Indonesians in Hong Kong

Indonesians in Hong Kong
Orang Indonesia di Hong Kong
在港印尼人

A group of Indonesian migrant workers participated in Hong Kong 1 July marches rally.
Total population
165,750 (2015)
Regions with significant populations
Causeway Bay, Kowloon, Wan Chai
Languages
Indonesian, Javanese, Sundanese, Cantonese, English, others
Religion
Sunni Islam (majority), Christianity and other religions
Related ethnic groups
Various ethnic groups in Indonesia

Indonesians in Hong Kong
Traditional Chinese	在港印尼人
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zài gǎng yìnní rén Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Zhóigóng Yanneiyàhn Jyutping zoi6 gong2 jan3 nei4 jan4

Indonesians in Hong Kong, numbering 102,100, form the second-largest ethnic minority group in the territory, behind Filipinos. Most Indonesians coming to Hong Kong today are those who arrive under limited-term contracts for employment as foreign domestic helpers. The Hong Kong Immigration Department allows the Indonesian consulate to force Indonesian domestic helpers to use employment agencies. Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong comprise 2.4% of all overseas Indonesian workers. Among the Indonesian population is a group of Chinese Indonesians, many of them finding refuge in Hong Kong after the civil persecution of them.

Employment

Indonesians domestic helpers often gather in the area near Victoria Park on their days off.

In 2006, it was estimated that 102,100 Indonesians worked in Hong Kong, of whom between 80 and 90% are estimated to be women. This represents a growth of almost 250% from the 41,000 recorded six years earlier, while during the same period, the number of domestic helpers from the Philippines declined. Some newspaper reports attributed this to the fact that Filipinas were "harder to manage", and additionally to the better training of Indonesian domestic helpers. Employment agencies in Indonesia sending workers to Hong Kong typically provide at least three to six months of training in household work, including a basic course in Cantonese, whereas similar agencies in the Philippines provide only fourteen days of training. The Employment agencies in Indonesia also work together with agencies in Hong Kong to extract higher fees from Indonesians after they start working in Hong Kong. Part of this extra fee is the money that agencies pay to women in Indonesia to start the migration process. The fees owed by the workers for training and housing are non-negotiable and usually figure as four to seven months of salary deduction (HK$21,000 or US$2,709). Indonesian domestic helpers in Hong Kong are represented by two unions, the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (IMWU) and Coalition of Indonesian Migrant Workers' Organisations (KOTKIHO, Koalisi Organisasi Tenaga Kerja Indonesia Hong Kong).

According to organisations representing migrant workers, police intimidation of migrant workers is also a problem. Underpayment of wages and employer abuse is also a problem; Indonesian workers are widely paid as little as HK$1800 to HK$2000 per month. During the May 1998 riots in Jakarta, the Hong Kong government threatened to expel Indonesian labourers in Hong Kong in response to the Indonesian government's inaction on crimes committed against ethnic Chinese women; however, in the end, they did not act on this threat.

Pre-migration experience

Pre-migration experience for inductees into the domestic labor migration system involves overcrowding, shortage of food and facilities, abuse, and exploitation because the minimum standard regulation of the training centers set by the Indonesian Labour Department are not enforced. The camps in which the young women migrants are made to stay for the duration of their training also double as a system of incarceration. Following the period of training, the workers will spend up to a few years indefinitely detained until a job offer is made in order to prevent pregnancy and ensure that workers will be available when jobs are requested.

The living conditions in the centers are very poor. Women are made to sleep on the floor packed tightly against each other, and only one bucket of water is afforded per person for bathing. There is little medical care for the health problems that result from these conditions, and physical and sexual abuse is a prevailing reality. Even the trip from home to the migration center often involves being sexually abused by the training center recruiter.

Remittances and savings

Indonesians in Hong Kong send remittances less frequently than Indonesians in Japan and Singapore, or Filipinos in Hong Kong; they were also somewhat less likely than Filipinos to use a bank to send such remittances, instead relying on friends, remittance networks such as Alipay or other informal networks such as hawala. Contrary to the trend in Latin America, where remittances from relatives working in the United States are often used to meet daily expenses or for other consumption, in one 2005 survey, more than half of Indonesian workers in Hong Kong reported that their families used their remittances to start businesses, each creating between one and five jobs.

Religion

In 2009, there were 220,000 Muslims in Hong Kong, of which Indonesians formed an estimated 120,000.

Within their communities, services are provided to Indonesian Muslims and other Muslims mainly by NGOs. Most of these NGOs have courses in Arabic and the Quran so that children and newly Muslim people can learn the religion practices and language they need. There are seven Islamic schools in Hong Kong, run mainly by Islamic NGOs, for example the Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association. Some of them have membership schemes and provide services like library, retails, etc. Some of the people also gather in the Mosques during religious celebrations. If they seem to mainly interact within their own local communities, it is because their social values and moral standards are different from mainstream Hong Kong culture.

Notable people

• Celina Harto, Miss Hong Kong runner up.
• Coco Lee, singer and actor (father is alleged to be Chinese Indonesian)
• Lo Lieh, actor.
• Ng Ka Long, badminton player.
• Melvis, Elvis impersonator.
• Wong Wing Ki, badminton player.

See also

• Demographics of Indonesia
• Hong Kong-Indonesia relations

References

Sources

• Davis, Bob (1 November 2006). "Direct Deposits: Migrants' Money Is Imperfect Cure For Poor Nations: Earnings Sent Home From U.S. Fuel Increased Spending But Not Much Investment; Thugs Extort Cash by Phone". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
• Hugo, Graeme (September 2000). "Indonesian overseas contract workers HIV knowledge: A gap in information" (PDF). United Nations Development Program. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2007.
• Orozco, Manuel (November 2005). "Remittances – global opportunities for international person-to-person money transfers" (PDF). Columbia University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 September 2006.
• Villalba, Noel (2005). "The Impact of MSAI Adult Education Programme on Poverty Reduction". DVV International. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
• "Could Indonesian maids replace Filipinas in Hong Kong?". Pacific Business News. 7 September 2004. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
• "Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Hong Kong". US Department of State. 2000.
• "Indonesia: The Damaging Debate on Rapes of Ethnic Chinese Women". Human Rights Watch. September 1998. Retrieved 9 January 2007.
• "Indonesian Consulate should fulfill its responsibility as protector of Indonesian citizens" (Press release). Indonesian Migrant Workers Union. 15 May 2005. Archived from the original on 1 March 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
• "Ribuan BMI di Hong Kong Protes Standar Gaji (Thousands of Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong protest pay standard)" (in Indonesian). Media Indonesia Online. 30 November 2006. Archived from the original on 11 November 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2006.

Further reading

• Ford, Michele (2001). "Indonesian women as export commodity: notes from Tanjung Pinang" (PDF). Labour and Management in Development Journal. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2005. Retrieved 9 January 2007.
• Sim, Amy S.C. (2004). "The Cultural Economy of Illegal Migration: Migrant Workers Who Overstay in Hong Kong" (PDF). Nanyang Technological University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 July 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2007.
• "Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong". Radio International Singapore. 25 February 2006. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2007.

External links

• Indonesians in Hong Kong