‘No Space Of Their Own’: Viral Clip Shows Workers Living Out Of Cardboard

A viral video showing domestic workers in Hong Kong spending their weekly day off in makeshift cardboard shelters has sparked widespread discussion online about working conditions and inequality.

The clip, shared on Instagram by an influencer named Rapha, has gathered millions of views within a day, highlighting how workers gather in public areas such as bridges and underpasses to rest and socialise.

The footage shows groups of women assembling temporary enclosures using cardboard boxes, creating small, partitioned spaces that offer limited privacy in the city’s crowded environment. Many of the workers seen in the video are believed to be from the Philippines and Indonesia, two of the largest sources of migrant domestic labour in Hong Kong.

The

video focuses on the impact of Hong Kong’s “live-in” rule, which requires foreign domestic helpers to reside in their employer’s homes. As a result, workers often do not have personal space outside their workplaces and must spend their day off in public areas.

Rapha described the situation as “The Invisible Labor Crisis” of Hong Kong, writing: “Hong Kong runs on labour it refuses to house.” She added, “Every Sunday, thousands of women from the Philippines and Indonesia are forced out of the luxury apartments they clean… Because of the mandatory ‘live-in’ rule, they have no space of their own, literally.”

The post further stated that on their only day off, workers are “effectively homeless for the day” and gather in public spaces, building makeshift “rooms” out of cardboard boxes to create a sense of privacy.

Hong Kong is well-known for being among the most expensive cities in terms of housing costs and small living spaces. The issue of requiring domestic helpers to live in the same house with their employers has been highly debated with regard to the benefits and harms.

The viral video raises the issue of the problem through the prism of inequality, comparing the lives of the poor helpers with rich families whom they have to work for.