If this were a non-seizable offence, why does the penal code provide for punishment to be meted out? Or is this part of the penal code redundant since no offender would ever be prosecuted for this offence if the police doesn’t seize them.

The only caveat in Section 323 is this.

Voluntarily causing hurt on provocation
334. Whoever voluntarily causes hurt on grave and sudden provocation, if he neither intends nor knows himself to be likely to cause hurt to any person other than the person who gave the provocation, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 months, or with fine which may extend to $2,500, or with both.

If this is the defense of the employer, I would contend that there was “grave and sudden” provocation. I would also contend that even though the employer may not have known that slapping Abu Sama would have caused him to have a perforated eardrum, the force require to make such an injury possible must have been quite great, in which case the employer should have known that some kind of harm would have been done to Abu Sama (that was probably his intention too)

why are there 80k bangla workers here in the 1st place if not for these unscrupulous singaporeans who call themselves human beings had lured them here in the 1st place? oh those dhaka agents lured the singaporean agents by dangling golden carrots? please..

this is very sad, no wonder the rich are getting richer and poor getting poorer.

and it is also not these banglas are being exploited, the maids, even the prc streetwalkers have been victims of similar scams. they are promised big dreams of greener pastures but have they hopes dashed and savings ripped under their noses by these scammers. surely something can be done? but what are MOM doing?

i see fellow singaporeans disgusted at these banglas and SOME prc streetwalkers flooding our streets, but are they really aware why the situation got into this in the 1st place?

but yeah, sure, things aren’t relatively better off in countries like america either, right?

Yes the ball is in our court, and yes if we are a truely developed society then let us think fo ways to solve the problem. So what do you suggest? From what I can see, the only way to really prevent such unsrupulour employers here is for MOM to really crack down on them. The way? More manpower and resources to do that of course! And where do we get the money needed? From the people of course! Are you willing to do that? Singaporeans are a practical bunch. One of the main reasons why the special permit workers and FT have better labour protection is precisely because they bring in the money. If we are truly idealistic, then we need some form of sacrifice. Sadly, I don’t think we are at the point yet.

So I don’t think I have completely missed the point. My point was just that we have to look at things at a more global perspective. Even in the US, just look at the appalling conditions that the migrant workers from Mexico and other latin american nations work in. Unless you are willing to pay exorbitant taxes such as in the cases of France, UK or the Scandanavian countries, then I don’t see any other way to really help these foreign workers. There are at least 80K Bangla workers in Singapore, how will we be able to help everyone?

And in the defense of Singapore, we do have some NGOs helping migrant workers such as TWC2. Just because they are less often in the limelight dosen’t mean that there aren’t anyone who is actually doing something. It is just that the odds seemed to be too great at the moment.

Apparently many sinkies seem to forget about the saying: “CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME”.

What the lead article has decried/deployed is also felt to similar degree by sinkies, a couple of them are languishing in IMH.

At a lecture given by the AG in September last year, lawyers brought up the the case where the wife of Venture Corp’s Chairman & CEO where the AGC did not even charge the woman in Court for slapping an air stewardess who was only doing her job, and yet the person who spoke harshly to a taxi driver in a road rage case was charged, convicted and I believed jailed.

Where was the justice when a teenage boy was killed by a badly rusted lamp post while playing basketball at the Tampines Town Council basketball court when the Coroner ruled that it was misadventure when it was a case of criminal negligence? Ditto the little Malay girl, Siti, who fell through a gap in the railing formed as a result of a badly rusted bar which had broken off, from the 4th storey of her parent’s rented flat at Telok Blangah.

While the idealism as expressed by #42 is admirable, one cannot talk about values/ideals in a vacuum.

#42 obviously did not get the context and perspective of what #38 had posted.

People can rate others base on their half baked views and opinions formed from blinkered and limited capacity to see or to accept the facts & reality and therein lies the problem which we, as sinkies, continue to face.

Oh, do flame me and rate this most negatively………..it isn’t going to make things better in so far as justice or the lack of it is concerned.

or better yet… those expats?

then… how will they be treated?

just because they choose to make a living here doing menial work doesn’t mean they do not deserve a little bit of their dignity/respect or basic humanity…

(granted there are sob stories and such )

A special thank you to Ms Teo Soh Lung for the clarification of legal terminology. I hope you will continue to help us in this – or any other other – capacity.

Finally, yes. Shouldn’t it be possible for any ordinary citizen to make a police (or some other) report on Abu Sama’s behalf, if for no other reason than to serve as a deterrence?

To me, Singapore roots is justice, equality and racial harmony.

Justice and equality to her citizen, the local Singaporean, PR and foreign worker.

From the various blogs i read, it seen that justice has already skewed to the rich and famous. The poor has been neglected, perhaps we(the poor) don’t really are human to the PAP. WE ARE JUST NUMBER.

The PR and FT are also number to them.

In economic, there is a term called Perfect Competition.

PAP, through their aggressive immigration policy, has created a perfect compeition in Singapore labour. Almost the most competitive will survive. The weak will be weed out.

Who benefit? Of course, the PAP.

WE MUST VOTE THIS PAP OUT !!!!! ELSE IN THE LONG RUN, THE SINGAPOREAN, THE PR WILL LOSE OUT, COS IN LONG RUN, WE WILL BE REPLACED BY THE YOUNGER GENERATION.

Try it! you’ll begin to see.

for me, i have seen enough.

Thanks for your comments.

This story wasn’t originally mean to be a report for TOC. It was posted on my blog, as a postscript to “Migrant Dreams”, a documentary about the plight of a group of Bangladeshi workers in Singapore. Abu Sama was one of the people in the film.

TOC featured “Migrant Dreams” when it was first released. That is why the editors decided to reproduce my postscript here. They thought readers would be interested in knowing the outcome of Abu Sama’s case.

For the full story, as well as an interview with Abu Sama’s supervisor, please watch the film:

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/08/migrant-dreams-singapore-has-been-a-nightmare/

this is outrageous, if not preposterous.