Returning maids face big cleanup job<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung<\/p>\n
The mounds of laundry accumulated over the holiday are
\ndecreasing, day by day; dust is swept away and the sink is
\nrelieved of dirty dishes: The housemaids are back in town.
\n Meanwhile, children buckle down to study, while parents work to
\nkeep them in school supplies. Stay-at-home mothers and fathers
\nwonder how they got through the week without domestic help.<\/p>\n
In Bandung, 53-year-old mother of five Nurhayati, admitted she
\nhad been at a loss when her housemaid Ida, 30, returned to her
\nhometown of Ciwidey -- 30 kilometers south of Bandung -- to
\ncelebrate Idul Fitri with her family.<\/p>\n
"I was confused thinking of how to do the chores, like
\ncleaning the house, cooking, caring for my grandchildren and
\nironing the clothes," said Nurhayati who comes from Pekanbaru,
\nRiau.<\/p>\n
Two of her children work in Jakarta and two others in Bandung,
\nwhile the youngest one is still at school.<\/p>\n
Nurhayati depends on Ida every day, particularly to look after
\nChacha, her grandchild. She pays Ida a salary of Rp 250,000
\n(US$28.00) per month.<\/p>\n
"I have to attend Koran recitals, and all my children leave in
\nthe morning and come home at night. Chacha often stays at home
\nalone, so someone has to watch over her," said Nurhayati, whose
\nhusband died several years ago.<\/p>\n
She was just lucky that her two children from Jakarta arrived
\nhome three days prior to Idul Fitri, when preparations for the
\nholiday were well underway.<\/p>\n
Rani, 43, of Samoja subdistrict in Bandung had a different
\nexperience. The single mother of two boys, who divorced her
\nhusband two years ago, said looking after her house alone was too
\nmuch work.<\/p>\n
The family usually visits Rani's parents in Jakarta a week
\nbefore Idul Fitri, to avoid being at home without a housemaid.<\/p>\n
"The main thing is, if the maid returns to her hometown, I'll
\nfollow suit, rather than be kept busy alone," she said.<\/p>\n
Her housemaid gets paid Rp 250,000 per month -- the average
\nsalary of housemaids in Bandung -- to look after her sons and do
\nthe chores.<\/p>\n
As most housemaids live in their employers' homes, they are
\nmore or less available 24 hours a day. The Regional Minimum Wage,
\noften demanded by factory workers, who work eight hours a day,
\nmight seem like a high salary to them.<\/p>\n
"Not to mention when the employer is fussy. The pay is small
\nand we must be able to work hard," said Enah, 30, a maid working
\nin the Arcamanik area.<\/p>\n
Most housemaids have no work insurance either .<\/p>\n
"If we are hired by a nice employer, we're lucky, and if we're
\nnot, and employed by a mean one, then we just have to be patient
\nbecause we need the money," said Enah who has worked for three
\ndifferent employers.<\/p>\n
She became a housemaid in order to provide for her two young
\nchildren and her husband, who has no permanent job.<\/p>\n
Housemaids are, naturally, more valued in their absence when
\nit is obvious how much they really do around the house.<\/p>\n
Also, many reports of the abuse of housemaids are not followed
\nup on.<\/p>\n
Take for instance, the case of a housemaid who reported to the
\nCentral Bandung Police some time ago that she had been shot by
\nthe grandson of her employer, using an air rifle.<\/p>\n
Until now, no news of the police's investigation of the case
\nhas been reported.<\/p>\n
While maids are often looked down on by their employers -- who
\nmay feel superior due to their higher incomes and levels of
\neducation -- at the end of the day, the question is, who really
\nneeds who?<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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