Nasi Kangkang - The Maid with Black Magic

Part 1

February 14, 2017

I have been begging my husband to hire some help for about thirteen months, and today, I'm so very pleased to be writing in my diary, he has agreed to hire me a domestic helper! Just for six months initially, so I won't get carried away, but its fine, it's a start. It's been a real struggle trying to look after our little boy since his birth two years ago, whilst still trying to keep my little business afloat and running a household. 

I know it's my responsibility and all, but with trying to earn a little of my own money as well, and the horribly long hours my husband works, I just haven't felt like I've had a moment to myself for a good period of time. Sometimes a woman just needs a bit of a break. I don't want to use excuses, but other families of our stature and standing employ their own help, and what with my separate dietary needs, cooking the food my husband desires and meals for the baby, that's three different types of food preparation, without even considering the laundry, cleaning and keeping the household ticking nicely over, it just seems as if we should get up to date and I should get a bit of a break from time to time.

February 23, 2017

After looking around for a while, my husband has decided that we cannot really afford to hire someone from Singapore to help us out. I even suggested us hiring just a cleaner or a cook, I know other families in Punggol who do so. But he wasn't budging on it, 'if we are hiring help, we're hiring live in', he insisted. Which really gave us no choice, we'd have to hire a housemaid from Indonesia. I'd heard lots of horror stories and urban legends about people who had hired Indonesian workers and then gone on to suffer all sorts of difficulties, so initially, I was not over enthused by his decision. But I didn't really have a choice in all honesty. It was his money, so it was his decision and I supposed an Indonesian maid would be better than no maid at all, surely?

My husband promised me that he'd be very careful in his selection of a maid, he also knew about problems other families in Singapore had experienced with Indonesian workers, who, being diplomatic, were not always the most honest and innocent of people. But albeit, we agreed to find a maid agency to source us a helper, so we'll just have to see what happens I guess.