While we are very lucky to have a live-in helper here in Singapore, it is by no means the "glamorous" life that some perceive it to be. While YES we would not have survived the last few months particularly, (with me on complete bed rest) without her - it is also not as easy as you think!
There are many frustrations that employers of FDW (foreign domestic workers) experience. For us at the moment it is consistency! We employed our helper with focus on her ability to care for our children while at work, rather than her cooking ability. However, we do have high expectations on hygiene and this has extended to the kitchen. SO this being our second helper here in Singapore and not wanting to just "give up" on her we have tried our hardest to help her understand our expectations. However, sometimes it just takes that different experience to reinforce and well ultimately we want to give her a better understanding. So I went in search of some courses that she could attend while Master 6 year old is at school at Master 3 year old is at Kindergarten.
It was NOT as easy as I thought. While there appear to be lots of options available to the Singaporean/Chinese employer, there were not so many for us! However I thought for those other mums out there a list in 1 place would be handy.
In February our helper will start the basic cooking (including hygiene) course at -
http://www.expat-kitchen.com/
and I hope to get her into a course on Safety / First Aid / Hygiene / Play for babies before our bub arrives in March at -
http://www.motherandchild.com.sg/first_aid.html
While these are not cheap - they definitely offer the quality that we are looking for and when it comes to our kids, spending a little extra on their care is more important!
Here are some other courses of interest -
http://www.thebluehousenursery.com/figi-uk.htm
http://www.bayanihancentre.org/v2/education.asp?id=stp
I found this post on singaporeexpats with a list of different organisations (I don't know how up to date this is or how reliable it is)! I tried searching for some of them with no luck.
http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/ftopic47544.html?t=47544
Hi there!
ReplyDeleteWhen I read your blog, I can empathize what you have to go through to settle down in a new environment. It seems the only way to get a helper is to get a FDW. Do you know that there are independent locals like me who is looking for a paid-helper job? I was a trained Pre-school teacher, understands the requirements of health, hygiene and safety, speaks English,and understands what is the required standard of housekeeeping and child care. If you still need help, you may write to me at noorintegrity@ymail.com. best regards !
Thanks for providing these helper classes, Actually many will get relief by this classes, Actually ability and trust are two issues which are really need to solve, and hope this classes are defiantly helping on this issues.
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