Eshin Direct

This stuff really makes me angry.

Some Hong Kong residents are bigoted enough to fire their Filipino domestic helpers in a response to the hijacking fiasco in the Philippines – Hong Kong Filipinos fear hostage backlash. Seriously, will you grow up?

“I have already told my Filipino maid to find another job. I have decided to hire a local Hong Kong granny or a new immigrant from mainland China to be my domestic helper,” Angel Hong wrote on the Facebook memorial page.

Angel, your sense of patriotism to hire a local Hong Kong granny is commendable. It also speaks volumes about your character that you list out your alternative maid choices listing typical groups that are more vulnerable than most. Really, I know older people want to feel useful but really, do you think she really wants to be cleaning your toilet bowl at her age? Don’t even get me started on how to take apart the “a new immigrant from mainland China” comment. I suppose when they aren’t fresh of the boat anymore, you’d probably sack rather than give a pay rise?

It really is a shame that 8 of your fellow citizens had to die before you decided you would rather hire locally instead of exploiting cheaper labour from overseas. Well, at least you got your bang for your buck while it lasted. Angel, indeed.

Now don’t get me wrong. The story of the crisis was sad and tragic and my heart goes out to those people that actually have lost someone in the tragedy. One can’t deny that the Filipino government and those responsible for ensuring everyone’s safety were bunglers in the extreme. But do we really need to go down the road of this gross bigotry? These hostages were not targeted because they were Hong Kongers or Chinese. They happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

For if it becomes a nationalist and jingoistic call for tit-for-tat, surely one probably shouldn’t overlook the number of Filipino foreign domestic workers that are abused on regular basis by their employers in Hong Kong. Some even live under near hostage conditions as well. Instead the sharp, immediate threat of death is replaced by a slow, persistent threat of violence that lasts over sometimes many months, even years. Healing from the shame, humiliation and abuse might take many years, if ever.

To be fair, the territory generally has an okay track record at protecting the rights of its foreign domestic workers with exception of some key policy blunders. And while I’m sure our dear bigoted Angel Hong would never be a person to abuse the weaker elements of society, I’m sure she is breathing a sigh of relief that she’s not tarnished with the same brush for someone else’s actions.

This bigotry is what got Sikhs in America killed straight after 9/11. Could I have commemorated the tragedy in a better way than bashing someone’s stupidity? Probably. But then they pulled the stupid first by commemorating the loss of life by punishing those unrelated to the affair.

Tags: angel hong, bigotry, foreign domestic workers, Hong Kong, racism, Surfer Rants