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Upset with the way that her domestic worker had performed tasks such as hanging the laundry or cleaning bottles, a 67-year-old woman slapped, punched and scratched her, drawing blood.
The victim, who earned S$470 (about US$360) a month, told staff members from Singapore’s Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) during a routine call about the abuse, and a police report was made.
Hazel Phang Fong Yen, a 67-year-old Singaporean woman, was sentenced to four months’ jail on Wednesday.
She was also ordered to pay S$4,440 to the victim in compensation. If she does not pay this amount, she will have to serve another four weeks in jail.
She pleaded guilty to a charge of voluntarily causing hurt to a domestic worker, with a second similar charge taken into consideration.
The court heard that the victim, 27-year-old Myanmar national Man Sian Hoih Cing, started working for Phang in August 2022 when she was 23.
Phang lived with her husband and mother in a flat.
In September 2022, Phang asked the victim to check the expiry date of a food item. The victim performed another unspecified task that Phang had asked her to do, but forgot to check the expiry date.
Angered, Phang slapped the victim once on her cheek.
She slapped the victim another time, either that month or the following month, because the woman had failed to hear her asking for help.
In September or October 2022, Phang asked the victim to clean soap bottles in the toilet, which she did by spraying the bottles with water.
Phang punched the maid in her eye because she was upset at how she had cleaned the bottles.
In October 2022, the victim was hanging bedsheets to dry on a pole. Phang scolded her for hanging the heavier sheets at the end of the pole and proceeded to scratch the victim’s neck and chest area, which caused the skin to bleed.
On October 15, 2022, Phang instructed the victim to water the plants at about 6pm.
At the time, she was cooking and slicing fruit for Phang’s husband on his request.
When Phang realised that the plants had not been watered, she grew angry and scratched the victim’s face at least twice, near her cheek and under her nose.
Her actions drew blood.
The next day, Phang’s niece visited the flat and saw that the victim was bleeding. She told her father, who was Phang’s brother.
He took the victim to the hospital. A medical report stated that she presented with blunt trauma to her eye, a bruise on her face and multiple abrasions over her face and chest.
The victim’s wounds were dressed and she was discharged with medication. She took photos of her injuries.
After being discharged from the hospital, the victim moved to stay with Phang’s relatives.
In December 2022, CDE contacted the victim as part of a routine call to check on her well-being.
She said that Phang had hurt her, and the staff member from the centre made a police report that same day.
The victim was taken to the hospital and a report noted scars on her lip, cheek and chest wall that had been sustained through Phang’s actions.
Phang was arrested sometime later.
The victim’s monthly salary was S$470 and she was unemployed for two months from the date the police report was lodged in December 2022 to February 28, 2023.
Phang paid the victim her salary of S$470 and pocket money of S$72.30 on December 8, 2022 for the period between November 9, 2022 and December 8, 2022.
She also paid the victim another S$289.20 for the period between December 9, 2022 and December 27, 2022.
Deputy public prosecutor Melissa Heng sought four to six months’ jail for Phang, in addition to a compensation order of S$4,440.
This comprises a sum of S$940 for the victim’s unemployment for two months and S$3,500 for her pain and suffering in the two charges because there were scars caused on her face and chest.
Phang’s lawyer, Kalaithasan Karuppaya from Regent Law, sought a fine of S$10,000, or three months’ jail alternatively.
He said that his client was remorseful and accepted full responsibility for her actions.
He also said that she was “ridden with guilt” and lives with her 70-year-old husband, who is a prostate cancer survivor.
The couple have no children and Phang has been unemployed since her health started to worsen.
Phang was the primary carer for her 103-year-old mother until she died in 2024, he added.
In 2022, Phang was diagnosed with lung cancer. She suffers from other conditions such as low blood pressure, osteoarthritis, indigestion and urinary incontinence.
Kalaithasan said that his client was underweight at 38kg and extremely frail, adding that she was struggling to cope and that any jail term would greatly jeopardise her recovery and rehabilitation.
For voluntarily causing hurt, Phang could have been jailed for up to three years or fined up to S$5,000, or both.
Since the victim was a domestic worker, Phang could have faced up to double these penalties.
This story was first published by CNA


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Hazel Phang Fong Yen was also ordered to pay US$3,422 in compensation for repeated physical assaults on the Myanmar national


Hazel Phang Fong Yen was also ordered to pay US$3,422 in compensation for repeated physical assaults on the Myanmar national.


Myanmar

Crime

Singaporean woman jailed for slapping, punching helper over job performance

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hazel Phang Fong Yen was also ordered to pay US$3,422 in compensation for repeated physical assaults on the Myanmar national

Hazel Phang Fong Yen was also ordered to pay US$3,422 in compensation for repeated physical assaults on the Myanmar national