Title Religion and Social Welfare in Hong Kong : An Overview Author(s) 伍, 嘉誠 Citation 研究論集, 14, 249(左)-266(左) Issue Date 2014-12-20 Doc URL http://hdl.handle.net/2115/57709 Type bulletin (article) File Information 14_021_Ng.pdf Instructions for use Hokkaido University Collection of Scholarly and Academic Papers : HUSCAP Religion and Social Welfare in Hong Kong: An Overview NG Ka Shing Introduction Religious groups in Hong Kong have long played an important role in social welfare.A large amount of education,medical care,and social services are provided to the general public by Christian,Budd- hist,Taoist,Confucian,and folk religious organizations.While it is estimated that over 90%of social services in Hong Kong are run by NGO/NPOs(The Hong Kong Council of Social Services),religious groups make up approximately 70%of such services.웋 How has reli- gion become an important contributor in the social welfare system of Hong Kong?W hat is the historical context that gave rise to this?And what are the differences in social services provided by various religious groups in terms of quantity and types?This paper attempts to answers these questions by reviewing the role of religious groups in Hong Kong’s social welfare development and the social services they offer from the perspective of organizational integrity and state-religion relation. Social Welfare Development in Hong Kong and the Role of Religion During the early colonial period of Hong Kong,social welfare and charity were mainly provided by religious groups and local Chinese philanthropists.The role of the govern- ment in delivering social services was passive and minimal because of the lack of financial 웋 Christian groups offer 70%of the total social services in Hong Kong.Adding Buddhism,Taoism,and other religious groups into the calculation,social services offered by religious groups in Hong Kong could be over 70%. ――249 北海道大学大学院文学研究科 研究論集 第 14号 resources.With the establishment of the Chinese Communist regime in 1949 and the social unrests that followed,huge waves of migrants poured into Hong Kong.Popula- tion has surged from 600,000 in 1945 to 2,000,000 in 1950(Chan and Leung 2003:24).A rapid growth in population led to serious problems with food,housing,hygiene, medicine,education,and employment etc.The government set up the Social Welfare Office in 1947 to provide public services such as free meals,clothing,and placement of children in free schools(Hong Kong Government,1952:111).However,the develop- ment of a more comprehensive and quality welfare system was slow because of the rapid increase in population and the resultant lack of resources to tackle the problem(Hong Kong Government,1973).In view of this,religious and secular welfare organizations stepped up work in meeting the needs of the destitute.A number of international organizations,many of them are Christian groups,also launched emergency relief campaigns to provide basic living necessities to people in need.Moreover,because of the acute need for welfare and education in 1950s and 60s,the government also cooperat- ed with religious groups in building up schools and hospitals.The government financed new institutions,while religious groups were offered management and personnel resources for maintaining these institutions(Kwong 2000:50). In the late 1950s,the economic condition of Hong Kong improved steadily.However, the gap between the rich and the poor tended to grow larger.Rapid modernization and economic growth has broken down the traditional,informal network that emphasized mutual supports within neighborhood and community.People who were not able to benefit from the prosperity of the greater society needed to be cared for either by their family members or by society.In 1965,the colonial government officially started its effort in the expansion of social welfare by publishing its first White Paper on Social Welfare.However,the tone of the Paper is still conservative in nature,which just reiterated the responsibility for the government to only take care of the poor and promote the role of family,community,and volunteer groups in social welfare.The Paper also states that“the value of volunteer organizations was to attract more local and overseas funding in promoting social services in Hong Kong”and therefore Chow criticized that volunteer groups are treated by the government only as a means to reduce public funding for social welfare(Chan 2002:357). Following the Kowloon Riots워in 1966,the government began to confront the problem 워 The Hong Kong 1966 Riots was a series of disturbances that took place over three nights on the streets ――250 NG：Religion and Social Welfare in Hong Kong of poverty and unemployment seriously by reviewing its social welfare policies.In the 1970s,the government issued the second White Paper“Social Welfare into the 1980s”and the policy plan“The Five Year Plan for Social Welfare Development in Hong Kong 1973-1978”.In the two documents,the government recognized the contributions of NGO/NPOs(including religious groups)in promoting social welfare and promised to offer financial assistance to these groups in operating social services.In the early 1980s, a working group submitted the“Report on Provision of Social Welfare Services and Subvention Administration”to the government.One of the main ideas in the report suggested the government offer full funding to cover the personnel and administration cost of charitable organizations engaged in social services(Hong Kong Council of Social Service 1980).The suggestion was later accepted by the government.Since then, volunteer organizations have developed a partnership or a so-called“contractor- relationship”with the government in which the former run social services using public funds(Chan 2002:360).In this way,government’s new approach to sponsoring social services has facilitated the social establishment of religi ous groups and further enhanced their role as social welfare provid er in Hong Kong society. Descriptive Analysis:Social Services Provided by Different Religions A conservative approach to social welfare adopted by the government and the subse- quent“contractor-relationship”established with volunteer organizations constituted a historical context under which religious groups had realized their responsibility in expanding social services for the public.This part discusses the establishment of social and charitable welfare by Christianity,Buddhism,Taoism,Confucianism,and folk religious group San Jiao in more details. 1.Christianity Christian organizations have already played an active role in charity and social welfare during the early colonial period.Since the late 19읜읕century,overseas Catholic and Protestant groups have established orphanages,hospital,schools,and child welfare centers in Hong Kong(Chan 2002;Lee 2012).To facilitate cooperation among different of Kowloon,Hong Kong in the spring of 1966.The riots started as peaceful demonstrations against the British Colonial government’s decision to increase the fare of Star Ferry foot-passenger harbour crossing by 25 percent. ――251 北海道大学大学院文学研究科 研究論集 第 14号 churches,the Social Service Centre of the Churches was established in 1936 to coordinate the efforts of different service groups.During the 1950s to 60s,many overseas Christian organizations established social welfare in Hong Kong to help relief the problems associated with rapid population growth.These organizations include The World Council of Churches’Migration Unit Hong Kong(1957),the Hong Kong Christian Welfare and Relief Council(1952),and The Lutheran World Service Hong Kong(1952), and Methodist Overseas Mission(1953),and the American Friends Lei Cheng Uk Friendly Centre(1955)(HKCS 2014).Apart from emergency relief work,Christian groups also started to try out various types of social services with funding from interna- tional organizations and overseas churches.They included the establishment of youth centers that offer vocational training,students’canteen that offer meals with low price, elderly center,and childcare center etc.In the 1960s,Bishop Ronald Hall and Rev.Karl K Stumpf,the most representative Church leaders at that time,actively promoted social services to serve the ordinary people by building Church service centers and schools in local communities.Sufficient human and financial resources and experience obtained in this period set a solid foundation for the Church to develop huge social service later on. In 1981,a compromise was reached between the government and the leaders of Anglican Church,the Catholic Church,and the Hong Kong Christian Council.This meant that the government would give these organizations special consideration in their applications for the establishment of new churches,provided that each such church would operate one of the social services.They were permitted to organize religious activities in the venues they used for the social services,insofar as such activities did not come in conflict with the implementation of the prescribed social services.This also explains why social services,such as education,elder care,and young center in Hong Kong are usually operated by Church groups.Nowadays,Protestant and Catholic Church operate approximately 70%of all social services in Hong Kong. Catholic Church The Roman Catholic Church in Hong Kong was established as a mission prefecture in 1841 and became a diocese in 1946.It was estimated that the Diocese of Hong Kong, amongst the local residents,has a membership of 374,000 as of 2013,who are served by 303 priests,69 brother and 491 sisters.웍 Regardless of