[sunniefaith]

I've the same helper in Spore for a long time. She's with my mum. She gets her days off and she does whatever she likes as long as mum's dogs are fed and house is clean. We love her to the bits. I sincerely believe that if you give them respect and yes, helpers need respect too, they'll love and respect you back.

[carang]

yep, and it starts one person at a time.
so, although i feel badly that your gf has had bad experiences with employers(that happen to be chinese), i hope that she realises that not all chinese are bad. there are some absolutely wonderful chinese people out there that would give their right arm if it would help you. just as there are good and bad white, blacks, browns, blues, and purples out there...

[carang]

sorry donnialda... didn't mean to hijack your thread...oops

[sylvesterjay]

It wasn't just her, but numerous stories I've heard from many helpers. The most recurring bs I heard was not getting their days off, being told they get one day off every 3 weeks!

The SCMP ran a great story a few months ago about this, and how 5 or so years ago there were about 200,000 philippina helpers and a few thousand Indonesians. Now its about 50-50 and one of the reasons was that locals are preferring Indonesians because they tend to keep their mouths shut about the abuses for fear of losing their jobs, whereas the Philippinas are better at throwing the bullshit flag! Good for them! The goverment should be doing more to protect them from outright abuses and reprisals for standing up for their rights.

I know not all are bad, but a significant number exist to tarnish them all. Heck, most of my friends are locals...I seem to be the token white boy.

[carang]

the thing is, i have a son. he is 1/2 chinese. my husband is chinese. i cannot condone blanketing them with a generalisation that "all chinese" are bad... in any way, shape or form.

like i said, there are as many expats out there that are as bad. just have a look at a different forum under "domestic helpers".

when i got married, we did the chinese wedding here. then we went to canada for a canadian ceremony. i thought that it would be good (and interesting) to do the chinese thing again in canada. i actually had an arguement with my brother (one of the least racist people i know) about whether or not we should do it. he thought it would be perceived as ostentatious (all the gold, etc). i argued that it is a tradition. and that one day i would have children and they should not be ashamed of who they are...that is... 1/2 chinese and half canadian. i would not want to have to explain to my children that we didn't do something or that we did something solely because of what others would think.

they should be proud of who they are. everyone should. just not to the detriment (sp?) of others.

[jgl]

Originally Posted by carang

when i got married, we did the chinese wedding here. then we went to canada for a canadian ceremony. i thought that it would be good (and interesting) to do the chinese thing again in canada. i actually had an arguement with my brother (one of the least racist people i know) about whether or not we should do it. he thought it would be perceived as ostentatious (all the gold, etc).

Wow, that's a bit surprising. I've found Canada to be the least racist country I've ever been to. Then again, I do find all the red and gold overload a bit tacky myself

[sylvesterjay]

To quote Robin Williams, "thats because were so f#ckin nice eh!"

[goodkarma]

Canadians are as standoffish abt integrating with other races as most any other country. They just tend not to say anything outloud.

Whio do you think coined "Hong Couver"?

[carang]

my brother himself had no problems with it. he ws worried what others might think...
my feeling was... to hell with what the others think!

[Mercedes288]

Originally Posted by sylvesterjay

you gotta ask yourself why? My girlfriend was a helper in HK for 3 yrs, and I've heard the horror stories of how attrociously locals treat their helpers. Not all, mind you, but enough to make the generalization. Most helpers prefer to work for westerners, cuz at least they get some basic humanity, which as bad as this is going to sound, is sadly and blatantly missing in Chinese culture.

HOW CAN YOU GENERALIZE THE ENTIRE CULTURE? IS THAT NOT RACISM? How does that make you feel if I go on to say white people is this or white people is that? What I know white people is enough for me to make a generalization. Why not? If this upsets you, why do you think that it's okay for you to make bigoted statement about an entire race and culture?

I don't condone racism in any shapes or forms. Racism goes both ways. The things I heard the expats say about the locals, it's disguisting but I guess you aren't mentioning that. Or how some domestic helpers beat, burn or abuse the kids when the parents aren't home. I guess you aren't mentioning that either.

But you talk as if you come from a certain moral high ground so I guess it's okay for you to whine, it's okay for you to complain and it's okay for you to trash other people. If some racist people have hurt you, DON'T BE LIKE THEM. DON'T BECOME ONE OF THEM.

Basic humanity? What's THAT? You don't need to go far back into history, just look at how the blacks were treated during and after hurricane Katrina. I live in Washington DC, black people are practically shunned from the Georgetown area. Yes, I don't doubt that the western way is more humane. So please go place more economic sanctions or bomb some more countries. When your parents get really old and useless, just place them in nursing home and only visit them once during Thanksgiving.

The OP didn't even say anything about Chinese being racist - she was actually hoping that the western racist attitude did not follow her to HK! But my god, look at how you guys all reacted, you aren't remotely responding to what she wrote!

I find it amazing that you guys seem to worry about the most bizarre and nonsensical things almost to a point of obsession. As if you're looking for things to complain about. Locals don't hold the door open...locals look at me funny...locals don't give up their seats, on and on and on...I mean, is it REALLY that big a deal in the grand scheme of things? Is it REALLY something worth to raise your blood pressure for? This can't be healthy...

You seem to really hate Hong Kong - you must have a compelling reason to stay. Please enlighten me. If I only have negative things to say about a place, I would not have stayed on for this long...