Labour agency slammed for posting ‘for sale’ ads involving Indonesian maids in Singapore
The ads posted on the Carousell website sparked controversy and outrage in Indonesia. Singapore’s Labour Ministry slapped 243 charges on company and employee responsible for posts. The city-state has about 250,000 maids, mostly from Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar.
Singapore (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Singapore has charged an employment agency for posting ads offering Indonesian helpers for sale on an e-commerce site, Singapore’s Labour Ministry said.
Singapore is home to around 250,000 maids, mostly from poor parts of Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar who come to city-state seeking salaries that higher than what they can find at home.
Conditions for Indonesian maids in tightly regulated Singapore are generally regarded as better than in other places, such as Malaysia or parts of the Middle East; however, the ads that appeared on online marketplace Carousell sparked a rare flare-up of tensions.
Posted under the username “maid.recruitment”, the ads offered the services of several helpers from Indonesia, with some ads indicating maids had already been “sold”. This triggered anger in Indonesia and were later removed from the site.
Singapore’s Labour Ministry said on Thursday it had slapped a total of 243 charges on SRC International Recruitment and the employee responsible for the posts. The job agency’s licence was suspended last month.
Kevin Teoh, commissioner for employment agencies at the Ministry, earlier said that advertising foreign maids on an internet platform meant for trading goods was “completely inappropriate and unacceptable”.
Manpower minister Josephine Teo said she was “deeply disturbed” by the adverts, urging Singaporeans to treat maids with respect.
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06/10/2020 10:16
