DCSE1A04 Singaporeans’ treatment of maids is abusive and unacceptable.
Benson, Victor, Fuad, Mahir
- Do you think Singaporeans abuse their foreign maids?
- What would you count as "acceptable" and "unacceptable" ways of treating maids in one's household?
- What do you think our treatment of maids says about the attitudes, values, priorities and perceptions of Singaporeans?
posted by elizabeth tang @ 5:33 AM
10 Comments:
hoho
hey victor here,
first and foremost i feel that singaporeans in general treat their maids in some unfair way or another. I feel that though Singaporeans pride upon their English as their main language, i fear that many do not understand what is the difference between a maid and a slave. A maid is one who is an employed servant normally to serve and perform domestic duties while a slave is one bound in servitude as the property of a person or household. Thus the latter shows that a maid is not a property they bought for them to work to death, however sad to say in Singapore, many maids are being ill-treated, verbally or physically.
Cases of maid abuse are being reported all the time but they are just the tip of an iceberg, the rest of the maids still not daring to speak up for fear of losing their jobs. Some may argue that there are also bad eggs who do not perform their duties dutifully, slacking on the job and going out,but does this gives us the right to abuse another fellow human being? A better alternatve would be to just work out a plan with their maids, give them allowances to have an off day and most importantly which many employers forget is to appreciate and value the service they give and say a big thank you!
To date, the government has taken note of this hindering problem in our society, thus they have set up shelters for abused maids, encouraged them to speak up against their employers and urged their employers to give them a day off or two. Though it is a step in the right direction, I'm afraid the government has to do more tha that to protect the unsung heroes who left their homes out of desperation in dearch of a new life!
heyy victor here,
In my previous post, i said that maids should be treated with respect and not being slaved around. Therefore I'm here to write about the acceptable and unacceptable ways of treating the maids.
First of all, if the maid has just come to Singapore to start a living, the employers should be extra gentle with the maid as she may be a little phycologically insecure of her surroundings. The maid should be given sme leeway to get her used to the environment and encouragement should be given at the right time. In general, for little faults like forgetting to close the windows or tforgetting to mop the floor should be overlooked or to at least remind her. Even for big mistakes like not sleeping on the job or to misplace any jewellery , they should be given a second chance as in the maxim, to err is human, thus we should all forgive them and tell them not to be so forgetful in the future.
Any instances of really unacceptable behaviour can all be found in the papers =)Such instances are abusing them physically or even verbally, YES verbally. there are many real life cases of maids that couldn't stand the verbal abuse and scorn mounted on them that they retaliated against their owners. How would one feel if he was verbally abused everyday,being subjugted and torturing him inside,making him feel as though he were not worthy of existance.
The employers should instead work out a plan with them, give them some time off for themselves, position themselves to help their maids if required and most of all make them feel appreciated. In this way they would be much happier and productivity and quality of work would increase.
No one likes to be dispised,and so if everyone were to think more about the maids and not to look down upon them, then Singapore would then really be a beautiful place
for one and all to call home.
ivan here...
i actually find myself agreeing with what victor has said about the differences between a maid and a slave.
although there many be some "bad maids" around, and some employers may actually "fear" them. But I also do feel that it is important for us to treat these domestic helpers in a more civilised manner than to abuse them verbally and/or physically. After all, we singaporeans have recieved moral educations. Haven't we?
Thanks for your insightful remarks.
Certainly, there are very clear cases of mistreatment of maids, such as scalding, molest, rape and beating.
I think such incidents are not as frequent as they appear to be: they appear more common because they are given media coverage. In other words, they are brought to the attention of the public as they are newsworthy, being interesting and sensational.
Apart from these clear-cut cases of abuse, some of you have rightly mentioned unacceptable ways in which maids are commonly treated in Singapore households. Issues such as their working hours, their rest days, their needs for privacy and respect and their human rights are all relevant here.
In addition, how do we decide whether a practice is acceptable or not? What do we compare to it? Are there reports comparing the way Singaporeans treat their maids and the way employers from other developed countries do so?
hey mahir here,
i think not all maids r being abuse as nowadays i see maids enjoying life instead... They got more free time
hey victor here,
regarding the post by Mrs tang, yes there have been reports of cases where
maids bare their inner feelings through the news, some have said that the trend of maids nowsadays is to venture out to the other parts of the world like Europe and ply their trade there. I read a case whereby a maid said that life in Switzerland is much better than the life of her friends serving i countries like Singapore. She said that the pay was much higher , about a thousand plus euros compared to the measly average of three hundred plus an average maid here earned. Plus points also included a day off every week and the life was not so stressful there compared to Singapore, moreover Singapore had imposed a law stating that maids had to take a test in order to qualify to work here, thus many maids are flocking to other regions, although the downside was that they would be even further away from their loved ones...
For the third part, i feel that by the way Singaporeans are treating their maids, it clearly exposes their inner charateristics of attitudes, valus, priorities and perceptions. For the employers who treat their maids well, it cearly shows that they didn't despise the people who are of lower social status then them but to treat them equally. Surveys have also stated that many maids also have been recieving treats like jewellery, clothes an tickets back to their hometowns.In this case, by observing how the owners have been treating their maids, it reflects how the employers have shown respect to them and the good moral values that they possess. The main priority for the good employers are also to have someone to ease their burden like
substituting as nannies or to do chores and not to overwork them. Therefore i feel that these good employers percieve them more as a helper that can be treated as a friend or even, which some might add, a family member to share their ups and downs with.
However for every up there is a down, ditto for Singaporeans who treat their maids as a tool to do everything fot them.To use an analogy, their expectations of a maid is like a tank of cooking gas, they will keep using the tank until it is out of gas before changing a new tank. Likewise for a maid, once they recruit her from an agency, they will work her till she is out of steam or keep complaining, in which out with the old, in with the new! This therefore speaks very badly of the hopefully minority of the BAD employers who do tht. They do not treat the maid as a human being and all the moral values which they have learnt would not have been shown through their treatment of their maids. Their main priority is to overwork the maid( in which some would tend to retaliate) and perception of the employers to the maids are no better than another
object to own because they paid for her and so they have every right to do whatever they prefer to her, be it beating or even raping.
Shakinah here...
my opinoin on this topic is that maids have their on rights and freedom to enjoy themselves. they are just like us... HUMAN BEINGS!! hehe...
so in short no one can abuse anyone.... =)
thx!
eddy here..
after reading all the posts, i realized that no one discussed about why these incident occurs in the first place..
to me, those abusers remind me of the bullying incident that happened in some singapore schools. the difference lies at the degree of the damage inflicted.
according to psychiatric assessment, what they do to others is just their way of covering their weakness. they're insecure and would like other to see them as otherwise by a show of force onto one who’s inferior compared to them..
Thanks, Victor, for the clarity and substance of your contributions. I think you've depicted the situation very well with the comment that "Singaporeans in general treat their maids in some unfair way or another."
Your analogy of the gas tank is sad but true. We have a situation with a seemingly unending supply of maids to choose from - if the maid doesn't fit, or is damaged and unusable, just discard it and get a new one. What's more, once she's sent back home, you don't have to see her ever again...you're left with nothing more than a bad memory and a one-sided version (yours) of the sad affair.
Eddy observed that no-one has explored why we mistreat our maids in the first place.
Here, I'd like to share some possible reasons for Singaporeans' disgraceful treatment of maids.
Firstly, Singaporeans seem to have extended their "stretch your dollar", "get the best value for your money", "don't lose out" shoppers' mentality to their employer-maid relationship. This liaison is seen as a business transaction, with contracts drawn up largely in the favour of employers and maid agencies.
The cost of hiring a maid is easily one of the highest expenses faced by the family. Employers also have to be prepared to fork out more money if the maid is found unsuitable and has to be replaced, with the maid transferred to another employer or repatriated (sent home).
When I was expecting my first child, I had to choose between getting a car and hiring a maid - the monthly cost was about the same. I chose to hire a maid.
Many employers, mindful of the high cost of the maid's services, try to make the most of it.
This mentality contributes to the exploitative treatment of maids in Singapore, but there is another factor in the equation - mistrust of strangers, unreasonable standards of hygiene and irrational fears with regards to child health and safety.
It's one thing to demand of oneself these high standards, as we are more forgiving of ourselves when we cannot keep up with our own expectations. However, when such demands are made of a foreign domestic helper - who struggles with culture shock, communication difficulty and a deep sense of rejection at being treated as less than human - we have a conflict situation that can explode in our faces.
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