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Helping the Helpers: Understanding Family Storytelling by Domestic Helpers in Singapore

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Mobile Communication and the Family

Abstract

The recording and sharing of family stories remains an important aspect of what it means to be a “family”. Existing research has shown that such stories help family members maintain close bonds. Additionally, the sharing of personal experiences can help family members create and present individual and family identities. Traditionally, these stories are shared face-to-face. However, for a variety of reasons, more families are geographically distributed. While there has been extensive research into how migrant workers make use of ICTs for social support or interpersonal communication, there remains a gap in understanding how these workers use ICTs specifically for family storytelling. To address this, we conducted two rounds of ethnographic interviews with 25 Filipino domestic helpers in Singapore. At the same time, we sought to examine the types of stories these women currently share. As such, we deployed cultural probe packs which consisted of a disposable camera and writing materials. The interview findings show that factors such as cost or limited access to technology resulted in fewer opportunities for family storytelling. In addition, interviewees also described themselves to have “nothing interesting to share” and that they were “unable to do more” in terms of sharing their experiences with their families back home. Interestingly, the cultural probe findings suggest that this perception may not always be accurate, as evidenced by how the participants were able to reflect upon their daily lives and record numerous personal experiences using the probes.

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Acknowledgments

This research is supported by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore, under its International Research Centre @ Singapore Funding Initiative and administered by the Interactive & Digital Media Programme Office.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Kakit Cheong & Alex Mitchell

Authors
  1. Kakit Cheong
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  2. Alex Mitchell
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kakit Cheong .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Communications and New Medi, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Sun Sun Lim

Appendix: Profile of Interviewees

Appendix: Profile of Interviewees

Name

Age

Marital status

No. of children/age

Technologies used

Time spent overseas

Participant 1

24

Single

None

Mobile phone, email

3 months

Participant 2

34

Married

2 (12, 8)

Mobile phone, Facebook

5 years

Participant 3

34

Separated

1 (13)

Mobile phone, Facebook

1 year

Participant 4

39

Married

2 (10, 8)

Mobile phone, Skype, Facebook

9 years

Participant 5

37

Single

None

Mobile phone, Facebook

4 years

Participant 6

46

Single

None

Mobile phone

22 years

Participant 7

36

Married

3 (12, 11, 9)

Mobile phone, Facebook

3 years

Participant 8

28

Married

1 (8)

Mobile phone, Skype, Facebook

2 years

Participant 9

42

Married

3 (11, 10, 8)

Mobile phone, Facebook

3 years

Participant 10

30

Single

None

Mobile phone, email, Facebook

4 years

Participant 11

29

Married

1 (12)

Mobile phone, Facebook

2 years

Participant 12

30

Single

None

Mobile phone

6 years

Participant 13

31

Married

2 (10, 2)

Mobile phone, Skype, WeChat

2 years

Participant 14

46

Married

None

Mobile phone

8 years

Participant 15

30

Single

None

Mobile phone

6 years

Participant 16

31

Mother

2 (11, 8)

Mobile phone, Facebook

2 years

Participant 17

38

Mother

2 (9, 11)

Mobile phone, Facebook, WeChat

4 years

Participant 18

32

Mother

1 (6)

Mobile phone

5 years

Participant 19

32

Mother

1 (12)

Mobile phone

2 years

Participant 20

28

Single

None

Mobile phone, Facebook

1 year

Participant 21

29

Single

None

Mobile phone, WeChat, Facebook

4 years

Participant 22

27

Single

None

Mobile phone, Facebook

2 years

Participant 23

31

Single

None

Mobile phone, Facebook

2 years

Participant 24

27

Single

None

Mobile phone, WeChat, Facebook

1 year

Participant 25

36

Mother

2 (16, 11)

Mobile phone, Facebook

7 years

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Cheong, K., Mitchell, A. (2016). Helping the Helpers: Understanding Family Storytelling by Domestic Helpers in Singapore. In: Lim, S. (eds) Mobile Communication and the Family. Mobile Communication in Asia: Local Insights, Global Implications. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7441-3_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7441-3_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-017-7439-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-7441-3

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