All About Full-Time Maids

[Littlefly]

Leoleo 18


Did you install the wireless type of hidden camera ? my new maid just came and i already left her at home alone whole morning. She is EX-Singapore and seems very savvy. I find her a bit too good to be true honestly that she kept saying that she is ok with my requirements for her not to hold handphone and no off-days. In her previous assignment, she has off-days and she gets to keep her handphone but still did not finish the 2 yr contract obviously citing low pay and tiring work (taking care of an elderly) in a household of total 4 adults, including herself.

My hb thinks it is a white elephant investment to have spy cameras installed given the hefty setup costs (around $1k?)…

any advise here?

bubblebee_mum, I think if you don’t feel good about her initially, just send her back then to put up with it. Go with your gut. I put up my first maid for 8mths thinking she could improve while we could adjust to having her around but no matter how good we treat her (buy her clothes, watch, off-days etc) it is still not use if helper is giving you more problems than help.

[peapot]

Littlefly, very cute name you have. I have spy camera in my house and yes it cost $1000++ but I must say it is worth it. I leave my maid alone with my Primary school girl.


So far, I haven’t caught her doing anything funny during this 1 year plus. I make her sign to acknowledge that there are cameras in the whole house and she must change only in the toilet.

The spy camera is used to deter and not used to catch them. So I inform the maid first before they start work.

If the maid knew that there’s camera and yet she still do funny thing then you can’t trust such maid.

Also, you must remember new maid always appear great but give them 3months, if after 3 months still the same then you can relax alittle. Wait another 3 more months and she is still the same then you can sigh a relief. And if she can stay 7months with you, you will know by then whether this maid suits you or not.

[peapot]

bubblebee, er…looking at the number of exclaimation marks you added in your post, think you may have already decided what to do with your maid. Go with your decision and you will probably feel much better.

[jtoh]

bubblebee_mum:

Hi, I just employed a burmese maid for 2 wks already. and she's horrifying!!!!!!!! she eats like no one's business!!!!!!! lunch and dinner, 1 cup of rice is not enough for her, she needs to eat bread for supper too and it's not like we work her like mad!!!!!!! she doesn't need to take care of kids cuz we dun allow her to, just doing the housework and cooking but yet she's always hungry!! also, she's starting to check the brand of products we use such as he bread we give her and her first day here, she asked for facial wash!!!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?! and she uses the loreal brand!!!!!! furthermore, last night she walked out of the bathroom in her sarong wrapped like a bathrobe!!! is this enough to send her back I wonder??

Quite a lot of the maids eat a lot when they first arrive. Especially bread and rice. And sugar. After a while, they realize that they're putting on weight and they'll cut back. The facial wash bit, I think is a bit bold.

[JeJo]

I had tried Myanmese maid, Indonesia maid and Filipino maid. So far still more comfortable with Filipino maid. I had tried 3 Myanmese maids (from SLF), they can’t really communicate in English. They took minimum 3mths to understand simple English. 1 of them is very well behave, very careful not to lose my 3.5 years old girl when we go shopping. But we sent her off after about months as she pass urine in a dustbin her room in the middle of the night. We worried she has mental problem so we sent her off. Other 2 are very lazy and dirty even though my mum is around. I had also tried a few Filipino maid. 1 ex-S’pore very good. My mum likes her very much. But later we found out the she has being stealing money from us. Others are stubbon, lazy, dirty etc. But have 1 who has being with us for 7 months, so far quite good, my mum is satisfied. She even take a very good care of my 16mths old baby. So I think it actually depends on our luck.

[AgnesMM]

DesertWind:

AgnesMM:

My maid has been with me for 10 years - yes, 10 years! she has been the taking care of my DD since birth. And extremely protective of my DD. She has 3 kids back home and needed the monies to cater for their education. Well, with us for 10 yearsm thereby she can afford to buy land, build house and continue catering for her kids. Told us that she will continue as long as we need her:)! Great to have her!

Congratulations AgnesMM!

It is great to hear of such cases of loyal and good maids.

Which country she from and are you affected by the recent pay-hike? Or what is your secret in retaining her? Pay, perks etc?
:celebrate:

Hi there, she is from Indonesia. She has 3 kids back home therefore she works very hard and she hardly goes out. Her pay is only slightly higher than the current revised pay so we are thinking of giving her another raise. She has been taking care of my DD since birth, and she treats her like her own daughter - discipline her when she misbehave, cooking DD's favorite food (and inventing new dishes for us), taking care of the house + dogs.

Maybe it was years back when we helped her by giving her a loan so that she can buy a piece of land + building a house for her family that she in one way or another paying us back - by staying put till today. In fact it was mutual trust that we have had when we gave her the loan as she can chose not to come back.

Anyway, we are very comfortable with each other (as we treat her like a family member) so I guess that could be the biggest reason why she is staying put.

[catang]

any of u read liao dun agree to me changing this maid, i chop off not my head but my hand for u…lol


pina with me for less den 2 mths, dun wan her but need pay penalty of $500 as the application has been processed and approved. at least keep for a mth i dun pay so much.

been telling her to be careful anything abt our praying stuff. she’s gd with english and was a kindergarten teacher for 4 years so no way she dun understand wat was said.

1st incident: she kept shifting the incense urn while cleaning till we have to tell her stop cleaning it totally. we din even ask her to clean it in the 1st place.

2nd incident: place baby’s charm (talisman for protection) around my ma’s underwear.

3rd incident: threw newspaper and rubbish into the incense burner.

when i qn her, she only admitted throwing the papers but not the rubbish. i had to resort to telling her that she have her way of praying, i have my way too so i will go ask the medium and if she is lying she will have to pack n go. she still refused to admit till i told her my ‘god’ says she’s lying. and her reason for lying is bcos i was angry with her for throwing the papers inside so she dare not admit but admitted as she wasnt able to sleep well last nite and since my ‘god’ has revealed the truth!!!

she’s clever to lie and yet stupid to believe me…wat can i say??javascript:emoticon(‘:idea:’)

i wanted to send her away not only due to this but her ‘sister’ pissed me off by calling back to look for her. she told me she wanted to call her sister to wish her happy birthday so i let her call. after dat told me her sister v happy i replied gd lor happy can liao. less den 5 mins time, sister called to talk to her, i told her she’s not supposed to call unless it’s urgent/any emergency. sister apologised and i asked maid to ans the call, instead of telling her to hang up, they were chatting happily like nobody business. i shouted loudly for her sister to hear that i wanted to talk to her employer. after dat i told maid she actually ignored my displease and continue yakking away while i was just sitting next to her!! she kept saying sorry and cry. i told her since she wants to call her sister, she can call her again now to tell her i m sending her off immediately.

my eldest gal is part-timing at the shop downstairs. yday asked my 2nd daughter to bring baby downstairs to play at the void deck and if it’s crowded den just come back. when i looked outside after 2 mins, it was drizzling so i called for my eldest to ask them come back but she said they wasnt at the void deck nor with her. i asked her to search for them and she saw them halfway. maid had went elsewhere to make phonecall again and making my 2nd to promise her not to let me know.

how i get to know her lies and excuses?? just by telling her my god said she’s dishonest and b4 i make police report, she had better come clean. @_@

[Littlefly]

Hi Peapot, its a good suggestion to let her know so its not like spying on her secretly but would her feel ‘pressurized’ that her boss could be watching her any time of the day ?


My new maid is from Indo and i’m paying her the new market rate $450 and i told her not to discuss salary with my friends’ maid in case she upsets them. So far i think hers is the highest amongst my friends whom think we overpaid but to us we don’t mind paying more for a good helper. So time will tell if she could really keep up the good work and of course, i pray for the best but also remind myself not to hope for too much.

AgnesMM and Desertwind, thanks for sharing that there are still some good helpers around!

Catang - your maid does seem bold and ‘rebellious’.

[DesertWind]

Littlefly:

My new maid is from Indo and i'm paying her the new market rate $450 and i told her not to discuss salary with my friends' maid in case she upsets them. So far i think hers is the highest amongst my friends whom think we overpaid but to us we don't mind paying more for a good helper. So time will tell if she could really keep up the good work and of course, i pray for the best but also remind myself not to hope for too much.


AgnesMM and Desertwind, thanks for sharing that there are still some good helpers around!

Thanks Littlefly for reading my posts!
All the best with your new maid and a good maid is worth paying for.
:celebrate:

[AgnesMM]

DesertWind:

Littlefly:

My new maid is from Indo and i'm paying her the new market rate $450 and i told her not to discuss salary with my friends' maid in case she upsets them. So far i think hers is the highest amongst my friends whom think we overpaid but to us we don't mind paying more for a good helper. So time will tell if she could really keep up the good work and of course, i pray for the best but also remind myself not to hope for too much.


AgnesMM and Desertwind, thanks for sharing that there are still some good helpers around!

Thanks Littlefly for reading my posts!
All the best with your new maid and a good maid is worth paying for.
:celebrate:

Littlefly, DessertWind, couldn't agree more. Cheers :celebrate: