OPINIONS on best nationality for DH

Anyone have opinions or insights on this? I am NOT particularly interested in hiring an Indian or Philippino. I have heard that other cultures are more suitable for the job ...Thai ...Nepalese ...Indonesian...? I'd love anyones thoughts who is willing to share their personal experiences.

If this thread goes even slightly down a racist road there will be immediate bans.


If anyone is unsure about what constitutes racism please read this:


http://www.asiaxpat.com/racism/

Depends on your requirements.


Filipinas tend to have reasonable English and are frequently tertiary eductated. So if you have children this may be an advantage, depending upon what yuor requirements are.


My helper is from the Philipines and she is great!, and she is not the exception either. Don't be put off by what you hear some peolpe say about them (or other people).


Indonesian helpers oftern have superior Cantonese skills, so if yo have elderly CHinese parents who need to be cared for, perhaps an Indonesian helper would be good.


If you like Thai food perhaps a lady from Thailand (but hard to find often in HK) .


Local/Chinese helpers - if you want live in, probably forget local. As discussed in previous posts, local helpers aren't all that common, can be more expensive (if that matters to you) and are often not "live in" so the odds are a bit against you there.


Hope this comes out right and is not directed at anyone:

Some people like to dominate their helpers - usually less educated and poorer people are more easily dominated, so for those wanting a meek and mild helper they tend to find those types more compliant


Again, your personal requirements are important. So rather than thinking about what you don't wnat, think about what you do want and select that way.


So, perhaps a first checklist for nationality:


Language

Live-in/out

Cooking

Education



then a second checklist for personal attributes:


reliable

honest

hard-working

following instrucitons

experience with children/pets

I know many people hire Filipinos not because they feel they are the only cultural group that could do the job, but because Filipinos compose the majority of the population of domestic helpers in Hong Kong. Mothers who work out of the home are worried that their children might get left out of playgroups if their helper doesn't speak the language of the rest of the helpers. This has happened before. Not deliberately, but you know how it is - you get into a groove with your friends. Also, some figure their helper is less likely suffer from homesickness during their contract and go home at the end of a contract if they have a large network of friends and likely a relative in Hong Kong.


Alternatively, I know employers who have bad track records who deliberately direct hire helpers who are not Filipinos, so when the helper comes to Hong Kong she has no support network, and when she is working with no days off, verbally abused and at mininum wage (if that), she has no where to turn and will tolerate the behaviour because she needs to pay back her agency and doesn't know her rights.


If this post appears discriminatory, that certainly was not my intent, but please do remove it.

Having had a Filipina and a Indonsian, there are similarities and like others have said, it depends on your requirements. I must say I loved having an Indonesian, as she was a great cook, excellent with my daughter and she spoke Cantonese. I have my daughter in a bilingual class and my daughter could communicate with her in both languages. My husband and I do not speak Cantonese. I brought my helper out often with me, and it was great to have her able to communicate when I could'nt. She was a good cleaner as well, but her english may not have been AS good as Filipina's, but it was still good that we could communicate. Filipina's do usually have better education. A friend of mine has a Sri Lankan and is happy with her. I hired directly thru the helpers located on this website, and was able to look for what I wanted. I think it al depends what you are looking for

It does indeed. Our priority when hiring a helper was how she would be with our baby. Nationality or anything else didn't come into it. Language not an issue as she is growing up in an English / Cantonese environment anyway.


Our helper is a Filipina and she is great - fantastic with the baby and she works well at her other chores. Other friends who have had helpers of other nationalities have had problems and have had to terminate and others have great helpers. So nationality has nothing to do with it - it all depends on the person themselves.

You ought to change the title of this post to What is the best "personality type" for a DH?

Outgoing and fun or quite and submissive all the time?

Are the children's care more important than an immaculate house?

Do you want a self starter or are you a micro-manager as an employer?

What kind of cooking do you prefer? Is that important?

I would start with that if I were you....... it seems you have already decided what you do NOT want, I would ask you what DO you wnat?

England?

http://www.butlerforhire.com/