A Domestic Worker's Story
With teary eyes, with a shaking voice about to break down, my friend said,”I know where I stand, I know what kind of work I have, I know who or what I am in the family, I know and do my job, fulfill my obligations for the house and the family; I follow the do’s and don’ts. Why does my madam need to keep on telling me every now and then that I am just her helper, that she is paying me?”
“Yes, she is paying me, but I am working hard for the money she pays me. I even skip lunch meals to meet her expectations, and follow all the commands she is giving me. I have to eat my dinner at 11 pm or 12 mid night, and do not even get enough food, at a time when I know my fellow FDWs are peacefully sleeping already.”
My heart was torn into pieces as I couldn’t do anything to help my friend. I felt so angry at her madam. It was not the first time that I heard this kind of scenario. Even in the MRT or bus, I sometimes hear this from fellow FDWs.
Is being an FDW a crime or a sin? Are there no rights or privileges for FDWs?
You, the high and mighty employers, if there were no FDWs, who would you ask to make your home tidy, neat and clean, who would bring your children to their play dates, to their school–send and pick up, to their tuition outside your home, who would do the laundry, which takes a lot of time and effort before it is done (washing, drying, then folding or ironing, then hanging it or putting it back to the wardrobes)? Yes, you have lots of money so why not just ask your money to do the things for you, and no need to hire an FDW?
The Ministry of Manpower (or MOM) have guidelines for the employer and the FDW to follow, but still it seems a large number of employers are not obliging. Just like in the case of my friend’s cousin, who is still new in Singapore, after 3 months. She is not allowed to use the phone, gets little food, but needs to work from 5am to 12 midnight. She rests only if she goes inside the bathroom. There are CCTV cameras planted in and out of the house, she can’t even go out to buy whatever she wants for herself, and she has NO DAY OFF!
She is the second FDW in the household. The other one has a spare phone that she keeps hidden from their employer. When I had my own day off few weeks back I personally hear from a friend that she was being locked up in their unit at the 17th floor every time her bosses went out. Which meant everyday, as both of her bosses work full-time. Why oh why? This is the worst story that I heard from a FDW. What if there’s an emergency in their block, or a fire, how can she escape? If it’s a matter of life and death, how will she survive? And yeah, there is CCTV all around that house also.
These kind of employers, do they deserved to hire an FDW?
An acquaintance of mine is working presently with an employer that buys her personal necessities and food including rice, but the amount is being deducted from the FDW’s salary. Meaning, the FDW pays back whatever amount is due. I was tongue tied, and didn’t know what to say except: Heartless! If they can’t, or won’t, feed another person that is added to their family, if they can’t trust a stranger that is working inside their house, and for their family, then why should these employers to hire an FDW?
FDWs are human beings too. Why do some employers need to insult, starve, maltreat us? Why do they feel the need to cut communication with our families? Because of this unfair, unjust, inhuman treatment, some FDWs run away and seek help from MOM or HOME.
I hope MOM will be more strict with employers who are heartless. May they listen to the voices of FDWs who are crying out loud for a fair and just treatment.
by Jo Ann Dumlao