Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
Cleaners are often belittled and looked down upon; they rarely ever get the credit they deserve from the public. Malaysians have a tendency of discriminating against them and it doesn’t help that these cleaners are more often than not migrant workers.
Today, IRL uncovers the story of a cleaner from Indonesia.
I first came to Malaysia in 2012
I’m Fatimah, a 36 year-old lady from Kalimantan, Indonesia, and I am a cleaning lady for a condominium in Petaling Jaya. I came to Malaysia almost 10 years ago to work for a local agency where they hire cleaners for either houses or establishments.
I heard about the job opportunity back in my kampung from a friend, she told me about this job that her older sister was doing. She came over to Malaysia and made more money than I ever did at my job.
I was working at a local retail shop at the time and making slightly more than half of what my friend’s sister was making. It seemed like a real opportunity: the only downside was that I would be away from my 2 sons under the age 6.
Things were tough at home – my children’s father had left amid his financial problems and gambling habits. I had to raise them on my own. I didn’t want my children to be around him and my main worry was about their safety if I were to go away.
But in the end, I sat down with my parents and told them about the opportunity. They assured me that they would happily take my kids in while I was away, and that this is for a better future.
I made my decision with a heavy heart – it wasn’t easy to say goodbye.
Upon arrival, I knew that it was never going to be easy
I understood that Malaysia and Indonesia are very different, despite all the similarities. I had never been to Malaysia prior to this so I did not know what to expect.
On my first day on the job, we were introduced to our manager. It was a Malaysian Chinese man, and maybe I was overthinking, but his energy felt very hostile. I disregarded it and did my job as well as I could.
I’m grateful that I quickly made friends with the fellow Indonesian workers – it made me feel less lonely and my time away from home felt a little less sad around them. But I couldn’t stop thinking about my children and how my parents were doing. I remember crying almost every night during my first few months here and calling them every chance I could.
It took me a while but I eventually got used to Malaysia
Source: The Star Online
The dirty looks, the no response whenever I say “selamat pagi”… I always understood the stereotype and discrimination, way before I even stepped foot into Malaysia, but facing it in the flesh is another thing.
It wasn’t easy and it was definitely hurtful but I had no other choice. I was doing it to send money home to my family every month.
I would send home more money than I would leave for myself. I usually survive on less than RM 250 a month.
But I did it for my children.
I could rarely go home
Being a cleaner, we don’t really have that many off days. We get like maybe one rest day a week, but it could fall on any day. We also have to work on weekends. It gets very exhausting, but I had no complaints. I did what I could to fulfill my duty.
What hurt the most was that I never have enough money to fly back home to see my family. In the 10 years that I’ve worked in Malaysia, I’ve only ever been back twice: both for a week’s stay.
As a mother, I’ve missed birthdays, first days of school, celebrations and all the homework. I was absent for most of my children’s life. It’s heartbreaking. I can only hope that my kids understand why I am away.
Above everything, I remind myself that I have a lot to be grateful for
There are many people in my kampung who are jobless and can’t afford to bring food to the table for their kids who are younger than mine. I’ve seen it with my own eyes – you will not believe how easy it is to spot people resorting to begging for money at where I’m from.
This job isn’t perfect, but it’ll do. I’m fortunate enough to be able to contribute to my family despite being thousands of kilometers away from them.
But I do feel that cleaners don’t get the credit that they deserve and that we can easily be seen as slackers with a low-end job. But the truth is not everyone has the privilege of making as much money as they’d like.
Some of us have to make do with whatever we get, while others get to travel across the world any other day.
For more stories like this, read: Malaysians Must Acknowledge The Importance Of Our Foreign Residents As Part Of Malaysia and What Getting “The Stare” As A Foreigner Living In Malaysia Feels Like
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