NTU students appalled at ‘maid culture’ on campus residence
Is it wrong to get your maid to clean your room in a university hostel?
Some undergraduates seem to have no qualms about doing so, according to The New Paper (TNP) in an article on cases where students from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) brought their maids from home to do chores for them.
However, students Yahoo! Singapore interviewed are indignant about the unorthodox practice.
“I think it’s lame and these spoilt brats should just wake up their idea and do their own housework,” said the NTU undergraduate Thong Kay Wee, labeling such people as “a disgrace to the nation”.
“They can study but can’t even clean their own space. What kind of so-called ‘elite’ are these people?” the 23-year-old added.
Chua Yan Yu, a third year NTU student, agreed that students staying in hostels should be independent and self sufficient enough to “do some simple cleaning”.
Said the 22-year-old, “This is quite appalling. To me, one important learning point of staying in hall is to be independent. If they get their domestic helpers to assist them in cleaning up, how can they learn to take care of themselves in the future?”
Similarly, third year NTU Mechanical Engineering student Seah Tze Yang feels that getting maids to clean up hostel rooms “defeats the purpose of the entire [hall] experience”.
“Halls reduce travel time for students and it's also a place for students to interact. This gives them an opportunity to learn to be independent like washing their own laundry and cleaning their own room,” said the 24-year-old.
He added that such practice is detrimental for students, saying: “If maids are to help them to tidy their rooms, then there will come a day when the maids have to print notes for them as well.”
When contacted, a spokesman from NTU said that the university "has not received any complaints" on the issue.
According to TNP, maids were also spotted on campus during periods when students have to move in or out of their hall rooms. Some maids were made to clean toilets.
