Singapore Maid Levy

Here is a letter to the Straits Times online forum that describes my true opinion o on the Singapore's maid levy system. In short, I feel its unfair that 100% of the cost of the maid to me is not fully passed through to them maid. About S$265 or 40% is given to the governmen


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The rationale behind the maid levy needs to be re-examined. If the original objective was to control the number of domestic workers in Singapore, it ignores the fact that domestic workers are a structural part of Singapore's economy, allowing mothers to continue to work, aged parents to be taken care of, and undecided couples to take the plunge of having children in the knowledge that they can have help.

I also feel there is something amiss about the situation where a significant amount of the cost of the domestic help to me does not go to the domestic help herself, but instead contributes towards an already healthy budget surplus.

Here's a suggestion. Why not divert the maid levy to their own individual CPF-like fund, to be redeemed upon them completing completing their contract, and them leaving Singapore. This "forced saving" also performs a social role in that it prevents their savings from being diverted or otherwise spent whilst working here (in my experienece, there are many requests from home to wire funds for apparent emergencies). They can also look forward to a tidy sum of $7,000 or so (after a 2 year contract) to set them up when they return home. Yes, it's a little complicated, but we would perform a great service to the domestic helpers who indirectly contribute to the success of our economy.

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