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Honestly, I won't be so concerned
Umm but we don't really get to interact with them much
To a certain extent yes, because of the racial divide in Singapore
I think in every country that holds foreigners, there's a tendency for the
whole society to always look at foreigners and foreign workers as
separate
It's like, we live our lives in a very segmented way. Singaporeans are
Singaporeans; one breed. Foreigners, Filipinos are another breed. We don't live
like one human family and that is a very sad thing all over the world.
In general, people don't interact with them much, and they don't know them
well
Do you think foreign workers are accepted in society?
No I don't think so. I think there's a lot of stigma
Have you tried making friends with foreign workers?
No, because I'm not exposed to them, so there are no chances
Umm not really, yeah
I would.. ethically speaking I would try to, but when it comes to really doing it I
don't think I have the time to.
Because sometimes, if you don't know much about people, then it's very hard
not to be afraid of them, especially when all you have is general hearsay, or stories
that are mostly negative in nature.
Personally I don't interact much with foreign workers, and so I don't have any
basis of experience to go on when I try to think about how I feel about them. And all
I have are stories in the media, or stories that people tell me about, and few of
these are very positive stories, or things that cast them in a good light.
Despite this condition, that they come into Singapore and work with the
families, having the condition of separation from their family, employers
are not very sensitive to this, and not very sympathetic and not very
empathetic.
We have employers who tell them, "You come here to work, and not to cry." I
think this is a very inhuman kind of statement to make to a worker, who
cannot help it, but being human, she feels homesick, and when you feel
homesick, you do cry
Do you have any Singaporean friends?
No, no Singaporean friends.
I no try [making friends]
Do you want to make Singaporean friends?
Yes
How much money did you pay to come to Singapore?
Uh..I paid $4000
Do you think they are happy that you are helping us?
Yes, yes
Do you have Singaporean friends?
No
No Singaporean friends.
You like working in Singapore?
Yes I like
But do you feel that Singaporeans can make friends with you? Is it very hard?
It's hard right.
How long have you been in Singapore?
4 years. May I know how old you are?
24
24. Wow, so you were here at the age of 20- that's very young
How much have you paid to the agent in order to come to Singapore?
Last time I paid Singapore money, $2000
People in Singapore, how are they?
Okay very hard
Very hard for the foreigner
Do you think they welcome you? Or they don't like?
Uh, yes I would. Yeah, but I would be around there to keep an eye on my
phone.
Definitely. Yeah, definitely. I think it's still safe la. And I give them the benefit of the
doubt. I don't really think that just because they're a foreign worker means
that they are a crook.
I guess I will, if I know the person for quite some time.
I think they won't give me
Very hard
They won't lend you right
Why won't they lend you?
Oh so they think you're dirty, everything, is it?
When I was in Philippines, they told me, if you work there as a domestic helper,
then you have to pay 7 months salary.
7 months of salary? May I know how much is your monthly salary?
When I signed it was S$600. When I came here, on the agency agreement I saw it's
only S$450.
Oh but they told you in Philippines it's S$600?
We, together, 2 maids. [My employer's] instruction, is that if her son is vomiting,
I do the job in the kitchen. I prepare the food for the [other] two children. And
then she was angry because I didn't go to the vomiting child. Then she was angry
as me then she took the pail, and she..
She hit your head? Pail?
Mmhm, until the pail was destroyed. Then she took the scissors to cut my hair
Then after that you couldn't take it anymore and you ran away?
I stayed one week, then I went to Clementi Police Station
And you lodged a police report then police sent you to HOME?
Okay so, within that month you got abused, how many times did you contact
your agency? A lot of times?
2 times
And they did nothing. But you told them what happened?
I came here, my agent made me 23
I didn't know what they meant. I didn't know that in Singapore the underaged
cannot come to Singapore
So how old are you actually?
19
Now you are 19?
Oh, so you told the agency you're 23?
No, the agency told me, if everybody asks you, you must say you're 23.
So the agency asked you to lie?
Yeah
They have agents in Indonesia?
Yes
So the agent asked you to come to Singapore to work, and they asked you to
lie about your age?
Yeah
So you're actually 19 this year?
Which is underaged?
Oh because when you came, you were 18 right?
Yeah, when I came I was 18
In Indonesia I didn't know if you're underaged you cannot come and work
Ohh so they didn't tell you
Yeah, they didn't tell, that's why they made me 24
My mam said, people in Singapore must clean. Everything must clean. So, you
cannot be like this, you cannot be lazy. I said, mam, I like like this, but I only want
to rest a bit. Maybe if I feel tired, I can rest. If not, I don't know about myself-
maybe I could get sick if I were tired.
Then my mam was angry with me and said, you come here, your agent told me
you were 23, not 19. So you come here, don't cry. You must be hardworking. But I
cried, then my employer sent me back to my agent. My my agent didn't take pity on
me, but scolded me. And was angry with me. "Do you think it's easy to come to
Singapore?"
What is more important is what is same? And that is our common humanity. Every
human person has the same feelings; they can cry, they can laugh, they can
joke and they can feel very miserable.
It's not just about our social cohesion, it's about the world's. I think if we can
treat people right from all over the world, we can help to build world peace.
I think it is just like making friends. We should #1 be sincere about treating them
as equal, and don't look upon them like they are sub-human, or a class beneath
us.
We must not treat them as just persons that come into Singapore, and we use
them. And when they cannot do the work anymore because they're sick, they're ill,
or they are old or whatever and we just send them back- just throw them back to
their countries without any means of social security or support system for
them. I think it's such a shame to treat any human being like cattle.
I think it is only human to want to help foreign workers, because foreign
workers- in fact, I don't call them foreign workers- they are my friends. I mean, it is
only human that we want to be of help to friends. People who are actually the same
as us, except the fact that they come from a different country, and they are
from disadvantaged economies where they have no chance like us, who have
good schools, who can afford to buy good clothes and things that a city like
Singapore has given to us. And sometimes we get too pampered. We
forget about other people who don't have a chance.