Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Right of Abode for Domestic Helpers in Hong Kong

Never stopping discussion - in my opinion they should be entitled to have the right of abode after 7 years - but many others (esp. local HK people) think they should not have this right. Yes, yes - HK is looking for democracy ? This maybe could be a good example how willing the HK people are to have real democracy. Skip democracy in that issue ? YES ! As long as you are treating your maid like a piece of shit - unfortunately I am afraid 70% of all this employers doing like this. How can your "slave" suddenly became a citizien - eye on eye with YOU !
Read here copied from Spike of Hongkie Town:
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Right of Abode Issue for Domestic Helpers Getting Ugly
Posted by Spike
Jul 30
For those who don’t know about this, an important component of Hong Kong’s economy is the domestic helper. Mostly female, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia, they come here on special visas and are expected to work a 6 day week and usually a 16 hour work day (or more) and in return are paid roughly HK$3580 (US$500)(not sure what the current legal minimum is) plus room and board and a plane ticket for a home visit every two years. No matter how long they’ve been here, they can’t qualify for HK permanent resident status and if they lose their job, they have just two weeks to find another one or have to leave.

Many of these people are now banding together to protest what they see as unfair treatment by the government and demanding the ability to apply for permanent resident status after seven years. The upcoming lawsuit has thrown the HK government and many HK residents into a frenzy. The SCMP reports this morning that there is a “storm of opposition online” including, wait for it, a Facebook group. The name of the group on Facebook is ”Against foreign helpers obtaining right of abode. Protect the welfare of Hong Kong people from being seized” and that page has all of 1,200 likes. Given the number of people in Hong Kong who are on Facebook, I’m not sure that 1,200 “likes” should be enough to even qualify for news coverage.

Who are the people who are against this happening? People like, ahem, Movie Tam, who has written, ”Foreign helpers only come to Hong Kong to work. What makes them qualified to have the right to stay in Hong Kong?” Someone named Pixer writes, ”The maids have `three lows’. Low education, low income and low experience, but they know English. Employers will therefore tend to recruit them more as they will accept lower wages.”

Fortunately, there are also people with silly English names on the side of the maids. People like Fish Ip, who is the campaign organiser for the Hong Kong Federation of Asian Domestic Workers Unions. Fish says, “It is quite unfair that other people living in the city for seven years can have the right of abode but the helpers never can. People should look also into the core problem like the constitutional issue instead of making verbal attacks on these helpers.”

The maids fuel our economy. The current state of our economy practically screams two income families and both spouses cannot go out and work without having someone to stay home to take care of the kids and grandparents and pets and plants.

As near as I can figure it, the fear comes from lower class HK citizens. I suppose they are thinking that once a domestic helper gets permanent resident status, they no longer have to work as a domestic helper, they can go out and compete for other jobs. But what jobs might they qualify for based on their most recent experience? Hotel chambermaid? Line cook or waitress?

My take on it is that these people have done the time and are just as deserving of resident status as anyone else. And if you’re afraid that a foreign maid might take your job away, maybe you should be examining what’s gone wrong in your life rather than attempting to ruin someone else’s.

Addendum #1 – I think the attitude of some people on this is consistent with the mainland government’s approach to things. As an example, the Chinese government attempting to spur on the local film industry not by investing in the kind of education that would lead to better film makers and better films but by keeping 90% of foreign films out of Chinese cinemas (years after joining the WTO to boot). So it’s easier to be negative – to hate these non-Chinese or if not hate them, at least deny them what should be their basic rights because they know that they themselves can’t deal with the competition. They can’t compete so they seek to push others down.

Addendum #2 – Assuming that Mr. Movie Tam chose Movie as his English name because he likes movies, now I’m wondering why half the male population here isn’t named Fucking. Though that does increasingly seem to be the English name for Hong Kong’s Chief Executive.
unquote
Here the link to Spike - please also read the comments on his post regarding this issue - thanks.
Spike is here - please click !

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

dear sir,

i am a unknown man who live here in HongKong . i don’t know what is right or what is wrong i don’t care how hard HK GOVT should work to make Hongkong still same better place but FDH are also human like us so the should also get respect like us. every body have rights you can’t kill someone coz if you don’t so there are many people and you need to make more buildings or hospitals …………….. its the most funny thing ever someone told me. how selfish we are .

Bob

Domestic Helpers said...

Moving toward a more egalitarian society

While i do also feel for the concern and fears of some Hong Kong citezens who believe that giving equal treatment to foreign domestic helpers who fulfilled the requirement of the Basic Law in regard to permanent residency will inflate the population and burden this society, please consider this: it will not be an addition of 125k residents, but only the recognition of these people who have already resided in hong kong for ages. This wont change the population and demographics of Hong Kong a bit.

The Hong Kong government is already thinking of limiting contracts of foreign domestic helpers to 6 years ( two renewals) in order to limit further permanent immigration. However, the domestic helpers who have already lived contiguously in Hong Kong for over the 7 years prescribed by the basic law are deserving of permanent residents status, and anything less would be discriminatory.

Doing the right thing might involve some pain, certainly not the amount of pain that the government would have us believe in their alarmist proclamations, but consider this also; there is no growth without some pain. Is Hong Kong to grow into a more egalitarian society, at the cost of a little sacrifice, or is to avoid any sacrifice in the name of short term selfish interests, and at the expense of the weak continuously being discriminated?

Which choice leads to the moral and natural progression of a developed society and which holds that society back tied to practices which are morally unacceptable, for the sake of comfort.


Visit and join our facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/HongKongDomestiHelpers/

Thank you

Anonymous said...

Well, How these people rally against decesion which was given by law,These so called hongkong ppl, say that they're law abiding society, selfish ppl, only want to get there pack full, Hell to the others, who r these nobrainers only few legislators r trying to move this thing amoung the city, & who r they not the prominant ones offcause these r the onece that several yrs ago try implement some security law in to hong kong eventually they throng our from the ppl power, so unfortunate that some ppl again tend to trust these power hungry nobrainers, I just want to tell this to u " how do u call hk is a worlds city ha,, if u'r attitudes towards u'r helper who live & work with u over seven yrs, shame on you. you cannot make or amend laws as the way u want these is a multy cultural city which has international eyes watching you, so dont think by taking few hundred ppl"innocent" who know nothing about law or right of abord can chage law, same time, what sort of a democracy u'r expecting from China??, u stop the minimum wage, u stop salary incriments for DHs, now u trying to stop this, well u should try harder end of the day not only we as DHs, the entire world will know what kind of country hong kong is & how selfish & narrow minded u hong kong'rs are. if u worry about losing u'r jobs because of the DHs' English , u legistators who pumping these stupid rallies, think about new stategys of how to creat jobs for the non english speaking hong kong'rs, u've being chosen for the top seat not organise these types of baseless, nobrainer rallys, To do something good & productive to the city of hong kong, Pls, dont play u'r stupid political games with innocent ppl.

Anonymous said...

Its an interesting problem. Perhaps the ones opposed to it will not be able to afford the people they treat like slaves. Perhaps if they had the pay the salary of a helper in other countries, give them a proper day off, proper working hours, they would have to pull up little johnnies pants themselves and he would perhaps have to carry his own bag to school.

Human is human. 7 years is 7 years. To be fair, in work hours alone many helpers have been flogged like a rented mule for the working equivalent of 12 years. ... Not 7.

Give them a break, you have had it good for a long time.

Isnt everyone entitled to a fair go ?

You can have your cheap labour and cake too.

RJ said...

Sorry that it took me 2 years to find your blog, but yea happy to reply.

I really never understand the logic, when someone tells me that the domestic helpers are underpaid, the govt. is cruel etc...the domestic helpers are paid close to HKD 4,000.00 plus food and accommodation.

The food and accommodation if given separately will cost around 5000-7000 HKD. The Employers pays their medical, air tickets, 1 month holiday, what more do you want??.

Regarding PR, I think rather than just saying it is a discrimination please get the facts right on your head. There are 500,000 DHs who can lived over 7 years and during these 7 years they haven't paid any tax and now if you want to give them PR, how is that these eligible DHs will find job in Hong Kong or suitable accommodation for themselves and their dependants. And once these DH's are eligible, there will be a shortage of DH in Hong Kong which will require new imports , and considering every year atleast few thousand becomes eligible and in 7 years over 1 million DH becomes Hkg resident, who is going to get them jobs and accommodation. This will ruin the economy of Hong Kong.

When a person signs a domestic helper contract, they know it very well that the contract is a conditional contract and they can only stay in Hong Kong till they are in that contract and upon expiration they need to exit Hong Kong which means every 1 yr or 2 yrs they exit Hong Kong before or at the time of expiration of their visa and re-enter with a new visa. There is no renewal and they never can establish the Seven years continuous stay in Hong Kong

RJ said...

When a person signs a domestic helper contract, they know it very well that the contract is a conditional contract and they can only stay in Hong Kong till they are in that contract and upon expiration they need to exit Hong Kong which means every 1 yr or 2 yrs they exit Hong Kong before or at the time of expiration of their visa and re-enter with a new visa. There is no renewal and they never can establish the Seven years continuous stay in Hong Kong

william said...

i never did understand why hk even has maids. hk wages are low. there are plenty of hongers willing to, and do work for $500 a month. it's a capitalist regime with little protection for workers rights. hk doesnt have any industry except for finance, so theres a huge amount of workers to choose from.