S'pore woman, 37, books helper's 2-way flight to visit sick mother, she allegedly becomes uncontactable afterwards

A 37-year-old employer in Singapore who booked her domestic helper's flight to Myanmar says that her helper became uncontactable afterwards.

Angeline Lim, posted her experience on Instagram, where she said that the hardest part was not her helper leaving.

Speaking to Mothership on Aug. 11, Lim said she has since cancelled her helper's work permit.

She is also working on hiring a replacement.

Lim added that she asked if her helper had reached the airport, to which she said yes.

That was apparently the last Lim heard of her.

2 helpers

Lim, who is a mother of three, said in her post that one of her two helpers, who had been with the family for five months, wanted to return home as her mother was unwell.

Her post mentioned that with three young children, both helpers had separate roles.

One focused on caring for her youngest toddler boy, while the helper who wished to return to Myanmar managed the cooking and cleaning.

Her post stated that her husband's work requires his full focus, "and the only thing I can do for him is try to protect that focus".

As such, "the invisible load of running our household and managing three children's schedules" largely falls on her.

"I outsource the cooking, cleaning and laundry so I can work, manage the groceries, handle all their class pick-ups — and still be present for my three young children," she said.

Wanted to visit sick mother

At the time, the text from her helper who wished to return read: "I don't want to stay. I want to go home and take care my mom. I can't stand to see my mother cry. If something happens to my mother, I might die.

I want to go back home and live next to my mother. If you don't buy me a plane ticket? I buy my own ticket."

Lim told Stomp that her husband, who is a doctor, determined from the medical reports that it "wasn't a life-threatening emergency".

She said in her post that she still allowed her helper to return to Myanmar as she understood that she wanted to be with her family.

"I knew we could manage temporarily," said Lim, adding that her remaining helper would cover the cleaning.

They would also split the cooking and toddler care between them.

Helper said would return

Lim, noted, however, that she needed to know if her helper would be returning back to Singapore.

Before buying her helper's return ticket, Lim asked her directly: "Do you want to go home for good, or are you coming back."

She wrote that either answer "would have been okay" as she just needed the truth to plan accordingly.

Lim then purchased a two-way ticket at S$437.40 as her helper reportedly said she would return.

Allegedly uncontactable, never boarded return flight

Following this, her helper replied "Thanks Mdm" when Lim asked her to check in.

However, a screenshot of Lim's correspondence with her helper showed that she did not reply Lim's subsequent messages.

Lim also told Stomp that her helper reportedly did not board the return flight.

Noting that she "half expected this to happen" and was searching for a replacement, she found it "wasteful" to have paid for a return ticket she did not end up using.

She also told Stomp that with regard to her helper's mental state before leaving, she supposedly "seemed ok".

Her Instagram post read: "I'm not angry that she chose to leave.

"I'm disappointed that she chose to lie and take kindness for granted."

She added: "If she had told me the truth, I would have avoided paying for a return flight she never took."

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A post shared by Angeline Lim (@angel_limst)