[fly]

I may have misread, but didn't Discobay imply that having a helper (as opposed to kids) may help some folks increase their social standing? If it's the former, I would tend to disagree since every other family has got a helper these days.

[discobay]

Well...Mercedes Benz cars are common here but they're still status symbols.

[HKFella]

Originally Posted by discobay

Well...Mercedes Benz cars are common here but they're still status symbols.

a better comparison would be to taking cabs in HK.
who gives a toss that you have a helper? If you boast you're running a household with kids without a helper in HK, now that is more likely to give you bragging rights and a kind of sense of 'status' if you'd like to call it that.

[Baron]

Originally Posted by HKFella

If you boast you're running a household with kids without a helper in HK, now that is more likely to give you bragging rights and a kind of sense of 'status' if you'd like to call it that.

Couldn't agree more, not always possible, but def worth bragging about.

[cerberus]

why is it comparable to taking taxis? didn't get the reference. i do think it's a status symbol, what disco said's true, benzes are plentiful but still prized. so's the case for cell phones. it's not the rich folk walking around sticking them in people's faces, but rather normal, hard-life kinda types, since it's the only luxury they can comfortably afford, so they show it off.

[fly]

I guess its completely subjective, what is perceived as necessity vs. desires and therefore the image some folks would like to project onto others.

[discobay]

Yes cerb, much like the way people would rather blow several months salary on a Rolex when their grandmother is queuing up for free bags of rice.

[barbara30]

Every other family having a helper wouldn’t be a problem if the girls and women employed where being paid and treated the same way as there employers would expect to be paid and treated by there bosses.

Barbara

[discobay]

That is so true but the culture here doesn't see things the way we would like to.
We could discuss whether domestic helpers, in general, are paid enough but of more importance I think is the issue of non-Philippino helpers being paid under the legal rate. The people who employ them vary from typical working class to white-collar "middle class" - shame on them.

[KnowItAll]

On that note.. lets move on.