Few people staying in Singapore are
out of the rat race. Many of us spend more time at the office than at
home. We see our colleagues and our
business counterparts a lot more than our family. The last thing we want to do
when we get home is HOUSEWORK. We want to come home to a clean environment,
peaceful and with no worries.
The question to ask is “Do you
really need a full time maid?”
A full time maid can be very
convenient to have, when it comes to taking care of the aged, the sick, the
young and washing of the family car. It is however a package thing. You may get
more than what you ask for and often it is undesirable
5 Reasons why people prefers a part time maid to a
full time one.
- Peace of Mind
- Reliabilty
- Strengthening of family ties
-
More economical
-
Privacy
1. Peace of mind
Is your child safe? Are your family
members safe in the hands of a full time maid? What is this about child abuse
by maids again in the papers? Is the husband having an affair with the maid? Is
the maid having a boyfriend? Why does the maid look pregnant?
With part time maid, you won’t have
this problem
2. Reliabilty
Ever heard of your neighbours
complain of stupid maids before?
Most of the maids come from
countries that are not as advanced as Singapore. Many of the maids come from
rural areas of these countries. They do not know our culture, they do not know
what is the standard required. They may not even know why they are here.
If you do not train them well
enough, be prepared. They will break things. They will waste. They will do
things that you will never imagine of and at the end of the day they do what
they do best, they act blur. If you ask them to clean the floor beneath the
furniture, they will do it accordingly. Do watch out however that they could
try moving the refrigerator and washing machine to try to clean the floor. They
would also sweep the dirt under the carpet. Is their work reliable?
Do you want to spend time training
them and monitoring them all the time? Or do you prefer to spend time with your
family?
With part time maid, you won’t have
this problem
3. Strengthening Of Family Ties
Will the full time maid be closer to
your child than you? Are you spending enough time at home? Is the domestic
helper diluting your family culture? Do you need to obtain help from your
parents or in laws to keep an eye on the maid?
With part time maid, you won’t have
this problem. You can skip the housework and spend time with your children
4. Cost
For a full time maid, you would have
to pay for worker’s levy, agency fees, medical bills, food etc. They may break
your things; they may use your laundry detergent at 3 times the speed as what
is considered normal. They may cook 5kg of rice in a week when only 1kg at most
is needed.
|
Upfront Fees
|
Monthly Maintenance
|
Agency fees
|
$1,800
|
|
Insurance
|
$328
|
|
Medical/in-setting program
|
$350
|
|
Maid’s Loan
|
$1650 ($550 x 3months)
|
|
Levy
|
|
$170
|
Food and food wastage
|
|
$100-$400
|
Utilties and other wastage
|
|
$50-$150
|
Salary
|
|
$550
|
Other costs (medical etc)
|
|
$0-$50
|
Total
|
$4128
|
$870-$1320
|
|
|
|
There is more certainty when you
acquire the service of a part time maid
It costs $12.00- $17.50 an hour
on weekdays while on a weekend it is just $20.00- $22.00 an hour. If you
have 4hrs of cleaning per week, the cost is just $288-$352 for a month. There is
no upfront fee.
Which one is cheaper to have?
5. Privacy and other issues
With a full time maid at home 24hrs
a day, are you able to do the things you could have done if you were alone? Is
your maid telling all her other maid friends in the neighbourhood something
about you and your family?
Not to forget something important
here, maids are also human and they do throw tantrums. Some maids may get
vengeful when you ask too much of them. Actions taken by them can vary from
putting something into your food to endangering your family’s life.
There are also theft cases and cases
whereby they bring their boyfriend home when you aren’t around. They can accuse
the employer of molest or abuse. They may accidentally fall to their death, not
knowing that it is dangerous to live in high rise buildings.
With part time maid, you won’t have
this problem.
Summing up, a part time domestic
helper is overall better to have than a full time one. Unless there is an aged
or handicapped at home, do away with the full time maid. Most children attend
the full day pre-school and would often have their grandparents to look after
them.
If a person wants to talk about full
time maid's issue, even 40 pages will not be enough to write. Thus employ a
full time maid only when absolutely necessary. It will mean LESS headache & LESS heartache.
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