If you have lived in Hong Kong, or spent any kind of time here you will know what a Wan Chia Sunday is, or on a wider level the Domestic Helper day off. This actually occurs on Saturday and Sunday, but it is the later that has all the infamy!
So, what exactly is a domestic helper? Essentially it is a maid who cooks, cleans, looks after kids, or wipes old peoples bums!
The life of a Domestic Helper in Hong Kong
Whilst firmly less slave like than the domestic helpers in the middle-east the situation for domestic helpers in Hong Kong is still slave like.
Basically the staff often sleep with the kids they look after, in loving rooms, or even Harry Potter style under the stairs. Basically Hong Kong is a concrete jungle where people live in tower blocks. Yet despite this they have more money than say the Philippines. This means that the main fashion statement is having your own maid.
Said mates are often treated like shit, only earn about $500 a month and get a mere one “day off”. Said day though is usually around 7am to 8pm with the DH helpers even having and archaic curfews. And yes in case you are wondering this does make “relationships” hard. Most of the domestic helpers in Hong Kong are from the Philippines, but a you can see from the photos there are also a huge population of Indonesians in Hong Kong too.
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What do people do on their day off?
With both the Philippines and Indonesia being religious countries many people go to church, or the mosque. Then they basically make Hong Kong look like a huge refugee camp by setting up tend, or picnic areas using cardboard boxes to create social zones. These occur under every bridge, overpass, underpass, brooches,, ferry terminals and well anywhere that has space that you can imagine.
Said people then hang out, eat food from there home countries, drinking, party and generally just hang out to make the most of their miserly 10, or so hours off of work. Most of the tent cities in Central are Filipinos, whilst Causeway Bay and Wan Chao sees the hijab wearing Indonesians.
Some others have side jobs, others still play sport, but it is the real partiers that do none of this. These girls go party in Wan Chai.
Putting the Wan Chai in Wan Chai Sunday
Aside from being the best place in Hong Kong for street food Wan Chai has a few more illustrious titles. Basically this is the slightly more working class drinking area, and also the only place that you get girly bars, as well as rather a lot of “freelancers”. In fact it is not uncommon for ladies from Vietnam, or China to come here visa free on “holiday”.
This therefore means that there are bars, clubs and restaurants galore here. Some are classic English pubs like the Queen Victoria, but there are also legendary places like Amazonia, which once upon a time had a branch in Ermita.
So, what is a Wan Chai Sunday?
The girls and guys who work as domestic helpers in Hong Kong get so little time off that some of therm want to party and dare I say “hook up”. This has led to the industrious bar owners of Wan Chai inventing the great idea off opening bars and nightclubs from 7 am,
Snd the domestic helpers flock here for Wan Chai Sunday! This creates the slightly surreal sight of girls dressed up to the nines in early morning, partying and quite often hooking up or being drunk by the afternoon. A few are freelancing, but the lions share are simply looking for some normality in a life that is dominated by non-stop work and sending money back for their families.
And course this also means that men folk also flock to Wan Chai Sunday in a chicken and egg scenario. This makes the Wan Chai Sunday one of the most legendary and successful parties for many a person!