October 2, 2009
The Star OnlineI READ "Try and live without a maid" and "More job openings but locals not keen" (The Star, Sept 20) – and herein lies our problem.
We locals do not want low-paying jobs with long working hours and no days off, but we are not happy to pay more than RM500 for an Indonesian maid who is forced to work beyond what is fair and humane.
While locals will only tolerate for a few days such long hours of tiring labour, many Malaysian employers see nothing wrong or immoral in forcing their maids to work from 5am to 11pm daily, and even take their maids to relatives' homes to clean up, and bring cars from other family members to be washed daily.
And I know of an employer, a neighbour, whose maid has to cook for his mistress's family as well as take care of her eight dogs.
On a recent visit to Nasam, the National Stroke Rehabilitation Organisation, we were told that many Indonesian workers asked to be care givers to recovering stroke victims often double up as maids, and usually work through long hours.
Malaysians have to erase the thinking that quality of life and dignified living are restricted to those who can pay, and learn to treat others as human beings, with a right to respect and basic comforts, too.
We must be grateful that we can pay others to do the "dirty" jobs but don't treat them like dirt.
TAM YENG SIANG,
Petaling Jaya.
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