Nur Hazirah S10033889J

Nur Hazirah

The audio is here--->http://www.zshare.net/audio/revised-version-mp3.html

Radio oral presentation

Hi I’m Hazi from the Newsradio 93.8. And today we’ll be taking up the issue of foreign domestic workers.

There have been cases of really irresponsible foreign domestic workers during their stay here. What exactly is the cause of their reckless and errant behaviours and why do they do what they do?

I must however stress that it occurs in only a small proportion of them who have received most of the bad publicity and certain perceptions we have of them.


What is the cause and why do these errant domestic workers exist among us?

Like any other human beings, there are a lot of causes leading to their behavior. One of which is probably due to the tremendous amount of stress they have to face every single day. Given that they are already given a minimum wage, they have to put up with long hours of extra workload. To some extent, they have to bear with verbal and physical abuse as well as those really unfortunate ones, they may even encounter sexual harassment or abuse. High possibility they will feel unjustified and that is when they will turn against their employers and do nasty or reckless things during their time here.

Another reason why errant domestic workers exist is due to their peer influence or the company they mix in. I am sure most of us have heard of the saying nice people get corrupted too. Many of those foreign domestic workers seek emotional and moral support from their peers and acquaintances primarily because they have absolutely no one to turn to for help or advice. Some of them will feel pressurized to imitate certain actions or behaviour in order to feel like they belong to a certain group. There is emotional attachment involved. For example, the friend may introduce the domestic worker to a guy and from then onwards we see a change in her behaviour. Furthermore, some of these workers came to Singapore at a tender young age where they are more susceptible and prone to peer influence. It seems that there is no one to keep them grounded being away from home. Peer influence is one of the main causes of why the foreign domestic workers turn against their employers.


Another reason would be their lack of discipline in getting their priorities straight. Some of these foreign domestic workers may take things easy or for granted because they are inexperienced. They are not aware of the heavy responsibilities that are bestowed on them and take things very lightly.

Desperate times would result in the domestic workers turning to desperate measure in this case turning wayward. For example, because they are financially hard up they will result to unscrupulous means in order to clear their debts.

These are just some of the causes that lead to errant domestic helpers.

When these happen, they will dabble into committing petty crimes such as shoplifting or even stealing from their employers. Some might even get involved in unsolicited affairs and get pregnant during their stay. Not only that there have been cases and repots where domestic workers run away from home to be with their lovers. Too much pressure and workload, will (high possibility) result in them taking it out on the children and inflict injuries(abuses) on the kids.

Now we are going to interview a current employer named Mr Saiful

So do you have a maid?
Yes
Have you ever had an experienced with an errant domestic worker?
Would you care to tell us more?
Yes. In fact for the past years I’ve had a total number of three maids.One from Phillippines and two from Indonesia. There was this one from Phillippines, she was quite meek and timid and we thought she could do no wrong. Then one day right, I was sick and had to go home early. Usually there will be no one around, only the maid. When I got home, I saw the maid on MY bed with a guy.


How could all these be prevented then?

There are several ways that the foreign domestic workers and their employers could do. I strongly feel that both employers and the employees should learn to try and understand each other’s needs and wants from the very start. They should clear any doubts and questions as well as set limitations and boundaries on certain things before the foreign domestic workers start their work. The employers should not make unnecessary wants or demands and the domestic workers on the other hand should take their responsibilities and work very seriously. They also sought to make the effort to get to know each other better given that they will be working and living close to each other. On certain levels, things will be so much better if they are willing to compromise and trust as well as respect each other even more so; knowing full well that trust and respect need to be earned.

This Hazi signing off now.