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Singaporeans warned against abusing foreign maids
             

A SINGAPOREAN couple who abused their Indonesian maid have been ordered to serve consecutive jail terms and scolded for uncivilized behavior by the chief justice, a newspaper reported Wednesday (Nov 28).

"People don't use the cane now, except for cows and horses," Chief Justice Yong Pung How was quoted by the Straits Times as saying when he dismissed the appeal of Lim Chuan Huat, 42, and his wife, Tan Suan Kheng, 34.

They had been sentenced in July to three months' jail and fined S$1500 (US$815), but the chief justice allowed Lim and Tan to take their respective turns in jail so that someone can always look after their four-year-old daughter.

The couple were found to have committed various forms of physical abuse against a 27-year-old Indonesian maid, including caning, pinching and ordering her to squat and stand repeatedly.

Caning is still used in the Singapore penal system for specific offenses. Some schools are also known to employ mild forms of caning to discipline delinquent students.

But the authorities have taken a hard line against maid abuse in the city-state, which relies heavily on domestics from Southeast and South Asia.

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