SINGAPORE, April 29 — A film urging employers to give their domestic workers a day off every week has sparked heated debate in Singapore, The Straits Times reported.

The newspaper said that those who objected to the film entitled “Mums & Maids #giveadayoff” felt it portrayed mothers in a bad light, while others said it reflected the uncomfortable truth of some parents relying too much on their domestic workers to look after their children.

The two minute-long video features interviews with mothers, children and their domestic workers, and reveals that the domestic workers understand the children in their care better than their mothers.

The video is part of a campaign by Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving conditions for low-wage migrant workers in Singapore.

The campaign was launched in the run-up to International Workers’ Day, or Labour Day, on May 1 and calls attention to the plight of foreign domestic workers who work for months or years on end with no rest days.

TWC2 claims that approximately 40 per cent of Singapore’s 222,500 domestic workers do not have a weekly day off, despite a law coming into effect in January 2013 making it mandatory.