Filipinos in Hong Kong

infobox ethnic group
group = Filipinos in Hong Kong


poptime = 140,000
popplace =
langs = Tagalog, other Philippine languages, English
rels = Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Buddhism and others
related = Filipino people, Overseas Filipinos, Indonesian Hongkongers, Austronesians

There are on average around 140,000 Filipinos in Hong Kong, of whom most find work as foreign domestic helpers. Filipino maids are known by the locals as "feiyungs" and the slang "bun muis" or "bun buns". A Hong Kong work visa requires some amount of higher education; and in some cases Filipino women with university degrees and perfect command of English are willing to work as maids and nannies for the higher salary they will receive in Hong Kong than they could make at home. Filipinos in Hong Kong are the largest ethnic group there with Spanish surnames.

On Sundays (when most domestic helpers have a day off) and on public holidays thousands of domestic helpers gather in Central, Victoria Park and around Hong Kong Cultural Centre to socialise and picnic.

Professionals and residents

Although Filipino domestic workers vastly outnumber other Filipinos in other professions, there are a notable number of Filipino professionals in Hong Kong. Some are architects and civil engineers, working on some of the more prominent buildings and construction projects in Hong Kong. Some are information technology professionals, and some are in professional services (accounting, law, finance) too. A significant proportion of those employed as domestic workers in Hong Kong have other professions in the Philippines, there are those with university degrees who work Hong Kong for more opportunities.

The first Filipinos to have worked professionally in Hong Kong were these groups who went to Hong Kong during the post-World War II years and following the fall of the Mainland to the Communists in 1949. Many Filipinos also work in service industries in the Central business district, and also in Hong Kong Disneyland as entertainers or other cast members.

There are also some Filipinos who have married expatriates, mostly from Western countries, and have settled down in Hong Kong.

Language

Most Filipinos in Hong Kong communicate with the local population in English (usually a second language for both parties). However, they communicate with their own friends and community in Tagalog or in another Filipino language. Most of them have also picked up a few Chinese (Cantonese) phrases in everyday life. A few are adept at Cantonese usage.

Filipinos haven't settled long enough in Hong Kong to have a large number who know Cantonese fluently, unlike some of the other ethnic minorities such as the Pakistanis and the Indians who often speak Cantonese like locals. Typically, the 140,000 Filipinos are transients -- each year, a large number of these leave Hong Kong permanently, to be replaced by a different set of Filipinos who have to learn Cantonese from the beginning.

Community life

Commerce

The World-Wide House arcade in Central is popular with the Filipinos, as many of the shops are run by Filipinos. The wide assortment of typically small shops caters to their needs, selling telecommunications and banking services, to food, and magazines.

Entertainment

On Sundays, one can usually encounter a large number of Filipino maids gathered at various spots in Central, including the ground floor of the HSBC Hong Kong headquarters building. Many maids in Hong Kong have Sunday as their fixed once-a-week working day off, during which they socialize, eat self-prepared food, sing, and even sell various items. This weekly gathering is such a long-standing practice that the "No littering" signs in the vicinity are written in three languages: Chinese, English and Tagalog.

Religion

Most Filipinos in Hong Kong are Christians, the majority Roman Catholic. There are also a sizeable number who congregate in Protestant and non-denominational churches. A minority are Muslims or Buddhists. Many spend at least a part of their Sunday mornings attending Mass and various church services. Numerous Catholic parishes in Hong Kong offer Masses in Tagalog or English geared towards the Filipinos, who make up a large part of the membership of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong (2005: 353,000, but it is unclear whether Church statistics include them).