Teacher pleads not guilty to assault & intimidation of Filipina DH

By Daisy CL Mandap 

The secondary school teacher entered her 'not guilty' pleas at West Kowloon Magistracy 

An emphatic “not guilty” was the reply given in court today, Jul 23, by a secondary school teacher to each of the six charges filed against her, in connection with her alleged assault and ill-treatment of Filipina domestic helper Eden Pales who used to work for her.

Mak Pui Shan, 35, entered her plea to the charges before Magistrate Ivy Chui in West Kowloon Magistracy during a hearing conducted entirely in Cantonese.

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After consulting with the prosecution and the defense lawyers, Magistrate Chui set down the trial for Oct 11-13, and extended Mak’s bail of $10,000 cash and $5,000 surety.

The magistrate also allowed Mak’s request to have her reporting schedule to the police changed from 3-6 pm to 12pm -3pm, Mondays to Fridays, saying she needed to take care of her two kids during the previously set time.

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The frail-looking defendant who came to court with her husband, is charged with one count of assault, three counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, one count of administering a noxious substance, and one of criminal intimidation.

In the first charge, Mak is accused of committing common assault by banging Pales’ head on the wall and pulling her hair on an unknown day between October and November last year in their house at Tower B in Serenade Court, Tsuen Wan.

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In the second charge, Mak is alleged to have forced Pales to eat congee mixed with washing detergent sometime in February this year, also in their Tsuen Wan flat.

The third to fifth charges are all for assault occasioning bodily harm.

 

The third charge allegedly happened between Feb 24 and 28, when Pales accused Mak of scratching her deeply on her back, from the nape down, for failing to finish a chore.

The fourth charge allegedly involved several incidents that happened on May 25 this year. Pales accused Mak of emptying a bag of toys on her head, then later slapping her and hitting her repeatedly on her thighs and belly with a metal spatula.

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The final alleged assault supposedly took place last May 29. Pales claimed the employer slapped her repeatedly, then punched her hard on the chest and her back.

Pictures shared on Facebook show Pales' badly bruised thighs a day after she left Mak's house

The sixth charge of criminal intimidation was said to have happened on the same day, when Mak allegedly threatened to kill Pales and not pay her salary.

Pales left Mak’s house the next day and sought help from her employment agency, who advised her to go to the police.

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In court today, the prosecution said Pales wanted an early court date for the trial as her only reason for remaining in Hong Kong was to push ahead with the case. The lawyer said Pales’ accommodation and other expenses are being provided for by the Philippine Consulate.

The prosecution also told the court that it would be presenting five witnesses, and asked that the trial be conducted in English. However, the magistrate rejected the application, saying the defendant is a local.

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The defense said it may have seven witnesses.

Also taken up during the hearing was a case filed by Pales against Mak at the Labour Tribunal, for which an Aug 5 hearing date has been set.

Mak complained that a letter she sent to the Tribunal asking for a postponement because of the ongoing police case, had not been answered.

The prosecution agreed that this violated the restriction against any form of contact between the parties while the criminal case is ongoing. Thus, the labour case should be postponed.

The court advised the defendant that if she is still made to attend the hearing, she should make sure she does not talk to Pales at all about the case.

In the labour case, Pales is seeking a total claim of $25,523.04, representing her unpaid salary, a month’s wage in lieu of notice, air fare, travel allowance, and payment for all the rest days in nearly a year that she said she was not allowed to leave Mak’s house.

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2 imported cases reported, one fully vaccinated but has mutant strain

By The SUN 

The resident who returned from Dubai was found to have the mutant virus

Two women who flew in from abroad on Monday, Jul 19, were both confirmed to have Covid-19 by the Centre for Health Protection in a statement issued today, Jul 23.

The first, who is 36 years old, flew in from the United Arab Emirates and tested positive for the L452R mutant strain of the coronavirus commonly linked to the Delta variant, according to staff of the CHP.

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The woman told investigators she received two doses of the BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong on May 9 and Jun 5. She was asymptomatic.

The second case involves a 21-year-old foreign domestic worker from Bangladesh whose test result for detecting mutated virus is still pending.

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She was also asymptomatic and like the first patient, tested positive on her third day in hotel quarantine.

The two took Hong Kong’s number of confirmed cases to 11,973.

The experts say it's too early to talk of booster shots in HK (file)

Earlier, health experts said it was too early to decide whether a third dose of a Covid vaccine should be given to those who have already completed their two doses, as only about 40% of qualified residents in Hong Kong have received even a first jab.

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Lau Yu-lung, who chairs a scientific committee that advises the government on its vaccination program, said during a press conference last night that members will consider the matter when more data becomes available in a few months’ time.

 

Lau asked if Hong Kong should even talk about getting a booster shot when a lot of people in less-developed countries have no access to any coronavirus vaccine.

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HP's controller Ronald Lam, who also sits with the committee, urged people to get flu jabs when they become available in October, citing studies that show that getting the flu at the same time as Covid-19 could result in serious consequences, even death.

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However another expert, David Hui, reminded people to wait at least two weeks in-between doses of a flu and a Covid-19 vaccine to avoid possibly severe side effects.

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"You can imagine when you have two [types of] vaccines at the same time. Naturally you'll have more side effects, like fever, fatigue, et cetera... and the same study also has shown that co-administration of the two vaccines might reduce the antibodies level of the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine." Hui said.

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Employer who tortured Erwiana pursues legal aid for bankruptcy claim

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Law has been resisting court orders to compensate Erwiana and Tutik

The employer who was convicted of torturing Indonesian domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih more than six years ago sought leave from the High Court today, Jul 22, to apply for a judicial review of the government’s refusal to grant her legal aid.

Law Wan-tung, who was sentenced in February 2015 to six years in jail for torturing Erwiana but was released after only four years in detention, was absent.

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She was seeking to challenge the Legal Aid Department’s decision not to give her a lawyer for the bankruptcy petition she filed on Jun 1 this year to ward off monetary claims against her by Erwiana and another former helper, Tutik.

When Law was convicted of abusing Erwiana in February 2015, she was ordered to compensate the helper more than $809,430. 

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Three years later, Law, a former beautician, was also ordered by the District Court to compensate Tutik $170,000, for false imprisonment and assault.

Law has since filed various applications to avoid paying any compensation to the helpers.

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In court today, a lawyer from solicitor firm Ching & Co represented Law and said that he received notice of the court hearing only two days ago. He said Law did not receive the notice.

Justice Anderson Chow told the lawyer that was difficult to accept. He said it was important that Law attends the hearing of her application for a review of the Legal Aid decision.

The judge told the lawyer that the case was arranged for a hearing a long time ago but Law didn’t appear. Then she applied again but no lawyer came to represent her.

 

“The question now is whether the application is to be granted,” the judge said.

Chow reserved judgment, saying he would issue a written ruling in two weeks’ time.

Erwiana (right) leaving court in 2018 with the Mission for Migrant Workers' Cynthia Tellez

The first time Law applied for legal aid in 2015, she was refused. She applied for a judicial review of the Legal Aid’s refusal but failed. The High Court ordered her to pay court costs of $200,000 to the Department of Justice.

Lawyers for Erwiana told the District Court in a compensation hearing in May 2015 that Law had transferred her share in the $7 million flat to her husband to avoid court garnishment of the property to pay her victims.

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But Law, who claimed she had been estranged from her husband, an investment banker, insisted then that she was just holding the flat for their two children.

Faced with court orders to compensate her two former helpers, Law claimed in July 2015 that she had transferred half of the Tseung Kwan O flat to her husband.

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But the High Court, ruling on a petition filed by lawyers on behalf of Erwiana, ruled the transfer of ownership invalid in December 2017.

But a month before this, Law’s husband filed another lawsuit, claiming that Law owed him more than $3 milllion, so he applied for a charging order on the Tseung Kwan O property.

The High Court initially allowed the charging order, but revoked it in December 2019 after Erwiana’s lawyers filed an opposition.

Despite the court orders, the contested flat remains in the name of Law's husband and Erwiana and Tutik have been left fending off legal battles so they can get their rightful compensation.

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2 vaccinated returnees test positive for Covid-19

By The SUN

One of the infected women arrived from the USA, the other from UAE

Two returning residents who had taken two doses of the BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong were reported as having tested positive today, Jul 22, shortly after flying in from abroad. 

Both women, classified as imported cases, were also found to carry the L452R mutant strain of the coronavirus commonly linked to the Delta variant. Both did not show symptoms.

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The first case involves a 49-year-old woman who flew in from the United States on Tuesday, and was reported as a confirmed case today, after her arrival test tested positive for Covid-19.

The second is a 36-year-old woman who came traveled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates on July 12 and returned to Hong Kong on Jul 19 via Bangkok, Thailand aboard flight EK384.

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Her specimen collected on her arrival at Hong Kong airport tested negative for Covid-19. However, samples collected from her on day 3 of her hotel quarantine tested preliminary positive. She was also found to carry the mutant strain of the virus.

As she had stayed at Block 6, Handsome Court in Tuen Mun during the 21-day incubation period, the Centre for Health Protection put the building under overnight lockdown tonight.

The Tuen Mun residential block where the infected patient lived has been locked down

Residents of the building will also be subject to compulsory testing on days 3, 7, 12 and 19 counting from today.

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As she also went to work in Eton Tower, 8 Hysan Avenue, Causeway Bay during the infectious period, a compulsory testing notice will be issued for her workplace and the other places she had visited during the same period.

CHP’s investigation showed she received two doses of the BioNTech vaccine on May 9 and Jun 5 in Hong Kong. She also had an antibody test on Jul 11 and the result was positive for anti-spike protein.

 

The woman who came from the US had her two jabs on Mar 10 and Apr 6, respectively.

The CHP said it is continuing its epidemiological investigation and contact tracing of  cases.

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In the past 14 days, 25 confirmed cases were reported in Hong Kong, all but one of them imported. The only non-imported case was linked to an infected person from abroad.

Members of the public are advised to avoid unnecessary travels, particularly to places designated by Hong Kong to be extremely high-risk or very high-risk places for Covid-19.

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CHP said the spread of the coronavirus across the globe remains severe, with a continuous increase in the number of cases involving mutant strains that are far more transmissible, and have infected even vaccinated individuals.

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FDH files $170k sex discrimination case vs employer who 'walked around naked'

By Daisy CL Mandap

EOC filed the case with the District Court on the Filipina's behalf

A Filipina domestic helper is claiming $170,000 in compensation from her former employer who allegedly walked around his house naked in her presence, masturbated in front or her and demanded she show him her breasts.

The Equal Opportunities Commission filed the case with the District Court on her behalf Tuesday, saying it wanted to send out a strong signal that sexual harassment against FDHs in the workplace is a serious offense.

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The EOC’s suit demands the employer, identified as Sean Joseph Scully, to pay $150,000 as compensation for the worker’s injured feelings and $20,000 for punitive damages.

 The helper also asked for a written apology from Scully, said to be a primary school teacher.

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In her complaint, the helper also alleged that the employer requested her to watch pornographic films with her and forced her to sleep on the same bed during out-of-town trips.

The EOC says sexual harassment in the workplace is a serious offence

According to the EOC, the alleged offences which happened between October 2017 and January 2019 violated the Sex Discrimination Ordinance, and caused the helper to suffer emotional injuries.

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The alleged victim was “highly offended, disgusted, embarrassed and insulted by (the employer’s) unlawful sexual harassment which lasted more than 12 months,” said the EOC.

Scully was alleged to have abused his position and exploited his being a person in authority over the helper, who was then new to Hong Kong.

As a result of the alleged offences, the worker suffered from anxiety, stress and humiliation, said the court document.

Under the Sex Discrimination Ordinance (Cap 480), sexual harassment includes any unwelcome sexual behavior towards another person who is offended, humiliated, or intimidated by such act.

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It includes unwelcome sexual advances, unwelcome request for sexual favors, and other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature. The SDO covers sexual harassment in the employment field.

According to the EOC, it received a total of 519 complaints about sexual harassment in the workplace between 2017 and 2020. That represents 45% of all complaints received by the EOC under the Ordinance.

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The annual survey conducted by church-based Mission for Migrant Workers shows the outlook for FDHs has become even more bleak because of the pandemic.

The Mission’s Annual Report 2020 report showed that rape or sexual harassment cases reported by FDHs to the Mission grew to 6% of all complaints made to the group last year, three times as much as the 2% recorded in 2019.

The Mission said most of the cases are still being investigated by the police, although a number have already been dropped, underlining the difficulty faced by migrant workers to gather evidence while living with the perpetrator.

The problem has persisted this year, with fresh cases of alleged rape and sexual harassment being reported by FDHs against their male employers. In nearly all the cases, the worker was new in Hong Kong and was never allowed to take a day off, limiting her chances of seeking outside help.

They include the case of Indonesian worker Putri, who claimed to have been raped twice by her male employer in his house in Yuen Long on Feb 11 this year, causing her to get pregnant.

More recently, on Jun 25 this year, another Indonesian helper, Selly, also sought help from the Mission, saying she had been repeatedly fondled, kissed, hugged and subjected to sexual assault by her male employer since she started working for his family in January.

The Mission has helped Selly file a complaint with the police, and like Putri, is being helped by a solicitors’ firm in pursuing civil claims against their respective employers. 

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Probe of Emry’s, Peya cases drags on after 4-5 years

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Police shutting down Mike's and Emry's offices in World-Wide House (File)

Police investigation of two big cases that reportedly victimized more than 1,000 Filipinos in Hong Kong has dragged on for between four and five years, with no cases being filed against alleged perpetrators.

The first case involves a fake jobs scam allegedly perpetrated in 2016 by Ester P. Ylagan, owner of Emry’s Service Staff Employment Agency, at that time the biggest recruiter of Filipino domestic workers into Hong Kong. 

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At least 400 people have claimed to have lost a total of $10 million after applying for non-existent jobs in Canada and Britain through Mike's Secretarial Services, another employment agency owned by Ylagan.

The second is the one involving the defunct Peya Travel Agency, which was accused by hundreds of mostly Filipino domestic workers of misusing the money they paid for their air tickets, leaving them unable to fly home for Christmas in 2017.

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A spokeswoman said today, Jul 21, that police continue to investigate Ylagan, 66, for “conspiracy to defraud” and “dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence,” or money laundering.

Complainants alleged they had been duped by Ylagan into paying $10,000 each for fake jobs in the UK and $15,000 for similar jobs in Canada. 

 

The officer said Ylagan “was released on police bail and is requested to report back to police in early September.” 

It is not clear why she is not required to report on a monthly basis, as with other suspects who are out on bail.

Edwina Antonio, the case officer at the Mission for Migrant Workers who has helped the complainants pursue the case, reacted with disgust to the police update.

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“Habang tumatagal ang resulta ng kaso laban kay Ester Ylagan, three years na nga, lalong tumatagal ang inhustisya sa mga nabiktima. Nasaan ang hustisya? Tatlong taon na,” Antonio said. (As the result of the case against Ester Ylagan drags on, it’s been three years, the longer the injustice to the victims rankles. Where is justice? It’s been three years.) 

Police descend on Peya's office on Christmas Day, 2017 (file)

The case of the Peya Travel Agency flight booking fiasco may end up doubly heartbreaking for its victims, who were mostly domestic workers.

More than three and a half years on, police have all but dropped the case involving the defunct travel agency which operated out of  World-Wide Plaza in Central.

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A spokesperson for the Hong Kong Police told The SUN that Peya’s managing director Rhea Donna “Yanyan” Boyce and marketing manager Arnold Grospe have both been released with no charges being filed against either of them.

“They have not been rearrested and, as such, have no police bail and are not required to report to the police every month,” the spokeswoman said.

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However, she said the police has not closed the case, and is still seeking legal opinion and gathering evidence.

Boyce, who was 38 at the time, was arrested in her house in Wanchai on Christmas day 2017, but was released on police bail after being questioned for two days. Her Australian husband Peter was also initially arrested but was later dropped from the case.

Grospe, who was then 49, was the first to be invited for questioning but was not initially arrested. On Jun 6, 2018, he was picked up in Central for his suspected involvement in a fraud conspiracy, but was subsequently released on police bail.

The flight booking mess unraveled just days before Christmas in 2017 when about 200 travelers, mostly Filipino domestic helpers headed home for family reunions, were not allowed by airlines to board their flights.

It turned out the carriers had refused to honor their bookings because Peya owed them a lot of money.

Anger and frustration over their aborted flights drove hundreds of ticket-buyers to descend on the travel agent’s office on Dec 19, 2017 to demand a refund and compensation.

The police initially said as many as 645 people had complained against Peya and estimated the sum involved to be about $2 million. But the Consulate said later about 1,200 people had sought their help in filing complaints and claiming a refund.

Eventually, Cathay Pacific and Philippine Airlines decided to step in by sending bigger planes to Hong Kong and offering “distress fare” to the bumped-off passengers.

Cebu Pacific also stepped up to the plate by offering 50 free tickets to the affected travelers on a first-come, first-served basis. The offer was later matched by the Department of Foreign Affairs through a deal hatched with PAL.

But there were many others who were unable to board their flights or get a refund.

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