Maid in Hong Kong part 1 of 3

The domestic helper industry in Hong Kong is thriving. About one out of every 33 people in Hong Kong is an overseas helper. If you do the math, that’s about 250,000 foreign helpers in Hong Kong. Historically, the majority of helpers have been Filipino, but since we have been here, the South China Morning Post reports that the number of Filipino helpers has been eclipsed by the number of Indonesian helpers. The Indonesian helpers are easy to identify because most of them are Muslim and therefore they wear headscarves when they are out in public.

The helper industry is tightly regulated. If a helper’s contract expires and she does not have another gig lined up, she is sent back to her home country where she must get back in the helper cue.

The law in Hong Kong stipulates that domestic helpers must live with the family that employs them. By law, the helpers must have their own sleeping quarters. Many apartments in Hong Kong are built with an extra room with a helper in mind. Or to be more precise, a closet.

Julie and I have started looking at apartment in anticipation of moving off campus in the Spring. Some of the helper rooms are shockingly small. One apartment we saw had a helper room off the kitchen that was less than three feet by seven feet. It would have room for a mattress, a small t.v. and a clock and not much else. This is actually pretty standard.

Currently, we are living in an apartment that is actually two studio apartments joined together, therefore we have two kitchens. If we had a helper, she would use the second kitchen as her sleeping quarters. One of our neighbors is doing this and the helper claims to be thrilled. The sleeping space is bigger than almost every other helper she knows. Plus she has all that cabinet space.

Helpers are generally expected to cook, clean, do the laundry, grocery shop, and look after any young children. The minimum monthly pay set by the Hong Kong government is about US$550.00. Very few employers choose to pay more than the minimum. Most helpers send the majority of their earnings to families in their home country. Many helpers not only have parents, siblings, and husbands back home, many of them have children of their own. Some helpers are supporting extended families with the money they earn in Hong Kong.

In general, employing families pay for their helpers go home about once a year.

-Jack