Saturday, May 10, 2008

Serious Problems Await Malaysian Society As Maids Take Over Parenting Role

A leading psychologist warns that maids are beginning to replace parents. Children are growing up interacting more with the maid than with their parents as they spend less and less time with their children due to work commitments.

Monash University and Sunway Medical Centres clinical psychologist Paul Jambunathan said many children were learning their values from the maid rather than from their own parents, and "the presence of a maid affects family bonding in a very big way".

Speaking at the launch of the Gain Family Discovery Camp organised by health food company Abbott Malaysia yesterday, he said it is common to see children giving more respect to the maid than their parents.

"In some cases, the maids are the boss of the house and children obey the maid rather than their parents when told to stop doing something.

"Children are not being brought up by the right people any longer. Parents might as well have a shoplot, take their children and dump them there and let other people look after them," he said after the launch.

He said employers should provide day-care centres so parents can still interact with their children during working hours.

"Maids, teachers and drivers have taken away the God-given role of parenting," he said.

He said parents should be the primary educators of their children.

"Parents have to give their children love and attention, the primary diet for emotional development," he said. (NST)

***** It's indeed a frightening predicament we face today. On one side there are the financial considerations and the need to make ends meet while on the other we face the potential disaster of having an entire generation of kids brought up by foreign maids.
Clinical Psychologist Mr Paul Jambunathan is absolutely right when he says that Malaysian parents might as well 'have a shoplot, take their children and dump them there and let other people look after them'. But what viable alternative is there?

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7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

then u fight for women right to work and then leave children at the hands of maids....gosh if only they really think about what they ask for in the first place....

3:30 PM GMT+8  
Blogger KONAKON said...

Hmm...we can't do anything about it can we?And yes, anonymous have a point there.

5:08 PM GMT+8  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is a serious social problem that will have long term repercussions. Young couples should give due considerations to whether they want someone else to mould the characters, minds and attitudes of their children. Money or Life!

9:39 PM GMT+8  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

One solution is for employers to provide daycare facilities at the work place, thus enabling women to be able to work as well as have their children with them as much as possible.

The cost of the daycare should be shared between employer and employee which would be a good benefit that employers can use to entice employees. Obviuosly, only those who use it will have to pay, thus it would not impinge on the non-parents.

Govt could provide tax breaks to entities who provide these facilities to incentivize them.

3:37 AM GMT+8  
Blogger Walski69 said...

Greetings, friend... been a while!

The only thing remotely shocking about this is that it's only being highlighted now. I've personally noticed this phenomenon going on easily 4 - 5 years now.

But the sad part is the deplorable attitude I notice in shopping malls sometimes, when I see families out with their kids and maid(s) in tow. The worst are the parents who totally abdicate their role as a parent to their maids.

I would relate the contrast I saw with a young Korean mom, her child and her maid, but it would make this comment lengthier than it should be. Suffice it to say, in contrast, the Korean mother regarded her maid more as a helper, rather than a surrogate mom. And treated the maid very nicely too - but that's another story altogether with Malaysians vis-a-vis maids.

Nevertheless, good post - always better late than never...

12:59 AM GMT+8  
Blogger Dj Surendeng said...

Hi...how do you do?
I'm a maid. Indonesian Maid. My employer work all day, and I take care a 10 years old girls. Our relationship good, she never treat me like her family, daughter or anything else. She respect me as human being who come to her house to help her.... wanna know more..just find out in... The Maid's Diary

12:07 AM GMT+8  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

parents should have time for their children. they should'nt leave their children with maids. some kids kill themselves/others because of the parents. they dont have that much attention.

11:36 PM GMT+8  

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