Making the Invisible, Visible

• What is the issue or challenge you are addressing? Explain.

In humanities, we are studying the human rights and how some people's rights are being abused. As a class, we have decided to study about domestic workers, people who work as maids or workers domestic-ly. There are about 2100,000 Indonesian domestic workers. These people are woman and children, who are in economic- ly unstable conditions and has to look for jobs in order to support their family. They come to Malaysia looking for jobs that they could be offered with to support their family. But however, when the domestic looks for jobs and gets employed, their passports are taken away by their employers to prevent them from escaping. They can't even get the help they need and are to be worked night and day without almost no rest and lack of sleeping time. They are often not paid fairly and sometimes, they don't get paid at all. They are beaten up and both sexually and verbally abused by their employers.

• Why is this important to you and your community and who does it impact? Explain.

I was surprised to see how the regulations and laws that the Malaysian government has set up. The government barely helps the domestic workers. Although the government have indeed ratified the ILO Convention 182 on the Prohibition of the Worst Forms of child labour, they rarely has done any enforcements of law for domestic workers and the laws have stayed weak. Also, when the domestic workers first arrive in country has to pay large amount of recruitment that is ridiculously high. The workers have to loan some more money and pay for this which causes them to have their working fees to be gone for about 5- 6 months. These events made to think of how to help them both economic-ly and physically.

• What kinds of surprises have you encountered in your research?

I was both shocked and surprised that domestic workers have too little rights. While I was researching for the facts and events that were occurred between the workers and other people, I found it really oppressing that how some domestic workers have their passports taken away when they are employed by their employers making it so that they can't return home if their employers are abusing them. While watching the video about the abused domestic worker, Sasa, I was so shocked and was full of anger. I was so enraged about how people can be so merciless to abuse the workers. The abuse were almost painful as torture. Although this people are getting abused and are in serious trouble, the Malaysian Government isn't doing anything much to help the workers.

• How does learning about this issue make you feel and why?

I think learning this unit and this human rights conflicts will affect me in the future in many ways. Without knowing these facts and being unaware of how some people are being abused, I won't be able to help them. I could have been a bystander like any others who are unaware of this. In future, I can make a batter choice in how to treat domestic workers and know what they have gone through.
 I can also be a helper who helps these kinds of people. I want to help them. When I grow up, I will use small part of resources to help the workers. I will also use the educations I receive now to raise the awareness and to educate others of how some people are being treated.