Having a maid or not? (4D Chan Yat Ching)

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There are dozens of families hiring domestic helpers nowadays. It’s quite common to hear that “Oh. My domestic helper has cooked lunch for me already!” or see many of the “sisters” helping  kids and primary pupils carry their  school bags. I may say, domestic helpers are ubiquitous in Hong Kong. Do you have one, too? People employ them with different reasons, like taking care of their children, relieving the huge burden of mountainous housework and so forth. In spite of the fact that many of us have got a maid at home, is this a beneficial act? Let’s go deep into it!

I, who had a domestic helper once, think that the cons of hiring one outweigh the pros. First of all, having a maid at home will likely make you lose the ability of self-care. The workers may alleviate the heavy workload of families, I would say. Yet, the more they help us and take care of our homes, the more we rely on them and get to be dependent. The most victimised one under the care of maid will definitely be the kids. If a child is born to have a domestic worker aside, the innocent baby can never learn to take care of himself and grow independent. Why? Obviously, as the maid always gives the children aid from minor to major things, including fetching them a cup of water, showering them and so on. Some may even teach them homework. How are the children supposed to look after themselves and survive under this circumstance when they grow up. right? It’ll be a wise choice if you let your child grow without a maid.

Also, children will be negatively affected by some habits of maids. Some may argue that parents have bad habits which will affect children lives, too, but never forget that the priority of parents is always their beloved sons and daughters, who are the pearls of parents’ hands! So, parents will also be more aware of their behaviour in front of their kids in order to give a good role model to them. On the other hand, domestic helpers may not be willing to stay disciplined just to give a positive influence to kids. Examples? Maids are famous for taking selfies! Do you all agree? They may also frequently FaceTime with their friends no matter where they go. When children see them use electronic devices all the time, they will have the same desire for it and want to follow their behaviour. As time goes, children will be more addicted to phones and suffer side-effects, like short-sightedness. Domestic helpers have their own accent when they speak English as well, which may not be accurate. This will also affect the kids. Imagine you, as a teen, speaking English with an Indonesian accent! Can you bear it?

What’s more, hiring a domestic helper means welcoming a stranger to stay at home. Of course, both employers and employees are protected and secured by the contracts mutually signed. But, no one can ever guarantee everything will go just fine, right? Some incidents may happen, like the maid stealing, using our home address to borrow money and so on. Undesirable things like that can possibly happen. To safeguard ourselves and our families, you will think that it’s not really necessary to hire a domestic helper, is it?

Although having a maid is not really a good move, I’m grateful that I had a well-tempered, friendly and helpful one before. She taught me that I should cherish my family and be tolerant to my little brother. Well, nothing can entirely benefit or harm you, so I guess hiring a domestic helper will be a double-edged sword, after all! Your thoughts?