My Journey into Allyship

Published in

Our Voice

6 min readOct 12, 2022

Barack Obama — what made him a great president? Some may think it was his leadership and loyalty to the country. I say he was a great president because he was an ally.

Although Barack Obama was a straight man with a wife and kids, he used his position to make marriage between the same sex possible in America. This showed he was someone who cared for others, cared for groups other than his own, and someone who would stand up and fight for what he believed was right.

His actions embody my definition of an ally, which is to stand and fight for the rights of a group of people you are not a part of.

SELF REFLECTION

Privilege and marginalization can be seen as two sides of a coin — one doesn’t exist without the other. An example of privilege is being of high social and financial status. My family is financially stable, meaning that we don’t have to worry about tuition, rent, food, or other basic necessities. The downside is that because of my status, I’m expected and obligated to achieve high academic results, which leads to stress and at times makes me base my self-worth solely on academic performance. Regardless, the privileges of high status vastly outweigh the downsides that come with it. Realistically, all I have to do is go to school and worry about learning.

In contrast, there are some in society who are marginalized. The downsides they experience far outweigh their privileges, which is the other side of the coin. These include individuals and groups of people who struggle endlessly to provide themselves and their families with basic financial stability and the most basic of necessities, like food, water, shelter, and communication.

As I have said, I’m in an extremely fortunate situation, and because of this, I feel obligated to help others who aren’t. More specifically, I want to help domestic helpers in Hong Kong. The reason for choosing allyship with this group, in particular, is because I grew up in Indonesia, where 41.25% of the domestic helpers in Hong Kong are from.[1]

EDUCATION

According to a survey done by CUHK (Chinese University of Hong Kong), more than 70% of domestic helpers in Hong Kong work over thirteen hours a day, [2] with an average salary ranging from $6,000 to $6,500 HKD a month. [3] In comparison, when most students in my school become adults, they’ll probably work half that time and still make many times the amount that domestic helpers make.

According to a survey done by Mission for Migrant Workers, 29% of domestic helpers in Hong Kong get insufficient food, while 15% of them even experience physical abuse in their workplace. [4] Protests have been held several times in the past by domestic helpers all around Hong Kong, yet the rate of abuse and mistreatment still remains the same. The reason for this is that domestic workers are victims of this reality and have no other option but to stay with their employers.

For example, Hong Kong law states that a domestic helper’s visa status depends completely on their employment status. More specifically, if a domestic worker is unemployed for more than two weeks, they must leave the country or face imprisonment. Unfortunately, according to Hans J. Ladegaard, a professor at Polytechnic University and an author on the abuse of domestic helpers, finding a new employer in Hong Kong within two weeks is “almost impossible”. [5]

This situation that domestic helpers are trapped in is fully taken advantage of, despite the fact that they can be seen as the backbone of Hong Kong society: they cook, clean, and take care of the elderly and children, amongst many other responsibilities. Their actions alone contributed $12.6 billion dollars to Hong Kong’s economy in 2018 by enabling more than 110,000 Hong Kong mothers to rejoin the workforce. [6]

Photo: Dickson Lee for South China Morning Post

Still, domestic helpers are discriminated against by even the government. For example, in February 2022, the Hong Kong government announced that it would provide financial aid amidst the pandemic in the form of consumption vouchers worth $10,000 HKD to every permanent resident, and consumption vouchers of $5,000 HKD to those who would one day be eligible for permanent residence in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, domestic helpers, who are not able to become permanent residents under Hong Kong law, are excluded from the consumption voucher scheme, even though their need is greatest.

Many have spoken up about the unjust treatment of domestic helpers. Over the past two years, the monthly minimum wage for domestic helpers has remained the same, at $4,560 HKD, which isn’t enough to account for the inflated prices of everyday necessities. On top of that, most domestic helpers have families in their home countries that they are financially responsible for, and because of the pandemic, they’ve had to send more money back home, thus fully justifying their need for financial assistance.

Sring Sringatin, the chairperson of the Indonesian Migrant Workers’ Union, commented, “This is how the Hong Kong government really treats foreign domestic workers —they don’t recognize us even as humans”. [7]

IMPACT AND ROLE

I can imagine that when most people read the quote above, they wouldn’t be able to relate to the statement, “They don’t even recognize us as humans”. However, what do most employers in Hong Kong really think about their helpers?

There is obviously a language barrier between domestic helpers and their employers, so how do employers get to know their helpers as people? For example, the usual employer doesn’t know about their helpers’ upbringing, their opinions, their families, nor how they are doing on a regular basis. The typical employer doesn’t interact with domestic helpers as they do with most people, and when they do, it’s usually to give them instructions and demands on things to do around the house.

While I was living in Indonesia before moving to Hong Kong, everyone I knew would talk to their domestic helpers just like anyone else, with respect and appreciation. The helpers were kind to us and would ask us what happened at school, and how our day was, they would even get to know our friends.

Unfortunately, when I moved to Hong Kong, I saw that the relationships between employers and domestic helpers were extremely different. I first noticed this when I went to my friends’ homes in Hong Kong; the dynamics between them and their helpers were very formal and impersonal, as I described above.

Even now while living in Hong Kong, I personally enjoy talking with our domestic helper. Her name is Dewi, and I talk to her every day like any other person. I hope to encourage others here to get to know their helpers as people. I feel that I can especially help with this because I speak Indonesian, giving me the ability to spread the positive stories of domestic helpers in Hong Kong.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I have seen that domestic helpers in Hong Kong are marginalized in many ways, the primary reason being that domestic helpers aren’t seen as “people”, only as workers. I have personally experienced how important it is that we treat each other with respect and as people. I plan to become an ally for domestic helpers in Hong Kong and hope to help change their situation by spreading their stories.

Domestic helpers are real people with real feelings and real needs, and they should be treated as such.