Link

Roughly: Indonesia has a huge export trade in maids – primarily to Gulf States and wealthier Asian countries

Women desperate to escape poverty at home – find themselves working in a strange land, with precious few rights and no one to turn to if trouble strikes. Predictably, the result is often not happy.

And now there’s growing concern about one country in particular – Singapore – where documented cases of maid abuse are on the rise.

******(migrant worker terminal)*******

Terminal three at Jakarta’s International airport is out of sight and out of bounds for ordinary passengers.

For this is a terminal catering to one of Indonesia’s largest export industries – women.

Indonesia may be a new comer to the international maid trade, but it now ships tens of thousands of workers overseas each year.

Each woman departing with the same aim – to escape a life of poverty.

****FADE THROUGH BLACK***************

******(SINGAPORE HIGH CITY SHOTS)*******

Singapore high rise and maybe rich people shopping

The island state of Singapore is the destination of many Indonesian maids.

Close to home, but also a world apart.

Wealthy Singapore employs one hundred and forty thousand migrant domestic workers.

9:21:16 maid classroom

9:21:40 rules on board

New upsot trainer Irene (needs subtitles)

*******(SINGAPORE CLASSROOM)**********

9:31.54 –32.07

‘If you do anything wrong, please tell your employer and report to your employer and say sorry, say sorry mam , sorry and then no talk back and give the black face to the employer.

The reality of working in Singapore is laid out to these maids in waiting from day one.

As soon as they arrive, they go straight to the employment agency that has arranged their journey.

Irene – maid trainer

9:22:24 – 22:37

“And then, No boyfriend. This one is very important OK. You are already signed the, the condition. OK, you cannot have any boyfriend, pregnant or get married in Singapore.”

9:21:16 maid classroom

The Singapore government sets down rules, the agencies – such as this one, Advance Link, reinforces them.

Daphne Ong

Advance Link

Maid Agency proprietor

13:28:22 – 38

“One of the rules in Singapore is the maids are not allowed to get into relationship with a man or anybody else, they are not supposed to get married here, They are not supposed to get pregnant here so these are the things we brief them on.”

9:21:16 maid classroom

A few more home truths about Singaporean values surface during this introductory class.

Irene – maid trainer (voice only – camera on poster)

9:24:19 - 35

“OK, you see, this guy, ugly or not. You want this for a husband or boyfriend or not? Very dark and dirty, come from a construction site? is it? Ugly? Right!”

9:21:16 maid classroom

This maid agency surprisingly agreed to allow Dateline to film its operation.

It has earned a reputation of supplying well-trained and compliant workers.

Maid and trainer in classroom

9:28:53 – 29:03

“OK, in Singapore, did you have any attitude problem? No Mam. OK, cannot have any attitude problem. OK, yes Mam.”

Daphne Ong

Maid Agency proprietor

13:27:40 – 28:21

“When domestic maids arrive here in Singapore what we teach them is the working conditions here, what to expect from the employer and the do’s and don’ts.”

And for the young women in this class, it is a seemingly never-ending list.

Trainer and maid in classroom

9:28:53 – 29:03

“Trainer: ”I need you to tell me five examples of the conditions. Maid: “Good afternoon Mam, good afternoon friend. OK five rules. You cannot use telephone, food, appearance, transfer, contract, penalty.”

More classroom – cu maids if pos

From the moment a maid signs up she goes into debt.

She doesn’t get paid for at least the first four months.

She’s a bonded servant paying back her airfare and other fees.

If short of fooage – try the agency office – eg woman on telephone

At agencies like this one, a woman’s country of origin determines her starting salary – the average wage is about two hundred and fifty dollars a month.

Indonesians are rated near the bottom of the pile.

Daphne Ong

“Advance Link”

Maid agency proprietor

14:08:44 – 9:04

“The least paid are the Indians they are getting about 200, followed by the Sri Lankans, about 220 to 240 and next would be the Indonesian maids and next the Thai, the Filipino, about three hundred plus.”

Other conditions are less certain - there’s no guarantee of a room or even a bed.

Daphne Ong

Maid agency owner

14:05:04 – 25

“Sometimes the maid will have to sleep in the kitchen or underneath the table even. We have got customers who come in and say we don’t really have a place for the maid to sleep, is it OK for the maid to sleep in the kitchen is it alright for her to sleep underneath the desk, yeah, we’ll say that should be OK so long as the maid agrees.”

Daphne Ong

Maid agency owner

( NB this grab needs shortening)

G: Have you ever said no that the circumstances aren’t good enough?

14:06:11 - 16

“No not really. “

9:00:02 Kristine walking into apartment

************(/KRISTINE AT HOME)**************

This maid, who we will call Karoline as she doesn’t want her real name used, has worked in Singapore for more than four years.

It took two years before her former employer gave her a day off.

(nb : do we need to lose second grab)

Kristine (radio mike)

(nb: internal edit)

8:11:43 – 12:17

“We need the day off, to relax the mind for the hard work everyday, but they didn’t give even I ask this one, they said they cannot.

G: Why not? (edit out rest of question) What was their reason?)

K: Because you are Indonesian they said, if you Philippine I think you can. What is the different Indonesian or Philippine? We also human. They got brain. We also got brain. They can think we can also think. How come they put difference between Indonesian and the Philippine?

Kristine iv

(another pos grab – which of the three is best ?)

8:16;12 - 24

‘G: I just can’t imagine what it would be like not to have a day off in two years, I mean”

“ K: Crazy, work and work, the same thing, fed the same thing , no rest”

Continue Kristine shot above

Karoline’s case is by no means an exception. For Indonesian workers, it is the norm.

Daphne Ong

“Advance Link”

Maid agency proprietor

14:11:11 -25

“I think it is countrywide, there is no off days.

So for Indonesians no off days?

No, for Filipinos, some agencies practice off days, like after six monthly. Employers will have to give one off day.”

Q: (lengthen question to original version) blah , blah…It seems a little bit harsh?

13:32:37 – 51

“Right, OK because these days we actually do like to give the maids off days but sometimes they makes things worse. If the off days given then the phone calls start to come in, it makes it a little more difficult to control them.

Woman filling out form in waiting room.

Employment agencies maintain women sign up freely to these conditions.

But there are few options for those who arrive in Singapore already in debt.

*****GRAPHIC NEEDED****

In a work contract obtained by Dateline, the agency lays down a long list of rules.

Indonesian maids are trapped:

To be voiced over

“If you are feeling stressed or have trouble with the employer and his family please seek permission from your employer to call us for assistance.”

“You are not allowed to request for a change of employer.”

Graphix of contract again

This agency also lays down the rules on religion for maids wishing to practise their religion.

Advance link tells employees :

• You are not allowed to go to church, temple, mosque etc. You are not here for a vacation but to work.

• Most employers dislike their domestic helpers to pray while working in the house.

Kristine (radio mike)

8:16:44 – 51

“We just a maid, what we can do, we can only ask answer and yes or no, whatever, we take it.

NB: maids in Jakarta training agency montage

These young women learning the ropes of domestic service are yet to discover what few rights they’ll have in Singapore.

And the same goes for support services – there are none.

Even international agencies, like the International Labour Organisation – the ILO - that should champion the rights of these women - have little to say.

Alan Boulton

7.04.28 – 46

I think that there are a range of reasons why these sort of contracts might exist. One might be the absence of effective representative groups who will do advocacy work on behalf of migrant workers.

Kristine walking outside apartment including on the phone (or more kitchen stuff)

Maids in trouble can turn to one person: Karoline - who we met before – is considered a bit of a veteran after four years in service.

She’s paid by her agency to counsel maids in trouble.

Karoline’s now found herself a good employer, but she’s often overwhelmed by their pleas for help.

Kristine (radio mike)

8:20:15 – 41

I think I have a bit of good luck than them. That’s what I feel now. Because I get their complaints, because sometime the employer going to rape them, or molest them, that’s why I don’t know how to help them, because they are far from me, I just give them, advice, OK you keep still until we can find a way to help you.”

Sukartini iv

Nb or do line of vo first before grab starts.

‘My boss kept beating me, but I put up with it”…down sound..

v/o: One maid with a desperate story to tell is Sukartini

up sound ‘But then one day she beat me the whole day all over my body. I couldn’t put up with it any longer. So I had to run away.”

She fled her employer’s apartment in this building just days before this interview.

10.27.00 Sukartini to Hazlena

13.39.19 –13.52.20 subtitle reel

‘H: which way did you go to get to the police station?’

S: to get from my bosses place to the police station I came down the lift here and then I went over there.’

We met Sukartini through Hazlena Hallion, one of the very few Singaporeans to take an active interest in the plight of maids. Hazlena once worked for an employment agency hiring out maids.

Hazlena

15:13:38 – 49

“A lot of times they are not allowed to leave the house or use the phone so and they are not, they don’t even know any common numbers to call for help. So I guess they are just stranded.”

Sukartini and Hazlena walking in front of building – followed by c/ups windows etc.

For five months Sukartini wasn’t allowed outside on her own.

She suffered in silence as her employer beat her and starved her.

Sukartini in front of apartment

Subtitle reel

10:19:07 – 10:45:20

“She pinched my arms like this and pulled me to her bedroom. Then she asked me, “Do you want to work properly?” I said, “Yes, ma’am. After that she hit me here. I was crying. I said to her, “Ma’am if you’re unhappy with me … if you’d rather not have me here… I should go back to agency.”

NB: extend this grab to include next section

Sukartini in front of apartment

Subtitle reel

10:45:24 – 10:11:03

“She said, “If you want to return to the agency… you’ll have to pay me first.” I said, “I can’t ma’am.” “In that case you can’t go home”. “You must finish your two year contract.”

Girls on rolling up mats in hostel - see Sukartini first

Sukartini is being put up temporarily at the maid agency’s hostel.

She’s made friends here with another Indonesian woman – another runaway maid – Ratna.

Ratna was so viciously beaten by her employer – a 36-year-old businesswoman, she ended up in hospital.

Ratna

**** ADD TO SUBTITLE REEL ****

12:08:54 – 9:10

“My face was all swollen and around my eyes they are all black. When I had put my head down she had hit me there as well. But I never once retaliated.

Women sweeping ?

It was only after she could no longer tolerate the beatings that Ratna fled. Her case is now before the court.

Ratna

12:09:46 – 10:09

“I did not know where to run or where the police station was as this was the first time I had done this. In the end a kind taxi driver took me to the police station. There the police took photographs of me and took my statement and then they took me for a medical examination. I was hospitalized for five days at Alexandria hospital.”

16:00:00 Singapore high shots

For some Indonesia women in Singapore the story is even grimmer.

Statistics reveal that more than one Indonesian maid a month has fallen to her death in often-mysterious circumstances.

The Singapore government claims all but one were accidents.

Graphix – roll showing 43 names

But this document prepared by the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore suggests otherwise.

Forty-three women suffered fatal falls from high-rise apartment blocks in two and a half years.

Twelve cases are listed as suicide. Indonesia says its concerned but wont comment publicly.

Hazlena

15:23:15 – 41

“There are possibilities that there are maids in the units here that are suffering from different types of abuse, mental abuse, physical abuse but it is hard for the next door neighbour to know because most of the time the maid just suffer in silence. They wouldn’t scream, they wouldn’t retaliate because they know themselves; to them they look at themselves as just maids.”

9:09:35 washing pole brought in

It was in an apartment block like this, that Hazlena met a young Indonesian woman who later jumped to her death from a tenth floor window.

Hazlena Hallion

15:18:59 – 19:20

“I think that if there was somewhere that she could turn to as a listening ear, then maybe it might have prevented this incident from happening.”

Kristine and Angelina tasting food in kitchen

16.23.21-41

Upsot in kitchen ‘this is the prawn..’ sound down

The only employer we could find who would speak with us on camera is Karoline’s current boss – they think they’re lucky to have found each other.

But, even a kind employer considers maid abuse such a sensitive topic for Singaporeans, she’s asked us not to reveal her name.

Angelina at piano

16:29:33 – 29:52

“Yes, there are people who abuse their maids, why I don’t know, alright, OK. Maybe they think they are very high up on their status, OK, or they view their maids as a person lower and I feel that this is wrong.”

Angelina at piano

(Nb: if pos dissolve these two grabs together)

16:30:11 – 30:55

“Q: if you ever saw a maid being abused would you say something?

Of course.

Have you?

Yes, of course.

What?

OK, no names given but, a child could take a cane and hit the maid and I know this child and I discipline this child on the spot.

So the child would actually feel it is is OK to hit, this woman who was working in his house?

I think perhaps the child doesn’t know, all right the child is only six. And I think he has pe rhaps observed his parents, how they treat their maids and they don’t treat with respect and the child would probably be thinking OK, all right if my parents don’t treat this woman with respect, why should I.”

Try more Jakarta training agency shots

Including maids in window.

Government policy also encourages maid abuse.

Before these maids in training can be placed by their agency – employers must post a five thousand dollar bond.

Angelina at piano

(5,000 dollar bond)

16:34:16 – 34:46

“OK, let’s say she runs away Ok and we can’t find her after one month, we lose it.

Q: Is that perhaps why you have these examples of employers locking their maids in their house. They are simply worried?

Yes, yes. Yes. (34:32)

(EDIT – SHORTEN CURRENT TAPE VERSION)

Jakarta maid training contd.

Employers stand to lose their bond, not only if a maid runs away, but if they breach the government’s edict against getting pregnant or daring to marry a Singaporean.

P to C

15:30:04-29

“Despite numerous attempts to speak to various ministers this appears to be one issue that the government would rather not discuss.

Perhaps it is due to conflict of interest, for the government profits from each maid brought into the country.

In fact the government earns more in taxes each month for each maid hired, than the women doing the work take home themselves.”

Singapore wide shots

NB: “Gotham city” look replace

=

For this little city-state, it’s a tax that generates five hundred and eighty million dollars a year.

It’s not only the government that’s been distressingly mute on the ill treatment of domestic workers.

Dr Chee at desk

Even one of Singapore’s few voices of dissent, Dr Chee Soon Juan is hardly brimming with outrage

Dr Chee iv

‘Q: maid agency handbook, wages by nationalities, shouldn’t Singapore be embarrassed by this ?

11: 17:22 – 18:00

I think it is really something we should take note of. I really would like to see us making a greater effort in making sure things like that don’t happen, it does – we are trying, but that I mean the opposition, we are just trying to create a space whereby we can even begin to talk about such issues, we are fighting with our lives just to make sure that things like that are brought up.’

Sukartini and Ratna on street

Singapore has profited greatly from the cheap labour of women like Sukartini and Ratna.

They came here hoping to escape a lifetime of poverty, but they have become trapped in the economics of misery.

Sukartini and Ratna walking/talking on street

Subtitle reel

11:59:11 – 12:11:10

“I want to return to Indonesia soon because I’m very sad. There’s no one to help me here. I’ve long missed my family. I haven’t seen my parents.”

Sukartini and Ratna on street walking past shops with red lanterns

For abused maids, escaping their employer is not the end… getting home can be an even bigger nightmare.

Ratna’s employer has been found guilty but is appealing the six-month sentence.

13:04:20 Ratna and Sukartini packing up bedding, sweeping

As a result Ratna has spent the past year waiting. Unable to work, unable to go home. Her agency has given her a roof over her head, and feeds her, but at a price.

Until Ratna’s violent employer pays up, she is going nowhere.

Ratna

Subtitle reel

12:41:19 – 13:18:13

“I thought I could return once my boss was put in prison. I thought my case would be over in November or December. At the first hearing, my boss admitted all her faults. Then there was a second hearing. But my boss didn’t attend with the excuse of an operation. The case was just closed. I don’t know why. But the fact is I’m still with the agency. The agency doesn’t want to lose out.”

Sukartini in front of apartment

(if pos over head of grab)

Sukartini is in a similar position.

Subtitle reel

13:24:19 – 13:33:15

“Actually I want to return to Indonesia, but I have no money. And I have a debt to the agency. So I can’t go home.”

Women looking sad on balcony shot

For now they remain trapped with no indication of when they will be able to return home.