SINGAPORE: An employer so frustrated with her maid’s poor attitude and incompetence took to social media ranting about the helper.
In an anonymous post to a Facebook support group for employers and domestic helpers, the woman wrote that she just needed to rant. She said she brought her maid to Singapore early last year and paid about $9,000 for her flight, agency, and placement fees. She was told that her maid had worked in Singapore for two years, so she initially thought the helper would be a good fit. The woman wrote that her maid’s salary was around $700, with her main job requiring her to look after two young children.
In her post, the employer wrote that despite caring for the children being her main role, the maid could not handle them alone, and the employer would not even be able to go to the toilet without hearing her children fight. She added that her maid “can’t (or doesn’t want to cook)”. When the maid was asked to cook them meals, she said she did not know how to and refused to learn. The woman then added that the family would buy meals for the maid and cook for their own children.
“idk if she really doesn’t understand me or pretends to not understand (when i asks her to wash the wok after i cooked, she goes into the kitchen and looks around and comes out and asks me which). when we told her to boil soup once, she left the fire open for quite awhile and i only noticed when my shirt almost got burnt when i was taking something from the cupboard above the stove”, the woman wrote.
She also said that the helper spoilt their vacuum cleaner and her own handphone six months into working for them. Sharing examples of the helper’s incompetence, the woman said her maid was very forgetful. The helper would sometimes sweep the floor, only to leave the dust in a corner and forget about it. “she sleeps in an aircon room with one of my kid, sometimes she can forget to (switch) off the aircon and she will open the windows and doors”, the employer wrote.
She explained that because she was separated from her husband, her children would be in school until 5 pm and stay with their father on two weekdays. On the days the children were at home, the woman wrote: “after my kids sleeps (sic), she goes to bed as well and that is at 8pm and she will leave milk bottles unwashed in the kitchen, floor with dirt and i will have to wash it and sweep it. i have told her multiple times to finish her work once the kids sleep so idk why this is still happening”.
The woman added that her maid’s contract would only end in a year, and she felt like her helper was akin to another child. “is she just acting blur and stupid so she can get away with doing the bare minimum?” she wrote.
Here’s what other helpers and employers who commented on her post said:
Earlier this year, an employer was frustrated with her maid because the latter wanted to go to bed at night around 10.30 pm, despite getting more than 4 hours of rest in the afternoon.
In a post to Facebook group FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the employer asked others: “What time does your domestic helper wakes (sic) up, and what time do you allow them to sleep”.
She added that she told her helper to wake up at 8 am on weekdays and 9 am on weekends. “She gets to rest anytime from 3pm to 730pm in the afternoon if there’s nothing much to do. 730pm onwards I may or may not ask her to cook dinner since I stay alone”, she wrote. The employer added that her maid would always go to sleep around 10.30 pm.
“I’m quite frustrated . I told her many times that if afternoon there’s nothing much to do, she cannot sleep so early at 1030pm”, the employer added in her post.
Her post was met with incredulity and shock from many helpers in the group, who said that the time her maid went to sleep was a personal matter. Others also said that if her employer did not need her after 10.30 pm, there was no harm in her going to rest. All that mattered was that she did her job well, they added.