ADVICE TO CHINESE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 616, 20 September 1909, Page 8

ADVICE TO CHINESE.

SHOULD LOOK SIIAET AND NEAT.

■ADDRESS BY THE CONSUL/ The Chinese* Consul-General appeared on Friday night before a large number of his countrymen resident in Christchurch • as the apostle of'soap and water. Tile occasion was "tea party" at the Oxford Terrace. Baptist Church;-whose the Bev. I!. S.'Gray, Mr. Hwang first impressed upon.his hearers the necessity for cleanliness, especially cleanliness of the hands, and advocated the use of a looking-glass as ameans of ascertaining the state of cleanliness of one's face.' The occasional expenditure of sixpence'in abarber'e shop was suggested,' and ■ Chinese should-also keep their.clothes dean and well brushed. The hygienic advantages of frequent bathing were well.pressed home. He laid down the general rule that in hot weather two baths a'weekwore desirable, .while in cold wea'ther one might 'suffice. His hearers.'must not take the fmthat he was accusing them of being ■dirty, in the presence of Europeans. Ho did not mean to say they were dirtier than British labouring men, but ho wanted theih to'make themselves more jespctablo, that was ' all. Chinamen should not slouch and shrink along the streets as if'they were afraid' of someone. The Europeans did not. do that; but looked" smart and neat. The Chinese looked smart and neat m China, m their own dross, and they should try to look even smarter and neater when they came to' a European conritry. Ho would like evory.Chinese, on arrival'in the JJonuruon, to buy a coloured ,tie and a new. suit'. A suit would last, four 1 or five years with care. ■ He' himself wore his suite for three l.years. He knew his hearers were simple, honest 'people,-. but .European youth's; without a shilihng. or.a .penny in-their pockets,, would wear, suitstasting .£5 ■to >£G.:' That' was wrong, but the Chinese were, wrong when, with' £5 in their pocket, they grudged 2d., for a ..collar. The Chinesei had .teen very liberal to him in' 'Christchurch; They had .spent money on him for, automobiles. That was not right, .for he did not want autoznobilos or. motorcars. The Chinese.- were,'as a rule, more apt to bo liberal to others, than *to themselves. Confucius j % ht '. 'J 10 ™ to lead lives of simplicity and self-denial, but they must not take things' to.extremes. Thoy.took.no trouble in keeping', their rooms clean.; They put their newspapers 1 on the f10p.r.,,0r, | anyw,hpie,.:.anij n 4id ,nojf worrv, about the.walk , They did not-ask. the. landlord to fix up: the walls of their rooms,.but they should do so, and if he declined they should shift out next day. The. purchase of a table ,and a.: table-cover was necessary On one corner,of that table should'be placed th« inkpot and pens, and on the other the newspapers, should be neatly, piled. Chairs could bo bought for 7s. apiece, '.and four, or-five chairs. 6houm be procured for. each room The' covering of the. floor with .linoleum and the washing of the linoleum once.-a week wore recommended, also clean and orderly bedclothes. When the Chinese were not working they should read tho European newspapers and learn read.and -write English. They could a!so. study the writing and reading of Chinese, If they learned , ono English word every day they would have:a,vocabulary of 365.words in a,year.-.'When the speaker-was twenty-seven years old ho went, to America to study. The Chinese did a. good deal-of-gambling,'.but th? danger, of-police, interference was not the greatest danger. The great evil was that they wasted , their time, lost their money, and be- - came stupid ■ and degraded. It'.was his. duiv as Consul to look after the .interests of the Chinese in' New. Zealand and to see that justice was done between them and the Europeans, .but' it was also/his duty'.to see that tho Chinese behaved themselves. The' Now Zealand Government said that the Chinese were undesirable, bad, dirty, stupid people: and before he conld reply to that he' must straighten the Chinese up. In conclusion, Mr Hwang reiterated, his advice regarding the necessity for-cleanliness, \botli .in person- and environment, in, order to overcome the prejudices of Europeans against the Chinese.