How to Keep a good helper: be generous with food, especially rice

When I arrived in Hong Kong in 1988 one of the first greetings I learned was ¨Sik faan mei a?” 你食咗飯未呀. It sounded so strange to my Western ears, because I grew up in a place where there was (in my lifetime) was always plenty to eat. I didn’t know much about the history of China or the famines that sometimes ravaged the land. When I understood the context I began to appreciate what a warm caring greeting this was. If a friend asked me “Sik faan mei?” and I said “not yet” - they would invite me to eat! In the West people don’t show this kind of practical care because our “How are you?” is almost always answered with “I’m fine, thanks”.

Filipinos like Chinese are also very concerned about whether someone has eaten yet. No matter how poor they are they will do everything they can to make sure you eat a lot of yummy food. And unlike HK people, Filipinos eat a LOT of rice. They eat rice with every meal. Their fast food shops serve whatever (chicken, burger, etc.) with a side of rice. Their engines run on rice.

One of the main reasons some helpers quit their jobs is because they are hungry for rice. They feel “hungry”! They may be getting enough calories, but they feel hungry because they are not eating rice. They can easily eat rice for every meal with a smattering of meat and veggies.

TIP # 1: How to keep your helper: Buy them a rice cooker (or give them the keys to your rice cooker) and an 8 kg sack of rice every month to supplement their diet.

This is a very small investment to help protect the larger investment you made with agency fees, air tickets, quarantine rooms, etc.

At Arrow our goal is to Help You Find and Keep a Good Helper. If you would like to know more drop us a note or leave us a comment.