I think one of the things that I find most staggering about all this is the lack of shame. There have been a number of signed letters to the newspapers saying things like "Well, I can't let my maid have a day off because she would run away."

WHAT???? What kind of place is this? Sometimes I think I don't know this land any more. And where is the outrage? Ok, there has been some, but it has been muted vis a vis what there should be in a civilised land.

Maids aren't slaves, but a surprising number of people are treating them as if they are, and they are not a bit ashamed of it. They take advantage of the poverty of the women who come here to work, their lack of education, their vulnerability as foreigners cut off from family and friends.

And where is the law in all this?

But then I always hated house work anyway. In England I always had a 'maid' for a few hours every day but certainly not on weekends. I sure would not expect anyone to work 24/7 for 2 years straight. That smacks of slave labour doesn't it.

People leave for work at 6 am sometimes and don't return until 6 pm because traffic and public transport is horrendous. Who will look after their children? Some people do opt for a lower standard of living so the wife (and here in Asia it almost always is the wife) can stay home and look after them. But usually, most professional people aren't too happy at being asked to do housework for the best years of their lives… This is definitely not a country where it is easy to re-enter the workforce in your late 30s with no experience, after your children are grown.

Still, there can be no excuse for expecting someone to work nonstop for two years no matter what anyone's socio-economic class is.

Housewives have always done it, of course, but then, they do it for their own family, not someone else's – and that makes all the difference.