Job Discussion Forums

beefer · Joined: 10 Feb 2006 Posts: 238 Location: java

about 4-5 years back i had a maid who kept a frozen cat placenta in her fridge. then one day she brings it to our house, thaws it out and proceeds to eat/ drink it. this was done ( as she told us) in an effort to become more fertile. very disturbing on a few different levels.

about 6 months ago we had a maid who while mopping the floor in the morning abruptly stopped and proceeded to stare at the lightbulb in the ceiling for about 2-3 minutes without blinking an eye( i witnessed this myself). when she did stop staring at it, she broke down with the biggest crying fit i have ever seen, ran to her bedroom and refused to come out for the rest of the day.........apparently Allah had spoken to her throught the light in the ceiling and told her that something very bad was going to happen to her that day. she was soon after fired.

about a month ago, her sister, who remained working with us( my wife and i) went to see the " paranormal" in her kampung who told her that bad things were going to happen to everybody in my house because i was about to fall in love with her and we would soon be married. my then single wife would then try to kill us all. she was soon after fired.

last week i was at work and my wife calls to tell me that she has just hired a new second maid......... the new maid is only 10 years old!!!!
i feel terrible for the obvious child labor law faux pas but i have to admit she does a better job than any other maid i have had.

anybody else have amusing things like this happen to them with the hired help?

PlasticPill · Joined: 22 Sep 2005 Posts: 51 Location: usa

I didn't know that was legal, even in Indonesia. Just....wow. Very sad. Sad

beefer · Joined: 10 Feb 2006 Posts: 238 Location: java

oh, its sad alright.i agree with you completely on that feeling. any child that age should be in school. unfortunately, she and her sister ( the sister is our other maid...and she just turned 14) have to work now because her father married another woman from another kampung and has decided to spend his time there...this leaves only them to be the breadwinners for the rest of their family back in the kampung....(insert headshake here)

gado_gado · Joined: 04 Oct 2006 Posts: 28

No strange stories, I refused my maid's help and paid her severence to leave the job. I can't tolerate an invasion of my privacy and am quite capable of cleaning up my own mess.

If Allah does speak through lightbulbs then why is my house electricity always cutting out?

happy_me · Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 2:31 pm Post subject:

Welcome to life in indo, my old boss had 3 maids all under 15 the man across the street has a 16 year old.
Our maid first maid pored kerosene on the self cus her boyfriend left her, then one day she ate raw chicken from the freeze and when she came around she had no idea what she had done.
Another one freaked out one day and when I came home 4 people were holding her down, she had no idea where she was, then someone called an old lady the look at her and she was scared like the old woman was going to kill her! Everyone said she had a gost go in here when she walked by the cemetery!

And I must admit I have felt ghosts in 3 places we have lived or worked! The owner of one building told us they were good ghosts and they watched the place been there since he was a kid he said, where we live now I have seen what may be one and felt many, makes me wonder what happened here.

beefer · Joined: 10 Feb 2006 Posts: 238 Location: java

a couple of quick comments......

1. happy-me----- you are weird

2. gado- gado --- i think that you moving to bali would be a great idea. lets just hope that you actually finish a contract there

gugelhupf · Joined: 24 Jan 2004 Posts: 575 Location: Jabotabek

I must have had some very boring maids because the nearest thing to spooky mine ever did was putting curtains in the washing machine replete with curtain hooks, oh and she takes mangos from my tree and insists on going through an amateur dramatic performance each time about how there are such evil people stealing my mangos when I know fully well it's her and I don't care!

However, I employ mature maids who have a settled family life in a local kampung and who have been doing the job for years. These cost a lot more to employ than pre-pubescent domestic slaves, but I have no problem with that.

However much you dress it up with moral pleasantries, employing a 10 year old kid stinks.

beefer · Joined: 10 Feb 2006 Posts: 238 Location: java

Chester · Joined: 15 May 2004 Posts: 383 Location: Australia

it stinks.
no butts about it.
do something about it or you are indeed a low life.

sidjameson · Joined: 11 Jan 2004 Posts: 629 Location: osaka

Give the guy a break. What should he do, fire her and send her home to a truely desperate situation? It does stink, you are right that 10 year olds have to go to work, and maybe it is "all ours" responsibilty to do something about it. But those who want to classify the guy a low life where would you rather see her, an orphanige?

I know, Beefer how about starting a fund that everybody who is outraged at your behaviour can pay into? Lets get this kid back into school. Let us all know how much you raise. How much will you pay a month Chester?

TEAM_PAPUA · Joined: 24 May 2004 Posts: 1679 Location: HOLE

How about paying her enough to attend school, then let her clean up in the evenings & at weekends?

I'm sure she would be overjoyed, and after a few terms she'll be able to write better than Happy_me.

No stories apart from the girl who faked her own death then pretended to be her cousin ...

gado_gado · Joined: 04 Oct 2006 Posts: 28

No stories apart from the girl who faked her own death then pretended to be her cousin ...

More. You can't leave us hanging on a string with just that gem.

Beefer - What's your problem? Do you like to pick fights? Sad.

wannaBguru · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 110

if u are really paying them so much, then the salary for the 14 year old sister should be more than enough to take care of the family. i would probably hire a 14 year old in a similiar situation. u are right, your maids might be worse off working somewhere else. i have seen 12/13 year olds working for a chinese couple. they had to take care of the extended family in the morning and night as well as 3 boarders renting kosts in the 4 story ruko they all lived in. and during the day, they had to work in the convience store that the family owned. the girls laughed all the time and seemed to enjoy themselves, but honestly what kid would want to work 18 hours a day, 7 days a week. on top of it, they were only paid 150 a month....... at the end of a 1 year contract. if they left early, they received only half wages. crazy

10 years old......... that is SD (elementary) grade 4 right? dont blame it on your wife. wrong is wrong no matter who hired her. do u really need 2 maids anyway? i couldnt sit and watch a kid iron my clothes, i would feel compelled to do it myself. hell, if i was married, i would just adopt her and send her to school and treat her like a regular child and not a servant. TP has a reasonable idea if she was in SMP or SMA, but i think 10 is still outrageous. i would definitely do it for someone attending sma and maybe even smp. i am single so it takes about an hour or 2 a day to clean my place and do the laundry. i would much rather have my maid at school learning rather than watching idiotic indonesian television.

i would be willing to contribute to a fund so she could go home and be a normal child again because that is what she is....... a little child. so u know that i am sincere, i currently pay for several people to attend school (1 in college).

tell me how much u pay her and maybe i will give her her salary not to work and go back to being a kid again....... providing she doesnt work anymore and attends school. be nice if we could get 12 people together, each paying one months salary per year. not really that much in the grand scheme of things. the cost of one night out if 12 people take the challenge(less if more of us contribute!!!). elementary and middle school SMP are free (government schools) and private schools are cheap. maybe we can throw in some extra money to cover transport and books and such things.

i know we cannot right all the injustices in indo nor can we help all the people that need helping. but i believe we can help this little girl. anyone else willing to give a little money to right a wrong???? i am willing. how much do we need to cover her salary for a month? year? thanks

wannaBguru · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 110

crazy maid story........ an indonesian friend of mine and his wife returned home one day to find their house empty........ tvs computer, dvd, money, jewelry, basically anything of value that wasnt nailed down was gone. so was his 38 year old maid that had been working for him for 3 years. seems that the unemployed man that sat in the street all day chain smoking cigarettes had sweet talked her into doing it. he promised to marry her, but said that he needed 10 million rupiah to be able to do so. how did my friend find all this out????/
about 2 weeks after she stole everything, she knocked on his door asking for her job back. seems the man had pawned everything and used all the money for drugs. after shacking up with him at the flea motel, he threw her out when the money ran out. she was homeless with no food. despite all her begging and fake tears, my friend was smart enough to slam the door in her face. she have some big balls or what?

gugelhupf · Joined: 24 Jan 2004 Posts: 575 Location: Jabotabek

Beefer. Why not ask around and see if you can 'help' the girl to make some real money, eh? Gotta be some horny bules out there who would pay loads for a bit of spring chicken that young, yeah? Like, she needs to provide for her family, so what's the harm in that? Hey! When she grows up into an emotionally shattered adult and starts freaking out some bule can even start a thread taking the p1ss out of her strange behaviour...

Watch my lips: employing a 10 year old domestic servant is utterly indefensible, beneath contempt, and also illegal here in Indo.

They will make a fine old example of a foreigner caught doing a thing like that (even if they might turn a blind eye to a local) and then just think what press syndicates in your home country would make of it when they pick that little nugget off the wire.

Stop making excuses and sort it out.