All About Full-Time Maids

[hquek]

Hi mmm,


I view that most maids come here for the money. If that’s so important to them, I don’t see why/how they should be spending so much money getting phone cards just so they can yak on the phone.

My ex-maid went home after 5years with a SG 5 figure sum although her starting salary then was only $250. I can imagine how depleted that would have been were she the type who insisted to have day offs, handphones with non-stop yakking.

(I still cannot understand those maids i see who pickup/drop off kids at school. They come to school talking into the earpiece attached to their ears and leave still talking…must have a lot of urgent things to share)

[baby2momma]

Hi Tamarind,


I have read your blog n understood u do hv great knowledge abt
maids & all....

Just wondering if u wld be able to advise me - my maid's going home
on home leave & will be back a month later....is it right for me to hold her last month's paycheck? Also, I understand tat as employers, we do need
to pay for her air tix home....but what about her air tix back to Sin?
Should the return leg of the costs back to Sin also to be borne by the
employer?

If u cld, pls enlighten me.....thks!!!!

[MMM]

hquek:

Hi mmm,


(I still cannot understand those maids i see who pickup/drop off kids at school. They come to school talking into the earpiece attached to their ears and leave still talking....must have a lot of urgent things to share)

That's why I am very against HP. It's easy to say I only use it at nite. But gradually when we lax, she will probably use it the entire day. I asked her what if she start receiving alot of calls at nite? and she talks till 11 plus, 12 plus? Will she be happy if I ask her to shorten her call time? I told her she won't.

When I was young and used to give tuition, the maid (during the employer's absence) would sit on the sofa and yak all the time when I am there. She behave very different when the employer is at home.... I told my maid, it's just so human nature.

[hquek]

hi mmm,


At least she’s open to reason. that’s positive. But I do concur…my godma’s ex-maid would spend long hours on the phone at night. end up she cannot wake up or is sleepy.

[MMM]

Anyway… I will just keep her phone. Especially given that our entire family will be away on holidays in december. There will be a couple of days that she will be alone at home.

[MMM]

hquek:

hi mmm,


At least she's open to reason. that's positive. But I do concur...my godma's ex-maid would spend long hours on the phone at night. end up she cannot wake up or is sleepy.

My this maid has been with me for 2 years. It's very interesting to describe her. I can't say she is good and she is not bad either.

She is good as in the hardworking type.... Dunno what is she doing the entire day but like got alot of things to do. Unlike my ex-maid (who is more street smart type), she would find things to do (eg. cleaning cupboard, car porch,etc...) when she is free. So she works like a ox. We don't slave drive her.

The bad part is, though she is doing \"alot\", i feel that she is poor at prioritisation and she is pretty slow. So i find that her activities are not value add to \"deserve\" a good rating (like performance appraisal). During her 2 weeks absence, I felt that I was able to do those stuff alot faster than her (maybe our priorities are different). But the good thing is she likes my kids, tolerant esp towards my naggy fil and honest.

She is rather funny. When she went home, she would call us and ask to talk to the kids as she missed them. Also, my mum told me that she called her and my maid's mum thanked her,etc... the father also wanted to talk to my mum. But my mum was like cannot really understand their malay so lost.

[hquek]

hi mmm,


Actually that’s good. My maid (well, based in my mum’s house) do whatever she pleases (mopping, clothes, toilet is mandatory; the rest own time own target). Initially, she took naps when my parents and children were napping. Had to tell her off cos she sleeps from 8pm to 6+am, and still got to take naps in the afternoon??

My ex-maid very ‘jie shen zi ai’ - won’t go around looking for boyfriends. And I attribute this to her parents’ upbringing - her parents will exhort her to behave and do well.

In fact, when she just came, a friend of hers saw her when she was out with us, and told her parents that she was behaving unbecomely…her parents sent a letter to reprimand her and she was crying away. Had to get her to call back to explain. Quite old-style, but shows they got moral fibre.

[lifestylelink]

As more and more people ask me for referrals, I have decided to start this FREE Maid-match service. Don't get me wrong, I DO NOT RUN A MAID AGENCY. I do this as a free service to help KSP and my agent (of course she will have to treat me to free meals and stuff).


So anyone seriously looking for good agent, please go to http://sahm.weebly.com/maids.html.

But please, ONLY if you are seriously looking, don't waste my time if you are not serious.

[Fluffy]

tamarind:

Hi Andaiz,

You don't have to send her back. Just let her transfer to a new employer in Singapore. She has not caused any troubles to you, other than bad attitude right ? Who knows an expat will employ her and she will have a very good life It is better to let her transfer, you don't have to spend any $. Otherwise you need to buy the air ticket which is not cheap.

Hi Tamarind,

I am planning to sack my maid of 14 months. I have endured her nonsense, selfish, lazy and many serious attitude problems including breaking many of my rules. One of the 1st serious rule she broken just 3 months into her job is to give my house telephone to her friend despite me tell her she is allowed to give only to her family in Philippines and an Aunt in Singapore. Her friend kept calling many times and every time any of my family members picked up the phone, she cut off. I found because of the caller ID. 2 months ago, my son lost $20 and when I asked to check her belonging, she told me that she had given all her money to her Aunt. I was quite surprised as she should be holding on to her salary + her balance saving in the house as she had not gone out to remit the money. She then confessed that her Aunt came to our house one Sunday morning. I was shocked she did not inform me and opened our backyard door to let her Aunt (not sure whether it is her Aunt or somebody else) into our home when all of us were still at home on the 2nd storey. Her Aunt had came to our home before and I never forbade her from visiting my maid. Hence, I am very doubtful who she led into our house.

Ok to cut the story short. I have been advised by a few friends who told me not to allow her to transfer but to send her home immediately since I already got another maid. They felt that this type of maid's cunning and poor attitude will do more harm to other employers and you never know if she keeps a spare key and invite herself to our house especially when she knows your daily routine so well. She may become malicious and started harassing my family with phone calls etc when she is in Singapore.

I drew a conclusion. I have forgiven her too many times and seen her crocodile tears too many times till I am now numb. I rather spent an air ticket of $150 than giving her chance to continue creating havoc in Singapore. My family will also have peace of mind.

[tamarind]

[quote]I rather spent an air ticket of $150 than giving her chance to continue creating havoc in Singapore. [/quote]
When you sent your maid back to her own country, that does not mean that she can never come back to Singapore to work again.

Take a look at the employment history of the ex-maid Casmini I sent back home :

http://singaporemaidcomments.blogspot.com/2007/11/casmini-indonesian.html

I sent her to the airport on 6 Oct 2006, she is back in Singapore on 19 Oct 2006 !!!

She is now with her employer number 12.

Employers are wasting their money buying air tickets to send Casmini back. The problem is that no one else knows her employment history and she can always find new employers easily. Casmini previously ran away from home leaving a baby unattended, and she let her boyfriend touch my girl's arms and face. She still can find new employers so easily ! Most employers who go to maid agencies simply believe in what the agency and the maid tell them, and of course they will not tell the employers bad things about themselves.

The only effective way is to let employers post their comments about maids who have worked for them before. Then other employers can avoid bad maids. Many employers have sent comments of their bad maids to me, I hope that more employers will do so. Please email me at [email protected].

All employers should check my blog before employing any new maids. The list of maids are on the right hand column. Click on each maid to view the comments written by her ex-employer :

http://singaporemaidcomments.blogspot.com/

MOM does not blacklist a maid just because the employer said that she has bad attitude. I also don't send back a maid unless she has done something seriously wrong that hurts my family, or put my kids in a dangerous situation. I understand that she may not like working for me, and I will happily allow her to transfer to another employer where she may be happier.

Also note that maid's attitude can change, depending on whether they like you or not. Expats normally treat them like princesses, so a maid who has bad attitude towards local employers, may suddenly become a darling when they work for expats

All employers should also check my blog which includes reviews of maid agencies :

http://singaporemaidagencyreviews.blogspot.com/