Karla: Karla: a Journey of Mental Growth

Transcript

What would the world be like without kindness? What would the world be like without courage? What would the world be like without human rights? 16 years, the duration of time Karla, a migrant domestic worker has spent in Singapore, is a long period of time which can help a person to grow through all the obstacles and impediments they have gone through. Karla has her story to show to the world.

because I need work, and especially I need some stable income so that I can provide what my family needs, not only for myself. If I am to provide for myself, I can work in Myanmar because I have a stable job there also. Before I came to Singapore, I worked as a nurse, an assistance nurse at the General hospital. I worked there as an assistance nurse for the full-time worker and I worked as a part-timer tutor at night."

Karla came from Myanmar and her family consists of seven people, her father, her mother, her four older brothers and her, being the only and youngest girl in the family. In order for Karla to fulfill not only her needs but also her family’s needs, she came to Singapore as a fellow Burmese Migrant Domestic Worker and quit her dream job of being a nurse at the Burmese General Hospital. As an economic immigrant, it is inevitable for her to experience culture shock and miscommunication has become a daily impediment for her. Her first employer is a Singaporean family consisting of six people, two parents, a critical grandmother and three kids.

So at the time I was really having so many difficulties managing my own emotions, like about everything, because the bad (things are that) I cannot manage myself at that time, for me it was really difficult to find out what the employer wants exactly. So it was really about miscommunication between us each day, so we were having a (fight with each other) every day, shouting (at) each other. Because we didn’t (understand each other), we always shouted (at) each other, talk (back at) each other. So it was (very) difficult to understand (what the employer) really wants. This(i.e. miscommunication and misunderstanding) is definitely (the hardest part). Until today also, most of us (i.e. the MDWs) are trying really hard to adjust with the employers, some of them can make it, but some of them can’t make it. It is because of the misunderstandings(between the employer and the employees), that’s all."

Karla mentioned that miscommunication was a very huge issue she had with her employer. Initially, I thought the miscommunication in this context was the language barrier between Karla and the employer. Soon, I realized that it was because of the level of patience the employer had.

Uhh, it was not because of English, it was because of patience. Sometimes, they (can) easily get triggered, because if I have to ask again and again over one question, they become very irritated (and lose patience over time). So sometimes if I am not clear(about the question), I would still ask again and again."

The root of regular fights between Karla and her first employer was indeed because of miscommunication between them and the fact that her employer lost patience very easily. Karla has also mentioned that the majority of the MDWs are doing their utmost to maintain a good relationship with their employers and find out what they really want. “Please be patient…” as Karla stated. She had worked with this family for around 12 years and in that particular year, she had another big case with them on medical insurance.

I had a very big case with them, it was about…medical insurance. That medical insurance was (the employer’s duty) to pay (for the employee), not the employee supposed to pay (for themselves). So they overcharged all my salary, so I (didn’t have enough) money because I (thought I had to pay) for my medical insurance. So at that time, I also did believe that in the country(i.e. Singapore), (they don’t have this kind of laws/regulations). So I confronted them, “if you say the employee has to pay for the medical insurance, then why (didn’t it show on) the contract?” so I asked them about the details for the medical insurance. One of the neighbors, they helped me (with the case), they said they even went to report to the police because (they could see the employer was treating me very poorly). But I said no… it’s okay, this is not a big (deal), we can (just talk it out). So my neighbors went to the MOM(Ministry of Manpower) website about the medical insurance, then my neighbor’s daughter helped me to print out the (laws/rules on medical insurance), then I (showed) them to my employer. My employer was super angry because they (wondered) why would the neighbors help me. They(i.e. the neighbors) could see what is wrong and what is right… The medical insurance is not supposed to be paid by me, it’s supposed to be paid by you(i.e. the employer). So at the time, we went to MOM and they clarified with us. MOM also told them(i.e. the employer) the same thing, it is the employer(‘s duty) to pay for the medical insurance. So they(i.e. the employer) apologized to me at the MOM office and they apologized to me at home also."

According to MOM and other websites like Boundless, it is the employer’s duty to pay for the medical insurance for the employee and Karla had been paying for her own healthcare insurance for 12 years. Karla has suggested that everyone, especially the economic migrants, should be aware of the laws and regulations before coming to a foreign country. In 2019, Karla finally terminated her contract with her first employer. After Karla had ended her contract with the Singaporean family, she commenced another employment contract with a British family. For Karla, she described the employment experience as tragic and the environment is appallingly atrocious. The family treated her as if she were a slave to the family and Karla had the courage to report them to MOM after 3 years. In 2021, an extremely unfortunate mishap befell Karla’s mother, she passed away peacefully. Karla had a really hard time during that period of time and decided to join Center for Domestic Employees, also known as CDE, an organization that supports foreign domestic workers’ rights. She has also done many volunteering work in Singapore in order to spread kindness and happiness inside her community. Karla stated that helping others has helped her to gain self-confidence as well as the happiness you cannot derive from doing anything else. She has also begun to pick up her dream of becoming a nurse again and her journey is still continuing. Karla’s journey to Singapore has trained her to become a stronger person and let her have the courage to speak up for herself whenever she feels that her rights have been violated. This is also what Her Journey is aiming to do, we want all the MDW to know that your rights are protected by laws and don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself.

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