"I am the luckiest maid in Singapore, with or without the money," the 47-year-old single woman -- identified only by the pseudonym "Christine" -- told the Straits Times in an interview.
The maid refused to be named in public for fear of possible threats to her life in the impoverished Philippines, where wealthy people have been kidnapped for ransom and some killed by their abductors.
The windfall, including cash and a luxury apartment near the Orchard Road shopping belt, came from the estate of her employer Quek Kai Miew, a medical doctor and philanthropist who died last year at 66.
The maid had also taken care of the doctor's late mother, and was told that she would be a beneficiary of her employer's will when it was drawn up in 2008.
"There were no secrets between us. I was not surprised at all when she told me how much I was going to get," the maid recalled.
"Christine" was devastated when Quek died a year ago, as the two were inseparable, and temporarily moved in with the doctor's nephew for solace.
"It was heartbreaking for me as I saw more years with Doctor Quek than with my own mother. I would break down every time I thought about her. I could not be by myself," she said.
"I was always beside her. Wherever she went, I was with her."
The maid, who is now applying for permanent residency in Singapore, said her newfound wealth had not changed her lifestyle.
"I do not really think much about the money I got. I just live my life as I did before, and not as a rich person," the maid, dressed simply in a blouse and slacks with short-cropped hair, was quoted as saying.
"I am still who I was before. I cannot behave differently because I have money now. Even my Filipino maid friends here still treat me the same."
Nearly 200,000 foreign maids, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia, work in affluent Singapore, which has a population of five million.
5 comments:
waaaaa kawawa naman ang Pinas nito...
"The maid refused to be named in public for fear of possible threats to her life in the IMPOVERISHED Philippines, where wealthy people have been kidnapped for ransom and some killed by their abductors."
ang sabihin nya baka dumaming bigla ang kamag-anak nya at wala syang balak ipamahagi ang pinaghirapan nya...kung sabagay di naman sya nanalo ng lotto kaya mahirap ipamigay sa mga gustong manghingi ng "balato"...hahaha
she is quiet lucky!
that's exactly what i've noticed Impoverished??? what a word???wawa tayo nagmukha tayo patay gutom nito dito s pinas hay!
We are known to be caring and loyal that's why it's not impossible that this woman will inherit wealth from the people she served good. I hope that she'll be able to use the money in good way.
Awts nagkapera lang ayaw na sa Pinas, hehehe nagagawa nga nmn ng pera, nang insulto pa, sabi nga ni Rizal ang di lumingon sa pinanggalingan nahuhulog sa imburnal, ay mali! di pala makakarating sa paroroonan. Baka nga natatakot makidnap ng mga kamag-anak. :P
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