Hong Kong government must be sensitive to the risk of institutional racism in decision-making

Amid the outcry over officials’ careless remarks, a mandatory vaccine proposal and compulsory Covid-19 testing, the government must think carefully about its basis for targeting certain groups

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Foreign domestic helpers queue up for a second round of compulsory Covid-19 testing, at a mobile specimen collection station at Chater Garden in Central on May 15. Photo: Nora Tam

Justin Bong-Kwan

Justin Bong-Kwan is a practising barrister based in Hong Kong and a freelance writer.

Published: 6:45am, 30 May 2021Updated: 6:59am, 30 May 2021

The Hong Kong government’s Covid-19 slogan is, “Together, we fight the virus”. As Equal Opportunities Commission chairman Ricky Chu Man-kin said: “It is this sense of togetherness, not labelling and stigmatisation, that will help us put up our best fight against the virus.”

However, the singling out of foreign domestic helpers in the application of anti-pandemic measures would seem to be at odds with the government’s official stance.

Having withdrawn a mandatory Covid-19 vaccination plan for the city’s foreign domestic workers, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has ordered all unvaccinated domestic helpers to undergo a second round of compulsory tests by May 30.

Even though the first round of tests yielded only three positive cases, Lam maintains that the second round is a necessary precaution against “infectious Covid-19 variants in the community”. On what basis is the government singling out domestic helpers?

Labour minister Dr Law Chi-kwong has described foreign domestic workers as a “high-risk group”. He said at a press briefing: “They mainly hang out with their friends during their holidays. If they are infected, that can likely lead to cross-family infections.”