Top Executive in Temasek Holdings Spoke About CAG Saga & Said We Shouldn’t ‘Come Quickly to Judgement’

Changi Airport’s Facebook page is a fiery hotbed of anger at the moment.

Residents aren’t taking out their frustrations over their inability to travel on an innocent airport, of course. That would be dumb.

Rather, they’re venting their fury at the innocent airport because its chairman, Liew Mun Leong, was embroiled in the wrongful conviction of his 46-year-old maid.

Changi Airport: I just wanted to post some cute pictures and get some likes.

That’s what we all want in life, Chang Chang.

For those who don’t know what happened, here’s a very brief summary:

• Parti Liyani started working for Liew’s family in 2007
• Liew reported Parti to the police in 2016 for allegedly stealing some of the family’s belongings before she returned to Indonesia
• Parti was found guilty on four counts of theft on 20 Mar 2019 and sentenced to two years and two months’ jail
• She appealed, and one and half years later, her conviction was overturned and she was acquitted

The High Court judge Chan Seng Onn said that the Liew family had “improper motives” and found the testimony of Karl Liew, Liew’s son, “highly suspect”.

As for the ‘stolen’ items, they all turned out to be either Parti’s belongings, items she found in the trash, or things she had not even packed.

Now, netizens all across Singapore are shaking their fists and uttering unspeakable words at the Changi Airport Group (CAG) chairman.

One man, however, believes we should reserve our judgment for now.

Top Executive in Temasek Holdings Spoke About CAG Saga & Said We Shouldn’t ‘Come Quickly to Judgement’

Temasek International CEO Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara has urged the public to avoid rushing to judgment over Liew’s case, saying they’ve not heard Liew’s side of the story yet.

Sandrasegara highlighted the fact that Liew has contributed to Singapore and its people.

“There are many individuals who have contributed to both public service and for the private sector in Singapore for the benefit of Singapore and our population.

Liew Mun Leong is one of those persons and his track record at CapitaLand, CAG and Surbana Jurong will attest to that.”

Similarly, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said that while something has “gone wrong” in this case, we should reserve our judgment until the facts of the case are clear.

“We take them (High Court judge’s comments) very seriously. Something has gone wrong in the chain of events. We have to look at that, and deal with what went wrong.”

“(But) at this point, we shouldn’t prejudge which part of the process went wrong. That’s why reviews are being conducted…In the process, we should not be defensive. It should not be a witch hunt.”

Unbeknownst to Minister Shanmugam, a witch hunt is a netizen’s favourite pastime, behind arguing in the YouTube comments section and getting offended on Twitter.

But one can understand why this case has provoked such fury from the public; because it seems like a rich and powerful family framed an innocent and vulnerable lady.

It’s not all negative, though. Some of the anger has spurred netizens into doing something good for the poor woman who was almost jailed for a crime she didn’t commit.

Over $28k Raised For Acquitted Helper

Due to legal proceedings after her arrest, Parti was unable to work in Singapore or return to Indonesia since 2016.

This, of course, led to a huge loss of income.

So, in an effort to help the poor woman out, a fundraising drive was set up on the site Giving.sg on Sunday (6 Sept).

And in less than a day, a total of $28,560 was raised by 330 donors.

The sum of money will help Parti set up her food business back in Indonesia.

Netizens may be quick to judge, but they are equally quick to lend a helping hand at times.

Related: People Started to Troll on Changi Airport FB Page After CAG Chairman Saga