Mercy Dela Cruz
“I left my three children to care for someone else's. People call this sacrifice. I call it love — stretched across 3,000 kilometers.”
Meet Mercy. She's 42, and for 8 years she's been a domestic helper in Singapore. She's up at 5:30am to make the family's breakfast, then cleans, cooks and cares for the elderly grandmother; the children call her 'Ate Mercy' — older sister. Eighty percent of her salary goes home to her husband and children in Batangas, and her eldest daughter is at university now, studying nursing. Every Sunday after Mass at the Filipino chaplaincy she video-calls them all. She's learned to make chicken rice — almost as good as adobo, she'll allow, almost. On her day off she meets other Filipinas at Lucky Plaza, their 'Little Manila', to trade stories and remittances and dreams; hers is a small sari-sari store back home. Her sacrifice, she says, isn't weakness — it's the strongest thing she's ever done.
- Years in Singapore
- 8 years
- Sends home
- 80% of salary
- Family
- Husband, 3 children in Batangas
- Dream
- Open a sari-sari store back home
“Migrant workers come to Singapore just for money and don't contribute to society.”
Singapore has over 300,000 migrant domestic workers who care for elderly, children, and households — work that enables Singapore's economy to function. Beyond economic contribution, they build communities, share cultures, and become part of the social fabric. Many become surrogate family members. A 2018 study estimated that Singapore's migrant domestic workers contributed about S$11.1 billion — roughly 2.4% of GDP — while sending remittances that support entire communities in their home countries.
SourceMinistry of Manpower Singapore (foreign workforce numbers); Experian/HOME study (2018).
When you see a migrant worker, do you see them as a worker or as a person?
That's a natural tendency — to see function over humanity. But Mercy's story reminds us that every worker has a family, dreams, and a life beyond their job. They're not just 'helpers' — they're people.
Good. Now ask yourself: how many people do you interact with daily whose full humanity you don't see? What would change if you did?
Mercy left her children to care for someone else's family. She calls it love stretched across 3,000 kilometers. What sacrifices in your life — visible or invisible — are acts of love?
You do not need to answer. Notice what feels familiar, what remains unfamiliar, and where your own experience differs.
Understanding does not require agreement. Sometimes paying closer attention is enough for today.
Learn a migrant worker's name
Today, learn the name of a migrant worker you interact with — your helper, a delivery person, a cleaner. Ask about their day. See them as a person, not just a function.
Note an act of kindness — today’s or your own. This stays on your device only; nothing is uploaded or counted publicly.
Mercy is one life here, not the whole of Singapore. Meet the others.
“The greatest sacrifice is not what we give, but how we give it — with love.”
Filipino proverb