Domestic chores can be tedious and many working women rely on maids to help them. While parents are on the job, maids take on the responsibility of the home and sometimes their work loads are enormous. Reporter Khin Nyein Aye Than looks at the working conditions of household helpers and, their treatment by their employers.

Ma Hla Hla is in her twenties and was born in a small village in the Ayeyarwaddy division. Part of a large family she left home a year ago to find work after failing her eighth standard exam twice.

“With my poor education, I can’t get a good job, except working as a house maid. I don’t feel embarrassed by my position,” she said.

Ma Hla Hla said she is happy receiving shelter, meals and a reasonable salary plus benefits from her employers. Ma Hla Hla said she is happy with what she has.

“They pay me K5,000 a month, and I send all of my salary to my family. My boss gives me clothes, food, and some times they take me to an amusement park with their children,” she said.

Ma Hla Hla has no holidays and she works from morning to night looking after her boss, his wife and their two children.

“The children are quite nice, and well-behaved. I love them as my brothers and sisters and my bosses are also good to me,” she said.

Ma Hla Hla gets up early, to go to the market to prepare breakfast and fill lunch boxes. While the family are away at work and school Ma Hla Hla washes and irons the clothes, cleans the house and prepares the family’s dinner.

She is often tired but Ma Hla Hla looks on the bright side.

“If I lived in my village, and worked on the farm, it would be more tiring. I also wouldn’t get the chance to see the sights of the big city.”

But not all maids are as lucky as Ma Hla Hla and many face difficulties with their employers.

Ma Kyi Mar, who is in her mid thirties, has been working as a maid for five years. In that time she has worked for so many people she cannot remember how many houses she has worked in.

“I’ve lost count,” she said with a sarcastic smile.

Ma Kyi Mar found it difficult to deal with some of her employers.

Ma Kyi Mar used to work in a small apartment down-town for a family of ten.

“So just imagine how I lived. I had to, get up very early in the morning, and go to bed very late,” she said.

Ma Kyi Mar said her boss was never satisfied with her work and did not hesitate to scold her. She stayed with that family only a few weeks and returned to her native village near Taung Ngu in Bago division.

Ma Kyi Mar lasted a little while living with her step-mother, but soon returned to the city to look for more work.

“Some bosses seemed kind at first but in time they began to act cruelly. I have faced different problems and I don’t even want to remember them,” she said.

Ma Kyi Mar finally found work with an elderly lady and has been working for the same employer for nearly a month.

Ma Mya Ye has been working as a maid for about ten years and has worked in more than ten houses. Of the ten employers she has had she said only one was kind to her.

While some of her experiences started off pleasantly they often ended badly.

“I had one employer who had a five-month-old boy. My main duty was to look after that baby boy. He was really cute, and I really loved him as my little brother. Even if I wanted to leave that house, I couldn’t because of him. Two years later he was as cute as ever,” Ma Mya Ye said.

The mother of the family worked long hours and as time went by the child became increasingly attached to Ma Mya Ye. This made the mother extremely jealous.

“At last, the mother could not stand the situation, and she asked me to move, another house. I could not understand her. The child is her child, and even though he was attached to me she is his mother and of course he will love her more when he grows up,” she said.

Ma Mya Ye said the experience has made her more selective about her employers and more willing to leave if something goes wrong.

But some people believe that maids like Ma Mya Ye and Ma Kyi Mar move from job to job because they are lazy and don’t want to work hard.

Daw Khin Yee, a lecturer at Yangon East University, criticised the work ethic of some maids and complained that many are surly and to quick to change jobs.

“Getting a good maid is not easy, and I think it depends on luck,” Daw Khin Yee said.

Daw Khin Yee has three children who are still at school and her husband works in a government office. As both her husband and she work, she is totally dependent on maids.

But in the past she found some maids to be unreliable, bad-mannered, and greedy, which she said annoyed her greatly. Daw Khin Yee said maids move from house to house because they are always interested in getting more money.

Daw Khin Yu, the owner of a jewellery shop in Bogyoke market disagreed and said she believes maids will stay in a home where their boss is understanding and kind to them.

“It can be very difficult for both maids and bosses to learn to live together, but I like to always keep in mind that we are dependent on each other,” she said.

“I never deal proudly or cruelly with my maid and because I treat her with respect she treats me with respect too,” she said.

Ma Nyo Nyo, a young maid said that while she is willing to work hard, she expects some respect in return.

“I will work dutifully for my boss, but at the same time, I don’t want my boss to treat me as a slave. I am just a domestic worker. I think I also have rights such as going to church every Sunday morning, buying some clothes for myself, and having some time to relax.”