In a recent Facebook post, a 24-year-old Filipina maid working in Singapore reached out to fellow helpers and employers seeking advice on her challenging situation. The maid, a first-timer in Singapore, has been employed by a Chinese family, taking care of an elderly couple.
The maid detailed her daily routine, revealing a heavy workload that includes cutting large quantities of various food items, such as 10 kilograms of fishcake, chili, onion leaves, onion, garlic, and ginger. Additionally, she prepares chili sauce every morning, with thrice-weekly sessions of onion cutting. The labor-intensive tasks extend beyond the kitchen, as she is responsible for the daily manual cleaning of a three-story landed house, without the use of a vacuum on the second and third floors, as per her employer’s preference.
While the maid does not handle the cooking duties, she engages in a myriad of other responsibilities, including cleaning, wiping, refrigerator maintenance, handwashing laundry, and ironing. Despite her diligent efforts, she expressed concerns about the toll on her physical well-being, contemplating whether to seek employment with a new family.
The maid shared her daily schedule, which begins at 4 am and concludes at 9 pm, without any breaks throughout the day. Despite having two days off a month, she pointed out that these are not genuine breaks, as she is required to complete her chores before leaving the house and upon returning home.
Expressing her desire to transfer to a new employer due to the strenuous workload, the maid acknowledged the challenges of finding a new position as a first-time helper without prior experience. She fears potential employers might view her negatively if she is unable to fulfill her current contract.
Here is what she said
Hello fellow helpers and employers !
I just want to ask for advices and opinions about my situation here .
I’m a 24 yr old Filipina maid here in SG . I’m a first timer and I’ve been here for about 7 months . I work for a Chinese family (old couple)
apparently my employers have a food stall at a hawker centre , all this time I’ve been cutting a lot of stuffs for them ( 10 kgs of fishcake ,chili ,onion leaves, onion ,garlic , ginger)
I also make chili sauce I do all of that every morning tho the onion cutting is thrice a week.
We live in a 3 storey landed house . I clean it everyday also ( manually) I don’t use any vacuum And madam even make me wipe the floor with cloth only
for some reason she doesn’t want me to use mop for the second and third floor What I do is cleaning , wiping everything,cleaning of fridge once a week ,laundry handwash),ironing ,
The only thing I don’t do is cooking since sir prepares their food . They only buys me food outside
For the past months I’ve been trying all my best to do everything and manage all the works that I need to do here but lately I’ve been thinking if I should just transfer to a new employer since I think my body couldn’t think the work anymore.
I wake up as early as 4 am to cut stuffs and finish all the work at 9 pm ( I don’t get breaks the whole day)
I get two days off a month BUT take note before I go out I still have to do everything before I can go .I still cut and clean and when I come home I still need to wash the dishes they used the whole day
So I can’t even consider it as a day off
I’ve been wanting to transfer really but I’m afraid no one wants to hire me since I’m just new here and I don’t have experience yet and they are my first employers and if I can’t finish my contract then other employers might think I’m not a good helper
So I need some opinion from you guys . Thank you ..
