All About Full-Time Maids

[rico]

hi all,


i m planning to go Bintan for a short trip with my 2 kids. thinking to bring along my Indo maid along, so that she can help me to carry lugage and take care my kids. wat i need to do if i wan to bring her along? anyone can advise? TIA

[tamarind]

Funz:

kash313:

Hi Tamarind,

I agree with u in all the points but differ on last one.
When I went to maid agency I took my 3 years boy along who started playing with one of the maid sitting there which is not usual of him as he seldom goes to strangers. On inquiring abt her I was told she left the employer as she was afraid of their dog.
I have employed her since 3 months and believe me she is doing good.

Me too. I do not agree with the last point. I went to an agency recommended by my friend. When I was there, there were a few maids sitting there. I went thru a few bios and even had a phone interview with one from Phils but base on my criterias, the boss suddenly pointed to one of the girls and told me if I will consider her. She has just completed her contract with her employer and is waiting to go back for her home leave. Her previous employer has another 2 maids and since her kids are independant already with both going overseas for studies, she needs only 1 maid to help with the chores and look after an elderly which is why her contract was not renewed. I had a chance to interview her there and then, all very adhoc and I was pretty happy with her response. This year will be the 4th year that she is with us and I have just renewed her permit for another 2 years.

Guess for my case, it being such an unplanned interview gave me a true feel of what the girl is like. No coached answers, etc. And luck really played a huge part there as well.

You are all more fortunate than me.

I have employed 2 maids sitting at the agency before. Both of them gave me nightmares. One maid showed her true colours only after working for one year. Their maid agencies told big lies to get me to employ them.

Well employing a maid is like gambling. I prefer to take calculated risks. Remember that every time you change maid, you lose money. Those maids sitting at the agency are most likely returned by employers who are not happy with them. They can tell you any story, but they could be telling lies.

Dear all,
Before employing maids please remember to check their employment history on MOM website. Maid agencies usually will tell you that the maid only has one previous employer, when that maid may have changed 5 employers in one year. Do not believe what the maid agencies tell you.


Read my blog about how to select a maid: http://singaporemaid.blogspot.com/2007/07/selecting-maid.html

The best bet is to find a maid who has worked for only one employer in Singapore, for more than 3 years. My current maid has worked for 6 years for the same employer. She turns out to be wonderful.

Also remember to go through my blog and do not employ those maids in the list :
http://singaporemaidcomments.blogspot.com/

[tamarind]

rico:

hi all,


i m planning to go Bintan for a short trip with my 2 kids. thinking to bring along my Indo maid along, so that she can help me to carry lugage and take care my kids. wat i need to do if i wan to bring her along? anyone can advise? TIA

For Indonesian maids, just buy her a ferry ticket and go. Remember to bring her passport and work permit card will do. My Indonesian maids have been on cruises and to Hong Kong with us, and have also return to Indonesia and come back, no extra paperwork needed.

[rico]

tamarind:

rico:

hi all,


i m planning to go Bintan for a short trip with my 2 kids. thinking to bring along my Indo maid along, so that she can help me to carry lugage and take care my kids. wat i need to do if i wan to bring her along? anyone can advise? TIA

For Indonesian maids, just buy her a ferry ticket and go. Remember to bring her passport and work permit card will do. My Indonesian maids have been on cruises and to Hong Kong with us, and have also return to Indonesia and come back, no extra paperwork needed.

thks tamarind! i juz worry that the custom officer(indonesia) will disturb the maid.

[Jav]

Hi,


Just sharing my experiences on maid selection.

Selecting maid is just luck and nothing but luck!

Over the years I learn that it is only suitable for me to employ maid with some experiences as I can’t afford to train them from scratch. So, my requirement must be an ex-Singapore maid. Then I would want the maid to provide me with the contact number of their ex-employer for references.

We would then call the previous employer and check on the maid’s attitude. I am just looking out from the ex-employers to tell me whether they think the maid is clean or not, in the sense whether honesty standard is there, the rest like cleanliness, etc maybe secondary and subjective. I would put a lot of weighting on the feedback from the ex-employer.

I have done that a couple of times, and I get my current maid based on that protocol, her previous employer said they have nothing to complain on her and the first reply was oh…. Her yeah…… she is alright! And it turns out that she’s a real excellent with kids and cookings, just that cleanliness must keep one eye closed.

Some employers told us their maids were not honest, stealing things, mix around with boyfriend, found pregnant, etc.

But then again, it could all be pure luck!

[mathsparks]

Jav:

Some employers told us their maids were not honest, stealing things, mix around with boyfriend, found pregnant, etc.


But then again, it could all be pure luck!

Totally agree that choosing maids depends on yr luck..even after you've interviewed them face to face/over the phone, seen the resume, watched the video...
Have had my share of good/bad/in between ones..the ones with boyfriends too..
One maid would fetch my girl home from kinderland, drop by the NPP to chit chat with her boyfriend.

Another sneaked out frequently through the back door, leaving the back door unlocked. :x How did we find out? The hospital called early one morning to tell us that our maid has fainted on the bus and was sent there. She's been partying all night.

Then there's another who locked my girl in the bedroom coz she refused to nap.

Yet another who has left us called me recently to tell me she's found a good employer who lets her take a day off every Sunday and she sees her boyfriend every Sunday. That's why we don't hire ex-Singapore maids.

[Busymom]

rico:

thks tamarind! i juz worry that the custom officer(indonesia) will disturb the maid.

I think safer to also check whether your Indon maid need to pay exit tax when leaving Bintan, can't remember how much that would be, but have the impression that the sum is not small...

[tamarind]

Dear all,

My blog has been criticized by expats who think that most Singaporean employers do not treat their maids like humans.

http://singaporemaid.blogspot.com/2009/08/about-my-maids.html

Scroll down and read the comments.

I know that many Singaporeans treat their maids very well, and the expats are making very unfair judgements about us.

Please help to drop a comment and prove that they are wrong !

[Rio]

Hi,


Antbody keen to bring in your own maid?

I would like to recommend my ex-indo maid who went back to Indo to get married. Now she wants to come back to Spore to work. She has been a good worker, as such, I would like to help her find a employer without her paying such heavy commission to the agency. She has worked 5 years with me, and prior that, has previously worked 2 years in Hong Kong.

Pro : Very cheerful personality, never show black face, never talk back, very clean, thrifty, not greedy, hardworking, very pleasant looking, petite, dun eat much, and very afraid of cold (will never switch on air-con and also why she cant work in HK cos of the winter), speak cantonese, understand simple Mandarin & English. Dun really like to go out, sometimes 2 months then take 1 day off.

Con :
1)At time, can be slow in her work cos she is very careful. Example, she wants be make sure the kitchen is spotless, and so will spend time cleaning.

2) Small size, about 42kg

Other than the above 2 that my mom keep complaining, I do not have any complaints about her at all during the 5 years with me.

Anyone keen can drop me a PM.

Thk

[mrswongtuition]

tamarind:

Dear all,

My blog has been criticized by expats who think that most Singaporean employers do not treat their maids like humans.

http://singaporemaid.blogspot.com/2009/08/about-my-maids.html

Scroll down and read the comments.

I know that many Singaporeans treat their maids very well, and the expats are making very unfair judgements about us.

Please help to drop a comment and prove that they are wrong !

Because they only read about the 'bad sheep' amongst us. They do not know of the good employers.

I don't care if they want to say anything because I know I'm good to my maid and my maid knows it & appreciates it