Filipino Domestic Workers

Before I left for Hong Kong, Earl Traynham, former dean of the Coggin College of Business, told me about the gathering of Filipino domestic workers throughout Hong Kong on weekends. Last Sunday -- the common day off for these workers -- I was over on the Hong Kong Island side and observed large and small groups of Filipina women assembled almost anyplace that afforded protective shade from the blazing sun. It is estimated that there are well over 100,000 Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong, largely concentrated in the service sector and creating distinct racialized (and in this case, sexualized) occupational groupings. They represent the largest non-Chinese community in Hong Kong. There are some excellent sociological studies of this phenomenon.