NOT ENOUGH TO EAT, PLENTY OF SURVEILLANCE
Speaking to CNA TODAY, some helpers said food was also used by their employers as a form of control.
Farah’s previous employer often used food as a tool of manipulation, offering it as a reward and retracting access to it as a way to punish her.
“She knew I liked peanut butter,” she said. “If I did something that displeased her, she would tell me, ‘No more peanut butter.'”
Farah said she bought snacks and secretly stashed them in her room to alleviate her hunger. As her employer had installed a video camera which pointed directly at the fridge, she hesitated to take food from it.
Another domestic helper, Priya (not her real name), who spoke with CNA TODAY through an interpreter, faced the same kind of deprivation. She subsisted on only two to three chapatis (flat bread) a day during her three months with her ex-employer.
The 26-year-old from India said the first 20 days of working with her previous employers were smooth. She ate the food she cooked for her family and had meals with them as well.
For reasons unknown to her, her employer’s attitude shifted suddenly, and she was no longer allowed to share their meals. She was also instructed to prepare an “exact amount of food” for the family.
If there were leftovers, she would only be permitted to eat them and nothing else over the next two or three days. If there were no leftovers, she would not get any food to eat.
When the family chose to eat out, they would leave her at home and not buy food back for her. To feed herself, Priya snuck extra vegetables into the pot when preparing her employer’s meals and pocketed chapatis to eat in secret later.
“When they were not looking, I would eat it because if they saw me eating, they would scold me,” said Priya, who often ate her chapati with just some pickles or dipped in tea.
“The food they provided was never enough, and it was often only chapati and nothing else… there were many moments when I would be very hungry,” she said.
Priya said that because there was a video camera in her room, she felt like she was always being watched which left her not only constantly hungry but also not being able to rest properly.
Her only respite came on Sundays, her day off, when she could eat at the Sikh Temple or enjoy meals prepared by her friends.
Priya left her employer in December last year for a shelter and has been there since.
Farah, too, relied on her friends for help. They would bring her dishes like pilaf or biryani to ease her hunger. Unable to bring “outside food” into the house, she often ate by the condominium swimming pool or stored meals with the condominium janitor to eat later.
HELPING A MAID WHO SAID SHE WAS ‘LAPAR’
Human resource manager Ms Oh, who wanted to be known only by her last name, said she is shocked and feels disturbed by how some employers restrict their helpers’ consumption of food.
“It is unacceptable and inhumane for employers to limit their helpers’ food intake to the point of hunger,” said the 53-year-old who has employed the same helper for nearly 15 years. The helper eats the same food as the family, without any restrictions, she added.
“I value my helper as a member of my household and treat her with respect and kindness. Employers who closely monitor their helpers’ food intake lack compassion and are selfish.”
An English Australian expatriate who wanted to be known only as Sandra said that over the six years she has lived in Singapore, she has often heard from friends and her helper about this issue of food restriction.
She met a helper in need while living in cluster housing on the West Coast.
“I heard her crying ‘lapar’ (hungry) and ‘saya sakit’ (I am sick), then I came down to talk to her,” she said, noting the helper looked “very skinny and unhappy”.
The expatriate declined to reveal her full name because she is concerned with potential backlash from her former neighbours.
The helper told Sandra that her employers only gave her scraps from their plates, sometimes with pork, which she could not eat for religious reasons. They also forbade her from eating their leftovers. If she refused or discarded the scraps, she was denied any other food.
To help, Sandra left Indonesian snacks and instant noodles in a storage closet in the condominium’s car park for the helper.
“Every night, we left a thermos of hot water at around 7 pm, so when she took the garbage out, she could make noodles,” added the 44-year-old.
Sandra attempted to talk to the helper’s employers, but they dismissed her and told her not to “get involved”.
“The employers lived in a huge 5-bedroom house worth S$3.5 million and drove nice cars. They could easily afford basic food items for her,” she said.
Sandra and her family moved out of the West Coast unit in 2023 and lost touch with the helper.
“I am not sure what happened to her after that,” said Sandra. “I’ve always been worried.”
ADDRESS THEIR WELL-BEING SO THEY CAN PERFORM THEIR DUTIES
Welfare organisations said that employers should be aware of the physical demands of domestic work and ensure that their helpers are consuming enough food, and that their meals are balanced and nutritious.
Mr Michael Lim, the director of the Migrant Workers Centre at the National Trade Union Congress, said: “Ultimately, migrant domestic workers are employed to take care of our households, and it is important to also address their well-being needs so that they can perform their duties effectively.”
He added that in recent months, the Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) has seen a relatively low and stable number of cases involving domestic helpers receiving insufficient food.
Regarding food policing and not providing sufficient food, Mr Lim said employers are sometimes “unaware” of the issues faced by their helpers, but once informed, they are usually “understanding and accommodating of the requests”.
While there are laws in place to protect the rights of domestic workers, the education and promotion of good employment practices are equally important, he said.
On the legislation front, Ms Jaya said that while the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA) does state that an employer must provide “adequate food”, she said the term “adequate” can be vague.
Ms Jaya added that while the Act provides guidelines, it is not legally binding.
A MOM spokesperson said the ministry engages employers at various touchpoints.
This includes direct communication or the Employer’s Orientation Programme, which educates employers on their role and provides tips on how to help their MDWs adjust to Singapore, including their dietary requirements and preferences.
MOM also emails circulars to employers every month as part of its ongoing efforts to guide employers in helping their MDWs settle into life and work in Singapore. This included a circular in September last year that addressed the issue of snacking.
Ms Jaya added: “As a society, we are inching towards greater awareness of migrant workers’ rights, but the food issue remains largely unaddressed.
“Once we start to grapple with the fact that migrant domestic workers are employees and are deserving of rights and recognise that domestic work is skilled and laborious work, I think then all these other parts will start to change.”
