Indonesian Maid Survives Fall From 9th Floor in Singapore (She's not the first)

Indonesian Maid Survives Fall From 9th Floor in Singapore

Singaporean authorities are investigating after an Indonesian maid working in the city-state fell from her employer’s 9th story apartment, miraculously surviving. An Indonesian maid working in Singapore has survived a fall from her employer’s apartment on the ninth floor, according to local news reports by the Sunday Times.

The 23-year-old woman was found at the foot of the building surrounded by clothes and bamboo branches, leading local authorities to speculate she may have been trying to bring in laundry when she fell. At a public hospital she was treated for fractures to her pelvis and legs, although doctors have said she will survive the injuries.

Singapore, an affluent city state in South East Asia, has been plagued by allegations of domestic worker abuse and its population of around 5 million people includes 200,000 foreign maids, predominantly from the Philippines and Indonesia.

Now, take a look at the story as written in China. It makes no mention of the current (alleged) domestic worker abuse. However, it does make mention of a very similar case of a service worker that had a 6 story fall to her death the previous day (emphasis added by yours truly).

Indonesian Maid Survives 9-story Fall in Singapore

SINGAPORE --- An Indonesian maid survived a fall from her employer's ninth-story flat in Singapore, a media report said Sunday.

The 23-year old, who was not identified, was found Friday at the foot of the apartment block with bamboo poles and clothes beside her, indicating that she fell while trying to collect laundry, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.

The maid suffered fractures to her legs and pelvic bone, it said.

The accident happened one day after another maid fell to her death while cleaning a sixth-floor window in Singapore.

The Chinese article makes no specific mention of the alleged and seemingly epidemic abuse claims of domestic workers, more so, foreign workers.

According to some of the stories I was able to dig for, one could postulate that this is, and has been on-going.

Indonesian Domestic Worker Scalded and Forced to Sleep With Dogs

S'porean woman jailed for maid abuse. -AFP
Thu, Feb 05, 2009

A Singaporean who poured hot water on her maid's back and forced her to sleep among a group of dogs has been sentenced to 10 months' jail, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

Brenda Tan Bee Khim, 40, a housewife, was sentenced Wednesday for the 2006 attack on the maid identified as Tasiyem, The Straits Times reported.

Court officials could not immediately be reached to comment.

Four days after the incident, which left the maid with second-degree burns on her neck and back, Tan tried to hide her crime by sending Tasiyem back to Indonesia, the report said.

and this, although I could only find the Google description. I searched through a few of the FAQ's unable to locate that specific story...

FAQs - Alcare Management Services, Singapore
On August 3, 1999, The Straits Times reported "Maid falls 13 floors and dies". .... At this time, the maid's current work permit is returned to the WPD and a new one ... for 9 months before she finally died of injuries inflicted by her employer. .... The minimum salary acceptable to an Indonesian MAID is SID 240. ...
www.alcare.com.sg/maidms/faq.html

but wait....there is more... This website: Singapore on the Web lists stories from as far back as 2000.

A housewife who used a broom handle to hit her maid on the head, stomach, back and shoulder and also slapped her with a slipper on the cheeks and forehead was sentenced to three months in jail. Farida Begum Mohammed Artham, 27, had been found guilty on 19 May 2001 after a trial. The assault took place on 30 Aug 1999 at Blk 496E Tampines Ave 9. Farida is appealing against the sentence. (Straits Times 2 Jun 2001)

A 21-year-old Indonesian maid is in critical condition after falling seven storeys from her employer's flat. Police said she was found lying on the ground at Blk 477 Pasir Ris Drive 6 early on Monday morning. She was, apparently, last seen in the kitchen hanging clothes out to dry. (Straits Times 27 Jun 2001)

Jakarta: Indonesia has again imposed a temporary ban, effectively immediately, on the sending of maids to Singapore, in response to what the government said was the high number of accidental deaths of Indonesian maids in the republic since 1999. Manpower and Transmigration Minister Alhilal Hamdi claimed yesterday that in the past 30 months, 43 Indonesian maids had fallen to their deaths while attempting to clean windows and other fixtures in high-rise buildings. At least one death was confirmed to be a suicide, while the rest were ruled as work-related fatalities, he said. Although his ministry's ruling is effective immediately, it will not force repatriation of those maids already working in Singapore. (Straits Times 19 Jul 2001) (6)

Singapore's Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said last week that 21 maids had fallen from high-rise buildings since 1999. It said yesterday it did not have a breakdown by nationality. More than 140,000 maids work here, about one for every eight households. As many as half could be from Indonesia, agencies said.(Straits Times 20 Jul 2001) (H1)

That was just the first few posts from the bottom of the page of that site. According to these stories, this is seemingly a frequent occurrence in this region.

The interesting part is the one's that are surviving falls from heights that people shouldn't be surviving falls from. I have my views on immigration, but physical abuse and killing the help is uncalled for. There is seemingly a $5000 deposit in most cases to hire a foreign maid. According to this website, it seems like a very involved process. It's more than just reviewing a resume and references. It is very comparable to taking in a foster child imo.

Just take a look at what is involved:
Starting in Singapore: Employing Foreign House Help

I am not sure if this is on any "radar" so to speak. It has apparently been an on-going problem for sometime. It appears as previous incidents have created tougher laws on both ends. However, the most recent story as shown in the beginning of this OP clearly shows that this is still frequently occurring. Thank you for reading.

I'm thinking perhaps the bamboo may have broken the fall of the most recent "falling" victim. The other mention in stories from the past regarding a 21 year old that "fell" 7 stories and lived. It stated they found her on the ground, but I wonder if there was some sort of shrubbery near that could have broken the fall enough to allow for survival?

reply to post by UberL33t


I am from Singapore, have been and will be.

I am also appalled to have found out the numbers for domestic abuse in Singapore has increased and was been exponentially. Not only that I have notice a rise in sex related crimes and voyeurism here.

reply to post by bloodworksinc


Is there a direct cause that you can see, or is it due to... steady decline of human compassion? current stress? lack of policing? lack of awareness? all of the above?

Yesterday Mr Lee Kwan Yew, (The frontman of independent and the financial hub that this island with no natural resouces has become. First prime minister and still the director now with his son the Prime Minister. This Lee dynasty regime has actually brought alot of lucrative mulah to the state and of course themselves.) announced that the the government in Singapore wants to import immigrants in to assist with low fertility rates that has affected the general population.

Singapore has transformed in many ways from the Singapore that i grew up. This is a multi racial country which is awesome. There's so much variety and culture to learn, different foods, ideaogies, women. Since the launch of the
casionos in Singapore not more than about a year ago, the instant impact of capitlization and globalization has is slowly but surely stretching the middle class across. In another source, the government of Singapore made 700 million in the first quarter by collecting levy alone. There seems to be a sudden rise in property here in Singapore, and alot of famous people have been investing or buying some sort of propery he in Singapore.
Eduardo Savrino, have beenr residing he for a few months now. The other FB guy. .