On 31 March, a helper in Singapore fled her employer’s house while taking out the trash.
She had been looking after her employer’s 37-year-old disabled daughter since 8 Feb.
The helper’s agency is now looking into the matter.
Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, the employer, 62-year-old housewife Ms Ye (name transliterated from Chinese), said that the helper, Aini, started working in her four-room HDB flat along Rivervale Drive in Sengkang on 8 Feb this year.
Although Aini’s performance was initially unsatisfactory, Ms Ye decided to cut her some slack as she was new to her duties at the home.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
“I originally asked the helper to clean the house once a day, but she didn’t do it,” she said. “I could only patiently remind her to do basic housework.”
Ms Ye’s daughter also has an intellectual disability, so she requires round-the-clock care. She needs assistance in putting on diapers, taking a shower and eating.
The helper was informed of her daughter’s requirements prior to her employment.
“I had already explained the situation clearly to the other party,” Ms Ye said. “[The helper] also knew that she would need to take care of my daughter after she came here.”
To ease her workload, Ms Ye said she would urge her helper to rest first at night while she stayed up late to look after her daughter.
“I understood that it was not easy for her to work,” Ms Ye said. “I thought if I was nicer to her, she would be nicer to my daughter. But I later found out that I was wrong.”
Through CCTV footage in her flat, Ms Ye found out that Aini was “impatient” while taking care of her daughter’s meals and did not finish enough of her household chores.
At times, when her daughter didn’t want to eat her meals upon waking up, Aini would take the food to the kitchen and throw it out. Such instances were captured on Ms Ye’s CCTV.
Even so, Ms Ye did not confront her helper over it, hoping the latter would improve her treatment of her daughter.
On the evening of 31 March, Aini left the apartment to take out the trash as usual but did not return.
Ye did not think anything of it at first, until about half an hour later when she realised the helper might have made a run for it.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
She then immediately went to a nearby police station to report the matter.
Police subsequently contacted her on Tuesday (9 April), informing her that Aini had left Singapore that day.
Shin Min Daily News reports that CCTV footage showed the helper venturing out of the house twice at around noon to check on her surroundings on 31 March.
Aini first stepped out to the corridor and look downstairs before re-entering the flat and popping back out to repeat her actions.
“Her behaviour was very suspicious,” Ms Ye said. “We cannot rule out the possibility that someone picked her up downstairs that night.”
Ms Ye told Shin Min Daily News that she has had nearly no time to rest for the past six years. Wanting a vacation, she booked a trip to China with her husband after hiring the helper, which cost more than S$800 per person.
Unfortunately, they’ve had to cancel the trip in light of the incident.
Due to Aini’s disappearance, Ms Ye has had to run between her agency and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). She also has to take care of her daughter, causing her physical and mental exhaustion.
The agency confirmed the incident with Shin Min Daily News, but said there has been no progress on the situation.
They had contacted the helper’s family, the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore, and also inquired with a local shelter for helpers, to no avail.
“We will try our best to cooperate with the relevant departments in the investigation and hope that the matter can be resolved as soon as possible,” they said.
The agency also reminded members of the public to inform the authorities as soon as possible if they found themselves in a similar situation.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News.
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