SINGAPORE: A maid agency that falsely claimed its domestic helper could speak Mandarin was ordered by a Small Claims Tribunal (SCT) to pay about S$1,558 (US$1,210) to its dissatisfied customer.
The customer had specifically asked for a Mandarin-speaking maid with experience in handling disabled elderly people for his bedridden mother, but later found that she could not speak or understand the language.
The agency also had to pay an additional sum of about S$270 for costs and disbursements, with the magistrate chiding the agency's representative for his behaviour during the trial.
The names of the claimant, her son and the maid agency were anonymised in the judgment dated Tuesday (Jun 9), as is usual for cases at the SCT, where cases are heard in private.
The claimant was an elderly lady who was bedridden due to a stroke and Parkinson's disease, requiring physical assistance for daily tasks such as meals, going to the toilet and getting up.
Her son acted as her representative throughout the proceedings and also looked for a maid on her behalf.
He approached the agency around November 2024 to look for a maid, seeking one who had experience in caring for disabled elderly people and was proficient in Mandarin, since his mother understood minimal English and spoke mainly Mandarin.
The maid agency provided the biodata of a domestic helper from Myanmar. Under the "skills" section, the agency indicated "Mandarin" for the maid's spoken language ability, without any...
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