PASSPORTS

[Am i required]

I'm new to the FDW thing and am confused, am I meant to be holding her passport? Is this required by law or is it an individual agency thing or up to the employer? Please can you advise as then I can decide what to do.

[up to you]

Some people & agents will advise that you hold onto your maid's passport, for fear of her running away I guess.

My agent advised us this in the beginning, however we gave it back to our maid right after the paperwork was done. I thought she is a grown woman and we trust her and it hasn't been a problem for us.

I guess it's up to you. Whether or not you trust your maid to hold onto their own passport.

[mimi]

Article 13(2), Universal Declaration of Human Rights:


"Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country."

[carly b]

I also refused to hold our maid's passport. It's totally your choice, but in my opinion you should tell your agency to bugger off. I know in Saudi Arabia employers hold their maid's passports - it leaves them so vulnerable to abuse as they cant leave, even if they're not paid their wage.

You should refuse to do this and tell the agency why.

[oh oh]

Another point of view: We have always ignored the agent's advice to hold the helpers passport. UNTIL we unexpectedly came back a day early from holiday and found no maid at home in the wee hours. Called her mobile and she, presuming we were still abroad, sounded sleepy and said she was at home.

"But I am at home now" I countered.

Slience. Her reply after 30 secs, "Oh mam, my aunt was sick and I had to take her to emergency"'. It took her 4 hours to get home. Thereafter we decided to hold her passport, as the agent thought maybe she'd been in Malaysia, bintan??

Stupidly enough, in hindsight of course, I didn't fire her as it was the first time anything untoward had happened. But the trust was broken and I decided to ask for her passport, which she was in total agreement with.

[madmax]

oh said:

Stupidly enough, in hindsight of course, I didn't fire her as it was the first time anything untoward had happened.

Why do you say 'stupidly enough'. Did she steal something later on? Or what happened?

[Letitie]

To oh oh, what's wrong with a grown woman sleeping the night elsewhere when you are on holiday. Apart from it being 'against the rules' can you explain why it was wrong?

[levy]

I thought the reason why employers keep their maids passport is becuase there is some huge levy that the employers have to pay should their maid get pregant or disappear.

Not completely sure as I've never had a maid but this is what I heard. How true is this?

[Conzuela]

My Mum gives me a lot of freedom. She helps me in housework so I don't have to do everything. I get to eat what my employers eat and that includes eating out at restaurants too. Whenever my employers go on holiday I get to have the whole apartment to myself. I have their permission to invite friends home. My girlfriends and I always have a fun time putting on a 'fashion show' with Mum's clothes. She is fat so you can imagine how funny we look in her oversized underwear, tops, pants and dresses. Of course, we put everything back into place when we are done. One of my friends broke the heels of one of Mum's shoes once but because Mum has so many pairs of shoes, she did not notice one pair was missing.

Sir is the best! He secretly gives me a $50 bill every now and then and told me not to tell Mum. I don't mind him hugging or kissing me because he is such a nice man. I notice he looks at me whenever I wear spaghetti strapped tops. I've not had a man for almost a year and I know Sir is attracted to me.

Mum is nice too but she hates Singapore. She tells me she is happiest when Sir and her go on holidays. They do not have any children. Mum hired me because all her friends in the expat community have maids. Except for the general cleaning of the apartment and the occasional cooking, I spent most of my time listening to radio or watching tv in my room. Mum goes out a lot so I act as her receptionist with so many phone calls coming in everyday. I know the names of many of her friends but most of them I have not met face-to-face. There's always a lunch, hair, manicure, facial, spa or tea appointment for Mum everyday.

I have the best employers and yesterday Mum told me Sir and her will give me an extra $100 for my salary. I have been working for them for 6 months and already I am getting an increment. My other Filipino friends will be so envious when I tell them this. With all the loose change - coins, $2 notes Mum and Sir toss around the tables in the house everyday for me to help myself I always have money to spend on myself and my friends on my off days.

My friends taught me to be subservient always because they say employers will feel more sorry for us and not work us too hard like local employers. I have a big family back home so whenever they ask me for money I just have to look sad and cry and Mum will offer to help me remit money home. So far, Mum has gone with me to Lucky Plaza to remit $1000 home on two occasions. I told her my little brother needed an operation the first time and the second time, my second sister needed to pay the fees to get into university. Both reasons were lies of course so I don't have to use my salary to send money home.

I get two days off a week - Saturdays and Sundays. If I want to, Mum and Sir will also allow me to go out during weekday evenings. Outings cost a lot of money so I prefer to go out on weekends where all my friends and I can enjoy ourselves. We go to the movies and visit places of interests in Singapore. Sometimes I will pay for my friends as not all of them earn as much as I do. They are all very nice to me but I know they are very jealous of me. I have to be careful not to tell them everything because they might use the information against me one day.

I hope I don't fall in love with Sir. I find it difficult to be attracted to strange men hanging around regularly at Lucky Plaza. They are all construction workers and they smell bad. With Sir, I do not have to work at all and I can have a good life. I'll see how things go and keep you updated.

[Good one]

;D

Thank you for keeping us updated.

You forgot to mention that sometimes there is a man calling Mum, and she is always so happy. She puts on the sexy lingery and goes out for a couple of hours. She returns just before Sir comes home, and quickly takes a shower.

In any case, considering the looks of the Filippino maids at Lucky plaza (and comparing them to the local ladies), I doubt many espats will want to hug and kiss their maids.