SHE is a domestic maid here but her house in Sri Lanka is twice as big as her employer's double-storey terrace house in Serangoon Gardens.

Mrs Indrika Kusum Suriyabandara, 44, earned enough money here to buy a piece of land in her hometown of Kandy and build a spacious house.

She achieved that from 13 years of working here, saving just about every cent for her family back home.

She said: 'Everything I do, I do it for my children. I'm always thinking about what is best for them.'

Mrs Indrika has three daughters and a son, aged between 19 and 22.

When she first arrived here in 1994, she was paid $160 a month. Back home, she would have earned less than $100 if she had worked as a kindergarten teacher, which she is qualified to do.

She saved up her salary for the first two years. When she started sending money home after that, she kept just $10 for herself each month.

Nowadays, she earns $500 a month and remits $400.

The money has gone towards paying her children's school fees and tuition fees for their O and A Level subjects, as well as household expenses.

Her husband earns about $200 a month as a taxi driver.

Mrs Indrika also supports her mother.

And there were times when the money simply was not enough for her family.

'My husband had to find a way to earn extra money because I don't like the idea of borrowing money for daily expenses,' she said.

In 2002, when her children were quite grown up, she began toying with the idea of buying her own property.

'My family had always been living in my parents' house and the place was overcrowded when my other relatives came over,' said Mrs Indrika.

So she got her daughter to look for a piece of land and to hire an architect.

Mrs Indrika paid about $5,000 for the land, which is roughly 354 sq m or the size of about three HDB five-room flats.

The first level of the house, which has four bedrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen and two bathrooms, was built at a cost of $30,000.

There is also a small garden.

GRAND PLANS

She plans to add a second storey, which could cost $20,000, when she has enough money.

Unfortunately, the last time Mrs Indrika went back to Sri Lanka was more than four years ago, so she hasn't even seen her dream house.

But she has grand plans for it.

'When my children have their own families, they can stay with me. And if they don't, I can always rent out a few rooms and earn some money.'

Mrs Indrika said she managed to finance the project because in addition to her salary, her employer Madam Helene Ong, 66, rewards her with bonuses of up to $400 on special occasions and her birthday.

She rarely goes out and her biggest expenditure is on phone cards to call home once every two days. It costs her $25 a month. She doesn't own a handphone.

In all her years here, she has flown home only three times.

She said: 'I'm sad that I don't get to see my children, so I make sure I talk to them often.

'If I hadn't come here to work, I wouldn't have been able to give them the life that they have now.'

Mrs Indrika said that originally, she wanted to work in Saudi Arabia.

But her cousin, who was working a few doors away from Madam Ong, recommended Mrs Indrika to her.

Madam Ong has been her only employer. Since Madam Ong's two sons married and moved out, it's just been the two of them.

Said Madam Ong: 'It is very good that she has an investment back home, something to show for for all her hard work.'

Mrs Indrika is looking forward to going home this year to see her new house. Recently, someone even offered to buy it for almost $80,000.

'I feel very proud, but I won't sell now. I might consider when I'm older and need the money,' she said.

This article was first published by The New Paper on Jan 21, 2008.

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