The employment of foreign domestic helpers is once again in the news. The fact that almost half of Indonesian maids are being paid less than the minimum wage, together with incidents of mistreatment by employers, has led to letters, editorials and a general feeling that something should be done.
It is not an issue to be solved by well-meaning legal tinkering. It is inherent in the structure of Hong Kong society. In most countries, where the domestic master-servant relationship is still common, there is a long tradition behind it and, for good or ill, society has established ways of dealing with any problems it may generate. Not so here. In the recent past, few except the rich could afford domestic servants; most employed by the wealthy were, moreover, local and fitted in easily with the city's culture.
But beginning in the 1980s, more families became affluent enough to afford to employ domestic help, if not from Hong Kong, then from low-income countries in the region. This coincided with the start of a trend towards earlier retirement and prolonged higher education for more of our own population, and an ageing of that population in average terms.
The outcome has been an artificial construct in which most families regard full-time work as the norm for the husband and wife. The solution: vast numbers of foreign domestic helpers. This would be a win-win situation, you might think: a match of demand and supply. But the cultural gaps produce strain at the best of times. On the one hand are Hong Kong families with no experience of dealing with servants, who cannot speak the helper's language, and who live in apartments not designed for a Jane-Austen-type lifestyle. On the other hand are foreign helpers who have no training, can maintain only minimal contact with their families, and feel under pressure in a city not famous for its racial tolerance.
Who has not heard of cases of harassed employers bullying their employees (if not worse), underpaying them or refusing them holidays? Equally, how frequent are the anecdotes of maids who mistreat children, steal from the kitty or invite friends for parties when the boss is away?
So, a review by the government of its policy towards hiring domestic helpers from overseas seems overdue. A good starting point would be to recognise that the departments dealing with this issue (notably labour, immigration and police), have done a remarkable job in defusing tension, resolving disputes and taking action against rule-breakers. Our difficulties cannot be solved, therefore, by more regulations, stricter enforcement or a larger bureaucracy. And intrusive measures - spy cameras to watch employees or home checks on employers - should be thrown out.
