Photo: Reuters
Kirsten Han/
The following is a letter written to the Straits Times forum by Madam Low Ai Choo on the issue of a weekly day off for domestic helpers, interspersed with some of my thoughts.
It is true that maids should not be treated differently from other workers, and they need rest (‘Consider law to give maids a day off every week: Halimah’; Monday). But do they really need one weekly day off for that? Do they not rest in the course of their work every day?
It appears strange to me that she should start her letter with “maids should not be treated differently from other workers” and then spends the rest of her letter talking about how maids should not get a weekly day off – which other workers do get.
People who talk about domestic helpers and their rights and whether they should be allowed a day off should just think about it this way: do you think you should have a day off a week?
My current maid has a day off once a month. Every time she comes back from her outings, she appears even more tired and listless, and needs to recuperate from her outing. When she is not around, both my husband and I, who are teachers, have to juggle with the care of our toddlers (two and three years old), besides catching up with whatever work we have not completed in the week.
Singaporeans work very long hours too and while we do not work officially on weekends, many of us catch up with work on weekday evenings and weekends.
My maid has more than enough time to rest daily, when the kids are napping or when my older one is in kindergarten. My maid is the one who goes to bed by nine every night and my husband and I are the ones who are still up way beyond nine to tuck in our children and catch up with school work.
In all seriousness, teachers like Madam Low* do work very hard, like every other Singaporean worker who has to join the rat race. Working overtime and taking work home is common in Singapore – in fact, it’s an anomaly if you get to leave work on time and not have to think about work at home. That is the sad fact that every Singapore has to face. This culture of “work hard, work long, work often” is an issue that we have to deal with in our society.
But that does not give you the right to take it out on your maid by depriving her of a weekly day off – a right that you have, whether you observe it or not.
Statements like “[w]hen she is not around, both my husband and I, who are teachers, have to juggle with the care of our toddlers (two and three years old), besides catching up with whatever work we have not completed in the week” and “…my husband and I are the ones who are still up way beyond nine to tuck in our children and catch up with school work” appear to suggest that Madam Low is blaming her maid for the fact that she has to take care of her own little ones once in awhile. But aren’t they your kids, Madam Low?
Are maids really that overworked? The many maids congregating and chatting away happily at my condominium on weekdays present a different picture.
My previous maid met her boyfriend on her day off and even while we were at work. I have also heard of other maids doing part-time work on their days off.
The slew of social problems that will result from a weekly day off is unthinkable.
What slew of social problems? Would Madam Low care to elaborate? If she did elaborate, would any of these elaborations actually be – oh no! – racist and xenophobic?
If Madam Low thinks that domestic helpers should not be allowed weekly days off because they will cause social problems by – as far as I can see from her letter – having boyfriends (A WOMAN HAVING A BOYFRIEND! FOR SHAME!) and working part-time (HOW DARE THEY WANT TO EARN MORE MONEY TO SUPPLEMENT THEIR INCOME WHICH IS MOSTLY TAKEN AWAY BY THEIR AGENCIES!) then I would propose that we extend her argument and lock everyone up. Wouldn’t that solve everything?
And think of those taking care of old and disabled people. It will not be easy for someone else to take over their duties when they take their day off.
This is true, but again, it doesn’t mean that we can take away a person’s right to have time off and rest. It will be up to us, who are ultimately the ones responsible for our old and disabled, to work out a system that is good for everyone, so that we can all rest and recharge when we need to. And with an aging population, this is an issue that the government will also have to address soon. We can’t just expect domestic helpers to solve the problem for us.
I urge the Government to consider carefully the many factors at play and the consequences of legislating a day off for maids.
– Madam Low Ai Choo, 22 June 2011
The push for legislation to give domestic helpers a weekly day off is not just to ruin your life, Madam Low. It is also to protect those who are not as “fortunate” as your helper probably is. Those who are made to work 24/7 with no rest or respite, those who have to serve more than one family, shoulder incredible burdens and are near collapse with mental and physical fatigue. These people are in need of protection, legal protection, from the abuse that they face every day.
Fatigued workers = *alarm bells*
Image from EHE and Me
I actually think that weekly days off would help. Fatigue is a dangerous thing. It makes us less alert at work, it makes us resentful and frustrated, it makes us more short-tempered and quicker to lash out. Many workplace accidents happen when workers are fatigued and less attentive. There have also been cases of workers – including domestic helpers – who have been so fatigued and stressed out and overworked that they simply snapped, having mental breakdowns or even turning violent.
Madam Low herself appears be suffering from fatigue, so much so that she has taken the trouble to write to the ST forum about denying another person time off so she can rest.
By having weekly days off, we make sure that all domestic helpers have the chance to let off some steam and recharge before coming back for another week. Isn’t this what we cherish our own weekends for? If I had kids or old/disabled parents, I would actually want the person to whom I am entrusting them to be well-rested and happy, not fatigued and frustrated.
If you are overworked, it is a problem that stems from your employer and (in the bigger picture) the government’s policies. It is something that you, together with all others in your situation, have to work together to figure out. Every person has to find his/her balance.
But that doesn’t mean it’s okay for you to deny another person the rights that you want for yourself.
* I would just like to add a little note to say how horrified I was to realise that Madam Low is a teacher. If this is how teachers respect the human rights of person they deem to be “of lower status” than them, what are we teaching our kids?
The article also appears in Funny Little World
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The government is right to want to legislate 1 day off per week for the maid.
However, in return, the employer should get to impose other conditions, eg:
1) The maid should prove she is worth the while. 5 hours sleep per night is enough. The maid should wake up at 5am and go to bed at 12 midnight.
2) When the family doesn’t cook, the employer is not obliged to provide money for the maid’s meals. Since it’s the maid’s day off, all expenses are on her own.
3) If the maid falls ill, the employer should not be obliged to pay for medical expenses.
4) When the maid returns to her country, the employer is not obliged to pay for air ticket.
5) The employer is not obliged to provide a separate bedroom for the maid. A mattress in the living room to sleep is sufficient.
good note. But pressure must be put to Govt to delink the performance bond required on the good conduct of the maid. ie, should the maid be pregnant, it should not be the employer’s fault. – maybe the maid levy can be used for this purpose.
While I can understand your outrage at Madam Low’s letter, I do want to point out that maids occupy an unusual position as employees in that they live in a person’s house which might explain why employers want more control over what they do (including personal relationships since there is the concern that they will bring dates home).
Also the point about moonlighting is a poor one since many full-time employment contracts will disallow moonlighting too.
And of course there are concerns that even if the law is passed, abusive employers will simply make their maids work harder and longer the other 6 days a week- like what happened to most workers when we switched to a five-day work week some time back. The spirit of the law is well-intentioned but I see a myriad of problems in the actual implementation.
I am upset that this conversation has to even happen. We should respect the right of the workers that support our families, that provide care to our children and tend to our elderly.
To claim that we are a modern society, successful economy but still enslave a group of people to serve, is appalling.
Lets set this wrong right and then worry about what “benefits” or “changes” can occur to help an employer.
Lets do the right thing for our domestic workers and give them one day off. It is the least we can do.
Well done, Kirsten, for writing a very compassionate piece on behalf of the maids working in Singapore. These guest workers are here as workers, not as slaves. They need rest as much as anyone else. They have their right to go out and do whatever and meet whoever they want and the employers have no business even asking where they go. They should not even have had to ask for this basic human right in the very first place. And, please stop imposing this condition and that condition. For heaven’s sake, they are not exactly earning $4 million a month! Live with the new type of professional maids, take it or leave it.
Slew of problems? How about swimming in our water tanks and then get killed and dumped in the tank? Not all maids are able to know self control. Some do bring trouble for the employers when they do some nasty things on Off days. I do not have maids but I feel sorry for those who had troublemaking maids.
Raymond, you don’t have to be a maid to do nasty things on off days. Just look at the number of locals at Geylang on weekends. -joshc
I have always found it peculiar that domestic workers in Singapore have a totally unique set of “HR” rules compared to every other profession in singapore.1 day off a month, salary withheld for the first few months (sometimes a year) to pay off agents, no annual leave, no bonus… At a time when our Human Rights record is under scrutiny, we have people like Madam Low, a teacher who unfortunately feels that domestic workers are mere servants/prisoners and not fellow human beings. Shame on you Madam Low.
If Mdm Low’s maid comes back on her outing on her day off so tired, it’s probably because she’s trying to catch up with friends and personal interests. She has a life other than slaving for her employers, you know.
Mdm Low’s maid wouldn’t be so tired if she had FOUR days off a month. I guess Mdm Low is too small-minded and selfish to do that. How typical.
Umm. some maids actually don’t want days off. some are afraid to move ard in a foreign country alone. some are afraid tehy’ll waste money if they go out. can we not assume that all maids are the same?
Hmm.
Well, if you, Mdm Low, solely depended on your maid for housework, you’ll forget to spend family time with your children.
Maids just give us the liberty to forget about family and life in general. And on your maid’s day off… spend the time with your kids. Really. That’s what the law is really for: to make parents and children 1) learn how to do housework 2) learn not to depend on a maid 3) make parents spend time with the family.
Take away the maid levy in exchange for the weekly day off, however, monthly day off to remain.
Let them have more money to send home.
At the end of the equation it is the shopping dollars of the maid that the government is after, when maid has less dollars to send home they won’t be happier.
Imagine their pay is $350 and if they spend $50 every Sunday than they would left with $250. HP charges another $50 for talking no end, so ended up with $250.
Poor employer paying levy, provide accommodation, food and air ticket home. So $350 is already a lot of money.
Sunday off would also mean more pregnancy too and also money no enough problem. Don’t assume no adverse consequences.
In singapore, i find that people is getting more and more pragmatic and having less respect for other beings.
That’s why companies no longer wanted to train their employees. Just wanted to reap as much gains from the employees. And hiring foreign workers turned out to be the best, as FW can’t or dare not to complain much ( a.k.a SLAVE ).
And while we complained about our employers and government, we ourselves mistreated the maids.
Well done Kirsten. I could not agree with you more. People have commented that they are afraid that their maids would bring their dates home. I do not think that the solution is banning maids from having boyfriends. At the end of the day, would we work for an employer that would prevent us from having personal relationships? The key is to build up a trusting relationship with your maid. If you can’t trust your maid, someone who has intimate access to your life, don’t have a maid! In many countries, where there isn’t a maid culture, people do make it work, juggling both children, elderly parents and a full time job.
2 cents worth 22 June 2011
I do not think that the solution is banning maids from having boyfriends. At the end of the day, would we work for an employer that would prevent us from having personal relationships?
………….
very very sorry..as a maid ere you are NOT entitled to that priviledges simply because your mployer hav to place a bond of $5000 guranteed that no pregnancy would occurred(trust me on this)
remembered the water tank thinggie? it the maid havin a fling with a bangala and endup dead…
why you may asked…try the filipino 1/2 way safehouse..you will get the answer
i am a SEASONED cebu girl skirtchasers..
i seen too many single naived mothers dancin in pole dancin…
they will never learn where to draw a line…
I have an indo maid that helps to take care my 2 years old son. She doesn’t have any off days since she with us for 11 months. She exchanged for additional $20 per month. Though my wife and me would like her to take 1 day off a month. She doesnt wanna as she doesn’t wanna spend $$$. My wife and me are in food business, so sometimes we doesnt get even a day off in a month. But still that doesn’t meant she can’t get off. Im 100% against maid having bf, if she gets pregnant, we are not only going to lose her but had to pay a fine as well. Besides they came all the way here is to earn money for their family or their children. So work and save $ and go home
Hi all,
I just want to follow up on the responses. I can understand that if a maid falls pregnant, there is a huge financial outlay for employers. But then, if there is such a stress, then why have a maid? This is a genuine question. I am not judging or anything. It’s just that, it seems so stressful to have a maid with all these issues to think about and people are arguing left, right and centre about maid issues. I believe in equal employment rights for all because it is only fair. Perhaps this is naive? My parents have always had maids and treated them very well and never had any problems. Perhaps they have been lucky. I prefer not to have a maid just because I don’t want to have to deal with all this stress of having to control another individual etc… I have a family and a full time job. Kids go to childcare. My husband and I take turns to cook and wash up. Weekends are for housework, kids, and errands. I work long hours and after putting the kids to sleep, work from home. Yes it is tough but it is workable. My humble opinion is that we don’t need maids and if we choose to have one, then we owe it to them to be fair to them. They are after all some one else’s daughter, wife or sister….
As for social problems, don’t locals create social problems too?
Maids get a day off a week. Employers are not responsible for maids pregnancy and maids run away. This is fair to all.
ok…To be fair. those people who comment here, please state if you actually got a maid before talking alot.
had a maid once.. she dun want da day off so we are obliged to pay her for working on dat day.. if they are given weekly day off then employers are obliged to pay a extra 4 days of overtime pay if the maid dun want da day off..
im not sure if this is the right thing to do.. what is the root issue? why the need to have the extra day off? is it to combat fatigue or something else?
i suspect that the govt wants to increase maids wages without actually legalising it.. pseudo increment.
I am shocked by low ai choo’s comments!
In all my years living in Singapore, I’ve found the typical Singaporean bitter and vindictive. If I can’t have it good, neither can you! Or, I only get paid so much, why should I work harder than you, who earn so much more? Sounds familiar? I bet it’s in your heart as well, as you read this.
maids really got life lor. can get breaks, get minimum wages and get pregnant as well.
look at the pathetic Singaporeans, worked the longest hours in the world. and no minimum wages for you, and the most likely thing when you get pregnant is you will get the sack as well.
more good years ahead.
Many employers here are not refined. There are not many truly kind-hearted gracious people around. Many think selfishly and only care for themselves first and formost. I have seen the highly educated and rich treating their maids like slaves, like digits, ordering and bullying them around without any consideration for their feelings. The saddest part is these employers dont seem to realize they are behaving in this haughty crude manner. They thought they are civilized and not doing anything wrong.
Hey all, it’s great that quite a lot of us feel strongly that the legislation should go ahead. But it is still under review and MOM is collecting feedback.
Please write an email to MOM at mom_fmmd@mom.gov.sg and tell the government domestic workers deserve to be treated like other workers too. They need to hear from the right voices.
p.s you are NOT selfish when
a) you don’t have a maid, and want to stand on the side of employers
b) you have a maid and want to stand on the side of the maids.
You are selfish when
c) you don’t have a maid and want to stand on the side of the maids
d) you have a maid, and want to stand on the side of employers
Lastly,
e) you must be from PAP if you want status quo. =p
I’m (a)by the way.
imo, the FIRST thing that must go, is the employER’s liability when the maid breaks the rules. THEN, we can talk about day offs and whatnot.
While I agree in principle that maids (or FDW or FDH) should be entitled to day off, I would just like to point out a few things. 1 of them being that the number of day off per month should be a mutual agreement between the FDW and their employer and that while we can say that once a week, it should be work out if the working condition does not allow that. Also, sufficient rest should be catered on a daily basis by stipulating working time and lights off hour. Having said that, there are some points which I feel are quite off the mark
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What slew of social problems? Would Madam Low care to elaborate? If she did elaborate, would any of these elaborations actually be – oh no! – racist and xenophobic?
——————————
I presume that the recent case of a maid’s body found in a watertank in woodland is not a social issue.Not to mention that some people were probably drinking the same water they had sex in, bath and died in…. I guess that is not s social problem…. while I do not begrudge to them having boyfriend(s), i am more concern if they bring their boyfriend to their employer’s home for their little tyrst, or I supposed that you are okay with that, and whatever offspring that spawn unwittingly from such union is perfectly ok without considering the fact that the offspring may present a little problem if they were to bring it back home with them and it may very well be to a very very angry spouse…… Not to forget that some of our FDH comes from a society that frowns upon extra-marital or pre-marital affairs and the offsprings of such union is extremely ostricised. But I guess the main worry Ms Low have is the 5k security bond….. but that is something better left to MOM to clarify….
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and working part-time (HOW DARE THEY WANT TO EARN MORE MONEY TO SUPPLEMENT THEIR INCOME WHICH IS MOSTLY TAKEN AWAY BY THEIR AGENCIES!) then I would propose that we extend her argument and lock everyone up. Wouldn’t that solve everything?
————————————
I presume that the purpose of granting FDH rest day is for her to rest after her long hour of work throughout the week, wouldn’t her working part-time be self-defeating? And that if it is the agency taking all their pay, maybe the problem is that MOM have to look at how the agency fees are structured? If the arrangement is untenable in the first place, why are they allowed to work at all?
I do feel that how we treat our FDH speaks volumes of how we are as a person and society. Having said that… I do share some concern and misgiving as well regarding the mandatory day off if it is to be imposed.
Kristen’s a (c)? And I suspect many here who speak up for the maids as well.
…looking for self-gratification by doing the ‘right’ thing?
Oh.. there is one more player that has not been mentioned. The maid agencies and their overseas ‘partners’. They have a pretty big role to play as they ‘absorb’ a lot of the maid’s money when they want to come over here to work. Unfortunately, I am not well verse in their workings to give an objective comment.
gut feel wise, they are ‘evil’. Or at least their overseas partners who sources for maids are. They have near zero liability and actually earn money when employers and maids don’t match (and their job is actually to match them).
lobo76 23 June 2011
p.s you are NOT selfish when
a) you don’t have a maid, and want to stand on the side of employers
b) you have a maid and want to stand on the side of the maids.
You are selfish when
c) you don’t have a maid and want to stand on the side of the maids
d) you have a maid, and want to stand on the side of employers
Lastly,
e) you must be from PAP if you want status quo. =p
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Firstly, who the hell you think you are for labeling people selfish?
Secondly, there are people who are not selfish, who are not PAP, and dun take sides.
I had more than 10 maids for more than 10 years.
@lazy,
Everybody labels/categorizing others. It’s simply how our brain organizes stuff. You can pretend you don’t do it, or you can admit it. up to you.
I don’t claim to be prefect, so it is possible that the list may be incomplete, but it is what I think.
@lobo76,
Why would I need to have a maid before I am allowed to comment? This is not just a “maid” issue, this is a human rights issue, and therefore I am comment from a human rights perspective – if you, a human, think you need a weekly day off, then domestic helpers, also human, should be allowed the same. It’s not rocket science.
On the issues of employer liability, I too agree that it is too hard on the employers. It is not only unfair to the employers to be forced to be responsible for whatever their helpers are doing on their own free time, but also racist and xenophobic in its assumptions of FDWs not being their own people and not being able to be responsible for themselves, thus needing someone else to be liable for them, like they are some sort of animal with an owner. This too, needs to be repealed.
The whole system really deserves to be looked at again. Giving FDWs a weekly day off is just one step.
And, by the way, I do have a domestic helper living with my grandparents, only she is Singaporean instead of from overseas. She brought my mother up, then me, then my younger brother. She is not my maid. She is my family.
If we are going to trust domestic helpers with the most precious things in our lives, i.e. our family, then we should treat them with respect, and not as if they are our possessions.
I too, am absolutely appalled that Madam Low is a teacher. Can you simply imagine how her views will affect Singapore’s Y Generation?
I find her letter to The Straits Times utterly offensive. It reeked of whining and stank of complaints. Madam Low should realize that her and her husband’s workload spilling into their home lives was their own doing. Having two children under the age of 5 was their decision. Madam Low, in one fell swoop, has basically declared that taking care of her OWN children is obviously not her job but her housekeepers. And parents such as this wonder why their kids grow up distant and uncommunicative with them.
Also, talks about how the housekeeper has a lot of downtime during the day is not a valid excuse for refusing them a whole day off. Days off work is a basic human right; you should have at least one entire day that is yours to do as you please. Downtime is not the same; you are still technically on the clock and no matter how the housekeeper seems “happy congregating with other housekeepers”, subconsciously, there’s the knowledge that they are still technically working.
And what is this talk about how housekeepers will “go out and do bad things” if they have off days? Do we not go clubbing/drinking/dating on our off days? Do we not meet up with our respective partners and partake in couple activities? If the mentality is that housekeepers shouldn’t receive off days because they are trying to live their own life, then companies around the world shouldn’t give their employees days off either! I mean, god knows what they get up to when unsupervised!
Singapore should have signed that treaty. Housekeepers are people and employees just like everybody else. And life everybody else, they have rights. Being a housekeepers is a JOB. People would do well to remember that important fact.
23 June 2011
Everybody labels/categorizing others. It’s simply how our brain organizes stuff. You can pretend you don’t do it, or you can admit it. up to you.
I don’t claim to be prefect, so it is possible that the list may be incomplete, but it is what I think.
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I read the comments with interest, but since I don’t have a maid, it means I don’t know enough, so I don’t say who’s right or not.
You, on the other hand, don’t own a maid but want to stand on the side of employers. What are you? Employers freedom fighter? Of course not, you are merely Mr Perfect, Mr Self-Righteous, Mr All-Powerful. Even more, you’re a God I should revere. When are you free? I would like to wash your feet and kiss them
@Kirsten
Indeed, the WHOLE system deserves an overhaul. The current status quo is sort of balanced, but everyone involved is unhappy. We need a new status quo where the equation remains balanced, but where all the stakeholders are happy.
Your piece, unfortunately unbalances the equation by only ‘taking the first step’. I would think you need to at least talk about the next step (or better still, one (1) simultaneous step), even if you don’t elaborate on it. e.g Remove the liability from the employer at the same time.
It is too one sided as it is. Which is why it reads to me like a self-gratification feel good piece.
p.s even if both steps are taken together or one after another, it is still not the end. I feel the maid agencies are a bit dodgy… more study needs to be done on them. That, to me, would be the second step.
lobo76 23 June 2011
@Kirsten
The current status quo is sort of balanced, but everyone involved is unhappy.
It is too one sided as it is. Which is why it reads to me like a self-gratification feel good piece.
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Who is the unhappy one over here, campaigning hard for employers? To gratify himself perhaps?
@lazy
I stand on the employers’ side because many seem to be ignoring them. I believe in balance in the Force, so well, Darth Lobo I shall be.
p.s my feet are clean enough. I don’t mind tithes though… you want me POSB saving account number?
My mother was a maid when she was young. My mother had always taught me to be nice to the maids as they are human being too.
My maid agents and my colleagues had always complaint that I spoilt the maids’ market for being too nice to the maids.
But being nice to the maids, I still have many irresponsible maids that gave me lots of headache. MOM makes it worst as I am liable to the maids’ misconduct.
I hance propose that employers’ liabilities for the maids’ misconduct to be repealed and maids to be given 1 day off per week.
@lazy
Self gratification, everyone does. Motivation it is, for all things one does.
Feel good to fight the good fight, it does, no? Self gratification it is too.
lobo76 23 June 2011
I stand on the employers’ side because many seem to be ignoring them. I believe in balance in the Force, so well, Darth Lobo I shall be.
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I have to take back my words on not “labeling & categorizing others”. For someone who doesn’t have a maid but seems intent on siding with employers (because he is smuggling in maids perhaps), and yet claim he is a balancing force, I have to say “Hypocrite”
@lazy,
See? That wasn’t too hard, was it?
lobo76 23 June 2011
See? That wasn’t too hard, was it?
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Nope, not hard at all to take back my words. Self-gratification? Not much, more interested to gratify you instead.
Lobo – if I don’t have a maid but I think they should get a day off, in your head, this makes me selfish? but if I don’t have a maid and I don’t support the day off, I’m unselfish? Wtf mate.
I don’t think the word means what you think it does.
maids are employees. Just like you and me. Do you dun want your boss to treat u the way you treat the maid?
Honestly, disgusted by all the sad stories of maids or foreign laboures here to make a honest living but due to unfortunate circumstances or pure bad luck, ill treated by their employers.
We need to take a hard look at ourselves and see if we are really a saint.
I have had a maid since my first child was born. I would have loved not giving her a day off as it is indeed very inconvenient. Many think i am crazy giving her a day off every sunday.I can only trust that she goes to church and her computer class as she claims. I have the same concerns..boyfriends, bad influence, the list goes on. My maid gets to rest in the afternoon after she finishes her chores. I encourage her even to take a nap since she has to wake up at 6 am.But I still think these rest periods do not compensate for having no off day. She is human after all, needs friends, space, a different environment etc. just like us. I think the basic rule of thumb is always to imagine what it would be like in her shoes. Making her slave 24/7 will make her resentful and we all know an unhappy employee is a terrible worker not to mention the dangers of a delicate mental state leading to suicides and murders. She works hard but looks relaxed and reasonably happy. And I can only hope for the best.
I’m not a maid but I’m a SAHM with 2 little kids I’m taking care of by myself with almost no help from other sources. As such, I can honestly say that my work is pretty much the same as what your average maid in Singapore does – and guess what. I can sure use a day off a week.
http://www.anchorgreenpri.moe.edu.sg/cos/o.x?c=/wbn/pagetree&func=view&rid=17700