Digital inclusions in internet cafes and their problems: Comparative study on the internet access for overseas Filipina domestic workers in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei

     This paper aims to clarify the reality of digital inclusions for overseas Filipina domestic workers in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei by focusing on internet cafes and to consider the future of them in each city. The reason why this paper focuses on the internet café is that, taking the financial situations and working conditions of those people into account, it plays an important role in providing the Internet and personal computer access for them.

     In this presentation, firstly I will confirm the financial situations and living conditions of overseas Filipina domestic workers in three cities by referring to previous studies on them. Secondly, I will introduce their uses of internet cafes, while pointing out that one of the most concentrated areas of internet cafes in each city overlaps where they come together on Sundays or holidays. Thirdly, I will also pay attention to the ordinances regulating the operation of the internet café in order to figure out the differences of general perceptions of it in each city. Finally, I will designate the insufficiency of digital inclusions for overseas Filipina domestic workers and consider the future of them in the social context of Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei.