Singapura - Filipina maid inherits SGD 6 millions or RM 14 millions from Employer

By Agence France-Presse, Updated: 21/07/2010

Filipina maid inherits millions from employer

A devoted Filipina maid inherited six million Singapore dollars (more than four million US) from her late employer after more than 20 years of service, a newspaper report said Wednesday.

"I am the luckiest maid in Singapore, with or without the money," the 47-year-old single woman -- identified only by the pseudonym "Christine" -- told the Straits Times in an interview.

The maid refused to be named in public for fear of possible threats to her life in the impoverished Philippines, where wealthy people have been kidnapped for ransom and some killed by their abductors.

The windfall, including cash and a luxury apartment near the Orchard Road shopping belt, came from the estate of her employer Quek Kai Miew, a medical doctor and philanthropist who died last year at 66.
The maid had also taken care of the doctor's late mother, and was told that she would be a beneficiary of her employer's will when it was drawn up in 2008.


"There were no secrets between us. I was not surprised at all when she told me how much I was going to get," the maid recalled.

"Christine" was devastated when Quek died a year ago, as the two were inseparable, and temporarily moved in with the doctor's nephew for solace.

"It was heartbreaking for me as I saw more years with Doctor Quek than with my own mother. I would break down every time I thought about her. I could not be by myself," she said.

"I was always beside her. Wherever she went, I was with her."

The maid, who is now applying for permanent residency in Singapore, said her newfound wealth had not changed her lifestyle.

"I do not really think much about the money I got. I just live my life as I did before, and not as a rich person," the maid, dressed simply in a blouse and slacks with short-cropped hair, was quoted as saying.

"I am still who I was before. I cannot behave differently because I have money now. Even my Filipino maid friends here still treat me the same."

Nearly 200,000 foreign maids, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia, work in affluent Singapore, which has a population of five million.

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When the Filipina's employer Dr Quek Kai Miew died a year ago,

she inherited a cool $6 million from her estate, including the apartment in Leonie Hill.

- photo & narration from straitstimes.com -

Majikan beri amah RM14 juta
SINGAPURA - Seorang amah Filipina yang setia berkhidmat selama lebih 20 tahun menjadi jutawan segera kerana majikannya memberikannya sebanyak S$6 juta (RM14 juta) menerusi wasiat, lapor sebuah akhbar semalam.

"Sama ada memiliki atau tidak wang itu, saya merupakan amah yang paling bertuah di Singapura," katanya yang dikenali dengan nama Christine.

Berusia 47 tahun dan masih belum berkahwin, dia enggan mendedahkan identiti dirinya dan mahu dikenali sebagai Christine kerana bimbangkan keselamatannya di Filipina yang merupakan negara yang sering menjadi lokasi penculikan untuk mendapatkan wang tebusan.

Dia mendapat wasiat itu daripada majikannya yang juga seorang wanita, Dr. Quek Kai Miew yang meninggal dunia pada tahun lalu semasa berusia 66 tahun.

Kekayaan segera itu meliputi wang tunai dan sebuah pangsapuri mewah berhampiran pusat beli-belah Orchard Road.

GAMBAR menunjukkan apartmen yang dipercayai menjadi tempat 

tinggal Christine bersama majikannya di Singapura.

Dia sangat rapat dengan majikannya.

Christine yang kini sedang memohon menjadi penduduk tetap Singapura menyatakan bahawa kekayaan itu tidak akan dapat mengubah gaya hidupnya.

Amah tersebut turut menjaga ibu doktor itu dan dia diberitahu akan menjadi seorang penerima wasiat yang sedang disediakan oleh majikannya pada 2008.

"Tidak ada rahsia di antara kami. Saya tidak terkejut apabila diberitahu berapa banyak yang saya akan perolehi" katanya.

Christine berasa kecewa setahun lalu apabila majikannya meninggal dunia.

"Kematian itu amat mengecewakan saya kerana tempoh saya bersama dengan doktor itu lebih lama daripada saya bersama ibu saya," tambahnya.

"Saya akan berasa sedih setiap kali saya teringatkan dia (majikannya)," kata amah tersebut. - AFP

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