My heart goes out to the maids........

The Plight of the Indonesian Maids.
In most developed nations domestic help are a luxury and a privilege of the elite few. Strict labour laws, expensive rates and a general respect towards manual labour ensures that the maids are not exploited. The same is however not true for Singapore. Maids are not only affordable and in demand but exploited by the agencies and employers equally.The dilemma of a maid begins with her nationality and inability to speak English. This keeps her salary low. But worse than that, most of these maid have to give their salaries to the agents for up to 9 months. Difficult to imagine but, sadly, true. Their lower educational levels also works against them. This makes them less attractive to better paying employers, like expats. Other maid (eg from Philippines) are better educated and interact with other maids on their days off. This ensures that they will not be as easily exploited as compared to the Indonesians. Poor treatment of the maids often incites them to commit crimes. Long working hours, constant scolding, no pay for many months and no holidays builds up pressure and stress to make them snap.. Some of the girls are also very young, much younger than what their passport says. Most employers also do not care about the cultural and religious background of these maids, which may make it difficult for them to perform certain tasks such as ordering Muslim maids to cook pork and taking them to church. Many are not given proper food and not allowed to practice their religion. While many employers do treat their maids well, several others who do not. Every working individual has the right to leisure.So, why should it be any different for the maids? If giving the day off is not possible then what about half a day every week. Just something to look forward to in their lives. In fact the best would be if the community centers, maid employment agencies, mosques, churches or some government institution, could start some free classes for them (English language, sewing, reading for those who are illiterate). A familiar thing between all Indonesian maids is their hair. Most are very short, whereas maids from Philippines, Sri Lanka or India maintain different lengths.
During Hari Raya ( end of the Fasting month for Muslims), I was at the hairdressers. An employer dropped her maid there for a haircut. I was shocked to see that her hair was already short like a boys cut so later I asked the hairdresser who I know for many years that " Is the employer serious about having her hair cut even more ? " and she answered " Yes, what to do". The maid looked so sad and I was helpless and could not do a thing. Instead of paying for a haircut which was not needed, if the employer had given the maid the money as a token for the happy occasion, it would have been such a good gesture and made the maid also happy. The employer's "hygiene reasons" bordered on the absurd. People don't realize that these girls are poverty stricken in their own country. They have little choice but to leave their families and come to a strange country and strange people to work for and we must try and understand them better. We must not accept this kind of treatment, as it is inhumane and can be considered as a violation of basic human rights. The maids should have the same rights as other Singapore residents and should not be treated like second-class citizens.