SINGAPORE: A worried employer took to social media after she found her maid having photos of her children, which she did not like.
In an anonymous post to a support group for employers and helpers alike, the employer wrote that she was worried her Indonesian maid would use her children’s photos to perform black magic. Black magic, also known as dark magic, is traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes.
The woman wrote: “I’m personally someone who does not like the idea of my kids photos/videos in our helper’s phone. She will be leaving us and she has photos of our kids in her phone. Those were photos she took to send us while on duty in the past”. She asked if she should remove her children’s photos from the helper’s phone on her last day, and asked what she should do if the maid refused to delete the images.
“She’s from Indo and I’m quite worried as people been telling me they can do black magic using the kids photos. Honestly, we will never know what she might do to the photos in future after she leaves us. No bashing please, just want to hear your advices especially from employers”, the woman wrote.
Other maids who responded to the post were amused and said that the employer was unnecessarily letting her mind wander. Another suggested that she should delete the photos for her own peace of mind.
Here’s what they wrote:
Last month, yet another case of a foreign domestic worker being stuck in an abusive and unpleasant working environment surfaced, the helper in question tried to ask for a transfer out but was denied so by her employers unless she compensated them for the remaining days of her contract.
In a Facebook post to a group for helpers called FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the helper wrote on March 5 that she wanted the opinions of other employers and helpers in the group. She shared that she had been working with her employer for almost four years and would finish her second contract in three months’ time.
She explained that for the past three years, there had been a lot of conflict between herself and members of her employer’s family, especially their children. Whenever she would tell them nicely to eat faster, finish their homework or stop watching television, they would rudely tell her that it was none of her business.
The helper, who remained anonymous in her post, wrote that they would tell her that she was lousy, stupid, and damned. Frustrated and upset, she would complain to her employer, the kids’ mother, who would tell her not to take their words too seriously and brush off the situation.