https://www.scmp.com/rss/311901/feed Erwiana Sulistyaningsih is a former Indonesian domestic worker who in January 2014 accused her Hong Kong employer of subjecting her to six months of physical abuse. Photographs of Erwiana's injuries quickly spread through social media and led to public outrage. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com A Hong Kong employer who made global headlines when put on trial for torturing Indonesian domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih has been declared bankrupt. Master Reuden Lai Tat-cheung of the High Court on Monday issued the bankruptcy order against Law Wan-tung. Court records showed the beautician had petitioned for her own bankruptcy in May, without revealing the extent of her debts. In February 2015, Law was jailed for six years and fined HK$15,000 after being found guilty of assaulting... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3158616/hong-kong-employer-jailed-2015-torturing-indonesian?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3158616/hong-kong-employer-jailed-2015-torturing-indonesian?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Dec 2021 07:21:18 +0000 A Singaporean couple who force-fed their domestic worker with a funnel, ordered her to eat her own vomit and threatened to hire an assassin to kill her family if she reported them were jailed on Monday. The pair – who were sentenced two years ago in a separate case regarding the abuse of an Indonesian domestic worker – caned and kicked Myanmar national Moe Moe Than, 32, and also forced her to perform chores in her underwear. Why domestic workers are the modern-day slaves of Asia’s big... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3002856/starved-beaten-hammer-slept-dog-worst-domestic-worker-abuse-cases?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3002856/starved-beaten-hammer-slept-dog-worst-domestic-worker-abuse-cases?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 Mar 2019 02:45:06 +0000 Hong Kong prison authorities were on Thursday under mounting pressure to explain why an employer who made headlines around the world for torturing Indonesian domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih was released from prison after serving only about half of her six-year sentence. Erwiana and Tutik Lestari Ningsih, another Indonesian helper abused by the same woman, joined supporters in demanding an explanation from the Correctional Services Department. Law Wan-tung was found guilty of assault in... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2174567/beaten-indonesian-domestic-worker-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2174567/beaten-indonesian-domestic-worker-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Nov 2018 12:45:15 +0000 A Hong Kong employer who made global headlines for torturing Indonesian domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih has been released early from prison, a court heard on Wednesday. Yvonne Cheung, a lawyer from the justice department that is pursuing Law Wan-tung for HK$200,000 over another failed legal action, told the High Court they had not been able to “ascertain her whereabouts”. Law was jailed for six years and fined HK$15,000 in February 2015 after being found guilty of assaulting Erwiana and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2174279/woman-who-tortured-indonesian-domestic-helper-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2174279/woman-who-tortured-indonesian-domestic-helper-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Nov 2018 05:30:15 +0000 Slumped dejectedly in her wheelchair and wearing a neck brace, former civil servant Au Wai-chun dissolves into tears and com­plains bitterly about the domestic helpers she says have turned her retirement into a nightmare. “Now I must bear the identity of a criminal until I die,” she says. “If I am unlucky enough to be convicted again, or if I die before the result comes, please promise to write an article that says a greedy maid can kill their ma’am.” The 65-year-old says she believes her plight... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2158988/domestic-helper-accuses-former-employer-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2158988/domestic-helper-accuses-former-employer-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Aug 2018 09:00:30 +0000 The Hong Kong employer jailed for torturing Erwiana Sulistyaningsih was blocked from mounting an appeal against a recent court order to pay another Indonesian domestic helper HK$170,000 (US$21,600) in damages for assault and for holding her captive nearly a year. The District Court on Thursday threw out Law Wan-tung’s summons for leave to appeal and stay of execution of a court order, after judge Liu Man-kin reviewed his February judgment and concluded the application “must be refused”. “There... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-law-and-crime/article/2152981/woman-who-abused-ex-domestic-worker-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-law-and-crime/article/2152981/woman-who-abused-ex-domestic-worker-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Jun 2018 12:40:15 +0000 The case of the Hong Kong employer who was jailed for abusing two domestic helpers, Tutik Lestari Ningsih and Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, was picked up by media outlets around the world and decried as an abuse of human rights. Here, however, it was an addition to a long, silent history of the mistreatment of foreign domestic workers. Although the inequality that permitted such abuse is apparently economic and certainly political, it is rooted in the social: an age-old lens colours the way Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2137310/hong-kong-must-stop-clinging-fiction-racial-superiority-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2137310/hong-kong-must-stop-clinging-fiction-racial-superiority-and?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Mar 2018 02:01:06 +0000 A second Indonesian domestic helper won damages from a Hong Kong employer who was jailed for torturing her and Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, concluding a lengthy legal battle over a shocking abuse case that made global headlines four years ago. The District Court order of HK$170,000 awarded in Tutik Lestari Ningsih’s favour on Monday added to a HK$809,430 bill which Law Wan-tung was ordered to pay to Erwiana last December. The same court had previously slapped a six-year jail term and a HK$15,000... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2134786/hong-kong-woman-jailed-torturing-domestic-helper-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2134786/hong-kong-woman-jailed-torturing-domestic-helper-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Feb 2018 12:27:35 +0000 Almost 500 people, including migrant workers from Indonesia and several Hongkongers, gathered in Causeway Bay on Sunday for a candlelight vigil and prayed for victims of human trafficking after the shocking death of a young Indonesian domestic worker in Malaysia. During the gathering on Paterson Street, they also demanded justice and voiced outrage over recent high-profile cases. Organisers said 490 people attended the one and a half hour protest, which was sparked by the death of Adelina Lisao,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2134591/fed-human-trafficking-hong-kong-migrant-workers-hold-vigil?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2134591/fed-human-trafficking-hong-kong-migrant-workers-hold-vigil?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Feb 2018 02:01:56 +0000 “If you don’t like it here, you can always leave, go back to where you came from,” is a regular refrain in Hong Kong to discourage the less fortunate among us from speaking out about their plight. It has to be the most defeatist argument in defence of existing ills in society and the biggest impediment to progress, this boneheaded belief that only a bona fide son of the soil has the right to complain and anyone else should either just suck it up or go away. Which is why it’s so disheartening to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2133654/if-you-dont-it-here-get-out-why-hong-kongs-downtrodden?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2133654/if-you-dont-it-here-get-out-why-hong-kongs-downtrodden?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Feb 2018 08:01:07 +0000 The Hong Kong High Court on Wednesday upheld the government’s requirement – instituted in 2003 – for foreign domestic workers to live with their employers. Nancy Almorin Lubiano, a Filipino who came to Hong Kong in 2011, had in 2016 sought a judicial review of the rule, saying it was unconstitutional and breached the rights of helpers. The government maintained one of the main principles of its foreign domestic worker policy was the provision of a “full-time live-in domestic service”. Judge... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/community/article/2133377/why-hong-kong-wants-foreign-domestic-helpers-live-their?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/community/article/2133377/why-hong-kong-wants-foreign-domestic-helpers-live-their?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Feb 2018 09:30:30 +0000 A domestic helper on Wednesday lost Hong Kong’s first judicial review of the government requirement that she and 370,000 workers like her must live with their employers. Nancy Almorin Lubiano, from the Philippines, had asked the High Court to declare the city’s mandatory 15-year-old live-in rule unconstitutional as her lawyers argued for the option to live elsewhere. But Mr Justice Anderson Chow Ka-ming sided with the director of immigration in dismissing all four grounds of challenge and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2133296/judge-quashes-domestic-workers-bid-change-live-out-rule-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2133296/judge-quashes-domestic-workers-bid-change-live-out-rule-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Feb 2018 07:15:00 +0000 The Hong Kong employer jailed for torturing Erwiana Sulistyaningsih returned to court on Friday to face another domestic helper she abused, with the plaintiff demanding HK$170,000 in damages for assault and 346 days she was held captive. Indonesian Tutik Lestari Ningsih initiated civil proceedings against Law Wan-tung in the District Court back in 2015, shortly after the same court found the Hong Kong beautician guilty in a criminal trial of assaulting and intimidating her. Tutik’s ordeal took... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2132786/hong-kong-boss-jailed-torturing-domestic-helper-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2132786/hong-kong-boss-jailed-torturing-domestic-helper-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Feb 2018 23:02:18 +0000 Former Hong Kong domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih on Thursday won the last leg of her legal battle against an abusive employer, successfully preventing her ex-boss evading a court order to hand over HK$809,430 in damages. The High Court ruled that a transaction in which Law Wan-tung transferred half her share of a HK$7 million flat to her husband had been an attempt to offload assets and place herself in debt so as to avoid paying her former employee. The Indonesian helper was awarded... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2126017/hong-kong-domestic-helper-erwiana-sulistyaningsih-wins?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2126017/hong-kong-domestic-helper-erwiana-sulistyaningsih-wins?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Dec 2017 09:45:00 +0000 She was wheelchair-bound and covered in bruises and lacerations when tortured former domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih had to await her recovery in a hospital back home in Indonesia some four years ago. But through the dark times, it was also where she found her activist’s spirit, following the gruesome assault against her that captured global attention. She revealed to the Post on Friday how she had taken the fight back home over the past few years, and had been fighting for the rights of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2125480/we-need-fight-back-erwiana-sulistyaningsih-campaigns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2125480/we-need-fight-back-erwiana-sulistyaningsih-campaigns?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Dec 2017 13:15:00 +0000 Tortured foreign domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih has vowed to continue fighting for those as vulnerable as she once was, a day after she prevailed over her abusive former employer in civil litigation. Speaking to the Post on Friday, the helper said she had been inspired to be an “advocate for those who are abused”. In 2015 a Hong Kong court convicted and jailed Law Wan-tung for causing her injuries, one of which was so severe it amounted to grievous bodily harm inflicted with deliberate... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2125393/i-will-continue-fight-better-conditions-hong-kongs-domestic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2125393/i-will-continue-fight-better-conditions-hong-kongs-domestic?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Dec 2017 04:45:00 +0000 Tortured former domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih on Thursday prevailed in her two-year legal bid to claim HK$809,430 (US$103,480) in damages from her abusive employer, with a judge calling her mistreatment “inhumane, degrading and abhorrent”. In granting the civil claim, District Court judge Winnie Tsui Wan-wah awarded the former helper the full amount she sought, disregarding the employer Law Wan-tung’s assertions that Erwiana’s injuries were exaggerated. In court earlier this month,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2125293/tortured-helper-erwiana-wins-us103480-civil-claim-against?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2125293/tortured-helper-erwiana-wins-us103480-civil-claim-against?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Dec 2017 08:45:45 +0000 Tortured Indonesian former domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih was back in a Hong Kong court on Monday to claim more than HK$809,000 from her abusive employer – who claimed for the first time in court that the injuries she sustained were self-inflicted. Testifying for her injuries claim, the helper, who flew back from her native Indonesia, told the District Court that she was still haunted by her past, despite it being more than three years since she was a victim of torture by her former... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2122828/tortured-hong-kong-helper-erwianas-employer-claims-her?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2122828/tortured-hong-kong-helper-erwianas-employer-claims-her?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Dec 2017 12:00:00 +0000 Lawyers for Indonesian former domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih told a court on Wednesday that her abusive ex-employer transferred her share in a HK$7 million flat to her husband to avoid the helper’s claim for compensation. But Law Wan-tung, jailed for six years for various assault charges, defended herself at the High Court with a revelation – she claimed her marriage had turned sour and that she was merely holding the flat her estranged husband bought on trust for their... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2120080/hong-kong-employer-who-tortured-domestic-worker-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2120080/hong-kong-employer-who-tortured-domestic-worker-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Nov 2017 12:00:30 +0000 A Hong Kong employer jailed for torturing Indonesian domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih would have a difficult time fending off a civil damages claim from another helper whom she assaulted because of her past convictions, a judge said on Monday. Law Wan-tung was jailed for six years for causing grievous bodily harm to Erwiana in a trial that gripped the city in 2015. She was also convicted of slapping and kicking Tutik Lestari Ningsih, who has since lodged a civil lawsuit against her former... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2103122/jailed-hong-kong-employer-will-find-it-tough-fending-civil?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2103122/jailed-hong-kong-employer-will-find-it-tough-fending-civil?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Jul 2017 08:36:31 +0000 Thousands of Hong Kong’s foreign domestic workers continue to sleep in appalling conditions leaving them vulnerable to abuse, according to activists, who lament that the government continues to turn a “blind eye” to the problem. In early 2014, the torture of Indonesian domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih by her employer Law Wan-tung was exposed. The helper was constantly beaten and lived in appalling conditions, including being forced to sleep on the floor. More than three years on, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2096651/little-progress-erwiana-activists-slam-lack?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2096651/little-progress-erwiana-activists-slam-lack?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Jun 2017 00:00:30 +0000 An appeals court judge has warned that an abusive employer jailed for assaulting Indonesian former domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih could face even longer time in jail if the former boss continued to pursue her appeal. In rejecting a bid by Law Wan-tung to clear her own name, the Court of Appeal questioned whether any attempt by Law to continue her legal challenge would do her any good. Law, who hired Erwiana from March 2013 to January 2014, went before the Court of Appeal last week to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1990124/keep-appealing-and-you-could-be-jail-longer-hong-kong-judge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1990124/keep-appealing-and-you-could-be-jail-longer-hong-kong-judge?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Jul 2016 06:30:45 +0000 The abusive employer jailed for assaulting Indonesian former domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih failed in her bid to clear her name on Thursday. Law Wan-tung, 44, went before the Court of Appeal to ask for permission to advance her appeal against her convictions and sentence of six years imprisonment. Law, who failed to secure financial aid for this appeal due to her wealth, also asked vice-president of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice Michael Lunn to exercise his power to demand the Legal... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1986733/employer-who-abused-domestic-worker-erwiana-sulistyaningsih?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1986733/employer-who-abused-domestic-worker-erwiana-sulistyaningsih?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Jul 2016 09:26:23 +0000 The rights of the city’s vulnerable domestic helpers were back in the spotlight this week as politicians debated how to regulate the employment agencies that bring them to the city from around Asia. Legislators discussed the merits of a 100-page draft code of practice for the agencies, but campaigners said it lacked teeth. They said it was unclear how the code would be enforced, and insisted it would be rendered redundant if agencies just adhered to existing laws and practices. There are also... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1956749/hong-kong-domestic-helpers-doubts-expressed-about?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1956749/hong-kong-domestic-helpers-doubts-expressed-about?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 May 2016 04:00:45 +0000 Is Hong Kong about to face a major home helper crisis? If Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo is true to his word, it seems we will – as early as next year. President Widodo – Jokowi for short – insists that the country will stop allowing home helpers to work in the Middle East starting from June, and in economies like Hong Kong and Singapore by 2017. But, justified as he is to be outraged at the frequent appalling abuse of home helpers around the region, is he not creating more problems for... https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/1948519/migrant-workers-need-protecting-keeping-them-home-not?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/1948519/migrant-workers-need-protecting-keeping-them-home-not?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 May 2016 06:11:02 +0000 The first documentary on the shocking story of abused former Indonesian domestic helper ­Erwiana Sulistyaningsih could be screened around the world to highlight human slavery, the filmmaker said at its premiere at City University on Sunday. “This film is not just about ­Erwiana and Erwiana’s case is not the only case,” said Gabriel Ordaz, who came to Hong Kong from the US in 2010 and started making the documentary Erwiana: Justice For All in December 2013. ‘I still have the scars’: Indonesian... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1931203/documentary-takes-plight-abused-domestic-worker-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1931203/documentary-takes-plight-abused-domestic-worker-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Mar 2016 15:15:00 +0000 Two years after she was kicked out of the Tsueng Kwan O home that haunted her for eight dark months, Erwiana Sulistyaningsih is prevailing over the terror her ex-employer put her through. While the former Indonesian domestic worker has already forgiven her former employer Law Wan-tung, the harm Law inflicted on her is still all too visible. “I still have problems breathing. I cannot go swimming because I cannot get water into my ears. And I still have the scars. I need to see the doctor from... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1931046/i-still-have-scars-indonesian-maid-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1931046/i-still-have-scars-indonesian-maid-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Mar 2016 13:45:30 +0000 The employer jailed for abusing Indonesian domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih told a court today that she was so broke from fighting a civil claim against the maid, that she would have to seek financial aid from a government department in which she placed no confidence. Law Wan-tung, 44, who claimed she had run out of money , told magistrate Rita So Ka-yin at District Court on Friday that she had had enough of dealing with the Legal Aid Department. Another court heard earlier that she... https://www.scmp.com/news/article/1917587/erwiana-employer-so-broke-civil-claim-she-needs-legal-aid-appeal-court-hears?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/article/1917587/erwiana-employer-so-broke-civil-claim-she-needs-legal-aid-appeal-court-hears?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Feb 2016 02:00:26 +0000 The employer who was jailed six years for the abuse of Erwiana Sulistyaningsih and another Indonesian maid has accused the Legal Aid Department of turning down her application for aid because of political pressure. Law Wan-tung, 44, also argued at the High Court’s hearing on costs that the legal service should have spent the money on granting her application, instead of hiring expensive lawyers to contest her case. This came after the Court of First Instance last month quashed Law’s permission... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1909816/hong-kong-woman-who-abused-indonesian-maid-erwiana-says-she?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1909816/hong-kong-woman-who-abused-indonesian-maid-erwiana-says-she?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Feb 2016 08:00:15 +0000 The woman jailed for abusing Indonesian domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih has accused the worker of plunging her into “hell”, while describing her own plight in jail and insisting she was framed. “I feel like I am in hell. I have been yelled at, and people are treating me as if I am a bad person,” said Law Wan-tung, 44. “I feel wronged. I am afraid, sad and frustrated, but I don’t know what I can do.” “Since I have been here, I miss my family and I am worried that no one is looking after... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1908848/hong-kong-woman-jailed-abusing-indonesian-maid-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1908848/hong-kong-woman-jailed-abusing-indonesian-maid-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Feb 2016 05:15:15 +0000 The employer jailed for abusing Indonesian maid Erwiana Sulistyaningsih told a court she was framed, adding that she had been subject to bullying by other prisoners. Law Wan-tung, 44, insisted she had been set up by Erwiana, other Indonesian maids and the domestic worker rights groups who have been supporting them, resulting in a six-year jail sentence for her. Law, who was earlier represented by lawyers, broke her silence today for the first time when she made a teary submission to the court in... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1906454/hong-kong-woman-who-abused-indonesian-maid-erwiana-tells?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1906454/hong-kong-woman-who-abused-indonesian-maid-erwiana-tells?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Jan 2016 09:06:48 +0000 Successful prosecutions against employment agencies have tripled to 12 this year, after a spate of high-profile cases including the abuse of Erwiana Sulistyaningsih turned the spotlight on the plight of some of the 341,000 domestic helpers in Hong Kong. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung wrote on his blog yesterday that, of the 12 agencies successfully prosecuted this year, nine were convicted of overcharging the helpers. Last year, there were only four successful... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1893608/successful-prosecutions-against-maid-agencies-triple?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1893608/successful-prosecutions-against-maid-agencies-triple?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Dec 2015 18:45:00 +0000 A South China Morning Post reporter has received the Chinese University Journalism Award for his coverage of Erwiana Sulistyaningsih's family and how her plight has affected Indonesia's policy of exporting domestic workers. News reporter Phila Siu last night received a certificate of merit in the biannual award's feature or commentary group for newspapers and magazines. READ MORE: Erwiana: Indonesian domestic helper who became campaigner against abuse in Hong Kong His award-winning entry... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1890081/post-reporter-phila-siu-gets-hong-kong-award?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1890081/post-reporter-phila-siu-gets-hong-kong-award?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Dec 2015 16:00:30 +0000 An Indonesian domestic helper who is suing her former employers in Hong Kong over physical abuse has launched a new lawsuit, this time alleging they reorganised their assets to avoid compensating her. Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, 24, filed a writ to the High Court saying the jailed Law Wan-tung transferred her ownership of the couple's flat in Tseung Kwan O to her husband, Barry Tsui Yun-bun, on July 22 - while serving a six-year sentence for the abuse. The helper claimed this was a ruse by Law so... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1861590/bullied-and-beaten-indonesian-maid-sues-ex-employer-again?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1861590/bullied-and-beaten-indonesian-maid-sues-ex-employer-again?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Sep 2015 07:45:15 +0000 The former employer of Indonesian maid Erwiana Sulistyaningsih was yesterday given the green light to challenge the Legal Aid Department's refusal to grant her assistance in her bid to overturn her conviction. Law Wan-tung, 44, who was found guilty in the District Court in February, filed an application for a judicial review last month, after her request for legal aid was rejected by the department. Madam Justice Queeny Au Yeung Kwai-yue granted the leave after learning that she had the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1849068/ex-hong-kong-employer-abused-indonesian-maid-can-seek?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1849068/ex-hong-kong-employer-abused-indonesian-maid-can-seek?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Aug 2015 16:00:30 +0000 The abusive former employer of Indonesian domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih has asked for a judicial review of the Legal Aid Department’s decision to refuse to grant her assistance in her appeal hearing, according to a court document. Law Wan-tung, 44, filed the application to the High Court through a law firm, alleging the director of the Legal Aid Department refused her in “vague and unparticular terms” but did not go into details. She claimed that while the offences she was convicted of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1834522/abusive-former-erwiana-employer-asks-court-review-decision?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1834522/abusive-former-erwiana-employer-asks-court-review-decision?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Jul 2015 09:00:45 +0000 Indonesian domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih has submitted a claim for injuries inflicted by her jailed former employer, seeking an unspecified amount of damages. Erwiana filed her claim yesterday with the District Court, more than two weeks after beautician Law Wan-tung was sentenced to six years for starving and beating Erwiana and abusing another helper, Tutik Lestari Ningsih. Erwiana's lawyers said in the writ: "The plaintiff's claim is for damages, aggravated damages and exemplary... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1740163/abused-hong-kong-maid-erwiana-files-injuries-claim-against-jailed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1740163/abused-hong-kong-maid-erwiana-files-injuries-claim-against-jailed?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Mar 2015 08:39:57 +0000 Erwiana Sulistyaningsih greeted the news that her employer had been jailed for six years after subjecting her to months of abuse with a warning: the case was just the tip of the iceberg. The 24-year-old Indonesian was in the District Court in Wan Chai to see Law Wan-tung sentenced yesterday before joining campaigners outside to call for continued efforts to improve working conditions for Hong Kong's domestic workers. "I hope that the people in Hong Kong will remain vigilant against slavery and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1725225/indonesian-maid-erwiana-says-others-her-are-being-abused-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1725225/indonesian-maid-erwiana-says-others-her-are-being-abused-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Feb 2015 17:15:30 +0000 The abusive former employer of Indonesian domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih was sentenced to six years in prison and fined HK$15,000 at the District Court this morning. Handing down her sentence to former beautician Law Wan-tung, District Court Judge Amanda Woodcock said that the defendant's attitude and behaviour were contemptible, and she had shown no compassion to her victims. Woodcock said that this type of abusive conduct could be prevented if domestic helpers were not forced to live... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1724621/hong-kong-employer-who-abused-indonesian-maid-erwiana-jailed-six?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1724621/hong-kong-employer-who-abused-indonesian-maid-erwiana-jailed-six?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Feb 2015 01:00:45 +0000 Laughing and chatting with friends in Central yesterday, Erwiana Sulistyaningsih was a different person to the sombre figure seen going in and out of court recently. The Indonesian's former employer, Law Wan-tung, was this week convicted in the District Court on a raft of assault charges involving Erwiana and another Indonesian maid, Tutik Lestari Ningsih. Law will be sentenced on February 27. Yesterday, Erwiana was the star of the show for One Billion Rising - a worldwide campaign to end... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1713560/erwiana-one-billion-rising-dance-campaign-end-violence-against-women?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1713560/erwiana-one-billion-rising-dance-campaign-end-violence-against-women?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2015 20:56:57 +0000 The former employer of Erwiana Sulistyaningsih was convicted in the District Court on Tuesday of a multitude of violent crimes that left the Indonesian domestic helper a shell of her former self. The physical and psychological abuse she endured was horrific. She had little left in terms of her physical integrity and fought hard to hold onto her humanity. Yet, since Erwiana's case came to light barely a year ago, the Hong Kong government has taken little to no action to constructively address the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1710187/erwianas-case-not-isolated-and-government-must-broaden?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1710187/erwianas-case-not-isolated-and-government-must-broaden?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Feb 2015 10:15:45 +0000 Language barriers and cultural differences may partly explain why Indonesian domestic helpers have been caught up in three of the city's most horrific abuse cases over the past 13 years, a leading human rights figure has said. Director of Amnesty International Hong Kong, Mabel Au Mei-po, said because of language difficulties, Indonesian maids - most of whom cannot speak English before arriving in the city - had limited access to the information that could have saved them from abuse. "Let's say... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1710008/why-indonesian-helpers-are-victims-hong-kongs-most-horrific-abuse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1710008/why-indonesian-helpers-are-victims-hong-kongs-most-horrific-abuse?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Feb 2015 04:29:50 +0000 When Tutik Lestari Ningsih decided to come forward to speak out against her former employer in the wake of a sensational abuse case, it was hard to avoid the suggestion that she was being opportunistic. The suspicious timing raised defence lawyer Graham Harris SC's eyebrows when Tutik took to the court last month to testify against her employer, Law Wan-tung, four years after she was beaten. Law, 44, was yesterday convicted by the District Court of assaulting the maid. Tutik said she did not... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1709679/hong-kong-domestic-helper-spokesman-calls-rule-changes-wake-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1709679/hong-kong-domestic-helper-spokesman-calls-rule-changes-wake-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Feb 2015 17:31:03 +0000 A year after the horrific abuse suffered by Erwiana Sulistyaningsih shocked the world, labour activists and the Indonesian and Hong Kong governments were still debating whether enough has been done to ensure the protection of domestic helpers. Reyna Usman, director general in charge of supervision and placement of workers at the Indonesian labour ministry, stressed that his government remained committed to ensuring better conditions and protection for workers abroad under President Joko... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1709677/mixed-view-progress-ending-abuse-domestic-helpers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1709677/mixed-view-progress-ending-abuse-domestic-helpers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Feb 2015 17:31:03 +0000 Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, the domestic helper at the centre of an abuse case that has shaken Hong Kong and made headlines around the world, is planning to sue the Indonesian agency that recruited her, her lawyer said. Samsudin Nurseha, director of the Legal Aid Institute, told the Post in Yogyakarta, in Central Java, that a case will be mounted on the grounds that the agency had not taken adequate steps to ensure Erwiana's safety while she was in Hong Kong. "We will take the action after the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1709676/abused-indonesian-domestic-helper-erwiana-sue-hiring-agency?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1709676/abused-indonesian-domestic-helper-erwiana-sue-hiring-agency?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Feb 2015 17:30:00 +0000 Every domestic helper who feels angst over their employment circumstances can take heart from the verdicts handed down to the woman who had for eight months abused and tormented Erwiana Sulistyaningsih. Law Wan-tung was found guilty on 18 of 20 counts involving the Indonesian woman and two other maids in a case that drew international attention to the plight of the more than 300,000 foreign workers who take care of families in our city. The vast majority have good employers, but there are those... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1709612/hong-kong-must-do-more-protect-domestic-helpers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1709612/hong-kong-must-do-more-protect-domestic-helpers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Feb 2015 16:47:27 +0000 For eight months, Rohmad Saputro would wake up in the middle of the night, in the house he built himself with wood and bricks, praying to Allah that his daughter, Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, was safe in Hong Kong. Not a day had gone by without him thinking about his daughter. But all he could do was pray. She had only called once in three months after she left home in May 2013 to become a domestic helper in Hong Kong, a bustling city 4,000 kilometres away. Then, on January 20 last year, at 3pm, a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1709231/erwianas-father-recounts-grief-day-his-daughter-came-home-bruised-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1709231/erwianas-father-recounts-grief-day-his-daughter-came-home-bruised-and?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Feb 2015 06:00:30 +0000 She can forgive, but she hasn’t yet managed to forget. One year ago, Indonesian maid Erwiana Sulistyaningsih left Hong Kong, covered in bruises, with injuries so severe as to render her unrecognisable. But despite her ordeal at the hands of her former employer, Erwiana says she has managed to forgive the woman who subjected her to abuse. The woman was found guilty on several counts of assault but was acquitted on two charges. “As a human being, I can forgive Law Wan-tung and her family,” Erwiana... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1709133/i-forgive-my-employer-says-abused-hong-kong-maid-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1709133/i-forgive-my-employer-says-abused-hong-kong-maid-erwiana?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Feb 2015 03:15:30 +0000 The former employer of Indonesian domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih was yesterday convicted of a raft of assault charges at the District Court after a judge found the maid was too "simple" to have framed the woman who hired her. Erwiana told the Post in an earlier interview she would forgive her former boss Law Wan-tung and her family. "But since Hong Kong has a justice system, justice must be upheld," she said. 'I can forgive Law Wan-tung but justice must be upheld,' says Indonesian maid... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1709105/erwiana-wishes-maximum-sentence-former-employer-following-guilty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1709105/erwiana-wishes-maximum-sentence-former-employer-following-guilty?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Feb 2015 03:00:00 +0000 Indonesian domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih's claims about her ordeal at the hands of her Hong Kong boss over seven months were by no means "beyond common sense", a prosecutor said ahead of a court verdict due in three weeks. Counsel for the employer, Law Wan-tung, had said Erwiana was an "evasive" and "calculating" witness who offered vague evidence with discrepancies. Both sides summed up their cases at the District Court yesterday, before Judge Amanda Woodcock hands down her verdict on... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1683717/final-legal-shots-fired-ahead-erwiana-verdict-3-weeks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1683717/final-legal-shots-fired-ahead-erwiana-verdict-3-weeks?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jan 2015 16:15:00 +0000