My Maid of Honour

Pycno's response to drroza's latest entry:

“drroza, you're definitely a good employer if you can keep a maid for 14 years....or is it because it is the other way around 'cos SHE is the boss?
So, what will that make you ??”

Drroza responded back with:

"I give her a liberal amount of liberty to manage the kitchen and housework. So she feels comfortable. Glitches banyak but I close one eye so tak pening kepala sangat.She is not like the normal indon maids who does everything day and night non stop. She has enough time to rest, sleep and watches tv as she pleases. She never washes the car like many maids I see. I wash the car myself.She cant stand the cats' poop, so iKelah washes the cages himself. All in all she's like a family member, only that she gets paid...heheh”

I find drroza’s answer  most fascinating simply because I treated my maid almost in the same manner as drroza did.  I guess that’s why pycno posed that question to drroza initially, to see whether we are the only fools around who allowed their maids to become bosses in our own house. J

I do not have a maid now for the simple reason that the children have all grown up.  My eldest is in the university, my second and third are in boarding schools.  My fourth just completed his standard six and alhamdulillah, obtained 5 As, and I hope he will secure himself a place in a boarding school as well.  That would leave only the youngest, who will be in standard three next year.

The reason why we have decided not to have a maid is because both pycno and me are very private persons.   You may find it very difficult to believe since pycno’s entries can sometimes be very revealing.  (Remember the Baju Melayu entry?).  

I used to have a maid and she stayed with us for seven years.  She quit once, after having spent three years with us and went back to her kampung.  She got bored and decided to come back again after a few months.  We all welcomed her with open arms.  She continued staying with us for another few years until finally she left because her grandfather wanted her to get married. 

We treated her as how drroza treated her maid.  She had enough sleep, rest and time to watch tv.  She never washed the car and sweeping the floor was not her daily routine but mine.  But one thing good about her is that she really took care of my children and was particularly close with my fourth son.  I can be rest assured that when I leave my children at home, they are in safe hands.  Whenever we go for holidays we would bring her along.  We brought her to Cameron Highlands, Penang, Malacca, Tioman, just to name a few.  She was more of a family member than a maid – a highly paid member and never got scolding.

Another reason why I do not hire a maid now is because I want to train my children to do household chores, irrespective whether they are male or female.  My son complained that it’s not cool to be doing household chores.   

Around my area there are many Indonesian maids employed both by Chinese and Malay households.  Every morning the maid will wash the employer’s cars.  There is this particular girl who looks so young and she has to stand on a stool to wash the roof of the car.  She dresses like her employer, i.e in  shorts and T-shirt.  In the evening she walks the dog!!!

I don’t understand why and how people can abuse their maids, and talking about abusive employers, I am sure we all still remember Nirmala Bonat.  Who would’nt know Nirmala Bonat by now?  My heart goes out to her.  I feel that, for those who are temperamental and short on patience, don’t hire a maid.  Do all those cleaning and washing and scrubbing and cooking and  sweeping and taking care of the children yourself, and  would you still be able to have a sweet smile at the end of the day?, only to rise and shine, ready for more work early tomorrow morning?…and see how efficient you can be for days, weeks, months and years???

I know I am not.  Are you??

P/S:  If you want to come and visit us, please give advance notice, will you?  So that I can at least ensure the living area presentable .