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WANTED: Part-time housekeepers like 49-year-old Marina Sudin - seen here with Mr Alex Chiau, the owner of Laundry-Maid - are in demand among young professionals and newlyweds. Laundry-Maid charges $15 an hour and gets three requests a day for such help. -- ST PHOTO: TERENCE TAN
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ONCE a week, college lecturer Donald Low puts a wad of notes on a table in his living room before leaving for work.
Later in the day, a part-time maid stops by his two-room condominium unit in Ulu Pandan, cleans the apartment for three hours and collects the cash before letting herself out.
When the busy 34-year-old returns, his dirty laundry would have been washed and pressed, bedsheets changed and toilets scrubbed down.
'It is like a serviced apartment without the high cost,' said Mr Low.
He is among a growing number of Singaporeans, especially young working professionals and newlyweds, who are hiring part-time maids.
It is a group of people who wince at the thought of spending their free time scouring floors, but do not want to sacrifice their privacy with live-in domestic help.
This has led to booming business for companies providing part-time maids, with some struggling to cope with the influx of customers.
A Straits Times check with eight companies providing such services revealed a 10 to 70 per cent increase in business over the last two years.
Laundry-Maid, a company in Serangoon, has seen an estimated 70 per cent increase in demand since 2006, typically from young working couples.
The 13-year-old company gets about three requests a day for part-time maids. Owner Alex Chiau charges $15 an hour for the housekeeping services and has 45 part-time maids, who include housewives looking to earn some extra cash.
But turnover is high, he said, because workers soon realise that cleaning non-stop for three hours is no easy task.
'If demand keeps rising, we might not be able to hire enough people to cope,' added the 54-year-old.
Four other companies which spoke with The Straits Times shared the same problem.
Amahs on Wheels, which has about 75 part-time maids, has had to turn away customers.
Owner Angie Koh, 38, said: 'We try our best to give customers what they want, but we do not have enough part-time maids now to serve certain areas of Singapore.'
But it is not just about making up the sheer numbers.
Each maid has to be well versed in cleaning, said company owners.
In the quest for quality help, owners have made potential hires take a test. Maids are also schooled in the best way to clean windows and how not to mix colours and whites in the wash.
Ms Stephanie Ong, 28, owner of Maid Easy Professional Part-time Maid Services, said: 'There is a lot of competition and good workers are hard to come by. Many say they can do the job, but their work isn't up to the mark.' The company's monthly staff turnover is 30 per cent.
'In the meantime, customers are getting more particular. We are put in a tight spot because of this,' she said.
While all that goes on behind the scenes, home owners like Mr Low are happy to have the help - without the hassles that accompany live-in maids.
'All I have to do is to pass the part-time maid a key, leave money on the table before I leave for work, and the house is clean when I get home,' he said.
limjess@sph.com.sg
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