Millenia Cleaning Lad Anyone?

A 23-year-old who juggles studies and a job... and one as a cleaner at that? Yes, she exists.

- Jasmine Teo

WHO SHE IS: Camille Yi, 23, NUS social work undergrad and part-time cleaner. She’s one of more than 250 freelance cleaners with Helpling (www.helpling.com.sg), the Uber of cleaning services. For the past seven months, the daughter of a 51-year-old engineer has been spending about two days a week cleaning homes for $16 an hour as a sideline job. “I have helped out with the chores at home for as long as I can remember,” says Camille, who plans on spending the extra cash on a trip to Tokyo with her friends this year, and a graduation trip after she wraps up her studies next April, before she looks for a full-time job in social work.

8 DAYS: Why did you decide to become a freelance cleaner? Other students do part-time jobs like tuition or waitressing.

CAMILLE YI: I’ve given tuition before, but I had too many students so I decided to drop some of them. I still currently have one tuition student. When you’re teaching, you really need [utmost] focus for two hours, and it can get quite tiring, especially after a day at school. So I thought I’d do something where I can move around, like being a banquet waiter, which I’ve tried. These other jobs were either too tiring or [took up too much time]. Since this job is flexible with hours — each slot is usually three-and-a-half hours — I thought I’d give it a shot. My work schedule has to accommodate my school timetable, so it doesn't really affect my studies.