There are very many ayahs or domestic servants in Hong Kong, mostly from overseas. They are sometimes badly treated and have to sleep on the floor in the kitchen, since flats here are not only expensive but very small. Sunday is usually their day off when they can be seen chatting in groups in Central. They have nowhere else to go. But as the Muslim lady at Kowloon Union Church pointed out, they are probably better off here than at home. Last night TV news stated the minimum wage for domestic servants would be raised … by very little.
A recent case reported in the media was of a teenage boy, the son of a domestic servant, who had lived here all his life, whose visa application had been rejected. The tribunal claimed he had failed to prove his long term connection to HK (!!) Sound familiar?
While on the topic of the less fortunate, I might as well mention the plight of the street cleaners, who do a fantastic job. HK is very clean and tidy - except when the monkeys have been at work on the litter bins. Sometime ago the HK government decided to outsource street cleaning. Companies have to bid for the contracts about every two years. This means that not only are the street cleaners poorly paid but because of their short contracts they do not obtain rights to job security, pensions etc. This was done in the name of getting the best deal for public money. Sound familiar?
By the way a propos of absolutely nothing, in HK billionaires are thick on the ground.
A recent case reported in the media was of a teenage boy, the son of a domestic servant, who had lived here all his life, whose visa application had been rejected. The tribunal claimed he had failed to prove his long term connection to HK (!!) Sound familiar?
While on the topic of the less fortunate, I might as well mention the plight of the street cleaners, who do a fantastic job. HK is very clean and tidy - except when the monkeys have been at work on the litter bins. Sometime ago the HK government decided to outsource street cleaning. Companies have to bid for the contracts about every two years. This means that not only are the street cleaners poorly paid but because of their short contracts they do not obtain rights to job security, pensions etc. This was done in the name of getting the best deal for public money. Sound familiar?
By the way a propos of absolutely nothing, in HK billionaires are thick on the ground.