Hi we will be hiring a helper for the first time. We require her to look after our 1 year old son, cook and do the housework. Which country do you hire your maid from? We're so confused after speaking to a number of our friends and maid agencies. Any advice is much appreciated!

Getting the right help all depends on luck regardless of nationality. Some may work for one but may not work for others. What is your priority? Look after your son or cook? Do you have time to train? Are you willing or not to allow hand phone usage and off days? Are you looking at transfer maids or fresh maids or ex Singapore? Fresh maids are with zero experience and have to train them from scratch. Transfer maids are those for one reason or another did not complete contract with their employers. They may already have some experience and hence do not need to teach from scratch. You can interview them face to face and their availability is quite fast. Ex Singapore are those who have previously work in Singapore before and do have experiences. You can check with respective agencies for both transfer and ex Singapore employment records with MOM, however do take their biodata with a pinch of salt. For nationalities wise, got to depends on your comfort level too. May have language barrier with Myanmese and need quite some time to train them to your standard. May need time to instill Cleanliness and hygiene level into them. Indonesians are pretty much like Filipinos and except that Filipinos can communicate well in English. Good luck.