Boy broke front teeth under care of maid who runs away after 1½ months, leaving mum of 4 in lurch

She had just given birth two weeks earlier.

So the mother of four was more than dismayed to discover on May 29 that the Indonesian maid she hired less than 1½ months earlier had run away.

Stomper Elly said: "I already paid her four months' salary upfront and she still got a loan with me. It's unfair."

But even before the maid went missing, the Stomper was having trouble with her.

Elly shared with Stomp a litany of problems that started even before the Stomper gave birth to her fourth child on May 14.

She described the 27-year-old maid as forgetful, unhygienic, stubborn, dishonest, "super lazy" and unwilling to admit her mistakes.

"She did not take care of the kids properly," added the Stomper, who pointed out that her three older children are in preschool from 7am to 7pm on weekdays.

"She did not take care of my second child properly till his two front teeth broke. Her negligence hurt us.

"When I take care of my kids, never once have their teeth broke before. This helper came just one month plus and many unpleasant things happened."

Ironically, on May 18, it was the maid who complained to her agent about Elly.

So the Stomper and the agent arranged to transfer the maid to a Chinese family, but the maid decided to stay with Elly instead.

"I gave her another chance to work for me since she refused to work for a Chinese family because she had to handle pork and she is afraid of dogs," said the Stomper, who added the maid promised not to cause any more problems.

But it was not to be.

"Day by day, it was getting worse. She kept forgetting. She was super stubborn, had a big ego, was dishonest, et cetera. I couldn't tolerate working with such a person like this," said Elly.

Dive in

The feeling was likely mutual as on May 28, the maid asked for a transfer. The Stomper arranged for an interview with another family on May 29 at 5pm.

"I already planned to let her go to the new employer on June 1," said Elly.

"I was shocked when she suddenly left the house on May 29 at 5.30am without locking both my door and gate. What if anything happened to us?"

The Stomper made a police report at 8.48am.

In response to a Stomp query, the police confirmed a report was lodged.

Elly said that she received a call at around 11am from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) who said that the maid had approached the ministry and told MOM that she did not want to work in the Stomper's home.

"I am appealing for her to change employer," said the Stomper.

"Also, I would like to open a mediation with the helper and please let her settle her debts first in Singapore. Then she can go back to her country and MOM can blacklist her.

"Furthermore, she was the one who ran away. Now suddenly she wants to go back to her country and I need to bear the cost of her air ticket."

Elly said: "I only agreed to pay for her to return after she served 2½ months so I could get a one-to-one exchange and get a new helper because I've already paid.

"I need a helper badly for my current situation."

She added: "Money is not easy to earn. I did not come from a rich family. I came from a broken family and got this kind of helper with an attitude towards me and it is not even my fault.

"I just need a helper to have an extra hand and help me during my confinement to take care of my three kids and one infant.

"Also, my child's tooth is broken because of her negligence. Who wants to be responsible?"

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