Advertisement
Published: February 17th 2013
Edit Blog Post
Answers to Question 9 The tongs used in the dining area and in the toilet are used to pick up paper off the floor.
I was intrigued because I've only ever seen these tongs used in cooking, kitchens or BBQ areas. Never ever in toilets! Talk about hygiene! Bonus question
The baskets pictured are used for handbags/personal effects.
Other answers for this question included: chicken bones & bread basket!!
Question 10 - 2 points The law regarding Foreign Domestic Workers' days off changed on 1st Jan 2013. What did the law say before? i) no days off - ii) 1 day off a month minimum - iii) 2 days off a month minimum - iv) 1 day off a week minimum What does the law say now? i) 1 day off a month minimum - ii) 2 days off a month minimum - iii) 1 day off a week minimum - iv) 2 days off a week minimum You either get 2 points for both questions right, or no points if only one question is right. What has changed over the last few weeks is that Melinda (our helper) has come to live with us.
When we first arrived, we were very hesitant about having a FDW. Our two main concerns were: a) the loss of privacy from having someone constantly here b) making someone live in the tiny and often windowless helpers' rooms found in Singapore appartments. What, or rather who made us change our minds? Karen, Linnett, Mark and Belinda who all told us stories of living with domestic workers in all four corners of the world and how nice it was.
But honestly, not having to do any of the housework, or the ironing, learning some new recipes, being able to spend more quality time with Julia and/or Katrina, having your full wardrobe ironed 'all of the time', being able to go out with no notice or needing a babysitter, is all so so nice!
What also swayed our decision was the amount of travelling Andrew is doing. In January, he was away for three out of four weeks. He will be away 2 weeks in March, 3 in April, 2 in May and it goes on...so a bit of company and help makes a real change to my life here. I have also noticed, since arriving in Singapore 4 months ago that unless you have a helper (full time or part time), you miss out on things going on around town. If you want to do things on your own like visits, or courses, or dinners, you end up with very small windows in which to do things. Well, this is my opinion. :-)
So once we decided to hire a helper, we had two options to find someone. Either register with an agency or check the ads for free on a new website. I checked the ads on the newly started (Nov 2012) dwjobs.org website and found Melinda that way. Her employer Kim had posted an advert as they were moving back to Belgium in January and were eager for Melinda to transfer to a new family before they left. What appealed to me was that Kim obviously valued Melinda enough to help her find new employment. She also mentioned they were flexible as to when Melinda could start even though they were leaving on 31st Jan. So I interviewed Melinda and hired her there and then. Two hours later, she met Andrew and the girls and saw her room. She started full time with us on 21st Jan and so far so very very good.
Going through an agency would have cost us up to $1,700 and in some cases, you are presented with 10-20 ladies and you decide who you wish to interview. I'm glad I didn't have to go through that process, especially being new to the system. As it was, we still went through an agency to do the paperwork with the MOM (Ministry of Manpower) on our behalf and that cost us $700 including Melinda's medical insurance. The Government does pretty well out of FDW. They charge a Foreign Worker Levy for each worker to the tune of $265 per month which the employer has to pay. As a new FDW employer in Singapore, I also had to attend a compulsory course on the appropriate treatment of domestic helpers. This can also be done online which is the option I chose. Once again (see my previous blogs), the course is presented in cartoon format. When doing the course (which lasted 3 hours!!), I couldn't believe how basic it was. I guess they really have to spell it out for some people but still. You see for yourself on screenshot pictures I took (Pics 1) during the course!
Some slides really shocked me, like slide 2.3, where it's written "if possible, give her a room of her own" - for me, Melinda would have had the spare room if there had not been a helper's room in the apartment. And yet, she told me that for 6 years, she shared a room with another helper + 3 children!
There are lots and lots of stories about helpers not getting on with their employers, employers injuring or killing their helpers, helpers seducing the 'sir' of the house, the 'sir' of the house keeping the helper warm, helpers being overworked, helpers being treated as second rate citizens... and I will mention some in future blogs when I read up on the subject a bit more. Melinda has been in Singapore for 15 years so has a few stories of her own to tell. On a personal note, and to finish off this long overdue blog, Melinda has been with us for about a month and she's wonderful. We took all of half an hour to get used to having her around. She refuses to use the brand new dishwasher prefering to do the washing up by hand. She insists on calling Andrew "Sir Andrew" but has now learnt that I sit at the top of the table and not him! Her cooking is fabulous. She sometimes runs all the way to school with Julia. Katrina lights up when she sees her. :-)
(Pics 2). I haven't forgotten about the Chinese New Year. We're a week in now and there is another week to go in the celebrations. It's been interesting learing about the different rituals and seeing all the decorations. We missed lots of events but are more aware of what to look out for for next year. More in the next blog too. Maman and Gaspard (my nephew) arrived from France on Thursday and are staying for 2 weeks. We have lots planned so it may be March before you find out about CNY! Gong Xi Fi Cai! Delphine & Co
Advertisement
Tot: 0.097s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 10; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0312s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb