Hong Kong OFWs sing for kids left home

HONG KONG — Each Sunday, a choir of Filipina domestic workers in Hong Kong gathers to sing songs that remind them of the children they left back home.

Known as the “Unsung Heroes,” these initially shy performers now regularly take the stage around Hong Kong and feature in a new documentary about the lives of the city’s maids, known locally as “helpers.”

The theme of maternal sacrifice runs through the film – many domestic helpers are mothers working their way out of poverty, looking after other people’s children to improve life for their own.

In an empty kindergarten classroom on a Sunday afternoon, the choir races through a series of crowd-pleasers, from Katy Perry’s “Roar” to Bob Marley’s “One Love.”

But the songs they know best were written especially for them and relate to their situation.

Their signature ballad “Kiss You Goodnight” tells of a wish to be with a child to put them to bed.

Choir member Analyn Tapil, 49, wipes away tears as she recalls how she left her two sons, one aged four months, the other a year and seven months, over 20 years ago to earn a better living in Hong Kong.

“It is a very big sacrifice to leave your children but I didn’t have a choice,” said Tapil, who sent most of her salary home to fund her sons’ education.

Now grown up, they have graduated and are working, which she says makes it all worthwhile.

“My children are a success,” she smiled.

Fellow choir member Vergie Anos, 51, has been in Hong Kong for 22 years after leaving her one-year-old son in the Philippines to create a better life for him.

She also sheds tears as she remembers that decision.

“Even until now it makes me feel very emotional,” she explains.