ENG-1957 — Page 20

REVIEW

9

was a sort of

and further up the Peak, and this nightly graph that was watched with considerable interest.'

Until 1947 little more than essential repairs could be made to the fabric of the Colony, for the raw materials for build- ing were scarce and expensive. Yet the houses, damaged as they were, were pressed into service. People were throng- ing into Hong Kong at a rate of as many as 100,000 a month-old-time residents and those who, having sought refuge between 1937 and 1941, had fled back to China during the lean and hungry days of the occupation, together with many complete newcomers drawn irresistably by the promise of the 'rice bowl' which Hong Kong afforded. For if conditions in Hong Kong after the war were difficult, they were better than those existing in war-ravaged China. By the end of 1946 it was estimated that the population had grown once again to approximately 1,600,000, or the level it had attained before the Japanese invasion. The Colony's Annual Report for the year spoke of 'serious overcrowding' and recorded: 'Many of the newcomers

had no knowledge of urban life and were ignorant of the rudiments of sanitation. Thousands sought shelter in damaged prem- ises with no sanitary fittings and drew their water from polluted wells. It was necessary to give the Health Officers powers to compel owners to make their damaged premises as far as possible proof against such squatters.'

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The tremendous pressures from too many people trying to squeeze into far too few houses created special problems for the Administration. If these forces were to be contained successfully within the small area of the Colony, it was clear that plans would have to be made and controls applied. The problem now was not merely to revive a bombed and looted Colony, but to accommodate the tens of thousands seeking sanctuary and a livelihood within its frontiers.

Not merely the bricks and mortar had to be restored but also the complex economies of housing, including, in par- ticular, the relationship between landlord and tenant.