Book 'What We Carry' Highlights Unseen Burdens of Migrant Domestic Workers in Hong Kong

The book 'What We Carry, Under the Same Sky,' a new collaborative project by MICROLAB Collective, offers a poignant look into the lives of Indonesian migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong. The collection comprises essays, poems, photographs, and drawings, providing a platform for these women to share their personal journeys and reflections.

The contributors describe facing economic difficulties in their home country, Indonesia, despite its resource wealth. They articulate the challenges of living far from home, including the emotional toll of long-distance motherhood and persistent structural isolation. The book opens with an essay detailing these struggles, followed by photographs taken by the workers themselves. These images serve as visual metaphors for the burdens they have carried, both literally and figuratively, from Indonesia to Hong Kong.

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It is true, our country is rich, yet we do not live in prosperity.

One particularly moving example is a migrant worker's use of a photograph of suitcases at an airport check-in counter. She explains, "Leaving behind family, children, parents – we store our feelings of longing, pain, discrimination in a suitcase of sincerity." The stories shared by the 15 women in the book resonate with the experiences of hundreds of thousands of domestic workers in Hong Kong and beyond.

During the book launch on International Women's Day, the authors used humor to navigate discussions about their daily struggles. They recounted instances of miscommunication, such as mistaking the Cantonese word 'tang' for 'chair' when it meant 'wait' or 'lamp.' The book's narrative structure mirrors a television drama, beginning with reflections on home, moving through challenges faced abroad, personal moments with friends, and concluding with aspirations for the future. However, it also captures the harsh reality of a cycle of exploitation, noting that existing laws in Hong Kong and Indonesia often fall short of fundamentally improving the well-being and status of migrant domestic workers.

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Leaving behind family, children, parents – we store our feelings of longing, pain, discrimination in a suitcase of sincerity.