Woman in Singapore pleads guilty to abusing domestic worker: ‘you are rubbish; not human’

Another 17 charges will be considered in sentencing.

The court heard that the victim, a 43-year-old female Indonesian, was employed by Tan’s husband but dealt with Tan daily.

CCTV cameras were placed in Tan’s flat, including the kitchen, dining area and living room. The footage could be viewed via an application installed on Tan’s phone.

Tan abused the victim several times in June 2020. In one instance, she got upset with the victim when the latter tried to talk to Tan when Tan was blow-drying her hair.

After the victim went to the kitchen to prepare milk for Tan’s child, Tan abruptly yanked the helper’s ponytail from behind with force.

She began shouting at the victim and tried to slap her face, but the victim blocked the blows that landed on her arm instead.

On June 13, 2020, Tan inflicted several blows on the helper and threatened her verbally.

The victim shouted: “Enough!”

In response, Tan told her that “you cannot tell me enough” and kicked her lower body.

The victim then shouted that she wanted to go home, as she had enough of Tan’s abuse.

Tan told her that this was her home, calling her stupid in Malay.

She then began berating the maid: “You are rubbish. You are not human. Remember you are always rubbish.”

She also told the helper that she wanted to punch her and make her clean.

“I want to keep you, I want to wash you, I want to scrub you, I want to kick you,” Tan told the maid.

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‘Fighting for justice’: Indonesian domestic worker’s abuse highlights lack of legal protection

‘Fighting for justice’: Indonesian domestic worker’s abuse highlights lack of legal protection

The victim was distressed and tried to leave, but Tan struck her, including with an umbrella. Based on what was described in court documents, the victim did not provoke Tan nor retaliate against her.

Tan also abused the victim when she felt the helper had not served breakfast, although Tan’s children had already woken up, or over how the maid was washing clothes.

For the laundry incident, angered that dirty shower water could have gone into the clothes, Tan slapped the victim’s face hard so that the victim staggered backwards.

Finally, the victim could not bear the abuse any longer and shouted for help from the service yard.

The police received an anonymous call on June 15, 2020 from a person who said a neighbour was beating her helper, who was calling for help.

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When Tan heard the police arriving, she pushed the victim into her bedroom at the service yard.

According to a charge taken into consideration for sentencing, Tan instructed the victim before she was interviewed by the police, saying: “Please … don’t anyhow talk, you put me in a difficult position.”

She also claimed that she would send the helper home that day and had already arranged it.

Tan tried to stop the police from interviewing the helper, lying that her injuries were self-inflicted, but was unable to.

When Tan saw a police officer retrieving a microSD memory card from one of the CCTV cameras, she became afraid that the abuse would be exposed through the video footage.

She used her phone application to remotely reformat the microSD cards of the remaining cameras to prevent the police from getting their hands on the incriminating video footage.

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The case was adjourned for a Newton hearing – a hearing where parties give evidence to settle an issue that is disputed – as the prosecution and defence were at odds over whether Tan had any mental condition that caused or contributed to her offences.

The prosecutor said his position was that Tan was not suffering from clinical depression, with no causal or contributory link to her offences, based on two psychiatric reports from the Institute of Mental Health.

Defence lawyers James Ow Yong and Mark Yeo from Fortress Law said their client was suffering from major depressive disorder, which contributed to her offences.

They submitted five medical reports and two memos, including one from her gynaecologist.

The judge asked for some clarifications from both sides and sent the case back for a pre-trial conference.

Sentencing will be carried out after the Newton hearing is completed.