"Someone stepped on your dog", my previous boss would have rightly said of my helper situation. I came to Singapore excited about many things, but vying for #1 most exciting thing to look forward to was live-in help. Who would have guessed this was to become my bete noir? I'm here 6 weeks+ now, and no live-in help (yet).
I naively thought there would be a lot of help and it would be easy to find. What I didn't consider were (a) standards and (b) the power of the current employers.
Starting with my first point- after interviewing 20+ women, mediocre English is not a given. With two small children my #2 requirement is very good English (and by very good, I mean now mean mediocre - ie - I can understand you over the phone if there is an emergency and you are panicked). My #1 requirement, of course, is outstanding childcare, and now, by that I mean you must like kids and like to play with them. Also not a given. Most of the women I interviewed rated toddler care# 3 or #4 of 5 strengths (#1 being housework, and many times, surprisingly, #2 being elder care). The biggest surprise, however, and point # 2 was that the helper's current employer could decide whether or not the helper would work again in Singapore and when! The first helper I gave an offer to didn't come through because her current employer decided not to sign transfer papers and send her back home. Second helper I gave an offer to the current employer kept refusing to sign the transfer papers even though promised a release date of March 17th....after having pitched an earlier release date. I waited. And waited. And waited. And then he refused to sign the papers. He said, in 3 days. Next week. This weekend. In 2 days. After 3 weeks of this, I had to start looking again, even though this helper was fantastic. So now I've made my 3rd offer, and this new helper is supposed to start on the 24th but until those famous transfer papers are signed I won't be holding my breath. As for helper #2, she is still waiting. Now apparently the release papers aren't being signed before April. She has no power in this. Helpers here have very little rights and you realize that if they are being mildly mistreated, they are really stuck for the duration of their contract and if they are being grossly mistreated, then they can appeal to the government, but who knows how effective that is and how many of these women actually go that route.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Singaporean Ironies
If I open my eyes a little, I find quite a lot of ironic, amusing and contradictory things going on here. I am in one of, if not THE cleanest city in world, yet wherever I go to eat that's fast food (a la Singapore - don't think Mac Donald's or anything), napkins are noticeably missing and the food is particularly messy to eat - there's a lot of splattering going on, and/or you are literally eating with your hands. I only ever realize this when I am in some sort of compromising position and wind up having to make do with my bare arm, sleeve, or shorts.
I also see "Employees must wash hands" signs everywhere, but there are no paper towels. Where do they dry their hands? On their dirty clothes. At one particular hawker stand (the Singaporean equivalent of a fast food stall) after I had placed my order for fresh naan (the stall had gotten an A for hygiene -and I must say everything was very very clean), I noticed the man who was about to make my fresh naan wipe the sweat from his forehead onto a wet kitchen cloth, use the same cloth to wipe his utensils, the counter, his hands and God only knows what else, and then dive his freshly cleaned hands into what would soon be a part of my lunch. As he spread the dough over the counter, I was relieved to see that my naan was to be cooked in a stone fire and duly disinfected!
What I also find amusing here is the water conservation efforts. You go to these ultra high end malls that have posted signs about environmental friendliness and the importance of water conservation - all the taps in bathrooms are on short timers (like 2 seconds), and the toilets have the "half-flush" button for inoffensive business, and then you see these unbelievably elaborate (and beautiful) water displays, fountains, water walls - you name it - that must use up literally tons and tons of water, but you are not given a full 2 seconds to rinse the soap off your hands!
Another discovery I made, through an unfortunate experience - for me - was my discovery that you can't use your ATM card in any ATM but the one that belongs to your bank. Not even for an additional fee. For such a capitalistic country, I find this surprising as banks could be making an killing from these fees. I discovered this when I was in a Taxi with Charlie that didn't take credit cards. I had not a penny, and so spent 25 minutes (after a 30 minute drive) having the cabbie going around looking for any ATM, hauling a very compliant Charlie in and out. At the time I didn't realize that I could only go to my personal bank's ATM and got increasingly more panicked as I kept getting "declined" and "unable to process" messages. My fare, I knew, was substantial enough that the Singaporean generosity would not kick in this time (I also don't think my driver was Singaporean). We eventually went to the largest mall, and I had to go down several levels to find my bank's ATM, and (phew!) there were funds in there after all. $30 later, I stepped out of the taxi very relieved and swearing never to leave home without $20 in my pocket.
I also see "Employees must wash hands" signs everywhere, but there are no paper towels. Where do they dry their hands? On their dirty clothes. At one particular hawker stand (the Singaporean equivalent of a fast food stall) after I had placed my order for fresh naan (the stall had gotten an A for hygiene -and I must say everything was very very clean), I noticed the man who was about to make my fresh naan wipe the sweat from his forehead onto a wet kitchen cloth, use the same cloth to wipe his utensils, the counter, his hands and God only knows what else, and then dive his freshly cleaned hands into what would soon be a part of my lunch. As he spread the dough over the counter, I was relieved to see that my naan was to be cooked in a stone fire and duly disinfected!
What I also find amusing here is the water conservation efforts. You go to these ultra high end malls that have posted signs about environmental friendliness and the importance of water conservation - all the taps in bathrooms are on short timers (like 2 seconds), and the toilets have the "half-flush" button for inoffensive business, and then you see these unbelievably elaborate (and beautiful) water displays, fountains, water walls - you name it - that must use up literally tons and tons of water, but you are not given a full 2 seconds to rinse the soap off your hands!
Another discovery I made, through an unfortunate experience - for me - was my discovery that you can't use your ATM card in any ATM but the one that belongs to your bank. Not even for an additional fee. For such a capitalistic country, I find this surprising as banks could be making an killing from these fees. I discovered this when I was in a Taxi with Charlie that didn't take credit cards. I had not a penny, and so spent 25 minutes (after a 30 minute drive) having the cabbie going around looking for any ATM, hauling a very compliant Charlie in and out. At the time I didn't realize that I could only go to my personal bank's ATM and got increasingly more panicked as I kept getting "declined" and "unable to process" messages. My fare, I knew, was substantial enough that the Singaporean generosity would not kick in this time (I also don't think my driver was Singaporean). We eventually went to the largest mall, and I had to go down several levels to find my bank's ATM, and (phew!) there were funds in there after all. $30 later, I stepped out of the taxi very relieved and swearing never to leave home without $20 in my pocket.
Monday, March 7, 2011
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