(954) An unhappy domestic worker

I went to visit a family I knew since Silver City days. Their two previous pleasant Christian maids left. There is one rather unhappy maid from Indonesia.

This family has been having a series of happy maids as they believe in treating their maids well. Since I have time on my hand, I listened to the complaints of this current helper. She spent five years working in Singapore working in one family, her main duty is looking after one baby. She did not cook a single meal for this family. After that she spent some time at home as her husband complained about her continued absence. By the time she wanted to work again, she is older than the age limit imposed by the Singaporean government.

The next family she worked in was in the capital city in one of the more affluent suburbs. The employer's children already left to study in Australia. She acted more like a care taker for the house while the employer and his wife traveled often for business and leisure. There was no need for her to cook nor clean cars as there was a full time chauffeur hired by the company.

This current house that the maid works in is roughly double the build up area of the previous house. There is a verandah all around the front and the two sides of the house. She single-handedly sweeps and mops the entire house as well as the covered area outside. On top of that, she needs to cook two simple meals and do laundry. It does seem like a lot of work for one person. But I suppose she is already being paid 50% more than the expected pay because there is no one to share her load.

For whatever reason, there is not a single Cambodian or Filipino maid in the market at the moment. Whoever who wants a maid could only choose from Indonesian maids who have worked here previously. The real shortcoming of having a "recycled" maid is that it is in our human nature to compare, which may lead to unhappiness. It is just too bad that she has had easier jobs before this. For this particular assignment, she could display a sour face and be difficult. But she would still have to fulfill her two years of contractual service.