Indonesian maid (domestic worker) Romiatun Sudir is a nanny, cook and a
housekeeper too. After working for almost 8 years for two employers in
Singapore, she is planning to go home for a visit with her family before
signing up for another two years with her next employer.
Prospective employers planning to hire in mid- to late December might want
to interview her before she leaves. She will return as soon as possible
after that.
Background
Romiatun is from Central Java where her father works on his own farm growing
rice. She is a first-born and has a younger brother. She has a high school
education (12 years) and speaks and understands reasonably good English.
Employment History
- She first came to Singapore in September 2002 to work for a local
Chinese couple whose children were grown up and living on their own. Her
duties were cleaning and laundry. Madam stayed at home and did her own
cooking. At the end of two years she went home.
- In February 2004 she returned to Singapore, this time to work for Aida
whose family consists of 4, including two children aged 6 and 9 at the
start. Madam stays at home and takes care of her children; Romi babysits
when she has to go out. Her duties are cooking, cooking, laundry and
cleaning.
Childcare
In her two jobs, little demand was made on Romi for childcare. However, she
has helped to care for a newborn baby for about 2 weeks. This gives her
confidence that she can handle a newborn, particularly if Madam will
supervise and train her initially. She is equally willing to take care of
older children.
Cooking
Her first employer cooked for her family. In her current situation she
managed to teach herself cooking. Madam is no cook, but patiently put up
with her while she experimented with the help of numerous cook books Madam
owns. Once ina blue moon Madam would bring her to peranakan eatery to sample
its offerings. Thereafter Romi attempted with varying degree of success what
she ate there.
Now (5+ years later) she is able to cook
- peranakan food such as
- Pineapple prawn,
- Chap chye
- Sayur lodeh
- Chicken buah keluak
- Popiah (Spring rolls - some say this is Hokien dish)
- Chilli crab
- Chinese/Singaporean food such as
- Steamed fish (Hokien, Teochew and Thai style)
- Curry fish head (Malay or Indian might include this in their
cuisine)
- Fried chicken (in black sauce, spicy and sweet)
- Lemon chicken
- Pork Trotter (in black vinegar)
- Steamed egg
- Western dishes such as
- Beef stew
- Lamb chop
- Minnestrone and other vegetable soups
- Salad
- Mashed potato
- Spaghetti
She has also learnt to prepare chocolate cake, kuih lapis, cookies, Dolly
cookies (Madam's friend taught her this),
Apparently she has an interest in cooking for she has her own collection of
recipies which she hand copies into her own note book.
Personality
Romi speaks intelligently and is observant. She is pleasant and personable.
She speaks and understands English well; she speaks good English,
grammatically correct most of the time.
