Nory

Slap!

With a clear, crispy sound, a hard smack landed on our hero’s face cheeks. Immediately, the side of her face began to tinge red, swell up and burn, in the most grotesque and disturbing way outlining the shape of her employer’s hand as if she was branded with a sign – a sign of infernal malice. She did not cry nor whimper. She just stood there in silence, not making a single move. Our hero was dumbfounded at this degree of indecency from a family of medium social status, and before she was able to – or given the chance to – comprehend her situation, the pain in her cheek drew her mind back to reality. This, was not the first time. Not the first time that our hero had been subject to such humiliation. Not the first time that our hero had suffered such injustice. Not the first time that our hero was forced to accept her employer’s contempt and bitterness with the utmost indignity...

…

In modern day Hongkong, there lives a group of people who does the most ordinary work and lives the most extraordinary life. They are the Domestic Workers of Hongkong, and the hero of this tale, Luna, is one of them.

As a mother of four, Luna arrived in Hongkong as a Philippine migrant worker, expecting that this lovely place full of opportunities and diversity would alleviate her financial burdens. At first, things did go as she expected.

Full of apprehension, Luna applied for her first job ever in Hongkong, and to her surprise, she was employed on her first attempt. Like Hongkong, her first employer left her with a great impression – an impression of nicety, civility, and most importantly, humanity.

Luna was ascending.

Ascending in a bubble that her dreams and fantasies had instantiated into, roaming the skies of freedom and hopes. That was when she started to wonder: Can domestic workers, just like herself, ever belong? ...

Joy and happiness, like everything on earth, is ephemeral. Luna and her first employer’s relationship soon came to an expected yet morose end as the employer’s family had to move to Canada, but they could not afford to bring Luna with them.

Optimistically accepting her fate, Luna turned back to the domestic jobs market and searched for another job. This time, however, was, to her surprise, a completely different experience...

…

With intermittent cries from the baby across the corridor in the comfortable main room, Luna’s dreams were abruptly interrupted. Her eyes popped open; her nerves tensed up. This was her main and most important job – her performance in quelling the kid determines how she will be treated by her madam employer. Arduously, Luna used the toilet seat as support and rose from her so-called “bed” in the bathroom.

She dragged her weary body towards the main room, just to sigh at the sight of a newborn in luxurious baby-size clothes, cantankerously complaining in their “wah-wah” language in the comfy of their cradle. The baby’s mother got woken up very often, too, but she would provide Luna with no help and instead scold her for her “incompetency in dealing with children.” Luna is upset, of course, but she never dared to speak up for herself. She had no choice but to tend upon her employer’s family and endure their dehumanizing treatments just to receive the minimum wage to barely maintain her own family’s subsistence...

…

Life was like this for Luna ever since her second employment... nothing worse could be expected, until the day when her employer smacked her in her face during a little – or rather trivial – quarrel. Luna had thought of ending her contract with this abusive employer, but her employer’s genuine sounding imploration and her motherly solicitousness for children convinced her to stay.

…

It was until the second abuse, when Luna decided to bring all of this to an end.

The brand of the shape of her second employer’s hand left an eternal scar on her face. Not knowing what exactly had happened in the past minute, Luna picked up the phone, numbly and robotically, and dialed the police number.

...

The visual impact of the flashing black and red lights mingled with the sound of sirens and chit-chats. Luna, our hero, felt a long-lost sense of serenity in the middle of this mayhem.

Half-conscious, half-perplexed, their contract terminated, and Luna was transferred under the care of an NGO called the Mission for Migrant Workers. They took full responsibility for Luna’s lawsuit against her employer. She was provided with shelter, food, and a stabler community consisting of people just like her.

Life for Luna had indeed gotten better under the care of the Mission for Migrant Workers, but the case still remains unsolved until the date when this piece is written. Luna has yet to retrieve her personal items from her employer. She still hopes to stay and work in Hongkong, as she will be subject to the protection of Hongkong worker laws and benefits, such as every worker has a statute break day per week.

...

Her trauma kindled and lingered in her like an incurable, chronic back pain. The two abuses left a permanent, inerasable scar in Luna’s mind. Not even the Mission for Migrant Workers could help her. Not even her colleagues. She was all on her own, solitary and shunned, yet she still wishes the world the best.

She realized that the only way for the domestic workers who come after her is to learn their rights, how to protect their own rights. They should have access to education of their own rights.

The world is wicked, but there are always people like Luna, who are willing to give their all for the common good. They are the repairers of this broken world. They are the renovators. They will become the initiators to make this world a more accommodating and inclusive place.