Advise on Baby & Maid Exps

hi ladies
just curious, why do you buy separately for your maid? My maid eats what we eat, I ask her to take her own portion first after cooking, sometimes she does, sometimes she just eats what's left.

I don't take lunch and dinner at home most of the time due to working hours, so didn't monitor how is she eating.
 


lis,
We don't eat the same food. For example, my mother always buy salmon and cod fish for me, don't expect me to give the maid a portion hahaha Also my mother always buy fresh chicken drumstick for me, which is more expensive than frozen ones. If I let the maid eat fresh chicken it will cost much more.
 
Hi Lis
I tend to be impatient and speak too fast..hence she doesn't understand. Yesterday we realised she is actually much better if given more time to think abt what she is trying to say. She has to form the sentence in her mind first.

Kick the cloth around?? Wow.. a bit not acceptable leh, in front of u somemore. If you wanna change her, better do it before you get more heavily pregnant. I am sure there are good maids around. Maybe your current one is too smart, having worked here for 4 years liao.

For food wise, ours is a big eater, but given the kind of work she does, I think ok lah. She eats 2 bowls of rice!! But since she also work non stop, rice is ok.
 
Hi Lis,
How to clean flr kickng the cloth ard? *Tsk tsk* What if the kids pick up the habit too. Cos we always tell the kids that it is rule to use their feet to do things unless one lost his arms/hands.

We usu eat same food, cook big portion and she takes her share, sometimes she pai-say to take more, we'll hv to scoop for her. But if I cook spagetti bolognis or milk-based baked rice or pizza (wh she confess she din like) I would force her to take, she can cook her own food.
 
hi ladies
thanks for the info on separating maid's food. I think i need to supply my maid with extras, like biscuits as well.

I should really make up my mind about changing my maid, yes I should! Have any of you change maid without any big incident happening b4 the change? I mean, my maid now thot she's on quite good terms with me, coz'I'm working pretty long hours and don't bother to scold too much now. Is it cruel to send her back suddenly when she thot I'm quite happy with her?

I don't one a maid with handphone and does "facial"every nite. Now being pregnant, my sense of smell is very sensitive and can smell the alcohol type of cleanser lingering in her bedroom every nite. I don't care if it's her own room, but my dd's sharing the room and that makes me very guilty to my dd. I don't even use cleanser myself coz'of laziness and esp now preggy, why should my poor dd be made to tolerate those lcoholic" smell.
 
lis,
my miad also eats what we eat for dinner, ie she will cook dinner, then before we eat i will scoop out her portion for her.

the list of items we buy seperately is for the maid to cook/eat on her own, for eg for her to cook her own meals for lunch, or for dinner when we are not home.

in my case, i hardly ever eat lunch, and weekends hubby, dd and i go out so we do not take dinner at home, so that's why i buy groceries for my maid. those groceries is for her to cook/eat for lunch everyday and for dinner (when she is home alone). the groceries also include items for her to eat at breakfast and tea-time.

hope this clarifies.
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as for the room your maid shares with your dd. i don't see it as her room and your dd shares with her, instead, i see it as the other way around, ie. your dd's room and your maid shares the room with her. so ultimately priority should be given to your dd 1st, and your dd's wellbeing and comfort should be your 1st priority, and your maid will just have to bear with it.
 
Hi Ladies,

Been reading this thread and really find some of the information really useful in dealing with maid issues.


Lis,

Your current maid sounds like my previous disastrous maid. I hope she's not Filipino with name starting with "C".

Think seriously about changing her if her working style and attitude pisses you off. If she consistently challenged you and is defiant to your instruction.

Don't wait for things to happen before you finally decided that's your trigger point.

Like a lot of working mothers, I am quite bo-chap (aka lenient) with my maids. My previous maid was employed when my dgt is one-month old and her sole responsibility is to look after her. She lied, steal (food and money), laze around during her stint with us. Each time we caught her, she appears repentent. But she starts a new pattern.

One day, after work, I saw my baby's hand all red and a little swollen and I ask her what happened.. She told me maybe insect bite. 2 days later, blisters appear all over that hand, and we brought her to KKH. The Pediatrician told us tat she got scalded and he wanted us to make a police report. But we being nice, didnt. We went back and ask her, she keep saying she doesnt know and what she doesnt know she cant say.

We ask the agent to come collect her once our new maid arrive.

After she left, I asked my IL maid and my mom maid whether they knew anything... Strangly both of them (in different household) told me that the maid scalded my dgt hand intentionally 'cos she was talking on the phone and my dgt wants her porridge then.

Moral of the story... never be too tolerant with maids.. No matter how "nice" they appear in front of you, these could be just acting.

Now I treat my maid like an employee, told her my expectations, give her regular feedback, spot check lots and lots of time. But i have to say, my current maid is the introverted kind and quite kwai to-date.
 
PinkPigs,
OMG your ex-maid is horrible ! Scald your baby's hands intentionally, you should make a police report and blacklist her at MOM. She probably has been transferred to a new employer by now.

MOM online allows employers to check on a maid's employment history. But the stupid thing is that it only shows start and end date. They should also allow ex-employers to enter comments, so that we know what sort of horrible things a maid has done before.

I have sent back 5 maids already. Actually none of them have done anything as bad as your maid. But when I feel unhappy about a maid, I will send her away. They didn't even know why, I didn't bother to explain.
 
Tamarind,

I didnt know I can blacklist a maid until I read it here! Hehe...

At tat point, we only wanted to have her out of our employment ASAP. So we went to select a new maid n get the agent to come collect her when the maid is in SIN.

That's 2 years ago.

My IL have been hiring maids for 20+ years and my parents for 6years. They hardly have any problems with their maid and they have never once sent back a maid ('cept one Sri Lankan who ate too much) before their contract ends... So I'm pretty tolerant before and just think that ex-maid is just adjusting and we should give her some time.
 
tamarind, are u the one ever post the link of the MOM to check the maid's employment status?? can give me the link ?? i can't find it on the MOM web..thks in advance.
 
pooh,
Go here

http://www.mom.gov.sg/publish/momportal/en/communities/work_pass/foreign_domestic_workers/e-services_and_forms/WP_Online_for_Employers_of_Foreign_Domestic_Workers.html

Click login to WP online.

WP Online is available from 8.00am to 10.00pm* on Mondays to Saturdays.

You need to enter your IC number and SingPass. Then look for the function at the left column. You will need to enter the maid's work permit number. I think it can be any maid, doesn't have to be working for you. Every maid has the same work permit number no matter how many employer she has changed.

PinkPigs,
Good that you send her away ASAP. I was very intolerant when I started hiring maids. My 1st maid was sent back within 3 months just because I cannot stand her constant crying, my second maid was send back within 1 week because I cannot stand her bad body odour and constant sweating hahaha But now I have learnt to be slightly more tolerant.
 
hi PinkPigs
wah, u scared me leh...But I send my younger one to a nanny, coz' she can't speak properly yet and I don't want to risk. My older one (almost 4) is under my maid's care. She seems to like my maid but my maid prefers my younger one, and complains to me that my older one is not listening to her. Sigh...But scalding your baby is too much liao, I'll be very mad and send her to a police if it happens to me (touch wood though). She can hurt me, not my dd.

I remember seeing someone comment on which part of indonesia should one gets maid from. Can anyone advice if i want an indonesian maid, which part of indonesia should i look for to be more "kwai"?
 
hi mommies
my maid keeps carrying my 2 month old baby even though we ask her not to carry her too much. I am afraid that when i go back to work, she cannot cope with housework and cooking as most of the time she is carrying and pacifying the baby to sleep. I also worried my baby too close to her than me.

She also talks to my baby in her language, Myanmar as she is not well-versed in English but I told her no. I dont find it oas I cannot understand what she is saying.

anyone has similar problem like me?
 
hi emma
I think if you wish her to care for your baby alone, chances are most housework have to close one eye if not both... You can tell her her why you dun want her to carry too often, like baby will get used to it etc... Does your baby liked to be carried?
As for language wise, maybe have to start slowly..since she cannot speak english... I think she is trying to pacify your baby, very strange to be carrying and loving a baby without speaking at all...
 
hi linda
you got a point but she ha to try to speak up more and she can speak english maybe not too fluently.
I guess i also feel jealous when she keeps holding close to my gal.
 
Hi mummies, am in a dilemma and need advice. my current indo maid is quite good. she takes care of my 2 kids (age 4+ & 3) & runs the house reasonably well (of course can't expect perfection) 'cos i'm a FTWM. her contract is expiring ard Mar 07 & i'm thinking wheth to renew her or change to a phil maid (heard that they're better in english)?

my maid is keen to extend her contract but wants to go back for home visit. have chked with an agcy which advised that it's better to chg to prevent any emtional attachmt to the children. & also that maid may not return after her home visit. any advice, pls?

Hi bonnie, fyi i've not bought any CNY clothes for my maid b4.
 
Hi emma
I think it is common to feel slightly jealous of maids getting close to our child... For me, I felt redundant initially, but now better... I insist my maid speak to me in english, that way then she will learn. If i dun understand her, I will dig out the dictionary I bought for her. Then I learn, she learn.

Hi Bonnie
I just bought her a new blouse today. She is VERY happy cos we choose it together. Reason is for CNY, since I like my maid to look neat and nice for it. Her current clothes mostly for home wear. She tried to say no since CNY is still far away, but I told her i got no time to shop when sir is around...hahaha
She tried it on excitedly at home and say bit tight but try to lose weight...kekeke...

Hi quakers
Nope. Never ask before leh. Does yours shave?

Hi jj_mum
Very personal... I would like a maid who is good with my kids and who is currently taking good care of my kids and house... I dun mind if she willing to work for me for 10 years!!
 
jj_mum,
if you wanna let her go, I'll be 1st to like to interview her. We can work out the renewal/cancellation bla-bla-bla details.

My Indo help going back CNY too. We loved her dearly but she wanna go back to get married.

Quakers,
twister for armpit ... this is a very strange request.
 
jj_mum,
if i were you i would extend your maid's contract leh. a good maid is hard to find, and new maids are so hard to re-train. besides, not all filipino maids have good english. and the same goes for indo maids too - not all of them have very bad english.

on the floor where i live, got 2 indo maids who are EXCELLENT and their employers extended their contracts twice already (that means each of them worked for the employer about 5yrs already). each time the go back for home visit they will come back to s'pore. i believe if your maid is serious about working in s'pore and likes working for you, she will come back aftr her home leave.

my current indo maid has been with me for almost 8mths, and she is EXCELLENT too. i am definitely hoping that she would be willing to extend her contract with me when it expires in may next yr.
 
Hallo mummies,

Maid virgin here needs help
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i'm a newbie to maids and mine is arriving next week. i tried to fish out as much information as i can from the archives but there's too much to read, i m getting a bit giddy from reading since yesterday liao heheheh.

okay, here's a short intro about myself, i've a 16mth gal and #2 is due next week! this maid i m getting is an ex-sin and i m bringing her in from manila. she was highly recommended by my fren's maid who is her best fren. i guess thats mistake #1... but i m keeping my mind open about it....

i nid your valuable advice on timetable and house rules though, if u still keep soft copies, can kindly share with me? i know its somewhere in the archives but i m almost drowning from searching. Thank u lots. meantime will be in this thread often to dig more advise from u old birdies. Thank U
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quackers,

Around 2 month ago my hubby claims his shaver smells and accuses the maid in using his shaver (he put it in common bathroom) to shave her armpit. Very revolting if indeed true. I didnt smell the shaver myself so I dont know whether it is merely dampness smell or armpit smell. I ask my maid about this and she denies. She says she plucks her armpit hair with her fingers.

After that incident I provide my maid with a tweezer and nail clipper for her personal use.
 
Maid Alert !

My ex-maid has the cheek to send an SMS to me, telling me she is not happy with her current employer. She ask me to find another employer for her ! Her name is Casmini. I am quite sure she will ask the agency to find her a new employer. Do not hire her ! She has abused my trust and put my kids' safety at risk. Before I sent her away, she told my second maid what happened during her past employment. My second maid said that she once left her employer's baby alone in the house, and ran away !

dressaholic,
Here's my house rules
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1) No praying
2) Cannot use handphone during the day. You will be allowed to use handphone for 30 mins at night. I will hold your handphone for you. If I find another handphone, it will be confiscated.
3) Cannot use the home phone. (I have removed IDD)
4) Long hair must be tied up.
5) Fingernails must be kept short. Cannot apply any make up, talcum powder or moisturizer.
6) You must listen to Ah Gong and Po Po, and do everything they ask you to do. Cannot talk back or argue with them.
7) You are allowed to have 1 off day. Must be Saturday or Sunday. Cannot be public holiday.
8) Cannot go out of the house.
9) Cannot open any cupboards or drawers in the bedrooms or living room, except the drawers for baby clothes.
10) Cannot sit or step on any bed or mattress except your own.
11) I will provide basic toiletries like shampoo, soap, sanitary pads. If you want something different, you must buy yourself.
12) You can only use the toilet in the kitchen. You cannot go into the master bedroom toilet, except when bathing the children.
13) Cannot scold or beat the children.
14) Must watch the children and make sure they dont get hurt. If they fall down, it's your fault.
15) You cannot use the washing machine or dryer. You must hand wash your own clothes and bedsheets. Hang outside to dry. Do not hang your clothes in the kitchen.
16) Do not mix your clothes with our clothes.
17) You must wash your hands with Dettol handsoap and wipe dry before you prepare the childrens food and after you use the toilet.
18) After washing your hands, wipe dry immediately, do not drip any water on the floor.
19) The floor in all rooms, kitchen and toilet must always be dry. You must wipe immediately if it is wet.
20) Do not put any bags on the dining table. Put the bags on the floor.
21) Must always knock on the door before opening. You must open the door slowly because the children may be playing behind the door.
22) If you have finished your work, look after the children.
23) Only do the work I asked you to do, or Po Po ask you to do. Dont need to clean windows/clean shelves everyday, I will ask you to do when needed.
24) Always keep the floor clean and empty. If there are any toys on the floor, keep in the correct boxes.
25) You cannot turn on the TV to watch yourself. You can listen to the radio.
26) Do not go into the computer room.
27) Must eat every meal.
28) Cannot eat any food in the house unless I give to you.
29) You must tell me when you are sick. I will pay for you to see the doctor.
 
tamarind, thanks for coming to my rescue and being so patient to maid newbies like me as always. i really appreciate the list!! now fat preggy dun have to run through the archives.

thank u thank u
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dressaholic,
tamarind's rules are extremely comprehensive. i have 1 more advice for you. since your maid is hired to help take care of a newborn, you need to list down specific rules that she must follow with regards to taking care of the NB. some of the things i can think of off-hand are:

1) must feed baby milk according to your instructions
2) must burp baby after every milk feed
3) must change baby's diapers immed after they become wet/soiled
4) must check baby's diapers regularly to see if it needs to be changed

make sure you have specific rules for her with regards to bathing, feeding baby, and baby's sleep/nap. you need to have specific rules also about how she washes baby's clothes and bottles/teats, and how she prepares baby's milk and sterilise, dry & store the bottles. you also need to have rules for her when you return back to work, eg. she needs to record down baby's mealtimes, milktimes and nap times. you also need to make it a rule that baby comes 1st, above all else. so if got chores to do, can only do them when baby is napping/sleeping. also if she happens to be doing a chore and baby cries, she needs to leave the chore (make sure she leave it safely) and immed attend to baby.

all the above may seem very basic to us, but to a maid it may not come naturally, so they must be instructed to do them.

i actually also have tons of rules for my maid, but since my maid only came when my dd was 15mths old, i did not have any rules pertaining to taking care of a NB.
 
tamarind's rules are very clear and serves as an excellent guide 4 all mummies who have maids or going to have one soon. many thanks to tamarind

lani,
would u like to share urs wif us as well?
 
Lani, thank u!!! i know i can always count on u and tamarind for maid expertise heheheh. i have tonnes to learn from all of u here. u will c my name often!
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dramamqueen,
aiyoh, mine very long one you know! i got abt 50 rules! and mine i also wrote in bahasa indonesia/malay, so that my maid can understand. actually i can't find the soft copy. don't know in which part of the Archives hubby save it into....

i think if anyone were to read my rules they may think i am quite anal (even when hubby read it he said wah you so strict ah!!), but these are the standards i set for myself also. everything i listed down for my maid to do and how she needs to do it, is exactly the way i do the chores ard the house and exactly the way i take care of my dd. and my maid can see for herself that when i am doing some of these chores at home, i am thorough, so she knows that i am not the type to have double standards (ie, expect too much from my maid whereas i myself don't live up to these expectations).

dressaholic,
you're welcome. remember, when it comes to laying out rules and schedules for maid, err on the side of caution, ie. be as strict as possible in the beginning. if later you wanna extend some priveleges or take away some restrictions, it's easier for you to do so. so when you are preparing the rules, even if you think up of something that's quite frivolous, just put it in the list! don't feel silly! if later on you wanna take away that rule, you can just do it.

oh yes, one more thing about recording bb's mealtimes, milktimes and naptimes. get your maid to record down also how much milk your bb drank each feed, how much food and what foods your bb eat each meal, how much water your bb drank each time, and how long each nap lasted and from what time to what time.

this is not asking for too much. even when i was taking care of my dd on my own when she was a bb i recorded ALL these down in a notebook, so that i can see her progress and "pattern".
 
Hi Linda, Lani, kook_car, thanks for all your invaluable advice.

kook_car, will keep u posted if we're letting my maid go. :)
 
Hi Experienced Mummies out there..SOS!

I think that I am most unlucky with maids. I have a 3 year old + 1 month baby, and hiring a maid to help me look after my NB.

My first maid is new to Singapore, and she is homesick (from Philippines), and I let her go after 1 month. My 2nd maid is a SIN transfer maid (as I needed a maid urgently during my confinement), also from Philippines.

I am very unhappy with her and thinking about letting her go (she is only with us for 2 weeks now):
1) caught her on a few occasions of putting washed (but unsterilised bottles), into the sterilizer (with sterilized milk bottles), and forgetting to turn on the sterilizer.

2) she left the stove on, and left to ta-bao food for us.

3) bad attitude, doesnt want to do night feeds. I will take care till midnight, and my HB has to take care of the late night feeds, while my maid sleeps at 930pm! Is it too much to ask of maids to do night feeds?! I am puzzled why we end up more tired than our well-rested maid..

4) wakes up only at 7-730am

5) being nice, I let her make free phonecalls to Philippines on her first day with us, and also on her son's birthday 1 week ago. 3 days back, she requested to make another phonecall back to Philippines (5 days apart from her last phonecall back to wish her son happy bday! I relented and let her call home again yesterday.

6) today, i caught her forgetting to turn on the rice-cooker when I asked her to serve us dinner. Then she talked back and said that the rice cooker must have been spoilt by me (coz Mam used rice cooker to cook porridge for lunch today!!!!)

I am thinking of letting her go tomorrow..and would appreciate if you could let me know if you have any good maids for transfer.

Are Indonesian maids really better and more guai than Filipinos? I am quite disheartened about my maid encounters, and am contemplating doing without a maid, but 1) a babysitter and 2) part-time cleaner/maid.
 
chatty,
she seems very spoilt, so just let her go tomorrow. are you a SAHM or FTWM? if you are FTWM maybe can consider the babysitter + PT maid option. however a good babysitter also not so easy to find, and must make sure she takes care of your bb the way you are comfortable with. if this option fails then you can certainly consider infantcare/CC + PT maid.

of course having a FT maid is the cheapest option, but it's definitely the one that gives the most headache lah. i have a maid, but i am a SAHM so i am home all day to monitor her. besides i am the one that tends to my dd most of the time. if i am working i will definitely not leave the childcare to a maid (it's just my preferance lah), i will get my mum to take care.
 
Chatty & Lani, your posts made me wonder if i m really inviting trouble by 'importing' my maid direct from manila again....

My maid agency says they won't be able to provide replacement. Should she not do her chores properly i m kinda screwed and stuck with her until she finishes her loan of $1200 with me. arghhhh gambling gambling....
 
Haiz.. Having a maid will always come with its problems.

Just treat it as a trade-off for more quality time you have to spend on your child(ren) loh.

Dressholic, since you are sort-of stuck with the maid. Start strict with her. Don't become a friend. For my second maid after a horrible first, I oso sat her down once when she came and once after one week with us, and tell her our expectation.

My experience with filipno are that they like to test your limit and patience. Not saying that maids from another country wont, but % for filipno is higher. They will try a lot of patterns to test your limit. So, be very clear about your expectation and give her regular feedback.

Good Luck!
 
dressaholic,
how come your agency won't give replacement?

i agree with pinkpigs - not all filipino maids are bad, but the % seems to be higher, in terms of how they like to test their limits and how cunning they can be.

i have seen grps of filipino maids sit ard together, and i've heard them actually discuss their employers, and teaching each other and the newer ones the "tricks". what's worse is, they also gossip abt indo maids, and they really look down on indo maids and talk bad abt them.

in my neighbourhood got alot of indo maids, and every evening i bring my dd down, and i always hear the indo maids talk to each other. not once have i heard them talk abt their employers or teach other "tricks". instead they like to chit-chat, ie. abt friends, family, food, hols, the kids they take care of, etc.

so from here you can really see the difference lor.
 
lani, the agency won't be giving replacement because the maid doesnt 'belong' to them. i am bringing her in directly. she was highly recommended by my fren's maid. and this fren of mine also commented that she was very pleasant and was good with children. they all met at my fren's kids play school 2 years back.

so being a maid virgin and a little chicken, i decided to take her in. then the past few days i've been thinking about how much i have to lose eventually... :p
 
Hi mummies, a newbie here,actually some maids are really gd... but some really is bad till u headache... like my house, we used to have a maid, we all treat her like one of our family members... nv be pushy to her... but eventually she was not honest and even stole things from us... but its lucky that its from my fren agency... so they nv charge use that much for breaking the contract...
 
Dressaholic,
Since she is a ex-SIN maid, u might need to exercise more caution.
Give her your rules (and regulations) and her work schedule once she arrive and go through with her line by line.
If she say something like, "my previous employer didnt need me to do this", fix it immediately and tell her your own way of handling things.
If she has off-days, let her know that you will not burge from your current rules. Tell her not to go compare with other maids and tell you her frds have this and that.
I think most mummies here will tell you hiring a maid is heng suay. Consider yourself lucky if you get a good maid.
Keep your fingers cross.
 
my fingers and my toes are crossed!! heheh

mums, thanks. i really nid all the help i can get. its like preparing my war armour before her arrival. my hb n i r maid virgins so we r soooo scared we will get bullied instead. and we both know she is a smart ex-sin oredi.

her passport only had a year left, my agency informed me about it and told me to ask her to renew before coming here. maid said the customs in manila wun allow it initially, i had to call the local embassy to double check and found out that they do allow advance renewal.

eh she eventually went ahead to renew her passport in manila n we decided to give her the benefit of doubt. i guess thats red alert for us, be strict be strict!
 
dressholic,
good luck to you! i think you will need it, cause can tell that your maid is very smart and cunning! she tried to avoid renewing her passport herself, so that she didn't have to pay for it, and hence you as employer will pay for it once she arrives in s'pore....
 
dressholic,

I agree with Lani, she's not even here yet and already "chu" pattern already.

It will only takes them 2 days to renew their passport for another 5 years and the costs is about $20 (equivalent). If they come here with a 1 year validity passport, to renew, it costs about $420 and on top of it, the WP issued will be for one year and then u will have to pay at least $90 to extend it.

Make sure she renew her passport before she turn up. Else, make sure tat she understand tat renewal of passport + extension of WP ($420 + $90) will be borne by her.

I faced the same problem. My maid's passport expires 1.5 year into her contract with us. We specifically told her to renew it before she came, she said ok, but didnt do it. We were pissed but what can we can, she was already here. 1 yr into her contract, her mother passed-away, and she asked for leave to return home for her mom's funeral. We told her again to renew her passport in Philippines. She didnt.

Once she returned, her passport is left with just 8 months validity. So we told her we have given her 2 chances to renew her passport already. She will have to pay for her passport renewal of $420. We did, however, pay for the WP renewal.

Ayo... Be strict and take it easy on yourself. You are due to give birth anytime right?
 
Hi there,
My current maid is good, but when she came over to work for me her passport will expire in 1.5 years. I alr know that before she arrived and the agency also asked me whether need to ask her to renew her passport, but that time I'm in need of her to be here so didn't ask her to renew.

Now I told her i'll let her go back and renew before it expire, but i'm not sure how long will it take to renew her passport in philippines hence dunno how many days of home leave to give her, and also the procedure of getting her return back, i heard need to get endorsement in philippines embassy too. Anyone has experience in this care to share with me. Many thanks!
 
Hi xiaomei,
You need to engage your agent to do all the documentations for your maid to go back and return here. They need a "home leave" from the Philippines embassy and the costs is about $350.

Maid will expect 14 days of home leave. And it only takes 2 working days for them to get passport renewal (according to my filipno maid). But 14 days is safe.

Hope this is helpful.
 
Hi PinkPigs,
Thanks for your info, i wonder whether can we do it our own will it be cheaper then? How abt the cost on homeleave do we or maid pay?
 
Hi xiaomei,

You have to engage an agent to do the documentation for filipino maids. We wanted to do it ourselves but were told by the embassy that we need the agent.

Costs on homeleave? What kind of costs? I would think that if your maid is going back 1.5 years into her contract with you and the usual contract is 2 years, then she'll have to borne her airfare and homeleave expenses. You might want to ask her to pay first and if she returns and work for you for another 2 years, then return her the money at the end of her 4 years with you.

Passport renewal and her daily expenses in her home-town should be paid by her.

If it's homeleave, then u will have to pay her for the 14 days as well.

Take note of her WP, it shd expire one month before her passport, which means you have to extend her WP as well. If you do it yourself, it's $90 for the security bond and insurance. WP online is free.
 
Hi Mummies,

I have sent back my Filipino maid yesterday and you cannot imagine how relieved I felt!

I had wanted to relent and gave her a second chance..but she blew her chance. I told her no cooking yesterday (as I asked her to do heavy washing of bedsheets and had to hang the additional laundry in the kitchen ceiling), still she went ahead to wash the rice and prepare lunch. Then I stopped her from cooking the rice, and told her no cooking today and went to tend to my baby. 5 mins later, I went back to the kitchen and saw that she turned on the rice-cooker and went ahead with cooking anyways!!! That was the last straw and I asked her to pack up and go immediately.

I cannot trust her to look after my baby if she keeps defying me, and cannot follow simple instructions like 'no cooking'!!!

Having phobia about getting a new maid now..though HB and myself have to do the housework and look after our 2 kids...We are taking it one step at a time, then we will explore the other options after I am going back to work (i'm a FTWM) after my maternity leave:
1) babysitter + PT maid
2) new maid
 
chatty,
sometimes we wonder why they just dun understand simple direct instructions, right? ... sigh ...

If you considering baby sitter, also hv to chk background of the sitter & family. Last time @ my son's kindy, one of the other mommies told us she abt her experience with her previous baby sitter. The baby was cranky @ night, after started with the baby sitter. Only after 4-5 mths, then she found out that the sitter give cough syrup to her baby to make him drousy & sleep in the day.

My SIL daughter @ 3yr old complained that baby sitter beat her tummy. So my SIL sent the girl to childcare after that. But frankly we like the babysitter family, they really adore the girl, buy her stuffs and teach her gd table manners & behaviour.
 


Hi Lani, is your current maid an ex-SIN or fresh from Indonesia? I had 2 bad experiences before and really scared. Now, my mum is taking care of my son singlehandedly with part-time cleaners coming in every week. But i'll be moving to a bigger place and will need a maid...so wondering whether ex-SIN or fresh is better...
 

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