All About Full-Time Maids

[HC_Parent]

I once confiscated my maid’s phone in anger and wow she had maid frens all over the world! The country codes were 852, 886 among those I recognized HK and Taiwan! Just imagine the IDD charges. All made during the short 20min she went downstairs to buy lunch! I can only worship their determination to maintain such long distance friendships.

[peapot]

Lolmum, I find your maid most amusing. Singing to the hubby in the middle of the night.


I feel that with very young kids, employer need to be firm with their maid’s usage of the phone. Normally something must happen and become headline news before it hit home.

[peapot]

Maybe young girls like to chat alot?? Need to interview them and find out the reason.

[hquek]

I think young and old, all like to chat. Used to see maids bringing kids to school, with their ears glued to the phone. Maybe that batch left, now the batch I see don’t talk as much.


I don’t think it’s a good idea for them to be yakking after mid-night. next day cannot wake up then how? And will they go to embassy and bite that they don’t have enough sleep??

[LOLMum]

oh, my hubby called us at least once a day. sometimes he could call us up to 6 times a day (when he misses us badly). on weekends, he would be on skype the minute he gets up and it would be left on for the rest of the day.


i guess one way for the maid and hubby to keep their marriage is constant communications. now i understand better.

[Breadandmuffins]

Hi peapot

Ya, hv 4 kids that’s why cannnot let her talk so much cos need a lot of help in handling the kids and housework. I myself is very busy driving them around, doing grocery, running errands. Normally ,I will also bring kids along cos maid need to cook or do chores. Her roles are just cooking,hsehold chores plus help bathe and feed the two young ones and of course to supervise them when free esp afternoon. The driving part is "intensive" and by evening quite "blur" oredi…Imagine u bring kids out so that she can do chores, then she started using the phone. Thats how I discovered she had been using intensively when I noticed things not done when I am back. Talked to her a few times to cut down until no choice tell her to leave HP out in the open. But when u are out, they still use. After a yr or so, now hp put in pocket whole day & somemore got password so cannot see anything. I dont dare to keep it cos we had let her have it since day 1. Ya, cannot talk till midnite cos really not enough rest as household chores can be physically tiring for them. Somemore got young children, so can see that she gets more frustrated as she is tired. Much as I wish to let her talk and talk, I really cannot afford the time as everyday is a mad rush & really no "me" time or "HP" time for myself. So now, I relaxed a bit and "chat" more here cos realised I did too much already.

Hi LOL mum, I think if call hubby children ok, no problem with me. But my maid calls are for non urgent stuff to friends and she should do it at nite after she retires to her room abt 9pm. She’s single and also not closed to family at home.

Hquek, no leh, I still see maids wih HP (or earpiece) glued to ear every day along roads, outside enrichment centres while waiting, walking dogs, downstairs and everywhere I go until I am so sick of this sight.

[LOLMum]

very hard to get a maid without a hp now. what would be next? maybe every maid will have an ipad............ :yikes:

[nms1]

I don’t think there is much we can do to stop them having a phone. All we can do is try to set rules and chase them to follow. My maid is not allowed to use her phone when she is working and I’m lucky as my m-i-l is around and she wouldn’t dare let her catch her using it. I suspect that she does SMS occasionally during the day when she’s in her room doing ironing or folding clothes but she doesn’t do it when she’s looking after the children and it’s always put away in her cupboard during the day.


She takes it with her when she goes to fetch my son so she could be using it then but I would prefer her to have one then in the event of an emergency. It’s hard to keep secrets with my children so I’m sure they would say something if they saw her chatting on the phone all the time as well!

[HC_Parent]

Sometms I do feel that maids in Singapore do not know how to handle freedom. They tend to overdo it unless the more matured and experienced ones in HK and Taiwan. The maids in my estate who take care of very sickly elderly also wears mini skirts and body hugging singlets. They even meet up a couple of times a day at the pavilion downstairs and chitchat and laugh loudly. A few times I even saw them playing badminton!! Im like thinking, oh my, more Ho mia than me lo. I don’t even hv tm to exercise.

[peapot]

My brother’s maid use the ear piece to talk so that she can be hands free. So when I was at their home, she would be hanging the laundry and talking on the phone. But for my brother’s home, it’s still alright because his one and only kid is already 14.