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New guidebook for Hong Kong's live-in help 香港幫傭新教戰手冊

A domestic worker holds a sign at a protest in downtown Hong Kong. 一名家庭幫傭在香港市區舉牌抗議。 (照片：美聯社) PHOTO: AP

Jim Rice wants Hong Kong's maids to know their rights. A lecturer at a Hong Kong university, Rice says many of the 300,000 domestic workers from the Philippines and Indonesia that live with families in Hong Kong are abused or underpaid, and he has written a low-cost legal guidebook to try to help them stand up for their rights.

He remembers one case in particular that first convinced him that the city's army of domestic helpers were in need of help themselves. “There was an Indonesian woman who was locked up in her employer's house alone for a month,” Rice recalled.

“She had to call friends for help just to get food,” he said. “They were bringing it to her and stuffing it through the gate. She was literally locked in the house. If there had been a fire, she wouldn't have been able to get out.”

The maid was horrified when Rice suggested reporting her case. “She begged me, ‘Please don't make any trouble,’” he said, “Nothing ever came of it.”

“These things happen and the employee is so frightened of getting into trouble because she knows the cards are stacked against her.”

In Hong Kong, if maids are fired, their visas are taken away immediately, and they must leave Hong Kong within two weeks. There is little time to hear complaints of abuse or being fired unfairly. Additionally, most maids don't know that if they are reported for working illegally and questioned by immigration or police officers, they have the right to silence.

“I am trying to inform workers they have other options. ... It can help them enormously in ... dealing with immigration officers or the police.”

Rice's book, Take Your Rights Seriously, is to be sold to Hong Kong's foreign maids at a cover price of around US$5 (NT$165). (DPA)

吉姆?萊斯要香港女傭知道自己的權利。身為香港大學講師的萊斯指出，香港三十萬名和受雇家庭同住的菲傭和印傭中，有許多不是被虐待就是薪資過低，他已完成一本便宜的法律指導手冊，幫助她們挺身捍衛自己的權利。

萊斯特別想起一個案子，讓他第一次相信，香港大批家庭幫傭需要自力救濟，他回憶：「有一名印尼女子獨自被鎖在雇主家一個月。」

他說：「她得打電話請朋友幫忙才能取得食物。他們把食物帶來，從門縫中塞給她。她真的是被鎖在家裡，當時若有火警她會沒辦法逃生。」

萊斯提議要報導她的案例時，這名女傭極度恐慌，他說：「她懇求我『請不要製造任何麻煩，這麼做沒有任何好處』。」

「這些是真實發生的案例，而且受雇的女傭非常害怕會惹麻煩，因為她知道情況對她不利。」

香港的女傭若被解雇就會立即失去簽證，且須在兩週內離開香港，以致很少聽到有人抱怨被虐待或遭無理開除。此外，多數女傭不知道當她們被舉報非法工作，以及受移民局或警察盤問時，有保持沉默的權利。

「我試圖告知這些幫傭，他們有其他選擇...這對他們在跟移民局或警局交涉時有莫大的幫助。」

萊斯的著作「認真捍衛你的權利」將以約五美元﹝新台幣一百六十五元﹞的價格賣給香港外籍女傭。

（德通社╱翻譯︰鄭湘儀）

Today's Words 今天單字 1. domestic adj. 家庭的 (jia1 ting2 de5) 例: Hallie works outside the home and her husband takes care of domestic things. (哈莉在外工作，她的老公處理家務事。) 2. employer n. 雇主 (gu4 zhu3) 例: How much vacation time does your employer allow you? (你的雇主准你多少假？) 3. literally adv. 實在地 (shi2 zai4 di5) 例: Janice is so tall that she literally has to duck when she walks into a room. (珍妮絲太高了，所以得彎身才進得了門。) 4. inform v.t. 通知 (tong1 zhi1) 例: If your grades don't improve, I'll have to inform your parents. (如果你成績沒進步，我就得通知你父母。)

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