MOM investigating cases of maids being ‘sold’ on Carousell

Publication Date: 
September 18, 2018

MOM investigating cases of maids being 'sold' on Carousell

MOM investigating cases of maids being ‘sold’ on Carousell

The Singaporean Ministry of Manpower is currently investigating a recent case of maids being “sold” on an online retail platform Carousell. The listing was published by a Carousell community user who advertising Indonesian maids. The listings included faces of the maids and some of the listings also indicated whether the maids have been “sold”. The listings were immediately taken down once the investigation started. The spokesman of Carousell said that these listings are against the platform’s guidelines and such listings are instantly deleted if detected. The Ministry says that it “expects employment agencies to be responsible and exercise sensitivity when marketing their services”, as “advertising maids like commodities is unacceptable and an offence under the Employment Agencies Act.”

While it is still unclear who the advertiser was, whether a recruitment agency in Indonesia or an employment agency in Singapore, this article again highlights the human rights issues surrounding domestic labour migration in Southeast Asia. It is quite terrifying to think that the Ministry of Manpower has been “aware of cases where foreign domestic workers are being marketed inappropriately on Carousell”, without taking any action until recently. On the other hand, we have to admit that it is almost impossible to prevent similar cases happening in the future, as anyone who has access to internet can easily create an account on Carousell and continue listing similar advertisements.

Another aspect that the article indirectly highlights is the extent to which Singaporean society relies on labour migrants. Without the high demand for domestic workers, it is unlikely that these types of advertisements would even exist in the first place. And so, while the Ministry of Manpower is trying its best to protect the rights of the labour migrants, as long as the Singaporean economy still relies on employing cheap labour migrants, the Singaporean government will have to continuously adopt new strategies to respond to different marketing strategies that violate migrants’ rights.

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/mom-investigating-ca…

Author: 
NGOC DUONG PHAM