NOTE: A Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) levy of $265 (normal) or $170 (concession) is payable every month. Levy charges begin one day after the FDW arrives in Singapore. For first-time FDWs, the levy will begin on the fourth day of the worker's arrival (excluding the day of arrival). From Ministry of Manpower website.

THE sheets will go unwashed and the floors unscrubbed -- unless Singapore convinces its 170,000 foreign maids to stay on.

Maid agencies in the city state fear an exodus, as offers of twice the pay and a compulsory day off lure its maids overseas, the local Straits Times newspaper said on Monday.

The island's supply of maids from Indonesia is "very, very low" the manager of a maid agency told the paper, as domestic workers increasingly pick and choose between employers.

Competition with other centres may mean Singapore loses out.

"They use Singapore as a stepping stone before going to Hong Kong and Taiwan," Peter Low, director of Swift Arrows Maid agency said.

"They also try to pick up some Chinese here to aid them in the future."

Low pay and the lack of days off are major factors, the paper said.

Indonesian and Sri Lankan maids are paid S$280 a month in Singapore, and Filipinas up to S$350 .

That is less than half what they can earn in Hong Kong and Taiwan, where employers pay $506 and $550 respectively.

"The pay is double and I get time off every week and also on public holidays," said a 31-year old domestic worker, surnamed Magallon, who told the paper she was planning to relocate to Hong Kong when her Singapore contract expires.

The small island's mandatory entry test on hygiene and housework, which is in English, and its minimum age of 23, have also reduced inflow, the 20 maid agencies surveyed by the Straits Times said.

To cope with shortages, some agencies are hiring maids from Myanmar, who are paid up to S$320 a month -- an amount that is still about ten times less than the average wage of about S$3773 according to Ministry of Manpower statistics for 2007.

The affluent Southeast Asian city state is one of the world's top employers of maids.

Female domestic workers have been recruited into Singapore since 1978, under a scheme aimed at offsetting domestic upheaval as more women entered the workforce.

Currently about one in six households has a domestic worker to cook, clean and care for children or elderly relatives, with richer families sometimes employing two maids.

Most live in with their employers.

Unlike Hong Kong, where domestic workers are covered by mainstream labour laws and receive a weekly rest day and other benefits, Singapore's government has shied away from legislating for a mandatory day off for foreign maids.

In September 2006, it introduced new employment contracts that require maids to either get one day off a week or be paid in lieu through mutual agreement.

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