KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

Here is my story:
My first indo helper renewed her contract (previous being $360, no off day) with me late last july, agreeing to below terms:
$480 per month
No off day
One month pay at completion of 2 year contract
Can only use handphone at night when she retires to her own room 930pm or earlier. She wakes up ard 630 am.

I am a SAHM and mostly at home with two young kids, hoping to go back to work this year after a break of almost 5 years.
My mil does the heavy marketing for us once a week and i personally do the occasional top ups needed, sometimes the helper tags along.
Usually brings the helper out with us ard 6 times a mth for famliy outings.

I am providing all her necessities and her only big ticket expense which she pays for are her phone cards which averages abt $60 per mth and misc snacks.
She came back fr home leave in mid aug and in Oct requested for advance of 6 mths pay to send home on 1 Nov, i was not very comfy abt that at first but gave in partly cos i did not want to strain the relationship and also to help her quickly settle her loan back home.
Then in Dec, she asked for a day off to go out with friends, i assume she got to know during the flt, this i did not give in as i felt it was too soon to be breaking the terms of the contract, also it came right after advance given. i gave her a piece of my mind and told her very sternly she shld strictly follow our agreed contract.
In jan 2013, she again asked to go out in feb cos she suddenly has a sister working in sg that she only found out recently ( which i found a bit suspicious). She seemed so desperate to go out with this "sister" and even offered to have her pay deducted and make it sound as tho i must agree to that just because she is "paying" for it! I asked her if she felt shameful for she should at least wait until she cleared off the advance pay i have given ( she still owed me almost $1k as of end jan), before making any further demands contrary to our contract, i also told her where is is gonna get $$ to spend during her off day in feb and she said this one never mind cos her" sister" will help her.......but again i eventually gave in as not to strain the relationship and allowed her 1 off day only in mar and then starting from this aug every mth one off day, all without offsetting her pay cos i did not want her to later claim that i am paying less than agreed contract.....
Then just today, she suddenly got a call on my house phone in the late morning, when i qns her who it was, she said that her sister is coming to my place to pass her a hp( cos my helper left my old nokia one i gave her during her 1st ctt back in indo and brought over her more user friendly one which kaput in less than 6 mths). I told her sternly that she should have the courtesy to tell me before hand abt tis visit and that her sis cannot come up to my plce just like that, she became very defensive and accused me of being harsh on her just becos she owed me $$$$! I was shocked by her rebuttal and crying as she even asked me exactly how much she owed and sounded like she may wanna terminate her contract once this loan is settled! I cut short her and rebuked her for not showing respect to me as a employer and that i am the one being stepped on instead giving in to her recent countless demands! After my nagging, she seem to back off abt her being stepped on and later came back with a old samsung smartphone and a big bag of biscuits from her"sister" which she met up downstairs?

Advice i need from any kind soul not yet bored to death by my grandmother story is:
Is there any point of retaining her for the sake of saving agency fees and the hassle of retraining a new maid?
Overall, she is ok with my kids but hsework kinda slow,can cook simple chinese meals and attitude at most times ok but hates to apologies when she is clearly in the wrong.
she is very talkative and makes personal demands very often esply in the new contract.
What wld u do in my situation?

Frankly now a fresh maid is $450 + weekly off. So u have to weight to pro and con.

If I were you, I will not keep this maid.
She is not trustworthy...but to send her off means the amount you lent her is gone. Really heartache.

Ask yourself this "can u still trust her?". The answer should help u make the decision.

peapot wrote:Ask yourself this "can u still trust her?". The answer should help u make the decision.

as a SAHM, you are at home with the kids now...but can you trust her with your kids when you return to the workforce ?

I would suggest that you keep her at least until she has paid back what she owes you. If you are at SAHM now you can keep a close eye on her. Once the money is paid back you can review how she has behaved and make a decision. If you are going back to work you really need to trust her 100% and if you don't then it is better to let her go. You might want to talk to her at that stage and say that you have been disappointed with her behaviour but want to give her a chance....keep her on her toes. If she wants to leave then you will be able to tell from that conversation and can start looking for a replacement.

Thanks all for the fast responseof advice!
I am a relatively trusting person who easily gives others a benefit of doubt but after the recent abuses i have been subjected to, its hard for me to not be skeptical abt what she says nowadays, which explains my more stern tone when talking to her compare to previous contract where i am more easy going with her...
Indeed the $$$ is heartache if to terminate her immediately, probly i will endure until its settled sometime in apr.
then again today she seems like nothing happened yesterday an working normally, but i very scared she drop another "bomb" of requests later on....like she usually does in the past.
If i decide to ask her to return home this apr....i supposed its best to give the shortest notice lest she does something funny in the interim.... Btw, do you know any good agents that provides reliable help on such matters?