"Maria" The domestic female worker

[tommy525]

Yeah whats the biggie anyway? DOnt the english call all girls "birds" and the ozzies call all girls "sheila" ?

[Dougster]

Yeah whats the biggie anyway? DOnt the english call all girls "birds" and the ozzies call all girls "sheila" ?

Well, erm, I suppose they do, the geezers who ogle at page 3 of "the Sun".

[ceevee369]

But at least they are kicked out of the country once in a while so there's no danger they might end up staying permanently.

What a blunt remark. Off- topic heart - wrecking towards many abused Pinay workers here.
Having lived in Manila for 18 months - I have a good understanding which ordeals these women go through.
Being kicked out means returning to poverty @ home. 1on 4 Filipinos survive on less than 1 USD and you preach kicking them out? Shamefull.

Aside - Taffy got it right. The Taiwanese call them Maria because of their belief and outspoken Christianity - visible in the 2.5 square meter they live in.

[fh2000]

My 84 year old mother who lives in Taipei calls all her domestic helpers "A-Na". This is the name of her first helper. She had at least 5 now. One of them was even a woman from China, but she is still "A-Na". It is hard enough for her to remember her own grand children's Chinese names. Their foreign names are just too much for her.

[Tempo Gain]

But at least they are kicked out of the country once in a while so there's no danger they might end up staying permanently.

and you preach kicking them out? Shamefull.

I think he was being sarcastic.

[Deuce Dropper]

They brought this back from California.

[touduke]

But at least they are kicked out of the country once in a while so there's no danger they might end up staying permanently.

What a blunt remark. Off- topic heart - wrecking towards many abused Pinay workers here.
Having lived in Manila for 18 months - I have a good understanding which ordeals these women go through.
Being kicked out means returning to poverty @ home. 1on 4 Filipinos survive on less than 1 USD and you preach kicking them out? Shamefull.

Aside - Taffy got it right. The Taiwanese call them Maria because of their belief and outspoken Christianity - visible in the 2.5 square meter they live in.

You missunderstood my sentence. If you read my entire post you might understand that this sentence was ment in a sarcastic way.
I don't think it is fair, or right or nice to them nor good for Taiwan that blue collar workers are being kicked out of Taiwan- it is awful! These people are exploited and then disposed of. They could apply for permanent residecy if they would stay longer than 3 years and to make that impossible they are kicked out.

[GuyInTaiwan]

Who initiates the kicking out in these cases, the employers or the government? (Surely the latter.)

[ChewDawg]

These people are exploited and then disposed of.

Isn't it the same for Engrishy teachers? To be fair, I think the environment for blue collar workers in Taiwan is a hell of a lot better than some locations (e.g., Middle East, Singapore) and when there are problems (e.g., K-city MRT project), it is usually in the South and because of Hoklo intolerance. Or its sleazy elders taking advantage of nannies.

Contracts have also recently changed so that manual workers can stay in Taiwan longer. Women workers are vulnerable but I've seen a lot of big companies take really good care of their female workers and even extend their contracts past 5 years. I think that a lot of people stirring up trouble here are bleeding heart teachers that are projecting first world labour agitation values.

[divea]

Life sucks. Dirty Americans and now Dirty Taiwnese.
The gardner is Pedro, regardless of his name.
The nanny is Maria, regardless of her name.
The Driver is Hugo, regardless of his name.
The student is . . . . . regardless of her name.
Do you perpetuate?
Why do students seem to have a NEED to have a Western name?
What's wrong with their name? Ever ask? Ever try?
So many beutiful people with beutiful names and yet we go on asking and accepting Western Names as the norm.
Why wouldn't students accept a standard name for a station in life. Don't you?
JMHO

THIS!

Can't stand western names of the Taiwanese or the Chinese. Puke. For all its progressiveness I find this bit quite backward in TW. I know a girl with fantastic English skills and she never took a western name...no one has problems pronouncing or even remembering her name. This need to fit in is quite disconcerting.

Maria? It is ignorant and stupid to call them that, but I have had a helper introduce herself to me as Maria, when I looked at her i-card, it had a different name and she told me, that it's just easier being called Maria than the TW mispronouncing her name.