Script
[Text on black] The Covid-19 pandemic has forcefully separated us yet brought us together in a collective fight against the perils of disease and desolation… But who is us?
[Interview] “I’m Lurylyn, I came from the Philippines in Mindanao part, and I stay here for almost three months only.
It’s like our one day rest.
I have never experienced Hong Kong without pandemic.
Some helpers, they’re not allowed to go in the park, their employers just say, ‘Stay at home and take a rest, take your day off in your room.’ But it’s not fine, not fine actually, because it’s our right, it’s our day off.
Hong Kong people are well-mannered. They are not friendly, actually, and also, they are maybe… they are protecting their privacy also, I think, unlike in Philippines. Everyday almost, we go to the neighbours and just talk, sometimes we eat, like that.
Lately, we have mandatory swab test, all helpers. Our helpers would go outside, and Hong Kong… Hong Kong, even you, you also go outside. We can all carry the virus. No one is invisible in this virus, so why not all?”
Description of theme and subject matter.
“Subdivided City” explores the park experience from the perspective of foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong, many of whom are “Sunday residents” of the parks as they offer accessible and affordable space for relaxation. Through this exploration, the video illustrates a theme of “division” among the foreign domestic helper demographic and the local Hong Kong in three ways: their lack of contact with the local life (some of them being forced to stay in their room by their employers because of Covid concerns), their lack of resonance with the local social culture (the distant relationships between the Hong Kong people being vastly different from the everyday enthusiasm experienced back home), and a feeling of being treated differently from the local people in the context of the pandemic (being asked to take swab tests while locals were not).
Method of research.
The moment I saw my given location, “park”, I knew I was presented a challenge. At first glance, I thought a park was a park – there was nothing particular interesting about Hong Kong’s parks worth exploring, nor were they vastly different before or during the pandemic.
I started my research by browsing through news related to parks, then one article caught my attention . The article described how foreign domestic workers lined up outside Covid-testing centres in Hong Kong’s major parks to comply with what many called a “discriminatory” government mandatory Covid screening order. It suddenly clicked for me that the park that I experience must be very different from Hong Kong’s domestic helpers, many of whom go to the park every weekend to spend their day-off. I became curious about their side of the story regarding the park, and whether and how their experience has been affected by the pandemic.
I decided first-hand research would be the most useful, so I set up a Zoom interview with Luralyn, a Filipino domestic helper working for my friend’s family. After getting an initial impression of how she spent her Sundays napping in the park in their housing estate, she invited me to spend the following Sunday with her and her friend, Lurylyn, fellow Filipino domestic helper, at the Heng Fa Chuen Park, where they sometimes hung out, which I did and shot all the video footages, photos, and audio materials for my video.
Documentation and making of the video.
As preparation for the shooting, I read up on the design and planning of Hong Kong’s parks (HKSAR Planning Department) and found that
– park spaces were divided into passive (for relaxation) and active (for activeness) areas — I made sure to demonstrate both types of uses in my video, including for example, promenade and sitting areas (passive), and the playground and basketball court (active).
– parks were categorised by the sphere of population they served, in descending order of reach radius: regional open space, district open space, and local open space. Heng Fa Chuen Park would belong to the last type because it mainly served the residents of the Heng Fa chuen housing estate. — The neighbourhood-ly nature of the Heng Fa Chuen Park prompted me to focus more on the people using it, not just the architecture.
I chose the format of a hybrid between documentary (interview of Luralyn and Lurylyn) and “slideshow” (photos and footages of findings at the park) so that the protagonists of the video could speak for themselves authentically while the slideshow content exemplified the feelings they expressed. For example, at [0:57], a picture showing a housing building enwrapped by a roof from the playground accentuated the feeling of entrapment expressed from Lurylyn’s account of some helpers being forced to stay inside during their day-off. Another example at [1:55] shows a slowly rotating ceiling of a pavilion that jokingly resembles the coronavirus, as Lurylyn talks about everyone being susceptible to the effects of the pandemic, which exemplifies the prolonged pandemic engulfing everyone under its roof.
Objectives and Reflections.
I was glad to have had the opportunity to know more about the lived experience of Hong Kong from the perspectives of a marginalised group. I had the most fun interviewing Luralyn and Lurylyn, and editing the video, which was a surprisingly freeing experience (no more following structures like writing an essay!). Overall, it was a fantastic experience.
References
Chapter 4 Recreation, Open Space and Greening, PLANNING DEPARTMENT THE GOVERNMENT OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION, www.pland.gov.hk/pland_en/tech_doc/hkpsg/full/pdf/ch4.pdf.
“外傭強制檢測｜菲傭荔枝角公園排6小時始採樣：僱主不允平日檢測.” 香港01, 香港01, 3 May 2021, www.hk01.com/%E7%A4%BE%E6%9C%83%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E/619950/%E5%A4%96%E5%82%AD%E5%BC%B7%E5%88%B6%E6%AA%A2%E6%B8%AC-%E8%8F%B2%E5%82%AD%E8%8D%94%E6%9E%9D%E8%A7%92%E5%85%AC%E5%9C%92%E6%8E%926%E5%B0%8F%E6%99%82%E5%A7%8B%E6%8E%A1%E6%A8%A3-%E5%83%B1%E4%B8%BB%E4%B8%8D%E5%85%81%E5%B9%B3%E6%97%A5%E6%AA%A2%E6%B8%AC.
Special thanks to Luralyn and Lurylyn, who contributed to 90% of my video and prior research, and my dear friend Alaina, who generously offered to link me up with her helper.
Hello, I am also doing the video essay focusing on domestic workers! What a nice coincidence! My essay is subdivided city(sidewalk). Feel free to check it out! I think your video essay is quite interesting, as it not only figure out about the plight facing domestic helpers, it also investigate how the park’s structure affect their experience. And I am really impressed that you found a domestic helper to interview with you! I am also impressed that you found out the different design behind the public parks, like the government’s plan and consideration , then expressed your findings in the video. But I am also a bit confused about the meaning or purpose of some of the photos. For example, the public toilet ones. What meaning do you wish to convey through that?
I think the idea of this video is very clever and creative. The director took the park as the background location and focused his attention on foreign domestic helpers to reflect the subdivision of Hong Kong society. The video is based on an interview with a Filipino domestic helper, and is mixed with cheerful and lively scenes and sounds in the park from time to time to reflect the pathos of foreign domestic helpers being restricted from traveling, as well as complaints about the way Hong Kong people treat other groups of people.
The word ‘subdivided’ means a lot for domestic workers, especially during the covid-19 pandemic. It is glad to see you utilize this video to shed light on their situations. Instead of describing the park as a place to relax for most Hong Kong citizens, you redefine it as a place to live for domestic workers. We should re-examine the city as you did: How it divides people of different cultural backgrounds. You further portray their situation by showing pictures like the sea behind fences, which is a good visual design to induce audiences’ thinking.
I really like your content and topic. You choose a very impressing and meaningful perspective on the video essay. During the pandemic, the city has subdivided further because of the disease and desolation. But if we only talk about the “city”, it is meaningless since city contains too much, so we must subdivide the groups of people, and look into each individual life. The people’s lives are vivid. You emphasised the marginalized group, foreign domestic helpers, as the aspect of subdivision. The feeling of domestic helpers is introduced in this video, which made me think of my CAES project this semester. I also interviewed domestic helpers in Victoria Parks for their feeling of public space use during pandemic. Similar result had found, and I also experienced good when talking with these ladies I cannot get to in normal life. It broadens my horizon and create a tighter connection with the city. I appreciate your work.
The perspective of capturing down the domestic helper under the pandemic is inspiring! Although domestic helper comprises 5% of the Hong Kong population, seldom have people raise a voice, understanding the policy and difficulties from their perspective. One more aspect that I truly appreciate in this video is that after watching it we can understand more about their culture and the reason why the social gathering is so important for them.
All aspects are addressed and presented with insightful depth. The purpose of your video is quite clear and demonstrates a clear understanding of and the ability to apply and synthesise research, concepts and key issues relating to a well-identified topic. You were able to present a well-articulated analysis and original empathetic interpretation of the topic. I appreciate the aesthetics and how you weaved in the elements at the park with the appropriation of spaces by domestic helpers. It is highly innovative in regard to methodologies and use of research and/or fieldwork materials. I especially enjoy the emphasis on umbrellas and picnic mats as ways to temporarily mark territories. You maintained an excellent control of techniques and organisation of the form/content and narration. The written and verbal articulation are of high academic standard, and well integrated into the overall presentation. It would be great if there is a stronger conclusion as to how does the park reflects your theme of subdivision; and whether it’s subdivision or segregation.