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Lau Nai-keung

As a member of the Basic Law Committee, I can only stay silent on  the judicial reviews sought by Filipino  domestic helpers on the right of abode issue and on whether  another interpretation of Hong Kong's mini-constitution may be necessary.
 But I am free to comment on another side of the issue:  that is, why are we discriminating against our own people?
 A few years ago, I debated with 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung  on a radio talk show about why he was not given a permit to go to the mainland.
 He said it was against his human rights as a Chinese national. I then asked him whether it was also against the human rights of 1.3billion Chinese nationals to not be allowed to freely travel and live in the special administrative region. His only answer was to shout over the top of my voice through the microphone.
The issue of allowing mainlanders to work in Hong Kong as domestic helpers has cropped up regularly since the handover. Every time, it has been shouted down for no other reason than the fear that they might swarm the city. 
At the same time, the number of foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong is rising steadily. 
Foreign domestic helpers are welcome here as they serve a common need, but arguably that need can be  better served through hiring people from the mainland who speak the same language and have similar living habits.
Should foreign domestic helpers  win the right to permanent residency, according to the same human rights argument, they would also be free to bring along their family. I can live with that, but the argument that mainland domestic helpers would sink Hong Kong sounds very hollow. 
If allowing mainlanders to work here might constitute a legal loophole for them to flood Hong Kong, why should we entertain an even bigger one for foreigners? Why should we discriminate against our own people? Do they have no human rights?
Apart from domestic helpers, our society is clearly discriminating against  mainland people working here. Unlike people from other countries who can freely apply for a working visa and work here as long as someone is prepared to employ them, even today mainland  people have to apply through some more restrictive channels. 
Only a few years ago, even mainland  people who graduated  from our universities were not allowed to stay here and apply for a job.  
Because of almost daily agitations by our media and teachers, our youngsters are taught that mainlanders are here to steal their university places, scholarships, hostel rooms, and soon their jobs. These fears are real because mainland students who come here are in many respects much more competitive than  many local students.
Mainlanders are blamed for taking away our maternity beds and buying all the milk powder in the market. But, at the same time, we want to develop  our medical industry and attract more tourists to spend more money. 
So, it seems they can come here for medical check-ups and so on - as long as they don't think of giving birth here.  Come and buy your Prada bags, but not flats and baby food. What kind of an attitude is this?
To put it plainly, many of us do not like mainlanders because of an 'us against them' attitude.  
It is time to rethink our position. This pathological emotional bias should be  eradicated once and for all, because we do not need such bad attitudes inside one country, even if we live in two systems.
While we are at it, perhaps it is high time to reconsider our position on hiring mainland domestic helpers. There are admittedly certain technical problems but they  can be easily  solved. 
Whatever the excuse, it is immoral to discriminate against our own people.
Lau Nai-keung is a member of the  Basic Law Committee of the NPC Standing Committee, and also a member of the Commission on Strategic Development



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