Foreign maids happy working in Singapore, survey shows

Foreign maids happy working in Singapore, survey shows

Agencies, Singapore

Foreign maids in Singapore are generally happy with their work, a
survey showed on Sunday, despite a series of highly publicized
cases of domestic worker abuse.

A poll of 100 Indonesians and Filipina maids by the Sunday
Times newspaper showed many described their living and working
conditions as either "okay" or "very good", with only a handful
expressing a desire to work for someone else.

The survey comes after last week's imprisonment of a
Singaporean man for maid abuse which has been described in the
local press as the worst in Singapore's history.

Freelance tour guide Ng Hua Chye was jailed 18 years and six
months in jail, plus 12 strokes of the cane for beating and
burning his 19-year-old Indonesian maid to death.

According to government figures, 41 cases of maid abuse were
heard in court last year, down from 89 in 1998 and 82 in 1999.
The figure in 2000 was 87.

The penal code was amended in 1998 to make the penalties
stricter for employers convicted of abusing their maids.

An employer can be jailed for up to one-and-a-half years or
fined up to S$1,500 (US$860) or both, compared to one year or a
S$1,000 fine or both before the penal code was amended.

In a judgement late last year, Chief Justice Yong Pung How
warned the island's affluent citizens against ill-treating their
maids.

"A maid's abased social status does not mean that she is any
less of a human being and any less protected by the law," he
said.

Meanwhile, the list of people banned by the government from
employing foreign maids has swelled in recent years amid a public
outcry over abuse of servants, a media report said on Sunday.

At the end of 2001, the number of people barred by the
government from hiring foreign maids after abusing previous ones
stood at 49, compared with just four in 1997, the Straits Times
reported, citing figures from the Ministry of Manpower.

The plight of Singapore's nearly 140,000 foreign maids was
highlighted recently when a 19-year-old Indonesian maid,
Muahwatul Chasanah, died from injuries sustained during months of
abuse by her employer.

Still, Singapore's 4 million inhabitants were shocked by the
gruesome details of the woman's death, which sparked public
debate on how maids should be treated.

Thousands of women from poorer countries such as the
Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand flock to
Singapore every year to work as maids.

Potential employers must apply to the government for a foreign
maid's work permit, giving the authorities control over who can
hire a domestic helper.

While some servants treated as family members, many others
sleep on kitchen floors, work weeks without days off and are
scolded frequently. Employers often keep their maids' passports
so they can't run away.

Authorities say their campaign to stop abuse is producing
results, citing 41 cases of mistreatment in 2001, compared with
157 in 1997. Employers found to be abusive are punished and
prohibited from hiring maids again.

The report said Ng's wife has been added to the government
list. Officials at the Ministry of Manpower couldn't be reached
for comment Sunday.