Maids beware of employers who spy

SINGAPORE: Singaporean employers are planting high-tech security cameras at home to spy on their foreign maids, a report said on Sunday. Recent disturbing media coverage involving maids has prompted many homeowners to install domestic surveillance systems, some totalling as many as 10 cameras in a single apartment, the Sunday Times said.   

“It gives me peace of mind. Still, I'd rather not find anything,” real estate agent Kent Tan was quoted as saying. He forked out S$7,000 for the cameras and found his maid wearing his wife’s clothes while at work.

Security camera vendors said home queries had risen sharply, with many customers opting for coin-sized cameras that can easily go unnoticed. “I estimate across the market, about 20 or 30 houses have security cameras installed a day,” said Chew Chai Seng, a director at a security vendor company.

More than 140,000 domestic workers, mainly from Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, work in Singapore.