Hong Kong prides itself on being an advanced and sophisticated economy. But look at the market for foreign domestic helpers and our city appears to be built on primitive capitalism, with all its concomitant cruelties and exploitation.
In one egregious case, 22-year-old Indonesian helper Sri Harini survived on HK$200 a month for six months after an employment agency charged her a fee 30 times what the law allows. She says she was also physically abused by an employer. According to the Hong Kong Coalition of Indonesian Migrant Workers Organisation, Harini's case is not unusual. Its survey of more than 1,200 Indonesian maids found nearly three-quarters have had to pay illegal fees ranging from HK$20,000 to HK$25,000. Meanwhile, many are routinely paid far less than the legal minimum of HK$3,580 a month.
Such widespread and routine violations can only happen because agencies and employers think - with good reason - that few of them are ever brought to book. Lax enforcement by the authorities encourages abuse. Officials like to boast about the legal protection available to maids. But if the law is not regularly enforced, it amounts to little or no protection at all. Legal and economic obstacles also prevent maids filing complaints. This is because once a formal complaint is filed, a maid will lose her job. As a result, she may have to leave Hong Kong before the case is settled. In a sense, all sides connive, however inadvertently, to bring about the exploitative situation existing today. Many Indonesian helpers willingly work for less. As a group, they have replaced their Filipino counterparts as the city's dominant pool of domestic helpers by pushing down wages. But their willingness does not make the practice right.
Perhaps it is time to rethink our maid importation policy, which has distorted human values and relationships and sometimes encourages racial prejudice. Mainland maids have been proposed as an alternative. We also have local helpers available. But so long as foreign domestic helpers are employed here, the law must be rigorously enforced. The authorities must no longer tolerate such blatant abuse.