SINGAPORE: A woman shared on social media a disturbing incident she witnessed at a clinic, where a maid blatantly ignored an elderly man in a wheelchair despite his obvious need for assistance.
In a post on the Facebook group “Complaint Singapore”, the woman stated that the incident occurred around 9 a.m. on September 4. She recalled seeing the elderly man needing help to get to the toilet and the clinic nurse requesting the maid to assist him.
However, the maid disregarded the nurse’s request and “pretended as though she didn’t notice what was happening”.
Later, as the elderly man prepared to pay his bills after taking his medicine, the maid stood at a distance, expecting him to manoeuvre himself into the wheelchair on his own. “This lack of care and attention was appalling,” the woman said.
To make matters worse, when the elderly man expressed a simple desire to eat fishball noodles, the maid immediately overruled him, saying: “No, we go home now.”
Appalled by the maid’s behaviour, the woman said, “This behaviour is unacceptable. The elderly deserve our respect and care, especially from those entrusted with their well-being. I hope this situation is addressed appropriately to prevent such negligence in the future.”
“Hope the employer sees this and send this helper packing.”
In the comments section, many netizens were furious at the maid and slammed her for disregarding the elderly man’s needs and being completely unprofessional.
One netizen said that if the helper wasn’t interested in caring for the elderly, she should “just leave rather than showing attitude”.
She added, “If the elderly is living alone, children living apart, then he’s at the mercy of the helper. He won’t voice out to his family fear of helper’s anger. Elderly also should live with dignity.”
Another commented, “She is not a qualified maid but just came here to eat well & play well. Look at her appearance, will show everything.”
A third netizen remarked, “Hope the employer sees this and send this helper packing. This is totally unacceptable. What if that’s ur dad that she is doing to. Look at that death stare!!”
Still, there were others who gave the helper the benefit of the doubt, speculating that the elderly man might not be allowed to eat fishball noodles for health reasons.
They also criticized the woman for airing her grievances online instead of addressing the issue directly, suggesting that she should have taken action instead of just venting about it.
One netizen said, “Why, I don’t understand your complaining. Do you think that it’s an easy job to take care of an elderly? We need to be patient and sometimes very stressed, they’re like kids, if you can, don’t hire helper. Do it yourself, no complain much better, then you’ll get it. How hard is it?”
Another added, “Do you think it’s easy to be a caregiver if an elderly is even stubborn? what if he has food restrictions??”
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