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(Note : All names have been changed to protect their identities...like real only!)There are several simple reasons why many Singaporean employers are reluctant to give their maids a day off.
You see, if the maid runs away, the government will fine the employer $5,000. If the maid commits a crime such as shoplifting, the government will fine he employer $5,000. So if she runs away and shoplifts at the same time, is that $10K?
If the maid is caught having sex with someone, the government will fine the employer $5,000. If the maid gets pregnant, the government will also fine the employer $5,000. So either way, the employer gets screwed for the screwing she got.
If you didn't know any of the above, then either you do not employ a maid, or you didn't read the small print of the Manpower Ministry's work permit conditions.
Many employers are afraid that if their maid has a day off and gets into trouble, the employer will not only have to solve the trouble, but also have to fork out $5,000 as a free gift to the government.
Intuitively, this smacks of gross unfairness. The employer gets punished not for something he did, but for something that somebody else (the maid) did. Furthermore, once the maid leaves the employer's residence, the employer has no way of monitoring where the maid goes and what she does there.
We may draw a curious parallel with Mas Slamat's escape, and PM Leee's determined, if muddled, defence of Home Affairs Minister Wong Can't Sing in Parliament.
Mas Slamat ran away. But PM Leee said that Wong Can't Sing was not at fault and should not be punished in any way. The reason being that Wong Can't Sing personally did not do anything which allowed Mas Slamat to escape.
Strangely, if your maid runs away, it IS your fault and you SHOULD be punished. Even if you did not personally do anything to let her run away (apart from giving her a day off).
Similarly, if your maid becomes pregnant, it IS your fault and you SHOULD be punished. Even if you did not screw her.
Oh well. What can I say? Maids are not terrorists. But then you are not Wong Can't Sing. So the rules remain stacked against you. Wong Can't Sing gets off lightly, but you won't. Even if his lapse has far greater, and graver, implications than yours.
Your runaway maid wouldn't blow up Changi Airport, would she?
ps : Hahahaha!!..I just love this post! Thank you Saint Leong...may God bless you.