Background
Etin is from Surabaya, in East Java, the largest city after Jakarta. Unlike the majority of Indonesian FDWs in Singapore, her parents were both teachers and comparatively well off. As a result they were able to provide Etin with capital to set up a small grocery shop. Etin is the eldest among 7 children in the family. This is usually a plus as the eldest is usually called upon to help the mother in the housework and care of the younger siblings.

She is among the better educated Indonesian FDWs in Singapore, having completed 12 years of formal education - Senior High School. After school she took care of her grocery shop until she decided to work in Singapore.

Work History

1. Her first job was a disaster and she was rejected after only 1 week, which is hardly long enough to assess a domestic worker's potential.
2. Her second job lasted the duration of the work permit - Mar 96 to Feb 98. Her host family consisted of 5 persons, including 3 children aged 7, 4 and 2. As Madam was working, Etin took care of the children and performed the household chores. She went home after 2 years.
3. In Aug 01, six months later, she was back, this time working for a family of 4, all grown up. Initially her employer had one domestic helper who found it increasingly harder to handle the job because Madam required much care. She had cancer. So Etin was hired to relieve her of some of the work: mainly cleaning, laundry, washing 3 cars and gardening. When Madam lost the battle with cancer, the family decided they no longer needed two helpers and Etin elected to go home.
4. She came back to Singapore in July 09 to work for a fmaily of 6 including 4 children aged 10, 12, 14 and 16. She has not been paid her salary for the last two months. Non-payment of salary is a serious breach of MOM regulations and so Etin's employer has lost his privilege of employing an FDW. Now Etin has MOM's permission to seek alternative employment.

Childcare
In the 4 significant situations, Etin took care of 8 children of school-age or younger. The youngest was 2 years old. She likes children and gets along well with them. Besides attending to their physical needs, she also played with them and in other ways interacted with them.

Cooking
Etin taught herself to cook Chinese food. Her employers provided her with cook books. But sometimes she would also prepare Indonesian dishes for them, especially rendang (beef and chicken). Some of the Chinese dishes Etin used to prepare for her employer include:

• Black sauce chicken, Oyster sauce chicken, Fried chicken, Baked chicken, Roast chicken
• Steamed fish, Assam fish, Fried chilli fish (fish stuffed with chilli), Fried fish with sauce, Sweet and sour fish, Fish cutlet
• Bak Kut Teh, Pork chop, Sweet and sour pork, Pork with black sauce and mushroom, Pork cutlet
• Stir fried vegetables and Vegetable soups.

Personality and Proficiency in English
Etin's command is above average compared with other Indonesian FDWs. She is simply dressed and tidy in appearance. She is fairly outgoing and prompt in answering questions, a sign of intelligence. Well, she sounds intelligent to me.

Since the above profile was prepared for Etin, has gone to work for another family. The family consists of 3 persons including employer's son who will be going to Australia for further studies. His parents do not live in Singapore, but comes by regularly. Now that their son will be leaving for Australia, they have no more need for Etin and so she is available for transfer.

When available: As Soon As Possible

Profile by Karl Tan
Licensed Employment Agent since 1981