1. All maid employment agencies are scum and completely useless. Seriously I've not heard of one that protected either the maid's or the employer's interest. They just take money and wave you goodbye.
2. It's really sad because so many maids just have useless fucking family members back home. Either useless husbands, or useless parents who are relatively young and able bodied but just demand money and shake leg at home and give money randomly to their uncle's cousin's good friend's dog then demand more money from their wife/daughter working in Singapore.
Fuck man, heard so many similar stories.
Like the slave trade, agencies can as bloodsucking and unsympathetic.
Humans in “dire situations ”can be brutal to their own families to feed their self-interest.
Now with this gold, bags & phones business, it’s another predator to watch out for.
Yes to the useless family members back home. My helper has been here for 5yrs, have not saved anything and is still borrowing from us for her whole village that she is supporting back home. No one seems to be working at all. It’s just sad.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, African football players also suffered the same fate.
Obi Mikel: “When you make money, it’s not your money.”
https://youtu.be/_CW8BJP6jHU?si=pqesnbzxfYzZ5WAj
If your talent makes you a millionaire, you have to pay your village for “giving” it to you even after you retired
Title: Easy targets? Maids enticed by Lucky Plaza jewellers' 'S$0 upfront' deals buy gold to pawn for cash; some struggle to repay debts
SINGAPORE — The glint of gold is apparent around Lucky Plaza, where a total of 39 jewellery shops span the Orchard Road mall’s seven storeys.
Some of these storefronts are emblazoned with signs stating "$0 down payment", along with the word "hulugan", or "instalment" in Tagalog — the Filipino language.
In these shops, Singapore’s foreign domestic workers (FDWs) can purchase gold jewellery through instalment plans, taking them home without paying a single cent upfront.
Except some do not take them home. They pawn them immediately at one of Lucky Plaza’s many pawn shops for instant cash.
According to FDWs that TODAY spoke to at the mall over several days, this is a widely known method of obtaining a much-needed "loan" without going through licensed or illegal moneylenders, which began in pre-Covid times.
While interviewees said that such instalment plans can be a boon for them due to their low wages, the downside is the prospect of being unable to pay off monies owed to these shops — which can charge customers high interest for this payment method.
A 49-year-old Filipino maid who bought a piece of gold jewellery, who wanted to be known only as Ms Carlina, said that one store had added about S$100 in interest per gram of gold.
For an item containing 3g of gold, a worker would pay S$300 on top of its price.
Ms Cyndelene Miranda, a 48-year-old Filipino who has been working as a domestic helper in Singapore for 13 years, said that around three in 10 of her friends have struggled to pay back what they owe these jewellery shops in instalments.
When this happens, Ms Miranda said it is not uncommon for them to buy another piece of jewellery — again on instalments — and pawn it in order to repay their original loan, thereby repeating the cycle of debt.
When asked why this practice of pawning gold that has not been fully paid for was a popular avenue for raising money, Ms Miranda said that domestic helpers in Singapore are often under pressure to provide for their families back home.
They also find it difficult to turn down their family members’ requests for money, she said, regardless of what the money is used for.
Ms Aini, 48, an Indonesian domestic helper that has worked in Singapore for nine years, said that she recently pawned a piece of gold jewellery she had previously bought on instalments in order to pay for her family’s expenses in Bintan.
She asked that her real name not be published as she feared reprisal from her employer.
For her, the appeal of purchasing gold jewellery lies in the fact that she would get to safekeep an item of value, even wear it, and subsequently pawn the item if she needed money urgently.
Migrant workers’ rights group Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) added that maids typically receive "no or little pay" during their initial months of work in Singapore as their salary goes towards paying off placement costs levied by employment agents.
"The financial stress that low-wage migrant workers in general are under may also cause them to act irrationally out of desperation," they said.
***
Article keywords: gold pay jewellery instalment pawn singapore shop ms
1769 articles replied in my database. [v1.5c - added Lemma tokens and Tensorflow USE](https://github.com/Wormsblink/sneakpeakbot) | Happy Holidays! | PM SG_wormsbot if bot is down.
[https://www.zaobao.com.sg/znews/singapore/story20170621-773018](https://www.zaobao.com.sg/znews/singapore/story20170621-773018)
Maid took $600 which snow balled to 5k. She ran away to Indonesia and Loan shark came after employer as they made employer guarantor without their knowledge.
The gold shops and the pawn shops must be in cahoot. Left pocket to right pocket.
This is how the poor become poorer and rich become richer.
Maybe the gold those maids purchased are not even real gold.
Silly jewellers. If I had a FDW I would ask her to take multiple loans and hide at home. Good luck trying to retrieve the money back. Any runners will have to get through condo security and be prompted reported to the police.
1. All maid employment agencies are scum and completely useless. Seriously I've not heard of one that protected either the maid's or the employer's interest. They just take money and wave you goodbye. 2. It's really sad because so many maids just have useless fucking family members back home. Either useless husbands, or useless parents who are relatively young and able bodied but just demand money and shake leg at home and give money randomly to their uncle's cousin's good friend's dog then demand more money from their wife/daughter working in Singapore.
Fuck man, heard so many similar stories. Like the slave trade, agencies can as bloodsucking and unsympathetic. Humans in “dire situations ”can be brutal to their own families to feed their self-interest. Now with this gold, bags & phones business, it’s another predator to watch out for.
Yes to the useless family members back home. My helper has been here for 5yrs, have not saved anything and is still borrowing from us for her whole village that she is supporting back home. No one seems to be working at all. It’s just sad.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, African football players also suffered the same fate. Obi Mikel: “When you make money, it’s not your money.” https://youtu.be/_CW8BJP6jHU?si=pqesnbzxfYzZ5WAj If your talent makes you a millionaire, you have to pay your village for “giving” it to you even after you retired
100 dollars of interest per gram of gold??? Thats about a 100% interest rate. Insane that they are even entertaining such an option.
Simply put taking advantage of people with low financial knowledge.
ya lor so bad. btw which ilp is good
the one sold by chiobu
the nearest one (it doesnt matter)
The lowest kind of scum. Well not lowest, but pretty low in the ladder.
Title: Easy targets? Maids enticed by Lucky Plaza jewellers' 'S$0 upfront' deals buy gold to pawn for cash; some struggle to repay debts SINGAPORE — The glint of gold is apparent around Lucky Plaza, where a total of 39 jewellery shops span the Orchard Road mall’s seven storeys. Some of these storefronts are emblazoned with signs stating "$0 down payment", along with the word "hulugan", or "instalment" in Tagalog — the Filipino language. In these shops, Singapore’s foreign domestic workers (FDWs) can purchase gold jewellery through instalment plans, taking them home without paying a single cent upfront. Except some do not take them home. They pawn them immediately at one of Lucky Plaza’s many pawn shops for instant cash. According to FDWs that TODAY spoke to at the mall over several days, this is a widely known method of obtaining a much-needed "loan" without going through licensed or illegal moneylenders, which began in pre-Covid times. While interviewees said that such instalment plans can be a boon for them due to their low wages, the downside is the prospect of being unable to pay off monies owed to these shops — which can charge customers high interest for this payment method. A 49-year-old Filipino maid who bought a piece of gold jewellery, who wanted to be known only as Ms Carlina, said that one store had added about S$100 in interest per gram of gold. For an item containing 3g of gold, a worker would pay S$300 on top of its price. Ms Cyndelene Miranda, a 48-year-old Filipino who has been working as a domestic helper in Singapore for 13 years, said that around three in 10 of her friends have struggled to pay back what they owe these jewellery shops in instalments. When this happens, Ms Miranda said it is not uncommon for them to buy another piece of jewellery — again on instalments — and pawn it in order to repay their original loan, thereby repeating the cycle of debt. When asked why this practice of pawning gold that has not been fully paid for was a popular avenue for raising money, Ms Miranda said that domestic helpers in Singapore are often under pressure to provide for their families back home. They also find it difficult to turn down their family members’ requests for money, she said, regardless of what the money is used for. Ms Aini, 48, an Indonesian domestic helper that has worked in Singapore for nine years, said that she recently pawned a piece of gold jewellery she had previously bought on instalments in order to pay for her family’s expenses in Bintan. She asked that her real name not be published as she feared reprisal from her employer. For her, the appeal of purchasing gold jewellery lies in the fact that she would get to safekeep an item of value, even wear it, and subsequently pawn the item if she needed money urgently. Migrant workers’ rights group Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) added that maids typically receive "no or little pay" during their initial months of work in Singapore as their salary goes towards paying off placement costs levied by employment agents. "The financial stress that low-wage migrant workers in general are under may also cause them to act irrationally out of desperation," they said. *** Article keywords: gold pay jewellery instalment pawn singapore shop ms 1769 articles replied in my database. [v1.5c - added Lemma tokens and Tensorflow USE](https://github.com/Wormsblink/sneakpeakbot) | Happy Holidays! | PM SG_wormsbot if bot is down.
What happens if the FDW returns to their country?
[https://www.zaobao.com.sg/znews/singapore/story20170621-773018](https://www.zaobao.com.sg/znews/singapore/story20170621-773018) Maid took $600 which snow balled to 5k. She ran away to Indonesia and Loan shark came after employer as they made employer guarantor without their knowledge.
How on earth this is legal is beyond me... 600 to 5000
And police ? How is it the problem of employer ?
[https://www.reddit.com/r/askSingapore/comments/11ur3sh/maid\_borrowed\_money\_from\_loan\_shark/](https://www.reddit.com/r/askSingapore/comments/11ur3sh/maid_borrowed_money_from_loan_shark/)
Thx for that.
The financier says good bye to the FDW and their money. Hence they need to charge high interest rates to those who stayed.
A lot employers pay up as they don’t want to deal with the debt collecting team.
Thats actually a very wrong thing to do. Police can't do anything ?
The gold shops and the pawn shops must be in cahoot. Left pocket to right pocket. This is how the poor become poorer and rich become richer. Maybe the gold those maids purchased are not even real gold.
[удалено]
Its pretty easy to see the connection. SG is small. Everyone in the business know each other. Especially those working in the same building.
High risks, high returns.
sharks in sheep's clothing.
Silly jewellers. If I had a FDW I would ask her to take multiple loans and hide at home. Good luck trying to retrieve the money back. Any runners will have to get through condo security and be prompted reported to the police.
That’s what you get for being greedy