May 5, 2010
Jailed 9 months for abuse
<!-- by line --> By Khushwant Singh
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A HOUSEWIFE, dissatisfied with the way her maid was preparing dinner, burned the Indonesian's arm with a hot spoon two years ago. For that, Pauline Wong June Gnoh, 42, was jailed six months on Wednesday. For hitting the 23-year-old domestic worker with a metal ladle, Wong was jailed an additional three months. Wong pleaded guilty last month. Then the district court heard that at about 12.30pm on Aug 26, 2008, Ms Yuli Priyanti, 23, was hanging up the laundry in the kitchen of the Woodlands Drive flat. Wong, with an aluminium prong in her hand, demanded to know why the undergarments were not placed in the washing net.
Frightened, Ms Priyanti ran to the living room but Wong caught up with the maid and smacked her on the head and shoulders with the prong three times. Later that evening, the maid was deep frying a fish for dinner when Wong scolded her for not coating it with flour before cooking it. She took over the task but also dipped a spoon in the hot oil in the wok and pressed it on Ms Priyanti's left arm. The next day, angry that the maid took a long time to clean some cuttlefish, the housewife hit her head with a ladle. The mother of one will serve nine months in prison as the three-month jail terms for the other offences were ordered to run concurrently.
