Breakthrough in my Clan
Today marks a significant day. It is the first day in 27 years that my family is living without the aid of a domestic help - a.k.a. A Maid. We just decided that we no longer need to hire one. That's fine by me. However, I believe that only a small fraction of Singaporeans share my sentiments.
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In the beginning, the idea of the domestic help was sort of a luxury indulgence for those with a little more dough in their snake skin wallet. However, as the country prospered, that same idea became a norm, a common practice for the common man - a common citizen of this nation. We get better educated, get better paying jobs and ultimately decide that getting domestic help to take care of our household needs is ... shall we say... a natural thought progression.
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All is fine for a while, UNTIL, this becomes a symbiotic relationship. Imagine, how sad would it be if us Singaporeans could not do without the aid of maids. After all, they are in effect our cooks, washers, butlers, gardeners, toilet cleaners, dog walkers, baby sitters and nursing aids rolled into one. In other first world countries like that of Australia or the United States, I believe that the hiring of domestic help is limited to those who live in the lap of luxury or those who live in huge estates. It would be because of this very reason (the size of their property or bank account) that they want to hire help (even then, those hired help come with specific responsibilities). Even the average American middle income household with, say, 4 kids would think twice, three times even, before the hiring begins. The same cannot be said of the average Singaporean (household).
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Imagine, more than 85% of us live in cramped up living spaces but still have no qualms with having another person living in that same cramped space. This inevitably creates social problems. There have been no shortage of stories featured in the local newspapers about maids killing or being killed, abusing or being abused, jumping off buildings, accidents, more accidents and even more tragic accidents. (No kidding, for a period of time, maids are falling off window ledges so often, the public, YES the public got to be educated about enforcing safety in the maid's workspace. Weird huh?)
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Blame it on the close proximity. Blame it on all our high stress high powered jobs. But the problems that come with hiring maids is all self-inflicted. Who is to blame? Well it is anyone's intelligent guess. Sometimes I think about it and it just does not make any sense to me to hire a maid. Think privacy. Think stranger washing your delicates and your unmentionables. Think having to share your close quarters with another person, thus making your quarters even closer. It's just not worth it.
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So today is significant. We as a family have decided to break this bondage, this cancerous reliance on an idea - The idea that having a maid is a dire Need not a necessary Want. We know that it'll work out, we just need a system. We just have to be a little less lazy.
-------
In the beginning, the idea of the domestic help was sort of a luxury indulgence for those with a little more dough in their snake skin wallet. However, as the country prospered, that same idea became a norm, a common practice for the common man - a common citizen of this nation. We get better educated, get better paying jobs and ultimately decide that getting domestic help to take care of our household needs is ... shall we say... a natural thought progression.
-------
All is fine for a while, UNTIL, this becomes a symbiotic relationship. Imagine, how sad would it be if us Singaporeans could not do without the aid of maids. After all, they are in effect our cooks, washers, butlers, gardeners, toilet cleaners, dog walkers, baby sitters and nursing aids rolled into one. In other first world countries like that of Australia or the United States, I believe that the hiring of domestic help is limited to those who live in the lap of luxury or those who live in huge estates. It would be because of this very reason (the size of their property or bank account) that they want to hire help (even then, those hired help come with specific responsibilities). Even the average American middle income household with, say, 4 kids would think twice, three times even, before the hiring begins. The same cannot be said of the average Singaporean (household).
-------
Imagine, more than 85% of us live in cramped up living spaces but still have no qualms with having another person living in that same cramped space. This inevitably creates social problems. There have been no shortage of stories featured in the local newspapers about maids killing or being killed, abusing or being abused, jumping off buildings, accidents, more accidents and even more tragic accidents. (No kidding, for a period of time, maids are falling off window ledges so often, the public, YES the public got to be educated about enforcing safety in the maid's workspace. Weird huh?)
-------
Blame it on the close proximity. Blame it on all our high stress high powered jobs. But the problems that come with hiring maids is all self-inflicted. Who is to blame? Well it is anyone's intelligent guess. Sometimes I think about it and it just does not make any sense to me to hire a maid. Think privacy. Think stranger washing your delicates and your unmentionables. Think having to share your close quarters with another person, thus making your quarters even closer. It's just not worth it.
-------
So today is significant. We as a family have decided to break this bondage, this cancerous reliance on an idea - The idea that having a maid is a dire Need not a necessary Want. We know that it'll work out, we just need a system. We just have to be a little less lazy.
posted by fredizzle at 2:54 PM
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