In many countries (such as Singapore), a domestic helper is vey much an integral part of the middle class family.  They frequently work 7 days a week cooking, cleaning, and doubling as nannies.  In fact, it’s not uncommon to have young children be just as attached to their caretaker maid as to mum and dad.  For most, this arrangement works- families gain valuable time to well… do stuff, and the employed helpers earn significantly more (10x +) here than in their native countries.

G’s family is no exception, and while it took a bit getting used to having someone else “do the chores” like washing clothes, I have to admit it’s been an amazing convenience.  So much so, that with the baby coming along, we would have seriously considering hiring a live-in maid to help with looking after our kid.  And like everything else in Singapore, domestic help is highly regulated- from the countries maids can be employed from to monthly salaries and treatment.  This extra layer of bureaucracy really does help to ensure that both parties benefit from this relationship.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of stories of abuse on both sides- employers hitting and starving maids, maids stealing, etc… While in Singapore and Hong Kong, these incidents are rare (due to very strict regulation of this industry), maids in other countries (like Saudi Arabia) are not as fortunate.  Today’s article in the NY Times highlights Malaysia as having had so many issues with employer-based abuse, that the Indonesian government has banned emigration of domestic helpers (since 2009) until the Malaysian government enacts stricter regulations: full article.