'Be grateful you get to eat rice': Maid's food vlogs leave netizens wondering if she has enough to eat
A domestic helper's food vlogs that give glimpses of her daily meals in Singapore have sparked discussions about whether she is given enough to eat.
In her 12-episode TikTok series titled "What I eat here as a helper/maid in Singapore," @helpers.diary documents the meals she prepares and eats daily.
While she does not specify her country of origin, the third episode shows the helper eating a plate of rice with lumpiang sunog, or burnt spring rolls, a dish from the Philippines.
And it was this glimpse of her modest meal that got netizens talking.
Posted on Nov 14, the clip had garnered 487,500 views, 9,688 reactions and 426 comments at press time.
'She is not complaining, just sharing': Netizen
Not all netizens were sympathetic.
"Be grateful you get to eat rice," one said, suggesting the helper was "complaining" and pointing out that some helpers survive on instant noodles every day.
Others defended the helper, telling those criticising her to "chill out" and calling it a simple mukbang video, alluding to the popular practice by South Korean livestreamers of showing off their meals on camera while addressing the audience.
Some suggested she contact the Manpower Ministry as her meals seemed inadequate, to which the helper promptly responded: "No need lah. We're all good."
"Did you watch the other videos of what she ate?" one commented, defending the helper and noting that her meals, which included Hokkien mee and Korean pancake, appeared varied and sufficient across her TikTok series.
"People in the comments really think eating lumpia is a bad thing?" one netizen wrote, while another pointed out that the helper is simply trying to enjoy her simple meal.
