SINGAPORE: A domestic helper took to social media to ask if she was wrong for requesting a S$10,000 loan from her employer in exchange for renewing her contract.
“I’m finishing my contract [with] my employer this coming October. My employer asked me if I still want to continue. Then I tried to tell them what I wanted,” she wrote in a post on the MDW in Singapore Facebook group.
“I told them if they can lend me S$10,000, then I can continue to work. I told them that I need to start to build my home in my country, and I need a big amount of money. Just trying lah if they can lend me.”
To her surprise, the employer agreed to the loan. However, the helper now says she feels conflicted and guilty, as her previous employers recently returned to Singapore and contacted her as well.
“They are in Singapore already. They relocated to Thailand for four years. They contacted me to ask if I want to work for them again. And I decided to take that opportunity (but haven’t voiced it out yet), because with that previous employer, I can borrow money, no matter how many thousands I really need.”
“And now I tried to tell my current employer that if they can lend me 10k SGD, then I will re-contract. And they said okay.”
She then asked other members of the group: “Am I being too harsh or taking advantage of their kindness? I feel that I pity them. But the agreement is done already.”
“She thinks her employer is picking up money from the trees.”
In the comments, many netizens criticised the helper’s request, saying they would have refused the S$10,000 loan without a second thought. Some added that they wouldn’t have renewed her contract either, believing she was trying to take advantage of her employer.
“She thinks her employer is picking up money from the trees. I [would] replace her ASAP,” one comment read.
“Lately, I’ve heard more and more stories of helpers borrowing money either from employers or even unlicensed moneylenders. It makes me wonder … do we look like banks? Or is the motive for working here, for some, simply to find an easy way to borrow money?” another chimed in.
“Borrowing money from an employer is not wrong, but renewing your contract with this condition sounds absurd,” a third wrote.
Still, not everyone saw an issue with the arrangement. Some netizens argued that there was nothing wrong with asking for a loan, as long as the helper intended to repay the full amount.
“If the employer says yes, then why not, as long as you pay it back and work for them diligently,” one said.
Another netizen, who said she was also a helper, shared her personal experience: “My maam, she helped me build my dream house back home. The total amount of money she sent was about S$45k, and every month she deducts like S$200. I’ve been working with them for 12 years.”
In other news, a Singaporean man recently shared his views on why many young job seekers are struggling in today’s competitive job market.
In his post on the r/SingaporeRaw subreddit, he said that a lot of locals nowadays focus too much on developing their hard skills while completely ignoring their soft skills.
This, he believes, is costing them valuable professional opportunities. “If you are currently a developer, for example, being technically skilled and kicking ass at LeetCode is, frankly speaking, going to get you nowhere,” he said.
