SINGAPORE: An employer took to social media to ask other netizens how much money she should contribute to help her maid open a provision shop back home.
In an anonymous post to a support group for domestic helpers and employers alike, the woman wrote: “Hi, my Indonesian helper plans to open a small provision shop back home after she finishes her contract. Her hometown is in Cirebon”. The helper told her employer that she needed somewhere between S$2,000 to S$5,000 in order to start a small shop.
“May I know if this is a reasonable amount to help her aim to save up for to fulfill this? Or how much money is needed to open a small shop there? Thanks!” the employer wrote.
One netizen who goes by the Facebook name Meili Lovely Chan commented on the post: “$5,000 is ok for a small provision shop. But need to remember that in the village there are many will come pay later (utang). Unless if the shop is like indomart/alfamart or in here is like 7/11 people will pay on the spot when they buy. From that she need to top up something that already sold but pay later. If her budget just only that use the $4,000 or less to buy the start-up and the rest for the top up. Just some little idea. If she’s not ready to go back yet, ask her to take some entrepreneurship courses like Aidha. She will know how to set up her business dreams in the future”.
Another woman, a Siti Khadijah, commented: “I’m from Cirebon too. I think if your Helper need to open small shop $2000 SGD is enough mem”.
Earlier this year, another foreign domestic helper in dire need of funds for her parent’s surgery took to social media asking other helpers if it was a good idea to borrow from her employer.
In a post to a support group for domestic helpers, the woman asked others if she should ask for an advance salary from her employer for her parent’s surgery. “I don’t know where to get the amount for the said operation,” she wrote. The helper added that she was exhausted as the sole breadwinner in her family.