Finally A Maid!

We just managed to get a stay-in maid a few days ago after more than a month living without a maid. We had to take her for a medical exam first to get tested for Hepititis B and Tuberculosis before confirming her to work for us.

According to the locals, many maids are afraid of taking blood tests because of the needles and also they believe that only the sick would go to hospitals. Perhaps the word "Rumah Sakit" in Indonesian language is creating the phobia because it literally translates to "House for the Sick".

We just hope that this maid would work diligently and be more polite because our previous one was constantly cutting corners and also a bit arrogant. This one is 18 years old and she used for work for some PUSRI people who mistreated her (they got her to take care of 3 kids and always delay her meal hours). Hopefully she could recognize the positive change in her new work environment and put in her best effort.

Still No Stay-In Maid

We have been living without a maid for one month now. During the first 2 weeks, my mother in law was here to help out but the following 2 weeks we had to do things on our own. So far my wife is still able to cope without a stay-in maid because she did a lot of planning and organizing of the food preparation and cooking upfront. We also benefited from the help of a cleaner lady who comes in 2 hours daily.

Here are some reasons why stay-in maids are so difficult to find in Palembang:

1. People here view a maid's job as less prestigeous
2. Wages are lower, approx USD57/month for stay-in maids (min wage here is USD103/month)
3. Some Muslims do not like to work for people who cook pork
4. Some Muslims do not like to work for people of different religion

We are still optimistic to get a good stay-in maid. So just need a little bit of patience.