IP addresses are NOT logged in this forum so there's no point asking. Please note that this forum is full of homophobes, racists, lunatics, schizophrenics & absolute nut jobs with a smattering of geniuses, Chinese chauvinists, Moderate Muslims and last but not least a couple of "know-it-alls" constantly sprouting their dubious wisdom. If you believe that content generated by unsavory characters might cause you offense PLEASE LEAVE NOW! Sammyboy Admin and Staff are not responsible for your hurt feelings should you choose to read any of the content here. The OTHER forum is HERE so please stop asking.
Court convicts retiree of hurting and pouring bleach on Filipino domestic worker
Published on May 13, 2015 1:44 PM
Lum Wai Lui, 73, a retired radiograph and medicine technician was convicted of two charges of maid abuse on Wednesday after a six-day trial. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
By Elena Chong
SINGAPORE - A retired radiograph and medicine technician was convicted of two charges of maid abuse on Wednesday after a six-day trial.
Lum Wai Lui, 74, was found guilty of slapping the face of Ms Jonna Memeje Muegue and knocking her head on the wall at her Maplewoods condominium on Oct 29, 2012.
She was also convicted of pouring bleach on the Filipina's hands and arms.
The 25-year-old maid had been employed by Lum's daughter, Chua Siew Peng, 43, who has claimed trial to wrongfully confining the helper and slapping her. Her case is ongoing.
Another daughter of Lum's, Kathleen Chua Siew Wei, 41, is also on trial for hurting the domestic helper.
Ms Muegue, who is now working for another employer, lost 10kg during her 10-month stint with the household at Bukit Timah Road.
She escaped from her employer's apartment on Oct 30, 2012 by climbing out of a window, scaling the ledge and jumping onto the rooftop of the fifth-floor condominium.
She had been punished by Lum for eating salmon which was not intended for her.Giving her decision on Wednesday, District Judge Lee Poh Choo said she found Ms Muegue to be a reliable and truthful witness and accepted her evidence.
She said Lum painted herself as an extremely kind and generous person, especially towards the helper.
"She claimed she loved Jonna like her own daughter. Yet, at the same time, she described Jonna as 'evil' and made disparaging remarks about her and unfounded allegations about what Jonna did to entice her son-in-law," said the judge.
The case was adjourned to June 29 for mitigation and for the defence to get a psychiatric report from the Institute of Mental Health.
Lum, a 75-year-old retiree, was diagnosed by an Institute of Mental Health psychiatrist to be suffering from depression and schizophrenia, which "contributed significantly" to the offences. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Published Feb 11, 2016, 5:00 am SGT
Psychiatric treatment is part of 21 months' sentence for woman who hit, poured bleach on maid
Amir Hussain
A 75-year-old retiree slapped her daughter's maid, knocked her head against a wall and even poured bleach on her hands - all because she ate some salmon which had not been meant for her.
The ordeal prompted Filipina Jonna Memeje Muegue to escape their Maplewoods condominium by jumping from a sixth-floor bedroom window, breaking both her legs when she landed on a fifth-floor rooftop.
Retired radiograph and medicine technician Lum Wai Lui was sentenced to 21 months' probation for the 2012 attack yesterday.
The court had earlier heard how her family's 27-year-old helper lost 10kg during her 10-month stint at the Bukit Timah Road household.
Lum was found guilty in May last year, after a six-day trial.
But an Institute of Mental Health psychiatrist found that she was suffering from depression and schizophrenia with "persecutory and bizarre delusions", which "contributed significantly" to the offences.
Among other things, she believed that the domestic helper was having affairs with her sons-in-law.
As part of her probation sentence, meted out by District Judge Lee Poh Choo, Lum will have to continue with her psychiatric and psychological treatment, and also cooperate with her probation officer, who must be consulted if the family wants to hire another domestic helper.
Her daughter, Ms Kathleen Chua Siew Wei, 42, posted a $15,000 bond to ensure Lum's good behaviour.
Ms Chua, who still lives with her mother, was acquitted last year of slapping Ms Muegue some time in May 2012. The prosecution's appeal against her acquittal is expected to be heard in the High Court next month.
Meanwhile, Ms Chua's sister, Chua Siew Peng, 44, who is Ms Muegue's former employer, has been convicted of wrongfully confining Ms Muegue at the condominium on Oct 30, 2012, and also of slapping her the night before.
The elder daughter no longer lives with her mother. She will be sentenced at a later date.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Yang Ziliang, who had sought 24 months' probation for Lum, also asked the judge to impose a compensation order.
But defence lawyer Quek Mong Hua objected to this, noting that Ms Muegue had started a civil suit against Lum last October for loss of income and general damages.
Lum and her family had also paid for Ms Muegue's hospital and nursing home bills, as well as follow-up medical expenses, which amounted to more than $24,000.
The judge found that the civil suit would be a more appropriate forum to decide on compensation.
High Court quashes acquittal of woman for slapping maid, orders retrial
Kathleen Chua Siew Wei's elder sister Chua Siew Peng (left) and mother Lum Wai Lui (centre) were separately tried for abusing Filipina Jonna Memeje Muegue (right).PHOTOS: ST FILE
Published 9 hours ago
Selina Lum
SINGAPORE - A 42-year-old woman, cleared last year by a district court of slapping her sister's maid nearly four years ago, will go through a retrial, after the High Court overturned the acquittal on Friday (March 11).
The prosecution had appealed against the acquittal of Kathleen Chua Siew Wei, arguing that the district judge's various interventions during the trial prevented Deputy Public Prosecutor Yang Ziliang from cross-examining her properly on the stand.
The trial judge had disallowed the DPP from asking Chua about, among other things, her past experience in employing maids, the frequency with which she scolded the maid and an allegation that the maid was not paid her salary for the first seven months because it was set off against a loan Chua had given her.
The prosecution also argued that the trial judge's findings were against the weight of the evidence and should be overturned.
On Friday, Judicial Commissioner See Kee Oon found that the trial judge had "narrowed his focus unduly" by considering only testimony directly related to the alleged May 2012 slapping incident.
"In so doing, he had not only unfairly restricted the ambit of the prosecution's cross-examination and impeded their ability to present their case fully but had also impaired his own ability to evaluate and weigh the case presented by each side," he said.
The JC also found that the trial judge had failed to consider essential pieces of evidence in arriving at his conclusion.
Chua, her elder sister Chua Siew Peng, 44, and their mother, Lum Wai Lui, 75, were separately tried for abusing Filipina Jonna Memeje Muegue, who escaped from their sixth-floor Maplewoods condominium by jumping out from a bedroom window in October 2012.
The domestic helper landed on a fifth-floor rooftop, breaking both her legs in the fall. She was later referred to a welfare organisation and a police report was lodged.
Her employer, Chua Siew Peng has been convicted of wrongfully confining the maid at the Bukit Timah Road condominium on Oct 30, 2012, and slapping her the night before. She is awaiting sentencing.
The sisters' mother, a retired radiograph and medicine technician who was diagnosed to be suffering from depression and schizophrenia, was put on 21 months' probation in February this year.
