Indonesian maid charged with murder of employer in Telok Kurau home

SINGAPORE — A 23-year-old Indonesian maid was on Thursday (June 9) charged with the murder of her female employer in her Telok Kurau home on Tuesday night.

Daryati, who goes by a single name, was charged via videolink from Changi General Hospital with the murder of Madam Seow Kim Choo, 59, between 8.30pm and 8.45pm on June 7 at 50C Lorong H Telok Kurau. The charge she is facing is under the most serious limb for murder, which carries the mandatory death penalty.

Court documents did not state how Daryati allegedly killed Mdm Seow but the victim’s husband, Mr Ong Thiam Soon, 57, who was at home when the alleged attack happened, was sent to hospital that night with two slash wounds on his neck. He was discharged from hospital on Thursday morning.

TODAY understands that Mdm Seow’s daughter-in-law called the police following a commotion in the second-floor toilet of the home. When Mr Ong, a business owner, rushed to the toilet, the maid allegedly emerged holding a knife.

Daryati’s lawyer Mohamed Muzammil Mohamed, who was approached by the Indonesian Embassy on Wednesday, said his client will be remanded at Changi Women’s Prison for a psychiatric assessment after she has been discharged. It is not clear what injuries she suffered. Her case will be mentioned again on June 29.

On Thursday afternoon, Mdm Seow’s two sons were at the mortuary at the Health Sciences Authority to claim her body. Both declined to speak to the media, although one of them, Mr Andrew Ong, said in Mandarin that all he wanted to do now was to “give my mother a good farewell”. 

Her body arrived at their home at Lorong H Telok Kurau at around 4.15pm for the wake and was received by her husband, her sons and relatives. The family requested privacy when approached by reporters.

Several visitors and onlookers who spoke to the media described Mdm Seow as an easygoing and amiable woman. A neighbour who has known Mdm Seow for more than 20 years told reporters that she was an easygoing woman with good culinary skills, and who had a loving relationship with Mr Ong, whom she assisted at work. 

The 58-year-old accountant, who wanted to be known only as Mdm Ong, recalled that Mdm Seow would share takeaways bought by her sons with her and their circle of friends. 

Adding that her last encounter with Mdm Seow was last Saturday, she said in Mandarin: “If I had known earlier, I would have exchanged more words with her.”

An employee at a logistics firm run by Mr Ong and Mdm Seow, who did not give her name, said the deceased was a “very good” boss who took care of the employees. Occasionally, she would buy food, such as buns and dessert, for the staff, she added.

Describing Mdm Seow as a “bubbly and friendly” woman, a neighbour in her 50s said Mdm Seow got along very well with one of the family’s former maids. 

“I always see them at the back. And then ... my flowers would grow over the wall so I said, ‘Sorry, I haven’t cut’ (and she told me) ‘No, no, no need to cut, my maid appreciates your flowers a lot’.”