Narrated by Yosa Yanti, Chairperson of the Indonesian Migrant Worker Union in Macau

By Isabelle Cheng, University of Portsmouth

My overseas work started in 2001. At that time, Indonesian workers who wanted to work abroad could choose to work in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. Brokers would come to our home and tell us about the opportunities abroad. They look particularly for young people who have just graduated from senior high school and have not found a job.[1]

Such a broker came to my home and told me that I could earn more money abroad. I decided to go to Taiwan rather than to Malaysia or Saudi Arabia because at that time, the salary in Taiwan was the highest. I also heard stories about how Indonesian workers were abused in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. My auntie returned from Saudi Arabia and told me how her employer hit her. In Taiwan, we can work as a factory worker or a domestic worker. For the former, we have to pay the recruitment fee upfront; for the latter, our fee to the broker and recruitment agency will be deducted from our wages. I did not have money to pay the fee for a factory job, so I became a domestic worker. I was only 20 years old.

The broker took me to a recruitment agency in Jakarta for training. At the agency, or ‘training centre’, prospective domestic workers like myself learn how to cook, clean, look after the elderly and children, and speak Mandarin, since people in Taiwan speak Mandarin. For those going to Singapore and Hong Kong, they will learn English and Cantonese respectively. Different agencies have different partners in Taiwan, so the time prospective workers spend at the training centre waiting for their contracts to be confirmed varies a lot. Some of my friends left for Taiwan after staying at the centre for two or three months. I was very unfortunate that I spent seven months there. Before I went to Taiwan, I knew nothing about the place, my contract, or my work, but I met some people who had worked in Taiwan before and were returning to Taiwan for another contract. One of them was very familiar with Taiwan; she knew the public transport in Taipei very well. She gave me her contact number and told me that I could run away from my employer and that I could earn more money at a factory outside my employer’s home.

I finally arrived in Taiwan and worked for a good family. I looked after the children, but I kept thinking of what I had been told about a higher salary ‘outside’. My employer paid my salary to the Taiwanese agency who was partnered with my Indonesian agency. I saw in my account how much the Taiwanese agency deducted and how much I actually received. Four months later, I ran away. I went to an agency which specialised in finding jobs for runaways, but they did not find a job for me. In the meantime, my employer was looking for me. They rang me every day. After spending a few days as a runaway without a real prospect of finding a job, I called my employer and asked them to take me back. They were angry at me because I left my job without their permission. I could not work for them anymore. They sent me to the Taiwanese agency and the agency sent me back to Indonesia. I flew back to Jakarta. How much had I earned in Taiwan in those four months after deductions? The Indonesian agency gave me 100,000 rupiah, roughly NT$400 dollars (approximately £10), which was not even enough for me to get back from Jakarta to my home.

So I was not successful at all in my attempt at earning money in Taiwan. Without a job and not studying, I got married and when my daughter was 18 months old, I went to Singapore. I think I have been blacklisted by the Taiwanese government because of my record as a runaway. I wanted to go to Singapore because I could learn to speak English - after I finish my contract in Singapore, I could go to Hong Kong with my English language skills. I did not want to go to Saudi Arabia not only because of the abuse but also because speaking Arabic would not help me get a job elsewhere. Eventually, I did what I had planned - after finishing work in Singapore, I went to Hong Kong. After the grandfather I looked after in Hong Kong passed away, I came to Macau.

People like me who have been to Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau can become brokers. But I do not want to be a broker. As a matter of fact, several Indonesian brokers in Macau are experienced migrant workers themselves. This is partly because, unlike the agreements Indonesia has with Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong, there is no agreement between Macau and Indonesia on the recruitment of migrant workers. So this creates opportunities for experienced migrant workers to make profit. They tell prospective workers something like ‘you’ve got a job’, or ‘I’ve found a job for you’, and ‘all you need to do is to come here’.

In fact, Indonesian workers come to Macau on a tourist visa and they have to try to find an employer in one month. After an agency in Macau finds a job for them, the agency will take a deduction from their salary and this deduction is shared between the agency and the broker.[2] If they ask for a ten-month salary deduction, then usually six months’ deduction goes to the agency, with the remaining four months’ deduction going to the broker. Unlike migrant workers in the formal sector working in a hotel, spa or casino, domestic workers are not protected by a standard contract; employers can decide how much to pay. Once migrant workers have secured a contract with the employer, they go to the Immigration Department to change their legal status, which includes a Work Permit and a temporary residency permit, officially known as ‘Authorisation to Stay for Non-Resident Workers’ (conventionally known as Blue Card). So what the brokers say is incorrect, but it is so easy for Indonesian people to believe what they hear from these brokers! I always try to tell people what the correct information is and how not to go the wrong way about getting a job. There is so much exploitation that I want to help migrant workers know about their rights under labour laws.

Looking back, I have spent a total of 16 years abroad. When we return home, we have our savings and we may open businesses. But businesses do not always go well. It is difficult for us to find jobs because we do not have good education or professional certificates. No one would hire us. My daughter is at senior high school now. Soon she will go to university. I want to give her a good education. I need to work for at least another five years to pay for her tuition fees. So I will just go on, and on, and on working abroad.

[1] https://taiwaninsight.org/2021/05/22/not-obedience-but-dignity-a-message-from-a-former-migrant-worker/.

[2] https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Poverty/UnpaidWork/APWLD.pdf.