Recently during one of our get together sessions, I heard something that is very disturbing.
My friend’s company employed a Malaysian to work as a lorry driver and the latter draws a pay of $1700. This playboy got a Chinese national pregnant. What was strange is this Chinese national is a PR after just working a few years here. This woman is a teacher from MOE!! As a result, I have a few things that I am not too clear about :
1. Once a maid is pregnant, she is deported back to her native country. In this instance, it is the male foreign worker that has committed the crime. How come the Work Permit is not cancelled and he is not deported back? Isn’t that blatant sexual discrimination?
2. Over these years, MOE has employed a lot of Chinese nationals to be teachers. I believe the same rule on maids should apply to them too. Any foreign workers who gets pregnant should have their contract terminated IMMEDIATELY and send back. The ONLY exception that should apply is when the woman is married to a SINGAPOREAN or SINGAPORE PR.
3. I understand that the above couple has married in our ROM. I guess they must have been too ashamed to go back to Malaysia or China to get married. BUT, why did we accept such a marriage in the first place? To increase the number of marriages held by our ROM?
4. Now, here is the most important question. NOW that the Singapore PR has not had her employment contract terminated, she is definitely going to deliver her baby here. Will she be entitled to FOUR months of maternity leave?! Also, will her delivery in the hospital be subsidized by OUR money?!?! Remember, the father of this shotgun marriage is a Malaysian and the salary is less than half of what the wife is earning.
In the first place, I am very shocked that they were able to be married HERE.
REMEMBER, these people are here to work. They have no business in getting themselves pregnant ESPECIALLY when it is not with a Singaporean.
Actually I am dead against ANY government offices or statutory board hiring foreigners. Companies hire foreigners because they are CHEAP. When it is the government and it obviously own billions, they should ONLY hire Singaporeans!! But, I do understand that not many graduates here can teach Chinese properly and that hiring Chinese teachers from mainland China is the only viable solution.
BUT, we also need to ensure that we have hired teachers with morals!! Which part of getting yourself pregnant first before marriage is moral?! If it does not show that you are immoral, it will show that you have failed your sex education!!
What irritates me is that this immoral teacher is going to enjoy the subsidies (funded by taxpayers’ money) enjoyed by any other PR all for a MALAYSIAN baby?! I will not be even surprise if she gets the set of SG 50 baby gifts!! I hope the authorities involved like MOE, MOM and ICA can give a clear explanation to how this could have happened in the very first place!!
Sam Seng
TRS Contirbutor