RI maids work in S'pore for a dollar a month
RI maids work in S'pore for a dollar a month
SINGAPORE (AP): To escape poverty at home, hundreds of Indonesian women are working for just one Singapore dollar (US$0.60) a month as domestic servants in Singapore.
The regional economic crisis has increased the supply of imported maids in this rich island state, prompting local maid agencies to cut already low rates to a symbolic fee.
About 100,000 house maids work up to 90 hours a week in often grueling conditions, and earn an average of S$250 (US$150) a month. Most of the maids are from the Philippines, whose government recently declared it will not let them travel to work in Singapore for anything less than S$350 (US$ 212) a month.
But Singapore's Delijoy Employment Agency in April began offering Indonesian maids at a dollar a month for the first five months, after which their salary should increase to S$230 (US$140) a month. The agency receives a finder's fee from the employers.
Protesting the token fee, the Indonesian government last week suspended all maid exports to Singapore for the next three months. So far about 1,000 Indonesian women have agreed to work under the new scheme, Delijoy said Tuesday.
"I don't mind," Yuyun Juju, 28, told The Straits Times newspaper. "Life is difficult in the kampong. That is why I need this job."
Singaporeans, who rely on maids for their typical dual career lifestyle, seem divided on the issue of cheap maids.
"For us employers, we have nothing much to lose if we send the maid back or when she runs away," said Leong Yoke Yeng, a 40-year-old businesswoman who just hired an Indonesian maid from Delijoy.
"My experience with maids is that for the first few months when they go without pay, they tend to be more hardworking," she said. "Anyway, she doesn't really need money. Everything she needs she can get at home, or I will pay."
However, teacher Lim Su Mei, 29, disagreed with the cheap maids. "I think it's disgusting. We're hiring a maid, not buying a slave."
Because most Filipinos speak English, they remain the most sought-after maids in Singapore despite their relatively high salaries. Indonesian maids mostly communicate in Indonesian.