Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Singapore woman jailed for beating Philippine domestic worker

Singapore woman jailed for beating Philippine domestic worker

Tan Bee Kim hit and slapped her helper with shoes and household items several times between 2012 and 2018, and received a six-month sentence.
A 54-year-old Singapore woman who repeatedly struck and slapped her domestic worker over at least five years, using items like a high-heeled shoe and a ladle, was sentenced to six months’ jail on Tuesday.

Tan Bee Kim, a former Furama Hotel employee, initially contested her offences but decided to plead guilty to a single charge midway through her trial.

Twelve other counts of causing hurt to Zeny Aquino Landingin, now 48 and a mother of six, were taken into consideration for sentencing. Tan will begin serving her sentence on October 30.

Landingin testified that she made handwritten notes of the abuse to use as evidence against her employer, and that she endured it to earn money for her family back in the Philippines.

She worked for Tan from September 2012 to March 2018, earning a monthly basic salary of S$450 (US$330), but Tan deducted small sums when Landingin damaged any items in the flat.

Court documents showed that Tan abused Landingin by hitting her on the head with a clay cup; striking her on the arm and head with a metal ladle; hitting the top of her head with her palm in a Tampines car park; slapping her face twice; striking her chest six times and hitting her head 13 times; hitting the side of her head with the heel of a high-heeled shoe at least thrice; pinching the base of her neck several times; and hitting her head with a mobile phone.

The court heard that the final incident happened on the evening of March 24, 2018. Landingin had prepared Tan’s dinner, served it to her in the living room where she was watching a television programme, and returned to the kitchen.

Halfway through eating, Tan called the domestic worker back to the living room and asked what ladle she had used to serve the food. Landingin retrieved the ladle, but Tan told her to come closer. She then struck her twice on the side of her head and once on her forehead with another ladle, meant for serving soup, before scolding her for using a smaller one to serve the food.

The swelling on Landingin’s head persisted until the next morning. She then lodged a police report at Tampines Neighbourhood Police Centre.

In mitigation, Tan’s lawyer Manoj Nandwani said the case had a “major effect” on his client, who quit her job after not being able to concentrate.

She had not subjected the domestic worker to any oppression or withheld food from her, Nandwani added.

In fact, Langindin had returned to Singapore to work for Tan after going back to the Philippines in 2015.

Nandwani said Tan had tried to help the domestic worker to come back to Singapore while securing the lowest maid agency fees possible.

Langindin was also “almost half-pleading to come back” to work, as evidenced from WhatsApp messages produced during the trial, Nandwani said.

As for the salary deductions over damaged items, Nandwani said Langindin had damaged three items and Tan deducted S$10 from her salary for each. “This was not done in some punitive way to exact punishment without a basis,” the lawyer added.

The maximum penalty for causing hurt is up to two years’ jail and a fine of up to S$5,000 (US$3,600). Employers of domestic helpers, or those in their household, are liable to one-and-a-half times the punishment – resulting in up to three years’ jail and a fine of up to S$7,500 (US$5,500).
Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×