Confinement Lady Fiasco!

There was a big fiasco over our confinement lady last week.

2 to 3 months earlier, We had paid our confinement lady (from Malaysia) $200 as deposit. She asked for $2000 for 1 month's service (This excludes the customary two hongbaos). She also asked for us to reimburse her ticket back to Malaysia.

Last week, my mother-in-law (Evon's mother) called her to let her know that our confinement lady had been caught stealing money and we had to change our confinement lady. It was a shock to us as we feared that it might be too late for us to find a new confinement lady.

Later that day, I called the post-natal masseur (let's call her 'M') that had arranged for our confinement lady to find out the details. Apparently, our confinement lady (let's call her 'A') stole $100 from her employee. However her employer had installed a CCTV camera that 'A' did not know about. When her employer went back home later that day, they reviewed the camera and caught 'A' stealing on tape. Her employer confronted 'A' and casually mentioned to 'A' that she lost $100 and asked 'A' whether she knew where it was. 'A' was still unaware that she was caught on film at this point. 'A' then replied that she did not know but suggested that the post-natal masseur, 'M', that came earlier that day could be the culprit.

Her employer was very angry but chose not to confront 'A' at this point. Her employer then called 'M', whom had recommended 'A' to her employer, who was equally pissed off when she knew that 'A' had accused her. 'M' later canceled all her appointments and went down to see 'A' and her employer. Upon confrontation and showing of the video, 'M' threatened to send 'A' and the video tape to the police. To cut the story short, 'A' asked for forgiveness, and 'M' and her employee gave her a 4th chance (!) and told her that she was not to come back to Singapore and to return all the deposits that she had collected. 'A' left immediately, and 'M' arranged for a new Indonesian confinement lady to come the next day.

Apparently, 'A' had allegedly stolen small amounts of money earlier (about 2 to 3 times) from different employers, but her employers always gave her second chances and the benefit of the doubt.

Another thing to note if this happens to you.
We are actually illegal employers of these Malaysian or Indonesia confinement ladies (who are not working without work permits). If 'M' and 'A's employer had went to the police, it might cause some trouble to the employer. However, if you go thru proper agencies, it should not be an issue.

Last Sunday, we met up with 'M' and got a new confinement lady, and our $200 deposit back, which we paid to the new confinement lady.

So.... just be careful.

~ Delvin