Vietnamese domestic workers not allowed in Singapore because skin color “too light”

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) reported today that the current list of countries that may supply maids to Singaporean households remains unchanged. Currently only The Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Bangladesh may supply maids. “We must be careful to choose countries with darker-skinned peoples, so that we can easily tell the maids apart from local Chinese Singaporeans,” explained a MOM spokeswoman. “This is why we cannot allow Vietnamese and Chinese maids, even though average incomes in those countries is lower than in some of our current supply countries. Vietnamese and Chinese maids would be indistinguishable from ethnic Chinese Singaporeans, and that is a situation that we cannot tolerate.” She added that Singaporeans must be vigilant in identifying maids on Singapore streets, and making sure that they are treated appropriately.