Helper Part 2 and 3

"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.