I suppose this post will turn out to be a bit more personal than I'd like it to be ... but here goes. We looked at a high-end apartment over the weekend - a visit to one of our relative's newly bought property. The apartment block was absolutely gorgeous and from my limited knowledge of tropical architecture, it was very much suited to the local climate in Kuala Lumpur (it isn't a rarity, being a developing country, the population tends to look at more developed, Western-type architecture and image as a display of wealth). Yes, so the architecture of the apartment block was quite something.
We then took the elevator up to the apartment ... went into the unit. Again, luxuurious, spacious etc.
Walked around, looking at the high ceiling that added to the open-planned comfort, the rainforest shower and sauna-type gizmo in the main bathroom, the floor to ceiling glazing ... we walked past the kitchen and then came to what I thought was a strange little outdoor non-space. It was a narrow corridor which led to this tiny room with a ridiculously small bathroom attached to it - it must have been narrower than the corridor outside and virtually no room to manoevre. I wish I was exaggerating ...
But of course, it is the maid's room. It is fairly common for middle/high income earners to have live-in maids (I hesitate to use the word, really) in parts of South-east Asia. It is perhaps one aspect that I absolutely detest about living back home, because there is such a clear hierarchy within the household. I don't care what you say ... whether your maid is treated equally as a member of the family or anything. The hierarchy is there (I feel like I should stress that this is so, so common ... that it is actually part of everyday life here), the design/organisation of the house shows it ... and at the risk of sounding like a child -- I don't like it.
I do understand the need for a lot of households to have full-time assistance around the house ... but that certainly doesn't mean I agree with it. It is absolutely disgusting, I cannot stand it and it makes me angry ... especially because we are one of these households, and I actually cannot do anything substantial about it. If you know me well, you'd know that I dislike relying on others - not because I don't want help but because if I am capable of doing it ... why not? Having said that, however, I enjoy giving anyone a hand at all. If other households who don't have live-in assistance can do it, so can those who argue it is a necessity. Doing the dishes, loading and unloading the laundry, cleaning the floor, vacuuming the rugs, washing the car, weeding your garden, making lunch - man, they really aren't that hard to do.
So often I see new houses being designed or the old being renovated (the client/families, obviously, having a sizeable amount of money) with a small, dingy little room for the maids.
I'll have to stop writing here ... I am rather worked up by the issue, that it is an accepted part of society ... but I do realise that I'm not doing anything about it, which makes me kind of angry at myself.
