Golden Opportunity To Be Compassionate and Caring Employers
by Bob Teoh
THE Government is proposing a compulsory weekly off-day for foreign domestic workers soon. The provision comes with a penalty of up to RM10,000 for non-compliance. This move is not only welcomed but Iwonder why it has taken so long.
Fundamentally, this is not a question of labour law and practice but one of compassion and ethics.
Must we wait until the Government passes a new law to make it compulsory to give our domestic workers a weekly day of rest before we are willing to do so? Why can't we just do unto as we would like others to do unto us?
How would we feel if we have to work seven days a week? if our daughters, sisters and even mothers are forced to work overseas by circumstances and they have no rest day? There are many Malaysians working overseas in Europe, the US, Japan, Taiwan and elsewhere. It is not uncommon to find families where wives, daughters, sisters and mothers have gone overseas to work as domestic helpers.
My wife and Idon't have a foreign helper, but we are part of an NGO reaching out to such as these. We have first-hand knowledge of the conditions these domestic helpers worked under. Apart from the difficult working conditions, they also suffer psychologically from homesickness, loneliness, cultural shock and the like. Many of them come from rural and farming environments and have never been to a city before, even back at home.
Some who are Muslims have the horrible option of either eating pork or just plain rice and sardines. On top of this, some are unfortunate enough to be abused, physically or sexually or both. Given a choice, many would want to go home tomorrow if not for the money they need to send back to feed hungry stomachs.
Needless to say, employers also have their fair share of painful experiences. Take my mother-in-law for instance. She has by now employed six or seven Indonesian helpers. There is nothing much for them to do and there are no children to look after. Basically all the helper has to do is to be a companion and carer to her and keep her house tidy and neat. She's really generous to a fault and spoils her helper thoroughly.
And what did she get in return? Without exception, they all stole her money and eventually ran away. One even regularly sneaked her lover into the house in the wee hours of the morning. It was only after she ran away that we found this out from neighbours and evidence of the safe-sex practices that she had left behind.
But does this mean that just because there are a few rotten helpers, the whole lot is spoiled and should be denied the basic right of a rest day? It really depends on how we look at it. Are we Christian employers part of the problem or part of the solution? We all know the problem quite well. We don't have to wait for the Government to pass a new law to force us to give our domestic helpers a weekly off-day before we can be part of the solution.
On our own, we can easily give our helpers a day off a week for her to do what she would really like: seeing friends, shopping, or just doing nothing and sleeping in.
But some may argue: What if the helpers are given the weekly off-day and they 'turn bad' after hanging out with their fellow countrywomen? 'Turning bad' happens, just like all Christians 'turn bad' one time or another. It's a matter of magnitude. Even by not giving them an off-day, domestic helpers have still run away or 'turned bad'.
When we employ a domestic helper, we take the risk, just like when God gave us His only Son, he took the risk with us. And we may fail Him, just as our domestic helpers may.
For Christian employers, the weekly rest day is a divinely-mandatory obligation. It is the fourth of the Ten Commandments to honour the Sabbath Day where the whole household is to cease from work and consecrate it as a holy day.
That's where the word 'holiday' comes from. And the Indonesian worker is also part of such a household. She too must cease from her labour on her rest day. If we look at her closely enough, we will soon discover that she is also a human being just like us, made in the image of God and needing a rest day.
Giving our domestic helpers a day off is really a golden opportunity to be compassionate and caring employers. Let's not wait until the Government forces it on us.
Note: Bob is the managing editor of the Sin Chew (English) online portal. The view expressed in the article is his. |
