HONG KONG // A Hong Kong woman was jailed for six years on Friday for beating and starving her Indonesian maid and keeping her prisoner, as the judge called for action over laws which leave domestic workers exposed to abuse.
But while victim Erwiana Sulistyaningsih said she was happy and “appreciated” the judgement, she felt that six years was not long enough.
“I’m still not satisfied with six years’ imprisonment, because of what she has done to me, and to my fellow domestic workers,” Ms Sulistyaningsih told reporters.
Law Wan-tung — who had faced a maximum sentence of seven years -- “showed no compassion” to Ms Sulistyaningsih and other domestic staff, said judge Amanda Woodcock in handing down the sentence.
Law saw her staff as “people that are beneath her” said Ms Woodcock.
“It is regrettable that this conduct is not rare and sadly is often dealt with in the criminal courts,” she added.
The judge called for an investigation by Hong Kong and Indonesian authorities into employment agencies that charge domestic workers huge fees which are then deducted from their salaries.
Of Ms Sulistyaningsih’s treatment she said: “She was given little rest, sleep and nutrition which left her a shadow of her former self.”
Ms Sulistyaningsih, 24, told a Hong Kong court in December how she lived on meagre rations of bread and rice, slept only four hours a day and was beaten so badly by her employer Law that she was knocked unconscious.
During the six-week trial, prosecutors said mother-of-two Law, 44, turned household items such as a mop, a ruler and a clothes hanger into “weapons” against her maids.
Law was convicted on 18 of 20 charges against her, including grievous bodily harm, assault, criminal intimidation and failure to pay wages.
Ms Woodcock said that domestic staff are made vulnerable by a law which means they must live with their employer — which activists have long campaigned to change.
“Such conduct could be prevented if domestic helpers were not forced to live in their employer’s home,” she added.
Ms Woodcock highlighted the “significant fees” charged to domestic helpers by agencies in their home countries.
“There must be an element of exploitation here... the domestic helper becomes trapped when they are unhappy, but cannot leave or change employers because the debt needs to be paid off,” she said.
Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with her own face and the word “justice”, Ms Sulistyaningsih said she felt the six-year sentence “doesn’t guarantee she (Law) will not hurt others”.
But she praised Ms Woodcock.
“I sincerely appreciate the judgement of the judge, who today exposed that slavery in Hong Kong really exists,” Ms Sulistyaningsih said via an interpreter.
“I hope that the Hong Kong government and Indonesia government will reform the regulations so other victims and cases not yet exposed can appear in the public.”
Activists welcomed the judgement, but remained reserved over whether it would bring change.
“It could send a message to other employers who are doing similar things,” said Aaron Ceradoy of Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants.
“Whether it will be effective remains to be seen.”
Lawmaker Claudia Mo of the Civic Party said that Law had “brought shame to Hong Kong”.
“It’s a good starting point for the government to seriously think about how things could get better,” she said.
But Ms Mo questioned how domestic helpers could be accommodated outside their employers’ homes because of lack of housing.
“That’s a very thorny issue because Hong Kong society is very compact,” said Ms Mo.
Pictures of Ms Sulistyaningsih looking frail and emaciated, in a critical condition at an Indonesian hospital in January last year after she left Hong Kong, focused the spotlight on domestic helpers’ rights.
The city is home to nearly 300,000 maids, mainly from Indonesia and the Philippines, and criticism from campaign groups over their treatment is growing.
Amnesty International in 2013 condemned the “slavery-like” conditions faced by thousands of Indonesian women who work as domestic staff and accused authorities of “inexcusable” inaction.
* Agence France-Presse
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SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Company Profile
Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
Developer: Sucker Punch Productions
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Console: PlayStation 2 to 5
Rating: 5/5
Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
Favourite book: Harry Potter
THE BIO
Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13
Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier
Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife
What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents.
Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.
TWISTERS
Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung
Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos
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Royal Birkdale Golf Course
Location: Southport, Merseyside, England
Established: 1889
Type: Private
Total holes: 18
Company profile
Company name: Hayvn
Started: 2018
Founders: Christopher Flinos, Ahmed Ismail
Based: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Sector: financial
Initial investment: undisclosed
Size: 44 employees
Investment stage: series B in the second half of 2023
Investors: Hilbert Capital, Red Acre Ventures
Company Profile
Company name: Namara
Started: June 2022
Founder: Mohammed Alnamara
Based: Dubai
Sector: Microfinance
Current number of staff: 16
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Family offices
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
New schools in Dubai
Teams
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shanwari, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Almouneer
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Based: Egypt
Number of staff: 120
Investment: Bootstrapped, with support from Insead and Egyptian government, seed round of
$3.6 million led by Global Ventures
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
The biog
Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives.
The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast.
As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau
He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker.
If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah
