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SCMP Reporter

RESIDENTS and domestic helpers of a prestigious Mid-Levels apartment building are outraged at a management order which has placed maids in the same category as dogs by forbidding them to use the main lift.

  Both employers and Filipino domestic workers have described a sign in the Tregunter Tower main lift, which asks maids to ''please use the service lift'', as blatant racism.

  The sign in Chinese and Tagalog is placed directly below a sign which indicates dogs are not allowed in the lift.

  Legal sources have said that while it is not illegal to put up the sign, it is not possible to enforce what it says.

  The 34-storey building has two main lifts and one service lift. There are about 50 Filipino maids living and working in the building.

  Among Tregunter Tower's affluent residents are local business tycoons, judges and other members of the legal profession.

   Tregunter is managed by Protech Property Management, whose senior estate manager, Kenneth Tang, said the notice had not been posted by his company but by the previous managers.

  He admitted, however, that his company had sent a circular to residents asking that the rule be enforced because a number of residents had complained about crowded lifts.

  ''It doesn't mean any discrimination. It is just for better management of our building,'' Mr Tang said.

   He said that if maids were with their ''master'', which he quickly amended to ''employer'', they were allowed to use the main lift.

  Protech's administration manager, who would give his name only as Mr Luk, said he did not have a copy of the circular and could not remember what it said.

  He also said he could not give any figures on how many residents had complained about maids using the main lift.

    Linda, a domestic helper who has lived at Tregunter Tower for two years, said the sign had always been in the lift, but security guards had only recently begun enforcing the rule since a change of management.

  ''Two weeks ago I was with a group of other maids and had gone downstairs to pick up some mail. I was already in the lift on the way up when one of the security guards said 'you, get out','' she said.

  ''We cannot use the service lift all the time because most of the time it is busy. The service lift is dirty and smelly.

  ''It hurts to think of what they are doing to us. It seems that we are not like people.''   Bell, another maid, said placing the sign under the ''no dogs'' sign was derogatory.

  ''It could be understood to read that they think a maid is a dog. It is very offensive,'' she said.

  ''What is the difference between the employers and the maids? We are all human beings. I know they are discriminating against us simply because we are maids.''   A Tregunter Tower resident, who employs a Filipino maid, said the order ''smacked of discrimination''.

  ''I think it is a pretty silly thing for them to have done and no one should take any notice of it. Obviously some people have complained,'' he said.

  ''You never notice the maids. It is not like there are thousands going up and down in the lift all day. I don't blame them for getting upset.

  ''The situation is bad and it should not be allowed.''   Another resident wrote a letter to Protech Property Management Ltd on November 17 which stated: ''Dear Sir, I understand some residents have been complaining about maids using the main lifts in blocks 1 and 2. Personally I find this attitude highly discriminatory and possibly in violation of the law. I also find the sign in all main lifts written in Tagalog and Chinese offensive and its placement next to the picture of the ''no dog'' sign is the final insult. I would ask that you reconsider this practice very carefully.''   The resident did not receive a reply to the letter.

  Legal sources said it would be impossible for management to enforce the order.

  If maids were physically removed from the lift, whoever removed them could be charged with assault.

  Sources said the Hong Kong Government did not recognise that racism occurred in the territory and therefore no anti-discrimination laws existed.

  Under British law, management could be found guilty of racial discrimination, even though the sign does not refer specifically to Filipinos.

  The situation would be considered as veiled racism because more than 95 per cent of the people referred to in the sign belonged to a specific race.



Anger as maids banned from lift