Our first Sunday in Singapore we were curious about the large number of women gathered in small groups, many of them having picnics in the big open spaces around us. We also noticed many of them lined up at money transfer windows.
The photo above is of a park right next to where we are staying; the photo below is of a park right across the street from us. The same scene can be found at numerous parks and plazas throughout Singapore every Sunday.
At first, I didn’t know what was going on, but my son mentioned that Sundays are a day off for maids in Singapore, and this is apparently how many of them spend that precious day. It is a chance for them to relax with people from their own country, as well as to send money back home to their families.
Currently, there are over 250,000 maids in Singapore, who are also often referred to as foreign domestic workers. Today, every fifth Singaporean household hires a maid. In 1990, the ratio was about one in 13, with about 50,000 maids employed at that time. The workers come from a variety of countries, and it seems as if each nationality has its special place to gather on Sundays. Lucky Plaza seems to be the place for Filipinos, while City Plaza attracts Indonesians.
It wasn’t until 2013 that a law was passed mandating that maids get one day off per week; prior to that, it was one day off per month. Some maids may exchange their day off for another day of paid work.
The average salary for a maid is about $518 per month, and they work 14-16 hour days, six days per week. You can do the math.
The life of a maid seems like it is a difficult and stressful one, so Sundays are a special, and most welcome day, for all of them. It is time for them to reconnect with their friends, relatives, and fellow countrymen. It is a testament to the power of community.
As one woman put it: “A comfortable place that we can hang out at after we send money home and buy our own food. It is easy to meet all the Filipinos here and have a small party here. We don’t need to do anything, just sit and talk and de-stress.”
Borden's Blather 
An interesting and informative look at something so common for the local culture, yet has no analogy in our own. I am ready for you to retire, so you can travel the world and bring us these heart-warming stories from around the globe. Maybe write for a travel publication, so they can pay your travel expenses. Just floating the idea! 😊
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thanks, Brad! and as far as being a paid travel writer, as long as they cover my beer bill, I’d be happy… 🙂
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Sad and beautiful.
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those two words capture my thoughts as well.
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Wow. Sometimes I forget that my life is so easy compared to most of the world. Thanks for the poignant reminder! And how did you get those photos??
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you are right; everything is relative. I just took the photos with my iphone from the top floor of my condo.
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A precious time for them, Filipinos do,love to get together because so many of them are away from home.
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I guess it’s a chance for them to feel like they are home, even if it just once a week for a few hours.
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The company I worked for at Heathrow employed more Filipinos than any other nationality and they were so hard working and generous. I also learnt a lot about their work ethic. What they earned was a fortune when taken back to the Philippines- lots of my colleagues literally worked every day off and due to a certain flexibility on the part of our immediate manager they could then take 3months off to go back ‘home’ – over the years buying themselves property and building houses in the Philippines. Lots of them owned houses in West London and had children and grandchildren born in Britain so I wonder how many of them would go back. Most poignant though was a lady who left her son behind at the age of four, when I worked with her he was a teenager and she sent money back for his education. An interesting insight into other lives you are giving us Jim.
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thanks for sharing your insights, Janet. It’s nice to know that the hard work paid off for many of them.
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Were you able to talk to any of them? Are they bi-lingual? What ages do they span?
Thank you for sharing your experiences in Singapore!
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I did not talk to any of them, but I did not hear any English being spoken. We have noticed that we have trouble communicating with many retail employees; they can speak a little bit of English, but we cannot speak any of their languages.I wish I knew a second language!
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This is like the scene my husband told me about Dominican Republic except they do it on Saturday and Sunday. He said that everyone seemed to be in the parks. Haha 😀
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Sounds like they maybe get two days off in the DR. I guess it’s another reason to support open spaces like parks – you never know what sort of benefit they provide to the local community.
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Those working hours are ridiculous. But to them in sure the money is worth it.
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the hours are crazy; I know they get room and board (at least I assume they do), but the overall compensation still seems pretty low. And given the number of women lined up at the money exchange centers, they do seem to putting the money to good use to support their families back home.
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Wow really interesting I didn’t know this was a thing in Singapore but it’s nice they get one day off.
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