By MELISSA HENG

SINGAPORE often prides itself on its progress, but the sad fact is that the same progressiveness isn't seen in its society.

I'll say this: Some Singaporeans aren't just ugly - they are downright terrible folks.

Last weekend, I was having breakfast with a friend at a market in a distinctly middle-class estate.

After we sat down, I noticed something disconcerting over at the next table.

A family of five was enjoying Teochew porridge. I counted at least six dishes on the table.

Every one of them was happily eating. Every one except a maid. The poor woman was left biting her nails and trying hard not to look at the food.

Abuse takes many forms.

We have come across reports of families mistreating their maids, often subjecting them to horrific physical abuse and humiliation.

Why do people like these insist on treating their maids like that?

In the case of the family I saw, an extra bowl of porridge would have cost only 50 cents - next to nothing, really, if you consider the price of a Louis Vuitton bag carried by one woman in the party.

We expect our maids to scrub and clean for at least eight hours a day. Surely that warrants a decent portion of hot food?

Singaporeans like to think that we subscribe to Confucian ethics.

But I seriously doubt Confucius would have sanctioned such abhorrent behaviour.

Something is definitely lacking in our upbringing if we can treat others as less than human without suffering an attack of conscience.

I don't aspire to be a crusader, but I will speak without fear or favour for those among us who should be treated as guests, but are instead subjected to ridicule, indignities and abuse.

For the thousands of domestic workers here, it would really be helpful if there was an official body which monitored their working conditions and guaranteed their well-being.

Why couldn't we have an agency, for example, under the aegis of the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS)?

After all, MCYS' mission is to build a "caring and active community" through fostering socially-responsible individuals.

The Ministry of Manpower would already have a list of maids and their employers' contact details.

It would be no stretch of the imagination for such an agency to then institute an operating procedure or protocol that ensures a maid's well-being.

For a start, all that is needed is a simple 15-minute session with each maid twice a year.

This could go a long way towards curbing maid abuse.

Knowing that there's an official body that their maids could rely on would make employers would think twice about subjecting them to abuse.

Melissa Heng is a practising journalist and lectures on journalism. She helms her own editorial firm, My Blue Ink.

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