HONG KONG (SE): “Let’s pray that people can work in their hometowns, in their favourite places, and not have to move around… And for the many sisters and brothers who need to work overseas for various reasons, we pray for a workplace that makes them feel stable and valuable,” vicar general, Father Joseph Chan Wing-chiu, said at a gathering organised by the Diocesan Commission for Integral Human Development on September 24, the 109th World Day of Migrants and Refugees.
The theme this year is Free to choose whether to migrate or to stay. In his message for the day, Pope Francis called for the protection of the right for migrants to stay in their homeland, a right that has not yet been legislated but is essential and calls on us to do our part to make migration a truly free choice by helping to eliminate causes of migration such as wars and poverty.
The movie screening and the prayer meeting were organised by the Commission for Integral Human Development at St. Andrew’s Church, Tseung Kwan O. The movie, titled, Women Migrants, was directed by Cecila Ho Wing-yin and filmed over 10 years ago.
It depicts the plight of Indonesian workers who went to Macau for work to support their families, facing different issues such as marital betrayal, problems with children and ailing parents, and discrimination. It also talked about the story of a worker named Nuryama, who was killed in a fire accident, and Christina who gave birth to her son, Daniel, in Macau but was denied the right of abode.
Before leading prayers for the situations of migrants, Father Chan said working overseas is far different from a vacation as one goes a long time without family and support. It is also different from emigration as an emigrant can set up home in a foreign land. It may not be easy for people to understand the feeling of working overseas.
Let’s pray that people can work in their hometowns, in their favourite places, and not have to move around… And for the many sisters and brothers who need to work overseas for various reasons, we pray for a workplace that makes them feel stable and valuable
Father Joseph Chan
“They are only seeking happiness in their lives to build a better life for their families and for their future. As Hong Kong people, we are also looking forward to these things…. We cannot do it ourselves and forget that others have a similar need,” he said.
“What we can do is not to judge people’s choice. We must respect their choices and build up harmony with them,” Father Chan said.
He said that while it takes two years for missionaries to learn Cantonese, foreign workers learn it daily. “We can imagine their difficulties. In fact, people coming here to work are smart people who may only be deprived of their chances to learn,” he said.
He urged people not to judge a person by their job and to learn to appreciate people who have give their best efforts to be involved in a foreign culture.
Father Chan said the key to a happy family is not position or race, but about the heart of each person. “When each person is willing to open their heart to treat each other with love, we will realise that every place can make us feel like a home, every place can be a place where we can grow and develop peacefully, and we can even bring this to our own place of origin. We can even bring the joy and peace to the place we belong to,” he said.
Jackie Hung Ling-yu of the commission, said the stories in the movie did not only happen in Macau more than 10 years ago, are happening in in Hong Kong at present and around the world today. She said it is also sad to hear that during the Covid-19 pandemic, many migrant workers passed away and even their remains could not be sent home due to transportation restrictions.
She called on on the faithful to try to be more understanding of the migrants who go to their parish to attend Mass every week, and set up groups to show concern to their situations if resources are available.
Johannie Tong Hiu-yan, community relations officer of Mission for Migrant Workers, said Indonesian workers face particularly high pressure due to the constant need to care for elderly people. “The denial of holiday is especially serious for their caretakers as no family members are willing to take care of their wards when they are off,” she said.
Working for the group, which handles 150 to 200 cases every month, she believes more understanding and communication can help employment relations. “For example, loans could be the result of high agency fees which the worker cannot control,” she said.
Father Chan said working overseas is far different from a vacation as one goes a long time without family and support. It is also different from emigration as an emigrant can set up home in a foreign land. It may not be easy for people to understand the feeling of working overseas
Surati, an Indonesian worker who has been in Hong Kong for 10 years, shared that she was maltreated by her former employer. Her salary was deducted under different excuses, so she had no money to send home. She was often not given holidays off and was forbidden to spend time with friends, even though she was allowed to go out occasionally. Her employer later hit her in the eye, and her friends encouraged her to approach the Mission for Migrant Workers.
Surati now works for another employer who treats her well. She encourages newcomers not to be shy and politely ask their employers for what they need.
Sringatin of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union in Hong Kong, shared that migrant workers often face the pressure of lacking space to rest, high demand when taking care of different family members and high agency fees. She said holidays off are essential for workers to relieve pressure.
She said that, compared with the situation in Macau, migrant workers have a more demanding situation in Hong Kong given the mandatory live-in requirement, while the Macau government allows migrant workers to live out.
She said that even though some employers want workers to have good rest and are willing to rent a separate place, the policy forbids employers from doing so.
Around 60 people took part in the movie screening, and together, they prayed for the rights of migrant workers to stay in their home countries, the good treatment in their workplace and the understanding of employers.
Leung Chan-ming, a parishioner at St. Andrew’s, said he saw many examples of foreign domestic workers coming to the parish with good employers treating them as family.
However, he is also aware that many employers do not treat their workers well. He believes Catholics should treat their workers better to bear witness to God’s love.
