MOM starts house visit scheme to ensure welfare of maids
Ministry aims to make 200 visits a month; more interviews with first-time maids to be conducted
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Officers appointed by the Ministry of Manpower speaking to a maid during a house visit in Boon Keng yesterday. Under the new initiative, officers meet maids and employers at their homes and highlight safe working conditions as well as the channels through which maids can get help if needed. The officers also check on the maid's living and working conditions.
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
Maids in Singapore are getting more support to ensure employers are treating them right, with officers appointed by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) making house visits to check on them.
Under the new initiative, which started on April 5, the officers meet maids and employers at their homes and highlight safe working conditions as well as the channels through which maids can get help if they need it.
They also check on the maids' living and working conditions during the visits.
The MOM, in a statement yesterday, said it aims to visit about 200 homes a month.
The move comes after a spate of high-profile cases of domestic helpers being badly abused, in one case leading to a maid's death.
In February, housewife Gaiyathiri Murugayan, pleaded guilty to starving and torturing her Myanmar maid Piang Ngaih Don, 24, leading to her death.
In November last year, a woman repeatedly abused an Indonesian maid employed by her family. The maid fled by climbing down 15 storeys from a balcony, and the woman was later sentenced to 10 months and two weeks' jail.
A spokesman for the MOM said the officers it appoints are trained to look out for non-verbal cues that could point to violations or unfair working conditions, which the ministry would then follow up.
In the event of abuse, the police will be alerted.
Along with household visits, the MOM will work with the Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) to conduct more in-person interviews with first-time maids, during which they can raise their concerns and other issues.
Speaking at a media briefing at the MOM Services Centre in Bendemeer Road yesterday, representatives of the MOM and CDE said the home visits and interviews would strengthen the ecosystem of support for maids.
Mr Tan Shu Xiang, director of engagement at MOM's foreign manpower management division, said: "It's important that we take good care of our migrant domestic workers while they are working in Singapore.
"And this requires all our stakeholders - the employers, employment agencies, MOM, our community partners like CDE - to work closely together so as to create a strong system of support.
"MOM is looking into reviewing all the safeguards against abuse and we're looking into a comprehensive set of measures. Even as the review is in progress, we have introduced the house visits so that we can make sure we support our migrant domestic workers."
Since 2017, the CDE has been conducting in-person interviews with randomly selected first-time maids in Singapore on behalf of the ministry. The interviews are typically conducted three to six months after the maids start work.
Since the Covid-19 outbreak here last year, these interviews have been done by video call. The CDE will resume in-person interviews at its office from next month.
It aims to interview 2,000 maids a month, and all first-time maids in Singapore are expected to be interviewed by the end of the year.
