ENG-1962 — Page 79

52

EMPLOYMENT

of vegetables and other crops, while pigs and poultry are now reared on a large scale. Local seafaring employment is described in chapter 7.

Traditional village industries provide employment in many parts of the New Territories. Examples are the preparation of salt-fish, fish-paste, beancurd, soya sauce and preserved fruits; the burning of coral and sea-shells for lime; brick manufacture; boat building and repairing; and stone quarrying. On Peng Chau Island there is an old-established match factory for which villagers on neighbour- ing islands make match boxes by hand as a sideline occupation.

There was little major industry in the New Territories before 1952, but development since then has been rapid. This is partic- ularly so at Tsuen Wan and Kwai Chung which now form one of the largest concentrations of modern industry in the Colony, engaging mainly in the manufacture of textiles, foodstuffs, metal ware and plastics. Industry is also growing up on nearby Tsing Yi Island, and includes a modern plywood factory. Further along the Castle Peak Road at Sham Tseng is the Colony's brewery and a large textile works. At Castle Peak itself there are textile, plastic and carpet factories. At Sha Tin there is a dyeing and finishing works, while carpets are manufactured at Tai Po. Junk Bay, on the south-east side of the New Territories, is now being developed as the permanent site of the Colony's ship-breaking industry, and also for associated industries such as steel rolling mills. Mining and prospecting provide employment in a number of places, and at Ma On Shan there is a large iron ore mine.

The intensification of agriculture and the spread of industry have been factors in the rapid growth of the New Territories townships, where more and more people are now employed in trade and commerce, and in services such as Government and transport. Public and private building development has been taking place in the New Territories on a larger scale than ever, bringing with it an increased demand for labour.

Young men from the New Territories have for many generations sought their fortunes overseas, sending back money to their families and often returning later to their villages as men of substance- at least by local standards. The Second World War and the after- math of the Chinese revolution led to a temporary decline in overseas migration, but recently there has been a very marked