Explores policies toward foreign workers in Hong Kong and Singapore
Bell, Daniel A.
MIDDLE- AND UPPER-CLASS citizens of wealthy, industrialized countries must ___ grapple with the question of who will do the low-status and difficult but socially necessary work that locals...
...But there is no reason to expect that this will happen, and the experience of other countries does not provide grounds for optimism...
...For one thing, both Hong Kong and Singapore are small, crowded territories where 30 n DISSENT / Fall 2001 POLITICS ABROAD the cost of living is very high—not ideal locations for establishing long-term "homes...
...In two recent elections, the main opposition parties deliberately adopted a strategy of contesting less than half the seats so that voters could support the opposition safe in the knowledge that the PAP would still control the government...
...and will not do any more work—if we set the working hours these situations would not happen...
...The government has not responded, and it seems fortunate for domestic workers that its officials are not more accountable to "the people...
...Of course, the situation would not be so dire if Hong Kong and Singapore increased foreign aid to the Philippines so as to help develop that country's economy...
...As a group, they constitute a disenfranchised class...
...Domestic workers in Hong Kong have rights to maternity leave...
...One important factor is that domestic workers in Hong Kong are free to organize self-help groups and public protests to secure their interests...
...If employers can vote for their community's decision makers, they will likely favor policies that work to the detriment of their domestic workers in cases of conflict...
...Yes, they are the victims of many injustices, and they are actively campaigning for better conditions, but it rarely goes any further than that...
...Given the power of the state unilaterally to change the terms of its contract, the argument for consent does not seem so persuasive...
...Whereas most immigrant workers in, say, the United States or Canada aim to establish roots in their new "homeland," the large majority of Filipina domestic workers plan to return home once they have earned enough money...
...The government explicitly threatens to withdraw services from constituencies that support the opposition...
...Urban areas in the territory are already among the most crowded on earth...
...and are going into their rooms at 9 p.m...
...Hong Kong's economy has long since recovered, but the minimum wage has not been increased to its pre-crisis level...
...Domestic workers have more statutory holidays in Hong Kong—every Sunday and most public holidays, compared to one day off per month in Singapore (after three months of probation...
...The situation is different, however, in developed countries outside the West, and this gives rise to potentially troubling moral questions...
...The most likely effect would be to close off further emigration...
...At some basic level, perhaps, Filipinas (and other) domestic workers really do consent to unequal rights...
...the government provides massively subsidized housing for more than half the population...
...At the very least, they may want to campaign for changes that would apply to the next batch of migrant workers...
...In Hong Kong, more than twenty nongovernmental organizations cater to the interests of domestic workers, compared to three (severely constrained) DISSENT / Fall 2001 n 27 POLITICS ABROAD NGOs in Singapore...
...Their material condition is unlikely to be improved except by altering their political status...
...It is striking that, compared to "guest workers" in Europe and immigrants in North America, domestic workers in Singapore and Hong Kong are not making this demand...
...T T HE MAIN reason is that the locals would never agree to this demand, and it may be counterproductive even to raise it...
...In 1998, Hong Kong suffered a severe bout of the "Asian economic flu" (the stock market collapsed, property values fell by half, unemployment rose from 2 percent to 5 percent, and so on...
...On a more controversial note, I submit that the relative lack of democracy in Hong Kong may not be harmful—may in fact be beneficial— to Filipina domestic workers in the territory...
...A group of domestic workers marched to government offices in protest...
...In addition to practical obstacles, there are also questions of fairness...
...It is tempting to explain this fact with reference to the less-than-democratic politics of Singapore and Hong Kong...
...This often results in two classes of residents with unequal rights and privileges...
...In Singapore, there are substantial constraints on the democratic process...
...In early 1999, the Hong Kong government cut the wages of domestic workers by 5 percent...
...A domestic worker in Hong Kong earns much more than a lowlevel civil servant in the Philippines...
...It is difficult to dispel the suspicion that coercion must play some role when Filipina domestic workers "consent" to unequal rights...
...Would more political democracy—in the sense that citizens choose their leaders by means of free POLITICS ABROAD and fair competitive elections—benefit Filipina domestic workers...
...As the University of Toronto political theorist Joseph Carens puts it, long-term membership in civil society creates a moral entitlement to all the legal rights of membership, including citizenship itself...
...In both territories, many domestic workers believe that the state should do more to improve their conditions...
...Were they to raise this issue, "populist" politicians would propose replacing Filipinas with contract domestic workers from Indonesia or mainland China...
...POLITICS ABROAD as foreign migrant workers...
...Unsurprisingly, neither side was satisfied...
...There is much to learn from the experience of the two territories...
...Even the locals frequently move abroad when they have the means to do so...
...deportation, a continuous threat...
...Thinkers on the political left, however, must also worry about our extensive obligations to relatively deprived people in foreign lands...
...in Singapore, female domestic workers have to undergo pregnancy tests every six months, and they are immediately deported if they are pregnant...
...Their children often learn the language and culture of their resident country and develop the desire to stay there...
...From a normative standpoint, it is not obvious that formal equal rights for all workers combined with high rates of illegal employment of foreigners is preferable to reliance on large numbers of contract workers with legal protection but without the hope of equal rights...
...Liberal democratic theorists typically argue that foreign resident workers should be put on the road to citizenship...
...The situation of Filipina domestic workers in Hong Kong and Singapore is not exactly comparable, however...
...Recently, the Hong Kong government has been fighting hard to prevent mainland Chinese not born in Hong Kong, even if they have close relatives in the territory, from getting residence rights...
...The state, however, is less bound by previous consent...
...there are certainly reasons to feel queasy about that...
...No doubt, many parents want to stay in their new country for the sake of their children...
...In a just world, free from coercion, they would be pushing for equal rights, and the state would be morally required to grant their demand...
...Even if their parents consented to return home, the consent of parents cannot be construed as the consent of the children...
...they are forced to accede to the current arrangements and are fearful about articulating or even contemplating an alternative...
...There may be a case for differential rights in the short term, but those who live and work within a territory, pay taxes, send children to schools, and participate in neighborhood activities should not be treated as permanent second-class (non)citizens...
...Consider, for example, the recent decision to cut the wages of domestic workers...
...The answer, usually, is to import foreigners from poorer countries...
...Between elections, the government employs harsh measures against professional and religious organizations critical of its policies...
...So why not ask for equal rights...
...I have had complaints from several employers saying their domestic helpers started work around 8 a.m...
...If "guest workers" in Europe or long-term immigrants in North America were to refrain from articulating the demand for citizenship, one might be tempted to explain this by referring to fear or false consciousness...
...Or else the government would reDISSENT / Fall 2001 n 31 POLITICS ABROAD moratorium on admitting foreign, low-skilled workers (such workers would normally have been eligible for all the rights Korean workers possess following a two year period), but this led to a large influx of illegal workers...
...Hong Kong is an executive-led government, and the chief executive is selected by an eight hundredperson committee composed largely of financial tycoons and pro-Beijing forces...
...it did not reflect the overall economic downturn...
...They may discover new possibilities, learn about unexpected problems, compare their situation with migrant workers in other countries, and realize that they were given a raw deal that needs to be challenged...
...one needs powerful reasons to "trump" it...
...So Filipinas generally refrain from raising the demand for equal rights because they know it is a non-starter...
...Employer associations, as the South China Morning Post put it, "gleefully preached that foreign maids in Singapore earned less than half the salary pocketed by domestic workers here, saying maids should help their employers 'in this 28 n DISSENT / Fall 2001 critical time.'" The Employers of Overseas Domestic Helpers Association suggested a pay cut of 35 percent...
...For example, the children of mainland Chinese academics working in Hong Kong do not have the right of residence in the territory...
...In Singapore, foreigners account for 30 percent of the country's workforce, the highest in Asia...
...The question is more complicated than these prescriptions allow for...
...There is a waiting list of five to seven years that would extend even further if foreign workers were given equal rights and allowed to join the queue...
...Canada has recently increased its standards of education and experience for immigrant domestic workers, with the consequence that the poorest and least-skilled domestic workers have fewer opportunities to come in, but this has not been accompanied by increased aid to the third world...
...There are obviously many areas of potential or actual conflict between employers and their helpers...
...Thus, groups of domestic workers can and do publicly express their grievances: on May 1 (Labor Day) of this year, for example, groups of domestic workers demonstrated to abolish the two-week rule (a fourteen-year-old rule that forbids migrant workers from changing jobs and prohibits those who break their contracts from staying in Hong Kong for more than two weeks...
...More rights are better than less, and it seems irrational not to want more...
...Domestic workers in Singapore are obliged to sign a Statement of Undertaking that prohibits them from marrying or cohabiting with any Singaporean citizen or permanent resident...
...I don't mean to suggest that well-off citizens in rich Western countries should open their lands (and homes) to contract domestic workers from the third world...
...The country's economy as a whole would suffer as well— Hong Kong's Filipinas make the fourth biggest contribution of remittances to the Philippines, a total of U.S.$116 million in the year to October 2000 (the remittances of Filipinos living or working overseas account for nearly 8 percent of the country's gross national product...
...In fact, the only reason that so many are allowed to work in Hong Kong is that all sides assume they will eventually return home...
...For one thing, foreign workers do not simply sign contracts with their employers...
...In Hong Kong, there is no pretense that the people choose their political leaders...
...Despite these numbers, however, the idea of granting equal citizenship rights to this group is basically a non-issue in both Singapore and Hong Kong...
...But in the absence of other effective measures to deal with global inequalities, this may be a practical alternative that can't be rejected by reference to some higher principle...
...capital punishment is illegal in Hong Kong...
...They may not be satisfied with the status quo, but they do not (seem to) publicly ask for political equality...
...It doesn't follow, however, that the prescriptions of Western liberalism will help secure the interests of these women...
...Even if Hong Kong and Singapore were to increase foreign aid, this would not necessarily (or even probably) translate into an improvement of the economy of the Philippines to the point that its people would not need to consider working abroad...
...In Singapore, domestic workers are subject to the death penalty...
...In Hong Kong, for example, the contracts of domestic workers can be renewed indefinitely (it is not uncommon to find women who have been working in the territory for ten or twelve years), but they cannot apply for permanent residence...
...Some employers found it difficult to make ends meet, and they began to push for a reduction of the domestic workers' minimum wage...
...Given the choice, some Filipina domestic workers might well choose to settle down in Hong Kong or Singapore...
...For their part, employers' groups protested that the cut was too small...
...If Singapore became a Western-style liberal democracy overnight, it is more than likely that the PAP would still form the government...
...Even those who plan to return to the Philippines because of emotional ties to family and native land may change their minds...
...Does Democracy Benefit Foreign Resident Workers...
...Arguably, consent is a good prima facie argument for justifying particular arrangements of this kind...
...Even if the state abides by its agreements, one might ask whether foreign resident workers should be indefinitely bound by original consent...
...Even some of the most radical social critics do not argue that Filipina domestic workers should be made actual or potential citizens...
...global inequalities make for hard choices...
...34 n DISSENT / Fall 2001...
...From the perspective of Hong Kong residents with relatives on the mainland, it would seem unfair if the Hong Kong government were to grant permanent residence to Filipina domestic workers who have no relatives in the territory...
...In fact, the proportion of Canadian foreign aid to the third world has been substantially reduced in recent years...
...Is this arrangement morally tolerable...
...This would be an obvious source of discontent among locals...
...at least, they will not forcefully argue on behalf of disenfranchised domestic workers...
...In Singapore and Hong Kong, many of the publicized cases of abuse relate to employers who fail to do that—for example, by physically or sexually abusing domestic workers—but few if any employers publicly justify violating their contracts...
...there are no such restrictions in Hong Kong...
...The "pro-democracy" parties have been largely silent on these disputes, again because there is no political capital here...
...Departure is only a formal option...
...In October 1999, the Hong Kong Progressive Alliance legislator Choy So-yuk told the financial secretary that domestic workers should have 20 percent of their salaries deducted for using government services...
...The Filipinas have the comparative advantage that they usually speak English well— a language that many Hong Kong parents want their children to learn—but this factor can be outweighed by others once the "cost" becomes too high...
...They belong, and belonging matters morally...
...Land is expensive, and decent housing is beyond the reach of most people...
...If it turns out that a policy of equal rights for all resident workers in rich countries has negative implications for people in poor countries, this should be a source of concern...
...Consider some possibilities...
...They can qualify for legal aid in Hong Kong, but not in Singapore...
...Connie BragasRegalado, chair of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong, said, "It is the responsibility of the Hong Kong government to ensure that our wage is protected...
...But, practically, putting them on the road to citizenship may well worsen their overall situation— if not for Filipinas currently working in Hong Kong and Singapore, then for people still in the Philippines, who would be denied the opportunity to improve their living standards...
...This argument, as Carens recognizes, mirrors the emerging pattern in most Western liberal democracies...
...More than a hundred and fifty thousand domestic workers from the Philippines are employed in Hong Kong, out of a total population of approximately seven million (Filipinos constitute the largest non-Chinese group in the territory...
...It turns out, however, that foreign domestic workers are better protected in undemocratic Hong Kong than in somewhat more democratic Singapore...
...It is then worth considering the effect on people in the Philippines of granting equal rights to Filipina domestic workers in Hong Kong and Singapore...
...Perhaps the most telling sign of better conditions is that most domestic workers prefer to work in Hong Kong, given the choice...
...They are typically an exploited or oppressed class as well, and they are exploited or oppressed at least in part because they are disenfranchised, incapable of organizing effectively for self-defense...
...The Hong Kong government feels greater pressure to respond to mobilized pro-worker groups in civil society...
...And, right now, those are the only feasible alternatives...
...As Michael Walzer puts it in Spheres of Justice, These guests [foreign resident workers] experience the state as a pervasive and frightening power that shapes their lives and regulates their every move—and never asks for their opinion...
...In Canada, by way of comparison, foreign domestic workers can become permanent residents after two years, but the government can afford to be relatively generous because it only lets in a few thousand such workers every year—in 1996, for example, only 1,710 were admitted under the Live-in Caregiver Program...
...MIDDLE- AND UPPER-CLASS citizens of wealthy, industrialized countries must ___ grapple with the question of who will do the low-status and difficult but socially necessary work that locals are unwilling to do...
...The minimum wage is set at U.S.$470 per month in Hong Kong (including room and board), compared to U.S.$250 per month in Singapore (employers in Singapore must also pay a "maid levy"—in effect, a luxury tax—of U.S.$225 per month to the Singaporean government...
...His latest book is East Meets East: Human Rights and Democracy in East Asia...
...In short, it is almost inconceivable that Hong Kong would grant permanent residence or equal rights to the hundred and fifty thousand Filipina domestic workers, even if only a minority actually took up the offer...
...Less than half the legislature is composed of directly elected members, and even the proBeijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) complains that the legislature lacks political influence...
...There is a trend toward extending to long-term residents most if not all the legal rights of citizens and improving access to citizenship for the descendants of immigrants and for immigrants themselves...
...Prominent among these are the Filipina domestic workers—approximately eighty thousand out of a population of four million...
...surely they would prefer to be given the choice of membership on the basis of equal rights...
...they can't get any political capital out of this issue...
...It DISSENT / Fall 2001 n 33 is far from certain that channeling foreign aid to (often corrupt) government officials would do more to benefit the people of the Philippines than direct remittances from family members working abroad...
...This may seem like a flimsy basis for protection, but given the choice between relying on "the people" and on meritocratically chosen civil servants, foreign residents may prefer the latter—especially if they also have the right to form pressure groups...
...After a certain time, say five or ten years, the state should give equal rights to workers in its territory, regardless of their background...
...This helps to explain why, for example, many domestic workers' NGOs in Hong Kong are campaigning for higher salaries, an end to the "two-week rule," and more severe punishment for employers who mistreat domestic workers (in Singapore, the grievances run much deeper, but it is difficult for migrant workers to articulate their demands...
...Although the majority of the population in Hong Kong arguably benefits from this arrangement, some families in Hong Kong cannot sponsor their own family members as immigrants...
...Theoretical Implications Most liberal democratic theorists write as though justice applies only within the nationstate...
...One possibility is that foreign domestic workers are subject to coercion...
...To control population growth and prevent Hong Kong from being "flooded" with relatively impoverished mainland Chinese "compatriots," there are strict border controls between Hong Kong and mainland China (the functional equivalent of an international border...
...These workers are denied the rights of citizenship and have no realistic hope of ever becoming equal members of the political community...
...Justice is realized once meaningful rights are given to free and equal citizens...
...This situation gives rise to many injustices...
...they have another "boss"—the state in which they live and work...
...This would mean that many young Filipinas would lose the opportunity to work abroad to support themselves and family members...
...By drawing on the case of Filipina domestic workers in Hong Kong and Singapore, I've tried to suggest that these are not simply the abstract musings of a jaded leftist...
...Politicians, for their part, may be tempted to pander to the interests of employers...
...W W HAT EXPLAINS this difference...
...In effect, the Hong Kong government delegates power to top civil servants known as "policy secretaries," who devise policies, persuade the administration to support them, and then lobby the legislature to adopt them—all functions carried out by ministers in most democratic countries...
...Thus, much theorizing about justice is carried out with the liberal democratic context in mind, and the interests of third world peoples fade into the background...
...Let me then put forward the following hypothesis: Unequal rights between citizens and foreign resident workers may be tolerated if this arrangement (1) works to the benefit of foreign resident workers (as decided by the workers themselves), (2) creates opportunities for people in relatively impoverished societies to improve their lives, and if (3) there are no feasible alternative ways to serve the ends identified in (1) and (2...
...An opinion poll showed that most people thought the salary for domestic workers was too high and should be reduced by up to 30 percent...
...The pro-government media provide little, if any, time and space for the opposition to present its views...
...That may explain why opposition parties in Singapore have not campaigned to increase the wages of domestic workers...
...Another key difference is that guest workers in Europe are given longer visas for certain jobs and are allowed to bring their families...
...But this belief does not usually translate into the demand for equal rights...
...I will focus on the case of Filipina domestic work 26 n DISSENT / Fall 2001 ers who do most of the paid housework and childrearing in Hong Kong and Singapore...
...The most vocal politician was an urban councilor named Jennifer Chow (herself an employer of three domestic workers), who told the local press: The working hours for live-in maids in Hong Kong are not specified and I think it should be in the contract...
...Still, the PAP wins by comfortable margins, and even the opposition concedes that it enjoys majority support...
...Judging from opinion polls, it is quite likely that Tung Chee-hwa, the current chief executive, would be rejected if there were democratic elections...
...One argument might be that "one-off" consent, while sufficient to legitimize market transactions, cannot justify the subjugation of foreign resident workers...
...The condition of Filipina domestic workers can be criticized on many grounds, and the relevant governments can and should do more for their interests...
...There may be fewer voting rights in Hong Kong, but civil liberties such as the freedom of speech and the right to associate are relatively secure...
...But is it really coercion that explains this (apparent) lack of interest in equal rights...
...Is there a sufficiently powerful reason to "trump" this consent...
...Let us focus now on Hong Kong...
...as I've already noted, the Hong Kong government reduced the minimum wage, and Filipina domestic workers had to "take it or leave [the country...
...Chow, who came to her conclusions after visiting Singapore to study packages for domestic workers, also advocated a 20 percent cut in wages...
...In contrast, Filipina domestic workers come to Hong Kong and Singapore without their families and rarely make an effort to learn the local culture and way of life (though some do learn the local languages...
...Promising opposition candidates face retaliation in the form of bankruptcy, humiliation, and even exile, with the result that few dare to challenge the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) at election time...
...For foreign resident workers, a Hong Kong-style liberal non-democracy is preferable to a Singapore-style illiberal democracy...
...In short, we have good reasons to doubt that domestic workers consent to the exact terms that brought them to Hong Kong and Singapore...
...We should look at the system in Singapore where they set the work at 16 hours a day, which seems reasonable...
...DANIEL A. BELL teaches political philosophy at the City University of Hong Kong...
...there are no comparable public spaces for workers in Singapore...
...The fact that the number of directly elected seats in the legislature has been increased since the last election (from eighteen to twenty out of sixty) does not seem to have helped domestic workers...
...S S TILL, CONSENT matters if both "bosses" stick to the terms of their agreement...
...The Hong Kong government blocks off main roads in the financial district every Sunday to allow domestic workers to congregate...
...In Hong Kong, however, decision makers are not constrained by the majority will, and they can rely on their own sense of justice and decency to implement policies that favor domestic workers...
...For the sake of argument, once again, let's assume that illegal immigration can be controlled...
Vol. 48 • September 2001 • No. 4
