BANNED FROM HIRING FILIPINAS
HK star turns to Indonesians for help
HONG KONG--Spurned by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (Polo), Canto-pop star Jacky Cheung and his wife, retired actress Mei Lo, have turned to Indonesians for help.
The couple, which has been banned from hiring Filipino helpers due to a record of frequently firing maids or causing them to resign, has asked recruitment agencies to find Indonesian domestic workers to replace the Filipinos who have left their household.
Lo mentioned the resignation of the four Filipino maids during the actress' meeting with Philippine consulate officials in September. Cheung himself confirmed the resignation of his maids after learning that the couple had been placed on the Polo's watch list.
"We don't know why, they (maids) just resigned voluntarily," Assistant labor attaché Leonida Romulo told Hong Kong News. The Polo had not been contacted by any of the helpers who recently quit.
She said that an agency, which used to facilitate the employment of Filipino domestic helpers for Lo, revealed that it is now processing the employment of Indonesian helpers for the Cheung household.
Indonesians, which a 2007 Caritas study found to be the "most abused" foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, have risen in numbers in recent years. There are now 111,798 Indonesian domestic helpers, the second biggest population of foreign maids after Filipinos, who number 122,613, as of August.
The Polo stopped processing Lo's application for two more domestic helpers in August, summoning instead the retired actress to appear at the Philippine consulate and explain her employment history.
Records show that Lo, the registered employer for Cheung's house help, hired 21 domestic helpers from 2004 to 2007, only two of whom finished their contracts. Some of the helpers lasted only weeks.
Lo failed to justify the frequent resignation or termination of her Filipino maids during the meeting with Philippine officials in September, saying only that perhaps, they could not all get along as she employs at least four helpers at any given time.
Two of Lo's former maids, whom Romulo did not name, detailed various complaints about their work in Cheung's household. One domestic helper called the Polo to report long work hours while another sent a letter asking the Polo to blacklist Lo. Blacklisted employers are never again allowed to hire Filipinos.
"If after a year they've learned their lesson, they've cooled off, they know how take care of Filipino workers, then we may reconsider. But if we still hear objections or strong concerns..." Labor attaché Romulo Salud said, trailing off.
"If we feel that the Filipino community is already ready to forgive and understand the situation, we may consider," he said.
He said the Polo placed and removed employers on the watch list on a case-to-case basis, without specific guidelines other than the violation of the employment ordinance, reports of abuses or the questionable turnover of helpers, as in the case of Cheung and Lo.
There are now 106 employers on the watch list. These employers would not be allowed to hire Filipino helpers unless they can prove to the Philippine consulate that they are suitable employers.