Showing posts with label maid agency. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maid agency. Show all posts

Friday, April 29, 2011

The Maid - Reliable? Biodatas

Employers Burnt By Misleading Biodata

MANY employers have been the victims of unreliable biodata provided to them by maid agencies.
Gina D. 51, working mother of four.
In 2006, I applied for a maid who was supposed to be 35 years old as stated in the biodata provided to me. She could pass for 35 from her photograph as well. However, when I picked her up from the agency I was shocked at how much older she looked.
She was definitely in her 50s or even older. I later found out that her hair was actually almost completely white and she had been dyeing it black to cover it up.
When I confronted my agency, they said that maids sometimes lie about their age. They couldn’t have known, they said, as the Indonesian agencies just send them the biodatas and the photos and they distribute that to their customers who make a choice.
As I really needed the help and didn’t want to go through the process of applying for another one, I thought I’d give her a chance.
We tried for a year before I decided to send her back. Because of her age she was very difficult to work with and would answer back frequently.
I can’t confirm if they let her work with someone else but I think she must have left the country as I applied for a check-out memo after deciding to send her back.
Once you apply for a check-out memo, the maid has to leave the country by a certain date and if she hadn’t left I wouldn’t have been able to apply for a replacement maid (which I was able to do).
Stretching the truth: Some agencies falsify biodata to make maids appear bigger and stronger than they actually are.
Susan, homemaker, mother of three.
I once had an underaged maid who lied about her age. In her biodata she had listed down her age as 24 or 25 but when she arrived you could tell she was very young. It turned out that she was only 15 and she didn’t know anything! She told me that the agency asked her to lie about her age or she would not be allowed into the country. I held on to her for as long as I could but in the end she just couldn’t handle the work
Another problem is when they claim to have worked with children before but when they come you can tell that they actually haven’t. I’ve not really sent back many maids before their contract has ended.
The agencies never take responsibility anyway. You tend to just ignore what you read in the biodata because you end up having to train them all over again.
From the biodata you choose a maid based on if you’re happy with her face, and that she’s physically well or can be at home alone and take care of dogs. The agencies are not going to bother checking either if they can actually do what they say.
Once when I was living with my mother-in-law, we had a maid who was three months pregnant when she arrived! We actually confronted the agency about it but they said they weren’t responsible as the maids are supposed to undergo a screening in Indonesia.
I think employers are victims in the sense that this maid had worked for my mother-in-law less than a year, and they said they’d give her another maid but she still had to pay all over again because the local agency wasn’t liable.
CG, KL, working mother of one.
My husband worked in Indonesia for a long time and from what he knew and from what people have told us, we didn’t want to employ a maid from this particular region of Indonesia as they are known to be aggressive. We made sure our agency knew that.
I picked my maid from all the biodata given to me because she fulfilled certain criteria and had completed her Form 5.
When she showed up, however, it turned out that she was from that region we weren’t keen on!
Also despite her biodata saying otherwise, she couldn’t cook. She had a horrible attitude – she was always falling ill and waking up late, probably because she was using the phone till late at night.
So after five months of her behaviour, we decided to send her back. We dropped her off at the agency who later told us she was being sent back to Indonesia.
I never went into her room as I respected her privacy, but when she left I had to. I found that she had been stealing things like money and had vandalised all my antique furniture in her room!
My agency never reimbursed us or even apologised.
Of course, there are agencies who now allow you to interview them (potential maids) over webcam but you can’t really trust that because it could be rehearsed.
I feel very violated and taken advantage of by that maid agency. I think it is the government’s fault really for never having put into place real procedures or ensuring that agencies’ standards are maintained.
Paula S, working mother of two.
In 2004, I applied for a maid to take care of my elderly mother. On both her biodata and her working permit, her age was listed as 25 years old. As she was tall we didn’t question it.
The next year when we were celebrating her birthday, we asked her how old she was going to be and she told us that she was only 19! She said the agency in Indonesia had asked her to lie about her age otherwise she wouldn’t get a job.
We didn’t inform the Malaysian agency so we don’t really know if they knew her real age.
But even if I had known then that she was only 18 when she came, I probably would have still employed her unless it was illegal as she was emotionally mature.
Low W.S. 54, homemaker, mother of three.
About seven or eight years ago, I employed an Indonesian maid. Her biodata was all right – she was 28 and had a husband and kids.
When she got here, though, and started working she was always complaining that she was tired at the end of the day, which didn’t seem right because she was so young. I suspected she was pregnant but didn’t say anything.
There’s supposed to be a screening procedure in Indonesia to make sure the maids aren’t pregnant before they are sent here. But maybe technology was different back then and they didn’t detect it.
However, after working for two months, I confronted her and she admitted that she was pregnant. I took her to a doctor and discovered that she was five months pregnant! So, of course, I sent her back to the agency and got a replacement maid.

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Maid To Fit The Bill

For most people who are seeking to hire foreign maids, the biodata is their first introduction to their potential employee. However, the information it contains has proven to be not as truthful as it should be.
WITH her mother’s worsening health, Marie Gomez has no choice but to hire a foreign maid to help care for her. But after hearing numerous hair-raising stories about maids from hell, Gomez is being extra careful in the selection process.
“It is definitely not easy when you only have a stack of biodata to base your selection on. There is no guarantee that all the information submitted is true,” she says.
Even the pictures provided with the biodata raise doubts.
“The prospective domestic workers claim to be of average weight but they look really frail and scrawny in the pictures,” relates Gomez.
“I thought I had found one who looks strong and sturdy enough to look after my mother and help lift her if needed, but then I realised that her picture was stretched sideways to make her look bigger than she really is. In fact she is as scrawny as the rest.”
Age limit: The rule, according to the last memorandum of understanding between Malaysia and Indonesia, is that Indonesian domestic workers who are selected for work in Malaysia must be at least 21 years old and no more than 45. – Filepic
Falsification of biodata, including for their official documents, among foreign domestic workers is more rampant than we realise.
Chan G. from Kuala Lumpur likens selecting a maid from a biodata to buying a lottery ticket.
Says the working mother of one, “I picked my maid from all the biodata given to me because she fulfilled certain criteria and had completed her secondary schooling. When she showed up, however, she was nothing like what she claimed to be.”
Despite her biodata saying otherwise, she could not cook and her attitude was bad, she adds.
“She rang up a phone bill of RM1,400 at my house. She was completely disloyal and unreliable. We discovered later on that she was entertaining people at our home when we were not around as weird people began showing up at our doorstep. When I confronted her about her attitude three or four months after she came to us, she told me that she had not wanted to be a maid but had wanted to work at a factory instead. So we decided to send her back to the agent who promised to send her back to Indonesia.”
A few months after her maid left, says Chan, she started receiving threatening messages from her.
“I learnt later that she was not sent back to Indonesia and is now working for a new employer in Malaysia. My agency never reimbursed us or even apologised,” she says, adding that she will never hire a full-time maid again after her experience.
The biodata is basically a resume for the maid. It contains information about the identity, age and experience of the maid and other details such as their working preferences, willingness to handle pork, take care of dogs or care for the elderly.
“In many situations, however, this information is made up by the agents to make the maids more marketable,” says Migrant Care Malaysia country director Alex Wong.
Many employers keep mum when their domestic workers fail to live up to their biodata or when they find discrepancies in the information provided because “returning” them will cost money.
Employers would have to pay an additional “exchange” fee of between RM,1000 and RM3,000 for a replacement maid, or start the process all over again, forking out the standard fee of RM8,000 as required when one seeks to hire a foreign maid.
Wong alleges that this has created a “business” where some agencies sell their migrant workers to different employers after they are found wanting and sent back by their original employer.
Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) president Alwi Bavutty views this claim as rubbish but concedes that many foreign domestic workers who are sent to Malaysia, especially those from Indonesia, do falsify their personal details when applying for their passport and visa.
“But there is not much we can do because they are supposed to be screened before they come over,” he says.
Maid agency director Datuk Raja Zulkepley Dahalan agrees, stressing that the biodata is a necessary evil because it provides an insight of the maid’s background for employers.
“It is for employers to choose according to their specification. Once they agree, they have to pay the Indonesian agent a 10% deposit to secure the biodata or to book the domestic worker.
Raja Zulkepley: ‘The biodata is a necessary evil because it provides an insight of the maid’s background’
“Most of the payment goes to the Indonesian agent. Our profit is only around RM630 per maid and we have to pay for our office expenses and staff,” he says.
Wong attributes the problem to the hiring system in place.
“True, currently the biodata is the only way that employers can check out the candidates but what you see on paper is often not what you get,” he says.
This has led to numerous cases of maids running away because they are not willing to handle dogs or pork, although their biodata clearly states otherwise.
“Malaysian employers need to be smart ‘consumers’ when they deal with the agencies instead of acting desperately and giving in to all the demands of the agents when they don’t do anything other than provide the biodata,” stresses Wong.
They need to ensure that the domestic workers they receive are trained. In Indonesia, for example, the regulation is that they get 200 hours of training. There are agencies who do not follow the regulation but they claim they do.
Malaysian agents are also supposed to “retrain” the maids they receive before dispatching them to the employer to ensure that they are able to do the work they have been hired for. Unfortunately, this is not a regulation in Malaysia.
Wong highlights that there are many Indonesian domestic workers who are lured to Malaysia to work as factory workers or shop assistants.
“Some even have it stated in their employment contract but when they get here, they are forced to become domestic workers because that is a more lucrative market. This causes a lot of bad blood between the employers and domestic workers,” he says.
Tenaganita programme coordinator Aegile Fernandez concurs, saying that many are sweet-talked into working abroad.
“They are promised lots of money and a better life to come to Malaysia. Some are promised other jobs – like work in a restaurant – but when they arrive they are forced to be maids.
“But they are bound to the agency because they have either spent a lot of money or owe the agency money for the ‘expenses’ to come to Malaysia. Some are even threatened with prostitution,” she says.
Wong believes that many Malaysian agents are colluding with their overseas counterparts to falsify the biodata and other documents of the foreign maids.
The most common “lie” is the age of the prospective domestic worker.
This is well demonstrated by the recent case of the underage maid who torched her employer’s sister’s home in Terengganu after he decided to send her back to Indonesia.
Early investigations revealed that she had gained entry with a proper but allegedly falsified document, which listed a fake name and birth date.
While the police were baffled about how she manipulated her personal details, anyone with a foreign maid at home or those who have gone through the experience of hiring one will vouch that this is part and parcel of the process of hiring a foreign maid.
The rule, according to the last memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Malaysia and Indonesia (we are currently in the midst of negotiations on a new one), is that Indonesian domestic workers who are selected for work in Malaysia must be at least 21 years old and no more than 45.
However, industry insiders say that the accepted average minimum age for Indonesian maids in Malaysia is 18, which is the minimum age allowed for Indonesians to work abroad.
The situation is that in most areas in Indonesia, registration of citizens is not strict while the control system is loose, so there are many abuses.
Most of the poor in rural villages don’t even bother to register their newborn babies for birth certificates or get proper identification papers (ID) when they come of age, he says.
“Many only do it when they want to work as a migrant or domestic worker. They are then assisted by their sponsors, who help process their paperwork to create their identity and get their ID for the purpose of applying for a passport and visa.
“To get a passport, the documentation requirement is more stringent but with a small payment, the process can be made easier and faster,” Wong says.
This is a common practice in Indonesia, he adds, and this is common knowledge among Malaysian agents who use it to their advantage.
“Many Malaysian agents just accept whatever documents and whoever the Indonesian agents send over to them without question. When problems arise, they pass the blame and responsibility back to the Indonesian agents.”
Alwy denies this, stressing that most of the time the minors get through our immigration gates because the documents are genuine.
“It is difficult for us to verify if the data is true or not. If it is accepted by the Indonesian authorities, we should accept it. We do have our own measures to check this; we will interview the candidates to ascertain their real age when we suspect that they are younger than they claim,” he says.
Fernandez warns employers who are landed with an underaged maid to report the case to the authorities.
“If you suspect that a maid is young, send her back and report the agency to the authorities. It is illegal to bring in underaged maids; it could surmount to human trafficking,” she says.
These underaged domestic workers are usually not able to handle the work or the conditions of the work, being isolated from other people and, more often than not, having no means of communication with their families back home.
“They do not have the maturity yet at that age to handle their emotions, what more when they are alone in a strange country. That is why some of them ‘explode’ and take revenge on their employers,” she cautions, citing the case of a 16-year-old Indonesian maid who stabbed her employer’s mother to death in Kuantan in 2008 after she allegedly got tired of the old lady’s nagging and scolding.
Employers really need to keep in mind that these underaged maids are basically still children, she adds.
“At 14 to 16 years old, for example, a girl is young and still wants to have fun. Many do not want to spend their days cooped up doing long hours of housework.”

Both Sources: The Star

Saturday, April 16, 2011

The Maid - Squeezing Dry The Employers (4)

Maid Via The Black Market

KUALA LUMPUR – Freelance recruitment agents are making big bucks by supplying maids to Malaysian employers through the 'black market.'
A probe by national daily The Star showed that the continuing high demand for Indonesian domestic helpers, despite a temporary ban in place, has created this lucrative, albeit illegal,  recruitment of maids.
maid-4Most pf the people involved are freelance individuals - who dubbeed themselves as agents - who have contact with similar kind of people in Indonesia.
Both parties are not tied to any associations in their respective countries.
Therefore, they can supply maids “under the radar” despite the supply freeze imposed nearly a year ago by the Indonesian government.
Hefty increase in recruitment fee
One 'agent' here told the paper that business had been good despite a hefty increase in the recruitment fee.
Before the freeze, the recruitment fee charged by an agency was about RM5,000, inclusive of payments for levy, work permit, airfare and six months' salary.
Now, the fee can go as high as RM10,000.
An executive from Bukit Mertajam said it was difficult to raise RM9,400 for the agent but she was desperate to get help to look after her mother.
The woman, who gave her name only as Tan, said the agent agreed to get a maid from Indonesia provided she (Tan) personally applies to the Immigration Department for a one-year calling visa to allow the helper to work here.
Discussion between PM and Susilo
It is learnt that a high-level meeting held last Friday between the Home Ministry and Indonesia's Manpower and Transmigration Ministry finally broke the impasse on the issue between the two countries.
A memorandum of understanding on maids is expected to be signed during the visit here of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The signing will be witnessed by the Indonesian president and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak after their retreat on Tuesday.— Malaysian Mirror.

Source: Malaysian Mirror - Monday, May 17, 2010  

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I was approached by a number of friends in JB who asked me to get maids, or helpers from Batam, as I often visit the place. 

Sad it seem, the shortage of maids really affect normalcy in some households I know. 
I know of Indonesians from faraway, stationing themselves in Batam, hoping to work in country across it.

Ironically, I was approached by a number of Indonesians in Batam who made their wish known to Me. 
They wanted My help. 
They wanted to work, any type of work available, in Singapore (???) 

I was even approached by someone who was prepared to provide rotating female house helpers, again, to work in Singapore. 
When I mentioned of knowing many households in JB that need helpers, they were not keen, as they work for money, and they go after the exchange rate. 

****** 

Indonesian Women Slaves Saved from Malaysian Hell

Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian authorities rescued 71 Indonesian women who claimed they were forced to work long hours as cleaners without pay for at least two years, an official said Monday.

Immigration officials raided a house where the women were staying after three of them fled and alerted authorities, said Nar Azaman Ibrahim, the immigration enforcement chief of Malaysia’s northern Kedah state. The women were kept at the house and sent to different homes for daily cleaning jobs.

The women entered neighboring Malaysia through a migrant worker recruitment agent who promised to find them work as maids for 500 ringgit ($160) a month. But when they arrived, the man took away their passports and forced them to clean homes every day without any time off, Nar Azaman said.

Most of the women, including one as young as 17, had never been paid, but were promised they would receive money eventually, Nar Azaman said.

The man who held them has been arrested and could be charged with human trafficking, an offense that carries a maximum prison term of 15 years.

The women are now at a shelter in an illegal migrant detention center near Kuala Lumpur.

Nearly 2 million foreigners, mostly from poorer regional countries, work in Malaysia’s construction, plantation, manufacturing and service industries. Claims of overwork, unpaid salaries and sometimes even physical abuse are common. - Associated Press.

Source: The Jakarta Globe - July 26, 2010

******
Safi invited us to her house-warming.  

When we reached Safi's house, I could see that Zah was reluctant to leave the car. 
Tears trickled from her eyes. 

I was happy for Safi. 
She got the resale corner-lot house, with mango tree loaded of ready-to-eat, ready-to-pluck fruits.
The house is strategically located not far from Giant Supermarket and other amenities, at a great bargain price, less than RM200,000. 
Wasn't Zah happy for Safi too?  

I had it all wrong, she said. 
She was happy for Safi, but was terribly hurt by the previous owner of the house. 

Zah used to drop by that particular house. 
The previous owner,who owns a maid agency, used to be her good friend for many, many years. 
Naturally, she turned to her this good friend for maids. 
She never failed her, not until the last time, about a year ago. 

After she gave her a deposit of RM3,000 for a new maid, after a three months lapse, she called her, no answer. 
She dropped by her place, nobody at home. 
She did not want to lose a valued friendship at the cost of only RM3,000. 

Now, after slightly more than a year, Zah is still without maid. 
She asked Me to help her getting one in Batam, but I have not the heart to tell her that they will work anytime if it is Singapore.

I asked her to tag with Me along to Batam.
I  promised her I'll get help from friend over there to bring us to the place where maid agency placed their potential house-helpers.  
But Zah would still prefer her good friend where agency is concerned. 
Such a loyal friend! 

She knew her friend is in great difficulties, especially at the time when Indonesian maids' entry to Malaysia is still pending.
When Zah knew that Safi bought the house she used to spend her evenings, her heart thumped aloud. 

The maid agency owner knew Zah is looking for a house very badly. 
And, Zah had umpteenth times told her, should she intended to sell her house, Zah is the first ready buyer.

Instead, she sold it to Zah's other good friend, which she wasn't aware of.

******

Good Help Is Harder To Find 
By JOSEPH LOH  

Malaysians are grousing that hiring foreign maids these days is more costly and time-consuming, and recruitment agencies say the situation may well continue if certain problems in the industry are not addressed.
WHEN work commitments for Tan S.K. and his wife demanded more of their time, it left them less for domestic matters. He then decided to hire a foreign maid to help with chores around the house and to look after his two young children.
He soon discovered that hiring a foreign maid could be a frustrating process. The time needed before they could get the maid was lengthy, not to mention the initial cost involved.
Feeling at home: Although other countries pay better salaries, Indonesian maids are more comfortable working in Malaysia as there is no language barrier and they are free to practise their religion.
“From the time that I approached a maid agency to actually getting one took six months. I also had to fork out about RM7,500 even before I saw her in person.
“Furthermore, the maid was unsuitable and we requested a replacement — and we had to go through the whole process again. Fortunately, it only took about three months the second time,” Tan says.
This meant it took nine months before he had a live-in maid. With all the hassle he had to go through — not to mention the addition of another person to the household — Tan has decided not to hire another when the current contract expires.
“I don’t know how much a maid is going to cost me in future, and with what I have gone through, I don’t feel it is worth the hassle. I will probably look for part-time maid services then.”
Tan’s experience is one that is becoming increasingly common, but this is a situation that has been developing over the last five years.
According to Malaysian Association Of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) president Datuk Raja Zulkepley Dahalan, the most obvious reason is there is a shortage of maids from Indonesia, where Malaysia obtains about 95% of its maids.
“We are not only facing a shortage but an acute shortage! It is very serious, and our business has dropped by about 60%,” he says, adding that the situation worsened considerably over the last two years.
Raja Zulkepley informs that maids from other countries such as Cambodia and the Philippines are allowed, but the popular choice is Indonesia mainly because of lower wages lower compared to other countries.
“Malaysians prefer Indonesians as they are very good. They suit the job demands here, and communication is less of a problem,” he says.
"The salary is in line with the cost of living here"- FIONA LOW
Unpopular choice
Potential employers may find difficulty in obtaining a maid, but those facing bigger pressure are the maid agencies themselves. Describes Agensi Pekerjaan Sentosa SB director K.C. Lau, “The last two years were particularly bad, but from the end of 2004, we could feel it was getting difficult. This could be because Hong Kong and Taiwan opened up to hiring foreign maids.
“I have much difficulty meeting my target – it was a lot easier before. I could easily obtain 20 to 30 maids from each supplier back then, but can only get about four or five now.”
Lam*, from a KL-based agency, says her recruitment has reduced by 40%.
“Three years ago, I could obtain 500 maids a month, now it is less than 300,” she says, adding that many smaller agencies have stopped operating or want to sell their licences.
Agensi Pekerjaan Sri Nadin Sdn Bhd general manager Fiona Low, however, believes there is no shortage of potential maids in Indonesia. “People there know how to compare (between countries) and can choose where they want to go, and this affects the volume coming in.”
Raja Zulkepley believes there are many reasons why the supply of maids from Indonesia is dwindling. One is that the maids themselves, and the recruitment agencies, prefer other countries.
It essentially boils down to a matter of dollars and cents. Other countries pay higher salaries than Malaysia, he says. For example, maids in Taiwan are paid about RM2,400 a month; Hong Kong, RM1,700; Singapore and the Middle East, RM800. In Malaysia they are paid about RM600.
But Low believes that this should not be a factor. “The salary is what we (Malaysians) can offer at the moment, and it is in line with the cost of living here. You cannot compare this with other countries.”
She adds, “Not all maids are looking at the prospect of money — it is to do with their comfort level. Malaysia is still one of the nearest countries, has the same religion, and some may also have relatives here.”
Lam disagrees, insisting that the wage disparity cannot be ignored.
“Wages here are very low compared to other countries. If you were a maid, where would you want to go?”
Furthermore, there is a difference in which party has to pay for getting the maid into the country.
Says Lau, “Under the Malaysian system, both employer and maid have to pay (respective agencies) money, but in the Middle East, the employer pays everything. The maids just go there to work. Most have to take a loan to come to Malaysia, but not so for the Middle East.”
Lam adds that for countries like Taiwan, maids are even willing to pay recruiters for the opportunity to work there.
Question of cost
Another point is that maid suppliers in Indonesia are paid higher agency fees by other countries compared to Malaysia, reveals Lau.
“Other countries are giving higher agency fees, so in order to be competitive, we have to give higher fees too. From the year 2005, it has almost doubled. Last time, we paid about RM3,000 for each maid. Now it is about RM5,000 to RM6,000,” he says.
Adds Low, “This is a free market and (trade) depends on a willing buyer and seller. If somebody has a better offer, you will have to pay more than usual.”
A common complaint among employers is the high cost involved in obtaining a maid from Indonesia. Currently, one has to pay at least RM7,500.
“People always put the blame on local maid agencies, and say we are making excess profits, but this is something beyond our control,” says Raja Zulkepley.
The actual cost is significantly less, Low says. “Actually, employers only pay about RM4,500 to get a maid.”
She explains that in most instances, the maid will not have to be paid for the first six months.
“The additional sum is a loan of sorts that employers give to the maid,” she says, adding that this is usually used to pay for miscellaneous expenses such as travel and training received in Indonesia.
Negative perception
Another factor is that Malaysia is perceived by some as a bad country to work in.
“The reputation of Malaysia is very bad,” says Raja Zulkepley. One reason for this is abuse cases in Malaysia are excessively highlighted in the press.
“There are also similar cases of abuse in Singapore, Taiwan, or the Middle East, for example, but they are not played up as much, so they think that Malaysia is not a good country,” he says.
Lam agrees, saying: “In Malaysia, it will be in the news for a few weeks and then we forget about it. But it is different in Indonesia; it can drag on for months!”
This is compounded by the fact that significant numbers of Indonesians are working illegally in the country.
“Because of this they are not protected and many are not treated fairly by employers — ranging from not getting paid to being abused. When these girls go home, they spread the word,” says Raja Zulkepley.
On the time span involved in getting a maid, Raja Zulkeply says it takes a long time to complete the procedure before maids can work in the country.
“Bringing foreign maids into our country will incur a lot of red tape. Sometimes it can take as long as two to three months,” he explains, adding that in this time, suppliers incur the cost of providing for the maids’ board and lodging.
He gives the example of Singapore, where approvals can be obtained within two or three days. For the Middle East, block visas are provided, with specific individual visas given upon arrival.
Lam points out a loophole where employers can send maids home without informing the agency.
“This can give rise to many problems such as abuse, rape or unpaid salaries. The employer can send them home and agencies or the Government won’t know anything about it. If they have to go through the agency there will be better control.”
Raja Zulkepley believes that Papa can play a significant role in streamlining the industry. “In order to become more efficient, all Malaysian maid agencies must be members of Papa. This was actually approved by the Immigration Department in June 2007, but has never been enforced.”
New source countries
One major benefit, he says, is that as a united front, it can get better rates from the suppliers. He says that Papa has also called for the reduction of the minimum age of incoming Indonesian maids from 21 to 18 in addition to calling for new source countries — China in particular.
But until then, local maid agencies have to work within existing constraints.
Says Lau, “Fortunately, our profits are about the same, but capital investment has gone up considerably. We could make one Ringgit for every two spent before, but now we need four! And who wants to raise their prices? This is bad for business! If we keep it low, everyone can afford a maid.”
Low believes the difficulty in obtaining maids will remain as the status quo.
“It is already like this. We hope that people will understand the difficulties and be more tolerant.”
Concludes Lam, “The cost of recruiting maids rose faster than the price of petrol! Many things in the industry are out of our control, and keep in mind that we are dealing with humans, not products. This line of work is very difficult, and I am tired and find it very hard to continue. We may have been able to make good money last time, but not any more.”
* Name has been changed.

Source: The Star - Sunday, January 11, 2009

The Maid - Squeezing Dry The Employers (3)

MTUC: Cut Maid Agency Fees Instead

PETALING JAYA, Aug 9 — Instead of the salary of Indonesian maids, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) wants the government to negotiate and reduce the cost of their recruitment.
MTUC vice-president A. Balasubramaniam said currently, maids were unduly burdened with extra cost which they had to pay to recruiting agents.
According to him, before the Indonesian government imposed the ban on its maids a year ago, the recruiting fee was in the region of RM8,000 each.
Part of the money was deducted by the employers via the maid’s salary, which meant that they (maids) had to work for six months without pay.
“This system is most unfair to the maids as it is akin to forced labour,” he told Bernama today.
Balasubramaniam was commenting on a statement by Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam that the Indonesian government’s demand for RM800 minimum wage for maids could not be implemented as Malaysia did not have a minimum wage structure.
He said this was one of the main reasons why the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Malaysia and Indonesia could not be implemented.
On the RM800 salary, Balasubramaniam said a survey conducted by MTUC early this year showed that some employers were willing to pay RM800 per month to Indonesian maids, provided the agency fees were reduced.
He said the survey also revealed employers were willing to pay higher salaries to the maids  instead of higher fees to the agents. As an alternative, he said the government should take steps to reduce the dependence of maids among Malaysian households.
This could be done by providing crèches and child centres so that working mothers could leave their children in safe environment, he said, adding that the private sector could also assist the government by setting up their own centres for employees. — Bernama

Source: The Malaysian Insider - August 9, 2010

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No Standard Rate For Maid Agency Charges
DARSHINI KANDASAMY

RENU is confused over the rates a manpower supply agency can charge to provide one with a foreign maid.
She has been a housewife the past three years and having decided to return to work, she is now sourcing for a maid.
“I have a rambunctious two-year-old son to care for, and need someone to handle the household chores while I am at work,” she said.
She and her husband have gone to various maid agencies in Kuala Lumpur and each quoted different rates, from RM6,000 to as high as RM8,000 for the service,” RENU said.
She wants to know if there is a standard fee for someone seeking to hire a foreign maid.
“Is there a standard rate? Or, are some agencies already increasing their rates because Indonesia has demanded that the maid’s salary be RM800 a month?” she asked.
Some of the agencies said they could get her an Indonesian maid, but RENU added: “I am under the impression that the intake of Indonesians maids has been frozen. Am I being deceived?”
She hopes the matter can be clarified so that she and her husband would not be taken for a ride.
MALAYSIAN Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) vice-president (1) Jeffrey Foo said the freeze on the intake of Indonesian maids is still in effect.
“The freeze affects all Indonesians whose passports are dated after June 26, 2009. Those with passports issued after this date are not allowed to work in Malaysia.”
There would be no problem if an agency brings in a maid whose passport is dated before June 26, Foo said.
As for the cost to bring in a domestic helper, he said it would be based on the market rate in the country and therefore there was no fixed amount. RENU should check with several agencies
for the best rate and service.

The cost also depended on other factors, Foo said, such as the maid’s experience, where she comes from and her training.
He added that the minimum monthly salary of RM800 for Indonesian maids was only a suggestion by the Indonesian government and “nothing has been confirmed”.

Source: Malay Mail - Tuesday, September 8, 2009
 
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Complaint Of Maid Agency
Posted by: behfern 

This is regarding complaint against a fraud maid service agency.
I, beh fern fern , and my husband, john teo, register for maid on april 09 . Since I am 5 months pregnant on april, I was looking for a full time maid and contacted above mentioned agency on 23rd April ’09. One, ms sheila told me that their agency has a full time maid named
Mrs. maria aged 36 years. All process were done and fees were paid on april and pending for maid arrival on july which is promised by the
agent. However, maid named maria were unable to make it due to her last minute medical check up on jul and agency did not update us until
we contact the agent to check up the status on end july.  The agency also promised for replacement of the maid in case the same is not
suitable to us due to medical failure which they promised maid will come on 15 aug. This second promise were broken again where agent claim
the process is tedious and facing visa problem , but all this process status were not updated to us again until i called up on 16th aug
2009 again to ask about the condition. After long argument over the phone, agency wrote an email to promise they will ensure the maid come
onm 5.9.2009 and finally arrive to my house on 8 sept 2009.
In a week’s of 8 sept 2009, When we asked sheila for maid status, she started avoiding us, either not picking us his cell phone or keeping
on switched-off mode. When contacted on landline, he asked us to talk to some other person. Sometimes, when we called, she said she is in
meeting. 
we are totally and absolutely frustrated and dissapointed over this agency where it used to be claim as the best maid agency in malaysia
from their own website. i sincerely urge all resident who wish to hire maid , please do not attempt to approach this agency to avoid from
huge hassle in future. thank you.

Source: The Star - Tuesday. September 8, 2009

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Maid Agencies Fees Are ‘Exploitative’

The Malaysia maid agencies appears to be deeply immune to the Malaysian government's instruction to reduce the maid agency fees to RM2,415.

We, Migrant Care, one the most active Jakarta-based migrant workers non-government organisations, presents the breakdown of the cost incurred by the Indonesian maid.

The demand for the RM5,000 to RM6,000 fees is way too high as the cost of hiring a maid, including the profit for the Indonesian agent, is only about RM2,000.
The ceiling price set by the Malaysia government at RM2,415 is actually very reasonable, something that will allow the Malaysian agent to enjoy about 25 percent profit for their recruitment service.

The demand for a fee of between RM5,000 and RM6,000 is a reflection of abusive and exploitative nature of maid agencies in Malaysia, an industry ranked by Transparency International as the second most corrupt.
The maid agencies are enjoying a hefty RM3,000 to RM4,000 profit per maid placement.

The reasons given by Deputy Home Minister Tan Chai Ho about the low salary in Malaysia being acceptable because maids in Hong Kong are paid HK$3,740 (RM1,681) per month as compare to Malaysia’s market rate of RM400 to RM500 per month. However, the maids bound for Hong Kong are better trained as compared to the maids sent to Malaysia.

There is a very prominent ISO 9001 maid agency in Kuala Lumpur’s Old Klang Road, which has even openly advertised that their Muslim maids are willing to handle pork and bathe dogs. We question how the industry standard certification company could award the agency which openly breach the guidelines set forth by the Malaysia foreign labour task force?

There is not proper laws to regulate the human exploitation in Malaysia - it’s open doors for Malaysia’s maid agencies to exploit both employers and foreign workers. The cartel even openly threatens the Malaysian Employers Federation by delaying the approval of visa renewal that could cost the economy more than RM220 million in lost productivity.

The author is coordinator of Migrant Care.

Source: Malaysiakini - March 15, 2007 

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Foreign Maid Dilemma
Posted by: mysticmonk70
 
She eventually did it. I just could not digest the fact she left our house opened, the gate, main door unlocked. I just heard a motorcycle screaming away. I took my car and tried to go after whomever that was speeding away. I panicked, went around and around. Could not find her. She did what she has told me and I could not do anything.

Few weeks ago, my maid told me that she wants to go back home because all her letters posted to her husband is not replied. She is worried of her kids and husband. My wife contacted our foreign maid agent and told her of this scenario, Ms DDDD, the manager of Malacca branch told us about the contract that the maid cannot leave for the duration of her employment and promised to visit to explain to the maid. If only I could count the number of promises of the visit she promised and convert it to dollars and cents, I can afford to hire 10 maids. During the employment of the first maid, I was promised the heaven and an angel maid. My maid, the angel came with a hope that she was going to take care of an elderly lady only but alas when she arrived and sat down on my couch, I could sense her disappointment and resentment.

After a month, she began to act a bit weird. Her first act was leaving my last son, a 2 year old boy at home alone for hours while sending my second son to child care about 2 houses away. On her way she will have hourly chat with all other Indonesian friend around the vicinity of the housing area. She also an angel in distress, as she used to give away our food storage such as Maggie Mees, Instant coffee sachets, soaps and daily groceries such as vegetables for favors such as posting letters and getting other food in exchange.

Called the manager in the agency and all she could say is “OK”, “Talk to her and I will visit her end of the week”. Maybe it is my mistake not to ask her which week is she talking about. She never turned up. Eventually about 6 months later, the maid came to me and told me she wants to go back to the agent. I took her to the agent, left her there and told my agent to sort my problem out. She now tells me I need to fork out another RM2,500 for a transfer. One thing about me is that I want to do everything legal and in accordance to Malaysian Law. I paid the amount and got a maid who was a chatterbox unlike the previous one. The first day she turned up via taxi from KL, instead of us telling her her duties, she told us , her regulations and expectations. She will not cook, She will only take care of kids. She will not send my second son to the day care centre and she will sleep at 8.30pm with my daughter so that she can wake up at 6.00am to prepare my daughter to school. Having no choice and afraid of “losing” my investment, I agreed and went on with life until that day”. It was also just after a few weeks after renewing her permit and visa for employment. Within less than 2 years I have spent a total of RM16,800 for 2 maids, RM2,500 for replacement in addition to that a further RM760 for renewal of permit, visa and Fomema.

To my surprise, my collegue came to me and told me her maid also ran away. What was ironic is that her maid is also from the same agency. After sourcing around for proof, there were about 4 other also have lost their maid within that month. My drilling mind suddenly tells me that this could probably be a scam. A scam so perfectly planned that they would look like they ran way, brought across to another state and put to work swith a cleaning service, restaurant and other industry which will pay them more. Of course these “employees” will take them to work without any entrance fee or reduced entrance fee as we have paid all of those. Coincidentally, every maid who leaves or run away will do so after the 3rd month (guarantee period)

As much as I am a sore loser, I do not want this to happen to any other person. Hard earned money goes to the agent who may be involved in this scam and enjoy the double profit that they have gained. What I am proposing here to the government is while negotiating with a country which labels us cruel employee is that there should be a fair bilateral agreement which also covers employee in Malaysia that if they (the maid) run away, the should be lawfully prosecuted and the employee compensated for the hard-ship likewise an employee lawfully prosecuted for abusing a maid. Also with the advanced technology that is available today, we can have each maid coming in with their finger-print scanned so that they (the maid) can’t go back to their country , change identity and come back as a different name to Malaysia. Every maid agency should be directly registered under the lawful government agency and be monitored. There should be a standard draft agreement and a standard maximum fee proposed by the government for recruiting a foreign maid so that the cost of recruitment is not determined by agencies but rather by the government with strings attached. The also should be a guarantee amount being kept by the government agency via the agent for every maid so that when they run away or abscond, these “deposit” will be given to the employee as a compensation.

Now I am suffering because my maid ran away and my cost of taking care of my children have increased because I am sending them to a day care centre all day long. What have the agent and the government agency to say to me to console me in this time of crisis. “Nothing” and absolutely nothing. We are the losers…….

Source: The Star - Thursday, February 25, 2010

Monday, January 24, 2011

The Maid - Unholy Acts In The Holiest Place (2)




Two female migrant workers in Saudi Arabia who are suffering permanent injuries are currently being treated in their hometowns in West Nusa Tenggara.

60 more housemaids from Dompu in West Nusa Tenggara are awaiting to be sent home.

25-year old Yanti Yusepa from West Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara went to Saudi Arabia on August 29 and returned to Indonesia on October 6, paralysed from the waist down after jumping from a second-story window to get away from what she called chronically abusive employers.
She is waiting for her insurance payout: If there is.
Within the short period, she worked for three different families in Saudi Arabia, fleeing from the first two after they starved and physically abused her.
The third family was most cruel - the daughters would burn her with a hot iron while their mother would beat her.
The abuse on her drove her to jump from second floor window.
“Not a single person was willing to help me when they saw me fall.”

According to her, at least 26 more have also been abused by their employers, in some cases sexually.

27-year-old Selvia from Sumbawa, a district of West Nusa Tenggara, returned home in July 2010.
She worked for her employer as a domestic worker in Nabuk.
But the employer made her doing a back-breaking work.
She did just that: Lifting heavy gas canisters.
It broke her back.
It takes her a great effort to bend, or to walk.
And, Selvia is unable to walk properly.
She is partially paralysed since 2007.

Warni Binti Mahrip, a domestic helper, died after she fell from the upper floor of her employer’s home, also in Tabuk, on June 4.

And Nurul Binti Muhtar Lano, died four months later in October, due to illness.

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Such stories are common, but only receive sporadic attention.
The recently discovered horrific abuse of Sumiati, from West Nusa Tenggara too, let others knew that now, more than 350 domestic workers from West Nusa Tenggara are currently stationed overseas and may be facing abuse or inhumane working conditions.

About 52 workers from the province were living under a Saudi bridge, awaiting repatriation.
Sumiati, an 18-year old girl led an unusual protest.
It even made Saudi Arabia's labour ministry bowed to say a very rare sorry.

West Nusa Tenggara, is the second biggest district to send workers abroad after West Java.
But in terms of percentage, it is the biggest.

Many women in West Nusa Tenggara, especially in remote areas, are still unaware of their rights as housewives, and the condition is concerning, a local family welfare activist said.
They are in a weak position in the family and had no choice but accept their husbands' ill treatment.
Many had been used as 'capital' by their husbands who send them to work abroad as migrant workers as house maids in Saudi Arabia and use their wives` monthly income even to get married to another woman.

Some, after all the money sent home, they were divorced by their husbands.
They are often defenseless.
They are unaware of their rights as housewives, or not courageous enough to take actions.


Now, West Nusa Tenggara, one of the 33 Indonesian provinces, had banned recruitment of its residents for work in Saudi Arabia following Sumiati's high-profile abuse case.
Meanwhile, it is in the process of providing halfway house to shelter abused maids hailed from West Nusa Tenggara.
The house will also serve as a pre-departure centre for future domestic maids.

The Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration is likely to ban parents with children under the age of 5 from working abroad, unless they can show proof that their children’s nutritional needs would be taken care of.
It was noted that children suffering from malnutrition tended to come from the families of migrant workers.

These migrant workers mothers left their children in the care of elderly relatives who often failed to provide adequate nutrition for the children.
The kids were more likely to be fed the same food that the elders were eating themselves, which is lacking in the nutrients required for growing children.

Last year, data collected from 10 districts in West Nusa Tenggara recorded 756 cases of children suffering from malnutrition, including severe forms of protein-energy malnutrition.
25 have since died.
There were 926 cases recorded during 2009 and 1,207 in 2008.

United Nations Children’s Fund report in January 2010, found that at least 7.6 million Indonesian children suffered from stunted growth, a primary manifestation of malnutrition.
Worldwide, Indonesia ranked the fifth largest number of children under the age of 5 suffering from stunted growth.

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On November 26, An Indonesian maid of two weeks had suffered broken bones after jumping three floors down from her employer's house in Al-Salam, Northern Jeddah.
Then she hid herself under a parked car.
In a police report, her employer had, two days earlier, intended to return her to the agency for her unsatisfactory work performance.

A 29-year-old Indonesian maid is currently in intensive care after jumping from the third floor of a building while trying to run away from her sponsor of three months in the Al-Kakiya district of Mecca.
She is thought to have fractured some bones and suffered internal bleeding.

On December 3, a maid, said to be Indonesian, fell to her death from the window of a third-floor apartment in Jeddah.
She had attempted to escape using a rope of knotted clothes.
The maid's body is currently at the Forensic Medicine Administration for further forensic examination.

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Maid Abuse Rampant In Region, Says Magazine

JEDDAH: A Saudi women’s magazine has published an article highlighting the abuse of maids and the need to find solutions to the problem, not just in the Kingdom but across the region.
According to the article in Sayidaty magazine (a sister publication of Arab News), many housemaids across the region are abused in a variety of ways from physical abuse to not being provided with food. It also adds that such maids have no rights and that they hardly see justice except when a major development occurs.
“Local newspapers have recently been publishing a lot about maid abuse in the Kingdom and this is where we decided to not just write about the horror stories but also find solutions to the problem,” said Mona Siraj, managing editor of Sayidaty magazine in Jeddah.
“Our responsibility as a magazine that cares for social issues is to give our readers the perfect and real picture … in addition to allowing the authorities and human rights’ bodies to respond,” she added.
According to the article, there are some 2 million housemaids in the Kingdom, 660,000 in Kuwait and 79,000 in Bahrain. In the United Arab Emirates, housemaids outnumber families. It said in Egypt there are 177 recruitment offices, of which only three are legal.
“Until now, there aren’t any regulation that protects both the maid and the employer and we are demanding this to assure security for both sides,” said Siraj. “I believe that these problems should be out in the public to spread awareness in society. We are giving the opportunity through the magazine to both sides to know their rights.”
In Saudi Arabia, a maid had her lips cut out and abused in other ways for misbehaving. Maids are beaten with electric cables for breaking cups in Egypt, thrown out in the streets in Bahrain and locked indoors in the Emirates, reports Sayidaty.

Source: Arab News - January 19, 2011