An association comprised of 20 housemaid employment agencies Tuesday called on the Hong Kong government to permit Vietnamese to work as domestic helpers to diversify the SAR's labor market and overcome a perception of a labor shortage.

"As a result of the aging population and smaller families, Hong Kong's demand for foreign housemaids will continue to rise. This is in contrast to a short supply of domestic helpers from the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand," Patrick Chan Yui Kei, chairman of the Association of Vietnamese Employment Agencies, said at a press conference.

According to a telephone survey, conducted on behalf of the association by Hong Kong Shue Yan University, about 42 percent of 1,200 Hong Kong citizens said they favor introducing Vietnamese domestic helpers. Another 20.5 percent said they had no opinion.

The association found additional support for its plea in over 300 applications filed by Hong Kong citizens over the past half year to the Immigration Department making the same request.

"Introduction of Vietnamese maids will lead to more competition, resulting in the improvement of service quality, which we are more than happy to see," Chan said.

"The short supply of housemaids, or the flagging desire of Filipino maids to work in Hong Kong, results from surging demand in the Middle East market as well as better welfare provided in North America," said Lina Yiu, a member of the association.

Hong Kong provides entry permits to foreign domestic employees providing their employers are willing to pay the monthly wage of not less than HK$3,580 and a food allowance of more than $HK750 a month in cases where meals are provided by the household.

This entry arrangement, however, does not apply to residents of the mainland, Macao, Taiwan or nationals of Afghanistan, Albania, Cambodia, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, Nepal and Vietnam.

Housemaids from Thailand, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka have received permits after Hong Kong allowed Filipino maids in 1973, according to the association.

Of roughly 280,000 foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, 135,000 are from the Philippines, almost the same as in 1997. During the period there has been a four-fold increase in the number of Indonesian maids, who now number 140,000.

"The current immigration policy relating to Vietnamese nationals is based upon our evaluation of the country and its people, including the risks that the nationals might pose over the entry control of Hong Kong and its overall security," the Immigration Department said later Tuesday in a written reply in response to Chan's appeal.

"Indeed, the government reviews its policy regarding the entry permit from time to time, and will re-evaluate the situation and renew the arrangement if necessary."

The association made its appeal just as the Philippines government introduced a mandatory insurance requirement for Filipinos working overseas. The premium cost, equivalent to about HK$1,123 over two years, is likely to shift to Hong Kong employers.

"We are not in favor of this. The Philippines government is shifting the responsibility for protecting its own citizens to employers," commented Eman Villanueva, a spokesman for the United Filipinos in Hong Kong, a housemaid organization.

"It may hand over the jobs to other nationals," he said.

China Daily

(HK Edition 11/10/2010 page1)