Plenty of interesting comments to this question. I don't blame a maid, though, for chatting on teh phone while "walking" the dog. The hours are very long, the work is largely tedious, and the boss(es) is frequently around barking orders. What sort of a life is that?
Craving human contact? Esp with friends who understand their own culture, mindset and language (and food-religious choices). That's understandable
It must get really suffocating having to speak 'properly' all day to sir and mam ... and having to do things everyone else's way.And to live 24/7 n your employer's household.
At least with other jobs; once work is over ... you get your own time to breathe and do your own thing ... even if your job sucks, and you absolutely detest your employer.
We have a 1/2 day, 2x per week, local maid who cleans and washes. And I'm glad to have her.
This would be my preference too, if I chose to have a maid.
While I don't enjoy the daily tedious mundane ... I also really value privacy and solving self reliant DIY-challenges running your own household can spring.
Cannot see myself with a fulltime live-in one in my own household.
Though as a child and teen; I did grow up with full time maids occasionally, so am aware what those situations entail.
Since I also end up feeling really sorry for this women and their situtations, the employer role would be a failure with me. I once ended up walking out daily to buy my parents' maid daily b'fasts, while back in SG on holiday. This was when I was finally adult enough to understand the maid situation.
I find the employer's behaviors generally to be more offensive than what I see of the maids. Though there are immature and/or abusive types everywhere.
The irony I have noticed is if this is the result when people are only willing pay peanuts ... they shouldn't complain or expect more when they end up with the 'monkeys'.
These are normally the make up of abusive (and normally cheap) employers who want maximum bang for their buck.
On the other hand, there are also many good stories of maids being part of the family, and wanting to renew their contracts repeatedly because they're all almost kin. Or living almost permanently in SG with the employer family.
It's not just Singapore with the maids.
I used to live in a really upscale (and rather stifling) area abroad. An elite boundary where households were dual-income high flying professionals, who left their kids all day to 'nannies' if they couldn't get a ((first-preference) European au-pair.
Nanny would normally arrange to sign ward up for classes (parent-paid) with all her nanny-cronies in the area = all in same common time slots. Come lunchtime ... they would be all be gathered in the nearby playgrounds or community centres chatting, picnicking if weather was gd or warm enough (this was common practice for all the playgrounds with nannies).
Quite terrifying to watch as their wards would be together alone at the other end of the huge football field. Unsupervised, or minimally supervised once they were done eating. Nevermind just beyond that football field could be a forest, or a road where the child can easily run out to, before nanny could even register and react.
Giant group playdate - for bubba and nana. In a country where pedophiles, drug pushers and child nabbers are fairly common ...
scary.
