Domestic maids, Mas Selamat and why Wong Kan Seng should be fined

I received an interesting email about why Singaporeans are not so in favour of the one day off for maids. Can anyone provide the work permit conditions for Domestic workers to check if this is true?


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 the employer $5,000.

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.

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 Selamat's
escape, and PM Lee's determined, if muddled, defence of
Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng in Parliament.

Mas Selamat ran away. But PM Lee said that Wong Kan Seng
was not at fault and should not be punished in any way. The
reason being that Wong Kan Seng personally did not do
anything which allowed Mas Selamat 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 personally
do anything to make her pregnant.

Oh well. What can I say? Maids are not terrorists. But then
you are not Wong Kan Seng. So the rules remain stacked
against you. Wong Kan Seng 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 ?