SINGAPORE: An employer with fears about her maid handling her child took to social media asking how she could assuage them.
In an anonymous post to a Facebook group for domestic helpers, the employer asked: “Hi for those with babies, how do you manage your FDW such that your baby is always in safe hands?”
“I dont dare to scold or even say too much cause fdw black face i scared already. Which means very hard to manage and i end up doing a lot of work myself. Really very scared the fdw do anything to my baby… put dirty water into baby bottle and never wash properly baby will food poisoning and maybe die…” the woman wrote. She added that her husband was not much help and she was already stressed by the pregnancy.
Many who commented on her post told her not to hire a maid if she could not trust one. Others urged her to guide the helper and teach her.
Here’s what they wrote:
Earlier this month, another foreign domestic helper who was hired to care for a newborn was seen by her employers to be constantly talking on the phone, even while feeding the child. On average, the employer said that her maid’s calls were at least 30 minutes long.
In an anonymous post to Facebook group FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the maid’s employer said that her helper then wanted a loan from them to get a new phone and she asked netizens if she should accede to said request. The employer wrote that this was her first time hiring a helper to take care of her newborn.
“She is overall ok in her daily duty for the 2 months+ with us. Recently she was asking if she can get a loan from us to get a new mobile as her phone is dying. Meaning cannot last her talking for more than 30 mins and phone will shut down”, the woman wrote. She added that she was reluctant to give her maid the loan as she has seen her maid constantly talking on the phone either through the CCTV system or after she had finished her chores.