Once your children grow up and leave home, you will understand how difficult it is to be separated from your loved ones, and you will start to understand how your foreign domestic worker feels, a columnist has written in a Hong Kong paper.
The columnist, who writes on parenting issues, shared her recent experience in Headline Daily about how she felt after her daughter went overseas for studies.
She advised readers to put themselves in their maid’s shoes so that the employer-employee relationship would have a new perspective.
She said her Filipino maid, who had been working for her for six years, suddenly requested a one-month holiday. She agreed to the request without any hesitation because she knew the reason had to do with the maid’s son back in the Philippines.
The domestic worker, who is a widow and also needs to support her parents and brothers, had learned that her son had been skipping school frequently. It made her very worried and she wanted to talk to him in person and solve the problem.
The writer said her domestic worker, like many others in Hong Kong, was not a very good cook, liked loafing and was sometimes bad-tempered, but she was honest and took care of her employer’s daughter very well.
Only able to communicate with her son by phone, instead of taking care of him in person if he is sad or gets sick, is understandably very hard on the maid, the columnist said.
But, she wondered, how many employers in Hong Kong show any empathy for their domestic workers?
The columnist said she knew of a person who lived in a thousand-square-foot apartment but only provided a foldable wooden board, placed above a washing machine in a storage room, for the domestic worker to sleep on.
That domestic worker doesn’t have her own chair, and she is not allowed to sit on her employer’s sofa or a dining-room chair. She must stand when she has her dinner.
The columnist said she would never forget how the maid looked surprised but appreciative when her employer’s friends gave her food during a gathering.
The writer advised employers to try to put themselves in the maid’s shoes, show understanding and care, in order to build a good employment relationship.
God bless you maam
Filipinos are grateful people . Show them love and respect and they will give you and your children a home sweet home
thank you ma’am, i reallyappreciate your understanding.i just hope that every employer will realize that our job is not easy as what they think…..i hope that they realize that we also human. dont think that we are nothing….becauseI we are all created equal. God bless us all
Thank you ma’am you have a very good heart..
Wow u are a kind employer, just like my employer and my popo that i took care.they considered me as their family.God bless to those employer who has a good and big heart.
Thank you for being kind and considerate to your helper,ma’am /sir!
I hope some employer will do the same..
Though I’m lucky to have one good employer now…god bless us all.
You are absolutely correct sir/mam your helper is so lucky to have u as her boss indeed salute…for u
We will be happy if all the employers have sympathy to us a maid here in hongkong.i hope alk the employers like u…
Sana one day mabasa ng amoko to. So she’ll understand … Yung character ng helper dito parang ako din. not good in cooking. but I’m not bad temper.. but I took care of his son too much… sana nga mabasa nya.????????
I have these great understanding employers too..I also had this kind of situation with my teenager son,after they heard my testimony,they offered an earlier annual leave..God bless to all of us.. Give our employers,special treatment especially our wards and in time will pay you back your efforts ????
Thank you ma’am for your understanding
Very well said!
My employer also allowed me to take vCATION FOR ONE YEAR SO THAT I WILL GET pregnant and come back anytime.
Thank you sir
I salute u ma’am for being good and understanding.i am very lucky that I have my employer like u.
salute to you understanding employer.Godbless you
nakakaliit ng mundo,kapag natapat ka sa amo mataas ang tingin sa sarili,lahat nang katatagan gagawin mo,,,,
Well said madam! Thank you very much for your kind consideration and understanding. May your tribe increase.
very well said☺
thank you maam!
I can say im lucky to have my employer now very understanding my mam echo….
she understand me very well…
Thank u sir/mam for understanding how difficult for us overseas worker to work as helper just to provide the needs of our family eventhough we sacrifieces for the seek of our family ????????????