Dramatic Maid

This is going to be my one & only post about my domestic helper a.k.a...maid. (Since this blog is supposed to be about my 2 lil monsters mah.. and sometimes me... NOT HER!). Just want to send this out 'here' as a reminder to myself not to be SO gullible in the future, as well as a warning to those who came by this.

My maid, her name is G, from Philippines, & she has been with us 7 months. She's hardworking, looks honest & seems to love my 2 boys. My previous one, M, was also from Philippines & was with us since Di-Di was born till he was 3 years old. M was very efficient & I didn't have to worry a thing while working long, long hours.

Though G was a bit blur comparatively & will go a bit panicky if got too many things on hand, I still thot we were quite lucky to have her. However, one month down the road, she received a text mesg from hubby. Seemed that her hubby got into accident & broke his leg. Can't go to work. No money to eat & for medicine. No money for daughter to go school. So we sympathised & sent RM500 back for her, when in actual fact, we didn't have to give her salary yet as we have paid her 4 months' salary in advance to the agent as fees for bringing her over.

We continued sending RM500 monthly for the subsequent two other months, as the hubby texted that he was still out of work.

Then, more family tragedy followed. Her father passed away, on the first day of our Chinese New Year Celebration at that! We felt very bad for her, so we sent for her RM1,000, with RM500 as 'pak kam' (condolence money to help with the funeral cost).

Though there was no tragedy in Feb, came Mar, like clockwork, her hubby texted again, that he was still not working as his leg has not fully recovered & he needed more money for food, medicine, schooling fees. We should have suspected then, but G does not look like the type who would tell such big lies. So again, I sent RM500 as advance of her salary back home for her.

Then one & hf weeks ago, I received text mesg from her hubby informing her that their home was burglarised, & they lost their appliances, food & money. By now, Daddy & I had already decided to give her RM500 as advance salary each month (& used the balance of her salary to slowly pay us back for the first 4 months' advances we paid the agent). So we are ok then to send RM500. But she wanted additional RM150 to help out her mom & promised this is one time thing only. So gullible me, gave her RM650 this time around.

Just when I thot things could not get any worse, this Tues past, I received text mesg that her 7-year old only daughter has been hospitalised & was in critical condition. After her call back to her sis-in-law, she came running to me, (beating her own head like a craze person) telling me thru her wails that her sis-in-law informed that her daughter had got denggi & now got 50%-50% chance of living only. I told her to call again to talk to her hubby as her sis-in-law could have exaggerated. I mean, denggi only mah, here the chances of pulling thru is higher, rite ? And quit that crying.

She called again. Her hubby didn't want to talk to her, too upset wor. This time, her sis-in-law told her, the doctor said her daughter would probably not live thru the week. G started beating her own head again, so I told her to go downstairs to calm down.

I called the agent to find out what next I should do. I also told him all the money we sent. Ok, the gist from the agent was 'chances of her stories being true were as high as I strike the Big Sweep'! (But her drama really real le, honest!)

The agent said he would 'kau tim' (take care of it) & asked me to bring her over on Thursday so that he can 'talk' to her. This also meant I gotta suffer her crying spree for another 2 days - she begged to be allowed to go home for a week or two. Dead or alive, she'll be back here, as she needed the money (I actually thot of doing that, but the agent says if she goes home without cancelling her contract, we are screwed ie penalised, if she did not come back (as he needed her passport to do the 'cancel the contract' paperwork).

But I told her I'm not sure of the process, and we are to check out the procedure with the agent. I also found that I still want to believe her, cos being a mother, lying that your daughter is at near death is NOT a thing to do.

Come Thurs, the agent tried to get his local contacts to get hold of her hubby, but he was nowhere to be found as he supposedly lost his hand phone in the burglary. In the meantime, the agent tried one of the numbers G said was her sis-in-law (nos from the few text mesg. I received) and asked for the hospital that the daughter was in. While waiting, the agent told G that if it's true, her daughter has denggi, he would fly both the hubby & daughter over here for treatment. When G heard, she cried harder still, insisting this can't be done & she wanted to go home for a short while only. And for the first time, bells were ringing furiously in my head, cos if I'm her, I'll be jumping with joy. Right ?

Then, the agent managed to get hold of the sis-in-law again. She tried to give him a hand phone number, said its the doctor. The agent insisted on having the hospital's. She sounded very hesitant. He then insisted to talk to the hubby. She said she can't get hold of the hubby as he sold his phone to pay for his daughter medical treatments. (Hey, hold on, didn't he lost his phone in the burglary!!!) He then asked how long was the daughter in the hospital already. The SIL said a week. (Hey, hold on again, wasn't it only last week their house burglarised. There was no mention of daughter in hospital then!!!)

With that, I cannot take it anymore & left for a cup of coffee. When I came back, the agent said he 'kau tim' already. He suspected the hubby was stringing G along, hoping to squeeze as much money out of her or us, as possible. He said after being caught at a few bullshits, the sis-in-law admitted that the daughter, though hospitalised, is suffering from dehydration, not denggi & that the daughter was fine after treatment.

G was to continue with us & finish her contract, moreover she needed to repay us for all those 'advances'. But throughout journey home, she continued wailing saying that the agent lied & that her daughter is still hospitalised. She said the agent roughed her up & threatened her life if she still brings the issue up.

I can then see that it was gonna be a long, long, long, long... months ahead WITH HER, if she continues to act like this....

To cut the story short, we went out for dinner (without her, as cannot stand her wailing) when we came back, she was gone...

I admit I'm not a saint employer (as I tend to have 'certain' standards), but with her gone, not only we lost a lot of money (a lot... cos we are not covered for replacement after 6 months), the worst is that we...I...felt like the BIGGEST SUCKER OF THEM ALL!