Chris Hong, who runs two kindergartens-cum-daycare centres in Subang Jaya, said she and her staff looked after 40 to 50 children from 8am to 7pm daily.
The centres, which only cater for two-month-old babies to children aged six, provide lunch, homework coaching and other activities in the afternoon after the kindergarten session.
“There are even parents-to-be who register at the centre even when they are in the early stages of pregnancy.
“There is very high demand now and parents are looking for safe and trustable daycare centres,” said Hong, adding that she did not plan to set up more daycare centres as she wanted sufficient quality time with her three children.
A daycare centre operator on Penang island, who wanted to be known only as Sarah, said she and her partner were planning to set up two more centres on the mainland.
She added that she had received many enquiries for her services in Butterworth.
“We’re now working out the extra costs we have to bear for hiring more people and rental,” she said.
Technical services manager M. Manimaran felt that increasing the number of daycare centres was an effective alternative for the shortage of maids.
“After all, parents are looking for a safe and good daycare centre which can work around our working hours.
“The place I send my son to even provides transportation from his school to the centre.He gets proper meals and time to do some reading or his homework.
“We have no worries, even during the school holidays,” Manimaran said, adding that he received constant updates about the whereabouts and condition of his 10-year-old son from the daycare centre through WhatsApp.
Working mum Lim Lee, 46, said she would opt to send her child to a daycare centre and hire a part-time maid if her Indonesian maid could not multi-task.