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Watch out for false prophets!Recently I received a call from an Employment Agent Mrs Tan, a Filipina now a permanent resident. She was very upset by the behaviour of false prophets, people who do harm while pretending to do good.She mentioned in particular one self-styled humanitarian from some organisation called "Humanitarian this or that". This self-styled humanitarian, Hypocrita by name, was a danger to naive first-time foreign domestic workers. According to Mrs Tan, who goes home to recruit the girls herself, she takes the trouble to recruit only those who are highly motivated and intelligent. She would actually exaggerate the problems that a domestic helper faces in Singapore so that only those who have inner strength would dare to come. Elena was one such girl. Normally Mrs Tan has very few problems with her girls. They all make it. However, on the day that Elena arrived in Singapore, she met another domestic helper whose name was Bizibodi. She gave Elena a phone number to call. "Call Ms Hypocrita if you have any problem. She is a humnitarian," she advised Elena. From the boondocks, Elena the provinciana was so naive she believed that this stranger with a high-sounding description could help her more than Mrs Tan could. Mrs Tan has been running her agency for almost 20 years and she has the answer to many problems that often arise! She would be the best person to help out if Elena had a problem. But Elena was impressed by the description of Ms Hypocrita whom she had not met. And she had only just met Ms Bizibodi. She trusted two complete strangers more than her own agent! So one day, two months after she started work, when Elena had a problem, the first thing that came to her small mind was to seek the advice of Ms Hypocrita. Now Ms Hypocrita, instead of listening to and analysing her problem and suggesting an amicable way out, advised her to run to the Embassy. Act first, think later! This is clearly rotten advice because Singapore employers (and expat employers, too) who put up a security bond of five thousand dollars would not want to take a chance with a domestic helper who runs away first, talk later. So in order to protect her five thousand-dollar security deposit, the employer may simply cancel her domestic helper's work permit and repatriate her. This is the last thing that Elena wants! Does Ms Hypocrita care? But luckily, Elena's employer found out just in time and asked Mrs Tan to counsel her and iron out any problem she had. Mrs Tan did what a seasoned counseller would do. She listened sympathetically to Elena and after finding out what was troubling her, gave her proper advice. She told Elena that her employer would probably terminate her contract and repatriate her if she ran to the Embassy. Elena realised, at last, she it is better to approach her own agent for advice than to seek the help of fake humanitarians.
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