Estéema:

What The:

Good analysis. But do you have any language barrier with Myanmar maid? How do they compare with Laos maid?

I don't hv any experience with Laotian helpers at all. I might follow Colonel Tan (Retired) on his mission to Cambodia tho. Maybe can help him with his orphanage Manadarin programme & train some girls. But I know the learning curve will be extremely steep.

So far, apart fr one Mynmar young girl (believe she was grossly underage) briefly for four days & found she had no issue with written English, but I sent her back to agency for ano matter. Suspect ex-eyer abuse her physically & she didn't hv any presence of mind. Was worried for my young kids then.

Thankful last few was communicative & this current one I've never met her but once I heard her voice speaking & answering my questions, I just bought her airtic to fly in. My previous Mynmar girl had 2 weeks of overlap, so basic orientation done. So far we're doing well & she's like my own daughter.

I must say we need to take initiative to talk to them, show them care & concern, chit chat casually with them w/o loosing their respect for us eyers. There were some refinements I made to teach her to hone her culinary skills & she can bake pancakes, muffins & variety of sponge cakes on her own. Hvnt taught her fondant cake design yet. Gotta wait a bit longer.

What The:

Good analysis. But do you have any language barrier with Myanmar maid? How do they compare with Laos maid?

Estéema:

It's diff story elsewhere. It tougher for the maids to assess HK or Taiwan due many factors - distance, demand, final take home pay.


It's good to ensure helpers complete contract, but s'times it's not practical if the fit is not right. It shld not only work one way for goodwill, and eyers must also be made responsible to uphold their part of deal. Then it causes more stresses coz either party 'forced' to live thro completion.

Spore is a more open economy with foreign workers fr every country needed to boost our construction & other industries. So, temptations are also much higher than Taiwan or HK. Not that HK does not hv such problems based on news reports of some falling prey to questionable intentions of sorts. Also HK population is just dense as Spore.

With Taiwan, the society is quite diff & more spread out. It's costlier to communicate with families or not as easy to return to Indo at will. Taiwan hv less expats & hence less in demand of Pinos. I rmbr my frd's Indo helper said Taiwan eyers very fierce & loud when they scold maids.

It's so easy for Indo maids to just buy a cheap ferry ticket to Batam & look for eyers thro internet. Daily meals & board can be as cheap as S$5 a day & they're back to asking for >$600 bcoz they've stepped into Spore & therefore so called 'experienced' alr.

I don't take maids coming fr Batam. It's also just my personal preference not to hire Pinos. So, I keep to Myanmar girls. Even then I carefully assess their suitability. I had at times survive for months on PT help, cook & wash myself till I find right girl. For sanity of my family life, I wld rather be \"Selective\".

What The:

:goodpost:

Estéema:

Wow! That is alr a clear signal that yr Pino maid may be cooking or sharing food with the cleaners & security guards.


Happened to my frd who had a back door near kitchen & she didn't realize till one morning her son went crying to her bedroom asking for milk. She cldnt find her maid but the backdoor at kitchen was left half opened with a chair against it. She shut it. Before long, her front door bell rang & upon questioned, maid said some clothes dropped & she went to collect. Problem is her lie showed coz she returned empty-handed & my frd said she's on level 12. She doubt maid can't see anything below.

After she sent her home, one security kept asking g abt her maid. Then her neigbour told her she's been seen making out with the security guard at basement car park of their condo.

I've learnt never to fully leave maid on their own & note key areas to check on their regularly. Of course, to start a new maid off must hand-hold with household rules & practices firmly. Not that we wanna live on constant tetters but do rmbr maid is a grown up & hv come fr a diff culture. Spore is a 'flower world' to them - a lot of temptations. Tho she's not yr child, to hv good start, u still hv to train her to your own home practices & always be firm. Initially, I do check what they carry out for off-days & when they return.

The other thing is I never give them notice when I suspect sth amidst or part unhappily. I need to protect my family & kids. Once, I discovered my Pino maid took my DH's Ferragamo necktie which was my bday gift to him. She had the audacity to say I gave her the item. Amongst others were brief! Most Pinos hv problems of deceit. Not all, but enuf to deter me fr selecting them.

When I do start a new helper, I'll orientate her to my h'hold practices & rules. Mktg & supermktg need to account with receipts, written records & dated on a Booklet. After sufficient time, she can go auto. You'll then hv a basis to gauge if there is marked changes & asks for accountability.

tree nymph:

I think Esteema's assumption is quite sound. The other assumption I thought of is if your helper had been cooking rice to share with the other helper?


I suggest that you check your fridge frequently and also be around when she is cooking just to see how much of everything she is cooking. I know that many helpers
consume more rice (which is their staple food) than us, 20+kg for herself is quite a lot. When you are around, then you are able to correct her mistakes and she will be able to understand you better.

Angelique:

My maids always ate what we eat and they were able to eat rice from morning, lunch, dinner. 25kg rice would last about 3 weeks

When we didn’t have Maid we only used 5kg in 1 month.


I’m hoping with food allowance she will learn to be careful and not waste to food and budget since she can keep her change or be short of


Please kindly share with me what you are doing for maids food.

THANK YOU. :rahrah:

Angelique:

My maids always ate what we eat and they were able to eat rice from morning, lunch, dinner. 25kg rice would last about 3 weeks

When we didn’t have Maid we only used 5kg in 1 month.


I’m hoping with food allowance she will learn to be careful and not waste to food and budget since she can keep her change or be short of


Please kindly share with me what you are doing for maids food.

THANK YOU. :rahrah: