Maid to get weekly rest days
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HAPPYH:
:goodpost:Power Puff:
Most people would choose not to have any live-in maid if they could help it. Before we judge anyone, we have to consider their family needs first...I'd hust given birth, and had a preschooler and elderly parent living with me. I too did household chores, chaufferring, buying groceries, cooking while taking care of my kids for 4 months after my maid was repatriated -she stole from us. It was tough but I didn't, couldn't collapse, otherwise, who else would hold the fort right? I did the bare minimum of chores, but found myself exhausted, especially since both kids also demanded my attention. Relations between my family members got strained. So no choice, despite our bad experiences with maids, we decided to hire another one. When my kids grow older and more independent, I will most likely look for a local part-time helper. When I return to the workforce after my leave, I may also have to hunt for a childcare centre. The govt's policies appear to favour maids because they want us working mothers to wean off maids and depend more on our own extended family members to help in childminding...so the point is, treat your parents and parents-in-laws well!!
Different countries have different policies and different dynamics. We should never compare ourselves with other countries unless the work culture, education, health, housing, population and immigration, transport policies, everything else are the same,. This is true even when comparing ourselves to countries closer to home. It appears that our policy makers have a habit of quoting what seems in line with international humane standards but conveniently neglect other imporrtant implications to justify their decisions.
I still think the crux of the issue is not the weekly off day per se, but the amount of accountability which is largely borne by employers currently. There should be clear guidelines on what 'off day' means, how many hours..If like HK, then it's from the night before til the next working day morning, the govt should expect the maids to pay for their own food and lodging. Whether the maids gallavant or bunk in with their bf, we shouldn't bother. Just don't expect us to be responsible for any medical fees or forfeit our bons if anything happens outside our home. The current policies are ambiguous and allows for too many loopholes. The maids are laughing at us!
The new ruling does not take into account the cost when the maid gets into trouble and needs to be repatriated. Who bears the cost of repatriation, the agent fees for new maid, the new insurance to apply for, the annual leave needed during the gap when waiting for new maid........... -
By Amanda Phua and Amanda Yong
The New Paper
Friday, Mar 09, 2012
It's the Bangladeshi boys who are flirty, not us.
This was what domestic workers told The New Paper.
\"They only want the woman's body,\" said Ms Sarminah, 30, an Indonesian who has been working here as a maid for five years.
She gets one day off a month and spends that day hanging out with friends in Changi Village or in CityPlaza.
The maid, who is married with two children, added: \"Even on the road, when I go out to do things for my employer, they will follow me and ask for my number.\"
Another maid, who declined to be identified, agreed with Ms Sarminah.
The petite, long-haired 26-year-old Filipina with a sweet face and gentle demeanour has been working in Singapore for only 11/2 years.
But she claimed she has already been hit on countless times by Bangladeshi men.
She said this happens every time she goes to town on her days off.
She gets one Sunday off a month.
She usually spends her days off with her 32-year-old aunt, who has worked here for more than a decade, at Orchard Road shopping centres such as Lucky Plaza.
She said: \"The men will look at me and smile, but I never smile back. Otherwise, they will try and make friends with me.\"
Sometimes, the bolder men cut straight to the chase.
She said: \"They will come up to me and say, 'Hi, miss, can I have your number?'
\"They'll say things like, 'You look so pretty, so sexy.' But I just pretend I didn't hear them.\"
There are those who are even more persistent.
Once, she said, she was tailed by a Bangladeshi man for 30minutes at Orchard Road.
\"I was walking with my aunt, but from the corner of my eye, I could see him following us,\" she said.
She said she does not want to get into a relationship as the problems that may arise are notworth her while.
'I ignore them'
Ms Christina Manava Umalla, 29, a Filipina who has worked here for four years, said she scolds the men who try to pass her pieces of paper with mobile phone numbers on them.
Ms Umalla, who meets up with friends at Lucky Plaza on her days off, said: \"I will ignore them when they flirt with me. But when they come and talk to me, I tell them, 'Are you crazy?'
\"If you talk to them, they will think you like them.\"
Ms Umalla, who gets one Sunday off a month, added: \"There are a lot of Bangladeshi men. Some of them are handsome and neat. But I don't like it when they disturb me.\"
But the charm of male foreign workers sends 46-year-old Gena into a fit of giggles.
The Filipina admitted that she found them attractive, but turned coy when asked what she liked about them.
The maid, who gets a day off each month, said: \"But I don't want to give them my number and mycousin said that if I say hi to them, they will follow me.\"
This article was first published in The New Paper.
http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120307-332077.html -
Some Bangla boys are toy boys for S'pore women
http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120307-332074.html -
Sure or not? No more men in Singapore or what? I don’t believe what the worker says.
-
ER:
:goodpost:HAPPYH:
[quote=\"Power Puff\"]Most people would choose not to have any live-in maid if they could help it. Before we judge anyone, we have to consider their family needs first...I'd hust given birth, and had a preschooler and elderly parent living with me. I too did household chores, chaufferring, buying groceries, cooking while taking care of my kids for 4 months after my maid was repatriated -she stole from us. It was tough but I didn't, couldn't collapse, otherwise, who else would hold the fort right? I did the bare minimum of chores, but found myself exhausted, especially since both kids also demanded my attention. Relations between my family members got strained. So no choice, despite our bad experiences with maids, we decided to hire another one. When my kids grow older and more independent, I will most likely look for a local part-time helper. When I return to the workforce after my leave, I may also have to hunt for a childcare centre. The govt's policies appear to favour maids because they want us working mothers to wean off maids and depend more on our own extended family members to help in childminding...so the point is, treat your parents and parents-in-laws well!!
Different countries have different policies and different dynamics. We should never compare ourselves with other countries unless the work culture, education, health, housing, population and immigration, transport policies, everything else are the same,. This is true even when comparing ourselves to countries closer to home. It appears that our policy makers have a habit of quoting what seems in line with international humane standards but conveniently neglect other imporrtant implications to justify their decisions.
I still think the crux of the issue is not the weekly off day per se, but the amount of accountability which is largely borne by employers currently. There should be clear guidelines on what 'off day' means, how many hours..If like HK, then it's from the night before til the next working day morning, the govt should expect the maids to pay for their own food and lodging. Whether the maids gallavant or bunk in with their bf, we shouldn't bother. Just don't expect us to be responsible for any medical fees or forfeit our bons if anything happens outside our home. The current policies are ambiguous and allows for too many loopholes. The maids are laughing at us!
The new ruling does not take into account the cost when the maid gets into trouble and needs to be repatriated. Who bears the cost of repatriation, the agent fees for new maid, the new insurance to apply for, the annual leave needed during the gap when waiting for new maid...........[/quote]I did not read the newspaper these few days. How was the response in forum section? Same like here (KSP.com)? At least the authorities will get to see the response from public. -
verykiasu2010:
Wow that is so Lady Chatterly's Lover.Some Bangla boys are toy boys for S'pore women
http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120307-332074.html -
no need for these boys to go desker road and pay money for sex now.
-
yeah they are paid instead.
read in papers that some maids were so in love with these boys that they were willing to pay for new phones, clothes and even gave $$ to the boys to send home.
:siao: -
Hi, I’m sorely disappointed with MOM decision to give maids mandatory ‘‘off days’’. As with many employers of FDWs that I know, I have written in to MOM before the new ruling to give the employers’ point of view on why the mandatory off days will not work. Does MOM or the government hear our voices at all? I am a mother of 2 young children and I was planning to further expand our family unit but will now have to reconsider because I will not be getting adequate help, especially with all these pro-maids policies!
I am against it as there are several factors that needs to be looked into - 1) Social issues: Maids who might get pregnant, have a boyfriend (or many boyfriends!) and getting distracted with their work, or start comparing their household requirements with other maids. In this day and age, most maids are here to choose their employers. As it is, many families are finding it hard to get a reliable maid. Having the mandatory off days will compound these social issues.
2) Families who need maids to be around: ie, maids looking after young children, elderly and disabled. As a full time working mother with young children at home, I need my maid to be around to take care of the domestic chores so I can spend quality time with my kids. It causes alot of inconvience to me if the maid is not around and I need to make logistical arrangements.
As a full time working mother, I don’t get the luxury of ‘off days’ as well. I have to cook for the family including the maid every day and help out with household chores whenever I’m not working. In addition, the new generation of parents these days are heavily reliant on FDWs because unlike our parents generation where they have the luxury of grandparents looking after the children. Many grandparents today are also working full time, thanks to the upward revision of retirement age. IF the government really want to encourage us to have more children, then we need to have the necessary help around. Infant care and babysitters fees are very costly and for families with more than 2 child, the most economical solution is often to hire a FDW.
3) Domestic workers are DIFFERENT from other workers because during the course of their work day, they have plenty of time in between to rest already - when the children are in school etc. And when the family goes on outings, the maid either can spend time resting at home or follow the family in these outings as a form of relaxation. Most employers are aware that it is not wise to have an over-worked maid and will already make allowances to ensure the maid gets proper rest. For example, my maid takes a nap every afternoon after she is done with her chores.
As it is, the maid’s salary has already shot up by quite a fair bit ($450 for new maids and $500-$550 for experienced maids), putting a strain on most household incomes . (Most families’ income have not increased by much over the last few years.) Having to give maids mandatory off days will only cause more distress to families who genuinely need domestic help.
For maids who chose not to have their '‘days off’, we will have to ‘‘compensate’’ them with pro-rated salaries which easily means another $100-150 ON TOP of the current high salary. In addition, we also have to bear the maid levy unlike HK or Taiwan where there isn’t any. It is pointless to keep comparing with other countries because no one country is alike and many maids we know chose to work in Singapore because they feel they can save more money (unlike HK or Taiwan where they have to pay for their own lodging and food).
As employers, can we also demand that the quality of maids are assured so as to justify the incredibly high salary which we have to pay? Many maids are not up to the job nor are they properly trained as claimed by the maid agencies. Their biodatas are always inaccurate as well and many times, for example - after selecting a particular maid who is supposedly trained in childcare, our maid admitted that she has no experience whatsoever but it is too late because the employer would have already paid upfront for 8months maid loan. In the end, the only party who actually profit from all these are the maid agencies. Because they can continue to market maids with inaccurate profiles and pocket the $4000+ of the 8-9months maid loan, leaving employers to deal with incompetent maids.
The recent price-fixing of maid’s salary by a group of maid agencies go to show just how influential and scheming these agents are and it does seem that even MOM can’t do anything about it. No doubt these agents were fined but how much of a deterrent is that really?
We employers are at the mercy of maid agencies and even maids themselves. I once employed a maid who told me that she does not want to look after children or elderly and requested for a transfer on the very day that I went to pick her up. This is despite her promise during our phone interview that she loves children and had experience looking after them. Clearly, she just wants to come to Singapore first and then take her time to choose her employers. On another occasion, we had a maid who lied about her employment history and claimed that in her last 2 years in Singapore, she only had 1 employer but in fact, she had 7! When we requested to change to a maid with no experience instead - the maid agent told us that we need to pay a separate ‘‘service fee’’ because we can only chose a replacement maid from the ‘‘experienced’’ group and not ‘‘fresh’’ ones. It seems to me that maid agencies can impose all kinds of ‘‘rules’’ as they chose and MOM cannot do anything about it.
It is already very frustrating for employers who have to go through all these but yet when we feedback to MOM, it seems like nothing can be done.
I wonder, who can speak up for us then? -
LOLMum:
Really? I thought it was the boys who pay the maids for their services, their handphones etc.yeah they are paid instead.
read in papers that some maids were so in love with these boys that they were willing to pay for new phones, clothes and even gave $$ to the boys to send home.
:siao:
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