Home Assister

Cảnh asked Hương:

• Have you found a helper yet? The baby is due in a few months, so we'll need someone to help around the house.
  Hương said:
• Duyên recommended the An Sinh home-help centre. It's all "Industry 4.0" or something, very professional. I didn't even read the terms of the contract; it looked fine at a glance, so I signed. They said that this morning they would send a staff member to meet the two of us and look at things in detail, so that we can sign the formal contract with the fee. They should be here any moment.
  Sure enough, the doorbell rang, and Cảnh went to open the door and invite her in. The couple asked the woman from An Sinh to sit down and talk. She wasn't beautiful, but she had a pleasing look, was properly dressed and had a composed expression. She presented the company's letter of introduction and her staff card; her name was Tuyết. Tuyết said:
• Good morning, sir, madam. My name is Tuyết, and I am a HOME ASSISTER with the An Sinh company. I'm here to take up the job under the memorandum of agreement Madam Hương signed two days ago. Today I've come to look at the house as it really is, and I will suggest a few things that need to be prepared carefully.
  I can see a few surveillance cameras installed in the living room and outside the front door. I suggest you invest in a properly standardised camera system so that you can supervise my work remotely. If there is any disagreement, we can look back over the footage stored on the hard drive and judge exactly what happened.
  You will also state clearly in this detailed contract the areas I am allowed to go into, and the areas I am not. You will state clearly the hours at which I am to be here working, and I will be here as the contract says, and I will also leave at the hour set.
  You will also state clearly what tasks I will do for you and what tasks I may not do. I will follow the detailed contract we agree today to the letter. But if unexpected requests arise, I won't refuse them either, though I will report them to the centre so that they are on record.
  Do you have any requests?
  Cảnh was taken aback and asked:
• Does helping around the house have to be this complicated?
  Tuyết replied:
• Sir, we are not housemaids in the sense of servants or domestic drudges. We are Home Assisters, people who support families. We are properly trained. We must have finished high school and be able to speak a foreign language; we need basic medical knowledge, we know how to cook according to the science of nutrition, we have knowledge of household electrical appliances and of small-scale household farming, we can educate children, care for the sick, give psychological advice... We also know how to protect ourselves, to avoid immoral conduct, and to protect the happiness of the families we assist. And if there is a situation we don't know how to handle, we call the centre at once for guidance.
  You can look at flight attendants to understand us. Flight attendants aren't servants either; they assist passengers very attentively and kindly, but they have dignity, and they have the right to deal sternly with anyone who behaves badly. It's the same for us Home Assisters. We come to help and support. The fee is an agreement between you and the company, but once we have seen what the work really involves, we report back and recommend a reasonable fee to the company.
  Just then little Thảo burst out crying because a glass of milk had spilled all over her. Tuyết smiled, stepped over, cleared away the glass, wiped the child down, took off her top and asked for another set of clothes. Hương signalled to Cảnh with a look to fetch it. Cảnh went inside, took out another set of clothes and handed it to Tuyết. Tuyết chatted cheerfully as she wiped Thảo down, then changed her into the new clothes. Everything was tidy and neat. Then Tuyết said to Thảo:
• Next time, be a good girl and don't spill your milk. You're going to have a little brother or sister soon, and you'll be a big sister, so you must be good.
  Thảo looked at Tuyết a little warily, as at a stranger, but seemed obedient. Who knows whether she understood.
  Cảnh and Hương had watched Tuyết's every move and were very pleased.

Tuyết went back to her seat. Cảnh asked:

• How is it that I've never heard of this Home Assister profession?
  Tuyết replied:
• It has proper training schools, and the qualification is equivalent to a college diploma, because we can transfer on to a university degree. But we work as direct, hands-on workers. At present there aren't enough graduates in this field to supply the market, so the An Sinh company doesn't dare to advertise. Many people go abroad to take up jobs as soon as they graduate. Soon the State will set up care homes to take elderly people from Japan, and our workforce has already been booked up entirely. I don't even know how you were able to sign a contract and request someone, because the company hardly has enough people to supply the market.

Cảnh said:

• This Home Assister profession really surprises me, but it makes complete sense. In this day and age we can no longer have household help of the old kind, like servants or slaves. This profession is truly necessary, yet it is very hard to find someone who suits you. A person who helps in the home is indeed a benefactor, not someone ordinary. With professional training schools and a company that manages its staff carefully, customers will really feel reassured and satisfied. Please let me see a sample of the detailed contract, and explain it to us so that we can write in the necessary terms.
  Cảnh suddenly stopped, looked up and asked:
• By the way, do men work in this profession too?
  Tuyết replied:
• About a third are men. 💁‍♀️

When we don't have enough time to take care of all the work at home, we need someone to help. But since ancient times a household helper has been regarded as a servant, so the work has been looked down on and nobody wants to do it. Now, finding a helper who meets all of the following standards is truly hard:

• She must be so poor that she has no other way to make a living and will agree to be a maid
• She must be capable and able to manage everything inside and outside the house
• She must be of good character, so that she will not steal or have an affair with the employer
• She must have a certain level of education, so that when receiving guests she does not seem boorish and uneducated and shame the household.
  It seems such people have gone extinct. Therefore we need a school to train for this Home Assister profession according to modern, civilised standards. A household helper is someone to be respected, not someone who can be looked down on.
  If there were a professional training school like that, surely the world would need it very much too.