The Straits Times/Asia News Network December 15th, 2015 05:24 PM Filipina domestic helper Thelma Oyasan Gawidan. Photo by The Straits Times. SINGAPORE – The former employers of a Filipino domestic helper who starved for 15 months, causing her weight to drop from 49kg to 29kg, observed her every move and did not let her speak to anyone. Testifying on the second day of the trial on Tuesday, Thelma Oyasan Gawidan, 40, who claimed she ate only instant noodles and plain bread twice a day, said she was not allowed to go out on her own and did not get any days off. READ: Employers accused of starving Filipina maid for 15 months She also said she did not receive her salary and had her mobile phone kept from her while she was employed by trader Lim Choon Hong and his wife Chong Sui Foon, both 47, from January 2013 to April last year. The Singaporean couple are on trial for failing to provide Gawidan with adequate food. Lim faces one charge of contravening the Employment of Foreign Manpower (Work Passes) Regulations 2012. Chong faces a count of abetting Lim in committing the offense. Gawidan told the court that she was allowed initially to use the toilet in Lim’s condominium in the Orchard area. But, after working for few months, she was allowed to use only the public toilet next to the swimming pool. “Although I sometimes urgently needed to use the toilet, she (Chong) would ask me to wait, and Read More …
