When the hired help turns on you, you'd better be prepared to get your hands dirty

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, so the old saying goes. And no one knows that better than those who hire ayis to help with the housework. If you are too busy or lazy to do the washing up yourself, you risk putting your dirty laundry in the hands of a complete stranger. Unfortunately, Hong Kong celebrities don’t quite seem to get it.

According to The Filipino Globe, superstar singer Jacky Cheung has, in the past three years, fired no less than 21 Filipino maids. As a result, he’s been blacklisted by the Filipino Consulate in Hong Kong as an unwelcome employer. What that means is that the Cheung family will be barred from renewing the contracts of their current four Filipino maids when their contracts expire and will also be prevented from hiring new ones. While Cheung is currently touring mainland China, back home, his wife, former actress May Lo, was tearfully begging Filipino officials to reconsider.

This is not the first time that the Cheung family has had ayi trouble. Last December, Cheung’s former maid Preslynsaga Catacutan found herself on the wrong side of a six month jail sentence for stealing a letter and three photos of the superstar couple. Catacutan pleaded that she was a fan and did not think they would mind if she took the pictures from the garbage bin. After finishing her sentence, Catacutan revealed to Hong Kong newspapers that Lo had fired a number of maids. “They have fired 67 maids, including me,” she claimed.

Maybe Catacutan should count her blessings. Apparently, in Cheung's plush Repulse Bay apartment, maids are required to work from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m., six days a week with only eight hours of free time on Sundays. “We had to get home by 7 p.m. on Sunday and then start doing the work again,” she told reporters. Tabloids also report that Lo suffers from mysophobia and that she carries around a bottle of antiseptic spray wherever she goes, disinfecting everything before touching.

Cheung defended himself saying that they laid off the workers because they did not complete tasks as required, but when asked exactly how many maids he had fired he said, “I don’t think there were so many people. But I actually cannot recall the exact number.”

Despite protestations, the Cheung family is losing credibility. Right before the October holidays, three Filipino maids in the house resigned. Unable to hire new maids, May Lo had no choice but to do the housework herself. Maybe when Cheung finishes his tour at the end of the month, he should bring back some ayis. That and a whole bunch of antiseptic spray.

Maid Rage

So Jacky Cheung and May Lo burn through maids like rockers burn through girlfriends, but at least they aren’t as bad as Naomi Campbell. Last year the supermodel plea bargained a community service deal after a maid accused her of assault. Apparently, Campbell hurled a mobile phone at her when a pair of jeans didn’t turn up. As a result, she spent five days swabbing floors and toilets in a New York City garbage depot, presumably without May Lo’s disinfectant.

by Luna Lin