Is Singapore Exploiting Domestic Helpers? | The Daily Ketchup Podcast
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ธ.ค. 2024
- Should we still have live-in helpers? Boyfriends, off days, and why are helpers so scared of their agents?
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Cast:
• Johnathan Chua / johnathanchua
• Daniel Lim / danlim11
• Jonathan Paul / jonathanpaul.sxw
• Denise Oh / ohthedenise
Behind the Cam:
• Nashrul Merza
• Julian Chin
• Hisyam Osman
• Daren Khek
• Deborah Lee
Edited by:
Priyanka Ravichandran
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I love what Daniel brings to the table with his overly detailed anecdotes. Keep being you!
Also, it’s SHOCKING the amount of times I’ve encountered fucked up employers. In the apartment that we live in, there was a family that was constantly abusing their maids (We lived there for 10+ years and they had multiple). The most recently incident, my maid found out that their current maid was getting abused (She was sleeping in the balcony???? Her employer didn’t allow her to eat until 9pm. These two examples were just the tip of the iceberg). Our maid actually called the police and went into the house with the police to show her the employer that she was the one who called and I just thought it was such a boss move🤣 That person went to jail and had a massive fine and wasn’t allowed to hire maids anymore.
What your maid did is so heartwarming! Many people these days don't bother stepping in to help and just watch by the sidelines.
I enjoy Donovan's take calling out PC culture and how changing the term is just to serve the person's own interests rather than anyone else. As well as how people actually deny opportunities to potential workers in other countries just to serve their own sense of misguide morality. Don't be condescending and racist as to think that just because someone is from a less developed country, that they don't have autonomy or agency to make their own decisions. The soft bigotry of low expectations is so disgusting and prevalent..
It’s not our duty to provide opportunities to as many foreign workers as possible though. If not here in Singapore, there will be opportunities elsewhere. We have little control over what happens in other countries. What we have more control of is providing safe and dignified working conditions for everyone including foreign workers in Singapore.
Well said.
don is so eloquent its so satisfying to hear him speak
The maids I grew up with would buy a house after 2.5 years. So I don't know about now but back then it was really lucrative la. Imagine being able to pay off your 4-room HDB just by working 2.5 years. I think quite a few people will take the risk.
To the end of the ep, you guys brought up a point that could be used to start another conversation - "are children supposed to be revenue-generating?"
next topic please! and talk about old-fashion parents~
They are not "supposed" to be, but nonetheless do serve some extent of that purpose, even in modern times (hence why Asian families place so much emphasis on well-paying careers and schooling). Historically, having children was primarily meant to serve a "revenue-generating" function to the family, as blunt as that may sound. If a family worked on a farm, you didn't have to spend money sending them to school and your child would be able to begin helping out at the age of 5-8 i.e., they had a short ROI. Today, the time before you receive your ROI on a child is much longer (20+ years) and way more expensive (university fees), which is why richer countries tend to have dwindling birthrates. The notion that our children today should be able to live life as they deem fit is a first-world luxury, thanks to how rich we have become from modern capitalism.
@@donovanchoy5008 lklj
I get where John is coming from, it's convenient to have a helper and you get to choose where you want to engage in the child care, but then again, it comes down to why you're having a kid in the first place, if you feel there is no up side, maybe it's not the right time. I feel it's like hiring a helper to go to school for you and teach you what they learn, then you sit for the exams only..It's all part of the learning experience of parenthood no?
I like the idea of a part time helper. The power dynamics as y'all mentioned are just so skewed that it makes helpers too vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. We cannot depend on the kindness of employers to ensure safe and dignified working conditions. I also don't think we should let the standards of their home countries lower our own work-life standards. When it is acceptable to give someone a non-livable wage, lack of work-life boundaries, little rest time, little privacy, unclear job scope, little job pride, etc., it becomes harder to fight for these same things for ourselves. If we want to treat helpers with respect, we have to treat them as we would treat ourselves. And I don't mean treating them like family. I mean actually treating them like valuable employees. So yeah, I'm glad things are starting to shift.
@@lakers_in5 enlighten me then pls
Need both jon paul and donovan
I like Donovan's political insights such as the terms for maids
And jon pauls weird questions.
They bring good variety of opinions
If you don't see the upside of having children, don't have them!! It's totally fine. Too many people have children just because they feel like that's what they are supposed to do.
I prefer one with John Paul though! He brings in a curve ball to conversations. Never know what to exp
Idk man, sometimes JP hella dumb LOL. Funny and entertaining, but imho the quality of his contribution is on a different level to the rest of the crew.
SOLID CONTENT. We need to treat people with dignity whether they are here for better or worse than where they come from. As Johnathan reiterated, doing a live-in domestic job 24/7 is hard for anyone because of the power imbalance at play.
I never thought about it before but having a maid is such a strange concept. In the 26 years of my life, my family only had one maid. she was with us for 22 years and just went home for good early this year. My parents always treat her like a family member. Throughout the years of being with our family, my parents have never asked her to pay for anything by herself. All the phones she had, they weren’t some cheap burner phone types, they were always what my family was using. She never paid for a single flight home. My parents and even extended family, would give her red packet on her birthday. During CNY, she was always there, cooking with the family etc. She was very close to my
grandma and took care of her when she wasn’t feeling well and at one point in time could even converse in Hokkien. I would like to think that even though she had to leave her 3 young kids and elderly parents back home, this was also like home to her. Now that I’ve moved to Australia and have assimilated more to the culture here, it really is very strange that Singaporeans have the need to have maids🤯
Convenience 😄
domestic helpers are getting a lot more protection. the contracts are normally signed for two years. and an employer pays quite a substantial amount to get them to Singapore. currently during covid, up to SGD 2-3k. If the helper wants to go home after 2-3 months, the employer has to bear the plane ticket. most also use Singapore as a stepping stone to head to countries which pay more.
Back in Philippines, their hometown, for domestic helper, it will be approx $150/month only. But the good thing is every weekend can go home. The price difference is vast though. So a lot will sacrifice youth and go back to retire.
I think helpers are pretty protected nowadays and some are even becoming snobbish as they know how to “play the game”
There is no "upside" to having children.
Animals in the wild make babies because their instincts tell them to.
The same applies to humans. Some of us have the instinct, and say that having children brings some sort of indescribable joy.
If you don't feel that way, then don't overthink it; having a baby is probably just not for you.
Donovan provides good insights and is very value-adding to the discussion. I like to see more of him in future episodes.
Bring Don back!!
If all employers follow the law, the law gets tightened, the penalty gets harsher, and neighbours and friends of the helper reports suspicious cases of abuse, then we wouldn't be having this conversation. And honestly, whether you call them domestic helper or maid, all would just want a safe and dignified working environment.
If all helpers know clearly the contract they are signing, their rights in Singapore, and being able to identify signs of abuse, and asserting their rights to leave an abusive household, then they probably wouldn't need to stay outside the household because the employer wouldn't even have the chance to make it happen.
Regarding outsourcing… basic caregiving is bonding time with your child. Feeding showering all are times for you to build your relationship with your child. You want to create good and bad memories with your child. Having a maid, would have with the laundry and housekeeping like cooking.
Yes to Donovan! Bring him back for more episodes. Especially if it involves politics/policy 😬
Just have 5 people!!!!
Make Donovan a permanent cast!
my helper was a mother i never had
i had my helper since i was 1 years old, shes the same age as my mother so she’s like my second mother and although we argue sometimes, i can’t imagine my life without her :((
wake up babe new daily ketchup podcast just dropped
Mom of 2 kids here. Maids are to help with the household. I take care of the kids. Even the 3am diaper change / milk feed.
Maids more often than not are also recruited from their home countries by "agencies". These agencies also most of the time charge an exorbitant amount, (citing tickets, placement fees at host country agencies, lodging/food for the time that they aren't hired yet, etc). For families living in the provinces, farms, small towns and what not, most likely cannot afford this. So what they do is they "borrow" that money through less than scrupulous characters just to be able to leave that's why they need to work their assess off. They start off at a disadvantage already. Host agencies probably have to be more discerning of their counterparts cuz these people prey on the fact that for the families of some of these maids, this is the best that they can ever hope to achieve.
donovan saying that we are actually helping maids in the third world by hiring them and giving them opportunities is the same line of thinking as “if i clear my plate then the cleaning uncle got no job then no one want to hire so actually i helping them by not clearing my plate.” all it does it makes you feel good about not cleaning up after yourself while ignoring the power imbalances and the huge sacrifices and difficulties faced by these marginalised groups.
:) I don’t think that’s what he meant at all. If anything, he expressed respect by recognizing that what helpers do deserve more value than what is given to them
This is a great content! Thank you..
Heart stopped for a moment when I heard last episode
i rly just go on yt just to listen to this podcast hahahhahahhah love yall
Where’s Jon… 5 person is possible right?
They said in the previous video that he wasn't feeling too good, this video was filmed on the same day as that one. Pretty sure he'll be back.
this was awesome!! keep it up guys :D donovan was lit man honestly. loved the nuance of his take!!
Holy shit that's a kidnapping story straight out of a movie!
My helper actually had a social life that was like 10 or so years ago, honestly, I thought that all of them would be treated like that but turns out not
Holy shit that screw driver story..
u know lor there were some foreign student they always think they married to singaporean scholar or reseacher mean their exclassmates will be their maid leh. We like wonder why she keep telling people we work for her husband who is working in Audit company(researcher) of army or navy. Later keep asking everyone....so should my husband or me do the cleaning in the house? She said no it suppose to be the navy personnel should go down to mindef or these researcher's house clean their house. Mentally unsound?
I always thought it was so weird when people call their helping aunty and when they don’t eat together with the family. Because when I had a helper my parents always asked me and my siblings to call them jiejie instead and we would always have meals together on the same table
Every family is different. I dont eat with my helper but doesnt mean i dont respect her. But if we are eating steamboat or something we do ask her to just join. But my helper always prefer to eat alone so she can have her own time.
Would love to see Jon more. His views create a balance
You forgot about the subsidiaries in childcare.... crazy ah pay thousands plus for childcare
late to comment but... seeing the "helper" rooms in singaporean homes seriously pisses me off... maybe cuz im american and our size of homes are bigger... but geeze even in america rapist n murderers in prison has bigger cells then these helper rooms.. and if i did have a helper i would atleast give them a study room or a bedroom atleast! and also the min wage in my state i would give to offer the helper also.. 15 usd is min wage in my state in the next few years... so that will be 600 usd per week 2400 per month... i would feel like a dog turd not paying them the same as a mcdonalds worker back in america... also i would do 8 hours they work 5 days a week n give them 2 days off... maybe i am too generous i guess! i understand they need to work for their future how can they prepare it for themselves if u dont actually pay them quite a decent amount...
thats just my 2 cents on this topic..
My 2 cents, 3/4 of the times the employers expose themselves as the pieces of shit they are by the way they treat another human. It bodes well for me though since its a good filter to cut these assholes out of my life if I ever knew them.
I read Donovan’s article about Singapore’s healthcare from an economic standpoint and I referenced it for one of my school projects. Good to see him on screen talk about things from a “smart person’s“ point of view, really allows for a deeper conversation which makes things all the more more interesting. Would love to have him on the show in future😁👍🏻
They may be Muslims, different diet.
Abit abit only tell Mothership
If we MUST choose between Jon Paul and Don, please give us JP :’(
sorry i have no sex appeal
@@donovanchoy5008 have both JP and Don on and have a trial by combat/words? 🤣
Nothing insightful to say, good episode guys.
I feel like these are opposing ideas
I think she meant she had nothing insightful to say in the comments haha! Correct me if I’m wrong, Grace!
- Dan
@@TheDailyKetchupPodcast That's right haha
Not sure they have a lot of stories all the time, some must really be made up lol
Donovan look like Henry Lau
lim tean
i want JP back! this new guy isnt bringing in good points. The way he speaks, seems like he lack critical thinking, very one dimensional (my honest opinion)
this is the worse intro of all daily ketchup podcast lol.