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Domestic worker case in Singapore thrusts issue of illegal deployment into spotlight
- Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower said about 155 employers a year send their helpers to work at other premises, as in the case of Liew Mun Leong’s family
- Meanwhile, Temasek CEO Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara has defended the Changi Airport Group chairman, saying he has contributed to Singapore
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Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Tuesday said it had taken action against an average of 155 employers a year between 2017 and 2019 for illegally deploying their foreign domestic workers, confirming that the warnings it had given to the family of Changi Airport Group chairman Liew Mun Leong were consistent with the actions taken for similar cases.
The case of Indonesian domestic worker Parti Liyani, 46, who used to work for Liew’s household and who was acquitted of charges of stealing from them, has thrust the issue of wrongful deployment of domestic workers into the limelight.
Illegal deployments include employers or their family members making the workers perform household chores or caregiving duties for two families, or making them do non-domestic work at commercial premises.
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MOM had issued a warning to Liew’s wife, Ng Lai Peng, and an advisory to his son, Karl Liew, in May 2018. These were for making Parti work illegally at other premises, including the son’s home and office.
On Tuesday, MOM said that among the annual average of 155 employers who illegally deployed their foreign domestic workers, an average of about 60 were issued with an advisory notice, while 80 were issued with a caution notice. The rest paid fines of between S$3,300 and S$24,000 (US$2,400 and US$17,500).
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