All About Full-Time Maids

[cool_hi]

hi FCmaid,

Thanks for your update! Am relieved to hear that tax only till 2011 &
Passport can renew to 5yr!
Easier la…3 yr too short lor…

So Great that their govt now recognise maids!'
Then not so stressed up with dealing with the officials at embassy!!
Now hoping my maid can extend for 4-5more years!!

Do u know how much to renew passport now?since is for 5yr?
Thanks!!

[fcmaid]

cool_hi:

hi FCmaid,

Thanks for your update! Am relieved to hear that tax only till 2011 &
Passport can renew to 5yr!
Easier la..3 yr too short lor..

So Great that their govt now recognise maids!'
Then not so stressed up with dealing with the officials at embassy!!
Now hoping my maid can extend for 4-5more years!!

Do u know how much to renew passport now?since is for 5yr?
Thanks!!

It is more expensive here. If you allow her to go back for home leave, just make sure she paid her tax before she goes back, she can get it done in Mandalay or Yangon. It is only $25,700Ks which is less than SGD $40.

http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/mandalay-upper-myanmar/492-passport-issuing-office-opens-in-mandalay.html

[fcmaid]

http://www.mesingapore.org.sg/download/mrp_passport_application_handbook_eng.pdf


The fee for issuance of a new passport is S$150. The validity of passport is 5 years starting from the date of issue.

The above link will be useful if you are to renew in Singapore.

[piyobaby]

DesertWind:

piyobaby:

Hi Desertwind, you mentioned that the boyfriend is aware of your address so even though your helper & your home number are changed, he could still track if your helper is around despite sending the \"message\" around that she had been sent home.

Hi piyobaby,

You are right, so for last Sunday and today (public holiday presumably off days), we got out of the house and kept maid with us. Also will not let her be alone at home. Have also changed the home phone and will be installing grills on top of the door at the back garden soon. Hopefully by taking all these drastic measures the spurned lover would be \"appeased\". He has to in order for him to stop pestering us. Can only work if maid and her girlfriends don't sabo themselves. She has to keep out of sight and contacts.

I am prepared to call the police anytime there is any \"wind blow grass move\".
:nunchuk:

In this case would she still regard it as her off day? Too risky for her to be left alone ESP at home. Did you 'interview' her on what had happened? So you hv decided to retain her?

[DesertWind]

Hi piyobaby ,


We told maid we will renew her contract provided she did not :
1. Kerna potong outside for the next two months
2. Get pregnant
3. Have Vd
4. Strangers coming to the house to mess up.
As for her leave we will talk later how to compensate her.

[piyobaby]

You are a good employer…willing to renew her contract after the "mess" she created & going through all the hassle of changing numbers & additional fencing etc. guess I hv a low tolerance wif helpers furthermore I’m such a greenhorn in hiring one!

[fcmaid]

Indeed, she is a good employer. Willing to take a step back and yet being firm at the same time.

[beauty79]

Hi I have decided to employ a maid as my mum is no longer able to help me take care of kids. The problem is I do not cook at all and can’t speak Malay. So, I intend to get an experienced maid that has worked in sg before, thinking she would have known how to cook simple dishes and do housework. Some warned me they may have tricks up their sleeves and may not be good that’s why their ex-employer sent them back to agencies. Will getting a maid from one like Nation (got advertisement) be a better choice as they market the quality of their maids? I do not feel secure letting the maid sleep with the children, will I have to empty out a room for her to sleep in?

[JohnYeo]

beauty79:

Hi I have decided to employ a maid as my mum is no longer able to help me take care of kids. The problem is I do not cook at all and can't speak Malay. So, I intend to get an experienced maid that has worked in sg before, thinking she would have known how to cook simple dishes and do housework. Some warned me they may have tricks up their sleeves and may not be good that's why their ex-employer sent them back to agencies. Will getting a maid from one like Nation (got advertisement) be a better choice as they market the quality of their maids? I do not feel secure letting the maid sleep with the children, will I have to empty out a room for her to sleep in?

Hi beauty79,

How young are your kids? My maid sleeps in the same bedroom as my baby as we need her to look after her throughout the night...Nation, got ad or not, I think is just how they market their service...hiring maid depends on your luck and depends on your maid's training and the boundary you set for her...

John

[Notksmum]

Hi beauty79,


Every agency got pros and cons; I think its impt to find an agency who can counsel helpers with the right working attitude and the helper is able to meet my prescribed houserules and assigned duties. I emphasise this A LOT when I was sourcing for agencies recommended by friends. If the agent give me long, short story, explain explain or try to persuade me to take an existing maid by bending some of my rules etc etc, I will not hesitate to drop the agent. I am paying good money for their services (not cheap nowadays) and hence I expect good services. Maid quality is v subjective I guess because of a few factors:

1. Level of Capability and Capacity
2. Personality and Character

Its easier to train (1) than change (2). (2) is about luck. If the helper that come on board have personality clashes with u, then it will forever be an issue even though you can try to train.

Personally, I prefer to mitigate risks when I hire a helper. I will inform the agent of my requirements, give them my prescribe houserules and duty list and they source. After that, from biodata, i will interview. And I do ask a whole lot of questions. Basically, to find out their purpose/intention, family background, even simple questions like if they know how to do laundry etc. With the houserules, there is less dispute if any later with both agency and helper. Because sometimes, its really word against word. My helper is aware that she will be sent home if she breaks the following grave rules:

1. Break the law, get pregnant, have bf, get unknown S** diseases
2. Let a stranger into my home without my knowledge
3. Abuse my child
4. Steal or Lie
5. Own a mobile phone or SIM card without my knowledge (I purchase ICC card for my helper to call home once a mth and also on special occasions like Mum's birthday, Dad's birthday, her Son's birthday etc)

As for whether children sleep with helper, my DS is around 2 and cannot really speak up so for now, he still sleeps with us. If I had older children who already know difference of right and wrong, probbaly I will, because if helper abuses them, my chidlren will know how to speak up/complain.

I prefer to hire new helper than EX or transfer cases because they bring along old habits that die hard. New helper require time to train but the effort is worth it because in the end, they follow what you train them. This also reduces the clashes when you try to change an experienced maid with her existing habits.

As for cooking, I started off buying recipe books from popular. Also, I had a thermal soup pot and 3 tier steamer (when I did not have helper, I had to make meals v fast on my own cos FTWM). So I taught helper to make simple boiled soups, steam fish/steam chicken/steam meat/steam egg and simple stir fry veg. or Just veg soup with steam something.

You can enrol helper in one of those cooking classes so she can learn more dishes. I have not done so because I take every sunday to teach helper one new dish each week.

I wish you all the best in getting a good helper. GOOD LUCK.