Opinion piece: Come down hard on abusers, bullies and uncivility

 

 

Austria has the most bullying in the Western world, Sweden has the least. In Europe and North America, boys report being bullied the most in Austria and the least in Sweden, according to a recent report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

 

Decisive and concreate action must be taken against bullies and abusers – even after the bully has left employment. Bullying and harassment can also have a serious adverse effect on the success of the business leading to reduced productivity and profits. This is because bullying and harassment can cause: low morale and poor employee relations.

 

Uncivility is also becoming a growing problem in many parts of the world. In addition, favoritism has seen many productive workers and citizens losing out on rewards.

 

Bar abusive employers; counsel them from hiring helpers

 

I am shocked beyond words to read of the abuse to Ms Khalifa, an Indonesian mother of two from Indramayu, West Java by a husband and wife who were so cruel to their helper “Woman jailed 11 years after abuse left maid with deformed nose, scars”  (The New Paper; Aug,2, 2019)..

 

 

Due to the 6 months physical abuse, the 39-year-old the domestic helper has a deformed left ear, permanent and prominent scars on her forehead, on the back of her head and across her shoulders. Her left little finger is functionally impaired.

 

Justice has been served when the judge sentenced her Singaporean employers Zariah Mohd Ali, 58, and her husband Mohamad Dahlan to jail – 11 years jail to Zariah and 15 months and a fine of $1,000 to her husband.

 

Domestic workers make big sacrifices to leave their families back home to earn better wages here in Singapore so let’s show some kindness and understanding to them.

 

But questions are a plenty. Given that the couple was convicted in 2001 of abuse of another maid (“Abuse by couple left maid, 39, disfigured and traumatised, Aug 2”), it is baffling that they were allowed to hire another domestic helper.

 

 Serving a jail sentence is not sufficient to send a clear message to abusers. They need to be counselling while serving their sentences as well as when they are out of prison.   In addition, they should be barred from hiring helpers.

 

With Singapore’s rapid ageing population, domestic helpers served a useful purpose in helping families cope with caregiving and they must be valued.  Such abuses do not put Singapore in good light.

 

RAYMOND ANTHONY FERNANDO