Human trafficking tales continue to tail us

FIRST PERSON In 2003, my ailing grandmother came to stay with us. With both my parents working and my brother and I still pursuing our studies, we were in desperate need of assistance with grandmother. After a long deliberation, we decided to employ a maid.

My father, the reluctant one, did not take part in the decision-making. He believes that having maids is a form of bondage and he was not pleased about the employment. However, the necessity of the situation forced him to concede.

When the documentation arrived, my mother left it to me to select the most befitting person for the task. I flipped through a few profiles, with dread. For I was not entirely sure about opening our home to a stranger.

One of the profiles was this picture of Nengsah, smiling wide. I chose her purely for that smile. If we were going to take someone in, she better be a smiling sort of woman - because we are a family where laughter is never short.

At that time we lived in a three-bedroom apartment. Mum and dad had their master bedroom, my brother and I had our own rooms. When my grandmother moved in, we gave her my room and when Nengsah arrived, we had her sleep in grandmother's room.

On the first day, Nengsah woke up at 5am and started washing the bathroom. My parents and I woke up startled. My mother told her she need not wake up at such an ungodly hour, that she could get out of bed when the whole family woke, at 7am. Or, sleep on till later, if she wanted to.

Nengsah was at first a little suspicious about our hospitality. She did not want to take advantage, so she woke up slightly before the family and got breakfast ready for us.

We took Nengsah in only to help my grandmother, who was ill. My parents made that very clear to her and to us, both their children. That meant we still had to carry out our own chores and there was no such thing as asking Nengsah to do anything for us.

After a few months, my parents bought a bigger house and moved to Nilai in Negeri Sembilan with Nengsah, granny and my brother. I stayed behind as I was working in KL.

In the new house, Nengsah had her own space. She still had to sleep in the same room as granny, though, because my grandmother really needed constant watch.

Nengsah had her own bed, closet and bathroom. She was given two or three chores to do - and allowed to do these whenever she liked. And, she could go out on her own too, whenever she wanted.

She had all the liberty and freedom as anyone of us in the family.

I know some families make their maids sleep on the floor. I slept on the floor while Nengsah got the bed.

Some families have separated cups and plates separate for their maids. We shared everything with Nengsah. I know a teacher who ordered her maid not to speak in the presence of her daughter, so that the child would not pick up Indonesian accent.

I know people who do not let their maids out of the house. Nengsah was free to come and go as she pleased. We never once questioned her whereabouts.

Nengsah loved to cook her Indonesian delicacies and we got to enjoy Indonesian food. There was no fuss, for we tried to acclimatise to Nengsah, not make her fit our mold. We understood the sacrifice she was making. She left her family with three small children to take care of my grandmother. This is a sacrifice no money can compensate.

Most people looked upon us as a crazy family to trust our maid so much. The truth: not trusting her was not an option. Not treating her like family was not an option. Not treating her with dignity and respect was certainly no option. And definitely, being rude to her was out.

The reason we stuck to these simple, humane rules was simple: we couldn't live with our conscience if we did otherwise.

There is a magnitude of wealth from living in a way that permeates harmony. By treating Nengsah well, she in turn went through great lengths to take good care of not only my grandmother, but the rest of us and even neighbours seeking help as well. Having her around enriched our lives.

Having someone who is emotionally healthy, where there is a space for expression, creativity and respect for the rights of another human being is fundamentally rewarding for both parties. There is opportunity for exchange, growth, understanding and ultimately, friendship.

When one is trapped in the cycle of cruelty and isolation, not given the space to feel safe, then there is an inability to perform beyond expectations. A person fraught with fear can only perform in a limited way, for the natural sense of giving, sharing and love is lost.

The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights protects every human being under the emblem of justice and equality. Article 1 of this declaration states that every human being is born free and equal in dignity and right.

Human rights apply to every single being

Article 2 states that every human being is entitled to human rights without distinction of colour, creed, political ideology, religion, sex, language, notional or birth origin or birth status.

Human rights apply to every single human being, no matter where they are.

Articles 3, 4 and 5 state that every individual has the right to life, liberty and security of person. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all forms. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Malaysia has an inability to grasp, abide by and practise these fundamental human rights. Breaches of Articles 3, 4 and 5 take place only at a national level, as seen by police misconduct, selective use of the Internal Security Act, and perhaps Peaceful Assembly Bill when it is made law, but also at the domestic level where Malaysians find it rather normal to treat their domestic maids as slaves.

This year, Hagar International reported that 12 young women who suffered unimaginable accounts of abuse, torture and imprisonment were rescued from Malaysia and taken to the Recovery Shelter that Hagar operates in Cambodia.

So traumatised that they could not speak

Some of these women were so badly traumatised that they could not speak, walk or stop crying.

On Feb 3, 2012, The Phnom Penh Post reported that a Cambodian maid who was kidnapped and raped was returned to Cambodia with her baby and 11 others who were also victims of human trafficking and vicious abuse in Malaysia.

Most of them were beaten up and raped, made to work non-stop without rest and given rotten food to eat.

According to a report in The Phnom Penh Post, "An 18-year-old victim recounted how she was repeatedly raped over a two-month period by a man after she escaped from an abusive employer about 10 months ago, and then arrested when police raided the perpetrator's house because her passport had been confiscated."

Article 25 of Malaysia's 2007 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act protects victims of trafficking from criminal prosecution for immigration offences. This provisions is frequently not applied.

On March 4 this year, Asia One News reported a fresh wave of maid abuses in Malaysia, with senior government officials said to have abused two Indonesian maids who were on training before being sent to their employers.

There are thousands of stories about maid abuse that have flooded the Internet. One of the most gory and devastating ones is the story of Nirmala Bonat (left), who came to Malaysia after being promised that a life in a land of gold that would free her from poverty.

Her employer in Malaysia poured hot water all over her body and burned her with a hot iron on her. A video on her condition is available on YouTube on Malaysia's Most Horrible Maid Abuse Reposts P2.

On April 5, 2012, Malaysiakini reported on a Cambodian maid found dead - from starvation - in the storeroom of her employer. The 24-year-old Mey Sichan weighed 26kg - half the weight of a healthy woman of her age.

In October, Cambodia imposed a temporary ban on domestic workers going to Malaysia following numerous complaints of abuse.

The move came after activists highlighted numerous of cases of sexual abuse, overwork and exploitation among the estimated 50,000 Cambodian women employed as domestic helpers in Malaysia.

This is an important question: are Malaysians so oppressed and frustrated that they need to feed a desperate need to oppress others?

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has been fighting tooth and nail against human trafficking around the world for more than 20 years now.

The battle against such crimes is addressed through prevention, protection and prosecution.

In Malaysia, IOM has been addressing the protection of victims of trafficking with the government of Malaysia through direct assistance, public awareness and capacity-building.

Want to know more? Go to the IOM website or to this page on YouTube.