By Daisy CL Mandap
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| Lanie at HK airport about to fly home |
Nine months after fleeing the flat of a couple she claims
subjected her to slave-like treatment, Lanie Grace Rosareal, 28, has returned
home.
The Filipina domestic worker left Hong
Kong on Aug. 11, after finally being allowed to apply for a new
employment visa so she could resume work while fighting her case against her
former employer and her companion who Rosareal says, subjected her to physical
abuse, and did not pay her salary for six months.
Rosareal was one of the few lucky migrant workers who could
go home while waiting for their cases to be resolved. Many others are forced to
either remain in Hong Kong -unemployed for
months while the police investigate their cases - or to just give up the fight
and return home.
Luck for Rosareal came when the solicitors firm, Daly, Ho
and Associates, one of Hong Kong ’s foremost
human rights advocates, agreed to take up her case. Shocked by the sight of a
“punishment book” where her employer’s companion, Au Wai-chun, had listed down
imaginary faults for which Rosareal was fined each time, solicitor Patricia
Meason-Ho readily agreed to take up her case.
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| On this page in the "punishment book" Au warned: "Also continue like this I sure will send you to police" |
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| Here, Au calculated that up to Oct 23 (2017) the maid owed $3,600. The next day, it shot up to $5,000. |
Another fact that stood out was Au’s prior conviction for
pouring hot water on a Bangladeshi maid for which the retired immigration
officer was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for 18 months, and
ordered to pay damages of $200,000.
On the solicitors’ advice, Rosareal managed to have a new
employment contract filed with Immigration within the 10-day limit she was
given so she could exit and wait for her visa in the Philippines
Help was also extended by Consul Paulo Saret of the
Philippine Consulate General and Labor Attache Leonida Romulo, who teamed up to
make sure the Filipina’s new employment contract was processed within one day
so she could immediately file it with Immigration.
But on Thursday, Aug. 9, Rosareal’s bid to acquire a new
work visa was almost derailed when an Immigration officer rejected her
employment contract, and even shouted “Do not waste my time!” when she
suggested he conferred with her counselor. A quick call from Daly and Ho caused
the officer to back off and accept the contract.
Also working in Rosareal’s favor was an incisive story on
her case written by Simon Parry for the SCMP magazine, and published on Aug.
12. The article included lengthy interviews with Rosareal and her alleged tormentor,
65-year-old Au, and her erstwhile employer, Leung Shet-ying, 63.
In the article, Au denied hurting Rosareal, saying she
treated the maid either as a “naughty daughter” or “naughty student” for which
she had set up some rules for punishment and rewards.
While reportedly admitting that she imposed a penalty on
Rosareal for every infraction, Au claimed she gave back most of the maid’s
salary after taking it to pay for the cumulative fines for the month. However,
no record was made in the punishment book for any such salary that had been
paid back.
Rosareal fled the house shared by Leung and Au in Tseung
Kwan O on Nov 17 last year. She was rescued, along with newly hired Filipina
maid, Rowela S. Suete, by a Filipino community leader who had responded to
Suete’s appeal for help on Facebook.
In statements she made to labour officers and the police,
Rosareal claimed that Au had subjected her to almost daily torture from May to
November last year. The elderly woman had reportedly hit her on the head with a
knife and a TV remote control, boxed her in the arm, clawed on her wrists and
neck, poked her at the throat with a pair of scissors, and made her kneel and
bang her head on the floor.
Once, the maid said she was told to bang her forehead thrice
on the floor, but when she failed to do it hard enough on the first try, Au,
who reportedly pretends to be wheelchair-bound when outside the house, stomped
hard on her back. At Suete’s prodding, Rosareal said she took a photo of the
big bump on her forehead as evidence.
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| Rosareal's photo of the bump on her forehead |
During the prolonged abuse, Leung reportedly stayed out of
the way most of the time, but would be prevailed upon by Au sometimes to hit
the Filipina with a walking stick.
Apart from the abuse, Rosareal said she was not paid her
salary for the entire period because of the penalties that Au imposed for such
a range of bizarre infractions such as “give the ugly hanger” to “not pay
attention to the underwear” or “not stand in front of her when she complains”.
Leung would reportedly pay her salary each month, but would
then tell her to go to Au to settle her “penalties.” Rosareal said that as a
result, she never got any pay, but would just be given $100 or $200 by Au the
few times she was allowed to leave for a few hours on a Sunday.
She never took an entire day off, Rosareal claimed, because
by the end of each month, she would always come out owing Au. For the period of
Sept 22 to Oct 23, for example, Au’s computation showed she still owed $3,750
after turning over her entire salary.
On her last entry in the punishment book, a total sum of
$29,230 was recorded, presumably as the accumulation of all her unpaid
penalties.
Recalling those times recently, Rosareal bitterly said Au
would even take her to a shopping mall sometimes, and would make a big show of splurging
on luxury items from the fines that she collected.
"She would show me an expensive bag or a blouse which she said she had bought with my money," the Filipina said.
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| Rosareal's photo - taken while Au on trial for her assault on Bangladeshi maid in 2014 |
Despite her lengthy ordeal, Lanie did not get immediate
relief. Police in Tseung Kwan O took her statement without an interpreter, then
told her Au had been arrested, but was allowed to post bail. She was given no
more updates since.
A check with the Police Public Relations Bureau showed that Au was arrested on Dec. 11, 2017 for "criminal assault and intimidation" but was released on police bail. She was required to report back in late August, a good eight months away. "Investigation of the case has been completed and is pending legal advice," said the advisory.
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| Au on her way to her trial in a wheelchair and wearing a hand splint - SCMP photo |
In the meantime, Hong Kong Immigration kept extending Rosareal's visa, but when she submitted a new employment contract, she was told it would not be processed until her case was resolved.
Failing to get Leung to pay her claims before Labour Department conciliators, Rosareal took her case to the Labour Tribunal. But in January this year, she faced another setback when Tribunal Officer Mary Wu decided that all she was entitled to was $2,408.70 in unpaid wages and
traveling allowance.
Wu said in open court that it was not irregular for Leung to pay Rosareal's salary, then tell the maid to go to Au to settle her "penalties".
"That is nothing to do with the contract. You are being punished because maybe you have done something wrong and that's why the employer punish you or that Madam Au punish you and you have to pay compensation to them," said Wu.
The tribunal officer told Rosareal to go to the Small Claims Tribunal if she wished to get her money back from Au, and at one point even suggested the maid could have written on the punishment book herself.
Left with no choice but to wait for the police to act on her case, Rosareal tried to keep her spirits up by doing volunteer
work for the Philippine Overseas Labor Office. She also helped some of her fellow
wards at a government shelter pursue their respective cases, but it was not
always easy. Unemployed and still suffering from the trauma of the past year, Rosareal
had to go for counseling
three times a week, and in between, look for ways to
keep afloat and sane.
She had thought of going home, but was prevailed upon by several
people to stay, saying police would probably dismiss her complaint if she left.
With the latest twist in her story going her way, Rosareal says
she hopes justice is finally within reach.
