SINGAPORE – Despite being hit by her employer and left with bruises, a distressed domestic worker did not dare alert the authorities and only confided in a fellow Filipino helper.
Though Catherine Gonzaga Suarez could not persuade the battered helper to seek formal help, she checked on her emotional state till the latter was sent home two weeks later.
Suarez encountered the case this year while volunteering with the Care Sisters, a peer support network that reaches out to migrant domestic workers to provide mental well-being support.
She is one of about 1,000 members, up from about 180 helpers in 2022. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) partners with the Alliance of Domestic Employees Outreach (ADEO) to manage the programme.
While the network has grown, years of collective outreach in Singapore have yet to overcome the mental health stigma – particularly fear of losing their jobs – that continues to deter many domestic workers from seeking formal help.
Suarez told The Straits Times that some helpers fear calling MOM, but readily open up to the volunteers.
“They don’t hesitate to call because we’re the same. Friend to friend,” said the 42-year-old.
The network’s expanded outreach comes amid a rise in Singapore’s migrant domestic worker population, which hit a six-year high of 316,900 in 2025, a 28 per cent increase from 247,400 in 2020.
Michael Lim, director of NTUC’s migrant workers segment, said various organisations have been more active in promoting mental health among migrant workers since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Michael Lim, director of NTUC’s migrant workers segment, said various organisations have been more active in promoting mental health among migrant workers since the Covid-19 pandemic.
ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
NTUC’s Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) has engaged about 3,000 domestic workers annually in the last five years through its 24-hour helpline, events and activities.
“Given the amount of publicity that’s been put in, awareness shouldn’t be an issue. But workers are still not coming forward enough,” said Lim.
One possible reason is the stigma attached to mental health issues, especially fears that employers would fire them, said ADEO’s team lead Joyder Ng.
An Institute of Mental Health study published in February found that migrant workers and domestic helpers hesitate to seek formal mental health support as they fear losing their jobs.
ADEO’s team lead Joyder Ng in a training session for domestic workers joining the peer support programme on May 3.
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
An MOM spokesperson told ST that the Care Sisters was started as the ministry recognised that many domestic workers “may prefer seeking support through informal networks”.
The motley crew of Filipino, Indonesian, Burmese and Indian domestic workers befriend helpers at gathering points such as Paya Lebar and Fort Canning about two Sundays a month.
Through casual questions such as “Are you happy with work?” and “How’s your family?”, they try to spot those who may be struggling.
“Even though they smile, I can see if they’re really happy or unhappy,” said Eni Wijayanti, an Indonesian helper who joined the Care Sisters in 2024.
The volunteers lend a listening ear and direct fellow helpers to further support, such as the CDE’s 24-hour helpline, or MOM’s WhatsApp channel, which has information on topics such as employment rights.
MOM and ADEO are also training the Care Sisters in psychological first aid, suicide prevention and mental well-being support, the ministry’s spokesperson told ST.
National Mindline: 1771 (24 hours) / 6669-1771 (via WhatsApp)
Samaritans of Singapore: 1-767 (24 hours) / 9151-1767 (24 hours CareText via WhatsApp)
Singapore Association for Mental Health: 1800-283-7019
Silver Ribbon Singapore: 6386-1928
Chat, Centre of Excellence for Youth Mental Health: 6493-6500/1
Women’s Helpline (Aware): 1800-777-5555 (weekdays, 10am to 6pm)
The Seniors Helpline: 1800-555-5555 (weekdays, 9am to 5pm)
Tinkle Friend (for primary school-age children): 1800-2744-788
Touchline (Counselling): 1800-377-2252
Touch Care Line (for caregivers): 6804-6555
Counselling and Care Centre: 6536-6366
We Care Community Services: 3165-8017
Shan You Counselling Centre: 6741-9293
Clarity Singapore: 6757-7990
Care Corner Counselling Centre: 6353-1180
Conflicts with employers are a common stressor. Suarez said some helpers still do not get their mandatory rest days, are owed salary, or struggle to communicate due to language barriers.
Burmese domestic worker Thidar Tun, 43, said her former employer, for whom she started working in 2007, did not give her any day off for six years. Quarrels were constant due to communication issues.
The stress left her in tears daily. Not wanting to worry her family, she kept the struggles to herself and found solace only in going to a nearby church to pray.
One day in 2013, she ran to a police station to seek help. “I very desperately needed to talk to someone. I didn’t have a friend,” said Thidar.
In 2018, domestic worker Thidar Tun joined CDE as a volunteer after chancing upon an advertisement.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
A policewoman accompanied her home and mediated a discussion with her employer, who agreed to a monthly off day, said Thidar.
In 2018, she joined CDE as a volunteer after chancing upon an advertisement. There, she met friends she could confide in.
“Whenever we feel stressed or have issues with employment, we will always discuss (as a) group,” she said.
Thidar, who switched employers a year later, is now a volunteer leader.
Troubles back home also weigh on domestic workers’ minds – from families demanding more money and husbands having affairs, to earthquakes and typhoons hitting their hometowns.
Eni, 41, who is divorced with a 21-year-old son, feels upset whenever her family in Indonesia asks for more money.
Eni Wijayanti (centre) said she can discern if her fellow workers feel happy or unhappy while speaking with them.
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
“We need to know how to say ‘no’ without (saying) ‘sorry’,” she said, adding that she copes by talking to friends and journalling.
First-time migrant domestic workers learn about stress management and avenues of help at their settling-in programme, and CDE conducts two interviews in their first year to check on their well-being, the MOM spokesperson told ST.
Employment agencies do welfare checks within three months of a domestic worker’s placement, while healthcare professionals can flag distress during a mandatory six-monthly medical examination.
Helplines include those operated by CDE, mental health charity Brahm Centre and migrant worker rights group Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME).
HOME received over 1,200 calls and texts to its helplines annually in the last three years. It also offered free counselling to 320 of its shelter residents in 2025, up from 187 in 2023.
Brahm Centre provides free counselling to about 10 helpers every month, sometimes by phone or text messages.
Its CEO Angie Chew said: “If (they’re) in distress, you can’t say, ‘Okay, you come on Sunday.’ You have to act upon it as quickly as possible.”
In the last 1½ years, Silver Ribbon (Singapore) has received about 10 referrals for free counselling from CDE, as part of their 2024 agreement to boost mental health support for domestic workers.
Employers do not need to be informed, and sessions can be arranged via video or phone calls at night or on their off days, said Silver Ribbon (Singapore) executive director Porsche Poh.
Encouragingly, some employers sought advice on supporting their helpers or accompanied them to counselling sessions, said Poh.
But she noted there are limits to what self-care tips can achieve. For example, a common tip is to get sufficient rest, but some helpers are made to work late into the night.
Framing solutions around individual resilience is not enough without addressing the underlying conditions driving their stress, said HOME executive director Stephanie Chok.
Domestic workers are excluded from the Employment Act, leaving their work hours unregulated, said Chok, adding that long working hours and lack of rest days are associated with poorer mental health.
“Ensuring that workers have adequate rest, reasonable working hours and opportunities for social connection can therefore play an important preventive role.”
CDE’s Lim encouraged employers to attend their talks to better understand their helpers’ mental well-being, and intervene when needed.
Suarez put it more plainly: “Please treat your helpers like your own family.”
