INTERVIEWEE
JANE
about the interviewee
TIMELINE
1977
Born in Bacolod, a city located in the Negros Oriental Province, in the Philippines.
1998
Halfway through her course in school, she applied for a work permit to Singapore.
1999
Stopped studying in the Philippines to work in Singapore after work permit was issued.
1999 onwards
Working in Singapore under her first employer, who she has been working for 20 years now.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
EARLY LIFE
Born in the year 1977, in the outskirts of Bacolod City, located in the Negros Oriental Province of the Philippines, Jane is the oldest child in the family, with one younger brother and sister. She is an outgoing, hardworking and cheerful individual who enjoys the company of others. Jane grew up in the rural areas of Bacolod City, where her parents earned just enough to make ends meet. She lived a normal life in the Philippines, attending school like every other student in her city. In the midst of studying a course in school, her work permit to Singapore was issued. She applied to work in Singapore due to better job prospects and a higher salary. Therefore, she halted her studies and came all alone to Singapore to work.
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When asked about her initial expectations of working in Singapore, she recalled that she did not have particularly strong feelings. Quoted from the interview, she expressed that she “…just go (went) ahead (to work) …”. She came to Singapore with a single motive to earn a living and support her family back at home.
JANE
THE SINGAPORE EXPERIENCE
Upon arriving in Singapore and entering the recruitment agency, she met her first and only employer soon after. She started to work for the Chins, a family of four. Jane often went on outings along with the family and she would sometimes meet up with her friends during her off-days. In her first few years of working in Singapore, she faced overt discrimination from Singaporeans, especially when she was out with her friends. In the following sections, we will explore Jane's experience with discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes in Singapore.
DISCRIMINATION
During her early years of working in Singapore, she faced discrimination due to her job and nationality. She was out with her friends, resting at a bus stop when they were subjected to offensive comments made by Singaporeans. They were belittled due to their identity as domestic helpers from the Philippines.
A group of middle-aged ladies at the bus stop looked down on Jane and her friends, they demanded them to stop talking and then carried on to emphasize their identity as Singaporeans. They repeated their comments several times, to assert dominance that they have the right to command foreign domestic helpers due to the latter’s lower job title and nationality, which they consider less competent compared to themselves.
Upon looking back at this incident, she voiced that she was not particularly affected. It was natural to her that locals had negative opinions of foreign workers. She was used to being viewed in this manner by Singaporeans and she was well aware of her position as a domestic helper working in Singapore. She knows that it is not a job of high social status, therefore there will bound to be some disfavor towards her due to the group she belongs to.
Moving on, Jane also spoke about the way domestic helpers are advertised by agencies. She shared that it was common and normal to promote domestic helpers in this manner, she had seen, in person, many of these recruitment agencies. Grace expressed her opinions about this issue, she thinks that it is an acceptable way to promote domestic helper.
She compared hiring a domestic helper to
"buying things", as quoted in the interview. She thinks that employers should be able to specify what kind of domestic helper they want. For example, they should have the freedom to choose how old or where the domestic helper is from. Jane seemed unfazed about the inappropriate ways domestic helpers are marketed as she had seen these forms of advertising maids since her early years of working in Singapore.
PREJUDICE & STEREOTYPES
She also talked about the prejudices people have towards foreign domestic helpers. She shared how people would generalise domestic helpers and attribute them with a certain characteristic just because one foreign domestic helper committed an act. For example, she shared that in the community of domestic helpers, there are some of them who have romantic relationships with other migrant workers. Jane talked about how she heard Singaporeans gossip about these domestic helpers, claiming that they must be a “gold-digger” and that domestic helpers who have relations with men "sell" their bodies in exchange for money.
People link domestic helpers to negative characteristics and view their actions as a means to earn money. They view them as a less affluent group of people, who would do anything to earn money. These stereotype and negative judgments are subjected to the whole population of domestic helpers as people view them as a whole body of people and ignore the individuality in the group.
When asked about her feelings, she expressed that she feels that people should not have negative stereotypes of foreign domestic helpers just because of one member's action. She hopes that people would view them individually and take the time to understand them before making judgments.
CURRENT LIFE
Jane is currently working under her first employer, whom she considers family. She has been working under the Chins for half of her life and will continue to do so. Jane has a healthy relationship with her employer and she expressed, during our chat after the interview, that she is very lucky to have met the Chins. Jane plans to work for as long as she can and pay frequent visits to her hometown, to visit her family, especially her parents.
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Jane enjoys her life in Singapore now and she is ecstatic to see increasing acceptance and openness towards foreign domestic helpers now compared to when she first came here. Closing off the interview, she talked about how she was able to "learn to interact with others" and "learn (come into contact with) new cultures" while working in Singapore. She finds this experience valuable and holds it close to heart. Despite the initial discrimination she faced, Jane managed to find joy in her job and thankfully, gained a second "home" and "family" in Singapore.
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