Amelia Tan

A pilot project to recruit maidsfrom Cambodia is struggling totake off as workers are turned off byhigh recruitment fees, and the fearof not being able to adapt to lifehere.

Under a Ministry of Manpower(MOM) pilot scheme that beganlast August, Cambodian maids are,for the first time, allowed to workin Singapore.

The ministry had set a target of400 maids to arrive by February butonly about 200 are in Singaporenow, based on figures from theCambodian Embassy.

This has prompted MOM topush the deadline to August forCambodian and Singapore agentsto bring in all 400 maids.

But even with the extension,agents here are worried that theirCambodian counterparts will notbe able to recruit enough workers.

Singapore maid agents blamethe high placement fees of $2,400that the women pay to Cambodianagents to get jobs in Singapore.

Maid agency Inter-Mares Man-agement Services owner Karl Tansaid: “No doubt the maids can earnmuch more here. But $2,400 is a lotof money to them, as many earnonly about $1,000 a year back athome.”

Maids earn at least $450 amonth here. In contrast, a typicalCambodian factory worker takeshome about US$100 (S$125) amonth.

High-profile cases of abuse in-volving Cambodian maids in Ma-laysia in recent years have also dis-couraged some of the women fromcoming here, said agents.

Those cases led to the Cambodi-an government announcing a tem-porary ban on maids working inMalaysia in 2011.

This has yet to be lifted.Meanwhile, Cambodian maid re-

cruiter Lao Ly Hock said he finds itdifficult to recruit maids who haveattended school for at least eightyears, which is a requirement set byMOM.

“If the requirement is lowered tofive years of education, we would

be able to recruit more maids,” hesaid.

The aim of the MOM pilotscheme, which ends next year, is tosee if Cambodia workers are suita-ble for Singapore households, andif the country can be added to thelist of approved sources for maids.

Currently, approved sourcecountries and territories for foreignmaids in Singapore include Bangla-desh, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia,Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, the

Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lankaand Thailand.

When contacted, Cambodianambassador to Singapore ChethNaren said the three Cambodianagents, who include Mr Lao, in-volved in the project are “confi-dent” of meeting the extended Au-gust deadline. He added that about30 maids will arrive in Singapore inthe next few weeks.

Maid agencies here, however,said the three agents have not beenresponsive to their requests. Theysuggested that the Cambodian la-bour ministry allow more Cambodi-an agents to recruit maids to workin Singapore.

Mr Ronnie Toh, owner of maidagency AC Toh Enterprises, said:“We will have more choices of com-panies to work with. With morecompetition, the agents may be en-couraged to lower their recruit-ment fees too.”

Last month, Cambodian newspa-per The Phnom Penh Post reportedthat some maids working in Singa-pore have complained to theembassy here about poor work con-ditions.

Mr Naren confirmed, in a e-mailstatement, that one maid had ac-cused her employer’s relative ofmolesting her. However, she decid-ed not to lodge a police report andhas been transferred to a new em-ployer.

He said that, given time, theworkers should be able to adapt tolife in Singapore and urged employ-ers to be patient.

“Some of the domestic workersare homesick. Allowing them tocall home will do wonders forthem. They may perform bettertoo,” said Mr Naren.

ameltan@sph.com.sg

Janice Heng

In an effort to nurture the next gen-eration of art and culture lovers, apilot scheme will bring 400 pre-schoolers to the National Museumof Singapore.

They will also get special herit-age lessons in school, where theywill learn about Singapore’s pastthrough traditional and old-schoolitems such as moulds used to makelocal pastries and rotary tele-phones.

The aim is “to get our veryyoung children interested in artsand culture and heritage, so thatwe can start this sense of a muse-um-going culture even fromyoung”, said Minister for Commu-nity, Culture and Youth LawrenceWong as he announced thescheme yesterday.

The hope, he added, is that theyoungsters will continue to appreci-ate Singaporean culture and visitmuseums as they grow up. “Andthrough that, I think they will alsoget to learn and appreciate moreabout who we are.”

The pilot project, called Singa-pore’s Little Treasures, will be runfrom this month till October by theNational Heritage Board (NHB) inpartnership with the Early Child-hood Development Agency.

As part of the scheme, which in-volves 10 pre-schools, 20 teachershave already developed heritage les-son plans in workshops with muse-um educators.

One of the teachers is Ms ValerieGan, vice-principal of KiddiwinkieSchoolhouse.

She plans to get her pupils totake food to an old folks’ home intiffin carriers, one of eight heritage

items given to pre-schools to con-duct lessons around.

The children will learn aboutfamily values and their heritage atthe same time, she said. And“when the old folks see the tiffincarrier, they will have a sense of fa-miliarity”.

Other heritage items include theChinese glove puppet, the Malaykompang, wooden pillows and re-prints of paintings on the flora andfauna of Singapore.

Depending on the results of thepilot, Singapore’s Little Treasuresmay be extended to all interestedpre-schools from next year. TheNHB also hopes to rope in othermuseums.

Said the Early Childhood Devel-opment Agency’s chief executiveofficer, Dr Lee Tung Jean: “It’s nev-er too young for a child to startlearning about his or her culture orheritage.”

The scheme was announced dur-ing the launch of PLAY @ NationalMuseum of Singapore, a new wingof the museum for children andyoung families. Aimed at childrenaged three to seven, the new winghas three sections.

In one, children can explorethemed spaces such as a livingroom, kitchen and garden to playin and learn about local culture. Inthe “kitchen”, for instance, theycan match ingredients to local dish-es.

There is also an activity roomwhere children can create artworks,and a space for the performing arts.

“It allows us a platform to bringin young pre-school children” whomight not enjoy the rest of the mu-seum that much, said Mr Wong.

PLAY @ National Museum of Sin-gapore is open from 10am to 6pmdaily on the third floor of the muse-um. Admission is free.

ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO

Children exploring the spaces at PLAY @ National Museum of Singapore, anew wing for children and young families which was launched yesterday.

High fees, adaptation fears among the reasons,even as recruitment deadline is extended

Starting kids young on culture

Lack of Cambodianmaids in Singapore

4 top newsthesundaytimes May 25, 2014