SINGAPORE \u2013 The Malay word \u201cdekat\u201d has multiple meanings. In local parlance, it means \u201cat\u201d or \u201cin\u201d, while in Bahasa Indonesia, it is more commonly interpreted as \u201cnear\u201d.<\/p>\n
It sounds like a simple difference, but it became a point of contention in the high-profile case of former domestic helper Parti Liyani, who was acquitted in 2020 of stealing from her influential employers<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n Parti, an Indonesian, had said that she placed some items \u201cdekat\u201d a cardboard box. She meant \u201cnear\u201d, but during police interviews, an officer who spoke Malay understood it to mean \u201cin\u201d the box, said Gusti Seruni, who was then a volunteer interpreter for Parti\u2019s legal team.<\/p>\n Gusti was not present during the police interviews but spoke to Parti multiple times to prepare for the court trial. Resolving such language differences was important to understanding her testimony, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was one of the highlights of my life,\u201d said the 42-year-old sole proprietor of a jewellery business, referring to her more than four years of volunteering for the long-drawn legal battle. She spoke to the media at law charity Pro Bono SG\u2019s annual awards ceremony on July 21.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Parti was initially convicted in 2019 of stealing more than $30,000 worth of items from the Liew family and was sentenced to two years and two months in jail.<\/p>\n The High Court overturned Parti\u2019s conviction on appeal, ruling that the original conviction was unsafe and highlighting issues with the police\u2019s handling of the evidence. The family\u2019s patriarch, Liew Mun Leong \u2013 the former chairman of Changi Airport Group \u2013 stepped down after the acquittal.<\/p>\n Originally from Indonesia, Gusti came to Singapore in 2017 when she married a Singaporean art curator. She first volunteered as a befriender for the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME) after hearing about its work involving domestic workers.<\/p>\n HOME later supported Parti in her legal case, and Gusti was roped in. Together with the legal team, she spent day and night working on the case, including interviewing Parti and lining up expert witnesses.<\/p>\n She had not yet registered her jewellery business and spent most of her time on Parti\u2019s case \u2013 a commitment that was almost equivalent to a full-time job, she said.<\/p>\n Despite the challenges of navigating the legal system, she said: \u201cI chose to power through because if it was difficult for me, it must have been way more difficult for (her).\u201d<\/p>\n Gusti was a familiar presence to Parti as she accompanied her throughout the trial (there was a separate court interpreter present). They talked about food and family, \u201canything that would put her at ease\u201d during breaks.<\/p>\n \u201c(The trial) felt quite intimidating to me, so I can only imagine what it was like for her,\u201d Gusti said.<\/p>\n But Parti kept her spirits up. The domestic helper even whipped up dishes and encouraged them whenever they were anxious, Gusti said.<\/p>\n The acquittal was \u201cwell-deserved\u201d, said Gusti, but even after that, she was worried about the other legal processes Parti continued to face. Parti had filed a complaint against two prosecutors conducting her trial, which a disciplinary tribunal later dismissed.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Liew Mun Leong\u2019s son Karl Liew was called as a prosecution witness during the trial. It later emerged that he lied to a district judge at the time. He was sentenced to two weeks\u2019 jail in April 2023<\/span><\/a> after pleading guilty.<\/p>\n After her acquittal, the domestic helper returned home in 2021<\/span><\/a>. The case attracted significant public interest and led to a nine-hour parliamentary debate on the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n Looking back, Gusti said she was grateful that systemic change came about following Parti\u2019s case.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that Parti, being part of a vulnerable community, deserves the same level of care, commitment and respect from us. Parti herself also deserves equal access to support and justice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Gusti receiving a special recognition volunteer award at Pro Bono SG\u2019s annual awards ceremony on July 21.<\/p>\n PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Gusti is now a Singapore permanent resident. She is also a regular volunteer with Pro Bono SG, where she helps Indonesian-speaking clients, including those involved in criminal cases.<\/p>\n On July 21, she received a special recognition volunteer award for her role in advancing pro bono work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n SINGAPORE \u2013 The Malay word \u201cdekat\u201d has multiple meanings. In local parlance, it means \u201cat\u201d or \u201cin\u201d, while in Bahasa Indonesia, it is more commonly…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":70684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/70684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/picture><\/div>
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