SINGAPORE – Singapore has suspended a maid employment agency’s license and threatened to prosecute the company over “undignified” online ads offering Indonesian helpers for sale, after the postings sparked fury. Singapore is home to almost 250,000 maids, mostly from poor parts of Indonesia or the Philippines, who head to the tiny but wealthy city-state to earn higher salaries than they can back home. The adverts under the user name “maid.recruitment” reportedly offered the services of several helpers from Indonesia, while some ads indicated maids had been “sold”. “We strongly condemn the advertising of foreign domestic worker services in an undignified manner,” said Kevin Teoh, commissioner for employment agencies. Advertising foreign maids on an internet platform meant for trading goods “is completely inappropriate and unacceptable”, he said, adding that this is an offence.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer September 20, 2018 12:00 UTC