‘Wanted’ poster of dismissed DH taken down

The poster was up up on Peak Rd in Wanchai

(UPDATED) 1 March 2018

By The SUN

A tarpaulin poster hung on Peak Road last weekend that advertised a terminated Filipina domestic worker as wanted felon who had absconded with her employer’s $50,000, has been pulled down.

This was after The SUN contacted the helper, Reylyn G. Padaoan, who is already back in her hometown in La Union, to get her side, and published the story online on Feb. 28.

We also tried to get the side of the employer, Wong Shu Kun, on the same day but a recording instructed us to leave a message, which he has not yet answered.

Padaoan was indignant in her online messages, saying she intended to take action against her former employers who live in Stanley, for the embarrassment the “wanted” poster had caused her.

 “Masamang-masama ang loob ko, di ako nakatulog at di nakakain sa kahihiyan. Gusto long magsampa ng reklamo sa ginawa nila, kasi alam naman nila ang email at address ko na doon sana nila ako kontakin,” Padaoan said.

She has already been in touch with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, in an effort to get her employers put on the watch list for publicly shaming her.

The Filipina said her female employer, Li Fung Yuen, got mad at her for complaining to POLO earlier about being made to do construction work by the couple in their village house in Cheung Chau and flat in Shatin.

Padaoan says this was she doing repair
work in her employer's house

She said Wong and Li hired four male construction workers from the mainland but told them to stay indoors, so she had to pick up the cement and other building materials herself.

Padaoan provided The SUN with photos showing her pushing a trolley loaded with sacks of sand and cement, and doing finishing work on a tiled bathroom wall.

Apart from the POLO complaint, the employers allegedly got mad at Padaoan after she declined to accompany them to Japan as she was told that she would have to pay for her own expenses during the trip.

Padaoan sought POLO's help after she was fired in the middle of the night on Sept. 2 last year, and was told that she was entitled to claim $5,128 in wages, including payment in lieu of notice, and the $1,000 return airfare.

Armed with the POLO computation, Padaoan said she went to see her employers but instead of talking with her, they left for the mainland. She said they refused to see her when they returned. Wong was said to be also angry because he thought Padaoan had recorded their conversation earlier.

A picture of the “wanted” poster which had Padaoan’s life-sized photograph was forwarded to her by a friend who saw it on Facebook.

Padaoan questioned why Wong was running after her over an alleged $50,000 loan. She said her female employer, Li,  gave her $20,000 “as a present” in her first year of working for them. But when the maid’s husband was hired by Mrs Wong’s cousin in Macau, the employer allegedly took back her word and told Padaoan to pay back.  Her husband was fired after only a month and had to return home, she said.

In July and August last year, Padaoan said a total of $7,620 was deducted by the employers from her salary as payment for the supposed loan. Since they did not pay her the $6,128 that she was supposed to get after she was terminated without notice, she should pay only  $6,252 more even if the full amount of the "gift" was collected back from her.

She said she had no intention of absconding, but the couple fired her so she was forced to return home penniless and had to borrow from her cousin to buy her air ticket. The helper said she would pay back the balance if she could find another employer in Hong Kong.

Padaoan was hired by Li in April 2015 for $4,110 a month and renewed her contract for $4,310. But she said they paid her only $4,100 and $4,300, respectively, telling her to just offset the $10 deficit by eating more.