Maid to get weekly rest days
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Has writer got a maid in the first place?
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JGMum:
It is my personal view that MOM wants to reduce our reliance on maids, I may be wrong. And the reduced need to manage diplomatic fallouts with countries from which these maids hail from when something bad happens to them in Singapore would be a \"pros\" to reducing our reliance on them. Hence I speculate that even if conditions become less favourable towards maid employers, MOM may still go with \"status-quo\" (and remain silent on employers' gripes). Again, I may be wrong.fairplay:
Thank you to POA Teacher and hquek for the background on the FC case.
If this was the background; what has diplomacy got to do with keeping silent when employers raised issues? If it was the intention of reducing reliance on maids (which we are speculating) the govt could have done many things.
The govt could just double or triple the levy. Would we still hire one?
The govt could have simply say it right in the face of the daft employers.
The govt have just made the maids lives even rosier by allowing them weekly day offs so that they won't run away to Taiwan, Hong Kong etc. Why not just let them go and this would reduce the pool of maids for employers to employ?
I don't see schools being set up so that employers can learn the duties of maids so that we can be less reliant on foreign maids.
Could the silence not mean that we employers are not worthy of any replies from the govt at all? We gripe about the hardship but we still somehow accept them so why should the govt bother to reply?
Could the silence not indicate that if you want a maid, these are the conditions. Take it or leave it!
The govt has called Singaporeans daft. So what is there to be diplomatic about it?
If MOM really want to reduce reliance on maid I believe there are many options open to them instead of relying on \"diplomacy\" issue which I think works in their favour.
1. Hang more maids who kill their employers . The country will get upset like FC case. The country will then not send maids to Singapore. The govt then can even take credit that they would like to help employers but it is the other country's fault for not wanting to send maids (sounds familiar? It is not the govt's fault.)
2. MOM could raise the levy! Majority of us cannot afford to hire the maid. The govt will achieve it's objective and how wonderful, it is once again not their fault. We are too poor to hire one. (Now it is another $75 more for the SIP. Isn't this great?. Another thread will probably come up on this). And remember it is our fault that we are too poor
3. MOM just need not approve any work permit for maids and that is the end of the story. And why are they not approving? Because employers are complaining about the problems that MOM has created so MOM is helping to prevent the agony that employers are suffering because of the constant whining and complaining and the easiest solution is to stop issuing work permits as MOM has other more productive issues to look into. (Long terrible sentence that needs to be read a couple of time before one can understand. If you even can understand! But isn't that how we get our replies?)
And the govt will surely find a longer reason why it is not their fault again if the above reason is not accepted.
All I am saying is please, find solutions to the problems that MOM has created. There are many other ministers in the govt. Give this portfolio to another minster if this one cannot handle, or do not understand the issues that MOM is creating. There is no shame in this. Not all of us love mathematics nor do all of us love Literature. Give another minister a chance.
With regards to MOM's silence, there's still hope. In their press release on 5 Mar 2012, they did say that \"The Ministry will also be reviewing employers’ obligations for medical and repatriation costs for exceptional circumstances that employers have little or no control over. This will be part of the review of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Regulations to ensure an equitable balance of rights and responsibilities between employers and workers.\" So hopefully the current \"silence\" means they are still in the process of evaluation, and maid employers are not \"totally forgotten\". And hopefully, pro-employer measures from this evaluation will be announced before the weekly rest day kicks in next year.
Mom's silence is because they have no answers to the many problems that they have created for employers like what you have rightly pointed out in your earlier post. They want many things from us yet does not provide us the support but at the same create more issues and problems. Tamarind's blog is a good example. She has been providing feedback on the concerns of employers. And she has given a lot of feedback. According to her, some of her feedback has even been deleted! She is not even called to be included into the pool of \"extensive\" consultation with employers. (I digress, do not only read what is being reported in the Straits Times. Singaporeans have been called \"daft\" and many people still do not know) Responses and and solutions to the problems that they have created will only come when it is closer to 2016. This is one trend that we all can rely upon. The MPs ears suddenly becomes bigger and more receptive during that time! Your guess is as good as mine why this is so! -
1amber:
Perhaps 60% didn't know they were called 'daft'.
Perhaps if the 60% reads more than just the ST and takes the time to do a little of research on the INTERNET, they will learn so much more.
With so much information around, why be like a frog in a well being fed with only information thrown at you. Human beings should have access to as much information that is available and then use our ability to weigh merit of the information
A little click that brings one to the kiasu blog (and many others as well) will have provide some education to those 60%....perhaps! -
Very Nice thread! I wonder why people stopped updating it?
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The reason why MOM insisted weekly off days and stayed behind the scene when agencies/embassies collalobated to jerk up salary is to make FDWs spend money in Spore.
FDWs can buy 3G mobiles, ‘rest’ at hotels, spend at pubs, etc… by doing all these, money remains in Spore. Smart move at our expenses!! You won’t believe nowadays, some FDWs so rich, can buy 2 mobiles and can spend $1000 just to chat on mobile (my sis Indonesian recently clocked this amount, thus was transferred out)!!
Anyway, I think spore has a lot of kind employers who don’t mind or can’t see the $$ they are wasting on FDWs. Most highly educated but had serious problem calculating costs and fairness, these people or employers looked purely at salary S$400-450/mth, they purposely forget to calculate levy, 3 meals, insurance, medical, placement fee, etc. They didn’t realised all these costs come from their own pockets … hahaha, sad human, hard to educate them unless they faced bad FDWs. Hope these high class or super kind people will have chance to be managed by FDWs soon!
With this group of stubborn good hearted and/or cash rich human beings, it becomes the reason why nobody wants to look at our miseries, the trouble a live-in fdw caused. -
Halimah implement this policy right after she won the elections. I spent a lot of time corresponding with MOM, providing feedback, interview and realised that they are serious abt implementing this policy. They are not asking for feedback, they are telling us to be mentally prepared. Knowing there is no hope in withdrawal of this policy, I write to her directly pleading her to give us time and implement this policy 2 yrs later, which is 2013. And so she did and officially announced this policy 9mths before the Dragon baby years starts. During Dragon year, everyone will still give birth regardless of such a unfavorable policy.
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my helper have been asking me to revise her contract. according to the recent MOM megazine for FDW, it was printed as we only need to give FDW 2 off day a month, and can exchange off day with $$. so now which is which? I am confuse.
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My understanding is that the weekly off is only applicable for contracts incepted effective 2013. The maid whom I took last weekend has only 1 off day a month but our arrangement is that she will be paid in lieu of.
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braverymom:
my helper have been asking me to revise her contract. according to the recent MOM megazine for FDW, it was printed as we only need to give FDW 2 off day a month, and can exchange off day with $$. so now which is which? I am confuse.
Your helper is smart and knows the market conditions! If u don't give in to her, she may threaten to quit in the end. -
The "new" FDW is also aware of the weekly rest days. My friend’s new Filippino maid supposed to arrive this month, now back out and she only wants to come in January.
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