Place to go if you want to find HELP in Hong Kong

So many of our fellow Filipino domestic helper needs to know about some place in Hong Kong. A place where they can find help and shelter if there is no way but to go down from their employers house. So many domestic helper both from Philippines and Indonesia is not lucky to find good employer in Hong Kong. Most of them suffered from the hand of their employer for the very simple reason and they have nowhere to go. Not, now. Bethune house or most common known as Mission for Migrant workers is one of those places whom you really can find help and shelter. I will tell you the story of the Indonesian helper that suffered from the hand of her 3rd employer in Hong Kong and how she escaped and find place,shelter and comfort in Bethune house.

Siti Khotmah, 34 years old  from Central Java, Indonesia. Like most of us, she go to Hong Kong to give brighter future to her family. She need to  send his 12 years old son to secondary school and need to help her old parents for their daily financial needs. She have 3 employers for more than 4 years stay in Hong Kong. Her first employer she only stay for four months with them. Her employer hire her as a second helper in the household because they are expecting their first baby. But after four month, they decided that they don't need her anymore so they terminate their contract with her. It is hard for her  that time since she is first timer in Hong Kong. Her salary is only HKD3,000.00 and she need to pay 7 months salary deduction to her employment agency. Luckily she found new employer, and this time she stay with them for four years. After four years, the employer don't need her so she need to find new employer again. And in this new employer, she stay only for one month and 20 days.

Her employer always hit her for a simple reason and little mistakes. The last time because Siti kept the broken plastic bag that her employer ask her to throw away thinking that she still can use it for something else. Her employer is so angry when she found it, then she ask her what's wrong with her eyes and slapped her. One time her employer also slapped her inside the lift. It is always happening, since she start working with that employer. Sometimes she hit Siti so hard that she felt dizzy. Siti is afraid to run away and tell the police of what is happening to her inside her employers house. She is afraid to tell the police because if they didn't help her she had nowhere to go and no place to sleep. She try to complain to her agency, but the agency always listen to the employer so she just keep quit and endure the pain.

Finally, Siti come into her senses and contacted the Mission for Migrant workers (Bethune house) and they are the one who help her to go to the police.That day she went to the police, she still have blood in her eyes and a week -old blue bruise from where she is slapped by her employer. When the police call her employer, she denied doing anything against Siti. But the police found the video recording from the lift. Now, Siti is staying at Bethune house while waiting to find new employer. She is helping other domestic helper who have same fate as her to go to the police, see the lawyer, go to the doctor and in Immigration Department. Siti find comfort of a family in Bethune house.

So to all domestic helper, you don't need to worry. There are a lot of place where you can go, to seek help if you need. Just bear in mind, the only thing we have in our self is the courage to learn our rights and to fight for domestic slavery. Don't hesitate to ask places where at the end it is very useful. If it is not for you, it is for your fellows who needs help. That is a big help to someone if you know some important places. You can help by telling your fellow domestic helper where to go in times that they want to find help. To those who are lucky that you have a good employer, please share your blessings to those who is less fortunate.

Know your rights for your own protection

In one of my previous post, I told you, what can happen to you when you go abroad without any information how to protect yourself there. There are several countries already well known to give you a bad experience. One word is used for this and be aware of this. It is right! "Modern slavery". As you will read in my next post: To find a better work then in Malaysia or several other countries, you need to be prepared to pay a higher amount to go there. Malaysia is cheap because you cant really earn money there. That's not only an experience by my own. Try to be informed before you choose a country. Go to an Internet shop if you don't own a computer, take a friend with you who might be helpful for you to do some research and then: Search for basic facts before you decide your prefered country where you want to stay for the next two years of your life. Far away from home, from your friends, maybe without any contact to other ones than your employer. Search for information and experiences from other ones. Do not just believe what the agency might tell you. Try to find contact to other ones who have already work there.

Here are few IMPORTANT reminders, a Domestic Helper must know:

Know Your Rights
Breach Of Conditions Of Stay
Overstaying And Illegal Work
Have as minimum a copy of your Passport always in your hand. Same from the Visa.
Photo copy your Employment contract, Passport and Visa and leave a copy to your family.
Be extra careful of your documents while you are traveling, put it in your hand bag and don't leave anywhere.
Be aware and be extra careful if someone approach you in the airport and ask you to carry some of her belongings.
Be careful that you will not fall on the hands of syndicate and become their drug carrier.
Always take note important contact  numbers for emergency cases so you can call for assistance.


For the sake of all my fellow Filipina working as a helper in Hong Kong and in other country. And to those who wish to go abroad for the first time. I wish that through this blog site of mine you will learn some important things to help yourself once you are in foreign country, far away from home and family. We are alone once we step in the country where we want to work for our family. That is why we need to know our rights. We need to know about illegal works, that most of the time our own employer is the one who is asking us to do it. To have common understanding on illegal work, any work done outside of the working place (address written in the contract) is considered illegal. Even if the owner of the other place of work is your employer (but different address). It is still considered illegal. You need to put it in your mind that the employment contract approved by the concerned authorities, especially the Immigration Department is very specific on work place, duties and responsibilities of the domestic worker and the employer. But I know by myself that it is hard to refuse to our employer especially if they are the good employer. Because once we refuse, we will find our self being terminated. And that is what we need to avoid also. Our situation is very hard between the Hong Kong law and between our employer. We need our job, we need our salary for our family, for our dream. We did not go this far just to be terminated by not following our employers order. All we need to do is to be aware and extra careful if we don't have choice but to follow our employer to do the illegal work that they ask from us.


If your refusal leads to termination of contract. Or there is another reason that your employer terminate your contract. Your working visa will automatically be cut to 14 days starting on the day your employer ask you to leave your workplace. This 14 days is enough to find new employer. If not, your agency will ask you to go in the Immigration Department to apply for visa extension to avoid you to become overstay.

In case of emergency and you need help, here are some important phone number (for Hong Kong only).
9155-4023 (Consular Assistance)
5529-1880 (Labor)
6345-9324 (OWWA)

For further Information:
Consulate website: www.hongkongpcg.dfa.gov.ph
Facebook: Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong
Email: hongkong.pcg@dfa.gov.ph
Fax: 2866-9885


Rights you might need to know when you want to go to Saudi Arabia: "Saudi Arabia in 2013 passed new rules that grant domestic workers one day’s rest a week and guarantee the payment of their salaries."

In Hongkong: My second and worst employer

Before my two years contract end with my first employer, I decided not to renew my contract with them and instead, I go to several agencies in Hong Kong to find a new employer. My reason why I don't want to renew my contract was: I really don't have rest daily and my house chores is more loaded than the first year that I am with them. If it is summer, my lady boss ask me to wash her car at 12:00 o'clock noon time even if it is 33 degrees and the sun shine directly on me. And if it is Winter time, she ask me to wash her car at around 6:00 A.M even if it is 3 degrees Celsius outside. She don't care if I get sick or what ever happened to her helper. And one time, I experienced my first Winter in my life and by December of 2010 it is so cold already and I got sick. I am coughing and I have fever. They ask me to go and see the doctor so I have medicine. But still I am working and at night time when I already want to sleep they ask me to sleep in the living room and they give me the folding bed to use. If it is cold inside of the close room at winter time, how much more outside? But I cannot do anything. So now that I finish my contract I don't want to stay with them anymore.

One of my friend, recommend to me the sister of her employer. They want to hire a helper for the first time because she is planning to  start working again since  her son is 3 years old already and need to go to school so she can find work for her own. That is why she need to hire a helper so there is someone who will take care the boy when he come back from school and the parents are away. My friend also tell me that the family that she is working is a good family, so she is recommending me to the sister of her boss. I grab the chance and accept that employer. We signed the contract April 2012 just after my first contract end. So when I go back in Philippines April 12, 2012 for my vacation I already have new employer. My new working visa come out on the 3rd week of June that same year. and June 30, I fly back to Hong Kong to start working under my new employer.

But soon after a week since I start working, my lady boss have this bad habit that slowly show up everyday. She is not satisfied of all the things that I done in the house, from cleaning to cooking and also she is always complaining that I don't know how to take care her kid. I talk to her and I explain that it takes time before the boy will become close to me because I am a total stranger. And I also talk to both of them (Ma'am and Sir) that they need to help me in my first 2 months so I will become a familiar face to their son and soon after that, the boy and me will start to have bonding and become close because he know I am already part of their family. But as soon when the husband go to work in the morning, Ma'am will pushed the boy to me. She don't want to feed her son. I need to do that. But the little boy still don't know me so he don't want me to feed him and he is asking his Mum. And that is the reason that the Mum will start to get angry.

The cleaning problem start after one week of my stay. After I turned the house upside down to clean every corner. Now she is not satisfied anymore. She need to find reason to complain and nag. She say that I did not clean the floor properly. But I am thinking, how come that I did not clean it properly that aside from using vacuum cleaner everyday, I still mop the floor. And I mop the floor 2 times a day. Morning and evening. So I need to think a solution for that problem. Everyday instead of using the floor mop after the vacuum, I use towel to clean the floor using my bare hands. And instead of cleaning the floor 2 times a day, I make it 3 times if that is the solution that she will stop nagging on me. And it is effective. She cannot find any reason to scold because of the way I clean the house, so she need to find another reason just to get angry and can start to nag again. And she find another reason through  the food, on how I cooked. She  teach me the way how she cook their food since she is the one who is cooking when I am still not there. When we are eating dinner, the little boy and Sir praising the food saying it is yummy. The next day, she talk to me and she told me that Sir is complaining about the food last night. She told me ''Your Sir say the food last night have no taste. He want that food to be a little salty''. So I need to remember that for the next time I will cook that particular food I need to add a bit more salt. I have notes in the kitchen for myself reminder written in ''Tagalog''.

After only two days, I cooked again the same food. Since I remember that Sir and the small boy keep saying that it is ''yummy'' then the Mum approached me and told me that next time I need to add salt cause Sir want it a bit salty. What I do is I just add a very little salt than the usual. Here comes dinner time, and Sir complain that the food is salty. He then ask me to prepare the wok pan and he is the one who go in the kitchen and cooked it again and he add sugar. He also told me that he don't want salty food. So, that is my chance to tell and ask him a question. I say '' Sir, Mum told me the other day that you complain this same food because you want it to be salty. I just add only a very small amount of salt today since I remember that you and your kids keep on saying it is yummy''. Sir say, ''I don't want salty food''. So again I ask him, who is telling the truth and who will be the one I need to follow?

Everyday I feel like I am living in hell in that house. Once the Mum is wake up, I know already that she will start nagging. Not only to me, because I am the last one who will receive all in the end. She is nagging her husband, she is always scolding her son. I feel that she will not survive the day if she will not scold us. So one day, when Sir and I go down in the parking lot I talk to him. That maybe I cannot finish my contract with them if his wife did not stop her habit of scolding and sometimes she is ranting in the house. Sir answer to me that if he talk to his wife and she will change a bit... if I would stay? I say, let us wait for the result Sir. He told me that Mums habit is really like that ever since he marry her but he tolerate her because she is his wife. I answer him that I cannot tolerate Mum because she is not my wife. And I am talking to him that moment because he is my boss since he is the one who signed in our contract.

I notice the next day that Mum is so silent and she treat me nice and even her son. But after one week she start again her old habit. So I tell them again that I can work the whole day with out rest. I can live in their house even if I don't have enough food. But I cannot stay if I don't have peace of mind. That everything I do she need to complain and get mad at me.

Another thing that I don't like is, once a week we go in her mothers house and she is asking me to clean the whole house. I know that this is illegal and I don't want that one day the police will caught me. Here in Hong Kong it is under the law that you only need to work in your employer's house. Even if your employer is the one who ask you to work in other house, like what happened to me. That is still illegal! You have to learn and know your rights before you go and work as a domestic helper in any country. You can read it, and YOU MUST READ IT in your employment contract on page 1, number 4 (A) and (B). The best thing to do is ''don't just sign your contract''. After you have it in your hand, read and understand what is in your contract because the Hong Kong government is really following and implementing the rules. Do not commit the mistake of saying that you do not know that it is illegal to work outside of the approved place of work (address written in the contract). Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. I know my rights but she insist what she want.

So after 2 months of my stay, I give my one month notice (break contract letter) to Sir. Because I can no longer stay. I cannot follow what she ask me to do because I know it is illegal and she don't want to listen. If it is only about my work in their house, I can work because that is why I am in Hong Kong to work and I know what kind of work I have. But what she is doing to me is unacceptable. And once I refuse she is getting mad and I don't want to wait for the time that she will do harm to me like what other employer is doing to their helper.

I know, there is still a lot of good employer in Hong Kong. The only thing I need is to find a good agency who cares about us even if we are only a domestic helper. In Hong Kong, it is hard for a domestic helper to find new employer if you are terminated or a broke your contract. You need to pay a big amount of money to the agency if you have broke your contract. But if you did finish your contract, you will pay only 10% of your one month salary to the agency. So I always advice to all the Filipino that I meet there, that if they can have more patience they need to do so that they can finish there 2 years contract. But I never expected that it will happen to me.

The next thing I do, after I terminate my contract I search for agencies who really care even a bit for the applicants. After three days of search, I found the JL Employment Center. It is located in Shop C. 70.B 2/F Kwai Chung Plaza, 7-11 Kwai Foo Road, Kwai Chung New Territories HK. The lady boss Ms. Lucia Chung and her staff is very kind and helpful. Even if she is a Chinese but she show a real concern about the helper. She is the first agent I know that she always ask the helper if how is the treatment of the employer to them. She find employer for me. A Christian Chinese couple with a 5 years old daughter and the Mum is 6 months pregnant to their second child. And this time... I am so lucky to find a really good Chinese family!

Another try to make my dream come true

After my 2 years contract in Malaysia (from Dec. 11, 2007 - Dec. 11, 2009), I decided to go to Hong Kong. I once again go in my previous agency, the Greenfields International Manpower Services. Located at 5th Floor, Room 504 & 505, LBH Building 1413A, Mabini St., Ermita, Manila, Philippines. Even though I have a bad experience in Malaysia but I am still positive about the agency that they are not a fake recruiter since they already send me to Malaysia. I need to trust them especially that I don't know places and agencies in Manila.

The process is all the same like when I apply for the first time to work abroad. I attend a 3 days seminar in Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) about Language and Culture familiarization. I attend a Pre -departure Orientation Seminar (PEDOS), I undergo medical examination if I am fit to work. The only thing I did not do is to go for 3 weeks training in household course (NCll). I still use my training certificate from 2007 when I go to Malaysia because it will expired after 5 years. So many applicants that work in country and apply again in other agency still need to go in household training course and pay again. Because they don't know that they can use the training certificate until 5 years. So when they apply, but compare to going to Malaysia, the agency is collecting a very big amount of money from all their applicants. Without any receipt. The staff just write it down in the logbook and let us sign there.

When I go to Malaysia, I pay 6,000.00 PHP for my placement fee (not mentioning about my 6 months salary deduction when I arrive there). This time, the agency is asking from all the applicants bound to HongKong 85,000.00 PHP placement fee. I am ready for this since I really know about this from my sister in law and my best friend who was working in Hong Kong that time. I need to go in a lending company of the agency to borrow money so I can give them my placement fee in full before I fly to Hong Kong.

When I arrive in Hong Kong International Airport  (that was April 11, 2010). From the instruction given to me by my Philippine agency,  I need to call the Hong Kong agents office to let them know that I am already there. I need to wait for the staff of our Hong Kong agents to fetch me up. I meet 3 other Filipina there also waiting for the same staff. From Hong Kong International Airport we travel by bus and we go straight to the Immigrition office. There we need to fill up application form for the Hong Kong ID. We need to have this ID to work and stay in Hong Kong. After we are done in the Immigrition office, it is the time to go to our agents office. After we arrive in the agents office, we drop our luggage there and go straight to the clinic few steps away because we need to have a medical check up again. Urine, stool, chest xray and pregnancy test.

After that hectic on the first day in Hong Kong I have time to rest in my agents office while waiting for the time my employer will pick me up. And the time come,  April 11, 2010 around 6:00 P.M my employer arrive in my agents office to pick me up. Now the real life to become an OFW in Hong Kong will begin. So help me Lord... I need to gather all the courage and strength that I have. Mentally and emotionally. The next day April 12, 2010 my first official working days begin and it will last for 2 years.  I will be working in the family of  5 persons. 2 kids, the boy age 6 and girl is 8 years old, a couple and an elderly mother from my boss wife.

First day. Orientation... what to do inside the house from morning after I wake up until night time before I close my eyes to sleep. I need to wake up at 5:30 every morning to prepare all the things that the kid's need to go to school. Uniforms, socks and shoes. I need to cook foods for breakfast and lunch. I need to wake up the girl at 6:00 A.M. prepare her toothbrush and a glass of water inside the bathroom. Let her eat the breakfast while I am preparing her food for lunch in school in her lunch box. After she is done eating, I need to assist her to change into her school uniform, wear her socks and shoes for her. Comb and tie her hair and she is ready to go at 6:20 A.M. I need to go with her in the place where the school bus stop. And I need to be punctual and on time because the school bus will leave after 5 minutes. They will not wait for the late student. Then I need to be back home after the school bus left. After I arrive, I need to discipline myself, I need to wash my hand the moment I go inside the house... that is one of the most important rule. The next thing I need to do is to wake up the boy. Prepare his things in the bathroom (toothbrush with toothpaste and a glass of water), school uniform, socks and shoes and his breakfast. After he is done eating I need to help him to wear his school uniform, socks and shoes. And he is ready for the day. This time I am lucky because his father will be the one to go with the boy in his school.

After the kids are gone to school, I need to start my house chores. Starting from the rooms, tidy up their beds and clean the rooms. Then the living room and the kitchen area. NOTE: All the things inside the house must be gleaming and shining after I clean. Need that every corner of the house must be clean and shining too. And dust free. And I need to start the washing machine for the laundry then hang the clothes. At noon time, I need to cook for our lunch. And prepare food in a lunch box for the boy's lunch in school. At 11:30 I need to leave the house to bring the boy's food in school. After I come back in the house I will eat my lunch and prepare to leave again to fetch the girl from school bus stop. After we come back at around 4:00P.M I need to proceed for my house work. I need to clean up again the house so no dust is visible in their eyes. And also to keep myself busy because they told me that I am there to work and not to rest. If my laundry is dry, I need to iron it and some need only to be fold. At 6:00 In the evening I need to prepare our food for dinner. And while cooking, I need to assist the two kids to take a shower one by one and at 7:00 o'clock we need to eat. After dinner, I need to tidy up the table, clean the dishes and all the kitchen utensils that I use for cooking. Throw away the garbage and clean up the living/dinning room area. And after all, I need to clean up myself and get ready to sleep. And that is around 11:00 - 11:30 almost midnight. Every weekend I need to add in my daily routine is to wash two cars and all the windows. This is my daily and weekly routine since day one until I finish my two years contract with my first employer in Hong Kong. I am only lucky that I did not go to the market because the old woman whom we called ''Popo'' (grandma) is the one who do the marketing. And here in Hong Kong I have my once a week day off and after three months stay in my employer I avail also the statutory holiday. Statutory holiday means all public holidays in Hong Kong is also a holiday for domestic helper.

Even if I work nonstop everyday from the moment I open my eyes until the time I need to go to sleep again. And from Monday to Saturday, but here in Hong Kong I have a day off and the salary is really the total amount of what stated in my contract when I signed it. And from my salary, I send my 3 daughters in colleges. Slowly... I am reaching for my dreams.