Saturday, March 17, 2012

Please help Seang to save her eyes, her limbs and her livelihood. If we don't no-one will

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUDty4TLFiY

Created by Joel Preston on February 22, 2012
Source: http://www.gofundme.com/fepy0

To donate, please click this link:

Have you ever eaten dog food? We know a woman that had to; to save her life; for nine and a half months. Exploited Cambodian domestic worker, Seang, will lose her eyesight and use of her limbs if she is unable to travel to Vietnam for treatment and surgery after her abusive Malaysian employer forced her into starvation and disease.

Please help Seang to save her eyes, her limbs and her livelihood.

The interview provided was recently conducted by the Community Legal Education Center www.clec.org.kh). Her face has been blurred at her request. She feels shame and embarrassment for the things that have happened to her and will not permit us to show her face. Her testimony is as follows:

“On May 25th, 2010 my mother accompanied me to register to work as a maid in Malaysia with the recruitment company, AP TSE&C Cambodia Resources Co. Ltd. I lived and studied in their training center for four months then departed to Malaysia.

On September 27th, 2010 I arrived in Malaysia in Malaysia to work as maid for 2 years.

On October 03rd, 2010 my new boss came to pick me up at the agency office. I worked for a family that has 4 members. In my work at their home I must get up early in the morning and wash their two cars every day. I must carry a 20 liter barrel of water from behind the house to wash the car. Then I have to clean the place where he feeds the fish. I must water the crops, 0.5 hectares, two times per day even if it is raining hard. After I finish work outside the home the boss allows me come to work inside at 8:30am. Tasks I must do include feeding four dogs, washing the dishes and cleaning the house that has three floors. I must work every day from 5am to 11pm and I can sleep only five or six hours per night because I have to get up early at 5am and can only go to bed after I finish my work at 11pm every day. One time when I washed the car I had to carry the barrel of water 30 meters from behind the house then the boss saw me spilling water on the ground. He blamed me and did not allow me to drink water for three days. The boss gives me only 0.3kg of pork and little bits of vegetable for one week but the vegetables are not good, very old. Sometimes the boss gives me 10 packages of Chinese noodles to eat in one week. In one day I eat 1 package 2 times and sometimes must I eat the rice from the dog. In the morning I eat two pieces of bread and have nothing to eat for lunch so I have to eat dog food. In the evening I try to eat the leftover food from boss’ family. Sometimes I pick up bread that the boss throws into the garbage can to eat. One time when the boss saw he threatened me if I pick up the bread from the garbage can to eat again he will take all of my food and throw it into the garbage can and let me eat from there. I once broke a knife so the boss reduced my salary to 300 Ringget. There are a lot of mosquitoes in my room at night time because it is in the laundry with the washing machine. I didn’t have a mosquito net and have only a fan but the boss did not allow me to use it. If I use it I will have problem with him. When I felt sick nobody cared for me. Both of my hands are wounded because of the water. When it is unbearable for me I can only cry because I am powerless.


On June 20th, 2011 I met an Indian who cuts the grass along the road and I asked him to borrow a phone call to my parents at home in Cambodia. On June 21st, 2011 my mother went to AP TSE Company to ask them to send me back to Cambodia but the representative of the company doesn’t care and lied to my mother saying just wait one more day, one more day. When my mother arrived home she called to follow up the company but nobody picked up her calls. On July 15th, 2011 the wife of the boss sent me back to the agency office the agency asked me, what do you want? I told her that I want to back home to Cambodia. The agency asked me to give her back the money I owe but I don’t know what money she is asking from me. Then the wife asked me to write on a contract that I will not file a complaint against her and agency and I can go home. ”

CLEC is a not-for-profit Human Rights NGO www.clec.org.kh) and after facilitating her return to Cambodia, we have been assisting with Seang's reintegration. However, the doctors inform us she will lose her sight and the function of her limbs if she does not receive treatment in Vietnam. Cambodian hospitals do not have the capacity for this kind of treatment. Transport, treatment, translator and expenses are estimated to be at least $5,000.

Please help Seang to save her eyes, her limbs and her livelihood. If we don't no-one will.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

IF CAMBODIA DOES NOT RUN BY A HUNSEN AND HER PARENT WORK HARDER .SHE DOES NOT HAS THIS PROBLEM .KHMER PLEASE HELP ! YOUR CHILD OR NOT

Anonymous said...

Why she is not shown in public or file a complaint againt those perpetrators?

Anonymous said...

Malaysia is well known for abusing foreigners.

Anonymous said...

Let's get involved and help as little or big as you can! enough talk then do nothing, unproductive self-fullfilling whines!

Anonymous said...

This is extremely sad. The young lady was treated so badly that she could have lost her life. It is horrible for us human to suffer to this level for just trying to survive. The government should make efforts to develop jobs that will address the needs of our population instead of stealing from the nation for officials' greed and ambition.

Khmer Son

Anonymous said...

Khmer doctor have fake PhD, all patients with serious conditions are sent to Vietnam or Siem.

Bravo CPP

Anonymous said...

"Let's get involved and help as little or big as you can! enough talk then do nothing, unproductive self-fullfilling whines!

1:29 AM"

Mr./Mrs/Miss 1:29 AM,

Totally in agreement with you. Let us not discuss anything here but go to the site and make a donation!

When I was up there to make one, a few hundreds dollars had been raised already.

We all can do it.

Pissed off

Anonymous said...

Where is the human right? So stupid Cambodian government knowingly sending dirt poor Cambodian people to die this way?

This is worst than Pol Pot regime!

Anonymous said...

To Pissed Off, I disagree with you. What this young girl and what Cambodia needs to do is STOP BEGGING people for money. They need to learn to stand up. Are we Khmer only good at begging for mercy? Where is justice? What this girl needs to do is find out how she can sue the recruitment agency and sue the abuser.

If the recruiter doesn't want to give out the information, sue them for justice. Khmer needs to STOP begging, it's very degrading for us Khmer overseas sending money years after years.

Aus

Anonymous said...

Sound like Indonesian family live like animal too. If they are human they should not treat people like this. This is i don't like that shit dirt ML country.

Anonymous said...

To even sue an ordinary person in Cambodia one needs money. The girl is in need of medical assistance which also needs money.

To sue the big company, the girl needs more money as money talks in Cambodian courts and it has been so since I was born many years ago!

Even in America, they also raise money to help the victims!

Worry about the lawsuit later, for now she needs help and it is not begging. If you don't want to help, it is OK. Nobody will judge anyone!

The ad appeals to the generosity of those who want to help and it is good for KI Media to post it here.

Cambodians tend to talk more about doing this and that for Cambodia, but actually and usually do nothing after the talk, which is sad.

Remember nobody begs anybody. It is an appeal for help!

The girl is not begging. Her case needs help. Should we call Cambodian refugees who now live or used to live on assistance in New Zealand, Australia, France, America, Canada and other western countries beggers and former beggers respectively?

How about all the Cambodian seniors who live in western countries and receive funding for their livelihood and healthcare cost and spend a few months in Cambodia every year or so, are they beggars? After all, it is the taxpayers of the respective country that pay for their expenses since most of these seniors had hardly worked in their new countries!

Anonymous said...

9:42 AM.

I believe you are mistaken between government support and begging. This girl is begging for money, just as we seen an American/Khmer divorced mother of two, last week begging to help her with her financial problem as the bank was already to take her house away. Say it as you see it, but they are all forms of begging.

In regards to Cambodian seniors enjoying the government benefit, such as in America. No, that is a form of government support. The system is to help out those in need the most.

This girl here in this video is begging for money, when she should be begging for justice. The biggest beggar in Cambodia is the Hun Sen government, begging and milking overseas investors, and overseas government, under the false name of development and rebuilding.

We must end this degrading acts! STOP begging strangers! Help yourself, before asking for help. if she needs help with legal fee, thats what she should say in the video.

Anonymous said...

10:09 AM

She went to work for wages, instead, what did she receive? Can't blame her employer or the agency who are so wicked in their hearts, care nothing about the people whom they recruit for employment to Malaysia? For them it's all about money too.

A well person don't need a physician, but the one that is sick. Its no shame to ask when help is nowhere to be found.

As for you, we ask not to pick out her eyes because she is about to loose them from the injustice that she received at her employed place.

Wild~Wisconsinite

Anonymous said...

9:56 PM. Yes, i under stand the circumstances of her families sending her to work as maid.

But begging for money is still degrading. She would be going after the abuser and the employment agency for the money, or more importantly, if the government or the justice system is going against her, then she should make an appeal to be heard and justice to be served.

Noone deserved to be treated like animals. If she has any dignity left, use it, but dont beg!

Anonymous said...

10:57 PM,

I can tell you were born later and never had to suffer in Cambodia under the KR and you are now living in Australia or at least in a western country.

I like to see you putting your dignity in front of your stomach during the KR time.

I hope and wish that you do not become one day a disabled man and needs to live on disability cheque at the expense of the taxpayers of the country in which you live.

Now, don't even bother trying to convince me that it is a form of government support; to me, it is still begging since begging comes in different forms so be careful when you don't help and have the gut to blame her without knowing anything much about injustice and poverty in Cambodia!

Anonymous said...

6:45 AM.

You are right, I was born after the Khmer Rouge Regime.

I may live in Australia, but many times, I still visit the birth mother country that i still call home.

I have been living here for the majority of my life, but i do my part for my country by sending money overseas, visiting families and giving out money, in fact, the only time, when my families wants to see my face or talk is to see the money.

I was brought up in the Western world, so to me justice and dignity is important.

I will never beg anyone or any strangers for money. I work hard to send those money overseas, it feels like I'm a free ATM machine that never runs out of paper, right? But I work hard for my money and never had the chance to enjoy the free government support or those others that enjoys cheating the system.

Im not going to convince you anything, but i hope that you will not want me to be disabled in the near future, just because i feel like its a never ending story..this person needs this money, that person needs this money..(i give out plenty of money to temples, monks, street kids)


PS. Dont make assumption that i know nothing about injustice or poverty. My family used to eat salt in the dry season and eat frogs and toad in the wet season and I also understand how to buy justice.

Try to look at the big picture as I have. I dont have problems with her begging for money, but i hope and wish that she would fight the injustice and the empty stomach by standing up instead of lying down. Need to cut down on the begging.

Get my drift.

Aus.