Ordinary Gweilo

It's not big and it's not clever, it's just a Brit in Hong Kong writiing (mainly) about Hong Kong

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Summertime

May 5, 2004

Our outdoor pool opened at the weekend, which cheered me up. Most private-sector estates in Hong Kong have pools, but (as I have mentioned previously) they are often only open for a few months in the summer and close at 7 pm. Fortunately, ours is open longer and later, so I can go swimming after I come home from work. All part of my boring life.

It is very common for children to go swimming under the supervision of their domestic helper. However, they are not allowed to use the pool (goodness me, where would it end if you let the servants swim in your pool). There is also a rule that anyone coming into the pool area has to purchase a ticket, and some people do seem to sit there sunbathing and reading the newspaper so I suppose that’s fair enough.

On Saturday morning these two rules were combined to produce a daft result – one of the Filipina helpers was forced to pay for an entry ticket so she could sit by the side of the pool supervising her employer’s child. Well, rules are rules.

Posted in Life in Hong Kong

8 responses to “Summertime”

PC PLOD

May 5, 2004

You appear to make light of the fact that domestic servants are barred from using the residences swimming pools, even on their leave days. However, it is only another demonstration of the insidious racism that is prevalent in HK society. It is also regrettable that in this particular example, expats prefer to turn a blind eye.

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Chris

May 5, 2004

On the contrary, I think I was drawing attention to the absurdity of the situation.

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Simon World

May 5, 2004

Asia by blog

As an ongoing series I am going to link to some of what’s going on in various Asian blogs, to give you a feel for what is happening in this part of the world. Firstly the always interesting ALN talks about Bush rejecting union calls to punish China. AL…

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Asian Labour News

May 5, 2004

Hong Kong: No maids in the pool, please

In January we had Simon at Simon World telling us that maids are relegated to the service lift with pets in his building. This month we have Chris at Ordinary Gweilo informing us that maids are not allowed to swim…

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Stephen Frost

May 5, 2004

I didn’t interpret the post as making light of the fact either, but that’s probably neither here nor there. My real reason for posting is to ask PC PLOD why he or she writes “even on their leave days”? The time in question was a Saturday morning, which is not normally regarded as regular time off for domestic helpers. In fact, many work not just on Saturday but on Sundays as well.
The reason I’m mentioning this is because a friend said to me the other day in passing that maids don’t – under law – enjoy the same amount of holidays as local workers. This is patent nonsense, but it’s worth noting that employers of domestic helpers need only under law provide one rest day (24 hours of continuous rest) every seven. Otherwise, however, they are entitled to the same 12 statutory holidays as all Hong Kong workers are theoretically entitled (but many do not enjoy).

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Chris

May 5, 2004

I mentioned this point about statutory holidays earlier, with reference to Easter. Many people in Hong Kong get all the general holidays (including Good Friday and Easter Monday), not just the statutory holidays, but some get only the statutory holidays, or not even that.
However, as it happens, Saturday 1 May was a statutory holiday, but Stephen is right that many domestic helpers do work on their rest days and holidays.

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Stephen Frost

May 5, 2004

Thanks, Chris. I’d completely forgotten that Saturday was indeed a holiday; my memory is more than imperfect these days. That and moving house on the weekend didn’t help… Glad to have it cleared up.
The issue of holidays in Hong Kong – and not just for domestic workers – is a sore point for lots of people. Seven-day weeks are the norm for many in the service sector in particular.

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Steve

May 19, 2004

The attitudes of someeway people treat never cease to amaze me.
Out with a Filipina friend looking for directions recently, we saw a DH with (presumably) her employer and family. My friend made some kind of sign, at which the other girl shook her head and turned away.
It turned out my friend was asking if she was allowed to talk. Allowed to talk? WTF is that all about?
(Apologies for the late repsonse to this post)

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