appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

Amy Nip

A push is on for a political solution to an age-old problem - getting enough decent help around the house. 
Homemaking service companies from Hong Kong and Shenzhen have united for a cross-border campaign to reverse the ban on importing domestic helpers from the mainland.
'It will be a bridge between us and the authorities,' said Vincent Lau, vice-chairman of the General Chamber of Hong Kong Manpower Agencies, one of the bigger companies in the alliance. 'It will help strengthen our influence in policy-making.'
The 70-member Hong Kong-Shenzhen Domestic Helpers Preparatory Committee is lobbying for an end to the ban and is setting up centres to train mainland workers up to Hong Kong standards.
These maids would then be ready if and when the ban is dropped.
 At the least, many of the graduates would find work in Guangdong with the more than half a million Hong Kong people who now live there, not to mention with the growing middle class that is creating a demand for high-quality help.
Philippine and Indonesian domestic helpers, 284,000 strong, have been the bulwark of well-kept Hong Kong homes for decades. But Lau said the city's ageing population was facing a potential shortage of domestic helpers, not least because Filipinos could earn better salaries as maids in Taiwan or as midwives and nurses in Europe. 
Opening up the domestic helpers market would give employers more choice and make Hong Kong less vulnerable to outside factors such as political instability, advocates argue. They say it would be logical for Hong Kong to draw on the vast labour pool just to the north, given the mainland's closeness in language and culture.
But the city's immigration authorities, citing security concerns, have barred helpers from the mainland, Taiwan, Vietnam and Nepal. 
'This is going to be a complicated and long-term process,' Lau admitted. 'It will trigger public debates and discussion. It takes a lot of work and political will to revise the regulation.'
The committee has been in touch with the Hong Kong government. 'We are not ready to release any detail of our discussion at this stage,' Lau said. 'But I can say we are getting positive responses.'
 The Central Policy Unit last year explored introducing domestic helpers from the mainland but did not comment publicly.
'Importing domestic helpers from the mainland has been a matter of community concern for some time. The CPU therefore commenced a study which has been completed recently. The study findings are for the government's internal reference only,' it wrote in a reply to the South China Morning Post.
Director of Immigration Simon Peh Yun-lu  last Thursday  ruled out the possibility in the near future.
'Proposals ... have been suggested before. We have to consider many associated problems and we do not have any such plan,' Peh said.
 The political will for change is gaining momentum, though, especially since Manila slapped an extra US$144 insurance payment on employers last year.
The biggest concern in lifting the ban is that it would lead to an overflow of mainland migrants.
Legislator Lee Cheuk-yan,  chairman of the manpower panel of the Legislative Council, said the right of abode issue was what stopped the government from reversing the ban.
The Basic Law says Chinese citizens 'ordinarily resided' in Hong Kong for seven years automatically qualify for permanent residency.
'It's not good if we have to ask the [mainland] workers to leave Hong Kong once they pass the sixth year,' Lee said.
Agents believe these issues could be solved through special visa or contract arrangements.
 Whether or not the ban is lifted, the training centres planned for Guangdong should serve a ready market in the Pearl River Delta.
 There were 400,000 Hong Kong people living in the Pearl River Delta, according to mainland government data in 2006. The real figure is likely to be much higher. Many are retirees or young commuters. 
And because the mainland has banned the importation of foreign domestic helpers, high-quality mainland maids are in great demand.
 'They are from Guangdong and they speak Cantonese. We share the same culture and habits. They are better nannies and nurses,' Lau said.
 The committee has already set up one school in Shenzhen that can train about 3,000 maids a year.
 'It could help turn our less educated labour force into professional maids,' the secretary-general of the Shenzhen Home Economics Association, Lu Zhenkun, said.
'After completing the training, the maids have to sit for a test to get a national vocational certificate. They will then be sent out to work for at least half a year with local families. We will then pick the best ones as candidates to go to Hong Kong.'



Help wanted: maids made on the mainland