GloPos0.04 - Reflections on The Working Committee 2 Student Forum by Cliff

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Reflections on The Working Committee 2 Student Forum
by CLIFF ANDY HARTONO

When we were asked to volunteer to help out and participate in a forum about maids, it seemed to me like a worthwhile cause. Still, I did not have a clue as to what to expect. Either way, I signed up along with some of my classmates, and decided to attend it with an open mind.

The forum was organized by the Working Committee 2, a non-profit organization that seeks to improve the welfare of domestic workers. The theme of the forum was “Dignity Overdue: Respecting the Rights of maids”.

At the same time, a slide show was flashed across the plasma screen. It depicted a simple day at the hairdressers’.

Then, a lady enters the hairdresser’s with her maid. When the hairdresser asks the maid what hairstyle she would like, her employer interrupts her and tells the hairdresser, “anything lah, just make it short”.

This scene felt familiar. You might not have encountered this before, but somehow you do know that is has happened and it could happen. In other words, it accurately reflected the attitude of some employers towards their domestic workers.

The forum soon began, and it opened many of us to the lives of 140 000 people who live among us, work for us, but always fail to make their appearance in our family photo albums. Throughout the forum, we were forced to come to terms with hard facts, as well as to explore why some cases of abuse happen and how we could prevent them.

Ms Encarnacion Montales, a Filipino domestic worker, spoke to us of her experiences. She came to Singapore 18 years ago, and was lucky enough to be employed by a pleasant family. Her employers were kind to her, and considered her as part of their family. However, she realized that others were not as fortunate as she was. Reports of maid abuse are a common sight in the papers, yet these are a mere fraction the large amount that have went unreported. Common abuses include physical and sexual abuse, overwork, malnourishment as well as underpayment by employers.

Although Filipino maids make up around two-thirds of the foreign domestic worker population here, 60% of abuse victims are Indonesian domestic workers. Filipino maids generally are able to speak English, and are relatively well-educated. Attending church on Sundays also enable them to form support groups.

In contrast, Indonesian domestic workers come from different provinces and often speak varying dialects, thus making communication between them hard. They also command a lower salary compared to their Filipino counterparts, and do not enjoy the same rights as them. At the same time, embassy support is often lacking, and they have no one to turn to.

When we broke up into separate groups to put ourselves in the shoes of both the employers and the domestic workers, it gave us a better understanding of why abuses occur. We agreed that some employers may be overwhelmed with stress and domestic workers make an easy outlet for their frustrations. Miscommunication due to language barriers fuel this on in many cases. But perhaps most importantly, it was the way that many employers viewed their domestic workers. Somehow, they failed to realize that domestic workers were employees, and not slaves that were at their beck and call 24-7. The dignity of domestic workers was something that they just could not be bothered with.

Many domestic workers are still suffering silently under abuse. Some of them fear reprisal if they approach the police. Others are afraid that they might not find new employers, as they might be blacklisted as “troublesome” workers. More often than not, love for their families surrender them to continue working under abuses in order to be able to financially support them back home.

Apathy among Singaporeans has seen many neighbours of abusers simply ignoring the plight of domestic workers. To quote a neighbour of an employer whose domestic worker died after months of repeated beatings, “It is not my business. He can do what he wants, that’s his problem.” A sad state of affairs indeed.

As the forum drew to an end, we discussed ways to prevent all these abuses from occurring. Stricter laws would have limited effect, as many domestic workers do not even go to the police with their grievances. More support from their respective embassies would probably help, but then again it would be near impossible for us convince a foreign administration to take drastic action in order to improve the welfare of domestic workers. The only plausible solution is for employers to change their attitudes. It is definitely a daunting task to educate them in order to accomplish this. Then again, if we start with the young children(who incidentally hold their domestic worker’s hand to school), this might not be such a distant dream after all.

brief information about forum:
With 140,000 foreign domestic workers present in Singapore, it is estimated that around one household in seven employs one. This is one of the highest ratios of domestic workers to resident population anywhere in the world. This means that many young people here grow up accustomed to having a domestic worker from another country living and working in their home. Others are aware of their presence in Singapore, even though their families do not employ one.

A youth forum on the issue of foreign domestic workers was held at Victoria Junior College (VJC), on 13 Septembe 2003. It was organised jointly by Global Positioning-VJC and TWC2, a civil society group that is working to improve the position of domestic workers.