SINGAPORE: A young Singaporean woman turned to the Reddit forum for advice after her parents decided to house their domestic helper in the bomb shelter of their new flat.
“We had a helper recently,” she wrote on r/askSingapore on Tuesday (Oct 22). “Currently, she is staying in a room we don’t use, [but] we will be moving to a new flat in about a year.
I recently found out that for the new house we bought, the plan is to use the bomb shelter room as the helper’s room.”
The young woman explained she felt uneasy about this arrangement and had tried to reason with her parents, pointing out that the bomb shelter is windowless and “would be depressing to live in.”
However, her parents dismissed her concerns without much thought, leaving her feeling frustrated and unheard.
“I don’t want my helper to stay in the bomb shelter, but I don’t know what to do since it’s also not my house,” she explained.
Determined to advocate for her helper’s well-being, she planned to raise the issue again but felt uncertain about how to approach her parents.
“I’m not sure what points to raise with my parents to convince them to let her stay in another room. Isn’t this unethical? What can I do?” she asked.
“Humans shouldn’t live in bomb shelters.”
In the comments section, many Singaporean Redditors praised the young woman for advocating for her helper’s well-being. They agreed that bomb shelters are not appropriate living spaces for anyone.
One Redditor said, “I appreciate you being outspoken about this. Domestic helpers always face this sort of unethical treatment, and it’s never addressed enough, I feel.
Thank you for doing your part to ensure that she isn’t being treated as subhuman.”
Another expressed, “Good for you. Humans shouldn’t live in bomb shelters. I wouldn’t even put my dog in one. She’s a human and deserves to be treated as such.”
Others suggested that if her parents cannot provide a decent living space for the helper, they should consider sending her back to her home country.
One Redditor commented, “You should save her from the bomb shelter! No one should be staying there.
Tell your parents to send her home since they can’t provide proper lodging for her. If they protest and say they need a maid to do the housework, you can volunteer, so no maid is needed.”
On the contrary, some have shared a different perspective, noting that certain domestic helpers actually prefer sleeping in the bomb shelter rather than sharing a room with other family members.
One Redditor shared, “I had a helper who worked for me for 15 years. When we moved house, she requested her own space and chose the bomb shelter herself.
The door of the bomb shelter faces a big window, and she sleeps there with the door open and a fan so there’s ventilation.”
A few others stepped in to defend her parents’ decision. One Redditor remarked, “It’s easy for you to judge your parents when you are not paying for the flat.
Who doesn’t want to buy a big enough house that can comfortably accommodate the helper without being a tight squeeze?
Please do not call your parents unethical when you are not paying a single cent towards your helper yet benefiting from her service.”
Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)