Many Indonesian domestic workers face dehumanizing treatment by their employers on a daily basis, such as only being fed leftovers, not being allowed to eat in the presence of their employers, and being deprived of any recreational activities — all things that normalize the discriminatory idea that they are second-class citizens.
A Twitter thread recently went viral in Indonesia regarding the story of a domestic worker getting fired for supposedly overstepping the bounds set by her employer. Posted by @selphieusagi on July 2, the Twitter thread alleges that an Indonesian “selebgram” (an Indonesian portmanteau for Instagram celebrity — we hate the term as much as you do) going by the handle @annabelle_josephine returned a domestic worker to her agency just because she caught her sitting at the family’s dining table while playing with her phone.
https://twitter.com/selphieusagi/status/1013830536534503424
In a subsequent tweet, @selphieusagi posted screenshots purportedly containing @annabelle_josephine’s Instagram Stories detailing the incident that led to her domestic worker’s firing (@annabelle_josephine’s Instagram profile is no longer available at the time of writing).
https://twitter.com/selphieusagi/status/1013982251271327744
In the first screenshot, @annabelle_josephine wrote that she had caught the domestic worker, who had been employed by her family for just six days at that point, sitting at the dining table, laughing as she was chatting with her friends on her phone. The worker apparently continued to be engaged with her phone after @annabelle_josephine asked her what she was doing and only stopped and left the dining table when the selebgram’s husband came into the room.
In the next screenshot, @annabelle_josephine wrote that she has “ZERO TOLERANCE” for people who fail at basic manners, and that the worker should’ve known better since she was a middle school graduate. She informed the worker the next day that she was returning her to the domestic worker agency she hired her from, and had her driver drop the worker off at the agency.
After appearing to get criticized for her inhumane treatment of the domestic worker, @annabelle_josephine defended herself in the third screenshot by saying that the agency enforces a strict no-phone rule at the job. She then says people have different standards for manners and that to her, what the worker did was disrespectful.
But it seems netizens still find @annabelle_josephine to be cruel as criticism against her continue to pour in @selphieusagi’s thread, which has already been retweeted over 7,000 times.
Ini nih mb, saya juga heran. Disini banyak org merlakukan ART seperti ART ini manusia yg tidak sederajat jadi ga boleh dket2 brg majikan/membaur.
Sy berulang kali lihat di resto, Sus/ARTnya ga boleh semeja bahkan ga dibeliin makan pas majikannya pada makan 🙁
— anggota PKI (@safirawwww) July 3, 2018
This. This also escapes me. Here so many people treat their ART (Home Assistant) like they’re humans with no dignity who can’t get close to or mix with their employers.
I see so many times at restaurants the ARTs aren’t even allowed to be at the same table (as their employers) and aren’t even bought food by the employers.
https://twitter.com/flozerre/status/1014188193040613377
If the problem was the ART sittig at the dining table and laughing while she was on her phone, the madam should’ve nicely told her about her likes/dislikes. Communicate. Even middle schoolers can understand if you remind them once or twice.
https://twitter.com/puridewayani/status/1014301776793645056
Problems like this is why Indonesia must have its own regulations for ART. But it’s so difficult to get the laws passed.
In the end many treat their ART like slaves. It’s so obvious by how she (@annabelle_josephine) says, “and today I’m going to the agency to check out the new [domestic workers] stock” as if they were goods.
Dear y'all pic.twitter.com/lNzYekAkqX
— xz (@illsada) July 3, 2018
Sad as the story may be, it is heartwarming to us that so many people reacted the way they did and expressed their sympathy for the worker.
Hopefully it’s a sign of changing attitudes towards domestic workers, and of a general increase in respect for the hard work done by people on the other side of Indonesia’s vast wealth gap.
https://www.facebook.com/Coconuts/posts/1835621066501854
https://www.facebook.com/Coconuts/posts/1208633945867239
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