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.