In Singapore, the above term is used as a politically correct term to refer to maid. It is not that maid word not sound nice, but there are too many terms used by various languages that the government find it necessary to officially adopt a name to use for this purpose.
With the policy to have a good balance of quality workforce and to satisfy resource intensive requirement for certain sectors, Singapore has to control the number of maid allowed in the country.
The most obvious is the requirement of the employer to pay monthly levy. In most cases the levy is more than the maid's salary. Imagine how much more the maid would receive if there were no levy. Of course, it is not always straight-forward and the relationship is not always linear.
There is also a S$5000 deposit as guarantee that the maid does not run away and will return to the origin country after serving the stipulated period of work permit timing. The deposit is also used to make sure that the maid does not marry & have children while in Singapore.
Although it is not straight-forward, there are still many people who desired and aspired to come to Singapore as FDW.
