‘You can afford a luxury car, but you can’t afford to take it to a car wash?’ — Maid asks employers who force helpers to wash their cars AURORATOTO GROUP

SINGAPORE: It’s a sight so common in Singapore’s HDB carparks and landed enclaves that it barely raises an eyebrow anymore — a domestic helper, bucket and sponge in hand, scrubbing down a gleaming BMW or Lexus like she’s auditioning for a Singapore version of Fast & Furious: Helper Drift.

However, for one outspoken maid, enough is enough! “Every day I see helpers washing cars. Like, you (employers) can afford a luxury car, but you can’t afford to take it to a car wash?” she called out in the Direct Hire Transfer Singapore Maid / Domestic Helper Facebook group. “It’s not even once a week — it’s every day!” she exclaimed further.

And with that statement, the comment thread exploded faster than a Maserati at Orchard Road lights.

“If not washed on time, my employer screams! 🥺”

While a few helpers chimed in with lucky tales such as, “I had four employers, none of them let me wash even once,” the rest of the comments read like a pit lane horror story.

“I wash two cars every day, so I need to wake up at 6 a.m. because my employers need to leave at 7 a.m. 😓😓😓,” one lamented.

“My boss has two cars… they never asked me to wash them even once,” another lucky one shared.

Others weren’t so lucky: “I wash three cars every day. If not washed on time, my employer screams! 🥺,” one expressed her anxiety.

“I washed all six cars for my boss 😖. For small cars, it’s okay, but I had to use a ladder for these big ones because they’re really high 😔,” another lamented.

One helper summed it up with: “My past employer, each one of them had their own car. So every day I wash a different car except Sundays 😂.”

“Car wash is not included in her job based on MOM rules…”

The root of the debate is whether washing the employer’s vehicle is actually in a domestic helper’s job scope.

“Some employers here say it is part of the maid job😣,” one group member noted, while another clarified, “Car wash is not included in her job based on MOM rules.”

MOM (Ministry of Manpower) guidelines do not explicitly list car washing as part of a helper’s duties. It’s meant to be clarified in the contract or job order, and yet, many helpers revealed that the expectation is implied — or worse, sprung on them after the contract is signed.

“I never experienced cleaning [washing] cars in my past and present employer, even in Saudi Arabia,” one maid remarked, comparing working conditions abroad.

Another added: “It’s not included in my job scope when I signed my contract, but I do it anyway. I don’t complain and just do my job peacefully.”

“Even if it’s already 9:30 p.m., they will still tell me to wash their car. Ugh!”

Some experiences crossed from questionable to downright cruel. “True, even if it’s already 9:30 p.m., they will still tell me to wash their car. Ugh!”

Or this jaw-dropper: “The most jaw-dropping is when we see a helper watering the plant after rain… that’s not the helper gone nuts, but that’s her employer’s command. Helpers should only save their job to whatever task has to be completed as long as it doesn’t put their life in danger.”

And yes, some even said they’d rather wash cars than dangle out windows to clean the external parts of high-rise flats.

“I won’t let my helper wash my car. I wash it myself…”

Not all employers were painted with the same brush (or sponge), though.

“I don’t let my Auntie [helper] wash my car,” one employer shared. “I drive to the car wash, the quick one at the gas station… She helps with inside cleaning with a hand vacuum machine for me, maybe two to three times/year.”

Another echoed, “I won’t let my helper wash my car. I wash it myself.”

And yet, some saw no issue with maids washing their cars. “Isn’t this part of their job scope?” one commenter asked. “Is it stated in the MOM listing that employers are not allowed to ask helpers to wash cars? Come on, employers do pay a salary!!!”

“Have a clear scope of work before signing the contract…”

The consensus among the more level-headed voices was: Spell it out before signing.

“You will have to have a clear scope of work before signing the contract. That’s all,” one commenter advised helpers.

Nevertheless, helpers aren’t allergic to work. They’re just asking for basic fairness and respect — and, ideally, not to be up at 6 a.m. polishing a shiny Audi while still bleary-eyed from prepping school children’s lunches.

After all, if you can afford a S$250,000 or more luxury car, surely you can spend just S$10 on a car wash. If trust is the issue, trust a professional, or just trust yourself.

Because nothing screams “ironic flex” louder than putting a domestic helper through boot camp car-wash duty… while you sip a frappuccino in your air-conditioned porch.

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And speaking of not treating your helper like a car washing machine, another helper learned the hard way from her employer that she wasn’t allowed to ‘power down’ even just for a one-hour afternoon nap to rest.

She said it all in simply four words: ‘I’m not a robot!’ — Maid says after her employer doesn’t allow her to take a 1-hour nap to rest in the afternoons