People in Singapore have come forward to pledge help and money to the child and family of a Myanmar helper abused to death by her employer here in 2016.

Details of the horrific 2016 case was publicised again, after a 40-year-old Singaporean woman pleaded guilty on Feb. 23, 2021 to beating her domestic helper to death.

The 24-year-old victim was Myanmar national Piang Ngaih Don, who endured almost 10 months of physical abuse from 2015 to 2016, and weighed 24kg when she passed away more than four years ago in July 2016.

Piang's plight has been recounted in a documentary, Maid In Singapore, produced by Al Jazeera in September 2016 -- barely two months after her death.

Piang's story begins at the 12-minute 26-second mark:

What documentary showed

When she died, Piang left behind a two-and-a-half-year-old son.

The boy became the responsibility of Piang's sister.

A Singaporean filmmaker, Lynn Lee, wrote about her experience going to Myanmar to meet the deceased woman's family and to tell their story, which was featured by Al Jazeera.

Post about Piang results in outpouring of help

In the Facebook post on Feb. 25, Lee recounted the trip to the impoverished region of Dimpi in Chin State, Myanmar, where "there wasn't enough food or running water" and many of the villagers "seemed to have a cough", just to locate Piang's family.

Lee highlighted the circumstances at home that pushed Piang to take up the offer to come to Singapore to work on short notice and without any experience outside her village.

Post gains traction quickly

Within hours, Lee's post gained traction, as many people shared it or commented on it, asking about what they can do to help Piang's family.

Her post had also called attention to the discrepancy of the deceased woman's age, as Piang was likely illegally brought out of Myanmar as her date of birth had been altered to make her two months older than she really was.

Based on what was reported in the documentary, Piang's passport showed a date of birth that did not match other official records.

When Piang came to Singapore, she would have been two months shy of 23 years old, which is the minimum age for domestic workers in Singapore -- but she managed to get through.

This issue, as well as others, were raised in the Al Jazeera video, with the blame going to unscrupulous agents who lure women like Piang out of their villages to work in other countries without knowing what they are getting themselves into.

How to donate

In response to the outpouring of condolences and requests to help, Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home) in Singapore put up a post informing the public about how they can donate money that will go directly to Piang's family in Myanmar.

All media via Al Jazeera & Lynn Lee