What is it with Pinoys and the habit of congregating in one place? A public place such as footbridges, covered walkways and the like. Parks are fine but footbridges?
I was surprised to see a lot of my "kababayans" converting these walking paths to a place where they can hang out with other fellow Pinoys. In short, the footbridges became a makeshift "tambayan". They were busy chatting with one another and I was shocked to see one lady eating rice and possibly pork adobo in a paper plate. The exact place was the footbridge in IFC Mall Hong Kong. It was a breezy Sunday afternoon.
I was tempted to take a photo of the interesting scene in front of me but I decided to forego of the thought. Seeing them in groups talking and laughing together also reminded me of Lucky Plaza in Singapore. There, many Pinoys gather and congregate during their off days.
When I got back to the hotel, I thought of the Philippines and I thought of the children of these women who were left behind. These women, most of whom are mothers, chose to work abroad and take care of other people's children so that their own children back home will have a better life.
But how much does a domestic helper earn in Hong Kong?
From my limited readings about OFW life in Hong Kong, their wages amount to PHP25,000 a month including meal allowance. This is the set minimum wage for domestic helpers. If they send half of their earnings to their families in the Philippines, they're left with practically a pittance. The cost of living in Hong Kong is expensive. And if you want to eat a clean and decent meal, you have to spend HKD20 at the least. I'm not sure if the daily meal allowance given to domestic helpers reaches HKD20. I hope it does.
Working overseas is definitely not a bed of roses. People back home think that once you earn $$$, you become filthy rich. What they don't understand is that the OFWs also spend $$$ overseas to survive. They don't convert in PHP because the food, the goods, the fares and everything else are not in PHP anyway. Thus, nothing much is left with them. It's sad but they have to do it in order to survive and send money back home.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Pinoy Life In Hong Kong
Posted by Mari at 10/26/2009
6 comments:
When we went for vacation in Hongkong. We intentionally went their (we stayed on the Kowloon side) to see what our kababayan are doing (just curious).
Besides meeting their acquaintances, they also do business on the side. Gusto mo ng pedicure or manicure?
Blogusvox,
Talaga? At Central Station, Pinays peddle DVD (I presume these are pirated, the 10 in 1 type) plus a whole lot of other Filipino OFW goodies e.g. cell phone credits etc.
Maabilidad talaga ng Pinoy kahit saan magpunta.
That sight of those women has remained with me. I feel bad for them because of everything they have to take on just to support their families back home.
Sana naman, their relatives back home try their very best to make these ladies' sacrifices worthwhile.
It's really difficult when you feel homesick when you're in a different country. That's why it's a creative way to hang out with our kababayans anywhere at the same place. It lessens the burden.
hanging out with our kababayans will let you feel that your at your homeland
I visited Hongkong in March of 1997 aboard an aircraft carrier, 4 months before turnover to China. I was really surprised to see pinays congregated in a park doing their thing. There were hundreds of them. It was a sunday and it's their day off. They were broken down into groups with each group representing a region of the Philippines.
I've been to lots of places around the world but the filipinos are unique. No matter how hard life is, we always smile.
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