Sulastri’s Wardoyo, 26, was discovered hanging from a showerhead in a toilet at a maid hostel in Singapore on May 30 after failing her English Entry Test three times.
According to The Straits Times, the staff that discovered her said her heart stopped three times as paramedics tried to resuscitate her. She was admitted in the intensive care unit of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital and is said to have suffered brain damage after her suicidal attempt.
All new maids have to pass the test within three days of their arrival otherwise they will have to return to their hometown. However, they can always return for a retake.
Psychologists expound that suicide attempts are in response to extreme pain, fear, pressure, stress or rejection. Overwhelmed by these factors, life become so intolerable that one seek relief through suicide. Perhaps Sulastri felt all these. Depressed and hopeless, she took her own life. This might be an easy way out for her, an escape to another realm, signalling an end to her own personal problems. She did not have the hindsight to foresee that now all kinds of financial burden have befallen on her immediate family.
Suicide has a devastating effect on the partners, families and friends who remain. Feelings of hurt, confusion, guilt, anger and remorse will constantly surround their family members and close friends. Her husband,Mr. Sudarsono with his daughter Avika will have to cope with their loss and the pain. My heart goes out to little Avika who has lost her mother at such as a tender age. She would be deprived of her mother’s love and guidance. If she falls into the wrong hands, the consequences can be dire in future. She may one day become a street urchin or much worse, if her father did not use the money like he claimed to.
If we examine the root of the problem, it is actually the test that she failed three times which pushed Sulastri over the edge. Although the estimated amount of SGD $1,000 just to take a single test is not much to many people in our local context, to Sulastri, this amount was tripled, possibly begged and borrowed from various sources back home. She obviously needed the job of a domestic maid so badly to clear her debt and to feed her family. I am sure she is not incompetent except in her English language and this had crippled her tremendously as the test was in English. She could have appealed to the agency for more concrete help in a form of a Basic English course before taking the test.
If she had persevered on with the paramount thought of feeding her family back home, she would not dwell on suicidal thoughts. If she had thought along this line, she would realize that taking her own life would simply bring forth more problems, which will implicate her loved ones.
But then again, poverty is a big issue in Indonesia. Sulastri comes from this country whereby poverty has a domino effect, affecting many, a chain reaction, which never stops until the last domino is down. Perhaps I cannot feel the kind of devastation that Sulastri felt upon failing her test, which meant the failure to provide for her family, thereby threatening their very existence. I do feel sympathy to her.
It is often said that, when one door closes, another one opens bringing opportunities and adventures beyond our wildest imagination. For Sulastri, her failure to be a domestic maid does not necessarily indicate the end of the world. With more sense and optimism, she could have looked for other employment opportunities. Life is precious; she should cherish every moment of it. I think she does not realize that we are made all in one way or another to deal with adversity. If we can deal with it positively, overcome it we emerge victorious and better individuals.
I believe nothing is impossible. If there is a will, there is a way.
According to The Straits Times, the staff that discovered her said her heart stopped three times as paramedics tried to resuscitate her. She was admitted in the intensive care unit of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital and is said to have suffered brain damage after her suicidal attempt.
All new maids have to pass the test within three days of their arrival otherwise they will have to return to their hometown. However, they can always return for a retake.
Psychologists expound that suicide attempts are in response to extreme pain, fear, pressure, stress or rejection. Overwhelmed by these factors, life become so intolerable that one seek relief through suicide. Perhaps Sulastri felt all these. Depressed and hopeless, she took her own life. This might be an easy way out for her, an escape to another realm, signalling an end to her own personal problems. She did not have the hindsight to foresee that now all kinds of financial burden have befallen on her immediate family.
Suicide has a devastating effect on the partners, families and friends who remain. Feelings of hurt, confusion, guilt, anger and remorse will constantly surround their family members and close friends. Her husband,Mr. Sudarsono with his daughter Avika will have to cope with their loss and the pain. My heart goes out to little Avika who has lost her mother at such as a tender age. She would be deprived of her mother’s love and guidance. If she falls into the wrong hands, the consequences can be dire in future. She may one day become a street urchin or much worse, if her father did not use the money like he claimed to.
If we examine the root of the problem, it is actually the test that she failed three times which pushed Sulastri over the edge. Although the estimated amount of SGD $1,000 just to take a single test is not much to many people in our local context, to Sulastri, this amount was tripled, possibly begged and borrowed from various sources back home. She obviously needed the job of a domestic maid so badly to clear her debt and to feed her family. I am sure she is not incompetent except in her English language and this had crippled her tremendously as the test was in English. She could have appealed to the agency for more concrete help in a form of a Basic English course before taking the test.
If she had persevered on with the paramount thought of feeding her family back home, she would not dwell on suicidal thoughts. If she had thought along this line, she would realize that taking her own life would simply bring forth more problems, which will implicate her loved ones.
But then again, poverty is a big issue in Indonesia. Sulastri comes from this country whereby poverty has a domino effect, affecting many, a chain reaction, which never stops until the last domino is down. Perhaps I cannot feel the kind of devastation that Sulastri felt upon failing her test, which meant the failure to provide for her family, thereby threatening their very existence. I do feel sympathy to her.
It is often said that, when one door closes, another one opens bringing opportunities and adventures beyond our wildest imagination. For Sulastri, her failure to be a domestic maid does not necessarily indicate the end of the world. With more sense and optimism, she could have looked for other employment opportunities. Life is precious; she should cherish every moment of it. I think she does not realize that we are made all in one way or another to deal with adversity. If we can deal with it positively, overcome it we emerge victorious and better individuals.
I believe nothing is impossible. If there is a will, there is a way.