My-Daybreak.org

Malaysians do not want low- paying jobs with long hours and no days off, but we are not happy to pay more than RM500 for an Indonesian maid, who is forced to work beyond what is fair and humane.

Many employers see nothing wrong in forcing maids to work from 5 am to 11 pm daily, and even get them to do cleaning for the relatives, as Gursharan Singh of Kuala Lumpur points out.

I know of  an employer asking the maid to cook for mistress’s family and take care of eight dogs as well.

On a visit to the National Stroke Rehabilitation Organisation, we  were told that many Indonesian workers, who are caregivers to stroke victims, often have to double up as maids, working long hours doing housework while looking after the disable people.

Malaysians have to stop thinking that quality of life and the right to live your life with some dignity is restricted to those who can pay for it.

They must learn to treat others as human beings with a right to respect and basic comforts, too. We must be grateful that we can pay others to do our dirty jobs, but we shouldn’t treat them like dirt.

Tan Yeng Siang

Petaling Jaya

( News Straits Times)