Hunger Amid Plenty: Food Deprivation and Migrant Domestic Workers
(Image source: Freepik)
In 2014, HOME published an article, “Starved into Submission”, about a migrant domestic worker (MDW) who was hospitalised after losing 20 kgs due to severe malnourishment. Shortly after, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) clarified its guidelines on what constitutes “adequate food” for MDWs. According to MOM, MDWs must be provided three meals a day, and their website outlines recommended portions of rice, protein and vegetables. The guidelines also emphasize that the food should align with the MDW’s dietary preferences.
However, despite these recommendations, HOME continues to encounter MDWs who are deprived of adequate food by their employers. At our crisis shelter for MDWs, where we hold weekly writing workshops, participants often share their experiences of meal times.
Mary Ann from the Philippines wrote about how lunch time looks very different in her employer’s house compared to what she is used to at home.
“In the Philippines we prepare lunch around 11-12 o’clock. Our favourite food is mostly adobo like chicken or pork. I eat lunch with my family, we eat together, talking and eating, we are happy eating together.
At my employer’s I always eat lunch around 2-3pm. I always cook instant noodles for myself. I don’t have a choice but to eat noodles, even if I want to eat rice. My employer always gives me noodles. Not that I don’t want to eat noodles but to eat noodles for lunch every day is not healthy. I eat below the kitchen. I sit on the floor. I never try to eat chicken or meat, or fish in my lunch as my employer always tells me that is so expensive. Noodles are good but everyday noodles is not. … I feel very hungry because there are so many things to do after lunch, so I don’t have the energy and strength because instant noodles have no nutrients. I used to cook a nice lunch for my employer: rice, steamed fish, fried vegetables. So when I saw them eating this very nice food, sometimes I cried. I would always think that I was only a helper so they treated me like that.”
Mary Ann’s experience highlights a stark disparity: while MDWs are often tasked with preparing hearty meals for their employers, they are sometimes given far less to eat for themselves. At her employer’s house, the food Mary Ann was provided not only lacked nutritional value, it also created a physical and emotional divide between her and the family she worked for.
For many MDWs, the workday begins early, but breakfast is delayed for hours—even though food preparation is frequently one of their first tasks of the day. Many domestic workers we spoke to describe eating just two slices of bread for breakfast—a meagre meal for someone expected to carry out a full day of demanding physical labour. Fiona, also from the Philippines, shared:
“In Singapore in my employer’s house I wake up at 5am. I prepare the things I need to cook, then prepare the breakfast for all of them and cook some food for the children to bring to school for recess. Also, I have to separately cook food for my employer to bring to work. Then I prepare their tea or whatever they want to drink in the morning. After they finish eating breakfast, they all leave, my employers to go to work, and I send the children to school and then come back to clean all the mess they left behind. After I’m done cleaning I can rest for a few minutes, then make my coffee and breakfast. I eat while waiting for the baby to wake up.”
By the time she gets to eat her first meal of the day, Fiona has already had half a day’s work behind her. She also described a typical breakfast with her own family.
“In my country in the Philippines I usually prepare breakfast with my family. Sometimes my mother cooks for us, or my sister. First we set the dining table then we prepare the food and ingredients that we want to use. We cook fried rice together with fried eggs and sausages. And dried fish too. Also coffee and milk. After they cook everything we all help put it on the table and we pray and eat together.”
Preparing food for their employers is a common responsibility for MDWs in Singapore. Many are skilled cooks who take pride in preparing tasty and healthy meals for the families they work for. However, some never get to enjoy the food they prepare. Instead, they are given cheap, non-nutritious meals such as instant noodles, plain toast, or plain rice. It is common for MDWs to eat after only their employers have finished their meal, but in some cases, little to no food is left for them. Rina from the Philippines wrote about the meals she would cook for her employer—they sound so delicious you can almost understand why nothing was left for her to eat.
“Here in Singapore I start preparing lunch very early in the morning, around 9am, because they like to eat different kinds of dishes like stir fried vegetables, a few cuts of spicy pork belly, steamed fish and boiled vegetables for the kids. After they eat, what I eat is just the leftovers and a small serving of rice. If they did not leave enough for me, I just cook noodles for myself. And I eat one candy for dessert.
At dinner time I cook more than for lunch because I know they are tired from work, so I cook good food. Sometimes I cook seafood or a whole chicken. From the whole chicken, I make chicken soup with mushrooms. Or grilled chicken. Of course I cook different kinds of vegetables. Every day after dinner I need to prepare tea for them. They finish dinner around 8pm. After they eat, I clean the kitchen and dining table and after that it is time for me to eat dinner. I will eat whatever food is left. I’m lucky when they have a lot of food left over, it means my tummy is getting full.”
Many of the stories shared by the shelter residents reveal a recurring pattern: MDWs prepare nutritious and delicious meals for their employers but are often left to eat instant noodles or scant leftovers themselves.
Accounts from our writing workshops reveal that employers frequently tell MDWs that “good food” is too expensive, despite indulging in it themselves. When May Thu, an MDW from Myanmar, asked for more food and requested rice instead of instant noodles, her employer told her: “Don’t talk so much”.
“I have worked in Singapore for one year. I am from Myanmar. Life at my employer’s house is very difficult. I wanted to ask a lot of questions but my employer said, don’t talk so much. I do all the housework. Every day I wash four cars, fast cars. Two in the morning and two in the afternoon. One time every month I get a day off.
I cook for my employers. In the morning I cook rice porridge for Sir. I drink coffee for breakfast, sometimes I have some bread. In the afternoon, I cook rice and chicken, pork and fried vegetables for my employers. However, I eat instant noodles.
For dinner I cook chicken, pork and fry vegetables. I eat instant noodles. Sometimes I eat chicken. Never rice. When I asked for more food they said, don’t talk so much.”
Some MDWs supplement their meagre diets by purchasing their own food, like Maricar from the Philippines.
“In my employer’s house I usually ate noodles alone, around 1pm. Unlike in the Philippines where I eat with my family with enough food. Here I woke up early and started work with coffee and 2 pieces of sliced bread only. Sometimes I’d have a snack and sometimes I ate late, only noodles and sometimes 1 egg for dinner.
In my employer’s house after I work for a long day, around 1pm I cooked noodles for my lunch. Then I worked again until 9pm and I went down to cook noodles or egg for my dinner. Sometimes if I had time on Sundays, I bought vegetables or chicken so I had alternate food.”
Hana from Indonesia also had to supplement her diet by buying her own food.
“And about food in Singapore … I have some experience with employers, some good, some not good. A few years ago I had an employer that gave me good food. But with the last employer I had a problem, because they never ate on time. Sometimes they did not eat lunch until 4pm and they asked me to wait for them to eat first.
For breakfast also there was sometimes nothing to eat so I needed to buy some stuff myself. For dinner they gave me very little food, like vegetable soup only, without rice or bread. Sometimes at night I felt hungry.”
In their home countries it isn’t always easy either for MDWs to have nutritious food, for themselves and their families. For Dewi, not having enough money to feed her children was a reason to move to Singapore. Here she ate the same food as her employers and was grateful to be given plenty of healthy options. Still, she really missed the spices of the Indonesian food she was used to cooking and eating back home.
“In Indonesia it was difficult for me to cook healthy food for my family because we did not have so much money and healthy food is very expensive. When I started working in Singapore in my employer’s house, I did not cook for them, because Ah Mah did all the cooking for the family. I’ve learned that Chinese food is simple food and the recipes are simple also. The family is vegan and leads a healthy lifestyle. They use very little salt and oil, no msg or other unhealthy ingredients. I saw that they ate very healthy food. They were rich and educated which means it is easy for them to follow their chosen lifestyle.
My employer’s family loves soup very much and also noodles and porridge. They would drink milk and orange juice every day. I could never give my children that. When I was working with this employer, I would eat the same food as them. There was always enough food. But I did not like this food as it was so very tasteless. Indonesian food uses a lot of spices. Ah Mah never allowed me to cook my own food or add any spices or sauce to their food. She could get very angry and I did not want to make trouble so I would eat their food. But I never enjoyed it, even though it was very healthy. Yes, it was healthy food but it tasted bland.”
It is not only the quantity of food that is important, food should also be culturally appropriate. While Dewi was not allowed to cook with the Indonesian spices she was used to, the employers of her compatriot Yanti went even further by asking her to consumed food that went against her religious beliefs.
“My last employer would always get angry if the eggs were finished. Angry if I would cook rice every day. So I had to cook rice once or twice a week and keep it in the fridge. Actually, I would boil eggs for my employer every morning, 2 for sir and 1 for ma’am. But then still my sir would get angry and shout at me when they were finished. One day on my off day I bought some sausages. But when I was cooking them in the kitchen, sir said ‘why are you making so much noise in the kitchen?’
One time I cooked bee hoon with pork for my employers, but I cooked a bit too much. My sir said I should eat it too. But then my ma’am said no, she cannot eat that because she is Muslim so I was happy for that. But then later she called me and said, you cooked so much, you need to eat the bee hoon. But I am a Muslim so I did not eat anything that day as I did not want to eat the pork.”
Thankfully, there are also many employers who do feed their MDWs well. Annabelle from the Philippines related how her employer buys her everything she needs. Yet, she feels alone during mealtimes as she misses the company of her family.
“In my employer’s house I have never cooked for them, because during the interview I told them I cannot cook Chinese food, that is why they did not force me to cook. Sometimes they ordered food, sometimes ma’am cooked and I helped her prepare. For my lunch she allowed me to cook my own food, then I cooked rice and fried chicken or pork and vegetables, called Chapsey in the Philippines.
It is very different when I am eating with my family, then I am so happy, but when I am eating alone in my employer’s house I always feel alone. It may be homesickness that attacks me, that’s why I feel like that. But I have nothing to say against my employer as she is very kind. Every time she bought for me coffee, biscuits, milk, pork and chicken, shampoo, toothpaste, napkins, body wash: everything I needed.”
To end on a positive note, we’d like to share the experience of Thin from Myanmar, whose employers make sure she has access to sufficient and healthy food, as every MDW deserves to receive:
“I have worked in Singapore for over 5 years. Most of the Singaporean food is a bit different. My first employer liked to eat home cooked food. My employer said home cooked food is very healthy. My employer liked fried vegetables and soup, steamed chicken and pork, fish and prawn. I like soup more, because it makes our body healthy. I cooked porridge for Ah Gong every morning. Normally Ah Gong takes dinner at 6pm. We will cook on time. I also eat the same food with my employer. My first employer is so kind.
I also cook for my third employer. They like whatever I cook. My employer likes fried vegetables and steamed chicken and pork. They like simple cooking because Ah Ma has dementia. Ah Ma likes oily fried food but that is not good for her, that is why I like to cook for Ah Ma healthy food. This employer I eat also the same meal as them and they are so kind.
My fourth employer also likes to eat home cooked food. Ah Ma likes my cooking most because I follow Ah Ma’s instructions. Ah Ma treats me like a daughter most of the time. I care well for Ah Ma so she becomes better and does not need to go to the clinic every time. Ah Ma’s son appreciates me.”