Maid abuse runs counter to Singapore's aspiration to become a gracious, civil society.
He cited the wide publicity generated by the case of a Singaporean mother and her teenage son accused of beating an Indonesian maid and forcing her to eat dog droppings. Jakarta temporarily banned its women from working as maids in Singapore following the incident. Singapore is regularly shamed by tales of rape, beatings and even the murder of maids, who are treated like slaves by the wealthy Singaporeans who hire them. Most maids in Singapore are from Indonesia and the Philippines. The number of abuses reported to police rose from 105 in 1994 to 192 in 1997, with 157 resulting in action against offenders.