Singapore Expats

Help For a Maid

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morenangpinay
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Post by morenangpinay » Mon, 22 Oct 2012 5:09 pm

maybe you can video her or take a recording next time so you have proof? if HOME needs the victim to call. atleast you have proof you are calling on her behalf. or report them to MOM and follow it up with the HOME and TWC2..hm or her embassy. but the end result will still be deportation. But if she can escape, her embassy or HOME have no choice but to take her in.

but it would be better than returning home in a coffin .
Last edited by morenangpinay on Mon, 22 Oct 2012 5:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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ecureilx
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Post by ecureilx » Mon, 22 Oct 2012 5:11 pm

morenangpinay wrote:maybe you can video her or take a recording next time so you have proof? or report them to MOM and follow it up with the HOME and TWC2..hm or her embassy. but the end result will still be deportation.

but it would be better than returning home in a coffin .
mmmm.. not "deportation" ..

Cancellation :D

I know, for the maid it means the same ..

morenangpinay
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Post by morenangpinay » Mon, 22 Oct 2012 5:33 pm

still better to be cancelled i guess. surprising that police do not respond to these kinds of calls either. is there anything the police over here do actually?

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JR8
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Post by JR8 » Mon, 22 Oct 2012 5:36 pm

morenangpinay wrote: is there anything the police over here do actually?
Break up she-man bitch-fights.

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sundaymorningstaple
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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Mon, 22 Oct 2012 5:40 pm

:lol:
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

morenangpinay
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Post by morenangpinay » Mon, 22 Oct 2012 5:51 pm

lol :lol:

and my personal favorite give out pamphlets of small claims court to victimized tenants.

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Post by Herman S » Sat, 27 Oct 2012 2:47 pm

Despite what the news and media are sensationalising, I'm pretty sure these abusive employers make up the minority of Singaporeans who hire maids, its just that the crazy ones always take up the spotlight, and gets associated with the entire population.

"Truly, one of the most appalling aspects of Singapore. A filthy rich country that treats its least able and poorest in such a shabby manner. And MOM is complicit in this. MOM should be the advocate for workers, not the mouthpiece for those who want to retain cheap labor unfettered by labor laws that might require that FW's be treated fairly."

While I do not disagree with you, I'd just like to point out that this isn't exclusive to Singapore - http://www.vice.com/vice-news/the-slaves-of-dubai

It's great that you're taking proactive steps to help out other people, goes to show for every bad egg, there are many more people with big hearts.

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zzm9980
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Post by zzm9980 » Sat, 27 Oct 2012 3:05 pm

I'd agree the majority of employers are likely humane, and there are bad eggs everywhere. I know a former DH from Hong Kong who worked in a 10 bedroom house on top of the peak, but only got 1 cup of instant noodle a day and no hot water for a shower (HK gets cold in the winter). But overall maid laws in HK are much more liberal and humane.

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Strong Eagle
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Post by Strong Eagle » Sat, 27 Oct 2012 4:03 pm

Herman S wrote:Despite what the news and media are sensationalising, I'm pretty sure these abusive employers make up the minority of Singaporeans who hire maids, its just that the crazy ones always take up the spotlight, and gets associated with the entire population.

"Truly, one of the most appalling aspects of Singapore. A filthy rich country that treats its least able and poorest in such a shabby manner. And MOM is complicit in this. MOM should be the advocate for workers, not the mouthpiece for those who want to retain cheap labor unfettered by labor laws that might require that FW's be treated fairly."

While I do not disagree with you, I'd just like to point out that this isn't exclusive to Singapore - http://www.vice.com/vice-news/the-slaves-of-dubai

It's great that you're taking proactive steps to help out other people, goes to show for every bad egg, there are many more people with big hearts.
They may make up a minority but they make up a LARGE minority. Take a walk at 6:00 in the morning and see all the maids washing cars. Take a walk at 8 PM at night and see the same maids doing the wash, taking care of the kids. How many hours is enough?

Take a count of the number of maids that get Sunday off... less than half in my neighborhood.

Talk to the maids and see how many instances of maid abuse exist in the neighborhood. It is a lot.

What kind of a country deems it OK for maids to sleep on a palette in a hallway, and one kind of maid user lets that happen?

You may be right about it being a minority but the overall attitudes towards foreign workers in general is very poor. Singapore has a long way to go before it can be considered "egalitarian".

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JR8
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Post by JR8 » Sat, 27 Oct 2012 7:40 pm

Aye, agreed.

Egalitarian? Ha ha, not while 'downtrodden sub-set A' seem to thrive on the further treading on of 'downtrodden sub-set B'.

Sigh.

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taxico
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Post by taxico » Sat, 27 Oct 2012 8:25 pm

singapore isn't the only country wherein the people treat house helps/maids like crap (but probably one of the lowest paying countries).

i've seen some diplomats in singapore treat their maids terribly. i mean REALLY terribly. whether such harsh treatment is warranted or not, i'm unsure as i've never personally hired and trained one before.

but i do know that it can be terribly trying, what with the unrealistic expectations of the employers (did the agency under deliver or over promise or...?) and the relatively poor language skills of the helps/maids.

while agencies rarely deliver jeeves on a $700~ monthly wage (and that's a wage to be split evenly between the help and the government, with the agency sucking a substantial commission from said wages), i think most do tell their clients they have an exchange (?) policy until satisfaction is met... at the expense of playing house help "musical chairs."

have you heard of horror stories from employers? including those who pride themselves on treating their helps properly? i have.

my conclusion is that some people should never have been sent here to be house helps in the first place or at least seek sufficient information before making the first (big) leap.

while it's easy for us to assume that people around the world (HK, Taiwan, Dubai, India, Singapore, etc) must treat their helps with the same type of dignity (including living and working conditions) and respect that we've come to assume is/should be commonplace, we MUST NOT forget that the reality isn't so, and that life is indeed "poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

the government's "FDW levy" and harsh system of penalizing employers for possible "infractions" incurred by the helps, coupled with the mentality of singaporeans, surely cannot produce a trusting and relaxed employer.

my next conclusion thus, is that some people must never be allowed to employed house helps.

putting the two together, i can't help but think that there may be more helps that shouldn't be sent to singapore than there are employers that mustn't be allowed to hire helps.

and the finger pointing goes on... :???:

p/s: i do not condone the regular washing of cars. i think anyone who washes their car more than once a week (i wash mine perhaps thrice a year but i clean the windows once a month) should be dragged out and shot. it's a stupid, senseless, mindless task.

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