The following article was published in the Straits Times on 30 December 1998.
1 killed, 1 hurt in separate accidents
Straits Times, 30 December 1998
TWO men, both foreigners working here, were knocked down in separate road accidents.
One died instantly and the other was seriously injured.
Mr Sathiah Ariyamothu, 35, a construction worker, was hit by a car on the Seletar Expressway, just before Woodlands Avenue 2, on Monday. He died instantly.
He had parked his lorry on a road shoulder and was placing pylons at the rear of the lorry when he was knocked down.
On Monday morning, a car knocked down a man who was crossing Somerset Road at a traffic crossing.
Mr Abdul Barek, 26, a foreign worker, was taken to the Singapore General Hospital with head injuries.
Anyone with information may contact the Traffic Police on 222-2233.
Wednesday, December 30, 1998
Wednesday, December 23, 1998
Weekday maids, weekend salesgirls
The following article was published in the Straits Times on 23 Dec 1998.
ON WEEKDAYS, they are maids. But on weekends, some foreign domestic workers moonlight as salesgirls in boutique and jewellery shops.
The Ministry of Manpower found 14 such workers employed illegally in two Lucky Plaza shops last Sunday.
In a statement on Monday, it revealed that it had conducted an afternoon inspection at Jolene's Boutique and Jewellery and GP Gold on the fourth floor of the shopping centre. They checked 19 staff and found one Thai and 13 Filipino domestic workers among them.
"Preliminary investigations revealed that they usually worked on Sundays when they were given a day off by their employers," the statement said.
These workers were paid between S$30 and S$45 a day, and one had been working there for three years.
Under Singapore law, domestic workers are not allowed to work at shops, factories or food stalls. It is also an offence for them to work part-time, even with their employers' consent.
"Employers are advised to caution their domestic workers not to engage in any other employment during their employment in Singapore," the MOM said.
It added that it was now investigating the case against the shopowners.
An illegal employer can be charged in court and face a minimum fine of two years' of the foreign worker's levy ($7,920), with a maximum of up to four years' levy, or a prison term of not more than one year or both.
He will also be barred permanently from employing a foreign domestic worker and may lose his S$5,000 deposit.
The worker faces a fine of up to S$5,000 or jail of not more than a year, or both. She will also be barred from future employment here.
PENALTIES: In short
* For the employer: They can be charged in court and face a minimum fine of two years' of the foreign worker's levy ($7,920), with a maximum of up to four years' levy ($15,840), or a prison term of not more than one year, or both. They are barred permanently from employing a foreign domestic worker, and may lose the S$5,000 deposited with MOM.
* For the worker: A fine of up to S$5,000 or a prison term of not more than a year, or both. She will also be barred from future employment here.
ON WEEKDAYS, they are maids. But on weekends, some foreign domestic workers moonlight as salesgirls in boutique and jewellery shops.
The Ministry of Manpower found 14 such workers employed illegally in two Lucky Plaza shops last Sunday.
In a statement on Monday, it revealed that it had conducted an afternoon inspection at Jolene's Boutique and Jewellery and GP Gold on the fourth floor of the shopping centre. They checked 19 staff and found one Thai and 13 Filipino domestic workers among them.
"Preliminary investigations revealed that they usually worked on Sundays when they were given a day off by their employers," the statement said.
These workers were paid between S$30 and S$45 a day, and one had been working there for three years.
Under Singapore law, domestic workers are not allowed to work at shops, factories or food stalls. It is also an offence for them to work part-time, even with their employers' consent.
"Employers are advised to caution their domestic workers not to engage in any other employment during their employment in Singapore," the MOM said.
It added that it was now investigating the case against the shopowners.
An illegal employer can be charged in court and face a minimum fine of two years' of the foreign worker's levy ($7,920), with a maximum of up to four years' levy, or a prison term of not more than one year or both.
He will also be barred permanently from employing a foreign domestic worker and may lose his S$5,000 deposit.
The worker faces a fine of up to S$5,000 or jail of not more than a year, or both. She will also be barred from future employment here.
PENALTIES: In short
* For the employer: They can be charged in court and face a minimum fine of two years' of the foreign worker's levy ($7,920), with a maximum of up to four years' levy ($15,840), or a prison term of not more than one year, or both. They are barred permanently from employing a foreign domestic worker, and may lose the S$5,000 deposited with MOM.
* For the worker: A fine of up to S$5,000 or a prison term of not more than a year, or both. She will also be barred from future employment here.
Friday, December 18, 1998
Driver caused worker's death
The following article was published in the Straits Times on 18 Dec 1998.
Driver caused worker's death
Straits Times, 18 December 1998
A MOTORIST was fined S$9,000 and banned from driving for six years on Wednesday for causing the death of a foreign worker along the Tampines Expressway (TPE) on April 10.
Lim Shien Kwok, 34, was fined another S$1,000 for careless driving as he also hit another foreign worker, injuring him.
The two foreign workers were pruning plants near the centre guard rails of the expressway.
The court heard that Lim was driving on the TPE towards the Seletar Expressway that day when he lost control of his car and veered right.
He hit Mr Akhajan Nakhonsak, 26, a Thai worker. After the collision, the car continued to move and struck the centre divider, killing Mr Ramaiah Chockalingam, 39, an Indian national.
Lim pleaded guilty.
Counsel Alfonso Ang said his client had a clean driving record and regretted causing a death and injuring the other victim.
He could have been jailed for up to two years and fined for causing Mr Ramaiah's death.
Driver caused worker's death
Straits Times, 18 December 1998
A MOTORIST was fined S$9,000 and banned from driving for six years on Wednesday for causing the death of a foreign worker along the Tampines Expressway (TPE) on April 10.
Lim Shien Kwok, 34, was fined another S$1,000 for careless driving as he also hit another foreign worker, injuring him.
The two foreign workers were pruning plants near the centre guard rails of the expressway.
The court heard that Lim was driving on the TPE towards the Seletar Expressway that day when he lost control of his car and veered right.
He hit Mr Akhajan Nakhonsak, 26, a Thai worker. After the collision, the car continued to move and struck the centre divider, killing Mr Ramaiah Chockalingam, 39, an Indian national.
Lim pleaded guilty.
Counsel Alfonso Ang said his client had a clean driving record and regretted causing a death and injuring the other victim.
He could have been jailed for up to two years and fined for causing Mr Ramaiah's death.
Saturday, December 5, 1998
Ex-boss abused me, says foreign worker
The following article was published in the Straits Times on 5 December 1998.
Ex-boss abused me, says foreign worker
By Chong Chee Kin.
Straits Times, 5 December 1998
A FOREIGN worker who was hospitalised with both legs fractured has told the police that he sustained the injuries while escaping from a second-floor flat where he was allegedly assaulted by an ex-supervisor.
Mr Nagappan Senthi Kumar, 27, an Indian national who worked as a construction worker here said that he was walking along Veerasamy Road at night on Nov 18 when two men allegedly pulled him into a lorry.
He said he was then taken to a flat in Lengkok Bahru, where they kept watch over him. It was there that the alleged assault took place and, Mr Nagappan said, he later escaped by jumping out of the flat, hurting his legs in the process.
In an interview, he said he was to return to India on Nov 19. But he remained in Singapore because he had engaged lawyers to settle some workmen's compensation claims.
Speaking from his bed at Alexandra Hospital before he was discharged recently, Mr Nagappan said: "They took me to a flat, locked the door and then kept watch over me.
"There were two other Indian workers there as well, but I did not talk to them." About an hour later, he alleged, the supervisor went to the flat.
"He came into the room and asked me angrily why I had hired lawyers. And then he punched me on the face and the ears.
"The three men who brought me to the flat held him back, and then he left," the construction worker said.
He added: "I was very scared and kept shivering because I did not know what they were going to do to me.
"I waited until they were all sleeping before I climbed out of the window and jumped down."
He crawled on the ground until a passing taxi stopped and took him to Alexandra Hospital.
He made the report about the alleged abduction and assault there.
Police confirmed that he had made a police report.
When contacted, the supervisor denied that he had attacked Nagappan.
He said: "I never laid my fingers on him."
As to Mr Nagappan's allegations, he said: "This worker had run away from the worksite several times before.
"He failed to turn up for work and never told us where he went.
"I had to engage a security firm to ensure he did not run away. It is not as if I put him in jail.
"The flat had a bed for him. There was a television set and we provided meals for him."
He added: "I had personally recruited him from India, paid the hospital fees for him when he was injured outside the worksite, and even paid him his wages when he was sick.
"How can he do this to me just because he refuses to go back to India?"
Ex-boss abused me, says foreign worker
By Chong Chee Kin.
Straits Times, 5 December 1998
A FOREIGN worker who was hospitalised with both legs fractured has told the police that he sustained the injuries while escaping from a second-floor flat where he was allegedly assaulted by an ex-supervisor.
Mr Nagappan Senthi Kumar, 27, an Indian national who worked as a construction worker here said that he was walking along Veerasamy Road at night on Nov 18 when two men allegedly pulled him into a lorry.
He said he was then taken to a flat in Lengkok Bahru, where they kept watch over him. It was there that the alleged assault took place and, Mr Nagappan said, he later escaped by jumping out of the flat, hurting his legs in the process.
In an interview, he said he was to return to India on Nov 19. But he remained in Singapore because he had engaged lawyers to settle some workmen's compensation claims.
Speaking from his bed at Alexandra Hospital before he was discharged recently, Mr Nagappan said: "They took me to a flat, locked the door and then kept watch over me.
"There were two other Indian workers there as well, but I did not talk to them." About an hour later, he alleged, the supervisor went to the flat.
"He came into the room and asked me angrily why I had hired lawyers. And then he punched me on the face and the ears.
"The three men who brought me to the flat held him back, and then he left," the construction worker said.
He added: "I was very scared and kept shivering because I did not know what they were going to do to me.
"I waited until they were all sleeping before I climbed out of the window and jumped down."
He crawled on the ground until a passing taxi stopped and took him to Alexandra Hospital.
He made the report about the alleged abduction and assault there.
Police confirmed that he had made a police report.
When contacted, the supervisor denied that he had attacked Nagappan.
He said: "I never laid my fingers on him."
As to Mr Nagappan's allegations, he said: "This worker had run away from the worksite several times before.
"He failed to turn up for work and never told us where he went.
"I had to engage a security firm to ensure he did not run away. It is not as if I put him in jail.
"The flat had a bed for him. There was a television set and we provided meals for him."
He added: "I had personally recruited him from India, paid the hospital fees for him when he was injured outside the worksite, and even paid him his wages when he was sick.
"How can he do this to me just because he refuses to go back to India?"
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