Indonesian Maid Falls to Her Death From 14th-Floor Flat

The Jakarta Globe, July 20, 2012


Singapore. Another maid has fallen.

This time, it was an Indonesian maid who fell 14 floors from a HDB flat at Block 63, Marine Drive on Wednesday morning.

The maid, Ami, who has only one name, was 32 years old and had arrived from West Java early this month. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.

Since the start of the year, there have been nine cases of foreign maids who died after falling from heights while working.

Investigations are ongoing for the latest incident, as well as for the death of a Myanmarese maid who fell earlier this month, said a Ministry of Manpower spokesman. Police have classified Wednesday's case as unnatural death.

The spate of incidents prompted the Singaporean government to impose stricter rules about maids' working conditions last month.

The new rules require an adult to supervise maids as they clean the exterior of windows. Window grilles must also be installed and locked during the cleaning.

Police declined to comment when asked how the maid fell, but Sukmo Yuwono, an Indonesian embassy counsellor, said the flat's kitchen window and grilles were open when police arrived at the scene. A stool was also found under the window, he added.

Neighbors told The Straits Times they were shocked to hear a loud thump at around 7 a.m. An eighth-floor neighbor said, "I looked out the window and saw the body... I couldn't move my legs for five minutes."

Ami's employers - a young Chinese family - declined comment when approached at home.

Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times



("The spate of incidents prompted the Singaporean government to impose stricter rules about maids' working conditions last month."

Now that's a laugh, who is going to enforce that rule? Filling in the well after the calf has drowned?) siK.