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.