By Akira Park
In the Philippines, almost every family has a sister or a mother who works as a domestic worker in a foreign country. From nurses to childcare providers and house helpers, these family members are the breadwinners of their households. Often, they are misunderstood as living an expat lifestyle simply because the income they receive is in a foreign currency. Despite that, many families from the Philippines and around the world disregard the strenuous circumstances that domestic workers are obliged to and the lack of support for their well-being.
Balli Kaur Jaswal’s latest novel, Now You See Us, sheds light on the realities of being a domestic worker in Singapore and explores the nuances and challenges of discrimination, classicism, abuse, modern slavery, and exploitation that many overseas Filipina workers, better known as OFWs, experience. It delves into the story of three Filipina domestic workers working for affluent families in Singapore who come together to solve the mystery of an accused Filipina domestic worker named Flordeliza, who was framed for murdering her employer. The three protagonists—Corazon, Donita, and Angel—come from differing backgrounds, bringing an abundance of perspectives that unfold throughout the book.
Corazon, frequently mentioned as Cora, is a veteran domestic worker. Cora’s backstory gradually builds up compared to the other characters, and she faces rather complex experiences: the grief and secrets she holds from the passing of her nephew, which is connected to the War on Drugs in the Philippines, to the accommodating and kind treatment she receives from her employer, Ma’am Elizabeth–an unlikely experience compared to other domestic workers. There’s also Donita, a novice and young domestic worker who is neglected and abused by her employer, Mrs. Fann—infamously known for assuming domestic workers are all indolent thieves. Last but not least, Angel is an in-home caregiver for a stroke survivor named Mr. Vijay. Angel is a queer woman who recently experienced a breakup while facing grim circumstances of sexual harassment and was distressed at the idea of being replaced by a nurse who later becomes a confidant of hers.
Jaswal packs this book with multiple facets of women’s experiences and those of domestic workers. From religious intolerance, feminism, and homophobia, Jaswal successfully highlights the complexity of intersectionality in ways that underline the dynamics of domestic workers. The book also exposes the way that society sees Asian women as docile and are easily taken advantage of by a patriarchal system, which we see from the Merry Maids Employment Agency and the lack of protection by the Singaporean government towards Flordeliza.
I particularly enjoyed the interactions that Jaswal incorporates in this book. We don’t just see the monolithic experiences of domestic workers, but are immersed in the contrasting lifestyles of Cora, Donita, and Angel and their employers. Specifically, Cora and Donita’s circumstances occupy polar opposites of a spectrum, as Angel’s circumstances lie in between. While Ma’am Elizabeth treats Cora as a companion and Donita is treated as a servant and is taken advantage of, Angel’s experiences are right in the middle–she is neither treated as a companion nor a servant. Though Mr. Vijay is a person with a disability, he enjoys Angel’s company. On the other hand, his son, Raja, objectifies Angel and treats her passive-aggressively. Raja’s decision to hire a new nurse makes Angel feel frustrated and defeated; she believes that Raja’s decision is meant to undermine her skills. While feeling satisfied with her work as an all-around caregiver for Mr. Vijay, the same could not be said regarding Raja’s treatment of Angel.
I would be underserving Jaswal and this book if I did not discuss the female employers and characters that significantly impact these three Filipina women. While some women protect the rights and safety of other women, such as Ma’am Elizabeth and Nurul, we have other women who use their socioeconomic status to bring down other women, such as Mrs. Fann and one of Ma’am Elizabeth’s daughters who provoked Cora in revealing the secrets she holds. What I appreciated about Jaswal’s choices of these characters is how some women take advantage of their status and see others as submissive and compliant, especially women of different socioeconomic classes.
Based on the true story of a Filipina domestic worker named Flor Contemplacion, who was convicted of murdering a fellow Filipina domestic worker and a three-year-old boy, Jaswal covers a story that needs to be unveiled to the world. Reading this book as a Filipina unraveled many emotions, including anger and frustration. The four women mentioned in the book could be family members, friends, or neighbors. They were more than characters in a book—they were real people I knew. When you look up news and journal articles, Filipina domestic workers are labeled modern-day heroes. If you take a second and read these articles, these women are seen as such because OFWs contribute heavily to the Philippine economy. The idea that money equates to heroism is quite unsettling as these women are mistreated and sacrifice their lives to elevate their families’ financial burdens back in the Philippines, while they lack protection in these foreign countries—as we see in Jaswal’s novel.
While reading this book as a Filipina, I questioned why a non-Filipina Punjabi author was writing about the experiences of Filipinas. Jaswal lived in Singapore, a country with abundant cultural pluralism, and she lived in the Philippines for some time. In her acknowledgments, she also talked about how she interviewed domestic workers and their experiences, which is an aspect that inspired her to write this book. I understand that Jaswal’s writing generally focuses on the experiences of women. Still, I couldn’t help but think of how this space of writing and narrative could be written by a Filipina domestic worker and aspiring writer.
Now You See Us is a slow-burn book that connects readers to the challenges and forcefully tedious lives that domestic workers experience. To these domestic workers, weekdays are painfully slow and repetitive, but Sundays are too quick and provide a savoring adventure that lasts an eternity. Within the pages of Jaswal’s book, we feel and walk with the characters, including their pain and laughter. Ultimately, Jaswal reveals the truth and mistreatment of domestic workers in countries such as Singapore while celebrating the strengths women can bring together. It’s time for the world to see the realities of being a domestic worker and to un-domesticate the domesticated.
Now You See Us is available from Astoria Bookshop, Book Soup, Bookshop, Magers & Quinn Booksellers, Trident Booksellers & Cafe, and Unabridged Bookstore.
Akira Park (she/her/siya) is an undergraduate English Education student at Washington State University. She conducts research on the representation of Asian American narratives in young adult literature and education, frequently advocating for the needed representation of Asian Americans in both disciplines. You can check her website at akirapark.carrd.co and follow her on Instagram @akirapbooks.