Maid says, ‘My employer makes me stand outside the eatery for 2-3 hours with just a glass of water while they nicely eat sitting inside’

SINGAPORE: In an interview with Asian Boss, a foreign domestic worker recounted a dining experience that had nothing to do with enjoying a good meal, but everything to do with enduring humiliation.

“When my employer takes me out to have their meal, they’re eating inside [an eatery], but I am made to stand outside waiting for them, or I am to sit down in one corner while they finish eating,” she said, and her “meal” that her employer gave her was just a single glass of water.

“They only give me water, and when one of the waiters [at the eatery] asked me, ‘Why aren’t you eating?’ I am to say, ‘I have already eaten at home before my employer brought me here.’”

@asianbossmedia We interviewed a Filipino domestic helper in Singapore who shared her negative experience with a previous employer. #domestichelper #maid #singapore #foreigner #filipina ♬ original sound – Asian Boss

That was the script that was given to her to read out, just in case someone asks, all the while, she watched her employer and her family “eat nicely” for two to three hours as they happily lingered over food with conversations.

“They really look [down] on us,” the helper expressed her sad feelings as she held back her tears.

The Asian Boss street interview triggered an uproar in the comments section. Many Singaporeans expressed disbelief that such treatment still happens in 2025.

“As a Singaporean, I’m surprised that there are still Singaporeans who openly discriminate against domestic helpers or foreign workers… makes me wonder, what are the demographics of them? Are they the older folks or…?” one viewer wrote, curious for an answer.

Another commenter shared a heartwarming counterpoint: “My helper has been with my family for 34 years… having a helper taught me a great deal about empathy and gratitude.”

Some pointed out that domestic helpers from the Philippines, Myanmar, and other countries often sacrifice their own comfort to send money home. “In developed countries, most women spend the money they made for themselves, but for these women… they spend the money for their family first,” one commenter reflected.

Yet, others emphasised the unspoken reality—that many helpers remain unable to fully speak, or rather, expose the dark truth for fear of losing their jobs. “They could never be truly honest about how horrible these Singaporeans really treat them,” another viewer opined.

This single story is part of a larger picture: While many employers treat helpers with fairness and kindness, accounts like this one highlight the persistence of old-fashioned prejudices that reduce helpers to “the help” rather than human beings deserving equal dignity and respect.

Watch the full Asian Boss report below to hear her story in her own words:

In other news, another maid endured an even more degrading fate — her employer fed her nothing but chicken drumstick bones every day, telling her it was “up to her” what she wanted to do with them.

You can read her nothing short of a dehumanising, sad story here: Maid says, ‘My employer feeds me with only chicken drumstick bones daily and tells me it’s up to me what I want to do with it’