Depending on the nationality. For Indo, I hear from my friends the agency fee alone is close to 2K


I just called a couple of agency today since my helper decides to go home next Feb . All the agencies I called hv implemented the change. Nation is charging $2600 for agency fee +++ and plus 7%GST + don't know what documentation fee the maid has to bear and this is the only fee we can deduct from salary The other agency is charging $2500 +++ also- and all no more free replacement!

I guess what we have to do is to add up all the cost and see the difference since there are so many other charges

I think a lot of us have forgotten our forefathers or even some of our parents used to be one of the migrant workers. While our forefathers hv slogged to provide us the life we live today, we should be grateful and showing the same empathy for these group of migrant workers are only human.

It may be true the maids have signed the contract to come and work here - but they do not have a choice when there are no jobs back home - and to feed one’s child and family sometimes made one go into desperate measures. We as the employers should empathize with them and should not be taking advantage.
I am one of the lucky few whom has been successful in life through the sacrifice my father has gone through - sleeping in the streets for 4 months when he first get to Singapore in the 1930s, choose to save 10 cents and walk 40 mins to work and working day and nite to raise his 8 children whom all turned out to be good individuals.
My dad did make a choice to face the harsh life by choosing to board the vessel which took him 20 days to arrive in Singapore. He did made a choice to sleep in the streets and probably received the same treatment as how most people treated the maids with arrogance, and he did made a choice to choose to sweat just to save 10 cents to send his kids to school. He was despised by many being an illiterate immigrant but live a fulfilling life - not only raising his 8 children to be successful but building a mansion back in his village and using the money we gave him to build a school in his village and renovating the village temple. And he passed on last year as a well respected person.
Let’s not forget where we come from, treat people with the same grace you could like to be treated and we can all stopped going to our churches or temples to ask for blessing

Yes this is true. The situation is changing for the maids but not for poor employees like us…can only blame our "garmen’ not fighting the rights.


I hv no problem the DH salary is going up since it is still cheap labor to pay someone even $15 a day to work night and day for us. But as compared to our miserable increment of 2-5% every year, this is certainly a struggle for all of us plus the heavy maid levy

I am thinking of changing my maid…call a few agency today and all say nowadays employer must bear the maid loan- that is no salary deduction anymore - which means one must be willing to pay up to $4000 to hire a maid