THINK of it as the latest in cross cultural exchange. While Filipino and Indonesian maids are a common sight in Singapore, a rising number now come from countries like Thailand, India and Myanmar.

These nationalities now account for about 6 per cent of the total figure of 170,000 domestic workers here. But agencies say the statistic is set to rise as Singaporean employers cotton on to the trend.

Employers cite sweeter temperaments and better behaviour as the reasons behind the trend.

Most agencies say that Singaporeans usually seek other nationalities after having had unpleasant experiences with maids from traditional sources.

Under Ministry of Manpower guidelines, maids can be hired from Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar and Thailand.

Among maids from newer sources, the Myanmarese are especially popular as there is a perception that they are more conservative.

Ms Kwang Fend Fang, owner of United Channel Employment Agency which handles only Myanmarese maids, started her business about two years ago.

A Myanmarese Chinese who married a Singaporean and came over here in 2003, she has brought in about 200 maids so far.

'From employer feedback, the problems of Myanmarese maids are less complicated,' she says.

Ms Jenz Shen, manager at JenzCarson Employment which will see its first batch of Myanmarese maids coming in this year, adds: 'I have employers who only want Myanmarese maids and won't accept anyone else.'

Ms Virginia Cheng, 47, a bakery owner, has had three Indonesian maids but decided to hire a Myanmarese because she heard from friends that they are more polite and responsible.

Some Thai women are also coming here as maids.

Ms Rabir Muir, 42, a trainer in the retail industry, says: 'I wanted a Thai maid because a friend of mine had one and she was very good.'

Language is not as big a hurdle as one might think.

Ms Cheng says: 'It's just their English pronunciation and accent that is different.'

Her Myanmarese maid actually has a dictionary which she turns to for help in translating words to her employer. Both parties took about two months adjusting to communication.

Ms Muir adds that her Thai maid also picks up English from her two children.

Myanmarese maids who are university graduates can read and understand English even if they don't speak it well, say agencies.

Ms Mae Yap, owner of Anson Mae Manpower Services which specialises in North Indian Christian maids, adds that the women from her agency speak fluent English and read it too.

She started bringing them in three years ago, mainly for Indian employers, but says that non-Indian families now request for them as they can speak English and are more traditional.

Agencies say the average monthly salary for maids is $300, with wages depending on educational levels.

As for cultural differences, agencies say the situation is similar to when the Filipinos and Indonesians first arrived: It is only a matter of both sides adapting to each other.

Ms Kwang says the problems her Myanmarese maids face are mainly to do with food.

She adds: 'I always tell employers to be patient with their maids. After the first three months, things should pick up.'

Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), a non-profit organisation concerned with the welfare of migrant workers, feels that maids from non-traditional sources are more vulnerable to being exploited because they do not have as large a community to fall back on.

But with some agencies like United Channel and Anson Mae venturing into such markets, a TWC2 spokesman adds: 'I would not be surprised to see their population increasing in future.'

Nang Kham Kyein, 23, from Myanmar

BABY STEPS: Myanmarese maid Nang Kham Kyein holds her employer's seven-month-old son Wong Kang Yu.

Five times more pay than back home

MS NANG Kham Kyein, a soft-spoken high school graduate from Shan state, has been working here for 21/2 months.

Her employer Ms Ringo Teo, a 32-year-old civil servant, has a household of six. Looking at the ease with which Ms Nang cradles her employer's seven-month-old baby, one would think she is a mother herself.

'At home, I take care of my sister's baby,' she explains in her limited English. Her father is a farmer and her mother a housewife. She also has two sisters and a brother back in Myanmar.

With the recent political upheavals in her home country, she cherishes her opportunity to work overseas. She is allowed to call home to check on her family.

Ms Teo says of her maid: 'She's reliable and hardworking. Language-wise she will pick up gradually, so no problem.'

Ms Nang's reason for coming here is simple.

'I want to earn money for my family,' she says. She can earn about five times more here than what she used to get for her job as a housekeeper in Myanmar.

Recruited through training centres that the agency has in Myanmar, she says she is 'very happy' here. Her only problem - dishes which are too spicy and having to eat noodles.

Suphat Thiab-An, 40, from Thailand

'I will miss the children because I watched them grow up... see how, maybe I will come back' - Ms Suphat Thiab-An, who plans to go back to Thailand in 11/2 years' time

17 years in Singapore

MS SUPHAT Thiab-An has been working in Singapore for 17 years, 10 of them with her current employer, a financial advisor.

She is one of the few Thai maids here. Their numbers are small because most of them can earn just as much in their own cities, say agencies.

She is close to her employers' two children who are aged nine and 10.

To improve her language skills, she took up a two-hour English course every Sunday for about seven months last year.

But she says that English is not the only language she has picked up here.

'My first employer's Ah Ma (grandmother) speaks Mandarin so I listen and learn,' she explains.

On her Sundays off, she meets fellow Thai maids for picnics, or they hang out at Golden Mile complex in Beach Road.

She studied up to the equivalent of Primary 6 and came to work in Singapore after hearing about her friends' work experiences here. She stayed because she likes her Singaporean employers.

Still single, she is hoping to go back to Thailand, perhaps for good, in 11/2 years' time. She confides: 'I will miss the children because I watched them grow up.'

As if this realisation has sparked a sudden change of heart, she stops, then adds: 'See how, maybe I will come back.'