The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said on Thursday (5 November) that it will not take any further action against the former employers of Parti Liyani for illegally deploying her to work.
It was reported that an investigation was carried out in 2017 to 2018 into Ms Parti’s illegal deployment complaint against her ex employers, which includes former Changi Airport Group chairman Liew Mun Leong, his wife and their son Karl Liew.
The complaint was that she was asked to work at Mr Karl’s house and office while she was hired to work as a domestic helper at Mr Liew Mun Leong’s home.
Following the end of its investigations, MOM consulted the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) and issued a caution against Mrs Liew and issued an advisory to Mr Karl Liew in May 2018.
MOM added that this is “consistent with actions taken in similar cases”.
It all started back in 2016 when the Indonesian national was sent home by the Liew family after she threatened to lodge a complaint to MOM about being asked to work at Mr Karl Liew’s home and office. She was later arrested by the Singapore Police at Changi Airport when she returned to Singapore as there was an arrest warrant for her.
She was accused of stealing 114 items worth S$50, 856 from the Liew family. After a series of court hearings, Ms Parti was sentenced 26 months of imprisonment by District Judge Olivia Low on 25 Mar 2019.
The sentence was reduced to this amount as District Judge had to remove certain items from the charges and reduce the value of the alleged stolen items to a total of S$34,000 due to the efforts of Mr Anil Balchandani from Red Lion Circle law firm who took the case pro bono.
Ms Parti then filed an appeal against the conviction which was heard by Justice Chan Seng Onn. After three days of hearings between November 2019 to August 2020, Justice Chan ultimately overturned the convictions from the lower court as he finds them unsafe.
Matters which were disallowed in the state court hearing — such as Ms Parti’s MOM complaint — were introduced to the High Court hearing.
In allowing Ms Parti’s appeal against her conviction and jail sentence of two years and two months, the High Court branded the Liew family as having “improper motives” against Ms Parti.
The “improper motives” revolved around Mr Liew and his son Karl Liew’s plans to lodge a police report against her to stop her from notifying MOM regarding the cleaning work she was made to do at Mr Karl’s home at 39 Chancery Lane and his office at Killiney Road.
In regards to this, MOM said on Thursday: “In light of the High Court’s observations, MOM initiated a review of the case and conducted further investigations”.
It added that it has completed its review and consulted the SGC on its recommendations.
“AGC has affirmed the earlier actions taken by MOM against Ms Parti’s former employers on her illegal deployment to Karl Liew’s home and office, and has directed that no further action be taken against the parties involved in this matter,” the ministry said.
Upon reading MOM’s decision, many netizens took to the Facebook page of CNA to voice their thoughts on this matter.
They allege that there is inequality and unfairness in the justice system as it favours the rich.
Given that Mr Liew Mun Leong is a man of power and falls under the elite category, the law is more lenient towards him and his family.
Others pointed out that by issuing just a warning to the Liew family for illegal deployment will open the doors for others to abuse the law.
