Pembantu wars in Seminyak Bali
Expats in Bali often hire a housecleaner, commonly known as a pembantu (bantu=help, pembantu=helper). Since living in Bali I have been through a few of them and they have been good to not so good. The reasons for my pembantus leaving have been, myself finding a new place to live, or them finding employment in a different line.
Currently my pembantu is Wayan, a 35-year-old from Seminyak who was hired by her sister Made, the former pembantu. Wayan is very outgoing and always in a good mood but Ika is not a fan of Wayan. Part of this is the Balinese-Javanese tensions that exists and part is that Wayan does not live up to what Ika considers a pembantu should be. I am quite happy to let Wayan clean the house, tidy the garden, straighten out my clothes etc. It’s a great time saver for me. Ika on the other hand thinks Wayan should be around for much longer than her 2 hours a day and should be cleaning, tidying, scrubbing, ironing, folding, dusting and asking what else she can do.
Its quite funny to watch, Ika and Wayan both being very polite to each other but Ika constantly asking her to do extra stuff. On more than one occasion Ika has asked me to replace Wayan and hire her brother. That is not going to happen. I am not going to pay one of her relatives to hang out at my house. This morning Ika suggested again that we get rid of Wayan and she would look for someone else. How is Awangs (brother) job going? I asked. He says he wants to quit, she said. I am sure he does, I thought. I will keep you posted on the pembantu drama.
By Nick | Permalink
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Comments
Nick, it sounds like Ika really wants a male rather than a female in the house. Perhaps its a competition or jealousy thing. Anyway I’d like to see how it turns out.
Footnote: Anyyone traveling to Bali should certainly try to meet up with Nick, he’s a great guy.
Aloha,
Jay
Jay,
Welcome back to Hawaii. I’m sure living in Hawaii you are never to sad when your foreign vacation is over.
It was great meeting you and Cheryl.
Ika is fortunate that you employ a housekeeper rather than expecting her to take care of the housework. My son’s wife Dayu looks after their son and does all the household tasks herself and still appears to have plenty of time for socialising etc.
I’m not suggesting how you should run your life Nick, but I think you deserve a bit of appreciation.
G’Day Nick,
I can understand Ika wanting to be rid of females in the house because that’s what it seems like to me. If you were to replace Wayan for Ika’s brother, then you would be lumbered with family continuously.
Candika’s the same as Ika (what’s with Javanese women!)in regards to female pembantu. I insisted that when we settle in Indo then we must have female staff. Candika insisted that she would select (?) the pembantu. I sussed her out straight away - she’ll pick the not-so-pretty one’s!
Two hours a day is plenty of time to do the cleaning and chores at your place Nick, also could be tricky when it comes to firing the brother-in-law.
Hey Nick,
It sounds like Ika really wants a male rather than a female working in the house. Perhaps its a jealousy or competition thing! Anyway I’d like to see how things turn out.
Footnote: Anyone traveling to Bali should surely give nick a call and try to meet up with him. He’s a great guy and does an awesome job on this website.
Aloha,
Jay