When police said they had received a complaint that his previous maid had been abused, IT manager Tay Wee Kiat allegedly offered to pay his other maid’s full salary and fare back to Indonesia as long as she kept her mouth shut.

Ms Fitriyah, who goes by one name, yesterday told a court how she agreed to her employer’s offer – only because it would give her a chance to speak to an officer and complain that she too had been abused.

The 33-year-old Indonesian was testifying on the fourth day of the maid abuse trial of 38-year-old Tay and his wife Chia Yun Ling, 41, who have claimed trial to 12 and two charges respectively.

She had given evidence on how, in February 2011, she was wrongly punished for breaking a Hindu deity statue and made to stand on a stool for half an hour as she held another stool over her head while Tay inserted a plastic bottle in her mouth.

The incident made her want to change employer, and in an effort to do so she stole $50 from Chia and admitted her crime to Tay.

The couple took her to her agency who dissuaded the Tays from making a police report. Ms Fitriyah was counselled and wrote a confession.

In January 2012, Myanmar national Moe Moe Than, 27, went to work for the family but was repatriated in November that year.

However, she returned the next month to complain that the couple abused her.

Ms Fitriyah said yesterday that while she and her employers were at Northpoint mall on Dec 12, 2012, Chia received a call from the police.

Later, when Tay and Ms Fitriyah were in his car, he told her that police officers and officials from the Ministry of Manpower were at his flat and asked her not to mention that he had hit her and Ms Than.

Tay said that if she helped him, he would pay her full salary and buy her a ticket to fly back to Indonesia.

Asked what her reaction was by Deputy Public Prosecutor Kumaresan Gohulabalan, Ms Fitriyah said she thought that if she agreed, she could complain to the officer.

Back at the flat, she denied being hit when questioned by two female officers as she was ”scared”. But when they took her to a room, she revealed all. “I informed them sir and ma’am hit me,” she told the court. “They checked my body for injuries. My forehead was still swollen.”

During cross-examination, counsel Wee Pan Lee put it to Ms Fitriyah that $51, not $50, was found in her luggage along with stolen garments and a stolen child’s bracelet. He also put it to her the stool punishment never actually happened – all of which Ms Fitriyah denied.

The trial continues.

This article was first published on April 8, 2016.
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“Dear Pope Francis, why do you need that tall hat?”

That intriguing question was enough to earn 8-year-old Faith Ng an audience with the pontiff himself.

Her mother, Madam Jennifer Tan, recounted their experience of travelling to Rome to meet the Pope in February on the Catholic News, the official newspaper of Singapore’s Roman Catholic Archdiocese.

She said that she had submitted Faith’s question through their parish, the Church of St Ignatius, last year. The questions were to be part of a children’s book titled “Dear Pope Francis”.

They did not give much thought to the question until December last year, when they were invited to meet the pope by the book’s publisher Loyola Press.

On Feb 22, the Primary Three student at CHIJ-Kellock met with Pope Francis at the Paul VI Audience Hall at St Peter’s Square, along with 14 other children from 12 countries.

Madam Tan recalled that when the Pope entered the room where the children were waiting, he held up his arms, prompting the excited children to run towards him and enjoy a big group hug.

He then met the children one by one. When it was Faith’s turn, she presented him with a card she made of pressed ferns and leaves from Singapore, a gift from children at her church, and a letter from her friend.

Pope Francis then blessed her and presented her with a copy of the children’s book, as well as a doll. She also received a written reply to the question she had initially submitted, in which the pope explained that the hat is a symbol that he is a bishop.

During the hour-long audience, he also answered the children’s questions, and expressed pain whenever he saw children who were suffering.

According to Today, Faith had to miss 12 days of school to go on the trip, but Madam Tan wrote in Catholic News that it was worth it.

“Of course! It did not matter that Faith would be missing many days of school. This was an opportunity of a lifetime,” she wrote.

seanyap@sph.com.sg

SINGAPORE – Safety was not affected so roller coaster ride, Battlestar Galactica: Human vs Cylon, at Universal Studios Singapore resumed operation once system control was reset, reported Today.

The technical error left riders stranded in mid-air for about 20 minutes on Wednesday (April 6). Riders had to be evacuated from the lower section of the ride. The ride resumed after about an hour.

BCA spokesperson said in the Today report that its engineers have verified with RWS (Resorts World Sentosa) that the ride vehicle stopped when a technical error was detected by the safety control system.

“As the technical error did not affect ride safety, the ride resumed operation after the control system was reset,” added the spokesman.

The authority is not investigating the matter further.

This is not the first time that the world’s tallest duelling roller-coaster, as dubbed by RWS, has come into trouble.

In March 2010, the ride was shut down a week after USS’ opening due to a seat falling off the ride during a routine safety test. No one was injured then.

It re-opened in Feb 2011 but closed again in July 2013 due to an attraction review.

The ride opened one more time in May 2015 and has had no reported issues since then.

maryanns@sph.com.sg

SINGAPORE – Local shopping mall Tampines 1 has made a public apology after a woman claimed that one of its employees subjected her to racial discrimination.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, Diana Hairul uploaded a screenshot of the staff’s response to her email enquiry about setting up a promotional space at the mall.

The reply read: “We are not so keen to run a Malay road show as our target audience are mainly Chinese. Thus, we regret to inform you that we are unable to rent a space to you.”

In her post, Ms Diana addressed the Malay Muslim community in Tampines and asked if they patronised the mall. She also said: “I feel discriminated.”

The post garnered over 2,600 shares and 65 comments from users of different ethnicities who criticised the staff’s reply.

On the same day, Tampines 1 issued an apology on Facebook which said: “Under no circumstances is Tampines 1 discriminating against any race and the management of the company would not tolerate such a position.”

The staff member who signed off as Jen in the email exchange “has been dealt with appropriately,” it added.

According to AsiaMalls Management, which owns Tampines 1, spaces around the mall are sometimes rented out on an ad hoc basis.

Tampines MP Masagos Zulkifli also responded when a Facebook user posted about the incident on his page.

He said: “Insensitive and incompetent staff. Good that the mall has apologised.”

“For those whose intention is to spread ill will with incidents like this and to people who are insensitive I say ‘Shame on you!'”

In her latest Facebook post on Friday morning, Ms Diana appears to have successfully set up a stall at Sembawang Shopping Centre.

minlee@sph.com.sg