From housework to home-making: unpacking the experiences of Indonesian migrant domestic workers in Singapore

Abstract

Situating my research at the cross-sections of migration studies, policy-making and urban planning, this essay intends to explore how Indonesian migrant domestic workers in Singapore conceptualise ‘home’, with attention to how such ideas are manifested and disrupted in their practices. This paper applies thematic coding to semi-structured interviews conducted with Indonesian migrant domestic workers, extrapolating key themes relevant to the research question. Firstly, ‘home’ is conceptualised as multi-dimensional, ascribed to elements of time, space and emotion. For most respondents, ‘home’ remains tied to a singular geographical boundary at any one time, while emotional attachment to people or communities influences the intensity of ‘home’. Secondly, ‘home’ is manifested by both hard and soft infrastructure. Hard infrastructure that evokes emotions associated with ‘home’ and resembles physical elements of Indonesia are often sought after. Similarly, respondents exhibit ‘home’ through soft infrastructure that contains networks reminding them of their Indonesian identity and/or status as migrants. Discussions around soft infrastructure also involve household dynamics, where ‘home’ is better achieved when ties between the employer and employee feel familial. Lastly, the paper has found that ‘home’ is disrupted when work boundaries are prioritised, making ‘home’ almost impossible to co-exist in the professional setting. With the findings produced in this paper, my research has most significantly contributed to the discipline by illuminating the role of the migrant domestic worker’s tri-identity in expanding upon the ideas of ‘home’. Nuances in spatialities, dependence on affectual encounters and time as a memory and scheduling tool point toward home-making as a laborious task. The idea of ‘home’ moves much like the migrant moves, a constant process.