SINGAPORE: A 67-year-old Singaporean woman has been jailed for four months after repeatedly abusing her domestic helper over household chores, leaving the woman with injuries that included bruises, cuts and permanent scars.
Hazel Phang Fong Yen was also ordered to pay the victim S$4,440 in compensation. And if she fails to do so, she will have to serve another four weeks in jail.
A concerned family member and a routine welfare check by the Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) helped bring the abuse to light, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reported (June 24).
Abuse escalated over daily household tasks
The victim, Man Sian Hoih Cing, a 27-year-old domestic worker from Myanmar, began working for Phang in August 2022, earning S$470 a month.
Court documents showed that the assaults happened over ordinary household tasks. On one occasion, Phang slapped the maid after she forgot to check the expiry date of a food item. Another slap followed after the worker failed to hear her employer calling for help.
The violence later became more serious. Phang punched the victim in the eye because she was unhappy with how the soap bottles had been cleaned. She also scratched the worker’s neck and chest after scolding her for hanging heavy bedsheets on the wrong part of a drying pole, causing her skin to bleed.
In another incident, the maid was preparing food for Phang’s husband before watering the plants. Angered, Phang scratched her face several times, leaving bleeding wounds.
Injuries were noticed by her employer’s relative
The following day, Phang’s niece saw the victim bleeding and alerted her father, who took the domestic worker to the hospital.
Doctors found injuries including blunt trauma to one eye, facial bruises and several abrasions across her face and chest. She received treatment before being discharged with medication. The victim later stayed with Phang’s relatives instead of returning to the flat.
A routine welfare call from the Centre for Domestic Employees in December 2022 gave the victim an opportunity to speak about what had happened. After hearing her account, a staff member lodged a police report. A later medical assessment also recorded scars on her lip, cheek and chest linked to the assaults.
The court ordered compensation for the helper’s lost income and suffering
Deputy Public Prosecutor Melissa Heng asked for a jail sentence of between four and six months, together with compensation of S$4,440.
The amount covered two months of lost income after the victim became unemployed following the police report, as well as compensation for the pain, suffering and scarring she endured.
Defence lawyer Kalaithasan Karuppaya of Regent Law asked the court to impose a S$10,000 fine, or a three-month jail term instead. He added that Phang had accepted responsibility and felt deep remorse.
Phang’s lawyer also told the court Phang had serious health problems, including lung cancer, osteoarthritis and other medical conditions, and was physically frail. He explained further that she had been caring for her elderly mother until her death in 2024 and lived with her 70-year-old husband, who had survived prostate cancer.
The court nevertheless sentenced Phang to four months’ jail and ordered her to pay the compensation.
Voluntarily causing hurt carries a maximum penalty of three years’ jail, a fine of up to S$5,000, or both under Singapore law. And because the victim was a domestic worker, the law allows the court to impose up to twice the usual maximum punishment.
Frustration over everyday chores never excuses violence
Many domestic workers live and work inside their employers’ homes, making abuse difficult to detect. As such, regular welfare checks and people willing to act when they notice signs of harm are important safeguards.
It also reinforces that frustration over everyday chores never excuses violence, and those who abuse vulnerable workers will face serious legal consequences.
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