• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
    • Volunteer
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

Maids with ‘attitude’? Employers, look in the mirror

by onlinecitizen
25/01/2011
in Current Affairs
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0

The following article has been published on TODAY ONLINE on Jan 24, 2011.

Letter from Stephanie Chok

I refer to the Voices Online letter ‘The new breed of “aggressor” maid’ (Jan 20).

It is unfortunate that Ms Tan has had unpleasant experiences with the domestic workers she has employed. However, there are more than 196,000 foreign domestic workers in Singapore, and it is unfair to make blanket assumptions that “maids these days” are recalcitrant, disloyal and lazy. I am sure most employers would bristle at their being portrayed, without distinction, as cruel and unreasonable slave-drivers – simply because of the maid abuse cases highlighted by the media.

When employers complain about their employees showing “a black, sulking face”, perhaps it is time to review the root causes of such dissatisfaction.

Source: filmo.com

In the press, employers sometimes complain about their workers showing ‘attitude’. There is often little acknowledgement, however, of the casual links between increasingly lackluster work performance (for instance, inattentiveness or sullenness) and a worker’s legitimate displeasure at her working conditions, such as overwork, lack of rest days and being constantly scolded. These are common situations faced by domestic workers here in Singapore.

Some examples of ‘poor behaviour’ raised by Ms Tan include domestic workers not completing a two-year contract and asking for a transfer because they do not like their employers or cannot take the workload. One could ask, though: Why are these requests automatically framed as unreasonable?

These are the very same reasons many people – regardless of their occupation – switch jobs: they cannot get along with their ‘boss’ and they feel their workload is excessive or unsuitable. Moreover, for live-in domestic workers, not getting along with ‘the boss’ has daily, dire consequences, as they work and reside in close proximity, 24/7, and bear the unrelenting brunt of any unpleasantness.

Furthermore, domestic workers arrive with heavy debt burdens and it is not in their best interest to seek constant transfers of employers, as this increases their debt burden. If they ask to do so, then it is probable that there are genuine tensions in the working relationship that need to be looked into.

Domestic workers are currently still excluded from the Employment Act and most employers in Singapore do not give their domestic workers a day off for the duration of their two-year work contracts. The salaries of domestic workers here are also lower than their counterparts working in the region, such as Hong Kong.

In general, domestic workers have to deal with low salaries relative to their long working hours, restrictions on their personal mobility and freedom, and the indignity of being discriminated against (as demonstrated by the recent news that maids are banned from using many condominium pools and even certain passenger lifts).

While Ms Tan may feel personally victimised by her own experiences of poor employer-employee relations, from a broader perspective, it is definitely not the case that our current system is ‘pro-maid’.

This letter is only available online.

For just US$7.50 a month, sign up as a subscriber on The Online Citizen Asia (and enjoy ads-free experience on our site) to support our mission to transform TOC into an alternative mainstream press.

Related Posts

Why is Gautam Adani’s Indian empire in turmoil?
AFP

Adani shares dive again as Indian opposition stages demos

06/02/2023
Josephine Teo defends SPH Media Trust in Parliament on its circulation scandal; Commitment of S$900 million funding will still be made available
Singapore

Josephine Teo defends SPH Media Trust in Parliament on its circulation scandal; Commitment of S$900 million funding will still be made available

06/02/2023
Japanese-Canadian junior high school girl breaks national record with 3km in 9:02 mins
Japan

“I want my normal life back,” Sherry Drury withdraws from National Junior High School Tournament due to overheated public attention

06/02/2023
FY2023 Budget Statement to be delivered by Lawrence Wong on 14 Feb, 3.30pm
Singapore

FY2023 Budget Statement to be delivered by Lawrence Wong on 14 Feb, 3.30pm

06/02/2023
AFP

Scholar, lawmakers and journalist among Hong Kongers on trial

06/02/2023
Netizens urge HDB to investigate another “unoccupied” flat listed for sale
Housing

Netizens urge HDB to investigate another “unoccupied” flat listed for sale

06/02/2023
Subscribe
Connect withD
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
Connect withD
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Latest posts

Why is Gautam Adani’s Indian empire in turmoil?

Adani shares dive again as Indian opposition stages demos

06/02/2023
Josephine Teo defends SPH Media Trust in Parliament on its circulation scandal; Commitment of S$900 million funding will still be made available

Josephine Teo defends SPH Media Trust in Parliament on its circulation scandal; Commitment of S$900 million funding will still be made available

06/02/2023
Japanese-Canadian junior high school girl breaks national record with 3km in 9:02 mins

“I want my normal life back,” Sherry Drury withdraws from National Junior High School Tournament due to overheated public attention

06/02/2023
FY2023 Budget Statement to be delivered by Lawrence Wong on 14 Feb, 3.30pm

FY2023 Budget Statement to be delivered by Lawrence Wong on 14 Feb, 3.30pm

06/02/2023

Scholar, lawmakers and journalist among Hong Kongers on trial

06/02/2023
Netizens urge HDB to investigate another “unoccupied” flat listed for sale

Netizens urge HDB to investigate another “unoccupied” flat listed for sale

06/02/2023

Keppel condones and retains senior executives involved in bribery to get contracts

06/02/2023
7.8-magnitude quake hits southern Turkey: USGS

7.8-magnitude quake hits southern Turkey: USGS

06/02/2023

Trending posts

Former Singaporean shares change of life in Australia with annual pay of S$80,000 as a plumber

Former Singaporean shares change of life in Australia with annual pay of S$80,000 as a plumber

by Yee Loon
30/01/2023
25

...

Cognizant India transfers staff to work in Singapore as recently as this year

Local IT grads can’t find jobs while engineers constantly transferred from India to work in SG under CECA

by Correspondent
05/02/2023
66

...

They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation

They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation

by Augustine Low
01/02/2023
47

...

Adani’s brother runs SG company and registers as director with local ID

Adani’s brother runs SG company and registers as director with local ID

by Correspondent
03/02/2023
26

...

Excessively charging for an essential need, and calling it affordable because people still can pay for it?

by Terry Xu
31/01/2023
40

...

Singapore Law Watch removes commentary on CPIB’s decision to not prosecute former Keppel executives

Singapore Law Watch removes commentary on CPIB’s decision to not prosecute former Keppel executives

by The Online Citizen
02/02/2023
19

...

January 2011
M T W T F S S
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31  
« Dec   Feb »

The Online Citizen is a regional online publication based in Taiwan and formerly Singapore’s longest-running independent online media platform.

Navigation

  • Editorial
  • Commentaries
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Community

Support

  • Contact Us
  • Letter submission
  • Membership subscription

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Fact Checking Policy
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

wpDiscuz