My helper’s first contract (she was a "new maid"): $350 a month + 13month bonus + $150 start of contract allowance + $150 end of contract allowance + 4 days-off a month. That’s basic package not including angpaos and course incentives etc. She kept saying her salary is low.


At the end of two years, had the usual home leave for 15 days, but hint hint hint… this helper has one month’s home leave, hint hint hint… that helper has 6 weeks home leave.

After two years, we renewed: $400 a month + 13month bonus + $100 start of contract allowance + $100 end of contract allowance + 4 days-off a month. She says her salary is low. Recently, she kept repeating how a neighbour is paying their new helper $500 a month, so I will also pay her extra $100 a month for as long as I am still employed.

Apparently this is still "low" because its not enough to go round her family members back home and she’s been asking advance salary the past few months.

Next year, no more helpers for us. Its a high recurring cost, financially and mentally.

:udawoman:

linayh:

Hello all..after more than 10 years n 8 maids...i have decided not to have a helper anymore...i am tired but i hv a piece of mind!...hv been maidless for nearly a month now


my kids r 13,12 n 8...my father is staying with me too..

i woke up at 4.30-5 am to cook lunch for my family...
household chores r share among us
lucky for me...my husband is the type that can do marketing n help in household matters...

to make my cooking a 'faster affair'...as i need to leave house by 6.45 am...

i bought
-iona roaster(like air fryer)
-pressure cooker
-thermal pot
others
-stick vacuum

i need to replace my blender etc too

i am thinking of getting a dryer?

i have 1 mth more to get my timings right before the school reopens...

reading the stories here somehow 'motivates' me and 'get some ideas' to shorten the time of doing housework\\cooking...

:udawoman: u rise at 4:30-5am! that's very disciplined!

I had the opportunity to visit AK and was very impressed. The classes were a hive of activity, and I liked it that the children were working with their teachers in small groups. I also liked the friendly messages placed throughout the school about behaviours and attitudes, and was very impressed with the children’s work that were put up - so thoughtful and innocent. Saw the teachers and principal interacting with the children and there was a lot of respect. Seriously, this matters a lot to me, because I am so sick of seeing and hearing my child’s present playgroup teacher shout and scold!

Angelight:

Xiaodingdang, so can your room a resume its cleaning after it recharged, or u have to drag it to another room to clean the ones it hasn't clean? How a t maintnance, easy to clean the robot?

hi Angelight (cool name, btw!)
It has never resumed cleaning after re-charging, I don't think it actually does that. I think when it goes back to the dock (where it also recharges), it doesn't come out again til the next cleaning cycle. Viz, it doesn't resume cleaning on its own after re-charging. That said, I always run it when the battery is full, so its always completed cleaning the entire space that I want it to clean before it retires to the dock.
As it is, it takes long enough to finish cleaning. If it docks, recharges, ten comes out to clean again, I think I might go mad.
Yes, it is easy to clean. I clean it once a week. Takes me about five minutes each time.
Actually, Roomba wasn't my first choice. I wanted to get the Mint Plus (which has a mopping function as well) but it was out of stock for weeks and I decided to stop waiting and get a Roomba and a Scooba instead.

[quote=\"Angelight\"]Thanks for your sharing. I also read somewhere that the roomba cleans randomly, so there might be some areas it may miss. Do you feel your floors are much cleaner after it's done its job, or not much diff?


I want to get some feedback from real users cos this is quite a big investment for our family (a robot cleaner costs so much more than a conventional one), and I want to make sure it's worth buying.

Btw, does your roomba consume alot of electricity? Do you have to leave its power on all the time, and how often do you charge it?

Hi Angelight,
My floors are much cleaner after Roomba, there's a discernible difference because we no longer see clumps of our dog's fur in the house :boogie: There's one thing I don't quite like about it - it takes pretty long. About an hour to do my living and dining rooms.

I don't leave it charging. Read somewhere that I should, but the guy who delivered it said its not necessary. Its parked in the Homebase/Dock. I turn on the main switch - which means the Dock wil also be turned on before running the Roomba. After Roomba is done, is goes back to the dock and recharges. While its recharging, the light pulses orange. When recharging is completed, the light pulses green, and I turn off the power - because I don't like to leave power switches that my toddler can access on. I am not sure how long the battery takes to charge up, usually I check about a couple of hours later.

I got the 650 which can be scheduled to run on its own. I've only ever used the scheduling function once - it was nice to come home to a vacuumed floor! All other days, I turn it on manually, as I can't tell in advance what time we will be ready to vacuum the floor - it depends on when my toddler goes out to the playground. (I work from home.)

About \"missing\" areas, I know it missed some spots in a particular area the first time we used it. I don't know why it missed that area, but our whole family was sitting around there, so perhaps too many blockages or something (?) I don't know if it's missed spots at subsequent uses..

Hi Angelight, I have a Roomba. Its not good with corners, but does great with edges. It has a protruding side brush that protrudes and spins, which cleans along edges very well. I don’t know if it will resume cleaning after re-charging… I don’t think it will… But I don’t know, the situation of running out of battery before it finishes cleaning hasn’t happened to me yet. Does a way better job that my conventional vacuum cleaner which can’t clean along edges. I like it.

huaywenandkenneth:

I can't really remember. Sorry. Must have been at least more than 2 to 3 years between her return and marriage as my MIL has been maidless for quite a while since she left.

Thanks very much Huay Wen That's very useful to know. My helper was advised by another helper (who has been working in Singapore for many many many years and has encountered a variety of circumstances) that its best to go back to the home country and stay there for at least two years before seeking permission from MOM to marry the local bf. The reason for this was not clearly articulated and my helper is very reluctant for reasons of her own to clarify with the person who advised her. Thanks very much for sharing!

huaywenandkenneth:

My MIL ex-maid married a s'porean man after she ended her contract and went back to Indonesia. Not sure how she did it though. She had a young kid and would still visit my MIL during CNY.

Hi again Huay Wen, forgot to ask you just now. Do you know how long it was between the ex-maid's return to Indonesia and her marrying a SIngaporean man?

JGMum:

hquek:

This one is quite interesting...I got all this from MOM's website (http://www.mom.gov.sg/Documents/services-forms/passes/WPSPassConditions.pdf)


\"The foreign employee shall not be involved in any illegal, immoral or undesirable activities, including breaking up families in Singapore.\"

Does it mean that in the case of a family broken up by immoral and conniving maid, the angry wife or ex-wife can write in to complain, and then the controller will not give permission for the marriage? My aunt's maid had an affair with my uncle and that resulted in a divorce several years back. My aunt and her children have since moved out, and the maid is now living with my uncle. The whole extended family doesn't speak to my uncle anymore after that incident, so I am not sure whether they applied for marriage. Perhaps she is still FDW in status but is my uncle's mistress in reality. Just wondering if there's anything the victim - the wife - can do in such cases. :sad:

hmmm.... did your aunt notify MOM about this?
i've heard of FDWs who are married to locals (went through the legal marriage in the FDWs home country) but continue to hold the FDW Work Permits in Singapore. but none of those i know broke up families - they married local bachelors.

Hi Huay, thank you Its good to know that it is possible. I will advise her to really follow the required procedures according to MOM's advice after they enquire with MOM. I've no doubt that her bf is sincere about marrying her, but its really making me nervous that he hasn't checked with MOM, and they plan to get married in the first quarter of next year. Its like putting the cart before the horse!