Thursday, July 21, 2005
Having a maid

Today I found out how expensive it is to have a full-time maid. Even with all the subsidies and government benefits, having a maid is still very much a luxury for most middle-income Singaporean families. To me however, it is not so much a luxury as it is a necessity. This maid is hired specially because I have no one to look after my little Helena. This is what happens when your parents & in-laws are still young and working. Maybe thats why people are thinking twice about having children...there's just too much involved.

Besides the monthly levy and salary, there is also a one-time charge for the agency's fee and airfare. I have not even included the cost which I would have to incur for the maid's initial settle-in, as in the stuff I have to get for her eg soap / shampoo / sanitary napkins and maybe even clothes. All in all, I have estimated the one-time payment to be about $1K.

Aside from cost, I have to make sure that my 'benefits' as an employer is competitive as well. Alas! The maid who is recommended to me happens to have previous experience and her cousin is working for my other half's relative. Hence, there is precedence on the compensation & benefits. Well, since this lady is going to be looking after my little Helena, I would have to keep her happy lest my little baby be ill-treated. After reading all the horror stories about maid killing employer...about maid ill-treating children, I am a little sceptical about having a good maid. Many of my friends who do have maids gave me a word of advice "Do not trust them too much. Be strict with them else they'll walk all over you". I'm not too sure I can do that (look at my profile! Many people told me that I'm too nice most of the time...) *Sigh* I guess I'll have to take it a step at a time..and learn from this experience as it comes.

On another note, I did the actual MBTI test and my profile is actually ESFJ....the on-line test is probably not too accurate...but then again, i could be doing it in a different state of mind...***I am quite a Confused Person*** <*~*>