By Scarlet Un

Her short and brownish colored body, walking around the furniture shop everyday, sweating and smiling …

A single mother with short trousers and blue slippers everyday, nobody seems to notice when she is walking by. In our dictionary, her name is called “foreign housemaid" or “bun bun" from the Philippines; however, in her world, she’s Manda Sunsan Poau.

She has spent most of her life serving a family since 1999, the family which owns a furniture shop in Macao. She has experienced the weal and woe of the family, the irony is, once she was rich in the Philippines.

“I was the owner of a mobile phone shop in the Philippines, which was quite famous and well-developed during that time, until my husband died,"
Poau says. “My husband became an alcoholic when we had our third child, my entire life collapsed."

Her first marriage at the age of 15, after the sudden tragedy, she left her three children, carrying her dream and every piece of effort to Macao and started her new life. Throughout these years, she took care of everything in the family, not only just the daily activities, but also the business chores. Unless a huge transaction was involved, otherwise she was trusted with a certain amount of money, she rushed to every bank whenever she had to, whether under a strong wind or the cruel sun. After finishing all these important jobs, she changes back to a pass-by and another “mother" of the family: by the time the first new life of the family was born.

“Taking care of children is my favorite job! It reminds me of my three lovely kids. I miss them so much. I have no choice, I have to earn as much money as I can. Everyday when I feed the baby, I will regard the baby as my child," Poau says.

One of her works everyday is to help to call out all the staff in the company, so that they can enjoy the meal on time when it is ready, but nobody seems to pay attention to her, just go and eat whenever they want, she’s used to it. The second new born baby of the family gains her the power to face the difficulty of her life, as the birth day of the baby is the same as her second son.

“We (the Filipinos) are often ignored by local residents and society, and even in the Philippines, our life is harsh. But my mum is just like a master and a superhero, I’m so proud of her strong spirit!" says Jay Coller Neian, one of Poau ‘s children who came to work in Macao a year ago. He is a great encouragement for Poau.

She cares little about the obliviousness by the local people, but still she is full of passion in her living. Going to the market, delivering documents and taking care of the babies are her daily routine and she seems content with this kind of life. Those actions are also important to help either her or the host family, as the increase of salary adjustment will be affected by her performance.

“I’m beautiful! I want to be a wife for a second time!" Poau shouts, while she is thinking of her new boyfriend.