SINGAPORE: A 41-year-old woman pleaded guilty in court on Monday (Dec 11) to abusing her maid. The woman, a Singapore Permanent Resident (PR) originally from Malaysia, hurt her domestic helper physically by yanking the maid’s ponytail, slapping her, and hitting and punching her. The woman also verbally abused her helper.
Tan Siew Mei pleaded guilty to five charges, including voluntarily causing hurt to a maid, causing distress with abusive words and obstructing the course of justice. Another 17 charges will be considered in sentencing. The victim, a 43-year-old female Indonesian, only received help when she shouted from the service yard and was heard by a neighbour.
On Jun 15, 2020, Tan was unhappy with how the maid washed the clothes. She was angry because she felt that dirty shower water could have gone into the clothes her maid was washing and slapped her helper’s face hard so that the victim staggered backwards. The helper could no longer bear the abuse and shouted for help from the service yard.
The police received an anonymous call that day from a person who said a neighbour was beating her maid, and they heard the helper’s shouts for help. When Tan heard the police arriving, she pushed the victim, her helper, into her bedroom at the service yard.
According to a charge taken into consideration for sentencing, Tan instructed the victim before the police interviewed her, saying: “Please … don’t anyhow talk, you put me in a difficult position.” She also claimed she would send the maid home that day and had already arranged it. Tan tried to stop the police from interviewing the maid, lying that her injuries were self-inflicted, but was unable to.
When Tan saw a police officer retrieving a microSD memory card from one of the CCTV cameras, she became afraid that the abuse would be exposed through the video footage. She used her phone application to remotely reformat the microSD cards of the remaining cameras to prevent the police from getting their hands on the incriminating video footage.
In June 2020, Tan also abused her helper several other times. In one instance, she got upset with her helper when the latter tried to talk to Tan when Tan was blow-drying her hair. After the maid went to the kitchen to prepare milk for Tan’s child, Tan abruptly yanked the maid’s ponytail from behind with force. She began shouting at her helper and tried to slap her face.
On Jun 13, 2020, Tan inflicted several blows on the maid and threatened her verbally. The victim shouted: “Enough!” In response, Tan told her, “You cannot tell me enough,” and kicked her lower body. The victim then shouted that she wanted to go home, as she had enough of Tan’s abuse. Tan told her this was her home, calling her stupid in Malay.
Tan berated the maid: “You are rubbish. You are not human. Remember, you are always rubbish.” The victim was distressed and tried to leave, but Tan struck her, including with an umbrella. Based on what was described in court documents, the victim did not provoke Tan nor retaliate against her.
The case was adjourned for a Newton hearing – a hearing where parties give evidence to settle an issue that is disputed – as the prosecution and defence were at odds over whether Tan had any mental condition that caused or contributed to her offences. Sentencing will be carried out after the Newton hearing is completed. /TISG