(620 words)
Yesterday my husband brought me to watch “The confession of a shopaholic”.
The main actress loves to shop so much that all her cards are max out, when trying to buy a green scarf desperately, she cut queue in front of the main actor at a hot dog store to ask to exchange a cheque for $20 plus all the available hot dogs. The main actor gave her $20 and took the hotdog from the store. She went after him to ask why did he pay $20 extra for just a hotdog and his reply was “You want your scarf and I want my hotdog, cost and worth are two very different thing.”
This is a fantastic line I learnt.
Yes I believe in this statement : Cost and worth are two very different thing.
My first helper was a transferred maid, she came to me because after working in Singapore for 6 years without a single off day, she could not take it anymore. During the interview, she asked for one off day a month and the agent suggested that I deduct S$20 from her monthly salary of $350.
I asked her why would she need a off day, she said she would like to go to Church.
I told her I will hire her and gave her off on alternate Sundays, and on those weeks that are not her off days, she can go to church in the morning and return after the meeting was over. I am a free thinker so this decision to let her go to church has nothing to do with my religion.
No deduction was made from her already very miserable salary.
Within the first month after observing her, my husband and I agreed that we could trust her and gave her all Sundays off.
She visited her ex-employer many times during her employment with me as she missed the little girl she brought up. Her ex-employer was very nice to her too but just could not afford the off days because she was running a provision store.
My helper lived in the smallest room (of the whole house) next to the kitchen. In that room, there was aircon which she can use anytime she likes as long as she turned it off when she was going out, the smallest TV we could find (with Filipino channel) and a old pc (with broadband) which we will not use it anymore. She had her own double bed and a wardrobe.
In my opinion, this was far from a luxury life but everyone who visited us and saw her room told me my helper had a very good life.
After that helper was with us for a year, my husband and I decided to let her go home to visit her family during her birthday after knowing that she had not seen them since she came to Singapore. We used our mileage to convert to a SQ ticket and just paid a couple of hundreds for tax and other charges. When we gave her this birthday present, tears flowed out of her eyes.
She was with us for 2 years and we had to terminate her service after my husband was retrenched. We gave her the choice to work for another employer but she decided to go back home.
Until today, she still write and sms me to keep in touch with us.
She remembered us because we give her the most basic treatment as a human being, as simple as that.
It definitely cost us a little more than if we did not give her a TV or did not allow her to have the same type of food as us.
But cost and worth are two very different thing.