Domestic workers in Hong Kong victims of forced labor

It's hard to generalize when you talk about people, but one thing is for sure, we are all a product of our environment and opportunity. I doubt I would be where I am if I was born is some Middle East country and I would probably not make the same choices either. It's a shame that society has so detached itself from the suffering of others and is primarily focused on itself. I include myself in this statement. It's easy to be disillusioned/pessimistic with all the stuff that happens in this world. I just hope we don't all of us lose our humanity and compassion for those that haven't been as LUCKY as us. Yes, it's not all luck....handwork, talent and opportunity also come into play. It's a bit like looking a hill of dirt and knowing your little shovel will never move that dirt, so why try, but if there are a million little shovels miracles can happen. I doubt there are many employers in Hong Kong suffering at the hands of the evil Filipinas from the mountain. Do you really think they dream about growing up and working as a slave in HK?

There is a saying that goes all that's need for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing......

 

There is a lot of racism here in the Philippines and to deny it is straight out blindness. As westerners especially white westerners we are used to it in the form of reverse racism so much that is hard to see if you don't lift up those blinders and we tend to just accept it as most of us realize human's no matter what color are inheritantly racist to some degree and racism to some extent is actually natural and normal. Racism is about the idea of survival of the fittest and everyone thinks their kind is the fittest and people make policies to try and ensure their kinds survival. So in the end yes the Philippines IS racist and even to the extreme as they set so many barriers against those they claim to welcome to make sure they don't get a fair shake and treated equally to that of Filipino's. Even those in the mountains generally have some racism in them about outsiders or those they perceive as different without even knowing anything about them. But as white people being told for the last century we are the only true racists and non whites can't possibly be racist we fool ourselves into thinking others aren't racist but its just normal because they aren't white.

But in the end as far as house helpers who really expects any different then this going on? When people are to lazy or to *busy* to take care of their own affairs they want someone else to do it for them but don't want to lose out financially. They are going to expect everything for as little as possible and when that person isn't one of their own in their perception then why care about them at all? In the US, UK, or any other western country it wouldn't be any different to be honest (think of slavery) except that our governments have established strong laws against it and through generations of those laws growing we have adapted and changed our viewpoints to match what is in our countries. Yet in countries without strong protections on being *fair* there is nothing to stop people from treating their helpers like slaves and trash.

Also though look in the Philippines at many of the helpers here. As the Philippines lacks any real protection Filipino helpers inside the Philippines are treated as slaves and trash also by many Filipino bosses. Many even employ a relative from the mountain area or a poor part of the family yet instead of helping this family member along with getting a helper they treat them like crap as well. I've seen enough cases of 16 on up helpers who never finished high school and are working as a helper for *family* who doesn't even care enough about them to help them finish high school even when they want to finish. Manila though seems better to a degree but ONLY because laws their are enforced a bit more strictly and their are more active places to complain on worker abuse there. If there weren't any stronger laws in Manila it would be no different then the rest of the country.

The worst part is anyone who thinks they can get ahead by being a helper even abroad is seriously fooling themselves. Many of these helpers who go abroad are warned beforehand of all the dangers. abuse, and even sexual abuse and yet they go freely knowing the likelihood of having a bad experience and it just being about how bad.

 

I know 3 Filipinas in Hong Kong, working as domestic helpers, that have put their children and assisted nieces and nephews through college and who now own their own home mortgage free back home in the Phils. They probably have more financial discipline than most which would be a big reason so many do not get ahead. It certainly can be done though. Not on p5,000/mo they would make here but on the p30,000 to p45,000/mo they make in HK - in addition to room and board, yes. (which gives HK employers that much more leverage to abuse them)

 

The two worst cases I have heard of abuse were the pouring of scalding hot water on a Filipina in the middle east and Manila where the lady of the house, another Filipina beat the helper and burned her face with a hot clothing iron. The lady in Manila was only required to pay the helper a token sum as damages.
As has been stated before, you aren't going to get ahead to any great degree by becoming a helper.

I had a GF who was a helper in Quezon City and she made 7k a month for the people who sponsored for her to go to a good school. She did all the house help things but she also kept their books and handled payroll for guards and kept track of who had and had not paid rent on her employers property and acted as secretary sometimes. She was (probably still is) making a good wage considering room and board, free wifi and so forth. The guards were making 10K a month and had to have their own lodgings and pay for uniforms out of the 10k. She was / is well off by those standards but she will never get ahead.

 

I sponsored a young woman to a 1 year caregiver course here in Dumaguete. She and another girl from here course travel around Asia with a rich man from Duma. She sends money home to help her parents and her siblings. So far things are good for her.

In Canada, they have stopped the live in rule. At one point caregivers had to live in the house they were allocated to. What happened is allot of their sponsors took advantage of this rule. Now it is no longer requred as part of the sponsorship.

When you blame people (any people), for being poor you are not looking at the notion that these people also have hopes and dreams like everyone else. They are not asking to be abused. They just want a better life for themselves and their family. I have had many people work for me and I have always treated them well. It takes a "special kind of person to treat other people like animals. " See: Singapore couple convicted for starving Pinay maid

"The worst part is anyone who thinks they can get ahead by being a helper even abroad is seriously fooling themselves. Many of these helpers who go abroad are warned beforehand of all the dangers. abuse, and even sexual abuse and yet they go freely knowing the likelihood of having a bad experience and it just being about how bad." Many of these workers are desperate. It is not a matter that they go "freely." Some of them are scared to death but they go any way. No sense in trying to argue this here as you can reason with people who know everything!