In his letter to these columns, on October 19, Antonio Luk argued that the minimum wage for domestic helpers should be abolished as it goes against Hong Kong's free market culture.
As far as I am aware there is no minimum wage for a domestic helper in Hong Kong and Mr Luk is free to advertise and employ a person of his choosing at any salary which he is clever enough to negotiate.
Funnily enough I seem to remember that Betty Tung, the Chief Executive's wife, was doing just that, advertising for a maid and the salary offered was about $8,000.
Unless we are going to accuse Mrs Tung of wasting taxpayers' money and in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, it would be best to assume that $8,000 approximates to the free market rate.
I can only assume that Mr Luk is confusing 'domestic helpers' with 'overseas domestic helpers'.
The former can participate freely in the labour market, they can switch employers at will, leave domestic service to go into another field, and take part-time jobs to increase their take-home pay.
