The Young Reporter

Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Law Chi-kwong said in a Legislative Council meeting today that the government is looking into allowing mainlanders to work as domestic workers in Hong Kong.   Mr Law was responding to a question from legislative councillor, Paul Tse. Mr Tse pointed out that the COVID-19 epidemic has resulted in a drastic drop in the number of foreign domestic workers coming to Hong Kong from Southeast Asia. “Job-hopping” by helpers in the city also contributed to the shortage, Mr Tse said.   He also questioned whether the government will consider foreign domestic helpers to acquire permanent residency if they remain in Hong Kong for seven years.    But the government said it has no plan to make such changes.   The Hong Kong Employment Industry Association expressed reservations on allowing mainlanders to work as domestic helpers. The Association's chairwoman, Wendy Lau Lai-sze pointed out that it may be difficult to identify mainlanders who might be working in Hong Kong illegally.   She added that it is easy for mainlanders to take root in Hong Kong because they might have relatives here and end up staying here.   Teresa Liu Tsui-lan, managing director of Technic Employment Service Centre pointed out that salaries for workers from the mainland are generally higher than for most foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong.   “They  charge between RMB5,000 and  6,000 for completing one task only,” she said, “Hong Kong cannot offer that much.”   According to the Labour Department, the minimum wage for foreign domestic workers is $4,630 per month.    Shadow Hui, a local resident, has been employing foreign domestic helpers for over 20 years.   “It is quite difficult to hire overseas helpers right now,” she said. “ So If she (mainland domestic workers) works well and makes me confident in …

Ninety-eight seafood restaurants have been displaying or selling horseshoe crabs as a means of attracting customers, even though most people do not eat it, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.   Lydia Pang, WWF’s Oceans Conservation Project Manager, said most of those restaurants were in Sai Kung, Lei Yue Mun and Tuen Mun, and seven of them were selling the crabs.   Horseshoe crabs have been on the earth for millions of years. Although they are popularly called crabs, they are not crustaceans as crabs are, and belong to a different order of arthropods.   Among four species of horseshoe crabs in the world, the Chinese horseshoe crab, which is an endangered species, and the mangrove horseshoe crab can be found in Hong Kong’s coastal waters.    However, according to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the local population of horseshoe crabs has been decreasing since the 1980s.   Today, they can only be found in some beaches in Deep Bay and Lantau Island, and have disappeared from Tolo Harbour, where they used to be seen.   WWF has launched a “Stop horseshoe crabs consumption” programme after finding that they have been consumed as food or caught by fishermen as bycatch and their habitat has been destroyed by human activities.   So far, 26 restaurants have joined the programme by promising not to display or sell the animals.    Pang said many seafood restaurants opted to display horseshoe crabs as they wanted to put a novel sea creature outside to attract customers.    She called on the public not to consider horseshoe crabs as seafood and reminded restaurants that the mangrove horseshoe crab was poisonous.   A survey of 1,005 people aged 18 or above commissioned by the WWF has found that only four had eaten or enjoyed …

Hong Kong’s unemployment rate has dropped from 6.4% between February and April 2021 to 6.0% between March and May 2021. The underemployment rate also dropped to 3.3% and 2.8% respectively during the same periods, according to government figures released today. But the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (HKFTU) urged the government to provide more aid such as unemployment benefits and temporary positions as soon as possible. The HKFTU interviewed 540 people between June 7 and 16. More than 60% of the respondents were unemployed or underemployed. In addition, a drop in income was also common among the respondents, with 80% of them having less income than the same period last year. Dennis Leung Tsz-wing, deputy director of the Vocational Training Committee of the HKFTU, said that the catering, service and entertainment industries were the most affected by the pandemic. "The survey shows that the unemployment situation is very serious. They are either laid off or unemployed because of COVID-19," Mr Leung said. Bella, a salesperson working at a luxury brand store in Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui, preferred to be known by her first name only. She told The Young Reporter that she had to take five days of unpaid leave last year. She hoped that the government could provide higher unemployment benefits. She said that the epidemic and travel restrictions have caused sales to fall sharply. Many sales workers are unable to meet their companies’ targets and are forced to take unpaid leave and some have even lost their jobs. Michael Luk Chung-hung, a Legislative councillor and member of the HKFTU, urged the government to provide a half-year cash allowance for workers who have either lost their jobs or have been furloughed. He wanted the benefits to be extended to those who are underemployed or are forced …