MM5251 - Group assignment # 2
Learning about culture at a remove:
Filipina amahs discover and adapt to the Hong Kong style of family management

21st November, 2013

In this essay we discuss the cross-cultural differences in the household management of handling children between the Philippines and Hong Kong.

Managing children in HK households

In Hong Kong, Filipino maids make up 3% of the population. They are especially common amongst families who prefer an English speaking maid. Hong Kong people utilize maids for household management and supervision of the children while both parents have full time jobs. In many situations, the maids will spend far more time with the children than both the parents.

Thus, the management of children in Hong Kong is highly related to the amah in the family. There are certain requirements of maids before employment in Hong Kong:

* 2/3 Weeks training of Chinese household management * Experience in managing children

As most of employers are busy at work, the maid becomes a critical part in the family in taking care of the children during daytime. From school activities to playground, the maid has full responsibility to take care of the children.

Management of Children in Philippines:

Most of the population in Phillipines do not have maids. In the case where the mother is a maid in Hong Kong, then the grandparents or the father need to shoulder the responsibility of taking care of the children.

Differences:

In this part we analyze how the maid manages the children of her employer in Hong Kong, and how it would be different if she were managing her own children in the Philippines. In terms of the Filipino maid, we found two main differences. The first one is role shift. Whilst in Hong Kong maids must follow the style and instructions of managing the children prescribed by the employer. In