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English Test Spurred Indonesian Maid's Suicide: Singapore Coroner
Khushwant Singh - Straits Times Indonesia | February 09, 2012

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agentmacgyver
8:11pm Feb 9, 2012

"But maid agencies complained that it put women off coming here to work"

As if they care about the workers!

Much of the abuse of Indonesian maids abroad results from inability to communicate hence to do their jobs.

It's impossible to blame Sulastri for her situation when Yogya book fairs mostly sell "learn English" books yet hardly anyone can speak the language at all.

"Education funds are the easiest target for corrupt officials" read a headline yesterday. There is the problem and the root of this latest tragedy.

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When a young Indonesian maid was found hanging in Singapore last year, it threw the spotlight on the issue of English language entry tests.

Sulastri, 26, had failed three times, meaning she faced being sent home with substantial debts.

Following her death last year, the Singapore government announced plans to drop the test for new maids and replace it with a settling-in program.

On Wednesday, a coroner found that Sulastri meant to kill herself.

The maid, who went by one name, was found hanging in the shower at a boarding house for new domestic workers on May 28. She died in hospital four days later.

State Coroner Imran Abdul Hamid said there was no evidence of foul play. Instead, her death was “an intentional act on her part.”

The maid and her family faced a large financial loss if she was sent back to Indonesia. Sulastri had reportedly borrowed Rp 7 million ($785) from relatives to work here.

Indonesian maids have to pay an average of 3,000 Singapore dollars ($2,500) to come to Singapore. This includes agent’s fees and medical check-ups, and is deducted from their salary of about 350 Singapore dollars a month.

Police inspector Muhamad Omar Sharif was the only witness to testify at the coroner’s inquiry, which was attended by a representative from the Indonesian Embassy.

He said another maid from the same Indonesian village told police that Sulastri was upset after failing the test three times. Zulrotul Kadiroh, 25, also noticed that her friend was not eating properly.

Sulastri was seen lying on her bed at about 9 a.m. on the day she died. About an hour and a half later, two maids were cleaning the second-floor toilet of the boarding house in Woodlands when they noticed that a cubicle was locked, even though no one seemed to be inside. Water could also be heard running.

They told the boarding house clerk Liu Meiling, who unlocked the door to find Sulastri hanging.

The maid was helped down and the ambulance crew managed to resuscitate her. She was alive when she arrived at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

However, parts of her brain and spinal cord had been damaged and she died at 4 p.m. on June 1.

The entry test, which is conducted in English, was introduced in 2005 to improve domestic workers’ literacy and numeracy skills.

But maid agencies complained that it put women off coming here to work, took up valuable training time and left those who failed it feeling distressed.

By the middle of this year, it will be replaced by the settling-in program. This will include modules on adapting to life and work in Singapore, and will be conducted either in English or the maid’s native language.
 
Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times Indonesia. To subscribe to Straits Times Indonesia and/or the Jakarta Globe call 021 2553 5055.