Indonesian Maid's Body Found in HDB Water Tank

Singapore. Some residents of a block of Housing Board flats in Woodlands were greeted with an unusual sight when they turned on their taps yesterday morning.

The water was slightly yellowish and appeared unnaturally foamy.

Some assumed that the water pipes were malfunctioning. At least four residents of Block 686B, Woodlands Drive 73, called the Sembawang Town Council to complain.

First their water supply was cut off at 11am. Then they were told that 'maintenance work' was being done.

It was only later in the day that the horrifying news spread: A 30-year-old Indonesian maid working there had been found dead in one of eight water tanks atop the 15-story block.

A 27-year-old Bangladeshi maintenance worker was arrested nearby in connection with the woman's death. They were believed to have been in an intimate relationship.

Some residents recalled hearing screams and a couple arguing loudly in the morning, but they did not call the police, thinking it was a domestic problem.

It was the discolored tap water that made residents wonder.

Suspect a worker who had access to roof

Retiree Choi Ah Moi, 69, who lives on the 11th story, said she had noticed that the tap water was 'bubbly'.

After she found out what had happened, she said: 'This is so disgusting. My whole family finished a big pot of green bean soup I cooked this morning.'

Housewife Ally Lee, 33, said her maid used the water to cook noodles for her seven-year-old daughter at 7.30am. 'I think I'm going to take my daughter to the doctor,' she said.

Among those who said they heard screaming at about 7am was Mrs Eadelyn Tan, 36, who lives on the seventh floor.

'After the screaming stopped, I went out of my flat to the landing and I saw bloodstains in the lift and blood droplets on the stairs,' she said. But she did not call the police.

It was about 10am when the police received a call informing them that there was a body in a water tank at the block. The call is believed to have been made by a colleague of the Bangladeshi suspect.

Police, who found the dead woman in a 2m-deep tank, did not release her name yesterday.

The woman worked for a family on the sixth floor. She was found dressed in bermudas and a T-shirt and appeared to have cuts on her back.

The cause of death has not been determined.

The suspect is an employee of Sergent Services Pte Ltd, which offers conservancy services. As one of the maintenance workers assigned to the area, he had access to the roof.

Onlookers said he appeared to be limping and had cuts on his leg when he was led away by policemen at 10.40am.

The PUB said in a statement last night that it received a report of the incident at 3.30pm.

A PUB spokesman said that as soon as the town council knew of the incident, it stopped water supply from all eight rooftop tanks serving the block and provided residents with other sources of water at the void deck.

PUB officers also went to hand out water bags and sent a water tanker there.

The spokesman said: 'The town council is currently flushing/washing/sterilising the tanks and distribution pipes. Water supply is expected to be restored by midnight.'

Soon Min Sin, the general manager of the town council, said that all eight tanks had to be flushed and sterilized as they were connected.

The tanks serve 124 of the 149 units in the block of four- and five-room flats. Twenty-five flats on the first three floors get their water supply piped in by the PUB.

Residents said their water supply was cut off at about 11am. At about 12.30pm, they received a town council notice informing them that the disruption was due to 'maintenance works' at the block.

Asked about the information given to residents, the town council's Mr Soon would only say: 'Our priority was to protect the residents and cut off the water supply for their safety.'

He said the town council would leave the police to investigate. 'Once the investigation is concluded, we will let residents know,' he added.

Among residents seen filling up pails of water at the void deck was housewife Yasmin Abdul, 35, who said she threw away a pot of freshly-made soup after she heard about the body.

'I am very upset and angry that the town council did not explain properly what had happened,' she said. 'This is just too scary.'

Vikram Nair, a newly elected MP for Sembawang GRC, visited residents last night.

He said the police would investigate how the suspect gained access to the water tank.

'Once we get the full picture, we will put in measures to prevent it from happening again,' said Nair, who assured residents that water supply would resume.



Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times Indonesia.

Singapore. It was a tempestuous relationship between two lonely migrant workers.

The 30-year-old Indonesian maid and her 27-year-old Bangladeshi boyfriend were as likely to be seen chatting at the void deck of Block 686B, Woodlands Drive 73, as having a heated argument.

There were near break-ups - but also subsequent make-ups.

On Monday, the stormy relationship ended for good when the Bangladeshi cleaner allegedly killed Ruliawati, and then put her body in one of eight water tanks on the roof of Block 686B.

He is believed to have had access to the roof where the tanks are. He has been arrested and is helping the police in their investigations.

Friends of Ruliawati described her as petite and attractive. They also said she was married and had a son, aged four, back in Indonesia.

Fellow Indonesian maid Yuli Ernawati, 28, who works for a family in a neighboring block, said - Ruliawati who, like some Indonesians, goes by only one name - met the Bangladeshi just a month after she started work here in August last year.

'We would sometimes see the man and his friends in the evening, when we went to buy groceries or newspapers from the minimart. They liked each other and started chatting,' she said.

Two Bangladeshi maintenance workers approached by The Straits Times in the minimart yesterday said they knew the suspect and had bought items like bananas and bread at the shop with him, but declined to say more.

A minimart employee said she often saw Ruliawati in the shop, and that she was less chatty than the other maids and seldom said anything other than 'hello'.

Ernawati, who said it was a near-daily routine for Ruliawati to go to the minimart for newspapers or canned food for her employers, said: 'When she had time to talk, she would tell me how she missed her child a lot and that she wanted to earn enough money to go home soon.'

She added that Ruliawati had not wanted to leave Indonesia to come here to work, but had been forced to because of her family's financial problems.

She said the couple often quarreled at the void deck and in secluded stairwells at the block, and these tiffs revolved around Ruliawati's family.

Ernawati added that her friend would tell her that she wanted to call off the relationship, but would eventually patch things up with the man.

Officials from the Indonesian Embassy here said they are trying to get in touch with the dead woman's family in Indonesia.

An official was at the mortuary yesterday morning to identify the body.

Ruliawati's employers, who live on the sixth floor of the block, have declined to speak to reporters.

(also x the Straits Times Indonesia)