No money and nothing to eat at times

[hokkien]

The Star/Asia News Network
Monday, Dec 03, 2012
PORT KLANG, Philiphines: Manizel Mazano, from the Philippines, has only one wish - she just wants to be in a place where she can put her miserable experience at a maid agency behind her.

"It was terrible. I had no money and nothing to eat at times as the bosses ordered me to work for the past six months. I have not seen any of my salary as well.

"The worst part is when they (maid agency owners) locked me in a room with other maids after work.

"I don't have much to ask now. I just hope we are placed in a much better place after this," the 22-year-old woman said yesterday at the district immigration office.

Mazano said she paid for her own travel expenses when she came to the country several months ago.

Adinda Tanas, 20, an Indonesian helper, said the agency owner was indifferent to their health.

"I once complained of a swollen leg because I was standing too long but they did not care," she said.

Adinda, who entered Malaysia on a social visit pass in May, also claimed she had not been paid her wages. When she questioned the agency about this, Adinda said she never got a proper answer.

Another Indonesian woman, Yusnida, who arrived here six months ago, said the agency had been bringing her and other women to different homes to work as maids from 5am to 8pm daily.

"My hands and legs were swollen from the long hours of work every day.

"The agent only provided us with two meals a day. There was not enough food and the workload was heavy," she said.

Yusnida had once asked to go home but was told by the agency that she could only leave once she could settle the cost in agency fees to bring her here.

 

[hokkien]

Monday, Dec 03, 2012
PETALING JAYA - The Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) is not surprised over the case in Klang where 105 foreign women were held captive in a maid agency.

Its president Jeffrey Foo said said it had been hearing of cases where foreign maids were being exploited by unscrupulous maid agencies.

"These girls are first brought in using tourist visas which are then converted into working permits or JP visas.

"The procedure is legal, but there are parties or syndicates misusing it by mistreating the girls and cheating employers who are not protected by any contract," he said yesterday.

He urged the Government to look into the issue as it could affect the country's reputation.

"The authorities must conduct checks on those converting the tourists visas as they could be part of a syndicate. Strict action must be taken against those found misusing the system," he said.

Indonesian maids have been trickling into the country in small numbers because of several unresolved cost-related issues after the republic resumed sending maids to Malaysia in June, three years after a ban was enforced due to several high profile abuse cases.

The Cambodian Government imposed a ban last October, further fuelling the shortage of maids.

Last month, the Philippines embassy here stopped giving accreditation to new maid agencies to bring in domestic workers from that country in line with its government's plan to phase out the sending of its citizens abroad to work as maids over the next five years.

Due to the shortage of maids, he said, many desperate employers were also resorting to illegal means to get their maids.

"They engage unscrupulous agents who promise them maids for low prices but many end up getting cheated because they have nowhere to turn if the agent does not keep to his promises," he said.