Ma'am

"Why is everything so.... difficult?"
Prince Edward of Andalasia asked this, in the movie Enchanted. If you have not seen it, it's about characters in a typical Walt Disney's fairytale being transported into the real world, and experiencing REALITY. Not nice. No singing, no dancing, no true love, no happily ever afters. And everything in the real world is... difficult.

I am getting frustrated with the maid application process. Am engaging an agent to proceed from where I started off.

Once upon a time, I met my colleague's Filipino maid, and a great one too. She has a sister back in the Philippines who also needs a job, but was rejected by a Singapore agent due to her age. She is 44, and the cut-off age for maids to work is 45, and Sporeans generally prefer younger maids. So, one day, they casually asked me if I want her sister. You know human nature, we associate things right. Good maid, good sisters. So, a casual thought became a serious one.

And so I did some pretty extensive research on how to apply for a foreign domestic helper without going through agents. I obtained some forms from the Immigration Dept in JB, filled them up, bought stamps for bonding ( I didn't know that they are different from postage stamps!), 'matikan' the stamps at the Jabatan Hasil Dalam Negeri, submit all the documents and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Then a nice officer told me I actually have to come down to the Immigration office personally to 'speed things up'. And so I did.

And I finally obtained her employment visa for 12 months.

Now, I had to handle the Philippines law of employment. I had all the forms and documents. Signed by her and myself.
I called the Phil embassy to ask if I could send by post or do I need to go up to the embassy in Kl myself.

Filipino officer "Are you a Royalty?"

Me " No"

Filipino officer "Are you diplomat?"

Me " No"

Filipino officer "Are you Filipino expat?"

Me " No"

Filipino officer " Then sorry ma'am, you cannot apply on your own. You have to contact our office accredited agents"

What the F is that?

I'm stuck now. So I have to negotiate with an agent in KL to contact the whatever accredited agent in the Philippines.

Damn, it's all a conspiracy network thingy.

Sigh... my bank account is going to be dry.