I share Irene Fernandez’s opinion on the survey results showing majority of respondents opposing the mandatory one-off day per week for domestic helpers (aka maids). Star poll showed nearly 76% opposing the idea. In fact, the mandatory day off is already part of our law.

And it seems Fillipino maids get a day off, unlike their counterparts from other countries (due to the church activities?). Isn’t that discrimination? Blame who? The Indonesian government for failing to protect their rakyat?

I saw in TV3 Buletin Utama today – one person saying they also take the maids out for outing during weekends. Really? Tell me, is your idea of weekend outing or holiday same as the maid’s? Go for holiday also, the  maid still works for you – carry bags around, chaperone kids, and so on. Weekend outing also same – you go shopping while maid follows behinds with bags and kids. And, do you bring your maid for Indonesian movie, or is watching movie means the latest Hollywood/Cantonwood/Bollywood blockbuster? Is it really a holiday/outing or forced working day under pretext of a day out?

Look at the work of a maid – basically everything in the house is done by them. Some also bring their maid to parents or siblings house to clean up there as well. Some maid double up as workers in stalls or the family business. So, do these people pay extra to the maids? I hope so. I also see some maids outside the house cleaning window. but from second floor. if fall how? Some even climb out of the apartment window to clean it. If fall – sure die la. who pay for funeral cost? Do they have insurance for occupational hazard?

Another person is “worried” that the maids will mix with bad hats. Hello…first please check where your kids/family members/relatives are going la. Why not lock up your kids at home? Don’t let them go to school or shops in case they mix with bad hats. Most crime conducted by locals (statistics by our good police force) so better protect our family from our own rakyat!. Actually, if you treat your maid (and pay  maybeRM1000 as salary), would she jump ship? Anyway, if you are really worried about others’ safety and actions, extend that to your employees at office, colleagues, neighbours, and regular Joe on the street. Dare or not?

Anyway, no point just blaming employers. The maids are also of inferior quality – lacking training, suspect health conditions. Maids who don’t bathe. Maids who don’t know how to carry a baby. Maids who are lazy. Maids who pretend to be sick. Maids who are carrying infectious disease.

And I wonder why the foreigners still want to work as maids in Malaysia when the pay is better in other countries? is Malaysia a stepping stone for a “better life”? maybe due to “islamic” nature of the population? or is it the “rejects” are the ones being employed here? or maybe its close to their homes (indonesia/phillipines)?

I also think many of the families are not qualified to be maid employers, just like many of the maids are not qualified to be maids. We have guys taking advantage of the maids, maids being abused worse than animals, forcing maids to work for endless hours…all for what? a measly few hundreds and some food on the table?

Anyway, you pay peanuts, you get monkeys – isn’t that the saying? most of the money goes to agents/middleman/govt dep fees/permit etc. you pay someone rm450/500/550 per month to work from sunrise till midnight nearly everyday…susah jugak. What is a fair salary? One way to judge is to put yourself in that place and do the work. Try formulate a calculation of how many hours worked, the difficulty level of the work, and so on. Take into account the benefits – free lodging and food, house environment, no transport costs etc. take into account the minus points – work all day, no rest; no/minimum social life; no freedom.

The maids also opportunists. Their salary is held back for up to 6 months to cover this and that – some of them borrow money at home country to pay for the trip here (in some case, agent pay for it, so they owe the agent company). Once here, they also look for better opportunity la. This is human nature. I guess many other jobs also the same – teaching, nursing, accountant, engineer, doctor, manager, contractor, taxi driver, lawyer… blah blah blah – for many of us, the  rules of the day are:

“cut corners”, “less work more money”, “bottomline counts”, “all for me and nothing for company/employer”, “what i can get out of this”, “laws are meant to be broken”, etc.

So, we end up reading robberies happening with help of maids. We read about maids absconding with cash and jewellery. Maids kidnapping babies.

So, who is the guilty party here? Everyone. Employers for taking for granted their maid as forced workers. Maids for not being truthful/honest in their jobs. Agents for not being honest and professional. Government for not enforcing better law/protection/rules for all parties involved.

I think we should start hiring locals as maids, maybe calling them home assistants or something else. Pay starts from RM1300/month. Working hours is 10 hours a day with one day off per week. 14 days annual leave. For employers – maid must be certified – either a proper skills-based certificate that takes 6 months to complete or some sort of diploma in home management. This should be a long term plan to replace the foreign maids. Secondly, one should properly vet the prospective employers – are they qualified to be employers, how many people staying in the house, any family member having mental illness or police record for violence, etc. Next is agents. The word agent itself evokes negative connotations – bribery, dishonesty, unprofessional etc. How to regulate the maid agencies? One way is to reduce the companies to perhaps about 10-20 only per state. No company can operate in more than one state. Allow employers to bypass the agents and hire own foreign maids if need to. Encourage employement of local workers instead of foreigns – tax relief perhaps?

I first wrote that even 4 year old kids boss their maids around, but my friend chided me. He said, even 2 years old can give order to maids! Do we own the maid like some sort of personal property?