Indonesian maid (domestic worker) Sudarmi is a nanny, cook and a housekeeper
too. She has just completed 2 years with her first and only employer in
Singapore. With a total of 4 years experience (2 years in West Jakarta) she
is now available for a quick hire.
Background
Sudarmi is 25 years old and married with a 4-year old daughter now in her
husband's care. Her husband is a farmer and so is her father. She is 2nd of
3 children and the older of 2 girls. Her mother works on the family farm
together with her husband. When her mother was working on her farm, Sudarmi
took care of the household chores, including cooking.
Sudarmi has a secondary education (9 years) and speaks and understands
simple English. She should improve if her host family communicate with her
in English, unlike in the last assigment where her host family communicated
with her in Malay (similar to Indonesian).
Work History
- She first worked as a domestic helper in West Jakarta for an Indonesian
family of 3: employer, spouse and father aged 71 in good health. Her duties
were mainly cooking, general cleaning and laundry/ironing. She left in 2003,
after two years, to get married.
- In Feb 08 she came to work in Singapore for a Malay family of 6
including 4 children aged 7, 9, 12 and 15 at the start. Both parents were
working and Sudarmi's duties were care of the younger children. One of her
duties was escorting 2 of the youngest to an from school. She completed two
years but as her did not receive her salary for the last 6 months, she
sought the help of MOM. Meanwhile her work permit was cancelled and she has
MOM's permission to work for another family.
Childcare and Housekeeping
For 5 years prior to Singapore, Sudarmi was a housewife and mother,
attending to the needs of her family. As a paid childminder in Singapore,
she took care of the youngest of 4 children on her employer. (See Job 2
above.)
In West Jakarta she was more in housekeeping but in Singapore her duties
were more comprehensive.
Cooking
She thinks she is a good cook, or at least her own mother thought so. In
Singapore she cooked Indonesian as well as Malay dishes. She learnt Malay
cooking from Madam.
Personality
If she only she speaks English a little better, she would be snapped up
yesterday, for she has been observed to have initiative. At the boarding
house, the is a domestic helper to clean and cook and Sudarmi is not
expected to do any work. However, without being asked, she makes herself
useful, cleaning and tidying.
At the age of 25 Sudarmi is young enough to pick up a new language fast,
especially if she is immersed in a situation where the host family knows
only a little Malay and communicates with her mostly in English.
Sudarmi is neat and tidy, dresses simply and is polite and unassuming.
