No Day Off
2006
Digital 2006
Eric KHOO,Pen-ek | Korea | 2006 | 39min | DigiBeta | Color | Short
SYNOPSIS
Charts four years in the life of Siti, a young woman who leaves her husband and baby boy in a remote village in Sulawesi to work as a maid in Singapore. The narrative unfolds through her perspective and captures her trials and tribulations as she works for three different families in Singapore.
DIRECTING INTENTION
Maids are an emotive issue in Singapore. Two decades ago, they were a rare breed in Singapore. Today, one in seven families has one. And the fact of the matter is, many Singaporean families have no idea how to treat their foreign domestic workers. Many see maids as commodities –they hire them, work them and send them home. They ignore the fact that many of the thousands of foreigners who look after their children, cook and clean for them have left behind their own families. There are many things I hope to explore with - Is Singapore a Maid-to-Order society?Are we really that callous? But more importantly, I hope to explore the person, the individual behind the maid who scrubs our floors, feeds and bathes our children and leaves among us. What are her hopes, dreams? What has she sacrificed?
DIRECTOR

Eric KHOO
Pen-ek