The Straits Times published an article reporting a complaint against a website (Employing a maid in Singapore) that carries employers’ allegations against domestic workers, along with their details. Former TWC2 president, John Gee, wrote to the paper and the letter was published on December 3, 2011, with notable cuts that change the letter’s tone.
This is the published version of the letter:
Website reveals more about employers’ character than of maids’
I agree with Mr Tan Kee Lin (“Outraged”; Wednesday) about the website on which employers post allegations against their maids, along with their photos as well as work permit and passport numbers.
The site reveals more about the mentality of those who posted items on it than it does about the maids.
In making their complaints, some of the contributors unwittingly revealed how unreasonable their expectations of maids were. I looked for the outraged responses, but found none.
I have met many maids who were beaten, starved, locked up in their employers’ homes and cut off from relatives and friends. Some even had their pay withheld and were forced to work double days of 16 hours and more. None of them ever spoke of their employers with the venom that some of the site contributors express towards their maids.
Maids have also not started up websites that list their employers, describe their misdeeds and warn unwary maids against about accepting a job in those households. One can only imagine the cries of outrage that would greet such a move.
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This is the original text as sent:
I have to agree with Mr Tan Kee Lin’s comments (ST Forum: ‘I would say ‘Shame on you’ to the woman who created the website where employers can post alleged misdeeds of maids’) on the website on which employers post allegations against domestic workers, along with their photos and IC numbers.
I looked at the site some months ago and thought that it revealed more about the mentality of those who posted items on it than it did about domestic workers. It is hard to tell how many of the allegations made are true, how many are exaggerated and how many are pure fantasy, but it reminds me of the kind of website I’ve seen in some Western countries where tales of the wrongdoings of minorities are endlessly circulated and recycled.
In making their complaints, some of the contributors unwittingly revealed how unreasonable their expectations of their domestic workers were and I had to wonder what sort of hell they put these women through before firing them and lacerating their reputations on this site. Looking through the items at random, I saw employers of domestic workers referred to by one contributor as their ‘owners’. That says it all: the only human beings who have owners are slaves. I looked for the outraged responses: surely, even on this site, there must be people who find such terms shocking? If they appeared, I didn’t see them.
Lastly, I would add that I have met many domestic workers who have been beaten, starved, locked up in their employers’ homes, cut off from relatives and friends, had pay withheld and been made to work double days of 16 hours and more, and none of them ever spoke of their employers with the venom that some of the contributors to this site express towards domestic workers. They have also not started up any websites that list their employers, describe their misdeeds and warn unwary fellow workers against ever accepting a job in those households. One can only imagine the cries of outrage that would greet that.