Transcript:
This is the Asia’s World city, where the domestic helpers from the Philippines and Indonesia enjoy their Sunday in the most iconic and busy districts of Hong Kong.
Is that the complete truth?
The locals and domestic helpers never seem to cross-path, not even when they are on the same sidewalk.
There is an invisible wall between them, a line seldom crossed.
And when the locals do interact with them, it’s like this.
Sidewalk is where they are guarded against.
This is not their home
Sidewalk is where they voice out their discontent
Where is their home.
Their home is far away
港島價值，觸目展現？
I wonder, what kind of values is Hong Kong displaying on our sidewalk?
This is our sidewalk.
This is the Hong Kong.
Synopsis:
The different appropriation of the same place, sidewalk, by the people in HK, is a subdivision under the divided perception of their own private spaces.
Every Sunday, the domestic workers turn the public space – sidewalk of HK’s most iconic and busy districts – into their private space to spend their holidays. Yet local people would only see sidewalk as a non-place and would not consider occupying sidewalk for leisure. The different appropriation of the same place shows the disparity between two people in terms of socio-economic status. The domestic workers have the need to occupy the space this way because what the locals call home and see as a private space, is only where they work. And they gather on sidewalk because it is flat, wide and non-fee charging. The sidewalk as a space practiced by them has become more like a carnival. They bring out possibilities of the sidewalk other than just passing by, which is what the elites of HK formally do on weekdays.
Yet the initial hypothesis that sidewalk on Sunday is a recreated home, has been proven wrong by the observation made in field visit. Sidewalk is also a place where the discrimination against them is made obvious. It is also where they voice out their discontent with banners that easily catch the eyes of passersby. However, even though the locals pass by, they seldom interact with them. In the eyes of locals, the sidewalk as a space for travelling overshadows the space as socially practiced in other manners, thus the latter is “disappeared”. The local people, besides the law enforcement officers, are seldom seen to acknowledge the domestic workers or interact with them. When night falls, domestic workers return home, and the sidewalk goes back to normal. When Monday comes, the sidewalk will again be used in its most formal way. Although the elites and domestic workers use the same place, their path never intersect as they are never in the same space. There is a clear division line along the employer-employee, or local-outsider identity. The domestic workers are never truly integrated, and they can never really see HK as their home.
Storyboard:
References:
Abbas, M. A. (1997). Hong Kong: Culture and the politics of disappearance (pp. 63-90). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
De Certeau, M. (1984). Walking in the City. In The Practice of Everyday Life (pp. 91-110), translated by Steven Randall. Berkeley: University of California Press
De Certeau, M. (1984). Spatial Stories. In The Practice of Everyday Life (pp. 115-130), translated by Steven Randall. Berkeley: University of California Press.
張 彥子. (2016, January 9). 假日菲傭：中環的灰姑娘. Retrieved from https://theinitium.com/article/20160109-culture-column-thecity09/
01週報. (2020, June 09). 新冠肺炎下探討外傭權益：鼓勵留家＝變相剝削？ Retrieved from https://www.hk01.com/周報/483373/新冠肺炎下探討外傭權益-鼓勵留家-變相剝削
01週報. (2018, May 25). 【政策分析】星期日邊度最多菲律賓人？ 一句爛gag道出外傭之苦. Retrieved from https://www.hk01.com/社會新聞/191907/政策分析-星期日邊度最多菲律賓人-一句爛gag道出外傭之苦
Siu, P. (2021, May 13). Repeated Covid-19 tests just ploy to force us to get jab, Hong Kong helpers say. Retrieved from https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3133111/hong-kongs-domestic-workers-say-repeated-mandatory-covid-19
Ngai Hiu Lam
3035693387
Appreciate the newspaper and field work research you did. Your video is pretty well-structured – from introducing the sidewalk as a non-place to a place for hanging out for domestic helpers and then you revealed the tension between their usage and the pandemic restrictions. In fact, with a closer look, you will see that the domestic helpers do not only sit on the sidewalk but occupy the road too. They do not sit on every sidewalk, but ones that are close to pedestrianized road (Chater Road) or next to parks/ open area (Statue Square/ HSBC Building). What does this say about the spatial quality/ management of these sidewalks, that can add more to your argument on subdivision (or segregation) in our city? Moreover, in the video, you mostly filmed with a bird-eye view – meaning ‘looking down’ on the people you are shooting. Is this point of view what you want? You might also be careful of the way you place your camera as it speaks as well.