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01 Interview | Black Body Acting as Chairman of Foreign Domestic Workers Union: Discrimination and Prejudice Behind Ignoring Skin Color

2022-04-17T02:12:24.235Z


The TVB TV series "Golden Night Mansion 2" recruited Hong Kong Chinese actor Huang Wanhua to play the role of a Filipino foreign domestic helper in black. There are many discriminatory and stereotyped plots in the play, and it even made international news. outside Hong Kong


The TVB TV series "Golden Night Mansion 2" recruited Hong Kong Chinese actor Huang Wanhua to play the role of a Filipino foreign domestic helper in black. There are many discriminatory and stereotyped plots in the play, and it even made international news.


Eni Lestari, chairman of the International Migrant Federation, who has been fighting for the rights of foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, was also banned from sitting and grooming by her former employer because she had black skin. She thought the practice in the play was "insult" and disgusting. The practice of skin is seriously lacking in sensitivity, ignoring the discrimination caused by skin color, showing that Hong Kong people are ignorant of reality and the world, and TV stations have not followed the world's progress.


Actor Huang Wanhua shared her dark skin and hard-working Filipino accent on social media, which was even praised by local entertainment news.

(Huang Wanhua IG)

In the TVB TV series "Golden Night Mansion 2", one of the units, Hong Kong Chinese actor Huang Wanhua, who returned from Canada, played the role of a Filipino maid. She even said that she needed to blacken her face and deliberately practice Filipino English.

As soon as the episode aired, it caused an uproar and made international news.

Among them, blackening of the skin is accused of being similar to the 19th-century American performance of blackface to stigmatize blacks, which is now regarded as discriminatory and taboo.

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Banned from sitting and grooming because of dark complexion

Eni, who was originally an Indian maid, recalled that her first employer when she came to Hong Kong asked her, "Why are you so dark?". After that, she was not allowed to sit on the sofa, and she was asked to use only what belonged to her. A set of tableware and cups, let alone a washing machine and other items, and no home keys, "Being dark is not only the skin, but the consequences you paid (dark skin is not limited to the skin, but what happens behind the scenes)" .

Hong Kong foreign domestic helpers are not treated unequally in Hong Kong, and they are stigmatized, discriminated against, and marginalized every day. in the dark skin face, so you have to see the context.)" She believes that this drama is a serious lack of sensitivity, not seeing what's behind the skin tone.

Eni believes that the actors or screenwriters do not necessarily aim to insult foreign domestic helpers, but the messages and images brought out by the drama may have a negative impact on foreign domestic helpers, so they need to be careful when dealing with ethnic minorities.

(Photo by Zhang Haowei)

Not giving non-Chinese actors the opportunity to play the plot is also full of problems

In an apology statement issued by TVB earlier, it was emphasized that the actor "successfully portrayed this role with professional and superb acting skills." Eni pointed out that it doesn't matter at all whether he acted like he was, and he felt offended even if he didn't talk about the plot, "Why not? Borrowing actors from the Philippines or Indonesia? At least they can represent the community, and the practice also shows that the Hong Kong entertainment industry does not give opportunities to non-Chinese actors.”

Asked if it would be acceptable to cast an Indonesian or Filipino actor for the role, Eni said that at least it would be more representative to use actors from the same ethnic group, but she noted that the content of the show was still full of problems.

In May 2018, Rong Haien, a member of the Legislative Council of the New Democracy Party, pointed out that the gathering of foreign domestic helpers during the holidays affected hygiene, which triggered a march of foreign domestic helpers to protest their speech discrimination.

(File photo/Photo by Zhang Haowei)

"Shows Hong Kong people's ignorance of reality and the world"

In the play, the foreign domestic helper lied because he lost his employer's dog, and then performed "Nanyang sorcery", and other characters pointed out that the foreign domestic helper was young and beautiful and could marry a male employer and live a good life.

Eni believes that the plot is unrealistic and misleading, referring to the fact that the foreign domestic helper is not familiar with witchcraft at all, and the foreign domestic helper is just an ordinary person.

She believes that the plot shows that Hong Kong people are "very ignorant to the reality and to the world", thinking that foreign domestic helpers come to Hong Kong to find men to marry, but the truth is that they all come to richer Hong Kong to earn money to support their families , hoping to return to their hometown to reunite with their families, which means that the same as when Hong Kong people go to work and live in richer places such as Canada or the United Kingdom, it does not mean that they want to marry a local employer.

Eni pointed out that under the epidemic, foreign domestic helpers were also targeted by the police. Every Sunday when they were in the park, they would be chased away. However, there was no prosecution of Hong Kong people in the West Kowloon Cultural District and other gatherings of more than six people.

(File photo/Photo by Su Weiran)

Being overwhelmed by stereotyped and qualitative negative impressions is hard to swallow

Eni worries that foreign domestic helpers are already a marginalized group, and the general public in Hong Kong does not fully understand the culture or life of foreign domestic helpers, so the image on the screen can easily affect the general people's perception of foreign domestic helpers. need to be more careful.

She laughed and said that she had seen Andy Lau and other Hong Kong movies about the underworld before coming to Hong Kong. She once thought that Hong Kong was full of dangers and bad people were everywhere. She pointed out that the entertainment industry is not only about providing entertainment, but also related to dissemination and education, such as misinformation. , it makes people think that all dark-skinned people must be foreign domestic helpers, and they also lie, practice witchcraft, and even say "foreign domestic helpers are psychologically unbalanced", which will have a negative impact on foreign domestic helpers and their ethnic groups.

Eni pointed out that books or film and television works involving foreign domestic helpers or ethnic minorities were not intended to be criticized or criticized, but if they were not sensitive enough, they did not consult and understand the relevant ethnic groups, thus causing a negative impression or impact on the ethnic group. Overwhelmed with water.

One of the posters of the International Federation of Migrants, with the slogan "We are workers, not slaves".

(Photo by Zhang Haowei)

Follow the world's progress to educate the public, Hong Kong or an international city?

In the past, there have been actors in Hong Kong who painted black as foreign domestic helpers, but they have not been criticized. Eni said that the world has been improving, embracing diversity, and gaining more understanding of race and religion, but the second series still continues to use the old practice. , not only did not educate the public, but instead highlighted the differences and caused more discrimination problems. If Hong Kong is indeed an international city, why does it allow this to happen?

Filipino maid Juvi believes that some of the plots in the play are unrealistic, but she believes that her employer will not affect her relationship with her because of the TV series.

(Photo by Zhang Haowei)

Hot topic among foreign domestic helpers

The reporter asked foreign domestic helpers in various places yesterday to express their views on the incident. Many foreign domestic helpers said that they knew about the incident, and there were concerns and discussions within the community, but most of the foreign domestic helpers were reluctant to face the camera for interviews.

Juvi, a Filipino domestic helper who has worked in Hong Kong for more than ten years, believes that some of the plots in the play are unrealistic, but she believes that her employer will not affect her relationship with her because of the TV series, and Filipinos have dark or light skin, I believe Hong Kong people can watch it arrive.

She said that the most important thing is how to deal with unfair things in Hong Kong. There will always be difficulties in life, and you can only do your best to be yourself.

Huang Wanhua played the role of a foreign domestic helper in "Golden Night Mansion 2".

(Huang Wanhua FB)

The Spring Festival Gala's reappearance of "black face" was criticized for racial discrimination. Dissatisfied with Chen Zhiyun: You can play the role of Jinxiao Building 2 | "Sister" unit myTVSuper has not yet been released, Huang Wanhua has become an archery target

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2022-04-17

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