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Tales from Victoria Park: Short stories of Indonesian women in Hong Kong
Victoria Park in Hong Kong is the crossroads for thousands of Muslim women who come from Indonesia to find their fortunes – or at least support their families – in the teeming Chinese city. Most come as maids, but some descend into the netherworld of overstayers, illegal street hawkers and “PR” girls. Whoever they are, they all know a woman who sells telephone cards, changes money, dispenses advice and listens to their tales of exile.
204 pages, Paperback
First published March 16, 2013
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January 27, 2016
First a disclaimer: this is published by my own publisher (see for yourself) but I was genuinely interested in reviewing this through my own circumstances (in Hong Kong) which sees thousands of Indonesian, Malaysian and Filipino “domestic workers” or helpers, nurses, cooks and childcare experts occupy Victoria Park every Sunday, which is their day off from their live-in situations.
Many overseas domestic workers live six out of seven days of the week with their employer, families who employ women to do some, most, or all of what I listed above. These women are an ever-present and indeed highly visible aspect of the city, but are generally ascribed the social neglect inherent in the status of those with lower paying jobs. On top of this, they are “foreign”, and while many domestic workers speak Cantonese and/or English, they also speak their own languages, which must give them an edge in communicating with each other about “private matters” and/or employers, but which, when combined with their social neglect, leaves the rest of us (or people like me) curious.
This is why “Tales from Victoria Park” arrives at the right moment, and the narrative appears to come directly from these Indonesian women’s experience. The book’s central character is one women, “Dina”, a small time entrepaneur (“hawker”) in Victoria Park, but each story includes a cast of character and concerns the relative complications or resolutions of these individuals. The prose is straight-forward, each story is succinct and the voices ring true. We get behind the scenes and witness provisional survival methods, brilliant escapes from abusive employers, broken hearted lesbian romances, and a woman who juggles her two better-off European and Chinese boyfriends. All this and much more.
Many overseas domestic workers live six out of seven days of the week with their employer, families who employ women to do some, most, or all of what I listed above. These women are an ever-present and indeed highly visible aspect of the city, but are generally ascribed the social neglect inherent in the status of those with lower paying jobs. On top of this, they are “foreign”, and while many domestic workers speak Cantonese and/or English, they also speak their own languages, which must give them an edge in communicating with each other about “private matters” and/or employers, but which, when combined with their social neglect, leaves the rest of us (or people like me) curious.
This is why “Tales from Victoria Park” arrives at the right moment, and the narrative appears to come directly from these Indonesian women’s experience. The book’s central character is one women, “Dina”, a small time entrepaneur (“hawker”) in Victoria Park, but each story includes a cast of character and concerns the relative complications or resolutions of these individuals. The prose is straight-forward, each story is succinct and the voices ring true. We get behind the scenes and witness provisional survival methods, brilliant escapes from abusive employers, broken hearted lesbian romances, and a woman who juggles her two better-off European and Chinese boyfriends. All this and much more.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review