'Check out maids yourself before hiring them'

'Check out maids yourself before hiring them'

A string of robberies involving dishonest domestic helpers has
added to the already high crime rate in the city. Police recently
busted a syndicate specializing in robberies with the help of a
maid planted in the household. The Jakarta Post talked to several
city residents over the latest trend in robberies.

Santi, 28, is a working mother. She resides in Pondok Jaya
subdistrict, South Jakarta, with her husband and son:

I don't believe in the domestic helpers provided by the
manpower agencies as there have been many negative reports about
them.

I cannot deny that economic hardship has motivated them to
resort to crime. In addition, young female maids tend to behave
mischievously once they start dating.

Besides, there are also criminal syndicates that employ
domestic helpers as accomplices in robberies.

A friend of mine experienced that nightmare when her newly
hired housemaid stole her cellular phone on the first day of
work.

So, the safest way to employ someone is to hire a domestic
helper whose personal identity, personality and background we
know well. It's also good to know their sponsors who should be
held responsible should anything untoward occur.

But, on the other hand, I suppose not all manpower agencies
are unreliable. Those registered with the manpower ministry are
more reliable, I guess. My current maid was recruited from such
an agency. I had no other choice but to take a maid from the
agency as it's difficult to get a good one by myself.

However, I plan to get a new one to look after my son, but I
will look for one whom I can pay a lower salary. Now I have to
pay Rp 350,000 (US$38.8) to the agency per month for my maid.

To avoid such crimes, I guess, the employer should be extra
careful to keep their valuables in a safe place. Because, in a
way, carelessness on the part of the employers encourages the
maids to steal their valuables.

Edi, 31, is a driver for a company director in Sunter, North
Jakarta. He lives with his wife and two children in Cimanggis,
West Java:

I think it's difficult to know whether a maid is trustworthy
or not.

Perhaps, those maids who steal are not working alone. I mean
to say that they are in cahoots with criminals.

Even hiring a domestic helper from a manpower agency does not
guarantee the housemaids' credibility.

I had once searched for a maid for my Korean boss. When I got
one, my boss was asked to pay the agency as much as Rp 1 million
to reimburse the fee for the training it had given to her.

Then the agency asked for a high salary for the hired maid and
later on ordered that the salary be paid directly to the agency,
saying that it was the agency that would pay the maid.

My boss complained that the agency was too demanding. Worse
still, the agency was not responsible for the maid when she ran
away from my boss' house a month later without any reason.
Fortunately, she left without stealing my boss' belongings.

Fida, 29, is a housewife and employee at a private company in
Central Jakarta. She resides in Ciledug, Tangerang with her
family:

I reckon that it's not easy to get reliable domestic helpers
to do our household work.

There are many maids who have the wrong motives in working for
families.

We don't want to hire domestic helpers from a manpower agency
because we have no assurance about the quality of the maids, and
the hiring fee is so expensive.

I'm just afraid that we may hire the wrong person who
conspires with criminals who direct them to steal from the family
they are working for.

Therefore, my family has always tried to get maids from known
sources. I mean to say that we always keep our ears open for
information about good housemaids or sometimes we go directly to
the villages where there are potential domestic helpers. If one
seems reliable, we'll hire her.

At the moment, we have four housemaids working with us. Thank
God, they work well. And they have been working with our family
for more than two years now.