Category: Sosial

Punching Bag For The Rich: Maid Slapped, Punched, Whacked With Canes By Wealthy Employers

A married couple were sentenced to jail after a 14-day trial, which revealed the numerous ways they had assaulted their Indonesian maid for almost two years.

Addressing the man, Tay Wee Kiat, 39, just before delivering the sentence, District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan said: “It is clear that you are the main perpetrator.”

He then sentenced the former regional IT manager to two years and four months in jail after convicting him of all 12 charges.

Nine of the charges were for causing hurt to Ms Fitriyah, 34, who had worked for them in Yishun Avenue 6 from Dec 7, 2010 to Dec 12, 2012.

The other three were for abetting his Myanmar maid Moe Moe Than, 28, to slap the Indonesian helper on the face; offering to pay Ms Fitriyah her salary and send her home in exchange for not reporting his offence of abuse; and instructing Ms Fitriyah to lie to the police that he did not abuse the other maid.

Tay’s wife, former senior sales manager Chia Yun Ling, 41, now a part-time events administrator, was sentenced to two months’ jail for slapping Ms Fitriyah sometime between June and December 2012, and punching her on the forehead on Dec 7 that year.

During the trial, the court heard that Tay hit the Indonesian’s head with canes and bamboo sticks.

In one incident in February 2011, as punishment, he stuffed an incense bottle into her mouth and forced her to stand for half an hour on one leg on a stool, holding another stool overhead.

Ms Than testified that Tay forced her and Ms Fitriyah to get down on all fours and then kicked their backsides.

He also made them slap each other 10 times and hit them with three tied-up canes.

Seeking a sentence of at least 33 months’ jail for Tay and a minimum three months for Chia, Deputy Public Prosecutors Kumaresan Gohulabalan and Dora Tay cited several aggravating factors such as their abuse of authority.

“He virtually treated Fitriyah as a punching bag upon which he could vent his frustrations on matters that had nothing to do with her,” said the prosecutors.

Both are appealing and are out on $5,000 bail each.

In an advisory last night, a spokesman for the Ministry of Manpower urged foreign domestic worker (FDW) employers to be patient and understanding towards their helpers.

“If employers or FDWs are facing problems with their employment relationship, they should approach their employment agency, or call the Centre for Domestic Employees at 1800 2255 233 for advice and assistance,” he said.

Source: TNP

March 11, 2017
MCAS: Terence Nunis Not Associated With MCAS, Does Not represent MCAS

Statement of Muslim Converts’ Association of Singapore (MCAS) on Terence Nunis
——————
Assalamu‘alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

May peace be upon you.

We have received a number of queries pertaining to an individual by the name of Terence Helikaon Nunis.

We are releasing the following information, which is the summary of the involvement of the above-named individual at MCAS;

– He was a member of MCAS from 31 March 2001 to 31 December 2013;
– He was a member of the Council from 2004 to 2010 and 2012 to 2014;
– He served as Assistant Vice President of Da’wah Division for a period of 8 months from 30 July 2005 to 25 March 2006:

We would like to state that Terence Nunis,

– Has not been a member of MCAS since 1 January 2014;
– Does not represent MCAS and the views expressed by him are solely his own and do not reflect the policy or position of MCAS.

Wassalamu‘alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

Source: Muslim Converts’ Association of Singapore – Darul Arqam Singapore

March 10, 2017
Legal Smoking Age In Singapore To Be Raised To 21

The minimum legal age to smoke will be raised from 18 to 21, announced Senior Minister of State for Health Amy Khor in Parliament on Thursday (March 9).

Proposed changes to the law will be tabled in Parliament within a year, and the change will be phased in over a few years after the law is passed. Youths above 18 who are already smokers will not be affected by the change.

The Government wants to cut, if not eliminate, opportunities for the young to be tempted to take up smoking before they turn 21.

It is raising the minimum legal age to smoke, buy and possess tobacco because most smokers start before the age of 21 and a habit is established between the age of 18 and 20, said the Ministry of Health. In Singapore, 19 out of 20 smokers in the National Health Surveillance Survey 2013 had their first puff before age 21. The minimum legal age of 18 for smoking has been in force since 1993.

The prevalence of smoking in Singapore has improved over the years — from 18.3 per cent in 1992 to 13.3 per cent in 2013, but the smoking rates among young men are still high, while the smoking rates of young women are creeping up.

Research has also shown adolescent brains to be more vulnerable to nicotine, as they have a heightened sensitivity to the rewarding effects of nicotine. Studies also show the younger that youths are when they first try smoking, the greater the levels of nicotine addiction, intensity of smoking and likelihood of continuing to smoke into adulthood, said the MOH.

Singapore has rolled out other anti-smoking measures in recent years. The import and sale of e-cigarettes and products such as nasal snuff and oral snuff are not allowed, and Dr Khor told Parliament last week that there is no compelling reason or practical benefit in allowing heated tobacco products as it could draw a much larger group of users, especially among youth.

Last year, the government extended smoking prohibition to areas around reservoirs and more than 400 parks. More than 32,000 premises are now smoke-free in Singapore and Dr Khor said on Wednesday it will look into progressively extending the smoking prohibition to other areas.

Singapore is also taking steps to standardise tobacco packaging, as Australia, France and the United Kingdom have done, said Dr Khor on Thursday.

“We have closely studied the experience of these countries, and see significant value in moving in this direction, so as to reduce the appeal of tobacco products, particularly to youths, and raise the visibility and effectiveness of health warnings,” she said.

“We will conduct a further public consultation on standardised packaging this year to seek additional and more detailed views on possible standardised packaging measures. We will carefully review relevant considerations including public health, intellectual property and international law perspectives and ensure that any measures taken are consistent with our domestic law and international obligations.”

The authorities will continue to monitor international best practices in tobacco control and will adopt appropriate measures to control tobacco use, she said.

Source: TodayOnline

March 9, 2017
The Artist Behind The Golden Stairs: Is It Possible To Draw A Line Between Art And Vandalism?

The artist Priyageetha Dia responded on her Facebook:

Someone asked why would I do something stupid like that? Well yes, stupid it may seem to you. Was it done out of impulse? No. Is it because you Indian that’s why you like gold so much? *smacks forehead.

This work has been on my mind for the past one month and I was definitely apprehensive on realising it until two days ago. The process was an invigorating one though I was apprehensive of the consequences I may face. At the end of the 5-hour long hushed deed, the intervention of the gold finally reverberated against the ever lifeless and grey architecture on the 20th floor of my block.

My practice deals with spaces that negotiate concepts on the sacred, secular and the profane. As such, I am intrigued with spaces that I have inhabited over the course of 25 years as a HDB dweller and thus it has prompted me to intervene away from the household and into public spaces. But what constitutes public and private space? How does that apply along with the sacred etc.? And why gold? I would love to list down the conceptual reasoning of what the work is about but wouldn’t it make the work seem less interesting then?

So, is it possible to draw a line between art and vandalism? I consider this work as art and not vandalism. Though one would say about the legal system and its regulations but I do believe I did not deface anything, what I did was to enhance the space and my surroundings. This work provokes. Provokes in all sense we are used to living the standard way of life, and all of a sudden something as glaring as gold negotiates the space. My work does not seek to obliterate a public space; vandalism in all sense has no respect for another individual.

I do know the social responsibility of an artist (though I don’t consider myself an artist yet, cause it’s too much of an honorific term). I didn’t intend to please the public with my work but it was definitely a sense of satisfaction for me. After practising arts under the academy for almost 3 years, I needed to break away from that zone. What better way to make art and have it on display beyond the white cube.

Source: Facebook

March 8, 2017
Public Prosecutor Will Not Appeal 4-Year Jail Sentence For Joshua Robinson: AGC

Following a “careful” review, the Public Prosecutor has decided not to appeal against the four-year jail term imposed on convicted sexual predator Joshua Robinson last week, noting that the punishment he got was broadly in line with relevant past cases’.

In a statement on Wednesday (March 8), the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) added that while some have called for caning to be imposed on Robinson, the offences he was charged with did not allow the court to do so.

The AGC also said: “In discharging our duties, we do not differentiate between Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans.”

The American mixed-martial arts instructor was sentenced to four years’ jail last week for a myriad offences, ranging from sexual penetration of two 15-year-olds to showing an obscene film to a six-year-old girl.

Following his sentencing, the case attracted widespread public attention, with many questioning why Robinson was not punished more severely – including an online petition being started on Sunday calling for a harsher sentence. More than 26,000 people, including the father of the six-year-old girl affected, have signed the petition, as of Wednesday afternoon.

In 2015, Robinson contacted a 15-year-old girl through social media repeatedly, and exchanged numbers with her. He instructed the girl to wear her school uniform during their first meeting, where they went to his apartment along Upper Circular Road. There, he filmed them engaging in sexual acts.

After the girl made a police report, the police found 5,902 obscene films in Robinson’s apartment, of which 321 featured child pornography – the largest stash found on an individual. The children in these videos were between the ages of two and 16.

In its statement, the AGC said that by getting Robinson, 39, to plead guilty instead of claim trial, his three young victims were spared the ordeal of having to testify in court.

It had asked for four to five years’ jail to be imposed, after taking into account, among other things, “the fact that by securing a guilty plea, the three young victims would be spared the trauma of having to testify and be cross-examined in a trial”.

The AGC also addressed public comments that Robinson should have been charged with rape, statutory rape or outrage of modesty, and be subject to caning. It explained that statutory rape only applies to victims who have not turned 14, which was not the case in Robinson’s offences. And because both girls had consented to these sexual acts, an offence of rape could not be pressed against Robinson.

The most serious offence that Robinson had committed was sexual penetration of a minor under 16 years old, and that did not provide for caning, the AGC added.

AGC said that it would be discussing with the Ministry of Law whether the relevant legislation should be reviewed to enhance sentencing for some of the offences.

Source: Today

March 8, 2017