1950s in Hong Kong

1950s in Hong Kong began after the Japanese rule ended in 1945 with sovereignty returning to the British. However, the Nationalist-Communist Civil War was renewed in mainland China. It prompted a large influx of refugees from the mainland, causing a huge population surge. The government struggled to accommodate these immigrants. Unrest in China also prompted businesses to relocate their assets and capital from Shanghai to Hong Kong. Together with the cheap labour of the immigrants, the seeds of Hong Kong's economic miracle in the second half of the 20th century were sown.

Background

As the communists drew near to a victory in early 1949, there were fears that Hong Kong was going to be invaded by the communists. The British government was determined to keep Hong Kong as a capitalist outpost within a communist sphere of influence, though the memories of the Berlin Blockade and the perceived antagonism of communist governments was still fresh in their mind. The garrison was reinforced and plans of emergency evacuation to Australia were made. However, the People's Liberation Army were ordered to stop advancing at the Shenzhen-Guangzhou border, and Hong Kong remained a British colony.

Hong Kong was a valuable trade centre at the mouth of China, and hoped that by retaining this connection doing business with the new government in Beijing would be easier. To give up Hong Kong to the communists without a fight would be seen as a national weakness in the face of the growing communist threat in Europe and Asia, especially the Emergency in Malaya. Talks did come up at the British Parliament to trade Hong Kong back to China in case it could not maintain entrepôt trade [Wiltshire, Trea. [First published 1987] (republished & reduced 2003). Old Hong Kong - Volume Three. Central, Hong Kong: Text Form Asia books Ltd. Page 5. ISBN Volume Three 962-7283-61-4] . The people were outraged, but was committed to turning Hong Kong into a manufacturing center.

Demographics

Population

After the war, the 1950s began with a large number of impoverished people without jobs and natural resources. The problem was further compounded with a flood of refugees from mainland China [Walters, Alan Arthur. Walter, James. Hanke, Steve. [1998] (1998). The Revolution in Development Economics. Cato Institute Publishing. ISBN 978-1882577552] . The People's Republic of China was establishing in 1949 under new communist party. As many as 100,000 people fled to Hong Kong each month under the new regime. By the mid 1950s Hong Kong had increased its population to a staggering 2.2 million. By 1956 Hong Kong's population density became one of the highest in the world [Chan, Shun-hing. Leung, Beatrice. [2003] (2003). Changing Church and State Relations in Hong Kong, 1950-2000. Hong Kong: HK university press. Page 24. ISBN 962-2096123] .

Rising Buildings

In 1953 the Shek Kip Mei fire left 53,000 homeless. This served as the impetus for a major change: Governor Alexander Grantham drew up an emergency housing program that introduced the "multi story building" as a common building form. His structures were capable of housing 2,500 people in a fire-flood-proof structure. The idea was to house as many and as fast as possible to deal with the homeless shelter crisis. Every floor in the building included a communial room, washing and toilet facility. Each person was granted 24 square meters of space [Wiltshire, Trea. [First published 1987] (republished & reduced 2003). Old Hong Kong - Volume Three. Central, Hong Kong: Text Form Asia books Ltd. Page 7. ISBN Volume Three 962-7283-61-4] . The high rise buildings would become the norm, as skyscrapers have a small footprint compared to their overall volume.

Culture

Lifestyle

At the end of the Japanese occupation, the government held a monopoly on the purchase and distribution of food and raw materials including rice and cotton yarn. Price controls by the government were not eliminated until 1953. The period can best be summarized by low resources, and an endless increase in population. Many mainlanders would cross the border to Hong Kong and establish illegal huts on roof tops and edge of mountains [Ma, Eric Kit-wai. Ma, Chieh-Wei. [1999] (1999). Culture, Politics, and Television in Hong Kong. United Kingdom: Routledge. ISBN 041517998X] . The integration of different groups from China and original tenants of Hong Kong would also create a society in which everyone had to wrestle with the overwhelming number of language dialects.

Education

Those who were born in Hong Kong were provided education and housing by the government. The first group of refugees were only granted temporary asylums since the government believed they would return to the mainland. An estimated 9% of the government's expense were spent on education and healthcare [Schenk, Catherine Ruth. [2001] (2001). Hong Kong as an International Financial Centre: Emergence and Development, 1945-1965. United Kingdom: Routledge. ISBN 0415205832] . The curriculum made it crucial that students did not feel associated with Hong Kong or China in any national sense. It emphasized that they were the middleman for the Sino-British trade relationships [Ma, Eric Kit-wai. Ma, Chieh-Wei. [1999] (1999). Culture, Politics, and Television in Hong Kong. United Kingdom: Routledge. ISBN 041517998X] .

An internal government paper in the period indicated about 34 schools in the urban area were actually classified as controlled by the communists including 24 in the New Territories. Another 32 schools by leftist elements such as staff and teachers. A new ordinance was passed in 1952 to allow any Director of education to shutdown a school believed to be controlled by political indoctrination [Chan, Shun-hing. Leung, Beatrice. [2003] (2003). Changing Church and State Relations in Hong Kong, 1950-2000. Hong Kong: HK university press. Page 26. ISBN 962-2096123] . The refugees mostly sought their education and social services from Christian churches. Actions were taken at the Heung Tao Middle school and Nanfang College [Bray, Mark. Koo, Ramsey. [2005] (2005) Education and Society in Hong Kong and Macao: Comparative Perspectives on Continuity and Change. Hong Kong: Springer Press. ISBN 1402034059] .

Entertainment

One of the main form of entertainment in the 1950s was cantonese opera. While the art remained relatively static, if not declining in China, it was still popular in Hong Kong. Mainland China was housing new programs to train new artists at the Guangdong opera house in the 1950s, many of the artists would flee to Hong Kong and bring more addition to the art. The traditional opera form would begin to overlap with big screen cinemas starting with the 50s. The Shaw Brothers would also produce some of the first groups of martial art films. Their notable sword fighting style would be emulated on many movies and TV dramas for years to come.

Law and Order

The Hong Kong 1956 riots was one of the first full scale riot. It showed the government the dangers of low wages, long working hours and overcrowded condition [Wiltshire, Trea. [First published 1987] (republished & reduced 2003). Old Hong Kong - Volume Three. Central, Hong Kong: Text Form Asia books Ltd. Page 7. ISBN Volume Three 962-7283-61-4] . Tighter law control would diminish the triads in the period. Most of the social problems in the 1950s dealt with nationalist and communist factions on Hong Kong soil. The British government feared the communist would stir anti-British sentiments and pushed for any anti-communist policies in the foreign office in London.

Economy

Transportation

Hong Kong Taxi service was founded in 1947 with just a mere 329 cars. By the end of the decade in 1959, it would have expanded to 851 cars [HK Gov. " [http://www.td.gov.hk/publications_and_press_releases/publications/free_publications/the_annual_traffic_census_2005/index.htm HK Gov] ." "Taxi Annual Traffic report." Retrieved on 2007-02-23.] . The service became more popular, since it does not require passengers to follow a particular bus route.

Industrial

In 1953 two land reclamation projected added 3 million square ft to Hong Kong. The first project would specifically add runway space to the Kai Tak Airport. Additional land would turn Kwun Tong and Tsuen Wan into industrial towns [Schenk, Catherine Ruth. [2001] (2001). Hong Kong as an International Financial Centre: Emergence and Development, 1945-1965. United Kingdom: Routledge. ISBN 0415205832] . The early industrial centers churned out anything that could be produced in a small space, like buttons, artificial flowers, umbrellas, textiles, enamelware, footware and plastics.

Hospital and Hospitality

The handling of the refugees required the collaboration of numerous services and programs. The British Red Cross would set up their first branch in Hong Kong in 12 July 1950 as the Hong Kong Red Cross. They started in the Lai Chi Kok Hospital and began the Patient Concern Service. Blood donation also began in 1952 with 483 people donating in the first year. A Disaster Relief service was established in 1953 mostly to deal with the Shek Kip Mei fire [Lui, Tai-lok. Lü, Dale. [2001] (2001). Light the Darkness: The Story of the Hong Kong Red Cross, 1950-2000. Hong Kong: HK university press. ISBN 962-2095305] . The Hong Kong Tourism Association was established in 1957.

Finance

The banks at the time were not regulated by the government. There were no central banks or monetary policies. The governor did not want to regulate the Hong Kong Stock Exchange even though it has become a serious problem in financing the fast growing economy at the time. Manufacturers constantly complained about the shortage of investments [Schenk, Catherine Ruth. [2001] (2001). Hong Kong as an International Financial Centre: Emergence and Development, 1945-1965. United Kingdom: Routledge. ISBN 0415205832] . Pressure was coming from within and outside Hong Kong to get the policies fixed.

References