SINGAPORE: If you think employing a helper in Singapore is as simple as signing a contract and handing over chores, one Singaporean has a message for you to think again: “DO NOT HIRE A MAID!”
In a post on Reddit r/SingaporeRaw, he didn’t sugarcoat his words at all, calling out employers who treat their domestic helpers like second-class citizens instead of the humans they are.
He then listed eight harsh truths and brutal reasons why some households have no business hiring help in the first place.
Reason #1: “You travel frequently but can’t even provide them with proper meals…”
The Singaporean slammed employers who “travel frequently but can’t even provide them with proper meals or become extremely stingy about what they eat or order.”
If your helper is watching your pets and house while you’re off enjoying Europe, at least make sure she isn’t surviving on just instant noodles.
Reason #2: “You expect them to do your dishes and laundry on their off days or when they are sick…”
Helpers aren’t robots. Yet, according to the post, some employers “expect them to do your dishes and laundry on their off days or when they are sick.”
The hypocrisy stings harder when the same families “make a big deal when you or your family members are sick, but accuse them of being lazy when they are unwell.”
Read related: ‘I’m not a robot!’ — Maid says after her employer doesn’t allow her to take a 1-hour nap to rest in the afternoons
Reason #3: “You expect them to clean up after your pets…”
If you think Fido’s “accidents” are someone else’s responsibility, the Singaporean roasted employers who “expect them (helpers) to clean up after your pets or blame them whenever there’s a mess caused by the animals.”
And it’s not always a domestic helper’s fault when she walks her employer’s dogs, and becomes unaware that the dog is urinating on the HDB void deck walls, for example.
Keeping pets is a choice, not your helper’s unpaid burden.
Reason #4: “You are comfortable with your helper confined to bomb shelters, while you sleep peacefully…”
One of the harshest lines from the Singaporean was: “If you are comfortable with your helper confined to bomb shelters while you sleep peacefully.”
Yes, some helpers are still housed in storerooms without windows—while employers pat themselves on the back for giving them a “place to stay,” as though it was some grand act of charity worthy of a Nobel Prize for kindness.
Read related: Maids forced to sleep in bomb shelters: Singaporean woman asks, ‘Why not employers try to sleep in one for themselves first?’
Reason #5: “You expect helpers to clean your office or your parents’ home without offering extra pay…”
Another red flag, flashing with red neon lights, brought to you by our Singaporean hero, was that employers who “expect helpers to clean your office or your parents’ home without offering extra pay.”
Because a helper is hired for your household, not your entire family tree.
Reason #6: “You send helpers back to their home country because you hate them when they find another employer who offers better pay and treatment…”
Some employers, the SG man wrote, “send helpers back to their home country because you hate them when they find another employer who offers better pay and treatment.”
That’s not discipline—it’s exploitation.
Reason #7: The “pretend to be rich” syndrome
His rant also highlighted those who cram “multiple families into a single house and [make] unreasonable demands” on helpers.
The post drew a sharp line between families who “treat their helpers like family” versus the “pretend to be rich employers” who “constantly berate and overwork their helpers, thinking they’re superior.”
Reason #8: “You can’t treat your helper like family…”
In perhaps the most cutting reflection, the Singaporean’s voice on behalf of all voiceless SG helpers alike declared:
“I’m basing my post on the reflection of our society these days… Are you saying, ‘Oh, we should assume the worst of them (helpers) and hence overwork them with their low pay and put them in a lousy room’?”
The post writer also dismissed critics who claim that he’s “glorifying” helpers. “This is totally out of context,” he added. “I’m not glorifying maids here,” were his own exact, clarifying words.
Read related: Maid’s employer asks, ‘What’s the standard ang pau amount to give my helper during her birthday celebration?’
“It’s time to do better…”
The post ended with a plea for empathy, noting that even foreigners living in Singapore “understand why families need helpers but believe the way they are treated is wrong.”
The final line was a sharp call-out: “It’s time to do better. And for the family members who enable this behaviour—please do better too.”
