Letters | Give foreign domestic workers the consumption voucher. They deserve it

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On the government’s decision to expand the consumption voucher scheme to non-permanent residents, I agree with your columnist (“Hey, Hong Kong – how about we stop being racist and include foreign domestic workers in the consumption voucher scheme?”, June 18). Foreign domestic helpers also deserve financial support during this difficult time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to a study by global information services company Experian and Hong Kong charity Enrich, foreign domestic helpers contributed nearly HK$100 billion (US$12.7 billion) to the local economy in 2018. As the annual salary for 400,000 helpers is about HK$20 billion or one fifth of the value created, Hong Kong society should be grateful for their sacrifice and hard work, and award them the consumption vouchers, which would only cost HK$2 billion. A study by Baptist University researchers also found that hiring domestic helpers is associated with higher fertility rates in local families. Considering this finding and the government’s plan to train helpers to care for the elderly, it is clear that foreign domestic helpers play a crucial role in society given our ageing population. Therefore, I urge the incoming John Lee Ka-chiu administration to include helpers in the consumption voucher scheme.

In calling the United States a “hegemon”, Alex Lo (“A tale of two autocrats (and their different treatments by the US)”, June 17) uses a word from ancient Greece, when the Earth was conceived as flat in mythology. Since then, we have discovered that the globe is too big for only one hegemon.