A High Rise Window Cleaner In Singapore Talks

Mr Voong says the hardest part of his job is dealing with picky, rich homeowners. He cleans with sponge wipes.

Maids made to clean high-rise windows? I'm aghast - This professional doesn't bat an eyelid when he has to scale skyscrapers. But he winces when he has to deal with picky, rich homeowners. "The hardest part about my job is not the heights," says soft-spoken Scott Voong with a wry laugh. "I'm not scared at all. But the smallest stain on the windows in a rich man's home and we'll get scolded," he explains. Mr Voong, 43, also reveals that he's had to learn how to tread softly around residential units. He's had complaints about "being too loud" before. "I've learnt to work quieter over the years."

Nonetheless, these are minor irritations in a job he really loves. "As a child, one of my favourite activities was climbing. I used to climb up bamboo poles, especially the ones you see at construction sites. I thought it was fun but my parents didn't think so," he says. When the Singaporean needed a new job a decade ago, he had no qualms joining a friend in the window-cleaning business. Today, he is among the small group of more than 30 professional window cleaners with Clearvisions Cleaning Solutions, which specialises in office and residential facade-cleaning.

His job, which has him scaling heights of up to 300m every day, is to make sure that a building's windows and facade are spotless. Mr Voong works with another colleague. Using sponge wipes, they start from the top of the building and work their way down in a gondola. "Not everyone can do the job," he says. "I once had one of the ground staffers, a grown man, break down and cry when he started going up in the gondola. He begged to be taken down to the ground," he says with a smile.

But safety comes first for this man, who is married but has no kids. Even for a quick wipe, a litany of safety checks kicks in - everything including safety belts, harnesses and gondolas have to undergo scrutiny before use. Which is why he is aghast at the thought of people sending their domestic workers out to clean their windows with nothing but a pail and a piece of cloth.

They held on for half an hour, the picture shows the three neighbours clinging on to the maid outside an 11th storey window in Woodlands. Starting immediately, foreign domestic workers (FDWs) will no longer be allowed to clean window exteriors, unless two safety conditions are met, announced the Ministry of Manpower.

Just last weekend, there was drama in Woodlands as three neighbours held on to a maid who had fallen out while hanging out the laundry. She survived. Nine maids have fallen and died so far this year. Five of them had been cleaning windows. The thought of sending people out without proper safety equipment vexes Mr Voong. "I have seen workers perched on windows or on ladders fixing Christmas decorations with the barest minimum of safety equipment," he says.

The reason he loves his job is that his company invests in safety and equipment. But he has had encounters of the strange kind. There are people who leap up and start snapping photos of him and the crew when they see them hanging outside their windows. "They just start whipping out their mobile phones and cameras. We just smile and continue doing our job," he says. Mr Voong feels happier up in the air than in more down-to-earth jobs. "The job is straightforward," he explains. "There is training involved and you stay safe by following the rules and safety instructions."

But if there is one pet peeve he has about the job, it's when he has to answer the call of nature. Being in that situation while on the gondola is especially difficult, he admits. "I hate it when I get the urge to go to the toilet when I'm stuck on the high floors," he says with a laugh. "I have to hold it in until I get down." 

Secrets of the trade

1. Always wear a smile on your face, even on a bad day. You never know when amused homeowners would whip out their cameras to take a snap of you cleaning their windows from inside their apartments.

2. Always be prepared. Carry your safety equipment with you in the car. You never know when you would be called to replace a colleague on a job.

3. Keep calm and be professional at all times. If you get into arguments, clients just might hold back on the payment.