It was just over a month ago that a viral photograph of a young maid sitting by herself while her employer’s family ate at another table put the spotlight on the dehumanizing treatment some domestic helpers experience in Indonesia. Now another viral photo has put the issue in the spotlight once again.
On October 30, famed Indonesian film director Joko Anwar posted a photo of a section of a restaurant menu to his Twitter account. Why this photo caused outrage among some netizens is quite immediately evident:
Can you imagine how the domestic helper or babysitter feels seeing that the menu is separated like this? Don’t be so heartless like this. (Allegedly this is a menu from Shabu Hachi).
However, not all netizens agreed with Joko Anwar’s view. Some defended the restaurant for at least encouraging employers to purchase a meal for their domestic helpers:
The way I see it is that the restaurant had good intentions because many employers tell their babysitters to wait outside because they don’t want to pay for the all-you-can-eat price.
It’s probably worth thinking that maybe the owner had a good reason behind making this maid menu.
But others argued that the language of the menu item represented a discriminatory separation of class and privilege between employers and their domestic helpers.
Maybe it was just worded wrong, it would be better if it was called “economical menu” rather than “maid menu”.
The point is not that, but in the separation of the maid, as if they don’t deserve to eat all-you-can-eat. Even if the restaurant’s intention is so that the food isn’t wasted, bla bla bla.
The restaurant’s owner, Githa Nafeeza, took to Twitter to justify the use of the maid menu. She said it was added to the menu after she saw that many employers did not purchase any meal for their babysitters since they did not want to pay for the all-you-can-eat option.
When you say I’m heartless, are you saying giving babysitters an easy option to eat a heartless thing to do?
Ever since we had the babysitter menu, thanks to God I now see babysitters able to eat while caring for their bosses’ children.
However, after all of the controversy, Githa tweeted that she would change the menu whilst also giving domestic helpers the option to eat in the restaurant.
Shabu Hachi is an all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurant chain that opened in 2015 and now has four outlets operating in the greater Jakarta area.
They’re not the only restaurant in Jakarta that has a special menu for helpers. Netizens have pointed out that another Japanese all-you-can-eat restaurant, KOBESHI by Shabu2House, also has a separate menu for babysitters, as seen in the scan of their menu in Zomato.com. (We contacted KOBESHI by Shabu2House this morning, and they confirmed that their menu in Zomato is up to date and the babysitter menu is still available.)
What do you think is the right thing for restaurants such as this to do in order to be respectful of domestic workers and the issues they face? Let us know your thoughts by commenting on our Facebook page.
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