Domestic worker accused of abusing elderly woman in wheelchair

Singapore — A netizen who saw a domestic worker abusing an elderly woman in a wheelchair has posted a photo of them in the hopes of reaching out to the latter’s family.

In a Facebook post on Sunday (Jan 17) that has since garnered more than 1,600 reactions and 4,200 shares, the netizen, who wished to be known only as Kat, said she saw the abuse at around 10.50 am at the Circuit Road Market & Food Centre.

She said: “Normally, I don’t write long post or post about somebody else. But this morning I saw something that makes me want to write this and hope to reach out to the elderly’s family.”

Ms Kat shared that she was queuing to order food when she noticed someone pushing a wheelchair that hit the table beside her.

She saw an elderly woman in a wheelchair covering her face and telling her helper “mai jiak” (Hokkien for “I don’t want to eat”). The helper ignored the woman and continued to scoop hot noodles into her mouth.

In response to TISG’s queries, Ms Kat said that she saw the old woman wiping “some tears with a folded tissue in her hand. Later on, after she refused to eat, she felt cold and folded her arms when rubbing to create some warmth”.

“I think she probably didn’t want to eat because of the way she (the helper) feed her. She tried to feed her again before she even swallow the food in her mouth,” she added.

Ms Kat said that, at one point when the elderly woman refused to eat, the helper became agitated and threw the spoon and chopsticks onto the table. The helper then picked up the chopsticks and spoon from the table “and used that dirty spoon to feed” the woman again.

She told TISG that the domestic helper walked very briskly, “until I almost lost the chance to take a picture of her. Eventually, they left the food centre and the bowl of beehoon soup (about 90% left) & a cup of tea (only drank about 10%)”.

“If she can do that in the public, I wonder what she will do to the old lady at home,” she said, asking others to share the photo so that the family of the elderly woman might be alerted to her plight.

Ms Kat added that her own grandmother had a similar encounter previously, “so I can feel for it. Just hope that the family members can help in some ways”. /TISG