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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Even FT like maids are having good life</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
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</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>3:48 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 1) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>25707.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Dec 12, 2009
Life looking better for foreign maids
More maids here now but fewer deaths, abuse cases and pay disputes
<!-- by line -->By Theresa Tan
<!-- end by line -->
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<!-- Audio --><!-- Video --><!-- PDF -->LOOKING BETTER
<!-- Vodcast -->
<!-- end left side bar --><!-- story content : start -->
FOREIGN maids are faring better here today than they did five years ago, according to statistics from the Manpower Ministry (MOM) and interviews with advocacy groups and embassy officials.
The number of maid abuse cases and deaths in accidents or by suicide has come down.
The declines are significant because the number of maids has risen from about 160,000 in 2005 to 190,000 now.
In the first 11 months of this year, nine maids died of unnatural causes such as accidents or suicides, sharply down from 40 who died in 2004.
Two of those who died this year fell accidentally while cleaning windows or hanging out the laundry, down from eight such cases in 2004.
Complaints against employers who fail to pay their maids are also down. There have been 219 complaints up to last month this year, compared with 347 in 2005 and 234 last year.
MOM's director of well-being management, Mr Phua Boon Leng, said the statistics showed that the ministry's efforts to protect maids were working.
His department was set up in 2004 to look into the welfare of foreign workers. Since then, several measures have been introduced related to the working conditions of maids and the unrealistic expectations of some employers.
Since 2004, all new maids and first-time employers have to attend a mandatory orientation course, during which the women are told about safety issues and where to go for help, and employers are reminded to be patient and understanding when dealing with the foreigners in their homes.
The minimum age for new maids was raised from 18 to 23 in 2005, bringing in more mature women to work here. Maids also have to pass a basic literacy and numeracy test and have at least eight years of formal education.
Non-profit advocacy groups for migrant workers and embassies say maids are now more aware of their rights and where to seek help.
Ms Bridget Lew, founder of the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, observed that the abuse cases her groups sees these days are not as bad as before.
The consul-general of the Philippine Embassy, Mr Neal Imperial, said that last year, 119 Filipinas, mostly maids, complained that they had been ill-treated. There were 169 such complaints in 2007.
In tackling the abuse problem, MOM decided to give all new maids a pre-paid envelope which they could mail to the ministry if they were ill-treated.
Mr Phua said: 'We know that some maids can't use the phone. We have had cases of maids who wrote about their ill-treatment on pieces of paper which they threw out of their employer's house and members of the public brought the notes to us.'
The police said there were 53 substantiated cases of maid abuse last year - just a third of the 157 cases in 1997.
Stricter penalties for maid abuse were introduced in 1998.
While those interviewed cheered the ministry's efforts to fix the more serious problems, they felt that more needed to be done to improve the welfare of maids.
Top of their list is giving maids a day off, to meet friends or go to their places of worship.
But, reiterating the ministry's position not to legislate compulsory rest days, Mr Phua said MOM preferred to leave employers and maids to work out these arrangements, as agreed upon in their contracts.
[email protected]
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Life looking better for foreign maids
More maids here now but fewer deaths, abuse cases and pay disputes
<!-- by line -->By Theresa Tan
<!-- end by line -->
Related Link
<!-- Audio --><!-- Video --><!-- PDF -->LOOKING BETTER
<!-- Vodcast -->
<!-- end left side bar --><!-- story content : start -->
FOREIGN maids are faring better here today than they did five years ago, according to statistics from the Manpower Ministry (MOM) and interviews with advocacy groups and embassy officials.
The number of maid abuse cases and deaths in accidents or by suicide has come down.
The declines are significant because the number of maids has risen from about 160,000 in 2005 to 190,000 now.
In the first 11 months of this year, nine maids died of unnatural causes such as accidents or suicides, sharply down from 40 who died in 2004.
Two of those who died this year fell accidentally while cleaning windows or hanging out the laundry, down from eight such cases in 2004.
Complaints against employers who fail to pay their maids are also down. There have been 219 complaints up to last month this year, compared with 347 in 2005 and 234 last year.
MOM's director of well-being management, Mr Phua Boon Leng, said the statistics showed that the ministry's efforts to protect maids were working.
His department was set up in 2004 to look into the welfare of foreign workers. Since then, several measures have been introduced related to the working conditions of maids and the unrealistic expectations of some employers.
Since 2004, all new maids and first-time employers have to attend a mandatory orientation course, during which the women are told about safety issues and where to go for help, and employers are reminded to be patient and understanding when dealing with the foreigners in their homes.
The minimum age for new maids was raised from 18 to 23 in 2005, bringing in more mature women to work here. Maids also have to pass a basic literacy and numeracy test and have at least eight years of formal education.
Non-profit advocacy groups for migrant workers and embassies say maids are now more aware of their rights and where to seek help.
Ms Bridget Lew, founder of the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, observed that the abuse cases her groups sees these days are not as bad as before.
The consul-general of the Philippine Embassy, Mr Neal Imperial, said that last year, 119 Filipinas, mostly maids, complained that they had been ill-treated. There were 169 such complaints in 2007.
In tackling the abuse problem, MOM decided to give all new maids a pre-paid envelope which they could mail to the ministry if they were ill-treated.
Mr Phua said: 'We know that some maids can't use the phone. We have had cases of maids who wrote about their ill-treatment on pieces of paper which they threw out of their employer's house and members of the public brought the notes to us.'
The police said there were 53 substantiated cases of maid abuse last year - just a third of the 157 cases in 1997.
Stricter penalties for maid abuse were introduced in 1998.
While those interviewed cheered the ministry's efforts to fix the more serious problems, they felt that more needed to be done to improve the welfare of maids.
Top of their list is giving maids a day off, to meet friends or go to their places of worship.
But, reiterating the ministry's position not to legislate compulsory rest days, Mr Phua said MOM preferred to leave employers and maids to work out these arrangements, as agreed upon in their contracts.
[email protected]
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