城中有個外傭介紹所電視廣告是這樣的：
快樂家庭 — 年輕夫婦跟不足十歲女兒瀏覽投放在客廳中央的電腦立體影像，一個個笑容可恭、穿起白色圍裙的菲律賓及印尼女傭任君選擇。小女孩按了鍵盤一下後嚷著：「媽咪，我要呢個！」廣告畫外音標榜介紹所的「售後服務」。
無可否認，求職者在職場上某程度上都是售賣自已，僱主操控求職者的命運。這廣告令人乍舌的是，外傭能否獲俜，竟取決於對女傭外貌的喜惡。廣告用上本只用於貨品交易的用語 — 「售後服務」 — 對外傭的物化意圖及效果明顯不過。
親友當中，視所俜外傭為好幫手、好朋友、甚至家庭一份子的大有人在。如果廣告設計是為迎合目標顧客的話，這廣告所反映的心態令人十分反感。
數據：2001年，非華裔人口佔香港總人口3% (344,000人) ，當中52% (18,000人) 是外傭。 (資料來源: 香港政府種族關系組)The following is a TV advert for a foreign domestic helpers agency on local Chinese-language TV:
A happy faced family. A young couple and their ten-year-old daughter browse through hollogram photos of smiley Philipino and Indonesian women in white apron (a stereotypical attire for foreign domestic helper). Pointing her finger to her favourite photo, the little girl yells: “Mum, I want this!” The chosen Indonesian woman appears in front of the family instantly. The advert also boasts the agency’s, quote and quote, “after-sale service”.
Undeniably, as job applicants, we are “selling” ourselves on the job market. At the end of the day, employers have the power to decide whether to employ us or not. But in this advert, the migrant workers looking to be employed are at the mercy of a ten-year-old who can decide the suitability of the workers simply because she is mum and dad’s little princess. The objectification of the migrant workers is most overt in the use of the term “after-sale service”, which is usually restricted to trading of commodities.
I know friends and families who treat their live-in domestic helpers as their helpful household assistants, friends or even part of their families. But this advert is so offensive in that it tries to rehearse the skewed psychology of some of the potential employers of domestic helpers out there on the market.
Some facts: In 2001, 5% (344,000) of the Hong Kong population were non-Chinese. Among these non-Chinese, 52% (18,000) were foreign domestic helpers. (Source: Race Relations Unit of the Home Affairs Bureau of Hong Kong Government)
