Eunice Yung loves Hong Kong’s domestic workers. Really. And she’s got the photo-ops to prove it!
The lawmaker at the center of a furor over comments she made about domestic workers being a “nuisance” on their day off put on the full-court charm offensive yesterday.
Yung, from the pro-Beijing New People’s Party, posted two photos on Facebook — one of herself sitting on a tarp with domestic workers on their day off, and another of her with the chairwoman of the Progressive Labour Union Shiella Estrada — alongside a statement saying, again, that she apologizes to those “who were offended” by her comments. Y’know, the ones where she suggested our largely foreign workforce of domestic workers were being “unhygienic” by having the temerity to picnic together on their one day off.
Yung wrote on Facebook that she appreciates the contributions that domestic workers make to the local economy, but repeated calls for the government to provide better facilities for domestic workers on their rest days.
“Overseas domestic helpers deserve a better place to stay and to gather, and I will continue to follow up with the Government on the progress of providing more venues and facilities for them,” she said.
She added: “If the remarks in my question to the government left anyone with the impression that I was disrespectful to overseas domestic helpers, I am sorry as that certainly was not my intention. I will continue to advocate for adequate domestic helpers’ rights and to urge the government to provide better places and facilities for them to stay on their rest days.”
She’s right, the domestic workers making so many Hong Kong homes function do deserve better places to gather, but there was little in her tone or choice of words last week to suggest she was demanding that out of altruistic reasons, which she’s now working overtime to convince everyone was the case all along.
Yung’s charm offensive comes after more than 150 domestic workers marched to the New People’s Party office in Wan Chai on Sunday with a petition letter urging her to apologize for comments she made last week in the city’s legislature that domestic workers’ use of public places on their days off was a “nuisance” to the public, and that the government should provide more places for them to congregate.
Yung accepted the petition letter from protesters, saying she hoped the government would provide more suitable spaces for domestic workers on their days off, while stopping short of offering a public apology for her comments.
However, the organizers of the march said Yung, during a closed-door meeting, had told them she was sorry if they “felt offended” by her comments.
Sadly, Yung’s post yesterday brought out ugly responses on social media from some who felt even the stage-managed reach-out to domestic workers was too much to bear.
One person charmingly wrote that “the only thing these domestic workers are good at are swearing, talking, and being lazy,” while others argued that, as a Hong Kong lawmaker, Yung should be standing up for the interests of Hongkongers. Others accused her of being a coward who was scared of domestic workers.
Yes, nothing like calling on Hong Kong lawmakers to have the “courage” to keep the most powerless among us in their place.
Plenty of netizens, however, were quick to point out that the disparity between Yung’s initial comments and her newfound love for domestic workers seemed to stretch credulity. “This whole thing is clearly an act” said one, while another asked, “Ms. Yung, have you actually spoken to a domestic worker about their experiences and their thoughts on the matter?”
