Her maid’s outfits gradually grew shorter — as did Zoe Tay’s patience. In a recent episode of the Mediacorp talk show The Zoe and Liang Show, Zoe Tay shared an anecdote about a maid she hired who forced her to lay down the law at home.
“My maid wore shorter and shorter outfits… When she first came, she was obedient, but after a few years, she started behaving [more comfortably] at home,” the 55-year-old shared with co-host Guo Liang and guest Kym Ng.
“When I looked up at her from downstairs, I saw her and I went ‘woah!’ I told her that when she was working, her shorts should at least reach [the top of their knees].
“It’s a home and my home is full of boys, so what she wore was outrageous,” said Zoe Tay, who has three sons.
Telling her helper that what she was wearing was “no good”, Zoe Tay then set down some ground rules — for instance, the maid shouldn’t wear spaghetti straps.
She added: “I told her that if she worked at my home and didn’t comply with these rules and felt that it’d limit her freedom, she could call her agency and I wouldn’t mind if she worked elsewhere.”
Explaining her rationale behind the ultimatum set, Zoe said: “It’s fundamental respect for my family… When she’s in my home, there are rules here. I’ll treat her as a member of the family, so I hope we’ll respect each other.
“We won’t yell at her, we’ll be sure to give all three meals. If there’s anything she needs, she can tell us, and if there are problems within her family that she really can’t solve, she can tell us and we’ll try our best to help — but we’re not obliged to do so.”