Hidden eyes keep domestic life on the straight and narrow

TROUBLE with the servants? Worried they are eating you out of house and home, stealing and idling ? A Hong Kong company called Welpro Security may have the answer.

It has developed a hi-tech surveillance system called "Secure Look" which monitors homes with tiny cameras embedded in ceilings, furniture and anywhere else. The cameras record the comings and goings of domestic servants on video tapes, but really anxious employers can access this material by computer while they are out of the house through a telephone- computer linked system.

Servants are a big issue in Hong Kong. A small army of more than 100,000 imported domestic workers beaver away in the former colony's households. Most come from the Philippines and work on short-term contracts.

The day of the Chinese family retainers, known as "amahs", has passed away, forcing middle class families to bring unknown foreigners into their homes. Even families of fairly modest means often find it worthwhile to employ a full-time domestic worker for about pounds 300 per month, plus board and lodging. Their presence explains why so many Hong Kong women have been free to join the labour force.

But there is much mistrust between employers and their staff.

Hong Kong even has an association dedicated to backing the rights of employers and campaigning for the minimum statutory wage to be kept down and even easier terms for dismissal and deportation.

The numbers of domestic workers coming into Hong Kong reached an all time high last year when 45,327 employment visas were issued. The recent recession has caused some lay offs.

The only problem with the new surveillance system is that its use is almost certainly a breach of Hong Kong's privacy laws. And these laws are about to beefed up, which would make covert filming of people in their homes a criminal offence.