A domestic helper in Singapore has shared her struggles after nearly a year of working under an employer she says pays her the lowest basic salary while expecting her to cover food and household items
herself. She claimed to receive a late salary, worked too long and has physical and mental exhaustion. She explained that in the first few months, she bought all her groceries, snacks and toiletries using her own money, even though she was allowed to use some household ingredients initially.
On top of this, her salary often arrived more than a month late, making it harder to manage daily expenses. Her working hours are long, sometimes going beyond 11 pm and little opportunity to rest during the day. Even on days off, she continues to work to meet her employer’s high demands. Despite raising concerns politely, nothing changed and she has lost significant weight. Soon after the post circulated online, social media users encouraged her to protect herself, document everything and change jobs.
Domestic Helper Shares Struggles In Singapore
Taking to Facebook, the domestic helper wrote, “I’ve been working for my employer for almost a year. In less than 3 months, during which I’ve been working here, I’ve bought all my groceries COMPLETELY with my own money until today. I’ve bought snacks, bread, tea & coffee, even toiletries myself since the beginning when I arrived, while I get the lowest basic salary. Previously, I took cooking ingredients with their permission, but they complained a lot because they were buying for Ahma, and my mistake was to give in and buy cooking ingredients for myself. They said Stop buying cooking ingredients for me. They paid my salary very slowly, more than a month.”
“My work schedule is very busy, lasting until 11 PM or even later every day, even though I try to manage my time wisely, and it’s very difficult to take a break during the day, even just to sit and have a coffee. I’m very tired, I lost more than 6kg of weight before the medical. First time medical, I lost 6kg. I still work until late at night even though it’s my day off. I work very hard to be perfect because all my employers are too fussy and it makes me mentally and physically exhausted. I also always buy things to clean the house, even though I tell them before they run out. My employer did not make any changes at all after I expressed my complaint nicely. I want to change employers, but I have a bad record because I couldn’t finish the contract before,” she added.
Reacting to the post, a user wrote, “Don’t buy things to clean their house. If they don’t want to buy clean without it. When they complain about the clean fight back. You would rather go back to your origin rather than work. With them, you work to earn money, not to buy things for a stupid employer. Go ask for a transfer to your agency. If they don’t want it, go back to your country and apply again.”
Another shared, “My suggestion, leave them. Life with this kind of employer will slowly kill you. By your mental health, physical health and more. You deserve to be happy. Find a job that treats you as a human being. All the best.”
“Everything you buy, your own recipe paper for evidence,” a comment read.
An individual stated, “We must hear the employer’s side of the story. You didn’t complete even 1 contract is a red flag. If you are good. Employers won’t change helpers as it costs them a lot of money. With your record, I wouldn’t employ you either.”
One more advised her not to leave or switch jobs without first reporting the situation to Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM). This is important because any future employer will need to see the MOM records to understand that she had a valid reason for ending her contract. She was also told to keep records of everything at work, such as the dates her salary was delayed, cleaning items she bought without reimbursement and the food she had to buy herself when her employer was supposed to provide meals.
