Why was the Hong Kong government so slow to abolish the mui tsai system - Research Paper Example

? Why was the Hong Kong government so slow to abolish the Mui Tsai system? The Mui Tsai system pertains to the system where young Chinese children, especially poor young girls, were sold into wealthier families for their services either as domestic servants or in the various existent brothels throughout traditional Chinese society. They were sold, under the pretext that they would eventually be freed when they were older through their eventual future marriage. Such arrangements, were generally conceived as being charitable, as such young girls/ women would be better taken care of, as mui tsai, rather than if they remained in their poor family settings. The above is rooted in the traditional Chinese ideal (preference) of a male heir, as opposed to female offspring, hence the accepted alternative option of selling these unwanted girls. Such transactions often lacked binding contracts, hence such arrangements were prone to various manipulations, the most common being sale of such young women into prostitution1. While the rest of the global society was enacting the – Abolishment of slave trade – this through the Slave Trade Act and the Slavery Abolition Act, the Hong Kong government was reluctant to follow suit pegged on the fact that it treated the transfer of girls/ young women as a family affair or matter, which was rooted in traditional custom. Additionally was Hong Kong’s existent government reluctance to offend its local elites, who virtually benefited from this system, and hence were unwilling to fully implement total abolition of the same. Hong Kong, was among the many entities that served as British protectorates or colonies, and hence British law, passed through parliament, necessitated the eventual enactment of the – Female Domestic Service Bill in the year 1923. Churchill was the then Secretary of State for the British colonies and his pledge was because of parliamentary inquiries that later necessitated the timely action of the British Colonial Office2. Various charges, such as slavery, child torture, and the buying and selling of children, by several MPs (Members of Parliament), thus necessitated the aforementioned pledge by Churchill. Such uproar was because of the British society’s unfamiliarity with the aforementioned phenomenon, with the British domestic sensibilities having outlawed slavery since the year 1933, in addition to having undergone various child labor reforms. At first, the Colonial Office officials put up a spirited defense of the practice, which they defended as being nothing illegal, with this Chinese traditional custom. Such officially muted apprehension, contrasted sharply with other existent opinions as exemplified by Clara Haslewood, a lead activist, whose book, Child Slavery in Hong Kong: The Mui Tsai System – explicitly characterized the phenomenon3. Further complicating the matter was Hong Kong government’s resistance towards all attempts at abolishing this trend-giving rise to two distinct groupings amongst the existent native populations. These two distinct parties were either for (supported) or against the practice, the controversy reaching its peak as a fully-fledged scandal both in Britain and in the then Hong Kong British colony. With the 1923 Female Domestic Service Bill in place – further sale, purchase, transfer and importation of mui tsais, was prohibited, with an additional demand for the requisite registration of all existent mui tsais, however being postponed. Unfortunately, this vital law was never observed with the seriousness that it necessitated4. However, with Britain becoming a signatory to the International Slavery Convention (1926) under the leadership of the League of Nations, this issue faced international scrutiny. It is hence from such strong international political pressure that Hong Kong’s government enacted the 1929 Female Domestic Service Ordinance. This required the registration of all existent mui tsais, prior to 31 May 1930. Henceforth, neither the sale nor registration was allowed; with appointed inspectors being allowed to inspect the existent registered minors with the sole aim of making sure that, they were neither ill treated nor under-paid. It should be noted that Britain’s reaction towards such an occurrence, was necessitated by the fact that this phenomenon hurt its national reputation because one of its colonies did not comply with internationally set anti-slavery trends5. While press coverage concentrated on the existent physical evidence abused bodies of existent girl-child slaves, both activists and politicians were more concerned with how such a practice continued unabated and hence its damage to both the honor and prestige of the British Empire. However, the abolition of the sale of women and children was necessary as the sole unquestionable solution for both humanitarian and feminist groups, in addition to being accepted by the existent British government, its implementation proved slow due to a number of factors. Amongst them was the fact that such a slow implementation was requisite towards pacifying the existent Hong Kong influential local elites6. Though well intended, the resultant abolition, did not significantly affect the existent mui tsai, as a majority of them remained in their existent owner’s homes; thus, the practice has continued its presence for another 20 years. While to the British Empire, the abolition of such unwarranted human experiences, proved to be a boost for its overall reputation perceived through humanitarian ideals, to the local Hong Kong government, it proved to be an extremely awkward situation7. Not only was it vital for the local government to please its overseeing authority - Britain, it also had to appease the existent local elites upon whom the colony’s stability depended on. Through its defense of this system, the local government consequently exhibited its vulnerability in governing the Chinese8. The Po Leung Kuk organization was founded towards assisting the Hong Kong government in its quest towards preventing the abduction, and further protecting the innocent young girls and women from the existent practice. Through a number of government reviews, the Po Leung Kuk Incorporation Ordinance, which comprised of 35 clauses, was enacted in the year 1893. While its vision, aims and mission were noble in nature, the local Hong Kong elites, a majority of who gained from the aforementioned system, also benefited from its establishment. The PLK board was able to successfully persuade the existent Hong Kong government, to separate issues pertinent to the mui tsai, from existent prostitution. This primarily, is what delayed the full implementation of the system’s abolition, as the elite-backed solution did not fully tackle the problems of both kidnapping and trafficking of young women into prostitution9. Thus, because of slow legislation, in addition to, its ineffectiveness, in tackling the aforementioned system, the local elites was thus able to adapt to the resultant changes. Furtherance was the fact that a majority of these locals were able to influence the government through their active participation as advisors to the Chinese Affairs Secretariat, hence compounding the delay. Fortunately, the system’s demise gradually occurred in the 1950s because of enacted legislation as witnessed in the 1920s and 30s, which aided the Chinese shift in opinion. In the overall, the demise of the system can concretely be rooted in the resultant socio-economic changes, which occurred in the colony10. Due to increased standards of living, especially amongst the poor, a decreased en masse immigration from mainland China, and the popularity and availability of birth control as enacted by the Chinese government, the trend declines substantially, though not fully. These freed populations, had the option of either working as paid servants in the homes of affluent Hong Kong citizens, or becoming free and hence joining the floating populace once more. Some, unfortunately, due to existent economic hardships, would eventually join in the prostitution world of Hong Kong situation being critical to the slow demise of the Mui tsai system. Furtherance is that fact that a majority of the Hong Kong prostitute population generally was drawn from the same arena of trafficked women, as the then existent mui tsai. Unfortunately, both public and political opinion was of the view that the mui tsai were primarily children, while they portrayed the existent prostitutes as promiscuous young women because of their sexualized work nature11. Additionally was the conscious effort by both the Hong Kong elite and their British counterparts, who distinguished between girls who were sold into brothels, from those who ended up in wealthy households. Thus, sympathy was reserved only for those termed as victims the prostitutes (young women), who were forced into their predicaments, and not those who ended up working in various homes of the affluent Hong Kong citizens12. As an example, is the 1881 scenario, where the then Chief Justice John Smale upon raising the issue of the sale of young women and girls, elicited various alarms throughout Hong Kong, with the Chinese elite clearly indicating a distinction between the two aforementioned groups. Their primary cause of concern was that legislation enacted in the aim of protecting young girls and women would result in the illegality of keeping the existent mui tsai13. In conclusion, though the political and activist participants engaged the issue of the Mui Tsai system as well as prostitution, it is the different ways of alignment that resulted a delayed effect towards the abolishment of the system. There was a general distinction between the former and the latter (prostitutes), the former being viewed as victims, while the latter were viewed as a social problem, which threatened the British Empire’s colonial control. Thus, viewed as a social problem, the abolitionist movement was not primarily focused on their emancipation, and hence providing a leeway for Hong Kong’s government and elite has continued preservation and utility of the system. Bibliography Bullock, Nathan. "Competing Concepts: Defining the Mui Tsai Scandal in British Hong Kong 1917 - 1923." Journal of Human Rights: Vol.7, 2009: 8-27. Chin, Angelina. Bound to Emancipate: Working Women and Urban Citizenship in Early Twentieth Century China and Hong Kong. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012. Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Tuen Mun Hospital, Hong Kong. ""Child slavery in Hong Kong: case report and historical review"." Hong Kong Medical Journal: Vol.12 (Tuen Mun Hospital: Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine), 2006: 455-470. Hobbs, Sandy, Jim McKechnie, Michael Lavalette. Child Labor: A World History Companion. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1999. Leow, Rachel. "'Do you own non-Chinese mui tsai?’ Re-examining Raceand Female Servitude in Malaya and Hong Kong, 1919–1939." Modern Asian Studies: Vol. 46(6), 2012: 1736-1763. Pedersen, Susan. "The Maternalist Moment in British Colonial Policy: The Controversy Over'Child Slavery' in Hong Kong 1917-1941." Past and Present Society: Vol. 171 , 2001: 161-202. Pomfret, David. "Child Slavery' in British and French Far-Eastern Colonies 1880-1945." Past and Present: Vol. 201, 2008: 175-213. Samuels, Harriet. "A Human Rights Campaign? The Campaign to Abolish Child Slavery in Hong Kong 1919-1938."." Journal of Human Rights: Vol. 6, 2007: 360-384. Smith, Carl T. "The Chinese Church, Labour and Elites and the Mui Tsai Question in the1920's." Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society: Vol. 21 , 1981: 91-113. Yuen, Karen. "Theorizing the Chinese: The Mui Tsai Controversy and Constructions of Traditional Chineseness in Hong Kong and British Malaya." New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies: Vol. 6(2) , 2004: 95-110. Yung, Judy. Unbound Voices. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999. Read More