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The 1976 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government ServiceBIOGRAPHY of Elsie Elliott Tu
ELSIE HUME ELLIOTT was born on June 2, 1913 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in the coal mining district of north England. The second of three daughters and one son of Florence and John Hume, she grew up in a household which was poor in worldly goods but rich in intellectual stimulation. John Hume, who had been orphaned at an early age and left school at eleven, was a self-educated socialist who became a pacifist as a result of his experiences in World War I. In spite of his own political beliefs and his agnosticism, he encouraged wide ranging family discussions on religion, national and international politics. ELSIE came to realize that her father's dream was for her to become a member of parliament in order to be a voice for the underprivileged. For much of her youth that was her goal, for she agreed with her father's often stated dictum that "politics is the way to get things done." The family also took an intense interest in sports, and followed football and cricket games closely.
The depression of the 1930s, which hit Newcastle with full force, came when ELSIE was in her middle teens and affected her deeply, even though her father, a transport worker, was fortunate enough to keep his job. She was a sensitive person and could not but share the anguish of many of her schoolmates who suffered the effects of their families' unemployment. Visiting the slum areas, which she did to avoid becoming too proud of her education, made her aware of the ill effects of unequal distribution of wealth and further shaped her political outlook. In spite of teasing by schoolmates that she needed a soapbox from which to expound her political beliefs, she never hesitated to express her opinions and at the age of 15 wrote a letter to a newspaper arguing in favor of free trade. This determination to speak out on issues which concerned her has characterized ELSIE HUME ELLIOTT ever since.
ELSIE’s early school days were spent at Walkergate and West Jesmond elementary schools and she won a scholarship to Heaton Secondary School, a large girl's school in Newcastle. She was a conscientious, exceptionally high principled student and a very keen athlete, captain of the lacrosse and rounders teams and school sports captain. As a result of her excellent grades she was awarded the inter-schools' Harrison Bell History Prize. After finishing secondary school she attended Durham University, also on a scholarship, where she studied English, modern history, Latin and ethics, receiving her B.A. in June 1936.
In 1932 she had a most important and formative experience. Uncertain of her own directions at the time, she met a group of Christians who seemed to be energetic and enjoying life and joined their faith. Her own existence took on joyful meaning as she became an active member of the Student Christian movement and a Sunday school teacher. To become a missionary, she decided, was the way to commit herself to a life of total service for others. Her idealism led her to believe that if everyone turned to Christianity in a genuine and practical way the problems of the world would be solved.
After graduating from Durham ELSIE did student-teaching at several girls' schools while working for her teaching diploma and for her Board of Education teacher's certificate. In 1937 she took her first job, with the Holywell Green School in Halifax; she continued her teaching career in England until 1946 with positions at the Great Corby School in Carlisle and the Priory Road School in Hull. While in Carlisle she spent much time—in addition to her teaching duties—organizing activities for the local youth club. Her teaching has been described in glowing terms by those who knew her then. She was always ready to give her best and was a good teacher of history, geography, English and physical training. Since she had been sewing and knitting clothing for herself and her elder sister from age eight she was well qualified to teach needlework as well. Sympathetic, unruffled, having great patience with backward children, she shared her optimistic and cheerful nature with her students and fellow staff, and worked for the moral as well as academic improvement of those entrusted to her for instruction.
When World War II broke out in 1939 ELSIE was deeply shocked, unable to believe that the world would be so mad as to go to war again. But instead of withdrawing from the awesome reality she volunteered for Civil Defense Service, spending many nights on duty during air raids, and suffering the loss of friends killed during such attacks.
While teaching in Halifax she had met William Elliott and they were married in 1945. Elliott was a member of the Plymouth Brethren and wanted to be a missionary in China; ELSIE had hoped to do missionary work in Africa. Although apprehensive about marrying Elliott because of his narrow religious beliefs, she felt that once they got to China his approach would change and he would become more concerned with Christian faith and living than in Church worship itself.
In 1947, after joining the Brethren organization Christian Missions in Many Lands, ELSIE ELLIOTT and her husband sailed in a converted wartime hospital ship to China. For three years they lived and worked in Nanchang, Kiangsi Province, where ELSIE taught the Bible and learned to speak Mandarin fluently; she later learned some Cantonese. During those years they had little; they were dependent upon the church in England which infrequently had money to spare for the missions.
In 1950-51, after the Communist victory in China and while the Korean War raged, foreigners in China were suspected of being spies and missionaries were no exception. Members of the Brethren were repeatedly questioned by officials and once the Chinese Christians began to be harassed the groups felt they should leave. In 1951 the ELLIOTT and other Brethren went to Hong Kong planning to continue on to Borneo. Friends in Hong Kong, however, convinced them to stay and helped them find a small stone house in the squatter area of Kai Tak New Village in Kowloon. Soon after their arrival the Brethren set up a church in a tent and established a small clinic. ELSIE ELLIOTT continued her teaching from the Bible and—until 1955 when it closed—helped in the clinic, treating some 100 people a day. In 1954 she started a tent middle or secondary school for about 30 poor children, even though her husband and the Brethren were opposed to her doing so.
ELSIE had had doubts about the goals of the Brethren—a very narrow evangelical sect—from the earliest days of her service with the society and she resented its control over their lives. Once in Hong Kong her doubts intensified as a result of various incidents in which she felt the Church was more interested in doctrine and observances of petty regulations than in Christian living and dedication to the needy. She disagreed when the Church insisted that a woman wear a hat to church, arguing that Christianity was something in the heart, not on the head. And it went against her strong convictions that her instruction in the tent school had to be limited to teaching only enough to read the Bible; she firmly believed that children ought to be provided with a broader education. Deeply concerned and moved by the poverty and injustices she saw around her, she felt stifled under the requirement not to speak out; she wanted to write letters of protest to newspapers, but her husband and the Church would not allow it.
When in 1955 ELSIE’s husband became ill, they returned to England. While there she decided to leave the Brethren. This was a most difficult step for her; it meant making a complete break with her missionary friends and caused a permanent rift between herself and her husband who remained staunchly attached to his religious beliefs and his missionary calling (10 years later her divorce from him was finalized).
Although her husband was in the hospital and forbade it, she went back to Hong Kong within the year because she learned from a friend that her school would be closed unless she returned. Even though the Brethren tried to prevent her from resuming her teaching there, since the school had originally been registered in her name, the Hong Kong Education Department recognized her as the rightful owner. Thus at age 43 she took upon herself full responsibility for the Mu Kuang (Thirsting for Knowledgc) English School which was by this time housed in a small two-classroom building, thanks to an anonymous donor from Canada who had sent several thousand dollars the year before. In that year, 1956, she opened primary classes in the same building.
Separated from the financial backing of the Brethren, ELSIE ELLIOTT had to work hard to support both herself and her school, but because she was free at last to speak out as she wished, she felt great peace of mind. And finally she could reach the goal of her youth—to work for the underprivileged. She would now work among the poor, educate their children and help improve their living conditions.
Living in a small hut in the squatter area, running her school, working long hours giving private lessons and teaching in other schools, walking to save bus fare, and eating little more than bread and water, ELSIE ELLIOTT experienced underprivileged life in Hong Kong as few outsiders have. All the time she was aware, however, that her status was different. She was living this hard life by choice, for she could have taken a teaching job elsewhere and been comfortable; for her neighbors there was no choice.
Without help in the beginning from others such as the Hong Kong Council of Women (of which she was not a member at the time) the school would probably not have survived. In 1957, however, she was employed by post-secondary Baptist College in Hong Kong in the English Literature Department, and with this steady, comparatively well paying job her life and her school became more financially secure.
The future of the school was again threatened in 1962 when she received notice that the two-classroom building in Kai Tak New Village was to be demolished by government order to make way for a low cost high-rise housing estate for the constantly growing refugee population. This challenge was met with the help of Anglican Bishop Ronald Hall, who came from ELSIE ELLIOTT’s home town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and felt she should be encouraged in her work. Only limited companies are allowed to obtain land in Hong Kong for school buildings in new estates. Hence, in 1963, Bishop Hall obtained through the Anglican Church the Lok Fu estate primary school and handed it to Mrs. ELLIOTT to manage until she could arrange for Mu Kuang English School to be registered as a limited company. The Bishop appointed S. J. Lowcock, the head of the Church of England Diocesan School to be supervisor until her school was incorporated. When this lengthy procedure was completed in 1967 the school was handed over by the Anglican Church and became an entirely independent entity. Meanwhile, in 1960 the secondary school had been moved to rented premises at 40-42 Nga Tsin Wai Road and in 1961 an extension was opened at 56-64 Lion Rock Road, both in Kowloon City. In 1965 the whole secondary school moved to a leased four-story building at 214-216 Prince Edward Road, Mongkok.
By the end of 1963 both the primary and secondary schools were fairly well established in their new quarters and no longer needed her financial support. She, therefore, resigned from Baptist College in order to devote more time to civic work. In 1972 the Mu Kuang secondary school was opened in its own new premises in the Kwun Tong industrial area and the former school in rented premises was closed because its lease expired. As of that year the Mu Kuang School, still concerned with educating the poor, included a kindergarten, a primary and a secondary school with a total of some 4,000 students.
Even during the early years of her school's existence, ELSIE ELLIOTT began to involve herself in civic problems which brought her into contact with government officials, and to public attention. Her role of prodding officials and championing the poor of Hong Kong had begun. The mention of her name thereafter would bring forth emotional and opposing responses: silly old woman or woman with guts; troublemaker or humanitarian; battleaxe or martyr. Whichever term has been used has been used with feeling.
Her first venture into public life was because of a child. In the squatter area where the first school was located there were many accidents involving children and cyclists or automobiles. One day after another child had been killed by an army vehicle, ELSIE ELLIOTT went to the traffic police to ask if they would put a "Children—Go Slowly" warning sign. After a long delay she was told that, as the road was used mainly by the army for access to their shooting range, it was up to the army to install a sign. Making herself "very objectionable" (her own term), she demanded to know how many children had to be killed before a warning sign was justified. Eventually a sign was installed.
Another event which propelled ELLIOTT into the limelight was her response to a letter printed in the Manchester Guardian criticizing the fact that in China workers labored 10 hours a day six days a week. This bothered her because she was aware that in Hong Kong, a British Colony, workers labored 12 or more hours seven days a week, and she wrote pointing this out. The exchange of letters found its way to the floor of parliament and the result was agitation leading to a cut of legal working hours in Hong Kong. The policy, however, included the provision that workers could volunteer for overtime and it soon became the practice that those who did not volunteer were threatened with the loss of their jobs. ELLIOTT particularly objected to the rationale of the power structure that, while they had tried to cut working hours the workers did not want them cut, and that the Chinese people enjoyed working long hours.
Her membership in the United Nations Association—one of the few groups she felt was speaking out on behalf of the people—caused her further publicity and inconvenience. In 1963 two European managers of her school threatened to resign if she did not quit the U.N. organization. Not bending to such pressure because she felt strongly that her freedom of speech and association were not to be compromised, she was met with the resignation of the two, plus the decision of the government not to give her school the land for a secondary school and an 80 percent building loan usually granted to nonprofit-making educational institutions. In 1968 a friendly official advised her to reapply and the government decision was reversed because, she was told, there were no other politically acceptable applicants after the 1967 riots and schools were needed.
Although by the early 1960s ELSIE ELLIOTT had become known to many in Hong Kong, the notoriety she enjoyed in those days was nothing compared to that which was to come after she was elected to the Hong Kong Urban Council when scarcely a month would go by without some mention of her in the local media.
In customary colonial pattern the British Crown is represented in Hong Kong by an appointed Governor in whom resides all executive and administrative power. The governor is advised by an Executive Council which is made up of individuals appointed by the crown or by the governor on instructions from the crown. The governor shares legislative power with, and chairs, the Legislative Council which is made up of 25 appointed members. The only government body in which any of the members (half of 24) are elected is the Urban Council.
Created in 1936 as a result of dissatisfaction with the colony's public health arrangements, the Urban Council's functions center upon municipal concerns such as the licensing and control of hawkers, the management of markets and slaughterhouses, environmental sanitation and hygiene, cultural services, public health, recreation and street-naming. In addition, members of the council, plus three persons nominated by the governor, sat on the Housing Authority which had, among other responsibilities, that of managing low-cost housing estates. In 1963, however, housing was removed from jurisdiction of the Urban Council. Because of restricted responsibilities, limited budget, and lack of control over the staff who carry out policies, the powers of the Urban Council are narrow and it has been described as an "advisory group whose advice nobody takes."
Elected members of the Hong Kong Urban Council until recently were affiliated to two relatively conservative political associations, the Reform Club and the Civil Association. In late 1962 ELLIOTT was asked by the Reform Club to stand as one of their candidates. She was elected in 1963 to a four-year term with the lowest vote of the successful candidates. In 1967, however, she won a second term with the highest vote ever recorded in an Urban Council election, and in the elections of 1971 and 1975 she again topped the polls, winning out over a dozen other candidates. The poor have been her most zealous supporters; they could not vote for her because they have no voting rights, but they have campaigned enthusiastically. Many, like the 81 year old Chinese woman seen limping around in 1971, have worn banners pinned to their clothing exhorting in Chinese, "Vote for Elliott."
In 1972 a campaign was waged to convince the governor to appoint ELLIOTT to the Legislative Council. Although there was tremendous local support—some 65,000 people signed petitions in her favor—the campaign was unsuccessful. Two years later the issue was once again unsuccessfully raised when a visiting Labor M.P. called for her appointment to that body.
Since becoming an Urban Councilor ELSIE ELLIOTT has forcefully spoken out on behalf of the underprivileged: the hawkers, the minibus drivers, the squatters and those who are not afforded equal dispensation of justice in the courts. At the same time she has severely criticized the educational system, the social welfare programs, the conditions in resettlement blocks, widespread drug abuse, traffic problems and police corruption.
In 1965 the councilors initiated a system in which the urban areas were divided into wards; in each ward two members maintain an office to which the public has access. As a member of the Reform Club which initiated this movement, ELLIOTT strongly supported the campaign for a ward system. The object is to allow members to acquaint themselves with a limited area, improve contacts with associations in that area and to provide a channel for members of the public to present their problems and grievances.
That such a channel was needed is evidenced by the fact that ELLIOTT’s work has snowballed. Today she hears some 400-500 cases a month from people seeking help or advice in dealing with the vast bureaucracy of Hong Kong. Not content to believe every story—charges to the contrary notwithstanding—she requires documents and proof of allegations and complaints. As a result, she frequently calls on welfare cases in their homes and often visits the scenes of crimes, accidents and the sites of discriminatory application of regulations to gather further evidence. Attending Urban Council and other meetings, speaking before various civic organizations, appearing on TV interviews and writing take up much of her time, but until 1973 she still taught 16 hours a week at her school. Before the new school was built in 1972 with quarters for her, she lived in her school office and slept on the couch because "it was easier and saved traveling time." A 110-pound bundle of energy, ELSIE ELLIOTT leads a busy and hectic life.
On days when ELLIOTT goes to her ward office there are usually 50 to 70 people patiently waiting. They are mostly the poor who are shabbily dressed and betray their hardship and frustration in their hunched shoulders and tired posture. But as they see her arrive their faces come alive, they clap their hands, and it is clear that they have felt a ray of sunshine coming into their lives. Many of the cases presented to her by these visitors pertain to housing, for it is one of the most profound of Hong Kong's problems. The housing difficulties have been caused by the world's most rapid increase of population over the past 30 years. When ELLIOTT first arrived in Hong Kong in the early 1950s the population was about 600,000; the increase to five million by the middle 1950s has been caused by an excess of births over deaths and more particularly the tremendous influx of mainland Chinese.
Because of housing shortages and rising prices large numbers of refugees in Hong Kong settled in squatter areas where they built rickety shacks out of whatever material was available. They were technically trespassers, since the land is government owned, and the government was reluctant to provide such amenities as electricity or plumbing because to do so would acknowledge a certain permanence and legality for the squatters and encourage more refugees. The government instituted a resettlement program after a major hit/side community of squatter shacks burned on Christmas Pay 1953 and with this policy more than one million squatters have been compulsorily evicted and rehoused in multi-story estates. The government has also provided some other forms of low-cost housing and no less than two-fifths of the urban population live in public housing. These projects have not, however, eliminated the problems of overcrowding and poor living conditions. On the contrary, as ELLIOTT has repeatedly pointed out, these problems continue in public as well as privately owned buildings. Poor planning, bureaucratic indifference and petty corruption tend to characterize the government-run housing estates according to the numerous complaints and allegations which she has heard.
Acting as an unofficial ombudsman, ELLIOIT has continuously but unsuccessfully pointed out that Hong Kong desperately needs an official ombudsman. The need for a bridge between the people and the government is intensified by the fact that, while 99 percent of the population of Hong Kong is Chinese, the majority of middle to senior civil servants are recruited from the United Kingdom and their personal understanding of and identification with the people of Hong Kong often is limited. Lack of prompt and effective attention given to letters and inquiries by government officials is another obstacle to be overcome. The only channel open, it often seems, is the media. The correspondence columns of the newspapers are full of complaints and a prevalent feeling in Hong Kong is that if you want to get anything done it is wiser first to write to the press. ELLIOTT makes vigorous use of this resource.
For seven months during 1971 ELLIOTT wrote a weekly column for the China Mail entitled "As I See It." In those columns she forced readers to confront a myriad of problems: from the lack of adequate marketing facilities in resettlement estates to police harassment. These problems were illustrated by examples she had become acquainted with through her work as an Urban Councilor. Frequently, she told her readers, anonymous letters exposing corrupt practices come to Urban Councilors from writers, perhaps government servants, who dare not speak out in person. She commented on two letters she had received in one week. One gave inside information on a racket in driving tests claiming that the price for passing was HK$400 (US$80) but "what can one do," she asked, when a high governmental official claims there is nothing to investigate. The other disclosed that an insurance company— about which she had heard previous complaints—advertised for young employees and required a deposit of HK$700-800 from those offered positions. The jobs lasted but a few days and the deposit was not returnable. There should be a law making such deposits illegal she wrote.
In 1971 ELLIOTT also published a pamphlet entitled The Avarice, Bureaucracy and Corruption of Hong Kong, and in 1976 another entitled Hong Kong's Unsolved Injustices. Both include numerous tales of individuals faced with corruption, unfairness and injustices which she learned of from those lined up at her ward office. In many of the cases cited over the years ELLIOTT has declined to give the names of those who made the allegations, despite charges by officials that lack of this information proves her charges are groundless. Experience has convinced her that when names are revealed the individuals are further victimized by the police or criminal elements in the society. She has, therefore, staunchly protected the identity of those who bring her information. With increasing frequency her charges have appeared in Hong Kong's daily papers and she has never hesitated to speak her mind in speeches to civic groups. Letters to the editor have both extolled and condemned her and she has often replied to those who criticize with letters of her own.
A major complaint she has is with the educational system which she feels needs to be restructured because it is based upon private schools and does not provide free primary school education. Many of the "profit hungry" private schools do not, she feels, give their students a proper education. Moreover, the focus of the educational system in Hong Kong, she maintains, is upon government examinations, and not upon courses or teaching Chinese-speaking children English. The knowledge of English is seen by most Chinese as the key to a successful career, yet the teaching of English has not been at a very high standard, especially for the poor. This creates serious problems for people who not only must understand the criminal and civil laws which are written in English but who may have some involvement with the Court system which is conducted in English. Though an interpreter is always present, those who do not have an adequate command of the language are automatically at a disadvantage.
Hong Kong's severe traffic congestion is another of the areas she has assaulted. For years the public has complained about the lack of public mass transit but, she argues, the government does little. The licensing of the minibus drivers is fraught with corruption. The Tube Tunnel which links Kowloon peninsula with Hong Kong Island has been a gross example of misdirected priorities, she feels, and accuses the government of "dropping housing projects and delaying a hospital for the mentally handicapped while pouring millions into the (vehicular) tunnel which will primarily serve an elite."
In April of 1966 some young Chinese students and others began peaceful demonstrations against fare increases by the Star Ferry Company which runs ferries used daily by tens of thousands of commuters crossing from Kowloon to Victoria. Hong Kong was shocked by the violence which soon occurred and an inquiry was set up to investigate the cause of these riots. Into the investigation came the name of ELSIE ELLIOTT, for she was known to have opposed the fare increases; she was accused of having paid the demonstrators to encourage them to riot. However, when testifying before the investigating tribunal, the young man who made the original charge stated that he had been beaten by the police after his arrest and made to sign a statement incriminating ELLIOTT. Another demonstrator later claimed that he had been asked by police for help in framing her. The official commission condemned ELLIOTT for refusing to name an informant who warned her of a police effort to frame her, but declined to believe that she had any role in inciting the riots.
The entire affair reemerged in the public limelight in 1973 when ELLIOTT wrote Policeman James Currie that she would launch inquiries unless he revealed information concerning his role in the investigations. A year before she had asked for the same information but received no answer. This time, however, Currie made an official complaint against ELLIOTT charging her with libel. Her response was that she was only asking for details of his role. The suit against her was dropped in 1974 probably because the government feared it would reveal chargeable revelations against police officers.
Repeatedly ELLIOTT has struck out against corruption and government cover-ups of police protection for organized crime. She has often called for the British government to set up an outside investigative commission, publicly stating that the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in Hong Kong cannot be independent because any prosecution initiated by ICAC has to be approved by the Attorney General.
ELLIOTT clashed with Police Chief Peter Godber in 1970 when she tried to present him with evidence she had collected showing extortion of minibus drivers. She had ample evidence in her possession—photographs of the actual transactions, the numbers of policemen passively watching the incidents, and the names of victims—but her charges were ignored because, according to the police, there was "no evidence." Never called as a witness ELLIOTT was also unable to find out if the real racketeers were arrested or only their scapegoats. Continued pressure on questions of police graft, however, apparently drove Godber to leave Hong Kong very suddenly for England. After his departure ELLIOTT wryly commented, "Godber's on my side. He has done me more unwitting good by running away than he ever could have imagined." In 1973, while in England to talk with government officials there about corruption in Hong Kong, she wrote Godber urging him to return to Hong Kong to face the public charges since made against him. Although he did not respond, he was extradited to Hong Kong two years later and was tried and sentenced to four years in prison for corruption; another ex-policemen testified how Godber had pocketed some HK$1.2 million during his 18 years in Hong Kong.
Even the Urban Council has been the subject of her criticism. The work of the council is hindered by the slow-moving machinery of government, and many members, she has charged, "are status seekers only." They could do "quite a lot" if they were willing to accept their responsibility for helping the people, but not many accept this role.
Slowly and grudgingly many people of Hong Kong have come to recognize that much of what ELSIE ELLIOTT has told them is correct and she has successfully weathered all manner of criticism. While the poor and disadvantaged believe her and believe in her, she has had to battle against barriers of indifference and disbelief on the part of the power structure. But there have always been those who have recognized her value and in 1972 ELSIE HUME ELLIOTT was nominated as Hong Kong's Woman of the Year for 1971.
Because of her help and support scores of individuals have been able to find their way through red tape, official indifference and misrule. As a member of the Hong Kong Samaritans she has assisted in suicide prevention. She has organized youth clubs and athletic activities and in 1965 she was elected Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Hong Kong Music Training Center for the Blind. She has returned several times to England to discuss Hong Kong's problems and has received the support of a few members of parliament.
Ever humble, ELLIOTT has said of her personal crusade for justice:
"I have achieved quite a lot, but all the things could have been done in one hundredth of the time by Government departments with two penny-worth of common sense. It's an indication of the system when I feel that I have achieved something when really, when you look at it, it's so little in such a long time. If the Government departments did their job properly, I wouldn't have anything to do."
September 1976
Manila
REFERENCES:
Anderson, Judy. "Vindication at Last for Elsie," South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. January 19, 1975.
Baird, David. "Behind the Headlines and the Smears: A Ray of Hope for the Little People," South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. June 19, 1970.
China Mail. Hong Kong. February 1, 1967; July 16, 1969; February 10, July 8, 15, 26, December 12, 1971; March 27, April 14, May 12, June 5, 1972; November 23, 1973; January 4, April 15, 1974.
Chugani, Michael. "The Tunnel That Nobody Dug. A Pipe Under the Water," China Mail. Hong Kong. July 30, 1971.
______. "Triad Grip on CID, says Elsie," China Mail. Hong Kong. January 29, 1973.
Elliot, Elsie. "As I see It," China Mail. Hong Kong. A weekly column appearing from April 1 to October 28,1971.
______. The Avarice, Bureaucracy and Corruption of Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Friends Commercial Printing Factory. 1971. Pamphlet.
______. "Hong Kong’s Unsolved Injustices." Hong Kong. 1976. (Mimeographed.)
Gibney, Dee. "Elsie’s Credibility Gap Narrows, " South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. August 12, 1973.
Hong Kong Standard. August 19, 1964; November 13, 1968; February 13, March 6, 15, June 16 July 6, 1969; July 12, 1970; February 8, 24, March 3, June 17, December 9, 1971; March 30, April 5, 13, 20, 25, June 12, July 1, 1972; May 26, November 13, December 14, 1973; January 5, February 15, 20, March 19, April 23, June 14, September 28, November 7, December 5, 1974; January 29, February 2, March 5,1975.
Hopkins, Keith, ed. Hong Kong: The Industrial Colony, A Political, Social, and Economic Survey. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. 1971.
Jarvie, Ian c. and Joseph Agassi, eds. Hong Kong: A Society in Transition. New York: Frederick A. Praeger. 1968.
Moraes, Dom. "The Etemal Missionary: Elsie Elliott," Asia Magazine. Hong Kong. May 9, 1971.
Savidge, Vaughan. "Elsie Elliott, The Person," Kaleidoscope. Hong Kong. 1975.
Smith, Lorraine. "Elsie: 110 Pounds of Packed Power," Hong Kong Standard. June 18, 1973.
South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. April 29, 30, July 23, 1965; December 2, 1967; March 22, November 21, 1968; March 15, June 29, 30, July 6, November 28, 1969; June 19, July 11, 16, 1970; March 2, April 1, July 13, November 4, 1971; April 5, May 24, July 13, September 30, October 19, 1972; August 12, November 9, 20, December 8, 1973; January 1, 2, February 13, March 23, May 14, October 11, 1974; January 20, 29, February 18, April 8, 1975.
The Star. Hong Kong. April 21, 1972; November 13, 1973; April 17, 1974; June 2, 1976.
Woollacott, Martm. "Colony Corruption Inquiry Demanded," The Guardian.
Manchester, England. December 19,1973.
______. "Did Police Frame Their Top Critic?" Ibid. November 28, 1973.
Letters from and interviews with persons acquainted with Elsie Hume Elliott and her work.
