'My maid doesn't have to work on Sundays'

It is common for families, with or without children, in big cities such as Jakarta to hire one or two maids to do the house chores while they are working. However, many housemaids, particularly those who live-in, have to work every single day without holiday. In conjunction with Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, The Jakarta Post asked some people how they treated their housemaids.

May, 26, is a freelance writer. She lives with her parents in South Jakarta:

Our family hires a local woman to do the laundry, house cleaning, cooking and dishes. She comes in every morning at 10 a.m. and leaves for home at about 5 p.m.

In the morning before coming to our house, she does the laundry for a neighbor. I don't know how much my neighbor pays her for the laundry work.

She doesn't work on Sundays, except if my mother requests her to do so. I think my mother pays her about Rp 250,000 a month. But she has her lunch here and my mother sometimes gives her meals to be brought home.

Roka, 24, is an employee of a private company. He lives with his parents in North Jakarta:

Our 7-member family hires a live-in housemaid who starts her chores at 5 a.m. every day. She first cooks breakfast for us and later does the laundry. Then she prepares lunch for us.

After lunch she takes a rest during the afternoon and then she starts working again until 7 p.m.

She has a day off on Sundays. Usually she goes out with other housemaids in the neighborhood. But recently I think she has a boyfriend, our neighbor, and she goes out with him on Sundays.

I don't know about her salary, I never ask my mother about that. But I think she gets whatever she needs. --The Jakarta Post