Post date: Dec 08, 2015 6:46:45 PM
Horror stories keep coming up in the press about employers abusing domestic helpers, causing physical harm and psychological trauma.
I wonder what was in the minds of the people who have committed these acts. What right did they feel they had to inflict physical injuries on another human being?
These foreign domestic helpers have left behind husbands and children in their home countries to perform domestic chores for Hong Kong households. Yet they are sometimes looked down upon and treated as slaves when they should be seen as house guests.
I do think that most Hong Kong families are treating their helpers very well. A case in point: our daughter and son-in-law work tirelessly on weekends sacrificing precious rest time to help migrant workers build a better life and plan for their eventual retirement. However, a small minority of helpers are mistreated on a daily basis.
Wouldn't it be a win-win situation if domestic helpers were allowed to live outside their employers' households?
Employers and family members would enjoy the privacy they need in small Hong Kong apartments.
Secondly, tension and friction between employers and helpers would be greatly reduced, as would opportunities for mistreatment and abuse.
Domestic helpers come to Hong Kong to work, not to be imprisoned in cramped quarters slaving away 15 to 16 hours a day.
Hongkongers work so hard to seek a better life. Helpers have the same right.
Philip S. K. Leung, Pok Fu Lam
21 September, 2013
http://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1314189/letters-editor-september-20-2013