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By Root 749 0

a dream come true and an answer to the poverty of the Philippines. Even though the minimum monthly salary is only $3500, it’s still more than twice what they would earn in Singapore or Malaysia. The work is also a chance to attain, eventually, a better standard of living back home. But such opportunity doesn’t come without a price. According to Hong Kong-based Asian Migrant Centre (www.asian-migrants.org), as many as 25% of foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong suffer physical and/or sexual abuse from their employers. An organisation called the Federation of Asian Domestic Workers’ Unions in Hong Kong is fighting to establish basic rights, protection from abuse and extortion, and a minimum wage in Hong Kong for these workers.

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TRANSPORT – CENTRAL

Airport Express Hong Kong station below IFC Mall connects by underground walkway with Central MTR on one side and on the other to the Central ferries pier.

Bus Buses from all over the island start and end their journeys at Central bus terminus below Exchange Sq.

Central Escalator This runs from the former Central Market to the Mid-Levels.

MTR Central station on the Island and Tsuen Wan lines is at the heart of the neighbourhood.

Outlying Islands Ferry Ferries go to Discovery Bay (from pier 3), Lamma (pier 4), Cheung Chau (pier 5) and Lantau and Peng Chau (pier 6).

Peak Tram This runs from its lower terminus (33 Garden Rd) to the Peak.

Star Ferry Ferries from Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom in Kowloon arrive at the Central ferries pier.

Tram The line runs east and west along Des Voeux Rd Central.

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BANK OF CHINA BUILDINGS Map

MTR Central

To the east of the HSBC building is the old Bank of China (BOC) building (1 Bank St, Central), built in 1950, which now houses the bank’s Central branch and, on the top three (13th to 15th) floors, the exclusive China Club, which evokes the atmosphere of old Shanghai.

The BOC is now headquartered in the awesome Bank of China Tower (1 Garden Rd) to the southeast, designed by Chinese-born American architect IM Pei and completed in 1990. This 70-storey building is Hong Kong’s third-tallest structure after Two International Finance Centre in Central and Central Plaza in Wan Chai. The asymmetry of the building is puzzling at first glance, but it’s really a simple geometric exercise. Rising from the ground like a cube, it is successively reduced, quarter by quarter, until the south-facing side is left to rise upward on its own.

Many local Hong Kong Chinese see the building as a huge violation of the principles of feng shui. For example, the bank’s four triangular prisms are negative symbols in the geomancer’s rule book; being the opposite to circles, these triangles contradict what circles suggest – money, prosperity and perfection. The public viewing gallery ( 8am-6pm Mon-Fri) on the 43rd floor offers panoramic views of Hong Kong.

EXCHANGE SQUARE Map

8 Connaught Pl; MTR Central (exit A)

West of Jardine House, this complex of three elevated office towers is home to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and a number of businesses and offices. The main draw for visitors is the attractive and relatively peaceful open-air space, featuring fountains and sculptures including Henry Moore’s Single Oval, bronzes by Dame Elizabeth Frink and Taiwanese artist Ju Ming’s memorable t’ai chi sculpture. Access is via a network of overhead pedestrian walkways stretching west to Sheung Wan and linked to many of the buildings on the other side of Connaught Rd. The ground level of the 52-storey Towers I and II is given over to the Central bus and minibus terminus.

FORMER FRENCH MISSION BUILDING Map

1 Battery Path; MTR Central (exit K)

The Court of Final Appeal, the highest judicial body in Hong Kong, is now housed in the neoclassical former French Mission building, a charming structure built by an American trading firm in 1868. It served as the Russian consulate in Hong Kong until 1915 when the French Overseas Mission bought it and added a chapel and a dome. The building was the headquarters of the provisional