The burkini-clad swimmers of Hong Kong: domestic helpers get freedom to swim
- It’s seen as a symbol of suppression and extremism
- But the much-maligned burkini has given Muslim women around the world, including Hong Kong, a chance to take to the water with a new-found confidence
“Hey coach, we got all the way to Middle Island and back,” beams the young woman, emerging from the sea, covered head to heel in a black polyester “hijood”, tunic and bodysuit. The hot sun is bruising its way across the eastern sky above Repulse Bay Beach, where almost two dozen more Indonesians – and some Filipinos, too – are also learning how to swim. The woman switches from English to Bahasa Indonesia to joke with her friend, giggles and heads for shade under a lifeguard tower.
Nowadays, “burkinis” are a relatively common sight on Hong Kong beaches, but before they were, their wearers were not.
Since it was founded in 2015, the Hong Kong charity has given more than 2,000 women and young people from low-income communities the chance, over 11 weekly one-hour sessions, to learn water safety and how to swim for at least 25 uninterrupted metres.
“I wear the burkini for safety, freedom and [to feel] comfortable,” says Nuryani, a 40-year-old from Indonesia. “Because I don’t need to worry about men ogling me when I swim.”
It’s not that full-cover swimwear is an unusual sight on Hong Kong’s beaches, or that sexual attention is such a problem that vast amounts of fabric are required as a deterrent. Many Chinese swimmers here wear full bodysuits, some even don “facekinis”, cut with eye, nose and mouth holes to avoid sun exposure. It’s almost incidental that the Muslim women in burkinis are covering up for reasons of ideology or faith.