- Foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in Singapore have lately taken to pawning gold jewellery bought on instalment plans with zero upfront payment
- This helps them obtain much-needed cash, but high interest rates charged by jewellery shops often mean workers cannot repay monies owed and end up in debt
- Some FDWs also borrow from both legal and illegal moneylenders, with maid agencies and charities saying they have seen a rise in cases of maids taking loans and getting into debts
- FDWs interviewed by TODAY said that familial pressures on them to send a big portion of their salaries home, coupled with the occasional family emergency, often force them to borrow money
- FDWs, employers, maid agencies, charities and MPs whom TODAY spoke to offered various suggestions on how to better address the longstanding problem
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