To all those who are on the side of those PDMMs, here's more
juicy news:
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BORROW a child. And come to Singapore as a 'study mama'.
That seems to be the latest scam by which some China women come
here to work.
Four local recruitment agents who help bring in China students tell
us how it works:
A recruitment agent in China matches a woman who wants to work with
a child who wants to study here.
The woman pretends to be the child's mother, so she can get a
long-term social visit pass.
A law passed in 2003 forbids study mamas to work in their first
year here, but many ignore it and work anyway.
Documents, prepared to establish a 'mother-and-child' relationship,
are submitted for approval.
As soon as the green light is given by the immigration authorities,
the woman and her 'child' fly in.
So the child gets to be educated here and is cared for by a
guardian throughout, while the woman finds work and makes money to
send home.
And the China agent gets his commission - $3,000 to $10,000,
according to local agents and study mamas.
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) told The New Paper
that it is aware of such scams.
A woman was jailed last year after she applied for a social visit
pass on the pretext of being a study mama, though she is the aunt
of the student.
Her lies were exposed when she tried to apply for permanent
residence (PR) status after she got married to a Singapore PR. (See
report on facing page.)
Under the current regulations, only mothers or grandmothers are
allowed to accompany a student pass-holder. Fathers, aunts or other
family members are not allowed to do so.
Reverend Edward Job, president of Christian Care Services Centre,
said he knew of a woman who came here as a 'guardian' to two
children.
He said the 31-year-old woman, from Fuzhou city in China's Fujian
province, was not married. She arrived in March.
Rev Job said: 'She came here on a social visit pass and told us she
was the study mama and guardian for two girls.
'So we guessed she could have lied about her relationship with the
kids in order to get a pass here since only mothers and
grandmothers are allowed to accompany the students.'
The woman worked illegally at a massage parlour in an HDB
estate.
During a raid, she managed to slip away, but lived in fear of being
caught by the authorities.
TURMOIL
Rev Job heard of her plight through another study mama.
He said: 'We got in touch with her and told her that she should go
back for her own good, and bought her a one-way ticket.
'The woman's friend said the two girls went back shortly after she
left.'
It is not clear how long this scam has been happening.
At the end of May, there were about 7,800 study mamas here.
The study mama community has recently been in turmoil, after the
murder of one of them on 18 Jun.
Madam Yu Hong Jin was stabbed to death in the Ang Mo Kio massage
parlour where she worked, allegedly by hawker Eu Lim Hoklai,
52.
Following the murder, strict new rules came into effect - all
massage parlours must now hire only Singaporeans, Singapore PRs and
Malaysians, and conduct the services offered in HDB estates in full
view of the public.
An education consultant who helps bring in China students said she
had heard of parents asking friends or distant relatives to
accompany their children here to study.
The woman, who declined to be named, said: 'We hear from our
clients that the student's real mother can't come because of family
obligations, like looking after the young or aged, so they'll look
for a guardian to take care of the child.
'The parents stay behind to work and put the child through
school.
'It's a matter of finding the right match - no one will complain
because all parties get what they want.'
Another education consultant, with 10 years' experience in bringing
in international students, said some agents were willing to risk
the child's education for the commission.
He said: 'These are the unscrupulous ones who don't care about the
student's welfare. They encourage women and children to lie about
their relationship in order to get a student pass.
'There should be more stringent laws to stop them, so that the
study mama community won't have a bad name.'
FINE, JAIL
Madam Liu Qing, a study mama from Fujian, criticised such
'underhanded tactics'.
Said the 31-year-old, whose son is in Primary 2: 'I wouldn't
entrust my son to someone else. How can anyone risk their child
being sent back without getting a proper education?'
An ICA spokesman said: 'ICA will not hesitate to take action
against such errant individuals.'
The penalty for making false statements to obtain or attempt to
obtain an immigration pass is a fine of up to $4,000, or a jail
term not exceeding 12 months, or both.
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She lies that she's mum of her niece
SHE came to Singapore as a study mama using her younger
sister'sname and passport.
Then 42, she applied for a social visit pass in July 2004, riding
on her niece's status here as a student.
She got to know a Singapore permanent resident, who later became
her husband.
Two days after she arrived, the woman returned to China and then
came back to Singapore again in August 2004.
This time, she used her own passport and name.
In October that year, she submitted an application for an entry
permit to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority's (ICA)
Permanent Residence Services Centre as she intended to live here
permanently.
Up to the time of her application, she had to renew her social
visit pass monthly.
She found it 'inconvenient' to do so - getting an entry permit
would have allowed her to stay in Singapore indefinitely.
However, in assessing her eligibility for the entry permit, an ICA
officer found that the woman had lied in her application form.
how?
She declared that she had never entered Singapore using another
passport or different name, and further stated that the particulars
on the form were 'true and correct and that she had not wilfully
suppressed any material fact'. How did ICA know she came in on
another passport??
She was charged under the Immigration Act for making a false
declaration in her permanent residence's application form.
An ICA spokesman said the woman was sentenced to two months in
jail.
