On day three of the trial against a Singaporean couple charged with starving their Filipino maid over 15 months until she escaped, a witness from an employment agency testified that it wasn’t the first time Lim Choon Hong and wife Chong Sui Foon maltreated a worker.
According to maid agent Toh Ah Choon, “the first maid he provided to the Lims similarly complained about being fed only instant noodles and bread,” reports Channel NewsAsia.
The Indonesian helper was also made to work overnight and sleep during the day.
Gawidan was allegedly fed only instant noodles by her employers, even while she accompanied them on a vacation in Hong Kong, and a staycation at a hotel in Singapore. By the time she ran away from them, she had already lost 44lbs, or around 40 per cent of her average body weight.
Her employers also did not allow Gawidan to use the house toilet.
Instead, her female boss would accompany her to the condominium’s public restroom whenever she needed to use the toilet.
Gawidan was allowed to take a shower only twice in a week.
Lim Choon Hong and wife Chong Sui Foon, charged with starving OFW Thelma Gawidan, appearing on The New Paper
The final witness to testify for the prosecution this morning was a dietitian who said that while Gawidan was not starved enough to the point of becoming delirious, she was still “lucid enough to realise that she was starving”.
The dietitian said, “It is quite sad.”
The trial continues this afternoon, where the defense is expected to take present four witnesses, including the accused couple. Watch this space for updates later in the day.
