AN INDONESIAN maid at the centre of a sensational abuse trial testified yesterday that she was reduced to ferreting milk powder to quell her hunger pains.
Ms Susilawati Kusnata said she lost 15kg during her four months working for Stanley Kuah Kian Chong and his family because of meagre meals, a heavy workload and regular beatings.
Trio face 41 charges of maid abuse
BANK executive Stanley Kuah Kian Chong, 37, his wife, Loke Phooi Ling, 37, and her mother Teng Chen Lian, 67, deny abusing their Indonesian maid over a three-month period last year.
They say Ms Susilawati Kusnata's injuries were accidental or self-inflicted.
... more
She fled her employer's home in Pasir Ris by climbing out of a fifth-floor kitchen window on July 5 last year. She said she weighed just 38kg then.
The 26-year-old added that she was deprived of food and drank only tap water during the week before she fled.
'Ma'am, sir and auntie denied me food frequently. Initially, I was given three meals a day. After three weeks, twice - 2pm and 10pm,' she said.
Ms Susilawati was testifying during the third day of a trial in which Kuah, his wife Loke Phooi Ling, and mother-
in-law Teng Chen Lian are facing a total of 41 charges of causing hurt.
Speaking in Bahasa Indonesia through an interpreter, she told District Judge Jill Tan yesterday that she started working for the Malaysian family in March last year.
Her duties included cleaning the four-room flat and taking care of the couple's three daughters, aged one to seven.
Ms Susilawati said she was hit by Loke in late March last year, three weeks after she started working for the family.
The assaults continued for the next three months, and were too frequent to count, she added.
She said Loke once rubbed her lips with a steel-wool wok cleaner to keep her awake while washing the dishes.
She alleged that after her return from a family cruise in June last year, both husband and wife took turns spraying a stain remover on her hands. They had accused her of falling asleep while carrying the baby on board the ship, she said.
The abuse reached a climax on July 4, she said, when the elderly Teng, 67, caught her trying to take some milk powder. Teng reported the matter to her daughter, who passed it on to her husband. That morning, Ms Susilawati had also taken Kuah's toothpaste after she could not find hers.
When Kuah returned home, Ms Susilawati said the 37-year-old bank executive punched and slapped her.
Asked by Deputy Public Prosecutor Isaac Tan why she was not given any food in the week before she fled, Ms Susilawati said: 'They said my work performance was very poor.'
Asked about a bruise over her right eyebrow and a mark below her eye, she said it was due to Kuah's punches.
She also had, among other injuries, scratches on her nose, chin and cheek, swollen lips, and pinch marks on her back and thigh.
The bulk of the charges - 32 - fall on his wife, who allegedly used a variety of kitchen utensils to hit the maid, in addition to punching and slapping her. She is also said to have poured a strong stain remover over the victim's leg.
If convicted, the Malaysian trio could each be jailed for up to 18 months and/or fined up to $1,500 on each charge.
Ms Susilawati Kusnata said she lost 15kg during her four months working for Stanley Kuah Kian Chong and his family because of meagre meals, a heavy workload and regular beatings.
Trio face 41 charges of maid abuse
BANK executive Stanley Kuah Kian Chong, 37, his wife, Loke Phooi Ling, 37, and her mother Teng Chen Lian, 67, deny abusing their Indonesian maid over a three-month period last year.
They say Ms Susilawati Kusnata's injuries were accidental or self-inflicted.
... more
She fled her employer's home in Pasir Ris by climbing out of a fifth-floor kitchen window on July 5 last year. She said she weighed just 38kg then.
The 26-year-old added that she was deprived of food and drank only tap water during the week before she fled.
'Ma'am, sir and auntie denied me food frequently. Initially, I was given three meals a day. After three weeks, twice - 2pm and 10pm,' she said.
Ms Susilawati was testifying during the third day of a trial in which Kuah, his wife Loke Phooi Ling, and mother-
in-law Teng Chen Lian are facing a total of 41 charges of causing hurt.
Speaking in Bahasa Indonesia through an interpreter, she told District Judge Jill Tan yesterday that she started working for the Malaysian family in March last year.
Her duties included cleaning the four-room flat and taking care of the couple's three daughters, aged one to seven.
Ms Susilawati said she was hit by Loke in late March last year, three weeks after she started working for the family.
The assaults continued for the next three months, and were too frequent to count, she added.
She said Loke once rubbed her lips with a steel-wool wok cleaner to keep her awake while washing the dishes.
She alleged that after her return from a family cruise in June last year, both husband and wife took turns spraying a stain remover on her hands. They had accused her of falling asleep while carrying the baby on board the ship, she said.
The abuse reached a climax on July 4, she said, when the elderly Teng, 67, caught her trying to take some milk powder. Teng reported the matter to her daughter, who passed it on to her husband. That morning, Ms Susilawati had also taken Kuah's toothpaste after she could not find hers.
When Kuah returned home, Ms Susilawati said the 37-year-old bank executive punched and slapped her.
Asked by Deputy Public Prosecutor Isaac Tan why she was not given any food in the week before she fled, Ms Susilawati said: 'They said my work performance was very poor.'
Asked about a bruise over her right eyebrow and a mark below her eye, she said it was due to Kuah's punches.
She also had, among other injuries, scratches on her nose, chin and cheek, swollen lips, and pinch marks on her back and thigh.
The bulk of the charges - 32 - fall on his wife, who allegedly used a variety of kitchen utensils to hit the maid, in addition to punching and slapping her. She is also said to have poured a strong stain remover over the victim's leg.
If convicted, the Malaysian trio could each be jailed for up to 18 months and/or fined up to $1,500 on each charge.
