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.