Introduction
Alright,
finally go time to start one. I have a lot of news to backdate, so for some, I
may not have the exact date of posting…also, where possible, I will also
include image of the original article!
Summary of News
29 year old
Filipino maid Teresa Asuncion Acosta attempted to perform a ‘ritual’ so as to
be treated better by her employee, by using water that had been mixed with
washing detergent and baby powder. Her employee, a 32 year old Ms. Zhang, as
well as her five and a half year old son and sixty-something mother, subsequently
experienced bouts of throwing up and diarrhoea after drinking water the maid
poured for them. She has been accused of one charge of child abuse and three
counts of attempts of harm/use of poisons, which she denied.
My Reaction
As a
DISCLAIMER, while I am not explicitly racist, IN GENERAL I do not like MOST South-East
Asian maids. Contradiction you ask? Let me explain, first. I specifically do not
like South-Eastern maids that: 1) Speak extremely loudly in public, whether it
be on the phone or each other, disregarding everyone around them 2) Clog the
streets/stairs/public parks/pavements/roads on the weekends [more on this
later] 3) Attempt crime while under the trust and pay of their employee.
Now, note
that all 3 reasons I would use against anyone
of whom those traits apply to. However, if you’ve lived in Hong Kong for a
while – perhaps even been here as a tourist long enough – you may notice that
#1 and #2 apply to most South-East Asian maids. Especially #2…especially on
Sundays (I will include a small section after my main response to explain the situation,
to those who are unfamiliar).
But I digressed
far too much, so back to the topic of the news. Not only did she honestly believe
the ritual to work (take into account the ingredients she used, and what she
thought the ritual would accomplish...is it what a normal rational person would
think?), she used it on the five and a half month old child. That...is just
outrageous and ridiculous! Did she not think any of them would be in danger???
Regardless,
this isn’t the last, or only, news among many employees betraying their
employers trust. There are many forms of staff betrayal in various industries
and countries. However, her profession is one of which the employer invites
them into their home, pays and arranges a place to sleep (usually). The level
of trust assumed – to be brought into someone’s house and to raise their
children – is not something you should take lightly at all! Absolutely
unacceptable...
To wrap it
up: Think twice and hard before hiring babysitters, maids [of any kind or
ethnicity], because ultimately, while you may assume they are trustworthy, if
that trust is betrayed, you are very vulnerable as they are, have, or is in
your home.
Side
note: Explanation of Weekend Amassing
Where as it would be illegal for anyone else to have a huge gathering
(illegal gathering/grouping law), those maids are allowed to amass in huge
amounts (even if the countless small groups making the huge crowd may not know
each other, the grand total amount if astonishing).
They lay out mats on stairs, pedestrian walkways, and even closed off
roads, and treat it like a picnic. To be honest, it really makes the ‘view’
look bad – but that’s my opinion, you should come to our own conclusion; if you
would like pictures or videos (in the case that you can’t/don’t plan on
visiting Hong Kong soon), I will be happy to provide them.
