Many 'illiterate' maids can read and write

I REFER to the article alleging that illiterate maids are signing away their pay, which appeared in the South China Morning Post, on July 10. It was reported that employers were evading legal action by getting the maids to sign 24-month salary receipts in advance.

It would be rather foolish of them, or any other person for that matter, to sign on a plain piece of paper. Even an illiterate person has the simple common-sense not to sign a plain piece of paper. This is a question of common-sense and not illiteracy. The salary receipts must surely state: 'Received salary of (amount) for the month of (month, year)'. Even in a simple statement such as this, the amount will be shown in figures and not in words. This they can understand and fully comprehend. They can thereafter raise an objection with their employers for making them sign such a statement and rightfully refuse to sign this receipt.

However, there is one point that is totally ignored here, that is, that the maids have various means of finding out the legal pay here in Hong Kong. A maid who would have just signed into her first contract would normally have a number of friends already working here also as maids, who could tell them the legal minimum pay level in Hong Kong. It is wrong therefore to suggest that maids are victims, having no means of finding out the legal pay or are otherwise misled by their employers.

The other issue is literacy. Many maids are quite literate and do understand at least a little English, but pretend and claim not to. They use this to their advantage to make false claims in the Labour Tribunal that they were misled and cheated by their employers. Maybe a test by the Labour Department would prove this.

If a rule was imposed stating that only those who had even a little possession of spoken or written English would be granted an employment visa, then it would be surprising how many of those 'illiterate' maids would turn literate overnight, so they could continue to work here.

Furthermore, the Labour Department seems to take a lenient attitude towards those maids who breach their employment contracts. These maids make false accusations against their employer in the hope of getting compensation from the employer.