Back in 2002, I worked on a paper for what ultimately gave rise to migrant worker rights group Transient Workers Count Too, that considered potential sources of help and advice for domestic workers.

One conclusion it arrived at was that some useful resources already existed but domestic workers could make use of them only if they had days off when they could leave their employers’ homes.

The appalling experiences of Ms Sugiyem Samad Radimah at the hands of her employer (She wanted me to suffer for life: Maid blinded by boss, Nov 1) would almost certainly have been prevented if she had a legally protected regular day off
during which she could have sought help.

Instead, confined to her workplace, she suffered abuse over a six-month period, at the end of which her employer unceremoniously sent her back to Indonesia, blinded and traumatised – no doubt to avoid having her seen by a doctor here for her legally required six-monthly check-up, and hoping that once Ms Sugiyem was out of Singapore, nothing more would be heard of her. 

Since 2013, the right of domestic workers to a weekly day off has been officially recognised.

However, workers and employers are allowed to agree to give it up in return for payment. This exception is easily exploited by employers who do not want to give days off, and workers could be coerced into giving up days off under the threat of repatriation.

At the end of 2022, it will become obligatory for all employers of domestic workers to give them at least one day off each month, when they are free to go out.

This is a step forward, but why has it taken so long to reach this point when its value for countering abuse has been evident for decades?

And when will all domestic workers finally have their weekly day off, not only for personal security, but also for rest and recreation that nearly everyone else takes for granted?

John Gee