Only fair to be humane to maids

Only fair to be humane to maids

Wong Chun Wai, The Star, Asia News Network, Selangor, Malaysia

Malaysians who read the front-page news of abused Indonesian
maid Nirmala Bonet must have been outraged. She was severely
bruised and scalded in what has been described as the worst abuse
case.

Pictures of the 19-year-old maid with ugly bruises all over
her body were shocking. Many of us must have asked how such an
act of mindless violence could happen in Malaysia.

The incident has, without doubt, given Malaysians a bad image
although most Malaysian employers treat their maids fairly and at
times generously.

But the fact is that such abuse has occurred, not only in
Malaysia but also in countries where foreigners from poor
countries have to put up with indignity and even vicious assault.

In Malaysia, statistics show that there were 66 cases of maid
abuse in 2001, 39 in 2002, 40 in 2003, and 13 reported cases from
this January until March.

While the figures could be considered relatively low, no one
should tolerate any form of maid abuse.

In some West Asian countries, Filipino maids have been raped
and murdered. In some instances, the assaults involved employers
with powerful connections and they escaped prosecution.

The odds are stacked heavily against these maids who are
forced to leave their homes to work as domestic help. Coming from
poor families, they are alien to the demands of modern living and
often find themselves pressured.

Most of us expect our maids to instantly adapt to our
lifestyle, forgetting that many of them come from remote places
where there is no vacuum cleaner or oven.

We can take a few lessons from Singapore, where the
authorities and people have more experience in dealing with
foreign workers.

According to Singapore's Straits Times, primary school teacher
Heng Kwee Huang was jailed 10 months and fined RM6,000 after she
slapped, punched and scalded her Indonesian maid with hot water
in 1999.

A psychiatrist who testified in court said Heng suffered from
severe depression. She underwent fertility treatments, had to
grapple with her demanding job, did not sleep or eat well, had
attempted suicide twice and her marriage was on the rocks.

The judge agreed that Heng faced tremendous pressures but
these were "not good excuses" for abusing her maid.

Adult bullies aside, pampered children were also found to be
abusers in an essay-writing survey of 2,000 children in 40
schools in the republic. Loneliness at home was highlighted as
the main cause for kids abusing their maids.

With their parents at work, many children seek the attention
of their maids by making unreasonable demands.

Child psychiatrist Brian Yeo Kah Loke was quoted in a news
report as saying that "today's child may be in a more powerful
position and the child often knows this. Some even abuse their
power."

The Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre expert said some kids were
"condescending" and "when the maids did not entertain them, the
children deemed them as lazy and bad".

Recently, the biggest story in Singapore was the case of an
opposition MP who had sex with his young Indonesian maid when his
pregnant wife was away. He apologized after the news broke out
this year but the pictures of them in compromising positions are
still in cyberspace.

Similarly in Malaysia, the line between an employer and master
is sometimes blurred. Living in a foreign environment, they are
vulnerable to abuses because their choices are limited.

They have plenty to lose if they have to return home without
any earnings. If they develop a reputation for being a lousy
maid, they risk being sent home.

Abusers of maids, to put in bluntly, are sick people. They
need psychiatric help because they feel that their action is
righteous and justified -- which explains their continuous rage
at those who fail to carry out their instructions correctly.

Although there are laws in Malaysia to protect maids, the
government should consider imposing non-monetary support for
domestic help, such as rest hours, meals and minimum standard of
accommodation.

Instead of sleeping in the kitchen or the hall, maids should
be given a room and a cupboard, for example.

This is better than the suggestion by Deputy Human Resources
Minister Abdul Rahman Bakar who proposed house-to-house checks to
prevent maid abuse.

We can enhance our laws to prevent abuses but ultimately it's
our attitude as employers that will be of paramount importance.
It's a question of how fellow human beings should treat each
other and vice-versa.

But I know of many Malaysians who spoke of friendships forged
with maids and how many of them continue to keep in touch by mail
after their contracts have ended.

In one case, the employer named his newborn child after his
maid because of the genuine joy and love of the husband and wife
for their Indonesian maid.

In yet another case, a husband and wife took their Filipino
maid on holiday every year, traveling business class with them.
After they migrated to New Zealand, they went to great lengths to
get the maid to join them in their new home.

To the couple, she is more than a maid -- she is a family
member.