Our maid has been with us for 5 months plus and during this time we’ve caught her in some unsolicited actions such as embezzling our candies/chocolates/grandma’s herbal soup! 
, destroying property (scratches on the wall) and using our belongings without approval (electric shower). She didn’t admit to all the charges but we’ve cautioned her not to do it again. So far there have been no new cases. Good eh!
She is quite absentminded. Even my grandma remembers better than her! Talk about age difference… more than half a century man! All these are just some minor shortcomings. We’ve had some great funny moments together where all the women in the house just sat there laughing.
She’s hardworking though she sucks at cooking (have never seen vermicelli until now). Over at her village, rice is all she eats. She’s observant. She’ll watch what you’re doing and she’ll follow ‘em. For example we didn’t tell her which key is for the front gate and one day she just ‘selamba’ took the keys and opens the gate. Oh yes, we must guard our action well. Ahh and she calls Chester as Che-Cheh or Che too. That’s Chester’s special nickname that I invented! Ishhhh!!!
As good and as bad as we may see, my sis and me believe that she understands Hokkien! There have been some incidents where we were talking in Hokkien 
and there she is commenting 1 or 2 short words regarding our conversation in Malay language. Or we say something funny in Hokkien and she’ll laugh. Ironically she never demonstrates she understands Cantonese.
I’ve asked her “You faham cina?” (Do you understand Chinese language). She said no. But isn’t it funny? If a person doesn’t understand what the others are talking will he/she laugh or answer them back? I know I won’t (I don’t laugh at my Japanese bosses ‘funny’ remarks). Ummphh maybe just maybe she’s an alien in disguise?
So how can I trap her to reveal her true self (whether she understands Hokkien)? Give some idea, please.
Tags: maid
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Jason Says:
March 15th, 2007 at 1:05 pmVisit Jason
In Hokkien : “I am going to raise your salary by RM100, but too bad, since you can’t understand, I will just let it go.” Haha! Maybe because of that, she might just say she understands Hokkien and ask you for that RM100 salary raise. :P
Wahlau.NET Says:
March 15th, 2007 at 2:21 pmVisit Wahlau.NET
hehe…we are having rejected maids….only those who are stupid/dumb/uneducated/gila/mad/siao will choose to come Malaysia as Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan are willing to pay more for the 1st grade maid from Indonesia
wuching Says:
March 15th, 2007 at 2:41 pmVisit wuching
u r a jedi so u can use ‘force’ grip on her until she confess!
Gallivanter Says:
March 15th, 2007 at 2:50 pmVisit Gallivanter
It’s not easy trapping your maid. Usually, we have to give them a benefit of the doubt, as they came from a place where they had to learn the hard way. So, nature has made her that way. It took us a while to get used to our maid too, a couple of months, now, she’s part of our family - closing on 5 years.
WilsonC Says:
March 15th, 2007 at 4:30 pmVisit WilsonC
Mo-C Says:
March 15th, 2007 at 4:56 pmVisit Mo-C
hcfoo Says:
March 15th, 2007 at 9:02 pmVisit hcfoo
I agree with Gallivanter. It takes some time for her to adapt to your family as well as your family adapt to her presence too. Maybe you can ‘teach her Hokkien’ to get her start talking. By the way, if she’s young, u have to beware of the Indon guys at the opposite of your house!
dreamcatcher Says:
March 16th, 2007 at 7:07 amVisit dreamcatcher
…more likely she knows a little hokkien. a friend of mine has some grasps of cantonese, understands some conversation but cannot speak the language.
Che-Cheh Says:
March 16th, 2007 at 7:54 amVisit Che-Cheh
Jason,
saoirse Says:
March 18th, 2007 at 11:47 pmVisit saoirse
I suggest… “Mom, why don’t we increase her salary if she can cook in 1 month’s time…” See if she really does better after your words OR “There are $100 notes under my pillow… shh don’t tell others” Then see if your money will go missing. Ahem… test two things - she steals and she does understand chinese. ;)
saoirse Says:
March 18th, 2007 at 11:51 pmVisit saoirse
BTW, my aunt has a maid whom steal things & curi makan food. Everytime when she cooks chicken, the drumstick definitely missing. One day, she found out her facial scrub filled with water - she used it and refilled with water! Guess my aunt can’t bear it any longer so she “goreng” her lo…
Che-Cheh Says:
March 19th, 2007 at 3:30 pmVisit Che-Cheh
Saoirse, hopefully my maid is not like that. I haven’t test out the few ‘trick’ recommendations by you guys but I asked her again whether she understand Chinese 2 days ago. I guess she really doesn’t understand. From air muka already know. Still I will test out. Just for the fun of it!
saoirse Says:
March 19th, 2007 at 5:44 pmVisit saoirse
Wei, chinese and hokkien are two different things. I understand chinese but I don’t understand hokkien. See?
Che-Cheh Says:
March 20th, 2007 at 7:44 amVisit Che-Cheh
Saoirse, you’re right ah moi.
Kleio Says:
March 21st, 2007 at 11:42 amVisit Kleio
True, true, you can never be too care nowadays handling your maids. Do be careful of your valuables.
Che-Cheh Says:
March 21st, 2007 at 1:03 pmVisit Che-Cheh
Kleio, we don’t allow her to enter all our rooms. Only certain ones.
Che-Cheh » My Maid Understand Hokkien Leh Says:
November 27th, 2007 at 1:19 pmVisit Che-Cheh » My Maid Understand Hokkien Leh
[…] think I’ve told some of you before *many moons ago* that we suspected our maid knowing Hokkien. Here’s the […]