Maid to abuse - FINAL
Maid to Abuse
The 19-year-old Indonesian's face, back and breasts adorned the front pages. The skin over most of her body was knotted with scars, welts and burns, the alleged product of five months of abuse by her employer.
Nirmala Bonat said her ordeal started when she broke a mug while doing the washing up. Her boss, the 35-year-old wife of a company director, started beating her with clothes hangers and burning her.
"She then threw boiling water on me. One day she got upset while I was ironing. She said the clothes had not been properly ironed and slapped me," Nirmala Bonat said. "She took the iron out of my hand and pressed it against my breasts
Excerpt from a BBC News article on a recent Malaysian headline
I am not the sort to sensationalize sensational news but this one is worth noting. Actually one of the recent conversations I had regarding maids was with a fellow friend in Singapore who claims that the no.1 death cause of Indonesian maids in Singapore is falling to death. You see, in the land of the inadequate... err... land, people dry their clothes on poles sticking out of their balcony. I've seen them and they can be quite scary. From assumingly big households, there can be a 2 days worth of underwear, bras and t shirts hanging on a pole and the maids are expected to erect and retrieve the long poles that seemingly stick out for as far as laws of physics would allow
When these maids handle these poles, sometimes accidents happen and some clothes fall and sometimes it is the maid who falls. Due to the fact that they have to stand on stools to handle the heavy poles, it's not difficult to see why maids fall from apartments and flats
Well in Malaysia, it's different. We don't really have accidents but we have an alarming number of maid abuse cases. The fact that these abuses are human-inflicted makes it very disturbing. Are Malaysians like that? What happened to the friendly and peaceful multi-cultural community we're so proud of? Is it just a facade? Or is it just the oppression by the bourgeois because, a reaction to the suppression of society and life? But some abuse I've seen personally, are inflicted by 'people' of a higher social class. So it can’t be an education or social milieu condition Read here for an article on this
What exactly is it then? I don't know. I guess nobody knows either. But abuse is a relative term. It can be as broad as verbal abuse and some people only consider abuse when the maid bleeds. If she doesn't bleed and can still perform her duties (ie, can still walk, sit and wash my clothes) she's alright
I consider maids as... humans who are working for their employer and not a low life scum that is paid to take your crap, which unfortunately is the case with SOME Malaysian employers
While most maids I've come across are very polite, responsible (after all they are earning the money for their family back home-usually) and dedicated people... I am sure there are some rotten eggs. But we should let one bad egg spoil the dozen. We shouldn't have preformed judgments of Indonesians or Filipinos who come here in the name of servitude In no circumstance should a human being be treated the way she was treated. The employer Mr. Hii Ik Ting (the husband of the alleged abuser) claimed that he lodged a police report stating that Nirmala had stolen some valuables
Yea sure, I am sure the 'valuables' is worth smashing a person's face with a metal mug and breaking her nose, pressing hot iron on somebody's body, scalding her with hot water and causing the loss of one's nipples. The ironic thing is, the accused, Yim Pek Ha, had her counsel lef by Yusuf Khan urge the court to accept a confirmation letter by Gleneagles Medical Centre stating that Yim was currently breastfeeding her youngest child. Bla Bla Bla, bail was denied by Sessions Judge Akhtar Tahir. You're concerned about breastfeeding after what you've done to Nirmala Bonat's nipple? Woman, have you got any conscience? Read here for more on the story
I feel sad for Nirmala. I really do feel for her. She's only 19 years old and I don't think she intended to get onto the front page news in the national papers. I don't she's proud to announce to the world her nipple fell off because of the abuse inflicted on her. Any woman would find it shameful, after all, aren’t they the very species that introduced men to vanity? The species that as far as history goes has been very concerned about the image of beauty? Then you think of what Nirmala has to endure and then the blow hits you like a poor cat knocked by a Proton Juara
I have learned that you shouldnt always trust whatever the newspaper writes. Whether Nirmala is a good or bad maid, we don't know. But who are we to inflict such grievious hurt? Take it to the police and judging that the employer has no official police report, he has no concrete evidence that Nirmala did steal or acted dishonestly in her course of duty. So they decided to torture the words out of her
Shame on the BITCH who made Normala the front page news. Shame on you because for once I am ashamed to use the word bitch because the person I am directing it at deserves a name worse than that
Will we forget this ever happened after a few months? Or at least learn something from it? Read this
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