While many of us may be used to cleaning up and keeping our house spick and span, it’s often quite the opposite at work. Why? Because we know that there’s always someone who will clean up at the end of the day.

So we just bury our heads in work, go about doing our own things and expect any mess we make to disappear the next day.

As with all other forms of service work, the cleaning “aunties” and “uncles” who keep our workplaces in good shape (and thus increase our productivity) are often invisible to many of us who come to take them for granted.

In spite of it all, these cleaning aunties and uncles clean up silently after us, looking after us like a parent would their children.

That’s why we are glad to know that the aunties and uncles will get an increment of $200 to their basic wage by 2019, as announced by NTUC and Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners (TCC) last week.

And you know what? Thanks to the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) that raised the basic wage to $1000 last year, they will also see an annual 3% increase to their basic wage levels from 2020 to 2022. Plus, cleaners will (just like we have been for many years) start receiving annual bonuses equivalent to two weeks of basic monthly wages from 2020.

About time.

One could argue that it’s their job to clean; but more often than not our cleaning aunties and uncles go above and beyond -- if you think about it, they’re practically like second parents who fuss over us at the workplace.

1. They make you feel happier

“Eh hello ah girl, you eat already?”

Some days can be dreary, but your day never fails to brighten up when the cheery cleaning auntie or uncle greets you with a good morning or asks if you’ve eaten.

Although you’re not their only ah boy/ ah girl, their smile still makes you feel a little special and happier than you were before.

2. They feed you

Nothing shouts “MUM” like the cleaning auntie who feeds you on the regular.

Whether it is giving out cups of green bean soup they lovingly brought from home, sharing the unsold food they got from the cafeteria staff, or making sure everyone gets a plate of food leftover from an office buffet -- they always remind us to eat well.

Just like Mum. Or Dad.

3. They clean up your desk so you can work better

Besides asking if you’ve eaten and making sure you have, cleaning uncles and aunties are also probably the next best person (after yourself) who knows what goes where on your desk.

Is packing your desk part of their jobs? Not necessarily. But many of them still do. They transform your shit into an organised mess. They make sure the newspapers and documents don’t drown your desk.

Some of them even wipe down your phone and keyboard with a sanitising wet wipe to make sure everything remains hygienic.

That level of conscientiousness touches even the coldest corners of our hearts. To think that our warm, kind cleaners once had their wages suppressed by cheap sourcing and salaries/benefits reset (because profit margins) when service providers are changed.

4. They are walking medicine boxes

Need medicated oil? “Nah, ah boy.” Looking for a plaster? “Aiyo, come la I help you stick”.

Not to mention, they (the older cleaning aunties and uncles) are always willing to dispense “medical” advice, drawing on their own experiences and sometimes old habits.

“I tell you ah if you headache you must massage this part of your hand!”

“Aiya you always wash hair very late is it no wonder pain!”

“You got blue black hor must rub one okay!”

“Ah boy ah if your stomach pain you drink ginger tea can already”

“You must eat this one very good for you if you always sick!”

You might take the advice with a pinch of salt or feel that they are naggy, but you can’t deny the fact that their concern can be heartwarming. Especially in a big office where it can get real cold (both your surroundings and your relationship with colleagues. Oops).

So why don’t we appreciate our cleaners more?

It’s easy to imagine a day without them, but what about a week? A month? Or what if there are no cleaners at all?

Just like parents, our cleaners’ contributions to the office environment is often devalued, rather than held up to its actual (and indispensable) worth.

Why? Because we take cleanliness as a given when it is in fact vital and necessary.

Just like how having an annual bonus and wage increment is a given to us. But our cleaners don’t enjoy these benefits that we take for granted.

In fact, back in 2011, some cleaners in Singapore were still receiving a monthly salary of $600. With no wage increments and bonuses of any sort.

Appalling huh?

Well, that’s the same salary that NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Zainal Sapari’s father received when he was a street cleaner 30 years ago.

So the increment and slew of benefits are a long time coming. But hey, better late than never to show our appreciation, right?

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Top image from NTUC This Week. All other images from NTUC U Care Centre.

This sponsored post goes towards paying our office cleaner a better salary.