<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>400 beds at maids' dorm, but no takers
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Cost and facility's remote location cited as reasons for poor response from agencies </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Melissa Sim
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LHN Hostels spent $1 million on renovations and furnishings for the new maids' dormitory in Admiralty, which opened for business last week. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE first short-term dormitory for maids is ready for business but all 400 beds are still empty.
Despite there being 180,000 foreign maids in Singapore and the new dormitory in Admiralty boasting of facilities such as a clinic, prayer room and common areas for leisure activities, not a single maid has signed up to stay there.
Dorm operator LHN Hostels spent $1 million on renovations and furnishings for the dormitory, which opened for business last week.
'The overall response has not been what we had anticipated,' said LHN Hostels managing director Kelvin Lim. 'We spoke to agents and thought since this is the first project, there must be demand.'
The dorm occupies the former premises of a children's home in Keramat Road, which was put up for tender by the Singapore Land Authority last year.
LHN Hostels' business model was this: provide a place for maids to stay before they start work or move in with new employers.
But no maid agencies have signed up.
LHN Hostels' management said the main thing holding them back was cost - the company charges $25 a day for one maid. The other reason was the dormitory's remote location: It is tucked away near an industrial estate in Admiralty.
Mr Alex Yeo from Regent Employment Services said it was 'really too far'. His agency is in Katong and he lives in Choa Chu Kang.
Other agents said it would be difficult to process the maids' documentation or ferry them to interviews if they were staying in Admiralty.
Most maid agents either rent an apartment for the maids or house them in their own homes - common industry practices frowned upon by the authorities.
Mr Yeo, for example, rents a semi-detached house in Bukit Timah for $2,500 a month to house the maids under his charge. He spends about $600 a month on food for them. At any one time, there are about five maids staying in the house. This works out to about $20 per day per maid, cheaper than what the dorm charges.
Other agents said the industry norm is about $15 to $20 per maid per day, but LHN Hostels' Mr Lim said he does not plan to lower his rates yet.
Many agents are also unwilling to spend money on temporary housing, said Mr John Gee, president of foreign worker welfare organisation Transient Workers Count Too.
He said living conditions are often poor and there have been extreme cases where agents lock up maids in the back rooms of their offices and spread papers on the floor for them to sleep.
While the idea for a maid dormitory may have been well-intentioned, Mr Gee said: 'It needs to be comparable in cost to what accommodation now is, but better in quality.'
Ms Denise Phua, a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Manpower, agreed, saying the operators must 'value add' and that benchmarks should be set for agents.
Mr Gee agreed there has to be 'an insistence by the Ministry of Manpower on higher minimum standards for accommodation of domestic workers'.
But labour MP Halimah Yacob believes there is demand and a need for such a facility. 'We should give it more time to establish and take root.'
Mr Lim still believes his dormitory idea will succeed with time. 'Agents may have to take some time to accept this new concept and to adjust their current way of handling foreign domestic workers.' [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Cost and facility's remote location cited as reasons for poor response from agencies </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Melissa Sim
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
LHN Hostels spent $1 million on renovations and furnishings for the new maids' dormitory in Admiralty, which opened for business last week. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE first short-term dormitory for maids is ready for business but all 400 beds are still empty.
Despite there being 180,000 foreign maids in Singapore and the new dormitory in Admiralty boasting of facilities such as a clinic, prayer room and common areas for leisure activities, not a single maid has signed up to stay there.
Dorm operator LHN Hostels spent $1 million on renovations and furnishings for the dormitory, which opened for business last week.
'The overall response has not been what we had anticipated,' said LHN Hostels managing director Kelvin Lim. 'We spoke to agents and thought since this is the first project, there must be demand.'
The dorm occupies the former premises of a children's home in Keramat Road, which was put up for tender by the Singapore Land Authority last year.
LHN Hostels' business model was this: provide a place for maids to stay before they start work or move in with new employers.
But no maid agencies have signed up.
LHN Hostels' management said the main thing holding them back was cost - the company charges $25 a day for one maid. The other reason was the dormitory's remote location: It is tucked away near an industrial estate in Admiralty.
Mr Alex Yeo from Regent Employment Services said it was 'really too far'. His agency is in Katong and he lives in Choa Chu Kang.
Other agents said it would be difficult to process the maids' documentation or ferry them to interviews if they were staying in Admiralty.
Most maid agents either rent an apartment for the maids or house them in their own homes - common industry practices frowned upon by the authorities.
Mr Yeo, for example, rents a semi-detached house in Bukit Timah for $2,500 a month to house the maids under his charge. He spends about $600 a month on food for them. At any one time, there are about five maids staying in the house. This works out to about $20 per day per maid, cheaper than what the dorm charges.
Other agents said the industry norm is about $15 to $20 per maid per day, but LHN Hostels' Mr Lim said he does not plan to lower his rates yet.
Many agents are also unwilling to spend money on temporary housing, said Mr John Gee, president of foreign worker welfare organisation Transient Workers Count Too.
He said living conditions are often poor and there have been extreme cases where agents lock up maids in the back rooms of their offices and spread papers on the floor for them to sleep.
While the idea for a maid dormitory may have been well-intentioned, Mr Gee said: 'It needs to be comparable in cost to what accommodation now is, but better in quality.'
Ms Denise Phua, a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Manpower, agreed, saying the operators must 'value add' and that benchmarks should be set for agents.
Mr Gee agreed there has to be 'an insistence by the Ministry of Manpower on higher minimum standards for accommodation of domestic workers'.
But labour MP Halimah Yacob believes there is demand and a need for such a facility. 'We should give it more time to establish and take root.'
Mr Lim still believes his dormitory idea will succeed with time. 'Agents may have to take some time to accept this new concept and to adjust their current way of handling foreign domestic workers.' [email protected]
