I refer to the report headlined 'Freeze number of foreign helpers, says Exco member' (South China Morning Post, March 20).
Executive Councillor Tam Yiu-chung has called for the freeze to ease unemployment in Hong Kong.
Obviously the markets for local and foreign domestic helpers are different. Freezing the number of foreign helpers would not necessarily create jobs for local people.
The market for foreign domestic helpers emerged because medium-income families could afford them. A local domestic commands a higher salary.
In the same report legislator Ng Leung-sing suggested a $1,500 a month government subsidy to locals willing to work as domestics.
How could the Government possibly police this system and ensure it was not being abused? Several bogus employment contracts could be filed.
