SINGAPORE: The topic of how to treat domestic helpers has been discussed numerous times on online platforms, and one Singaporean recently added a layer to the conversation by asking both employers and helpers the following questions on the ‘MDW in Singapore’ Facebook group:
“Question for helpers: Does your employer buy you your own food when they bring you outside?”
“Question for employers : Do you order a separate food for your helper when bringing them outside? Or you just order 1 set and you share with them?”
Most of the commenters who participated in the discussion were helpers. Many of them shared that their employers are quite considerate when it comes to dining out.
Instead of simply ordering a single meal for everyone to share, these employers go the extra mile by allowing their helpers to choose their own dishes at restaurants.
One helper said, “If we’re going out to eat outside, my boss will always ask me what I want to eat. And if we go to a restaurant, she will pass me the Menu book, and I will choose whatever I want.”
Another helper mentioned that even when her employers dined outside without her, as she sometimes preferred to stay at home, they would still ask her what she wanted to eat so that they could order takeout for her.
An employer also chimed in and said, “She gets to choose what she wants to eat whether in restaurants or at food centre, so she gets her own plate of food. Sharing is only in chinese restaurants or Japanese where there’s dishes ordered for sharing.”
However, amidst all these positive stories, there were a few helpers who felt their employers weren’t as attentive or thoughtful. One mentioned, “Last time I had a boss. They eat while I am feeding the child and looking to them eating. While I am hungry.”
Another helper talked about her early days in Singapore, where her employers would order fancy meals like steak and beer for themselves while she fed her kids. Later, they’d only get her a simple loaf of bread to eat after everyone else had finished.
She said, “I’m very, very good but I’m unhappy with the way they treat me outside..if you don’t want to buy me a food just let me stay home or whatever.”
Luckily, she found new employers who let her celebrate her birthday solo at the restaurant. She then jokingly added that she hoped to meet her ex-employers again someday, saying, “I hope to meet them inside the restaurant.”
Coincidentally, a woman took to social media earlier this year to ask employers not to bring helpers to restaurants unless they were dining with them.
“Dear employer… If you can’t buy some food and drink for your helper… Please don’t bring your helper to an expensive restaurant, if only to watch you eat,” the woman wrote.
Read more: Woman pleads with employers to buy food for their helpers when dining out at restaurants
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