The medical examination still required for renewal, year 2 and 3 but year 4 is optional.

They are required to pass the medical examination over there but they have to undergo another one here. Yes, she has and ID card.

It is very shrewd of the agent. All this should be explained out right and not like that.

I am learning from your maid experience. Shd I get one in the future, I know what to clarify with the agent first. Good luck.

I rang up the clinic which did the test and spoke to one of the doctors. He tells me that there can be no falsifying of results as they have to send the tests to different independant labs and it is up to the labs to key in the results and the doctor to concur. There is no way they can “pakat” according to him. He assures me that its foolproof and tells me that he can send it to another lab for testing if I’m not satisfied with the results.

For the time being, we’re not eating at the same table, we give her a different set of utensils and we don’t share food or toilet. Sigh.

For my agent, she verbally told me that her first day starts on the day we picked her up. But of course, that time she still do not have the medical report out yet! I was furious!!(imagine how dangerous it is to have someone who might have sickness touching your home, using your toilet, living in the same roofs with your kids!)

Anyway, we then bring our maid to a clinic for a check up, just to be sure everything is alright while waiting for her Fomema result.

Yeah, its a stupid system. We had to take our own “precautions” by not using the toilet she is using, giving her her own utensils and not sharing food for the time being.

Thats what I would have preferred too.

The Fomema test includes checking for infectious deceases like Hepatitis, Aids and STDs according to the doctor from the clinic which did the test.

My agent gave me the Fomema website and my maid’s code for me to check. I check in the later part of the morning and found that she has been cleared by Fomema. Now the question is whether to get a second opinion….

you are nice enough to bring the maid into your home – i guess in a way, you don’t really have any choice. i hope ur maid doesnt give you any problems.

btw, are u going to take her for another medical checkup on ur own?

I’m still thinking about it. I’ve called up the doctor who did the test for Fomema (the agent gave me the number. Said I could call to speak to the doctor) but they haven’t got back to me yet. I still don’t understand how your maid could have passed the Fomema test.

1) you take the maid- you dont’ really know what sort of health issues would come your way, especially if you have young ones in the home.

2) you leave the maid there, the agency will probably use her to do part time maid services to maximise their profitability.

just as with rental agreements, the laws have not been well designed to protect the owners. i do hope for your sake that the maid will pass her medical with flying colours.

if you’re worried, why not take her to do a medical at your local trusted doctor? it would be well worth the cause if nothing turns up positive!

We posed the question of an alternative or second medical test to the agent who replied “Its up to you but I don’t think its necessary because Fomema is quite reliable. If you go to another doctor, they will probably do the same tests as required by Fomema unless you want to do something extra like CT Scans or whatever.” However, after reading the “dilemma” link, it would seem that some things are still missed by Fomema.

I don’t know much about the process because this is my first time hiring a maid but from what I’ve encountered so far, it would seem that the relationship or contracts between the employer and the agent is very much one sided and little is done to protect the employer from runaway maids, health issues etc. There are still a lot of “loopholes” that could cause big headaches for the employer.