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.