HK labor minister to visit Jakarta to discuss proposals for domestic workers to become caregivers

Outgoing Indonesian ConGen Tri Tharyat

HONG KONG Labour and Welfare Secretary Law Chi-kwong is visiting Jakarta this month to discuss proposals for domestic workers to become professional caregivers in Hong Kong, according to outgoing Indonesian Consul General Tri Tharyat.

Tri Tharyat, head of the Indonesian Consul General for Hong Kong and Macau, said they would also review the caregiver training program that the HK government implemented for Indonesian and Filipino migrant workers.

“The Indonesian government will continue to encourage the opening of migrant professional caregivers in Hong Kong, as mentioned by the Indonesian Vice Foreign Minister when he met Secretary for Labor and Welfare Dr. Law Chi-kwong in August 2018,” he said.

“If the training program is considered successful, next year it will be held again and the number of participants will be increased,” he added.

The Indonesian consulate earlier said that the Hong Kong government conducted a pilot caregiver training program for 300 migrant domestic workers from Indonesia and the Philippines. Of this number, 135 were Indonesians and 165 were Filipinos.

The Indonesian domestic workers who joined the program were selected from those who were already taking care of elderly persons here in HK and were allowed by their employers to join, the Indonesian consulate said.

The pilot training project was held after HK Chief Executive Carrie Lam said in her policy address in October that HK was considering importing caregivers from abroad.

The government is focusing on the issue since it is estimated that, by 2050, one in seven Hong Kong residents will be 80 years or older.

Secretary Law also said that, in the next 30 years, Hong Kong will need 600,000 foreign domestic workers to take care of the elderly.

With the city’s ageing population, Hong Kong is looking into the possibility of importing nurses or caregivers and provide subsidies to unmarried and low-income HK residents who are living alone in rented flats, so that they can hire foreign domestic workers.

These subsidies would be similar to those implemented by Singapore and Taiwan to ensure the welfare of their senior citizens.

According to Hong Kong government statistics, 9.7 percent of elderly people living alone are now hiring foreign domestic workers to help them. This number increased from only 5.2 percent in 2005.

On the other hand, the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower is preparing a plan to upgrade “non-formal migrant workers” or domestic workers to “semi-formal workers,” a category that includes caregivers, nurses, gardeners, baby sitters, nannies and cooks.