Straits Time 11 Mar 2006
Jailed 7 months for dipping maid's finger in hot oil
Housewife, 50, scalded maid for using too much oil to fry fish;
maid agency had issued her 2 warnings
By Elena Chong
A WOMAN who scalded her Indonesian maid after she used too much oil
to fry fish was jailed a total of seven months yesterday on two
maid abuse charges.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Olivine Lin pressed for a deterrent
sentence against 50-year-old housewife Chan Yow Kuen, pointing out
that her offences were serious and had continued even after a maid
agency had issued two warnings to her.
'For the victim, it must have been extremely frightening as the
accused held and forcibly inserted her finger into the hot oil,' Ms
Lin added.
Now unemployed, the 24-year-old maid Siti Kamsiyah Kamijan is
staying temporarily at her agent's house.
In the dock yesterday, Chan was in tears as her lawyer Sarbrinder
Singh pleaded for leniency and compassion.
Mr Singh told District Judge Tan Puay Boon that Chan, who had a
stroke in August 2004, had never ill-treated any of her three
previous maids.
He said Chan had committed the offences out of frustration and
anger, because Miss Siti's work was unsatisfactory.
The first charge relates to an incident on March 22 last year, when
she found her maid using what she thought was too much oil in the
frying pan.
After scolding her, the mother of two grabbed the maid's left ring
finger and pushed it into the hot oil.
The next morning, the abuse continued.
While Miss Siti was preparing breakfast for the children, aged nine
and 17, at about 6.15am, Chan asked her why she had served bread on
two consecutive days.
She then punched Miss Siti on the forehead and in the eye, pulled
her right ear and pinched her breast.
Twenty minutes later, while the maid was washing clothes, Chan
physically assaulted her again.
The maid, who had been employed at the Clementi household since Jan
6, then ran off to see a friend, who gave her $10 and told her to
make a police report.
Three other charges against Chan - putting a hot skillet on the
maid's forearm in January, slapping her on Feb 16, and hitting her
on the head several times in March - were considered during
sentencing.
The most severe sentence meted out to a maid abuser so far was in
March 2002, when a 30-year-old customer relations officer was
sentenced to five years' jail for burning, stabbing and biting her
Indonesian maid.
Chan could have been jailed for up to 18 months and fined up to
$1,500 on each charge.
She and her husband will be blacklisted permanently from hiring
maids.
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