What do you do on your day-off?

About a few months back, a couple of us from my CCA submitted entries for this video competition organized by the Ministry of Manpower to raise awareness on the weekly mandatory day-off for maids. For my team's video, we decided to interview the literal men on the street. Street interviews aren't easy. It's difficult to get people to speak in front of the camera, and beyond that, getting them to talk about a touchy issue makes things more complicated. People will turn you down more often than agree to be interviewed. And not all of us are comfortable in front of the camera, so some of the footage may turn out to be less than useful.

We went ahead with the interviews anyway. We spent two Sundays walking the area around SMU as well as Orchard Road talking to your average Singaporean as well as your average maids. It was tiring, and we got discouraged quite a lot, at least I did. The team really came together though, and I'm pleased that we all pushed each other, in a way. We cut the interview into a 3-minute short clip, edited it, and then submitted it for judging. Check it out. :)



I'm very pleased to say that we were awarded first place! Yay! We weren't really expecting to win anything...we just had a good idea, and we sort of went with it. We're not really good actors, nor did we have the capacity to hire any, so doing interviews seemed like the best way for us to go.

So I guess the video speaks for itself...but as one of the creative forces behind the video, I'm going to speak for it too. When we talked to the average Singaporeans, we were curious to see how the average Singaporean spend their day-off, and subsequently, ask them whether they can do without it. Of course, most of them said that they won't take a job with no day-off. There was this cute young woman who said that her job did not define her, and I think that that's very true.

We then asked them whether they think that maids should get a day-off. There wasn't much of an objection about it, and some of them really felt quite strongly about it, recognizing the hard work that maids put in every single day.

When we spoke to the maids, we asked them the same question that we asked the Singaporeans: "What do you do on your day-off?" We were hoping that they'd give very meaningful and tear-inducing responses, but I guess what we realized was that maids are just like us, and that they like to do the same things that we do. I guess this was a more realistic view on the issue, and I think it helped bring the message home, that they're actually just like us.

We rounded off the video by asking them how important the day-off was to them. They gave us honest answers. Day-offs are an important way for them to unwind. It's an opportunity for them to meet their friends, and catch up with whatever's going on in the outside world. It's an outlet for their stress. Some people have misgivings about a maid's day-off, for fear that they'll be up to some mischief. While I can't allay those fears, what I can say is that trust is the building block of any good relationship.

So yeah, that's our video. It took more effort than it looks - we spent a few afternoons brainstorming, two days shooting, and then a few nights editing. The video-editing process is quite tedious, but it's one that I've grown to enjoy - it's kind of like putting together a puzzle, only you don't know what pieces you have, nor a very clear idea of what the final product will look like.

I hope you liked it!

PS: In case you can't view the video, do check it out at this webpage: http://www.mom.gov.sg/Pages/dayoff-faceoff.aspx. The second and third-place entries may also be viewed here.