A netizen was in shock when he saw a picture of his former Myanmar domestic helper published on The Straits Times (ST) on 24 April (Wednesday) for an article titled “Homesick maid on trial for murder of employer”.
Clarence Tan Junming revealed this discovery on his Facebook page stating that the newspaper printed a picture of his ex-helper, who is now back in Myanmar, as the accused Indonesian maid on trial for the murder of her employer.
It appears that, in the ST’s article, an Indonesian domestic helper, only known as Daryati, is currently on trial for murdering her boss Madam Seow by slitting her neck and stabbing her multiple times in 2016.
Upon finding a photo of his domestic worker on the newspaper, Mr Clarence questioned, “Seriously, who is editing and choosing these pictures and what kind of filter is being applied before publication?”
He said that the picture of his domestic helper, clad in a grey T-shirt, which ST printed was taken in March 2018, right after his third child was born. He also accompanied a photo of her carrying his baby wearing the exact same T-shirt as a proof.
This is where things get interesting because the real accused (Daryati) was behind bars in 2018 as she committed her heinous crime on 1 June, 2016. Therefore, Mr Clarence sarcastically questioned, “Murderer?? I didn’t know they let her out”, indicating that the real accused should be in prison waiting for her trial.
He then said that his Myanmar helper’s last day of work with his family was 18 March 2018, and ever since then have returned to her home country.
“Talk about fake news, I have no idea what to believe now. I can’t believe where and how the photo was taken, you can even see her shirt is coincidentally the same. Should I laugh or cry?” he wrote.
Mr Clarence has also revealed that he has gotten in touch with ST and requested them to take down the photo.
After TOC contacted Mr Clarence for clarification, he revealed that the newspaper has in fact gotten back to him and said that they will be issuing an apology in their paper tomorrow.
In addition to that, ST has since taken down all the images from all their reports, including the one they published in 2016. The photos were said to be ST’s file photos.
Upon reading his post, many netizens said it’s unbelievable that a national newspaper can make such a mistake and urged Mr Clarence to sue them.
An online user Shamietra Rella questioned how did ST get the photo and if Mr Clarence recognises the background, in which he replied that the image was taken from his neighbour’s house.
Update: ST has issued its apology
