It's a game of musical maids<\/p>\n
Musical maids<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): If someone was to procure a statistic on the
\nfavorite topic of conversation among housewives in Jakarta, I can
\nsay the topic of maids would win hands down.<\/p>\n
For a newcomer to Jakarta the prospect of having the luxury of
\nemploying two or three housemaids is incredibly delicious.
\nHowever the taste does turn slightly sour when one learns of the
\nmystery that lies behind holding on to them. An enigmatic
\nsituation arises sometimes when their comings and goings are more
\nexpeditious than the time it takes to gobble down a Big Mac.<\/p>\n
All households have their fair share of trouble when a new
\nmaid walks out on her second day of employment, flinging an,
\n\"nggak betah (not adjusted) as she whizzes out of the door before
\nyou can utter the \"t\" of \"Tunggu\" (wait).<\/p>\n
While some of the residents are blessed with old hands who
\nusually absorb the shift in workloads during the change of maids
\nor rather \"working guests\" (as one exasperated lady expat puts
\nit), there are others who are not so fortunate.<\/p>\n
Just the other day at a tea gathering a \"fresher\" to the city
\nwas expanding on the teething troubles she had while settling
\ndown in Jakarta. Besides the hunt for a good house and the
\nchildren's school, it was the bit of the maids that held every
\nteacup suspended an inch away from their respectively open
\nmouths.<\/p>\n
She was in bliss for about three days after getting her first
\nbatch of two maids. She must have walked under a ladder because
\nright on the third morning one of her maids came to her pouring
\nforth bucketfuls of tears. She had just got a message that her
\nmother was dying and she had to leave right away. Overflowing
\nwith sympathetic gestures my non-Indonesian speaking friend
\nrushed her off with a month salary, asking her to call the very
\nnext day. The next day she got a call from the maid saying that
\nnow her brother had passed away and she would be back after two
\ndays. Skeptic suspicions blistered in my friend as she realized
\nshe had been taken for a ride. And as if that was not enough, the
\nother maid thereafter develops pusing (headache), goes to buy
\nmedicine and never returns.<\/p>\n
And so it goes on for us all constantly deciphering the
\nmysterious ways of our house-helps -- more baffling than the
\nBermuda Triangle as someone describes it.<\/p>\n
Life goes on in those households that have seen the death of
\nfour to five fathers or three to four mothers of an old housemaid
\nand have decided to stop counting and play the game.<\/p>\n
Then there is the hilarious story of the typical homely
\nhousewife who loves her kitchen. She spends hours reaching
\ngastronomical perfection.<\/p>\n
She recounts of how her two maids left at the drop of a spoon.
\nWhat stumped her the most was that they went to houses with lower
\nsalaries. Much later she learnt through indirect sources that
\nthey had left because they did not have enough privacy.<\/p>\n
So now she has an official cook who is the king of the
\nkitchen. She is very efficient and needs no help but my lady
\nfriend is practically a guest in a domain which once was hers.
\nAnd now if you ask her how the household help is, she says, \"Oh,
\ngreat! The house is actually run by them. My family and I just
\nstop by to eat and sleep.\"<\/p>\n
-- Pavan Kapoor<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/its-a-game-of-musical-maids-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }