At the mercy of maid agencies
I REFER to Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s call to register child minders ( Sunday Star, Aug 26). The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry should also consider the other extreme of the vulnerable population, namely the elderly.
According to a study, the number of Malaysians aged 60 years and above is projected to increase to 3.3 million in the year 2020. Yet, for a country that is advanced in so many ways, facilities to assist this group are sorely lacking and unscrupulous agencies are having a field day taking advantage of the desperation of families of the elderly in taking care of the latter.
I am a middle-aged professional looking after an elderly parent on my own. Within a few days of hiring a foreign caregiver, I discovered to my chagrin that she was a gaming addict. Despite advising and later reprimanding her, and complaining to the agency several times, she kept on being preoccupied with her gadgets.
One day, I found her verbally abusing my parent. When I confronted her, she claimed my parent, who is frail and can barely move or speak, behaved inappropriately towards her. I sent her away and also reported her to the police. The agency reneged on its promise to refund me. Despite the intervention of the National Consumer Complaints Centre, I have yet to get my money back.
Another maid agency collected a deposit, made me wait for three months and just when they were supposed to provide the maid, claimed she had disappeared.
They unsuccessfully tried to weasel out of not returning my money, wasting much of my time and precious energy.
The third agency asked me about the income tax I had paid the previous year. I provided the last income tax e-filing I had available at the time (for year 2016). They then asked me to pay a deposit as soon as possible, saying they had a maid waiting. The deposit was to ensure I could get her, they said, so I paid up.
Only after receiving the deposit did the agency insist I submit the latest income tax return for 2017, which my accountants had just prepared. As 2017 had been a tough year with my being away from attending to my business due to my parent’s illness, my income was substantially less. The agency then claimed I could not qualify for the maid.
I asked for a refund but they claimed they had a right to forfeit RM500, insisting that it was considered a cancellation on my part!
When requesting the deposit, they were fully aware that I had showed them the income for 2016. This is blatant deception. Reporting to the police and then hiring legal help is a complication I can ill afford mentally, physically and financially. Besides, why must I be penalized for the mistake and greed of others?
It is frustrating to be swindled again and again by dishonest and exploitative agencies. Strict, clearcut legislation must be put in place as soon as possible to prevent such corruption, and those rules must be vehemently enforced.
Just as child minders and their agencies should be vetted, so should maids and care givers for the elderly and the companies providing them.