Filipino maids popular in Beijing depite legal issues

By Han Manman

The number of Filipino maids has risen sharply in Beijing recently. Although they are not legally allowed to work in China, that has not deterred local expats and wealthy Chinese families from taking the risk of employing one.

More housekeeping agencies have started to develop this “under the table” business to take advantage of the lucrative market.

But without an effective system for supervision, experts warn that the local Filipino maid market may eventually spin out of control.

Filipinos as perfect maids

“When I’m looking for a maid, I want someone who knows how to iron, separate whites from colored (clothes), beautify houses … and most importantly, she must be well educated and speak good English to create an English environment for my 8-year-old daughter at home,” said Chen Fengyu, a department manager who works for a US-based company.

The 38-year-old Chen is considering hiring a Filipino maid because of their “good reputation” worldwide.

“High quality is my first consideration, money is not a problem,” Chen added.

Finding a Filipino maid is not difficult for Chen. She just searched “Filipino maid” online and found many choices.

“There are so many housekeeping agencies here, but I only considered big agencies to avoid swindlers,” Chen said.

She said some agencies have already emailed her candidates and promised to arrange online interviews.

“They told me I could interview all the candidates until I found someone I was satisfied with, and they would soon arrange that person to come from the Philippines to work for me,” Chen said.

One agency wanted to charge her 9,000 yuan for the procedure, including the maid’s half-year visa fee, air ticket and commission, Chen said. This was on top of the maid’s monthly salary of 3,500 yuan.

“That agency told me there is no risk in hiring a Filipino. The government loosened its control after the Beijing Olympics,” Chen said.

“No domestic maid can match a Filipino,” said Ma Yixuan, who employed a Filipino maid for years, adding that it’s very worthwhile to employ a Filipino because they speak fluent English, are professional about chores and have a cheerful temperament and superior nanny skills.