All About Full-Time Maids

[vividlaurel]

Hi kiasimom,


Thanks! I did read all the posts and in fact that has made me even more nervous! But now that I know you all are there for any help that I may need, it's highly reassuring....

kiasimom:

Hi. I don't have any experience with indian maids. But I believe the SOP is the same.
You can read from our previous posts how we handle new maids

Do remember to update us if your maid is satisfactory or do come back to this thread if you have any questions.

All the best :celebrate:

[autumnbronze]

vividlaurel:

Hi kiasimom,


Thanks! I did read all the posts and in fact that has made me even more nervous! But now that I know you all are there for any help that I may need, it's highly reassuring....

kiasimom:

Hi. I don't have any experience with indian maids. But I believe the SOP is the same.
You can read from our previous posts how we handle new maids

Do remember to update us if your maid is satisfactory or do come back to this thread if you have any questions.

All the best :celebrate:

Hi vividlaurel,

Just my 2 cents worth,

You mentioned that she's goa a sis and brother working here. Is the sis a helper too?

That might be a little 'tricky' cuz your helper might want to communicate with them all the time and then later on there might be basis for comparison in terms of salaries, benefits etc...

Perhaps you might want to set out your expectations with regards to this issue to her when she comes in .... :?

Again, just my 2 cents worth

[KopiYing]

I begin to observe that if my maid wants me to get something for her, she will say, "Mom, pls help me get towel for baby." Macham like I become her assistant!

[mummy of 2]

autumnbronze:

vividlaurel:

Hi kiasimom,


Thanks! I did read all the posts and in fact that has made me even more nervous! But now that I know you all are there for any help that I may need, it's highly reassuring....
[quote=\"kiasimom\"]Hi. I don't have any experience with indian maids. But I believe the SOP is the same.
You can read from our previous posts how we handle new maids

Do remember to update us if your maid is satisfactory or do come back to this thread if you have any questions.

All the best :celebrate:

Hi vividlaurel,

Just my 2 cents worth,

You mentioned that she's goa a sis and brother working here. Is the sis a helper too?

That might be a little 'tricky' cuz your helper might want to communicate with them all the time and then later on there might be basis for comparison in terms of salaries, benefits etc...

Perhaps you might want to set out your expectations with regards to this issue to her when she comes in .... :?

Again, just my 2 cents worth :D[/quote]Hi autumnbronze

My exact sentiments! My previous maid wrote back to her family (as she lived in a remote village in Myanmar, and there was no telephone at home) with my home telephone number. Somehow MY number got circulated to some other maids working in Singapore. She started receiving calls from them. After every call, she would feel moody (i guess homesick). For the first one or two calls I did not say anything but it got to the point when she had more calls than any of us. I then put a stop to it by asking the caller why she's looking for my maid, as she is not free to take the call now. She can leave a message if she wants. From then on, no more phone calls.

[titank]

Hi All,


If the current maid had finish the maid loan I can just striaght away cancel her WP & get her an air ticket back to a home country or should I send her back to the agent?

Current maid had been working almost 7 months. still very blur like sotong. Where the sky is dark dark suppose to keep the clothes. In the end wait until it rain then she go & keep while in the midst of cooking.

I find that the quality of maid now is getting back to worst. My maid agency is Z.zzz type, ask for replacement bio-data like bochap bochap type.

Agree that once change a maid have to start with new maid loan, insurance, safety course which easily add up to $3,000! :!:

[pineapple tarts]

titank:

Hi All,


If the current maid had finish the maid loan I can just striaght away cancel her WP & get her an air ticket back to a home country or should I send her back to the agent?

Current maid had been working almost 7 months. still very blur like sotong. Where the sky is dark dark suppose to keep the clothes. In the end wait until it rain then she go & keep while in the midst of cooking.

I find that the quality of maid now is getting back to worst. My maid agency is Z.zzz type, ask for replacement bio-data like bochap bochap type.

Agree that once change a maid have to start with new maid loan, insurance, safety course which easily add up to $3,000! :!:

Aiyoh, exactly the same problem I had with my previous maid!! Just return her to agent, don waste $$ on air ticket. PRESS them for replacement. My agent also say give me free replacement (no limit) for the 1st 6 mths. Sounded good rite? Then she purposely give me all the lousy lousy ones until I ta boleh tahan, I hv to change agent. Waste money again lor. :x :x :x .

[ooptimizer]

If I were you, I will surely send her back. If still in Singapore, she can still do something …


She may be blur in working, but not blur in other things…

[mummy of 2]

titank:

Hi All,


If the current maid had finish the maid loan I can just striaght away cancel her WP & get her an air ticket back to a home country or should I send her back to the agent?

Current maid had been working almost 7 months. still very blur like sotong. Where the sky is dark dark suppose to keep the clothes. In the end wait until it rain then she go & keep while in the midst of cooking.

I find that the quality of maid now is getting back to worst. My maid agency is Z.zzz type, ask for replacement bio-data like bochap bochap type.

Agree that once change a maid have to start with new maid loan, insurance, safety course which easily add up to $3,000! :!:

My second maid was like that. See the sky dark dark also didn't keep clothes. Sent her back to agency after 3 days. Waited one month for new maid. This one is much better. Agree that the quality of maids is getting from bad to worse.

[autumnbronze]

mummy of 2:

Hi autumnbronze


My exact sentiments! My previous maid wrote back to her family (as she lived in a remote village in Myanmar, and there was no telephone at home) with my home telephone number. Somehow MY number got circulated to some other maids working in Singapore. She started receiving calls from them. After every call, she would feel moody (i guess homesick). For the first one or two calls I did not say anything but it got to the point when she had more calls than any of us. I then put a stop to it by asking the caller why she's looking for my maid, as she is not free to take the call now. She can leave a message if she wants. From then on, no more phone calls.

Hi mummy of 2,

You are fortunate that you managed to 'nip the bud' successfully. Really, I think having a helper is both a boon and a bane. There is only so much rules and regulations that you can come up with ... the rest is really learn thru trial and error.

Who would have anticipated/imagined that your no would be circulated ... :?

[mummy of 2]

Yes, fortunately the maid who called was smart enuff to realise that her calls were not welcome. I did not have to tell my maid off.


Actually there was a sequel to the call. I was kind enough to allow her time-off to meet her friend, even though she agreed to no off-day.

After her outing, the maid agency called to say that my maid’s aprents wanted her to go home, as they think she has breast cancer. For one, the call came months after her letter reached home. i know this as that’s how people started calling her. If her parents were so concerned, they would not have waited for so long to take action. Secondly I had alraedy brought her to see a specialist at SHG twice, and the specialist had told her very clearly that she does not have braest cancer, she only has some lumps. I paid for the consultation fee (about $100 each time), and specially took leave to accompany her for the medical appointments.

And she started to show black face, told me she wanted to call the maid agnecy, and refusing to tell me the reason. I did not agree to that, and insisted she tell me why. I did not want her to tell the maid agency we were ill-treating her or something. After much probing, she said she still thinks she has breast cancer. I was so :x Told her off sternly that the maid agency will not be as nice as me to bring her to see doctor and pay for it. Then she said she wanted to go back. At that time, she had just finished her loan repayment. Told her ok, if that’s what she really wants. Then allowed her to talk to maid agency. After which, she reconsidered and decided to continue working.

I must say that from then on, she has been a great helper.

I also learned a lesson from this episode - not to be too nice to helper.