All About Full-Time Maids
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My last maid was transfered on April 26th and I had no maid for the whole month of May. My new maid came in last saturday. Can anyone advise why my levy is being cut even though I have no maid for the month of May. I did receive a confirmation frm M O M that my maid was transfered in April. Tks
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moonee:
My last maid was transfered on April 26th and I had no maid for the whole month of May. My new maid came in last saturday. Can anyone advise why my levy is being cut even though I have no maid for the month of May. I did receive a confirmation frm M O M that my maid was transfered in April. Tks
Could be a timing error. No worries lah, expect to see the refund soon - else call up MOM. They are very prompt. -
Hi hquek and LKVM, Tks, I will wait and c if they minus out this month. I guess its computerised and will check with MOM if they dnt.
Well Ive got myself a traditional burmese that cant speak english except a few words. Wonder how she passed the english test. This maid is strong but got to show her the housework, lucky I happen to hv my sisters burmese maid to interprete for 2 days. Shes working real hard and seems to hv a good attitude, Now Ive got to use the dictionary cos she tends to reply in burmese. I guess as long as she knows the work it should be ok, just cant make conversation with her. -
moonee:
hi moonee, if you want confirmation, call up MOM. So far my interactions with them have been fairly pleasant. I did encounter the same (ie deducting of FWL though I was maidless) as you did after my first maid left.Hi hquek and LKVM, Tks, I will wait and c if they minus out this month. I guess its computerised and will check with MOM if they dnt.
Well Ive got myself a traditional burmese that cant speak english except a few words. Wonder how she passed the english test. This maid is strong but got to show her the housework, lucky I happen to hv my sisters burmese maid to interprete for 2 days. Shes working real hard and seems to hv a good attitude, Now Ive got to use the dictionary cos she tends to reply in burmese. I guess as long as she knows the work it should be ok, just cant make conversation with her.
That's great. You have a translator so that is good. Don't worry, in time to come, they will pick up the languages you use at home. -
Tks, youve both been so kind. I will definitely call MOM by next week. Yup hquek, my maid will definitely pick up eng in due course. Im very patient and rather have one that cant speak english but eager to learn and work then have those filipinas and Indons coming to spore for a good time. Im quite please with her work and shes learning fast. I didnt want a burnese frm the university as they do know english and may be too ambitious, was prepared for one that spoke very little english but this one only knows what shes been taught at the training cntre. Dont really need her to know too much english for fear of outside influence. Anyway, I made this choice after so many bad experiences with the other maids...just hope she keep up the good attitude that she have now.
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Anyone have a maid you wanna let go because you don’t need them anymore?
My mum is looking for a maid now cos I’m planning to start trying for #2, means my maid is staying home with me instead of going to my mum’s place on weekdays and I do my own housework. She needs a maid to do her housework and probably look after my brother’s soon-to-be son. Sometimes might need to help out with babysitting my boy too.
Prefer Indon or Burmese who can speak simple English. For Indon, no need to speak English cos we can converse in simple Bahasa Indonesia.
If you have, PM me. My mum hopes to interview the maid personally or at least through the phone. Thanks. -
anyone knows what is the best phone card to make budget IDD calls from Singapore to Philippines?
my fresh new maid is coming and i prepare to buy a calling card for her when she arrives.
anyone knows?
this is the #3 maid in a year. i promise later i will share what happened to my previous two maids. they were both transfer maids. -
liuhao:
The maids normally use starhub, has free smss... I think u should be aware that filipinas already know more than us what card to use even though they r told not to use h/ps. U can check with the money changer that sells calling cards or 711, they know best. Why dnt u wait till yr maid come in and size her up.,, She probably bot the card already.anyone knows what is the best phone card to make budget IDD calls from Singapore to Philippines?
my fresh new maid is coming and i prepare to buy a calling card for her when she arrives.
anyone knows?
this is the #3 maid in a year. i promise later i will share what happened to my previous two maids. they were both transfer maids.
My last 2 were transfered maids too...demanding and want to use h/p ,want freedom/ want to choose hse n employer? I like to hear yr story. -
i must say this is the most valuable thread i have ever seen about all the maid stories. i am trying to read all the stories now and have completed about 150 pages. i wish i could know here earlier and that could potentially help me avoid or solve many problems i have before.
while reading all these, i feel it's my responsibility to share my stories and hope it helps others. long story here it is:
i stay in a quite big 4 bedrooms condo. i have a 7 yrs old son and my wife in the house. both me and my wife working (7am-8pm). my MIL was temporarily staying with us one year ago taking care of my son (son went to childcare at that time) but she may leave anytime that's why we decided to get a maid to take care of my son and household chores.
maid #1: a 28 yrs old single Filipino transfer maid who completed 4 yrs/2 contracts with one previous employer. she is quite expensive (450 and 2 off days). because this is the first time we hire maid, we decided to get an experienced transfer maid because we can interview and talked to her and know her better before decide. besides we dont have time training her. First day she arrived, she give a shock to my MIL because my MIL found she worked for only one hour (simple tidy up things) then laying on bed to rest for another hour. so basically one hour work, one hour rest on bed. she is perfectly healthy and not really feeling tired though. my MIL believed she is testing our patience and response so simply give her a warning. after that she dared not to do that however she didnt like doing household chores and dirty works. my friends came to my house and comment our house is as messy and dirty as no maid. she didnt like stay in hot kitchen and cook either. however, she knows how to play with children and my son really likes her. she can take initiative to make small colorful cake with strawberry for my son, talk and play with my son as well. within one month, my son picked up the Filipino accent in his english speaking. i know many ppl dont like this but that was a sign that she really play and take care of my son. she likes to talk to us softly too and share her family stories. me and my wife was very very kind to her too. never scold or say no to her however because she really didnt like household chores. she always tried to cut corner and finish everything in quick and dirty way then smsing on her HP when my MIL is not in sight. because of that my MIL always got very angry and scold her. we spent lots of time talking to my MIL and hoped she can talk to the maid softly but as you know, old folks cant change and the my family quarreled a lot arguing how to handle the maid. it was very tiring and exhausted and everyone was not happy. by the time of 2 months, she told she could not bear my MIL anymore and asked to transfer, although me and my wife were super kind to her. me and wife felt sort of guilty (because my MIL) so give her full 2 months to find new employer which means every weekends she went out for interview and she can go to agents anytime as she liked. finally she found a new employer but that means during 4 months she stayed with us, 2 months was looking for new employer. i didnt feel she really appreciated us for that but on the day she left, she still cried and i know she said lots of good things about us to the agent and her friends. one thing i feel good about her is, although she has HP and sms a lot, she didnt not mix with friends/boy friends. she is quite mature maybe due to her early experience in SG (she told me the first day she arrived SG, her agent's husband tried to kiss her in the kitchen :shock: ).
lesson learnt from her is, a transfer maid who completed 2 contracts for a single employer still can go wrong. sometimes that does not necessarily mean the maid is good. it could because she was very very lucky to have an employer who can tolerate her for 4 years before.
with this lesson learnt in mind, we started to find maid who does not have too good experience before. maybe bad experience is even better, because she may find us very kind and appreciate. there comes my maid #2.
maid #2: a 23 yrs old single Filipino transfer maid who ran away to HOME from previous employer after 6 months due to ill treatments. the ill treatment she suffered included previous employer hold her salary (actually not much after loan deduction), forced her to use detergent to hand wash all clothes (her hands skin all peel off), forced her to lift water from public condo tap downstairs every day. she also has college degree but cheaper (370, 1 off day). till today, i still believe we made the right choice of her in the beginning, but managed her in the very wrong way.
because the guilty feeling we had for maid #1 and the ill treatment she received in her previous employer, we were very very kind to her. we treated her like treasure, never scold her, never say no to her, never let her lift heavy things. anything we can do, we wont ask her. we brought her to beach and restaurants. during interview, we asked if she has or plan to have a HP, she said no. but the first day she arrived, she said she bought a HP. we were not very happy (because it's agreed and previous maid keep smsing) but didnt say anything bad and allowed her to keep the HP (which is the biggest mistake). she got even better life after my MIL left our house 4 months later. she decide how to do household chores in whatever way she likes. she also got lots of free time in the house. during the day, only my 7 yrs old son stays at home in the morning then after maid sends him to school, she will be totally free. she took a nap and rest from 1pm to 3pm and go to her bedroom 9-10pm in the evening. in the morning, she does not have to get up till 7.30am. we bought birthday cake for her to celebrate, give her angpao and small gifts too. i can feel she is very very happy in my house and i am glad to see that.
she is a very quiet person in nature at least in front of us, responsible and do things in great details even when we are not around. she is very very good at household chores. our house has never been so clean. she does not cook very well but i see she has spent effort and time so never blame her. however, she is not good at playing with children and does not take effort playing with my son. most of time, she just went to do something else and left my son watching tv. my son is very very lonely at home, he never picked up any filipino accent from her since she seldom talks.
about two months ago (that is 6 months after she arrived), i setup a hide camera in my master room, because we will have a new infant end of this year and i was not very sure if this maid can take care of baby, so i plan to monitor her with the baby using the camera later, even for short while. then i notice lots of things from the camera. when we go to work in the day, she is talking over the phone ALL the time that means she is on the HP from 8:30am all the way to 6pm. in the evening, she will start her official HP session from 9pm all the way till sleep in 11pm. and she is NOT quiet at all. she speaks and laughs super loudly. she has been dancing and singing loudly all the time in the house, of course when we are not around. her behaviors look quite rude and i could hardly recognize her as my maid. of course, when we back home, she will be back to \"normal\", very gentle, and can keep quiet for weeks without talking to us. later one day from the camera, she was talking to a guy (most likely a foreign worker) in english over phone and \"hope to do two hours\" with him during her off day (the guy requested 1 day or 3 hours and she refused because she dares not to come back late in her off day, well, she was late anyway). she even asked the guy \"not to spend money on gals for her taxi fares since he comes here to work\" but did ask him to buy a sim card for her. later i found she has spend lots of money (350-400) on top up cards. i also found when i am at home, she actually plays hide and seek game with me and whenever i am not in her sight, she start talking over the HP. she also sometimes sneaked out of my house in early morning when we are asleep (5.30am) and quietly came back at 6.30am. she normally never wake up before 7am. she said she went out for walk but i highly doubt so because it was so dark outside.
with all these, in fact it does not affect her work on household chores. she is still quite responsible too. she is only getting quieter and quieter, staying away from us and seldom playing with my child. but i feel scared to leave her with my coming new born baby, even for 2 hours. i started to get insomnia during the night and it really gives me a hard time.
after some thinking, i believe i should confiscate her phone because i dont know what will happen along the way in 6 months. since she is still a good maid in front of us. know she will be super angry so i proposed to use things (new ipod, can watch TV, salary increase, free home phone to call home and a new laptop) to exchange her HP. she refused immediately. i asked her about why early morning she went out, she just instantly walked away and ignored me. i think its mainly because i have been very kind in past 8 months to her so she thinks there is nothing i will do.
talked to my agent and agent was shocked. immediately promised me a new maid as replacement. agent also went down to my house let her take her belongings in one hour and took her away. she was very very shocked seeing the agent coming but keep saying sorry to me. it was a heartbreaking moment because well in fact i still feel she is a good maid and for me, there is strong emotional attachment between her and my family, just due to the bloody HP (and partially, my bad management skills). i did give her chance to transfer. that was one week ago and till now, i still feel very very sad. later i heard from agent she has done one interview. employer feels ok but she refused because employer requests no HP.
lession learnt from maid #2: i will never ever allow my maid to have HP or off day no matter what.
to be continued... -
liuhao:
you may want to consider a pinoy card, if using a mobile as it is cheaper to call/text PH.anyone knows what is the best phone card to make budget IDD calls from Singapore to Philippines?
my fresh new maid is coming and i prepare to buy a calling card for her when she arrives.
anyone knows?
this is the #3 maid in a year. i promise later i will share what happened to my previous two maids. they were both transfer maids.
Else, we use those cratch cards from 7-11 as well.
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