Domestic Helpers.

That title above is a typical staple groan for many Singaporean women. And some expats. They need them but they can't stand them. 

Let's start with mine. 

FDW #1: Direct hire from Philippines.  The sister of a Singaporean auntie's former maid. This auntie's reasoning was that her maid did a stellar job, so her sister must be good too. Being good maids must run in the family, this auntie said. I liked her personality. She is friendly, smiley, soft spoken and a simple country girl. She made friends really fast in my condo (full of white people with other filipina maids.) This maid ended up leaving my daughter, 7 to walk home alone from a public bus stop and not bringing the baby down in a stroller and picking her up at the bus stop. She also had no idea how to handle a my newborn at the time. And so, she transferred to an Indian employer while I looked for a new helper.

FDW #2: Already in Singapore. Stupid inexperienced me had no idea something illegal was going to go down. This lady was already in Singapore (Not legal. No visa. Tourist visa? So how did the Ministry of Manpower approve her FDW visa when she worked with me?) as the wife of a local security guard. She had not worked for anybody for 7 years prior to me. She was 43 and always talked a lot more than she did. When I talked to her nicely, she always had a counter argument when I tried talking to her. Always defensive. She also always lost her temper and yelled at me, and what do I do? I yell back. Her husband is a super jealous man- he keeps calling her while she's doing her job. He tells us he's worried she's talking to the security guards at our condo. Worse, he keeps calling us to check on her and sometimes shows up drunk at our gate. My husband has had to talk him out of his rage before we called the police.

 

BUT she took detailed & special care of my two girls just as though they were her own or better. She was so lovely with them. And that was why she lasted the full contract.

Dilemma eh?