67 y/o employer who left maid bleeding jailed 4 months, ordered to pay S$4,440

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean employer who slapped, punched, and scratched her migrant domestic worker (MDW) has been given a jail sentence of four months.

Moreover, Hazel Phang Fong Yen, 67, is also now required by the court to pay Man Sian Hoih Cing, a 27-year-old woman from Myanmar, S$4,440 in compensation. Should she fail to do so, Phang will need to spend another four weeks in jail.

Phang physically punished Ms Man when she was unsatisfied with how the helper performed her duties. After one such incident, Phang’s niece noticed that Ms Man was bleeding, which led to her being brought to the hospital.

Later, when the Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) made a phone call to Ms Man to check on her, Phang’s abuses were discovered.

Phang pleaded guilty to a charge of voluntarily causing hurt to a domestic worker. A second similar charge taken into consideration for her sentencing.

Singapore treats offences against MDWs seriously, and its law imposes mandatory enhanced penalties (up to one and a half times the standard maximum sentence) for employers and household members who abuse domestic workers.

The backstory

Reporting from CNA said that Ms Man began working for Phang in August 2022, when the helper was 23 years old, and was given a salary of S$470.

The abuses began the following month, when, as part of tasks she was asked to do, Ms Man forgot to check on the expiry date of food. For this oversight, she was slapped by Phang on the cheek. Shortly afterwards, Phang slapped her again when she did not respond to a call for help, as she had not heard the employer calling her.

In another incident, when Ms Man did not clean the bottles to Phang’s satisfaction, the employer hit her in the eye. At another time, Phang scratched the helper on her neck and chest, causing bleeding to her skin. 

At around the same time in October 2022, Phang asked the helper to water the plants, which she failed to do, as she was cooking for Phang’s husband. Angered, she scratched Ms Man’s face, again causing her skin to bleed.

When the daughter of Phang’s brother visited them the following day, she noticed that the helper’s face was bleeding. She then informed her father, who took Ms Man to get medical attention.

A medical report from that hospital visit showed bruising on her face and abrasions on her face and chest, as well as blunt trauma to her eye.

Ms Man never went back to Phang’s house, but was tasked to work for other relatives.

Two months later, she told the CDE during a phone call about the mistreatment she endured at Phang’s hands. This resulted in a police report being filed on the same day and Phang’s eventual arrest.

The Deputy Public Prosecutor asked for Ms Man to be paid S$3,500 for her pain and suffering and  S$940 for the two months she was unemployed, for a total of S$4,440, as well as a jail sentence of four to six months. /TISG

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