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| LegCo member Leung Kwok-hung pledges his olidarity with the migrant workers' struggle for their rights in Hong Kong. |
More than a hundred migrant workers gathered on Chater Road on Oct. 9 for the 18th anniversary of Filipino Migrant Workers Union which was highlighted by speeches, performances and contests in poetry writing and reading.
The SUN’s regular contributor, Marites Palma, took second place in poetry writing, which was won by Elna Apao from Sadanga Organization. In third place was Jennifer Cabanez. (The winning entries will be published in the next issue of The SUN)
In poetry reading, the winners were Angelica Benas, first; Jennifer Cabanez, 2nd; and Cora Maranas, 3rd.
Three prominent public figures spoke before the crowd, including former legislator and Confederation of Trade Unions in Hong Kong leader Lee Cheuk-yan. The FMWU is a member of the Hong Kong union.
Lee expressed full support for the foreign domestic helpers’ call for higher wages and better security in the workplace.
Another speaker was radical legislator Leung Kwok-hung, better known as “Long Hair”, who likewise expressed full support to the FDH advocacies, and said they should also keep protesting against their social exclusion.
Indonesian domestic worker Eni Lestari also spoke at the event, straight from her ground-breaking address before the United Nations General Assembly as migrant workers’ representative.
Lestari, who heads the International Migrant Alliance decried the vicious cycle affecting migrant workers all over the world. She said: “ A generation of migrant workers in the family is not something to be proud of. We do not want to remain as slaves for other people.”
Providing a lighter note to the celebration were dance performances from various ethnic groups.
