I was reading in the paper that the maid agencies have decreed that maids should get at least 1 day off a month, with 4 being the most days that they get off! The government have refused to make this law for some reason.
There are 160,000 of these maids here and they are typically Indonesian or Philipino women. They make very little, but they do tend to live in, so at least they don't have to sleep on a park bench.
Don't know about you, but it all sounds like exploitation (if not slavery) to me.
Friday, March 10, 2006
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3 comments:
I think you'll find that contriving chain saw sounds and other such grief-deflecting mechaninisms is also a response to another type of slavery
Tiger D
Stop press - Aidan almost agrees with Tiger D!
"Attempted domination" is more accurate than slavery for that though, I think.
An ang moh who writes for the local paper here had a more in-depth article about this appalling scenario today.
Apparently, the government don't sanction even 1 day off a year for maids because the family they work for may have special needs (e.g. an elderly relative or baby).
How ridiculous is that? You mean, even if a family had such a need, they can't look after their own for even 1 day a year? So, the powers that be allow families to exploit foreign women instead.
Some of them are even forced to clean windows from the outside in apartment blocks. One poor girl died a few weeks ago after falling from a ledge.
Crazy!
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