My Take

Wednesday, 02 October, 2013, 3:36am

Pricing domestic helpers out of reach good for Hong Kong in the long run

BIO

Alex Lo is a senior writer at the South China Morning Post. He writes editorials and the daily “My Take” column on page 2. He also edits the weekly science and technology page in Sunday Morning Post.

Hong Kong foreign domestic workers rally to demand higher wage. Photo: Sam Tsang

If a miserly HK$90 rise will worsen Hong Kong's shortage of domestic helpers, then I say raise it by a couple of hundred, or even thousands. Some people are worried. I say it's a good thing.

Let the maids qualify for local minimum wages and enjoy the same permanent residency conditions. Once it costs as much to hire a foreign maid as it is to hire a local one, we can stop importing such a "cheap" source of foreign labour. In fact, they cost our society far more than it's often realised.

Instead of more than 300,000 maids, we will be much better off with 30,000 well-paid and motivated maids - like those sought-after and highly paid butlers. But most of us wouldn't be able to afford them. That's the whole point. Do your own household chores. Take care of your own children. Spend more quality time at home instead of slaving away in the office. So I am not advocating all this for the maids' benefit. It's just good for Hong Kong and our society to have far fewer maids. What do most maids do all day? Most try to do the minimum or less to get by because they get the same pay regardless. Some also steal now and then to get, in their own minds, their fair share. Why do you think so many pawn shops do such brisk business in Causeway Bay? I don't blame them. I would do the same, if not worse, if I were a foreign helper. There is no reward, only a dead-end job that sacrifices my youth and my chance at happiness in a life of my own.

Bosses know this, so many have to spend a disproportionate amount of time monitoring, disciplining and even abusing them to squeeze the most labour out of them to get their money's worth. I know there are many abusive employers. There are many unproductive and destructive maids too. It's a vicious cycle - blame it on the system.

To wean ourselves off our maid addiction, the government will have to introduce more realistic maternity and paternity leave and provide better-subsidised childcare and kindergartens. Companies will have to offer more progressive policies such as flexible work hours and even daycare to help workers who are mothers.

As it is, the exploitation of foreign maids lets the government off the hook and enables companies to exploit us wage slaves in turn.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Time to price maids out of our reach

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Comments

whoaman Oct 2nd 2013
10:15pm

One big reason HK people want helpers is so they have 'freedom'. A number of people without helpers have relatives (grandma) to look after the kids. As someone mentioned in the comments, it's become part of the culture, and a stay home mom is rare (my wife, a HKer, is one). This won't change anytime soon - people will just pay more for their 'freedom'. And of course, it'll never happen because almost all civil servants and legislators also have helpers (and drivers....etc).

321manu Oct 3rd 2013
2:54am

I agree that people want "freedom". But if they want freedom, then don't become a parent. And if you're going to become a parent, then be prepared to do the parenting. Sloughing off parenting to (apparently) poorly-paid help is an abdication of responsibility. And people wonder why some kids turn out to be good-for-nothings...

johnwe Oct 2nd 2013
7:12pm

Alex Lo is seemingly unable to fathom why wives don't do their own household chores. He ignores the wide range of employers' work for which the foreign maids provide relief by doing the domestic work. He is clearly ignorant talking about 30,000 well paid and motivated hardworking local maids. Motivated ? NO - the only motivation is to get thro the job as quickly as possible, Hardworking? NO - they work fast but the outcome is often slipshod rushed work, skipping steps etc. and you may need to clean up after them. If the agreement is for 5 hours, they'll be out of the door by 4 and a quarter hours. Despite well above minimum wage years ago, they are loud, rude and lay down the law in the employer s house; they won't do many essential house-keeping chores; they suddenly take leave to go on holiday with the husband or school holidays. They are never available at Chinese festivals and expect a big red packet and give you an open ended date when they will return at Chinese New Year. Their conditions are endless and develop as they go along. The article is so ill-informed, flippant and superficial that it is hardly worth reading if you have not read it yet.

pauluszimmerman Oct 2nd 2013
3:45pm

Paying more than the minimum allowed us the company of quality helpers and provided us the opportunity to spend more quality time with the kids despite the pressure of work. With that experience I can only support the argument for higher salaries, but not the argument that parents should do without helpers to have more quality time with their children. Those who grew up in families where parents are stressed out running around to combine work and keeping the household together may well agree with me. Those who grew up in households where they were abandoned and left to the care of helpers may blame the helpers for not been given enough attention from their parents.

PCC Oct 2nd 2013
5:23pm

There is a third alternative not mentioned in the comment above, and that is for parents to devote a lot more time to their children every day in a family setting (quantity time) instead of focusing on making more money to avoid housework and afford better holidays (so-called quality time). That's what my wife and I are doing, but maybe we're wrong; maybe our kids would be happier and better adults if we spent less time as a family now and they got a bigger inheritance 20 years from now. Somehow I doubt it. Anyway, it just seems right to us.

johnyuan Oct 2nd 2013
6:12pm

PCC,
I think you and your wife will have the last smile seeing your children growing up to be loving people. The laughs too throughout as a family growing together are instant reward at every moment. The parents of the older generation when stay home parents were the norm know what I want to convey.

321manu Oct 2nd 2013
1:26pm

"Do your own household chores. Take care of your own children."
---what a concept!! It almost seems like a cultural thing for HKers which becomes difficult to fathom once you've lived outside of HK.

johnyuan Oct 2nd 2013
1:17pm

In Hong Kong, reality is easy to accept but truth is difficult to stomach. Reality trumps truth anytime.

Greenwash Oct 2nd 2013
12:43pm

If most families did not have a helper, 1) some HK families would have no children (as opposed to the usual one child) because they would feel that they cannot afford to have only one income, and 2) even more Hong Kong people would be unhappy with their small flats. If Mums stayed at home with their small children - all day long in the tiny flat - there would be more pressure on the government to do something about the high cost of housing. Therefore, the government will not change the current policies.

don67 Oct 2nd 2013
12:53pm

In the short term, your first point would be true. But in the long run, bosses will be compelled to pay a little more if they want to keep the businesses in HK.

richardg23 Oct 2nd 2013
12:31pm

Rather inflammatory in tone, but your point, Mr Lo, is sound. Add $1000 a month to a maid's salary - get better trained and motivated maids, and a smaller number of employers who can afford it and know how to behave appropriately.

don67 Oct 2nd 2013
11:50am

I agree with Mr Lo. It is ironic to see that many dual income families think having cheap helpers allow them to become middle-class while at the same time, it is for this exact reason why they both have to work to maintain their lifestyle. When everyone has access to cheap domestic help, our bosses know this and think to themselves: "well, this woman hires a helper for $4,000, so she should still be willing to work for me even if I pay her only $10,000". In turn, her husband's boss says: "well this man's wife probably earns $10,000 a month, so I'm sure he can support his family if I pay him only $20,000." The fact of the matter is that bosses are underpaying HK employees knowing full well they have access to cheap helpers.

edbca Oct 2nd 2013
10:50am

Bosses ...have to spend a disproportionate amount of time....abusing them [maids]. What an extraordinary statement. And there is this pretence that this article is not racist. Unbelievable.

IRDHK Oct 2nd 2013
8:47am

When I read Alex Lo's Email the first thing I thought was: "I could have written this". He is able to accurately express what most people in Hong Kong feel but are worried to say out loud for fear of sounding racist.
I cannot imagine what "craigb" below is thinking. He must not be living in HK or living in some 4,000 sq foot house where his wife takes care of all the dealings with domestic helpers.
Dealing with domestic helpers constant games, little stories and working out if what they are saying is truth or not is very tiring. 3 years ago we switched to using a local HK helper and the experience is like night and day, All that stress is gone. Local helpers are very professional and get on with their work instead of trying to take advantage of you.
Hong Kong government should start to come up with policies to reduce the dependence on foreign helpers and add more community support for working parents (after school programs etc...)

blue Oct 2nd 2013
8:07am

"The day when most of maids leave Hong Kong is the day that marks the liberation of slavery – maid’s bondage to us and us to our employer."

Reality check: Most maids are maids because there are NO employment opportunities in their badly mismanaged home countries, and they need to provide income for their families. Also maids consider HK one of the better places to migrate to since countries like UAE and Lebanon are far worse!

johnyuan Oct 2nd 2013
7:50pm

Reality checked and accepted. Hong Kong is not the worst. Just carry on with no end to it.

johnyuan Oct 2nd 2013
7:47pm

Reality checked and accepted. Hong Kong is not the worst. Just carry on with no end to it.

craigb Oct 2nd 2013
7:46am

"What do most maids do all day? Most try to do the minimum or less to get by because they get the same pay regardless. Some also steal now and then to get, in their own minds, their fair share."
"Bosses know this, so many have to spend a disproportionate amount of time monitoring, disciplining and even abusing them to squeeze the most labour out of them to get their money's worth."
Is anyone at SCMP going to have a word with Mr. Lo about this column which both accuses most domestic helpers of being lazy and dishonest while at the same time seemingly condoning bosses abusing these exploited individuals to "get their money's worth" out of them? Seriously, how can this possibly make it past your editors? As your employee and representative of your paper he should be rebuked for what borders on hate speech against a minority of our population. Sadly, Mr. Lo's comments probably represent the views of a sizable minority of employers in Hong Kong but that doesn't make his his opinions correct or acceptable.

honger Oct 2nd 2013
8:14am

Er..., Mr Lo did qualify his comments with "I don't blame them. I would do the same, if not worse, if I were a foreign helper. There is no reward, only a dead-end job that sacrifices my youth and my chance at happiness in a life of my own."
Pls don't quote out of context - u sound like one of those employers who triy to justify their own use of DHs by taking the DH's side whatever. Mr Lo's assertions are solidly backed by many news stories and courtcases - both ways, that is.

craigb Oct 2nd 2013
9:13am

So, Mr. Lo's admission that if we hired him as a domestic helper he'd be lazy and a thief, "or worse," justifies his assertion that most domestic helpers are lazy and thieves? Please reference the news stories and court cases that back his assertions that most domestic helpers are lazy and thieves.

johnyuan Oct 2nd 2013
6:35am

The day when most of maids leave Hong Kong is the day that marks the liberation of slavery – maid’s bondage to us and us to our employer. That is to say Hong Kong has risen up with courage and common sense to become a modern city by applying minimum wage and working hours limit to all. Until then, Hong Kong remains a backward city engrossed in the human exploitation food chain.
…..
I am looking forward that day when I can runabout on Sundays in Central and Victoria Park and need not to disagree with good-hearted tourists that they think the off duty maids gathering in one spot is admirable for their joyful spirit. Simplistic without understanding.