Monday, July 13, 2009

Six years

Six years ago, the maid worked in a family of inconsiderate loonies and she was desperate to get out of her situation.

Six years ago, a couple had a terror for a maid and were desperate to get her out of their lives.

Six years ago, we matched the maid with the couple. It turned to be a very good arrangement for the parties.

Fast forward to present.

Six years later the maid makes the decision that she needs to leave this job and get on with her life. She will miss the household and the couple she worked for, but it has been six long years she has been away from her own home and family. She must have looked at herself, her future, and decided that she needed to make something more of herself.


We hate to see her leave. We have worries about what she will do for a living. But we understand her aspirations. Her plans are vague. Every idea is a maybe. But she knows now is the time to make her move.Before she loses her nerve.

Six years. It is a long enough time to have stayed in one place. It is time to move on.

And so, with some sadness but a lot more optimism, we reluctantly bade her farewell with lots of good wishes.

We will treasure having seen her make a happy home for our friends and we hope that her life will be good back in her home.

Can it all have been six years already?

6 comments:

lulu said...

We often forget that maids would get out of domestic work if they can. Hope things work out for her.

eatdrinkplayjunkie said...

it really is tough being a maid in singapore. imagine being separate from family and friends and thrown into an unfamiliar environment. and that legally, they are only entitled to 1 rest day a month!

wildgoose said...

Good times pass fast. Our maid has been withus almost 5 years too. Will miss her when she leaves.

sinlady said...

lulu + edpj + wildgoose - maid has to be one of the least desirable jobs in the world! there is no prospect of anything like promotion, pay raise, stock option etc; just a dead end job in itself.

wildgoose said...

from what i understand, there is pay raise, just not performance-based. It's on renewal of contract. but yes, there's no promotion prospects.

sinlady said...

wildgoose - pay increment is negligible; but the main problem is that there is no chance of advancement of any kind.