Tales of two cities: legislating pregnancy and marriage among foreign domestic workers in Singapore and Hong Kong

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article compares the ‘power geometry’ (Massey [1994]. Space, Place and Gender. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press) of mobility/immobility of foreign domestic workers in Singapore and Hong Kong. In both contexts, the policing and surveillance of pregnancy and marriage reflect and reinforce power inequalities of gender paired with migratory, ethnic/racial and employment status. Pregnancy is considered incompatible with employment, but the specifics differ. In Singapore pregnancy results in automatic expulsion of the worker, while in Hong Kong workers are protected by antidiscrimination laws and some labour rights. Legislation of marriages to locals contrast greatly as well, producing subtle but significant differences in im/mobility and citizenship rights. These differences reveal unequal social positioning and different state priorities and regimes of control. While both states aim to restrict migrant workers, Confucian and familial notions of hierarchy reinforce Singapore’s approach, while neoliberalism and individual responsibility play a greater role in Hong Kong.