3 maids working in 3-storey landed house wake up at 5am and only sleep after eating dinner at 11.30pm, have to also give full body massages daily

SINGAPORE: The newest of three helpers working in a 3-storey landed property took to social media because of how tiring her daily routine was.

In an anonymous post, the maid wrote that this was her first month working in the house, whereas the other two helpers had already been there for 6 to 8 months. She said that she had to wake up at 5 am daily and she must shower and eat breakfast. The maid said: “This (sic) are very important bcoz if you skip this, you can no longer do it even in some spare time, not allowed to do your personal stuffs even in vacant hours for a reason”.

Her work would start at 6.30 am and finish by 11.30 pm but they would only get a 5-minute break for lunch at 2.30 pm or 3 pm, with dinner being at 11.30 pm after they finish their work. However, the maid added that sometimes after work, “we’re already out of appetite instead we just spend few minutes to our families before we sleep”.

“we have a service call, once we are done w our daily works then we will just wait and stand by and wait for the call. Every minute there’s a call like need food need snacks need water do this do that etc., everything are upon request and one by one as in 1 by 1. We keep on running here and there to 3 storey landed house from 630am to 1130pm. We can’t nap we can not use HP, like a said, every one must be always alert so once they call, you should fly”, the maid wrote. She added that they were required to massage 1 to 2 people daily for more than an hour each and “we also dress up the madam from hair to shoes like a queen”.

“Once we asked working and meal hours, she got so angry and threatened to send us back, bcoz according to her, they always travel so we must not complain bcoz we have plenty time to rest. Please note , if they travel like a month then this scenario happens like 2 to 3 months if no travel”, the maid wrote. She explained that she was planning to transfer to another household should her employer allow it, but said that she was willing to accept it should her employer choose to send her back home as well.

Here’s what others who commented on her post wrote:

Earlier this year, a foreign domestic worker called her helper friend crying after she could no longer bear the poor working conditions that her employer subjected her to.

In an anonymous post to Facebook group FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the maid’s friend said she got a call from the helper who was crying. Writing on behalf of her friend, the maid wanted to know if she should directly ask the Manpower Ministry (MOM) for help. The maid had asked her agent many times for a transfer, but it was to no avail.

Her friend wrote that the maid was not able to handle the amount of work she was given, because “her employer home is 3 storey 7 rooms and 4 bathrooms everyday cleaning after cleaning employer check if its okay for her if not she will ask again my friend to do it again,my friend have no rest she eat dinner 11 pm sleep 1am-2am,she wake up 5am and she just eats noodles every time”. She wrote that it was her first time working as a maid in Singapore.

Read the full story here: 

Maid forced to clean 3-storey landed house with 7 rooms and 3 bathrooms, with only 3 hours of sleep