The Gloves Are Off And So Are The Maids

With the Formula One season fast approaching the call has gone out for volunteers in Singapore. Although the race itself is some off, in late September, these hardy souls are expected to undertake at least 32 hours of training if they hope to qualify as marshals on the big day. For newbies there is an additional 10 hours of theory.

No doubt this will appeal to 'petrol heads'; those who cannot afford their own Ferrari or Lamborghini. It has to be said that there quite a few owners of vehicles such as these and it sure beats travelling in a battered Comfort diesel cab around town.

Part of the training is learning to decipher the various track and flag signals. No excuses for stepping on to the track at the wrong time.

Formula One has been a mixed blessing for Singaporeans but is part of a broader strategy of using key events to attract tourists and sports fans to the country. As the Wall Street Journal puts it, Singapore's desire to be the hub of everything is greeted as "a source of amusement to many residents of the tiny city-state".

The latest 'hub' to be promoted is Boxing, a very popular sport in many parts of South East Asia. A Championship Boxing Event Night is to be held at Marina Bay Sands with regional fighters. According to the Australian promoter his ambition is to "combine Singapore’s world-class hospitality facilities with the region’s world-class fighters, and wait for the rest of the boxing world to respond."

Of course one the most famous pugilists to emerge from these parts is the Philippine's boxer, Manny Pacquiao. Fortunately for him, and any other boxer from that country, they will now be guaranteed a good deal of local crowd support as the Singaporean Maids have at last been granted a statutory day off in the week.

There are some 200,000 maids working in the Republic although not all of them are Filipinos.  The move to provide the maid with a a day off was of concern for some employees who fear that "their domestic workers will socialize or use their time off to develop relationships and become pregnant, and have to be sent home".

Such an event can have quite major consequences for Singaporean families who frequently have both partners working to make ends meet and rely on their maids for care-taking, cleaning and cooking, amongst other duties.

With the prospect of boxing looming on the horizon it will be interesting to see what effect this has on the pregnancy rate of domestic servants (if you follow the misguided belief that all domestics have loose morals); if you are busy cheering on your champion in the ring, you can't be doing the same in the bedroom!

Related articles

• Singapore's domestic workers get day off, enshrined in law (smh.com.au)

They Don't Make Them Like They Used To

From Facebook

At first I thought this news item on the BBC web site was a belated April 1st joke but unfortunately I was mistaken:

"A Singaporean soldier who was pictured with a maid carrying his backpack has identified himself to his commander and undergone counselling, officials say.

The soldier was "remorseful", defence official Col Desmond Tan said in a letter published in the Straits Times.

The recruit was undergoing physical training prior to basic training.

The image, which was first published on social media sites, has led to debate in Singapore on whether conscripts and their training are tough enough."

Apparently the SAF "has reminded all servicemen to be mindful of their conduct in public". This reporting  is a tad ambiguous.  Does this mean it is alright for the maid to carry your gear out of the public gaze?  I suspect not.

However, the forum commentary has largely vilified the National Serviceman involved and rightly so.

One serviceman who did his training the hard way had this to say:

"It’s hard to believe that a grown man who is supposed to be serving the nation is making his female domestic help carry his backpack.”

“He’s a disgrace to the army and makes Singaporean men look bad”

Others have blamed such an attitude on spoiled 'little emperors' who have had their baggage carried by their domestic servants since birth.

Whatever the reason, the sort of attitude displayed by this conscript is enough to make even the most humble SAF recruit wince.

I am not surprised he is "sorry for the incident". 

Right now the young man in question is probably completing his hundreth lap running around a sport ground, in full battle kit with his rifle held above his head -  such was the discipline in my time.

And... not a maid in sight!

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• 'Soft' Singapore soldier 'sorry' for maid incident (bbc.co.uk)

Flying High

Image by Sherwin Huang via FlickrBeing a maid in Singapore is clearly a 'dying art'. On Thursday yet another maid fell to her death while attempting to clean windows from a great height.

Standing on flimsy stools and leaning out to clean the glass is simply not a good idea and during our four years in Singapore it was not an uncommon occurence for such accidents to happen.

Short of employing maids with wings, there is not much that can be done about this practice unless highrise residents are prepared to accept that 'dust happens'.

The exterior of our condo windows were never sparkling clean as tropical rains and nearby road dust ensured that visibility was less than pristine.

Last October another maid fell to her death.  This took place in Commonwealth Avenue where we used to live.

The Manpower Ministry attempts to improve safety awareness but accidents related to maids cleaning windows, hanging laundry or watering plants continues.

MoM adopts a carrot and stick approach; they offer safety courses but are also prepared to take court action against employers who failed to provide safe working environments.

Penalties include a fine of $5,000, jail for up to six months and being banned from hiring domestic servants.

Such accidents aren't confined to Singapore.  Saudi Arabia has a poorer record in this regard and some of the circumstances are far more suspicious. e.g. "fell from a two-story building while trying to run away from her sponsor".

Maids are a fact of life in Singapore and many modern Singaporean families would find it difficult to operate without them.

Incidents of maid abuse do happen but they are fortunately rare. I observed in our own condo that some employers made their maids very much part of the family while others adopted a far more rigorous form of servitude.

We did not employ a maid during our time in Singapore although many PR's and Expats did and still do.

Related articles

• Filipina maid inherits millions from Singaporean employer (globalnation.inquirer.net)
• Indonesian maid 'killed in Saudi' (bbc.co.uk)