Lenient sentences for couple who starved maid

A SINGAPORE couple who starved their Philippine maid until she weighed just 29kg were sentenced to jail yesterday, in a case described as shocking by prosecutors who vowed to seek stiffer punishment.

Trader Lim Choon Hong, 48, was sentenced to three weeks in jail and fined S$10 000 (R92 000) while his wife, Chong Sui Foon, also 48, was jailed for three months.

Critics were outraged by what they saw as lenient penalties for the couple, who will remain free on bail pending the prosecution’s appeal for tougher penalties.

Both were convicted last year of violating employment laws by failing to provide enough food for their maid, Thelma Gawidan, over a 15-month period in 2013 and 2014 at their condominium in the posh Orchard Road area.

State prosecutors, who have described the systematic starvation as downright shocking in its extremity and severity, are pushing for the pair to be jailed for the maximum 12 months.

“Simply put, she was wasting away,” prosecutors said.

“It is sickening that the victim had been forced to endure inhumane treatment of such cruelty and duration in what must have been an unspeakably hellish and unbearable existence for her .”

They said the poor quality and small quantity of food fed to Gawidan “are intuitively repugnant to basic notions of humane and ethical treatment in a developed society”.

Gawidan lost almost 20kg during her time working for the couple, who only allowed her to eat two meals a day -- usually a few slices of white bread and small portions of instant noodles prepared by Chong.

Gawidan had no access to her cellphone and was not allowed to go out on her own to buy food.

She was only allowed to shower once or twice a week and could only use the condominium’s common toilet.

Gawidan ran away in April 2014 and called a compatriot for help, a decision that prosecutors said could have saved her life. – AFP