Not One of the Family: The Tight Spaces of Migrant Domestic Workers

摘要

On June 2, 2012, the Hong Kong Chinese-language newspaper Headline Daily published an interview with popular singer Purple Lee. The article featured pictures of her 1,800-square-foot home. Included in the photo spread was a picture of her maid's bed, squeezed into a spot above Lee's palatial toilet. The image caused an uproar on social media and triggered a heated discussion about the treatment of domestic workers. In the comments section of the newspaper's website, readers repeatedly shared their disbelief that Lee had failed to provide a decent living space for her employee, posting sarcastic reactions to the stark inequality on display: "She refuses to give a 100 sq. ft. room for her maid, (clown) You are really compassionate and the model of [sic] children (thumbs-up)." Another post emphasized that the bed space was inexcusably located in the bathroom, while simultaneously positing that providing a "storage room" would be more appropriate for accommodations: "She lives in Metro Town and merged two 900 sq. ft. 3 beds 2 bath flats into one. It has 6 beds, 4 baths and 2 kitchens […] it is not difficult to find a room, which can also be used as a storage room, for her maid. Her maid doesn't need to sleep in the bathroom at all."