ENG-1958 — Page 256

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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

registered. Marriages under the Ordinance have, however, become popular with all classes of the Chinese population, for the advantages of having an official certificate of marriage are now more widely appreciated, and for many years there has been a steady increase in the yearly total of registered marriages. In order to accelerate and assist this changing trend in public opinion, the Government announced in August 1958 that it had decided to investigate the practicability of extending further the facilities for civil marriages. By the end of the year a planned expansion of marriage registries had been approved in principle and will be put into effect over the next few years. In 1958 the number of registered marriages reached 7,636, 574 more than in 1957. The increase can be attributed mainly to arrangements made during the year enabling marriages to take place in the Kowloon Sub- Registry on a full-day instead of half-day basis as previously. In all, 2,972 marriages were performed there, and 3,871 at the main Registry. The remaining 793 marriages were solemnized at licensed places of worship.

Births and Deaths. The registration of births and deaths is compulsory under the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance (Chapter 174). The General Register Office is situated in the centre of Victoria, and district registries are located where most needed throughout the Colony. In the outlying rural and island areas births are registered by district registrars calling regularly at the District Rural Committee Offices, and deaths are reported to the local police stations.

During 1958 106,624 births (the highest figure ever) and 20,554 deaths were registered as compared with 97,834 births and 19,365 deaths in 1957. In addition, there were 2,332 births registered more than one year after their occurrence. This large number of post-registrations is due to the fact that before the war parents, especially in the New Territories where there were no local registration facilities until 1932, frequently neglected to register the births of their children. There was also no registration of births in Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation. Nowadays the possession of a birth certificate is essential for many purposes, and there has therefore been for many years a constant flow of applications for post-registration.

127,305 birth certificates were issued as against 134,954 in 1957.