Posted by
kilwinning
16 yrs ago
We recently moved to clearwater bay in the NT. My helper's church is in Wanchai and her Sunday service starts at 6am. For the last 3 months, we've been letting her stay Saturday & Sunday nights at the church so she can attend the 6am Sunday service. However, baby #2 is due in 4 weeks & my husband is often gone nights, including Saturday nights, so I now need her to be in the house just in case I go into labour (I have a 2 yr old). We will also need her to sleep here at nights the first few weeks after the baby is born. However, we are finding that there is no public transport that starts at 5am here, it seems impossible to book a taxi ahead of time and there are no taxis available when we call at 5am on the day of. What to do? I'm worried that she will quit if she can't get to her Sunday church service (she is very "devoted"). She has to go to the early service b/c it's a special service that only more experienced members of the congregation can attend...If anyone reads this and is from Clearwater Bay/ Sai Kung, do you have the phone number for a red taxi that we can book the night before? Any other suggestions welcome. Thanks!
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I did ask her and she said no and that there aren't any christian churches at all in Sai Kung. I took her word for it...
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FKKC
16 yrs ago
I think there is as my helper went there with some friends a few months' back. I'll ask her tomorrow and let you know.
This is the reply: My helper went to Sai Kung to a friend's B-day party after going to a church near that district and she's not sure where the location of the church is. Sorry - not able to help.
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i don't even live in cwb and yet i even i know of churches there.
this isn't a case of religious persecution...your baby is due at any time and you are making a reasonable request.
it sounds like quite a specific church, i am not so familiar with religions that hold services according to "experience"!!!
good luck and i hope your baby arrives safely and on a convenient day.
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What she does on her free time is her business, but conversely working hours need to be respected. It is not really your problem if her church has service only at 0600.
Compare with a "normal" job. Your boss would want you to be there during working hours regardless of free time activity scheduling.
If she quits, she quits. You can onloy accommodate so much.
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That's true axptguy but the same token a helper is not on 24 hour call so should be able to finish at her normal time Saturday night after the days work then be free until Monday morning normal start time. If you require your helper to be around you can ask but she can also say no if it is her free time. I assume this is why Kilwinning is trying to work out a way for both parties to be happy.
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i'll ask her what church she belongs to when she gets back from errands. She has certain ideas I think of who is christian/ not christian so maybe that's what she meant when she said there are no "christian" churches in SK- she is a bit of a goody too shoes, but I guess that's one of the reasons I hired her! I only require that she be here at nights before the baby is born in case I go into labour and my husband is gone. I will need someone to look after my 2 year old. To me, the 6am service sounds like a time when the "keepers" (she's one of them) of the church have some sort of special service - she calls it a thanksgiving. They probably do special bible readings and sort out administrative stuff. I'm starting to think that she's just going to have to go to the later services until things settle down in the house. Otherwise, she's free to choose to church over her job if so be it!
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cd
16 yrs ago
Does she have a mobile phone. Surely if you go into labour in the night and your husband is away, its not going to take her more than 45 mins to get back to your place if she jumps in a cab. So she can still stay at the church, but only if she keeps her phone switched on and close to her at night.
Theres definately churches in Sai Kung. Don't know the names. but a very popular one with DH is by Pepperonis.
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Let's look at this from a different perspective.
Religion aside, the job requires that she be available when you deliver your no. 2. hence it is her responsibility to be available. Whatever she does on her day off is her business and her personal business should not get into the way of her responsibilities.
however, your post states that you would rather find a solution for her to attend to her personal business/committments rather than hiring a new person who can fulfill the responsibilities you require
so either you find her a church nearby, let her go after her duties on Saturday say at 8 pm, or hire private transpo (not taxi) every sunday to bring her to her church.
i do not understand though is why she needs to sleep at the church on sunday nite too when the service is at 6 am.
my two cents.
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In fairness Wiz bang i doubt her job description says she needs to be at home all the time in case her employer goes into labour.It seems to be the common way people think of helpers as 24 our help should the employer need them for any reason and that's just not fair or right. I agree that most people would accommodate this in a good relationship but our helpers are entitled to there own lives and as parents we should also be inconvenienced by our choices not just our helpers. Just out of interest what would happen on a Sunday if your helper was on her day off and in town?
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Ok, so the church is called "Jesus Christ, the Living Gospel". Anyone know if it has a branch in Sai Kung? If we wanted to arrange a private pickup at 5am on a Sunday morning for her from our house to the closest MTR station, does someone have a phone number of someone who does this?
As for recent posts, my helper is not at our beck and call 24/7- she's been paid full time, but worked less than full time for the past 1.5 years and since we moved out here, we've let her stay at the church Saturday and Sunday night (Sat night b/c of church, Sunday night so she isn't walking home at night in the dark- she wouldn't come home until 10:30-11pm). In the almost 2 yrs she has worked for us, I only just last week asked her to work on a Sunday and take another day off so she could help with my toddler's birthday party. I would be happy to have her go at night and be available by phone if something happened but my helper often forgets to 1) charge her phone 2) have credit on it to receive calls 3) she doesn't have voice mail either. So, it's a bit risky to leave it to chance to reach her by phone. Anyway, if anyone has any answers to my first 2 questions, that's great. Otherwise, I'll sort this out one way or the other. I think I better close this thread before things get too confrontational- the DH topic can be an emotional one at times! Cheers.
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mob
16 yrs ago
She gets to Tsuen Kwan O hospital and catches the overnight bus into wan chai, if its easier for her to get to Choi Hung then she can get an overnight bus from there as well. If you wander around the KMB site you will find the bus details and times. The mini bus from sai kung goes through the night.
Plan B. She attend the early morning service by phone. She uses your house phone or your mobile (so you pay the bill) and participates by phone. Though not perfect she can sing along with all her mates, follow the readings and then turn up later for lunch.
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ovi
16 yrs ago
I come across few taxi driver who hand out his name card and told me that I can call him whenever I need him. Next time you ride a cab..ask the driver. Further, you can also try a van. The cost will not much different than a taxi.
Cheers
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thanks for the suggestions so far. the main issue is her getting from Clearwater Bay to TKO or Hang Hau. There doesn't seem to be any public transport running along Clearwater Bay road between the country park and any of the public transport interchanges before 6:20am. I'll try to get a "private" number for a taxi driver and see if she can book ahead. Cheers.
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kilwinning, I'm sending you a PM with number for taxi driver we use from CWB to airport etc.
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How's this for an idea? I know you're only new to the area but how about meeting some of your neighbors and making friends so that if you go into labour at 2am sunday, you can have your toddler 'sat' by a neighbor (or local trustworthy teenager) for the 10 or so hours it might take before your helper would be done with her church schedule and back to look after your eldest? If you can meet and chat with someone to let them know that you may at some point need them to come and do not much more than sleep on your sofa and then play with your toddler and you can pay them then you should be fine.
In any case, I hope your hubby is home and it happens on a tuesday so you have nothing to worry about!
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Just sent you a pm with some numbers for you.
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Thanks for all your replies. Our helper was flexible in the end- she just needed to know well in advance which Sunday we would need her to work so that she can hand off her church responsibilities to someone else. Part of the original problem was lack of communication- I mistook her downcast attitude for sulkiness, when she was actually just worried about her church responsibilities/ letting down her pastor. I am really impressed by her flexibility and hard work since baby #2 was born. We are now renewing her contract with some additional monetary benefits. So good ending all around!
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