S'pore Family's Helper Retires After 38 Years With Them; One Of Them Even Accompanied Her Home To Philippines

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A few days ago, Singapore content creator Chiara Ang shared an emotional video about preparing to say goodbye to her family's domestic helper Tessie, who was retiring after 38 years with them.

Well, the goodbye has now happened, and Chiara didn't simply send Auntie Tessie off at Changi.

Chiara told 8days,sg that she flew home to the Philippines with her and is spending six days there so the 64-year-old wouldn't have to make the emotional journey alone.

After 38 years together, we suppose a wave at the departure gate wasn't quite going to cut it.

Tessie's history with the family actually goes back even further than 38 years.

She first worked for Chiara's cousins for four years before moving over to Chiara's family to care for her grandmother.

She then stayed with Chiara's immediate family continuously for the next 38 years, never working for another household during that time.

Tessie helped raise Chiara, her older sister and their younger brother from birth.

"I have no remembrance of life before Auntie,” Chiara laughs.

And judging from Chiara's stories, Auntie's duties occasionally extended beyond the usual job scope.

When Chiara's mum hid snacks from her as a child, Tessie once discovered the secret stash while cleaning and tipped her off.

"Since that day I'd happily 'dive' into the curtain of clothes two arms in, pulling out snacks at random like it was a blind box," recalls Chiara.

Auntie also provided useful intel on her parents' whereabouts and whether they were in a bad mood.

Then there was the time a boy allegedly punched Chiara's younger brother at a playground, and Tessie shouted and chased after him.

The family had actually been preparing for Tessie's retirement for years.

They began appealing annually to extend Tessie's employment after she turned 60 and did so for another four years.

By then, Chiara's parents had retired too.

"The family felt it should also be time for Auntie to retire. I remembered we were so worried during her 60th birthday, and was thinking of everything to appeal," says Chiara.

Tessie was initially supposed to return home around her 64th birthday this year when her work permit expired.

Again, the family couldn't quite do it.

"We just couldn't bear for her to go, so we extended it till September to slowly prepare everyone's hearts, and Auntie's admin matters. Anyway, isn't it heartless to let someone go on their birthday too?” she asks.

Knowing the goodbye was finally coming, Chiara asked a friend with family overseas how she could make it hurt a little less.

The advice was simple: spend as much time with Tessie as possible so there would be nothing to regret.

So that's what Chiara did.

She dedicated her weekly off day to Auntie, taking her around Singapore and even teaching her how to swim.

The swimming lessons had a particularly sweet reason behind them.

Tessie kept telling Chiara that once they reached the Philippines, she wanted to take her swimming in the sea and river.

Except Tessie didn't actually know how to swim.

"So I thought it might be good to teach her so she can enjoy herself there too," says Chiara.

Especially fitting considering Auntie was the one who taught Chiara how to cycle when she was younger.

As the three siblings became working adults, their relationship with Tessie changed too.

Chiara compares it to how they now treat their retired parents: helping her with technology, bringing her out and using their "adult money" to buy her things she wouldn't splurge on herself.

They also began bringing her on more holidays.

Most recently, Chiara, her sister and Tessie went to Japan, a trip fully sponsored by her sister because they knew their remaining time together in Singapore was limited.

Her favourite family holiday, though?

Tasmania, because she got to walk alongside wombats and wallabies at Cradle Mountain.

Before Tessie left Singapore, Chiara and her siblings also tried to make sure she had what she needed for retirement.

They helped set up her bank account, got her a new phone, bought clothes and vitamins, arranged medical and dental check-ups and prepared gifts for her family back home.

But according to Chiara, the biggest preparation was emotional.

They wanted to help Tessie accept that her chapter in Singapore had ended and that it was time to retire and reunite with her family.

Tessie isn't married and doesn't have children of her own. Back in her hometown, however, her siblings and extended family live either beside one another or just a stone's throw away.

Her retirement plans are refreshingly simple: Spend time with her siblings, do some farm work and look after the animals.

Before she left, Chiara's family also prepared a scrapbook filled with handwritten notes, Polaroids and old family photos from when the siblings were children.

Chiara has written her own message inside, which she plans to give Auntie before she leaves the Philippines.

But perhaps the sweetest part of this whole story happened only after they reached the Philippines.

For months, Chiara and her siblings had been fussing over Tessie, making sure she'd be comfortable once she retired.

Then Chiara arrived at Auntie's home and realised Tessie had been doing exactly the same thing for her.

Knowing Chiara sleeps with air-conditioning every night in Singapore, Tessie asked her nephew to install an air-con in her room.

She arranged for a new heater and shower head because Chiara is used to having those at home.

She also bought a new S$600 dining table, repainted the walls and prepared home slippers, toilet paper, bottled water and serving spoons.

Tessie even asked her nephew to take a week off work so he could bring Chiara around all the "trendy tourist locations".

Looks like Auntie Tessie may have officially retired, but after 38 years of taking care of Chiara and her siblings, the love for them still stays.