Yuni: We are Life-Long Learners

Too often, the phrase “migrant domestic worker” only reminds us of financial struggles and abuse – it fails to capture the personality of Yuni, a life-long learner. For Yuni, activities such as baking, bag making, and gardening offer a respite from her long work days. Yuni’s free days allow her to explore these hobbies and learn new skills, participating in educational baking and crafting classes offered by the Centre of Domestic Employees (CDE),

Yuni, a migrant domestic worker from Indonesia, has worked in Singapore for the past 16 years. Like many other migrant domestic workers, Yuni experienced a difficult transition to Singapore: “I didn’t know how to speak English.” Everything—even the food—was entirely unfamiliar to her. Initially, she found that navigating the worker-employer relationship also posed a challenge. Her first employer owned a coffee shop where Yuni worked long hours.“I didn’t have rest days and everything”, says Yuni. Feeling powerless in this situation, Yuni had to spend two years with long and arduous work days until her contract finally ended.

During Yuni’s 16 years in Singapore, she has worked for three employers in total, and was successful in establishing long-term relationships with her employers. She spent 5 years with her second employer and is approaching a decade working with her third, current employer. Because Yuni has been in difficult situations with past employers— where her right to a rest day is denied — she made sure to emphasise the importance of rest days when finalising her contract with her third employer. She recalls herself saying, “I wouldn’t be happy until I had a rest day. I need time to learn things.” Yuni is, of course, referring to her passions such as baking and gardening; beyond that, she is talking about her need to express herself and grow as a person. Working as a MDW can be draining, stifling, and even frustrating. However, with each Sunday and each new course, Yuni is able to slip out of the restrictions of her job and build new skills while socialising with her friends. Overtime, she is able to accumulate and build upon her skills, something that she says makes her feel, “very proud and happy.” 

The newfound flexibility from Yuni’s current employer proves to be helpful in her exploration of various passions. When asked why she has opted to stay with the same employer for nearly a decade, Yuni remarks simply, “because I feel happier that my employer understands me. They give me rest days and they always support me.” In Yuni’s current work situation, she has more free time in her grasp— particularly now that the kids she takes care of are older. Sometimes, Yuni uses her free time to browse through YouTube tutorials that allow her to develop her baking skills and crafting skills. 

More recently, Yuni has been asked to lead small courses at the Centre for Domestic Employees(CDE). She taught workers from a diverse range of backgrounds crafts that had brought her so much joy. “We learn together. The things I know I can teach other people,” Yuni says proudly. She continues, “the experience made me very happy because I got to meet and help so many people from different countries. There were girls from Myanmar, girls from the Philippines, and girls from Indonesia.” 

Despite how Singapore feels like a second home to Yuni, she acknowledges that it is not permanent. She plans to work in Singapore for an additional two years, and then return home to her family in Indonesia. There, her learned skills and passions will take on a new light as she opens her own business. “A coffee shop,” Yuni plans, both optimistic and determined, “I want to open a coffee shop where I sell cookies and bubble tea.”