Lim Sheng Song, 59-years-old, pleaded guilty to 2 charges under the Employment of Foreign manpower Act, as well as one charge under the Workplace Safety and Health Act.
He was sentenced to 2 weeks imprisonment as well as a fine of $19,000 for failing to ensure the safety of a maid, whom was asked to double up as a kitchen assistant at his food stall.
His maid, Su Su Mar, a Myanmar national, lost 4 of her fingers in an electric meat grinder accident.
What happened?
The maid was employed by his daughter, 36-year-old Lim Sock Hong, but didn’t work for her.
The maid had stayed with Lim Sheng Song and his wife, 59-year-old Koh Siew Imm instead.
She was tasked with doing housework for the middle aged couple, as well as prep work for the man’s food stall.
She was paid her usual $600/month maid’s salary and wasn’t paid extra for the extra work that she did at their food stall, working from 2am to 7pm almost every day.
On 31 January 2019, the maid was working in the couple’s home at Loyang, using a butter knife to push a food mixture into an electric meat grinder.
The knife then slipped from her hands and she tried to retrieve the knife, putting her right hand into the opening of the grinder without turning off the machine.
She had 4 of her fingers severed by the machine and was subsequently conveyed to SGH.
Investigations later revealed that the electric meat grinder came with a plastic hoop that was placed over the opening, to prevent the user of the machine from reaching into the meat mincing compartment.
But the hoop was thrown away because it got damaged and the man didn’t replace it despite being aware of it.
Also, the machine came with a push tool that was used to push the food mixes into the machine, but the maid was not adequately trained to use it, and ended up using a butter knife instead.
Lim Sheng Song had reportedly spent more than $70,000 on her medical bills as well as another $21,000 to compensate the maid.
His daughter was fined $7,000 while his wife was issued with a stern warning.
In another case, Lim had also earlier employed another Filipino maid and illegally made her double up as a kitchen helper as well.
That maid was also not paid extra for her extra work.
Images source: Ministry of Manpower and thenewgrocer.com (images are used strictly for illustration purposes only)