We all know that foreign domestic workers are essential to our society, regardless in terms of labour or care.
It is not easy for them to travel all the way to Singapore, just to make a living and support their families back home. The least we can do as employers is to treat them with respect.
However, not everyone realises this. There are some of us who disregard their hardships and make things even more difficult for them.
One such example is this couple who abused not one, but two maids.
Couple Who Abused Two Maids
Former regional IT manager Tay Wee Kiat and former senior sales manager Chia Yun Ling abused their two maids over a period of almost two years.
The abuse was done mostly in separate incidents, except for one instance.
Tay made the two maids get into a push-up position and kicked them.
What’s this? IPPT?
He further ordered them to slap each other 10 times. Afterwards, he forced them to bow and get up in front of a Buddhist altar 100 times, despite their religion as a Muslim and Christian respectively.
Doesn’t seem cruel enough? Here’s more.
Tay had forced Ms Fitriyah, their Indonesian maid, to stand on one leg on a stool while holding another stool above her head. What’s worse was she had a bottle shoved into her mouth as well.
In addition, Chia had force-fed Ms Moe Moe Than, their Myanmar maid, a mixture of rice and sugar through a funnel. Any regular human being would throw up afterwards, and that’s what she did.
However, Chia scolded her for it and ordered her to eat her own vomit.
I’m speechless. Just… Wow. Why would any human in the right mind do such a thing?
Paying the Price
Luckily for them, they are now suffering the consequences of their actions. The couple was first convicted and sentenced in 2017 for abusing Ms Fitriyah.
In March last year, due to the prosecution’s appeal, Tay’s jail term for abusing Ms Fitriyah increased from 28 months to 43 months. Chia’s jail term remained at two months.
Subsequently in March this year, they were convicted and sentenced for abusing Ms Moe Moe Than. For this set of charges, they started serving their sentences on 27 March 2019.
After an appeal by the prosecution, Tay’s jail term for abusing Ms Moe Moe Than was increased from 24 months to 30 months. Whereas Chia’s jail term of 47 months remained unchanged. Spot the pattern here?
Two Separate Sentences
The High Court on Friday, 20 September, ruled that the married couple will start serving their jail term for abusing their Indonesian maid only after completing their current sentence for abusing their Myanmar maid.
On top of paying compensation of $17,850 to the two maids, Tay will have to serve an additional six weeks, while Chia has to serve another five weeks and 10 days.
A panel of three judges also agreed with prosecutors that the two sets of sentences should run one after another.
According to Justice See Kee Oon, they “do not see any valid reason for the sentences to commence on an earlier date” as that would allow the couple to “evade entirely for one set of offences”.
Hence, the commencement date for the first set of sentences has been put on hold pending the conclusion of the second set of proceedings.
All in all, they have to pay for their actions and are now getting the punishments they deserved. Let’s hope that this does not happen a third time.
Or just stop them from having domestic helpers altogether. Some people just don’t deserve help.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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