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Zahara Laateef Abused
Catherine Napier: In Singapore, a former television presenter has been jailed for two months for abusing her Indonesian maid. Zahara Lateef admitted pouring detergent on her servant's head after a lecture about how to wash greasy dishes. She followed that with a jug of hot water scalding the 19-year-old girl's back and chest. The case was given a sympathetic write-up in a local press which noted the testimonial and the support of the accused from the Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and reported comments by her counsel that his client now saw the world through a window of tears.
The abuse of servants is by no means confined to Singapore but Rex Ferona of the monitoring organisation the Asian Migrant Centre in Hongkong says the city-state has got a bad reputation.
Rex Ferona: In the past two years, we heard ourselves that there had been a number of cases of blatant physical and other forms of abuses that had been done especially to our foreign domestic helpers. Unlike in Hongkong or the rest of Asia - Korea or Japan - the migrant centre could not be organised which means it's very hard to them to defend themselves or fight back. Also there is no contract, there is no standard contract in Singapore for domestic helpers which is pretty very much between the employer and then the domestic helper to kind of arrange how they are going to exist in the area. Last year, in fact the government of Singapore issued a maid's manual, they called it, to kind of instruct the employers how to treat the domestic helpers because the government said that the reported case diminished Singapore's image as a gracious city.
Catherine Napier: In sentencing Zahara Lateef, the judge said there were strong factors mitigating her actions, namely that her maid had forgiven her and had been paid compensation. I put it to Singapore-based commentator Malena Nathan that Ms Lateef had got off lightly.
Malena Nathan: I think this case is unusual because it involved someone who is very well known in Singapore - Zahara Lateef used to be a news anchor woman on the local television channel - and looking at the testimonials she has received from the Prime Minister as well as community leaders, she has played an active role in the community. I supposed these are the reasons why it was felt that what she had done was the result of being in a great stress and great extenuating circumstances.
Catherine Napier: Now this is by no means the first case of abuse of a maid in Singapore. Is it fair to generalise and say that in general Singaporeans regard these maids from much poorer countries generally as second class citizens.
Malena Nathan: I don't think it would be fair to generalise simply because the fact that we know about them has to do with the extensive publicity and reporting that attends upon such cases of abuse. There was a similar case, a couple of months ago, where a Singaporean brought her maid with her to the Singapore Cricket Club and presented her as her guest. She wanted her to have a meal with her. But when the management ascertained that the guest was indeed her maid, she was asked to leave because it was against club rules. Now this again drew a very very warm response from Singaporeans. Warm in the sense that many Singaporeans are outraged by this saying it smacks of colonialism.
Catherine Napier: In the past, when Indonesian maids have been abused in Singapore, the cases have caused great waves in Indonesia itself. This kind of thing is not good for relations, is it?
Malena Nathan: Unfortunately what this does is reinforce the impression that Singapore being by and large the wealthiest and most "advanced' economy in South-east Asia also has the reputation of being the ugliest. People talked about the ugly Singaporean abroad in terms of the way Singaporeans behave when they are overseas. It would have appeared that there is a certain degree of that, albeit abroad or at home, in terms of how these foreign domestic maids are treated, and I think cases like this, although they are a minority, tend to reinforce the perception that Singaporeans treat people from the region, from countries that could be considered developing and not as advanced, in a way that they would not treat each other. read more
The abuse of servants is by no means confined to Singapore but Rex Ferona of the monitoring organisation the Asian Migrant Centre in Hongkong says the city-state has got a bad reputation.
Rex Ferona: In the past two years, we heard ourselves that there had been a number of cases of blatant physical and other forms of abuses that had been done especially to our foreign domestic helpers. Unlike in Hongkong or the rest of Asia - Korea or Japan - the migrant centre could not be organised which means it's very hard to them to defend themselves or fight back. Also there is no contract, there is no standard contract in Singapore for domestic helpers which is pretty very much between the employer and then the domestic helper to kind of arrange how they are going to exist in the area. Last year, in fact the government of Singapore issued a maid's manual, they called it, to kind of instruct the employers how to treat the domestic helpers because the government said that the reported case diminished Singapore's image as a gracious city.
Catherine Napier: In sentencing Zahara Lateef, the judge said there were strong factors mitigating her actions, namely that her maid had forgiven her and had been paid compensation. I put it to Singapore-based commentator Malena Nathan that Ms Lateef had got off lightly.
Malena Nathan: I think this case is unusual because it involved someone who is very well known in Singapore - Zahara Lateef used to be a news anchor woman on the local television channel - and looking at the testimonials she has received from the Prime Minister as well as community leaders, she has played an active role in the community. I supposed these are the reasons why it was felt that what she had done was the result of being in a great stress and great extenuating circumstances.
Catherine Napier: Now this is by no means the first case of abuse of a maid in Singapore. Is it fair to generalise and say that in general Singaporeans regard these maids from much poorer countries generally as second class citizens.
Malena Nathan: I don't think it would be fair to generalise simply because the fact that we know about them has to do with the extensive publicity and reporting that attends upon such cases of abuse. There was a similar case, a couple of months ago, where a Singaporean brought her maid with her to the Singapore Cricket Club and presented her as her guest. She wanted her to have a meal with her. But when the management ascertained that the guest was indeed her maid, she was asked to leave because it was against club rules. Now this again drew a very very warm response from Singaporeans. Warm in the sense that many Singaporeans are outraged by this saying it smacks of colonialism.
Catherine Napier: In the past, when Indonesian maids have been abused in Singapore, the cases have caused great waves in Indonesia itself. This kind of thing is not good for relations, is it?
Malena Nathan: Unfortunately what this does is reinforce the impression that Singapore being by and large the wealthiest and most "advanced' economy in South-east Asia also has the reputation of being the ugliest. People talked about the ugly Singaporean abroad in terms of the way Singaporeans behave when they are overseas. It would have appeared that there is a certain degree of that, albeit abroad or at home, in terms of how these foreign domestic maids are treated, and I think cases like this, although they are a minority, tend to reinforce the perception that Singaporeans treat people from the region, from countries that could be considered developing and not as advanced, in a way that they would not treat each other. read more
Posted in: Presenter,Singapore,TV,Zahara Lateef
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