Since Ms Piang Ngaih Don’s death in 2016, a slew of measures have been introduced to stem domestic worker abuse.
Synopsis (headphones recommended): A special edition 6-part series by The Straits Times in Singapore, exploring recent real crimes that gripped, horrified and laid bare the issues that afflicted societies in Asia. Episodes drop every fourth Tuesday of the month from April 25, 2023.
Warning: This podcast is an audio documentary of a real crime case which may be troubling and upsetting to certain listeners. Listener discretion is advised.
In 2016, the abuse and eventual death of a young Myanmar domestic worker led to shock and an outpouring of grief in Singapore.
Ms Piang Ngaih Don left her hometown in Chin State, Myanmar, to work for Gaiyathiri Murugayan and her then-husband and suspended police officer Kevin Chelvam in 2015.
The details and extent of her torture, at the hands of Gaiyathiri and her mother Prema S. Naraynasamy, brought about heightened checks and health screenings for domestic workers in Singapore. Yet activists say more can be done.
ST's Singapore journalist Jean Iau interviews and narrates this podcast.
Highlights (click/tap above):
4:23 "Their attitude is like animal attitude", says Mr Tin Maung Win who runs an NGO for migrant workers
6:35 Verbal abuse turns physical: CCTV footage captures the assaults on Ms Piang Ngaih Don over the last 35 days of her life
9:05 Chilling events the night before she died; Gaiyathiri and Prema now serving sentences
15:25 Reactions from Ms Piang Ngaih Don’s family; hundreds take to the streets in Yangon to mourn her
21:06 Revisiting the scene: A young neighbour recalls hearing shouting from Gaiyathiri's flat and avoiding her
22:48 In February 2021, then-Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said Singapore "must do better"; Manpower Ministry spells out some measures introduced since 2021
28:10 Should foreign domestic workers be given option to "live out", regardless of higher costs to employers? Ms Jaya Anil Kumar, senior research and advocacy manager at Human Organisation for Migration Economics (Home) believes so
Interviews & narration by: Jean Iau (jeaniau@sph.com.sg)
Executive Producers: Ernest Luis (ernest@sph.com.sg) and Tan Tam Mei (tammei@sph.com.sg)
Podcast Producers: Hadyu Rahim & Fa'izah Sani
Voiceovers: Leonie Teo, Vimalaraj Rajaratnam
Copy editor: Choo Li Meng
Audio clip of Ms Piang Ngaih Don's sister reproduced with permission from Al Jazeera (see full documentary - https://str.sg/iUQz)
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