Weekly rest day for maids to become mandatory from 2013

[Krizalid]

"Hooray! Finally i get to go on a date with my banglah boyfriend"

Weekly rest day for maids to become mandatory from 2013

Published on Mar 5, 2012

From 2013, employers will be required to give their foreign domestic workers (FDW) a weekly rest day, the Ministry of Manpower announced on Monday. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

By Tessa Wong

All employers will soon have to give their maids one day off every week, under a new law that the Government plans to introduce from 2013. The legislated rest day, said Minister of State for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin in Parliament on Monday, will apply to maids whose work permits are issued or renewed from Jan 1 2013.

New employers who hire a maid for the first time from Jan 1 2013, will also be subject to the new rules. For existing maids, the new regulation will not apply for the remainder of their work permit. Mr Tan added it will give maids a 'much needed emotional and mental break from work and time apart from their employers'.

Activists have long pushed for the mandatory day off, but many employers worry about the impact on their care arrangements at home. Mr Tan said there will be flexibility in the new rule, if both parties agree on arrangements.

FDW Rest Day Annex A

FDW Rest Day Annex B

For example, employers can pay their maids to work on their day off, or decide on what day of the week the maid will take the day off. Employers who have frail elderly family members can also tap on a new $120 grant to cover the compensation for getting their maids to work on their day off. This grant is over and above the existing $95 monthly levy concession enjoyed by all households with elderly members above 65, young children under 12 years or disabled members.

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[Krizalid]

 

[Krizalid]

 

[singveld]

lots of sex with their bangla bf. family have to send back maid, then gov get to earn another levies from family.

 

[Krizalid]

See what i mean?


Couple found dead in budget hotel room

Lianhe Wanbao

<cite style="display: block; font-style: normal; font-size: 10px; margin-top: 4px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; ">Hotel staff kicked open the door to find the room splattered with blood.</cite>
A couple was found dead in a budget hotel in Geylang yesterday (4 Mar).

The two bodies, belonging to a 22-year-old Bangladeshi construction worker and a 33-year-old Filipino maid, were found at about 11.30pm in their hotel room, when they failed to check out on time.

The two had checked into a room at Summer hotel, located at Geylang Lorong 22.

The woman was found lying face-up and fully naked on the bed while the man was found clad in a pair of briefs and lying in a pool of blood on the toilet floor.

Both had cuts on their throats and wrists, and a knife was found in the blood-splattered room.

The man is suspected to have cut the woman's throat and left her to bleed out, while he stabbed himself in the throat in the toilet.

It is believed the younger man and the older woman were having relationship problems at the time.

Both were pronounced dead by the police at 11.50pm last night.

The police have classified the case as an unnatural death and are investigating.

Source: Lianhe Wanbao, 5 March 2012.

 

[Cestbon]

Not bad some maid can have extra income from extra one day full service.

 

[Agoraphobic]

From 2013, employers will be required to give their foreign domestic workers (FDW) a weekly rest day, the Ministry of Manpower announced on Monday.

What about public holiday? Does it mean that if there is a pubic holiday, unless the holiday falls on a Sunday, maids get two days off that week?

Cheers!

 

[CakeLengKia]

finally they can get a day off to fuck with their bangla boyfriend

 

[Cestbon]

Then MOM need to clarify.
Eg. 52 days off plus 11 public holiday. So total 63 days/year.

 

[The_Hypocrite]

"Hooray! Finally i get to go on a date with my banglah boyfriend"

Weekly rest day for maids to become mandatory from 2013

Published on Mar 5, 2012

From 2013, employers will be required to give their foreign domestic workers (FDW) a weekly rest day, the Ministry of Manpower announced on Monday. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

By Tessa Wong

All employers will soon have to give their maids one day off every week, under a new law that the Government plans to introduce from 2013. The legislated rest day, said Minister of State for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin in Parliament on Monday, will apply to maids whose work permits are issued or renewed from Jan 1 2013.

New employers who hire a maid for the first time from Jan 1 2013, will also be subject to the new rules. For existing maids, the new regulation will not apply for the remainder of their work permit. Mr Tan added it will give maids a 'much needed emotional and mental break from work and time apart from their employers'.

Activists have long pushed for the mandatory day off, but many employers worry about the impact on their care arrangements at home. Mr Tan said there will be flexibility in the new rule, if both parties agree on arrangements.

FDW Rest Day Annex A

FDW Rest Day Annex B

For example, employers can pay their maids to work on their day off, or decide on what day of the week the maid will take the day off. Employers who have frail elderly family members can also tap on a new $120 grant to cover the compensation for getting their maids to work on their day off. This grant is over and above the existing $95 monthly levy concession enjoyed by all households with elderly members above 65, young children under 12 years or disabled members.

<iframe width="320" height="215" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jzBYUKCk1Ak?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

​

Another ridiculous pro foreigner legislation to make life worse for locals...wat happens if maid goes with bf? etc? gahmen cover the cost? Fuck PAP

 

[mollusk]

they should also train the maids to carrycondom so that they won't get pregnant during their rest day orgy.

 

[johnny333]

they should also train the maids to carrycondom so that they won't get pregnant during their rest day orgy.

As employers it may be prudent to provide condoms to your maids to avoid accidents & loss of your deposite $$$

 

[erection2015]

alternatively can teach the maid how to only take it in the ass.

As employers it may be prudent to provide condoms to your maids to avoid accidents & loss of your deposite $$$

 

[Borat]

alternatively can teach the maid how to only take it in the ass.

Just tell them to do blow jobs is ok.

 

[erection2015]

should start a thread on maid swapping.That would be fun.

Just tell them to do blow jobs is ok.

 

[Amaths]

publichouse.sg


Day off - a welcome reprieve for FDWs
Written by Administrator font size decrease font size increase font size Print E-mail Be the first to comment!

Straits Times, front page, 6 March 2012 Finally, after years of campaigning, it seems the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has agreed to pass legislation for a mandatory day off for foreign domestic workers in Singapore (starting 2013). This move is laudable and we should give credit where it is due; especially to Manpower Minister, BG Tan Chuan Jin.

In my time volunteering with TWC2 back in Singapore, I had not seen a member of the government, much less a full minister, meaningfully engage migrant worker NGOs and try to effect change. BG Tan has, however, made trips down to TWC2’s Cuff Road Project for displaced, injured and exploited workers, sensitized the everyday Singaporeans to the heinous existence of “repatriation companies” (euphemism for legal thugs), among other substantive actions. This move to codify in law a mandatory off-day is therefore not just a simple exercise in window-dressing and BG Tan should be applauded for his work and direction.

However, any premature enthusiasm should be moderated until we are privy to the letter and spirit of this particular law. This new move begs more than a few questions which remain unanswered. How enforceable is this legally-binding piece of legislation? Who’s going to police and scrutinize employers and make sure they comply? What about reprisals for transgression? How qualitatively different is it going to be from the current "standard contracts" which already are instituted (that disproportionately favour employers who can "buy off" discretionary off days)? How about bargaining power or employer-employee dynamics in a new milieu which usually gravitate towards the employer; and are compounded by issues of bad debt, agent loans to service and the impounding of passports.

Nonetheless, it is a welcome reprieve after a protracted spell of NGO pressure in Singapore. This is a timely change considering how FDWs (and contract labour migrants by extension) are a seemingly "sub"/lesser strata of human beings in Singapore - with their rights systematically denied and thwarted variously under citizenship discourse, scare-mongering and moral panics (pregnancy, moonlighting, forfeiture of bond). This will be a much-deserved respite from the rigours of the work week and ensure that their physical and mental wellbeing are not entirely neglected. It also will go a long way to “de-demonizing” their presence in public places like Orchard Road and Lucky Plaza. The consumption of public space should be as it is - a public good not restricted or exclusive to anyone in particular. It is both bigoted and trite to hear the familiar refrains that they are an “eyesore” or that they “bring the third world into the first”.

The artificial private-public binary continues to be an alibi (one of Singapore's several reservations to CEDAW concerns labour rights of FDWs) that de-legitimizes domestic work as decent and dignified work . Domestic work is labour as well. Domestic workers are human beings too. Employers should disavow false dichotomies (i.e. an off day engenders a situation where all hell breaks loose and the domestic worker goes loco) and it is paramount to disaggregate such neat categories and polarities. This moral panic of domestic workers engaging in sordid trysts and liaisons, moonlighting on the side, acquiring “tricks of the trade” from their peers on their off days is an unfounded and misplaced fear. They stem from the rhetoric, injunctions and policy that preside over FDWs - expecting "asexuality" (and other such bio-politics), categorical servitude (or risk losing the bond), paying a levy which tacitly suggests ownership or at least control. The premium placed on such controls elides over the individual rights of FDWs such as control and autonomy over their own bodies, their various freedoms and rights. But that is a story and fight for another day.

For now, we commend this piece of legislation as a small triumph. At least at the level of policy, it does suggest some measure of political will to eschew an implicit “hierarchy of human beings” which has plagued the low skilled/low waged migrant worker community. We can only hope this crystallizes into something that is actionable and enforceable. As a parting word, a caveat is in order. This does not and should not efface the fact that structurally, FDWs are still a vulnerable population which is not covered under the Employment Act (EA). The EA stipulates for work hours, rest, leisure, remuneration, compensation, freedom of mobility, expression, religion and other concomitant rights. They toil and labour in the confines of the homestead everyday silently and invisibly, providing care, labours of love, cleaning and cooking. How do we “objectively” put a value to such labour? Can we, really?

A barometer measuring how civil and civic our society is should consider how we treat the most vulnerable, helpless and unprotected. This piece of news is a morsel of hope. We need to reframe the debate from one of "deserving-ness" to one of "rights". This is especially exigent since FDWs cannot stake claims to citizenship rights in Singapore; and need the logic and language of human rights as a safeguard. In the meantime, we need to thank the migrant worker NGOs for their relentless industry and effort in the face of formidable and sustained opposition. We still have a long way to go, Singapore. These include removing the ratifications to CEDAW, signing and ratifying the Migrant Workers Convention and ILO 189. For now, we take the little triumphs as they come and face new battles after the dust settles on this piece of news. As Bridget Tan of HOME mentioned in its press release, we could start with the provision of facilities for social and recreation activities, enrichment classes for upgrading, and other activities that mainstream their presence into society. Singapore has long gotten its “hardware” in order, it is time we look cultivate our “heart-ware”.

 

[The_Hypocrite]

publichouse.sg


Day off - a welcome reprieve for FDWs
Written by Administrator font size decrease font size increase font size Print E-mail Be the first to comment!

Straits Times, front page, 6 March 2012 Finally, after years of campaigning, it seems the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has agreed to pass legislation for a mandatory day off for foreign domestic workers in Singapore (starting 2013). This move is laudable and we should give credit where it is due; especially to Manpower Minister, BG Tan Chuan Jin.

In my time volunteering with TWC2 back in Singapore, I had not seen a member of the government, much less a full minister, meaningfully engage migrant worker NGOs and try to effect change. BG Tan has, however, made trips down to TWC2’s Cuff Road Project for displaced, injured and exploited workers, sensitized the everyday Singaporeans to the heinous existence of “repatriation companies” (euphemism for legal thugs), among other substantive actions. This move to codify in law a mandatory off-day is therefore not just a simple exercise in window-dressing and BG Tan should be applauded for his work and direction.

However, any premature enthusiasm should be moderated until we are privy to the letter and spirit of this particular law. This new move begs more than a few questions which remain unanswered. How enforceable is this legally-binding piece of legislation? Who’s going to police and scrutinize employers and make sure they comply? What about reprisals for transgression? How qualitatively different is it going to be from the current "standard contracts" which already are instituted (that disproportionately favour employers who can "buy off" discretionary off days)? How about bargaining power or employer-employee dynamics in a new milieu which usually gravitate towards the employer; and are compounded by issues of bad debt, agent loans to service and the impounding of passports.

Nonetheless, it is a welcome reprieve after a protracted spell of NGO pressure in Singapore. This is a timely change considering how FDWs (and contract labour migrants by extension) are a seemingly "sub"/lesser strata of human beings in Singapore - with their rights systematically denied and thwarted variously under citizenship discourse, scare-mongering and moral panics (pregnancy, moonlighting, forfeiture of bond). This will be a much-deserved respite from the rigours of the work week and ensure that their physical and mental wellbeing are not entirely neglected. It also will go a long way to “de-demonizing” their presence in public places like Orchard Road and Lucky Plaza. The consumption of public space should be as it is - a public good not restricted or exclusive to anyone in particular. It is both bigoted and trite to hear the familiar refrains that they are an “eyesore” or that they “bring the third world into the first”.

The artificial private-public binary continues to be an alibi (one of Singapore's several reservations to CEDAW concerns labour rights of FDWs) that de-legitimizes domestic work as decent and dignified work . Domestic work is labour as well. Domestic workers are human beings too. Employers should disavow false dichotomies (i.e. an off day engenders a situation where all hell breaks loose and the domestic worker goes loco) and it is paramount to disaggregate such neat categories and polarities. This moral panic of domestic workers engaging in sordid trysts and liaisons, moonlighting on the side, acquiring “tricks of the trade” from their peers on their off days is an unfounded and misplaced fear. They stem from the rhetoric, injunctions and policy that preside over FDWs - expecting "asexuality" (and other such bio-politics), categorical servitude (or risk losing the bond), paying a levy which tacitly suggests ownership or at least control. The premium placed on such controls elides over the individual rights of FDWs such as control and autonomy over their own bodies, their various freedoms and rights. But that is a story and fight for another day.

For now, we commend this piece of legislation as a small triumph. At least at the level of policy, it does suggest some measure of political will to eschew an implicit “hierarchy of human beings” which has plagued the low skilled/low waged migrant worker community. We can only hope this crystallizes into something that is actionable and enforceable. As a parting word, a caveat is in order. This does not and should not efface the fact that structurally, FDWs are still a vulnerable population which is not covered under the Employment Act (EA). The EA stipulates for work hours, rest, leisure, remuneration, compensation, freedom of mobility, expression, religion and other concomitant rights. They toil and labour in the confines of the homestead everyday silently and invisibly, providing care, labours of love, cleaning and cooking. How do we “objectively” put a value to such labour? Can we, really?

A barometer measuring how civil and civic our society is should consider how we treat the most vulnerable, helpless and unprotected. This piece of news is a morsel of hope. We need to reframe the debate from one of "deserving-ness" to one of "rights". This is especially exigent since FDWs cannot stake claims to citizenship rights in Singapore; and need the logic and language of human rights as a safeguard. In the meantime, we need to thank the migrant worker NGOs for their relentless industry and effort in the face of formidable and sustained opposition. We still have a long way to go, Singapore. These include removing the ratifications to CEDAW, signing and ratifying the Migrant Workers Convention and ILO 189. For now, we take the little triumphs as they come and face new battles after the dust settles on this piece of news. As Bridget Tan of HOME mentioned in its press release, we could start with the provision of facilities for social and recreation activities, enrichment classes for upgrading, and other activities that mainstream their presence into society. Singapore has long gotten its “hardware” in order, it is time we look cultivate our “heart-ware”.

Another piece of left wing liberal bull shit article,,has the gahmen address the maid off day,,she gets pragnant, get bf, run away etc...is the gahmen going to be liable,,or will it just collect levy but give employers the problem/??? FUCK PAP

 

[singveld]

business opportunity, open cheap love hotels to specially cater to banglas and philipinos maids. Good for them, i said before, even maids need sex too. sinkies boss are so inconsiderate.

 

[laksaboy]

Another ridiculous pro foreigner legislation to make life worse for locals...wat happens if maid goes with bf? etc? gahmen cover the cost? Fuck PAP

Don't hire maids, lah. Sinkie women no arms and no legs? Why cannot stay at home and do the chores?

I think the maids have been fucking around anyway, the only difference is that now, the maids get an officially sanctioned one day off, and therefore more chances to do what they already have been doing.

 

[zeddy]

The Banglas Will Be Happy..!!!! :p