One Dollar Agencies

For example, one Filipino woman about 35 years old felt she was being bullied when her employer, an elderly Chinese woman, corrected her for what she did. Lucita (not her real name) had hung up Madam's unmentionable things in the garden where they were in full view from the road. To Lucita there was nothing improper in what she did.

Instead of giving Lucita a lecture on culture gaps, I simply explained that Madam, like many others of her generation, felt strongly that it was vulgar to display a woman's unmentionables for just anyone to see. Lucita did not agree, of course, but at least she understood and no longer resented her employer.

Over the years, I also found it beneficial to orientate even an experienced domestic helper when she is transferring to a new family after working here for many years. If she is transferring from a Chinese family to another one of a different culture, it is usually helpful to point out the main differences between the her last and next employers.

But the employer also faces cultural problems. Singaporeans can adjust more easily to Filipino and Indonesians, but the westerner may need to make an effort. In the western world where people are usually more affluent, having a live-in domestic helper is rare. First, it costs a bomb; secondly live-ins are rare. When they come to this part of the world for the first time and decide to employ a live-in domestic helper, they too have to adjust.

A domestic helper who is so used to the ways of a Singaporean who does not know the importance of punctuality outside the business environment may be surprised to learn that a westerner does not take kindly to someone who is late for an an appointment, business or social. So if a domestic helper comes home at 8:00 p.m. when she says that she will be home at 6:00 p.m. because her employers have an appointment at 8:00 p.m., she should not be surprised if her employers glare at her in disgust.

However, the domestic helper's attitude is also very important. For example, one domestic helper who had worked for more than ten years for a family before transferring to another, found her new situation so unbearable that she wanted to transfer after less than a month. In her previous situation both Madam and her spouse were not chatty and she spent little time making small talk with them. She was generally happy she did not have hear Madam repeating something ten times. But there were times when she felt her employers were aloof, as if they were too high above her to want engage her in conversation. When they gave her a generous going away present, she realised that they regarded her well enough.

Because she had been so used to the previous family, she used her previous experience as a yardstick of what is right or acceptable. She complained that Madam in her present situation talked too much. She had forgotten that she had previously felt slighted when her employers did not spend much time communicating with her. Then, there was no need to. She knew her job, she knew what they wanted, etc. Everything was automatic.