Window Cleaning Maid Saved By Neighbours & New Law

They held on for half an hour, the picture shows the three neighbours clinging on to the maid outside an 11th storey window in Woodlands. Starting immediately, foreign domestic workers (FDWs) will no longer be allowed to clean window exteriors, unless two safety conditions are met, announced the Ministry of Manpower today.

Maid saved by trio after fall from 12th storey: A morning drama played out in Woodlands on Sunday as three men reached out of an 11th-storey window to hold onto an Indonesian maid who was hanging to a steel laundry rack for dear life. They tried to hoist her into the flat, but found her too heavy. The maid soon passed out - and thus became a dead weight for the trio, who held onto her for nearly half an hour until help came. The maid, who works for a family on the 12th storey of Block 550, Woodlands Drive 44, fell from the five-room flat at 10am.

Employers will not be allowed to let their maid clean the exterior of windows unless supervised, under new Manpower Ministry (MOM) requirements.

Maids not allowed to clean exterior of windows unless supervised, Singapore: The Manpower Ministry (MOM) has ruled that with immediate effect, employers shall not allow their foreign domestic workers to clean the exterior of windows unless two safety conditions are met. Firstly, the employer or an adult is physically present to supervise the maid. And, secondly, window grilles must be installed and locked at all times during the cleaning process. MOM said the new rules will apply to all homes, except for windows that are at ground level or along common corridors. It emphasised that anyone who cleans the exterior of their windows at home should follow similar safety requirements.

The ministry explained that many foreign domestic workers do not come from high-rise environments and may not be used to Singapore's urban living environment. They are therefore likely to be unaware of the risks in a high-rise domestic setting. Apart from window cleaning, employers should take necessary steps to eliminate the risks involved in other tasks by following the Dos and Don'ts covered in MOM's guidebooks and pamphlets. If foreign domestic workers are required to hang laundry outside the window using bamboo poles, employers should ensure that they do not stand on an elevated platform or tip-toe while handling the poles, and do not overload the pole with too many clothes.

In announcing the change, the Manpower Ministry noted that a significant proportion of fatalities involving maids falling from heights came about because they were cleaning the window exteriors.

MOM said it will be sending a circular to all existing foreign maid employers to inform them of the tightened safety requirements. The ministry will also be updating its training materials for first-time maids and their employers. MOM warned that failure to comply with these tightened requirements constitutes a breach of the Employment of Foreign Manpower (Work Passes) Regulations. Employers who fail to comply may be prosecuted and permanently barred from hiring a foreign domestic worker. For added deterrence, MOM also plans to raise the penalty for employers prosecuted for failing to provide foreign domestic workers with a safe working environment.

MOM said it intends to double the penalties from the current S$5,000 fine and/or six months' jail to S$10,000 fine and/or 12 months' jail. This is part of the ongoing review of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act and its subsidiary legislation later this year, said MOM. The ministry said it is deeply concerned with the recent spate of fatalities involving foreign domestic workers.

Since January this year, there have been nine work-related fall from heights fatalities, compared to four cases for the whole of 2011 and eight in 2010.  The ministry's investigations show that five of the nine fatalities were related to foreign donestic workers cleaning windows in an unsafe manner.  Two arose from hanging laundry, while the causes of the last two are pending further investigation. The ministry said this tragic and unnecessary loss of lives could have been prevented if foreign domestic workers and their employers took safe work practices seriously. 

Previous stories on these deaths here.

Window Cleaning Maids Seek Refuge At Embassy

3 Indonesian maids seek refuge at embassy in Singapore: Three Indonesian maids have sought refuge at their embassy after their employers put their lives at risk by forcing them to clean windows and hang out laundry, they claimed. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said that it is now looking into the claims of one of the maids, Yuli Primariyanti, 24. She claimed that her employer made her stand on window sills to clean the exterior window panes of a two-storey bungalow in the east.

Indonesian Embassy Counsellor Sukmo Yuwono said the other two maids declined to submit formal complaints to MOM. Instead, they decided to end their contracts and return to Indonesia. This year, eight Indonesian maids have died after falling while cleaning windows, hanging out laundry, or hanging up curtains in high-rise flats.

Following the spate of deaths, Sukmo urged maids to contact him if they were being made to clean windows and hang out laundry in dangerous ways. The three maids said they ran away as they were each afraid of becoming another casualty. Yuli said she went to her agency on May 3 but was told to return to her employer's home. Unwilling to do so, she went to the embassy the next day.

She had been working for her employer, a housewife, for about two weeks. It was her first time working in Singapore, she said, adding that she is from a village in East Java where there are few high-rise buildings. She said: "I told my employer I was scared to stand on the window sills to clean the windows on the second storey of the house. But she told me I had to do it or she would send me back to Indonesia."

She added that she was made to work for more than 14 hours every day. She has decided to return to Indonesia once investigations into her complaint are completed. Yuli's employer, who is in her 50s and declined to be named, denied her allegations. "She also did not tell me she was unhappy, and just ran away," she said.

An MOM spokesman said it is currently establishing the facts of Yuli's case, adding: "Once a case has been established, investigations can then commence. At this point, it is premature to come to any conclusions." Sukmo said he has not decided what to do about Yuli's employer. He had said previously that employers or agents found to have endangered the lives of Indonesian maids would be blacklisted and barred from hiring them.

The other two maids also claimed they had raised concerns about safety to their employers but were ignored. They went to the embassy on May 2.  Sunarti Warkin, 30, said she was told to stand on a stool and stretch out of the window to clean the exterior window panes of a 15th-floor flat in Bukit Merah every day. Anni Puji Rahayu, 28, said she struggled to balance heavy laundry on long bamboo poles outside her employer's fourth-floor flat in Tampines. Sukmo said he expects more maids to approach the embassy for help.

Maid agents said maids usually run away for a combination of reasons, and it is unlikely that safety concerns were the only reason that compelled them to seek refuge at the embassy. They said it was important that MOM ascertains if these are genuine cases of a maid's life being endangered. Best Home Employment director Tay Khoon Beng said: "The maid must be feeling quite desperate to want to run away to the embassy. But this should be the last resort. They should try to speak to their agent and employer and work things out or get a transfer." There are about 103,000 Indonesian maids in Singapore.

About 1,000 foreign domestic workers attended the event at Kallang Theatre, where they called for a ban on dangerous practices such as the cleaning of exterior window panes. So far this year, it has cost eight such workers their lives.

Singapore to Ban Risky Chores for Indonesian Maids: Ban foreign domestic workers in Singapore from dangerous practices such as the cleaning of exterior window panes - that was the rallying cry of about 1,000 such workers who gathered yesterday at Kallang Theatre to celebrate Mother's Day. The event - organized for the first time by the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (Home), a non-government group - featured performances by the workers, who also shared stories of their employment here.

The festivities were mixed with calls by both activists and the workers to improve safety standards for the migrant community here. Eight Indonesian foreign domestic workers have died this year while cleaning windows, hanging out laundry or hanging up curtains in high-rise flats. Between 2007 and last year, 69 workers here fell from such flats, and 24 of them died. "These women came here to make a living, and they're returning home in coffins because of window-cleaning. It's outrageous," said Bridget Tan, the president of Home.

The group plans to collect 1,000 signed petitions to ban the practice here and submit them to Minister of State for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin. Home will also reach out to the embassies of countries such as the Philippines and Myanmar, which send large numbers of workers here, to persuade them to enact tougher protection laws.

Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports Halimah Yacob, who was the guest of honor at yesterday's event, said the government has introduced measures to improve workers' welfare, such as a mandatory weekly rest day, to take effect from next year. She noted in her speech that domestic workers continue to be among the most vulnerable groups of workers: "Unlike other workers, (they) can feel isolated as they work in individual homes." "They need support and encouragement, especially when they first arrive here, and are beginning to adapt to the new environment and their employers' expectations," she said.

Another maid fell to her death in April 2012. She was the eighth this year. One employer got a safety belt for her domestic helper (shown here) to use while cleaning windows.

$5,000 fine for not ensuring safety of maid who fell to death: SINGAPORE - Madam Gan Hui Leung, 46, has become the first to be convicted this year for failing to ensure the safety of her foreign domestic worker (FDW) who fell from height in Nov 2011 and subsequently died from her injuries. Gan was fined a maximum of $5,000. This is the first case involving a conviction of a maid employer for safety lapses in 2012. The Indonesian maid, Siti Ustima, 25, was employed by Gan from April 20, 2010 to November 11, 2011.

On the afternoon of November 11, 2011, Siti was cleaning the living room windows of Gan's fifth storey flat in Clementi. Shortly after, there was a loud noise and she was found lying on the ground floor. Siti died from multiple injuries. A wooden chair, a red plastic pail and a cleaning spray were later found next to the living room windows of the flat. Investigations revealed that during the employment of Siti Ustima, Gan did not demonstrate or give specific instructions to the FDW on how the windows should be cleaned.

The employer assumed that Siti, who was transferred from another employer, would know how to do so. She had allowed Siti to stand on a stool with the windows and the grilles wide open when cleaning the bedroom and living room windows. She did not stop her from doing so, nor did she ask her to come down from the stool. Gan also did not provide her maid with an extendable window wiper to clean hard-to-reach areas of the windows. Gan was found guilty of violating the Work Permit Conditions for the employment of foreign domestic workers, which is an offence under section 22(1)(a) of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.

Window Cleaning Gadget Sales Rise

Stretch and clean: Filipina maid Florabel Gepulango says the 3-in-1 Window Wiper is easy to use.

Window Cleaning Gadget Sales Rise After Spate of Indonesian Maid Deaths in Singapore: A popular magnetic window cleaner by local home appliance brand Maier is selling well at DIY shops after the spate of maids falling to their death while cleaning windows. The Maier Innovative Window Cleaner, which was first made available here in 2002, allows its user to clean the exterior of windows without having to open them wide and lean out precariously, as is often the case in high-rise buildings.

Its secret lies in the use of magnets in two rectangular cleaning devices. When you move one on the inside of the window, the one on the outside follows due to the magnetic attraction. In the process, the devices pick up dirt and dust on the cleaning mats and squeegees at their bases. About 100 to 200 units are sold monthly, says Maier, which supplies them to about 20 shops including do-it-yourself chain stores Home-Fix and Selffix. The product sells for $29.90.

Maier sales manager Peter Chan has seen an increase in sales of “about 15 to 20 percent” in recent months, each time there is a case of a maid falling from a high-rise building. Eight maids have fallen to their deaths this year, most of whom were apparently cleaning windows when they fell. Between 2007 and last year, 24 maids fell to their deaths. “In previous years, whenever there is newspaper report about a maid falling while cleaning, there will be more awareness and interest about safety in window cleaning,” Chan says. “Only this year, the increase in sales is much higher because on average, there are two cases involving maids a month. Previously, the increase was only marginal.”

Home-Fix sells an average of 60 units a month, while Selffix sold 15 last month. Two out of Selffix’s 10 outlets are sold out of the product and three are running low on stocks. However, some customers have found it unsatisfactory. Elise Teo, 54, shelved it after using it twice three years ago. “It is not very smooth-moving on the window, and it is also not very efficient in cleaning,” says the assistant vice-president in global transactions at DBS.

There are alternative gadgets around, including extendable window cleaners such as the 3-in-1 Window Wiper by German home appliance brand Leifheit. The cleaner works like a mop, with an extendable pole and bendable and detachable cleaning head. However, at $98, it is not as popular as the cheaper Maier one. DIY shop Handyhouse sells “not more than 10” Leifheit cleaners a month, while Zener DIY Store sells “about one” each month. LifeStyle asked Filipina maid Florabel Gepulango, 34, to put the Maier Innovative Window Cleaner and the Leifheit 3-in-1 Window Wiper to the test.

Imposing rules against household chores not the way to go (SINGAPORE) - The Association of Employment Agencies in Singapore said today that source countries of foreign domestic workers should focus on training instead of imposing rules against doing certain household chores. The comments come after the Indonesian government imposed new laws preventing its domestic workers from cleaning window exteriors and hanging out laundry in high-rise homes. The new rule comes into effect this month. Previously, they were only applicable to Indonesian domestic workers renewing their contracts. The contractual ban on cleaning window exteriors and hanging out laundry comes as eight Indonesian foreign domestic workers have fallen to their deaths in the last five months.

While the Philippines Embassy and Sri Lankan High Commission could not be reached for comment, stakeholders said it is unlikely that other jurisdictions will implement a similar rule. At present, fatal falls while cleaning windows and hanging out laundry seem to be restricted mainly to Indonesian domestic workers. "We have not really heard about Filipino domestic workers, or Indian, or Sri Lankans, or even Myanmar domestic workers, having fallen off in this manner," Ms K Jeyaprema, president of the Association of Employment Agencies, said. "The (Indonesian) ambassador confirmed that it looked like it's only happening to his nationalities, and so it's a big concern for him."

Instead of imposing clauses in contracts, the Association of Employment Agencies said the focus should be on safety training in source countries. Ms Jeyaprema says this could entail using some of the 400 hours of mandatory training at source training centres, to focus on getting domestic workers used to their living and working environments. Most of the time, foreign domestic workers who come from villages are not used to working in high-rise environments. "A lot of it has to do with the foreign domestic worker herself, how conscious she is of her own safety," Ms Jeyaprema said.

"Really, we have to focus on educating the foreign domestic worker herself. I think Singaporean employers are responsible people - I wouldn't see them really risking a foreign domestic worker's life over a chore like cleaning windows or hanging clothes."She added that the association will give input to Indonesian authorities on its training programmes.

Singapore Maids Banned From Cleaning Outside Windows

Filipino maid Joycelyn Bernadas started wearing a safety belt to clean the windows of her employer's seventh-storey flat two years ago. Her employer Joyce Chua bought the $15 belt from a hardware shop after reading reports of maids falling to their deaths.

Maid wears safety belt before cleaning windows (1.8m nylon rope bought by employer secures Filipino's waist to grille). Singapore. Whenever Filipino maid Joycelyn Bernadas cleans the windows of her employer’s seventh-storey flat, she slips on a safety belt first. The nylon rope secures her waist to the aluminium window grille. Her employer Joyce Chua bought the belt two years ago after reading reports of maids falling to their deaths while cleaning the outside of high-rise windows or hanging out clothes to dry. “She is like our own family member and we can’t afford to lose her,” said Chua, 49.

This year, 11 domestic workers have fallen from a height at work, of which eight died. All eight were Indonesians and had fallen to their deaths while cleaning the outside of windows or hanging laundry out to dry. The spate of accidents has prompted involvement from the Indonesian embassy. Chua bought the 1.8 millimeter belt for about $15 from a hardware shop — she is the director of an electrical and construction company, said her workers use industrial harnesses at work. Her family moved from a landed property to the five-room HDB flat in Chai Chee Avenue about four years ago.

Bernadas, 46, has worked for the family for 20 years. She takes care of Chua’s three daughters and does the housework — she cleans the outside of the windows once or twice a year. Bernadas said she was nervous when they moved to the flat and she had to clean the windows and put out the laundry, and is glad she has the belt. “I think wearing the safety belt is troublesome, but I feel safer with it,” she said. As to why the outside of windows had to be cleaned, Chua said: “A lot of dust collects on the windows over a year so we can’t just stop cleaning altogether. But we won’t force her to reach the parts of the windows that are too high up.”

She acknowledged that using the safety belt may not be a complete lifesaver as the hook is fastened to the aluminum grille, which is not as sturdy as one made of iron. The safety belt is also not approved for industrial use, and is suitable only for light cleaning jobs. “It is not 100 percent safe, but it is still a lifeline,” said Ms Chua. The Ministry of Manpower said that from 2007 to last year, 69 foreign domestic workers fell from a height at work, of which 24 were fatal and 45 non-fatal. The ministry said that maids who fell from heights varied across age, experience and nationalities.

Indonesian Embassy Counsellor Sukmo Yuwono said most of the eight Indonesian maids who fell to their deaths this year had been working in Singapore for less than a year. But incidents in previous years include experienced maids. “It is not an issue of how experienced the maids are,” Sukmo said. “The problem is that Singapore employers make their maids clean the outside of windows and hang laundry outside their apartments. “Employers in Hong Kong do not ask their maids to do things like this and we don’t have the problem of maids falling down there,” he added.

Various government leaders and maid activists have called for more to be done to prevent such deaths. Last month, Madam Halimah Yacob, Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports, called for maids to be barred from opening window grilles and for employers to keep the keys to these grilles from their maids. From today, employers of new Indonesian maids working in high-rise buildings must also sign an undertaking to not allow them to hang clothes outside flats and clean the exterior of windows.

Maid agency owners said having the safety clause in the contract is a step in the right direction, but added that the onus is on employers to ensure their maids abide by it. “Employers should not ask their maids to do dangerous tasks. Sometimes, their maids may forget and employers have to remind them that their safety comes first,” said Best Home Employment director Tay Khoon Beng: But some employers said that the new rule was not practical. Sales manager Lynette Lim, 39, who employs an Indonesian maid, said: “How else are we going to hang our clothes?”

Police investigate the death of a 34-year-old Indonesian maid who fell from a window in Singapore recently.

New Rule in Singapore to Curb High-Rise Falls of Indonesian Maids: (Singapore). New Indonesian maids here will no longer be allowed to clean out-facing windows or hang laundry outside high-rise homes. This rule, released by the Indonesian government yesterday to The Straits Times, is part of a contract new maids and their employers will now have to sign before the maids can work here. It is effective from today.

Maid agencies and worker welfare groups said such a clause signals employers to take the maids’ safety seriously. Lawyers, however, said that while the contract may be binding to the signed parties, the rule would be difficult to enforce as no one could monitor what maids do. Responding to this development, the Ministry of Manpower yesterday said that employers should consider this rule when hiring Indonesian maids. It said that there is already a standard employment contract for all foreign maids in Singapore, and that it exercises “rigorous enforcement” when lapses in safety put lives at risk.

The new clause is part of a document that includes other clauses, such as on insurance and salary, and was formerly applicable only to maids renewing their contracts. The document was introduced by the Indonesian government about three years ago. Indonesia Embassy Counsellor Sukmo Yuwono said he hoped applying the clause to new maids would reduce the number of maid deaths from falling. This year, eight have died while cleaning windows, or putting laundry out to dry.

John Gee, an executive committee member of Transient Workers Count Too, a worker welfare group, said that although the Singapore Government was not obliged to enforce the agreement, it was still a step in the right direction. There are about 103,000 Indonesian maids in Singapore.

Also see here, here & here.

Another Indonesian maid falls to her death in Singapore

Sudden death: An Indonesian maid's body lies at the foot of a Woodlands apartment building in Singapore on Thursday. She fell from the ninth floor.

Another Indonesian maid falls to her death in Singapore, 8th case this year: An Indonesian maid fell to her death from the ninth floor of a Woodlands flat on Thursday, apparently while cleaning windows. This is the eighth incident of a maid meeting such a fate this year. Last year, four maids died this way. The latest incident happened at about 6:20 p.m. at Block 801 Woodlands Street 81. A stool and cleaning materials were believed to have been found next to the window that the 25-year-old fell from.

A first-floor resident, who said he heard a loud thump, looked out of the window and saw the victim lying on a grass patch. "She hit the roof of the small balcony attached to my flat first before falling onto the grass," said the 18-year-old, who did not want to be named. "The sound was so loud, I thought a car accident had happened," added the student. According to him, the two children of the maid's employers were also at the scene and looked very shocked.

Neighbors said the maid had been working for four to five months for a family of four. The couple have a son in secondary school and a daughter in primary school. Neighbors described the victim as small-built and quiet. According to Chinese-language newspaper Shin Min Daily, only the children were at home when the incident happened. On Friday, the parents declined to be interviewed when The Straits Times visited their flat.

In the past five years, 24 maids have fallen to their deaths while working. Some 14 employers have been fined for putting their maids in the way of danger. Contacted on Friday, Halimah Yacob, Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports, emphasized that safety precautions have to be taken. “Employers should look at alternative ways to hang the clothes or clean the windows if it's too dangerous,” said Halimah, who has spoken out several times before about the welfare of maids.

On Tuesday, The Straits Times reported that migrant worker group Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics had started a petition to ban maids from cleaning the outside of windows. When contacted, the Manpower Ministry said it is “gravely concerned” about the recent spate of accidents involving maids. “We will also continue to explore what more can be done with our relevant stakeholders to prevent such unnecessary deaths,” said a spokesman. Police are investigating Thursday's incident as an unnatural death.

Singapore Group Call For Ban On Cleaning Windows

Singapore Group Call For Ban On Cleaning Windows

Singapore Group Calls for Ban on Cleaning of Outside Windows: Singapore - A migrant workers group is calling for a complete ban on maids cleaning the outside of windows. The move comes after seven domestic workers fell to their deaths this year while washing exterior panes or hanging laundry out to dry. The Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home) is aiming to collect 300 individually written letters and send them to the Ministry of Manpower. It has gathered 50 so far from Indonesian maids at an event on Sunday attended by more than 200 workers from the country.

Home president Bridget Tan told The Straits Times that the group was collecting letters to show that it was “serious about solving this problem.” She said she would also send this message to 8,000 domestic foreign workers who are members of a private Facebook group. Tan noted that the seven women who fell to their deaths this year were all Indonesians, adding that maids from the country tend to be timid and less articulate than others. This point was echoed by Ristanti Ningrum, the 28-year-old Indonesian domestic worker leading the petition. She said a close friend of hers did not dare let her elderly employer know about her fear of heights, despite being expected to clean the outside of the windows on the 15th floor.

Ningrum said it was easier to communicate with younger employers, but the older ones tend to insist that the domestic workers do what they are told. “I read in the news that there were six deaths in three months, that is two a month. That was when I knew I had to do something about it,” said Ningrum, who is working for an American employer at a landed property. “We are here to earn a living, not to lose our lives.”

On Sunday, Madam Halimah Yacob, the Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports, called for employers to bar their domestic workers from opening window grilles. Maid agencies said Home’s move was a step in the right direction. “It is impossible to clean the outside of the windows without endangering yourself in some way, even if you use the proper tools,” said Eric Lim, director of Jack Focus Employment. However, not everyone was confident that a ban would work.

Benny Liew, director of Comfort Employment, felt it would be hard to police as most employers are not around when the maids clean the windows. “How do you pinpoint who is behind the decision to clean the exterior of the windows if they are caught?” he said. “Often, the helpers are the ones who initiate it without the instructions of the employers, but how do you tell?”

Alvin Tan, who employs a domestic worker from Burma, said that imposing a ban would not prevent deaths. “If you ban the maids, someone still has got to do the job, and the employer will then also be at risk of falling,” said the 46-year-old senior vice-president in an oil and gas company. “This has happened before. The issue is not banning this or that but turning to proper equipment that enhances safety.”

Some Facebook users responded to a Straits Times post on the topic by calling for more safety measures for maids doing this dangerous job. Bridget Xue said, “The real question is to find what safe equipment we can use to clean windows.” However, marketing executive Jeremy Lim from cleaning equipment supplier Karcher said his company does not have any tools made specifically to make it safer to clean the outside of windows. He said this is because Singapore is the only country with such a unique problem.

Meanwhile, some town councils have rejected calls for them to provide mass window-cleaning services. They say they are responsible only for cleaning common areas such as corridors, void decks and staircases. “As windows are not common property, residents are responsible for the cleaning of their own windows, both outside and inside,” said Lee Boon Leng, executive manager at Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council.

Some residents do turn to professional cleaning companies. However, these firms said there is generally little demand from customers who want them to wash the hard-to-reach spots. “Most of them are very understanding,” said Aisha Shah, the 48-year-old manager of Cleanroom Cleaning Service Centre. “We stick a cloth on top of a pole to reach certain corners but they don’t push us to go full out.” However, there are still rare cases of customers being unreasonable. A sales executive from a cleaning company, who asked not to be named, said: “When they make a difficult request, I will instead ask them, ‘how much are you willing to compensate for a lost life?’”

Singapore Teacher Pleads Guilty to Caning Indonesian Maid Repeatedly: An employer told her Indonesian maid that she would be caned if she made mistakes. After she was caned repeatedly by the employer — who is a teacher — the maid sought help from a neighbor’s domestic worker. The neighbor’s maid noticed the bruises and her employer took the 24-year-old victim to the police.

On Monday, Lee Meng Choo, 54, pleaded guilty to abusing Sri Maryati. The teacher at Junyuan Secondary School could be spared jail, as Senior District Judge See Kee Oon ordered a pre-sentence report to gauge her suitability for probation. Lee suffers from dysthymia, a less severe form of chronic depression. Defence lawyer Subhas Anandan said Jerome Goh of the Institute of Mental Health and defence psychiatrist Tommy Tan had agreed that Lee was unable to fully appreciate the consequences of the offences because of her mental condition.

The lawyer also said the performance of Sri, who was hired in December 2008, was ‘abysmal’ from the start. His client had wanted to send her back to the agency, but the maid pleaded to stay. Lee suggested that she be caned if she made mistakes — the same punishment Lee meted out to her son, now 11. Deputy Public Prosecutor Ramu Miyapan told the court that at 8 p.m. on Aug 9, 2009, the maid was caned on the buttocks for using Lee’s toothbrush to clean the wash basin. The maid denied doing so, but was made to stand facing the front door as an added punishment. Some 15 minutes later, Lee dragged the maid by the ear into the kitchen for clogging up the kitchen sink. Sri’s ear bled.

At about 2:30 a.m. the next day, Lee asked the maid to check her son’s homework. Sri fell asleep, and at 7:30 a.m. that morning, she was caned on the buttocks and back. About three hours later, Lee caned the maid’s palm for setting the alarm clock wrongly. Later that day, Sri sought help from the neighbor’s maid. The case will next be heard on May 23. If probation is not recommended, Lee could be jailed for up to three years and/or fined $7,500.

A cleaner washing away the blood stains at the scene after the body of the deceased was moved.

Indonesian maid found dead at foot of Punggol flat:  An Indonesian maid in her thirties was found dead at the foot of a flat in Punggol Edgedale Plains on Thursday morning. The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it received a call to Block 174C Edgedale Plains at about 5:25am. Paramedics who arrived at the scene shortly afterwards pronounced her dead. According to Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao, she was believed to be cleaning the windows in the flat when she fell.

Residents said the deceased lived in a unit on the fifth floor with an elderly person. A 64-year-old housewife, who lives at the third floor of the block, said her son heard a loud thump at about 5:20 am. He did not think much about it and continued on his activities. Another resident said that at about 6:30am police had arrived and cordoned off the area. The body was covered with a white plastic sheet and removed shortly. 

According to the resident, who declined to be named, police went from door to door asking residents if there was any one missing from their flats. Shortly, she witnessed an elderly woman identify the body as her maid. Women falling to their deaths when trying to clean windows or hang laundry from high-rise flats are usually reported every year. Just last month, a 64-year-old housewife had fallen to her death from her HDB flat in Bishan while standing on a chair and cleaning a window in her flat.

Between 2006 and 2010, 27 foreign maids have died from fatal falls while washing windows or hanging out bamboo poles of clothes.  Last year, an Indonesian maid fell seven storeys from a flat in Queenstown while hanging the laundry out of the window. In another related incident, a four-year-old boy died last week after a fatal fall from his five-storey flat in Jurong West. Police are still investigating the incident.

How to prevent maids from falling out of windows : There has been many reports of maids who fell to their deaths when cleaning windows or hanging laundry in high rise flats. Employers are expected to be responsible for anything bad that happens to the maids. However, we all know that maids are not robots, they are human beings, which means that if you tell a maid NOT to do something, she may not listen to you.   I have a wonderful maid, but when I told her not to clean windows or hang out laundry, she said : "Nevermind lah mam, nothing will happen lah".  Since I am at work all day, there is no way I can keep watching her while she works. So this is what I did :  I locked all the window grilles in my flat, and kept the key in a safe place so that my maid cannot find it.  There is no way she can open the grilles and she can only clean the interior of the windows.  However, since my service balcony is so small, sometimes my maid still wants to hang laundry outside, even though I told her not to do so. I bought the locks from Daiso as shown in the photo below.  This way the maid can open the window grille so that there is a small gap for her to hang out the laundry, and it is safe because the gap is too small for her body to pass through. Note; that you can get blacklisted if you ask your maid to clean the windows or hang out laundry without safety measures

Minister "Urges No High Rise Window Cleaning" - Singapore

Dicing with death: A Singapore maid leans out of a high-rise window to make sure she does a thorough job.

Don't risk your lives cleaning windows, urges Singapore minister after 7 maids fall to their deaths leaning out of high-rise buildings: A Singapore minister has urged maids to take extra care after a spate of deaths of women falling from high-rise buildings while cleaning windows. Madam Halimah Yacob, Singapore's Minister of State for Community Development, issued the urgent warning after seven women fell to their deaths climbing onto high-rise ledges to clean the outside of windows.

A warning has been sent out to employers in Singapore, insisting that domestic cleaning staff do not have to clean the outside of windows in high-rise homes. Young women are often pictured taking their lives in their own hands by perching perilously on window ledges just to make sure they do a thorough job. Some simply lean out of windows while sat inside the building, but others stand completely isolated on high-rise window ledges with no protective equipment. The hugely dangerous practice has seen seven maids fall to their death this year in Singapore, with the latest fatality coming just last week.

Safety first: Singapore authorities have since demonstrated how cleaners should act, by taking more care and not leaning out of windows. Click to enlarge.

Madam Halimah said employers should drum the message into their cleaners about being careful while doing the windows. She said: 'Once they do that, I think, we will be able to save a lot of lives.' Madam Halimah added that the recent spate of deaths was 'very sad' as many of the maids were young women from nearby villages. She also called for maids to be barred from opening window grilles and employers to keep the keys to these grilles from their cleaners.

Singaporeans have been urged not to insist that their domestic workers clean the outside of windows in high-rise homes.

Latest Indonesian Maid Death Prompts Warning from Singapore Minister:  Singaporeans have been urged not to insist that their domestic workers clean the outside of windows in high-rise homes. Halimah Yacob, the Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports, said on Sunday that there was no need for the outside of windows to be cleaned if they were already clean on the inside. She was responding to reporters’ questions about the seven Indonesian maids who had fallen to their deaths so far this year while cleaning windows or hanging out the laundry.

Speaking on the sidelines of a graduation ceremony for Indonesian domestic workers who had earned academic qualifications at the Indonesian School in Singapore, she called for maids to be barred from opening window grilles and for employers to keep the keys to these grilles from their maids. “They must constantly drum that into the maid’s head - that there’s no need for her to open the grilles, there’s no need for her to clean the outside of windows - and once they do that, they will be able to save a lot of lives,” she said. “It’s unnecessary death, and it’s really very sad.”

Halimah, who has spoken out several times about the welfare of maids and foreign workers, noted that many foreign domestic workers here are from rural villages and thus unused to high-rise buildings. “Having to work in such high-rise buildings is quite a nightmare for them, so we need to take extra precautions to protect them, without compromising the standard and quality of work at home,” she said. She said she was pleased that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) was looking into the matter.

MOM is improving a compulsory half-day safety-training class for newly arrived maids, which will be part of a new mandatory settling-in program for them. It has also said it will prosecute employers who fail to give their maids a safe work environment. “They want to make sure that these incidents are not repeated because, frankly, there’s no need for our domestic workers to fall to their deaths. We just need to take precautions, particularly on the part of employers,” Halimah said.

Police investigate the death of a 34-year-old Indonesian maid who fell from a window in Singapore last week.

Young Armenian woman falls from window, dies (Yerevan) – An unfortunate incident occurred Friday in Armenia’s Abovyan city, Aravot daily writes. “Varduhi Petrosyan, 24, an Abovyan city apartment resident, fell while cleaning her home’s windows, and she died on the spot. She was living on the sixth floor of a nine-storey building. The neighbors told that she was married and had a small girl. In addition, according to the neighbors, she was pregnant. But this has to be either confirmed or denied by forensic medical examination. The investigation department is preparing a report on the case,” Aravot writes.

Please Report Your Dead Window Cleaning Maid

Note: if your maid dies you need to report this to the Manpower Ministry within 12 hours of finding her.

Maid dies in fall from sixth-floor flat:  A maid died on Thursday after falling out of a sixth-floor window of her employers' flat. The 25-year-old Indonesian is believed to have been standing on a stool while cleaning the window in one of the bedrooms. Her employer had her back turned but heard the stool topple over, The Straits Times understands. When she realised the maid was no longer at the window she looked out and saw her lying at the bottom of the block in Toh Guan Road. The maid suffered head injuries and was pronounced dead shortly after the fall. When The Straits Times visited the flat last night, no one came to the door.

Maid survives 9-storey fall from Bukit Panjang flat: A maid survived a nine-storey fall from her employer's flat in Bukit Panjang on Friday afternoon, a day after another maid died when she fell from a sixth-floor window while cleaning it. Police confirmed the Friday incident, saying they responded to a call at 1.35pm that day about a woman who had fallen nine storeys at Block 534, Jelapang Road. She was found lying at the foot of the block, and was taken to the National University Hospital with fractures to her legs and pelvic bone, said a police spokesman. When The Sunday Times visited the employer's flat yesterday, the family declined to be interviewed, but said that the maid was not alone in the flat at that time. Shin Min Daily News reported that the maid was a 23-year-old Indonesian who was hired just over a month ago to work for the family. An eyewitness told the evening daily that the maid was found on the ground with bamboo poles and clothes beside her, and that she could have fallen out of the window while trying to retrieve laundry when it started to rain in the afternoon.

'Idiot' employers still making maids like this, clean windows - this way: A 'stomper' has but only harsh words to spare for employers who subject their maids to such dangerous acts like these, in spite of numerous reports of accidents happening, where maids hurt themselves or die when they fall from such great heights. Danny said, "I saw this maid cleaning window pane with a ladder...her body would sometimes lean out of the window so she could clean the out facing plane." "So many mishaps happen and yet those idiot employers still ask their maids to perform these dangerous tasks?"

A spate of fatal falls a few years ago involving maids who were cleaning windows, hanging laundry or even watering plants, prompted the Manpower Ministry to introduce a slew of initiatives to improve safety awareness. These included offering safety awareness courses and taking action against errant employers who failed to provide a safe working environment for these maids. Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, errant employers can be fined $5,000 and jailed up to six months. They will also be disallowed from hiring another foreign domestic worker.

Foreign Domestic Workers (FDW) have to attend a compulsory half-day course to raise their awareness of home safety and safety precautions to take when carrying out routine household chores such as cleaning of windows. The cost of the course is SGD 20.00 ($15). Note: if your maid dies you need to report this to the Manpower Ministry within 12 hours of finding her.