Domestic Helpers- Help or Hinderance

More than often we see a domestic helper, or otherwise called a maid(in Singaporean terminology) attached to most households. These households usually comprise of young kids with hardworking parents led by the blind pursuit of earning money. In order to reap what you sow in this economical climate, both the spouses are put in the steamrollers to work to provide a luxurious lifestyle for the family.In Singapore, a luxurious lifestyle is considered as the ' cream de la cream' while the comfortable lifestyle concept has dropped to its second place, 'cream of the crop'.

Getting back to the issue, these domestic helpers are supposedly a great help to us. Why then do we hear of cases of ungrateful maids all the time? Is it because since they are humans, they have needs too, or because most of the time they happen to be young, so they are just exploring their options? They do not have to sell their souls to the employer, but sincerity and honesty is much expected, more than if they know how to sweep or wash.

By doing the household chores, they are indeed a great help to us, but what about when they get into trouble, or i should say give us trouble, when they commit murders, run away from the employers or secretly get pregnant and indulge in self inducing abortions. Have their moral ethics gone into hiding?

It is a common sight to see hundreds of maids flocking in Lucky Plaza on Sundays, in town with their Casanova-wannabe boyfriends. We usually are quick to brand these genre of maids as the' havoc ones'. However the ones i know who had indulged in brainless offenses like the ones mentioned above are NOT part of the Lucky Plaza genre. The 'havoc ones' just appear to be such and are just having fun, but sure do seem extremely bold though.

Every human being has the freedom to make a choice, even kids(especially the ones studying in PAP kindergarten) know this. My 4 year old cousin repeats the line,'freedom for life' every time there's any talk about National Day, since last Wednesday of course. So its up to these helpers to make a choice, even if it comes to having a boyfriend. Most of us have been or is with someone
special, but why does it sound wrong when it comes to maids? Is it because they should be thought of as being inferior to us? We are all people with raging hormones, regardless of where we are from, so why the double standards?

From another point of view, they are here solely to earn a living, not have fun. They are in fact, are protected more strongly by the Government than by their employers( especially the Filipinos). What more do they want? They tend to take advantage of the trust gained by their employers and cross the line. I am not totally ignoring the fact that there are cases whereby the employers ill-treat some maids, but in such cases the employers are severely dealt with. However, if the maids commit any offence, the employers bear half the brunt too by simply stating that the maids were the employers' responsibility anyway.

Well, i guess this debate could go on and on, and this is what the Goddess would call an hypothetical situation. I for one, do not have a maid and am happy about it( you are NOT my maid, mum!) I usually have a impartial relationship with all the maids i know, except for my cousin's childhood maid( Aunt Emily is the best!). I do not see the necessity to strike a conversation, and i actually feel uneasy around them( like when they want to wash your plates for you).

Revelling Goddess is an independent-urban female and don't see the need to be waited on, not if its from a certain someone though, haha.