The Price of Care: Safira’s Story
Safira, an Indonesian migrant domestic worker (MDW), arrived in Singapore with high hopes of continuing to support her family. She sought stability to provide for her elderly parents, in-laws, son, and nephew. However, her aspirations were quickly dashed by the harsh reality of her new employment.
An Impossible Burden
One of Safira’s primary responsibilities was caring for her female employer’s elderly mother, "Ah Ma," who was immobile and severely ill. Before accepting the job, her employer told her that Ah Ma weighed 70kg. However, after Safira had commenced employment, she was shocked to learn that Ah Ma actually weighed 104kg—nearly twice Safira’s own weight of 60kg.
Safira was expected to lift Ah Ma from her bed to her wheelchair for daily showers. She also had to lift the wheelchair over a short step into the bathroom. Each lift sent sharp pains shooting through her body, leaving her breathless. Safira was not trained to perform such lifting tasks. At the hospital, nurses provided only informal guidance, warning that Ah Ma’s weight required at least two or three trained caregivers to move her safely. Despite these warnings, Safira’s employers refused to assist her or provide a mechanical hoist, forcing her to endure the task alone.
Within four months, Safira lost 9kg and developed chronic pain in her back, arms, chest, and stomach. Yet, her employers repeatedly threatened her against seeking help for her suffering, callously remarking, “You cannot sick, ya. If you sick, then mati ah.”
Endless Duties, Relentless Expectations
Beyond caring for Ah Ma, Safira was responsible for household chores for a family of five. Her daily tasks included:
Sweeping and mopping the floors
Washing the toilets
Doing the laundry and ironing clothes
Cleaning furniture and dishes
Preparing Ah Ma’s meals
Safira’s employer often made her repeat tasks multiple times to meet their standards. Some duties were outright unsafe—such as climbing a step ladder in a wet shower area to dry the ceiling by hand.
No Rest, No Relief
Safira’s workday began at 5:30 AM and ended at 10PM, but even then, her responsibilities continued into the night. She would wake up to tend to Ah Ma as many as five times per night, applying medicated oil, administering medicine, or changing her diapers.
Despite her gruelling schedule, Safira was denied even short breaks during the day. If she sat down for a moment, she was berated for being lazy.
Although she was entitled to two rest days a month, she still had to complete significant household chores before leaving for her rest day. On these days, she started work at 5:30 AM and only left the house at 10 AM.
Religious Discrimination and Psychological Abuse
Safira, a practicing Muslim, abstains from eating pork—a fundamental aspect of her faith. She also informed her employer that she visited a small prayer space on her days off. However, her employer used Safira’s religion as a means of ridicule and control.
She was frequently called “babi” (pig in Bahasa Melayu) and taunted with remarks like, “You better eat pork. Then you will become smarter.” On at least two occasions, her employer knowingly bought her food containing pork. In one instance, she was given a bento set with pork placed directly on top of the rice. Another time, her employer purchased fried rice containing Chinese pork sausages and deceitfully claimed they were chicken.
The abuse extended beyond food. Her employer used religious slurs to humiliate her, saying that Safira’s mistakes at work made her “evil”, “unclean”, “impure” and “unacceptable to God”. She further degraded Safira with false accusations about having a boyfriend, coupling them with crude sexual insults:
“Why you cannot focus? You miss your boyfriend? You miss your puki kena tepuk? You tak dapat cucuk?” (Translation: “You miss your pussy being fucked? You didn’t get sex?”)
This verbal and psychological torment was part of a broader pattern of constant verbal abuse, where she was frequently scolded with insults like “stupid” and “gila” (crazy). Her employer even physically humiliated her, poking her head while berating her.
No Justice, No Remedy
After four months of relentless abuse, Safira escaped to the HOME shelter, where she received support in filing a complaint with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). Some of Safira’s complaints (e.g. the verbal abuse, religiously insensitive actions by the employer) were also referred to the Singapore Police Force (SPF). Safira requested a transfer to another employer so she could continue supporting her family in Indonesia. Safira also had clear evidence of her employer’s verbal abuse in the form of an audio recording, which she sent to the authorities.
Despite the egregious levels of exploitation that Safira experienced, her transfer request was denied as none of her claims were taken up for further investigation by both the MOM and SPF, and her employers were not found to have committed any regulatory breaches.
When HOME appealed on her behalf, it was no avail. She was also worried that her employer could leave negative feedback that might affect her chances of future employment. Safira reluctantly agreed to return to Indonesia.
Lack of Recourse and Rights
Weak labour protections for MDWs and employers retaining the power to repatriate them at will mean that many MDWs like Safira who have faced abuse and exploitation are repatriated and left with no recourse even after they have made complaints against their employer. Many more MDWs refrain from reporting abuses as they are fearful of meeting the same fate.
Migrant workers deserve to work with dignity and respect. HOME recommends:
The right to change employers, with clearly defined notice periods. This will allow migrant workers to leave abusive work situations without the fear of repatriation.
Strong labour standards for MDWs: they should be included in the Employment Act which sets out limits on working hours and overtime pay. Rest days should also be weekly, and 24 hours.
MDWs who undertake caregiving duties must be given mandatory, comprehensive training before they are deployed to employers’ homes. We recommend a bifurcated work pass system separating the roles of domestic work and caregiving, so that MDW caregivers are not burdened with additional household responsibilities that will compromise their emotional and physical well-being.