Thread: Looking for a hygienic and honest nanny

Hello,
I'm looking for a nanny/pembantu for my 1 year old son. starting asap. live-out jimbaran area.
She can cook, speak and read english and is not afraid to swim

If you know someone pls let me know.

Many thnx!!

Really don't want to be cynical when you are asking a decent question that deserves a decent answer, but hygienic by western standards is a really tough call. Your best bet would be to ask for someone with experience working for a westerner in a similar situation, or someone who has lived abroad and been schooled in western ways. Good Luck!

There are currently 130,000 Indonesian domestic workers in Hong Kong and 90,000 in Singapore most work on renewable 2 year contracts, usually the minimum stay is 4 years.
Some of them are possibly from Bali or willing to relocate to Bali.
Note:
- not all will have been trained in 'hygiene western standards'
- not all will have nanny/pembantu skills
- not all can cook, speak and read english or not afraid to swim (that IS asking a lot) nanny/pembantu skills & cooking (to a basic western standard) & perhaps some English is more likely - be prepared to compromise on the English & learn to communicate basic tasks in pigin-Bahasa-Ingris (English with the odd word of Bahasa here & there, it is easy to pick up and surprisingly effective (even when not effective some of the confusion can be hilarious, if hilarity @ home is appreciated)

Even with Maid Agencies here in Singapore, supposedly doing the screening & basic English being a Gov't requirement for employment pass - it is really the luck of the draw & there are no hard & fast rules:-

In 12 years we've had 5 full-time live-in domestic helpers - 2 from Philippines the rest from Indonesia.

Some were truly awful - we discovered 1 took our 2yr old daughter shopping on the back of a bicycle, which clearly wasn't permitted when I asked "What if she fell off" the reply was "No, sir, she wouldn't - I tie her legs to the cycle"... How long do you think she lasted?

That said, we've had a couple of pure gems. Both were quite young (passport said 21, but after 4 years with us one confessed she was celebrating her 22nd birthday!).
Quite young is good because in the kampung older female children tend to be given the job of looking after their younger siblings and are still young enough to enjoy playing with the toddlers, at 1 yr old play is more important than being a good cook!
Older domestic helpers are often married & have kids of their own back home... so some attempt to impose their 'parenting' views on the kid when Sir & Mem aren't around (when our daughter was being a typical 2yr old & picky at lunch time, the 'bicycle one' would tell her "Daddy's going to beat you when he gets home if you don't eat that" I wondered why we were getting a bit of fear 'vibe' from our girl in the evenings - for the record we've never raised a hand to our daughter her whole life.

Tip: we interviewed by gut-feel & pigin-Bahasa-Ingris - always have the child present, you can see their reaction to each other... more important than any of the paperwork, letters of recommendation or even verbal responses to you in the interview.

If you're looking for a cook, cleaner, swimming teacher & pre-school teacher all in one - you aren't going to find her.

If Export Maid Agencies in Indonesia & Philippines didn't have such a bad reputation for being virtual 'slave drivers' I'd think that a Maid Agency supplying returnee domestic helpers would probably be a good business in Indonesia - their staff would certainly command a premium.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

My wife was a simple village girl and her standards of hygene were far better than mine. Most Indonesians are far cleaner in their habits than westerners as far as I am aware. It really is how you define hygene. My house is extremely clean and my wife is very houseproud and has brought up four very healthy children who have rarely been sick.

I agree with you that they are hygenic and its not as bad as what the others are making it out especially personal hygene . . . . The one thing on the top of my mind that i disagree with that is some of the places where the locals goto eat and some of their methods of cooking are a bit off putting to me personally . .

hello bali224..

i have experience to tread expat family in Bali when they have holiday here.also family whom stay long in Bali.
my experience is already 5 years in this job..if the job still available please contact me at 082146764717.
i will do with all my best for your child..
thank you.

Originally Posted by matsaleh

To be fair, Balinese and Indonesians in general, have little education regarding hygiene. They simply don't see it as an important part of day-to-day life. In the main, they think we westerners are obsessed with hygiene (and maybe they're right).

You are so right! Thanks for putting this in the right perspective.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

My wife was a simple village girl and her standards of hygene were far better than mine. Most Indonesians are far cleaner in their habits than westerners as far as I am aware. It really is how you define hygene. My house is extremely clean and my wife is very houseproud and has brought up four very healthy children who have rarely been sick.

Well said!

Originally Posted by Jimbo

My wife was a simple village girl and her standards of hygene were far better than mine. Most Indonesians are far cleaner in their habits than westerners as far as I am aware. It really is how you define hygene. My house is extremely clean and my wife is very houseproud and has brought up four very healthy children who have rarely been sick.

agreed just what i was thinking