Indonesian maid salary to be increased to $450???

[tamarind]

Busymom:

LKVM:

Icic still must be quite tiring and expensive also right :shock:

We are lucky that this is not an issue for us, but there are many people who are truly squeezed or can't afford to pay more or have to choose between paying a maid more vs sending the child to some enrichment... these are the ones that we should think about.

In my case, I cannot send my boy to childcare because he was ill once every month. I could not even send him to kindergarten. He was hospitalized twice due to HFMD. At 5 years old, he had to wear clothes for 3 year old kids because he was so small. I kept him at home with my mother and my maid, and this turned out to be the best decision that I have made. He finally looks like a child of his age now.

[laughingcat]

peapot:

My current indonesia maid who can speak mandarin told me that she don't dare to go Taiwan because Taiwan people like to hire maids to work in farms. She says she don't want to be a farmer and work under the hot sun, she rather take a lower salary and work at home. I guess there may be some truth because I know there are alot of farms in Taiwan. But since she's never been to Taiwan, her information may came from maids who had worked there.


So the $800+ salary for a farmer I think it's consider cheap labour for Taiwanese. That's why it's not fair to compare our salary scheme here with other countries.

I was also told that maids in TW or HK live by themselves in a rented or shared apartment, away from the employer's house and need to travel to their emploment house everyday. Is that true? Is that the reason for their increase in salary as well?

[ululu]

Anyone knows who are the 17 maid agencies that gang up this time for this obnoxious move? Can someone list their company names here? I will try my best to avoid them in future.

[ululu]

3Boys:

It cannot be that the only way for us to raise children is to pluck a woman from another country away from her OWN family to help us do so.

Come on... it is a personal choice. It is a job. Many of us also left our country or family to work in foreign countries by taking up different kind of jobs...

To follow your logic... kekeke....it can not be that the only way for us to build a building is to pluck a man from another country away from his own family to help us do so... or it can not be that the only way for us to clean our street is to pluck a..... blah blah blah.... ha?

[tamarind]

ululu:

3Boys:

It cannot be that the only way for us to raise children is to pluck a woman from another country away from her OWN family to help us do so.

Come on... it is a personal choice. It is a job. Many of us also left our country or family to work in foreign countries by taking up different kind of jobs...

To follow your logic... kekeke....it can not be that the only way for us to build a building is to pluck a man from another country away from his own family to help us do so... or it can not be that the only way for us to clean our street is to pluck a..... blah blah blah.... ha?

Yes it is definitely a personal choice. It is very naive and ignorant for someone to think that the maids are being forced to work in Singapore.

Just read these news articles that I have included in my blog :

Maids getting to choose their bosses (14 Feb 2011)
http://singaporemaid.blogspot.com/2011/02/maids-getting-to-choose-their-bosses-14.html

Are errant maids, agencies misusing free ride home?
http://singaporemaid.blogspot.com/2009/11/are-errant-maids-agencies-misusing-free.html

Maids have the freedom to choose their employers, and many maids come to Singapore for a free and easy, all paid for holiday !

My maid told me that in her home town in Indonesia, almost anyone who can work has already left to work overseas. The reason is because it is difficult to find jobs in Indonesia, and even if they can find a job, the pay is very low. A maid earns only about SGD60 if she works in Indonesia, so earning SGD300 in Singapore is already a lot of money for her.

Once I interviewed an Indonesian maid with university degree, she spoke English very well, and looked very intelligent. I asked her why she wanted to work as a maid since she has a degree, she told me that she could not find a job in Indonesia.

In fact, many maids who are only too happy to leave their own family behind. The reason is because if they stay in their home country, they will only live a life of poverty and misery. If they were sick, they could not even afford to see the doctor. In Singapore, they get to carry mobile phones, live in a comfortable, clean and safe environment, with all their food, lodging and medical fees paid for by the employer.

We are actually helping to give the women from Indonesia, Philippines , Myanmar, etc a much better life !

I am teaching many students from mainland China, and their biggest dream is to find a job in Singapore, because our salary is many times higher than what they will earn in China.

[tamarind]

laughingcat:

peapot:

My current indonesia maid who can speak mandarin told me that she don't dare to go Taiwan because Taiwan people like to hire maids to work in farms. She says she don't want to be a farmer and work under the hot sun, she rather take a lower salary and work at home. I guess there may be some truth because I know there are alot of farms in Taiwan. But since she's never been to Taiwan, her information may came from maids who had worked there.


So the $800+ salary for a farmer I think it's consider cheap labour for Taiwanese. That's why it's not fair to compare our salary scheme here with other countries.

I was also told that maids in TW or HK live by themselves in a rented or shared apartment, away from the employer's house and need to travel to their emploment house everyday. Is that true? Is that the reason for their increase in salary as well?

This is probably true for some of the maids in TW and HK. I have also heard of employers providing lodging for their maids. Perhaps the government leave it to the employers and maids to decide where the maid should stay.

[beanstalk]

laughingcat:

I was also told that maids in TW or HK live by themselves in a rented or shared apartment, away from the employer's house and need to travel to their emploment house everyday. Is that true? Is that the reason for their increase in salary as well?

My helper, whose sister is in HK, says it depends on the size of the employer's home. Those whose employers have bigger homes will live with their employer, those whose employers have smaller homes have to live out. There are pros and cons to the maid either way. For maids who are very budget conscious, living with their employers is preferable.

She says while maid salaries are higher in HK, job security is a worry. They must return home after their contract ends and 'start over' as it were. Unless they have a verbal agreement with an employer before leaving, finding a new position from their home country is expensive.

Also, in HK, they are apparently not allowed to go on home leave until their contract ends. In Singapore, some employers send their helpers home once or twice a year (when they themselves go on holidays).

As with Singapore employers, HK employers can be good or can be lousy. It boils down to the individual family/household that the maid is with.

My helper's sister, who is ex-Singapore, will not return to Singapore as she has high expenses (children in university) and she has a good employer in HK. My helper says she cannot live with the insecurity of a HK contract; she has growing children and needs stable, fairly long-term employment. She also wants the possibility of seeing her family more often than once every two years.

[janet88]

My first maid told me the girls around her age all aimed to work as maids overseas. She once worked in a factory in Jakarta, stay in a hostel with the other girls for very pathetic salary. Not much left after deducting food and lodging.


A friend of mine is staying in HK…most HK employers are very strict and expect maids to learn very fast…maids there have to go marketing, bring kids to/fro tuition after school, do housework (not so bad since flats there are small) and cook. Maids there have Sundays off. It’s a good thing if they can save or else they won’t have much savings left at the end of contract. My prev maid is working in HKG now and she tells me the shopping there is fabulous.

[jtoh]

janet_lee88:

My first maid told me the girls around her age all aimed to work as maids overseas. She once worked in a factory in Jakarta, stay in a hostel with the other girls for very pathetic salary. Not much left after deducting food and lodging.


A friend of mine is staying in HK...most HK employers are very strict and expect maids to learn very fast...maids there have to go marketing, bring kids to/fro tuition after school, do housework (not so bad since flats there are small) and cook. Maids there have Sundays off. It's a good thing if they can save or else they won't have much savings left at the end of contract. My prev maid is working in HKG now and she tells me the shopping there is fabulous.

That's why HK employers look for ex-SG maids because they've been trained by us already. And some of the maids who come to SG come with the intention of going to HK. Some apply for HK mere months after coming to SG.

[janet88]

jtoh:

janet_lee88:

My first maid told me the girls around her age all aimed to work as maids overseas.


A friend of mine is staying in HK...most HK employers are very strict and expect maids to learn very fast...maids there have to go marketing, bring kids to/fro tuition after school, do housework (not so bad since flats there are small) and cook.

That's why HK employers look for ex-SG maids because they've been trained by us already. And some of the maids who come to SG come with the intention of going to HK. Some apply for HK mere months after coming to SG.

Yes...I had this maid who aimed to work in HKG after working months for me. She thought the chicken rice which my mum taught her to cook will get her a passport to work there :faint: She came to work in SG reluctantly bcos to go directly to HKG from Indonesia would require 4 months of training in Jakarta agency.