Maids with Saudi or Kuwait exp

[Amona7]

Dear All,


I have hired a indonesian maid 2 months back and now suddenly she says that she does not want to work with us. I am looking for another maid. I have shot listed few bio data’s of maids who have worked for few years in Saudi/Kuwait. The maid agency says that if i need good and reliable maids,then i should hire the ones with saudi/kuwait exp. It would be very helpful if some of your experiences are shared .is it correct they are better or should i hire a fresh maid from indonesia?Kindly advice.

[Harlequin]

Hi, Amona7.


Mine are ex-Saudi… hardworking, resilient and reliable, always smiling, no handphone chatting before 9pm, no Facebook, return home punctually at 6pm every off day… most importantly, no problem getting along with anybody.

This is just for your reference, am not sure are all ex Saudis the same pleasing, as much as I would like to give credit…

[slbl1970]

Mine from Saudi too. After all the 3 ex maids from Philip. Yes i m impressed with this present helper. Hard working. Smiling face, no complaints,no frills and eager to help. I m quite surprised too.

[POA Teacher]

I don’t speak from experience as I have never hired a maid with Saudi experience. Nor do I know anyone who has one. However, from press reports etc I think that over there they are confined to the house (after all women, not just maids, do not have the freedom to go out on their own). Also seems it’s common for them to be ill-treated by their employers.

So if they can tolerate that and fulfill their contracts there, I guess most of them should be good (at least at the start, before they get influenced by the other maids here)

[lousy-mom]

My ex-maid worked in Saudi.

I read news some maids had harsh lives in Saudi, some even sexually abused.
This FDW gave me the impression she was well treated thus, didn't feel being employed in Spore is better.

lousy-mom:

How do you feel about Ministry of Manpower (MOM)?

Has MOM done its part to protect the interest of Foreign Domestic Worker's (FDW) employer who is merely a household, commoner (salaried employee) drawing monthly salary, not operating an organisation or company?

Has MOM been very pro-maid? Too concerned and friendly to FDWs, the imported manpower, assumed to be lowly paid and poorly treated in Spore?

Is MOM very pro-agency? What regulations did MOM set to provent us from paying high non-refundable agency fee and maid-loan?

When was the last time you see MOM said no to source countries unreasonable request? Example minimum salary, maid loan to be borned by employer, etc.

What regulation was set to prevent our FDW insurance from becoming zero refund value once FDW is employed for more than 181 days, in your name? Regardless she's housed in agency, runaway maid or truly a bad FDW.

Is there a MOM sub-portal for all FDW's employers to load a job description of their preferred FDWs - for better job matching and prevent maid agencies & FDWs from running away from responsibilities, feedback on FDW's conduct, reasons for transfer/repatriation, etc.

Did MOM stand up to help employers who encountered bad FDWs or Employment Agencies? Which association or free-of-charge govt body has been set up to help distressed FDW's employer?

Can you identify the policies that are fair to us, the FDW's employer?

Can you tell me in what ways MOM has treated us, the citizens (employer of one FDW, not a highly paid salaried employee) better than FDWs?

Does MOM know we are not rich, most live in small HDB unit and unable to provide single room for FDW's privacy?

Is this how a government body shows its concern to citizens? Ignore FDWs' employer, let them fight for own survival? Face the harshness? Let middle income citizens continued to be bullied by source country and maid agencies' terms .... not forgetting FDW's personal demands of a desirable employment?
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If above happens to your child or somebody close to you, will you clap hands and encourage maid/agency to do more? Why MOM and activists just keen to protect FDWs and pretend they are so kind .... like a saviour but ignored what employers are facing? :mad:

[nissin]

My maid is ex-Saudi. She is quite good. Attitude is good also, doesn’t chit chat on the phone and very down to earth.

[MintyMin]

I had an ex-saudi maid 3 years back…


Very experienced helper, that after her 1 year contract, she started telling us wat to do instead! More like a housekeeper den a maid… even suggested how my uncle’s maid should have her choice of cold drink etc during a dinner together…

Of coz, other than tat… she did manage to keep the house clean in her OWN WAYS… muz check frequently especially hidden spots… she even cooked a feast for tea time spotted by my mum who did a sudden visit… n the food were shared with helpers around our area… I had a 1 year old kid under her care at tat time…

[KSmom8]

My current Phil maid is ex-Saudi.


She knows how to operate almost all appliances and can keep the flat clean. In terms of cleaning ability, I rate her as one of the best compared to my ex- maids. However, she is slow and likes to clean her way. If I try to show her another way that is faster and achieve the same effect, she will proclaim that not clean enough. Most time, I leave it to her to clean, just to avoid that long discussion. But sometimes, no choice, have to discuss with her to change method / schedule cos dangerous for kids to walk / run on wet floors or cleaning her way uses too much water / electricity. During these times, I feel like :mad: :frustrated: :slapshead:

Fussy with her food but she does not complain about food. For instance, if she does not want to eat a dish because it has an ingredient / vegetable / fungus that she doesn't like ( though I tell her that she can just remove it or don't eat it), she will just make do with vegetables. However, had to buy tinned food for her, otherwise she rather eat plain rice / noodles, cos noticed she won't take leftovers for lunch unless she particularly likes the dish. I don't cook for lunch.

Found out a few months ago, that her Saudi experience was to look after an autistic teenager and clean a few rooms in the house. There were other maids in the house to handle the rest of the housework, cooking and child minding ( family had 7 children ). I think her Saudi employer probably treated her very well and gave her a lot of flexibility, cos her main responsibility was to care for the special needs child. I also believe that my maid could have \"manipulated\" the Saudi employer cos there was once, she remarked that she told her ex-employer to hire only Phil maids and her employer listened to her!

Quite often, I do feel that she is trying to \"manipulate\" me by complaining that there is soooo much work for one maid. I made the \"mistake\" of reducing her workload a few times as a result. However, after I snapped and informed her that she could transfer or be sent home, if she feels that she cannot cope, she has been kwai kwai doing what is expected.

I think if want to hire an experienced maid. It is very important to find out in detail what were her responsibilities and particularly whether there were other maids in the household and their job scope. Sometimes, the maid tends to give a false impression to agent and prospective employers.

PS: I think my maid feels she is treated better in Saudi than here, cos her singapore employer \"won't listen\" to her.

[Coolkidsrock2]

I had an Indon maid with Middle East experience. Apart from housework, she had to help out at her employer’s shop. If I understand correctly, it is a food catering business. As the employer’s priority is her cleaning up at the shop, her housekeeping skill is mediocre.


For this maid, she is naturally lazy. She admitted that her father always scolds her for being lazy. Her family is fairly well-to-to and her father has workers working on their plantations. In terms of productivity, she is seriously lagging behind the workers. She attempted to run rings round my mum but was unsuccessful. Only stopped such nonsenses after a few attempts. A lot of "never do but say do" incidents.

Although a Muslim, she was caught red-handed with Kurobuta pork in her mouth. Told me her cheek swollen because she had a fall. Thought it was funny and told her to spit and the slice of pork came out. She was fully aware it was pork as food is labelled in my household.