S'pore begins imposing standards on maid agencies after surge in complaints

S'pore begins imposing standards on maid agencies after surge in complaints

Alexa Olesen, Associated Press, Singapore

The government of Singapore began accrediting maid agencies
Wednesday following a surge in complaints over unethical and
unprofessional behavior.

The Labor Ministry accredited 19 of the city-state's 700 maid
agencies as a first step toward bringing a "greater level of
professionalism" to the industry, said Ng Eng Hen, a minister of
state for education and manpower.

The ministry said in a statement that it expects to have all
of the agencies registered by 2004.

The accreditation scheme was announced a few months ago after
a string of brutal beatings sparked a debate over the treatment
of maids in Singapore.

In July, Singaporean Ng Hua Chye, 47, was sentenced to
eighteen and half years in prison for killing his 19-year-old
Indonesian maid through months of abuse. He was found guilty of
starving her, beating her with a hammer and scalding her with hot
water.

Many here feel that maid agencies, which recruit mostly young,
uneducated women from Indonesia and the Philippines, must take
better care of the women they bring to Singapore.

Complaints against agencies over "unethical and unprofessional
services" shot up by 50 percent over the last four years, Ng
said.

The agencies play a "crucial role in ensuring the well-being
of foreign domestic workers," Ng said. Under the new scheme,
agencies will be held responsible if they knowingly or
unknowingly recruit underage workers or if they fail to respond
to complaints from maids or their employers.

Women from impoverished countries like Indonesia flock to the
wealthy city-state with dreams of a better life, but often wind
up overworked and with no personal freedom. They occasionally
also face physical abuse.

The Indonesian Embassy receives about 100 complaints from
maids every month over unpaid wages and has an average of 18
maids sheltering in the embassy at any given time because of
physical abuse by their employers, said Renvyannis Gazali, a
minister counselor in charge of maid affairs.

Gazali welcomed the accreditation plan but said that
Indonesian maids here need to have written contracts with their
employers, something Singapore law does not now require.

Singapore employs about 140,000 foreign maids, and reports of
abuse are common. About 80,000 come from the Philippines and
50,000 come from Indonesia. The rest are from Sri Lanka, Myanmar
and Thailand.