PUBLISHED ONApril 14, 2022 5:09 AMByKhoo Yi-HangFor most domestic helpers in Singapore, their job involves abilities to cook, clean and care for children and elderly. Astinar, however, has an additional skill: Driving.
In a heartfelt Facebook post on Wednesday (April 13), Astinar expressed thanks to her employers for apparently funding her driving lessons and letting her drive the family car.
"It's been four years [since I started] driving," she wrote on Facebook. "Even by [saying 'thank you' a thousand times to them, it's] still not enough to express my gratitude to my employers."
Astinar, a domestic helper from Indonesia, also uploaded images of a couple, presumably her employers. She refers to them as Mr Ong Thiam Huat and Mrs Er Shu Qian.
Ending her post with blessings for her employers, Astinar also shared a video showing herself driving the family's Mercedes.
Her experience with her employers letting her drive also left many Facebook users impressed.
"Upskilling," one comment began. "Now this helper is not just any ordinary helper but even more than that."
Astinar is not the first domestic helper to have picked up a driver's license along the way, but her situation is certainly more optimistic.
In 2012, an Indonesian maid with a valid Singapore driving licence got into a road traffic accident while driving her boss around.
She was verbally abused by the other driver, and her employer who hit the man while defending her, was sentenced to a month's jail.
Pertinent to this, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) had responded to a Straits Times forum letter in 2012 that maids "should not drive as part of [their] domestic duties", as that would "breach [their] Work Permit conditions".
The caveat added by MOM is that they would consider on a case-by-case basis, but the employers would need to seek approval from the ministry.
AsiaOne has reached out to Astinar for comments.
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khooyihang@asiaone.com
