M’sian executive working in S’pore ‘triggered and sad’ after being mistaken for domestic helper at Bedok laundromat

A Malaysian working in Singapore was shocked when she was mistaken for a domestic helper at a laundromat — a passer-by had repeatedly asked her if she was doing laundry for her “boss”.

Speaking to Stomp, Shikin said the incident occurred on May 19, at a laundromat in Bedok.

The 34-year-old senior account specialist had shared about the incident in an Instagram post on July 11, recounting what she described as a “very Singaporean behaviour” of “profiling, judging, and downgrading”.

In the video, she recalls being approached by a passer-by who looked “friendly” while doing her laundry. However, during their conversation, the passer-by seemingly assumed that the load belonged to her “boss”.

Despite multiple attempts to clarify that the clothes were hers, Shikin says the woman insisted: “What boss now? It’s your boss laundry.”

“I was like what the f*ck is this. Then I get it, she thinks that I’m a domestic helper,” Shikin recounts.

Panning the camera to her attire, she acknowledges that she “looks like a domestic helper”, but points out that the woman might not have made the assumption if she was “Chinese” or “white”.

Shikin also clarifies that she was working in Singapore as an executive.

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“You think people people look like this only can work as a domestic helper? We cannot get a good job is it? We are not educated is it?” she asks.

Stopped by security guard

Speaking to Stomp, Shikin added that the woman “didn’t seem too fazed” by the encounter, and that she chose not to pursue the matter further.

“Honestly, I felt a bit triggered and sad, like I was being judged. It probably hit harder because it was late at night and I’d just finished work, so I was already tired,” she told Stomp.

The encounter was not new to her — Shikin recalled being stopped by a security guard at the condominium she stayed at and being asked if she was a resident.

“It did make me wonder why I was the only one singled out, when it seemed like it was simply because I looked different — like maybe as a brown person, I couldn’t possibly afford to live there,” she reflected.

However, she added that she did not intend to generalise the behaviour to all Singaporeans.

“What I really want people to take away from this is: you can’t judge someone’s background just by how they look. Someone who looks “homeless” or less put-together might actually be more well-off than you’d assume,” she said.

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