The SUN HK

Positive vibes

Posted on 16 December 2019 No comments

Jocelyn Barite (center) with her employers.

Rare are the times when someone who gets featured in our pages comes back with an enthusiastic “thank you” and reports on how the unexpected publicity has made a positive impact on her work.

With many people resorting to social media nowadays for their daily dose of attention, a feedback like this immediately draws a picture of someone who maintains a positive attitude and rarely lets the blues get her down.

And that, indeed, is Jocelyn Barite, whose Korean Beef Stew recipe we featured in September as one of three examples of how meat is made tender while cooking.

Call us!

Jocelyn was obviously happy because not only was her recipe published in The SUN, her male employer, according to her, also proudly showed off the article to his parents in New York.

What’s more, she said has just received a raise, and it is not hard to see why. In the recipes she shares below, Jocelyn shows how she makes her own sauce and improvise on the procedure so she gets to come up with dishes – or sauces – all her own.

Her joy in her work she attributes partly to her very supportive employers with whom she has been working for the past five years, and partly to the family she left behind.

Call us now!

Joyce, who is 43 and hails from Zamboanga del Norte, is married and has three children who make her proud. The eldest has already graduated from University of the Philippines in the Visayas , the second is about to graduate from a civil engineering course, while the youngest is just 11 and still in grade school.

She has worked in Hong Kong for 13 years, with the first 8 spent with a British and Chinese couple with two children. Joyce gives them a lot of credit for developing in her the love of cooking.

“Sir is a pilot kaya kung ano ang mga food na maganda sa ibang bansa (na napupuntahan niya) pinapa try niya sa akin (lutuin) pag uwi niya,” says Joyce.

CALL OUR HOTLINE!

In the last two years of working with them she says she was enrolled in a Japanese cooking class. “Doon nadagdagan ang idea ko sa pagluluto,” she says.

Unfortunately, their relationship did not have a happy ending. With barely two months before their last contract was to end, her male employer came home with a striped bag and told Joyce to pack in two hours so he could drive her out.

The reason? The employers said they saw one of her poems which told them they couldn’t trust her anymore.

Until now, Joyce still feels the pain of having been driven out unceremoniously from the home of a family she had cared so much for.

“Simula nang time na umalis ako until now masakit pa rin sa akin. Napapaluha pa rin ako at na mi miss ko ang dalawa kong alaga na ako ang nagpalaki.”

But true to her nature, Joyce still finds something good in what had happened. She says the couple gave her a good release letter, so she ended up with the caring family she now works with.

Even better, the love of cooking her former employers instilled in her continues to serve as a reminder of the good times they had, once upon a time. - DCLM

Eggplant parmesan

Ingredients:
2 pcs medium eggplant
tomato sauce
2 eggs
bread crumbs
oil for frying
parmesan cheese

Procedure:
1. Peel eggplant then slice into lengthwise in medium thickness
2. Beat eggs and dip the eggplant slices. Roll in bread crumbs.
3. Fry the eggplant slices individually until they’re brown on each side. Set aside.
4. Pour enough tomato sauce to cover the base of a baking dish, then arrange the fried eggplants on top.
5. Pour more tomato sauce over the eggplants, then sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
6. Bake in oven at 150 degrees celsius for 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

For the dipping sauce, I use my own concoction.

Ingredients:
2 cans Del Monte diced tomato, blended
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs basil
1 tbs parsley
200ml vodka
olive oil

Procedure:
1. Heat olive oil, then fry garlic until they’re light brown in color (do not burn)
2. Add blended tomato, basil, parsley, salt and pepper
3. Turn fire to low and simmer for another 15 minutes. Your sauce is ready.
(You can make more than you need, but make sure you put the remainder in a Ziploc bag which you should keep in the freezer until you’re ready to use it)

Chicken Kiev

(My Style)
Ingredients:
2 pcs chicken breasts
2 eggs for dipping
butter
cheese
parsley
garlic
lemon juice
bread crumbs (with cheese, optional)

Procedure:
1. Mix together butter, parsley, garlic and lemon juice.
2. Make a hole in the middle of the chicken breast (like a pocket), then pour in the mixed ingredients, as well as cheese.
3. Close the hole and wrap with cling wrap. Put in the refrigerator to chill. (Best to keep the chicken in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight to soak in the flavor).
4. Beat the egg and dip each chicken breast before rolling in bread crumbs.
5. Fry in low fire until brown.
6. Put on a baking dish and bake at 150 degrees centigrade for about 20 minutes or until the inside part is totally cooked
7. Serve with steamed vegetable and mashed potatoes.

---

I-try mo ito, Kabayan: Kung interesado kang ma-contact ang mga advertiser namin dito, pindutin lang ang kanilang ad, at lalabas ang auto-dialer. Pindutin ulit upang tumawag. Hindi na kailangang pindutin ang mga numero.

CALL US NOW!

CALL US NOW!

CALL US NOW!

Full medical care for FDWs sought by Phl and Indo

Posted on 15 December 2019 No comments

Officials from Indonesia, Hong Kong and the Philippines discuss policies for migrant workers.

\By Daisy CL Mandap

The top diplomats of the Philippines and Indonesia have launched a rare joint bid to seek full medical coverage for their nationals who come to Hong Kong as migrant workers, including those whose employment contracts are prematurely terminated.

Philippine Consul General Raly Tejada and his Indonesian counterpart Ricky Suhendar met with Labour Party legislator Fernando Cheung at the Legislative Council on Dec. 4 to pursue this agenda, and were assured of his full support.

Cheung also told the diplomats his initial talks with Hong Kong’s Secretary for Labor Law Chi-kwong on their request yielded positive results.

“Basically he said there will be no objection on the part of the government,” said Cheung. “He is positive about this, not neutral.”

Call us!

Legislators across the board also support the idea of providing health coverage for all foreign domestic workers, he said.

“When we (legislators) discussed the topic..last April…all members across the political spectrum agreed to the concept that workers from other countries who come to HK for domestic work should have some sort of medical coverage…and for the employers to take out the health insurance, the cost is minimal,” he said.

Cheung said the issue is personal to him, as his family has relied on foreign domestic workers for help, especially in looking after a disabled member, for years. One has been with them for 10 years. “I still believe that the better we treat our workers the better we treat ourselves,” he said

Call us now!

Congen Tejada thanked him for his support and said his “heart was full” on hearing the legislator’s efforts to advance the cause of migrant workers.

Extending medical care has wide implications for about 220,000 Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong who, like all their peers, are bound by contracts that may be terminated at will by their employers.

Once released from their contracts, they are routinely turned away from public hospitals as they are no longer deemed “entitled” to free medical treatment.

CALL OUR HOTLINE!

This was what happened in the controversial case of Filipina Baby Jane Allas, a cancer patient who found herself unable to continue her medical treatment after being sacked by her Pakistani employer in February this year.

Private donors stepped in to help after her case was picked up by international media, and Hong Kong was forced to look closely into the issue of lack of medical care for those who fall through the cracks of its highly regarded public health care system.

Congen Suhendra said the issue was also a big concern for Indonesia which has 174,000 nationals working as domestic helpers in Hong Kong.

Call now!

“We support your effort to continue finding a solution to this problem,” Suhendra told the legislator.

But Cheung warned that there were technicalities involved, such as the need to come up with an insurance plan that will allow the worker to get medical care even after she falls into the “gap” of not being on employment visa, such as when she is terminated or is processing a new work contract.

Currently, most insurance policies do not provide for medical care except for minimal payment for outpatient consultations. They also follow the job – not the person covered – so that when she is replaced, the coverage is transferred to the new worker hired in her place.

Cheung also said employers should likewise be consulted and assured that the wider insurance coverage for their worker also works to their advantage.

But, as he says, “it is also to the employer’s benefit that the worker is kept in a healthy condition. Workers’ health is essential to the employer, we don’t want them to get sick.”

Cheung later told The SUN he again met with Secretary Law, who reassured him of his support. “He is in support of the idea but is not sure if there’s such an insurance product available,” said Cheung. He is also worried about the possible opposition from the employers.”

Taking the initiative further, Cheung said he also spoke with legislator Chan Kin Por, who represents the insurance industry. Chan reportedly agreed to talk to his constituents and get back to him.

As for being treated in public hospitals, he said those in a life and death situation are never turned away as a matter of public policy.

But routine medical check-ups could be a problem as that is when a patient’s HKID card is checked to see if he or she is qualified for the heavily subsidized medical treatment at the hospital.

He said those who get admitted and are later on slapped with a hefty medical bill should not get overly worried about not being able to pay the charge.

“The bill is sent to the person and if it does not get paid it becomes a bad debt,” he said. “But not everyone understands this, especially honest persons who don’t want to make it appear that they owe the government, and that it could affect their future employment.”

Congen Tejada thanked him for this disclosure, as it could be a big help to Filipino workers who might end up being in the “gap” but still need to seek medical treatment.

Accompanying the consuls general were their labor chiefs.

Antonio Villafuerte, office-in-charge of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, brought up as a side issue the need to provide a separate visa category for caregivers, in line with a pledge given by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam when she took office two years ago.

Indonesian Labor Attache Erga Grenaldi explained that their workers are required to take out a life insurance when they leave the country, but are also dependent on their employers for health protection once they start working in Hong Kong. But on arriving here, the employers are also required to pay for the worker’s medical check-up before she assumes work.

Cheung assured the diplomats they would be informed on how the insurers and the employers respond, and what would be the next step forward.

---

CALL US NOW!

CALL US NOW!

CALL US NOW!

UPDATE: Police says woman who jumped to death in Mid-Levels not a Filipina

Posted on 13 December 2019 No comments

By The SUN

Robinson Place where the victim fell to her death

Yes, she appears to have jumped to her death, but no, she was not a Filipina domestic worker.

This was what the police told The SUN this evening, hours after being asked for confirmation of reports that a Filipina domestic worker said to have worked in Hong Kong for just 11 days had jumped to her death.

According to a police spokeswoman, the victim was a 66-year-old local woman who appears to have jumped from a high floor of Robinson Place at 70 Robinson Road, at around 1:30pm today, Dec. 13.

Call us!

Various Facebook posts and messages posted in online chats had earlier indicated erroneously that the woman was a Filipina who had worked for an Indian employer in Tower 2 of the building.

The information reportedly came from other Filipinas who worked in the same luxurious residential block.

Some had quoted other sources as supposedly saying that the victim was cleaning windows when she fell to her death.

Call us now!

However, Welfare Officer Marivic Clarin of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration said at about the same time that they had yet to receive information on the woman’s identity, and whether she was indeed a Filipina.

But she admitted having seen the various posts that had wrongly identified the fatality as a Filipina domestic worker.

Earlier reports said the unidentified woman fell into the patio on the third floor of the Robinson Place which has a rough surface.

CALL OUR HOTLINE!

It took rescuers some time to retrieve the body so some tenants managed to take pictures they posted online which showed the woman wearing what looked like a denim jacket and pants lying on her side in a pool of blood.

Tenants on the 11^th floor of the building had reportedly informed the police about the apparent suicide.

Paramedics who rushed to the scene pronounced the woman dead. Police then covered the body with a tent proceeded to gather more information from residents.

Pictures showed a crowd gathering outside the building while the police were doing their investigation.

The incident sparked alarm in the community in the wake of a rash of suspected suicides involving Filipinos in Hong Kong. The latest happened only on Dec 8, when a 24-year-old male student reportedly jumped off an industrial building in Kennedy Town.

Those who are feeling depressed are advised to seek professional help immediately, either through the Philippine Consulate or NGOs like the Mission for Migrant Workers. They can also call the 24-hour multi-lingual hotline of the Samaritans at 28960000.
---

CALL US NOW!

CALL US NOW!

Maid caught selling fake branded goods jailed for 2 weeks

Posted on 11 December 2019 No comments

By Vir B. Lumicao

Among those found in Yarte's possession were fake Gucci bags like these

A Filipina domestic worker has been jailed for two weeks after admitting in Eastern Court that she was selling fake branded goods and had violated her work visa by engaging in business.

J. Yarte pleaded guilty before Magistrate Lam Tsz-kan on Dec 11 to charges of “possession for sale or for any purpose of trade or manufacture goods to which a forged trade mark was applied,” and for breach of condition of stay.

Yarte, 47, was arrested by Customs officers on Jan 20 this year while manning a mobile hawker stall on a footbridge outside Fairmont House on Cotton Tree Drive in Central.

Call us!

The officers seized two fake Gucci bags and five Gucci wallets on display in front of the defendant. More counterfeit items were found in a bag beside her, including eight wallets, 16 bags, basketball jersey and shorts, caps and T-shirts.

All the items bore famous brand names and were worth a total of $1,170.

A plainclothes officer saw Yarte at about 9:10am touting the goods to passersby. He also noticed the bag that held the other counterfeit items.

Call us now!

A few minutes later the officer approached Yarte then identified himself before arresting her.

The prosecution said Yarte had admitted to selling the goods for a Pakistani man who paid her $100 a day but whose telephone number she did not know.

She admitted to the arresting officer that she knew the goods were fake and that she was a domestic helper.

CALL OUR HOTLINE!

Immigration records showed Yarte had a working visa valid until Jun 6, 2020.

In mitigation, Yarte’s lawyer said she augmented her salary with income from selling the goods to support her family in the Philippines.

---
I-try mo ito, Kabayan: Kung interesado kang ma-contact ang mga advertiser namin dito, pindutin lang ang kanilang ad, at lalabas ang auto-dialer. Pindutin ulit upang tumawag. Hindi na kailangang pindutin ang mga numero.

CALL US NOW!

CALL US NOW!