Anger over calls to limit air-con for Hong Kong maids



HONG KONG, China - Calls to restrict air conditioning for Hong Kong's domestic maids amid sweltering summer temperatures were dubbed inhumane by rights groups Friday, after a politician suggested helpers should get "used to the hot weather".
The southern Chinese city is home to over 340,000 migrant domestic workers mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia, but concerns have grown over their welfare after several high-profile abuse cases.
The maids are required by law to live with their employers which rights campaigners say makes it hard for them to escape mistreatment.
One employer's Facebook post went viral this week after she expressed outrage that her helper had switched on the air conditioning in her room at night without permission, as temperatures topped 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) with high humidity.
"I'm very angry," the woman -- identified only as Wong -- said, according to a screenshot of the now deleted post on a closed group for Hong Kong employers of foreign helpers, published by Apple Daily newspaper.
Wong described her maid to be "audacious to the extreme", and said that she would remove the air conditioning switch.
While she was widely criticized by some residents, others supported her.
Politician Michael Lee, who heads a group for employers of maids, said in a radio interview that helpers should be accustomed to the weather as they came from "hot, hot" countries and called on employers to establish firm house rules.
"If they come from the hot country, they should get used to the hot weather," Lee later told AFP.
He conceded that the temperatures of recent weeks could mean helpers should be allowed air-con at night, but only so they can continue in their household duties.
"Otherwise she can't sleep, then she can't work," said Lee, a district councilor and spokesman for the pro-business Liberal Party's Taskforce on Foreign Helper's Problems, which speaks for the employers of maids.
"I recommend all employers in Hong Kong set up house rules saying what they can and cannot do," added Lee. 
Campaigners for helpers' rights said limiting air conditioning was "ridiculous, unfair and inhumane".
"To regulate the foreign domestic helpers in using air conditioning is inhumane and will cause deterioration to their health," said former domestic helper Eni Lestari, spokeswoman for the Asian Migrants' Coordinating Body.
Hong Kong made international headlines after an employer was jailed for six years in 2015 for the horrific abuse of her former helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih.
Rights groups have also criticized exploitative city recruitment agencies that extract exorbitant fees from migrants.
Campaigners have long sought reforms, including ending the "two-week rule" where domestic workers must leave the city 14 days after they quit a job, unless they can find other employment within that time.
They have also called for the abolition of the "live-in" rule.
But so far the government has shown no indication it will relax the regulations. — Agence France-Presse

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more