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Why work so hard to enrich the bookie?What is power? Power comes in many forms. But they all share the same characteristic. It enables the power holder to achieve what he wants. For example, in a contest between two armies, the one with superior fire power will usually prevail. A consumer who desires a luxurious item can only achieve his desire if he has a big wallet, for more money equals more buying power. A chain of retail stores like Carrefour has a lot of bargaining power and many vendors will sell to them at a lower price than they charge a minimart.A domestic worker also has bargaining power. If she has a lot of maid power, she can succeed in bargaining with a prospective employer for a higher salary and more time off. But if she does not have the skills employers are looking for, then she has less maid power and will not get what she wants: higher pay and enough time off. Maid power is usually acquired on the job, but the workers who make an effort (like trying out new recipes now and then or attending a cooking course) will acquire more skills and power in a shorter time. Instead of window shopping and socialising the whole of her off day, some domestic workers learn cooking or first aid, for example. Acquiring skill in computer programming will not increase her maid power. But while it is important to increase one's power, some domestic helpers lose some of this power. They are like Ah Kow, a construction worker, who, in order to increase his buying power, works overtime to increase his take home pay, but then gets into the bad habit of gambling and soon his extra income lands in someone else's pocket. And if he is not careful, he may even lose his whole pay and get into debt. Some domestic helpers really try to increase their maid power and become so skillful that their employers value their services. But then some lose their power by doing something foolish, like Ah Kow who works so hard to increase his buying power only to lose some of it to the 4-D man. Cecilia (not her real name) was like that. She had a lot of maid power accumulated during four years with the same employer. Madam was really pleased with her and when Cecilia asked to transfer, Madam gave her a good reference. Because of her good work record and a glowing testimonial, she was hired at the first interview. She got a higher salary and more days off. She had maid power. Her employer was an expatriate and very liberal and gave her permission to go jogging in the evening, after all the chores are done. She thought Cecilia needed the exercise; she was overweight. The first couple of weeks, Cecilia came home from jogging by 8:00 p.m. But soon she was coming home later and later. One day Cecilia forgot to bring her watch and reached home past midnight. It seemed that her jogging partner was very unhappy to stop jogging. Madam regretted being so liberal with Cecilia and told her to start looking for another job. There are so many ways for a domestic worker to lose the power she takes years to build up. One way is to break curfew. In Cecilia's case, even if Madam did not set the curfew hour, it was assumed that if she was going jogging, she should be home within one hour. On a domestic worker's day off, the curfew hour is proabably set when the domestic worker is hired. Some workers totally forget to go home. Did they forget to bring their calendar? No matter how much maid power one has built up over the years, it is all gone if a domestic worker does some of the things most employers find unacceptable, such as
It is clear that a FDW's power comes not only from having the necessary skills, but also from her personality. If she is honest, polite and respectful, is protective and loving towards the children, her employer will regard her highly. And when the time comes for them to part, she will get a good testimonial. A good testimonial is really a letter from Madam to future employers describing the FDW in a way that makes a prospective employer want to employ her.
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