June 17, 2019

How does the employment of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in Singapore reinforce negative nationalistic and gendered stereotypes?

For a long time, domestic workers (DWs) lacked legal protections and regularly experienced exploitation and abuse. Now, we celebrate International Domestic Workers’ Day on 16 June every year – the same day when the ‘Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers’ was adopted by the International Labour Organisation in 2011. The treaty mandates ratifying countries to guarantee DWs equal rights as other workers, including fair work-rest periods, paid annual leave, and protection against abuse. However, there have only been 27 ratifications as of February 2019.

Clearly, there is room for improvement on multiple levels. ‘Maids and Ma’ams in Singapore: Constructing Gender and Nationality in the Transnationalization of Paid Domestic Work’ (Geography Research Forum, 1998) by Professor Brenda S.A. Yeoh and Associate Professor Shirlena Huang (NUS Department of Geography) argues that FDW employment in Singapore reinforces certain nationalistic and gendered stereotypes which can result in social discrimination and wage gaps.

Out of the 162 employers surveyed, 85 of them said they selected their maids primarily based on nationality and the inherent skillsets and qualities associated with each nationality. For example, Filipinos are seen as hardworking and competent while Indonesians are perceived as submissive, humble, and quiet. These stereotypes are exacerbated by advertisements by maid employment agencies that pigeonhole their maids according to such ‘desirable’ qualities.

FDW employment in Singapore also entrenches traditional gender roles, where women are primarily responsible for housekeeping. Prof Yeoh and A/P Huang argue that the reliance on Third World women rests on the perception that they possess feminine attributes suitable for housekeeping. Most female employers interviewed accept a reality where their husbands are not capable in housekeeping and thus prefer women to carry out domestic duties. Women from less developed countries supply this demand due to economic necessity, reinforcing certain patriarchal views.

These nationalistic and gendered stereotypes are hard to shake off because of the sharply unequal power relations between maids and their employers. This has significant implications as such stereotypical views can result in social discrimination and wage gaps between FDWs of different nationalities.

Read the article here.