For Rob Godden, fighting for the rights of migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong is nothing new. After campaigning for the cause for three years while working with Amnesty International Hong Kong, he resigned from his job and was introduced to So Mei Chi, an independent journalist who was planning a book exploring the same issue.
With Godden taking the photos, the interviews for the book mostly took place in Hong Kong, although the pair also spent a week in Tarlac City in the Philippines where they met the families of domestic helpers, as well as women who had worked in Hong Kong and subsequently returned home.
There they found that the economic necessity for these women to seek work abroad not only affects the domestic workers themselves, but also the family and friends they leave behind.
For example, Lintang, who, along with her friends, has established a mobile library for Indonesian workers in Victoria Park, which she runs on her only day off – Sunday. In addition to this, she is also a published author and attends classes at a college that runs courses for domestic workers in Sheung Wan.
On the flip side, Godden encountered many cases that brought home the harsh difficulties that domestic workers face.
Remy, for example, a trade union organiser for domestic helpers in Hong Kong, faced the triple tragedy of both her parents and husband passing away shortly after she arrived in the city.
Later, her son Jeppoy was diagnosed with gender dysphoria – emotionally and psychologically identifying as female. While Remy came to accept this, Jeppoy’s school teachers blamed his condition on his mother’s absence.
“I’m not sure whether Remy believes she is somehow to blame,” Godden told us, “but I think she must have experienced some guilt as a mother for being away from her son for such a long time.”
But the plight of domestic helpers is no new concept for Hongkongers. Every angle – the inspirational role models, the shocking abuse photos, the sob stories – have all been covered, seemingly to little effect.
So what does Godden hope to change with his book?
“It is not about ‘humanising them’,” he says, “for they possess the vibrant, flawed, amazing and ordinary humanity that all of us possess — nor about ‘giving them a voice’ — for they can speak loudly and clearly for themselves.”
“No, the aim of the book is to simply tell ordinary stories that reveal the extraordinary, showing the complexities and contradictions we all recognise from our own lives and feel some connection with. By doing this, we hope to contribute to a more constructive dialogue, whether at the local park, the office water cooler, or the corridors of the Central Government Complex.”
An exhibition of Godden’s photos will be held from Sept. 21 to Oct. 11 at Open Quote in PMQ (35 Aberdeen Street, Central).
More from the exhibition:
![Orlando feeds his granddaughter at his home in Tarlac, Philippines. Orlando's wife went to work as a domestic worker in Hong Kong over 20 years ago and has yet to return. It is hard to establish trust in the relationship. “She always asks where I am. So I started this Sari Sari [small convenience shop] last year, just to show her I am busy at home.”](https://coconuts.co/public/field/image/bvxfytfzfgpe7lqye7s8cxx-kj4trapru72nwozbg0c.jpg)
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