香港星期天奇景 Sunday Picnic in Hong Kong

(Dear English readers, please scroll down to find the ‘click’ for English translation)

犹记得, 我和Ed上回旅游香港时, 他很兴奋地带我去一个神秘地方。

那是一个星期天。

当抵达时,我们彷佛是进了另一个世界。

“这哪是香港,这是菲律宾。”

这是我的第一个反应。

我见到广场随地坐满了菲律宾家庭佣人 – 野餐,谈天说地,玩牌,都有。

那是爱丁堡广场 – 一个邻近香港金融经济中心的广场,却也是其中一个香港菲律宾佣人星期天群聚的地方。

那时,除了我们,还有许多外国旅客到此“观景”拍照。

跟据网上资料,香港有超过10万人的菲律宾佣人。

大量引进菲律宾佣人始于70年代,至今已有三十多年历史。

被称呼为“菲佣”或“宾妹”的菲律宾佣人也已成为香港人生活的一部分。

听说, 有些菲佣在菲律宾有大学学位。

可情愿到香港做家庭佣人,因为薪金较高。

星期天是他们的假期,就会和几个菲律宾好友到公共场所一起野餐谈天。

这个“星期天 – 菲佣野餐天”已成了香港独有和旅客好奇的社会现象。

我这次旅港虽没到爱丁堡广场。

可是,还是有特地路经他们群聚的地方。

这次是近IFC (International Finance Center)的天桥 (如图)。

看来,他们也比几年前更“慎重其事”地享受他们的星期天 —

有的竟拿来围栏(如图),把他们“占霸”到的地段围起来。

有的还有纸皮围住,很有私隐。

我好奇,伸头去看,原来有些在睡觉。

我觉得这是香港的奇景 – 在香港最高级的地方(IFC) ,有菲佣为此地“点缀”。

朋友说 :最讽刺的是, 可能很多菲佣的老板就在IFC 内工作。

During our previous trip to Hong Kong in 2004, Ed said he wanted to take me to an ‘special’ place that he discover. That day was a Sunday. When we arrived, it was like entering a whole different world. It was not as much a special place as it was a special event. Here we were, in the middle of the central business district (CBD) of Hong Kong and there are literally thousands upon thousands of Filipinos everywhere. They were picnicing, reading, eating, chatting, playing cards, doing eat other’s hair. Imagine a scene out of an outdoor concert transplanted into your financial district. They took over public spaces everywhere: in the park, on the street, even the main thoroughfares were closed. It felt more like a setting in a third world country than the button-down business-centric Hong Kong.

At that time we were in Edinburgh Place – one of the many popular spots where many Filipino domestic workers gather on Sundays, their common day off all over the island where they meet to catch up with their Filipino friends. They would bring food; trade news and gossips from home; compare wages. The whole of the CBD was filled with the bird-like chattering of thousands of nannies. Apart from us, I also saw many other tourists came there taking pictures. We found out back in `04 that it was a famous anthropological phenomenon in Hong Kong.

According to online information, Hong Kong has over 100,000 Filipino domestic workers. The influx of Filipino domestic workers started in 1970s. In Hong Kong, Filipino domestic workers are usually referred as “fei yung” or “bum mui” which literally translated as “Filipino servant” or “Filipino girl” respectively. For the last 30 years, they have become part of Hong Kong people’s lives. I have heard that some of them had university degree in their home country but came here to work because of higher salary.

I did not go to Edinburgh Place during this trip but I went to another Filipino’s favorite spot – over bridge near International Finance Center building (picture above). Some of them even brought their own fences to mark their territory; some used hard papers to wrap around the fences to protect their privacy. I was curious and tried to peek into it and saw some of them sleeping inside. I guess this is their hard earn holiday and they deserve to enjoy it fully.

For me , this is a very ‘unique’ scene in Hong Kong – on the grounds of one of Hong Kong’s most prestigious building, there are these Filipino nannies sitting and sleeping on the street, chatting away and enjoying their day off as if they were at a park. My friend said ironicly that most likely most of their bosses works inside the IFC building.


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