Foreign Helpers Stay Away From Central

Popular districts like Central and Mong Kok on Sunday were much quieter than usual with fewer foreign domestic helpers gathering on their day-off.

Many helpers have spent their first day off under a new law restricting the number of people gathering to four or under, to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

On a pedestrian footbridge in Mong Kok that was usually packed with people on Sundays, police officers were patrolling and reminding the helpers about new government requirements to keep social distance.

But officers did not disperse them.

At Chater Road in Central, a popular spot for foreign helpers to spend their off days, some 100 people in different groups were scattered across the pedestrian zone.

A Filipino migrant helpers group had put up posters there to explain the new rule, and its punishment for violations.

Kareen, who was one of the helpers there, told RTHK that she usually spends time with at least 10 friends, but now, she feels much safer with fewer people gathering in the area.

“Now this Sunday, it’s very quiet…because some of us…worried also if the police will look up them. So it’s easy not to come here,” she said.

Nancy, another foreign worker, said she's grateful that her employers respected her rest day and let her decide how she wanted to spend her time off.

“I don't normally go out on Sundays, like just go to the church and have fellowship with my churchmates. Because of this mandate from the government, so the church closed down... I just bought some Filipino food and just stay at home, better safe than sorry,” she told RTHK.

But not everyone is as lucky as Nancy, with Mission for Migrant Workers saying some employers had asked the worker to quit voluntarily after having arguments on whether they can go out on day offs. Some have experienced emotional problems, it added, when the employers asked the helpers to stay at home for more than 9 weeks in a row.

Betty Yung Ma Shan-yee, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Employers of Overseas Domestic Helpers' Association, said employers cannot force the workers to stay home on their day offs according to the law, and should remind them to go home earlier to reduce the risk of transmission.

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