7 ms·

The case of a maid who battled a millionaire has gripped Singapore

136 points by sohkamyung 6y ago

sonicggg 6y ago
They were paying here SGD600/month. Can you even survive in Singapore with that salary?
- tus88 6y ago
  Did she get accommodation too?
- ItsDeathball 6y ago
  While I don't know the specifics here, my understanding from being there a few years ago was that most lower-income workers in Singapore commute in from Malaysia.
  - AmericanChopper 6y ago
    Most of them live in migrant dormitories, or usually with the case of maids, accomodation provided by their employer. Some apartments will have “maids quarters”, which will be a seperate room with its own entrance/exit. But that’s not terribly common in Singapore. Typically they’d just have their own bedroom.
    - nicolas_t 6y ago
      And often enough the maid bedroom has no windows and is sometimes placed next to the kitchen.
- Wintereise 6y ago
  Most maids in SG are live-in, so her food (typically quite shitty food, but food nonetheless) and accommodation are covered.
  - SRTP 6y ago
    This is the correct answer. Most maids in SG live with their employers, and the employer has to feed them. Maids are typically from developing nations like the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar etc. 600 SGD goes a long way in those countries.
  - arp242 6y ago
    SG also doesn't seem that expensive; granted, I was only there for four days, but things like public transport and food was quite cheap. It's just the housing that's really expensive from what I heard.
    - Wintereise 6y ago
      Mostly correct. You can get by quite easily on all fronts aside from housing. Good housing will cost you.
  - rv-de 6y ago
    Naturally, this is also required for the master's sexual convenience.
    - exidy 6y ago
      This is a pretty poor take. In order to get a permit to hire an FDW in Singapore, there has to be a demonstrated need, i.e. to care for young children or the elderly.
      - rv-de 6y ago
        so? how is that making anything different? of course, sexual predatory behaviour is rampant among "employers" in such a system.
        exidy 6y ago
        Singapore is not perfect, of course, but the common problems with FDW working conditions are pretty well-documented. You are just making wild assertions to the benefit of nobody.
- exidy 6y ago
  FDWs in Singapore are usually live-in, the employer is required to provide appropriate living arrangements, food, medical care and insurance. Most FDWs will remit most of their salary to their home country, where SGD$600 will go a long way. Singapore is an orderly country and there is some institutional support to safeguard the working conditions of FDWs. However there is a power imbalance between employee and employer, and the FDW may not know her rights, or it may not be in her short-term interest to assert them. Additionally, many FDWs are employed through agencies who will usually prioritise fee-collection over FDW welfare.
  - ezoe 6y ago
    It sounds like slavery to me.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - nicolas_t 6y ago
      It's much worse in neighboring countries like Malaysia. There maids are usually not allowed to leave the house unaccompanied because of the strict immigration laws that would punish heavily the family if the maid ran away. Between that and the poor living conditions, it's indentured servitude for the time of their contracts. Absolutely awful. HK is doing much better and has stronger laws to protect domestic workers (actual day off, etc...), Singapore is catching up but in other countries it's extremely sad.
    - exidy 6y ago
      I don't think that's an appropriate term for Singapore, at least. The FDW can resign at any time (whether their contract is finished or not), in which case the employer is obligated to return them to their home city. There is a mandated 1 rest day per week. (note for Westerners accustomed to a 2-day weekend: this is identical to working-class Singaporeans.) The legal system can and does prosecute cases of abuse against FDWs. Generally speaking FDWs are pleased to have the opportunity to work in Singapore as it is 2-3 times what they could earn at home, but they do hope for a "kindly" employer. Other countries do not have such a good reputation. Philippines actually banned Saudi Arabia from hiring domestic OFWs because of cases of indentured servitude, abuse and murder.
whack 6y ago
> The case has also highlighted the issue of migrant workers' access to justice. Ms Parti was able to stay in Singapore and fight her case due to the support of the non-governmental organisation Home, and lawyer Anil Balchandani, who acted pro bono but estimated his legal fees would have otherwise come up to S$150,000. It's worth noting that she was only able to get justice, because of the volunteer work put in by a very good lawyer - someone whose fees she could have never afforded. This doesn't seem unique to Singapore - I've heard of this problem existing in every country. The legal system only works if you have the money to bankroll your case. Even a multimillionaire like Hulk Hogan couldn't have prevailed against Gawker without a billionaire backing him. It boggles my mind that such a pay-to-play system is still considered to be acceptable.
- jdashg 6y ago
  One tantalizing improvement would be if legal fees were pooled and split evenly between sides, so long as the initial case had reasonable standing.
  - GuardianCaveman 6y ago
    This seems like it would be the same outcome. One rich and one poor and split it evenly and it will always end badly for the poor person even if they win.
    - nitrogen 6y ago
      I think the idea is that the required contribution is means tested with assistance where appropriate, and that both mandatory and optional excess contributions must be shared.
    - jiggawatts 6y ago
      There are variants of this that could work much better than the current system used in most western nations. Today, if I can spend $1K on legal fees and want to sue someone with a $1M budget, I'll just lose. To compete with that, I'd have to pony up $1M up front and hope I win to recoup my costs afterwards. The alternative model is this: Step 1) A lawsuit is filed Step 2) Each party puts double the money they are willing to spend into the "pot". So if you have a $1M budget, you have to put $2M in. The counter-party willing to spend only $1K puts $2K in. Step 3) The court takes the available funds from the pot evenly to the two participants, giving each one the same amount as the larger "willing to pay" amount specified. So in this example: The poor guy seeking justice spends gets a refund of $1K (spending a net of $1K) and his lawyers receive $1M from the pot. The rich arsehole also gets $1K back and his lawyers get $1M from the pot. I'm not saying this is a perfect system, but it would allow poor people to sue rich people and not be at a massive disadvantage. Which is why nothing like this has any chance of happening.
dpflan 6y ago
OK, systemic inequality and systems manipulated by the wealthy (The details of the stolen items is sadly entertaining). Is the world moving in a direction of more of this or less of this? I’m genuinely curious about how society will change in the next decade: the internet is a double edged sword allowing near instant sharing of information that can change one’s understanding and beliefs very quickly. We see the negative edge of the sword slicing through society, dividing it into polarized groups. We see the positive edge cutting away at deception and illuminating discrepancies. I can’t see what is happening in societal change at the macro level, what should I be reading or looking at?
- strikelaserclaw 6y ago
  I would say the average person has more chance at justice today than at any other time in history. I think for your last question, it really depends on if you are an optimist or pessimist about humanity in general, i for one think humanity will move forward in a positive way eventually.
  - Polylactic_acid 6y ago
    My feeling is this is true for the legal system but there seems to be rising inequality due to entirely legal causes.
    - drivebycomment 6y ago
      Another equally valid hypothesis would be that people have better information and thus to fight these more, and also these get noticed more than before. It is also possible that the absolute number of such cases have gone up despite the rate per capita has gone down, given the population growth. Unless someone does a careful analysis, we just can't determine the frequency based on anecdotal evidence.
  - saagarjha 6y ago
    Perhaps. But it’s still pretty bad in many cases.
  - 6y ago
kovac 6y ago
What constitute legal fees usually apart from lawyer fees?
throwawaysgx 6y ago
Throwaway because I have a business in Singapore and I don't want to associate this comment with it. It's an open secret that Singapore rely heavily on cheap labors from overseas for many jobs that Singaporeans are refusing to do: construction works, live in maids, hawker centers cleaning (some old Singaporeans do do this though). In many household it's common to have 1, or in some of my friends' home, 2 live in maids to help with chore. They get paid around 400-600 SGD (250-400 USD) per month depends on where they are from, how fluent they are in English and are expected to work at least 5 days a week. The employer keeps their passports, and can pretty much send the maid back to their country immediately. This imbalance relationship feels very wrong to me, but most people here don't care. Because the pay is low, the quality and ethic of some domestic helpers are not great. Some do steal and sabotage their employers when they're not happy, I've heard many horror stories over the year. On the other hand, many employers don't see them as equal, or even human. A quick google will show you both side of the story, and for all the good things Singapore have to offer, low-pay workers' right is virtually non-existent and as long as Singapore benefit from it, I don't think it will change anytime soon. Edit: Something I forgot to include: employers do provide a room and meals for the maids, so their expenses in Singapore is minimal if they want to, and in many cases they send most of their salary back home.
- l0b0 6y ago
  I've heard the exact same things (except for the actual salary) from two separate families who've lived in Singapore. Private persons withholding someone's passport for any reason whatsoever should be punishable similar to slavery, because the end effect is so similar.
  - throwawaysgx 6y ago
    Pre-COVID, you can visit a shopping mall and select your maid from a pool of selection. The whole experience is bizarre and inhuman and I don’t quite understand how many of my friends do it.
    - nikshawarma 6y ago
WalterBright 6y ago
Around here you can buy a used DVD player from the thrift store for $5-6. No reason to steal one, working or not.
- sohkamyung 6y ago
  In this case, the issue was that the prosecution apparently mislead the judge into believing the DVD was fully working when it wasn't [1]: >In her defence, Ms Parti said that in 2012 or 2013, Mr Liew's wife, Madam Ng Lai Peng, wanted to throw the DVD player away because it was broken, but agreed to let her take it back to Indonesia to fix. >Madam Ng said in court, however, that the DVD player was not broken. At the trial, it was shown that the device could play a video digitally stored in the hard disk. However, a demonstration at the appeal showed that when a DVD was inserted into the player, the error message "could not initialise disc" was displayed. >Justice Chan Seng Onn said a DVD player that is unable to play a DVD can reasonably be described as "spoilt". He found it likely that the Liews no longer wanted the "partially spoilt" player. [1] https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/dvd-player-faulty-liew-couldnt-give-details-on-stolen-bags https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/dvd-play...
Buge 6y ago
>Court documents that detail the sequence of events say that Ms Parti was asked to clean his new house and office on "multiple occasions" - which breaks local labour regulations, and which she had previously complained about. I'm curious why it was illegal. Is it illegal to ask a domestic helper to clean your house? Or is it because she was asked to clean 2 houses and an office?
- nikshawarma 6y ago
  According to the Ministry of Manpower, a maid is not allowed to work for another person or at another address. https://www.helperchoice.com/c/singapore/job-duties-of-domestic-helper https://www.helperchoice.com/c/singapore/job-duties-of-domes...
  - ScalaFan 6y ago
    This is well understood and as like the rich and powerful in many places do, thought that the rules and laws do not apply to them and their maid (Parti) was too afraid to report them to the government. In this case, they thought incorrectly and have been caught, exposed and worse. However, I doubt that true justice (as in legal punishment of some sort) will ever be meted out to the rich and powerful family.
duxup 6y ago
I wonder how many people accused this way are convicted and not fortunate enough to get help?
princeb 6y ago
it's not really about money or resources, although they played an important part here its about the fact that the police, the public prosecutor, and the district judge all somehow failed to notice that the claims made by the upper-class family were so outlandish and nonsensical that there must have been hundreds of other cases that weren't so unreasonable and where justice must have been grossly misapplied, and that the typical migrant worker would just take the injustice on the chin and move on for a lack of resources and persistence. the severity of the bias, and the possibility that the system has not worked for a long time, all contributed to this embarrassment. as a side note, two years ago when the initial sentence was handed down the defendant was pilloried online for being one of many hundreds of "thieving maids" that pitiful singaporean families had to endure. facebook groups commiserated with each other with horror stories. the bias extends across the country. a case of the emperor's new clothes, perhaps.
- sohkamyung 6y ago
  An update. The maid, Parti Liyani, has filed a court motion to start disciplinary proceedings against the prosecutors of her case. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/parti-liyani-maid-liew-mun-leong-court-disciplinary-prosecutors-13137394 https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/parti-liyani-...
didibus 6y ago
Can someone explain to me what's illegal in Singapore about having someone clean your house? I'm not following that part.
- paulmooreparks 6y ago
  If you hire a domestic helper to work in your home, you can't ask the helper to clean your mom's home, your friend's home, etc.

136 points by sohkamyung 6y ago

sonicggg 6y ago

They were paying here SGD600/month. Can you even survive in Singapore with that salary?

tus88 6y ago
Did she get accommodation too?
ItsDeathball 6y ago
While I don't know the specifics here, my understanding from being there a few years ago was that most lower-income workers in Singapore commute in from Malaysia.
- AmericanChopper 6y ago
  Most of them live in migrant dormitories, or usually with the case of maids, accomodation provided by their employer. Some apartments will have “maids quarters”, which will be a seperate room with its own entrance/exit. But that’s not terribly common in Singapore. Typically they’d just have their own bedroom.
  - nicolas_t 6y ago
    And often enough the maid bedroom has no windows and is sometimes placed next to the kitchen.
Wintereise 6y ago
Most maids in SG are live-in, so her food (typically quite shitty food, but food nonetheless) and accommodation are covered.
- SRTP 6y ago
  This is the correct answer. Most maids in SG live with their employers, and the employer has to feed them. Maids are typically from developing nations like the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar etc. 600 SGD goes a long way in those countries.
- arp242 6y ago
  SG also doesn't seem that expensive; granted, I was only there for four days, but things like public transport and food was quite cheap. It's just the housing that's really expensive from what I heard.
  - Wintereise 6y ago
    Mostly correct. You can get by quite easily on all fronts aside from housing. Good housing will cost you.
- rv-de 6y ago
  Naturally, this is also required for the master's sexual convenience.
  - exidy 6y ago
    This is a pretty poor take. In order to get a permit to hire an FDW in Singapore, there has to be a demonstrated need, i.e. to care for young children or the elderly.
    - rv-de 6y ago
      so? how is that making anything different? of course, sexual predatory behaviour is rampant among "employers" in such a system.
      - exidy 6y ago
        Singapore is not perfect, of course, but the common problems with FDW working conditions are pretty well-documented. You are just making wild assertions to the benefit of nobody.
exidy 6y ago
FDWs in Singapore are usually live-in, the employer is required to provide appropriate living arrangements, food, medical care and insurance. Most FDWs will remit most of their salary to their home country, where SGD$600 will go a long way. Singapore is an orderly country and there is some institutional support to safeguard the working conditions of FDWs. However there is a power imbalance between employee and employer, and the FDW may not know her rights, or it may not be in her short-term interest to assert them. Additionally, many FDWs are employed through agencies who will usually prioritise fee-collection over FDW welfare.
- ezoe 6y ago
  It sounds like slavery to me.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - nicolas_t 6y ago
    It's much worse in neighboring countries like Malaysia. There maids are usually not allowed to leave the house unaccompanied because of the strict immigration laws that would punish heavily the family if the maid ran away. Between that and the poor living conditions, it's indentured servitude for the time of their contracts. Absolutely awful. HK is doing much better and has stronger laws to protect domestic workers (actual day off, etc...), Singapore is catching up but in other countries it's extremely sad.
  - exidy 6y ago
    I don't think that's an appropriate term for Singapore, at least. The FDW can resign at any time (whether their contract is finished or not), in which case the employer is obligated to return them to their home city. There is a mandated 1 rest day per week. (note for Westerners accustomed to a 2-day weekend: this is identical to working-class Singaporeans.) The legal system can and does prosecute cases of abuse against FDWs. Generally speaking FDWs are pleased to have the opportunity to work in Singapore as it is 2-3 times what they could earn at home, but they do hope for a "kindly" employer. Other countries do not have such a good reputation. Philippines actually banned Saudi Arabia from hiring domestic OFWs because of cases of indentured servitude, abuse and murder.

whack 6y ago

> The case has also highlighted the issue of migrant workers' access to justice. Ms Parti was able to stay in Singapore and fight her case due to the support of the non-governmental organisation Home, and lawyer Anil Balchandani, who acted pro bono but estimated his legal fees would have otherwise come up to S$150,000. It's worth noting that she was only able to get justice, because of the volunteer work put in by a very good lawyer - someone whose fees she could have never afforded. This doesn't seem unique to Singapore - I've heard of this problem existing in every country. The legal system only works if you have the money to bankroll your case. Even a multimillionaire like Hulk Hogan couldn't have prevailed against Gawker without a billionaire backing him. It boggles my mind that such a pay-to-play system is still considered to be acceptable.

jdashg 6y ago
One tantalizing improvement would be if legal fees were pooled and split evenly between sides, so long as the initial case had reasonable standing.
- GuardianCaveman 6y ago
  This seems like it would be the same outcome. One rich and one poor and split it evenly and it will always end badly for the poor person even if they win.
  - nitrogen 6y ago
    I think the idea is that the required contribution is means tested with assistance where appropriate, and that both mandatory and optional excess contributions must be shared.
  - jiggawatts 6y ago
    There are variants of this that could work much better than the current system used in most western nations. Today, if I can spend $1K on legal fees and want to sue someone with a $1M budget, I'll just lose. To compete with that, I'd have to pony up $1M up front and hope I win to recoup my costs afterwards. The alternative model is this: Step 1) A lawsuit is filed Step 2) Each party puts double the money they are willing to spend into the "pot". So if you have a $1M budget, you have to put $2M in. The counter-party willing to spend only $1K puts $2K in. Step 3) The court takes the available funds from the pot evenly to the two participants, giving each one the same amount as the larger "willing to pay" amount specified. So in this example: The poor guy seeking justice spends gets a refund of $1K (spending a net of $1K) and his lawyers receive $1M from the pot. The rich arsehole also gets $1K back and his lawyers get $1M from the pot. I'm not saying this is a perfect system, but it would allow poor people to sue rich people and not be at a massive disadvantage. Which is why nothing like this has any chance of happening.

dpflan 6y ago

OK, systemic inequality and systems manipulated by the wealthy (The details of the stolen items is sadly entertaining). Is the world moving in a direction of more of this or less of this? I’m genuinely curious about how society will change in the next decade: the internet is a double edged sword allowing near instant sharing of information that can change one’s understanding and beliefs very quickly. We see the negative edge of the sword slicing through society, dividing it into polarized groups. We see the positive edge cutting away at deception and illuminating discrepancies. I can’t see what is happening in societal change at the macro level, what should I be reading or looking at?

strikelaserclaw 6y ago
I would say the average person has more chance at justice today than at any other time in history. I think for your last question, it really depends on if you are an optimist or pessimist about humanity in general, i for one think humanity will move forward in a positive way eventually.
- Polylactic_acid 6y ago
  My feeling is this is true for the legal system but there seems to be rising inequality due to entirely legal causes.
  - drivebycomment 6y ago
    Another equally valid hypothesis would be that people have better information and thus to fight these more, and also these get noticed more than before. It is also possible that the absolute number of such cases have gone up despite the rate per capita has gone down, given the population growth. Unless someone does a careful analysis, we just can't determine the frequency based on anecdotal evidence.
- saagarjha 6y ago
  Perhaps. But it’s still pretty bad in many cases.
- 6y ago

kovac 6y ago

What constitute legal fees usually apart from lawyer fees?

throwawaysgx 6y ago

Throwaway because I have a business in Singapore and I don't want to associate this comment with it. It's an open secret that Singapore rely heavily on cheap labors from overseas for many jobs that Singaporeans are refusing to do: construction works, live in maids, hawker centers cleaning (some old Singaporeans do do this though). In many household it's common to have 1, or in some of my friends' home, 2 live in maids to help with chore. They get paid around 400-600 SGD (250-400 USD) per month depends on where they are from, how fluent they are in English and are expected to work at least 5 days a week. The employer keeps their passports, and can pretty much send the maid back to their country immediately. This imbalance relationship feels very wrong to me, but most people here don't care. Because the pay is low, the quality and ethic of some domestic helpers are not great. Some do steal and sabotage their employers when they're not happy, I've heard many horror stories over the year. On the other hand, many employers don't see them as equal, or even human. A quick google will show you both side of the story, and for all the good things Singapore have to offer, low-pay workers' right is virtually non-existent and as long as Singapore benefit from it, I don't think it will change anytime soon. Edit: Something I forgot to include: employers do provide a room and meals for the maids, so their expenses in Singapore is minimal if they want to, and in many cases they send most of their salary back home.

l0b0 6y ago
I've heard the exact same things (except for the actual salary) from two separate families who've lived in Singapore. Private persons withholding someone's passport for any reason whatsoever should be punishable similar to slavery, because the end effect is so similar.
- throwawaysgx 6y ago
  Pre-COVID, you can visit a shopping mall and select your maid from a pool of selection. The whole experience is bizarre and inhuman and I don’t quite understand how many of my friends do it.
  - nikshawarma 6y ago

WalterBright 6y ago

Around here you can buy a used DVD player from the thrift store for $5-6. No reason to steal one, working or not.

sohkamyung 6y ago
In this case, the issue was that the prosecution apparently mislead the judge into believing the DVD was fully working when it wasn't [1]: >In her defence, Ms Parti said that in 2012 or 2013, Mr Liew's wife, Madam Ng Lai Peng, wanted to throw the DVD player away because it was broken, but agreed to let her take it back to Indonesia to fix. >Madam Ng said in court, however, that the DVD player was not broken. At the trial, it was shown that the device could play a video digitally stored in the hard disk. However, a demonstration at the appeal showed that when a DVD was inserted into the player, the error message "could not initialise disc" was displayed. >Justice Chan Seng Onn said a DVD player that is unable to play a DVD can reasonably be described as "spoilt". He found it likely that the Liews no longer wanted the "partially spoilt" player. [1] https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/dvd-player-faulty-liew-couldnt-give-details-on-stolen-bags https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/dvd-play...

Buge 6y ago

>Court documents that detail the sequence of events say that Ms Parti was asked to clean his new house and office on "multiple occasions" - which breaks local labour regulations, and which she had previously complained about. I'm curious why it was illegal. Is it illegal to ask a domestic helper to clean your house? Or is it because she was asked to clean 2 houses and an office?

nikshawarma 6y ago
According to the Ministry of Manpower, a maid is not allowed to work for another person or at another address. https://www.helperchoice.com/c/singapore/job-duties-of-domestic-helper https://www.helperchoice.com/c/singapore/job-duties-of-domes...
- ScalaFan 6y ago
  This is well understood and as like the rich and powerful in many places do, thought that the rules and laws do not apply to them and their maid (Parti) was too afraid to report them to the government. In this case, they thought incorrectly and have been caught, exposed and worse. However, I doubt that true justice (as in legal punishment of some sort) will ever be meted out to the rich and powerful family.

duxup 6y ago

I wonder how many people accused this way are convicted and not fortunate enough to get help?

princeb 6y ago

it's not really about money or resources, although they played an important part here its about the fact that the police, the public prosecutor, and the district judge all somehow failed to notice that the claims made by the upper-class family were so outlandish and nonsensical that there must have been hundreds of other cases that weren't so unreasonable and where justice must have been grossly misapplied, and that the typical migrant worker would just take the injustice on the chin and move on for a lack of resources and persistence. the severity of the bias, and the possibility that the system has not worked for a long time, all contributed to this embarrassment. as a side note, two years ago when the initial sentence was handed down the defendant was pilloried online for being one of many hundreds of "thieving maids" that pitiful singaporean families had to endure. facebook groups commiserated with each other with horror stories. the bias extends across the country. a case of the emperor's new clothes, perhaps.

sohkamyung 6y ago
An update. The maid, Parti Liyani, has filed a court motion to start disciplinary proceedings against the prosecutors of her case. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/parti-liyani-maid-liew-mun-leong-court-disciplinary-prosecutors-13137394 https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/parti-liyani-...

didibus 6y ago

Can someone explain to me what's illegal in Singapore about having someone clean your house? I'm not following that part.

paulmooreparks 6y ago
If you hire a domestic helper to work in your home, you can't ask the helper to clean your mom's home, your friend's home, etc.