My trusted maid

I couldn't believe what I saw this morning!  I caught my trusted maid, Marie, with a piece of my son's cheese in her hands.  She didn't expect me to get up early this morning as I was on leave.  She was shocked to see me up earlier this morning. I told her that I got up earlier so I could go with her to the Post Office to sort out her Western Union transfer but saw her bad habit instead!

I am so furious with her and at that moment I really felt betrayed by her.  I bought her different types of bread spreads ie chocolate, peanut butter and kaya.  I don't deprive her of food and she is not undernourished!

I've told her before if she would like to eat anything at all in the house, she should be upfront and ask for it instead of taking it without anyone knowing AKA stealing!  She should not eat any food that is meant for my son as he is a special needs person.

Like my previous experience/encounter with maids be it Indonesian or Filipino, their characteristics are identical.  They would rather lie and steal then to tell the truth.  For every mistake they make, they will feign ignorance, forgetfulness or misunderstand the instruction.

After this incident, I've come to the conclusion that no matter how well I've treated them, they will always want more and they wont ask.  When I confronted Marie, she said she was embarrassed to ask.  So I asked her if it  is better for her to steal instead!

So this afternoon, we went shopping for her snacks, different types of bread spreads, hair conditioner, vitamins, cereal and anything else that she craved for.  Told her that we must sometimes give ourselves a little treat every now and then and we should not try and save every single cent and then steal from others!  Hopefully this incident is not repeated!

Gift from Mum

Mum had asked me and my sister to buy a gift for Marie while she was alive.  Mum left us all on 28 Sept 11 and while Mum was alive, she had also asked that I give her additional money as Marie had been assisting with caring for her after her own maid, Wati got arrested.  Mum was grateful to Marie for all that Marie had done for mum.

The additional money we gave her was credited into her salary account.

Eversince my mum was discharged from Tan Tock Seng Hospital on 8 September, Marie, my helper, had been taking care of my mum. It's been tough on her as its no easy task transferring an adult handicapped bedridden person!

We've still not able to get a replacement maid for my mum.  The agent told us that as it was close to fasting month they dont have any maids available to be deployed then comes Hari Raya and now it's been almost 2 months since my mum's maid got arrested!

Wati, the wolf in sheep's clothing

Guess what?  My sister recently found out that Wati is now in prison where she should be after all that she had done.

Apparently this silly fella, after she stole her passport and money from the agent went to seek refuge with her embassy.  I supposed she had nowhere to go so after hiding for several days, she must have thought that she could get help from her embassy since they are in fact her countrymen.

Obviously she didnt realise that the embassy is not allowed under the law to shelter her or assist her.  She just had to wait for a day or 2 before the agent repatriate her.  Damn silly but good that she had to be handed to the police where she can serve her sentence.  Serves her right though I would have preferred that she did not so at least she can repay what she had stolen. 

She is one ungrateful maid I must say.  I've had maids for more than 13 years and never had one so despicable and ungrateful as her.  Though she knew that everyone in the family knew of her misdeeds, she didnt show any remorse or any sign of being ashamed! 

I felt that my mum's condition worsened when she found out that her helper stole from her.  My mum never had a maid before and when she had one, she and my nephew treated her very well.  They brought her to restaurants and even let her select her own meal.  My mum trusted her too much and I think this also led to Wati stealing from my mum. 

Through my experience, I would say best not to overly trust a domestic helper and NEVER tempt them by leaving money or jewellery in sight.  When maids arrive into Singapore, most do not have the intention to steal but when tempted, some with weak willpower will steal or even harm the employer or their family.

If my mum "kick the bucket", I hope she will haunt this damn fella!

Wati the "Still water runs deep!"

Heard from my sister that Wati actually fled from the agent's home where she was housed before they repatriate her.

She apparently stole her passport from the agent when they were not home and just left.  It's been a couple of weeks now and still no sign of her.  The police is aware of this and I wonder who should be held accountable for the missing maid?  Guess who?

It's really damn annoying to say the least.  Employers here in Singapore are generally not given a fair deal!

With her passport in hand, would she still be in Singapore?  I doubt so.  Probably already gone to Batam or somewhere and I am sure she would also have stolen some money otherwise how can she run away?

Turbo Steam Iron

Went for a short walk at the Raffles Place MRT atrium during lunch earlier last Friday and came across this particular make shift kiosk selling turbo steam irons. I stood by the kiosk for a while to watch the demo on the advantages of this iron.


When I saw how the promoter ironed a t-shirt with some plastic decals designs on it without damaging the decals, left the iron on plastic carrier bag, again without damaging the plastic nor the iron, I instantly made up my mind to buy the iron to help Marie with her ironing and also to minimise her burning especially my son's clothings!!


"Magical" Steam Iron





Marie using the turbo steam iron

Marie confirmed that it is much faster to iron with this iron and yes, she confirmed that she could iron the plastic decals without damaging the pictures!  Money well spent.  Regular price according to the promoter is $79, roadshow promotional price is $53. 

Wati the Thief

Just found out that Wati got repatriated to her home over the last one or two days ago. She really got a good deal, I would think.

She stole more than $350 of my mum's money to buy herself a mobile phone without a contract, chalked up over $1,000 worth of IDD charges, stole a patient's mobile phone which apparently led to her arrest and all the punishment she got - repatriated home and never allowed to enter or work in Singapore again. BIG DEAL!

Like there is no where else in this world where she can work whether legally, illegally, morally or not - who cares, at least I dont give a shit!!  $1000 is not easy to earn and by sending her home is the simplest for her.  Sent her to prison or at least make her pay what's she had stolen before repatriating her.

I vaguely remember what the lecturer at the Singapore Poly who conducted the Employers' Orientation Course said about abusing maids in Singapore: If you hit me, you get fined $500 but you hit a maid, you get fined 10 times more! So maids in Singapore are very well taken care of!  She stole and all she got was a "free" airticket to home!