Employing a maid in Singapore

Help needed for Research

2012-02-12T16:15:00.000-08:00

Ari from Indonesia is doing a research about maids working in Singapore.

Ari wrote :

"This research hopefully will identified gaps and tension between employers and employee, and how Indonesia government and people could do to eliminate that situations."

"My study as I mentioned before is to see how is the personal relationship between employers and employee (migrant domestic workers), and how do you feel about caring activities delivered in the households, for example, how do you feel about your child taken care by strangers. I will also try to analyze the connection with the government policy (MoM especially) in affecting household hiring migrant workers. I notice there are some huge concerns on how the MoM actually not really protect employers."

Ari is very interested to interview any employers in Singapore. Please email her at aryanisantoso@gmail.com if you are keen to meet her.

Singaporean employers face unfair policies

2012-02-11T19:35:00.000-08:00

Here is a summary of the policies that are unfair to employers in Singapore. Please feel free to comment if you have more to add to the following list.

1. Security bond conditions :

For many years, employers are required to pay $5000 of security bond if the maid becomes pregnant. This rule was removed only in Oct 2009 : Change in security bond conditions

This is the main reason why many employers are not willing to give their maids off days. Unless an employer has millions of dollars in her bank account, $5000 is a large sum of money to lose. Although the rule has been removed recently, it is difficult for employers to change their mindset.

However, under the new security bond conditions :
In cases where the FDW absconds, only half the Security Bond ($2500), instead of the entire bond of $5000, will be forfeited, so long as the employer has made reasonable efforts to locate the worker.

This is the reason why employers cannot let their maids go out whenever they like, because if the maid disappears, then employers are going to lose money. Since the maids are human beings just like us, why do we need to be responsible for what happens to them on their off days ? Our employers do not need to lose any money if we disappear.

2. Medical Care
(Source)

As an employer, you are responsible for your FDW’s medical needs. You are required to bear the full cost of her medical care should she require medical treatment, including hospitalisation.

As a result of this rule, even if your maid had a medical condition before she came to work for you, and when she fell ill again due to the same condition, you are responsible for all her medical fees.

The following case was reported in the New Paper :

"In March, another family disputed their Filipino maid's $1,000 Institute of Mental Health bill as they subsequently discovered she had previously been warded in a mental hospital in her home country."

If your maid has not been taking care of her teeth properly, and when she complains of toothache, you must pay for her dental visit.

3. Repatriation
(Source)

You should give your FDW reasonable notice of her repatriation to her home country and bear the full cost of her repatriation.

If your maid comes to work for 3 days, refuses to do anything, then ask to go home, you must pay for her air ticket back home. Otherwise you will lose your security bond.

4. Changing more than four FDWs in a year
(Source)

Employers who are applying for their fifth FDW within a 12-month period must attend the Classroom EOP.

Employers who apply for their sixth or subsequent FDW within a 12-month period must attend an interview with an MOM officer before the Ministry processes the Work Permit application. The interview will allow the Ministry to gain an understanding of the employer's practices to assess the application.

I personally know of a maid who has changed 10 employers in 2 years and still get her work permit approved easily. Why is it that MOM does not bother to interview the maid to gain an understanding of what is the problem with her ? Why does MOM always assume that it is the employer's fault ?

5. Maid Loan

The employer must fully pay for the maid's loan before she arrives in Singapore. This maid loan is about $3440, and the maid is supposed to have a large part of her salary deducted for the first 8 to 10 months in order to repay the employer. If the maid is unhappy with the employer, she can ask to transfer to a new employer. The new employer must pay for the balance of her maid loan. If the maid decides that she wants to go home, then the employer will lose the maid loan.

Since maids do not need to pay anything before they come to work in Singapore, and they know that it is very easy to change employers, most maids are not motivated to work hard.

In Hong Kong and Taiwan, maids must fully pay for their loan before they leave their home country. They have probably taken up loans from their friends or relatives, so they have no choice but to work hard.

The maid loan is the root of most problems with maids in Singapore. According to MOM, the maid loan is an agreement between the maid agencies and the employers, and MOM cannot do anything about it. The maid agencies band together to force all employers to pay the maid loan. This is very unfair to the employers, and the situation is not going to improve unless the government step in to change things.

6. Maid Levy

Employers in Singapore are required to pay the government a levy of $265 every month. If the employer has young children or elderly, the levy is $170. My understanding is that employers in Hong Kong and Taiwan are not required to pay such levy. Why are we made to pay levy every month ? What has been done to help employers ?

Anyone who is concerned about whether maids face any unfair policies in Singapore, please read the following report :
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

You will find out that MOM has many rules to protect the maids.

Last edited on 11 Feb 2012.

Jakarta plans to stop sending maids by 2017

2012-01-05T04:29:00.000-08:00

The following report is published in the Straits Times on 5 Jan 2012.

'Roadmap' aims to ensure maids are treated like other workers who venture abroad

By Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Indonesia Correspondent

BACKGROUND STORY

Indonesians account for almost half of Singapore's 200,000-plus maids, and 80 per cent of Malaysia's 350,000 maids.

If it is carried out, however, it could mean a massive shortage of maids for places like Singapore and Malaysia, both of which rely heavily on domestic workers from Indonesia.

Indonesians account for almost half of Singapore's 200,000-plus maids, and 80 per cent of Malaysia's 350,000 maids.

Jakarta - Indonesia is looking to stop sending its nationals to work as maids abroad by 2017, under a 'roadmap' it is drawing up to reform and formalise its domestic worker sector.

Under the Domestic Worker Roadmap 2017, it wants to ensure maids are treated like other workers when they work abroad - earning minimum wages, getting leave and working fixed hours, for example.

The plan is part of a larger aim to raise the skills of the thousands of Indonesians going overseas to work, according to the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry.

'Under the roadmap, we target zero sending out of domestic maids,' Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar was quoted by news reports as saying on Wednesday.

He acknowledged, however, that the task would be a challenging one, as most Indonesians seeking jobs abroad are low-skilled.

Some criticised the idea for being difficult to implement.

The roadmap comes amid ongoing efforts by Jakarta to address maid abuse abroad.

In 2009, Indonesia banned maids from going to Malaysia following a spate of abuse cases. The ban was lifted last year after Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur hammered out an agreement on a slew of measures to better protect maids working in Malaysia.

Jakarta was also reported to be reviewing which countries it will allow maids to work in.

About 650,000 Indonesians leave home every year to work as maids abroad, many of them from East Java and West Nusa Tenggara provinces.

Under the roadmap being drawn up, Jakarta could require host countries to spell out job specifications for maids clearly.

'They should be placed in specific positions such as cook, housekeeper or caregiver,' Mr Muhaimin was quoted by Bernama as saying.

He added that these workers should also enjoy the usual rights that their formal counterparts get, such as predetermined working hours, leave, minimum wages and 'social guarantees'.

But the minister also acknowledged that Jakarta would have to deal with several challenges when implementing the plan, including providing alternative jobs in Indonesia.

Some 45 per cent of the country's 120 million-strong workforce have no more than primary school education, the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry noted.

Mr Muhaimin said the government was working to enhance the skills and competency levels of the country's workers in the industrial and creative economic sectors.

Critics, however, said the roadmap was unworkable.

Activist Syaiful Anas at the Jakarta-based Migrant Care, a non-governmental group that looks out for migrant workers, said the government should improve the protection of maids instead of trying to stop them from going overseas to work.

The plan, he charged, contradicts a recent statement by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that Indonesia recognises maids as belonging to a proper profession.

'It's hard to believe Muhaimin made such statements... we all know there are still many who need to be maids,' he told The Straits Times.

Mr Rusjdi Basalamah, who owns and runs an agency that sends maids overseas, also doubted that the plan would work.

'We now have a moratorium in place on the sending of maids to certain Middle Eastern countries, but many have still gone there illegally and the government could not do anything about it,' he said.

The internet savvy maids

2011-12-05T22:01:00.001-08:00

Thanks to the recent report about my blog in the Straits Times, many maids have discovered my blog and posted comments here. I admit that I am surprised to find out that maids now can afford to own iPhones. With 3G plans, they are able to access the internet freely.

In a recent news report : Employers asked to remove CCTVs from maids' rooms, two maids posted comments on MOM facebook page complaining that their employers installed CCTV to monitor them. MOM promptly contacted the employers and asked them to remove the CCTV.

The new generation of maids are perhaps more internet savvy than their employers, especially if their employers are over 50 years old.

Personally I don't think there is any problem with maids using iPhones and accessing the internet, but I wonder whether these maids are here to earn money or spend money. They are certainly not earning too little otherwise how can they afford iPhones ?

I have copied some comments posted by maids from other pages here. Abby also has her own blog.
I do agree with what the maids wrote, like "maid are clever not stupid", and that they use Singapore as a stepping stone.

Comments by maids :

Anonymous said...

To all MAIDS and EMPLOYER,

I am a MAID,I knew this website after reading an article in ST. My view is, we need you as you need us too.When we first come to Singapore, what we wished is to have a good Employer to work with, I conclude this is your wish too,to have a good maid to look after your children and love ones..We are Humans not an Object or Toys.We all have our differences towards attitude & character as individual. We aren't perfect when we do our chores we bound to have mistakes.Forgive as when we are so slow to catch up your instruction, forgive as when we do not meet your high standard and expectation.We are always willing to learn if you had the willingness to be open to us by communicating and be openly tell us what you want,what you need & what you dislike..In short,it's a Golden Rule here internally and external. I have a very good employer I worked with her family for almost 8 years.. My employer always appreciate me, she is always thankful to have a maid like me as they are working parents..We have a very important rules in your household,hope u realised that, we have a great responsibility when we brought your children to School,Markets even in playground or simply just at home everyday,We are responsible for the safety of your children,your aged parents when you hire us as your maid. It's just very simple,treat us as what u want to be treated too.More than 200,000 Foreign Domestic Workers here,less than 50 percent are abusing their employers every year.And it's untrue that MOM and Homes are always defending us. MOM and Homes also protects employers.There is no right or wrong when you all talked about us (this is human nature)as we do not denied when we talked about you in our sms either good or bad comments but we are not gossiping about you ,we are just sharing's our experience & problems to our friend we are always talked about our own personal problems (hope you don't always thinks that we are badmouthing you).This is our way of releasing our emotion and to heal our homesickness. We do not want to end up mental incapacity here. It's invade to our privacy to spill out our Passport # and Work permit.Instead of finger pointing whose victim or not a victim here,why not create a solution to improve maid and employer relationship,solution how to avoid potential abusive maid/employer before it may occur.We also have our dignity and integrity. Thanks Madam Tamarind for this website you have created it helps us too to learn how lucky we are to be treated nicely by our employers compare to my other colleague, this website help us to reflect & to know what our fellow maids are doing to and to learned from that experienced as well.We hope lets respect each other her. Thank you so much...

November 29, 2011 10:29 AM

Anonymous said...

Maid are human too , i am maid from indonesia, i just want to say if you dont like the maid or upset just send her to the agency , and dont hired maid , dont gossip about other people , some day if some body talk bad about you how ! Now maid are clever not stupid and i have one of experiment , when first time i come here my first employer say i am stupid, pig, that is very upseting me , now my second employer are very good , give me nice food , rest , lett me use iphone ,

November 28, 2011 10:22 PM

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I'm an Indonesian maid. I think it's all the same. There are good employers and bad employers. I just wanna share my own experienced whereby my first employers were bad like a devil from the hell. I should have put my urine into their soup. It was my first time working in Singapore with a chinese family who stayed at Malvin Spring Condominium at Onan Road. They treated me so badly by making me sleep on the floor without mattress and blanket beside their dog. I can only took my lunch at 6pm and sometimes with rotten rice, I had no choice to eat it as I was hungry. My dinner was only at 1am, I had to wash their two cars at 12am and sometimes they didn't open the door after I finished washing the cars and I had to wait for an hour infront of the door. I slept only at 3am and woke up at 6am every day. I had to eat on the floor and my shoulders should not lean on the walls. When they went out they would bring me along as they are afraid I might eat their food. When we ate outside they didn't allow me to sit together but will asked me to sit far away from them and sometimes they didn't buy food for me. They would only cooked rice for me after we returned home. If they left me at home, they would sealed the power button of the stove. When we went to the market at Marine Parade, their two evil daughters age between 12yrs and 15 yrs old forced me to carry the heavy stuffs such as rice and bottles of soft drinks while their trolley were only filled with light stuffs. Both my arms and hands were hurting and I was not allowed to rest while walking from Marine Parade to Onan Road. Finally, one day when the evil mother asked me to buy newspaper, I used this opportunity to call my agent. I asked $0.10 from a girl to make the phone call. I told my agent about it and my agent asked me to be patient and wait for three months. When 3 months past, my agent called my evil employers up and request them to send me back to the agency.
That was my the story 5 years ago. Now, my second employer(current), treats me like her own family whom consists only a mother and a son. We eat together and when we eat outside I can choose whatever in the menu that I like. There are not much work to be done. I washes only her son's and my clothes in the washing machine and drying it in the dryer after that. His mother's clothes are only sent to the laundry. All the dishes I washed using the dishwasher. They worked from 9am to 10 pm++. Every day I'm alone at home and they allow me to take some courses such as A levels at Singapore Indonesian School on Sundays and N levels at the ITE on weekdays(evening) from 7pm to 10 pm 4x a week as I'm taking four subjects. I'm using an iPhone 4 under the StarHub dataplan with 2 years contract and it's under her son's name. He pays for the monthly subscription. I think I'm very lucky to have such an employer like her. Thanks a lot mom.

November 30, 2011 7:49 PM

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I am a degree holder from the Philippines and yet I became a maid. At first i was ashamed of it but then I realized, there's nothing to be ashamed of because this is a decent job but as i read your blog i felt upset and disgraced.I guess saying that employers are the one who suffers the most is a bit too much. Likewise, maids are often the victims. This blog shows that we are looked down upon. One rotten apple in a box of apples doesnt mean all the rest are rotten. You must dig out and choose isnt it?. It is such a pity that people from this developed country has narrowed their mind. And we maids cannot even depend ourselves of such accusations which are sometimes false. You cannot just jump into conclusions that we are all 'bad'. I think you are a perfectionist. One more thing a good maid-employer relationship lies on trust, respect and tolerance. I am saddened by the fact that we are slammed and belittle by our fellow Asians just because perhaps we came from less- developed countries. Lastly I would like to reiterate, the CREDIBILITY OF A MAID DEPENDS ON THE IMPARTIALITY OF EMPLOYERS TO PASS JUDGEMENT.

November 29, 2011 6:35 PM

Settling-In Programme to replace English test for foreign maids

2011-12-04T05:41:00.000-08:00

The following is published in the Straits Times on 4 Dec 2011.

By Shuli Sudderuddin

The mandatory Entry Test in English for Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) will be scrapped by mid 2012 to be replaced with a mandatory Settling-In Programme (SIP).

The SIP programme will include the current half-day Safety Awareness Course and include new components on adapting to living and working in Singapore, as well as conditions of employment and responsibilities of the FDW.

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, Minister of State for Manpower and National Development, said that consultations and surveys showed that four out of five FDWs faced problems settling down to life and work in Singapore.

He added that a Ministry of Manpower review found that the English test was not a meaningful measure of quality or understanding of the English language.

Failing the test, which would lead to repatriation after three attempts, could also cause distress.

Other entry requirements, such as the minimum age requirement of 23 years and the minimum education requirement of eight years of formal education, are retained.

About my blog

2011-12-03T17:51:00.001-08:00

My intention of creating this blog is to connect with other employers who have bad experiences with maids. I want to provide a platform where employers can share our experiences managing maids, so that we can learn from each other. Those employers who have been following my blog know exactly what my blog is all about.

However, there were news reports in CNN and Straits Times recently about my blog, written by reporters who do not bother to read my blog thoroughly, and simply lifted sentences completely out of context from my blog. This has resulted in a large number of new readers to my blog, so I feel that I should write about why I created this blog and a summary of what this blog is about.

I originally created this blog to share about : How to manage a maid, selecting a maid, selecting a maid agency, Cost of employing a maid, Renewing maid work permit/ passport. Regarding off days, I wrote in 2007 : "No one can work everyday for years without any rest. I advise employers to give off days to their maids whenever possible." Note that all maids have the freedom to choose whether they want off days or not : Present policy on days off for maids work. If a maid must have off days every week, she can always find an employer who allows it. However, many maids choose to have no off days, or only one off day a month, because they prefer to be paid a higher salary in compensation.

In "The miserable life of a full time working mother in Singapore", I wrote about why maids are a necessity, not a luxury for many couples who wish to have kids, as well as families who have elderly. In "About my maids", I wrote about the 8 maids I have employed before and why I had to send 7 maids away. I do not have high expectations, I only need the maid to cook for herself, to keep the floor clean, and to make sure that my kids are not hurt. My 8th maid has worked in my family for over 5 years, and she is a wonderful maid. My advise to employers is that there are good maids out there, but we have to keep changing in order to find a good one.

In the topic "What is a good employer ?", I wrote : I believe that as employers, it is important to treat maids in the same way as our employers treat us. I advise employers to pay your maid a higher salary if you can afford it, make sure that you give her a reasonable workload, and sufficient rest.

In "Misconceptions about maids", I wrote about why it is wrong to consider maids as slaves in Singapore.

The current system of employing maids in Singapore is very unfair to employers. We know nothing about the maid, except for the bio-data written by the maid herself. Click this website to see an example : Netmaid

Most employers do not have a chance to interview the maid face to face, because the maid is not allowed to enter Singapore before her work permit is approved by MOM.

Before we even meet the maid, we have to fully pay for the maid's loan of $3440, as well as the agency fees of a few hundred dollars. The maid can come to the employer's house, stay for a few days, refuse to do any work, and then ask to go home. MOM requires the employer to pay for the maid's air ticket back to the home country. The employer will lose the few thousand dollars of maid loan. The employer will need to pay the maid loan, agency fee, insurance, etc all over again to employ another maid.

Even if the maid slaps your baby really hard, or pinch your kids in front of you, there is nothing that you can do to her, except to send her away. You cannot make a police report or complain to MOM, because you cannot prove what she has done since there may not be serious physical injuries on your child. If she has not finished repaying her maid loan, you have no choice but to send her back to the agency to be transferred to a new employer. If the maid cannot find a new employer, the maid agency will never refund the maid loan to you. The result is that bad maids are being recycled from one employer to another.

I created another blog, "Comments about maids by Employers in Singapore", so that employers can write comments about their maids and warn other employers. The latest post in this blog is about a maid who pinched the thigh of a 2 year old girl very hard, resulting in a very serious bruise. This blog also includes a video of a maid slapping a 3.5 month old baby. Click here to see the video. The employer of a maid who beat and kicked his father wrote this in my blog :
"I’m preparing myself to bring this matter to MOM to blacklist this monster maid. But initial response from the MOM is (as usual) not an encouraging one. They will take more than 30 days to make a decision even after I gave them all relevant materials. I am still aiming to get this maid to be blacklisted. But how long is it going to be I really do not know. Mean time there is a danger that this monster maid may come back to Singapore as an angel."

My intention was for employers to check the list of maids in my blog before they decide to employ any maid. The "Comments about maids" blog is never meant for viewing by the general public. It is never meant for public shaming of the maids. Good maids who have done nothing wrong have no reasons to worry about this blog. Anyone who does not intend to employ maids should have no business reading this blog at all. I have also never stopped any maid from defending herself in this blog.

The comments about maids are written by their own employers, her work permit number is included because there may be many other maids with the same name. MOM allows any Singaporean to check the employment history of any maid using her work permit number on the MOM website, implying that the work permit number is not meant to be private to the maid only. However, the records only show the number of past employers and the length of employment. There are no explanations about why a maid left her previous employer. I have checked that a number of maids in the "comments about maids" blog have already found new employers.

I have now made the "Comments about maids by Employers in Singapore" blog private only to myself. Anyone concerned about employing a maid who can potentially harm your babies/toddlers/elderly, can email me at frostyapple@gmail.com. Please send me the full name of the maid that you are going to employ and I will let you view the comments of that maid only, if it exists in my blog. You can show these comments to the maid you are going to employ, so that she has a chance to defend herself.

I have also made the "Singapore Maid Agency Reviews" blog private. Please email me if you need any information about a specific maid agency.

Added on 28 Dec 2011:
I have received new comments about maids from other employers. I have included the new comments in my "Comments about maids" blog, and I welcome all employers to continue sending comments to me at frostyapple@gmail.com.

Many people do not believe that what the employers wrote about their maids is true. The fact is that we spend a lot of money to employ a maid, and we lose a lot of money when we change a maid. Every maid in the "Comments about maids" blog has been sent away by her employer. It does not make sense for an employer to send the maid away if she is doing a good job, and then spend so much time writing bad comments about her.

We are paying the maids a salary to work for us. If a maid performs very badly, we have the rights to complain, and we have the rights to warn other people about her.

As for maids who are unhappy with their employers, do not think that they suffer in silence. They could slap and pinch babies/toddlers who cannot tell you what has happened to them, or they could mix urine into the drinking water for the employer's family, etc. These cases were reported in the newspapers.

I have read a few comments questioning why is it that I have the time to write my blogs, since I am a full time working mother. Although my work is very tiring, I do have short periods of free time during office hours. I often wake up very early at 5 am to write my blogs. I used to work as a software engineer for many years, and I can type very fast, so I do not have to spend a lot of time on my blogs. The maid blog was created in 2007, and the articles were written over a period of 5 years.

Thanks to my maid who has worked with me for over 5 years, I do not have to do any housework when I return home everyday, and I can focus on teaching my kids. This is the reason why a good maid is a necessity for a full time working mother. It is ridiculous for anyone to expect a woman to spend all her time on work and family, and no time to pursue her passion. Teaching my children, and writing my blogs, are my passions.

New bank scheme for Indonesian maids (30 Nov 2011)

2011-11-29T15:39:00.000-08:00

The following article is published in the Straits Times on 30 Nov 2011.

By Amanda Tan

(Source)

BACKGROUND STORY

NOW

Employers here pay the placement fee to agencies here when the maid arrives.

To recover that amount, they pay the maids only a small proportion of their salaries - often $10 or $20 - for the first eight months or so, before the maids start getting their full pay.

UNDER NEW SCHEME

Maids will set up an account with Bank Negara Indonesia, which can pay the placement fee on their behalf first.

The bank will stretch out the repayment period so less of the maid's salary needs to be deducted each month, leaving her with more money to spare.

INDONESIAN maids working here will get to keep more of their salaries in their first few months here, if a new banking scheme by the Indonesian government takes off.

Employers will also no longer need to foot the maid's placement fees first, so there is a lower risk of losing money if the maid disappears.

The maids can also use the scheme to save money or make use of micro-loans to start small businesses when they go back to Indonesia.

The scheme is being billed as the People Business Credit for Indonesian Migrant Workers. In Singapore, Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) will manage it.

A briefing on the scheme was held at the Indonesian Embassy here on Monday. About 175 people attended, including representatives from the bank, employment agencies and the Manpower Ministry.

Mr Fahmi Aris, the first secretary at the Indonesian Embassy here, said the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs in Indonesia is in charge of the scheme.

Mr Edy Awaludin, vice-president of the retail business division at BNI in Jakarta, told The Straits Times that the scheme is likely to be made available early next year. He said Singapore will be the first country to implement it.

The initiative comes at a time when Indonesia is facing pressure to improve the welfare of its migrant workers, following reports of maid abuse.

There are about 201,000 maids in Singapore, the majority of whom are from Indonesia and the Philippines.

Maids have to pay a placement fee when they come to Singapore. This averages $3,000 for Indonesians and includes fees for Indonesian recruiters, medical check-ups and processing of documents.

Maid agencies here can also charge a commission of up to two months of the maid's pay as part of the placement fee.

Currently, employers here pay that placement fee to agencies here when the maid arrives. To recover that amount, they pay the maid only a small proportion of their salary - often $10 or $20 - for the first eight months or so, before the maids start getting their full pay.

Under the new scheme, maids will set up an account with BNI, which can pay the placement fee on their behalf first.

Mr Fahmi said this will do away with the local agents who used to facilitate the loan process, as well as their commission, thus reducing the placement fee amount.

The bank will stretch out the repayment period, so less of the maid's salary needs to be deducted each month, leaving her with more money to spare.

Details like interest rates and how the salaries will be deposited into the account are being worked out.

Mr Fahmi added: 'Allowing them to earn some money each month gives them more motivation to work.'

Ms K. Jayaprema, president of the Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore), was supportive of the scheme. She said that having a bank account will encourage maids to save and when they go home, they can start small businesses.

'Currently, most maids do not have bank accounts. They keep their salary or they will remit it home and very often, it will be squandered by the time they return,' she added.

At Monday's briefing, however, agents pointed out that there is just one BNI branch here and asked if it would be able to cope. Others asked if the bank would require a minimum deposit.

Mr Jolovan Wham, executive director of welfare group Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, said the scheme does not solve the fundamental problem of hefty placement fees, in part hiked by middlemen during the recruitment process.

'At the end of the day, they still have to shoulder the burden of a loan,' he said.

Indonesian helper Sulis, 25, liked the savings aspect of the scheme. 'If the maids have money, they will just spend it. It's good to have some savings here so they can have opportunities when they go home,' she said.

tamanda@sph.com.sg

Website for employers 'violates' privacy of maids

2011-11-28T18:50:00.000-08:00

My blog that contains comments about maids by Employers in Singapore is reported in the Straits Times on 29 Nov 11. The report did not explain why I created the blog.

The following video is included in the "comments about maids" blog. It shows a maid slapping a 3.5 month old baby. This maid has been repatriated, but not blacklisted by MOM. So she could easily get another job and potentially hurt another baby. I created the "comments about maids" blog so that employers who have babies and toddlers can avoid employing maids from hell.

Note: iPhone/iPad users, you need to find a Windows PC/laptop in order to view the video.

The following article is published in the Straits Times on 29 Nov 2011.

(Source)

A WEBSITE where employers can post the alleged misdeeds of their maids has drawn flak from a migrant worker rights' group, which says their privacy is being invaded.

Last week, Mr Jolovan Wham, executive director of the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home), claimed that the site violated 'the rights and privacy' of maids by revealing details such as their names, and work permit and passport numbers.

This information appears along with lengthy posts of the maids' alleged misdeeds, under a section called 'Maid Reviews', on the site http://singaporemaid.blogspot.com

Describing it as a 'gross violation' in a Facebook post, Mr Wham called for the site to be removed.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times about the site, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) yesterday said it does not encourage employers to publish comments about their maids on their Facebook pages or blogs.

Instead, it urges both employers and maids to approach the ministry for help when conflicts arise.

A spokesman added that there are also 'civil routes for redress for the aggrieved party if the comments are defamatory, or in breach of a duty of confidence'.

The site was created by a 'full-time working mother in Singapore' who calls herself 'Tamarind'. It has six sections, including one that lists maid-related news articles. It is not clear when the blog went live.

'Tamarind' also writes regularly on subjects like how to select and manage maids. These pieces often attract comments - mostly agreeing with her - from as many as 30 readers.

She did not respond to efforts to contact her yesterday.

But in a report by The New Paper last year, she said she has not been sued nor received legal complaints from maids. She added that by warning others of her bad experiences, she was being 'ethical'.

Mr Wham, however, said the allegations listed by the employers were not verified.

He added that he had told a volunteer about the site and that her husband had written to MOM about it last month.

Home is monitoring the blog and is consulting its lawyers to explore possible courses of action, he said, but declined to give details.

Lawyer Chia Boon Teck said a maid can engage a lawyer to take legal action against her employer if she is wrongly accused of misdeeds, but recourse will not be easy.

'The maid may not be able to afford a lawyer, and it may not be easy for her to quantify her loss,' he said.

He added that there is 'no general legal duty to protect the personal particulars of another person'.

The maid may have legal recourse against a blogger for revealing her particulars only if they have a contractual relationship that contains a provision obliging the blogger to keep the maid's particulars confidential, he said. Such a provision, he added, is highly unlikely.

Lecturer Sandra Ng, 37, who uses the blog as a reference, thinks it is fair and does not contain offensive content.

Madam Ng, who has a maid, said it is common for blogs to contain photos. She added: 'It is essentially a site to help potential employers.'

MP Christopher de Souza, deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Manpower, said maids are not in an equal bargaining position when employers make negative comments about them online.

'If what is written about the maids is untrue, then it is extremely unfair as they will have no avenues to clarify their positions,' said Mr de Souza, who was alerted to the blog by a member of the public.

Mr Gary Chin, managing director of Nation Employment, also felt maids were at a disadvantage as they could not reply to the comments.

He said most employers still turn to agencies when they have problems with their maids.

Ms Nelly Baggay, 30, a Filipino maid who came here to work in 2007, said: 'If employers are not happy, they can tell us. If they write bad things about us in blogs, then it will be very hard for us to transfer to other employers.'

wenjian@sph.com.sg

BACKGROUND STORY

UNHAPPY? TELL US ABOUT IT

'If employers are not happy, they can tell us. If they write bad things about us in blogs, then it will be very hard for us to transfer to other employers.'

Ms Nelly Baggay, 30, a Filipino maid who came here to work in 2007

BACKGROUND STORY

Watching your maid's diet

On how much food a maid should have, Tamarind wrote in a post:

'I think as employers, we have to decide how much food is enough. We cannot be supplying unlimited food to our maid. Personally, this is what I would let my maid eat for lunch or dinner:

1. Up to two bowls of white rice

2. Up to two pieces of chicken/fish that is palm size

3. An egg

4. As much vegetables as she can eat

5. An apple, orange or banana

For breakfast, I will let her eat up to four pieces of bread and Milo or coffee. If my maid can eat all the above, I don't even bother giving her any snacks. I believe that she already has more than enough nutrition.

Just make sure that you give her enough food during meals, especially meat, then you have already done your best as an employer. Take a video of what you are serving her. There is no need to worry.'

The miserable life of a full time working mother in Singapore

2011-11-08T05:58:00.000-08:00

I feel compelled to write about my life as a full time working mother, because of many scathing remarks that I have heard. Some people compared us to mothers living in the United States who manage without live-in maids, and questioned why we cannot do the same. Other people commented that we are "purely lazy", and that we should do away with maids and do everything ourselves.

I realize that many people, especially those without babies or elderly, or those who can afford to stay at home to look after their babies, do not understand the problems faced by full time working mothers like myself.

Please note that my purpose of writing the following is to let everyone know that, even when we have maids to help us, it does not mean that we do nothing at home. In fact, working mothers like me are so busy that we barely have time to rest. My purpose is to let everyone understand that a maid is a necessity, not a luxury, for working mothers. My purpose is NOT to complain about how tough motherhood is. When I got married, I have planned carefully to have 2 kids. What I did not expect is how difficult it is to get a maid who can actually work, and the insecurity of jobs in Singapore. I have suffered a lot, but I have no regrets, because my kids' laughter is priceless.

In Singapore, the average monthly salary is $4677 before CPF deduction (Source). After deducting 20% CPF, the take home pay is only $3741. Monthly installment for housing loan can be over $1000, car loans another $1000, the cost of a good kindergarten is over $800 for half day, over $1300 for a full day programme (Source). For a family with kids, food, groceries, utilities, etc can easily add up to over $1000. A visit to the paediatrician can easily cost $100. Many parents also want to send their kids to enrichment classes, piano, swimming, etc which can cost a few hundred dollars for each child. In most families, both husband and wife must work in order to support the family, especially when they plan to have 2 kids or more. If the wife chooses to stay at home and only the husband goes to work, with an average salary of $3741 or less, even if the family can do without a car, no mother will tell you that it is a joy managing her household.

My husband and I both agreed that I should continue to work. Our plan is to employ a maid and asked my mother to help supervise her. When I was pregnant with my first child in 2003, I was working for an American MNC. We own a car but my husband's work place was far from mine. Everyday I took the MRT for about 50 minutes to travel to work, right up to the day before I delivered.

In 2003, I only had 8 weeks of maternity leave (Source). My baby girl had to be fed every 2 to 3 hours throughout the day and night. When I returned to work, there was no way that I could do the night feeding. My work as a software engineer was very demanding. I was under a lot of pressure to solve difficult problems quickly, I had to spend many hours standing at the production floor working on problems, and I often had to work over the weekends. If I had to wake up a few times a night, I would not have any energy to go to work. My mother helped to do the night feedings, while my maid took over during the day as my mother rested. When I returned home every night at about 7:30pm, I spent all my time carrying my baby girl who had serious reflux and colic. She used to cry for a few hours every night and had to be constantly carried and comforted. It was very difficult to get her to sleep, sometimes she would stay awake until 1 am.

The maid cooked, washed and cleaned the kitchen between 7pm and 10pm, after which she went to sleep until 6 am. She was not required to do any night feedings. At that time my husband was working as an engineer in a European MNC. His work was even more demanding compared to mine, he often had to work until midnight. He was not able to help with the baby at all. I felt so tired all the time. I never expected motherhood to be so tiring.

When my baby girl was about 1 year old, I was pregnant with my second baby. It was still very difficult to get my girl to sleep at night. I remember that I had to carry her even when I was heavily pregnant. She was a very active baby and loved to interact with adults. Every day after work I played with her until she fell asleep. She was never left alone in the cot when she was awake. I let her crawl and walk all over the house and explore everywhere, so our floor must be kept very clean and mopped everyday by the maid.

When my younger boy was born, my girl was 17 months old. I was worried that my mother and maid were not able to handle two of them, so I tried to put my girl in the childcare center. However, I found that all the childcare centers in my area were full. My boy was frequently ill before the age of 6. He had bronchitis so many times that we had to buy a nebulizer for him. He was hospitalized twice between 4 to 5 years old due to HFMD. Putting him in a full day childcare was out of the question.

When my kids were about 3 to 4 years old, a mother staying in my neighbourhood told me that her son could not read in English when he was in primary one. She was asked by the teacher to send her son back to kindergarten. I was shocked and realized that the standard in primary school is very high nowadays. Due to our bilingual policy, all children must study both English and Chinese. I spent my time after work teaching each of my kids to read in both languages.

I am glad that I started teaching my kids between the age of 3 to 6, which is the best time for a child to learn languages. Now that my kids are in primary one and two, I found that kids who are not able to read independently before entering primary school will struggle to keep up with the syllabus. In my kids' neighbourhood school, teachers tell the students that 85 marks is considered bad. For many parents who are not able to teach their kids like I do, they will have to send their kids for tuition in every subject.

In 2006, my late father became very ill. We could not afford the fees at private nursing homes which were about $1400 a month (Source) . Furthermore, I do not want my father to be confined to a bed all day, away from our family. He moved in to live with us and I employed a second maid to look after him. By 2009, he was bedridden and had to wear diapers. Fortunately, the maid looking after him was wonderful. Her job was very tough, besides changing diapers for my father, she had to feed him, and also carried him to bathe in the toilet everyday. She often pushed him on the wheelchair and traveled to his favourite places in Chinatown. I am really grateful to her because there was no way I could manage since I was working full time.

In mid 2007, my husband quit his job at the European MNC because he was overworked and frustrated. He found a new job only at the end of 2008. Though he had savings, I was the sole provider of my parents because my elder brother had left for a job in UK. I could no longer afford 2 maids. I kept the maid who was taking care of my father because she agreed to look after my kids as well. I gave her a 40% pay increment. I reduced her work as much as possible. During the weekends, I did the laundry and ironing of all the clothes of my husband and myself, I changed my own bedsheet, and I also washed the toilet in the master bedroom. I felt more tired during the weekends, compared to weekdays when I was working all day.

In early 2008, I was retrenched by the American MNC. I almost had a nervous breakdown because my husband had not found a job at that time. I sent out numerous letters, but only managed to get a couple of interviews. When I was interviewed at a Japanese MNC, I was questioned whether I had any children, and who was taking care of them. I did not get that job. Fortunately, I managed to find an employer who is very pro-family, but I had to accept a pay cut of about $1000. Nevertheless, I am very happy with my new job because I am doing something very meaningful. However, my job now requires me to walk around for up to 6 hours a day, and I feel really tired everyday.

My life is miserable compared to other mothers who can afford to stay at home to look after their kids because their husbands earn enough money for them to live a comfortable life. Some working mothers whose husbands are able to help with house work can manage without maids, and they are the fortunate ones. I know that many other full time working mothers are living a life that is even more miserable compared to mine, especially those with no one to help except the maid.

All we need is a good maid who can help us with house work and look after the children when we work. It costs us over $800 a month to employ a maid, this is a lot of money to us considering that our average monthly salary is only $3741 (after CPF deduction). We cannot afford to operate a charity. The maid must be able to help us.

A maid earns as much as an engineer working in her home country(Source). Her employer fully pays for her food, groceries and lodging. She can send all her salary back home so that her family can live a good life, since the cost of living in Indonesia and Philippines is very low compared to Singapore. Maids working in Indonesia are paid as little as USD60 a month, if she comes to Singapore to work, she can earn 5 times more.

We expect maids to be very motivated to work hard for us. Instead, most of the time maids give us nothing but trouble. Read about my bad experiences with maids here : About my maids

Weekly day off policy for maids must be flexible, say stakeholders

2011-11-06T18:24:00.000-08:00

Published in channelnewsasia.com

By Hoe Yeen Nie | Posted: 29 October 2011 1713 hrs

(Source)

SINGAPORE: Advocacy groups have welcomed the Manpower Ministry's move to study a mandatory weekly day off for maids. But along with employers and maid agencies, they said the policy needs to build in a large degree of flexibility.

Responding to Channel NewsAsia, the ministry said consultation with stakeholders has been on since late last year, and results will be announced in due course. A ministry spokesperson said discussions have included employers, maids, maid agencies and non-governmental organisations.

For the policy to work, one proposal is for the law to protect maids against dismissal and repatriation, when they report an errant employer.

Jolovan Wham, executive director of the Humanitarian Organisation for Migrant Economics, said: "One of the challenges of facilitating the process of lodging complaints, is that many migrant workers are often afraid of losing their jobs, and that is what keeps them from going to the Ministry of Manpower to complain and to lodge their claims."

Mr Wham added: "The migrant domestic worker should have the right and the opportunity to change her mind, and say that, 'For this particular weekend, I have stuff to do, I would like to have a day off. But maybe next weekend, I consent to working for you on a Sunday.'"

A ministry spokesman told Channel NewsAsia there are "comprehensive" measures to protect a maid under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. He added that "as a safeguard against employers who attempt to repatriate their foreign domestic workers unfairly, those who are forcefully brought to the airport can seek assistance from Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officers, who will redirect them to the ministry to pursue their claims."

John Gee, President of Transient Workers Count Too, said the right of the employer to unilaterally send a maid back to her home country should be done away. Instead, he should be required to explain his decision to the Manpower Ministry, and the maid should also be allowed to explain her story. Mr Gee told Channel NewsAsia he had raised the issue to the ministry in the past, but was told it was a "problem of staffing".

Maid agencies said the improvement in working conditions could help ease the supply crunch, but working out compensation that is fair to the maid and acceptable to employers, will be tricky.

The standard contract between an employer and a maid currently recommends at least one day off a month, with compensation in-lieu. The going rate is about S$20 for each day off, and some maid agencies have said that if the new law kicks in requiring at least four days off a month, the resulting increase in expense might turn some employers away.

That is because employers often give the minimal one day off each month.

Riza Malawad, operations manager with 9Y2 Employment Services, said: "It's a little bit too high, to employ a domestic helper and compensate four days off. S$20 times four is S$80, and the current salary is S$400. S$480 can be a little hefty for some families."

Peter Loh, Managing Director of Swift Arrow, said so long as employers have the option to pay more instead of granting a day off, "nothing will change, except that the salary will go up." Mr Gee, however, feels that "Singaporeans might grumble, but if it's the law, people will comply."

And then there is the issue of what maids do on their days off, a concern often cited by employers as a reason for not allowing them out.

The Church of the Holy Family is one of many organisations that holds classes for maids. Participants pick up a skill, while easing their homesick pangs. To reassure employers, organisers are strict on attendance.

Programme Coordinator Vikki de Jesus, who has been working in Singapore as a maid for 26 years, said she often gets calls from employers checking up on their maids.

She said: "Some domestic helpers say they can't come, but I ask them to get a letter from the employer, to make sure that the employer asked them not to go. Because I want also to make sure that we are not playing around here... We want the communication between the employer and the helper, that they are really here, in our place, in our skills programme."

In Parliament on October 20, in a written reply to Holland-Bukit Timah GRC MP Christopher de Souza, the Manpower Minister acknowledged the need for maids to have a time-out, but said the matter "requires careful consideration".

CNN report : Little rest for Singapore's silent army

2011-11-04T17:14:00.000-07:00

My blog is featured in a CNN report :
Little rest for Singapore's silent army

The CNN reporter lifted statements completely out of context from my blog.

Her report started with my house rules, but she leaves out the fact that these house rules are the result of my experiences with bad maids. Read this page : House rules

She did not report that I wrote the following in my blog in 2007 and 2008 :

What is a good employer
3. Sufficient Rest
Can you work everyday of the year without any rest ? If you are unable to do so, then don't expect that from a maid ! I know maids who developed mental problems after working for 2 years or more without any off day. Now with the changes to the Security Bond, employers do not need to lose their Security Bond when the maid gets pregnant. Please click the following for more information :Change in Security Bond Conditions

For employers who are afraid that the maid will be badly influenced by other maids, do remember that you only pay the maid a salary to work for you. You have no right to control the friends she likes to mix with. You have no right to cut off her communication. If the maid wants to turn bad, she will turn bad no matter what you do. My maid has one off day every alternate Sunday, she is still a good maid after working for me for 3 years.

Every one of us will be happy to have a job that pays well, has a very reasonable workload, and sufficient rest for us.

High pay and reasonable workload will NOT change a bad maid to a good maid. But these conditions will certainly retain a maid who is willing to work hard.

How to manage a maid
Do review your timetable and task list and make sure that it is reasonable. Ask yourself, are you able to do all those tasks ? If you cannot, then don't expect the maid to be able to do it. The maid is just a human being like you and me.

Off day or no off day ?
No one can work everyday for years without any rest. I advise employers to give off days to their maids whenever possible.

Employers who have babies, very young kids, or elderly who needs constant care, may not be able to give off days to their maids. In this case, try to make sure that your maid has some free time to rest. At least one hour every day, or a few hours during the weekends without being disturbed. Let her have the freedom to call her family or friends.

A maid who works everyday without any rest is very likely to develop mental illness. This happened to 2 of my ex-maids.

Some employers are concerned that the maid will get pregnant if she finds a boyfriend outside. All maids must go through medical checkup every 6 months. Once she tested positive for pregnancy, immediately send her back and you will not lose your security bond.

Some employers are concerned that the maid may mix with other maids who may teach her bad things. This is something that we cannot control. If the maid is a good maid, she will not be influenced by her friends.

I also do not ask my maid where she goes and what she does during her off day. She is only working for me for a salary, I have no right to control her life when she is not working for me.

The text above in italics was written in 2007 to 2009. I have always written in my blog that maids should be given enough time to rest. However, I think that maids should have the freedom to choose whether they want a day off, or extra money. Read this Straits Times Forum letter written by an employer : Present policy on days off for maids works

The report states that :
"Tamarind says her maid would prefer to earn extra money than take a day off -- something Human Rights Watch says only underscores how little domestic workers are paid."

Anyone with common sense should ask :
If domestic workers are paid so "little", why do they still come to Singapore to work ?

I googled "Indonesia salary" and found the following data :
Salary Guide (Indonesia)

A Production Engineer in Indonesia earns 2.5 million IDR a month, which is about SGD 350 a month. A maid who only has 8 years of education can never dream of earning this salary in her home country. In Singapore, a maid's food and lodging is fully paid for by the employer, she can send her salary back to her family members so that they can enjoy a better life.

Maids are usually paid an extra SGD 20 if she chooses no day off. SGD 20 can buy 10 kg of rice in Singapore, enough to feed my family of 4 for one whole month. This amount of money can certainly buy much more in Indonesia with its lower cost of living.

What is "little" to one person, may be a "big" amount of money to another person living in developing countries. I am surprised that the CNN reporter does not even have this common knowledge. An educated adult should know how to do research to find out what is really the truth.

The fact is that many Singaporeans and foreign workers (especially those from mainland China) like to work overtime to earn more money. I used to work for an American MNC, and I often worked to late at night and over the weekends because I was paid 1.5 times my hourly rate. This extra money was important to me, and I did not think that my human rights had been violated. If all maids were given a day off weekly, I will not be surprised that many maids will be caught working part time on their off days to earn extra money (note that it is illegal for maids to work outside of the employer's home).

Finally, I would like to share this Economist article which reports the truth about the difficulties faced by Asian working mothers like myself :

The flight from marriage
"As in most traditional societies, women in Asia have long been the sole caregivers for children, elderly parents or parents-in-law. People generally assume they will continue to be so, even though many women have paid jobs outside the home. The result is that expectations placed on wives have become unusually onerous. Surveys in Japan have suggested that women who work full-time then go home and spend another 30 hours a week doing the housework. Their husbands contribute an unprincely three hours of effort. In America and Europe the disparity is less extreme, and has narrowed considerably since the 1960s.

On top of this, many Asian couples face enormous pressure to ensure their children succeed in schools with cut-throat competition for places—pressure that falls mostly on the mother. Private child care is exorbitantly expensive. There are few state-subsidised crèches (324,000 children are on waiting lists in Seoul alone). And setting up a home is expensive because of high house prices. All this means it is harder to strike a satisfying balance between job and family in Asia than in the West."

This is the reason why we need maids in Singapore.

Present policy on days off for maids works (15 Oct 2011)

2011-11-01T08:07:00.000-07:00

The following letter from an employer was published in the Straits Times on 15 Oct 2011. (Source)

I DISAGREE with the reply by maids advocate Transient Workers Count Too ('No reason to deny maids a day off'; Monday) to Madam Chua Lai Keow's concern over a maid's trustworthiness ('Pregnant with worry'; Oct4).

A maid can choose, contractually, whether she wants a day off or cash in compensation.

If a maid wants a day off, she can always choose to work for employers who agree to her precondition.

Even if a maid contractually chooses to be paid in lieu of days off, she can get what she wants if she prefers a day off, by seeking a new employer.

Let us not make it seem as if she cannot, or will not switch employers. One former maid I hired had worked for six different employers in two years while another worked for eight. Maids do not think twice about switching employers because they lose nothing financially. When a maid wants to leave, an employer cannot refuse.

From my experience, maids leverage on several ways to break her contract and get a transfer. She refuses to work. And if she has to, she adopts a poor attitude and breaks household items.

A recalcitrant maid also feigns unstable behaviour or hops into a cab and seeks sanctuary at her embassy.

The point is, many maids do not need a day off every week. Otherwise, why are there many instances of maids working part-time illegally on their days off.

So the best option is what's being done now: Allow maids the choice of choosing whether they want a day off weekly or monthly, or none.

____End of Letter_____

Tamarind said...
I have been reading this :
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

I cannot find anything that says everyone must rest for a full day every week. I only found the following :

Article 24.
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

The amount of rest required for each individual is different. People from privileged background may find it absolutely necessary to have one day off every week. In Asia, especially among the ethnic Chinese, it is very common for an adult to work every day without rest so that he/she can earn more money. In fact, many Chinese rest for only a few days during the Chinese New Year, after working hard for the whole year.

Everyone should have the freedom to decide how much rest he/she needs.

16 employment agencies fined for fixing maids' salaries (1 Oct 2011)

2011-09-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

16 employment agencies fined for fixing maids' salaries

Source

By Amanda Tan

The Straits Times 1 Oct 2011

THE Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) yesterday meted out fines amounting to more than $150,000 to 16 employment agencies for collectively fixing the pay of new Indonesian maids.

The group, which includes big names in the industry such as Nation Employment and Comfort Employment, were fined between $5,000 and $42,317.

They were found to have infringed the Competition Act by discussing a collective pay rise for the maids, from about $380 to $450. The Act prohibits business competitors from meeting to discuss price rises, among other things.

BACKGROUND STORY

Serious offence that distorts competition

PRICE-fixing is deemed a very serious offence.

It falls under Section 34 of the Competition Act, which prohibits - among other things - practices that could prevent, restrict or distort competition.

The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) began policing companies here in 2005.

Price-fixing is a type of cartel conduct that involves an agreement between producers or suppliers of a good or service to fix prices and/or limit their production.

This 'agreement' can take various forms, including written, oral and tacit understanding. It does not matter if the parties involved played a big or small role in the decision to fix prices.

Businesses caught in such a situation should leave the discussion immediately, said the CCS.

The watchdog, which called a press conference to announce the decision, also said many maid employers would have been affected had it not intervened.

This is the first time the CCS, which was set up in 2005, has taken action against maid agencies. Previous cases involved companies such as ticketing agency Sistic, which was slapped with a $989,000 fine for abusing its dominant market position.

The commission launched an investigation following media reports on Jan 19 that the agencies had met and discussed raising the monthly salaries of new Indonesian maids.

The agencies, which met on Jan 16, had defended their move, saying it was aimed at easing a supply crunch by making it more attractive for domestic helpers to work here.

News of the proposed pay rise, however, had triggered angry complaints from some Singaporean families.

The CCS yesterday ruled that by engaging in discussion on a collective pay increase for the maids, the agencies had disclosed and shared their 'pricing strategies and intentions'.

Salary points should be determined by market forces, rather than 'collusive agreements between competitors', said a CCS statement.

It did not matter that some agencies disagreed with the specific salary amount proposed during the discussion, said the watchdog. It added: 'All 16 employment agencies failed to publicly distance themselves from the infringing agreement and/or unlawful practice.'

The agencies' claim that they would not benefit directly from the pay rise also cut no ice with the commission.

Said Mr Toh Han Li, CCS' assistant chief executive: 'When you agree on pricing, or discuss pricing, the competitive process is impaired. So it does not matter if you subsequently implement it, or whether you benefit from it.'

Apart from the fact that such a move is anti-competition, a collective pay rise would also affect a lot of Singaporean families, said Mr Toh.

About one in five families here employ maids. As of last year, there were 201,000 maids in Singapore, of whom 90,000 were said to be Indonesian.

Moreover, the 16 agencies are 'significant' players which ranked among the top 20 players in terms of the number of maids they supply, he said.

Mr Toh added: 'If we didn't intervene early, the group could have moved the price to a higher level and that is a distortion because that was not moved by market forces.'

He said while the agencies are free to determine the salaries of the maids they supply, they should do so independently.

The fines handed to the agencies vary, as they are pegged to their turnover, among other factors. The fines meted out are less than 1 per cent of the turnover.

The agencies are given two months to file an appeal. Otherwise, they have to pay the fine by Nov 30.

The agencies are: Arrow Employment, Best Home Employment Agency, Comfort Employment, Crislo Employment Agency, Crislo Resources, Homekeeper International, Jack Focus Management, Javamaids, JPB International Services, Maid Management Services, Nation Employment, Net Resources Recruitment, Nora Employment Agency, SLF Green Maid Agency, Swift Personnel and TM Global HR Consultancy.

Most told The Straits Times they would not appeal against the verdict.

But Nation Employment - which was slapped with the heaviest fine of $42,317 - said it would be 'seeking clarification' from CCS. Mr Gary Chin, the firm's managing director, said: 'The difference between the fines given to us and others is so much. We need to know how it was calculated.'

Homekeeper International said it would be seeking legal advice because it did not agree to the salary hike.

Supply of Indonesian domestic helpers to be cut? (30 Sep 2011)

2011-09-30T18:49:00.000-07:00

Supply of Indonesian domestic helpers to be cut?

Source

by Esther Ng

TODAYonline

30 Sep 2011

SINGAPORE - A recent media report - quoting an Indonesian official - has claimed that the Indonesian government is set to allow its citizens to work as domestic helpers in just four countries: Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

But responding to media queries, Singapore's Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said yesterday in a statement that it was "unable to comment as we did not receive any official notice of this matter". "We are seeking clarifications from the Indonesian Embassy," the statement added.

The Indonesian Embassy could not be reached for comment on the report, which was first carried on Wednesday by Antara news agency. The report was picked up by Bernama.

The report quoted Indonesia's director-general of labour placement Reyna Usman, saying that the country's Manpower and Transmigration Ministry "has conducted a comprehensive evaluation of countries as destinations of Indonesian domestic helpers".

The ministry had studied the destination countries' policies on the protection of Indonesian migrant workers and the "fulfillment of their normative rights", the report quoted Mr Reyna as saying. He had added: "Based on the results of the evaluation, we have come to the conclusion that only four countries can be categorised as destinations of Indonesian domestic helpers."

However, Indonesia's Overseas Workers Placement Agency head Jumhur Hidayat told MediaCorp that what the Indonesian authorities are discussing - as part of an amended law on migrant workers - are actually plans to open representative offices in the four countries mentioned, to assist their citizens working there as domestic helpers.

Maid agencies here told Today they would be surprised if Mr Reyna's remarks were authoritative. Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore) president K Jayprema said: "We would have been informed if something major like this came up."

According to industry players, Indonesia is currently Singapore's biggest source of foreign domestic workers (FDWs). And the Republic - which is already facing a supply crunch - could face a massive shortage of FDWs if the report turns out to be accurate.

According to Ms Jayprema, out of the some 200 new FDWs who enter Singapore each day, seven in 10 are Indonesians.

Indonesian maids are popular here as many elderly who cannot speak English are able to speak Malay, JL Employment Services director Joanne Lee said. While maid agencies can turn to other sources such as the Philippines, Myanmar and India, Ms Jayprema doubts if "these countries can cope with the demand".

Employers asked to remove CCTVs from maids' rooms (13 Sep 2011)

2011-09-12T19:06:00.000-07:00

Employers asked to remove CCTVs from maids' rooms

MOM steps in after two maids raise privacy concerns

By Amanda Tan

The Straits Times

More employers are wiring up their homes with closed-circuit television systems (CCTVs) to monitor their maids, but at least two maids have raised questions about the invasion of privacy.

Last month, a maid known as Chona De Guzman posted a comment on the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) Facebook page asking if it was right for her employer to install a CCTV camera in her room.

It prompted a reply from another maid, Ms Joan Asequia Gonzales, who said she faced the same situation at her employer's home.

'I don't have privacy,' she wrote in the post.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the ministry said it had contacted both maids and spoken to the employers, who agreed to remove the cameras from the bedrooms.

It urged employers to respect the privacy of their maids even as they monitor them through cameras.

Lawyers said that because there are no privacy laws here, employers can install cameras in bedrooms and toilets.

However, lawyer Samuel Seow said maids can argue that there was intention to insult their modesty as those are private areas where they are likely to be undressed.

He added that employers might also infringe on other laws if they keep the video clips or show them to other people.

There are an estimated 201,000 maids here, with about one in five families hiring one.

Maid agencies noted that only a small percentage of employers install cameras, although Mr Benny Liew, director of Comfort Employment, has come across complaints from maids.

'We'll usually counsel the maids and tell them that if they aren't doing anything wrong, they shouldn't be worried,' he said, adding that employers who install CCTVs at home should inform their maids.

Ms Bridget Tan, president of migrant worker welfare group Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, said employers should get the maid's permission first.

The practice is a 'violation of their right to privacy, which is applicable to all humans'.

She added that 'just because employers hear of a maid committing theft, that doesn't give them the right to invade someone else's privacy... The majority of domestic workers are doing good work'.

Installing CCTVs in homes is not new but retailers said they have enjoyed a spike in business in the last two to three years.

One reason could be the fall in prices, said Mr Shawn Cross, account manager for Innotel Solutions.

The ease of viewing footage has also become a plus point as it can be done on the go on smartphones.

Vendors said clients use the CCTVs as a way to deter their maids from abusing family members such as babies or to ensure that no strangers enter their homes. Some also plan to use the footage as evidence when misunderstandings arise.

Concerns of theft also surfaced recently when three maids were caught stealing. Two cases involved sums of $84,000 and $26,000.

Earlier this month, a maid was charged with stealing $400,000 in cash and jewellery; this is believed to be the largest amount that a maid has been accused of stealing from her employer.

Businessman Peter Ong, 62, does not feel the need to install CCTVs to monitor his maid, despite having caught her going out twice when she was supposed to be taking care of his 93-year-old mother.

'Of course, I lost some trust in her. But I can see that she keeps my house clean and takes care of my mum. Since I hired her, I thought it would be better if we tried to build a trusting relationship instead,' he said.

Should We Change the Entry Test for Foreign Domestic Workers?

2011-08-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

Should We Change the Entry Test for Foreign Domestic Workers?
by Singapore Ministry of Manpower on Tuesday, August 9, 2011 at 8:15pm

The Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) entry test was introduced in 2005 as part of a package of measures by MOM to ensure first-time FDWs are able to adapt to working and living in Singapore. The entry test was thus designed to ensure that first-time FDW applicants possess basic numeracy and literacy skills. It also helps ascertain the ability of FDWs to understand basic safety instructions, as most FDWs will be working in a highly urbanised environment for the first time. The written test is in English and consists of multiple choice questions.

Held in Singapore, FDWs must pass the test within 3 working days of her arrival, excluding the day of arrival, and before her Work Permit is issued. She will be allowed a maximum of 3 attempts to pass the test.

Apart from passing the entry test, FDWs must also meet the following entry requirements:
Undergo and pass a medical examination by a Singapore-registered doctor.
Have a minimum 8 years of formal education and possess the necessary educational certificates as documentary proof of her education.
Meet the minimum age requirement of 23 years for first-time applicants.
First-time applicants must also attend the Safety Awareness Course within 3 working days of her arrival, excluding the day of arrival, and before her Work Permit is issued.

Facebook Questions Poll on Entry Test
MOM had previously announced that we were reviewing the effectiveness of the test to ensure that it remains relevant. We’ve gathered valuable feedback from our earlier in-depth interviews and the recent Townhall session with stakeholders, and would like to share these ideas on the test with you. Coming up next is a Facebook Questions poll on the top 10 ideas which were generated from these discussions. Do select which is the best option to improve the test for first-time FDWs, or just post a comment if you don’t think any of the suggestions work. Keep the ideas coming!

Click the following link to poll :

http://www.facebook.com/sgministryofmanpower

Poll results as of 30 Aug 2011:

Indonesian ID cards for maids worry bosses

2011-07-12T01:49:00.000-07:00

The Straits Times

Indonesian ID cards for maids worry bosses

Without them, they fear maids on home leave will be unable to return to Singapore to work

By Melissa Kok

IDENTIFICATION cards for Indonesian domestic workers have become a source of consternation for employers whose maids are headed home to celebrate Hari Raya next month.

They are worried that their maids will be barred from leaving Indonesia at the end of their home leave if they do not have this Overseas Workers' ID Card, also known as the Kartu Tenaga Kerja Luar Negeri (KTKLN).

It is understood that many of the maids in Singapore who need these cards do not have them and employers say they do not know how to apply for them.

It does not help that there are stories circulating of Indonesians stuck at home, unable to return to their jobs here after their leave.

The requirement, which applies to every Indonesian working overseas, was introduced in 2004, but was not strictly enforced by the Indonesian government until recently.

The credit card-size plastic card, which has the holder's photograph on it, stores information on the worker as well as the name, address and contact details of her employer and of her family.

Issued free, it is meant to make it easier for the Indonesian government to keep track of its citizens working overseas.

Ms Kitty Shih, whose maid of 10 years is going home to Surabaya for two weeks from Aug 27, said she became anxious a week ago when she failed to get through to the Indonesian Embassy for help.

The 36-year-old senior administrative assistant in the retail industry said: 'I went to 'Google' the application details for two hours, and oh my god, it was so hard to find anything!'

It turns out the Indonesian Embassy is not the go-to place for the card.

Instead, the maids may fill up an application online (http://ktkln.bnp2tki.go.id); the website is in Bahasa Indonesia.

Applications may also be submitted at any of the 23 designated labour offices located across Indonesia, including the offices at the Surabaya and Jakarta airports. The process takes 15 minutes.

These 23 offices are also where those who applied online are to collect their cards.

A spokesman for the Indonesian Embassy said yesterday that its staff members have taken many calls and visits from maids and employers in recent weeks regarding the card.

'We have provided leaflets about KTKLN, how to get it and where to get it. We also answer questions by phone, SMS and e-mail,' she said.

The spokesman added that, when picking up the card, the maid will need the following documents: her passport, work permit and a working agreement signed by the maid and her employer.

Maids will also need to show proof that they have bought insurance in Indonesia covering medical problems, accidents, lawyer's fees, salary arrears and termination of employment for reasons that are not the maid's fault.

The embassy spokesman said that if a maid has worked here for a long time under one employer and does not have a working agreement, it is advisable for her to get one from the maid agency.

She said the embassy can address a letter of guarantee to KTKLN officers stating that the maid is working here as a domestic worker.

Ms Shih has since managed to speak to an official at the Indonesian Embassy, and has been told she can get a letter of guarantee for her maid.

Saying she is relieved to know her maid can get the card in her home country, she added: 'I'll send my maid to the embassy next week to collect the letter.'

Maid jailed for stabbing 7-year-old (12 Jul 2011)

2011-07-11T19:26:00.000-07:00

The Straits Times

Maid jailed for stabbing 7-year-old

By Selina Lum

(Source)

AN INDONESIAN maid who wrote in her diary that she was happy working for a family of four here went on a rampage with a knife and chopper, using them against her employer's seven-year-old daughter.

This was in 2009, when Kumaeroh, who goes by only one name, was eight months into her job. She was preparing the girl for school on Sept 23 that year when she snapped without provocation, grabbed a knife from the kitchen and started stabbing the child.

Then she took a chopper and slashed the girl on her wrist.

Yesterday, Kumaeroh, now 26, pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted culpable homicide and was jailed eight years by the High Court.

The maximum penalty is 15 years.

The victim in the attack, who cannot be named, is now in Primary 3. She has recovered, but still neither eats well nor is comfortable with strangers, said her mother, aged 42.

Yesterday, the court heard that about three months before the incident, Kumaeroh had it in her head that her employers had hired someone to spy on her, and believed video cameras in the flat were monitoring her.

In sentencing, Justice Woo Bih Lisaid he took into account the Indonesian's tender age, her background, her state of mind and that she was working here, away from her family.

On the other hand, the judge said, there was no evidence for her perception that she was being spied on.

He further noted there was no suggestion she was abused, nor were her work conditions tougher than those of other maids.

The court heard that her employers in fact made efforts to make her a part of the family, such as by celebrating her birthday.

On the day of the attack, the maid and the girl were at home; the girl's parents were at work, while her elder sister was in school.

After getting the girl changed for school, the maid went to get her school bag - but also picked up a kitchen knife, with which she stabbed the girl repeatedly, ignoring her cries.

The girl struggled free, but fell. Kumaeroh then pinned her to the floor and continued stabbing her in her front and back.

The maid then took a chopper from the kitchen, pressed the girl's left palm against the floor and slashed her wrist.

When the maid did not show up at school to drop off the girl and pick up her elder sister, the older girl called home. When the maid hung up on her, she called her father.

The father called home and was told by Kumaeroh that the girl was sick, but he heard his younger daughter in the background, asking him to come home promptly.

He rushed home to see her bleeding on the floor. She was sent to hospital in an ambulance.

Pleading for leniency, Kumaeroh's lawyer Mohamed Muzammil said his client left her village in 2006 for Malaysia, where she was sexually assaulted by her stepfather who was there.

She later spent five months in jail for being in Malaysia without valid travel and employment papers.

The lawyer added that she deeply regrets what she did.

Speaking to reporters after the sentencing, the girl's mother said the sentence was fair.

She added that the family no longer employs a maid, and she now works only part-time as a customer service assistant.

Her husband, a 45-year-old project manager, said they do not accept the maid's apology. The mother added: 'We will never forgive her.'

MOM reviewing call for weekly rest day for maids (21 Jun 2011)

2011-06-25T04:16:00.000-07:00

MOM reviewing call for weekly rest day for maids

(Source)

SINGAPORE: The Manpower Ministry (MOM) said it is currently reviewing the call for the government to implement a weekly rest day for domestic maids with compensation in—lieu.

In an email reply to Channel NewsAsia, MOM said it will consult with various stakeholders including employers, employment agencies and non—governmental organisations.

Members of the public can email their views and suggestions to mom_fmmd@mom.gov.sg.

MOM said it recognises the benefits of rest days to the well—being and productivity of foreign domestic maids.

However, instead of mandating rest days, it said the government has adopted a more flexible approach of allowing households to work out a mutually agreement employment arrangement with their maids, and encouraging employers to grant their workers regular rest days.

Accredited employment agencies use a standard employment contract for maids, which requires employers to stipulate the number of rest days per month. Should the maids agree to work during their rest day, employers are required to pay them an agreed amount of compensation.

Agencies cautioned that this may not go down well with employers.

Joanne Lee, Director of JL Employment Services Pte Ltd, said: "I would say most employers may not be in favour of this. I guess it’s because during their rest days, they would want their helpers to be around to take care of their needs. I guess it’s a lot of inconvenience."

The MOM’s 2010 survey showed that slightly over half of all foreign domestic workers in Singapore already enjoy at least one day off a month.

The development came two days after Minister of Statement for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Halimah Yacob, suggested legislation be considered that makes employers give their domestic helpers a rest day every week.

She said giving maids a day off might help to minimise some issues such as stress and overwork that domestic workers are facing now.

As of December last year, there were about 200,000 Foreign Domestic workers in Singapore. Some employment agencies have said that if this weekly rest day is implemented, it could help boost the number of domestic workers in Singapore.

They said this is important as the demand for domestic workers would rise as Singapore faces an ageing population and more women opt to go to work.

The new International Labour Organisation convention was approved last week in Geneva to grant domestic workers greater protection from exploitation. Singapore was among 63 voters which abstained from voting on the convention.

The Manpower Ministry has said it would sign the treaty only when it was sure it could implement it here, and that it would continue to review the rights and responsibilities of employers and workers.

Maid's body found in HDB water tank (17 May 2011)

2011-05-16T16:27:00.000-07:00

May 17, 2011

Maid's body found in HDB water tank

By Elizabeth Soh & Kimberly Spykerman

The Straits Times

SOME residents of a block of Housing Board flats in Woodlands were greeted with an unusual sight when they turned on their taps yesterday morning.

The water was slightly yellowish and appeared unnaturally foamy.

Some assumed that the water pipes were malfunctioning. At least four residents of Block 686B, Woodlands Drive 73, called the Sembawang Town Council to complain.

First their water supply was cut off at 11am. Then they were told that 'maintenance work' was being done.

It was only later in the day that the horrifying news spread: A 30-year-old Indonesian maid working there had been found dead in one of eight water tanks atop the 15-storey block.

A 27-year-old Bangladeshi maintenance worker was arrested nearby in connection with the woman's death. They were believed to have been in an intimate relationship.

Some residents recalled hearing screams and a couple arguing loudly in the morning, but they did not call the police, thinking it was a domestic problem.

It was the discoloured tap water that made residents wonder.

Suspect a worker who had access to roof

Retiree Choi Ah Moi, 69, who lives on the 11th storey, said she had noticed that the tap water was 'bubbly'.

After she found out what had happened, she said: 'This is so disgusting. My whole family finished a big pot of green bean soup I cooked this morning.'

Housewife Ally Lee, 33, said her maid used the water to cook noodles for her seven-year-old daughter at 7.30am. 'I think I'm going to take my daughter to the doctor,' she said.

Among those who said they heard screaming at about 7am was Mrs Eadelyn Tan, 36, who lives on the seventh floor.

'After the screaming stopped, I went out of my flat to the landing and I saw bloodstains in the lift and blood droplets on the stairs,' she said. But she did not call the police.

It was about 10am when the police received a call informing them that there was a body in a water tank at the block. The call is believed to have been made by a colleague of the Bangladeshi suspect.

Police, who found the dead woman in a 2m-deep tank, did not release her name yesterday.

The woman worked for a family on the sixth floor. She was found dressed in bermudas and a T-shirt and appeared to have cuts on her back.

The cause of death has not been determined.

The suspect is an employee of Sergent Services Pte Ltd, which offers conservancy services. As one of the maintenance workers assigned to the area, he had access to the roof.

Onlookers said he appeared to be limping and had cuts on his leg when he was led away by policemen at 10.40am.

The PUB said in a statement last night that it received a report of the incident at 3.30pm.

A PUB spokesman said that as soon as the town council knew of the incident, it stopped water supply from all eight rooftop tanks serving the block and provided residents with other sources of water at the void deck.

PUB officers also went to hand out water bags and sent a water tanker there.

The spokesman said: 'The town council is currently flushing/washing/sterilising the tanks and distribution pipes. Water supply is expected to be restored by midnight.'

Mr Soon Min Sin, the general manager of the town council, said that all eight tanks had to be flushed and sterilised as they were connected.

The tanks serve 124 of the 149 units in the block of four- and five-room flats. Twenty-five flats on the first three floors get their water supply piped in by the PUB.

Residents said their water supply was cut off at about 11am. At about 12.30pm, they received a town council notice informing them that the disruption was due to 'maintenance works' at the block.

Asked about the information given to residents, the town council's Mr Soon would only say: 'Our priority was to protect the residents and cut off the water supply for their safety.'

He said the town council would leave the police to investigate. 'Once the investigation is concluded, we will let residents know,' he added.

Among residents seen filling up pails of water at the void deck was housewife Yasmin Abdul, 35, who said she threw away a pot of freshly-made soup after she heard about the body.

'I am very upset and angry that the town council did not explain properly what had happened,' she said. 'This is just too scary.'

Mr Vikram Nair, a newly elected MP for Sembawang GRC, visited residents last night.

He said the police would investigate how the suspect gained access to the water tank.

'Once we get the full picture, we will put in measures to prevent it from happening again,' said Mr Nair, who assured residents that water supply would resume.

Maid pay hike: 16 agencies face fines (14 May 2011)

2011-05-14T15:51:00.000-07:00

May 14, 2011

Maid pay hike: 16 agencies face fines

They have until June 27 to prove they did not engage in price-fixing

By Amanda Tan

The maid agencies

•Arrow Employment

•Best Home Employment Agency

•Comfort Employment

•Crislo Employment Agency

•Crislo Resources

•Homekeeper International

•Jack Focus

•Javamaids

•JPB International Services

•Maid Management Services

•Nation Employment

•Net Resources Recruitment

•Nora Employment Agency

•SLF Green Maid Agency

•Swift Personnel

•TM Global HR Consultancy

SIXTEEN maid agencies have been accused of engaging in price-fixing by meeting to discuss a collective pay increase for new Indonesian maids, from $380 to $450 a month.

They now have until June 27 to prove otherwise to the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) or face a fine, a CCS statement said yesterday.

The 16 agencies include major players such as Nation Employment, Best Home Employment Agency and Homekeeper International.

Employment agencies should determine the salaries of new Indonesian maids independently, 'without discussion or agreement with any other employment agency', said the CCS statement.

It was first reported in February that the anti-competition watchdog was investigating the agencies, which reportedly met in January to discuss the pay rise to ease a supply crunch that had arisen because of competing demand from other countries.

A Proposed Infringement Decision was issued to the agencies yesterday, asking them to present their arguments before the CCS makes a final decision.

In the letter, the agencies were notified of the fine they could expect to pay if they were found to have infringed anti-competition rules.

The Straits Times understands that most of the 16 agencies are trying to decide what to do next. But at least one agent has decided he will not submit any appeal, and will pay the imposed fine - believed to be in the thousands.

It is understood that the fine differs from agency to agency. 'Financial penalties are calculated based on the relevant turnover from new Indonesian maids, the seriousness of the infringement and other aggravating or mitigating factors,' said a CCS spokesman.

One agent, who declined to be named, said: 'We have not profited from this. Moreover, we stopped using $450 as the benchmark within three, four days of being warned, so why are we being fined for all these months of wrongdoing?'

A lawyer, who gave his opinion on condition of anonymity because the case is still open, said: 'Technically, it doesn't matter if the parties profit from it or not, although they may raise it as mitigation. CCS will just have to consider the impact on competition, including the impact consumers face as a result of the arrangement.'

Some agencies, which were not among the 16 agencies being probed, have since adjusted the pay of maids. Employers now pay about $400 to hire a new Indonesian helper, up from $360 previously, said Mr Allan Seow, manager of maid agency FME Management.

When contacted, the Ministry of Manpower said it would not comment at this stage 'as CCS has yet to finalise its decision'.

Where Have S'pore's Indonesian Maids Gone?

2011-03-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

Where Have S'pore's Indonesian Maids Gone?

Radha Basu - Straits Times Indonesia

26 March 2011

It makes for an unlikely dream factory. At a whitewashed house on the outskirts of Jakarta, 120 Indonesian women are striving to fulfill a cherished migrant ambition.

They are training to be maids and to look after other people's homes in affluent parts of the region. It is often their only ticket out of penury.

Singapore has long been a coveted destination. But its allure is fading fast.

Ask how many want to work in Taiwan and 66 hands promptly shoot skywards. Another 39 favor Hong Kong, but only 15 cite Singapore as their dream destination.

Why is that, you ask. Singapore is safe, clean and so close to home. Why do they not want to work there?

"Money not enough, Ma'am," the women intone in unison. "Taiwan, Hong Kong got higher salary."

The labor squeeze that has long been a by-product of globalization and booming Asian economies seems to have reached the lower strata of the job market. Women, even from desperately poor backgrounds, can afford to be a bit choosier these days, as maid recruiters in Indonesia are finding out.

This group of women is being trained by Sejahtera Eka Pratama (SEP), an employment agency in Bekasi, near Jakarta.

A similar story is playing out in Pangkalan, a sleepy West Java hamlet about 250km away. Of the 5,000 families living there, at least 4,000 have a son or a daughter working in a low-paying job overseas. The hamlet's dirt roads are accessible only via motorbike.

Sukarma Mahmud, 50, a village recruiter who supplies Indonesian employment agencies with women willing to work as domestic labor overseas, is doing his rounds.

He is making his pitch to Kesih Suta, 23, as she sits on a mat in her parents' two-room home. She returned to her village last December after seven years away working as a maid in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.

"You will earn more than you did for sure," he promises the petite woman whose last pay was around $320 per month. "You may even get four days off a month."

But Kesih, the eldest child of an odd-job worker and a farmer, looks unconvinced. "I can earn even more in Taiwan,' she says in Bahasa.

Sukarma changes tack. "You help me and I help you," he cajoles.

"You pay me something then?" she counters, as her two younger siblings - both under 10 - play nearby. "My parents could use the money.

Would 2 million rupiah (S$290) be enough, he asks.

'I'll think about it,' she smiles. 'No promises.'

Low pay, high qualifications

Indonesia is Singapore's biggest supplier of foreign domestic workers, with at least 90,000 of its citizens working in the Republic.

But a number of factors are taking the gloss off Singapore as a destination, as The Straits Times discovered during a recent visit to training centers and kampungs near Jakarta.

Interviews with 10 Jakarta-based employment agencies and dozens of women who have worked or plan to work as maids overseas found that low pay, high eligibility criteria and the surge in demand from Taiwan, where the women can earn twice what they can here, are undermining Singapore's appeal.

The relatively low wages that Singaporean employers pay for domestic help compared with rates in Hong Kong or Taiwan are by far the biggest disincentive.

An Indonesian maid with no experience who comes to Singapore gets around S$380 a month, though some recruiters are trying to increase that to S$450, with at least one day off.

With wage levels left strictly to market forces and individual employers and maids to determine, some earn even less. Some agencies in Indonesia still recruit maids for S$350 a month or less. Some of these operators are unlicensed.

In Hong Kong, where minimum wage laws are in place, a maid earns at least HK$3,580 (S$581), with at least one day off a week. Unlike in Singapore, domestic workers there are also covered by employment laws and entitled to all public holidays off plus paid annual leave.

Maids in Taiwan can command at least NT$15,840 ($678), with four days off a month. They are also paid extra for working on days off.

Malaysia used to be at the bottom of the table when it came to paying Indonesian maids, but the Jakarta government banned its maids from working there last year after a rise in alleged cases of abuse. Maids in the United Arab Emirates and other countries in the Middle East still receive S$350, or less, but the employers absorb all recruitment costs, unlike in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Also, typically, better-off Middle Eastern households employ a few maids each, so the individual workload is lighter.

While Singapore employers generally pay less than those in Hong Kong and Taiwan, the eligibility criteria are the highest.

A worker has to be at least 23 years old and have at least eight years' education to come here. Taiwan and Hong Kong only require domestic workers to be 21 or over. There are no official education criteria, though maids generally have at least primary-level education.

Nurfaizi Suwandi, chairman of Apjati, the Indonesian Manpower Services Association, says: "Twenty-three-year-olds might find it hard to want to work in Singapore for S$380 or S$400, when 21-year-olds are getting close to S$700 in Taiwan."

The body has 330 members, making it Indonesia's largest association for employment agencies.

"The 19- and 20-year-olds who want to come and work in Singapore don't stand a chance."

A few years ago, domestic workers fresh from their villages initially went to Malaysia or Singapore to gain experience, before moving on to higher-paid jobs elsewhere. As Singapore provided an important training ground, it seemed fair that maids were paid less, say agents.

For instance, when Titin Kartini, 26, the eldest of three children of penniless West Java farmers, decided to work overseas a decade ago, she chose Singapore. She earned S$230 a month and worked for a family with three young children.

She had no days off and was not allowed to go out on her own, but she did not mind. "I just focused on learning how to cook and clean, and I also picked up Mandarin," she says. "All I wanted was to move to Hong Kong."

She did so in 2004, and worked there until 2008 for around S$600 a month.

Titin has spent the past three years teaching English at a village school, but is now keen to be off again, this time to Taiwan. "I have always had good employers, but I really want to earn more," says the articulate and confident woman, who can cook for up to 30 people at a time.

Taiwan is attractive not just for the $700 salary.

Unlike in Hong Kong, where she says she was forced to take four days off a month by law - and in doing so spending precious money - she says Taiwan allows her to work on her days off.

By working three Sundays a month, she can earn an additional $70, she calculates.

Opportunities elsewhere

But experienced workers like Titin are not the only ones flocking to Taiwan and Hong Kong these days, says Charles Butar Butar, who heads SEP. Increasingly, even Indonesians with limited or no experience also prefer to start out there.

His agency now supplies around 120 maids to Taiwan and 100 to Hong Kong every month, up from around 80 and 50, respectively, five years ago. There has been a corresponding decrease in supply to Singapore, with only 20 or so of his maids headed here, down from 100 five years ago.

Said Butar Butar: "The Indonesians are increasingly seen to be more obedient and willing to fit into the Chinese culture. And Taiwan and Hong Kong employers don't mind if they have little or no experience."

The Singapore market is getting hit by another factor as well - a depleting supply of Filipino domestic workers, who have long been the Indonesians' rivals in the region.

"For some reason, Filipinas are not coming in the numbers they used to be," says the agency boss. "Indonesians are taking their place."

Filipino maids are increasingly turning down Singapore jobs unless they are paid a Philippine government-stipulated minimum salary of US$400 ($506). This has led to a surge in demand for Indonesians here.

The Philippine Embassy in Singapore confirms that the supply of Filipina domestic workers in the region has been falling in recent years.

More of them prefer to work as retail assistants and factory workers, or go further afield for higher-paying jobs as domestic workers in Canada, Spain and Italy or factory workers in Taiwan, its labor attache Rodolfo Sabulao told The Straits Times.

Indonesians, too, are navigating hitherto unexplored fields, points out Nurfaizi. They are finding jobs on cruise ships in the United States and Europe, and - through a government-to-government program - as health-care workers in Japan.

Even bribes do not work

In a region flush with opportunity, it is small wonder then that many young women in Indonesian villages are reluctant to come to Singapore.

After failing to convince Kesih, Sukarma, the village recruiter, drops in on Zubaidah Nono Suoyana, 27, a former factory worker now planning to work overseas as a maid.

Zubaidah has two young children, including a month-old son, and her husband's pay as an odd-job laborer is not enough for the family. She says she heard on the radio that girls willing to go to Singapore stand to gain an advance payment of 4 million rupiah.

As she has no experience as a maid - a stint in Saudi Arabia was aborted last year when her employer sent her home within a month - Zubaidah initially agrees to work for anything above $350 a month.

But the moment she learns that she might have to live on only $20 a month - or possibly even $10 - for up to nine months while she pays off the recruitment costs, she lets out a small shriek. "I won't even be able to breathe on that money. No way I could survive."

She says her Saudi employer's wife sent her back because she believed her husband was paying her too much attention.

"In Saudi Arabia, there were no deductions," she says. "How do maids survive in Singapore for so long with so little money?"

As he leaves her home, Sukarma claims that he increasingly has to pay maids and their families up to 5 million rupiah to coax them to even consider Singapore.

Recruiters emphasize that the supply of maids from Indonesia has not dried up. But there is a definite crunch in the supply of quality maids.

Says recruitment agent Rudy Hart: "There will always be some who want to go, but their quality is in question." He knows of women who take the "ang pow" money and come to Singapore, only to find that the work is too hard for them. "They then run away and return home," he says. "The agents try to chase them for refunds, but often they don't get any."

Dreaded English test

Singapore's supply is further depleted by the exacting entrance requirements, say Indonesian agents. In April 2005, Singapore introduced a compulsory test in English for all maids that radically changed the game, says Butar Butar.

With better-educated women generally gunning for higher-paying jobs in Hong Kong and Taiwan or other professions elsewhere - and Malaysia out of bounds due to the Indonesian government ban - Singapore is increasingly becoming the place for those who cannot really go anywhere else.

Even if they have completed the mandatory eight years of schooling that Singapore requires, they hardly know any English, points out Antony Rais, who teaches English at Sumber Kencana Sejahtera, a large employment agency on the outskirts of Jakarta.

Although statistics from Singapore's Ministry of Manpower show that nearly 95 per cent of all domestic workers pass the test, Indonesian agents say the number for Indonesians is lower.

Says Mr Hart: "The 95 per cent includes Filipinos, who probably find the test easy." In his agency, which supplies around 50 girls to Singapore every month, about a third fail the test.

In Butar Butar's agency, the pass rate sometimes falls even lower. "Just last week, I sent nine girls to Singapore and six returned after failing the test," he says.

One sultry afternoon earlier this month, Antony coached a class of 40.

The women prepare for the class by memorizing the answers to 400 questions similar to those found in the Singapore test, with a Bahasa-English dictionary at their side.

The questions are framed in such a way that the women learn not only the basics of English, but also information directly relevant to their work as domestic workers. They also learn about their rights.

"Where in Singapore can you work?" asks Mr Antony, first in English and then in Bahasa. "Only in my employer's house," choruses the class, picking the correct answer from the list of four options.

Later, they learn what a "three-in-one" coffee mix is, how Indonesian helpers should be given at least one day off a month when they work in Singapore and how they can call their agent, embassy or a hotline run by the Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore) if they are not paid.

But learning by rote in a group setting is not always effective. As the class progresses, some play with their pencils or stare at the corridor outside, lost in thought.

Tough employers

While novices are eager to work in Singapore, some returnees are reluctant to go back.

Many narrate stories of how Singaporeans can be tough employers, unlike those in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Many rue what they call their lack of freedom.

From June 2009, when Siti Nurjanah Surjono left Jakarta to go to Singapore to work, till October last year, her parents did not hear from her even once.

Then, on Hari Raya last year, she called her mother. "It was like she came back from the dead," recounts her mother, Julekha Sutana, 45.

Nurjanah, 24, claims that from the time she began working for a family of five adults in Jurong, she was not allowed to leave her employer's home on her own, or even to make a phone call. Her primary duty was to look after the ailing matriarch of the family. She also claims that both she and the elderly woman were not given enough to eat.

Shortly after her first phone call home - 16 months later - the elderly woman died. Nurjanah was returned to the agency and asked to be sent back home.

Meanwhile, her sister Marfuah Surjono, 27, spent eight years working for two families in Hong Kong without incident. She was given enough food, had regular days off and the keys to the house. "My employers even took me to Ocean Park," she beams, referring to a theme park.

Marfuah, who now works as a Cantonese teacher to trainee maids, says she frequently shares her story - and that of her sister's - with prospective maids: "They need to be informed about the risks before they can make choices."

But Singapore still retains its attraction for one group of women who would work here again in a heartbeat - maids who have had fair employers and enjoyed their stints in the Lion City.

Siti Sopiah, 28, a farmer's wife with a one-year-old son worked for the same Bukit Timah family - a married couple, their son and the child's elderly grandmother - for seven years.

She said her employers were concerned about her well-being, frequently asking her if she was happy. They also bought her clothes and gave her generous ang pows during Chinese New Year.

When she left - she says she wanted to "take a rest and get married" - they gave her four gold chains. "All my time there, I only received kindness," she says. "And I tried to pay it back by working hard."

She is now training to return to Singapore. "It's clean, safe and the people are kind," she adds.

The best part, she says, is that her agency is negotiating a salary of at least S$450. "I am really looking forward to going back."

Placement fees would be capped at $1,000 (9 Mar 2011)

2011-03-08T20:34:00.000-08:00

The Straits Times

Mar 9, 2011

Jakarta proposes new rules on hiring maids

Placement fees would be capped at $1,000, easing recruitment

By Teh Joo Lin & Melissa Kok

INDONESIAN maids could find it easier to get passage here and start work without giving up nine months or more of their pay to their agents, under new rules being proposed by Indonesia.

A key change is to cap the placement fees maids pay to Indonesian agents at $1,000. This placement fee will be paid by the maid herself by taking a loan from an approved bank in Indonesia.

Currently, such fees - which take into account the cost of medical check-ups, document processing and training - can go up to $3,000. The cost is often jacked up by Indonesian middlemen who take a cut for their help in recruiting the women.

The new fee cap could mean that Singapore employers will need to pay only the fees charged by the maid agencies here. Currently, employers bear the cost of placement fees first and deduct the amount from the maid's salary later.

This would lessen the financial burden on employers who need to hire maids but have problems forking out the placement fees up front.

It could also avert potential disputes over refunds between employers and the agencies should maids terminate their contracts early.

The Straits Times first learnt about the proposed changes from Indonesian sources.

The Indonesian Embassy here yesterday confirmed such plans.

The changes are expected to be approved by Indonesia's Labour Ministry and are likely to kick in from next month, said Ms Isnarti Hasan, the embassy's labour attache.

Details were firmed up following 'intensive talks' involving Indonesian government officials, Indonesian maid agencies and other bodies, which started earlier this year, said Ms Isnarti, who is the representative here for the Indonesian Labour Ministry.

Aside from the new placement fee cap, there is also a recommendation for a $450 monthly salary, including two days off, for maids working in Singapore. The recommendation is non-binding.

An existing rule that calls for new maids to undergo three months of training in Indonesia before they can work here will also be strictly enforced, to ensure their quality.

The proposed changes are part of an ongoing review by the Indonesian authorities to improve the framework for the recruitment of domestic helpers bound overseas, and to reduce the amount of money they pay to work abroad.

The cost of applying to be a maid here - which includes placement fees and charges for processing documents - has proven to be a big disincentive for those wanting to work here.

Indonesian recruiters have upped such fees over the years - from roughly the equivalent of three months' pay a decade ago to nine months' pay or more today.

Said Ms Becky Eng of Signature Employment Services: 'If the maids can settle their loans in Indonesia, employers also don't have to guarantee the loan; there's no transfer of cost, just pay our fee.'

For the maid, the fee cap means they can start earning a salary sooner.

Currently, many maids go without pay, or earn a paltry $10 or $20 a month, for nine months or more, so they can pay off the placement fees.

In other places such as Taiwan and Hong Kong, such fees may cost only half as much, while in Saudi Arabia, employers bear the cost. This has made Singapore a less attractive work destination for maids.

Said Mr Gary Chin, managing director of Nation Employment: 'If the maid clears her loan faster, she is able to adjust to life here, and likely to stay in the job for a longer period.'

When contacted, the Ministry of Manpower said it was aware that the Indonesian authorities may be considering capping placement fees and encouraging potential maids to take bank loans to pay the fees.

An MOM spokesman said : 'If indeed Indonesia does so, we believe this will complement our new Employment Agencies Act (from April 2011), which imposes a cap on fees charged by Singapore employment agencies to the foreign domestic worker (FDW).'

Under the new Act, the service fees agencies here charge to a maid will be capped at two months of her salary on a two-year work contract.

'It will also go some way to relieve Singapore employers who effectively loan their FDW a sum to pay their fees up front and then make loan deductions from the FDW's salary.'

On the $450 pay recommendation, the spokesman said that 'as it is a recommended salary subject to market forces, employers should negotiate with the agents and make informed decisions'.

'MOM continues to be in contact with Indonesian embassy officials on any proposed changes,' the spokesman added.

Ministry puts maid agency data online (18 Feb 2011)

2011-02-17T17:00:00.000-08:00

Feb 18, 2011

Ministry puts maid agency data online

By Radha Basu, Senior Correspondent

NEARLY half of all maids placed in homes by maid agencies do not complete even one year of service before they are transferred to new employers or sent home.

This figure - for maids placed between February 2008 and February last year - was revealed to The Straits Times by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

It has been tracking almost 700 maid agencies here to check the worker 'retention success rate', which shows whether maids from an agency stay with or leave their employers.

Now the ministry is making public this and other information it has collected over the past two years about the performance of maid agencies. It hopes employers will go online and find the information useful when choosing an agency.

The ministry's move comes in the wake of announcements by some agencies that they are likely to raise fees for employers soon, to cope with a dwindling supply of foreign maids.

These fees will be used to offset the high recruitment costs, most of which are currently borne by maids.

The MOM data shows that on average, only 47 per cent of maids placed between February 2008 and February last year stayed with the same employer for at least one year. A standard employment contract is for two years.

About 200 agencies - roughly three in 10 - did not place a single worker in the past year, and 166 placed fewer than 50.

Of the agencies that placed workers, eight scored '0 per cent' for their retention rate, meaning that not a single maid stayed with the same employer for a year.

Most agencies were new to the business. Only about 30 had existed since the 1980s.

There were 400 agencies which had been issued licences only in the past five years and of those, about 220 mushroomed in the past two years.

A closer look at the MOM data revealed several troubling issues.

For one thing, the industry is dominated by small players, each doing small-volume placements of around 135 a year. That does not necessarily mean 135 maids, because some may have been placed multiple times.

Only 10 agencies made at least 1,000 placements over the past year.

And while transfer rates were shown to be generally low - at around 5 per cent - this could be because the ministry counted only maids who had been transferred at least three times within a year by the same agency.

Mr Phua Boon Leng, a director who handles maid issues at MOM's foreign manpower management division, said that the ministry is putting its data online to improve 'transparency and information' about the performance of agencies.

He said this will ultimately help employers, maids and the agencies themselves to make more informed choices.

Under-performing agencies will be forced to do better.

Commenting on the low retention rates of domestic workers, Mr Phua said employers 'need to be mindful that a new domestic worker will need time to adjust and adapt to a new working environment'.

Several employment agents acknowledged that frequent and sometimes frivolous transfers had become the order of the day because some agencies offered employers 'free replacements' if they were not satisfied with a maid they had hired.

As a result, some employers who spoke to The Straits Times said they changed maids four times in a year. Some maids this paper spoke to had also been transferred three or more times in under six months.

'Some employers simply try their luck with a new helper since it costs them nothing to get a replacement,' said Mr Gary Chin, managing director of Nation Employment, Singapore's largest maid agency, which brings in around 4,000 new maids every year.

'It would help if they persevered with existing maids as time can solve some teething problems.'

radhab@sph.com.sg

The new website: info at a click

PROSPECTIVE employers can log on to the new Employment Agencies' directory at

http://mom.gov.sg/eadirectory

The directory lists each agency's placement volume and what percentage of its maids were transferred at least three times in the past year. It also provides data on domestic helper retention and transfer rates as well as what percentage of its candidates passed the English language test, which is mandatory for all helpers.

Employers can do a simple search by agency name or peruse the entire list.

'The website will enable employers to compare the placement performance of various agencies and make informed choices on which agency they want to employ to help them in their search for a new worker,' said Mr Phua Boon Leng, a director at the Manpower Ministry's foreign manpower management division.

'Agencies can evaluate their performance against competitors and see areas where they need to improve. If they have access to the Internet, domestic workers too can see how their agency fares against its peers.'

Maids getting to choose their bosses (14 Feb 2011)

2011-02-13T16:23:00.000-08:00

Feb 14, 2011

The Straits Times

Maids getting to choose their bosses

Supply crunch means more are demanding better working terms

By Melissa Pang & Amanda Tan

WANTED: Expat employer. Minimum salary of $450. Must have Sundays and public holidays off. No pets.

These are typical requests seen on online forums and bulletin boards in supermarkets popular with expatriates.

With Singapore facing a maid crunch, the laws of supply and demand are beginning to tilt in the favour of foreign domestic helpers, who can now afford to be more picky finding their next employer.

The Straits Times spoke to 20 maids and maid agencies and was told that while maids have used such bulletin boards before, more maids now are turning to them, and putting up a wishlist with specific demands.

To top it off, most of the maids interviewed said it is they who get the last say on their prospective employers, as they conduct the interviews and decide if they want to work for the new employer.

Filipina May Demetillo, 31, has received many calls in just one week since she put up a posting at a supermarket noticeboard and has had interviews with a few interested parties so far. She has narrowed the list to two prospective employers.

Said Ms Maria Cecilia of Win Employment Agency: 'They are very demanding now because they know that there are very few maids coming into Singapore. Those who have worked with expats, especially, are very choosy.'

Filipina Jovelyn Bapuirigan, 30, knows she can leverage her four years of work experience to find her own preferred employer.

With previous expatriate employers, she was given Sundays off and the opportunity to pursue a nursing course.

'Singapore families don't usually give you that sort of freedom,' she said.

Even maids who have been finding their own employers for some time say they are now precise in their demands - and have no trouble finding employers willing to meet them.

Ms Bernadette Coliwet, 47, had posted her ad on the bulletin board at the Holland Village Cold Storage outlet, one of the 12 supermarkets islandwide that The Straits Times checked.

Since 1993, she has been depending on such ads in order to save on transfer fees paid to maid agencies.

But it is only recently, because of a shortage of Filipina maids coming to Singapore, that she started listing her preferences.

She wants expatriates because of the higher pay and wants to take care of only older children. She now takes home $800 a month, but is willing to take reasonable paycuts, so long as she is pleased with the 'full package'.

She has used her days off to interview possible employers.

'I usually ask for salary information first. If the employer can afford to pay, then I'll meet them to see if we like each other,' said Ms Coliwet, who is seeking a new employer as the Australian family she is currently with is leaving Singapore.

Maids like her are considered transfer maids - helpers who have served their contract and are waiting to be rehired or who have been returned to agencies by their employers, for whatever reasons, before their contracts end.

Recent market changes have given them greater bargaining power.

The Philippine authorities last year made it harder for prospective maids wanting to leave the country, by enforcing a US$400 (S$500) minimum wage and four compulsory days off a month.

Filipinas and Indonesians make up the majority of the 196,000 foreign domestic workers in Singapore.

It is not compulsory for foreign domestic workers who want to be rehired to go through a maid agency.

Agencies merely act as a middle man by helping in job-matching and performing administrative functions such as applying for the maid's work permits.

Both the employer and maids can save on administrative costs if they bypass the maid agency. For the maid, this works out to about one to two months of her pay. The employer saves on her airfare home.

If the maid does not find a new employer before her old contract expires or before her current employer leaves, she will likely be sent back to her home as there will be no one liable for her, agents said.

Although some maid agencies The Straits Times interviewed said they have seen such practices since two years ago, the demands are not just more specific, but also come with a much higher salary request, sometimes up to 30 per cent more.

Mr Allan Seow, manager of FME Management, a maid agency, said that it is usually those who have been 'working for quite some time and have some money' who can afford to be more picky.

'They want expatriate employers because they are more open to giving days off and they are more likely to send the maid for courses and treat them like a family member. They might also be willing to pay more.'

Agents pointed out it is usually the Filipinos, who know English and are more savvy, who will insist on such terms.

But there are also a handful of maids of other nationalities, such as Sri Lankan Mita Samarasinha, 42, who put up an advertisement at a supermarket for the first time.

'My friend suggested doing so as she managed to find a nice employer this way,' said Ms Samarasinha, who is looking for an expatriate family because she is certain no local family would be willing to match her monthly $650 salary request.

Ms Shirley Ng, president of the Association of Employment Agencies Singapore, said that such a practice can be expected as the maids get more educated and informed of their rights.

Still, she offered a more positive point of view. 'If they state their demands upfront, it can lead to better matches and less unhappiness later,' she said, adding that employers are more open to such terms these days.

Pay Hike as supply of maids dry up (23 Jan 2011)

2011-01-23T17:53:00.000-08:00

Jan 23, 2011

Pay hike as supply of maids dries up

More agencies say they plan to increase salaries of new Indonesian domestic helpers

By Teh Joo Lin , Neo Wen Tong and Lim Yi Han

A week after news that 17 major maid agencies have banded together to raise the salaries of new Indonesian maids from $380 to $450, more agencies say they will follow suit.

If the drive gains traction, the pay hike - said to be the highest one-time increment for the Indonesians - could well set a new benchmark for Indonesian maids' salaries here.

Maid agencies say they have no choice: Supply of maids to Singapore has been drying up as more of them look to places that offer better pay like Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Singapore's stringent requirements - a minimum age requirement of 23 and an English entry test - have also not gone down well with potential maids.

Last week, news broke that 17 agencies - said to be major players - would be hiking the pay for Indonesian maids to ease the supply crunch.

Of the 30 maid agencies The Sunday Times interviewed, 18 said they would raise salaries of Indonesian maids. Eight said they were taking the wait-and-see approach, and four were not in favour.

These agencies said they were either pulling out of the Indonesian maid market or still discussing with their Indonesian labour suppliers before deciding.

Those who have jumped on the bandwagon include Comfort Employment director Benny Liew, who said seven in 10 customers want Indonesian maids.

'It's market forces. If there is someone who can offer a higher price and we don't match it, we will lose out,' he said.

Those agencies interviewed said they have already begun to supply maids on the higher pay or are in the process of informing prospective employers.

So far, employers have been willing to shell out the extra amount because the demand for Indonesian maids far outstrips the supply, they said.

Maids from Indonesia and the Philippines are the most sought after by employers, making up the majority of the estimated 196,000 maids here.

But other agencies and employers are suspicious of the move by the 17 agencies.

They doubt a $70 raise can reverse a long-running trend of declining supply and question if the move benefits the middlemen more than the maids - even though Mr Desmond Chin, group director of Nation Employment, one of the 17 agencies, has stated otherwise.

An agency operator, who declined to be named, wondered if the pay rise was a ploy to maintain profit margins ahead of the revised Employment Agencies Act to be implemented in April.

The new law puts the cap on the fee payable by the worker to the agency, to one month's salary per year of approved contract.

Opponents also suggested that the move was tantamount to price-fixing, given that the salary of the maid should be a private arrangement between her and her employer based on current market forces.

This is why the Association of Employment Agencies, as a trade body, cannot endorse the move, 'lest it be interpreted as an anti- competitive act', said president Shirley Ng.

When contacted, the Competition Commission of Singapore said it cannot say if any specific behaviour is anti-competitive without a thorough investigation. The spokesman did not say if an investigation was under way.

Mr Chin has rebutted the allegation of price-fixing.

He said yesterday: 'Even among the 17, not all of us agreed on $450. Each of us has our own agreements with the suppliers.'

The move did not imply that all Indonesian maids must have the same salary, which should be commensurate with their experience, abilities and qualifications, he added.

He also maintained that the move does not increase the profits of maid agencies, saying: 'It's for the good of the maids and the employers in the long term.'

Indonesian maids first became popular in the 1990s; they were an alternative source after the Philippines banned the deployment of maids in March 1995 over the hanging of Filipino maid Flor Contemplacion, who was convicted for the murders of her fellow maid and her four-year-old charge.

Supply has dwindled over the years as more families here look to domestic help, while other countries compete with Singapore for maids.

Employers in Hong Kong pay maids $650, while the Taiwanese pay them $800. In Singapore, their pay has gone from just $230 to $380 after more than a decade.

Recent developments have worsened the supply crunch.

A recent tightening of Philippine laws on citizens working abroad led to a plunge in the number of new maids from the Philippines, and forced some employers to switch to Indonesians.

Maids from countries such as Myanmar and Sri Lanka remain relatively unpopular, compounding the problem.

Speculation that the Indonesian government will lift a freeze on the supply of maids to Malaysia, imposed following several maid abuse cases, may also account for the latest pay hike.

When contacted, the Indonesian Embassy's labour attache Isnarti Hafan supported the move. The higher pay will shorten the time the maids need to clear their placement fees, she said.

Mr Rusjdi Basalam, secretary-general of the Indonesian Labour Exporters Association, said the move will attract higher interest and bolster supply.

'This would help turn around the currently declining interest of people wanting to work overseas. Media coverage on abuse on Indonesian migrant workers have scared them away,' he told The Sunday Times.

But the agencies themselves conceded that the new pay was still a long way from overseas salary levels, while the entry test and age requirement remained bottlenecks.

Maid agent Ronnie Toh, who said the pay increase might boost supply by 20 per cent, remarked: 'It'll be helpful, but I don't think it's enough.'

Association of Employment Agencies' Ms Ng said this latest move is a 'signal' that new maid sources such as Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos need to be considered.

She said: 'We cannot be relying on two main sources - Indonesia and the Philippines. Once these two countries turn off the tap, our economy will immediately suffer.'

Agency owners say the pay hike may lead to maids from other countries asking for higher pay and existing Indonesian maids threatening to terminate their contracts unless their employers top up their salaries.

Employers interviewed appear resigned to the prospect of paying more.

Business manager Joycelyn Ong, 30, who hired her Indonesian maid a month ago, said: 'If she really wants to leave, then I will have to give in and pay that extra $100, because finding a new maid is a lot of trouble and I have to pay the same amount anyway.'

But Indonesian maids interviewed said that money is not their sole concern.

Ms Sumarni, 39, who like many Indonesians, goes by just one name, earns $360 a month after a 12-year career but she is not complaining because she gets days off and enjoys a good relationship with her employer.

'It is still better to work for my employer again, because it's been so many years, and I won't know if my new employer will be good or not,' she said.

Maid who allegedly caused death of disabled girl only 16 (25 Dec 2010)

2010-12-28T15:43:00.000-08:00

AsiaOne News (25 Dec 2010)

The Indonesian maid who allegedly caused the death of her employer's 12-year-old disabled daughter may escape the gallows, even if she is found to be guilty, due to a discrepancy in her actual age.

As confirmed by her lawyer and officials from the Indonesian embassy, who went to her family in West Java Village, Nurhayati is 16, and not 24. Her age was confirmed after checking her school records and interviews with her family.

The death sentence cannot be imposed on a defendant below the age of 18, according to the Criminal Procedure Code.

The charge against her was amended in court on Friday. She is suspected of causing the death of Linda Lee, a 12-year-old special needs student, who was found at the foot of a Housing Board block in Hougang on November 24 this year.

The prosecution yesterday sought further remand for her, for evaluation with a child psychiatrist. Her case will be mentioned again on Friday, December 31.

The maid's family, according to her lawyer Mr Mohamed Muzammil Mohamed, are 'extremely concerned with the well-being of Nurhayati,'

In an interview with ChannelNewsAsia, he also said: "They were also very apprehensive because we were informed that there were people who had in fact threatened them with regards to the age, not to reveal the actual age to us."

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) had increased the minimum age of maids from 18 to 23 years in 2005.

In a Straits Times report today, maid agencies here said that it is not unusual for maids to lie about their ages, with the average lying by three to five years.

In the case of Indonesian maids, the agencies also said that it is harder to verify their actual ages, as many do not have birth certificates.

Agencies will net a three-point demerit from MOM when a maid is found to have falsely declared her age. Twelve demerit points will merit a warning and a spot on the surveillance list, while further offences may cause its licence to be revoked.

Verifying the age of maids can be a problem

2010-12-15T18:25:00.000-08:00

Verifying the age of maids can be a problem: employment agencies
By Channel NewsAsia, Updated: 16/12/2010

SINGAPORE — Their age on their passport is 23 — the minimum age requirement for a domestic maid in Singapore — but they look younger, like teenagers.

It is not known how many foreign domestic workers (FDW) here are under—aged but the practice of falsifying one’s age is quite common among developing countries, though not confined to domestic workers, non—government organisations (NGOs) and employment agencies (EA) told Channel NewsAsia.

Driven by poverty or coerced into working overseas, these women allow recruiters to fix their passports.

The lack of documentation and birth certificates, and lax bureaucratic controls make this possible. Employment agencies and NGOs said the incidence is more prevalent among Indonesians.

Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics’ (Home) president Bridget Lew said: "Indonesians tend to marry much younger, like around 16, whereas Filipinas marry around 20 ...They need the money for their families and do not think (over—stating their age) is a crime."

However, she pointed out that under—aged FDWs working here are more of an exception than the norm.

Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) president John Gee told Channel NewsAsia that the raising of the minimum age to 23 could have made applicants "more inclined to be dishonest".

Home and TWC2 believe the responsibility lies with employment agencies to do more thorough checks.

But EAs told Channel NewsAsia the burden is too onerous.

A common refrain: Who are we to contest the legality of the passport?

A number of employment agencies told Channel NewsAsia that they rely on their recruiters in the source country to weed out underaged applicants.

"Our recruiters are very careful to follow Singapore’s law," said Best Helper’s sales manager, who gave his name only as Kelvin.

A few, though, do make trips down to the source country and interview the applicants themselves, such as AUK Management Services’ executive consultant, Stephen Chia.

"I observe how she answers my questions, how confident she is. This is in addition to looking at her date of birth in her passport," he said.

Crislo Resources’ director Roy Castello told MediaCorp he makes it a point to check an applicant’s educational certificates, the "akta lahir" — a family tree record — and identification card.

Even so, both Mr Chia and Mr Castello admit the process is not foolproof.

The Association of Employment Agencies Singapore’s (AEAS) vice—president Allan Wee said some employment agents have sent back FDWs that looked too young.

EAs which knowingly bring in an underage FDW will be breaching Employment Agency licensing conditions. They will be given demerit points and placed on a surveillance list. Any further breaches by the EAs, while still on the list, could lead to a suspension of their licence. Those who bring in underage FDWs are also required to repatriate these FDWs and to bear the cost of repatriation.

Mr Wee added: "It’s not worth getting into trouble with the government — we could lose our licence."

He added that as competition for FDWs increase, especially from Taiwan and Hong Kong where FDWs are paid more, there have been calls from within the industry to lower the minimum age of FDWs to 21 years.

Paid Sick Leave for maids

2010-11-01T15:31:00.000-07:00

There were some discussions on another page, about whether employers need to pay the maid her salary for the days that she is sick and unable to work. My comment was that we should treat our maids, in the same way as our employers treat us. When we are sick, we are given paid sick leave. So the maid should also be paid her full salary when she is too sick to work.

Some employers demanded to know whether there is anything written in black and white that we must give paid sick leave to the maid.

One employer has confirmed with MOM that when a maid is sick or hospitalized, the employer should still pay her the full salary. This is not exactly stated in the work permit conditions, but there is another condition : the employer shall pay the FDW her salary not later than seven days after the last day of the salary period. This means that the FDW must always be paid her salary, regardless of whether she is well enough to work or not.

However, if the maid damaged items which belong to the employer, we can still make them pay for the item. Please read this page :

Maids paying for damaged items

Employers should remember that the maid is a human being with complex feelings, just like us. We will definitely not be motivated to work if our boss deduct our salary when we were sick. The maid will also not work hard for you if her salary is deducted when she is sick.

Maid broke toddler's bone (Sep 28, 2010)

2010-09-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

Sep 28, 2010

Maid broke toddler's bone

By Elena Chong

A FILIPINO maid who was massaging her employer's three-year-old son pulled his leg so forcefully that his right thigh bone was broken.

Myla Cabradilla Cabuenas, 30, then told her employer that the toddler had fallen at home and injured his knee.

But the employer, who had wired her home with cameras, viewed the video footage and saw what the maid had done to the boy. He has a history of developmental delay and suffers from epilepsy.

She told her husband, a 36-year-old engineer, who then called the police.

Yesterday, the maid was jailed nine months for ill-treating the child under her care at her employer's home on July 1.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Asran Samad said the maid was alone with the boy when she placed him on a mattress and began massaging his legs. She had been hired three months earlier to perform basic physiotherapy techniques, including massaging the boy, and caring for him.

Tamarind :

When a maid is abused by an employer, she can always run away and call for help. What happens when babies are abused by maids ? Babies cannot talk, they cannot tell you what have happened to them. We will never know how many babies have been abused by maids. Here are more cases of the horrifying things that maids can do, which include murder. The truth is that there may be many more cases that were not reported.

May 12, 2010

Maid accused of sex with boy

By Elena Chong

AN INDONESIAN maid was hauled to court on Wednesday for having sex with her employer's 12-year-old son.

The 27-year-old is alleged to have caused the boy, with his consent, to engage in oral sex at the HDB unit in the east on Dec 25 last year.

She is also accused of causing the boy to have sex with her sometime at end-June and mid-December last year. The fourth charge under the Children and Young Persons Act states that she committed an obscene act with a child by engaging in sex and oral sex with him between end-June and Dec 25.

The court has ordered the name of the victim to be withheld or anything that will lead to his identification.

If convicted of the sexual penetration of a minor under 16, she can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined on each charge. The maximum penalty for the CYPA charge is a fine of up to $5,000 and/or a jail term of up to two years.

The short and bespectacled domestic worker was offered bail of $20,000. Her passport was impounded. She will appear in court again on May 19.

Grief-stricken hubby gives up on life

By Chong Shin Yen

17 Sep 2010

IT has been said that when you lose a loved one, a part of you dies too.

And that may be true of Mr Drake Poh.

The Singaporean businessman lost his wife and daughter when they were killed by their maid six years ago.

Gone was the love of his life, his companion, his confidante - the woman he had fallen in love with at first sight.

They had been married for only four years when tragedy struck.

And Mr Poh, 50, never got over their deaths.

He lost the will to live.

Last Friday, he died from complications due to kidney failure.

His sister, Madam Jenny Poh, 44, said that he had a kidney transplant in India 16 years ago.

But after his wife's death, Mr Poh stopped watching his diet.

Said Madam Poh, a housewife: 'When his wife was around, she would cook for him and take care of him. She made sure he stuck to a strict and healthy diet.

'After she died, he couldn't be bothered anymore.'

Mr Poh's wife, Madam Angie Ng, 34, and their daughter, Crystal, 3, were stabbed to death in his sixth-storey office at Block 165, Bukit Merah Central, on 28May, 2002.

Their maid, Sundarti Supriyanto, then 22, had set the place on fire. She was found outside the burning unit by firefighters, carrying the couple's son, Leon, who was then 18 months old.

Sundarti was jailed for life for manslaughter in September 2004.

Indon maid caught abusing baby on CCTV

http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20080205-48359.html

5 Feb 2008

AN Indonesian maid has been arrested by the police for abusing her employers' two-month old baby boy at their home after video recording showing her hitting and kicking the infant was posted by the parents on YouTube.

The maid, who is in her mid 20s, has been released on bail, following questioning by the police. But investigation is still ongoing.

The baby's parents were was shocked when they saw recorded images of the maid abusing the baby in her Paya Lebar Crescent home, which were captured by a closed circuit TV they had installed recently.

They filed a police report on Jan 26, and also posted the video recording on YouTube, outraging many Netizens.

The series of six videos (http://youtube.com/user/oreomummi) has attracted more than 36,000 views.

Many who saw the videos bristled with anger.

PrincessJuly83 said in her posting: 'I'm so angry after watching the videos. How can the maid do something inhuman like that?? I'm a mother of 2 and I know how heart breaking it is to see your own baby getting abused liked that. I hope the baby is fine, without any internal or external injuries.'

Another said: 'I am so upset about it. Really angry with the maid. Never comfortable with having maid taking care of baby and young children without other adult around them. Good that you have CCTV and find out early. poor baby.'

Another angry Netizen added: 'Can we know which agency this maid is from? And what is the punishment for this maid?. Hope she doesn't just get away by just sending back to her country. Hope that baby is healthy though.'

The employers said they decided to install the CCTV after reading media reports of maids abusing their young charges.

They were horrified and shocked when the very first video recording they did caught the maid in the violent act.

'The maid appears mild and gentle in front of us. We never suspect she would be so cruel to our baby,' Madam Wong was quoted as saying by an online site.

She decided to put up the video on YouTube to warn other parents who have maids looking other their babies.

Indonesian maid jumps after dropping baby from 23rd floor

2004

SINGAPORE (DPA): An Indonesian maid flung a 5-month-old baby boy down 23 stories to his death and then threw herself off the window ledge of the flat seconds later, Singapore police said on Sunday.

The body of the boy, Yap Soon Heng, dressed in a white shirt and pink pants, was found lying on a grass patch on Saturday while the maid, identified as Sulastri, landed in shrubs and palm trees about 5 meters away.

Soon Heng's parents had left him and Sulastri at hisgrandparents' flat earlier that day, neighbors told The Sunday Times. The couple, in their 30s, took their 3-year-old daughter out shopping.

Sources said Soon Heng was sleeping in the bedroom when Sulastri walked in and scooped him up into her arms.

She stood on a wooden stool and climbed out onto the window ledge, where she sat with the crying baby balanced precariously on her lap for at least five minutes before letting go of the boy.

"She was sitting there ... and kept turning her head back as if she was talking to someone inside the room," said John Chua, 43, an eyewitness.

"Suddenly, she just extended her arms out and let the baby slip from her hands," he was quoted as saying. "A while later, she pushed herself off the ledge with her hands."

He saw an elderly man, believed to be the child's grandfather, look down from the window.

Neighbors said they heard raised voices earlier in the day. Later the boy's grandmother started sobbing and screaming.

Sulastri had been working for the family for less than a year. (***)

Maid kicks, kicks and kicks child

Apr 02, 2009

A STOMPer came across this shocking video online, of a maid physically abusing a young child.

The contributor of the video said this actually happened to the child of his sister's friend.

Police confirmed that the case happened in Kuala Lumpur in 2007 and the maid was jailed 24 months.

WARNING: Video may be disturbing to some viewers.

Click the following link to view the video :

http://multimedia.asiaone.com/Multimedia/Vodcast/Multimedia/Story/A1Multimedia20090402-6319.html

Tamarind:
There is no doubt that some employers ill treat their maids. Take a look at the official figures, click on the following to view the details.

Life looking better for foreign maids
December 12, 2009

From the news article :
The number of maid abuse cases and deaths in accidents or by suicide has come down.
The declines are significant because the number of maids has risen from about 160,000 in 2005 to 190,000 now.

Tamarind:
There were only 53 cases of maid abuse in 2008. Note that 53 out of 190,000 is only 0.028%. From Jan - Sep 2009, there are only 32 cases reported. The truth is that very few employers ill treat their maids in Singapore. In any case, whatever these employers did to the maid, no babies deserve to be abused by the maid.

Harder to hire Filipino maids now

2010-08-17T23:56:00.001-07:00

The Straits Times

18 August 2010

Click on the above image to read the article.

All employers should take note that the government of Philippines require all maids to be paid at least SGD540 and four days off a month.

There are maid agencies which tell you that you can get a Filipino maid for SGD350 a month, they are obviously telling lies. You are actually cheating the embassy if you take a Filipino maid and pay her less than SGD540.

I have heard comments that Filipino maids are better at taking care of babies and small children, as compared to Indonesian maids. This is not true.

I have used both Filipino and Indonesian maids before, my Indonesian maids are actually much better at taking care of my kids when they were babies. Experienced Indonesian maids, like my current maid, Siti, are very hygienic, patient and caring.

Since it is more difficult to employ Filipino maids now, employers should just search for maids of other nationalities.

Misconceptions about maids

2010-05-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

Someone asked many questions in his comment in this page:

30% of maids sent home within 3 months

I realized that there are many misconceptions about maids in Singapore. I have posted the questions in blue, and the bold text is my answer.

1.Why the sg government only allows FDW's from certain countries? Why no FDW's allowed from places like China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia?
Is this a form of Racism here?

Not racism. The main reason is that women fear that pretty Chinese girls will seduce the husbands.

MOM states that the FDW must be from an approved source country. These countries include Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Thailand.

(Source: Requirements)

Read this ST forum thread to find out about other people's views :

Why not China Maids ?

2. Why FDW's are not covered under the Employment Act? So are they considered as sub-human? Even construction workers and cleaners are covered under this Act.
The maids are not sub-human. In fact, they are super precious humans. There are many laws to protect the maids, but no laws to protect the employers.
For example, we have to sign an agreement (with Indonesian Embassy) that we must not let a maid hang clothes outside the windows of a high rise apartments. If the maid cannot do it, that means the employer has to do it. The employer's life is not as precious as the maid. (Note that 85% of Singaporeans live in high rise apartments. HDB never give us enough space to hang laundry inside.)

3. So the decision to grant FDW's a day-off is up to the employer. But how many people here actually give your maid a day-off? Just imagine yourself in their FDW's shoes? It is like a form of slavery. Even during my NS days, I couldn't wait to get out of camp on those precious weekends. It was freedom.
Please look up the dictionary on the definition of slavery. Many people like you do not understand what slavery means and use the word in the wrong context.
When a maid comes to Singapore to work, she is paid a salary that is very high compared to what she will get if she works in her home country. Read this page :

Comparison of maid's salary

That means she is able to provide a very comfortable life for her family at home. I also see many maids carrying handphones and talking non-stop, that means they have the money to spend.
There are many employers who give off days. My maid has one off day every alternate Sunday.
Every maid is given the freedom to choose whether she wants a job with off days or not. No one forced her to take up a job with no off days. The maid can always refuse to take a job with no off days. Believe me, many maids now refuse to work if she has no off day.

4. Why must one have to pay a 'loan' to get a maid?? If you were to get a job in an overseas country, do you need to pay a 'loan' to any agency?
Please do not compare the maid's work to the work of a highly skilled professional. The maid is unskilled. Many maids do not know how to cook, do not how to take care of babies, and do not even how to clean properly. All other foreign workers like construction workers and even service staff from China must to pay a loan to come here.

Also note that the almost $3000 loan is paid to the maid agency, NOT the employer. You should go and question the maid agencies why they collect so much money from the maid.

The maid is very fortunate, because their loan is fully paid by the employer. They can decide to go home after a few days, and their employer must suffer the loss of about $3000 !

5. All of us here in sg seem to be overly dependent of maids. But has anybody here ever wondered how families in places like Australia, New Zealand, UK, US etc cope without maids? Getting a maid in these countries is next to impossible and only for the very rich. So how do those double income families cope? Btw many people over there live in much bigger houses then our tiny 'pigeon holes in the sky' over here in singapore. So how do they clean their houses? Take care of their kids?
When you start to have a family and babies, you will understand our difficulty.

I have cousins in USA. One cousin has double degrees from Harvard and Cambridge. She has to stay at home for 7 years to look after her 2 kids. When she went back to work last year, she had to employ a nanny for USD 2000 a month. If you were a woman, are you willing to sacrifice your career ? Are you able to find a wife who is highly educated but willing to stay home to take care of the kids ?

I will let other westerners educate you about how they live.

Our societies are different. Read what the director of Aware wrote :

Singapore still far behind in true gender equality: Aware

In Singapore, women have to bear the bulk of the childcare burden. There are many Singaporean mothers who managed to live without maids. Read this thread in the Kiasu Parents forum :

All about life without maids

Also note that maids are not only needed in families that have babies or young children. Many maids are needed to take care of the elderly who are too old to walk or feed themselves. My father passed away last year, and I was very grateful that my maid took good care of him, allowing him to be with our family until the last days of his life.

6. Many FDW's are poor people who come to singapore to find work and build a better life. But they are not trained and prepared for life as a FDW in sg. Employers in sg have too high expectations and most do not know how to treat they maids appropiately. End of the day, the blame is on the maid. But how many employers here are 'trained' to handle a worker like a FDW, with their low and underprivilege socio-economic background?
We pay maid agencies a lot of money to train them ! The agency fee ($600 to $800) and maid loan of almost $3000 are supposed to get us a maid who is well trained in their "training center" ! We already came out with so much money, why should we be responsible for training them ? Maid agencies are supposed to the experts in training maids. But most of the time we still get maids who cannot do the job.

But then many employers have put in a lot of hard work to train maids who have no experience working in Singapore before. I want to thank my maid's previous employer for training her to be such a wonderful maid.

If all FDWs are poor people who want to work for a better life, why don't they want to work hard ? There are many maids who asked to be sent home after working for only a few weeks, or even days, they came to Singapore for a free and easy holiday. Note that they do not have to pay any money to come to Singapore, employers pay for everything.

Also note that the median salary in Singapore is only about SGD 5000. After CPF deduction(20%), cost of a maid (about SGD 700), cost of a car (about SGD 1000), paying for the mortgage loan, paying for kids' pre-school and enrichment (can cost more than $1000 a child) etc, how much money is left ? Most employers are not rich, and most of us cannot afford to do charity work, that is, paying for a maid who does not know how to work !

Singapore still far behind in true gender equality: Aware

2010-05-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

The following is the reason why we need maids in Singapore. If we don't have maids, then mothers are the ones who suffer, because most men do not help out with childcare.

http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_528911.html

May 20, 2010

Singapore still far behind in true gender equality: Aware

WE WHOLEHEARTEDLY agree with Professor Hans Rosling's view last Wednesday ('Want more babies? Fathers, please step up') that Singapore has not seen a reversal in the decline of fertility rates because Singaporean fathers are not rising to the task of child rearing, and state support for equal parenting roles is not adequate.

In our 2004 report (Beyond Babies: National Duty Or Personal Choice), we stated that there is a direct correlation between total fertility rates and gender equity.

Many people think that Singaporean women have achieved gender equality. However, compared with countries such as Australia, Sweden, Britain and the United States where the total fertility rate is now increasing, we have a long way to go.

In the last 30 years, women have entered the workplace in droves. More girls graduate from our universities than boys. However, these changes are asymmetrical. Men have not moved into the domestic sphere at the same rate.

This asymmetry makes child rearing much less attractive for women. The woman who derives satisfaction from her work will not be keen to have any, or many, children if she has to bear the bulk of the childcare burden. In the meantime, her husband does not lose sleep about balancing work and family life.

Whose problem is this and what can be done? The State, the market and the individual all play important roles in the determination of fertility decisions.

Here are some considerations:

What is the message and effect when the State mandates four months' paid maternity leave, but not a day of paternity leave? Are we sending the message that fertility is solely a woman's responsibility?

Adequate support structures for families and availability of flexiwork arrangements are key factors in countries which have seen positive fertility trends. In Singapore, however, part- time work amounts to a minuscule 10 per cent of employment. Why is this?

Are family-friendly arrangements in workplaces equally available to male employees, or do employers treat a male employee's request to take time off to care for his sick child less favourably?

How can we support more active fathering? The 'Dads for Life' national campaign is a commendable initiative of the National Family Council and a step in the right direction.

Traditional gender roles not only deprive men of the opportunity to play an active role in their children's lives but also create an unbalanced environment where women are discouraged from having more children.

Corinna Lim (Ms)

Executive Director, Aware

Simple English Indo Dictionary

2010-05-23T01:54:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to a wonderful employer who sent me this copy of Simple English Indonesian Dictionary.

Please click the following link to download the printable copy :

Simple English Indo Dictionary

Disclaimer : I will not be responsible for any inaccuracies in this dictionary.

Essential Words for Indon FDW

2010-05-18T23:01:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to an employer who sent me this using list of words.

Click the following link for a printable copy :

Essential words for Indon FDW

Maids paying for damaged items

2010-05-18T02:37:00.000-07:00

I am sure that many employers have encountered careless maids who keep damaging items in the house. The question is, can an employer make the maid pay for items that she damaged ?

One employer posted in the Singaporemotherhood forum that she has checked with MOM. MOM does not regulate matters such as making maids pay for items that they damaged. Employers can write contracts to specify terms of employment to avoid any misunderstanding. That means an employer can state in the contract that the maid must pay for any item that she damages.

However, do note that we cannot make the maid pay for the following. Employers must not include these in the contract.
1. air ticket back to her home country
2. cost of renewing work permit
3. cost of renewing passport (This rule is set by the Indonesian Embassy. It costs only about $40, please read : Renewing the maid's work permit and passport)

I do advise employers to keep one eye close if the maid only breaks things once in a while. If the maid is very careless and keeps breaking things, then it makes sense to make her pay for the things that she damaged, so that she can learn to be more careful. We are already paying the maid our hard earned money to work for us, it is unfair for us to pay for everything that she breaks due to carelessness.

Comparison of Maid's Salary with other countries

2010-04-19T17:42:00.000-07:00

I have read comments that the salary of foreign maids in Singapore is "peanuts".

It really does not make sense to compare our maids' salary with maids working in Europe or the USA. This is because the salaries that the employers earn are different. For example, the starting pay of a teacher in Singapore is only about SGD 2000 a month, after deducting CPF (20%). (Source : MOE Salary)

It is only logical to compare with the salary that the maid will earn, if she works in her home country. Also note that many maids who come to Singapore to work do not have any skills, they don't even know how to cook and clean properly.

So I did some research to find out the salaries that maids are earning in Indonesia and Philippines. I also included Malaysia and China for your information.

Singapore
Maid Salary - SGD 350 and above
Maid Levy - SGD 170 (only for families with young kids or elderly) / SGD 265(normal)
Food and groceries for the maid - SGD 100+
Total cost is over SGD 600.

Indonesia
Maid : 1358000 IDR (SGD 208) monthly
Nanny : 1609000 IDR (SGD 247) monthly
Source : http://www.expat.or.id/info/2008-AWA-HouseholdStaffSalarySurvey.pdf

Philippines
Maid : 3000 to 5000 pesos (SGD 93 to SGD 155) monthly
Source : http://www.philippinesinsider.com/expat-life/finding-the-right-maid/

Malaysia
Indonesian maids RM 360 (SGD 155) monthly
Filipino maids RM 760 (SGD 328) monthly
Source : http://www.malaysia.alloexpat.com/malaysia_information/maids_in_malaysia.php

China
Maid with no experience - 300 RMB (SGD 61)
Maid with experience - 800 RMB (SGD 164)
Nanny (a lot of experience taking care of newborn babies) - up to 3500 RMB (SGD 716) in big cities only
Source : http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/HH18Cb01.html

The fact is that maids do earn a lot more when they come to Singapore to work. Also note that their food and lodging are fully paid for by the employer, so ideally they should be able to save all their salary, or send money back home so that their families can live comfortably.

30% of maids sent home within 3 months of starting work (21 Mar 2010)

2010-03-20T17:25:00.000-07:00

Why are so many employers sending back their maids ?
(The Sunday Times 21 Mar 2010)
Click on the picture to read the full text.

When employers send their maids home, they will lose the following :
1. Up to $3000 of maid loan
2. Maid agency fees of $300 to $600
3. Maid insurance ($200 to $300)
4. Time and effort training the maid

When maids go home, what do they lose ?
Nothing. They can come back to Singapore to work as soon as they find another employer, less than 2 weeks after they were sent back to their home country (Click here to see a real life case) They do not need to pay any money at all, because the employer pays for everything. Since they have nothing to lose, they will not be motivated to work.

Many maids now know that if they don't like an employer, they can ask to go home. If the employer does not allow a maid to go home, the maid can simply perform at her worst, until the employer cannot tolerate her any more.

If a maid is not motivated to work hard, there is nothing that we can do. The only way to solve the problem, is to make the maid pay for the maid loan in full, before they come to Singapore to work.

The suggestion of the template for the biodata is totally useless. Those of us who have employed many maids before, will know that the biodata can be totally false. The biodata is written by the maid and the maid agency, both will of course write only good things that will get the maid a new employer. You will never find a maid agency that will write absolutely honest biodata, because they will lose a lot of business.

Right now the only truth that employers can find out about the maid, is her employment history on MOM website :
How to check employment history

The best way to find out the truth about a maid, is from her previous employer. That is why I setup this blog :
Comments about maids by employers

The best solutions to the problem are :
1. Maid must pay for their loan in full before coming to Singapore to work
2. Only maids with good reference from their ex-employers are allowed to transfer. Employers can send their comments to MOM and indicate whether the maid is good for transfer or not.

New Paper : Give us grief and we will splash your dirty deeds online (7 Mar 2010)

2010-03-07T21:40:00.000-08:00

My blog was mentioned in this article on 7 Mar 2010 in the New Paper. Click on the image to read the full article.

Highlight from the article :

This is evidence that the people in power have very little understanding about the problems that employers like us are facing.

When bad maids are returned to the agency, prospective employers have no way of contacting the maid's previous employer. The agency and the maid are NOT going to tell you the truth, even though the maid may have done terrible things. I know of a maid who ran away from her employer's house, leaving a baby alone in the house. The agency said nothing about this incidence. That maid was eventually employed to look after another new born baby !!! Do you think this is fair for the new employer ? Who is more deplorable ?

If we send them back to the agency, even though the maid is very bad, other employers are going to suffer. If we send the maid home, we will lose the $3000 of maid loan, as well as the cost of the air ticket.

I created this blog to warn other employers of bad maids. My hope is that more babies, toddlers, and elderly can be saved.
Since MOM said that employers can provide feedback to them, I strongly advise employers to do so and blacklist their dangerous maids. But MOM is not likely to blacklist maids who are simply lazy and rude. We pay the maids using our hard earned money, no employer deserves a lazy and rude maid ! I welcome all employers to send in comments of your maids.

The maid loan is still the major issue here.

If the maid has not finished repaying the maid loan, the employer will have to let her transfer to a new employer, no matter how terrible the maid is. This is because every agency will only refund the maid loan, after the maid is transferred to a new employer.

$3000 of maid loan is not a small amount to any employer, and no one wants to lose this money. They will not blacklist the maid even though they know that she is dangerous.

Maids Available for Transfer

2010-03-02T00:47:00.000-08:00

If you have a maid now, and you do not need her service any more, please post her name and your honest comments about her in this page. Other employers who need maids can contact you directly.

There is no need to go through any maid agency. Here are the steps to transfer the maid :

Change of Employer

New employers should only employ transfer maids who have worked for at least 2 years for the same employer. Do not employ any maids who have worked for less than one year, or those who have changed many employers.

Advantages of employing a transfer maid without going through maid agencies :

1. You don't need to pay any fees if you do all the paper work yourself. You only need to pay for the new maid insurance. Click here : Foreign Maid Insurance.

If you employ a maid (currently in her own country) from a maid agency, you need to pay the following :
maid agency fee : $300 to $600 (you will never get this money back, even if things go wrong)
maid loan : almost $3000
Note that there is a big risk that you will lose this maid loan if the maid decides that she wants to go home after a few weeks. Read this page : More maids leaving employers
If the maid is OK, she has to work for 10 months without salary to pay you back. This is extremely unfair to the maid.

If you employ a transfer maid from a maid agency, you don't need to pay anything. The maid has to pay the agency about 2 to 3 months of her salary.

So if you employ a maid directly, you are helping the maid too.

2. If you employ a maid who has worked in Singapore for more than 2 years, it is very unlikely that she will be homesick and ask to go home after a few days, like those new maids without any experience. Experienced maids, whether Indonesian or Filipino, will be able to communicate in English much better than new maids. They would also have been used to the standards of hygiene in Singapore. New maids can be very frustrating, because their ideas of cleanliness is very different from ours. If they can work with one employer for 2 years, that means they cannot be too bad, otherwise the employer would have sent her away long ago.

3. Even if the transfer maid does not turn out to be a good maid, you can still send her away, and you do not lose anything except for the maid insurance.

4. Since the maid is already working in Singapore, new employers can meet her in person and interview her. This is much better than employing a maid that you have never seen before and the worst part is that you have to $3000 to $4000 upfront to the agency.

5. For the transfer maid's existing employers, you save on the air ticket. You don't need to pay anything to send her away.

Disadvantages :
1. Many employers do not like transfer maids, because they think that these maids are too "smart". But remember that even if you employ a new maid without any experience, she will become "smart" after 2 years. I know some employers disallow their maids to go out and talk to other maids, but these maids most likely will ask to leave after a while, and employers will have to employ new maids again. It is also not ethical to restrict the freedom of the maids. Remember that maids are humans too, please treat them with respect and dignity. My current maid is allowed to speak to any other maids, and she is still a very good maid after almost 4 years. If you want a maid to be motivated to perform well, then you must respect her.

If you weigh the pros and cons, employing a transfer maid without going through maid agencies is the safest option that employers have now. You will not only be helping yourself, you will be helping the maid to avoid paying the ridiculous maid loan.

An employer, pchua has posted the following comments in my blog.
pchua, thank you very much for providing this very useful information.

pchua wrote on 11 Feb 2011 :
Hiring a maid without an agency.

I am in the last stages of completing the Foreign Domestic Worker hiring process. As such, before I forget the process, I have decided to share my experience. The idea is to provide you with an option to do this yourself and not via the expensive agencies. All is needed is an internet, printer and 1 day off.

Choosing a Domestic Helper
This was the easy part for me as I my old maid contacted me and wanted to return.But for those who are dealing with transfer maids and doing the search online this information will also help.
However, if you have a friend who has a really good maid, ask them to recommend a, relative, cousin or friend. There is plenty to choose from. This is of course based on the assumption that the choice you make at an agency is also based on the luck of the draw.
Start by looking for a maid with a valid passport.

1. Confirm the timeline on when they can come.
2. The Salary and off day, all agreed before their arrival.
3. The cost that you are going to spend to bring her into Singapore. (If you expect her to repay this cost this needs to be agreed or if this is split this also needs to be conveyed)
4. Ask her to fax you a copy of her passport. (This will give you the fax no when you need to fax her with the IPA and the Air ticket notice.)

MOM Work Permit Online Process

1. Enter the MOM site and proceed with the WPOL registration. There will be an admin charge of SGD$10.
2. Once the IPA is approved. Print the IPA and the Medical Form
3. Insurance is needed. You can do this online with any insurance provider with the service. Or do it the easy way. I called NTUC and did it on the phone. All I needed was my credit card and the IPA details. (Not advertising for any insurance company) It will take about 1 day for the information to appear on the MOM site.
4. Go back to the MOM site and enter the Enquire Tab followed by the Security Bond Status.
5. Go online to buy an air ticket.
6. Send the IPA approval and air ticket note to your new maid.
7. Note faxing the information to your new maid is faster. If not allow 2 weeks for the post to reach her. I called her to arrange a time that she will be at the post office. Ask her to provide the fax no. and sent it through.
8. Once your maid has landed, you have 14 days to initiate the Work Permit. This is where you send your maid for medical. The form can be found as part of the IPA Documents you already printed. (I went to The Family Clinic @ Towner, Blk 101, Towner Road, #01-202. The Boon Keng MRT is just there. I went on Sat morning. This clinic does both blood work and x-ray. The process took me 20 mins) The Cost SGD$59/-.
9. Finally to submit all the documents, enter the MOM WPOL site and press the Issue Tab followed by Issue Work Permit- follow the instructions. (This is the Issurance process and is the final process needed on the MOM site.)
10. Make sure you print the following documents for submission

I. Internet Approval Letter (IPA)
II. Security Bond Form
III. Issuance Letter
IV. The Application for a Work Permit Form for your maid to
V. Part II (A) Declaration by Employer

11. From the entry of your maid into Singapore you have 14 days to start the Work permit process. You will need to submit the documents as stated at on the Issuance Form. Both you and your new maid will have to head down to WPSC at Tanjong Pagar Complex, 7 Keppel Road, #02-14, Singapore 089053. Her finger printing and imaging maybe necessary. Do not forget the Passport, Entry Form (IMM 27E) and photos to bring along with the documents.
12. The collection of the Work Permit Card will be 4 days after.

Have fun :)

How to check employment history

2010-03-01T18:22:00.000-08:00

Click here : MOM WP Online. On that page, click Login to WP Online. You will need to enter your SingPass. Look for the function "Enquire -> Employment History" on the left column.

You need to enter the maid's work permit number. The history will be shown as follows :

Maid agencies may not be willing to give you the WP number. You can ask them to show you the employment history using their own computer. Make sure that they are using the MOM website, you can compare with the images above. I have asked quite a few and all are willing to show me. If you encountered one who is not willing to show you, go to another agency. Agencies are very good at lying about their maid's employment history. I have been conned so many times. The worst was one ex-maid, I was told she only worked for one employer. Later I found out that she had 6 employers before me !!!

Read the following :
Source : http://www.mom.gov.sg/publish/momportal/en/press_room/press_replies/2006/no_entry_for_maids.html
2. MOM requires all employment agencies (EA) to provide prospective employers with the past employment periods of foreign domestic workers (FDW) in Singapore. MOM does not post comments from past employers as this information cannot be verified but new employers who desire more information are instead encouraged to consult their EAs on the suitability of the FDWs they wish to recruit, including obtaining feedback from past employers, before making a decision. Given the substantial number of past and present FDWs in Singapore, it is impractical for MOM to publish the photographs of all FDWs.

Note the following :
1. A maid who has never worked in Singapore before, will not have an employment history.

2. No matter how many times a maid has changed employers, her work permit number remains the same. Even if the maid's work permit has previously been canceled, and she is back in her home country, you can still check her history on MOM website if you have her work permit number.

3. Any Singaporean with a Singpass, can check the employment history of any maid. You don't have to be her employer in order to find out about her history.

Do not believe the maid agency if they tell you anything that is different from the above. Maid agencies are very good at telling lies. This is because if they don't find a new employer for the maid, they are going to lose money.

More maids leaving employers (28 Feb 2010)

2010-02-28T15:27:00.000-08:00

This is published in the New Paper on 28 Feb 2010.

Maids who come to work in Singapore have the best employment terms anywhere around the world. They don't need to pay a single cent before they come to Singapore. Employers are required to pay for their maid loan of $2000 to $3000. When they start work, they don't have to pay a single cent for their lodging and food. Then if they get homesick, or if they simply don't like to work for the employer, they can ask to leave any time they want, even if they have only worked for only one day. Employer must pay for the maid's air ticket back home, and the worst part is that the employer will lose the maid loan.

Looks like more and more maids know this trick already.

Even if you can find a maid agency that promises to refund you the maid loan, the agency will do so only if the maid can find a new employer. That means the maid loan is simply transferred to the new employer. If the maid is sent back to her own country, the maid loan will certainly not be refunded.

Some agencies allow employers to pay the maid loan using post dated cheques. But these agencies will definitely force the maid to work for a new employer in order to recover the loan, even if the maid wish to go home. The maid loan is again transferred to the new employer. What happens if the maid really hates to work ? She is going to make life like hell for the new employer !

MOM cannot help with the issue of the maid loan, because this is the agreement between the maid agency and the employer. The maid loan has nothing to do with MOM, since the employer is the one who willingly signed the agreement for these unfair terms.

The only way to solve this problem is for all employers to stop paying for the maid loan.

But that means it will be impossible to employ any maids through an agency.

The safest option, is to employ maids who are already working in Singapore, without going through any agency. Please read this page :

Maids available for transfer

Life Looking Better for Foreign Maids (12 Dec 2009)

2009-12-11T19:23:00.000-08:00

The following article is front page news today (12 Dec 2009) in the Straits Times.

Life is certainly good for the maids. They are allowed to come to Singapore without paying any money. The employer pays for the $2720 maid loan. If they do not like their employers, they can ask for transfer to other employers. They can change as many times as they like, MOM will issue work permit easily regardless of how many times they change jobs.

If the maid wants to change job, can the employer say no ? If the employer does not allow the maid to transfer, all the maid has to do is to make life like hell for the employer, which is very easy to do since the maid lives at the employer's home, taking care of the employer's precious children. If they wish to go back to their own country, even if they only work for a few days, the employer must pay for their air tickets home. The employer loses the $2720 maid loan. Read the following article. Click on this link to read more :

Are errant maids, agencies misusing free ride home?

Is life getting better for employers ? The answer is NO !

Has anyone thought of making life better for a full time working mommy with kids, who is not able to find a good maid ?

Here is an excerpt from today's news :

I think this section is reasonable. MOM has made the correct decision NOT to legislate compulsory rest days. Also note that the maids has the freedom to choose whether they want off days or not. Nowadays there are many maids who will only accept a job if given off day. If off day is really so important to a maid, then she should never accept any job without off day. No one can force her to work with no off day.

In my blog :

How to manage a maid

I wrote that :

I allow my maid to send as many letters as she likes to her family. I don't believe in cutting off her communication completely. She is allowed to call her family using her own mobile phone as often as she likes, so long as she has completed all her task, and she must ask my permission.

I also wrote that :

Off day or no off day ?

No one can work everyday for years without any rest. I advise employers to give off days to their maids whenever possible.

Employers who have babies, very young kids, or elderly who needs constant care, may not be able to give off days to their maids. In this case, try to make sure that your maid has some free time to rest. At least one hour every day, or a few hours during the weekends without being disturbed. Let her have the freedom to call her family or friends.

A maid who works everyday without any rest is very likely to develop mental illness. This happened to 2 of my ex-maids.

Some employers are concerned that the maid will get pregnant if she finds a boyfriend outside. All maids must go through medical checkup every 6 months. Once she tested positive for pregnancy, immediately send her back and you will not lose your security bond.

Some employers are concerned that the maid may mix with other maids who may teach her bad things. This is something that we cannot control. If the maid is a good maid, she will not be influenced by her friends.

I also do not ask my maid where she goes and what she does during her off day. She is only working for me for a salary, I have no right to control her life when she is not working for me.

Are errant maids, agencies misusing free ride home?

2009-11-22T15:23:00.000-08:00

Source
The Straits Times

23 Nov 2009

Are errant maids, agencies misusing free ride home?

TEN weeks ago, I employed an Indonesian maid. But on Nov 7, she ran away to the Indonesian Embassy and wanted to return home for no apparent reason, causing me to lose the $2,400 deposit paid to my agency.

I also had to pay $160 for her airfare home.

An Indonesian Embassy official who had a three-way meeting with the maid and me is witness to the maid's admission that she was happy working with us and she was treated like a member of our family, but she just felt like returning home.

Recently, I was at the FairPrice supermarket in Beo Crescent when I overheard an older maid telling a younger one in Bahasa Indonesia, which I understand: 'If you are not happy with your boss, run to the Indonesian Embassy and they will send you home. No need to pay anything.'

Could maid agencies be telling maids to head for the Indonesian Embassy if they are not happy at work? Even when one is repatriated, the maid agency still makes $2,400.

Could maids working here be teaching new arrivals this easy way to get a free ride home?

The Ministry of Manpower should investigate this to protect employers like us who treat our maids fairly.

Written by Khoo Kah Liang

This article proves that maids are NOT slaves. They can come and go as they please. Employers are required by MOM to pay for the air ticket, even if the maid has worked for only 1 day.

If the maid does not want to work in Singapore any more, then the employer will lose the maid loan of more than $2000.

The maid does not have to pay anything at all. I believe that is why many maids have bad attitude. If they have nothing to lose, they are not motivated to work hard.

For the air ticket, I hope that employers can feedback to MOM. Hopefully they can change the rule.

As for the maid loan, MOM cannot do anything about it. In Singapore, the maid agencies require employers to pay the maid loan upfront. If employers insist on employing maids who have already paid up their maid loan, then there will not be so much problems.

In Hong Kong, maids must pay the agencies using their own money, either by borrowing from their relatives, or from other money lenders. Read the following article taken from the book

Maid to order in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, maids must work very hard since the responsibility is on themselves to pay back the loan.

In Singapore, since the FDW employers have already paid up the maid loan of more than SGD 2000, the maids have nothing to lose even if they perform so badly that they are sent back to their own country. Their employers are the ones who lose all the money.

The problem is that all the maid agencies in Singapore require FDW employers to pay the full maid loan upfront. If all FDW employers refuse to pay this amount, then the maid agencies will have to change their requirements or they will have no business.

However, this is impossible because there are many employers in Singapore who cannot do without maids. We are stuck in a situation that cannot be changed !

There are maid agencies which allow employers to pay the maid loan using post dated cheques. Read the agency contract carefully. There will be a clause stating that you must return the maid to them. In the event that an employer returns the maid to the agency, the agency will definitely force the maid to work for a new employer (who will have to pay the maid loan), even if the maid does not want to work any more. That is because if the maid returns to her own country, the agency will never be able to get her to repay the loan. One of my ex-maids told me that the agency staff beat the maids if they didn't want to work. I have personally seen the boss of a maid agency slapped a maid.

The maid has no choice but to agree to be transferred to a new employer. The maid could continue to create trouble at the new home.

That means the problem is merely transferred from one employer to another. That is why we have so many bad maids around.

How Expats in the Philippines manage their maids

2009-11-15T06:28:00.000-08:00

My friend sent me a very interesting article about how expats living in the Philippines treat their maids, written by Don A. Herrington. I do not totally agree with his opinions. Even though the maid's salary is shockingly low, I feel that employers should try to pay the maid a much higher salary if she is an excellent maid.

Unlike Mr Herrington, I DO NOT let my maid hand wash all our clothes, she only hand washes her own clothes while our clothes are thrown into the washing machine.

But I certainly agree with him on this point : Our Domestic helpers are workers for our family and they are NOT family members.

You can click on the links below to read the complete article. Then click on this link to read how I manage my maids :

How to manage a maid (by Tamarind)

Quote from:

Maids: Cheap and Priceless (by Don A. Herrington)

The cost is shockingly low compared with other countries. I pay my maids $30 a month plus food to start, and raise to $40 over a one year period. In the more rural areas they start closer to $20.

........

This is my washing machine, in the back, an imported Whirlpool. It makes own hot water. I bought it so the helpers would not have to spend so much time washing clothes. The young lady in the foreground has a better way, a cleaner way to do it; a brush, soap and elbow grease.

Most who wash clothes don't feel the washing machine gets the clothes as clean as do the hands. And it seems to me, washing is like a meditation with the women and girls So it light sweeping done every morning. Young and even older men often do their own, if not their sisters or relatives or if they don't have helpers. It is not considered exclusively a woman's task, though most professional washers are women, labederias, from the Spanish. You can hire one of those part-time or full-time. All professionals are women. If you have good eyes the you can see the plug on the top in the middle hanging down on the side. It is unplugged. As far as those who wash go, it can stay that way. Think twice before buying a washing machine. I didn't, and I am sorry.

........

Quote from :

Advantages and Disadvantages of Having A Maid, Domestic Helper (by Don A. Herrington)

Treating Filipina Maids, Domestic Helpers Too Good?

You are bending yourself backward for the maids [domestic helpers] treating them as family members when obviously they are not.

I feel that you are making an excessive effort to be kind and generous, or charitable as you say, while to me you seems to go overboard.

Let me relate to you my approach with my helpers: for a start they are eating by themselves in the `dirty' kitchen, not at our table where we can have guests or just want privacy in our conversation and don't want to be scrutinized while eating.

They do eat the same food as us but we keep an eye on them to avoid be taken advantage of, by temptation, greed or pure ignorance. Things like dried fruits, cheeses, fresh milk, roasted nuts, alcohol, vitamins, Milo and milk powder and the likes for the child, are strictly out of bound for them and I made it clear from day one. And we keep all that and more in our clean kitchen to avoid temptations. The maids' quarters are separate, so at night we just close the communicating do.

We don't buy expensive meats, we tried but after Aussie steaks, even the expensive imported meats available here, are not comparable; probably they freeze it for transport. So instead we eat, fish, chicken, pork and some beef for stews or curries and so do the helpers. We eat numerous kinds of fruits during the day out of our fridge in the `clean' kitchen, while the helpers usually have only one or two like bananas and papayas, in their fridge. We drink only lemonades (beside my mealtime beer) made out of calamansi, the helpers prefer drinks made out of powders. But spreads (peanut butter, chocolate, jams and the likes) are for the child's sandwiches for merienda, school or night snack, while the helpers snack like us, cooked bananas, popcorns, pancakes, etc.

Then, with the exception of a couple of special occasions during the year – like Christmas, New Year and their birthday – we go to restaurant only by ourselves, because the helpers are too busy working at a big home, garden and pool requiring full time attention, beside that we don't want to leave the whole property unattended at any time.

They can rest of course during the day if tired watching their TV in their room, but no "siestas". Some days we are not busy so our maids can take it easy, but at other times we are and so they have to move their bums to keep up with the demand the occasion requires. We treat them kindly and in a friendly way, but let me repeat this: Our Domestic helpers are workers for our family and they are NOT family members.

My father, used to say: `Familiarity breeds contempt'. How true! Is not easy to be a house head fair to all, including myself, while is too easy to be too generous. You do that and people will so think you are `loko/buang' [Crazy, Stupid]: The idiot of the barangay. I found out here that if you give someone a finger they expect your entire arm.

I believe discipline is a necessary restriction; we all have our boundary and rules to comply with and also to know where we stand. Our maids are not stealing, they will have too much to loose if caught.

What is a good employer ?

2009-10-04T19:50:00.000-07:00

As an employer, I have learned my lesson that there is no use treating a maid like part of the family, or give her a lot of freedom. Many employers make this mistake, thinking that their maids will be grateful and try their best to perform well. The fact is that the maid will think that since you treat her so well, that means you cannot do without her. The maid believes that she can do anything, and you will not send her away. Treating the maid like part of the family, sharing your expensive food with her, etc, is NOT going to change a bad maid into a good maid !

Whether you get a good maid or not, depends entirely on your luck.

I believe that as employers, it is important to treat maids in the same way as our employers treat us. In a company, if a person performs badly on his/her job, or has a very bad attitude, he/she will be fired. When a person works for a company, he/she must follow all the instructions strictly. No company will employ you and let you do anything you like. For maids, it should work the same way. At home, house rules are equivalent to job requirements and work instructions when we work in a company. If the maid does not like the job requirements, she can always ask to leave. If the maid finds a better employer and asks to leave, we should just let her go. If you resign, can your boss refuse to let you go ?

As employers, we should always keep our conscience clear.

1. Salary

If the maid is very hardworking, and performs very well, then please pay her the salary that she deserves. I am paying my maid $500 a month now, because she is a very good maid. She used to earn only $300 when she first started to work for me. I slowly increased her salary over 3 years when she has proven herself as a very good maid. My maid also understands that it is impossible for her to find a job that pays so high, so she really treasures working for me.

Many people think that Singaporean employers are paying their maids a salary which is too low. The fact is the initial salary is agreed between the maid and the maid agency ! Employers DO NOT set the salary when we employ a new maid from the maid agency. All employers are free to pay their maids any salary. I know there are many maids who are paid above $450 in Singapore.

However, I think there are many employers of FDW who earns only about $2000 - $3000 every month. The government makes us pay $170 levy every month. The total cost of employing a maid can take up a large portion of the employer's salary. For employers who cannot afford to pay their maid a high salary, then please be fair to the maid and consider giving her a reasonable work load and off days.

2. Work Load

Look at the work that you ask your maid to do everyday. Ask yourself whether you can do all those work if you were to stay at home. If you cannot do it, then don't expect your maid to be able to do it !

What is a reasonable work load ? This is my personal opinion :

If a maid is taking care of a baby below one year old, and/or a toddler below 3 years old, without any help from grandparents, then the maid cannot be expected to do the full load of housework. She should be able to cook for herself and the children under her care, and probably only mop the floor once a day while the children are sleeping. It is NOT reasonable to expect her to do anything else. She should be allowed to do other housework during weekends when parents take over the kids.

If a maid is taking care of 3 kids all below the age of 3 or 4, without any help, then it is NOT reasonable to ask her to do any housework except to cook for herself and the kids.

If the maid is taking care of 2 or 3 kids, all above the age of 3, without any help, she should be able to cook for herself and the whole family, mop the floor, and perhaps do laundry when the kids are attending kindergarten/nursery.

However, if grandparents are helping to look after the kids, then the maid should be able to do more.

Parents should understand that their kids are the most important people in their lives. You don't want a tired and overworked maid looking after you kids, anything can happen !

3. Sufficient Rest

Can you work everyday of the year without any rest ? If you are unable to do so, then don't expect that from a maid ! I know maids who developed mental problems after working for 2 years or more without any off day. Now with the changes to the Security Bond, employers do not need to lose their Security Bond when the maid gets pregnant. Please click the following for more information :

Change in Security Bond Conditions

For employers who are afraid that the maid will be badly influenced by other maids, do remember that you only pay the maid a salary to work for you. You have no right to control the friends she likes to mix with. You have no right to cut off her communication. If the maid wants to turn bad, she will turn bad no matter what you do. My maid has one off day every alternate Sunday, she is still a good maid after working for me for 3 years.

Every one of us will be happy to have a job that pays well, has a very reasonable workload, and sufficient rest for us.

High pay and reasonable workload will NOT change a bad maid to a good maid. But these conditions will certainly retain a maid who is willing to work hard.

Read here for more about how to manage a maid :

How to manage a maid

Change in Security Bond Conditions

2009-10-02T19:39:00.000-07:00

All employers should receive a letter from MOM, stating the changes in the Security Bond Conditions. Some important notes :

Remove employers' liability if the FDW herself has violated their obligation under work permit conditions (such as those relating to marriage with a resident or pregnancy), employers will only be required to : (i) inform the FDWs that they are required to comply with the Work Permit conditions ; and (ii) report to the relevant authorities if they are aware that their FDWs are not complying with the Work Permit conditions. Previously, employers could lose the security bond deposit if the FDW breached the condition, despite the employer's efforts to manage his/her worker's behaviour.

This means that employers no longer need to worry that their maids get pregnant when they go on their off days. We do not lose the security bond if the maid gets pregnant ! But employers will still need to pay for the air ticket to send the maid back to her own country.

In my blog, I have always advised employers to give their maids off days. A person who works everyday without any rest is very likely to develop mental problems. I do understand that employers who have babies and elderly who need constant care, will find it difficult to give the maids the entire day off. I advise these employers to try to give their maids half day off every alternate week, or a few hours off every week.

As for those employers who worry that their maids will meet other bad maids who will influence them, remember that the maid only works for us for a salary. We have no right to control what type of friends they mix with. If you have a good maid, she will not change. My current maid has a full day off, every alternate Sunday. She has worked for more than 3 years, and she is still a very good maid.

Other important changes :

To address the issue of salary arrears faced by the FDWs, a new Security Bond condition will be introduced to require employers to pay their FDWs' salaries promptly.

I know there are many employers who do not like their maids to hold any cash, and prefer to keep a log book recording their salary. Please note that now you may lose your security bond of $5000 if you don't pay your maid promptly. I would advise employers to open a bank account for their maids, as soon as their maid has $500 of savings, and transfer the salary to their maid's bank account every month. I understand that many employers are afraid that their maids steal money. Employers should keep their money and valuables safely locked up.

Change in security bond conditions :

That we should provide acceptable housing to them.

If the maid complains to MOM that her sleeping arrangement is not acceptable, then the employer will lose the $5000 Security Bond !

Another important change :

In cases where the FDW absconds, only half the Security Bond ($2500), instead of the entire bond of $5000, will be forfeited, so long as the employer has made reasonable efforts to locate the worker.

For more details, please refer to the letter from MOM.

About my maids

2009-08-12T23:34:00.000-07:00

I have not written about my 8 maids in my blog before, because it is a very very long story. I don't think many people will have the patience to read it. Recently, I found that some people made unfair comments about me, simply because I wrote that I have changed 8 maids in 4 years.

In summary, 2 maids were mentally unstable, 1 maid could not speak English, 2 maids asked to be transferred, 1 maid told too many lies, and 1 maid was sent away because I could not afford to keep her. My 8th maid is still with me after 3 years.

Anyone who wants to comment about me, please read the details before you jump into conclusion.

I employed my 1st maid when my daughter was born in 2003. She was filipino. She had a few years of working experience in Singapore. At that time, I did not have any houserules for her, and she was given a day off every month.

My mother moved to my flat to help me look after my baby girl. My girl had very serious reflux, she vomited large amounts of milk every time she was fed. She had to be carried for about 45 minutes after each feeding (3 hourly). When she was asleep in the cot, the milk could come up from her stomach through her nose and choke her. I have seen this happened twice and it really freaked me out to see her face turned red because she could not breathe. I insisted that she must be watched at all times, even when she was sleeping.

I told the maid that her priority was to take care of the baby, not to do housework. However, the maid insisted on cleaning the house every minute of the day, even after I told her repeatedly that she did not have to do so. The maid also cried very often, and she could not tell me why. I never raised my voice at her, and her workload was considered very light. She could not be homesick since she was single, and she had worked in Singapore before. There was no reason why she should be crying. Sometimes I saw her standing by the window (we live on the 16 storey) and staring outside. I realized that she could be mentally unstable. I did not want to take any risks, so I sent her back to the agent. I heard that she found an employer whose children are all grown up, and her job is to clean all day. I am really happy for her since that is exactly what she likes to do.

My 2nd maid was also filipino. This one gave me even more problem. I chose her because she claimed to be a college graduate. But she could not converse properly in English. She could not even understand simple instructions in English. I am a full time working mommy, and it is very important that I can communicate to the maid. My mother is at home to supervise her, but she also could not communicate with her. I do not have the patience to wait a few months for the maid to learn English. The maid also had very bad body odour, and she was always perspiring heavily, even at normal room temperature. I suspected that she had some sort of medical problems. I sent her back to the agent within one week.

My third maid came highly recommended by the agent. She was also filipino. Her name was Marciana. Her attitude was very bad. She liked to argue with me, and she looked disgusted when I tried to give her instructions. She only liked to take care of the baby, and hated to do housework. My baby girl used to vomit a few times a day. Marciana refused to kneel down to clean the vomit on the floor. She simply threw the floor towel down and used one foot to kick it around. I tolerated her behaviour because housework was of a lower priority. Every night, my baby girl cried for a few hours and it was very difficult to put her to sleep. Marciana discovered that my baby would stop crying when she was being shaken, so she kept shaking my baby to sleep every night. I found that her motions were too violent for a baby (about 6 months old at that time). I told her not to do it, but she would not listen. I told Marciana that if she did not like to work in my family, I would allow her to find a new employer. She went crazy after hearing this. She started to talk to herself, and started to bang on things for no reason. I had no choice but to send her back.

I had enough of filipino maids, and decided to try an Indonesian maid. My 4th maid, Nurhayati, had 2 years of experience working in Taiwan. When I interviewed her, she told me that she had no experience taking care of a baby, but she was willing to learn. After she worked for me, she told me that she had medical problems and was taking some pills given by the agency. She could not tell me exactly what problem it was, but she said she might faint easily. That made me really uneasy because her job was to carry my baby. Then I found out that her hands were very unsteady. She had problem learning how to use a ear thermometer, and could not even pour medicine out from a bottle onto a spoon, because her hands kept shaking. I was tired of changing maids, so I tolerated all these. However, one day, Nurhayati cried and told me that she wanted to go back to the agency. She said that my daughter was very beautiful, and she felt very sad looking at my daughter, because she had aborted a baby before. I was shocked. I called the agency, and I was advised to send her back as soon as possible.

My 5th maid was also Indonesian. Her name was Mini. She was very good with toddlers and babies. When my son was born, she had no problem taking care of him. I had a really easy confinement. I was very happy with her work and I rewarded her with large sums of money and even diamond necklaces. I brought her to the Superstar Virgo cruise with us, and even to Hong Kong Disneyland. I even allowed her to go out once a week to buy her own food and groceries. I treated her like my sister. I even planned for her retirement. I thought of asking my kids to send her money every month, when she grew old and had to return to her country.

So far for all 5 of my maids including Mini, I did not have any house rules for them, and I did not restrict the use of handphones. After Mini worked for about one year, my mother told me that she spent a lot of time on her handphone. She received many phone calls during the day. I told Mini that she could only use the handphone after she finished all her work at night. She said OK, but she continued to talk on her handphone. It was disrupting her work. My son was starting to learn to walk, and he kept falling and hurting himself. Mini was supposed to watch him, not talk on the phone all day long. I was frustrated, but I decided to tolerate her since I thought it would be difficult to find a maid as good as her.

Later my mother told me that Mini had many boyfriends in the neighbourhood, I did not take it seriously. I thought that maids are human too and should be allowed to have boyfriends.

Then one day my daughter, who was 3 years old at the time, told me that Mini met her boyfriends while taking my daughter to school ! She said that Mini and her boyfriend "touched" each other in front of her, and the boyfriend even touched my daughter's face and arms ! That night, I cried in front of my husband, telling him that I failed as a mommy because I had put my daughter in a dangerous situation.

This was the last straw. 5 days later, I sent Mini back to Indonesia. I did not tell Mini what she had done wrong, because I did not bother to listen to her argument. I simply told her that the family was migrating to USA and we could not bring her along. Mini cried, and then told me that she was sorry, which was surprising since I never told her that she had done anything wrong. About 5 days after I sent her to the airport, I was shocked to find out that she had already found a new employer and had returned to Singapore ! My guess was that one of her boyfriends brought her back.

Later my mother told me that Mini had been cooking lunch for her boyfriends every day, using food bought with my money !!! Everyday, after she finished cooking lunch, she went out of the house to throw rubbish and took this opportunity to handover the food to her boyfriends. I asked my mother why she told me this fact only after Mini left. My mother said she thought that good maids were difficult to find, so she did not want me to know, in case I send Mini away.

At this point, I learnt my lesson. I realized that I made a big mistake treating Mini like she was my sister, and giving her too much freedom and rewards. Mini thought that she was so precious to me, and that I could not do without her. She thought that she could do anything and I would not send her away. I was wrong to think that all maids will be grateful if we treat them very well. I learnt that it is important for the maid to know that she is just an employee, and if she did something seriously wrong, she would be sent away.

After Mini left, I knew that I had to get used to changing maids. I wrote down a list of house rules, so that I don't have to keep repeating myself.

My 6th maid, an Indonesian, was named Lestari. She was quiet and soft spoken. She was willing to follow instructions. But she was slow and not very hardworking. Lestari turned out to be a serial job hopper. The maid agency said that she only worked for one employer, but later I found out from WP online that she had 5 employers before me !!! After working for 4 months, she told me that she wanted to be transferred. She wanted to look for a job where she can talk on the phone all day, and can take afternoon naps. I sent her back to the agency.

My 7th maid had the same name as my 4th maid, Nurhayati. At the same time, I also employed another maid (number 8), Siti, to take care of my father who was very ill. So at this time I had 2 maids, both Indonesian. My houserules came in really useful. I printed out copies for the maids, explained once and asked them to refer to the paper if they could not remember. These 2 maids gave me the least problems compared to earlier maids, since they already knew on the first day what they were expected to do.

Nurhayati had never worked as a maid before. But her English was surprisingly good. She was wiling to follow instructions, and she was hardworking and had good attitude. However, she kept making mistakes. For example, she did not tighten the milk bottle before giving it to my son, we only discovered when his shirt was soaked in milk. This happened twice, and I did not raise my voice at her. I only told her to be more careful next time.

The other maid Siti had 6 years of experience taking care of elderly, and had no childcare experience at all. Siti, however, turned out to be very good with my kids.

In early 2007, my husband was burnt out in his job as an engineer. He quit without a new job. I became the only one supporting the family, and I could no longer afford to keep 2 maids. I decided to keep Siti, because she was better with the kids compared to Nurhayati. I told Nurhayati that I would write her a very good letter of recommendation so that she can find a new employer easily. Nurhayati left happily. I heard that she found new job really fast, and that she worked in a big bungalow with no kids. I was really happy for her.

Now I am with my maid number 8, Siti. She had to take care of my father, as well as my kids. She also had to do all the housework, though I try to help out as much as possible.

A few months before my father passed away in July this year, he had to be in diapers. He could no longer control his bladder and bowel movements. Siti had to clean him, bathe him, and feed him. She even pushed him around in the wheelchair, and frequently traveled all the way from Boon Lay to Chinatown on the MRT. She never complained about anything. She was always patient and cheerful to my father. My mother told me honestly, that she could not possibly handle the cleaning herself. My mother was very grateful to my maid. After my father passed away, my mother gave Siti a $600 hong bao, though we never promised her anything before.

I am also very grateful to Siti, both for taking care of my father, and being so nice to my kids. My kids adore her, because she is very fun to play with. She takes all my instructions very seriously, and she remains very humble. She cooks reasonably well too. I am always happy to return home and find the floor very clean, and with hot food ready for me. After work, I don't have to lift a finger to do anything at all, I am able to spend time bonding with my kids, and teaching them at home. In fact, I have taught both my kids (K1 and K2 this year) to read amazingly well (I have a blog about phonics and reading). I would not have been able to do this without Siti.

But Siti is not a super maid. She is quite slow. In fact, I have to wash and iron our own clothes (for me and my husband). Siti only washes the kids' clothes. I even change my own bedsheets. I do not want to overload Siti, she is busy enough looking after the kids and cleaning the house. I want her to have some time to rest every day. She also makes mistakes. But she readily admits her mistake. For example, she broke my favourite Corelle cup, and I could not find that type of cups anymore because Corelle stopped making them. I was very disappointed, but I did not scold her at all.

For the first 2 years that she worked for me, she has one off day every month. After she renewed her contract, I am now giving her off day on every alternate Sunday.

Siti told us that we are very nice to her. The truth is that I never treated Siti as part of my family. I still buy her food separately from the rest of the family. I make sure that she eats very well, she can eat one chicken drumstick every meal if she wants to. But I don't share my salmon with her, she eats tenggiri and batang fish. She is still not allowed to use my washing machine to wash her own clothes, she has to hand wash her own clothes. Since I learnt my lesson from Mini(5th maid), I do not reward Siti with large amounts of money or expensive gifts. But I do give her my handbags(used but still in very good condition) and that made her very happy. I change a few handbags a year, each cost less than $50. I also make sure that my kids say "Thank you" and "Please" to Siti, as well as "Sorry" to her if they make a mess and she has to clean up. I set a good example by saying "Please" and "Thank you" myself, whenever I ask her to do something for me.

I remember when my father could still walk, one day he went out on his own and did not return after a few hours. Siti was very worried and she insisted to go out and search for him, even though we had no idea where my father had gone. I wanted to call the police for help, but Siti managed to find my father !

I realized that a good maid will treat the employer as part of her own family.

New Work Permit Conditions (9 July 2008)

2008-07-09T02:43:00.000-07:00

Important Information:
To better safeguard the well-being of foreign domestic workers in Singapore, the Ministry of Manpower will be introducing a new Work Permit conditions to make clear to employers that receiving any form of payment (whether monetary or in kind) from a foreign domestic worker or employment agent as consideration for the employment of the FDW or recovering employment related costs, such as levy, security bond, medical and repatriation costs, from FDW constitute an offence.

Employers will be fined up to $5000 and/or imprisoned for up to six months.

This means that employer cannot make the maid pay for her medical fees or airticket back home.

Even if the maid works for only less than 1 month, and she decides to go home, you still have to pay for her air ticket.

All employers please take note. Now with the new work permit conditions, if you ask the maid to pay for her air ticket, you might be fined up to $5000.

No need for mandatory rest day

2008-06-06T00:36:00.000-07:00

No need for mandatory rest day for maids: Minister
Source: Straits Times
May 27, 2008

THE Government has no plans to introduce a mandatory rest day for foreign maids - at this point, said acting Minister for Manpower Gan Kim Yong. In a written response to a question from Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong in Parliament on Monday, Mr Gan said most maids are happy working in Singapore and the reported cases of abuse have remained low.

'There is therefore no need at this point for MOM to legislate a mandatory rest day,' he said, reiterating that the ministry is committed to safeguarding the well-being of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in Singapore.

Mr Gan said as part of the Work Permit conditions, employers are responsible for the well-being of their FDWs, including the provision of adequate rest.

Employers who fail to comply with this requirement can be fined up to $5,000 and/or jailed up to six months. They will also be barred from hiring another maid.

In addition, the accreditation bodies have, in 2006, introduced a standard employment contract for FDWs. All accredited employment agencies are required to use this standard contract. The standard contract requires employer to stipulate the number of rest days per month, and zero is not an option, said the minister.

Employers are also required to compensate their FDWs salary, should the FDWs work during their rest days.

'This is a more practical approach than legislating a fixed number of rest days per month for FDWs, given the unique nature of domestic work,' added Mr Gan.

'Households that have for example disabled family members who require constant attention may find it difficult to release the FDW for a prescribed period every month. Therefore, allowing households the flexibility to work out an employment arrangement with their FDWs, including paying their FDWs for not taking their rest days, is a more sensible approach.

'Nonetheless, MOM encourages employers to grant FDWs rest days regularly wherever possible.'

Renewing the maid's Work Permit and Passport

2008-02-26T18:10:00.000-08:00

Renewing Work Permit
Step 1.
You will need to purchase the maid insurance and security bond first.
Checkout this page for the cost of maid insurance.
http://www.income.com.sg/insurance/foreignmaid/

Step 2.
You can renew the maid's work permit at WP online. You need to login using your Singpass. Then look for Renew work permit on the left column. It costs only $10. You can renew online only when you received the letter of renewal from MOM, one month before your maid's work permit expire.

Renew Passport for Indonesian Maid (Updated 27 Feb 2009)

Passport renewal fee is $40 to be paid at the embassy. Photo must be taken at the embassy, $10 for 6 photos.

Documents required :
1. Maid's passport
2. Work permit card
3. Employer's I.C.

You need to photocopy the above documents. Photocopy services available at the embassy.

Read the following web page from the Indonesian Embassy for more details.

http://www.kbrisingapura.com/maid_renewal.php?lang=eng#2

The renewal service is available only between 9am and 12 noon at the embassy. It is best to arrive at 9am otherwise it will be a long wait. The employer and the maid must go together. Bring 2 cards with your names on it to exchange for passes at the gate of the embassy. You need your I.C. inside the embassy so you cannot use it. You can use your driver's licence, library card, etc but not your name card.

Once you get to the counter for passport renewal, get a queue number. Your maid needs to complete the green form. Make sure you have all the documents and photos ready, then submit at the counter. You will be asked to pay $40.

After the officer checked that all documents are in order, you will be asked to go upstairs to do the work agreement. This is free. You will be interviewed by an officer. The officer only asked me what is my maid's salary, and how many off days she is given in a month. I heard that if the maid is not given any off day, the officer may try to persuade the employer to give her off day.

My maid told me that her friend who was not happy with her employer, wrote a note and gave to the officer during the interview. The maid was kept at the embassy and returned to Indonesia later. That means the employer ended up without a maid !

The employer and the maid will be asked to sign on the work agreement. In the agreement, it is stated that the employer must pay for the passport renewal fee.

The new passport can be collected after 3 working days.

Here is a section of the contract that you must sign at the embassy. Click on the following photo to read the details. The last statement says that the employer must pay for the total cost of the maid's passport and working agreement contract.

If your maid has difficulty filling up the form, click on the images below :

The rest just leave blank.

Renew Passport for Filipino Maid

NTUC Income provides service for Filipino maid's passport renewal. You can call them up to check.

Why should I hire a maid ?

2007-08-09T07:01:00.000-07:00

Most people in Singapore hire a maid to look after their babies/young children, or their elderly who may be very ill.

If you are a couple who are both working, and neither husband nor wife wish to stop working to take care of the baby, then you will need to consider the possible childcare arrangement:
1. Put your baby in infant care centre from 0 - 18 months old, or childcare centre from 18 months and above
2. Put your baby with babysitter
3. Put your baby with your parents if they are willing to take care
4. Hire a maid to take care of the baby

Those who already have babies will know how difficult it is to take care of a baby. A baby does not sleep at night, he will need to drink milk at least once in the middle of the night. Some babies need to be fed every 2 hours. Besides feeding, the baby may wake up and cry any time during the night. Imagine if you have to work the next day, unless you are a superman or superwoman, you will become a zombie. Do not over estimate your capability. Do not think that all babies just eat and sleep all the time. The night feeding may continue until the baby is 1 year old, although many babies can sleep through the night by 6 months old.

If you choose above options 1 - 3, you will still need to take care of the baby yourself at night. That's why many couples choose to hire a maid, since she can help to do the night feeding.

If you choose option 1, your baby may get sick very frequently, due to close contact with other babies. The PD fees will kill you, on top of the expensive fees at infant care centres.

Putting with babysitter may have it's own set of problems, since it may not be easy to find a good babysitter. One of my colleague refused to put her baby with babysitter, because of some horror stories she has heard of.

I know many grandparents who simply refused to help take care of their grandchildren. Even those who are in perfect health. My own parent-in-laws are an example. They do not want to give up their lifestyle. My mother has problems with her legs, so I need to hire a maid to help her. In my case, my first baby was very difficult to take care of. She could cry non-stop for a few hours at night. She had very serious reflux, and would vomit large amounts of milk every time after her feed. So we need to carry her almost vertically for about 45 mins after every feed, 3 hourly day and night ! All the vomitting also mean a lot of cleaning was required. She continued this way until she was 1 year old ! Sometimes when she was sleeping, milk came out through her nose, and she could not breathe! That time we were so worried, we slept with the lights on so that we could constantly checked on her. If I did not have a maid, I would not have survived.

So that leave many couples with option 4, hire a maid to take care of the baby at home. But I strongly advise you to hire a maid only if you have an elderly to help supervise the maid. I am fortunate that my mother can come and stay with me during the weekdays to help supervise the maid. Most couples will bring their maid and their baby to and from the grandparents' home everyday.

Of course the best option is for the mommy, or the daddy to stop work and stay at home to look after the baby. This is the best arrangement for the baby, mommy's love and attention are priceless. But nowadays, how many people are willing to give up their job to stay at home to look after their baby ? Giving up their job means giving up their lifestyle, no more shopping, travelling etc. Well not unless the other party in the marriage is earning a lot of money. Even so, not many people, man or woman, like to lose their own financial freedom.

Sending a maid away

2007-07-12T04:26:00.000-07:00

Returning a maid to the agency
If you have paid upfront $2000 in maid loan, then you will need to use your maid for at least 8 months to recover the loan. But if you don't want the maid for whatever reason before the 8 months period is up, then you must send the maid back to the agency. If the agency can refund your maid loan, then you can just get the refund, and go to another agency to find another maid. If the agency does not refund your maid loan, then you will have no choice but to get a replacement maid from the same agency, then you can recover the rest of the maid loan by deducting from the salary of the new maid.

After the maid is returned to the agency, she is still under your name. You are responsible for anything that happens to her. You must pay her levy until she is transferred to another employer.

If you are getting another maid, make sure that the agency transfer your old maid as soon as possible. If the old maid cannot find a new employer, then she must be sent back to her home country. Otherwise your new maid's work permit will be cancelled. Whether you decide to get a new maid or not, tell the agency : "You must transfer the maid within 2 weeks, otherwise I will cancel her work permit." Then agency will not dare to delay, otherwise they may take their own sweet time, while you still have to pay for the maid's levy !

Sending a maid back to her own country
If the maid has worked for you for more than 8 months and has finished paying her loan, you can just send cancel her work permit and send her back to her own country.

Here's what you need to do:
1. Buy a one way air ticket to Jarkarta or Manila. Employer must pay for the air ticket, even if the maid has worked for less than 2 years.
2. Go to MOM website to cancel her work permit
3. The cancellation should be approved within 24 hours. Remember to login again to print out a copy of her work permit cancellation notice.
4. You must bring along the cancellation notice, and her work permit card with her when you send her to the airport.
5. Make sure she pass through customs

How much notice do you have to give your maid ?
It depends on the maid.

1. If the maid's attitude is very bad, it is best to call the maid agency to come down and collect her, or send her to the airport. Some agencies do provide this type of service at extra cost.

2. If the maid performance is not bad, then tell her you will write her a good letter of recommendation, so she will get a new employer very easily. You can keep her under your employment until she finds a new employer. She will be happy with this arrangement, because if she goes back to her country, and wants to work in Singapore again, she will have to pay another $2000 of maid loan.

How to manage a maid

2007-07-12T03:23:00.000-07:00

House Rules
Before your maid arrives, you should prepare a list of house rules. Be as specific as possible. This will help your maid understand your expectations better. Explain to your maid the first day she arrives at your house. Give her a copy so that she can refer to.

I have included the house rules and timetables contributed by Lani and Are . You can find the links at the right column of this blog.

Do review your timetable and task list and make sure that it is reasonable. Ask yourself, are you able to do all those tasks ? If you cannot, then don't expect the maid to be able to do it. The maid is just a human being like you and me.

You can have very specific house rules of your own, there is no need to follow others. For example, I had specific pails for washing baby's clothes, adult clothes cannot be put into those pails. I also had separate towels for wiping the floor and the table. My maid is strictly not allowed to use the washing machine for her own clothes. I knew some families disallow the maid to use the water heater for shower, but I do allow my maid to use the water heater. All these house rules should be written down and explained to the maid on the first day that she arrives.

These house rules are meant for the maid to know how to perform well on her job. I do not punish the maid if she forgets to follow any of the rules. I just show her the list to remind her. I reward the maid if she follows all the rules.

Some employers think that they should not be too strict to the maid. However, we never know what kind of maid we will get. It makes better sense to be very strict when the maid first arrives, then slowly relax the rules if necessary after we know the maid better. If we give too much freedom to the maid at first, it will be very difficult to restrict her later.

Having a maid does not mean that she must do everything, and you must not do anything at all. There are employers who do not even pour themselves a cup of water, they must ask the maid to do it. I still make my own coffee in the morning.

If you like things to be done in a certain way which is very important to you, then you should still do it yourself. For example, I am very particular about how my own clothes should be washed, dried and ironed. Tops and bottoms must be washed separately. Light and dark colored clothes also must be separated. I don't trust my maid to do it, so I still do it myself. My hubby does not allow my maid to touch anything on his work table full of electronic gadgets. He cleans it himself. That does not mean that my maid is very free. She is already busy enough cooking, keeping the house clean, and looking after our 2 kids.

Some employers think that because they employ a maid, they must make "maximum" use of her. Remember that maids are human too. We should not make her work every second of the day.

Detail Instructions
Do not expect the maid to know how you want things to be done. For example, tell her exactly how much washing detergent to use, how many times you want her to rinse the clothes.

If the maid is forgetful, write down all instructions on paper, and paste near the place she is working, so she can refer to it.

Working Performance Appraisal
You should always feedback to your maid about her performance, right from the very first day. It's best to tell her immediately if she has made a mistake, do not keep it to yourself and feel unhappy about it. Tell her matter of factly, in a cool and calm manner, and show her the correct way of doing things.
One employer I know from Singaporemotherhood forum, has written an excel file for her maid's performance appraisal. I think it is a pretty good idea. If you have a google account, you can view the file here.
appraisal.xls

The maid must be supervised at all times
If the maid is taking care of new born babies, or very young children who still cannot talk, you must make sure that there is someone to supervise the maid at all times. Every maid will act like they love your baby very much in front of you, but you will never know what they do behind your back. Remember that your baby will not be able to tell you what the maid has done to him.

A mommy took a shocking video of the maid kicking her 2 month old baby. It was broadcast in the news in every channel on Feb 4 2008. View the story and photos here.

http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/viewContent.jsp?id=13554

Fortunately the baby did not suffer any physical injuries. But any mommy will be devastated if this happened to their own baby. Even if you installed a webcam at home, by the time you found out, the damage has already been done.

If you don't have anyone to supervise the maid at home, then you should consider putting your baby in the infant care center. Then hire a local part time maid to do housework.

Do not put your baby's life in danger !

How well should you treat the maid ?
You should treat the maid, in the same way that your boss treats you. Many people think that if they treat the maid like part of the family, the maid will be grateful and work hard. The fact is that, not all maids will be grateful.

I always make it clear to my maid, that I am the employer, she is the employee. She must follow my house rules and instructions. This is how I treat my maid. I think this is very fair to her.

1. I make sure my kids respect her, like any other adults at home. They must say thank you, please and sorry to her. I also do the same, to set a good example for my kids.

2. I never read her letters, and I never search her belongings.

3. I let her call home as and when she likes, so long as she is using her own phone card, and she has completed all her task, and she must ask my permission.

4. I make sure she has enough food and at least 8 hours of sleep. I also try to let her have some rest time in the afternoon.

5. I celebrate her birthday for her, buy her a birthday cake and present.

6. When we go out to eat, she sit with us and eat the same food.

7. If she has performed well, I will give her rewards like a big hong bao on Chinese New Year

You can be nice to your maid, but never treat your maid like a friend. You must always make it clear that you are the employer.

Your maid's food and groceries
I separate my maid's food from the rest of the family. For example, she drinks those 3-in-1 coffee pack, while I drink expensive UCC and illy coffee. She eats NTUC bread, while I eat Gardenia bread. She eats selar fish, while I eat salmon and cod fish.

Remember that company CEOs fly first class when he/she travels, while other employees fly economy class.

Of course, it is still up to you. If you are rich enough to share your salmon and bird's nest with your maid, then go ahead ! I have heard of employers who had to buy the cheapest jam for the whole family, just because they were afraid that the maid would eat a lot of jam. This is not necessary.

You can control the amount of food that your maid eats. Some maids, especially those with no previous work experience, may eat a lot when they first arrived in Singapore. I used to have a maid who finished a whole tin of Milo (1400g) in one week.

I made it clear to my maid, that I will only buy one tin of Milo(1400g) for one month. If she finished it early, then she will have no Milo for the rest of the month. I do not restrict the amount of bread and rice that my maid eats. So far none of my maids like to eat a lot of bread or rice. If your maid eats too much rice, then you can decide what is a reasonable amount for her, like 2 bowls of rice should be more than enough for any adult woman.

I also buy basic toiletries like shampoo and shower gel for my maid. I gave her extra $10 every month to buy her own sanitary pads. There are many other employers who do not buy any toiletries for their maids, so it is up to you. There is no need to provide her with facial cleanser, moisturizer, etc since these are not necessary.

Off day or no off day ?
No one can work everyday for years without any rest. I advise employers to give off days to their maids whenever possible.

A maid who works everyday without any rest is very likely to develop mental illness. This happened to 2 of my ex-maids.

I also do not ask my maid where she goes and what she does during her off day. She is only working for me for a salary, I have no right to control her life when she is not working for me.

Your maid's salary
Please read the following guidelines from MOM.

Salary

She must be paid her due salary each month, no later than seven days after the last day of the salary period. Any salary period agreed between the employer and worker shall not exceed one month. If the worker so requests, the salary shall be paid via direct transfer into the worker's bank account in a bank established in Singapore.

If it is mutually agreed that the employer should keep the bank account book, the FDW must be given access to the book at all times to check that payments are credited promptly and regularly.

The employer must also keep a record of the monthly salary paid to the FDW, and should be able to produce this record at the request of any public officer.

Many employers do not like their maid to keep any cash. These employers will keep their maid's salary until the maid finishes the contract and goes back home. If the maid need to buy anything or send money back home, she will inform the employer to do it for her. The employer will keep a log book to record down the salary, spending, and balance. If you choose to do this, then make sure that your maid signs an agreement. Take note that according to MOM, you must pay her salary within 7 days.

In my case, I opened a bank account for my maid. It is her personal account, and I let her keep her bank book. She does not want to have ATM card. Every month I will use internet to transfer her salary into her bank account. On her off day, she goes and update her bank book.

I have heard an employer worrying that the maid will withdraw money from her bank account and run away. So the employer thinks that she should open a joint account with the maid. But the truth is that, if the maid wants to run away, she will do so even if she doesn't have a single cent in her pocket.

Sending money back to her own country
I used Western Union. It is very easy. The maid gives me the name of the person who will receive the money in her country. I bring this name to the Post Office Western Union counter. Each transaction fee is $12. I will be issued a number. I just pass this number to the maid who then informs her family member to bring this number to collect the money immediately.

Telephone Calls / Letters
If your maid is taking care of your baby or toddler, you should not allow her to use her mobile phone when she is working. Maids love to talk with their friends, and they can chat on the phone all day long if you give them the freedom. It is very annoying, and very disturbing if she is taking care of your baby, she will not be able to concentrate on her work.

My maid is strictly not allowed to use her mobile phone when she is working during the day.

I advise employers to remove IDD from their home telephone. Your maid may talk for hours to her family in her home country without you knowing, especially if you leave your maid alone at home.

You should use www.skype.com. It is very very cheap compared to IDD. It allows you to talk to someone, for example, in USA, from your PC to his PC, completely free of charge. You can also call someone's on his telephone(mobile or fixed line) overseas at extremely cheap rates.

I allow my maid to send as many letters as she likes to her family. I don't believe in cutting off her communication completely. She is allowed to call her family using her own mobile phone as often as she likes, so long as she has completed all her task, and she must ask my permission.

Where should you maid sleep ?
The following is written on MOM website :
Employer Guidelines

Accommodation
"Where possible, your FDW should be given a separate room of her own. In the event that is not possible, you should ensure that sufficient space for sleep is provided. You are also expected to provide her with basic needs (e.g. food, a bed with mattress, a blanket, towels and toiletries, a fan if the sleeping area has poor ventilation etc).
Some examples of improper accommodation include making your FDW sleep in places where there is little privacy, such as on makeshift beds along the corridor or in the living room, or sharing a room with a male adult."

Note that there is no rule stated by MOM that you must give your maid a separate room. It is very common for maids to sleep with the children, or in the bomb shelter. Just make sure that the room is well ventilated and is quiet enough for her to get a good rest at night.

Will I lose my privacy with the maid around ?
My house rules disallow my maid to open any of our cupboards or touch anything on our shelves without my permission. My maid is also not allowed to enter any bedrooms without permission. When she has nothing to do, she stays in the kitchen, or inside her own room(she sleeps in the bomb shelter). She does not appear unless I call her. This does not mean that she is very lonely and has no one to talk to. My mother is often in the kitchen and they have lots to talk about. My little boy also likes to go to the kitchen to talk to her. But when I return home from work, my maid understands that I need to spend quality time with my kids and does not need her to be around.

So having a maid does not mean that you have to sacrifice your privacy.

Your should never touch your maid, and never scream at her
If the maid's performance is not up to your standard, tell her in a cool calm manner. If she still does not change after a 2 to 3 months, or until you cannot tolerate her anymore, just send her back and get a new maid.

I think maids are very smart now. They may purposely behave in a certain way so as to provoke the employer, until the employer cannot take it any more and hit the maid out of anger. Then the maid can claim that the employer abuse her. There are quite a few cases like these recently in the news, where the employers get into trouble.

So be careful, don't fall into the maid's trap. Not happy, just quietly send her away.

What happens if...
1. Your maid steals.If you are very sure she has stolen your valuables, you should just send her back to her own country. Don't bother making a police report. It is not worth the trouble.

2. Your maid eats too much.Unless you are very generous, it is always better to separate your maid's food from the rest of the family. If your maid eats with the rest of the family, don't tell her to take whatever she wants. Always take out a reasonable amount of food for her.

3. Your maid is very lazy.Write out a detailed time table, tell her what she is expected to do at what time, and how much time she should take. Give her some time to improve. If she still does not improve, then you should send her away and find a new maid.

4. Your maid runs away.Don't panic first. Most likely she will return to her maid agency, or the police will find her within a couple of days. If she still has not finished paying for her loan, the agency will transfer her to a new employer, so you don't have to pay anything, but of course the new employer suffers.

It is still best to buy the bond protector/waiver. If your maid cannot be found, then you will pay $250, instead of the $5000 security bond. You will be given one month grace period to find your maid. Click Missing FDW to read more from MOM.

5. Your maid gets pregnant.You can send her back to her own country once you found out about it. Don't need to lose the $5000 security bond.

6. You want your maid to work in 2 households or moreUnder the existing Work Permit conditions, Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) are employed to perform domestic chores only for their employers at the residential addresses stated on the FDWs' Work Permit cards.

Click here for more information about the penalty.
Illegal Employment/Deployment

I believe all maids have been told that they should not work in 2 households. There are some maids who may agree to do so, but note that this is against MOM rule.

Check out the Foreign Domestic Worker Employer's Guidebook

Read page 10:
An exception may be made for FDWs who accompany their employer's children to a caregiver's home to care for the children under the caregiver's supervision. In this case, the FDW must agree to the arrangement and should not be asked to do the full load of housework in both homes.

7. If you change maid more than 4 times in a yearMOM does not have a rule that says you cannot change more than 4 times a year. MOM only makes it more difficult for the work permit to be approved.

Checkout this webpage from MOM.

Employers Who Change More Than Four Foreign Domestic Workers in a Year

Employers who apply for their fifth Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) within a 12 month period must attend the Classroom FDW Employers' Orientation Programme (EOP). Failure to comply with this requirement will result in the rejection of their Work Permit (WP) application.

Employers who apply for their sixth FDW or more within a 12 month period must attend an interview with an MOM officer before the Ministry will process the WP application. The purpose of the interview is to enable us to gain an understanding of the employer's practices for assessment of the WP Application.

8. If your maid keeps making mistakes
Some employers penalise their maids by making them pay a fine. But I would advise employers never to punish their maids. Read the following news article.
If the maid always make the same mistakes, no matter how many times you correct her, then you should just send her away. Otherwise you risk losing control of your temper and doing something nasty to her. Then you may end up in jail.
Remember that maids are human. A maid can hate you when she dislike your punishment. The fact in Singapore is that other people are much more likely to believe that the employer abuse the maid. So it is very easy for the maid to accuse the employer.
I don't even scold my maid. I will correct her mistake immediately in a cool, calm manner. If she makes the same mistake again, I will remind her that this is her 3rd/4th/5th time of making the same mistake. Then if she still does not change, and I cannot accept that, I will start to look for a new maid.
I would advise employers to use a reward system instead. If my maid performs well, then I will give her more hongbao money during Chinese New Year, Hari Raya or her birthday. This has worked very well with my maids. My current maid is very honest, she readily admitted when she broke something. I don't make a big fuss out of it so long as she does not do it very often.

Couple get jail for abusing maid
By Selina Lum (Source: Straits Times Jun 4 2008)A COUPLE ran a tight ship at home with their Indonesian maid. For every mistake she made at work, she had to pay a 'fine' of $10.
The couple - an aircraft engineer and a former Singapore Airlines (SIA) stewardess - then claimed the maid reported them for abusing her to get out of paying the penalties she accumulated.
Lim Yi Khung, 42, and his wife Aileen Khaw Lay Hoon, 31, denied the charges of hurting the maid and claimed trial.
A district court found them guilty after a seven-day trial and sentenced them yesterday to jail.
Lim, who works for SIA, was jailed for four weeks while Khaw, a housewife, will have to serve a six-week term.
They are both appealing the conviction and are out on $10,000 bail each.
Ms Ida Lestari Ningsih, 25, ran away from her employer's home in a Changi condominium on Feb 27 last year with bruises on her forehead.
She sought help from the condominium manager, who called the police.
Lim had kicked her on both sides of her hip.
His Malaysian wife had squeezed her breast, hit her eye, grabbed her hair and banged her head on the floor.
Ms Ida started working for the family in March 2006 when Khaw was expecting her third child.
In court, she testified that Lim kicked her after she had placed a pail, used to wash rags, in the kitchen sink, which was forbidden in the household.
She added that Khaw grabbed her breast after scolding her for scratching her head while refilling an electric flask. Khaw also punched her in the right eye after complaining that she was falling asleep.
Khaw's final act of abuse, grabbing the maid's hair and banging her head on the floor, came after the housewife scolded her for wringing a wet handkerchief with one hand.
That was when Ms Ida decided to run away, jumping out of the window of the first-floor apartment.
Both husband and wife fought her accusations, insisting the assaults had never taken place.
During the trial, the defence sought to portray Ms Ida as a scheming woman who made up the accounts of abuse, so she could run away and avoid paying the $10 penalties they imposed for each mistake she made.
The couple said the penalty scheme had been suggested by Ms Ida.
But Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Der Lim argued that this defied logic as $10 was a lot of money for a maid to pay.
The prosecutor said this fine was put in place by the couple, adding that this was another example of how they were 'fussy and unreasonably demanding'.
The couple have three children, who were aged betwen eight months and five years at the time of the offences.
Yesterday, Khaw sobbed as their lawyer Adrian Wee pleaded for the couple to be fined instead. Mr Wee said that with the conviction, there was a high chance Lim would lose his airport security pass, which would also mean losing his job.
The lawyer argued the injuries were minor and there was no evidence of a 'continuous programme of abuse'.
District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim agreed the injuries were minor, but she said there was nothing exceptional in this case to depart from the stern view the courts take of maid-abuse offenders.

9. If your maid said that she saw ghosts in your house
It could be that your maid does not like to work for you, she is finding excuses so that you will send her back to the agency. Or your maid could be having mental illness. Any way, you should send this maid away as soon as possible.

10. Your maid tells you "If you are not happy with me, send me away"
If you said the same thing to your boss, what will happen ? You should start looking for a new maid. There are many many maids out there looking for jobs, there is no need to tolerate this one.

Selecting a maid

2007-07-12T03:09:00.002-07:00

Before you enter any maid agency to select a maid, remember these 2 rules :

1. Do not believe what the maid agency says about the maid.
2. Do not believe what the maid says about herself.
It is just like going to the fruit stall to buy fruits. When you ask the fruit seller whether the fruits are good, of course he will say they are good. Otherwise how is he going to sell them ? Take note that the maid agency earns a fee (at least a few hundred dollars) each time they find a new employer for the maid.

Maid bio-data is a joke, very unreliable. Even interviewing face to face is not useful, you cannot tell someone's personality from a few minutes of interview. The only way is to use the maid for at least a few weeks at your own house. You must be prepared to change until you find a suitable maid.

Maids can lie about anything in their biodata. Some maids don't even look like their photo in the biodata. They may not tell the truth about their work experience, and many maids report a false age. Make sure you check their work experience from MOM website. You can click here : MOM WP online. On that page, click Login to WP Online. You will need to enter your SingPass. Look for the function "Enquire -> Employment History" on the left column. You need to enter the maid's work permit number. Maid agencies may not be willing to give you the WP number. You can ask them to show you the employment history using their own computer. I have asked quite a few and all are willing to show me. If you encountered one who is not willing to show you, go to another agency. Agencies are very good at lying about their maid's employment history !!! I have been conned so many times. The worst was one ex-maid, I was told she only worked for one employer, only after I sent her back, I found out that she had 6 employers before me !!!

The following is from MOM website. Click here to view the web page.
2. MOM requires all employment agencies (EA) to provide prospective employers with the past employment periods of foreign domestic workers (FDW) in Singapore. MOM does not post comments from past employers as this information cannot be verified but new employers who desire more information are instead encouraged to consult their EAs on the suitability of the FDWs they wish to recruit, including obtaining feedback from past employers, before making a decision. Given the substantial number of past and present FDWs in Singapore, it is impractical for MOM to publish the photographs of all FDWs.

I also heard of a case in the Singaporemotherhood forum. An employer was told that her maid has worked in Singapore for 4 years before. But when she checked the maid's employment history, she got a shock. It showed that she is the first and only employer. So either the maid is telling lies, or she did work in Singapore before, but changed her name, got a new passport, and came in as a new maid.

Then in another case, an employer's maid got her work permit rejected by MOM, because MOM found out that she had come to Singapore before under another name. So MOM will match the thumbprint of every work permit application against old records.

You can actually call MOM to enquire about any matters regarding your maid. The following information is contributed by a helpful employer from the Singaporemotherhood forum.

MOM number to enquire: 64385122
Press 1 for English
Press 2 for WP matters
Press *0 to speak with officier Please note that in the phone menu, *0 is not made known!!

Nationality:You can hire Indonesian, Filipino, or Myanmar maids. I find that it is a very general statement to say that one race is better than another. Whether you get a good maid or not, depends on your luck, not on the nationality. My first 3 maids were filipino, after that I used 5 Indonesian maids. I stick to Indonesians because they are cheaper. It is also not true that filipinos speak better English than Indonesians. My Indonesian maids all speak good english.
Agencies like to tell you that filipinos are better at taking care of babies. This is not true. My Indonesian maids are better than my filipino maids.

New or Experienced:
If you are a stay at home mum, or you have someone at home to help supervise the maid, then you can try getting a new maid with no experience at all. But you must be prepared to have a lot of patience to teach the maid. If you have no patience and no time to train the maid, then better get an experienced maid.

Another factor is do you need a maid urgently ?

A new maid, with no passport, will take at least 1 month to come in.

A maid with ready passport, about 2 - 3 weeks.

A maid already in Singapore, which is called a transfer maid, within 1 week.

If you need a maid very urgently, take a transfer maid. Some maid agencies may tell you they can get you a maid from her home country within 2 weeks. They do this so that they can secure your business. Always give an allowance of 1 - 2 months, no matter what the agent promise you. This is because a lot of problems can come up, which is out of the agent's control.

If you are getting an experienced maid, try to get a maid who has worked for one employer for at least 3 years. Never get a maid who worked for a family for less than 1 year, unless you are really desperate. Make sure you use the MOM website I posted above to check her employment history. There are many maids being sent back to the agency after working less than a month, these maids usually have serious problems. The maid agencies will never tell the employer, because the maid will not have a chance to get transferred.

I know of cases in which the maids run away from their employer's house ! These maids usually return to their agent, who will then transfer to a new employer ! Most of the time the agent will not tell the new employer what happened. Chances are maids who run away once, are likely to run away again ! So do not pity those maids who run away, do not believe in their story of abuse, and never hire them !
When you visit maid agencies, you will often see a few maids sitting around. These are most likely maids who have been returned by their employer after working for a very short time. I would advise you not to take them, the agent will not tell you the true reason of why the ex-employer sent them back. Unless you are really desperate and want to try your luck. I made the mistake of taking such maids twice, bad mistake.

Remember that maid agents must find their maid a new employer, no matter how bad the maid is. The maid takes up $2000 loan to come to Singapore, if they have no employer, there is no way they can repay this loan. The agency will not want to lose money, so by hook or by crook, they will cheat and lie to find the maid a new employer.

Letter of Recommendation:Even if the maid has a letter of recommendation from her ex-employer, you still must be skeptical. It may be that the maid still has loan to clear, so the ex-employer must make sure that she finds a new employer. If the maid is already in her country, then it could be more believable. But it is still best to be able to talk to her own employer.

Interviewing a maid:
You should try to to interview the maid either in person or over the phone. Maid agencies should be able to arrange for you to talk to a maid over the phone even if she is in her own country.

Here are some questions you can asked the maid during the interview, contributed by Are.

- How old are you? What’s your age? Born in which year? (in case they lie abt age, ask abt the year, they cant think of lie so fast)
- are you single? No children? (single doesn’t mean no children. Divorcee they dun declare children cos agency tell them not to, so they put single)

- Why do you want to come to SGP? (best ans is the family needs the $, or want to save $ for children. Positive motivation)
- Will u finish the 2 yrs contract n renew another 2 years? (if they say juz want to come 2 years, then show no commitment, juz want quick bucks)
- How many people are there in your family? Who are they? Are they married? Working? (shows the level of responsibility to the family re $ and if someone is sick/dead. If single child, then they will worry abt family always. If got younger siblings even better, makes them work hard for the $)

- Any young kids, babies at home? Have you taken care of babies, young children? From how young? (experience with children. Although some single, they may hv taken care of younger siblings since birth)
- Any sister/cousins working in sgp? (shows her understanding of working as a maid in sgp. Ppl with no relatives may not hv a good picture of the working environment in sgp and wats required of them)
- Do you like children? (yes is the best of cos!)
- Does your family need you to send money back every month? (show commitment. If no need to send back means quite rich, so she is not pressurized to do well)

- Wat do they need the money for? (to chk if someone is sick at home. Usually if they want to work, either they are in debts, are poor, or someone is sick. If someone is sick, ask wat sickness. If TB, thank you-bye!)
- Do you have a boyfriend? What does he do? (if bf is loafer, then may ask her to play tricks. Think ‘joy’. If got stable job, positive influence, cos planning for future)

- If yes, do you plan to get married soon? If not when? (shows how long she’s gonna stay here. Dun want to waste 2 years coaching then hv to change again)
- Do u plan to go back to Study? (if yes, means not typical maid material, may not excel in housework)
- What are your favorite foods? (shows if she can adapt to sgp foods)
- How far is your home from the city? Do you go to the city? How long is the traveling? (shows how ulu the village is. The further, the poorer)
- Wat are the things you do at your previous employer’s house? (show the types of things she’s done b4)
- Why you stop working for them? (if she stammers and cant answer, then something suspicious. Also can test their level of English)
- Why choose to work as a domesic helper? (same as above, and also objective)- What will you do when a baby cries?

Added on 6 Dec 2011:

An employer posted very helpful information (Source)

AHSN said...

Hi Tamarind

I think your site is great and extremely helpful. I'm currently having issues with my myanmarese helper who's only been with my family for 5 months but has already broken an iron, spoiled 4 pieces of clothing, lost multiple things and this is only the start of the list. She was also constantly on the phone to the point my 6 year old daughter asked her if she's ever off the phone.

What I found scary was the lack of information provided by the agency. When she asked to leave (after we told her she can only use her phone after 9pm), which my family were happy to agree to, I called up the agency she was from and they agreed to get us a new helper. After picking one that seemed most suitable and them sending in the application, i got a called from the M.O.M. informing me that she has a record of theft! M.O.M. even got me the number of the previous employer to speak with who got the helper from the same agency as me even though they promised her that they will not re-employ this helper.

I just found out from the lady at M.O.M. that we can actually leave feedback with them with regards to specific helpers and our contact details too so that if the same helper is being re-employed, they are able to highlight to the potential new employers the issues that particular helper has.

Selecting a maid agency

2007-07-12T02:57:00.000-07:00

No maid agency can guarantee you a good maid. Do not think that agencies that charge $688 fee will definitely give you a good maid. It all depends on your luck. I had a good maid from a maid agency that charges $88 a few years ago, but I was lucky that time, I knew many people who got bad maids and bad service from this agency. That agency no longer charges $88 now.

Are there any good maid agencies ?

I have received many emails asking me to recommend a good maid agency. Actually I have not encountered any agency that can guarantee good maids. In fact most of the maid agencies that I used gave me a lot of problems. That is why I created this blog to warn others of the potential problems.

I do not know of any agency that can be recommended. Please note that I do not send emails to reply to any queries. You can post your query in this blog, other employers who know of good maid agencies may help you.

Before you decide on a maid agency, please check this blog for customer reviews :

Maid Agencies Review

Remember that it is the maid that is important, not the agency. You should visit as many maid agencies as you can, until you find a suitable maid. Then check my guidelines below to make sure that the agency is OK.

Important factors when choosing a maid agency:

1. Is the maid loan refundable ? In case you hate the service and wants to change to another agency. If the agency say it is refundable, make sure they have it written down in black and white.

2. Do they provide free replacement ? Many agencies can provide free unlimited replacement within 1 year.

3. Do they require you to use the maid for a minimum period of time before you can send them back to the agency ? Some agency require you to use for at least 30 days. I would not go to this type of agencies, if the maid is bad, I cannot tolerate her for more than a few days.

4. Do they require you to pay for food and lodging for the maid, after you return the maid to them ? Some agency require you to pay $10 a day, up to 30 days. Avoid these agencies, there are many agencies who will NOT charge you anything. You only need to pay the maid levy to the government. You have to pay the levy until the maid is transferred to a new employer.

5. Is the agency fee reasonable ? I will not pay anything more than $500 (updated on 1 Jan 2012).

6. Does the agency have many customers ? Those occupying a larger office, with more staff, usually has more customers. Small agencies have less customers, which means that if you return your maid, she will take a longer time to be transferred out, and you have to pay more levy.

7. Every respectable agency will have a written contract. Before you pay anything, read the agency contract very carefully ! DO NOT go to any agency that does not have a written contract !

Remember that once you pay the agency fee, there is no way you can get it back. So be very careful before you pay anything or sign anything.

Check out the following MOM webpages before you decide to sign up with a maid agency.

Employment Agency Directory (Updated 1 Jan 2012)

What the maid agency should do for you:

1. Provide you with maids that suit your requirements.

2. After you selected the maid, you will need to pay the agency fee. The agency should then make sure that the maid has a valid passport and arrange for her to arrive in Singapore. Her air ticket in Singapore should be included in the agency fee/maid loan. If she does not already have a passport, the agency should arrange for her to apply for a passport. You should not need to pay any passport application fee.

3. After the maid arrives in Singapore, the agency should arrange for her to take the medical test. If the maid is new, the agency must send her to take the Entry test and safety test. If she fails any of these tests, the agency must send her back to her country. Then you need to start from step 1 again, except that you do not need to pay anything.

4. If the maid passed all her tests, then you can go to the agency to collect her. There are some agencies which will send the maid to your house, you can check with the agency to see if they have this service.

5. When you collect the maid, you will need to pay the maid loan and the bond protector.

6. After the maid arrives at your house for a few days, the agency should send someone to come and collect her to go to MOM to do her thumbprint and take photo for her work permit card. Then they should send the maid back to your home. Most agencies I used provide this service, except for one agency which require me to bring the maid to the agency myself, and I have to fetch her from the agency after she returned from MOM ! That agency is a big one with many branches, and I even paid $500 agency fee. Other agencies I used all can send and return the maid from/to my house, and they charge lower fee.

7. You should receive the work permit card together with the maid's passport from the agency within 2 weeks. Some agencies will send to your home, other agencies will require you to collect from them.

8. The agency should handle all paperwork with MOM, all you need to do is sign. But do read everything carefully before you sign. This should include GIRO application to CPF board to pay your maid levy.

How much does it cost to employ a maid ?

2007-07-12T02:54:00.000-07:00

Maid Salary - The monthly salary is now $350 or more, depending of nationality and experience

Maid Levy - $170/$265 (from 1 July 2007) every month, paid to the government. If you have children below 12 years old, or elderly above 65 years old, you pay $170. Otherwise you need to pay $265. For more details, click here : Employers' Guidelines - Levy.

Agency Fee - $300 - $688, depending on the agency. There are some agencies offering $0 agency fee, their maid loan(see below) will be higher. They are simply asking the maid to pay for the agency fee, instead of the employer. Personally I will not go to any $0 agency, it is hard to expect good service from them.

Maid Insurance - this is required to cover the security bond of $5000, this is usually included in the agency fee.

Bond protector - usually about $88 for 2 years, depending on the insurance company. This is normally not included in the maid insurance above. If you have bought the bond protector, you only need to pay $250 instead of $5000 when your maid disappears without a trace, or if she gets pregnant and you don't send her back.

Maid loan - usually about $2000 if you get a maid who is currently in her home country. About $600 if you get a transfer maid (already in Singapore). You will be required to pay the agency in cash or cheque. Some agencies allow you to pay by interest free installments, but this will require a much higher agency fee. Then you deduct the loan from the maid's salary. You only need to pay the maid $10 every month, until you recover the loan.

Bed/mattress/bedsheets/pillow/blanket/storage space for her belongings - depends on how much you are willing to pay. I got a new good mattress for my maid, gave her an old book shelf, everything cost below $150. But if you have an existing bed and can spare existing storage space for her, then it's $0.

Food/basic toiletries - about $100 - $150 a month. Many employers ask the maid to pay for their own toiletries. But personally I feel that we should provide basic toiletries for them. These are what I buy for my maid:
1. Sunsilk shampoo
2. Sanitary pads
3. Lux soap or shower gel
4. Toothpaste

Apart from the basic toiletries I listed, the maid must buy any other things she need. Also unless you are very generous, you should not allow the maid to choose the brand. If she insists on a certain brand, ask her to pay for it from her own salary.

You must provide enough food for the maid. Most family will ask the maid to eat whatever the rest of the family is eating. However if the maid is Indonesian and does not eat pork, you will need to make sure you have non-pork dishes for her every meal.
In my case, I bought food separately for my maid.

Here's what I buy for her:
1. 1 packet frozen chicken wings/drumstick/tighs about $7 enough for 2 weeks
2. 1 whole tengiri fish about $10 enough for 2 weeks
3. Vegetable about $5.00 for 1 week
4. 10 eggs for 1 week
5. 2 loafs of bread for 1 week
Total around $20 a week.

News archive

2007-01-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

29 October 2011
Weekly day off policy for maids must be flexible, say stakeholders

15 October 2011
Present policy on days off for maids works

1 Oct 2011
16 employment agencies fined for fixing maids' salaries

30 Sep 2011
Supply of Indonesian domestic helpers to be cut?

13 Sep 2011
Employers asked to remove CCTVs from maids' rooms

9 Aug 2011
Should We Change the Entry Test for Foreign Domestic Workers?

12 Jul 2011
Indonesian ID cards for maids worry bosses

12 Jul 2011
Maid jailed for stabbing 7-year-old

21 Jun 2011
MOM reviewing call for weekly rest day for maids

17 May 2011
Maid's body found in HDB water tank

14 May 2011
Maid pay hike: 16 agencies face fines

26 Mar 2011
Where Have S'pore's Indonesian Maids Gone?

9 Mar 2011
Placement fees would be capped at $1,000

18 Feb 2011
Ministry puts maid agency data online

14 Feb 2011
Maids getting to choose their bosses

23 Jan 2011
Pay Hike as supply of maids dry up

25 Dec 2010
Maid who allegedly caused death of disabled girl only 16

16 Dec 2010
Verifying the age of maids can be a problem

28 Sep 2010
Maid broke toddler's bone

18 Aug 2010
Harder to hire Filipino maids now

20 May 2010
Singapore still far behind in true gender equality: Aware

7 Mar 2010
New Paper : Give us grief and we will splash your dirty deeds online

28 Feb 2010
More maids leaving employers

12 Dec 2009
Life Looking Better for Foreign Maids

2 Oct 2009
Change in Security Bond Conditions

9 July 2008
New Work Permit Conditions

27 May 2008
No need for mandatory rest day