Foreign domestic workers often lead invisible lives, confined to their employer's home in Hong Kong – but one day a week they take to public spaces and sing, dance and share picnics.During the pandemic, 40,000 were given no rest day and about 20,000 only got one day off a month, according to a survey by the Asian Migrants' Coordinating Body .Hazel, a Filipina domestic worker, caught COVID, so her employer locked her out of the house.
"We are workers, not helpers, meaning we're not machines, not robots or slaves but human beings too," said Ms Borja, taking issue with the label "helper" that is often used to describe people in her line of work.Many Indonesian workers have reported to unions that they have been denied their one statutory rest day or were overcharged by agents.
Domestic worker Rowena Borja calls for better working conditions for Hong Kong's nearly 400,000 domestic workers in a protest in 2017.She was part of a group that applied for permission to hold a demonstration of about 300 people but was only approved for 49. Sarah Pun, who formed the Union of Nepalese Domestic Workers, is among rights leaders who say fewer people are joining unions – they're not sure whether it is due to fear or a lack of time.
They are first charged in their country of origin by an agent and then charged again when they arrive in Hong Kong by another agent. "To strengthen the regulation of employment agencies, the Hong Kong government significantly increased the maximum penalties for overcharging job seekers from a fine of $HK50,000 to a fine of $HK350,000 and imprisonment for three years," a spokesperson told the ABC.Ratih Surati, a domestic worker from Indonesia and the chairperson of the Union of United Domestic Workers, recalled one case where an employee was trafficked to a warehouse by a broker.
In episode five, the perspective changes from following expat Margaret and the disappearance of her son at a night market to focus on her family's two live-in domestic workers Essie and Puri.While the depiction of domestic workers as key contributors to Hong Kong is welcome – Ms Balladares says issues of discrimination, racism and treatment as second-class citizens will need more than Hollywood to change.
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