Myanmar maids

[Fatty Mum]

st2:

Hi Fatty Mum


What's the situation/package/salary with Indo maids now? Can share share?

Agencies still hv plenty of indo maids but the agent fees for increased to $1088! I was not interested in paying so much fees for those under new contract. So I hv chosen 2 under old contract. Loan is abt $3150 to $3500, salary ranges betw $410 to $430 for no experience maids.

But most indo maids are coming under new contract. Experienced ones want Hp more than a job so those I can't be bothered. They also want at least 1 off day esp. transfer maids. Those i am also not keen. New ones no off day and Hp. But I think it is a matter of time they will ask for one.

[Fatty Mum]

moonee:

fattymum,,, Times have changed, hard to find a maid that does nt want a h/p. My last 2 mynmar came in withhout a h/p but told me that they intend to buy one after they hv cleared their loan, both dont need to call home but just want a h/p cos its the in thing for them.

I do hope u can get the right maid this round. This time u got to be very firm on the h/p and state yr terms to the maid, they all say yes when they want the job but theres a lot of bad influence out there. Think u must make them sign on what ever is agreed upon so that the maid cant go back on her word.

I know... It is very frustrating to be in this situation. It is like they are employed to yak on the phone rather do the housework. So my helper is quite okay w doing the work in front of me. But I don't know what happens behind my back or when I am not around. As I hv a 2 year old at home and she can be quite active, I don't really wish for a maid to hv the hp during the week. Weekends I am fine as we are around to watch the kids. U know when I interviewed an indo maid yesterday, the agent asked if she can give me any promise that she won't use her Hp during the week, she said she cannot do so.

I think the agent has come to realise that this one probably can't find a job with the locals. Every maid is waiting for an expat family to take them. But these days the expat madam is also very smart. My Kiwi neighbour probably changed a few maids over 5 years. Even she commented that the maids quality had dropped drastically since 10 years ago. Even my dh is no longer keen for the maids to hold the hp after a few fantastic experiences.

[st2]

Hi Fatty Mum


Thanks for sharing.

My Myanmar maid that I just sent back a few weeks ago, she finished paying her loan, ask for hand phone and want to send 1st month full salary home. She can say/express clearly-
she has to get phone because her sister will be coming here to look for a job and other relatives are also here and coming soon.
She knows peninsula is the place to go to send money home, she will send it to her uncle which is agent in myanmar.

I told agent to talk to her, remind her that her contract, no handphone. A few days later, she say, not happy, she wants to go back Myanmar. I promptly bought a jetstar ticket and sent her back 3 weeks later.

I took her as transfer maid, 2 months with 1st employer, then me for 7 months. When she enter my house, I checked her things, her note already has dozens of email, sg phone numbers and addressess. Amazing net work.

All this time, her work was so poor. Dirty, oily, dusty even after cleaning. Spend 2 hours washing up pots and plates after dinner. Touch raw meat and transfer bacteria everywhere without washing hands first. No matter how many times I teach, also forget about food hygeine principle.

When I question her chores done or not, she’ll roll her eyes, blink eyes, purse her lips, show attitude and shake her legs…When I show her her chore/stuff still dusty/oily, she look so surprise and keep saying she has clean already. She has no sense of what clean is, as long as she has run the duster or cleaning cloth over something, it’s considered chore done. This is someone that told me first few days when she started work that she wants to earn money to go back to University to study chemistry. She feels insulted when I asked her if her family are farmers. She said they live in the city. Her mother does all the cooking and cleaning, she and her siblings just need to study hard in school.

Her siblings, cousins all use internet cafe to make calls to my hp. the connection is very bad most of the time, I hear them, but they can’t hear me; they call at least 20 times before they give up.

She tried to use my laptop got caught. Been using my husband laptop 2nd week working. Tell all sorts of elaborate lies and eyes won’t even blink. Caught red handed, still can continue lying.

[moonee]

Ugh… nowadays maids are getting bolder, I dont think its worth paying and teaching someone who eventually will turn against u or transfer out. I think mynmar maids were quite good some 5 years back cos there was no high demand and those that came in were serious on making a living. Agents in Mynmar work the same way as the Indons bringing in underage children, they go round scouting for young girls and con them to come to spore painting a beautiful picture of spore. They normally tell the girls that its easy to do housework and most of the time I think they tell the girls that all they need to do is to look after elderly… I notice most of the mynmar biodatas are similar, majority of the applications state that they want to look after the old cos the agent probably told them its an easy job.

When the girl arrives in spore the job duties are different and thats when the problem start. Ah! the mynmar agent will say anything to convince the girl just to get more $$

[Fatty Mum]

moonee:

Ugh... nowadays maids are getting bolder, I dont think its worth paying and teaching someone who eventually will turn against u or transfer out. I think mynmar maids were quite good some 5 years back cos there was no high demand and those that came in were serious on making a living. Agents in Mynmar work the same way as the Indons bringing in underage children, they go round scouting for young girls and con them to come to spore painting a beautiful picture of spore. They normally tell the girls that its easy to do housework and most of the time I think they tell the girls that all they need to do is to look after elderly.... I notice most of the mynmar biodatas are similar, majority of the applications state that they want to look after the old cos the agent probably told them its an easy job.

When the girl arrives in spore the job duties are different and thats when the problem start. Ah! the mynmar agent will say anything to convince the girl just to get more $$

Hi Moonee, yes I think u r right! I asked mine if it was the Mynamar agent that promised her she could hv a hp after 6 months, she said yes. I managed to get the local agent to speak to her yesterday asking after her well being. She was surprised but very touched that her agent would care for her so much. I again explained to her the cons of having a hp and she agreed with me. I told her that I trust her to do the right thing and encourage her not to waste off days but to use the time to upgrade her skills. Told her that i am sure she doesn't want to be a maid forever.. She must make the move to improve her computer and English skills. Hopefully all these stays inside the head.

I told her that her agent back home made at least 50% of the loan for every successful candidate and possibly commission of the loan she takes. She was taken aback, visibly shocked.

After meeting the indo maids, I have come to realize that it s really hard to get good help these days. The younger ones are only out to hv fun, not seriously want to do any proper work. The older ones will reconnect with their previous network and start their nonsense all over again. that is why the mobile is more important to them than their lives. We all shld buy shares in the telcos counters. I bet these companies made loads out of top up cards!! :evil:

My DH forbids all Filipino helpers after a few fantastic experiences with them plus one at his work place. This I will tell story another time.

[moonee]

Fattymum… Maybe theres some hope for yr mynmar now that u hv " enlightened" her, mynmars can be rather blur and easily swayed initially as they are not exposed to the world till they are out frm their country, a lot has been misrepresented to them before they came in. My previous mynmar was told that everything is free before coming to spore, food lodging etc… and if she does not like her employer or the job she can transfer but she was not told that she has to incur extra loan… think u should highlight that to yr maid. A transfer does not guarantee that she n the new employer will be happy with each other, besides she has to start all over again, getting to know the job n most important she has to get to know what the employer wants. So, she better know what to expect especially with her high salary and her limited knowledge of english, employers expect better standards.

Nowadays I see quite a lot of employers taking transfer maids on a temporary basis and neither the agent nor the maid know it. I hv friends that couldnt wait for their maid to arrive and took any rejected maid siting at the agency.
I blieve it takes a bit of time but see how it goes and hopefully she will see the light. I agree its so tiring to change and start all over again with a new maid that may not work out.
Btw, is it true that there are less biodatas for Indons today cos my agent mentioned that the Indons are still negotiating with spore? Seems like there are a lot of filipinas instead now.

[Fatty Mum]

Hi Moonee,


Yes I better remember to highlight it to her… I don’t know what her mynamar agent told her so far. But she came with a lot of stuff like toiletries and even umbrella… Her English is still not too great but as long as the family understands her and vice versa, can’t ask for more.

From your description of the Burmese helpers, she is a lot more mellow and listens to instructions. But still needs a push and reminders to do certain chores. As for keeping her area clean, that needs another reminder ESP her own toilet.

Indo bio data are much lesser than before. Whether the two countries’ authorities are negotiating, I am unsure. But most maids are trying to come in with the new loan/ agency fees of at least $1k. This is a hefty price for us to pay for the quality of maids now. Easier to take Filipino helpers if u can keep up with their craftiness. Coz indo maids of late are no different once they come here for a few months and mix around. As they are here to yak on their phones and make friends, the choice is not to take the indo or take a cheaper option of hiring other nationalities.

They said that the maids rather go to Taiwan or HK for the higher pay. But there are cons going there. They can’t transfer if they don’t like the work or family. They can’t speak Mandarin or Cantonese which is very frustrating for them and the older folks. I heard that in hk, the maids will be asked to leave the house on Friday and only come home on Sunday evening. The maids will share a room betw 4 of them using their own cash every weekend. This is especially so if the living premises of the employer is very small and everyone is home for the weekend.

Sigh!! I pray that I can go maid less after my youngest girl is older. It has been a vexing road from the 1st maid hired 7 years ago til today. Not really worth the stress, to be honest.

[st2]

My friend said her agent told her Hari Raya Puasa Aug 19, so the Indo side, agents, maids etc are starting fasting tomorrow and they probably will only start things going after that. It seems their systems etc are still not in place yet, even though they have been talking about all these changes on exporting maids in the last few months.


My aunty’s myanmar maid’s brother got a job in Singapore 8 months ago, so she has been coming up with all these excuses to want off days to spend with her brother, she will tell elaborate stories and even play my aunty against her daughters to get off days telling them that my aunty agree and vice versa when no one has agreed for her to off day that week. Her contract is no off day, no hp.

[Fatty Mum]

Hi st2,

How irritating… I tell u all these new maids get corrupted by the old birds here. We can say no Hp and off day to them, after loan period over all sort of nonsense and requests start popping out. They want the chance to get out of their country and poverty so much that they would lie through and through.

Even with this maid, I have made it clear to her that if I know of any wrong doing on her part, I will not utter a word. I will just get ready a ticket for her to go home. I hope that will put her on her toes.

Best to get their agent to speak to them… Agents have a way to deal with these sort of excuses coz they have seen it all. Problem with me is that I can be very pissed off at them at the slightest reason but super soft hearted to their plight. I need to find a balance between these two faults and deal with with a fair and firm hand.

[st2]

Hi Fatty Mum


The last month with my myanmar maid, she really pissed me off so much that I keep a log of all her mistakes and her signature. I write down the date, time, mistake and ask her to sign. She work for me for 6 months then, all the daily chores she has done, she can still make mistakes. Almost everyday, there’s an entry in the log.

I kept a journal of her whole 7 months working for me, this journal I don’t show her though. I think the reason she tried to hack my laptop was to see if she can see this journal.

That’s right…so irritating when they agree to no hp, no off day contract…when loan paid up, they want hp, because sister, brother… cousin …aunty, uncle coming to sg, must contact. Then comes the asking of off day. Must meet, very important to meet to collect this, pass this and that. I’m not joking and not based on 1 myanmar maid hear say.

My aunty’s maid tell elaborate story about how important mother’s day is in Myanmar, must have off day to shop with brother to buy some special present to send back Myanmar for their mother.

My myanmar maid also can tell stories, the stories they tell are like fantasy and so bullsh#*…nonsense…I get so tired listening to them and they can actually look you straight in the eye and expect you to believe it. Every time I confront her, she has a story to tell.

They just have to follow instructions, to clean and keep everything clean, can’t even do this. When my feet touch the floor, I pick up or reach out for something, it’s very annoying to find it dusty or oily…what’s the point of have a maid and the house is still dirty.