Christmas is the season to be jolly and happy. It is the wonderful time of the year for giving and sharing. One foreign domestic worker (FDW) is celebrating the yuletide season with glee as she just surprisingly received recently her year-end bonus of over SGD1,000 apart from her Byron Bay coffee and a Starbucks card from her generous Singapore employers.
Painem Inem Minuk, a self-professed coffee drinker and who hails from Karanganyar, Indonesia, is one such lucky helper. She works with a generous employer, who is out of the country for the holiday season. Painem has been with the family for more than a year now.
Photo: Facebook of Painem Inem Minuk
The employers were very grateful for the service their FDW has rendered to them that they left a Christmas card for her. The card reads:
Photo: Facebook of Painem Inem Minuk
FDWs in Singapore have created their own Facebook group. Upon seeing the post of Painem in the group, her FDWs cannot help but comment how fortunate she is working with her employers.
Source: Facebook of Painem Inem Minuk
However, some cited their own experiences and situation that are opposite of what Painem is going through.
Source: Facebook of Painem Inem Minuk
In Singapore, both domestic workers and employers have certain rights. Foreign domestic workers are covered by the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) provides guidelines for employing FDWs through the mandatory Settling-in Programme for first-time FDWs and an Employers’ Orientation Programme for first-time employers.
The guidelines include information on rest days, well-being, salary, contracts and safety agreement, resolving disputes, employment rules, overseas leave for foreign domestic worker, and concerns regarding abuse and ill-treatment of a foreign domestic worker.