Source:
https://scmp.com/article/137032/worse-if-workers-are-legal

Worse if workers are legal

I SHARE the views of K. M. Shen of Mid-Levels, in his letter headlined, 'Puzzled by gathering' (South China Morning Post, October 19), concerning the gathering of foreign maids in Statue Square after 5pm every week-day.

I would like to further query their presence not only in Statue Square but in a lot of other places in the weekday mornings and afternoons.

They can be seen in smaller crowds chatting outside supermarkets, sharing my queue in lining up for bank business in a branch of the Hongkong Bank and posting parcels in post offices.

It also surprises me that they sell hamburgers to me in a Wan Chai fast food restaurants, do the cleaning in commercial buildings, sell clothes in fashion boutiques and render photocopying services in photocopying stores. They even chop chickens into pieces for me at the chicken stall that I patronise in the market.

I have no idea whether they are legal or illegal workers. If they are illegal, K.M. Shen is right to point out that 'supermarket noticeboards are good leads' for the clampdown of illegal workers. But if they are legal workers, it is worse as they most probably are taking away some employment opportunities (part-time or full-time) from Hong Kong's low-income bracket families.

A. CHEUNG Kowloon