I have never taken the maid issue seriously until early this year when I found out I was having my third child. My daily arrangements of sending my two kids to the babysitter and grab them home twelve hours later after work will not work anymore after August when my new bundle of joy arrives this Hari Raya.
I do not have a helper at home. I run my household chores on my own with very little help from my husband who works longer hours than I do. My friends think I am Super Woman, handling two little cherubs without a maid. In actual fact, I am a Super Tired Woman. And I am in dire need of any sort of help.
Then, like many other typical working parents with an average household income, the thought of having a maid seemed to be a luxury and most of the time scary especially in times where cases of maid related abuse and neglect are rampant.
But that was then. Now I have changed my mind. I need help at home because when the baby comes, the amount of laundry and household chores will intensify. Most importantly, the little time I have left playing mommy to my children will also fade and disappear buried underneath those household chores.
In fact I have started to become jumpy and panicky when my efforts of looking for a maid seem to be on the verge of failure. I only have less than a month before the baby arrives.
I have asked around – parents, friends and family all agreed that maids are a necessity now, however risky.
Last year, ministers and officials have agreed that the cost of hiring maids be set at RM7, 800. This is a huge amount of money as compared to the previous cost of RM4, 511 in 2011.
I found out that even if you have that amount, it does not guarantee that the maid assigned to you will not flee.
In the last three months, two of my colleagues shared their sad maid story. Both maids left their toddlers unattended in their homes for God knows how long. One left only after two weeks of service and the other left after three months. But at least the latter called to say she has left.
My other friend who already has a maid is not happy with the maid he received. It has been close to a year since he hired this 20 year old girl from Lombok who has no experience in doing anything but washing plates. When she first arrived, she was so surprised to see water coming out from the tap - like it was her first experience witnessing a miracle.
She also has problems in comprehending instructions and language is not the barrier. Despite numerous training, over a year she still fails to carry out her duties. In which resulted to squabbles and tension in the household.
Maid or no maid – the dilemma is inevitable.
And so I found out that we have a choice of a live-out maid. She can babysit and do house chores and she can leave when I come home from work. Yes! What a great plan I thought.
But then I found out that this too is far-fetched. Especially now that the Indonesian government had frozen the coming in of domestic helpers to our country and that the insufficient supply of maids are apparent, these live-out maids who are mostly Pinoys with legit working permit demands a wholesome amount of money and they are very picky with who hire them.
They accept no less than RM1,700 a month for babysitting and basic house chores. They don’t work on weekends and do not work beyond 9am to 5pm without an extra fee. They are reluctant to work with locals. I know this because I got the cold look when I say I am a Malaysian but when I say I am a Singaporean, they sighed with relief.
Truth is it is not easy being a working parent in this metropolis. Especially for the majority working parents who break their bones to make ends meet in the city where everything is money and gold and at the same time yearn for that illusive work-life balance.
How do you stay focused at work when all you think about is whether your child is safe in the hands of a maid that has no legal papers or incompetent domestic help?
How do you generate a good healthy family institution when you are constantly tired of carrying house chores and have less and less quality time with your spouse and children just because you can’t afford a legit domestic help?
My heart palpitate just thinking about the answers to these dilemmas because really there is none. At least not right now.
The writer would like to wish a blessed Ramadhan for all Muslims and prays for the much delayed government’s effort in resolving this maid issue will soon materialized to a better outcome for all hardworking parents out there.
I do not have a helper at home. I run my household chores on my own with very little help from my husband who works longer hours than I do. My friends think I am Super Woman, handling two little cherubs without a maid. In actual fact, I am a Super Tired Woman. And I am in dire need of any sort of help.
Then, like many other typical working parents with an average household income, the thought of having a maid seemed to be a luxury and most of the time scary especially in times where cases of maid related abuse and neglect are rampant.
But that was then. Now I have changed my mind. I need help at home because when the baby comes, the amount of laundry and household chores will intensify. Most importantly, the little time I have left playing mommy to my children will also fade and disappear buried underneath those household chores.
In fact I have started to become jumpy and panicky when my efforts of looking for a maid seem to be on the verge of failure. I only have less than a month before the baby arrives.
I have asked around – parents, friends and family all agreed that maids are a necessity now, however risky.
Last year, ministers and officials have agreed that the cost of hiring maids be set at RM7, 800. This is a huge amount of money as compared to the previous cost of RM4, 511 in 2011.
I found out that even if you have that amount, it does not guarantee that the maid assigned to you will not flee.
In the last three months, two of my colleagues shared their sad maid story. Both maids left their toddlers unattended in their homes for God knows how long. One left only after two weeks of service and the other left after three months. But at least the latter called to say she has left.
My other friend who already has a maid is not happy with the maid he received. It has been close to a year since he hired this 20 year old girl from Lombok who has no experience in doing anything but washing plates. When she first arrived, she was so surprised to see water coming out from the tap - like it was her first experience witnessing a miracle.
She also has problems in comprehending instructions and language is not the barrier. Despite numerous training, over a year she still fails to carry out her duties. In which resulted to squabbles and tension in the household.
Maid or no maid – the dilemma is inevitable.
And so I found out that we have a choice of a live-out maid. She can babysit and do house chores and she can leave when I come home from work. Yes! What a great plan I thought.
But then I found out that this too is far-fetched. Especially now that the Indonesian government had frozen the coming in of domestic helpers to our country and that the insufficient supply of maids are apparent, these live-out maids who are mostly Pinoys with legit working permit demands a wholesome amount of money and they are very picky with who hire them.
They accept no less than RM1,700 a month for babysitting and basic house chores. They don’t work on weekends and do not work beyond 9am to 5pm without an extra fee. They are reluctant to work with locals. I know this because I got the cold look when I say I am a Malaysian but when I say I am a Singaporean, they sighed with relief.
Truth is it is not easy being a working parent in this metropolis. Especially for the majority working parents who break their bones to make ends meet in the city where everything is money and gold and at the same time yearn for that illusive work-life balance.
How do you stay focused at work when all you think about is whether your child is safe in the hands of a maid that has no legal papers or incompetent domestic help?
How do you generate a good healthy family institution when you are constantly tired of carrying house chores and have less and less quality time with your spouse and children just because you can’t afford a legit domestic help?
My heart palpitate just thinking about the answers to these dilemmas because really there is none. At least not right now.
The writer would like to wish a blessed Ramadhan for all Muslims and prays for the much delayed government’s effort in resolving this maid issue will soon materialized to a better outcome for all hardworking parents out there.
