The Maid, Mas Selamat, WKS, PM Lee and We the Common Born Losers

[Miles]

published somewhere,...

 

QUOTE

Friday . April 25, 2008

 

NEWLY arrived, a maid asked her employer if she could get a rest day. Her employer was incredulous.

 

"If I wanted to give my maid a day off, I would have hired one from another country," said the employer, who had signed her up on the assumption that maids of some nationalities were more pliant than others.

 

Faced with an employment contract that requires them to either give their maids a rest day, or compensate them accordingly for working, some Singaporean employers have sought ways to get around the terms or extract the most from their workers.

 

And this begs the question of how much has truly changed for the 170,000 foreign domestic workers in our midst - two years after the industry association put together a standard contract requiring employers to give maids at least one day off a month.

 

A Today straw poll of 50 employers found that only 62 per cent gave their maids a rest day.

With some industry watchers criticising the rest-day clause as being too flexible, should legislation be put in place to mandate the issue? ....

 

There are several simple reasons why many Singaporean employers are reluctant to give their maids a day off. You see, if the maid runs away, the government will fine the employer $5,000. If the maid commits a crime such as shoplifting, the government will fine the employer $5,000. If the maid is caught having sex with someone, the government will fine the employer $5,000. If the maid gets pregnant, the government will also fine the employer $5,000. Oh, and you have to send your maid for a pregnancy testevery six months).

 

If you didn't know any of the above, then either you do not employ a maid, or you didn't read the small print of the Manpower Ministry's work permit conditions. Many employers are afraid that if their maid has a day off and gets into trouble, the employer will not only have to solve the trouble, but also have to fork out $5,000 as a free gift to the government. (Not that the government will then help you solve the trouble. It's just a fine, plain & simple).

 

Intuitively, this smacks of gross unfairness. The employer gets punished not for something he did, but for something that somebody else (the maid) did. Furthermore, once the maid leaves the employer's residence, the employer has no way of monitoring where the maid goes and what she does there.

 

To encourage employers to give their maids a day off, the government needs to change these ridiculous rules. I agree that employers should be fined and punished, if they fail to perform their responsibilities as employers - for example, paying the maid's salary on time; providing adequate food and accommodation; and ensuring a safe, secure working environment.

 

But employers should not be held responsible, for things that a maid may do, of her own free will. When the maid goes out on her rest day, the employer simply has no viable way to ensure that she will not do anything that breaches her work permit conditions. (Which, by the way, are quite extensive and onerous).

 

We may draw a curious parallel with Mas Selamat's escape, and PM Lee's determined, if muddled, defence of Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng in Parliament.

 

Mas Selamat ran away. But PM Lee said that Wong Kan Seng was not at fault and should not be punished in any way. The reason being that Wong Kan Seng personally did not do anything which allowed Mas Selamat to escape.

 

Strangely, if your maid runs away, it IS your fault and you SHOULD be punished. Even if you did not personally do anything to let her run away (apart from giving her a day off).

 

Similarly, if your maid becomes pregnant, it IS your fault and you SHOULD be punished. Even if you did not personally do anything to make her pregnant.

 

Oh well. What can I say? Maids are not terrorists. But then you are not Wong Kan Seng. So the rules remain stacked against you. Wong Kan Seng gets off lightly, but you won't. Even if his lapse has far greater, and graver, implications than yours.

 

Your runaway maid wouldn't blow up Changi Airport, would she?

 

UNQUOTE

Edited May 15, 2008 by Miles

[Robin]

 

.... their mentality is - even if u disagee, so what?

[Watwheels]

Well, that's SG World Class Double Standards.

[Shorty]

 

will dis by any chance be read by our leaders??...

[M1122]

Acutally this reminds me of Imperial China - you commit crime whole family + relatives kenna punish. So we are keeping our traditions alive.

[Scktay]

[Nullifi3d]

and they say communism died out long ago...

[Valencia]

published somewhere,...

 

QUOTE

Friday . April 25, 2008

 

NEWLY arrived, a maid asked her employer if she could get a rest day. Her employer was incredulous.

 

"If I wanted to give my maid a day off, I would have hired one from another country," said the employer, who had signed her up on the assumption that maids of some nationalities were more pliant than others.

 

Faced with an employment contract that requires them to either give their maids a rest day, or compensate them accordingly for working, some Singaporean employers have sought ways to get around the terms or extract the most from their workers.

 

And this begs the question of how much has truly changed for the 170,000 foreign domestic workers in our midst - two years after the industry association put together a standard contract requiring employers to give maids at least one day off a month.

 

A Today straw poll of 50 employers found that only 62 per cent gave their maids a rest day.

With some industry watchers criticising the rest-day clause as being too flexible, should legislation be put in place to mandate the issue? ....

 

There are several simple reasons why many Singaporean employers are reluctant to give their maids a day off. You see, if the maid runs away, the government will fine the employer $5,000. If the maid commits a crime such as shoplifting, the government will fine the employer $5,000. If the maid is caught having sex with someone, the government will fine the employer $5,000. If the maid gets pregnant, the government will also fine the employer $5,000. Oh, and you have to send your maid for a pregnancy testevery six months).

 

If you didn't know any of the above, then either you do not employ a maid, or you didn't read the small print of the Manpower Ministry's work permit conditions. Many employers are afraid that if their maid has a day off and gets into trouble, the employer will not only have to solve the trouble, but also have to fork out $5,000 as a free gift to the government. (Not that the government will then help you solve the trouble. It's just a fine, plain & simple).

 

Intuitively, this smacks of gross unfairness. The employer gets punished not for something he did, but for something that somebody else (the maid) did. Furthermore, once the maid leaves the employer's residence, the employer has no way of monitoring where the maid goes and what she does there.

 

To encourage employers to give their maids a day off, the government needs to change these ridiculous rules. I agree that employers should be fined and punished, if they fail to perform their responsibilities as employers - for example, paying the maid's salary on time; providing adequate food and accommodation; and ensuring a safe, secure working environment.

 

But employers should not be held responsible, for things that a maid may do, of her own free will. When the maid goes out on her rest day, the employer simply has no viable way to ensure that she will not do anything that breaches her work permit conditions. (Which, by the way, are quite extensive and onerous).

 

We may draw a curious parallel with Mas Selamat's escape, and PM Lee's determined, if muddled, defence of Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng in Parliament.

 

Mas Selamat ran away. But PM Lee said that Wong Kan Seng was not at fault and should not be punished in any way. The reason being that Wong Kan Seng personally did not do anything which allowed Mas Selamat to escape.

 

Strangely, if your maid runs away, it IS your fault and you SHOULD be punished. Even if you did not personally do anything to let her run away (apart from giving her a day off).

 

Similarly, if your maid becomes pregnant, it IS your fault and you SHOULD be punished. Even if you did not personally do anything to make her pregnant.

 

Oh well. What can I say? Maids are not terrorists. But then you are not Wong Kan Seng. So the rules remain stacked against you. Wong Kan Seng gets off lightly, but you won't. Even if his lapse has far greater, and graver, implications than yours.

 

Your runaway maid wouldn't blow up Changi Airport, would she?

 

UNQUOTE

 

 

 

all the work of MIW...

 

175541.1

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/NewsBreak/20080428140707/Article/index_html Foreign maids choose Hong Kong and Taiwan over Singapore

SINGAPORE, MON:

 

Fewer foreign maids are choosing to work in Singapore, with those from Indonesia and the Philippines now preferring places like Hong Kong and Taiwan, a survey showed on Monday. Quoting a local English daily, China

[Ahsiong]

wow...this is really a good post.

feel shiok after reading it...

 

but i doubt a local newspaper will ever dare to publish this intelligent post.

Edited May 15, 2008 by Ahsiong

[Wt_know]

good post.

 

i always puzzled why employer is being punished when a maid is conned by her boyfriend to runaway or pregnant

 

unless the regulation must be revised to include that employer must provide chastity belt ... if the maid still pregnant then the prosecutor job is easy by finding the person who hold the key .....

Edited May 16, 2008 by Wt_know

[Alfpoon]

i'm sure HK govt do not make the employers pay levy and all those ridiculous rules that will cause them to lose their $5000 bond.

[Apollo]

HK wants english speaking maids and r willing to pay more but not as much as wat pinoy maids hv been asking.

 

i doubt the general ability of indo & sri lankan maids hv reached tat well versed level yet.

[Mr_pee]

I wonder wat happen to Minister Mas Semamat,....??

 

they got still conduct those hunting mission or not??....

 

haiya i tink he's dead they oredi bury the body sumwhere...

[Miles]

actually, there are more and more indonesian maids in hk. when i'm on the MTR, can hear lots of indons talking among themselves.

[Typhoonz]

Oh how true...

[Kaede44444]

Mind you.. Wong can't sing did not get away lightly. He don't even need to get away with PM backing. He is NOT at fault. Hahahaha

 

 

published somewhere,...

 

 

Oh well. What can I say? Maids are not terrorists. But then you are not Wong Kan Seng. So the rules remain stacked against you. Wong Kan Seng gets off lightly, but you won't. Even if his lapse has far greater, and graver, implications than yours.

 

 

UNQUOTE

[Apollo]

May 20, 2008 High court upholds sentence of pimp

He was found in the company of NSman with illegal firearm.

 

CITING public safety as a paramount concern, the High Court on Tuesday upheld the sentence of Ong Boon Jun for being in the company of a person who was in unlawful possession of a firearm.

 

Judge of Appeal V.K. Rajah said that Ong had been told by full-time national serviceman Dave Teo Ming that the latter intended to commit robbery with the SAR-21 assault rife he had taken out of his camp.

 

'Lives were at stake yet he did not go the authorities,' said Justice Rajah.

 

Ong, a 22-year-old pimp, was jailed 6 1/2 years' jail with six strokes of the cane on Feb 25 by a district court. He had pleaded guilty to being with Teo, who stands accused of unlawfully possessing a rifle and eight bullets, last September.

 

Teo, 20, was charged with unlawfully carrying a firearm and having eight bullets and is due to stand trial in the High Court in July.

 

For his offence, Ong could have jailed between five and 10 years' jail and caned a minimum of six strokes.

 

http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/...ory_239237.html

 

Selamat on the run.. i tot the whole country is at stake. which is worst?

[Mage]

good article.. interesting analogy...