Independent Enquiry Studies –Project Proposal

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Name of School:St. Paul’s Secondary School

Teacher Advisors:Ms. W. Y. Ng, Ms. C.Wong, Mr. K. H. Cheng

Contact Number:25773836 / 28953767

Name of Students:

Name / Form / Name / Form
Winnie SoKiu Yu / 2A / Veronica LamSin Kwan / 2A
Nicole LeeYing Tung / 2A / Annis ChanWing Yee / 2A
Winnie ChuenWai Man / 2A

Topic:

How worldly is the world in World-Wide Place?

Related Areas of Study in Liberal Studies:

  1. Globalization
  2. Hong Kong Today

Background Information, Relevant Concepts and Knowledge:

Since late 20th century, Hong Kong families have started employing the Filipinos’ domestic helpers (FDH). While the total population of foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong is 140 thousand now, 53.11% are Filipinos.
Sunday is the legal public holiday that most of FDH enjoy their day-off. And FDH usually spend their day to socialize and to have their ‘picnic’ in Central. And there is a building which is actually Filipinos’ centre of assembly - the WorldWidePlaza. Almost the ‘FDH’s paradise’, World-WidePlaza is the shopping centre of 3 levels on the lower floors of World-Wide House. It is built in an "atrium" style, but without skylight. Its first level is accessible from the Central Elevated Walkway or by escalator from the ground floor of the building.
The greatest feature of the building is that, every Sunday, there are many Filipinos shopping, eating and spending most of their holiday time there.The kiosks or shop units are typically from around 10 square metres, and are rented out to small traders, who sell telecommunications and banking services, to food, and magazines. The arcade is popular with the large Filipino population, as many of the shops are run by their compatriots. The wide assortment of typically small shops caters to their needs, selling merchandise from their homeland.It is basically theFilipinos’ market place – almost all customers and shop owners are Filipinos too. Why is such a special and unique place or building in Hong Kong? What’s inside? What does this place tell us about Hong Kong?
* To examine the validity and feasibility of our chosen topic, a pre-trip was done on the 6th of April 2008, from 15:00 to 18:00 in Central.

Enquiry objectives:

  1. To explore the reasons why Central is chosen as the site of assembly for Filipinos Domestic Helpers’ (FDH) during public holidays.
  2. To explore how FDH spend their money, given their relatively meager income.
  3. To explore FDH’s lifestyle in Hong Kong through their consumption pattern.
  4. To explore what FDH do at their leisure time during their visit in Central
  5. To explore the Hong Kong residents’ viewpoints of FDH spending the public holidays in Central
  6. To explore the FDH’s culture in Hong Kong and contrast it with the local Hong Kong culture
  7. To know how the Filipinos develop themselves in Hong Kong via their work.

Focused issues:

-Whether it is a fact that all Filipino Domestic Helpers (FDH) go to World Wide Plaza (WWP) and spend money there
-Whether WWP is only targeted on FDH
-What WWP means to FDH
-The reasons why WWP has become the centre of assembly for FDH / The reasons why Central, the financial centre, has become somewhere FDH assemble
-What FDH do at WWP
-What FDH’s favourite / major consumption items are
-What factors affect FDH’s consumption
-The potentials of WWP and how it could be further developed
-How the shop owners could make profit and afford the rent in Central while their customers are FDH
-The business plans of the shop owners in WWP
-The reasons why shop owners are attracted to do businesses at WWP
-The relationships between the shop owners and the FDH
-How the FDH and the shop owners would do if the plaza has to be relocated, in case of some redevelopment plan in Central / what if the centre of assembly is not located in Central
-How the non-Filipino shop owners could survive in WWP
-The reasons why the Filipinos choose their present jobs in Hong Kong– FDH or shop owners

Hypotheses (if any):

N/A

Tentative Enquiry Process and Project Plan

Week / Date / Key Tasks to be Completed / Delegation of Work
1 / 10th April 2008 (Thursday) / Submission of project proposal / All
11th April 2008 (Friday) / Submission of interview questions
-Domestic helpers
-Tourists
-Local Residents/ Passers-by / Annis, Nicole, Winnie So
Annis, Nicole, Winnie So
Veronica, Winnie Chuen
13th April 2008 (Sunday) / On the spot shooting in Central / All
2 / 16th April, 2008 (Wednesday) / Submission of interview questions
-Food stall owners
-Clothing shop owners
-Entertainment shop owners
-Remittance shop owners
-Electric Appliance shop owners / All
Submission of interview questions
-Executives in Central
-Security Guard of the mall / Annis, Nicole, Winnie So
Veronica, Winnie Chuen
17th April 2008 (Thursday) / On the spot shooting in Central / All
18th April 2008 (Friday) / Submission of letter draft
-District Board Councilor
-Filipino Consulate / All
Editing / All
3 / 24th April, 2008 (Thursday) / Editing / All
27th April 2008 (Sunday) / AM: Editing
PM: on the spot shooting / All
4 / 28th April 2008 (Monday) / On the spot shooting / All
30th April 2008 (Wednesday) / On the spot shooting / All
5 / 9th May 2008 (Friday) / Editing / All
6 / 12th May 2008 (Monday) / AM: Editing
PM: Editing/ On the spot shooting / All
16th May 2008 (Friday) / Editing / All
18th May 2008 (Sunday) / Editing / All
7 / 19th May – 23rd May 2008 / Editing / All
25th May 2008 (Sunday) / Editing / All
8 / 26th May 2008 (Monday) / Submission of project / All

Week 1: 7th April – 13th April 2008 Week 2: 14th April - 20th April 2008

Week 3: 21st April – 27th April 2008Week 4: 28th April – 4th May 2008

Week 5: 5th May – 11th May 2008 Week 6: 12th May – 18th May 2008

Week 7: 19th May – 25th May 2008Week 8: 26th May – 1st June 2008

Anticipated Problems / Limitations

  1. The first major problem is about time management. As the term is coming to an end, pressure from tests and exams is mounting. Numerous tests from other subjects have already been scheduled in April and May. There is pressure from our parents on this ‘extra’ project that is previously not on our learning schedule for the school year. Striking a balance between normal school work and this project would be a challenge. The deadlines for everything are really tight too.
  1. Very likely we will get rejected by many of our interviewees when we approach them. Another issue is that some interviewees would simply utter something that is not so insightful or just give short answers. Interview content could be a challenge too.
  1. As we are not familiarized with doing projects in the form of video shooting and editing, we are not familiar with the software needed and the technical aspects of the production process. We have to learn shooting, editing and adjusting video quality in a very short time.

Significance of the enquiry project and its implication

Filipino Domestic Helpers (FDH) in Hong Kong seem to have become the symbol for domestic helpers. Yet our impression is that FDH are the ones who like screaming, singing, playing and blocking the streets on Sunday. In general, the value of FDH is belittled in our culture. To the busy Hong Kongers, FDH are a group of outsiders who are insignificant in our society.
This project aims to address the issue and rethink the value of FDH in our society. It is our belief that this deeply rooted cultural bias has to be rethought again. In fact, the potential power of the Filipinos can be huge. If they want to, they may or can affect the development of the whole Hong Kong society. Through this project, we also would like to explore the life of Filipinos who are not domestic helpers. They can be bosses - shop owners who run their own business.
FDH are someone close to us, especially for those families who are their employers. We need to understand more about their culture, habits, the latent power to HongKong, etc. Only understanding could lead to a better relationship between us as well as the formation of a harmonious society. Besides, knowing more about the Filipinos’ latent power of to Hong Kong, the HKSAR government can rethink on her policies for the Filipinos.

References

維基百科 (2008) <外籍家庭傭工>. Zh.Wikipedia, 取自
瀏覽日期2008年4月8日。
維基百科 (2008) <女傭>. Zh.Wikipedia, 取自 瀏覽日期2008年4月8日。
維基百科 (2008) <環球大廈>. Zh.Wikipedia, 取自
瀏覽日期2008年4月8日。
維基百科 (2008) <外籍勞工>. Zh.Wikipedia, 取自
瀏覽日期2008年4月8日。
維基百科 (2008) <海外菲律賓人>. Zh.Wikipedia, 取自
瀏覽日期2008年4月8日。
Wikiepdia (2008) <World-Wide House>. Retrieved 8th April 2008 from
Wikiepdia (2008) <Filipinos in Hong Kong>. Retrieved 8th April 2008 from

Wikipedia (2008) <Foreign Domestic Helpers in Hong Kong>. Retrieved 8th April 2008 from

Wikipedia (2008) <Overseas Filipinos>. Retrieved 8th April 2008 from

Yahoo知識 (2008) <菲傭在香港人數>. 取自
hk.knowledge.yahoo.com/question/?qid=7007041304797瀏覽日期2008年4月8日。
Yahoo!知識 (2008) <點解女傭都係菲律賓籍和印尼籍？>. 取自

Yahoo!搜尋 (2005) <調整外籍家庭傭工的規定最低工資>.取自

Yahoo! 新聞 (2006) <菲傭年匯985億回國>. 取自
hk.news.yahoo.com/071010/12/2hbfi.html瀏覽日期2008年4月8日。

世界新聞報 (2006) <走進香港菲傭的打工生活>. 取自big5.cri.cn/gate/big5/gb.cri.cn/12764/2006/08/17/瀏覽日期2008年4月8日。

The situation in Central (2008):
General Consulate of the Philippines (2008):
Immigration Department (2008):