I like too much walking. I like too much Hong Kong.

“The fare of the Star Ferry was 50 cents then, now it is $2.20,” said Marilyn who has been in Hong Kong for 24 years. “Before the salary was less but it was enough. I could buy things to send back home. Now the salary is more, but not enough for me. And they cut our salary a few years ago in the name of the retraining levy…”

When the SAR government proposed to enact laws according to Article 23 of the Basic Law, 500 thousand people went on the street to protest. The government was forced to shelf its proposal. In the same year, the government announced that a retraining levy will be imposed on employers of foreign domestic helpers while the minimum allowable wage of the domestic helpers are reduced by 11% from a monthly wage of HK$3,670 to HK$3,270. Even though ten thousand Filipino, Indonesian and Thai domestic helpers went on the street to protest, the government refused to make any concession.

Marilyn was Filipino. She had come to Hong Kong in 1983 and had worked as a domestic helper for the last 24 years. “I don’t want to see the Queen’s Pier being demolished. It’s a heritage of Hong Kong. Why do they have to demolish it? So bad!”

Lydia, who had worked in Hong Kong for 12 years, thought that the government would build a museum in the place of the Star Ferry Pier. I told her that no museum would be built. Instead, there would be a highway and a shopping mall. She was amazed. “It IS a destruction. If they built a museum or a park, it’s okay.”

Marilyn, Lydia and their friends came to the Edinburgh Place on their weekly holidays to chat, read papers and exchange news. Marilyn had got many relatives in Hong Kong and they all liked to meet in Central. “It is convenient for us. The church is close by and there is a market. I go there often to buy food. It’s cheaper.” I asked her if she meant the market on Graham Street. “Yes, yes”, she said. “Have you heard that the market would be demolished?” I asked again. “Yeah, I read it on the newspaper. Why? Why do they have to demolish it? The new shopping malls are all so expensive. Even Chinese poor people cannot afford them”, she said.

Terry, who saw me asking her compatriots questions, took the initiative to talk to me. “I don’t like these changes. Not nice at all. Now we sit here and there is the sea. It’s nice. And it used to be so convenient to take the Star Ferry, now?......There used to be a stall over there at the Pier that sold hats at $10 each only…”

Terry had been in Hong Kong for 6 years only, but she loved the things that were disappearing in Hong Kong. She loved the chime of the clock of the old Star Ferry Pier. “At first I did not know they were going to demolish the clock tower. For two weeks I was wondering why the clock was not chiming. I loved the clock. Every time it chimed, we knew the time.”

Josie, who sat next to Terry, looked only at her twenties. She had great smiles like Terry. “I read the newspaper everyday, so I know what is happening. I want very much to know what is happening outside. I feel I must know what is happening in Hong Kong.” I asked her what she thought of all these changes. Same like Terry, she did not like the changes. “Now when we sit here, there is the breeze, so it’s nice. If they are going to build a highway, the air would not be that fresh anymore.”

I asked Terry and Josie what they thought of the government’s way in dealing with the Star Ferry. “The government should have asked the public for their opinions. They should explain how the changes would affect everyone. People don’t know what is happening. The government has not explained to the people what is going to happen or asks for their opinion,” Terry said.

Aberde was only 31, but she had worked in Hong Kong for 9 years already. Her auntie also worked here and they usually go to the Central or to Tsimshatsui during holidays. She saw that the old Star Ferry Pier was being demolished but did not know what would be built in its place. She only felt that it was not as convenient as before. I told her a highway and a big shopping mall would be built in the vicinity of the Edinburgh Place. “If a shopping mall was going to be built, Filipinos would definitely not be able to sit here anymore,” she said. “I hope they would build a park on the original site of the Star Ferry Pier.”

According to government statistics, non-Chinese make up 4.4 % of Hong Kong’s population, among whom 80% are women. Their average age is 32 and most work as domestic helpers taking care of tens of thousands of Hong Kong families 24 hours a day. Among non-Chinese ethnic minorities, 56.6% are Filipinos. Second comes Indonesia-14.4%. Indians rank third- 4.3%. Domestic helpers are a minority among Indians, but one could also see them together and chatting in the Edinburgh Place.

When I saw Ranjana, she was sitting alone on the stone benches facing the sea. She came from Bombay, India. She had been here for only one and a half year. She had two sisters – blood sisters. They also worked in Hong Kong. Ranjana loved Hong Kong. Before she came to Hong Kong, she had been afraid to go on ferries. She had been afraid of the water. Now what she loved most was going on a ferry, and the fare was only $2.20. It’s a pity the Star Ferry Pier was moved further away, she said.

Ranjana took me to the rooftop of the corridor around the lower block of City Hall. A group of young Indian women was sitting there looking at photos. The sisters of Ranjana were not there yet. She stood next to the railings and gazed. On the left in front of us was the sea where the clock tower used to stand. On the right was the Queen’s Pier that was not yet demolished. I tried to imagine the view after the sea was reclaimed.

Ranjana had worked in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain before she came to Hong Kong. When she worked in these countries, she had no holidays, no friends, no laughter, nothing, she said. She stayed in the house all the time to do housework. In Hong Kong, she got holidays and she could walk around. She could also stand beside the sea and gazed, and she would hear the laughter of the Filipinos, she said. She was very happy since she came to Hong Kong. “I like too much walking. I like too much Hong Kong,” she said. She told her mother that she was not going home because she was very happy in Hong Kong.

I wanted to interview Ranjana’s friends, but most of them did not want to be interviewed. Among Filipinos, some also refused to talk. One of them said, “I don’t know. I seldom go out.” A highway and a shopping mall would be built here, what do you think? I asked. “It doesn’t matter what we want, does it?” She gave me a glance and replied.

[Photo from here]