Farah woke up morning to see that her friend and neighbour, Anisa, had returned from Singapore for a holiday. Anisa’s children were overjoyed to see her and were excited to receive the gifts that she had brought for them. Anisa had returned wearing clothing and shoes that couldn’t be bought in the local market and told all the villagers about her experiences. She had been sending money to her family monthly and they had been able to use this to improve their home.

After speaking with her family and getting their encouragement, Farah decided that she too would move. She wanted to support her two children and ensure that she could afford their schooling. While she was nervous, she was also excited to visit the places Anisa had showed her in photos. She waved goodbye to her family as she left for Surabaya, the nearest big city and where Anisa had put her in contact with an employment agency.

At the employment agency, Farah lived in a dormitory room while she was taught English each day, and given training in cleaning and caregiving. The instructors would show Farah and 15 other women how to use vacuum cleaners, blenders, and food processors, and demonstrate how to clean and care for elderly people with limited mobility. While Farah missed her children, she was able to call them each evening and enjoyed living with other women. She would tell herself each evening that she was making this sacrifice for a better tomorrow.

While completing her training, Farah met with one of the employment agents who noted down key pieces of information about her to make an online profile that prospective employers could view. She was told by the agent that a photo was also needed, so she was asked to smile gently with her hair tied back neatly, as this was the most appealing. “They don’t want to see makeup or an unhappy face, you need to look clean and kind”, the agent explained. She gave details about her work experience, as well as her age, place of birth, weight, height, and marital status. 

Meanwhile, in Singapore, a prospective employer, Astrid, visited SG Maids, an employment agency.

She was greeted by an agent and several other domestic workers who were sitting in a line to the side of the shop frontage. Astrid explained that she was looking for a domestic worker who could help care for her elderly mother and two children. The employment agent noted down her details and then spoke about the pros and cons of different domestic workers. She explained the benefits of having a ‘fresh’ domestic worker (with no experience), and the how their pricing and salary was determined by their nationality. She stated: 

“Filipina’s have too high demands and Myanmar are not as good in communication, you have to keep telling them what you want them to do. Indonesians are better, they are in the middle. Also, with a fresh one you can start from the beginning, they won’t compare other employers with you too so, can be better.”   

After searching through the details of many candidates, Astrid decided to interview Farah. They had a telephone interview, and both asked one another questions. Based on their conversation, Farah felt that Astrid was kind and fair. Farah agreed that she was happy to have 2 days off per month, every other Sunday, once her salary deduction period was over. Astrid confirmed that Farah was OK with handling and cooking pork, even though she did not eat it herself, which she said she was.

Several weeks later Farah was taken to the airport by the agency, with the necessary paperwork having been completed. She was feeling particularly anxious about her journey so was glad to be travelling with another woman she knew from the training centre, as well as two other women who were moving to Singapore to take on jobs as domestic workers too.

Once in Singapore, Farah was collected by a local employment agent and taken to their house. She slept in a room with bunkbeds in their house, along with 3 other Indonesian women and 2 Filipina women. Farah spent her first 3 days in Singapore completing a settling-in programme and a mandatory medical examination.

Across these 3 days Farah was also asked to sit in the agency shop frontage while other prospective employers came in and out. Finally, early on her fourth morning in Singapore, Astrid walked into the agency to finalise paperwork before collecting Farah. After a brief introduction, Farah left the shop with Astrid and her bags.

After travelling by taxi for 15 minutes, Farah and Astrid made their way up to the fifth floor of an apartment block. Astrid showed Farah the room that she would be sleeping in, a small room with a thin single mattress and just enough space for a couple of drawers in the corner. Astrid then started talking through the household routine and what she expected of Farah. Farah had barely stepped in the house but was feeling both overwhelmed and daunted by this new start.