MOM Investigating Firm That Allegedly Caused 20YO M’sian to Commit Suicide due to Work Abuse

On 19 December 2019, Malaysian Catrene Khoo took her own life.

The 20-year-old had been working in Singapore for several months before she committed suicide.

Those unfamiliar with Khoo’s story may have attributed her drastic deed to the stress of the pandemic, but it was allegedly due to a disparaging, unjust, and cruel boss.

MOM Investigating Firm That Allegedly Caused 20YO M’sian to Commit Suicide due to Work Abuse

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is investigating Khoo’s company for the alleged harsh working conditions that led to her suicide.

Khoo’s tale of torment was first brought to light in a Facebook post on 15 Nov, written by a former employee.

Khoo had come to Singapore to support her family in Penang, Malaysia.

On 1 August 2019, she started working as a therapist at SLM Visioncare Singapore, an eye therapy company.

Unfortunately, in her 4 months and 13 days at the company, Khoo allegedly suffered verbal abuse from her boss.

Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, Khoo’s mother said her daughter’s boss constantly scolded and disparaged Khoo, calling her “stupid”, “idiot” and “brainless”.

According to the Faceook post, the 20-year-old was also accused of sleeping on the job once, even though it was her break and she was just resting for a late shift.

Unfair Treatment Over Leave Applications The Final Straw

Speaking to TODAYonline, Khoo’s mother said her daughter used to be a bubbly girl before working her company.

It was her first job in Singapore, which she took to alleviate her family’s financial concerns.

However, she soon found out that the alleged harsh working conditions were taking a toll on Khoo.

Her mother said Khoo often had to work very late and skip dinner, in addition to being constantly berated.

She considered quitting her job, as she was losing sleep over it, but pushed on.

The final straw was a perceived unfairness over two leave applications.

The first was emergency leave to return to Penang after a close relative had passed away.

The wife of Khoo’s boss, who was also working at the company, approved her no-pay leave.

However, on her way to Penang, Khoo’s boss sent her text messages and phone calls demanding that she return to work.

As a result, Khoo allegedly had to return soon after arriving at the relative’s house and paying her respects.

The second dispute was over a six-day leave period which Khoo had applied for three months in advance, in line with her company’s regulations.

Khoo was supposed to return to Penang to attend a relative’s wedding and see her family.

Even though it was approved early on, Khoo’s boss ended up firing her just before she left for her holiday.

She was also allegedly accused of breaching a contract and was asked to pay the company S$1,000.

Stressed, depressed, and now unemployed, Khoo eventually crumbled.

The 20-year-old committed suicide on 19 December in her home after returning to Malaysia.

Impediments to Seeking Justice

When TODAYonline asked Khoo’s mother why she waited 11 months to make a formal report, she said it was because she had no passport nor money.

She also had no idea how to take legal action.

Several other former employees of the firm told TODAYonline the conditions at their former workplace were “unbearable”.

It was a former employee that reached out to Khoo’s mother to help her lodge a complaint with MOM.

Another employee, however, says that while Khoo’s former boss can be quick to anger, he has good intentions.

“He just wants his employees to be better, for their own good,” she said.

Boss: Allegations are Baseless & Malicious 

Khoo’s boss denied all the allegations, saying this was a “coordinated business attack”.

He has also made a police report on the harassment he faced online.

He said that Khoo was terminated due to poor performance, and explained that she was told to pay tax penalties because “the company has the responsibility to collect the tax amount from the employee”.

However, he was aware that Khoo was “dealing with some issues in her personal relationship” last year.

Still, he finds the timing of the allegations “highly suspect”, since it came nearly a year after Khoo took her life.

He believes that the allegations, which he denied, came from disgruntled former employees.

“The Facebook group containing numerous baseless and malicious allegations have been set up by disgruntled ex-employees, and I believe that the posts contained in the group are intentionally designed to hurt me, my family and, most importantly, my business.

“I have since contacted her family out of goodwill to express my shock at this group of disgruntled ex-employees who have chosen to publicise her suicide at her family’s expense for the purposes of maliciously hurting my business.

“I also apologised because their daughter’s suicide would not have been publicised if not for my business competitors wanting to maliciously and wrongfully accuse my company of contributing to her suicide.”

Khoo’s boss was heard in a 17-minute recording apologising to Khoo’s family and asking for forgiveness.

But the family are unwilling to forgive him and drop the matter as they believe the apology only came after details of the incident were circulated online.

“While I am a strict and demanding employer, I am also a fair one, and I believe many of my present employees will attest to the positive work culture at my company,” Khoo’s former boss said.

Time will tell if these allegations are indeed true.

Image: Facebook (Save us from SLM Vxxxxxcare Singapore, Anny Chew)