A while back I hired a maid for a few months as I though that it would be much easier for my dogs to have a live-in sitter than to have to be re-homed every time I left for my travels. While it was a luxury to not have to do house work when I came back from work, in the end it proved to be more trouble than it was worth.
Since there’s only 2 people staying in my household, I only expected 3 things from Tina. A clean house, honesty and not to let stranger in my home.
She was allowed to go out for daily exercise, watch TV and we treated her like a family member. On Hari Raya we would fetch her to the mosque for prayer and let her have the day off. We even bought her a mobile phone.
I travel very often and while I was away on on one occasion, she brought back some hamsters because she said she wanted more company. When I got back she asked if she could keep them as pets. They were already a month old by then and hidden in a cardboard box in her room. So I agreed to let her keep it on condition that she keeps them clean. We bought the hamsters a 3 storey- cage, food, bedding and toys.
But somehow it was never enough for her and eventually we found out she has been constantly breaking one of our 3 rules, honesty. In the end we had to send her back. It has been emotionally a very draining experience and don’t see myself being able to hire another live-in maid. Hearing the feedback from my family and friends, most of them tell me that I was too nice to the maid. But I don’t really know how to draw that line between treating a live-in help as a respectable worker and preventing the help from taking advantage. Now I’m left with a hard lesson learnt and 3 hamsters which I’m hoping to give away.
Anyways, these photos were taken in a happier time when we celebrated Tina’s birthday. My whole family participated in the surprise hoping to make her feel more at home and less homesick.
Anyone interested in adopting hamster can drop me a comment or email.
Where is your maid from? And what is she not honest about? Please advise.
Ting,
Tina is from Indonesia. I don’t really want to get to the nitty gritty of the dishonesty cause I could probably type a couple of pages if I wanted to do a tell-all of her misdeeds. But she has caused us a lot of money and stress and I’m glad that it’s all over now. I hope she learnt her lesson and treasure her next employment better.
I have been following ur blog for a while and I actually know ur husband from work. Why do u always exclude him from ur pictures and in ur article about ur maid, u mentioned that there is only the 2 of u in the household which sounds as if ur husband does not exist. I feel that you are trying to create the impression that u r single when u r merely living off his income. He is a very good man n everyone knows him to be the most loyal guy. U r constantly travelling without him. I certainly hope u are not getting your funding for your lavish lifestyle through other activities because your family is not wealthy, u r not earning much and we all know how much ur husband earns. Please be good n treasure ur blessings lady. He is the best bloke ever.
Hi Gen,
When one mentions there are only 2 in the household it is actually normal to assume that it is usually a married couple especially since I make it clear that I stay in a HDB. If you have really followed my blog for awhile then you would know that most of my readers know that I’m married and many of them have seen my wedding photos sometime ago. Also if you have followed long enough, I have mentioned from time to time that my husband choose to stay far far away from the public eye and would like to be almost non-existent on my blog and those of friends because he feels that there are many nosy people around who make judgement based on a partial story they see online and jump to assumptions and these people get on his nerves.
He is a very good man and I am blessed to have him and he earns well but you seem to sound like you know how much I’m earning or what our investments are. Which can’t possibly be true cause you would have known that I earn more than my own keep which my husband is very proud of. I do not think I’m living a lavish lifestyle at all. Some people spend their money on cigarettes, clubbing, drinking or 4D. Others would happily buy a luxury car in the most expensive city to own one or sport several carats of diamond. Different strokes for different people. I choose to spend my disposable income on traveling and bags and in case you are worried it affects your bank balance (or my husband’s), you’ll be glad to know that my salary is actually enough to cover my own purchases. I don’t talk about my job or my earning because it’s simply unprofessional and rude and I believe most people would like to fly under the radar on that subject regardless of how much they earn. This blog, if you haven’t notice is a travel and lifestyle blog. So you get a dose of my travel and my lifestyle but that’s only one dimension of a person. This is true for most blogs as each blog has a focusing point… somewhat like a magazine. You don’t read Vogue expecting stories that include those you see on business week but it doesn’t mean the people at Vogue don’t know how to run a successful business.
I’m glad you got to know my husband through work and I think if ask him about it he would love the conversation and save you a lot of guessing. Maybe next time you can get to know both sides of the story before insinuating that I live off my husband’s income or any ” other activities” on my part. It is highly insulting and unnecessary. I’ve been married for 6 years now and having the trust and the independence to pursue our own growth has been a cornerstone of our marriage. Traveling separately is never an issue for us especially since both of us have no liabilities. I hope you can find a good bloke of your own so you won’t have time to worry about mine.
Cherrios!
you know yourself best. I hope E is genuinely happy with a loyal honest gal. u know why u alwaz travel to malaysia. I have seen u there before and i will comment no more.take care.
gen,
I guess you if you truly are concern about my husband’s happiness and you know him, you should tell him yourself and not comment on my blog. Both my hubby’s name and why I travel to malaysia is no secret. I could direct you to the posts I’ve written with photos of friends and family but I’m sure you know how to use a search function (located on the top left hand column of my blog). In fact if you are so aware then I’m sure you have seen photos of the new house in KL that I’ve also posted up on my blog previously so there’s no need to make such a fuss about my traveling there. I’m also sure you have seen me before and so have many others, I don’t hide in shadows… I go out often, am often with friends, family or at events!
My husband who as you said is the best bloke ever, of course reads his wife’s blog and has seen your comments. He actually had a response but as he is a lot less tolerance for people who blatantly lies and jump to assumptions, unfortunately his reply was too colorful for me to approve it on my PG-13 rated blog. So please do address your huge concern to him when meet this good man at work.
Hi gen,
I’m not one to mince words and I hope I’m not jumping to conclusions here but your behaviour suggests that you’re really jealous of Karen’s lifestyle and her relationship with her hubby. If you’ve a self-esteem issue, you could read self-help blogs instead of travel/lifestyle blogs like Karen’s to feel a little better about yourself.
And seriously, if you feel so indignant about how Karen’s hubby is being treated, go tell it to his face. I doubt you have the courage to do so though.
I think Karen’s replies have been very gracious thus far, even when she has absolutely no need to justify or prove anything to you, a mere stranger who knows nothing and yet pretends to know it all.
Those of us who know Karen personally (yes, including her husband) are very amused by how wild your imagination is. Maybe you could consider a career switch and become a novelist or screenwriter. I’m sure with your fertile imagination and boundless creativity, you’ll have a pretty successful career. 🙂
Hi Renzze
Many people have been telling me I am too nice to my maid too.
As you have said, it is difficult (for me too) to draw the line of treating a helper nicely & respect her and pray that she would do likewise.
But I will continue to be nice because I simply don’t know how to be ‘not nice’.
Some people loved to dump garbage but we, the nice and happy people do not let garbage take over our day. Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So….Love the people who treat you right. Ignore the ones who don’t. Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!
I am still enjoy-ING your blog. Have a nice day ahead 🙂
Hi Glamy Mum,
It’s always nice to hear from you and I do miss your daily outfit postings! I do believe that it’s only normal to want to treat the person that lives with you as kindly as you can and I hope that not every story would end up like mine.
Thanks for your advice 🙂
Gen,
I’m really late over here and I must say that Karen and Regina have already fed you with enough information.
Even though I’m not an old friend of Karen, I’ve to say that once you know her, you would know what a cherished and sincere friend she is. Both Karen and her husband are great people and are very much into each other’s lives. If it doesn’t show on this blog, it doesn’t mean that this fact does not exist.
Gen,
I’m really late over here and I must say that Karen and Regina have already fed you with enough information.
Even though I’m not an old friend of Karen, I’ve to say that once you know her, you would know what a cherished and sincere friend she is. Both Karen and her husband are great people and are very much into each other’s lives. If it doesn’t show on this blog, it doesn’t mean that this fact does not exist.