The Maid - Boyfriending @ Geylang

Nora*'s soft laughter as she talked, was to hide her blushing face.
She regretted hiding the paper that My Elder Sister was searching.
But she was ashamed to let My Sister read it.

There was a picture and story of an Indonesian maid and her boyfriend.
She felt ashamed looking at it, without even reading the paper.
She was ashamed because it involved her nationality, and it revolved around the work she is doing, being a domestic worker.

I did not know which paper and who was Nora talking about.
In My head, it was because of boyfriend issue that led Me to want her to follow Me to City Plaza.
It was not exactly because of remittance.

The second time she remitted some money, it was My Elder Sister who did it for her.
With that money, the mother had bought storage for water for Singaporeans' (???) usage, when they will be at her house soon.

******

Stories of maids had been hogging headlines lately.

27-year old Indrani arrived in Singapore last year, in March.

In July, she ran away from her employer and prostituted herself to earn money.

In October, she discovered her pregnancy without knowing who the father was.

She dug a 10cm hole to bury her newborn, his umbilical cord attached, on April 18 in Eunos Crescent in a rooftop garden.

Her baby's mouth, alive when found, was stuffed with mud and dried leaves.

The baby is now under foster care.

She was arrested near Eunos MRT Station on April 24 after overstaying here for 273 days.

She was jailed for 10 weeks and fined S$2,000 for abandoning her newborn baby.

****** ****** ******

Ruliyawati, married with a son, entered Singapore in July 2010.

A month later, Md Repon Mostafa befriended her.

Her body  was discovered on Monday morning, in a 2-meter water tank atop the 15-storey Housing Development Board block of flats in Woodlands, serving residents of  Block 686B, Woodlands Drive 73 on May 16.

The 27-year old Bangladeshi cleaner Md Repon was charged with her murder between 7:10 a.m. and 9:54 a.m.

****** ****** ******

An Indonesian domestic worker was about to finish her two-year contract.

She was asked to continue her service.

The four and two-year old toddlers she looked after, are too attached with her.

The maid laid down her term for extension.

She needs off days, which the employer agreed.

The employer received a police call at her working place to pick her maid at the police station.

Her domestic worker was caught with a Bangladeshi man at the beach not far from her house.

The employer was shown compromising and intimate photos of the maid with her boyfriend.

The maid gave the worst shock to the employer last February - Her two small kids were locked at home.

Just the two of them, to fend for themselves.

****** ****** ****** 

29-year old Anis Dwi Rianawati had told her employer that she was pregnant and would work for another two to three months before quitting.

A week later, she was missing from her bedroom at about 8am.

Her wallet, jewellery and some notes was on her bed.

It was a suicide notes.

The pregnant Indonesian maid had jumped from her employer's flat through the 18th-floor kitchen window on October 24, 2010.

Her body was found on a second-floor parapet shortly afterwards.

Her 45-year old Malaysian married boyfriend refused to stop seeing another girl in Batam. 

****** ****** ******

Another Bangladeshi worker, 35-year old Kamarul Hasan Abdul Quddus, met 25-year old Yulia Afriyanti at a social gathering in 2005.

They became intimate a year later in January 2007.

In September, she told her employers and friends that she would be marrying Kamrul in Indonesia.

But a month later, the marriage was called off as Kamrul was already married in Bangladesh with two children.

Early October, a Filipino construction worker, 25-year old Joseph Guerzon Corpuza, was given Yulia's number by his close friend, Aunt Annabelle.

He called her and they made plan to meet on Sunday, October 14.

She told him that her boyfriend had returned to Bangladesh.

Their relationship blossomed, became intimate, planned to marry but she never broke up with Kamrul.

Joseph would sometimes travel from Boon Lay to Grange Heights to meet her when she walked her employer's dog at 8 pm every night.

They had intimate relationship in November despite Yulia's fear of getting pregnant again.

Her previous pregnancy was aborted without knowing who the father was.

When Joseph saw the last of Yulia on Dec 9, she told him she and Kamrul Hasan were getting married in January.

On the evening of December 15, she called Joseph telling him she was going to Changi Airport with Kamrul to welcome his mother and brother.

He then tried to contact her many times but failed to do so.

When he finally managed to phone Yulia, a police officer answered, saying his former girlfriend was dead and that the police wanted to talk to him.

******

In mid December, upon Kamarul's return from Bangladesh, he met Yulia.

He then returned to his dormitory in Kaki Bukit but at 11.30pm, he took a bus to his worksite.

Less than eight hours later, a construction worker found Yulia's body in the cardboard box.

His fingerprints were found at the crime scene and DNA test showed they had sexual relationship within the 12 hours before she was found dead.

He was found guilty of strangling his girlfriend on December 16, 2007.

Her naked body was found at about 9.50am, in a big 1m long and 3/4m wide cardboard box in the bomb shelter of a third-storey unit at a condominium construction site in Queensway, near Holland Road, where he worked.

Police found Yulia's phone and jewellery in his Kaki Bukit dormitory locker when he was arrested on December 19.

He was sentenced to death in early January 2010.

****** ****** ******

24-year old Umi Umiroh was plagued by dreams of a crying baby in her employer's semi-detached house along Hillside Drive, a month into her job in July 2008. 

She told her friends about her dreams whom she usually met at the old age home, Ling Kwang Home in Serangoon Gardens. 

She took her employer's mother for therapy sessions twice a week.

The friends said it was the ghost of the previous maid's baby.

Kirun had confessed to them she had secretly given birth to a seven months baby girl in the toilet of her employer's house. 

She did not know what to do, so she just killed the baby, and buried her in the backyard.

While trimming grass in the garden later in theday, Umi smelled something foul. 

She related her fears to her employer of what her friends told earlier. 

A police report was made and the next day 9am, the police with four sniffer dogs, spent three hours in the garden. 

Then they digging up something buried about 15cm deep into the soil. 

Some small bones, born prematurely, wrapped with a yellow batik cloth, were recovered and analysed by the Health Science Authority.

Kirun, married with two children, was employed in June 2006, was always seen wearing loose-fitting batik dresses or oversized T-shirts.

Her main job was to take the employer's 82-year-old mother for physiotherapy sessions twice a week. 

They spent about seven hours from 8.30am to 3pm. 

Umi Umiroh arrived at Ms Goh's house on 6th June, spent two weeks with Kirun before she returned home on June 22.

Kirun, before her departure, had told Umi that she had at least two boyfriends in Singapore. 

She also told Umi about having aborted her three-month foetus, fathered by the Bangladeshi boyfriend.

Her Bangladeshi boyfriend gave her $10 each time they met.

Before she met the Bangladeshi, she was seeing a Myanmar national. 

She was able to meet them while waiting for the therapy sessions to end.

Three days before she left Singapore, she took Umi to meet her Bangladeshi boyfriend. 

He asked her to be his girlfriend after Kirun returned home.

****** 

I brought Nora to City Plaza to show her the popular hang-out for Indonesians on weekends.
It's Orchard Road's Lucky Plaza of the east. 

I wanted to show her how her folks are clothed, what some of her people are doing and behaving here - shopping, friending and boyfriending.
The partners are usually from Bangladesh.

But last Saturday afternoon, there were none to show her.
City Plaza was a desert, not a single maid's soul.
(to be continued)

The Maid - The Loan

Nora*'s mother had just secured a deal with a sugar factory when it offered Rp13,000,000 (S$1,880) for Nora's two-year old quarter acre of sugarcane plantation.

The mother will use the money to renovate part of their house as she had the feeling that very soon, Singaporeans will want to visit her family.
Time is running out before these Singaporeans appeared at their front door.

Since Ramadhan is next month, it is better that the mother start renovating the house now.

Nora could not said no to her mother, as what the woman was earlier assured by her daughter, come July, Nora will receive her first salary of about Rp3,500,000.
But the mother did not know that Nora had spent two months idling in Batam before her first employer employed her to work with his family in the western part of Singapore.

And, Nora knew that she was cheated by her Indonesian agency.
Since she paid her own passage to Batam, she knows salaryless working in Singapore will be reduced to six, and at the most seven months.
Not nine months as she is facing now!

Nora's family was at the most critical period when her father met with an accident and their failed chilli plantation due to erratic weather that I had blogged earlier, exhausting all financial resources.
They were left totally dry but her children have to be in school and life has to go on.

So, Nora took drastic and unwavering step leaving her 3 young children with her aged mother and bedridden father to be in Batam last Ramadhan.

When others working in faraway land all converged home in Ramadhan to be together for the festive Syawal, Nora left home during the fasting month, leaving her children not only without their father who had simply left his family to pursue his own living, but without their mother too.

To reach Batam, Nora desperately went around asking for loan.

Normally Rp800,000 (about S$116) would be more than enough airfare.
But it was the peak period Ramadhan.

Since demand was more than supply, ticket prices went spiraling, that Nora had to ask for another loan of Rp500,000.

I used to fly to Jakarta from Hang Nadim Airport in Batam to Jakarta.
It costs less than S$100 for return ticket.

But last year, when I offered to pay a family of four's passageway to return home to Semarang from Batam, to spend their Syawal with their aged parents, whom they had not for met more than ten years, ticket price was already Rp1.2 million (about S$170).
And it was around two months away from Syawal.

The husband's mother was always in tears, longing for her only son and never before seeing her two granddaughters, when the couple called home.

Bear in mind, it was after a field day running counter after counter for wanting to secure the cheapest price.
Bear in mind, it was weeks before Ramadhan, in July, not August, and the ticketing girl said, ticket price went up each passing day.

So, I understand Nora's predicament.

******

The loan had been bothering Nora.
It was really a heavy burden on her shoulder, the biggest stone she ever had on her shoulder, as there was no such thing as to wait for nine months to earn her first salary working in Saudi.

And to tell her mother that her first salary will only be in September, she did not know how to create sentence from the limited words she has.

******

The cruel maids' world, she only knew and encountered after her two years in Abha, Saudi Arabia.

After her two years of working abroad, after repeatedly hearing others kept saying, she was one of the exceptionally lucky maid, it led her to make a nazar, a promise to slaughter a goat and holding a feast for her village folks after completion of honouring her another two years with the same employer.

When her second two-year contract was completed, upon landing at the airport, immediately after exiting the immigration counter, another maid who returned home together within her group from Jeddah, was struggling and gripping tight, holding Nora's baggage from being pushed away by unknown and suspicious men, hovering around the airport preying from victims.

These vultures, as if being tipped-off, always knew the schedule of return-home maids and many had fallen to become penniless victims, robbed of belongings upon stepping on homeground.
These maids often return to their families not only financially broke, but with shattering brokenhearted too.

The goodhearted maid refused to let Nora charted her home journey with just her and the driver.
Since it was almost nighttime, despite her children and family were all eagerly waiting for her, she was dragged to follow the goodhearted maid home, in Surabaya too.
She was forced to spend her night there.

The 'saint' maid personally chose reliable transportation for Nora to safely reach her waiting family.

******

Before Nora embarked in search of greener pasture in Singapore, she made a prior nazar, to do the same as what she did before.

But when she worked with her first employer here, she often complained to HIM, what HE gave her was not what she wanted.
She told GOD, her nazar is no trivial matter to look into.
She will do more when HE Gives her more than she had asked for.

As what she told Me, this time, upon completion of her two-year contract, she will qurban, slaughtering a kibasy.
She will ask someone to find the best mountain goat with good meat, the biggest mountain goat yet to be found.
She hope all Nyai's Children will be able to join in the feast she will be going to offer to all her villagefolks.
GOD willing.    

******

I had told My Husband of Nora's loan since March.

To Him, just get the heaviest stone off on her shoulder, just pay up for her.
After all, it costs Us less than RM400.

Yes, I'll pay up, but not then, in March.
I'll wait until July.
No wonder the zakat, the tithe, He handed Me to give away early this year, I kept postponing.

****** 

Yesterday, I told Nora, since it is already July, the promised time has come for her to honour her loan payment.
The promise will be fulfilled when we reached City Plaza.

Nora quickly closed her mouth with both hands when she heard herself shouting loudly
"Ibu..."

Upon signing the transfer slip, she claimed weightless on both shoulders.
The heaviest stone had automatically slipped away.

The Maid - 'Deadly' Test To Make A Living

Family of Dead Indonesian Maid in Shock 
Melisa Kok

Singapore. The family members of the Indonesian woman, who took her own life after failing an entry test for maids thrice, have buried her in their home town of Kluwan in Central Java. But they are still in shock over their loss.

Sulastri Wardoyo, 26, had hanged herself at the maid hostel where she was staying last Saturday, after failing three times to pass a test that would have let her work here. (ST Photo)

Sulastri Wardoyo, a married 26-year-old mother of one, had hanged herself in a shower stall in a maid hostel here on May 28. She died in hospital a few days later.

Her husband, who gave his name only as Sudarsono, told The Straits Times in a telephone interview: 'Up to today, we don't believe she committed suicide. She was a strong woman; she wouldn't do something like that.'

The 27-year-old farmer had been told on May 31 by his wife's Indonesian recruiter that she had been hospitalized, and then told the next day that she had died.

Her body was flown back last Friday and buried on the same day.

It is believed that Sulastri became despondent when she failed to clear the written English test of literacy and numeracy skills.

All newly arrived maids have to pass the test within three days of their arrival, among other requirements, before they are cleared to work in Singapore.

If they fail it, they are sent home.

Sudarsono said there were no problems at home. He described his late wife as a strong-hearted woman who was very close to her family and ever ready to help her friends.

'While being trained at the training centre before she went to Singapore, she called us every Saturday and Sunday to ask how we were doing. She was also supportive of her friends who were also undergoing training with her at the centre,' he said.

Indonesians looking to become maids in Singapore for the first time undergo around three months of training, which covers areas such as spoken English and performing household chores.

Sudarsono said his wife did not face difficulties during her training, but added that they had not been in touch since her arrival here.

Their daughter, 11/2-year-old Afeka Fapeana Kusumu Dewi, is now being cared for by  Sulastri's parents.

The child misses her mother, said Sudarsono. 'She cries all the time, asking, 'Where is mother?' She is confused.'

He said his wife had borrowed about 7 million rupiah (S$1,000) from relatives to come to Singapore to work.

When asked if he had to pay the money back, he said: 'We discussed it as a family. They understand.'

He said he is not sure who will have to foot his wife's hospital bills, but added matter-of-factly: 'Right now, I think it's my responsibility.'

Bridget Tan, president of the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics, said she and a few representatives of the migrant worker welfare group will visit Sudarsono and his family next week with an offer of assistance.

She added that she was also looking to start a public donation drive to raise funds for Sulastri's family.

The Indonesian woman's death has turned the spotlight on the entry test for foreign domestic workers, with many maid agencies and employers calling for it to be either reviewed or scrapped.

The Manpower Ministry said on Monday that it is reviewing the test, following feedback it has received over the last few months.

Source: The Jakarta Globe - Wednesday, June 8, 2011

******

Officials on Friday vowed to review training programs for migrant workers as news reached the country that Sulastri Wardoyo had attempted suicide and died in the hospital.

Asia-Pacific director for protection at the National Board for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers (BNP2RKI), Sadono, said the state would ensure that workers were prepared for life abroad before approving their permits.

Aside from language skills, Sulastri’s case highlighted the need to prepare workers mentally for the stresses of life abroad.

Workers who have not completed their training cannot be placed in any country to avoid any problem over the lack of skills or language training.

Sulastri was housed by employment agency Budget Maid in a hostel, in north of Singapore.

She took the Foreign Domestic Worker Entry Test on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday but failed every time.

Staff claimed that she had been depressed over her trice failure in the English-language, preventing her from working in the city-state. 

She then tried to commit suicide by hanging herself in a shower cubicle at the maid hostel where she was staying on Saturday. 

After she was found, staff cut the rope used to hang herself.

Her heart stopped three times as paramedics tried to resuscitate her.

She was then admitted to intensive care at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital since Saturday after the attempted suicide.

She was said to have suffered brain damage after scanning, and passed away last Wednesday, after being confined in intensive care.

Severe brain damage can occur when the brain is deprived of oxygen for more than two minutes and such patients would be in a comatose state and can have difficulty breathing.

The Indonesian government was urged to find out why Sulastri failed the test.

It is important too, for the government to craft pro-training policies, and national discussion is needed as it acknowledge that training programs are still weak.

The government needs to evaluate the migrant-worker training system locally.

It would even be better if the government will also be involved in giving training to the migrant workers to improve the quality of the workers sent abroad.

For now, the government requires private recruitment agencies to give preparation courses and teaches skills for workers and state bodies.

But the state is encouraged not to depend on recruiters to provide quality instruction.

Executive director of Migrant Care, Anis Hidayah, needs the Indonesian government to “tighten supervision” of placement agencies and evaluate the preparations provided by these agencies.

She added, migrant workers’ readiness should be measured by their ability to speak the language of their employer country, their completion of administrative requirements and the skills they need for the job.

****** 

Singapore Entry Test for Maids 'Too Difficult' 
Elizabeth Soh 

Singapore. About 50 maids sat the test - and only five passed.

That was the dismal result yesterday when the latest batch of newly arrived maids took the Foreign Domestic Worker Entry Test.

They must pass the test before they can work here, and are given three tries, failing which they must leave Singapore. But they can come back to retake the test.

Last Saturday, an Indonesian maid, who was said to be depressed after failing the test three times, tried to hang herself.

Every weekday, about 80 maids take the test in batches at the Mountbatten office of Grace Management, which has been contracted by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to conduct the tests.

The test was introduced in 2005 as part of measures by MOM to improve the literacy and numeracy skills of maids here. In 2009, the questions were revised following an MOM review.

Maids have 30 minutes to answer 40 multiple choice questions in English. The questions test their understanding of English as well as in areas like household chores, budgeting and childcare.

At the centre yesterday, the mix of Indonesian, Filipino and Myanmar maids looked nervous while waiting for their results. Some were already crying while others clutched well-thumbed folders containing sheets of sample questions and answers that they had studied.

Maids awaiting the results of the entry test yesterday. They must pass the test before they can work here, and are given three tries, failing which they must leave Singapore. MOM says the test has helped to ensure that more mature and literate maids come here. (ST Photo/Wang Huifen)

The results were out within half an hour and, according to the agents there, all except five maids failed. It was the second or third attempt for most.

MOM has said the passing rate for the test has consistently been 95 per cent. But agents said that based on what they have observed, the rate is much lower.

'Each day, at least half will fail,' said an agent who was at the centre. 'Some are taking the test for the 20th time. They will just keep trying because the cost is too much for them to give up.'

Filipino and Sri Lankan maids are repatriated if they fail and have to face the disappointment of families, who often have to sell their cattle or homes to pay for them to come here.

Most Indonesian maids are sent to Batam to be retrained before they take the ferry back - often at their own expense - to try again. Almost all owe at least $1,000 to their agents back home.

Myanmar maid Bawk Nu, 23, was one of the few who cleared the test yesterday. It was her first attempt. 'I was not confident of passing, I was so scared,' she said in a mix of English and Mandarin. 'I'm very happy I can be a maid now.'

Twenty employment agencies interviewed said the passing rates ranged from 60 per cent for Myanmar and Indonesian maids to 90 per cent for Filipino ones.

Filipino maid Felicita Fernandez, 41, started to cry 10 minutes before the results were out. She was taking the test for the third time. 'If I fail this time, I will have to go back to the Philippines,' said the mother of four. 'I have no money and I will now owe more.'

Unfortunately, she failed.

About 10 maids interviewed at the centre said they did not understand most of the questions. While most were able to read them, they did not understand the content.

'I tikam the paper,' said Indonesian maid Sumiyati, 23, referring to how she made wild guesses. She showed how she circled the answers randomly.

Employment agencies said the test became too tough after it was revised. A common complaint was that it now features far fewer illustrations and pictures.

Peter Chan of Javamaids said: 'Passing the entry test also does not mean that they can converse in English. And no matter how much we train the girls in other areas like cooking, it's useless if they can't pass the test.'

Suhaila Musao of Yathrib Services said: 'The real value in the training is the practical lessons like ironing and cooking. But the maids are so frustrated and pressured about the test that they cannot focus.'

An MOM spokesman said the test has helped ensure that more mature and literate maids come to Singapore. It is conducted in English because public signs and labels are generally in that language.

Several employers said that while an entry test was important, what was more useful than a maid's ability to speak English were skills like being able to look after the elderly and children and cook basic meals.

'I want a maid with a good learning attitude and good hygiene, who can cook and take care of my family,' said marketing executive Josephine Teo, 54.

'Speaking English is a plus, but also something she can learn over time.'

Source: The Jakarta Globe - June 2, 2011

****** 

MOM Reviewing Effectives Of Entry Test For Maids

WE REFER to recent letters and articles in The Straits Times on the entry test for first-time foreign domestic workers (FDWs), following the tragic demise of Ms Sulastri Wardoyo.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) introduced the entry test in 2005 as part of a package of measures to ensure first-time FDWs are able to adapt to working and living in Singapore.
The entry test was thus designed to ensure that they possess basic numeracy and literacy skills. It also helps ascertain the ability of FDWs to understand basic safety instructions, as most of them will be working in a highly urbanised environment for the first time.
This is important, both for the safety of the FDW as well as the young children and the elderly she may be taking care of.
Contrary to suggestions by some employment agencies, MOM has not made the entry test more difficult in recent months or years. It is also inaccurate to draw conclusions about the passing rate from a single test session, as your newspaper did ('Entry test for maids 'too difficult''; last Thursday).
In fact, close to 95 per cent of first-time FDWs pass the test. To better assess whether a potential FDW can pass the entry test, employment agencies may use the sample test questions available on MOM's website.
The ministry has been receiving suggestions and ideas on the entry test in recent months, in part due to policy changes in the FDW source countries. MOM is reviewing the effectiveness of the entry test to ensure it remains relevant, while taking into consideration the feedback received.
We will work with key stakeholders as part of the review. Members of the public can e-mail suggestions and views to mom_fmmd@mom.gov.sg
Farah Abdul Rahim (Ms)
Director, Corporate Communications
Ministry of Manpower

Source: Asia One - Tuesday, June 7, 2011

The Maid - When They Are No Different From Other Family Members

I had never seen Suri*'s eyes as red as yesterday morning while at Changi Airport.

She was sending My Niece off to Beijing.
Her parent was already there since last week and since school is close for 4 weeks, the whole family reunited.

Suri, for the time being, will be in Singapore.
She is still waiting for her result.

At the same time, My Younger Sister is looking around for Suri to be enrolled in local university.
She sees into her study.
My Elder Sister's Daughter too, chipped into Suri's education, guiding her A-Math.

And Suri herself, the three of them, are all confident of getting her enrolled in university.
After all, she had always came out first in a class of 30 students, all housemaids.
Suri herself very well knew, she will be a graduate, one fine day.

Just hoping she can continue working with the family and furthering her education in Beijing.
She was together with them in Beijing during the March holiday which I had blogged earlier.

When teary-eyed Suri left Terminal One before My Niece checked-in, the memory of the late Puji which I shared here, flashed back at that moment.
Not only Suri left the airport crying, but My Niece too, red eyed with blank stares as Suri walked away.

But since the 6-year old Girl knew She will be together with Her Parent, so She stay-put at Her sitting place.
Otherwise, She will run straight into the bibik's arms.
These two-weeks is going to be the longest time My Niece is away from Suri.

Previously, after her two years was up, and she was asked to return home, she refused.
Then when My Sister went to Australia during her third year, she could not follow.
She still had two more papers to sit for her examination.
That was when she decided to make a short return home to Demak.



Again, that reminded Me of a Filipino maid Hilda Estopasi Xavier, who stood by her employer when the husband died of heart attack.
She did not mind her employer has no money to pay her salary.
She just wanted her to employer to pay the Singapore government her levy.
All because of the three young children whom she was attached to.

It reminded me yet of another maid, who offered to help out with her employer's daughter-in-law, a person I know, of financial difficulties.
The maid would wake up very early to prepare breakfast 'Nasi Lemak', to be sold by the children.

The maid was employed by the working mother-in-law, as her son was in jail.
The elderly lady paid the maid's salary and government's levy of S$265.
She took full responsibility of her son's absence from the family, so that her daughter-in-law can go out to work to pay for the housing and the five children's education.

******

That's so much about Suri, and more in the previous postings.
She has great concern for everybody.

She was never without home-cooked food for mothers waiting for their children whenever she waited for My Niece to finish Her "Iqra'" class.

****** 

"Ummie, rasa,"
as she shoved me the curried pickled gooseberry, "acar cermai" when I was at My Sister's place, when My Mother was there. 

"Bawa balik Johor."
She showed me the big quantity that she had cooked earlier.

I tasted one, and declined her offer.
It will be left untouched at My house.

I was curious seeing the big amount of gooseberry in the pot.
She claimed as most of her SMA classmates were working for mostly expatriates and some Chinese (she is the only person with a Malay family), none of them ever knew that the fruit exists in Singapore.

When she was at My house last April, she did not forget her Business Study classmates too.
I was having a feast then, and she packed food for her friends.
The class was about to end, so they wrapped it by having potluck the next day.
The class was conducted by staff of a well known Indonesian cosmetic line.
The students are all housemaids.

Suri had wanted Me to attend her farewell gathering at one of the hotel along Orchard Road.
She was proud of her booth that she set up and had been talking about it for days.
Unfortunately, I could not leave Nora* with My Mother alone at My house, as she was still new to the environment.
Though Nora* is with My Mother now, Suri still never forget to prepare what My Mother likes best.

******

Before, there's just Suri.
But now, Nora has become family members too.

She used to ask Me,
"Bu, kenapa harus tunggu empat bulan baru Bapak ambil saya?"

I have no answer to it.
And I am not the person who harp and regret on past incidence.
Whatever happened, there must be lesson for us to learn.

Nora was reluctant to work abroad, if not for her failed crop.
She was half-hearted to go to Singapore, as she had never heard of Muslims in Singapore.
And she was half-hearted to go to Malaysia too, thinking of the salary.
She definitely did not want to return to Saudi, too faraway.
But when she was told that there are Muslims in Singapore, she prayed hard that, Singapore Muslims have the same believe as she does.

Maybe, just maybe, although she was confused when she was returned to the maid agency which I had blogged earlier, GOD wants to show her that not all employers are the same as the one she had earlier worked for.

Nora is a person who makes religion her way of life.
She covered herself.

She put on the smallest headscarf she could find, just to cover her hair, much to her previous employer's dislike. 

"Singapore is no Saudi. So, don't cover yourself."

The employer used to remind her whenever she covered her hair when there were adult males at home.
But she still covered herself in that four months, refusing to let go the small scarf when her employer's husband or her father-in-law was around.

Nora performed her Zohor at 5pm, and Maghrib at 12midnight.
Midnight was when her work ended, for the day.
Luckily she had her employer's mother-in-law who stood by her.

Occasionally, from My Brother's house, Nora will call the elderly lady to inform of her well being.
Nevertheless, she thanked her 4-months Singapore employer for opening her eyes to the other side of being Muslim and being Singaporean.
Not all Muslims are tattooless, and some Muslims are clothed the minimal possible.

****** 

Nora had always told Me that she pray for Paradise for her former Saudi employer and her family.

She said, although the woman is one very beautiful woman on earth, she had never looked down on anybody.

Even when Nora intended to give some rice to her then one floor neighbour friend, as the employer is said to be a non-rice eater, her employer insisted that the neighbour's maid is very well taken care of, just like her.
The employer has had never bad thinking of others.

Communication breakdown is common issue about runaway maid whom I had encountered and shared here while waiting for a bus to MRT.

Misunderstanding often led to frustration and led to abuse, which I had blogged about of many incidences in this blog.
Again, not to about shaming others and My own religion, but that's reality in life.
When I showed Nora about happenings to Indonesian maids in Saudi in this blog, that's the first time she knew more of it, not only about bad employers, but bad maids too.

Same as all the above maids, Nora faced communication difficulties too, during her first few months in Saudi.
But her excellent employer asked her to take her time, as she herself has to learn Nora's language too.

Nora was never lonely in Saudi.
Her employer's mother lives next door.
Come weekends, the married children of the elderly mother will usually gather at her place, all bringing their maids, all happened to be Indonesian, and all from Java island.
Or, Nora would accompany her teacher employer to frequent wedding invitations, which maids, mostly Indonesian, will tag along.
She had performed her Umrah and Haj, all paid by the excellent Saudi employer. 

When the employer intended to move to their 3-storey bungalow, Nora was informed.
That was when she decided to return home after her 4-year stint with the only employer.
The employer asked her to choose another Indonesian maid to accompany her and to lighten her workload.

After the chosen one was briefed by Nora, she insisted on going home.

To make her stay, the employer negotiate hard with her, to which she replied,
"She will not be able to use the salary she earned, to send home to feed her family, if she worked half-heartedly. 
The money will not be  blessed, can be considered "haram" too, for doing things without sincerity.
There are effects we knew not, if the employer's family will not be sincerely looked after."
Nora was then quickly sent home to Surabaya.

The other day, My Eldest Sister said, She had never seen more beautiful Qur'an than the one She saw Nora was reading.
I shared the same view as Her too.
Maghrib to Isya' is her reading time, as what My Mother does everyday.

And yes, Nora said, the Quran is a gift by a niece of her Saudi employer before she depart home.  

****** 

"Bu, piala siapa punya?" 
Nora asked as she cleaned and arranged the many trophies.

"Kesemuanya anak saya. Kenapa?"
I was curious.

"Kalau punya orang yang dulu, saya tak mau bersihkan. Tak enak."
That is Nora.

I had just moved to a new place last April.
The former owner had left many still new and untouched belongings.
The house had been empty for a few years, only occupied when many relatives of theirs from Northern Malaysia whenever they dropped by.

The owner maintain the house in good condition, with cleaner dropped by to clean the house every month.
They had asked us to move in early, the moment My Husband and I said We intended to purchase the house from them, some time in July last year, so that they knew their house will still be looked after.
The husband had even promised to send over pots of flowers to be planted around the house.
But the house has already no less than 30 potted plants around the place. 
The couple have great affection for the house.

But no papers had been signed, not even any monies had been paid, so not too nice for us to move too early.

******

I was surprised at Nora's question.
But soon realised when she told Me she knew of people bought trophies to be decorated at home, for pride.
What ??? 

"Betul Bu. banyak dikampung seperti itu."

******

Nora had mentioned rose guava to My Elder Sister.



But when My Elder Sister bought for her at RM6.00 per kilo, she stopped her from buying for her again.

"Jangan beli lagi, Bu. Mahal. Ini kan buah belakang rumah."

"Cuba tengok, apa ada belakang flat Nyai. Mana ada pokok jambu. Rumah orang adalah," 
as My Elder Sister pointed to the kitchen window.

Nora laughed at herself.
She is in Singapore, not Surabaya.
The guava was tasteless to her.

When I happened to get for her not sooo fresh guava at RM2.80 per kilo, reminded her to eat all of it, and not to leave any, she thanked Me because upon tasting, she said, that's how guava should taste.
I could not figure what she meant.

Last week, I showed Nora the way to Sheng Shiong at Bedok.


"Bu, tak mau beli. Mahal. Cuma 4 dollar saja diGeylang."

"Kalau mahal, belikan Nyai aje."
True enough, she took just two of the big Yellowtail Scad or "Selar Hijau" for My Mother.

"Mahal Bu. 40 sen."

"OK. Kalau mahal, beli soya, bikin tempe sendiri."
She quickly took only 2 of the fermented soya cake.

I told her, if everybody wants things cheaply, then there will be no nearby amenities.
We take it that the excess we pay is the price of convenience and great saving on time and transportation.

Before we headed home, she was adamant to change the rice grain that My Brother bought, for My Mother's sake. 
But when I asked her to get her choice of food, she said, she eats what My Mother eats.
Do not have to waste so much money.
But one thing she cannot escape is munching away NTUC carrots as her snack.
I bought for her too from Giant when she was at My house, but she said it tasted different.
She did not touch any.

******

My Mother had wanted to follow Me home when we returned from the airport, after sending off My Niece.

But I need My Husband to drive them to JB.

Upon hearing that, I could see Nora smiling and her eyes sparkled as she reminded Me, 
"Suruh Abi ambil kami cepat sedikit."

That reminded Me of her when she laughed very heartily.
After eight months since she left her hometown in August 2010, finally she get the opportunity to step on real soil.
The earth under her feet, the sky above her head.
Not other person's roof below and on top of her.

She thanked GOD for giving her opportunity to rake away dried leaves.
Being a farmer's daughter, she was happy in getting herself close to mother earth, touching the soil with her bare hands.
She did not mind getting them dirty.



Always choosing "ciku" of the day, My Mother's favorite fruit.

 

And Nora really wanted the roses at My house to bloom just like her grandmother's, atop Kelud Mountain in Surabaya.  

The Maid - Unholy Acts In The Holiest Place (13)

Daring Escape (3)

Al-Jazirah newspaper reported, on May 18, police arrested and questioned three Indonesians, following the discovery of a body of an Indonesian maid near a wedding hall in Al-Naseem district a week earlier.

The woman had called the police before her death.
They traced the call made by the Indonesian maid in her 30s.

She was trying to escape from her sponsor by climbing down through the window of a third floor apartment.
The woman fell and suffered serious head injuries.

Three Indonesian men then took her home where she died.
The men panicked, and they then dumped her body near the wedding hall.

******

(Okaz photo)
Another Indonesian housemaid had her life shortened in the first Thursday on December 2010.
She met death from a fall through the window of a third-floor apartment in Jeddah’s Al-Safa District.

Owner of the apartment told Okaz/ Saudi Gazette the housemaid had escaped from her original sponsor in Hail.
The maid absconded from her employer in the northwestern town of Hail.
She then worked for the owner of the apartment in Jeddah.

She tried to escape when she learned that her former employer had traced her whereabout.
He was on his way to fetch her home.
The maid’s sponsor had earlier contacted the owner of the apartment in Hail, asking him to hold to her while waiting for his arrival.

But the maid upon learning her original sponsor would come and get her, she tried escaping from him using a rope made from knotted clothes.
She fell to the ground and instantly died.

The operations room of a police station in Northern Jeddah received a report about the incident.
Police found the woman’s body lying in a pool of blood.
The body was then transferred to the Forensic Medicine Administration to determine other injuries other than those caused by the fall.

An official letter will then be sent to her country’s consulate in preparation for her burial.

******

A 29-year-old Indonesian maid was only into her third month with her sponsor before she decided to jump from the employer's third floor home in the Al-Kakiya district of Makkah last December 23.

She was trying to escape to work illegally elsewhere but ended up in intensive care unit suffering from fractured bones and internal bleeding.

******

A driver offered a man of recruiting a new maid through illegal channel after his helper disappeared several week earlier.

But the man began to suspect the driver's activities.
The driver was under his observation.
To his surprise, he saw his former maid enter the drivers premises opposite his own home.

Okaz/SG reported the driver confessed to police that he had tempted the man's housemaid away from her employer.
She was promised better and more lucrative work.

The driver was then under detention for helping her to flee and for giving her shelter.
The woman was arrested in the last week of August.

******

Maid Leads Police To Liquor Den 
By MD RASOOLDEEN 

RIYADH: The arrest of a runaway housemaid led Riyadh police on Monday to a gang of criminals who were distilling liquor in Riyadh’s Sultana district.

The woman was stopped by police and questioned about her legal status.
They learned that she was a runaway maid who fled her sponsor five months ago.
According to police, the maid then fell prey to a group of men who had offered her a job with benefits, including an annual home-visit plane ticket.
But instead of employing her as a maid, the gang sexually exploited the woman.
“I had no choice except to give in for their pleasure since they threatened to take me to the police if I disagreed,” the maid is alleged to have told the police.
The maid led police to the location where they found six barrels of liquor, three small gas cylinders and three single burner cooker — all equipment used to distill fermented liquid into spirits.
The woman and an unreported number of men involved in the gang were detained.

Source: Arab News - April 29, 2010

******

Christine, a 26-year-old woman from Kenya.arrived in Saudi Arabia in 2009 at Jeddah’s international airport.

She obtained her work visa at the Saudi embassy in Nairobi, where she was promised a job as a children’s English teacher.

She arrived with seven other women, all in the same situation as she was.
Her "sponsor" came to pick her up at the airport.
He was accompanied by his wife and mother-in-law.
They told her that, for the time being, she would be teaching English to their own children.
But she quickly realised that she had been tricked.
Instead of taking her to their home, she went to the home of friends of theirs, where several Kenyans were already working as maids.
There, they removed her passport and cell phone (all her contact numbers in it), saying they would be returned the day she return home.
Then she was sent to work in the sponsor's mother-in-law’s home.
There, she met another Kenyan woman who had been working as a maid for two months.
She warned Christine of what lay ahead.
One month later, she was sent back to her main employer’s home.
There began a truly horrible period that lasted around four months.
She slept in a tiny, cramped room with a thin, hard mattress on the floor.
She had to ask for permission to eat.
She worked like crazy, doing all of the housework, from ten in the morning to five or six the next morning non-stop.
She wasn’t allowed to call home for two months.
When she finally did, she learned that her father was very ill and had been hospitalised.
She asked her employer – to whom she was not supposed to be allowed to talk to – if he could pay her salary so that she could return home to see her father.
She hadn’t been paid anything so far – her monthly salary was supposed to be of SR800.
But the employer and his wife refused, going so far as to tell her that, even if her father did pass away, it wouldn’t be too serious!
That’s when she understood that her only chance would be to run away.
Once out of the house, she took a taxi that brought her to the Guinean consulate.
She had a lot of trouble getting officials there to understand what was going, given that she only speak English. She finally ended up waiting for two months in the consulate’s courtyard.
Finally, she met Mohamed, 27, born in Africa but lives in Saudi Arabia...

Continue reading ....:

http://habarizanyumbani.jambonewspot.com/2010/09/08/runaway-kenyan-maid-describes-saudi-ordeal-i-worked-day-and-night-and-was-never-paid/ 

The Maid - Unholy Acts In The Holiest Place (11)

Daring Escape

A newly arrived Asian housemaid, in her 20s, had a fall three days ago, from the third floor of a residential building in Alkhobar, eastern town of Damman, Saudi Arabia.

She made the run away attempt from the seventh floor apartment through a kitchen window.
She then clung to pipes stuck to the building and started to slide down.
Upon reaching the third floor, the pipes collapsed due to her weight and she hit the ground, where she met the fatal fall.
Arab News reported she was rushed to a hospital with serious injuries but later died at the hospital.

******

Another death fall befell on a housemaid in her 40s, in an attempt to flee her sponsor's house in Makkah.

She was trying to escape through sanitary pipes along with her personal belongings.
Okaz / Saudi Gazzette reported the “homesick” housemaid arrived in the Kingdom two months ago in March, only to find death the next month, in the second week of April.

The housemaid suffered multiple fractures of her arms and legs.
She suffered from brain hemorrhage too, which caused her death.

******

Early this year, January 12, Arabic language daily Almadina reported yet another Indonesian housemaid's death.

The female migrant worker sneaked through the bathroom’s window in an attempt to flee her employer.
She went up to the roof of the the fourth floor building in the central town of Makkah.
Once there, she found a rope, dangled it down to reach the ground.
She then tried to climb down using the rope, but lost her balance and plunged down.

The maid laid on the ground for nearly 15 minutes before she died.

She was found by residents who were leaving a mosque after prayers.

****** 

Photo: ist

PT Aji Ayahbunda Sejati (AAS), flew then 19-year old Armayeh binti Sanuri, from Teluk Lerang, Kuala Mandor, in the district of Kuala Mandor, Pontianak, West Kalimantan, to Saudi Arabia.

She started working for the family of Hasim Ahmad Ali Bader Saeni and Madam Hanan Hasim in Madinah on March 24, 2009.

Armayeh admitted of receiving almost daily abuse and mistreatment from her female employer since the third month into her job.

Wounds and pus on her head.

Her head was often stepped on.

She suffered infectious ears, and were almost torn-like.

She was poured hot water too.

She could bear no longer. 

She seized the opportunity to flee from her working place when the door was not locked.

With wounds all over, she fled on January 26 at 3.30pm.

A neighbour, another Saudi citizen, who happened to spot her critical plight, helped to rush her to Al Ansar Hospital in Madinah at 10pm.

The medical staff immediately called the Indonesian Consulate General.
The Indonesian Consulate has agreements with some Saudi hospitals to notify the embassy or consulate, should an Indonesian national be admitted.

Armayeh's serious condition led her hospital stay transferred to King Fahad Hospital in Jeddah.
She underwent plastic surgery performed by team from King Abdullah Hospital at 1am.
She is currently, still receiving treatment.

Her female employer, Madam Hanan Hasin had been arrested.
Before the arrest was made, her employer visited Armayeh at the hospital.
The girl was offered SR18,000 (Rp 52.9 million) for her change of statement.
The offer was flatly turned down.

Although her salary is SR800 per month, she had just sent home SR6.000 Riyal (Rp 14,3 million) to her parents, during her 23 months stint in the Kingdom.

PT Aji Ayahbunda Sejati (AAS), who made Armayeh's presence possible in Saudi Arabia, bear full responsibility of the girl's welfare.

Her family was provided initial financial assistance of Rp 25 million (SR10,500), with insurance of Rp 100 million yet to receive.

PT Aji Ayah Bunda Sejati brought the parents of now 20-year old Armayeh binti Sanuri, to Saudi Arabia to see first hand of their daughter's condition.
The company provides their needs while in Saudi.

****** 

From Frying Pan To Fire Runaway Maids End Up In Harsher Conditions

JEDDAH: Housemaids who flee their sponsors due to bad working conditions to seek work in the black labor market often end up in a situation of jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

In many cases they find themselves at the mercy of sleazy labor brokers who send them to work illegally in conditions that are little different from the legal situations, and often much worse. 
“They seize our IDs, lock us up in secluded rooms and make us live in very difficult conditions, which is no less than indentured servitude,” a maid told Arab News on condition she not be named.
Nuriyyah, an Indonesian maid who has been working for two years in Saudi Arabia, describes the situation she found herself in as “slavery” after being legally recruited and brought to the Kingdom. The wage she ended up receiving was not enough to feed her family back home.
“My sponsor often delayed my payment under the pretext that he had other pressing commitments,” she said. “I had no other choice but to flee.”
Nuriyyah said she lived in a small apartment after her escape with a large number of illegal housemaids who came for Haj or Umrah and overstayed their pilgrimage visas.  She said the man who ran the house essentially acted as an illegal-labor broker.
But what Nuriyyah discovered is that people who hire maids illegally often end up being worse than employers who seek workers through legal channels and at greater expense.  “The new employer and his wife used to beat and humiliate me all the time,” she said. “They also took my iqama. I served them for my food only.”
The maid says she has never been paid for her work. Eventually she fled her illegal employers. She ended up under the Sitteen Bridge, a congregation point for foreign laborers who have fled their sponsors in the hope they will be picked up by the police and deported.
Another Indonesian maid, who did not want to be named, said though she had been an adventurer all her life and would work hard to earn money, she had fears that she might fall victim to inhuman practices on the hands of her new employers.
“I now live in a small house with a large number of illegal African and Asian housemaids,” she said. “The brokers who distribute us among their customers do not care much for what will happen to us. They are only after money.”
She added that she was living in very difficult conditions in this house but her need for money would force her to continue.
The unidentified Indonesian housemaid said she witnessed her co-workers being beaten by merciless employers who know that illegal domestic servants are essentially hostages with few choices.
“Many housemaids had similar experiences but were finally able to make some money and go back home. In order to succeed, you have to take chances,” she said.
Commenting on the issue, spokesman for Jeddah police Col. Misfer Al-Juaid said many of the houses that accommodate runaway maids are found in the districts of Al-Bawadi, Ghulail and Kandara.
“We carry out weekly raids on such houses after identifying them,” he said. “We arrest the illegal residents, take their fingerprints before handing them over to the Passport Department for deportation.”
After these workers end up in the custody of Saudi immigration authorities, a long process for exit clearance takes place. Often these workers have no ID because their passports are with the employers from whom they fled. Saudi authorities must work with foreign missions to establish identities and check for criminal backgrounds before they can be sent home. 
Al-Juaid pointed out that an illegal worker can be exposed to more abuse than legal workers, because sponsors are aware that there is little recourse for reporting or challenging abusive situations. “The illegal housemaids bear all these inhuman treatment in order not to be caught by the passport police and sent back home,” he added.
The most common form of maid abuse is not paying salaries, followed by physical and sexual abuse. The Saudi authorities do not offer statistics of the number of abuse cases reported to them, but the problem is acute enough that labor rights activists and foreign missions – especially of Indonesia and the Philippines – maintain shelters for fleeing maids, especially women.
Supervisor of the National Society for Human Rights in Makkah province Hussain Al-Sharif described violence against housemaids as inhuman and un-Islamic.
“Just because they are paying them money, some employers will come to believe that they literally own their housemaids and they have the right to ask them to do anything,” he said.
Al-Sharif agreed with Al-Juaid, saying that illegal workers face a greater chance of being abused with impunity.
“Violence against housemaids, whether they are legal or illegal stayers, is inhuman and totally against Islam,” he added. “We completely reject such practices and deplore exploitation of any human being.”
Al-Sharif asked all employers to consider the pressing conditions that drove the housemaids to come all they way from their countries in the first place. The main reason is remittances, the money they can save up to send home to feed their children or other family members. Not paying a maid could mean a child back home goes without food, clothing or medicines.

Source: A1 Saudi Arabia - January 12, 2011

to be continued...

The Maid - Her Right? Of Having Male Friend (2)

31-year old Ruliyawati was flown directly to Semarang, Central Java with a Lion Air flight Y 864 at 10:35 a.m. local time.
It arrived in Semarang at 11:40 a.m. today Friday morning.

Her body  was discovered on Monday morning, in a water tank serving residents of  Block 686B, Woodlands Drive 73, in one of the eight, 2-meter-deep water tank in the building atop the 15-storey Housing Development Board block of flats in Woodlands.
She had been working there, for an employer identified only as Wang, on the sixth floor.

From Kendal, Central Java, Ruliyawati was reported to have entered Singapore in July 2010, finding work through Indonesian placement agency, PT Dafa Putra Jaya.

MigrantCARE, an NGO focusing on migrant worker issues has called on the Indonesian government to immediately take charge of the legal proceedings pertaining to the alleged murder of Ruliyawati.

She was married and had a four-year-old son in Indonesia.

Bangladeshi cleaner, 27-year old Md Repon Mostafa, was charged with her murder between 7:10 a.m. and 9:54 a.m.

The case is still being investigates by the local authorities.
The police was informed at about 10 a.m., believed to have been placed by a colleague of the suspect, an employee of Sergent Services Pte. Ltd., which offers conservancy services.

The suspect killer may have had access to the roof as part of his job as a maintenance worker.
He was limping and had cuts on his legs when he was led away by the police at 10.40am.
He was remanded for investigation at the Singapore Central Police Division for a week.
If convicted, he would face the death penalty.

******

Ruliyawati was described as petite and attractive.
Her family's financial problems forced her to come to Singapore, leaving behind her child.

Both migrant workers met just a month after she started work here in August last year.

It was almost a near-daily routine for Ruliyawati to go to the minimart for newspapers or canned food for her employers while her man and his friends would buy groceries or newspapers from the minimart in the evening.

They can be seen chatting at the void deck of Block 686B, or having a heated argument.
The couple often quarreled at the void deck and in secluded stairwells at the block, and these tiffs revolved around Ruliyawati's family.

But on the Monday morning, stormy relationship ended for good when the Bangladeshi cleaner placed the Indonesian maid's body in one of eight rooftop water tanks.

******

Some residents of Block 686B, called the Sembawang Town Council to complain of slightly yellowish and unnaturally foamy water when they turned on their taps on Monday morning.
Instead, their water supply was cut off at 11am, citing 'maintenance work' was being done.

Some assumed that the water pipes were malfunctioning.
It was only later in the day that the horrifying news spread that an Indonesian maid working there had been found dead in one of eight water tanks atop the 15-storey block.

One resident reported seeing bloodstains in the lift and blood droplets at the lift landing.

The stories circulated quickly and residents rushed to the foot of the block to draw water from the washing area at the void deck.
168 households may have had their drinking water supply affected by the housemaid's body.
Residents were seen queuing up with pails and pots to draw water from the washing area.
Some residents were upset that they had been using water not knowing it may have been contaminated.

The PUB received a report of the incident at 3.30pm.
Water supply was immediately stopped.
Water bags were hand out to residents and water supply restored after the town council flushing and washing the tanks and distribution pipes.

Police received a call informing them of the dead body at 10am.
The Indonesian domestic helper was pronounced dead at 1pm.

Some residents recalled hearing screams and a couple arguing loudly in the morning at 7am.
No police report was made as it was thought to be just a domestic tiff.
Some residents witnessed a man and woman arguing with each other on Monday morning.
The man was seen choking the woman.

****** ****** ******

Singapore's High Court sentenced to death in early January 2010, 35-year old Kamarul Hasan Abdul Quddus, a Bangladeshi worker involved in a love triangle with an Indonesian maid, 25-year old Yulia Afriyanti, more than two years earlier.

Kamarul Hasan was found guilty of strangling his girlfriend Yulia, on December 16, 2007.
Her time of death was estimated to be about 4.16am that day.

But the Bangladeshi construction worker claimed she was dead when he found her.
He claimed he was asleep in his dormitory the night she was murdered.

During the 15-day-trial, Kamrul has stuck to his story that he had last seen Yulia on the evening of December 15, 2007 near her employer's house in Grange Road, got into intimate relationship at a nearby park, then left at 9pm.

They planned to meet again nine hours later at his worksite at the Viz@Holland condominium, and had inadvertently taken her phone back with him when they parted at 9pm.
He stayed in the dorm until about 4am to meet her again.

He had gone to meet her at his worksite earlier, as she had complained that a man he knew as Joseph was trying to force her to go to the airport and a hotel that night.

He took a taxi there, and claimed he found her naked body stuffed in a cardboard box in a storeroom of a third-floor unit.
He said he was so frightened that he kept mum about his grisly find.

******

An ez-link card found on Kamarul had been used for a trip from Kaki Bukit to Queensway at about midnight.

Phone records showed that between 1.45am and 2.10am, there were text messages between Kamarul and Yulia, five missed calls from him and one successful call.

DNA evidence revealed that he had  sexual relationship with the 25-year-old Indonesian maid within the 12 hours before she was found dead at the condominium worksite in Queensway where he worked.

Police found Yulia's phone and jewellery in his Kaki Bukit dormitory locker when he was arrested on December 19.

He claimed the watch and jewellery which had Yulia's DNA on these items, found  in his locker were not hers, but items he had bought for his wife back home.

But Yulia's employer testified that she had bought the watch and used it before giving it to her maid.

The employer and some of the 69 witnesses had also testified that Ms Yulia told them she and Kamrul would be welcoming his mother and a younger sibling at the airport on the day she was found dead.

Yulia's body was found by a construction worker Md Avir Ramijuddinmiah at about 9.50am on 16 Dec 2007.
He informed his supervisor, who then alerted the project's main contractor.

Her naked body was found in a big 1m long and 3/4m wide cardboard box in the bomb shelter of a third-storey unit at a condominium construction site in Queensway, near Holland Road, where Kamarul Hasan had worked.
She is alleged to have died at the hands of her lover in a crime of passion.

******

Kamrul met Yulia at a social gathering, introduced by a mutual friend in 2005.
They became intimate a year later in January 2007, and would meet once or twice a month.

In September the same year, she told her employers and friends that she was returning to Indonesia and would be marrying Kamrul there.

But a month later, the marriage was called off.

Yulia confided in her employers that Kamrul was already married in Bangladesh with two children.

At the same time, Kamrul was back in Bangladesh in September and October 2007.

In mid December, Yulia met Kamrul while taking the dog for its evening walk from a residence in Grange Road.
He then returned to his dormitory in Kaki Bukit but at 11.30pm, he took a bus to his worksite.

Less than eight hours later, a construction worker found Yulia's body in the cardboard box.

His (Kamarul) fingerprints were found at the crime scene and DNA test showed they had sexual relationship before her death.
The evidence thus proved that the accused strangled the deceased.

******

 
Yulia's number was given to the above, 25-year old Joseph Guerzon Corpuza, a Filipino construction worker here, in early October 2007.
Aunt Annabelle, a close friend of his, introduced the couple.

He called her on that very day and they made plans to meet on her day off on Sunday, October 14.

They spent the afternoon at the East Coast Park before window shopping at City Plaza.
He then took her to her employer's house at Grange Heights.
She told him that she had a boyfriend but had returned to Bangladesh.

Their relationship blossomed.
They too became intimate, planned to marry but she never broke up with Kamrul.
They continued their frequent and intimate telephone conversations.

Beside Sundays' meetings, he would sometimes travel from Boon Lay to Grange Heights to meet her when she walked her employer's dog at the condominium at 8 pm every night.

They had sexual relationship in November despite Yulia's fear of getting pregnant again.
The pregnancy was aborted.
He was not informed who the father was.
It was on one of those Sunday meeting when Yulia asked Joseph to answer her phone from Kamrul.
Kamarul had planned to marry Yulia.

The last time Joseph saw Yulia alive was on Dec 9, 2007, and it was then that she told him she was still deeply in love with her former boyfriend Kamrul Hasan, and that they were getting married in January.

Yulia was in a love triangle with Kamrul and Joseph, before she finally decided on Kamarul.

She offered to return the handphone Joseph had given her but he declined as he wanted to keep in touch with her and try to win her over.
Joseph was heartbroken despite telling Yulia to take care of herself when on the evening of December 15, when she called to tell him she was going to Changi Airport with Kamrul to welcome his mother and brother.

Although Kamarul told the court that Yulia had called him to complain that Joseph was allegedly forcing her to have a relationship, Joseph did not even know the location of the condominium.
He was at home on the day the crime was committed.

He tried to contact her many times but failed to do so.
In court, Joseph identified the phone he had given to her.

When he managed to phone Yulia a few days after Yulia talk of her marriage plan to Kamarul, a police officer answered, saying his former girlfriend was dead and that the police wanted to talk to him.

Towards Lesser Crime In JB (12)

Rape

Four men, S. Aramagam, 30, M. Viji Kumar, 29, B. Devandran, 22 and Steven Lim Beng Chuan, 21, on Friday 13, 2011, received a jail term totalling 64 years.

They were also ordered to be collectively caned 52 times for robbing a couple of more than RM15,000, including some electrical items.

Worst still, they raped the wife at their home in Kangkar Pulai, Johor Bahru, at between 6am and 7am on February 28 last year.

Except Viji Kumar, the others admitted to also raping the 27-year-old wife after tying up her husband.

Aramagam also forced the woman to perform oral sex on him.

Sessions Court Judge Zambri Bakar sentenced Aramagam to 20 years' jail and ordered him to be given 16 strokes of the cane.

Steven Lim and Devendran were each sentenced to 18 years' jail and ordered to be given 14 strokes of the rotan for their double crimes - robbery and rape.

Viji Kumar, the only person who did not commit the rape, was sentenced to 10 years' jail and ordered to be caned eight times.

Each of the four men, however, will only serve 10 years in prison as the judge ordered the jail sentences to run concurrently from the date of their arrest.
DPP Norashikin Ibrahim prosecuted the case while all the accused were not represented.

The men were seen staring downward in a sombre mood before Judge Zambri Bakar.

But after the judge stepped down and left the courtroom, the four men switched to jovial mode and started to joke and laugh among themselves.
They could still laugh and joke among themselves despite the heavy sentences passed on them.

Earlier, they had pleaded for leniency after pleading guilty to a total of seven charges against them.

Camera shy: Two of the four robbers being led out of the Johor Bahru court. 

Photo: The Star
 

The four men had refused to leave the court room, saying they did not want to be caught on camera by press photographers waiting outside the court.

"What are they going to do with my picture? Are they going to post it up?" one of them was heard saying in Tamil, quoting from The Star.

A court policeman later led them out through a back entrance.

According to the facts of the case, the husband had woken up and was about to perform his prayers when he noticed intruders were inside his double-storey house.

The intruders had entered through an unlocked window at the back of the house.

They grabbed some knives from the kitchen and threatened the husband.
One of the men had threatened him with a knife.

The husband tried to put up a fight, but was beaten up.
Another man repeatedly hit him with a golf club.
They then tied up the victim with his wife's clothes.

They then left him in one room and took his daughter and his wife to another room upstairs.

The woman, who study at a local university, pleaded to them to release her.

But they started beating her and threatened to kill.

The robbers took turns to rape her.

The husband, in his 20s, then rushed the woman to the hospital.

After the gang rape of the Kangkar Pulai housewife on February 28 last year, 22 men were rounded up in connection with the rape and robbery.

One of the detainees was found to be the mastermind behind the crime.

He was then detained by a special task force led by Johor CID chief Senior Asst Comm II Datuk Amer Awal.

******

Three months later in June, police launched massive hunt for four notorious Indonesian robbers.

They not only took away cash and valuables during a house break-in, but they also raped another housewife, the owner’s 50-year-old wife in full view of the man and his teenage daughter.

Ledang OCPD Supt Harun Idris earlier said police had rounded up 22 illegal immigrants to ascertain the whereabout of suspects.

The robbers broke into the house in Kampung Sengkang near Bukit Gambir in Johor at about 3.30am.

Armed with parang, they forced themselves into the house while the couple and four of their children were asleep.

They tied them before ransacking and taking RM1,300 and jewellery worth about RM5,000.

One of the robbers then decided to force himself upon the wife, in full view of the husband and their 13-year old daughter.

The Maid - Her Right? Of Having Male Friend

Maid Kisses And Hugs BF, Neglects Elderly Woman In Her Care

This domestic worker apparently brought a wheelchair-bound woman in her care to her date with her boyfriend. STOMPer Rina is furious that they started getting intimate, right in front of the elderly woman.

The STOMPer described:

"A maid was spotted 'romancing' a foreign worker behind Kembangan MRT station on May 2 at 6pm while a wheelchair-bound elderly helplessly looked on.

"The maid was so heartless and disrespectful that she couldn't care less about her elderly employer who kept looking away while the maid had a jolly time with her lover.

"Shortly, the maid turned the wheelchair around and left the pitiful employer guessing what was going on behind.

"Such behaviour is absolutely appalling and I really feel for the aged employer who was unwillingly made to sit through such torture, unable to react to it and voice out.

"I hope this is not your maid!"

Source: Singapore Seen. Stomp - May 2, 2011

******

An employer received an anonymous letter stating that her stay-in housemaid was having a few amorous affairs.

The letter exposed that the maid brought a Bangladeshi man home, or she had been frequenting hotel with him.

After thorough investigations, it turned out that the letter was in fact sent by her own good friend.

Her own best friend betrayed her, for her own goodness sake.

The letter reminded the said employer of the time, last year, when her maid requested for a time-off to accompany her this friend buying a birthday present at Serangoon for another friend.

Since the maid had finished her work, she was allowed three-hours to spend her time with this maid friend.

When pressed to speak the truth, the maid admitted that she had lied.

She had actually checked into a hotel with a Bangladeshi worker.

It was not her first time.

She also brought the Bangladeshi boyfriend into her employer's house when they were not at home.

The Bangladeshi worker was not her only boyfriend.

Everyday, she was allowed to bring her employer's toddler to the playground.

She used the opportunity to get to know men and offer herself as their girlfriend.

The maid believed, since she had told the truth, she will be returned a favour of her request to let her continue staying in Singapore.

One of her boyfriend who is rich, is willing to foot the levy payment for employing a domestic worker.

But the employer told the maid off. 

She was totally disgusted of her shameless behaviour, praying she will not be able to return to Singapore and bring more unhappiness to other families. 

She was returned to Indonesia. 

But checking with her maid friends here, she is not afraid of being repatriated home, as she can easily find many other employers here in Singapore. 

The employer met the employer of her maid's boyfriend. 

It was said, his employment was terminated, and he has since returned to Bangladesh. 

****** 

There are many employers who treat their maids with equal rights.

These maids, they get to go out when she is free and when she has no work to do. 

The fact that the maids are human being, some employers do not mind their maids found themselves boyfriends...

******

Maid Chats With BF On Phone For Hours After Boss Goes To Work

STOMPer Samaritan was shocked to see his neighbour's maid sitting under the block and chatting with her boyfriend for hours on a handphone after her employer had left for work.

The STOMPer warns employers to track their maids' activities while they are at work as they might be idling away. He says:

"These pictures were taken near the void deck of Block 23, Bishan St 22.

"One morning I went down to eat breakfast.

"It was about 8.30am and my neighbour had gone to work.

"To my surprise, I saw her maid sitting on a bench near the car park, chatting away on her mobile phone.

"When I returned from the coffee shop after an hour, she was still sitting on the bench and chatting non-stop to her boyfriend.

"Perhaps she was forbidden to use the home phone and therefore she had to use her own phone and talk to her friend outside the home.

"Some employers can be very harsh towards their maids and hence when the boss is away, the maid will go off frolicking.

"It may be more prudent for employers to install some CCTVs to track the activities of the maid when they go to work."

Source: Club. Stomp - April 26, 2010

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.

****** 

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