SINGAPORE: An employer, with a direct-hire maid who refused to listen to instructions, took to social media asking netizens for advice.
In an anonymous post to a support group for domestic helpers and employers alike, the woman wrote: “I provide my helper with toiletries, weekly off, 3-5hours of rest time during the weekday as my kids go to school, starts the day at 730am, i topup her phone and ezlink card monthly. Child minding is mostly me. All she has to do is keep the house clean”.
However, she added that she was at her wits’ end.
The family lives in a two-room apartment, and she has two children who sleep in her room at night.
She wrote that her maid did not need to do any household chores daily except dishwashing, vacuuming and mopping.
The woman said that her maid refused to follow basic instructions. For example, when she asked her maid to wash milk bottles and soak them with hot water, the helper did it differently because she “prefer doing it that way. Mind you, its my children yeah? She has one kid that she birth to 20years ago”.
The woman continued: “My first wasnt well and she vomitted on bedsheet. I told her to scrub it clean in the toilet. She does it less than 10mins and claim its clean. She said she put detergent and have soak them in a pail. The next day, the washing machine is running so I asked her what is she washing? She said the sheets. When its done, I did a random check and found vomits all over the sheets, towel and the machine. I was furious beyond words”.
She added that because she has two children, she is a stickler for hygiene. Her maid wakes up at 7.30 am but often does not shower until only about 5pm or 6pm. “She said she didnt shower because she dont have enough clothes. I try to be understanding and spend $100 on her to buy her clothings and also garments. I even bought her perfumes and deodorant because she has BO. The lies that she fed me, is exhausting me. Im heavily pregnant now so its affecting me emotionally”, the woman wrote.
She said that she had spoken to her maid thrice before to address these issues and asked netizens for their input on the matter.
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