SINGAPORE: A maid who has been working for a Malaysian expatriate family since 2018 took to social media asking others for advice on her working conditions.
In an anonymous post to a Facebook support group, the maid wrote: “The problem is with the wife , for her everything is not right even for my vegetable can’t put inside the fridge so I have to put it outside”.
She added that the first few years she was working for the family, her employer would fine her $2 to $10 for every mistake she made. The woman would then give the total amount to charity. The helper asked her agent about this, and “my agent said the MOM doesn’t allow employers to do that. Then I tell her about what my agent said and she is not Happy”.
“I try my best to do my work but for them it’s not Good enough it’s far from good it make her compare my salary with her Malaysian helper back then in malaysia which is cost lower then (sic) average salary in Singapore. She’s even not happy paying my salary and the levy’s every month to government , everytime she is angry it make me stress up , to be honest I cry a lot cause of her word. But I have no choice , when I ask about release paper she don’t want to sign”, the maid wrote.
The helper added that recently, her employer took her to Malaysia for two weeks. When they returned Singapore, her employer found dust everywhere and complained to the maid. “she threatens me lor (sic) cut my salary if not she will hire someone to clean the house and paid with my money”, the maid wrote, explaining that when the house is not as clean as she wants, her employer would threaten to cut her salary or use the money to hire someone else to clean the house.
While netizens were sympathetic to the maid’s plight, others chided her for staying in the same household for so long and allowing her employer to treat her like that.
Here’s what they wrote:
Last month, another foreign domestic helper took to social media asking if she was being bullied because she had to cook meals for seven people on a daily basis.
In an anonymous post to a Facebook group for domestic helpers, the woman wrote that her employers were new and when she interviewed them, she was told that her job scope would include “infant care, cleaning, and cooking for three families members”. However, she added that “in real-time, not only three but also both of their parents are joining every lunch (Sir’s parents ) and dinner (Mdm’s parents), when they are not coming one or another one guests joined, sometimes still have to cook for tapau(food boxes for sending them)”.
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