Murder.. she wrote

Aptly enough the title of this post. Another Filipino maid gets charged for the murder of her fellow countrywoman. Brings to mind the previous case of Flor Contemplacion, also a Filipino maid and hanged for the crime of murdering a fellow compatriot, Della Maga and the young son of Della's employers.

I suppose I'll see alot of SG flag burning go on in Manila if the maid is found guilty as charged and is sentenced to death. It is the irony of such situations whereby people tend to shift attention elsewhere when the problem is really much closer at home.

Migrant workers are always on the move and are usually away from their beloved families for many months in the year. Divided by a large distance and spurred by the need to support their families back home, sometimes I wonder, what would force these people to turn to crime? Its a difficult question to ask and perhaps even a criminal psychologist might have a problem in giving a proper analytical answer to that query.

Sometimes the feeling of loneliness can give way to odd thoughts and this is precisely what bothers alot of people. Heck, I'd go crazy if I didn't get to see my family every now and then. But crazy is as crazy does. Some people turn to finding solace with fellow compatriots, or in some cases, finding a temporary "soulmate" and perhaps a part-time partner to spend their time with.

In such situations, migrant workers usually band together according to their country of origin. I seldom see Bangladeshis mix with Filipinos, unless of course they're dating that is. The thing is, having a fellow compatriot that speaks the same language as you do and having the same customs as you actually makes a conversation a whole lot easier. Imagine two folks speaking two alien languages to each other and the whole conversation turns into a major comedic event. Its not hard to envisage a situation like that.

Now back to the main issue. Sometimes the real problems may lie closer to home and people are just oblivious to it. I bet many people still believe Flor was innocent but if she was, why did she not protest her innocence when she met with diplomatic staff from her home country? Why did she tell her side of the story to a prostitute while in jail, instead of saying it out aloud to people who could have helped her? Why she did that still boggles me. Read the link below to get a good piece of info on the case of Flor.

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/6142/flor.html

Unfortunately she didn't escape the hang man. Even after being tried and convicted as a murderer, people practically sanctified her and turned her into a sort of martyr to showcase the plight of migrant workers all over the world.

My question is, if one cannot follow and adhere to the rule of the country where they're in, why bother even going there? If Singapore's laws are draconian, uninspiring or even boring, then why do they still come here? Respecting the laws of the land is one thing, breaking them is another. If they broke the law, regardless of who you are, one must always accept responsibility for his or her actions and accept the punishment regardless of how terrible it might be.

Sadly for some people, that is not the case. They thought they could get away with crime via a petition or diplomatic help but they forget, this is Singapore, not some lawless land in a crazy world that we all live in, and in Singapore, the men in blue are definitely the best law-enforcing outfit I know of. Perhaps Michael Fay might be able to tell you more about his prison time in SG and how shitty it was.

Skip the murders and foreign worker issues and you'll see, its a bigger picture out there.