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Who get the award for being the first Evil person - the Devil in human form - A Sinkie
If you treat a poor person then be pleepared to get your judgment while still living or worst still after you have you leave
I leemember when I leeturned to Singagore for a visit from my village by Lake Victoria, Uganda, I noticed the maid pleeparing food for the familee.
After she had served the food to the familee on the table, she then took a plate of food for herself and then sat in a korner and started eating.
I was shocked to see her eating her food while sitting on the floor.
I then told her please come sit on the chair at the table but she excused herself that she was very comfortable eating while seated on the floor.
Of course the employers did not say a world and pleetended not having heard me.
I then thought to myself what a life this maid has.
First, she was born into poverty as a little baby.
Then she grew up got married to another poor person, had children of her own but had to leave them behind to earn a few miserable hundred dollahs so that her children can have some food. Will the cycle leepeat itself?
So if you Sinkies have a maid please treat her with compassion beacuse you do not realize how difficult life is to be poor and you will also be rewarded in leeturn.
Some employers have a “binary sort of framing” regarding food, in which they feel there is no issue as long as they are not starving their helpers, said a representative from a migrant worker advocacy group.
For three months, Farah (not her real name) ate only instant noodles, bread with peanut butter, and drank plain water.
But at the same time, the 38-year-old migrant domestic worker (MDW) from the Philippines was making daily trips to Little Farms, a high-end grocery store known for its organic and gourmet produce, to buy ingredients to prepare meals for her employer.
Her employer, who required her to follow intricate recipes with multiple steps, would not even let her eat the leftovers of these meals she had to prepare, even if the leftovers were kept in the refrigerator for days. --- Can you then trust your maid to not add some special spices into your foof -- lol
While Farah’s employer permitted her to cook meals for herself, she would frequently make comments about the “smell", even if Farah prepared simple dishes like fried rice with ikan bilis (dried anchovies).
“Although she's not telling you to stop doing it (cooking), she is telling you that the smell is bad and that she doesn’t like it. So, of course, you have to stop,” said Farah, who resorted to eating instant noodles daily sometimes accompanied by a boiled egg, to appease her former employer.
“I used to love preparing food, but in her case, it's like a nightmare,” she told CNA TODAY, adding that she lost 12 kg in those three months.
Farah left her ex-employer in October to go to a shelter and has since left the shelter for a new employer.
“I didn’t feel hungry anymore. I was just numb.”
Farah’s experience sheds light on a troubling grey area in the treatment of domestic workers who are not deprived completely of food to the point of starvation, but are not adequately nourished either, often leaving them constantly hungry and in need of better nutrition and a balanced diet.
In response to queries from CNA TODAY, a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) spokesperson said that each year between 2019 and 2023, they received around 630 complaints from domestic helpers about receiving insufficient food.
"Most of these complaints stemmed from miscommunication between employers and their MDWs on dietary needs and habits," said the MOM spokesperson.
This accounts for about 0.2 per cent of the total average of the domestic worker population during the same period.
"This compares similarly to the results of MOM’s MDW and MDW Employer Survey 2021, which found that more than 99 per cent of MDWs surveyed were satisfied with the sufficiency of food provided," added the spokesperson.
Speaking to CNA TODAY, Ms Jaya Anil Kumar, senior manager of research and advocacy at the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME), said many employers use a “binary sort of framing” regarding food – they feel there is no issue as long as they are not starving their helpers.
While the number of cases of domestic helpers receiving inadequate food has remained relatively consistent over the years, Ms Jaya said that many of these cases are only brought to light when domestic helpers reach a “breaking point” that is often coupled with more exploitative behaviour such as verbal or physical abuse by their employers.
Noting that food issues are a nuanced topic given the power imbalance between helpers and their employers, Ms Jaya said: "It's not just about having all the rice you want, (if it comes with) very little meat or vegetables. "
While employers might provide ample staples like rice, the lack of essential proteins and vegetables often results in meals that are low in nutritional value.
Ms Jaya said even if an employer does not explicitly prohibit access to food, if the relationship involves a lot of scolding or verbal abuse, the domestic worker will be afraid to take liberties with food.
Other behaviour includes employers making off-hand comments about the quantity a helper eats, allowing the helper to use certain food items in the pantry but later making snide remarks, and not being aware of religious or cultural sensitivities.
“A lot of domestic workers say that they can only eat what is left over from what they have cooked for their employers,” said Ms Jaya, adding that instances of food rationing are still prevalent.
“For example, a domestic worker can have a maximum of three eggs a day, together with rice, and it is up to her to portion them throughout the day.”
A recent social media post by the Instagram account f***yeahnoms revealed screenshots from a private Facebook group called FDW Employers@Singapore, which showed the attitudes of some employers towards their helpers.
Some screenshots showed employers expressing concern that their helpers were eating too much, and sharing their helpers' height and weight to support their argument.
One post began with the question: “Anyone('s) maid is a big eater?”
Other employers in the group were bothered that their helpers used their condiments and seasonings to cook their own food.
One wrote: “I’m pretty sure she’s using my seasonings, too, on top of gas from (the) stove.”
Another post detailed how their helper was "very hungry" and ate "one whole big plate of rice" at 7pm and ate "a (second round) of food" that evening.
If you treat a poor person then be pleepared to get your judgment while still living or worst still after you have you leave
I leemember when I leeturned to Singagore for a visit from my village by Lake Victoria, Uganda, I noticed the maid pleeparing food for the familee.
After she had served the food to the familee on the table, she then took a plate of food for herself and then sat in a korner and started eating.
I was shocked to see her eating her food while sitting on the floor.
I then told her please come sit on the chair at the table but she excused herself that she was very comfortable eating while seated on the floor.
Of course the employers did not say a world and pleetended not having heard me.
I then thought to myself what a life this maid has.
First, she was born into poverty as a little baby.
Then she grew up got married to another poor person, had children of her own but had to leave them behind to earn a few miserable hundred dollahs so that her children can have some food. Will the cycle leepeat itself?
So if you Sinkies have a maid please treat her with compassion beacuse you do not realize how difficult life is to be poor and you will also be rewarded in leeturn.
Not starving, but still hungry: Some helpers in Singapore not eating enough as employers restrict food
Some employers have a “binary sort of framing” regarding food, in which they feel there is no issue as long as they are not starving their helpers, said a representative from a migrant worker advocacy group.
For three months, Farah (not her real name) ate only instant noodles, bread with peanut butter, and drank plain water.
But at the same time, the 38-year-old migrant domestic worker (MDW) from the Philippines was making daily trips to Little Farms, a high-end grocery store known for its organic and gourmet produce, to buy ingredients to prepare meals for her employer.
Her employer, who required her to follow intricate recipes with multiple steps, would not even let her eat the leftovers of these meals she had to prepare, even if the leftovers were kept in the refrigerator for days. --- Can you then trust your maid to not add some special spices into your foof -- lol
While Farah’s employer permitted her to cook meals for herself, she would frequently make comments about the “smell", even if Farah prepared simple dishes like fried rice with ikan bilis (dried anchovies).
“Although she's not telling you to stop doing it (cooking), she is telling you that the smell is bad and that she doesn’t like it. So, of course, you have to stop,” said Farah, who resorted to eating instant noodles daily sometimes accompanied by a boiled egg, to appease her former employer.
“I used to love preparing food, but in her case, it's like a nightmare,” she told CNA TODAY, adding that she lost 12 kg in those three months.
Farah left her ex-employer in October to go to a shelter and has since left the shelter for a new employer.
“I didn’t feel hungry anymore. I was just numb.”
Farah’s experience sheds light on a troubling grey area in the treatment of domestic workers who are not deprived completely of food to the point of starvation, but are not adequately nourished either, often leaving them constantly hungry and in need of better nutrition and a balanced diet.
In response to queries from CNA TODAY, a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) spokesperson said that each year between 2019 and 2023, they received around 630 complaints from domestic helpers about receiving insufficient food.
"Most of these complaints stemmed from miscommunication between employers and their MDWs on dietary needs and habits," said the MOM spokesperson.
This accounts for about 0.2 per cent of the total average of the domestic worker population during the same period.
"This compares similarly to the results of MOM’s MDW and MDW Employer Survey 2021, which found that more than 99 per cent of MDWs surveyed were satisfied with the sufficiency of food provided," added the spokesperson.
Speaking to CNA TODAY, Ms Jaya Anil Kumar, senior manager of research and advocacy at the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME), said many employers use a “binary sort of framing” regarding food – they feel there is no issue as long as they are not starving their helpers.
While the number of cases of domestic helpers receiving inadequate food has remained relatively consistent over the years, Ms Jaya said that many of these cases are only brought to light when domestic helpers reach a “breaking point” that is often coupled with more exploitative behaviour such as verbal or physical abuse by their employers.
Noting that food issues are a nuanced topic given the power imbalance between helpers and their employers, Ms Jaya said: "It's not just about having all the rice you want, (if it comes with) very little meat or vegetables. "
While employers might provide ample staples like rice, the lack of essential proteins and vegetables often results in meals that are low in nutritional value.
Ms Jaya said even if an employer does not explicitly prohibit access to food, if the relationship involves a lot of scolding or verbal abuse, the domestic worker will be afraid to take liberties with food.
Other behaviour includes employers making off-hand comments about the quantity a helper eats, allowing the helper to use certain food items in the pantry but later making snide remarks, and not being aware of religious or cultural sensitivities.
“A lot of domestic workers say that they can only eat what is left over from what they have cooked for their employers,” said Ms Jaya, adding that instances of food rationing are still prevalent.
“For example, a domestic worker can have a maximum of three eggs a day, together with rice, and it is up to her to portion them throughout the day.”
A recent social media post by the Instagram account f***yeahnoms revealed screenshots from a private Facebook group called FDW Employers@Singapore, which showed the attitudes of some employers towards their helpers.
Some screenshots showed employers expressing concern that their helpers were eating too much, and sharing their helpers' height and weight to support their argument.
One post began with the question: “Anyone('s) maid is a big eater?”
Other employers in the group were bothered that their helpers used their condiments and seasonings to cook their own food.
One wrote: “I’m pretty sure she’s using my seasonings, too, on top of gas from (the) stove.”
Another post detailed how their helper was "very hungry" and ate "one whole big plate of rice" at 7pm and ate "a (second round) of food" that evening.
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