Indonesian maids to outnumber Filipinos in Hong Kong

Earthtimes.org
Posted on : 2009-06-01 | Author : DPA

Hong Kong - Filipino maids have for decades been a ubiquitous sight in Hong Kong. But they are about to be outnumbered by Indonesians for the first time, a news report said Monday. The number of Indonesian maids in the wealthy former British colony rose 7 per cent last year to 125,567, compared to 126,075 Filipinos, the South China Morning Post said.

Quoting government figures, the newspaper pointed to a sharp trend for Hong Kong families to employ Indonesian rather than Filipino maids.

Indonesian maids will soon overtake Filipinos in overall numbers, the newspaper said, and it looks as if the current economic downturn will speed up the process.

The main reasons for Hong Kong families preferring Indonesian maids is that they speak better Cantonese and also that they are prepared to work for less than the legal minimum wage.

There is a government-set minimum wage of around 450 US dollars for foreign domestic helpers but Indonesians have a long-standing reputation of being prepared to work for less.

Agencies offer under-the-table deals to employers under which Indonesian maids will work for as little as a half of the legal minimum wage.

Apart from Indonesians and Filipinos, Hong Kong is home to 3,774 Thai domestic helpers and around 3,500 from other countries such as Sri Lanka, according to official figures for April 2009.