Fatal Falls in the lion city
Since 1999, some 90 domestic workers from Indonesia have died in Singapore. The official version claims that some of the deaths were caused by accidents at the workplace, while there were others that were suicides. Strangely, though, most lost their lives after a fall, or throwing themselves, from tall apartment buildings. Indonesia's Minister for Manpower Jacob Nuwa Wea is not convinced that the maids who had become immune to hardship would choose to end their own lives. Were they murdered?
September 2, 2003
PARYATI'S face was black and blue. Marks left by surgery to her broken nose were still clearly visible. The girl from a village in Cilacap, Central Java was only 22 years old. Six months earlier, she had tried her luck in Singapore, working as a domestic worker. She was sent by her agent to work for a Malay family in the Jurong area.
But fate was not on her side. Her employer's wife was fierce and very deft with her hands.
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