Daisy, FDW of the Decade

Daisy's employer was impressed by her for her capacity for hard work, her devotion to members of her family, her ability to learn new skills and her complete honesty. When their part-time laundry woman left, Daisy volunteered to take over her duties without even hinting at a raise. When their part-time gardener left, Daisy likewise volunteered to take over his duties with no thought about additional payment.

Daisy worked for the family for 15 years, from 1992 until 2007. During this period the extended family grew in size from 5 to 6, then to 7 and 8, spanning 4 generations! The oldest in the extended family Daisy called "Ah Kong" or lolo. Many domestic helpers have experienced difficulty relating to lolo or lola and mention this as a reason they want to change jobs, but not Daisy. Even though he was hard of hearing, Daisy was able to communicate with him and she became Ah Kong's favourite. The family appreciated Daisy for his devotion to Ah Kong especially as he grew more feeble with age. He passed away as the ripe old age of 100.

Madam has praised Daisy for her honesty, appreciating the fact that when she and her husband went abroad they could leave the whole house to Daisy without any worry about unwanted visitors. In their absence the kois in the pond were fed, the family pet dog had his meals and his bath regularly, the plants were watered daily and trimmed when needed.

The house they live in is not small. It has 3 spacious bedrooms, a kitchenette and a big living room upstairs and, of course bathrooms attached. Downstairs there are two small rooms, a kitchen, a dinner area and another spacious living room. And there is a room in the basement too. And the large garden would take some time to maintain. Then there is the pet dog and the koi in the pond.

It gets hectic on festive occasions. Before Ah Kong passed away, as many as twenty or thirty relatives would come over to celebrate his birthy. During the Christmas or Lunar New Year holiday, the crowd is smaller but preparing dinner for them is no small task. Daisy's culinary skill is put to the test but the visitors are never disappointed. And to Daisy's credit, she managed to learn to cook all those delicious dishes by reading the recipe books. Sometimes she would join the family for dinner at a restaurant. If she enjoyed a dish, she would search for it in the recipe books and try it out. Often she came fairly close, to the delight of the family.

But even more remarkable than Daisy's superior performance as a housekeeper (for Daisy is not an ordinary maid) is her generosity towards her own nieces and nephews. Daisy wanted to be a nurse because she wanted to be useful, to take care of people who needed to be cared for. Unfortunately for Daisy's father, providing for 10 children was a big job, no need to talk about giving them a university education.

Since she did not have a chance to go to college, she helped 5 nieces and nephews achieve their dreams of a college education. Daisy, with justifiable pride, says that with her financial support, one of his nieces or nephews is a doctor, a nurse, a nautical engineer, a teacher and a final year student in Computer Science.

How could Daisy afford it? When she came to Singapore in 1992, her pay was only $250. But long before she left her job, her salary had tripled. Daisy is a role model for other domestic helpers. She could have spent all her income on herself, buying expensive gadgets like a video camera. She could have spent her money on expensive clothes or jewellery. But she chooses instead to use her money on something more worthwhile, on something that would improve someone's life permanently, by helping some of her neices and nephews get a good education. Daisy is worthy role model for other domestic helpers and she is my choice for FDW of the Decade.