When Ms Maria Aida Procalla Somejo left her hometown in the Philippines in 1990 to become a foreign domestic worker in Singapore, she did not expect to end up with four "daughters" and spend almost half her life with another family.
Ms Somejo, 59, who is single, has been working for the Choo family for 28 years. She raised three of the children from birth but is most attached to the youngest, said her employer's eldest daughter, Ms Choo Yuen Ling.
"Ever since my youngest sister started speaking, instead of calling her 'Auntie' like all of us do, she chose to call her 'Mama'. When we tried to correct her, she wouldn't listen," said the 30-year-old business development manager.
Yesterday, Ms Somejo and Ms Choo were one of 19 pairs of foreign domestic workers and employers who received the Long Service Award at the Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium. Ms Choo collected the award on behalf of her parents.
The annual ceremony organised by the Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore) honours foreign domestic workers who have worked in the same household for at least 10 years. Ms Somejo was the longest-serving award recipient.
The Manpower Ministry says that one in two foreign domestic workers currently remain with the same employer for more than a year.
Ms Somejo mastered cooking of Chinese dishes within her first few months at work, even whipping upitems like dumplings, roast pork and lotus root soup.
"During Chinese New Year, she would cook lotus root soup, a special request from our extended relatives. They visit once a year but they also know 'Auntie' because of her cooking and because she's been with us for so long," said Ms Choo.
When Typhoon Haiyan left Ms Somejo's relatives homeless in 2013, Ms Choo's mother and her third sister donated $1,300 so that they could rebuild their home.
The other domestic worker recipients were eight Indonesians, four Sri Lankans, an Indian national and two other Filipinas. For the first time, three from Myanmar also received the long-service award. One of them, Ms Naw Wah Wah, 44, has been taking care of Madam Yap Guat Eng, 94, for 11 years.
Ms Naw struggled with English at first, but Madam Yap - a former English teacher - would patiently correct her grammar and pronunciation. Said Ms Naw: "My parents are gone and I'm not married. I promised my employer: 'Until you go or I go, I will continue to look after you.' She was so happy."
