Indonesian maids: Sometimes get a rough ride

Indonesia like the Philippines generates a part of its economy from remittances from overseas. Indonesian women work overseas as maids, mostly in other SE Asian countries and in the Middle East. One of the good sides of this is it brings foreign money into the country, one of the bad sides is it exposes the women to abuse. Cases go back many year of Indonesian maids being abused in Singapore, or falling off 20 storey ledges after their boss told them to hang the laundry out there.

Recently Singapore refused to implement a mandatory day off for maids, which means that many still work 7 days a week. Indcoup points out that life as a maid in the Middle East can be a painful experience also.

Makes me wants to run out and the my pembantu an extra little squeeze.