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DESPITE the assurance by the Ministry of Manpower that the pass rate of maids who take the English test is 95 per cent, there are still 5 per cent who do not. If they include those cited by Mr Samuel Tang and Ms Tai Yin Yee last Thursday, the English test needs to be re-examined.
Since the purpose of the test is to ensure employers and maids can communicate with each other, I suggest an alternative test, to be taken by employers. For example, if an employer wishes to employ an Indonesian maid, he should be pass a test in Bahasa Indonesia. Surely it is easier for a more educated employer to learn a foreign language than for a less educated maid to learn one, especially English which is not easy to learn.
I speak very basic Bahasa Melayu, but I have never had any problem communicating with my Indonesian maid in the past 10 years. I supplement what I do not know with an Indonesian dictionary. As Ms Tai said, in time, most maids will pick up the language spoken in the home where they work. My maid has learnt to speak basic English and even some Mandarin and dialect.
James Loh
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