Chinese Whispers

Chinese Whispers by Hsiao-Hung Pao

(2008)

(Penguin) Isbn 978-0-141-03568-0

Review by Me

My mother sent me a copy of this book from the UK, I don’t think she’d read it, but rather thought I might be interested, living in Hong Kong and all. It has been quite a while since a book has stirred so many conflicting feelings in me. So before I begin, it is definitely worth a look..

On the cover there is a quote/review from Nick Broomfield, a British filmmaker- ‘An incredibly moving book that in turn angers and saddens and above all makes you want to change things’. I took that at face value, which is somewhat naïve of me really, would the publishers actually put a critical quote on the cover?

I was ready to feel angry and ashamed of my home, the UK for despicable acts against vulnerable Mainland Chinese people, especially in view of what I knew about the Morecambe Bay tragedy. That is until after the first few chapters.

The book does begin with a tragic story of a man dying very shortly after he arrives in the UK from what is presented as overwork; he died of a brain haemorrhage.

What is not explained is why his fellow workers were not and did not also drop like flies in the same way, it appears to be an isolated case. His story is indeed sad, but I am afraid probably not linked to his work in the factory making goods for a very large Korean company-Samsung. The conditions he worked under are no worse than most factory work throughout the world. The tragedy was that he didn’t seek help sooner, as he was an illegal worker, an all too familiar story even here-Hong Kong and especially just over the border in Guangdong, where this appears to be the norm.

The author then goes undercover working in a meat processing factory, which surprisingly was not a bed of roses. I have worked processing meat in Sydney, and was the only member of my team not to lose part of my finger. We were paid a pittance (the minimum wage), but sometimes that’s the way life is. The conditions she describes in the factory are really quite normal, but of course the Chinese illegal workers were earning below the minimum wage.

The book then goes on to describe life in every seemingly pitiful detail of working in Chinese restaurants, farms, brothels, and as a domestic helper. What strikes the reader is that most of the wrongs are committed by Chinese ‘gangmasters’ against their own compatriots. These are mainly financial wrongs, but of course, as in everyday life sometimes worse. Here in Hong Kong we are forever surprised and shocked by the depravity of the criminal classes towards their fellow man.

The author also presses the point repeatedly about the coldness and greyness of life in the UK. I have recently spent two years back there, and can appreciate this fully, but am not sure whose fault this is.

The very distressing story about the domestic helper earning £180(hk$2800) a week, and being raped, is a story heard too often here in Hong Kong on an almost daily basis, but I couldn’t help but thinking do they earn that much? I only earned £200 a week as a civil servant, and I still have my payslips to prove it!

Surely you must feel sorry for the prostitutes? I hear you ask.Of course I do, but not that sorry, according to the author they earn over £100 a day! Prostitutes in Hong Kong must be checking their passports and getting ready to move en masse. The conditions sound grim, but how about here in Hong Kong? Never mind China!

The author makes a blithe introduction to that chapter “ Back home in China, prostitution was frowned upon, to say the least” This astounding statement raises a few questions;

1. Is prostitution smiled upon in the UK?
2. Has this woman ever been to China?

She has. She comes from Taiwan, and is the daughter of a prominent politician. Later she again goes undercover picking leeks, but stops after 2 hours because she gets a cut from a leek, whilst her workmates continue. I have a year’s experience picking onions, watermelons, lemons, tomatoes and so on for very little money throughout Europe and Israel (a Moshav not a nice Kibbutz), cuts, verbal abuse, disgusting conditions were par for the course. Unfortunately the author does come through as a person who has never done a decent day’s work in her life. Her tales of hardship appear to most of us, normal.

The point of the book is indeed well intentioned; to get better working conditions for the hidden Chinese workers in the UK. I agree wholeheartedly that regardless of immigration status, everyone must receive the minimum wage and be covered by Health and safety laws, and be allowed access to emergency healthcare without fear from the authorities.

The world we live in though is far from perfect, and regrettably is not likely to change very quickly. It does shame me to think that the UK, where we pride ourselves on worker’s rights should allow this to continue, but when they do stop these companies, the migrants will have to return home.

The examples she uses do seem everyday here(Hong Kong), physical abuse of domestic helpers, dangerous working conditions, below minimum wage-if only we had one, long long working hours, no access to health care, and long absences from family(think domestic helpers from the Phillipines, Indonesia etc). Hong Kong people have the view that if you don’t want to work in a place, you don’t have to, which is why they routinely decrease domestic helpers’ wages. Conditions on the mainland are much worse than the stories in this book. This doesn’t make them right, but also it must be remembered that workers everywhere continue to be abused, local or otherwise.

As I say, this book is definitely worth a look, maybe I have just become hardened after 15 years in the Far East.