A Singaporean food stall owner was fined S$13,000 for abandoning her domestic helper in Batam after the latter failed to prepare breakfast on the morning of Apr. 20 2018.

Hong Xuanyu, 50, pleaded guilty to two charges under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act on Friday (Aug. 25), Lianhe Zaobao reported.

What happened

Hong was supposedly angered after her Indonesian helper Islahatul Alif failed to prepare breakfast on the morning of the incident.

She then proceeded to confiscate Islahatul's phone.

In the afternoon of the same day, Hong told Islahatul that she would be sending her home to Surabaya for a 10-day vacation via Batam.

The helper initially refused for fear of being fired when she returned home, but Hong assured Islahatul that she would not be replaced.

Stranded

Upon receiving assurance from her employer, Islahatul packed her luggage as instructed and was taken to the Singapore Cruise Centre.

There, Hong returned Islahatul's phone and gave her a salary of S$350 after deducting the cost of the ferry ticket. According to Straits Times, she asked a friend to cancel her helper's work permit.

When they arrived in Batam that day, Hong told the helper to take a taxi to the airport and fly home to Surabaya. She did not pay for either the taxi fare or the air ticket and also failed to return Islahatul her work permit card.

Hong then took a ferry back to Singapore, leaving Islahatul alone on the Indonesian island.

Distraught

Islahatul realised she had been left stranded in Batam after Hong left.

She became distraught upon realising that her phone was dead and that she was in a city far from home.

Panicked, Islahatul asked a taxi driver for help and used the driver's phone to call her employment agent in Singapore, who arranged for her to stay at a friend's house in Batam until they brought her back to Singapore.

Fined S$13,000

The Ministry of Manpower launched an investigation after the matter was reported by Islahatul's agency.

On Friday (Aug. 25), Hong pleaded guilty to two charges under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.

The first charge was for failing to return Islahatul to her home town, while the second charge was for violating employment regulations by ordering Islahatul to assist at Hong's hawker stall without a valid work permit.

Hong was fined S$13,000.

Top image via Lia R./Foursquare.