Unless you are out walking in the Central, Causeway Bay or East Tsimshatsui Districts on a Sunday, you might be unaware of the existence of a large underclass of well over 200,000 women mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia. Sunday is their day off and since they have no dedicated facilities they can use, they set up their sitting areas anywhere there is an open space. This underclass has almost none of the rights that a normal work visa or residence card supplies everyone else. This underclass is part of the backbone of Hong Kong’s economic success. This underclass is often ruthlessly exploited by those who depend on them. This underclass is made up of the “Domestic Helpers” who clean, cook, and take care of the children of almost every middle class family in Hong Kong.
A recent newspaper article exposed a scheme run by a recruitment agency in which they charge well over the minimum allowed for placement and then when the helper is found unsuitable for often spurious reasons does not refund the fees paid by the women. They offer a year’s guarantee to the hiring family so, although they collect the placement fee from the employer only once, they collect an outrageous fee from each helper they supply. One of the women was fired for stealing food, even though one of the household members had given her permission to take a sandwich on her day off.
This is just one of the many stories of physical and sexual abuse, paying salaries way below the legal minimum, refusing to give days off, and otherwise abusing people who are afraid to complain because they need the money so bad. Some Filipinas have learned how to use the system to fight back. This has increased the number of Indonesians being recruited because they are not so well organized and will work for less than the minimum salary under Hong Kong law.
These people are treated as undesirables; often by the very employers who trust the helpers to care for their children. They are often expected to arise at 6:00 AM or earlier, prepare breakfast, dress the kids for school, accompany them to the bus, spend all day doing tasks and running errands, meet the children after school, cook the evening meal, clean up after dinner and if they are lucky retire around 11:00 PM. All this for HK$3250 (US$417) a month, most of which is sent home to support their families back in the Philippines or Indonesia. Some Indonesian maids are reported to be making less than HK$2,000 a month with the first six months pay going for placement fees.
If you are visiting Hong Kong on a Sunday, take a walk and observe how these helpers manage to make their day off a happy occasion. Ask yourself why a wealthy community like Hong Kong can’t provide decent facilities for these people to gather on their day off. Realize that without these helpers many of the two income families in Hong Kong would be in serious trouble.
I think I’ve ranted enough for now but I will return to this issue in future entries. The good news is that as bad as Hong Kong is, Singapore and Malaysia treat their helpers much worse.
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