Silent majority of helpers given a voice

They're not as well organised as their Filipino counterparts, but Sundays in Victoria Park are more than just a day out for Hong Kong's hard-pressed army of Indonesian domestic helpers - what looks like a picnic is more like a mass union meeting.

That's how their leader, known as 'Mama Mia', rose to prominence after arriving in the first influx of Indonesian migrant workers in the late 1980s. She founded the Hong Kong Coalition of Indonesian Migrant Workers Organisation in 2000.

The coalition originally comprised six groups but it has doubled in size over the years and is the voice of Indonesia domestic worker advocacy in Hong Kong.

By comparison there are some 200 advocacy groups for Filipino domestic workers including three unions, says Luella Mirafuentes of the Alliance of Progressive Labor-HK.

The number of advocacy organisations once reflected the ethnic demographics of the city's foreign domestic worker population, but that's no longer the case.

In 1998, there were 140,357 Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong and only 31,762 from Indonesia, according to the Immigration Department. A decade later, there were 125,943 Filipino domestic helpers and 123,341 Indonesians. The Indonesian Consulate says there are now 136,640 Indonesian helpers here.

'We started coming here a very long time ago, before the Indonesians,' said Mirafuentes, noting that Filipino domestic workers have been in Hong Kong since president Ferdinand Marcos started to export labour in the 1970s.

Mama Mia, whose real name is Sumiati, says building support groups was no easy task. Many foreign domestic workers have few or no rest days and since many are subject to early termination and repatriation to Indonesia, some are not here long enough to organise.

Although she has visited Cambodia, Spain and Mali to talk about the situation of Hong Kong's Indonesian migrant workers, Sumiati still works at her employers' home in Tseung Kwan O.

Many of the Indonesian organisations currently serving the community offer Da'wah, or Islamic education services, and some financial support, primarily from the local Muslim community's charitable donations. Since the launch of her organisation, Sumiati has helped to open two shelters for abused domestic workers in Yau Ma Tei and Causeway Bay and organises rallies in support of foreign helpers and lobbying officials.

Sumiati sees herself as a voice of dissent for a community that is too accepting of substandard work conditions. 'Hong Kong people like Indonesians because they are obedient,' says Sumiati. 'But if Filipinos are treated unfairly, they complain to the Labour Department.'

Mirafuentes says Indonesian helpers are often less outspoken, saying that education plays a decisive factor. She and Sumiati agree that lower education levels make Indonesian helpers less likely to know their rights or question authority.

Short-changed

Percentage of Indonesian maids not paid the minimum HK$3,580 per month: 47%

Helping hands

According to Immigration Department figures, the number of foreign domestic helpers employed in Hong Kong as of March 31, 2009, was: 257,872

Hard labour

Percentage of Indonesian helpers that have no rest day: 63%