculture became confined in some parts to the more easily accessible and well-watered areas. Agriculture furthermore became largely an occupation for women, the younger and able- bodied men going abroad to earn their living.