We must cease relying on foreign maids.

Byline: Chok Suat Ling

CAN'T live with them, can't live without them. Domestic helpers, that is.

Many households now are entirely dependent on hired help. Maids clean and cook and, like Alfred Pennyworth to Batman, are also assistants, confidantes and surrogate parents in many homes.

While most domestic helpers are treated as part of the family, there have been isolated cases of maid abuse. These have resulted in Indonesia temporarily banning the sending of domestic workers to Malaysia and calling for better pay and working conditions for them.

Better pay, according to Indonesia, means an RM800 minimum wage, a figure that has caused employers and …