Indonesian domestic worker Desi Widiana had spent half her life in Hong Kong, caring for other people’s families while her own waited thousands of kilometres away.
Now, her relatives in Sambi village in East Java are waiting again – this time for her final homecoming.
Widiana, 40, was among nine Indonesian domestic helpers killed in a massive fire that tore through Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on November 26, leaving at least 160 people dead and thousands homeless.
She had come to Hong Kong 20 years earlier, leaving Kediri regency at the age of 20 to work as a live-in helper.
Her younger brother, Puthut Pintoro, 38, told This Week in Asia he first learned something was wrong when fellow Indonesian helpers in Hong Kong began calling him on the day of the fire.
“They were from the same village as us in Indonesia and said they worked in the same building. They were safe, but they had been searching and couldn’t find her.”