We only learn about the value of water until the well dries up, goes an old saying. In the same way, we only learn about the value of the contributions made by our domestic helpers until they are gone for the holidays. Many housewives view the coming of the Idul Fitri holiday season as a threat to their very comfort.
Who will take care of the kids? What if the maids or chauffeurs don't come back? These days, they are learning over again where their maids put their household items.
Where did the maid put the mop and the cream cleanser? on which shelf are the cooking pots and spices? Where's the "on" switch on the microwave? What's left in the fridge? These are the kind of questions now reverberating is many Jakarta households.
On normal days, domestic helpers take care of all of this. In an added irony, they are often the de facto dwellers of many houses, since their employers frequently spend most of their time outside. Jakarta residents have responded in different ways to this weeklong challenge. Some have relied on temporary maids offered by agencies. Many simply leave for vacation or stay in hotels as if the house is a scary place to live.
Without domestic helpers, the house seems to have lost its charm and comfort, while the real foe is the household chores.
There is no one to cook or clean. No set tables or cooked food at lunchtime or dinnertime. No one to do the washing and ironing. No chauffeur to putting the golf bag and suitcases into the trunk of the car.
Your comments:
My maid of six years came from Kendal, Central Java, and earns RM550 a month, with an occasional RM30-50 whenever I have extra.
With all that, she has now owned rice paddy plus another piece of land that her house is now being built on. She'll be going home this November for holidays and to make sure everything is in order.
Last April, I took my family and her to perform the umroh (minor haj) in Mecca. Everything sponsored, plus some pocket money to buy souvenirs for her family in Java. She was so happy and grateful. I know another maid who was better paid, but the only property she owned were her cell phones, which she kept changing.
Badeklangbuana
Malaysia
As foreigners who have lived in Indonesia for almost eight years, our family still highly values the contributions made by maids in our daily lives.
It is regrettable that their contributions to the local economy are not yet recognized by the officials. It is high time these migrant people are welcome into Jakarta with open arms and respected.
Sivagnanam
China
Thank you for writing about the condition of Indonesian domestic workers in your editorial. Change starts from home, I believe.
Maybe the Post should start to ask its workers to have at least a contract between them and their domestic workers.
The contract should state the number of hours they must work (40 hours a week, say, or maybe 50 hours as a start) as this will give them one day off a week.
Last but not least keep monitoring and writing about Indonesian domestic workers as part of the Post's contribution to the improvement of their working and living conditions.
Maria Pakpahan
Edinburgh, UK
