Rachel Loh’s one-year-old daughter was crying. Her maid got up, but instead of tending to the toddler, she turned up the volume on the stereo.
She grabbed a magazine and disappeared into the toilet for 20 minutes.
When she came out, she continued to ignore the girl and prepared herself a sandwich.
The 33-year-old art curator confronted her maid, who denied any wrongdoing – until she was shown the video that Rachel recorded.
She sent the maid packing.
I SPY
Rachel isn’t the only parent keeping an extra eye on her maid. Several spy-cam
ONE STRANGER TOO MANY
Leong Pei Fen hired a maid after her mother suffered a stroke. For almost a year, there were no problems – until the 44-year-old nurse installed a spy-cam in her mother’s home. “I thought it would be great to monitor my mum’s condition. We were planning to inform the maid about it, but it slipped our minds.
“Three days later, we reviewed the footage. On the first night, at around 11pm, the cam picked up movement and began recording. It was the maid opening the front door and leading a man into her bedroom. They only emerged about three hours later at about 2am, after which she let him out the front door.
“When we showed her the video the next day, she broke down and confessed to ‘servicing a few of her boyfriends’ for extra money. We were horrified and had no choice but to dismiss her. My mother now lives with us.” |
vendors tell YP that more households have been buying such devices since 2005.
Marcus Tan, managing director of Eurekaplus says: “Nine out of 10 clients who buy surveillance systems for their homes do it to monitor their maid’s activities.
“Most want to ensure that their maids are doing the housework properly, not stealing or inviting strangers into the home, and their kids or elderly sick parents are not being abused.”
There are all types of surveillance devices, from typical CCTVs to those concealed in household objects like clocks or photo frames.
It helps too that the cost of such equipment has fallen significantly from $4,000 five years ago to around $1,500 today. Some DIY-type devices are going for even less at around $200.
CAUGHT IN THE ACT
To be fair, most employers who have installed spy-cams do not discover anything serious enough to warrant their maid’s dismissal.
Edmund Theseira caught his helper sticking her fingers into the jam jar and drinking milk straight from the container, but after firmly telling her that was wrong, she never repeated it. Three years on, the 37- year-old buyer still has the same helper.
The more serious cases involved maids going through their employer’s belongings, or slipping out in the middle of the night.
As for child abuse, maid agencies say they are not common, even though one reported case in The New Paper earlier this year did raise a few eyebrows.
A maid was caught on camera pressing her palm over a toddler’s mouth. Angered that he could have suffocated, the employer promptly made a police report and sacked her.
TO TELL OR NOT?
Most employers YP spoke to tell their maids that there’s a spy-cam in the house. Some fix up dummy CCTVs.
A few others like 37-year-old Sheila Lim, a secretary and mother of two, tell their maids that they’re on video even though they haven’t installed anything. “The thought of knowing you are being watched is sometimes a good enough deterrent,” she rationalises.
Sara Tan, director of Hougang Sheng Hong Family Service Centre, says: “By not keeping it a secret, the maid will feel respected but more cautious at the same time.”
She suggests telling the maid that the camera is for watching over the personal safety and behaviour of family members, rather than to specifi cally monitor her.
Allan Wee, vice president of the Association of Employment Agencies Singapore (AEAS), advises: “Before hiring a foreign domestic worker, employers should ask if she is comfortable with a CCTV installed. If she is okay with it, then there should be no problem.”
The only problem with telling is that you will never really know her true character, since she will always be on her best behaviour.
But then again, for many employers, that seems to be an acceptable trade-off.
On the other hand, using a spy-cam without her consent is an invasion of her privacy, feels psychiatrist Dr Adrian Wang from Gleneagles Medical Centre. “It’s an abuse of the person’s rights and can create mistrust if she finds out later,” he says.
BUT IS IT ILLEGAL?
“No,” says lawyer Jennifer Lim from Straits Law Practice LLC, but qualifi es: “Installing it in the bathroom or toilet however, can lead to potential offences associated with an intrusion of privacy under the Penal Code.”
She has encountered employers who got into trouble for inappropriate placement of spy-cams but declined to go into details.
Lin Xinyi, a government officer in her late 30s, is not a fan of spy-cams. “You’ve made an investment and hope it pays off, so your mind focuses on finding something.
It becomes a bit of a witch hunt,” insists the mother of two kids aged six and eight.
On top of that, Allan from AEAS points out you’ll have to check the footage constantly.
START WITH TRUST
The relationship between employer and maid sits on mutual respect, trust and understanding. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn’t.
Installing a spy-cam is not going to guarantee a good maid, or one who eventually goes astray.
“Communication is the key. Make sure she is aware of what is expected of her.
Help her to adjust to her job, rather than get a spy-cam to pick up her mistakes,” advises Dr Wang.
If your relationship with your maid lacks trust, the most sophisticated spy-cams are not going to prevent her from fi nding what Sara Tan refers to as “an emotional outlet”, which can sometimes spell trouble.
Yes, if you’ve installed a spy-cam, you can take action. But it may be too late by then, wouldn’t it?
Get a copy of the Sept 2009 issue of Young Parents for expert advice and local tips to make you a better mum or dad. Young Parents, published by SPH Magazines, is available at all newsstands now. Check out more stories at Young Parents online, www.youngparents.com.sg.
